Liz Loves Books

Suddenly there are lines of asterisks separating some of the paragraphs. I can't discern a pattern.

The heroine gets anything she wants just by wishing for it, from healing the head merman to Xanax and cigarettes.  She is very polite about it.  She ends every wish with "PLEASE!"

The spelling has improved somewhat and I haven't noticed any misused words recently. But now the fairies are crying because their pine trees are fuschia.  These are apparently tears of joy.

Oh no. I think they are going to play truth or dare.

It is still very funny-bad.

There are fairies, with matching wings and hair:  pink, blue, purple with red streaks (2 of these). Their skin sparkles.

I am not sure what type of beings the heroine's other subjects are.  I thought they were all fairies but the author has made a point of differentiating this latest batch as fairies.  I do know that her head guard (with whom she has been having vaguely described  sex since the night of her arrival in Wishland) has the special ability to remove objects from the shirt he is wearing when he has twice been described as shirtless in the same paragraph.

The heroine has wished for wine and music and turned the palace into a dance club. That's as far as she's gotten with her mission of restoring happiness to Wishland but then she's only been there two days.

The heroine's best friend (Maggy) has been captured by the villain (Zaltare).  So far Zaltare has retrieved Maggy's clothes from her home on Earth and had vaguely described sex with her twice.  And fed her breakfast.  I think he is about to take her on a tour after they finish the vaguely described sex. But I'm sure he is going to do something villainous soon.

Holy carp this thing is awful!  It's so bad I'm considering reading all of it.

One character just made 4 "word robe" changes.  The dialogue reads like 13 year olds on a sugar rush.  The descriptions use the word amazing so often I feel like I am reading a transcript of The Bachelor. And it keeps switching between past and present tense.  Also, an old historic Victorian house is old.

The premise seems to be cute but I am having difficulty relating to a woman who hates buying expensive vintage jewelry at estate sales with someone else's money.

I am going to trudge forward until the sexy stranger dude tells the heroine she is secretly a magical goddess.  If it is still funny-bad at that point I might keep going. It's been a while since I've had something this funny-bad to read.

I gotta stop for the night ... but there has been a "gulf ball" sized diamond in the story.  Twice.  So, not a typo.

I am requesting opinions and information from anyone who would like to share regarding:

1.  The Authors Guild, generally and specifically their positions regarding e-publishing, non-legacy publishers, self-publishing, other groups representing authors and/or intellectual property rights.  (Yes, I know that's a lot!)

2.  Groups representing and/or purporting to represent authors, generally.

3.  The Authors Alliance, generally and specifically their positions regarding e-publishing, non-legacy publishers, self-publishing, other groups representing authors and/or intellectual property rights.  (Yes, again, I know that's a lot!)

By anyone, I mean anyone who has an opinion, whether you are an author, a member of either of those groups or any other group representing an author, a reader, a bookseller, a publisher, a reviewer, an archivist or anyone else with an opinion on the subject.

Disclaimer:  My sister is an author published by a legacy publisher and I believe she is a member of the Authors Guild.  I am not an author, nor do I have any personal ties to any publisher or group that represents or purports to represent authors. 

I am not looking for an argument.  Rather, I am looking for a variety of opinions and any facts anyone may have before I form an opinion.  The only opinion I hold right now is that there are probably 6 to 15 sides to the story and most of what's being tossed around is to be taken with a grain of salt.  And that's why I'm looking for more information.  Plus I'm happy to give folks a forum to clear the air, or rant or whatever.  Just don't expect me to jump in taking a side.  My current opinion is:  I don't know.

How did I end up with another (sort of) secret baby book!?

I am going to try to briefly review this but I am not sure I can without throwing things or drinking heavily or both.  It is not badly written. Ms. Mallery puts words together well. Thus the 2.5 stars.  It is simply enraging, at least to me. Perhaps the cat on my lap will help keep the violence to a minimum.

There are spoilers and strong language behind the pagebreak. And some capslocks of rage.  But before I go there I must warn all prospective readers: 1. Secret baby, and 2. Deadbeat dad.  

I've spent the entire weekend battling a stomach bug and sleeping. I think I've managed to read 10 pages of Absolution - Kaylea Cross .  Since they mostly described a character receiving medical treatment that made her nauseous, I haven't been real inclined to push forward.  I have also discovered that listening (but not watching) the tennis channel helps me sleep more peacefully. Ka-thunk whoosh ka-thunk ....

I don't see the Playlist Book Challenge happening for me anytime soon.  I am so completely swamped with work that I barely have time to read.  I think I'll try to start it over Thanksgiving. Right now I am watching my cats play with my jacket, too tired to take it away from them.

