"Demon Angel," by Meljean Brook

Alternate Title: The 800-Year-Old Virgin

The Chick: Lilith, a.k.a. "Lily Milton." A 2000-year-old demon serving under Lucifer, when she met a young knight named Hugh and accidentally-on-purpose engineered his downfall, instead of letting him die she helped turn him into a Guardian, an angelic helper. Not that she expects any sort of favour in return.
The Rub: Even after 800 years of banter and cat-and-mouse, she can't bear to reveal her secret to Hugh: that she's not a full demon at all, but half-human, and thus capable of love and physical pleasure.
Dream Casting: Milla Jovovich.

The Dude: Sir Hugh, a.k.a. "Hugh Castleford." A Guardian, one of the half-human, half-angel creatures who protect humankind from evil, Hugh is very good at his job - except when it concerns Lilith. He keeps hoping he'll come up with a way to save her from Lucifer's clutches, but after 800 years of failure he can only come up with one idea...
The Rub: ...and that's to kill her. The pain of that sacrifice, combined with 800 years of disillusionment, cause him to lose faith and renounce his Guardianship. However, years later, Lilith resurfaces, alive and well and apparently involved in a conspiracy to pin him for murder.
Dream Casting: Billy Crudup.

The Plot:

1200 AD...

Lilith: This Hugh guy's hot. Pity he's such a Goody Two-Shoes.

Hugh: This Lilith chick's sexy. Shame she's a demon.

For 800 Years...
Hugh: You don't have to be evil! I can save you!

Lilith: Aw, you're so cute when you're delusional. Really, really cute.

1991 AD...

Hugh: There's only one way I can possibly free you from Satan! *stabs Lilith*

Lilith: Gee, thanks. *dies*

Hugh: Argh! 800 years of angst have caught up with me! Screw you, Guardians! I'm OUT! *quits*

2007 AD...
Lilith: 'Sup. I'm alive.

Hugh: Um, awkward. I'm still going to save you, though.

Lilith: Why do you ALWAYS have to think of everyone ahead of yourself?

Hugh: Because it's sexy and YOU LOVE IT.

Lilith: Dammit, you're right!

Hugh and Lilith: *make the demon with two backs*

Lucifer: Hey dudes, I'm here to do some evil and ...

Lilith: Zip it. I've already trashed your evil plan, so go sit on a pitchfork.

Lucifer: Oh! H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks! Foiled again!

Lilith and Hugh: Hooray!

Romance Convention Checklist:
1 Virgin Hero with a Martyr Complex

1 Bad-Girl Heroine

Several Twisty Bargains

1 Vain Vampire

1 Horriblly Translated Literary Ode

1 Loveable Hellhound

1 Monk's Robe

1 Mangled Closet Door

The Word: What is it with paranormals these days? Why don't they suck anymore? Early on in my romance reading, I received several paranormal romances and urban fantasies to read by The Green Man Review and I burned out on them fast. For so many of these novels, they weren't terribly written but they were just so much "m'eh." The smart-alecky, tough-as-nails, troubled magical heroines all read the same and just seemed so interchangeable.

So did something happen between then and now that they don't suck anymore? Spoiler alert - this is a positive review for Demon Angel and the book I'm reading for Green Man right now (Devon Monk's Magic in the Blood) is also shaping up to be very, very good. Maybe I've matured. Maybe writers have gotten better. I don't know.

Anyhoo - Demon Angel. Our protagonists meet in 13th century England. Hugh is a 17-year-old knight in the service of a baron, and Lilith is a demon sent to tempt souls into corruption. Specifically, Lilith's task is to corrupt the baron and his hot child bride, but when she meets Hugh, she spots an opportunity to seduce an innocent - something that earns big points in Hell.

However, Lilith underestimates Hugh's virtue - as well as his wit and honesty. He doesn't try to deny his attraction to her, and yet he manages to hold her wiles at bay by questioning her, bantering with her, trading jokes and laughter. His stubbornness both frustrates and intrigues Lilith, who spends more and more time with him.

However, Hugh is soon warned away by his mentor Georges, who reveals himself to be Michael, leader of the Guardians - former humans granted angelic powers to protect humankind from the temptations of demons. Neither Guardians nor demons can kill humans, nor impede their free will, but that doesn't mean they can't do a lot of damage. However, even learning Lilith is a demon doesn't shake Hugh's fascination with her, as well as his conviction that some capacity for good lies within her.

When Lilith's machinations with the baron and his wife come to fruition, Hugh sacrifices himself to save their souls - and Lilith turns out to be more corrupted by Hugh than the other way around. Even though her failure is bound to provoke Lucifer's wrath, she rescues Hugh after he's mortally wounded and hands him over to Michael to be transformed into a Guardian.

800 years pass. Hugh adjusts to Guardianship and he and Lilith cross paths frequently. He discovers that Lilith is a master of lies and half-truths, who always has some evil excuse handy to explain away the secret good deeds she performs. He remains convinced that she's compassionate at heart and if he tries hard enough, he'll find some way to release her from Satan's bondage.

Lilith isn't indifferent to Hugh's attempts, but under threat of Lucifer's Punishment (yes, it's capitalized) she keeps quiet about it. Unbeknownst to Hugh, Lilith isn't a pureblooded demon. Secretly, she's the Hellish equivalent of a Guardian - a former human given demonic powers using a similar ritual that gave Hugh angelic powers. Needless to say, most halflings don't last long - most of them end up giving into their human natures and are condemned to eternal torture by Lucifer. So, unlike demons, Lilith can feel love, loneliness, and pleasure (mostly for Hugh) but she's forced to deny these human weaknesses.

Being half-angel doesn't turn out to be all it's cracked up to be, either. After 800 years, Hugh is dead tired of failure, and his own human nature clashes with his angelic responsibilities. While he's immortal and has magic powers and kick-ass wings, he's bound to respect humanity's free will. This means if a man decides of his own free will to murder an unsuspecting family, Hugh can't stop him. This, coupled with his inability to help Lilith, makes him question how much good he really does as a Guardian.

He reveals his decision to Fall (i.e. renounce his Guardianship and become mortal) to Lilith at the same time he makes good on his last attempt to save her: by stabbing her in the heart. In theory, when a demon is permanently killed (by cutting its heart in two or beheading it), she is no longer bound in service and her soul is free to flee to whichever underworld it's destined for.

