Title: A Perfect Darkness

Author: Jaime Rush

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Avon
Publishing Date:January 27, 2009
Paperback: 384 pages

Stand Alone or Series: Book 1 in the Offspring series

Summary:
They live ordinary lives, but they are extraordinary. They are the Offspring, children of a mysterious experiment gone awry—and they are in terrible danger.

Lucas and Amy share a psychic gift—a gift that could put them in mortal danger. And as they share night after night of savage passion, as a shadowy government conspiracy tracks their every move, they will fight to save each other. But only with their powers of second sight can they escape the terror of a perfect darkness.

Why Did I Read the Book: Full disclosure: The publisher asked us if we would like to read the book and potentially review it. I thought the blurb sounded intriguing (“X-Files meets Roswell” – I am so there) and said yes.

Review: Amy Shane is a loner. A computer geek who runs her own one-person company specialised in retrieving data from damaged hard drives. She has no friends or family and she avoids people as much as she can expect for her neighbour Ozzie, her “uncle” Cyrus and an unknown man who visits her in her dreams and with whom she has very erotic encounters.

She prefers to life this isolated life part because of her own self-esteem issues (which are described later in the book, as “abandonment issues” – she has no parents) but also because Amy can see other people’s auras – or Glows – which pretty much tell her their feelings and intentions.

Until this one night, when a stranger breaks into her house, wakes her up and tells her that her father did not commit suicide, that she is one of the Offsprings and that she might be in danger. He says his name is Lucas and that they are not strangers. Before he can say anything else, FBI agents burst in and take him away. Amy is pretty shaken up by this and calls Cyrus (who works for the CIA) who promptly tells her that Lucas was a lying psychopath wanted by the law but Amy doesn’t believe him. She smells fowl play – the FBI agents didn’t even interrogate her – and she decides to investigate further. Mysterious circumstances lead her to an art gallery owned by a Lucas Vanderwyck where she sees paintings of her dreams! And she realises Lucas and the man that comes to her are the same person. Not only that, she meets two other people, siblings Eric and Petra Arruda, who are also Offsprings and Lucas’ foster family.

She learns that all of them have a few things in common: they lost one or two parents when they were a child and they all have psychic gifts. Eric, Petra and Lucas have only recently learnt that they are the so-called Offsprings wanted by the Government for these very same powers. Taking Lucas is only one of the step in the conspiracy led by a villain who wants to use their powers in the name of Country (or is it?). Amy is now adamant that they need to save him – especially when he visits her again in his dream and tells her he is not going to make it and that she should not try to save him – and find out more about what it means to be an Offspring.

I absolutely loved the premise of the book – the conspiracy and the idea of the “Offspring”. As a paranormal reader who reads mostly books with vampires, changelings, angels and demons, to have the prospect of Psychic powers (dream-weavers, seers, aura-readers, pyrotechnics all in one series!) was rather refreshing. I especially liked the fact that the book had very cool fact-paced action sequences, an intriguing mystery and that we found out everything at the same time the Offspring did – even the powers that they had. We get the point of view of all of them – Eric, Lucas, Petra, Rand and Amy and as an ensemble story , A Perfect Darkness does really work. Each of the characters has its own moment, its own power and its own personality and I thoroughly enjoyed that.

But.

I really wish that the series was marketed as UF with romantic elements rather than Paranormal Romance because unfortunately the “romance” aspect does not work very well. For starters Lucas and Amy spend most of the book apart meeting only in dreams when there is very little talk and a lot of sex. And yet, Amy finds herself professing her love for Lucas really fast and easy whilst at the same time feeling herself unworthy of his love (time and again she would think: he loves me! he loves me? But I am not lovable nor pretty!) . This woe –is-me tendency (which Lucas shared by the way: Oh noes, I will put her in danger she cannot know I love her) does not even ring true to a character that got right in the thick of action and did really well for herself by escaping the FBI and CIA and joining (crazed) Eric and Petra in the effort of rescuing Lucas. Lucas was the more interesting half of the romantic aspect of the book with a lot of potential for darkness as his dream-weaving and future predicting powers got him acting like a vigilante and doing things that sets him firmly in the morally grey area but there is hardly any repercussions for what he has done; nor there is any mention of the fact it is utterly FREAKISH and STALKERY to have him visiting Amy is her dreams and having sex with her when he knows the dream is actually happening and she doesn’t. Speaking of the sex, they were my least favourite parts – not only because it smelt of “required sex to make this a paranormal romance” but because I am not sure the author is used to writing sex scenes. They came across as so unnatural and almost scientific. There is one in particular where there is mention to “vaginal walls” and clenching of Kegel muscles and to say I was detached from it, is to put it very mildly.

To be perfectly fair, both Lucas and Amy will be regular characters in the next books as well and I am hoping their story will carry on – and his moral ambiguity as well as Eric’s will be further explored – parallel to the other Offspring. This seems to be what the author has in mind, in any case. If so, I think the series DOES have a lot of potential.

Even though I thought the romance did not work and the writing was not the best I have seen lately, I liked the action, the premise , the other Offspring (there are Ultra Offspring, you know) and the grey areas that some of the characters inhabit. As a first book in a new series this is a mixed bag of good and bad but the good just about tips the scale towards an “I will read the second one to see how it goes”.