Here is my full review of Forever and a Day (Lucky Harbor) - Jill Shalvis . I fear I am going to come off as too fangirly. I should also disclaim that at least a small part of my love for this book comes from relief that the series is back on track after At Last.  

There are elements in this book that could have wrecked it - a kid, a puppy and an angry young woman in a wheelchair all of whom could have individually or in combination overtaken the main couple.  I found Josh and Grace and their growing romance so engaging that there was never any chance they'd lose my attention.  I was captivated from the beginning. It's the first book I've read in a while that I didn't want to put down and most of my difficulty choosing my next book is because I didn't want Forever and a Day to be over.

Spoiler-filled details behind the pagebreak.

Update:

I started Dangerous Secrets and quickly figured out the offputting reviews were right to put me off.  I can safely DNF it. 

I'm going to go 2-3-1 with the rest.

I am trying to decide which book to read next.  I am choosing between:

1.  Hardcore teajerker
To the Ends of the Earth - Elizabeth Lowell 

2.  Last book in a series
Absolution - Kaylea Cross 

3.  HP crack
His Forbidden Bride (Wedlocked!) - Sara Craven 

4.  The oldest remaining book in the romance collection on my kindle
Dangerous Secrets (Tall, Dark, and Deadly) - Lisa Renee Jones 

Feel free to weigh in.  I won't actually decide until I'm on my way home from work tonight.  And I reserve the right to ignore everyone's suggestions and even choose something not on the above list. ;)

I will try to put together a full review tonight.

Forever and a Day (Lucky Harbor) - Jill Shalvis was great.  I was disappointed by the book just before this one (At Last) but Shalvis is back to form with Forever and a Day.  It is definitely romance, the characters are great and the story and HEA really worked for me.  This is probably my 2nd favorite in the series and depending on my mood it could be my favorite.  If At Last put you off on the series, you may want to give it a second chance with this one. 

This book is every bit as stupid as the title indicates and yet  I have read it in its entirety and I am now going to put the time and effort into writing a brief review of it. I know this begs the question, "Liz, WTF is wrong with you?"

I am a Harlequin Presents addict.  Usually they cause me to have a brief moment of tearful heartbreak followed by relief that the author managed to contrive a semi-plausible excuse for an HEA. Usually the hero is some sort of despicable ass who gets his comeuppance.

Not this time.  Oh no!

Starting this month, Amazon Prime members will be given one free Kindle book. The book will be a title that will be released during that month, and there is a selection of four books to choose from.

The optimistic me is excited. Who doesn't like a free* book? And also, hey, finally an Amazon feature I'll use (I signed up for Amazon prime in May or June and tired of their streaming features fairly quickly). The pessimistic side is skeptical. Why would Amazon give away a new release unless they are cleverly fishing for reviews.

Ah well. For now I'm just going to enjoy my free book and see how this plays out.

Anyone else get the email? Thoughts...Rants or Raves?

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
 *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post below in Linky. Add the post url, not your blog url. It's that simple.

Week 1, from Jacqueline Baird's Pregnancy of Revenge:

“Charlie stayed dumb.”

****

There could not possibly be a better description of the heroine of this book.  But that's what I get for being a Harlequin Presents addict.

This is probably the best I can do graphic wise with this particular theme.  Hopefully this suffices for those of you who are choosing to do the challenge.

The image in the back is from BackgroundLabs.com.

Personally speaking, I'm going to do the 15-Week challenge starting the beginning of next week.  Probably do the day themes on Tuesday/Thursday until the end of the challenge.

Have fun with it guys!

I have read horror longer than any other genre and this is the book I judge horror books by.  It's the book that began my fascination with psychological terror.  My fascination with ghosts and all things paranormal originated from living in a haunted house, but I think this book intensified it greatly.

I first encountered The Haunting of Hill House (Penguin Classics) - Shirley Jackson when I was about 10 years old and it was the 1963 movie version that my sister talked me into watching. I had nightmares for weeks after. Despite that, I loved it.  The 1963 movie is incredibly scary, but I think the book is even scarier.  I read it 4 years after seeing the movie for the first time. Before that I didn't realize a book could scare me that much. And it's not so much the ghosties that scare me, it's more Eleanor's psychological isolation.  Ms. Jackson had quite a gift for creating tension in her characters. 

I love We Have Always Lived in the Castle (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) - Shirley Jackson  as well but I think The Haunting of Hill House is a masterpiece and I think I could read it a hundred times and it would still scare the snot out of me.  

Edited to Add:

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!