Shoot forward sixteen years to the present day. Hugh (who, sadly, no longer looks seventeen), is now an English prof at a university. A couple of his students have gone missing, and the Feds consider him their number-one suspect. While jogging, Hugh discovers the mutilated corpse of his missing student - and Lilith, alive and breathing.

Turns out Lilith was only mostly dead when Hugh left her, giving Lucifer enough to work with to revive her and send her back into the demonic workforce. Under the name "Lily Milton," she works for the FBI, and is now bound by a bargain to kill Hugh if she doesn't want to be condemned to eternal torment.

WOW. I know this sounds like a lot of plot description, but we aren't even halfway in. Demon Angel has a lot of story, and I mean a lot. You have demons, angels, vampires, nosferatu, Indian food, RPG card games, demonic senators, bargains, double-crosses, mystical rituals and sex.

For the most part, it works. Even with all the plot, the vibrating connection between Hugh and Lilith rings clear throughout the book and the author never allows the story to overwhelm the romance. Thanks to excellent pacing, the plethora of story elements never becomes narrative clutter, and keeps both the tension and the romantic stakes high throughout. There were so many scenes where the situation is at oh-god-the-world-is-ending but you don't notice until the end because Hugh said a nice thing that made Lilith's insides go all quivery! HUGH AND LILITH FOREVAH!

Character-wise, this story reminds me of Laura Kinsale's For My Lady's Heart. In both novels, you have a hero who's so pure and shiny you could see his ass from space coupled with a woman who's forced to walk a tightrope wearing her Evil Bitch face to keep her enemies at bay, even though she's a really a Tootsie Pop waiting for the right man to find the soft toffee centre hidden behind the hard candy (how many licks, Hugh?). Moreover, I really liked Demon Angel's protagonists - Hugh's portrayed as a straight-arrow without being rigid. He's virtuous and honest to fault without being judgemental or puritanical - when confronted with Lilith's antics he's more likely to laugh it off.

And as for Lilith - holy cats. Pun intended, she's endured a Hellish existence for 2000 years. Lucifer hates her because she's half-human, but he also intentionally made her a halfling because he gets off on watching her suffer with her dual nature. Wow, Lucifer's a prick. She loves Hugh and wishes he could save her, but at the same time is afraid that his attempts will only bring suffering down on them both. She could have been a moping dishrag, but Meljean Brook never lets her.

Instead, over the millennia Lilith evolved into someone adept at working the system, of using tactics Hell encourages (theft and deceit) to hide what humanity she's kept for herself. For example, her human apartment is filled with stolen books. According to Hell, she steals them for the evil thrill of petty theft, but really it's because she loves reading and Lucifer doesn't allow books in Hell. When you compare Lilith to, say, Sascha from Nalini Singh's Slave to Sensation, a heroine who also has to hide her true nature, there's no contest. Sascha lets her problems walk all over her until she's a whinging "woe is me" wet blanket. Lilith faces her problems and manipulates them to eke out a life for herself.

That being said, while the plot never trips up the characterization or the romance, it does trip itself up from time to time. I admit I lost track of the number of arrangements and bargains that changed sides, and I had to flip back several times in the story after an obscure deal was mentioned or a minor character who was only introduced once suddenly became important. As well, several past events from previous Meljean Brook works were mentioned, enough events to become somewhat confusing. This might have made sense if Demon Angel had been the fifth book in a series - but it's the first novel, after one short story in Emma Holly's anthology Hot Spell. I think when I read the first book in a series I should be able to do without Prequel Baggage, but maybe that's just me. That being said, I really want to read Hot Spell.

Okay, so while at times Demon Angel was a little confusing, ultimately it was a satisfying and very romantic read. I felt for both the protagonists' pain and enjoyed how neither of them gave into despair and self-pity. I liked how the fantasy aspect was well-developed and served to rachet up the romantic tension without overwhelming the romance. The characters deserved their HEA.

And I deserve to read Hot Spell, dammit! Meljean Brook's got me liking vampires again! How the hell did that happen?
B+

I've Been Shortlisted! Vote for Me!

It's September 7th, and the voting has officially begun for those shortlisted in the Book Blogger Appreciation Week Awards. And GUESS WHAT?

*~I'VE BEEN SHORTLISTED FOR BEST ROMANCE REVIEW BLOG!~*

Whoo hoo! Happy dance! Happy dance! First of all, THANK YOU to the people who nominated me! THANK YOU to the panel who read my first posts and shortlisted me!

And THANK YOU in advance (wink, wink) to the people who will vote for me here, yesssssss?

For those of you who are only now discovering this blog thanks to the BBAW shortlists, I'm AnimeJune and I review romance. While my blog's been up for five years, it's only been a romance blog for about 2 (if you want to read personal posts about my writing progress and fun and games in university, my employment misadventures, informal movie reviews and occasional rants against my parents' supreme unfairness then by all means read the earlier posts, *lol*).

I tend to read mostly historicals, with some contemporary and increasing amounts of paranormal. I try to make my reviews funny as well as in-depth, analytical and illuminating. As my regular readers doubtless already know, I have a particular format in which I review which divides the book into the barebone facts before I go in-depth so if a wall of text isn't your thing you can get the gist from the first part. Feel free to check out my tags, where I've arranged my reviews according to letter grade.

My reading taste can be rather eclectic - sometimes I review newer books (especially after coming home with all that loot from RWA Nationals) and sometimes I review older books that I picked up in Used Book Stores and library sales because I am poor and cheap. All I can say is that I review every romance I read, regardless of where I get it from.

Also, yes, a caveat - I sometimes do reveal spoilers in my reviews. I have a general warning at the top of my blog but for reaaaaally big spoilers I do give some advance warning. Sometimes to express my particular reaction to a book I have to detail it and provide specific examples, so you have been warned.

So....like my blog? Then VOTE VOTE VOTE!

"Aaah," some of you will say, however, "but what about your competitors for the award?" My lovely, darling, and totally not-evil-ho-bag running mates are as follows. What? Highlight these entries? WhyEVER would you want to do that? What a silly idea:

Babbling About Books and More run by Katiebabs. This is SUCH a good romance blog. Katiebabs hasn't said she eats babies, but she's never come out and officially said she DOESN'T eat babies. Her reviews are great, and she's got cute sheep and kittens! Maybe that's because she's too busy - EATING BABIES. King MhoPho, her sheep mascot is hilarious! and the spawn of the devil! THE SHEEP DEVIL! The DEVILIEST OF ALL DEVILS!