Notable Quotes/ Parts: I REALLY liked the final sequences with the Offspring recuing another one of them from the Government Facility. It was a really cool, action packed sequence that brought all 5 of them together. I am looking forward to see where they go from there. Plus, I really like Rand and his ability to see 10 seconds into the future.

Verdict: Good paranormal premise but uninspiring romance writing. It has potential to become a good series though and I will read the second one.

Rating: 5

Reading Next: Rewriting Monday by Jodi Thomas

A couple of days ago we came across an intriguing question posed online — “What’s your Scott and Jean?”

As part of a Mega-Blog Crossover Event, the crew over at Alert Nerd posed the above question to Geeks around the blogosphere. Here’s the basic rundown:

The Background: Such an awesome theme could only have been birthed on Twitter. Simply put, when someone says “that’s my Scott and Jean,” it essentially means “that’s my geek sacred cow.” It’s the issue/coupling/whatever that you pretty much can’t discuss because you are too passionate about it and it makes you too crazy. You might hear perfectly reasonable arguments against said coupling/issue/whatever, but you cannot process them. It’s like That One Thing. It could be something like “Scott Summers and Jean Grey are supposed to be together and that is just how it is.” Or maybe “the new Battlestar Galactica does not exist for me because it is not the old Battlestar Galactica.” Or “The only correct portrayals of Batman are the ones that contain X, Y, and Z.” You get the idea. It’s your nerd mental block. Throughout the day on Monday they will be updating the Master List as the entries go up – you can read what makes people crazy HERE- The Master List

Naturally, we Smugglers were foaming at the mouth when we read this scintillating description. Although we’re really not huge Scott and Jean fans (we far prefer Scott with Emma Frost to be fair, and it’s really ALL about Rogue and Gambit for the X-Men fangirls in us), we can appreciate this theme perfectly.

In fact, when we read this post, we immediately zeroed in on our shared Geek Mindblock — it is, after all, one of the things that brought us together in the first place.

So to answer this very serious question, our “Scott and Jean” is…

Jack Shephard. The Jacksus. The Chosen Leader. He Who Walks Among Us But Is Not One Of Us. Or, more accurately: The disgustingly hairy, snivelling, episode-hogging pansyass wunderdoktor from LOST.

You know that inky feeling of darkness, that HATE with the entirety of one’s soul for a certain something? (Thea: I have this feeling primairly for sports — especially any team from Boston, i.e. the Celtics and Patriots. And USC football. GO LAKERS! GO BRUINS!) (Ana: I ONLY have this feeling for Jack Shephard. And papayas. I freaking HATE papayas.)

Well, this is exactly how we feel about The Jacksus (Jack Shephard’s true name since, like Jesus, he is the Chosen One and can Do No Wrong). Maybe there are compelling arguments for Jack as a character or as a leader (Thea: If there are, I sure as hell haven’t seen them. *snorts* Good luck trying to make those arguments, Jack-fans) (Ana: I second that) . But honestly, NOTHING could change our opinion of him.

As we’ve mentioned many times before, we met on LOST forums, and really bonded over our shared love for Skate (that’s the Sawyer and Kate ship) — but the glue that really solidified our friendship was our shared loathing and mockage of Teh Jack. Over at our main forum haunt, we even created a Jackshrine; that is, a special subforum, dedicated solely to the Awesomeness that is Jack Shephard (Thea and Ana: *snorts*).

WARNING: If you are a Jack-fan you may want to avert your eyes NOW. Seriously, do not carry on if you love the guy. You may realise you have been living a lie all these years. You have been warned.

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Hello and a good Sunday to everybody!

Let’s see what we have on the menu for this week, shall we?

This week on The Book Smugglers:

Monday – we kick start the week by taking part in a very cool Blogging Event organised by Alert Nerd and invite you all to take part as well:

What’s Your Scott and Jean?

The Date: March 30

The Theme: What’s Your Scott and Jean?

The Background: Such an awesome theme could only have been birthed on Twitter. Simply put, when someone says “that’s my Scott and Jean,” it essentially means “that’s my geek sacred cow.” It’s the issue/coupling/whatever that you pretty much can’t discuss because you are too passionate about it and it makes you too crazy. You might hear perfectly reasonable arguments against said coupling/issue/whatever, but you cannot process them. It’s like That One Thing. It could be something like “Scott Summers and Jean Grey are supposed to be together and that is just how it is.” Or maybe “the new Battlestar Galactica does not exist for me because it is not the old Battlestar Galactica.” Or “The only correct portrayals of Batman are the ones that contain X, Y, and Z.” You get the idea. It’s your nerd mental block.
The Participants: (thus far) Alert Nerd, Fantastic Fangirls, Faust’s Fantastically Fantasmagoric Forum, Geeked , The Discriminating FanGirl and …maybe YOU?

Here’s what you do: on March 30 (which, incidentally, is the date that the issue of X-Men featuring Jean and Scott’s wedding debuted), write up a blog post delving into the question What’s Your Scott and Jean? Send your link to sarah AT alertnerd DOT com. We will add you to our master blog post and you can link back to said post. It will be delightful for all involved.

Either that, or it will just cause a bunch of new arguments! Hurrah!

Tomorrow you will learn the true extent of Thea and Ana’s crazy, passionate geekiness soul. I bet you can’t wait, can you?

Tuesday – Ana will review A Perfect Darkness by Jaime Rush, the first in a brand new paranormal series called The Offspring

Wednesday – Thea will be reviewing a Fantasy book, A Feast of Souls Book 1 of the Magister Trilogy by C.S. Friedman

On Thursday – Ana reviews Rewriting Monday by prolific writer Jodi Thomas.

