Review up at Smexy Books

Come see what I thought of Nalini Singh's Archangel's Kiss.

Your Language SHOCKS Me!

Regular readers of this blog know that I have a new eReader. I've been enjoying reading a variety of books on it. The last one that I read was an Ellora's Cave erotic romance. The premise was yummy, contestant on one of those chef competitions falls for one of the judges. Much sexorating commences.

I thought that the premise was unusual, and that the characters were compelling. But something kept pulling me out of the story. The sex. Which of course, is bad when it's an erotic romance. What kept pulling me out of the story was the author's use of words that I find to be remarkably unsexy. Refering to lady parts as "bush" or "muff" is just...blechy to me. I mean, really yucky.

The books also had all sorts of throbbing members. But it was the lady parts referral that really made my go "Ew!" Not that I'm prudish, but I find I have lots of "rules" when referring to lady parts. And I get it's a tough row to hoe for authors. I find that if an author is too clinical, I'm drawn out of the story. I'll never forget reading an erotic romance that referred to a woman's "pudenda". Now look, that IS the clinical term for it. But is there anything LESS sexy sounding than a pudenda?? I don't think so. Then again, one also can't be too porny. Bush or Muff in my little world are "boy" words. No woman in her right mind refers to her lady parts as "my muff" even when you're making with the sexy talk.

Like I said, I know this is a tough line to walk for authors. But, reading words like that can really draw me from a story.

What about you? Are there words you read during a sex scene in a romance that will draw you from the story? Or instances that you can think of where the wrong word choice made you grade a book down, or worse, put it aside?

In Which Kati Regrets...

You know how sometimes other romance readers say things like "Seriously! You've got to read Such-and-Such author!" and you nod and say you totally will, and then, you just...don't?

Yeah, that was me with Josh Lanyon. I knew from multiple sources that Josh was the bomb. LBea is the head cheerleader for Josh. And Tracy loves him. And so does Renee. Ditto the Red-Headed Book-Pimp. But, I dunno. I just, didn't read him. Until this week.

You see, I have a shiny new eReader and have been casting around for some books to read. And I hit upon the first two Adrien English mysteries. So while this is not a review, I'll talk a bit about what I loved about both books.

Adrien's Voice: We know Adrien is handsome because he seriously has no problem attracting men. He's smart, and snotty and sarcastic. But it's the smart that makes him compelling to me. He makes references obscure literary texts, and adores mysteries, and is fast enough to quip on his feet. All of this makes him tremendously likeable. I will say that his voice has a definite feminine feel to me. Not that he's girly, but he's pretty self-aware for a guy. On top of that, he's an amateur sleuth. Now, if he were a real person, I'd imagine he'd take issue with my saying that. But Adrien is a magnet for trouble and then feels very strongly that he needs to solve every mystery that comes his way. That leads to tension. Delicous tension between Adrien and...Jake.

Jake Riordan: I already know, having only read two books that Jake is going to alternate between pissing me off utterly, and completely delighting me. He's a total guy-guy. And seriously closeted. Going so far as to say he's going to marry and woman and have kids with her (poor woman, whoever she is). And yet, he frequents gay leather clubs, and is the king of hot/cold signals. He's strapping and protective, and foul tempered, and calls Adrien "Baby" which makes me melt a little. Jake is, in my opinion, the ideal romance hero. Except that his dickhead factor might be a bit high. LBea tells me that I should prepare to be disappointed in Jake. And I'm sure she's right. I'm sure at some point I'll be sighing "Dammit, Jake!" But for now, I dig him.

Anyway, my point is that I should have listened to the many, many readers in my life who told me "You gotta read Josh!" now that I have, I'll never doubt again!

What author have you tried after multiple recommendations and been pleasantly surprised? Do you read Josh Lanyon? If so, what series of his is your favorite?