Racy Romance Reviews, run by Jessica. Wow, this is a romance blog written by a philosophy professor who happens to like romance novels and is proud of it! A big poo-poo-head smarty-pants professor. Whenever she reviews romance, she always digs deep to see that, hey, underneath that torn bodice is compelling feminist cultural commentary! See, smarty-pants professor? I can use big words too! It's always a treat to read an intellectual's take on the romance genre. I've already got MY doctorate - a PH.D in ASS-KICKOLOGY. That's DOCTOR Kick-Ass to YOU, smarty-pants.

Reading Adventures, run by Marg. I wasn't aware of this blog before, so I'm only checking it out now. She does a lot of commentary, and even has a weekly event called Library Loot. *GASP!* She steals from LIBRARIES! Quick! Call the police! And she doesn't only review romance - she also reads a lot of historical fiction, mysteries, and YA. Funny how she's nominated for best ROMANCE review blog. Which is it, Marg? Can't keep your stories straight? It looks pretty interesting - and wow! Look at her blogger links! What? Gossamer Obsessions isn't linked? What's wrong with MY blog? Waaaaaaah.....

The Book Binge, run by Casee, Holly, and Rowena. These three women read like madwomen, with new romance reviews up everyday! Binge, eh? Does that mean there's a Book Purge blog out there? I can always depend on the Binge, they do so much I don't know how they can maintain regular lives. Ladies, the first step is admitting you have a problem. Not to mention they have lots of giveaways. Bookarexia's a dangerous disorder, ladies - here, let me give you to the address to this treatment facility located in Siberia. No, they don't allow internet access there - why do you ask?

Wow, what a great group of competitors! Still, I hope you guys enjoy reading my blog - I have a review for Meljean Brook's Demon Angel coming up pretty soon. Be sure to keep an eye out for it.

And, don't forget:

VOTE FOR MEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

My Trip to the Library Sale, or, No More Books Until Christmas

Okay, so I caved and went to my Library's September Back to School book sale. I swear! This is the last time I'm buying books until Christmas! I have more than 150 waiting to be read and it's not fair to them! Really!

Eh, I didn't get so many books this time around, anyway. Because the parking lot of my library was being renovated, it was all in one room, which most certainly was not big enough. The romance section was pretty small, although there was also the Bargain Section (each book 25 cents) which was pretty much 99.9% romance, most of which was in excellent (even new) condition. Again, this time around I promised I would only search around for authors I already knew I liked, and while I broke that rule only the tiniest bit, I had a very good reason. Allow me to elaborate on my purchases:

It is with a resounding "DUH" that I reveal I bought Web of Love by Mary Balogh. I already have Devil's Web, so that leaves Gilded Web for that particular series. This book was practically new! It didn't even have a crease on the spine and they were selling it in the bargain bin for twenty-five cents! I'd have complained about the insult to Mary Balogh's artistic integrity but I was too busy snatching it up for myself! MINE MINE MINE....the precious.....

I was so glad I found The Spymaster's Lady in the romance section for one dollar before anyone else did! I met Joanna Bourne at RWA National and deduced that she is AWESOME. So very helpful and accomodating. She's a very quiet, assured talker and I'm a very loud, fast, nervous talker so I walked away from both my encounters with her somewhat terrified that I'd offended her in some way. When I saw an opportunity to actually try her work I took a chance.

I picked up Tempted All Night by Liz Carlyle in the bargain bin as well. I've only really read one of Carlyle's works (Never Deceive a Duke) so far, but it had a beautiful cover and rave reviews, and since it was only twenty-five cents, why not?

I picked this one up in hardcover. You may notice I have only ONE Alice Hoffman review on my site (a really, really old review), and that was before I settled on romance as my blog subject o'choice. Alice Hoffman doesn't really write romances - more lyrical fiction with subtle overtones of fantasy and romance. Okay, so I didn't love Practical Magic so much (every male character swings from neutral to crazy-permanent-carve-your-name-onto-my-forehead-in-love in about 30 seconds), but every other book of hers I've read has been A+ material - namely, Blackbird House (several short stories about the various occupants of the same house over time), The Ice Queen (a gorgeous fairy tale-esque novel about a woman who's unable to see the colour red after being struck by lightning), and The Probable Future (a generational saga of women in a small town born with intriguing psychic powers). As a matter of fact, maybe sometime down the road I'll do a series of Off-Topic Reviews of Alice Hoffman, since she's my favourite fiction author. Anyway, I saw this for two dollars and snatched it up.

Okay, this purchase of Montana Creeds: Logan I can credit to Kristie J and Wendy the Superlibrarian and their Great Western Drive. The Western is an oft-overlooked subgenre in romance, and I have only one Western on my TBR pile (one of Jo Goodman's earlier works), so I decided to try this one when I saw it in the bargain bin. I like the idea of Westerns, mainly because:

a) they usually take place in small towns and I am a sucker for small town settings in romance

and b) I live in Alberta, which is like the Texas of Canada, so I really should take part in my province's culture since I can't actually drive to a farm and I'm too germ conscious to do anything with cows other than eat them.

So I ended up spending only 3.75 out of the 15 dollar budget I'd allotted myself. What to do with the rest of money? Why, walk across the street to the bookstore and get something new! HA! In this case, I purchased the last book in Mary Balogh's Simply series that I'd been missing (Simply Magic, Simply Love, and Simply Unforgettable are already on the TBR).

But this is the LAST TIME I'm buying books until Christmas! Yes! I'm actually considering taking a speed-reading course for all the books I have waiting for me, and it's not fair that my favourite authors have new books coming all ALL YEAR! Curse you, Jo Goodman and Never Love a Lawman! A pox on thee, Laura Kinsale and Lessons In French!

I live a wretched existence, don't I?

"Slightly Tempted," by Mary Balogh

Alternate Title: All's Fair in Love and War

The Chick: Lady Morgan Bedwyn. The youngest of the Bedwyns, barely out of the schoolroom, she won't have anyone call her "naive" or "innocent." When her brother Alleyne's declared MIA at the Battle of Waterloo, she turns to a surprising source for comfort - the rakish Earl of Rosthorn.
The Rub: Her trust is shattered when she discovers the Earl of Rosthorn holds a bitter grudge against her brother Wulfric, and that his introduction to her had been motivated by vengeance. Does this mean their every tender moment since then was a lie?
Dream Casting: Michelle Trachtenberg.

