Reading Romance: Bet Me, by Jennifer Crusie

Ebooks and audiobooks have expanded my reading horizons in ways that I never expected. Now that I can read samples and download audiobooks from the library onto my PC, I am willing to try all sorts of things that I'd never spend money on to try. (I'm cheap, and I don't take risks on unknown authors.)

I do a ton of contemporary quilting, and I like to listen to books while I do so. My library has a ton of romance audiobooks, but few of them are historicals. So I decided to give Jennifer Crusie a try. I know--how can I never have read Jennifer Crusie? Very simple: I don't like contemporaries. Or at least that's what I thought.

I cannot describe how much I enjoyed this book. It's spot on in so many ways--the heroine, Min, is plump, difficult, and independent. The beta hero is just . . . dreamy. Their interactions are funny and sweet and ring true in so many ways.

If I have any criticisms, it's that some of the secondary characters are one dimensional--the hero's mother, for example, is a stereotypical ice queen, while the heroine's is obsessed with her daughter's weight and getting her married off and not much else. Still, the dialogue and pace made up for these minor shortcomings. Like so many of Julia Quinn's characters, Crusie's are fundamentally decent. They're real people who are trying to do the right thing, survive heartache, and find love in the modern world. I can't believe it's taken me so long to discover Jennifer Crusie, but I'm glad that I finally did. I'll be buying her books from now on. And that might just mean that I now read [gasp] contemporaries.

Julia Spencer-Fleming's mystery series

I don't read a lot of contemporaries. Okay, I don't read any contemporary anything. If it isn't set in the past or the future, I tend to skip it. Not sure exactly why, except that I like stories that take me far away from the here and now. I also read very few mysteries, however this began to change when some really excellent character-driven mysteries began to appear and they were set in the past. I loved the medieval mystery series by Ariana Franklin (I'm still recovering from the fact that Ms Franklin's death left our hero in extremis). Then I discovered Deanna Raybourn's Victorian Lady Julia mysteries. I have the Regency-set What Angels Fear by C.S. Harris on my TBR pile and The Hanover Square Affair by Ashley Gardner loaded on my nook.

     All this leads me to my next point, which is that I've become a lot more adventurous in my reading since sample chapters are available for e-readers. Added to that is the fact that many older titles are available digitally for $5 or less. This means that a lot of readers, myself included, are exploring beyond their favorite genres and adding new books and new authors to their favorites.

     So, back to contemporaries. Not a fan. Add to that an infiedelity plot and I'm running in the other direction. Contemporaries get a lot of play at Dear Author, which I check out every day. The writing is good, there's always something new reviewed, and I sometimes find myself reading reviews and comments on contemporaries. Jane interviewed contemp mystery author Julia Spencer-Fleming (here's her website) a few weeks ago and I found the discussion really interesting, despite the fact that the title of the post included the words 'adulterer,' 'home wrecker,' and 'other woman.' Julia was giving away ARCs of her most recent book, One Was a Soldier, and I was sufficiently interested to toss my hat in the ring in the hopes of getting a copy. Well, I did. (Thank you, Jane and Julia!) Along with a lovely note from Julia herself.
     I hate starting in the middle of a series, so I tracked down the first book in this contemporary mystery series that involves infidelity, In the Bleak Midwinter, which I found at B&N for $2.99. Bottom line: I'm about half-way through and really enjoying it. Yes, it's a mystery, but it's very much a character-driven mystery with sympathetic principals and an excellent sense of place. I'll be posting a review soon.

The Amazing Lois McMaster Bujold on SFR

An amazing post by Lois McMaster Bujold on the relationship between SF and romance. I predict it will become a classic essay in the study of SFR. Thanks to Galaxy Express for the link.

And for extra-bonus amusement on this Wednesday, I include the cover of the forthcoming Love and Rockets anthology. Umm...what to say about this? I can appreciate the retro Barbarella-inspired concept, but this one should have been nixed in the mock-up stage. Nothing subtle about that phallic imagery. I was going to say 'symbolism,' but I think it's a bit too blatant to be a symbol.

I wish wish wish they'd assigned this to a designer who could take SFR seriously. I'm not suggesting it should be a clinch cover but, come on. Little green men? Really?

Lois M B wrote the introduction, which is almost enough to get me to buy the anthology despite the cover.

Book Covers: The Perfect Play, by Jaci Burton

Okay, I admit it. I'm a cover slut. This became undeniable when I got a look at The Perfect Play, by Jaci Burton (here's an excerpt). I don't read sports romances--they've just never appealed the same way that a pair of well-polished Hessians or the armor-plated chest of an alien mercenary does. And I rarely read contemporaries. But if any book (cover) could make me change my mind, it would have to be this one.

Meow!

As covers go, it's pretty much perfect. And that low-slung waistband is pure genius, IMHO. I realize that women, and some men, are drooling all over the interwebz about this cover, so I thought I'd track down the model and the cover artist. I don't think either models or artists are recognized enough in romance fiction. We certainly don't have any trouble complaining about bad covers, so let's give some well-deserved praise to those who are responsible for such good covers.

Just FYI, the model is Jed Hill who, according to his bio, played college ball for Penn State. Rita Frangie of Penguin is the cover designer (thanks to Jaci Burton, who responded super fast to my query on that).

Congrats, Jaci, on an amazing cover. We should all be so fortunate!