Things I've Learned This Week

1- Prescriptives has gone out of business. How did I find this out? Today when I went to Macy's to have the magical Prescriptives lady mix up my custom foundation makeup (which costs a friggin' fortune, but is worth every penny) , and was informed by four, count them four, perky women that Prescriptives is no longer in business. What?!!!! The cutest of the four women had to literally talk me off the ledge. I've been wearing Prescriptives for more than 10 years! And they're out of business?? What? But, young, perky girl did manage to find an Estee Lauder foundation that will work for me. As she slathered it on my face, all I could think was, "Damn it! I loved that stuff!" But, you've go to love opportunistic, perky, young salesgirls who know how to capitalize on a sale! Natalie (that's her name) used to sell Prescriptives, and she's "just pooositive" that I'll *love* Estee Lauder too. Maybe it's the Eeyore in me, but I doubt it.

2- Can Curling really be considered a sport? I understand, having watched the latest episode of Real Sports, that Canadian curlers are like rock stars, instantly recognizable. But I give you two arguements why it's not a real sport: #1 - There is a woman on the Canadian curling team who is five months pregnant. Now look, I think pregnant women can do anything they want. But compete at the Olympic level while that pregnant? I'm not sure. #2 - There is a special place in the Curling Hall of Fame (who knew?!) for the GUYS WHO MAKE THE ICE. Really? The ice maker guy can be a future hall of famer? Really?

3- Actual Hall of Famer Darrell Green, who is easily may all time favorite Redskins celebrated his 50th birthday by running a 4.43 second 40 yard dash. That's fast, y'all. Like, lightening fast. Part of Green's legend is that on his 40th birthday, while he was still a Redskin, he came to the day when all of the players had to run the 40 yard dash and he didn't have the right shoes with him. He borrowed another player's who had feet about his size. That day, he ran a 4.32 second 40. In borrowed shoes. So, basically, in a decade, Darrell Green has slowed down by one tenth of a second. Wow.

So that's what I've learned, as of Thursday of this week. What have you learned this week??

Confounded!

So, I mentioned yesterday that I have fallen in love with the Adrien English series by Josh Lanyon. I am blowing through the first omnibus and have been trying for two days now to order the next three books through Loose ID, the publisher.

But I'm having ALL KINDS of problems! I've tried IE and Firefox and still have been unable to complete the order. I've contacted their help department, who have been very responsive, and gone through all of the steps that they suggested to resolve the issues and am still unable to complete my order.

It's like books 3, 4 & 5 are out there, mocking me. And it's killing me! I suppose I could order them in print, but the whole point of having an eReader is to try to avoid as much as possible buy print books. Plus, well, they're cheaper electronically.

Anwyay, here's the error I keep getting:

BusinessException:COrder::SaveOrder DataAccessException:COrderAddressAccess::InsertOrderAddress Exception Error: DataAccessException:CDBFullAccess::Update Exception Error: DataAccessException:Error has occurred Table : OrderAddresses Message: The statement has been terminated. String or binary data would be truncated.

Like I said, it's not that Loose ID hasn't been helpful, they have. Just...they haven't fixed my issue. So, I wondered, does anyone out there have any suggestions for me??

In Which Kati Emerges from the Abyss

Hi! Ya'll thought I'd forgotten that I had a blog, didn't you?? Nope. Just busy and then, honestly? Lazy!

Lots and lots of junk to cover. And we're OFF!

READING: I have fallen in love with my eReader. It's strangely addictive and delightful. Thanks to the book fairy (THANK YOU, BOOK FAIRY!!), it's stocked with a variety of eBooks, and I'm blowing through them. What I love most about it is that I can change my mind about what to read in a nano-second. So far I've read Archangel's Kiss by Nalini Singh (far and away my favorite read of the year, review at Mandi's soon), Hold on Tight by Stephanie Tyler (love this series!), and the first Adrien English mystery by Josh Lanyon (why, oh why did I wait SO long to read this series?). Of course, the fact that I own an eReader does NOT seem to be precluding my purchasing actual books as well. I picked up Connie Brockway's The Golden Season just the other day.