And on Friday, the author will be here with a guest post about “Inspirations and Influences” a brand new feature here at our casa, and she will be giving away a signed copy of the book as well.

And of course, on Saturday the usual Lost Recap. Next up is a Sayid- Centric

And folks…..Thea comes back at the end of the week (and this is why I am so well-behaved with this stash. I am getting back on track….) ! Hip-Hip Hooraaaaaaaaay!

From the series: Ana Must Read These or DIE:

Kmont from the Lurv a La Mode blog wrote a fantastic review of upcoming release Street Magic by Caitlin Kittredge

Now, on top of being REALLY anxious to read her upcoming Black and White (which she writes with Jackie Kessler) , I will also be nervously anticipating this one.

And we now got the cover for the next Julia Quinn novel: What Happens in London.

Here is the Blurb:

Olivia Bevelstoke might be falling in love.
Harry Valentine might not be who he says he is.
And they both might be in very big trouble, indeed…

This book is the sequel to The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever. Now, I am a HUGE Julia Quinn fan, I read all of her books and the only one I did not like was Miranda Cheever. I am a mess about this upcoming book: a mix of dread and hope. Let’s see how it goes! It sounds good though: light and funny, the way I like my Quinn’s.

And finally: Where is Ann Aguirre???

The Blue Diablo Virtual Tour is going strong: check out her upcoming appearances and for more chances to win a copy of Blue Diablo.

Blue Diablo Virtual Tour:
Guest blog at Jennifer’s Random Musings — March 25
Guest blog at Magical Musings — March 26
Guest blog at SciFi Chick — March 27
Guest blog at Angieville — March 30
Interview at Lurve a la Mode — March 31
Guest blog at Babbling about Books — April 1
Guest blog at Fantasy Cafe — April 2
Guest blog at Stacy’s Place on Earth — April 3
Interview at Confessions of a Romance Addict — April 6
Guest blog at The Book Smugglers — April 7
Guest blog at Writer Unboxed — April 7
Interview at Cynthia Eden’s blog — April 8
Guest blog at The Thrillionth Page — April 9
Guest blog at Reading Adventures — April 10
Guest blog at Urban Fantasy Land — April 13
Guest blog at The Book Binge — April 14
Guest blog at Ramblings on Romance — April 15
Guest blog at Fantasy Debut — April 16
Guest blog at The Discriminating Fangirl — April 17
Guest blog at Cubie’s Confections — April 20

This is it for today, folks! See you around!

This week in our Lost recap: Season 5 Episode 9 – Namaste

The episode opens and our people are in the plane. I am guessing we are going to find out what happened to the non-O6ers? Frank is piloting and the co-pilot is all can you believe that guy? The one with the curly hair? he is one of the O6 and he is flying again! Frank is all like a-ha

The guy is our Hurley of course who when the plane starts to shake is all like: dude you better fasten your seat belt.

Then Swoooosh, they are gone. We know what happened to them..but…

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Title: Smooth Talking Stranger

Author:Lisa Kleypas

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publishing Date: March 31st, 2009
Hardcover: 384 pages

Stand Alone or Series: 3rd book in Travis’ family series but can be read as a stand alone.

Summary: Ella Varner has it all–a successful career as an advice columnist, a handsome boyfriend, and a circle of friends in Austin. When anyone has a problem, Ella knows the answers.

But one night she receives a call that changes everything. And as Ella’s world is turned upside-down, she meets a man who is the opposite of everything she ever wanted . . . a man who will offer her the most irresistible challenge she has ever known .

Why did I read the book: It’s a Lisa Kleypas!!!!

Review:

It is no secret I am a HUGE Lisa Kleypas fan. One of the best weeks here at The Book Smugglers was the Lisa Kleypas Appreciation Week last year when we had reviews, guest posts, a special about the Wallflowers and an interview with the author which was, without a doubt, one of the greatest moments of my reading/reviewing life. Lisa Kleypas is responsible for many books I adore and the creator of the one and only Sebastian St. Vincent (Devil in Winter), my all time favourite romance hero. Her previous contemporary, Blue-Eyed Devil, released last year, was an amazing book and it made my top 10 of 2008. It should come as no surprise that I was extremely excited about Smooth Talking Stranger and I even expected it to make my shortlist top reads of 2009.

Bearing all that in mind, it is with a heavy heart and not a small amount of sadness that I say that Smooth Talking Stranger did not work for me at all. It started out ok, I liked both protagonists and of course, there was the always reliable Lisa Kleypas’ wonderful writing and boy, can the woman write amazing heroes and fantastic sexual tension and anticipation. But the more I read it, the less I liked it and it all comes down to Ella, the heroine and to the way her character came across to me. Add to that a couple of gripes with other minor points and ergo, what was minor, became major and marred my overall enjoyment.

The basics: Ella Varner is an advice columnist who signs her column as “Miss Independent”– she is a feminist who doesn’t hate men but who also doesn’t think women need men to be complete. She has been in a stable relationship with environmentalist friendly Dane, for a few years. Her life is all well and the way she likes it to be until one day she gets a phone call from her mother to say her sister had a baby, no one knows who the father is and she left the baby, Luke with their mother and joined a rehab clinic. Then we learn about Ella’s horrible childhood: with a mother who went from man to man (some of them abusive to the children) and is still a man-eater to this day and how this had repercussions to the lives of the two sisters. Ella had therapy and broke away from the family and made a life she was proud of but her sister did not follow the same healthy path.

