HelenKay Dimon

Apparently JK Rowling is writing a detective novel…or so says this article.

Anne Rice is “committed to writing books for the Lord” and voting for Hillary Clinton.

And, sometimes real life truly is stranger than fiction or so the new novel Loving Frank by Nancy Horan would suggest. Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick Cheney both leave behind spouses and children to be together, live through the scandal and then she’s murdered during a homicidal rampage in the home she shared with Wright. Here’s a review from the New York Times, and here’s another book by William Drennan called Death In A Prairie House that focuses more on the murders than the love story.

It’s time for a new feature. I think of this as the I’m-obsessed-with-covers-and-you-should-be-too feature. This came about while checking out my MySpace page this morning. Seemed I had several friends requests pending. And, yes, this is what happens when one does not check on the MySpace page for quite some time. While culling through those requests, I decided to check out some pages. This, in turn, lead to my idea that Sunday should be devoted to highlighting one or two books I see each week on MySpace. Keep in mind, these are books I check out solely because of the covers. Let me know what you think.

The first find of the day does not sound very romantic. I’m thinking this is one of those “good for research” type books. It’s The Slime That Men Do by Humble Howard Glassman.

The website describes it this way:

The Slime That Men Do! With the help of hundreds of listeners who submitted their Slime stories, radio personality Humble Howard has put together an amusing selection of bad dates, bizarre valentine celebrations and just general Slimy Guy behavior. The Slime That Men Do is funny, strange and sometimes sad but always entertaining and something that many women and not a few men will relate to. The stories were submitted through several months of The Humble Howard Morning Show on the Mix in Toronto and a few were picked each week to be read on the air. The response was overwhelming. The motivation was increased due to the fact that it was known that a part of the proceeds were to go to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. In fact many women prefaced their stories with the note that they hoped some good would come out of their Slimy situation! This fall the book will be published and sold throughout the Canada and will hopefully raise money and awareness for the CBCF. Howard will be speaking on several Radio and TV shows and at the National Women’s Show in both Toronto and Ottawa further raising the profile of the book and of the very worthwhile cause it supports.

Clever and for a good cause. I like it. There are examples on the website. Check them out. Very funny…and a tad scary. Makes me even more grateful to have my hubby, and I was pretty damn grateful to start out.

The second pick is not out yet. But, I love the cover. The book is Sexiest Man Alive by Diana Holquist. She gets great covers because the one for her previous novel Make Me a Match was noteworthy too.

The plot for Sexiest Man Alive goes like this:

Shy No More Worksheet
Name–Jasmine Burns
Imagine the person who intimidates you. Naked–I’m intimidated by Josh Toby, the world’s biggest movie star. Who has to imagine him naked? I’ve seen it on a forty-foot screen.
Breathe deep–Did I mention he’s Josh Toby? As his costume designer, I’m supposed to dress him. And undress him. Oh, and my psychic sister Amy, who has never been wrong, named him my One True Love. Breathing is completely out of the question.
As for what you want–What I want is for him to stop being so…irresistible! I want not to fall in love with a man who’s stalked by the paparazzi, whose washboard abs could cut glass, and whose movie star girlfriend is the most stunning creature ever.
Believe you can do what needs to be done. Then do it–So, all I have to do is believe I can resist Josh Toby. Resist those deep violet eyes, those strong, muscular arms, and the way he makes me feel like the only woman on earth. Couldn’t be easier. Yeah right…

What do you guys think?

I got this book in the mail yesterday. It’s called FORGET ABOUT IT by Caprice Crane. The publisher describes it like this:

Jordan Landau is having a bad life. At 25, she is average height and weight, super smart, and talented. But all that doesn’t keep her mother from calling her fat, her boss from stealing her ideas, or her boyfriend from cheating on her. Day in and day out, she sits back and watches as everyone walks all over her. Then one day a handsome stranger opens his taxicab door and knocks Jordan off her bicycle. Coming to in the hospital, Jordan realizes she has the perfect excuse for a “do-over”; she vows to fake amnesia and reinvent herself. Confiding only in her childhood friend, Jordan is finally able to get the credit she deserves and stands up to her jerk boyfriend. She even starts dating the handsome stranger who knocked her off her bike. She’s living the life she always dreamed of–until a baseball hits her in the head and she actually gets amnesia. Now, Jordan must start over for real, and figure out what really makes her happy–and how to live a truly memorable life.

