Angieville

It must be mine. Kate's braid makes me happy. It's so Kate. As does Slayer. And the fact that she just looks so much more like Kate in general than the girl on the original cover of Magic Bites . That little "Includes First Time in Print Bonus Material" teaser doesn't hurt either. Not one bit.

It will likely not surprise you that I can exhibit curmudgeonly tendencies from time to time. This probably explains why I did not sign up for any events during Utah Book Month. However, Jessica of The Bluestocking Society tracked me down and proposed an interview with the lovely Victoria Dahl . And I'm so glad she did, because I had just downloaded my first Dahl book that very day. So clearly it was fate. I read Lead Me On and very much enjoyed it. Victoria brings both a wicked sense of humor and layered characterization to her writing. And it was with pleasure I fired off a few questions. So without further ado, please help me offer up a warm welcome to Victoria Dahl! Confession: I’m a relatively recent newcomer to the romance genre and I’m fascinated by other readers’ entry points. You started reading romance at the age of 12. What was your gateway book and what made you pick it up in the first place? Oh, I’m not sure I can remember! I started reading romances because m...

Retro Friday is a weekly meme hosted here at Angieville and focuses on reviewing books from the past. This can be an old favorite, an under-the-radar book you think deserves more attention, something woefully out of print, etc. Everyone is welcome to join in at any time! A couple of weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to attend a Shakespeare Festival in a small town down south. DH and I have gone three times in the last few years, as children and time off work permitted, and each time it's been an utter delight. This year we went with some good friends so it was twice as fun. One afternoon we were in between plays, and I was determined to get back to this little used bookstore we'd visited the last time we made it down. For many years now, I have been involved in a prolonged and illustrious love affair with used bookstores. This one is my latest crush. I walked in the door, wandered over to the YA section, and lo and behold the exact edition of Lloyd Alexander's The Bl...

Mine wasn't the only birthday around these parts lately. These two had them in the last little while as well. I don't post a ton of family stuff here, but I do enjoy documenting the odd birthday and Halloween costume. So here they are, ages 4 & 1. 

My birthday occurred last week and it was a lovely one, filled with sleeping in, unexpected flowers and jelly beans, Boston-style pizza, and cake made to order. But it started off in the wee hours with the best part. Just after midnight, DH asked me if I wanted to open the first part of my present. "How many parts are there?" I asked curiously. "Three," he replied. After some thought, I agreed and he brought out a promising package, just the right size and shape to fill my heart with anticipation. I quickly unwrapped it and slid it out of its protective clear, plastic slipcase. Beauty . The one I'd been wanting. For ages. "It's a signed, first edition," he said. They all were, as it turned out.  And I opened one later that day. And one the following day. Two Robin McKinleys and a Mary Stewart (Signed! I'd never even seen one of those before.) The boy knows me well, doesn't he? I also received a stack of shiny, new pretties from my...

So how many of you out there follow Patricia Briggs ' Alpha and Omega series as well as her Mercy Thompson one? I'm always curious about how many followers the offshoot series get as compared to the flagship ones. This has been on my mind, especially in light of Ilona Andrews ' Gunmetal Magic recently making its debut (more to come on that one soon). I was torn at first with the notion of this series, though. First of all, I love the tiny glimpses of Charles we get in Mercy's world. And I was insanely curious about the Marrok's  hit man  son and how he would fare in his own story. At the same time, no Mercy? No Adam? But potentially more Bran . . . THE EMOTIONS!  I have them. So back when the introductory novella first came out, I picked it up in a Barnes & Noble and stood there reading the first pages. Just to see. You understand. Well, I ended up finishing it right there. Standing in the bookstore. I immediately purchased it and began counting down the day...

I won this book awhile back in a giveaway over at The Happily Ever After . It's a slender little hardback novella by Lisa Kleypas , an author I've read all of one book by. To be honest, I wasn't all that enthused by that one, and I haven't been back since. But something about Christine's review of this one made me think it might be time to give Ms. Kleypas another shot. And what better way to do that than with a genre I don't think I've actually ever read before: a Christmas-themed contemporary romance novella? Right? Never say never, though. So it arrived, and I let it sit on my nightstand for a few months (naturally). And (naturally) when it was basically the polar opposite of Christmas, I decided to pick it up and have a go. I was not disappointed. After his sister dies in a car accident, Mark Nolan finds himself appointed the guardian of his six-year-old niece Holly. Though the Nolan family was never what you'd call tight, he and his brother Sam ...

It wasn't any one single review of Her Best Worst Mistake that led me to give Sarah Mayberry a try. It was just the general rumblings making their way through my little portion of the blogosphere. Most recently, Kenda dubbed it "The Biggest Sparkle for My Romance Buck" in her mid-year roundup . Collectively, these sparkly rumblings convinced me to purchase the ebook and see if it was my kind of story. On the surface of things, the cover gave me a Julie James vibe (always a good thing). It also happens to perfectly match one of my favorite scenes in the book, a feat that always earns big points with me. And the fact that it's a contemporary romance set in England did my Sarra Manning -loving little heart good.  Her Best Worst Mistake   is Mayberry's latest release. It is in ebook form only (at this point) and is both a novella and a spin-off of her earlier Blaze novel Hot Island Nights . In Mayberry's words, "Both stories can be read in isolation and ...

My introduction to Liza Palmer 's books came via the excellent Seeing Me Naked , a book that held so much more for me than the title (or cover) seemed to imply. I've reread it and handed it to so many people since then, and I've been looking forward to the release of More Like Her for some time now. I purchased my copy back when it was released and then just . . . held onto it (as I often do) for the right night. And though I went in expecting it this time, Ms. Palmer surprised me with the level of ambition with which she approached this novel. Once again, I think the cover (which I quite like) is quietly deceptive as to its contents, though those red shoes do seem more ominous than they did when I originally picked it up. I kind of love that. The title I find perfectly fitting as well. So. Frances and her best friend Jill are guidance counselors at the prestigious Markham School--a prep academy in San Francisco. Having recently and unwillingly become single again afte...

Remember awhile back when I posted the rants and raves proceedings of my Super Secret Book Group's take on The Fault in Our Stars ? Well, we've got shiny new digs now, and our latest YAck is up. This month we digested Laini Taylor 's lauded Daughter of Smoke and Bone , and the results were interesting to say the least. I held off on reviewing this one back when I originally read it because my emotions . . . they were complex. The YAckers read was the perfect opportunity to process them. So if you're looking for a diversion, drop on by and find out why the angelfatuation rubbed me seven kinds of wrong, who ate it up with a spoon, who was conflicted, and whether or not I was "the lone downer" as Donna put it.