The Dude: Gervase Ashford, Earl of Rosthorn. He spent nine years in exile for a crime he didn't commit, thanks in part to the Duke of Bewcastle's refusal to believe his side of the story. While in Brussels, when he spots Lady Morgan Bedwyn in a ballroom - he discovers a way to get revenge.
The Rub: Only trouble is, he doesn't spend that much time in her company before he falls head over heels. Will she still love him when the truth of their initial meeting comes out?
Dream Casting: Elliot Cowan.

The Plot:

In Brussels...
Gervase: I don't believe we've met. *in head* REVENGE! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!

Morgan: Whatevs. *in head* Loser.

Battle of Waterloo: *WAR! DEATH! INJURY!*

Alleyne, Morgan's Brother: *vanishes*

Gervase: I'm so sorry, let me help you. *in head* Muaha...ha ha...who am I kidding? She's amazing.

Morgan: You're such a dear, dear friend! *in head* A dear, dear, HAWT friend...

Morgan and Gervase: *sexx0r*

In England...

Wulfric: Sis, Gervase is only trying to get at me through you.

Morgan: Bro, you're hot, but not that hot - besides, don't you have a sequel coming up...

Wulfric: I mean Gervase is a rapist and a thief and I kicked his ass.

Morgan: GERVASE YOU SHITHEAD WE ARE DONE! AND BY DONE I MEAN BETROTHED.

Gervase: ...?

Morgan: YOU ARE GOING TO SHOWER ME WITH PRESENTS AND ATTENTION, AND THEN I'M GOING TO LEAVE AND HUMILIATE YOU, AND I'M TELLING YOU EVERYTHING I'M GOING TO DO BEFOREHAND, NOT SO THAT YOU CAN STOP ME WITH TENDER, PASSIONATE ROMANTIC GESTURES - BUT BECAUSE IT MAKES ME LOOK MORE BADASS.

Gervase: *tender, passionate romantic gestures*

Morgan: For the love of--FINE, I'll marry you for reals.

Gervase: Hooray!

Romance Convention Checklist

1 Wrongfully-Accused Man

9 Years of Exile

1 Inconvenient War

1 Inconveniently Dead Brother (or IS he?)

1 Age Gap (18-30, baby)

1 "Just Friends" Agreement Doomed to Failure

1 Lacklustre Romantic Rival

2 Surprise Lesbians

1 Fake Rape

1 Bitter Feud

The Word: I love Mary Balogh. Love love love. By the end of her books, I always feel completely swept away into the worlds she creates and the characters she's written. Mary Balogh: Warm Fuzzies Guaranteed.

That being said, of all the Balogh novels, Slightly Tempted had a pretty rocky start, with a heroine I found kind of annoying. However, by the end of the novel Balogh once again convinced me of the Warm Fuzzies - and at the same time of the consistency and depth (however annoying) of her female protagonist.

But I digress - the plot: Lady Morgan Bedwyn is partying hardy in Brussels. She's already bored with the Season even though she's been "out" for all of five minutes, but the excitement of being on the Continent at the same time Napoleon escapes from Elba gives her a measure of excitement. She wants to be a part of history, and engage in scintillating political dialogue, even as the atmosphere of impending doom and violence threatens to rain on her parade.

While she's dancing with a hot soldier, she's spotted by Gervase Ashford, Earl of Rosthorn. He's been partying hardy on the Continent for the last nine years, ever since his dad kicked him out of England for a crime he didn't commit. Wulfric, Duke of Asshat, whom Gervase had once called friend, eased him across the Channel with a firm boot to the ass, and Gervase has felt a consuming rage for the man ever since. Gervase sees Wulfric's fresh-faced 18-year-old sister and sees a way to exact revenge.

He succeeds in starting a public flirtation with her, hoping the gossips fleeing Brussels will carry the story back to Duke Asshat that his virginal lamb of a sister is hooking up with the Big Bad Wolf. However, the saucy Morgan holds her own against his insinuating charms, and his plans go further awry when French troops start marching on Brussels. While all this promises to lead up to some delightful drama, I found the writing in this first section of the book to do a lot of telling instead of showing - as I result, I was pretty bored for the first 60 pages. Could it be (gasp!) I might not like a Mary Balogh novel?

Morgan, thanks to a budding martyr complex and a rather contrived Burninating Righteousness for wounded soldiers, forces her fleeing chaperons to abandon her when she decides to stay in the city to tend the wounded and wait for her brother, Alleyne (a diplomat and messenger) to return from the front. This part of the book was initially hard to swallow - Morgan puts herself in danger, worries her family, and thinks very badly of her chaperons (who have wounded relatives of their own to get to safety), all the while shining with saintly courage and stamping her foot at Those Horrid Social Conventions. In hindsight, however, this passage really underlines just how young Morgan really is - she is full of saintly ideals and black-and-white righteousness at the start, and only through the rest of the book does she mature.

However, her stamping attracts Gervase's admiration, proving to him that she's not simply the Duke of Asshat's empty-headed social belle sister, but a woman in her own right. He stands by her side and offers comfort throughout this trying time, and when Alleyne is declared Missing in Action, he escorts the traumatized and grieving Morgan back to England.

However - the conflict takes a darker and much more delicious turn once Morgan and Gervase return to the motherland. Unfortunately for Gervase, his stalwort defence of Morgan in Brussels has unwittingly turned the harmless gossip surrounding them into full-blown scandal. While at one time Gervase might have delighted in bringing shame to the Bedwyn name, now that he's fallen in love with Morgan it becomes an impediment. Especially once Wulfric reveals to Morgan the nature of Gervase's bitter grudge against him.

While Morgan annoyed me at the start, both with her immaturity and the age gap between her and Gervase (she's 18, he's 30), her naivete and youth serve to buttress the novel's main theme: that of forgiveness, revenge, and trust. Revenge and forgiveness are obviously themes for Gervase's character: after spending nine years separated from his home and family, his schemes for the Bedwyns eventually prove an obstacle to obtaining a happy ending. Once he returns to England to resume his duties as Earl, he also has to confront the people who initially betrayed him - people who aren't dastardly moustache-twirling villains, but rather weak and cowardly people who made a foolish decision.

