Started a new short story. Trying my hand at a funny paranormal romance. What's your favorite paranormal creature?

Kinda getting into this whole paranormal thing. What kind of paranormal creature hasn't been done yet? What's been overdone? coughvampires What's your favorite?

Taking the plunge...

Well, I've done it, love bugs. I've submitted my first short story. I told myself I'd have it revised and submitted before August 12, and, shockingly, I did it. I'd love to hear your first time submission stories. Living hell? Complete agony? Random opportunity?

New Orleans is romantic even when it rains. Especially when it rains.

Hooray!

The phone post worked! I realized I am woefully behind in my reviews. Well all I can say is that it's been one crazy summer. I hope to get things back underway in the next month or so (when the rug rats go back to school) so be sure to check back. I've been reading a lot this summer, especially novellas and short stories in epub format, and I'd like to have some discussion about crafting a relationship in such a short time span. I'll also be submitting my first piece, a short erotic romance set in Regency Scotland, so I'll be blogging from the front lines of first time submitters.

First post from phone

Hello love bugs!
I'm trying out this new mobile service. I hope it will make posting and discussion a little easier for me. I love technology.
E

February Review. Yes, I know it's almost April.

RUSHED TO THE ALTER by Jane Feather 2010 - this book was given to me by a friend.

England 1761
Respectable country miss Clarissa Astley runs off to London after her dastardly guardian, Uncle Luke, absconds with her little brother (and the Astley heir), ten-year-old Francis Astley. She manages not to get herself killed and takes a servant's room in a nunnery (brothel). She has received an anonymous letter informing her that Francis is in a "babby farm" and will likely die from neglect.

Jasper Sullivan, Earl of Blackwater, must find and marry a woman of ill-repute, a woman that needs saving, in order to inherit his Uncle's wealth. With creditors nipping at his heels, he devises a plan to find a prostitute, make her his mistress, marry her then wait out his Uncle's demise, at which point they'll get a *gasp* divorce. Well, an annulment.  Clarissa practically knocks him over in Covent Garden while she's stalking Luke, and Jasper decides that she will do. They eat, she storms off (a habit of hers) and Jasper follows her back to the nunnery. Clarissa has let him believe that she is a prostitute and gives him a fake last name because she doesn't want it to get back to Luke that she is in London.

Clarissa decides that becoming this man's mistress will be the only way to provide a safe place for Francis until she turns 21 and has legal guardianship of him. When she turns 21 in a few months, she'll just take Francis and run off, leaving all of her "earnings".

So I've read several Jane Feather books and this one felt very different from the others. For one thing, it was S-L-O-W. Sure it takes place over maybe two or three weeks, but I just kept thinking, When is something going to happen? Also, one of the elements of tension is that this is just a business arrangement: he'll dress her up, show her off, marry her (which feels inaccurate for the time period, pre-Regency), then divorce her on the grounds that the marriage was never consummated. How in the world do you convince a church that you never consummated a marriage with your mistress?   And Jasper's Uncle converts to Catholicism, which, even for a Black Sheep who wants to infuriate the rest of the family, is a stretch in 18th century England. Perhaps that's the point, but it feels insincere.

On the whole, this book was passably entertaining. The final scene with Uncle Luke was anti-climactic. Clarissa's virginity was dealt with in an interesting way. Was I able to put this book down? Yes.
Will it deter me from other Jane Feather books? Probably not.

Coming out of Hibernation...

So there's been an involuntary hiatus of my blog postings, but not to worry, love bugs. Things should be slipping into their normal routine soon...

January Review for the TBR Challenge: Mistress of Pleasure by Delilah Marvelle

So, here it is, my first review. I am participating in the TBR challenge this year, and my review of Delilah Marvelle’s Mistress of Pleasure is my first entry.

Let’s start with the heroine. Maybelle is the motherless granddaughter of a renowned French courtesan who raised Maybelle after her father’s death. I’ll try not to give away too much here, because getting to know Maybelle is a delight, but let’s just say she has a rather unusual upbringing, as her grandmother is very forthright about sex and her own sexuality.  Since Maybelle never plans on getting married, she doesn’t need to “save her virginity for her dowry,” so when she sees the Duke, Edmund, well – I’ll just say that Marvelle creates the most delicious tension right from the start.  

Maybelle’s grandmother, Madame de Maitenon (which I think of as a clever wordplay on the French, maintenant, or “now”), opens a school to educate men on seduction, but because of an illness, one that hints at being false, Maybelle must assume the grandmother’s duties as instructor at the school.

Edmund, our hero, (are they even called hero and heroine anymore?) is charming and masculine in an almost knock –you-over-the-head-and-drag-you-back-to-the-cave kinda way. A duke who hasn’t married yet because of the unsavory rumors surrounding his father’s death, Edmund has some hang-ups about love and marriage. The one niggle in the back of my mind was the apparent “cut “ the ton had given the Duke.  The Duke’s mother (a likable secondary character) indicates that there were few ladies of quality that were willing to marry Edmund, and of the few that were willing, Edmund found something wrong with them. This seems inaccurate, that a duke would have a hard time finding a willing bride in English Society, though I admit, I have only just started reading up on Regency and Victorian history. Nevertheless, this aspect didn’t detract from the story in the least.

Now for the topic you’ve all been waiting for: the sex. As indicated in a previous post, my mother in law calls this stuff filler, but I think relationships (in real life and in fiction) can be gauged by the kind of intimacies shared. Having said that, I would describe Maybelle and Edmund’s relationship to be adventurous, perilously exciting and a bit naughty. Toe-curling, really.

I enjoyed this book immensely. Maybelle is spunky and shy, assertive and determined. I like the way she handled Edmund. But I think the aspect I appreciate most about this book is the underlying theme of empowerment. Of taking stock of society and circumstances of birth, and of not being afraid to buck those rules in order to learn more about who you are and what makes you happy.

I would definitely recommend this book, particularly for those who are looking for a heroine that isn’t the typical sheltered miss. I am looking forward to reading more of Marvelle’s books, with the anticipation of becoming a Marvelle junkie.

Happy reading, Love Bugs.

Full disclosure: I purchased the ePub of this book through iBooks.