Their mother, who is not an example of maternal care at all, does not want anything to do with the baby and Ella has no choice but to take Luke under her care, precipitating a lot of changes in her life. For starters, her partner Dane does not want children not even for a few months and Ella is left alone to deal – I truly admired her for that and for being capable of great sacrifices for her sister and for a baby who was after all, an innocent in all that. But then she decides the best course of action is to try and find the baby’s father.

This is my gripe number 1: even though she is in contact with the sister who KNOWS who the father is, who tells her she will be back in 3 months to get the baby and decide what to do then, Ella still thinks it’s a good idea to go knocking at men’s doors to ask for paternity tests. Where is Miss Independent here? Why can’t she wait for a few months? The first candidate is our hero, millionaire business men / playboy Jack Travis who had one date with her sister and who denies he has slept with her. The baby cannot possibly be his. Ella doesn’t believe him but he is intrigued by her and decides to do a test anyway. Very soon all is cleared up and the baby is not Jack’s – and he decides to help her finding the real father. They decide without any real proof that it MUST be the man that helped her sister to go to the clinic . This is my gripe number 2: would an intelligent, accomplished, rich man like Jack Travis agree that this is a good idea? Apparently so, because that’s exactly what he does.

Now, the relationship between Jack and Ella grows in parallel to the Baby Problem. On top of becoming attached to a baby that was not hers, could never be hers , Ella was also becoming attached to a man who was everything she did not want or need in a man: Jack is a very possessive alpha male who was the marrying kind and who kept pushing Ella to the limits of her safe existence.

Then there comes gripe number 3: they have unprotected sex – no condoms are used. Now, I know that once I became a romance reader, it is as if I signed an invisible “Terms and Conditions” in which I agreed to suspend disbelief and let some things pass for the sake of a good story, the unprotected sex in contemporary novels being one of them. Usually, I am able to take a deep breath, and let it go by saying to myself, “hey, it happens in real life too, there IS such a thing as ‘the heat of the moment’”. However I couldn’t for the life of me, respect Jack or Ella as characters after this. Not only because Jack says previously:

“First, I never have sex without holstering the gun”

And Ella says:

“When Dane and I had sex, we used condoms, spermicide, and the pill.”

But because these two have spent the whole book up to that point dealing with the serious issue of a baby who was the outcome of unprotected sex! I mean, what does that say about two characters who are supposed to be REALLY intelligent?

I fully appreciate the fact that the issues above are more like nitpicking issues that most probably the majority of readers will not even consider given the awesomeness that is Jack’s character and he is incredible: 100% typical Lisa Kleypas hero – which means, MADE of awesome.

But then, I have to go back to Ella again. Ella does not believe in marriage, she is very much into her career, and she doesn’t need Jack. Yet, as she says about herself – she is completely temptable and everything that she is – or is supposed to be- crumble down pretty easy and pretty fast when she is faced with Hurricane Jack. And this is my major gripe with her character and the way it is developed or rather, under-developed. She starts the book sharing Dane’s health and environment beliefs. She is even a Vegan because of him. Yes, it is all mostly for his sake but these traits that “Miss Independent” has are completely forgotten once she gets involved with Jack. I need to make it clear that I have nothing against the “power of love” helping people getting over their past not do I have any problems with characters (or people) re-evaluating what is important to them or not. This is really what happens to Ella here: she changes her values about life but not in a clear way. It’s like it all happens and she is not conscious about the fact that she has serious identity issues and she jumps from one relationship to another and I felt these issues were not properly addressed. To make matters worse she only comes to the realisation about her love for Jack via a contrived plot device that I usually am not happy about when it’s used to “make” character realise they love each other and in this case is even worse because it happens on the very same day that something else occurs (how is that for cryptic) and to be honest: Jack deserved better. I kept waiting for something to be written that would clarify Ella’s issues for me – one page, one paragraph, anything, but it never happened. The frustration is even worse because I know Lisa Kleypas can write identity crisis very very well.

Jane from Dear Author wrote an interesting post about Smooth Talking Stranger and The Power of The Comfort Read and how despite some issues she could identify in the book, at the end of the day, the book was a comfort read to her. I can completely relate to that and man, you have NO IDEA how much I wish I had felt the same about Smooth Talking Stranger.

I know I am probably in the minority when it comes to this book but there was simply no chemistry between Smooth Talking Stranger and I. It is a great testimony to Lisa Kleypas’ wonderful skills as a writer that even though I had many problems I still devoured the book like a packet of yogurt covered banana chips – my favourite snack.

It wasn’t meant to be. Now, I shall await with great anticipation her next contemporary, her next historical, heck, her next laundry list.

Notable Quotes/ Parts: Lisa Kleypas CAN write sexual tension and sex scenes in ways that always make me sigh. Like this one quote, right after they have sex:

When he finally caught his breath, he muttered a few curses. I had to bury a shaky laugh in the covers, because I understood. I felt as if, somehow, a thing that was entirely ordinary had been reinvented, and the two of us along with it.

Verdict: A fantastic hero in a story that did not work for me.

Rating: I am torn about this one – part of me wants to give it a 4 because I was so frustrated, but I know other people will like it (many have already). A 5 , then.