However, trust and forgiveness enter into Morgan's development, too. Morgan is the youngest Bedwyn, the baby, but she always craved to be taken seriously. I'm smart and capable and powerful! Age ain't nothing but a number! Why can't anyone else see that? Once she learns about Gervase and Wulfric's feud, her self-assuredness crumbles, and she has to confront the weaknesses of her youth and inexperience. For the rest of the novel, she has to learn to trust herself as well as Gervase again. Her attempts towards maturity redeem her character and develop the romance, so that by the end of it, the twelve-year age gap between Gervase and Morgan isn't so squicky as it seemed before.

Mary Balogh has a great talent for taking stock romance plots and character types and crafting them into something unique. Slightly Married had a Marriage of Convenience that actually made sense, Slightly Wicked had the Gorgeous Character Who Thinks She's Ugly who had realistic motivations other than Plot Contrivance for her distorted self-image, Slightly Scandalous had the Fake Betrothal Plotline that brought two great characters together, and now Slightly Tempted comes in with the Naive, Spunky Adolescent Heroine and actually makes her grow up! Better yet - we apparently get an Amnesia Plotline with the next book (Slightly Sinful). Can't wait to see what Balogh does with that one.

Forgive me for doubting your brilliance, Mary Balogh. I must seem horribly predictable, but Slightly Tempted is yet another lovely addition to the Slightly series, despite its slow start - with superb gradual character development, weighty themes, a heady sense of Regency atmosphere I could drown in, and most important of all: plenty of the Warm Fuzzies. That being said, after struggling over whether to give this book an A- or a B+, I settled on the latter: even though the book ended very satisfactorily, the first pages were a slog.
B+

Another Award!

I've been having a pretty good week over all, entering contests, doing lots of writing - and Shaymeless Aymless put the cherry on the sundae by nominating me for The Lemonade Award! The information is as follows:

The Lemonade Award is a feel good award which shows great attitude or gratitude.

Here are the rules:

* Put the Lemonade Award logo on your blog or post.
* Nominate at least 10 blogs that show great attitude or gratitude.
* Link your nominees within your post.
* Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
* Share the love and link to the person from whom you received the award.

Ten blogs, huh? Here we go (in no particular order):
1. Lusty Reader
2. Rip My Bodice - just discovered thanks to checking out the Book Blogger Appreciation Week 2008 awards winners page.
3. Janicu's Book Blog
4. The Booksmugglers - always the Booksmugglers. ^_^
5. Lurv a la Mode. Her blog design is gorgeous.
6. Racy Romance Reviews. Holy well-written academic reviews, Batman! I'm so intimidated!
7. The Thrillionth Page - also discovered thanks to BBAW.
8. The Misadventures of Super-Librarian - thanks for the Big Western Drive!
9. Romance Book Wyrm
10. The Julie James Blog. Pretty self-explanatory.

I will be contacting you all very soon, but I have to run - it's my parents' 25th wedding anniversary today!

"The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker," by Leanna Renee Hieber

Alternate Title: The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Alexi Rychman (featuring Percy Parker)

The Chick: Persephone "Percy" Parker. A young woman born with white hair, skin, and eyes, she grew up in a convent. Already considered strange by anyone who looks at her, she hides the fact that she has prophetic visions and sees ghosts.
The Rub: All she wants to do is learn. Why does her professor Rychman have to be so sexy? Fraternization is not allowed! Also ... someone might be trying to kill her.
Dream Casting: Romola Garai, slightly younger and paler.

The Dude: Alexi Rychman. At age fourteen, he and five others were chosen by a mysterious goddess to be Guards, and protect the human world against incursions from the spirit world. However, the goddess prophesied that a seventh member would come among them when the time was right.
The Rub: Unlike the others, he believes that he and the seventh member are destined to be lovers. Hence, he's kept himself cold and aloof and free of personal attachments until his goddess returns. So, why does he find the strange pale girl who daydreams in his class so freakin' hawt?
Dream Casting: Richard Armitage.

The Plot:
Goddess: Hey, kids, let's possess you with spirits and give you magic powers! Wait for the seventh member, okay?

Alexi and other Guard Members: Hooray!

Twenty Years Later...
Alexi: If only we could find the seventh member!

Percy Parker: Oh, woe is me, everyone thinks I'm so ugly and freakish because I'm white as snow and I see visions, can talk to ghosts and freak out over mystical paintings.

Alexi: You have visions and can talk to ghosts and freak out over mystical paintings?

Percy: Yes.

Alexi: Huh. What an odd coincidence. Can't be the prophesy, though! Nope! Just another case of an albino with psychic powers! A dime a dozen in London!

Assembled Ghosts: What a moron.

Percy: Oh woe is me, I'm secretly in love with my sexy, sexy math professor but surely he must think I am repulsive so I'm just going to sit here and cry until my problems go away!

Alexi: I find her drippy hopelessness oddly attractive! Crap, she is the seventh member!

The other members of the Guard: No she isn't.

Alexi: Yes she is!

The Guard: No she isn't - it's Miss Linden.

Miss Linden: Actually, I'm here to kill all of you!

The Guard: Whoops, our bad.

Percy Parker: *goddess powers* YOU. ARE. ALL. IDIOTS. *vanquishes evil*

The Other Members of the Guard: Well, now, no hard feelings right?

Percy and Alexi: *accusing glare*

The Other Members of the Guard: We were just leaving.

Percy and Alexi: Hooray!

Romance Convention Checklist

1 Heroine Chosen By But Completely Ignorant Of Destiny

1 Sexy Math Professor

4 Gullible, Easily Led Friends

1 Really Gullible, Easily Led and Spiteful Friend

Several Love Triangles

1 Inconvenient Prophesy

Several "Private Tutorials" (for tutoring, you pervs!)

1 Ocean of Tears

Several Friendly Ghosts

3 Figures from Greek Mythology

The Word: It's Victorian London, and six teenagers are woken from their beds and led to a mysterious chapel where they are possessed by six powerful spirits. A goddess appears to them and tells them they'll retain both their humanity and free will, but are "augmented" by the spirits to help perform the duties they were destined for: to become The Guard, protecting humanity from the less friendly denizens of the underworld. However, the goddess warns that a war is brewing on the horizon, and when the time is right, a seventh member will come to them. She vanishes after giving them a handful of clues.