Romantic Times says:

Crane showcased her kooky sense of humor in her debut, Stupid and Contagious. This is another triumph for the author, who, quite like Valerie Frankel, takes unlikely premises and makes them tangible and realistically warped. Main character Jordan’s transformation from subservient to assertive is incredibly fun and empowering, and Crane paints her as someone you not only root for but also want in your corner.

What grabbed my attention was the PR material calling Crane a whiz at romantic comedy (my phrase – theirs was much more clever). Since there are not a huge number of romantic comedies out there these days, I thought it was worth a look.

Anyone read Crane before or grab up a copy of this one? I plan to read it. If anyone wants to read it and review it here, leave a comment and let me know.

I’m over at Access Romance talking about a recent article by Dalton Ross in Entertainment Weekly called Tough Gals Take Over TV.

Come say hello.

I thought these tidbits were funny.

This first one makes me think that the classroom education part of college could be more interesting if we re-wrote all the textbooks. I know a lot of guys who might have thought twice about skipping all those classes if they got to read this stuff. The site is collegehumor.com and the piece that cracked me up was Your Textboks Rewritten As Romance Novels.

The second is a cartoon romance novel on You Tube which, I have to admit, is even funnier if you watch it without the sound turned on. The fact the heroine’s breasts stay in her dress is nothing short of a miracle. Here is the You Tube video.

In the event you are looking for a pro/con argument, I would point you to this article called Harm in reading romance novels? My view is that there are many harmful things out there for women. Reading choice is just not one of them. It is, however, on Shaunti Feldhahn’s list of concerns. She takes up the anti-romance side of this debate and quotes mental health professionals who share her belief that romance novels set up unrealistic expectations and, in turn, affect the real-life romance choices women make. I say women are smart enough to know the difference between fiction and reality and don’t need to be protected by having someone decide what they should and should not read. Feldhahn says:

In fact, many of today’s romance novels actually have a huge soft porn influence, as nearly all major publishers are rushing to put out mainstream “erotica” titles to meet exploding demand. At what point should we admit that there is little difference between graphic images to men and seductive, graphic words and feelings to women? Erotica romances provide the porn-laced story with no worry about a spouse catching you online.

Journalist Diane Glass takes up the pro side. She manages to defend romance novels and still take a shot or two at them. Still, she points out that: “The difference between erotica and porn isn’t the lighting, it’s the content.” She also says:

Romance novels are about entertainment, not the dissemination of seriously dangerous notions. I don’t think Harlequin readers believe they’re doing in-depth gender research or that Fabio is going to ride up on his white horse. I think they’re indulging in a little female pornography.

I continue to be stunned that this debate goes on. The anti-side almost always includes an unspoken belief that women, purely by virtue of being women, need someone to tell them what they should read. I find the argument insulting and, frankly, anti-woman. But, that’s me. You can read and decide for yourself where you come down on this argument.

I’ve been away from the internet for four days. My hubby surprised me with an early birthday present by bringing my dear friend here for a visit from Connecticut. He also arranged for us to spend a few days at a spa relaxing and otherwise engaging in sloth. His only rule was: no laptop.

I am now back on the computer and catching up on my internet lurking and writing. You can find me blogging about secondary characters over at the Brava Blog. I also wanted to announce the winners of last week’s giveaway:

-the winner of the copy of The Ultimatum is Anna!

-the winner of Sugar and Spice and Pleasure Control is Darlene Ryan!

-the winner of Seduce Me and If This Bed Could Talk is Tammy G.!

Congratulations to the winners! Email me so I can get those books out to you. We all look forward to seeing what you have to say about the books.