Reading next: A Perfect Darkness by Jaime Rush

Our regular readers may have noticed two trends over the past few weeks: firstly, that I am ridiculously, shamefully behind on responding to comments and catching up on posts around the blogosphere; and secondly, that I’ve been on something of a Young Adult kick lately (just take a look-see at all these YA reviews — AND I have a review for Graceling coming up next week).

I have been an avid reader for all of my life — according to my parents), when I was four I tricked my preschool teacher into thinking I had a second grade reading level (I didn’t really. I used to have those read-along books with the cassette tapes — you know, the ones that have that chime sound when you’re supposed to turn the page? — and I had memorized the text from the cassette audio. Unfortunately for devious young me, while initially it was smooth sailing with the reading scam, I misplaced one of those chime-turn-the-page-reminders, so while I had remembered all the words, I was on the wrong page. I digress). And as such, some of my favorite most cherished books are young adult novels. Eloise Jarvis McGraw, Tamora Pierce, Christopher Pike, Carolyn Keene, Garth Nix, heck even Francine Pascal! These are the authors I grew up with and loved as a young girl, and they have forever endeared me to the genre.

In recent years, with the advent of Harry Potter and Twilight, Young Adult novels are all the rage. Adult genre authors are increasingly turning to younger readers — bestselling authors the likes of James Patterson, Richelle Mead, Kelley Armstrong, and Neil Gaiman, to name a few. These young adult novels are for all ages, often tackling some hefty, dark issues and often conveying these themes far more effectively than their adult counterparts. I, at the ripe old age of 24, love these young adult novels — it’s the second section I rush to at the bookstore. And I know that many adult readers are with me (if the international domination of J.K.Rowling and Stephenie Meyer are any indication)!

But one thing I often overlook or forget about is, what about the target audience? What do young adults themselves think of young adult books? How do they connect with what they read (if they read at all)?

And who better to talk about young adult books than a young adult? Taking advantage of being home for the first time in years (my family lives overseas), I had to ask my ten year-old sister what she thinks about books, what some of her favorites are, and what she loves to read. Without further ado, I give you my talented, wonderful baby sister, Tara.

Thea: So kiddo, do you like to read? What kind of books do you like the most?

Tara: I looooove to read. And I loooove sci-fi and fantasy books.

Thea: Can you tell us what some of your favorite books are?

Tara: Endymion Spring by Matthew Skelton, Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordian, and City of Ember by Jeanne Duprau.

Thea: You’ve started a blog of your own haven’t you? Do you like reviewing books?

Tara: The name of my blog is Flash Book (www.flashbook-tara99.blogspot.com). Yeah, I love reviewing books! They’re really great.

Thea: Do your friends like to read too?

Tara: Yeah, as my best friend Vanessa says, “Who doesn’t?!”

And here’s Tara’s very own review of the book and film, The City of Ember!

City of Ember Movie & Book

Summary: A box is closed by many people. They seal it for 200 years. All the builders have built an underground city called Ember. The box is given to the first mayor of Ember. It is passed on & on until one mayor dies & loses it. 200 years later the box clicks open. In the city there are many blackouts. All the 12 year old children are going to pick jobs. Lina Mayfleet is late. They are all given jobs. One boy is given engineer, which is the job Doon Harrow wanted. Lina Mayfleet picked pipe worker/plumber. Doon Harrow picked Messenger, but that is what Lina wanted so Doon & Lina trade jobs. Lina gets to work right away and Doon does too. Lina goes home and sees her grandma messing up the house. She also finds her sister, Poppy, chewing up pieces of paper. She also uncovers a strange silver box. She tells Doon and cracks the code on the box. It is about how to get out of Ember. They get into a bunch of trouble. Soon they uncover the world. The sun rises and they write a letter and attach it to a rock and throw it down into a big hole where Ember is.

What’s good about this book/movie? I think that the idea of the story is amazing. The basic mystery or whatever genre you think it is is awesome. I LOVED how the story ends. I know the book has sequels, but I have no clue about sequels for the movie.

What I didn’t like? How they made children get jobs at 12! That’s nuts! Who would do that, they are just kids!

Why do I think YOU should read it? Watch the movie and you will fall in love with the book. Wanna know how I picked up the book and read it? The movie, it was so interesting! Then I saw City of Ember in my school library. I thought it would be completely different but there are only a couple of differences! I am still wondering about the sequel to the book!

It is a must read. Go to your local bookstore and buy it!

**********

Thank you, Tara for the awesome review and for answering my annoying questions! And now I’ll have to find myself a copy of City of Ember!

(Well, we’re actually jumping the gun a bit)

The 2009 RITA and Golden Heart Finalists have just been announced! AND, we Smugglers are very proud that two of our favorite authors have been nominated for these prestigious awards.

We offer a whole-hearted cheer of congratulations to:

Nalini Singh for Mine to Possess as a RITA Finalist for Paranormal Romance. We are both Nalini Singh fans (in fact, Ana is a self-professed Nalini-Singh-aholic) — just check out our Nalini Singh Extravaganza, our interview with Nalini, our Angels’ Blood special (including an interview with the heroine of the novel, Elena Deveraux), or Nalini’s Smugglivus Post!

You can check out Ana’s review of the RITA nominated Mine to Possess HERE .

AND congratulations to…

The fabulous Meljean Brook, a 2009 RITA Finalist in the Romance Novella category for “Thicker Than Blood”!!!!!!