Twenty years pass, and the Guard have evolved to become the Victorian equivalent of Ghostbusters: Alexi, the leader who is possessed by the power of the phoenix (the former lover of the goddess) can call fire with his hands; Rebecca, who possesses supernatural intuition and can track ghosts; Jane, a magical healer; Michael, a vicar who can manipulate emotions; Elijah, an aristocratic fop who can erase people's memories; and Josephine, a Frenchwoman who can control and calm people with her paintings. Together, they track down violent ghosts and subdue them.

Over two decades, they've developed into a close-knit group, although not without their share of love triangles. The only one who remains above all attachment is Alexi. Unbeknownst to the others, he fell in love with the goddess from twenty years ago, and harbours the personal conviction that he is destined to love the seventh member of their Guard as well.

Meanwhile, at Athens Academy, Rebecca (who's coincidentally the headmistress), admits a new student, Miss Percy Parker. Sent over from the convent where she was raised (after Mummie Plot Device dumped her there and promptly died), she wears a protective scarf, gloves, and blue-tinted glasses to hide the fact that she possesses no colour of her own: every part of her body (including her eyes,) is stark white. Although she's older than most of the students at eighteen, she yearns for an education and has no prospects of her own.

Percy hides more than her deformity: she can also see ghosts and visions. However, since she already looks like a living snow-sculpture she figures, why raise my Freak Meter even higher? and keeps her abilities to herself. While she excells in most of her classes (particularily languages), her greatest challenge comes from math class, party because a) she's immediately, uncontrollably attracted to her professor (Alexi) and b) because she actually sucks at math.

Percy actually sucks so hard at math that Alexi suggests they have private tutorials to raise her grades. In the privacy of his office, he grows impatient with Percy's fumblings and shyness and "woe is me" act and demands she remove her guards (scarf, gloves, glasses) and shut up already about how monstrous she thinks she is. Yay Alexi! As they spend more and more time together (math reeaaaaaally isn't Percy's strongest subject), Percy gains some confidence and a mutual attraction blossoms between both of them.

However, Alexi tries to fight it. A mysterious, demonic creature is mutilating women, and while the general public blames it on Jack the Ripper, the Guard realize it's a spirit-beast, and probably a sign that the Big Bad War is on the horizon and they'd better hurry up and find their seventh teammate before it's too late. Alexi believes his heart is reserved for Ghostbuster #7, so he's afraid of his burgeoning feelings for Percy and wants to wait to see if she adheres to the Prophesy's portents.

The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker is a fascinating read, both as a fantasy and as a romance - something that's incredibly difficult to accomplish, at least according to the paranormals I've read. I adored the fantasy aspect - while the set-up is a little rushed at the beginning, nothing was infodumped and I never felt I was being hit over the head with extraneous information. The Guard's individual powers were original and it was marvellously entertaining to read them in action (particularly Michael - whose main ability is to cheer people up during a battle. Seriously. And he's awesome at it).

As a romance, the set-up was equally intriguing. In hindsight, I realize this was a Soul Mate romance, but the conflict was so interesting and realistic that I didn't mind. Alexi believes that Ghostbuster #7 is the one for him - and while he turns out to be right, it doesn't mean he immediately recognizes Percy for who she is at the outset. He has definite expectations for who he believes his Goddess will be, so he's flabbergasted and not a little concerned when he starts falling for a woman who doesn't meet all his criteria. He holds his feelings in check and tries to wait until something Percy says or does matches up with the Prophesy, but eventually he has to go on faith.

I found that faith is the founding element in the thematic narrative of Miss Percy Parker. The Prophesy serves as a powerful metaphor for religion. At the beginning of the novel, the Guard are left with a goddess' message that seems to give clear-cut instructions regarding their destiny while still remaining ambiguous and vague in certain areas. Alexi initially believes he has to take the Prophesy word-for-word to truly figure it out, and is leery as to how far he's allowed to subject the Prophesy to personal interpretation. Eventually, the rest of the Guard fall for a false Ghostbuster #7 because they are too eager to take the Prophesy at face value instead of truly examining it, and themselves, to discern what it means. Both Alexi and the rest of the Guard have to learn just how important personal faith is to the Prophesy's true meaning.

As much as I enjoyed the thematic, romantic, and fantastic elements of this novel, there were a few flaws - mostly with the main character. She's actually the reason this novel doesn't get an A grade. For a titular character, Percy Parker sure is passive. Timid and mouselike, eternally apologizing and squeaking in terror, she spends the greater part of this book wringing her hands and crying, or else moping about how unattractive she is. I understand that she's had a rough life with her strange appearance and her visions. I appreciate that Alexi very quickly identifies Percy's problems and tells her to cut the self-pitying bullshit. I recognize that, thanks to Alexi, Percy develops a spine and that her burgeoning confidence is part of the romantic development.

However, it all happens too slowly for someone who is supposed to be the novel's protagonist, i.e. the One Who Makes The Plot Happen. She's the freakin' Chosen One, so there has to be a reason she was chosen in the first place. The Guard is supposed to be this bad-ass ghost-bustin' outfit, but it's never clear what Percy will bring to the table as Ghostbuster #7. Let me be clear - she does develop a spine. Eventually. There are some very nice scenes where Percy gives Alexi a set-down (in Arabic!) and when she meets her supposed "rival" Miss Linden and is all "bitch, please". However, she never develops enough to do anything on her own. She never acts, she only reacts. The novel tells us over and over how special Percy is and how integral she is to the world's very survival but I felt the novel never shows us what makes Percy so special.

I think the kicker comes after Alexi succumbs to the Guard's insistance that Miss Linden is Ghostbuster #7 and he dumps Percy, for fear that he'll betray the Prophesy. Heartbroken by Alexi's betrayal, when she spots Miss Linden and discovers that Miss Linden is not only a skanky ho, but an evil skanky ho, instead of actually warning Alexi and the Guard and fighting for the man she loves (like she said she would in one of her infrequent moments of awesomeness), she (ironically) pulls a trademark 19th-century-literary-heroine move. She becomes so overcome with melodramatic despair she renders herself physically ill, leaving her weeping in a self-imposed fever/coma until a glowing Plot Device drags her to the climax to finally participate in the story.