A few weeks back I commented on seeing the book The Ultimatum by Dan Graziano. It’s a romance, written by a guy (obviously), and put out by Avon. I was intrigued. The basic plot goes like this: couple is going along just fine, or so the guy thinks, when the gal issues an ultimatum that he propose in a week or they’re through. I read it, thoroughly enjoyed it and wrote a review of it for Paperback Reader. If anyone out there would like to give it a try, post a comment here and let me know. I’ll send it on to you. The only catch is that you have to blog about it and do so ASAP. You can blog here if you don’t have your own blog.

And… I have another book opportunity for you guys. I have four mass market reissues of earlier Avon Red trades. They are:

*Pleasure Control by Cathryn Fox
*If This Bed Could Talk anthology by Liz Maverick, Kimberly Dean and Lynn LaFleur
*Sugar and Spice by Leda Swann
*Seduce Me by Dahlia Schweitzer

Avon Red has a very distinct look, in my view. I’m trying to figure out if it has a unique voice and/or what it offers to the erotic romance genre. This is where you guys come in. If you’re interested, comment here and I will pick two people to get two Avon Red titles each. Your job is to read both and then write up something on the books and your thoughts on the imprint, to the extent you have one after only two books. I’ll post your thoughts here. The goal is to do that by the end of the month. In other words, you do the work to satisfy my curiosity while giving the books (and authors) a little promo.

As always, I pay the postage on getting the books to you. You don’t have to love the books. You just have to be respectful. And, you have to follow through with providing the review/commentary because it’s just not cool to do otherwise.

So, if you’ want to be a part of either giveaway, comment here. I will pick the winners on Monday (August 13th).

Okay, not really. But…YOUR MOUTH DRIVES ME CRAZY got a nice little write-up on E! Online yesterday. How cool is that? Loved this clever description:

Hot sex, light crime, an alpha-male, gun-toting hero and a wild card of a femme fatale—coupled with Dimon’s fine grasp of the unspoken nuances of body language—makes this the perfect onboard companion during that long flight across the Pacific to the Islands, where even the most casual visitor scores a congratulatory lei.

Yay!

I just plucked the newest issue of Romantic Times out of my mailbox. As is my usual practice, I turned first to the list of Top Picks from each category. Just like to see what the RT reviewers think are the best in each group.

Then I got confused…

One of the Top Picks in the contemporary category – which is my first look, for obvious reasons – was THE NAKED TRUTH, a mass market anthology put out by Berkley/Penguin with stories by Erin McCarthy, Donna Kauffman, Beverly Brandt, and Alesia Holliday. Looks good. Got a great review. I like all the authors. Haven’t read much Beverly Brandt but have been meaning to, so this is a good sign. But, I didn’t understand why the book even in the issue let alone listed as a Top Pick for September 2007. See, I thought this was a mass market re-release and not an original release. As far as I know, re-releases don’t get a second shot at an RT review. There wouldn’t be a reason to review them again if the content did not change.

Right?

The original book, or what I think was the original book, was a Berkley anthology from two years ago (2005) called, as you might have guessed by now, THE NAKED TRUTH. The stories are by by Donna Kauffman, Beverly Brandt, Alesia Holliday, Erin McCarthy. Sound familiar? Do you see the confusion – same authors, same title, same publisher. Is it the same book or no? I would think it had to be the same book, but I could be wrong. If this is the same book, I do like the 2007 cover better (for whatever that’s worth).

Anyone know? Is the THE NAKED TRUTH (2007 version) really a different book from THE NAKED TRUTH (the 2005 version) or did Romantic Times make a mistake in reviewing it a second time or did Berkley change something?

Or, am I missing something obvious…?

UPDATE: Faygie Levy, the Executive Editor of RT BOOKreviews Magazine, was nice enough to write and explain the confusion. She says:

That totally makes sense. So, if you buy this book – and you should – do not complain that you did not know it was a reissue. You’ve been warned.