Both of us are, again, major Meljean fangirls. We love her Guardians Series (just check out all our reviews and Meljean love), and have had the great pleasure of having Meljean over for interviews, talking about her inspirations, and for Smugglivus too. (Not to mention, Meljean is just one of the coolest people on teh internets. Just check out her fabulous blog!)

You can check out our review of the now RITA nominated novella “Thicker Than Blood” HERE.

CONGRATULATIONS TO NALINI AND MELJEAN!!! We have our fingers and toes crossed for you!

And, of course, congrats to all the other RITA and Golden Heart finalists as well.

Title: A Taste of Magic

Author: Tracy Madison

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Publisher:Love Spell
Publishing Date:February 24, 2009
Paperback:292 Pages

Stand Alone/ Series: Book 1 in a series but can be read as stand alone

Why did I read the Book: I was asked by the author if I would like to read and potentially review her book. I read the blurb, it sounded like it could be a fun read so I said yes.

Summary:Elizabeth Stevens is one bite away from happiness.

But today, Liz is about to receive a gift. Her Grandma Verda isn’t just wacky; she’s a little witchy. An ancient gypsy magic has been passed through her family bloodline for generations, and it’s Liz’s turn to be empowered. Henceforth, everything she bakes will have a dash of delight and a pinch of wishes-can-come-true. From her hunky policeman neighbor, to her gorgeous personal trainer, to her bum of an ex-husband, everyone Liz knows is going to taste her power. Revenge is sweet…and it’s only the first dish to be served.

Review:
Elizabeth Stevens is a 34 year old divorcee who runs, along with her best friend Jon, A Taste of Magic Bakery. It’s been exactly one year since her husband Mark left her for his lover who are now getting married and Elizabeth has been hired by a third party to bake their wedding cake. She can’t say no, as the Bakery is not doing very well at the moment and they really need to repay a loan Mark gave them before they can get back on their feet. To add insult to the injury, Elizabeth hasn’t dated for a year, she is not at the top of her form and her small apartment still has unopened boxes from the time she moved out of the house she shared with her husband one year ago.

It’s time for a change. And change comes when her grandmother Verda, presents her with a very special gift on her 35th birthday: the ability to do magic. Their family come from an ancient Gypsy lineage and the women– one in each generation – have the gift of magic that needs to be passed on. Elizabeth’s mother refused the gift (she is a non-believer) and Verda decides that Elizabeth is the perfect recipient – if only because the magic works both ways: Elizabeth will use to help others but it will, first and foremost help herself. Each woman develops the gift differently according to their own special talents and Elizabeth’s will surface when she bakes. At first by accident, then on purpose, whatever Elizabeth wishes for a person she is baking something for, the wish will come true once they eat it.
It takes some time for Elizabeth to get used to the idea and for her to learn how to use her powers and for the wishes to WORK effectively and it’s interesting to see how every action has a consequence and some of the things she wishes for end up backfiring and she needs to fix them. However, even though the book is characterised as “Paranormal Romance” and the “Magic” element is very strong in the story, I thought it was when plot deviated from the “para” towards the “normal” that A Taste of Magic really came alive to me and I could see great potential for Tracy Madison as a contemporary romance writer.

The story is narrated in first person by Elizabeth and she is a great character – her voice is funny, smart and often self-deprecating. And for the greatest part, A Taste of Magic is a light, amusing read. It is hilarious to see her first steps towards flirting and getting dates again. Or her first encounter with her neighbour Nate, who is a cop, when she is stuck in half way through her bathroom window, trying to get into her flat, because she is drunk after a night out and can’t find her keys. And how life changes when two men become attracted to her, not only Nate – who is really the hero of the piece, although he doesn’t appear as much as one would like – but also Kevin, her personal trainer from the gym.

But what really stroke a cord with me were the more intimate moments when Elizabeth analyses her life, looks back at this year that has past and what has she done with her time or when she thinks back to her marriage with Mark. Or her dealings with her sister (protagonist of the next book). Or thinks about the future. Some of these moments are really painful – almost too painful for Elizabeth and the reader:

“ I felt like someone had erased me and I had to learn to draw myself all over again, only I didn’t know which pencil to use.”

And I wish I could have seen more of Elizabeth’s voyage of self-re-discovery on her own – without the help of Magic. Although to be fair, the author did not use the Magic aspect to make it easy for her, in the end it probably made things more difficult.

Ultimately, there was enough magic – if you’ll excuse my lame pun – in the genuine affections shared by Elizabeth and her family and friends to make this an enjoyable read without the need for the paranormal element. And Nate, oh how wish we could have seen more of Elizabeth and Nate’s interactions. THAT would have been magical.

Notable Quotes/ Parts:

Standing up, I looked – really looked – at my apartment. I didn’t like what I saw. (…) When I’d moved out of the house Marc and I shared for so long, I couldn’t have cared less about furnishings. I just wanted it over with, and I didn’t want to drag along any physical reminders. One quick trip to Valu-Mart had done the trick. A cheap black couch set, fake wood end tables, no-frills lamps, a bed minus a headboard, a wood-composite desk, half-opened boxes, and the laundry baskets I kept my clothes in rounded my furnishings. I hadn’t even bothered to buy a real dresser. I’d been living like this for nearly a year, and it hadn’t bothered me once in that entire time. I mean, I had food, a place to sleep, a roof over my head – what else did I need?