Along the way there were other problems and inconsistencies. For instance, Alexi is strangely nonchalant when he discovers Percy can not only see ghosts, but talk to them - something no one else is able to do. I expected him to be a little interested in that. Instead, he gives the same "Oh? That's nice" reaction my grandparents gave when I told them I wanted to write romance novels. As well, the character of Rebecca stood out like a sore thumb - even though she's supposed to have magical powers of intuition, she's the first to fall for skanky ho Miss Linden. The novel hints that her unrequited love and jealousy regarding Alexi motivated her choice - but really. Miss Linden turns out to be All Kinds of Evil and More - are we really supposed to believe that none of Rebecca's Magically-Installed Red Flags went up?

Uh, aside from that, however, the novel was excellent. The characterization of the Guard members was subtly yet powerfully done - even in a simple group of six there are undercurrents of passion, betrayal, and unrequited love. The mythical set-up of the plot came as an excellent surprise that actually made sense, and while the plotline and the romance are satisfactorily resolved by book's end, Leanna Renee Hieber still left plenty of material for future books. Yes, Miss Percy Parker is a bit of a Debbie Downer, but I still recommend this book for its lovely blend of original fantasy and sweet romance (which Percy actually does participate in, thank you very much), and I also recommend the series itself, since it's shaping up to be pretty awesomely epic.
B+

Submitted!

I just submitted the first twenty pages of my novel to the FF&P's On the Far Side Contest for unpublished fantasy manuscripts. I'm not anywhere near done the novel itself, but I decided to take a chance - after all, a contest victory looks pretty good on a query letter. I received from pretty good feedback from my friends in my critique group, so I'm confident that I've given the best I can, but still I'm nervous. I checked their score sheet and it's pretty tough, but from what I've heard, I've still got a good shot of getting feedback from judges even if I don't make it as a finalist.

Wish me luck!

You like me! You really like me!

The book-blogosphere has been heating up this week with the distribution of nominations for the Book Blogger Appreciation Week Awards! I nominated a bunch of my friends and fellow bloggers, but nothing surprised and delighted me more when I found myself nominated in FOUR categories:

-Best General Review Blog
"This blog doesn’t specialize in any one book genre, but it’s still excellent. Their book reviews usually cause you to add one more book to the TBR pile." Before I started writing reviews, my posts on my blog were personal and sporadic. Reviewing books, however, has changed the way I write and changed the way I read, as well!

-Best Romance Blog
"This blog is hot! And it reviews romance books in a way that keeps you coming back for more." Aaaaaaw yeah!

-Most Humorous/Funniest Blog
"This blog cracks you up. You make sure you’re never drinking anything while reading this blog for fear you may snort it out of your nose. You’ve been known to forward the posts from this blogger to friends, saying, “This is so funny! You have to read this!” Sometimes it can be incredibly difficult to come up with funny things to say about romance novels, but the difficulty also helps me to assess and analyse what I read more than I used to. And hell, I love being funny. Or being thought of as funny, I should say.

-Best Writing
"It’s not just what they say, it’s how they say it. This blog is almost as enjoyable to read as the books (and anything else) it talks about." Okay, okay, I'm enormously honoured to have received ALL my nominations, but it's this one that gets me all warm and fuzzy. Best writing? Really? Me? Someone actually nominated me for that? I mean, wow. Considering my nomination I should be coming up with something more articulate to say... but people like my writing! Yippee!

This Just In (edited August 20th): Best Reviews. "Book reviews are the heart and soul of book blogging, and this blog is the cream of the crop - consistently well-written, entertaining and informative reviews are a staple on this blog." HELL YEAH! I love writing reviews, love it, so it's AWESOME to be honoured for it. Even reading a bad novel, I know I can look forward to the unique pleasure of writing a scathing bad review, and with a good novel, I can promote it to my readers and spread the love.

THANK YOU FOR NOMINATING ME, YOU GUYS!

Congratulations to all the other nominees, and don't forget to participate in Book Blogger Appreciation Week from September 14th-18th!

An Interview with Leanna Renee Hieber

Normally, I consider my blog a review site, with some romance commentary and a dash of personal reflection mixed in. While I love reading interviews with authors on other blogs, I've never done any myself. Partly, because I've always been iffy about e-mailing authors and just asking for an interview - what if I'm wasting their time? What if they're busy writing and don't want to be bothered?

My mindset changed a lot after attending the Romance Writers of America National Conference. There, I met all these authors and found they were awesome people, but people, and they liked being asked questions, even questions about parts you didn't like about their books!

And one of the most interesting people I met at RWA Nationals was Leanna Renee Hieber, shown here in a picture I took of the panel she and the other Prism Award-winners had at the end of the Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal RWA chapter's annual party (the Gathering). She kind of stole the whole show, really (sorry, Catherine Asaro!). A playright, actress, and writer, she won the Prism for her novella, "Dark Nest," and was delighted to have her first novel published after nine years of struggle.

Did I mention she also loves Nathan Fillion and Joss Whedon?

Anyway, we had a fantastic conversation during the Gathering and she offered to send me a copy of her debut novel, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker (which I will be reading and reviewing next). She also very kindly consented to be the subject of the very first interview on Gossamer Obsessions (conducted via e-mail). My questions are in blue.

You studied Theatre, the Victorian Era, and even spent some time studying in London. It's no surprise that this would inspire you to write an historical romance, but what inspired the ghostly, fantasy aspect?

In some of my first memories I’m telling Ghost stories. I simply adore ghost stories, hearing them and making them up. My first and most memorable literary obsessions were Fantasy novels (Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia – Harry Potter would come later, of course) Tolkien and Lewis were then followed by an intense obsession with 19^th Century Gothic literature. Right around the time I first birthed the idea of Percy Parker, I was diving into and loving the fantastical qualities of the graphic novels of Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore.

A follow-up, in what ways have you discovered the Victorian Era to be ripe for fantasy and paranormal stories? Most fantasies out there are either contemporary (paranormal, urban fantasy) or medieval (epic or high fantasy) with little in between.