LAUNCH: So, most of you know I was in Florida last week for the launch of the Space Shuttle. It was glorious and magical, and exhausting. The launch scrubbed the first night at T-9 minutes, due to weather, which meant that we did it all again the next night. I don't believe I've been up all night two nights in a row since I was in college. And frankly, after last week, I completely remember why. Yup, still an 8 hours a night girl. Anyway, as most of you know, Washington was hit by it's second 20+ inches snow storm (Snowmaggedon) while I was in Florida. Which meant I was delayed by a day getting home. I rolled into home at about midnight Monday night, and was up and at them to get to the laundromat (our washer and dryer are broken and being replaced this weekend) and the grocery store before Big Storm #3 (Snowverload). I got back just in time for the blizzard to pick up. The good news was, the Federal Government was closed down through Thursday, and I'd already taken Thursday and Friday as comp days for working the launch. So, with the President's Day holiday, I got a week off. Go figure. It was delightful and unexpected. Anyway, the shot next to this blurb is one taken by the NASA photographers. A night launch is truly a glorious thing. Lift off literally lights the night sky like broad daylight. You can't imagine the glory of it...and the noise. You feel it in your diaphragm, that's for sure.

MOVIES: I finally saw Twilight. And I'll say this: #1 I really didn't much care for it. I feel pretty strongly that RPatz and Kristen Stewart, who I find to be very whiny for someone who is making so much money, had no chemistry whatsoever. #2, I do NOT get the fuss over RPatz. In fact, I really believe I wouldn't find him hot if I were 12 years old.

I also went and saw Valentine's Day this weekend with my friend, Shannon, while Scott watched the Daytona 500. It was cute. In a totally unmemorable way. It starred pretty much everyone on the planet. And the problem was that no one really had a storyline that they dedicated enough time to. I will say this, Ashton Kutcher? Seriously cute. And I still love me some Jennifer Garner. But this is definitely a "wait til it comes out on HBO" type of movie.

TV: I'm watching LOST, although I missed last night's epi so I could watch Westminster, which I've blogged about before. I love me some Westminster Kennel Club show. I rooted hard for the doxies, and one finished in the top 4 of the hound group. I think that the Scottie who won was adorable, and she showed well, but in my opinion, the doberman should have won. She was on fire last night, and stacked out like nobody's business everytime the judge looked at her. Anyway, I'm also still completely in love with Modern Family. The Valentine's Day episode last week had me in absolute stitches.

OTHER: I finally got to visit with my sister this weekend. It's totally my fault that we haven't seen each other. With almost every other weekend spent in Richmond, my home relationships are suffering. I need to do a better job with that. Anyway, it was fun to catch up with her. We got to spend the bulk of an afternoon together and talked about everything. As my brother-in-law Brad says, "There's nothing the Dancy women do so well as chat."

What's going on with you? Reading anything good? Seen any good movies?

Want...

28 Days of Heart Campaign

I was incredibly flattered to be asked by All Romance eBooks (an organization that I've recently begun supporting with WAY too much money) to participate in their 28 Days of Heart campaign, which will raise both funds and awareness of Heart Disease, something that certainly has hit my family.

Here are the details on the campaign:
Beginning February 1, 2010, ARe, the digital bookseller that owns All Romance and OmniLit, will release one new novella per day for twenty-eight consecutive days. All proceeds from the sale of these shorts, which will be offered exclusively on AllRomance.com and OmniLit.com as individual eBooks, will be donated to the American Heart Association.

How awesome is that??

Anyway, in addition, they are interviewing a variety of romance reviewers, and they asked me to be part of the group, which is incredibly flattering.

My interview can be found here, along with those of some seriously kick ass bloggers, all of whom I follow!

If you're at all an eBook reader, please consider supporting this worthy and wonderful cause!