I sat on my bed and hugged a pillow. Why I hadn’t seen this before, I didn’t know. I hadn’t been living. Not really. More like existing: just getting from one day to the next as quickly as possible. My chest grew tight and heavy. The room swam as my eyes filled with tears. It seemed the entire year of misery bombarded me at once.

No. I didn’t want this. I needed to learn how to breathe again. To see in color again. And yes, I had to figure out how to live again. I was ready for a change.

No, more than that. I needed a change. Merely existing could kiss my ass

Verdict:Light and funny with some really touching moments. The paranormal aspects did not work for me but can work for other readers.

Rating: 6, good.

Reading Next:Smooth Talking Stranger by Lisa Kleypas

Title: Princess of the Midnight Ball

Author: Jessica Day George

Genre: Fantasy, Fairy Tale Retelling, Young Adult

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Publication Date: January 2009
Hardcover: 288 pages

Stand alone or series: Stand alone novel, based on The Twelve Dancing Princesses fairy tale.

Why did I read this book: Pimptastic honorary smuggler Karen Mahoney strikes AGAIN! I had heard about this book on her blog, and was taken in by the pretty cover and the retelling of a slightly lesser known fairy tale.

Summary: (from Amazon.com)
A tale of twelve princesses doomed to dance until dawn… Galen is a young soldier returning from war; Rose is one of twelve princesses condemned to dance each night for the King Under Stone. Together Galen and Rose will search for a way to break the curse that forces the princesses to dance at the midnight balls. All they need is one invisibility cloak, a black wool chain knit with enchanted silver needles, and that most critical ingredient of all—true love—to conquer their foes in the dark halls below. But malevolent forces are working against them above ground as well, and as cruel as the King Under Stone has seemed, his wrath is mere irritation compared to the evil that awaits Galen and Rose in the brighter world above.

Captivating from start to finish, Jessica Day George’s take on the Grimms’ tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses demonstrates yet again her mastery at spinning something entirely fresh out of a story you thought you knew.

Review:

Born of an ill-advised deal struck by their mother, the twelve princesses of Westfalin mysteriously manage to wear out their delicate dancing slippers night after night even though they are under lock and key. Unbeknownst to their father the king, the princesses’ mother agreed to a deal with an ancient evil imprisoned in an underground realm. In exchange for the birth of her daughters and peace and victory for Westfalin, The dread King Under Stone orders that the Queen dance for him every night at the Midnight Ball in his dark realm — and when she dies, the curse passes to her twelve daughters, whom Under Stone plans to marry to his twelve sons. Night after night of dancing, the princesses are sick and completely drained of energy and their frantic father offers a desperate contest to any prince of the realm: within three nights discover the secret of the princesses’ dancing shoes, and be granted marriage to one of his daughters. Prince after prince attempts to discover the girls’ secret, to no avail. Even worse, each prince that takes on the challenge soon finds himself dead of tragic “accidents.” The princesses are powerless to even speak of their curse, and the situation has never seemed more dire as the neighboring kingdoms begin to suspect the Westfalin King of treachery.

That is, until a youth of poor birth but noble heart decides to give it a try.

Young Galen is a soldier, having fought for Westfalin since his birth. After the war, he travels to the kingdom to find his aunt and seek work in return for food and shelter. His uncle works in the royal gardens, and soon Galen does too, pruning and planting the flowers the late Queen loved so dearly — and he meets and is instantly struck by Rose, the eldest of the twelve princesses. Aided by a magical cloak, Galen follows the girls into Under Stone’s realm, and not only discovers the secret of the dancing shoes, but desperately endeavors to save the princesses and break the curse of Under Stone for good.

Princess of the Midnight Ball is an incredibly loyal retelling of the original fairy tale, deviating only to enhance characters and create a compelling backstory. I happen to be a sucker for retellings, especially ones that take big chances and deviate significantly from the original tale (Elizabeth C. Bunce’s stellar debut novel, A Curse Dark As Gold comes to mind). In the case of Princess of the Midnight Ball however, little deviation is necessary; instead the book elaborates on the simple fairy tale, painting a swath of political instability, and creating characters that make bad decisions born of good intentions. And it works completely to the book’s charm. The only major — and much more palatable — changes to the original fairy tale is that the princesses go to the ball against their will (via the curse), and the soldier who uncovers the princesses’ secret is a young war-weary soldier, as opposed to an older veteran.

In terms of plotting, this is a simple fairy tale — a brave, worthy young man falls in love with a princess and helps break the curse on her by virtue of knowledge and magical items he has gained through his good and noble deeds. The characters are similarly simplistic; Galen is unfalteringly brave and heroic, Rose is a loving, protective older sister, the King is goodhearted and worried for his daughters, and Under Stone is diabolically evil. Though I will say there are some nice touches that add spice to these characters — I loved Galen’s handiness with knitting (as a soldier, he needed to be able to mend his own socks), and the larger role knitting played overall in the story. Still, the most interesting characters in my opinion were the unfortunate Queen (whom we meet only at the beginning of the book as she strikes her bargain with Under Stone, and then throughout the book in journals), the sons of Under Stone (who do what their father bids them, though there is some tension and fear there), and the elder magicians from the first battle with Under Stone. These less straightforward characters lent some much needed variety to an otherwise rudimentary cast.