Because the literature of that time was ripe with it, and no other era resonates for me like the Victorian era. It’s so perfect for paranormal because of the grit and the grandeur, the struggle and the Empire, the repressed and the passionate, it was a very bipolar, Jekyll and Hyde time. I wanted to draw a dark Victorian cloak around me and live in all of it, relish and reel in all the triumphs and difficulties as the Industrial Revolution took hold and the very heavens were questioned. It’s so ripe with possibility, fear, elegance and drama. Think of all the paranormal tales that were published in and just around the day: Dracula, Jekyll and Hyde, The Phantom of the Opera, Frankenstein, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Castle of Otranto (considered by many to be the seminal Gothic Novel), the ghosts of Dickens, Wuthering Heights, Alice in Wonderland, all of Edgar Allan Poe. To name just a few. These all are favourite books and favourite authors of mine. I’d never liken myself to that great literature but it’s been my love affair for a very long time. I liken my attachment to the period to a past life. I can’t really explain my soul-connection to it otherwise, which in and of itself, is an otherworldly sensibility.

What sort of research did you have to do while writing "Percy Parker"? Any particular difficulties in finding certain facts?

I’d been to London to soak up atmosphere. Atmosphere is big for me and big in my writing. I had to make decisions on general locales, and that I did with instinct and a few maps. I had to double check the years of inventions and most specifically, details on the Ripper murders. I sat with the language as I read my favourite 19^th century authors. Richard Jones’ Haunted London was an invaluable resource for inspiring all my ghost stories, and grounding them specifically to real, documented London Haunts. They’re all actual London characters. (For more on this please join my Strangely Beautiful Haunted London Blog tour where you can learn all about them, details at www.leannareneehieber.com)

The beauty of writing Historical Fantasy / Historical Paranormal is that the history is there to help you build a rich, complex, detailed world in which you and your readers can completely escape. It’s there to give your characters setting and drama. Considering it was a hard time to be a woman, and an unusual woman like Miss Percy at that, there’s automatic conflict and tension. But within a paranormal / fantasy world, if you hit a wall, there are any number of paranormal conventions to save you!

What helped you to push on and continue to submit "Percy Parker" after nine years of grueling revisions and rejections, instead of starting to write something else?

I was just stubborn. I knew Percy was “the one”. She was the first thing that got me wanting to be a career novelist. When she entered my mind I knew my life had forever changed and when I tried other projects, I didn’t have the stamina. (It’s why Dark Nest, while I love it, is a novella *s*). Percy is like her own battery to my artistic motor. Plus my critique partner and beloved friend, Isabo Kelly (who won the Prism Award alongside me in DC for her category) maintained faith even when mine faltered. Thankfully the rejection letters still seemed to think the story had promise. And that’s what I lived on. Promise.

A follow up, how did the story of "Percy Parker" evolve in the nine years between when you first wrote it and when it was published?
Oooh, baby. Well, thankfully I had some awesome agents and editors who took the time in my rejection letters to say that while my story had promise, I needed to smooth out the narrative (it’s hard keeping track of nearly 10 characters who you feature often). And I listened. The book through the years has become shorter, tighter, swifter, with much more of the plot, such as Prophecy, planted at the beginning. My fabulous editor, Chris Keeslar, who I really respect and enjoy working with, wanted to know exactly what my characters did, particularly the duties of The Guard, earlier on in the story so that when we get to a scene where everyone is relaxed and cracking jokes, we care about them more. We’ve seen them in action, so we can now see them at rest and relax with them. It was a smart choice.

You can’t be so fixated on your baby (and believe me, this is my baby) that you can’t allow for the objective, director’s eye, to know what he or she is talking about. That’s the really fun thing for me about working with an editor, it’s like I’m in a play and my characters are in it with me and we’re listening to our director and seeing how we can adjust ourselves to make it work. It’s an engaging dynamic for me.

What was it like "after the call" from Dorchester? What elements of the publishing process surprised you?

Um, the call was indeed a phone call and it was the most awesome moment ever. And then it was a lot of work. I think what surprises me most about this industry is that it just never ends. There’s always a deadline, there’s always something to promote. If you sit back and coast you set yourself and your career back. Houses will do what they can to help you, but you’ve got to be your own PR department as well as an author who turns their stuff in on time. I’m still trying to figure out how to juggle it all, it’s really hard. You also just can’t be afraid to ask questions, because so much of the publishing process is a mystery and even with really supportive houses, they don’t have time to hold your hand through everything.

How do you feel that romance readers and the blogosphere are contributing to the promotion of books such as yours? Some have scoffed that "anyone can publish on the Internet" and that blogs don't have the same effect a professional marketing campaign does. What do you think?

I have already seen that this book has some ‘buzz’ around it. And that’s due to people like you. Word of mouth is so important, and word of mouth begins by discussing things. The blog world gets that discussion started. If this book does indeed do well I will owe it to Bloggers and I’m not one to either forget that or be ungrateful for it. Book bloggers are some of the most talented, dedicated, engaging, entertaining and informative people I have met in this business. The entire industry is changing, and anyone who doesn’t utilize the resource bloggers can provide is missing the boat. I don’t have the funds for huge campaigns. I’m doing small print ads here or there or getting a publicity program when I can, but the blogosphere is such a wonderful, interconnected and ever-expanding resource and I am very grateful for it. It’s such a vital part of the equation.

Your website says that "Percy Parker" is to be the first in a series. What are your plans for future books? Will they involve the same characters, or new stories with new characters in the same setting or vein?

Indeed! You’ll continue to see the regular faces, a few new ones coming along the way. Book II will take up exactly where Book I leaves off, continuing with Percy and Alexi in the main focus with ongoing attention given to the rest of The Guard and their story. Percy and Alexi need more time to be in the spotlight, I always knew that. They have a lot to do. *grin* The danger is bigger, the sensuality is bigger and the glimpses into the rest of The Guard are too. Book III is a Prequel where the previous Guard has to set Prophecy in place for Alexi and his Guard, and Book IV continues on a Rychman familial legacy. The stories dovetail on each other in ways I’m still discovering.

There’s possibly a 5^th book but that’s dependent on how the quartet unfolds, so it’s too premature to say.

What are you working on now?

Prepping a lot for the big day, release day and getting all my ducks in a row for my Strangely Beautiful Haunted London Blog Tour. My work in progress is Strangely Beautiful III, the prequel. My agent and I are trying to sell my Historical Fantasy / Historical Paranormal YA proposal set in 19^th Century New York City. So I’m keeping busy.

Thanks for stopping by! Remember folks, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker is out August 25th!