At its heart, Princess of the Midnight Ball is truly a novel for Young Adults. It’s an enchanting, if straightforward, tale about good and love triumphing over evil, curses bought and broken, and happy ever-afters. Which isn’t a bad thing — sometimes you want to read the happy stuff. This is a book I would definitely recommend to younger readers (for example, I would have no qualms giving this book to my 10 year-old sister), though older more seasoned readers looking for something grittier might be disappointed.

Notable Quotes/Parts: I loved the depictions of Under Stone’s realm; especially the beautiful, haunting descriptions of the Midnight Ball.

Additional Thoughts: For those who may not be familiar with the Twelve Danng Princesses myth here’s the rundown (courtesy of wikipedia):

Twelve princesses slept in twelve beds in the same room; every night their doors were securely locked, but in the morning their shoes were found to be worn through as if they had been dancing all night.

The king, perplexed, promised his kingdom and a daughter to any man who could discover the princesses’ secret within three days and three nights, but those who failed within the set time limit would be put to death.

An old soldier returned from war came to the king’s call after several princes had failed in the endeavour to discover the princesses’ secret. Whilst traveling through a wood he came upon an old woman, who gave him an invisibility cloak and told him not to eat or drink anything given to him by one of the princesses who would come to him in the evening, and to pretend to be fast asleep after the princess left.

The soldier was well received at the palace just as the others had been and indeed, in the evening, the eldest princess came to his chamber and offered him a cup of wine. The soldier, remembering the old woman’s advice, threw it away secretly and began to snore very loudly as if asleep.

The princesses, sure that the soldier was asleep, dressed themselves in fine clothes and escaped from their room by a trap door in the floor. The soldier, seeing this, donned his invisibility cloak and followed them down. He trod on the gown of the youngest princess, whose cry to her sisters that all was not right was rebuffed by the eldest. The passageway led them to three groves of trees; the first having leaves of silver, the second of gold, and the third of diamonds. The soldier, wishing for a token, broke off a twig as evidence. They walked on until they came upon a great lake. Twelve boats with twelve princes in them were waiting. Each princess went into one, and the soldier stepped into the same boat as the youngest. The young prince in the boat rowed slowly, unaware that the soldier was causing the boat to be heavy. The youngest princess complained that the prince was not rowing fast enough, not knowing the soldier was in the boat. On the other side of the lake was a castle, into which all the princesses went and danced the night away.

The princesses danced until their shoes were worn through and they were obliged to leave. This strange adventure went on the second and third nights, and everything happened just as before, except that on the third night the soldier carried away a golden cup as a token of where he had been. When it came time for him to declare the princesses’ secret, he went before the king with the three branches and the golden cup, and told the king all he had seen. The princesses saw there was no use to deny the truth, and confessed. The soldier chose the eldest princess as his bride for he was not a very young man, and was made the king’s heir.

Verdict: A solid, lighthearted read. I enjoyed this novel, even though I was looking for more substantive fare. Definitely recommended for anyone that wants a quick, happy read — and especially recommended for the target audience young adults!

Rating: 7 Very Good

Reading Next: Feast of Souls by C.S. Friedman

Title: Revealed

Author: Kate Noble

Genre: Historical Romance

Publisher: Berkley
Publishing Date: March 3, 2009
Paperback: 400 pages

Stand alone or series: Stand alone (but there is a sequel in the works with one of the secondary characters.

Why did I read the book: I received a review copy from Berkley. I had not heard from this author before and I had no idea what to expect. I decided to read it because I liked the cover – simple as that.

Summary: Phillippa Benning is the unrivaled beauty of the Season. But when another lady challenges her for a marquis’s attentions, Phillippa entices him to a secret rendezvous—only to stumble upon The Blue Raven, England’s most famous spy, lurking at the site of her planned tryst.

The Blue Raven has uncovered an enemy plot directed at upcoming society functions, but he’s unable to infiltrate London society. Phillippa makes an offer: in exchange for entrée among the ton, he agrees to have his true identity revealed at the Benning Ball—guaranteeing her unrivaled notoriety. As the danger draws closer, the mysterious spy and Phillippa give in to mutual desire. But when the game turns deadly, betrayal waits around the corner, and Phillippa must decide once and for all—is it the myth that captured her heart, or the man?

Review:

I decided to read Revealed on a whim –I had never heard of the author before nor did I read any reviews of the book online: I simply liked the cover and the title. As it turns out, and you will have to excuse me for the pun (I can never seem to avoid them), the book was a Revelation and I am completely head over heels in love with it. I am a reader who is in the constant lookout for that precious combination of characterisation, plot and writing that will speak to me both emotionally and intellectually and I thought Revealed was one of those hidden treasures.

Starting with the characters.

But, first an aside. I am a fan of the romance genre and I pride myself in championing the genre as much as I can. But sometimes I do get tired – I get tired of what seems to me, the same rehashed characters, plots, conventions, formulas and I am forever looking for something that is different. (I find the same is true for Fantasy though – I guess the same can be said about any genre fiction).

The characters in Revealed are different from what I am used to reading in Romance; Phillippa Benning is not your run-of-the- mill heroine. In fact, she is the direct opposite of most historical romance heroines. Simply put, Phillippa is like the rival or the villain that gives the usual heroine from any other romance novel, hell. The one we all love to hate: the most beautiful woman of the ton, the one that everyone follows, that sets the rules. The one that is fashionable, ruthless, rich, egoist, hedonist, whose life is to parade her new dresses to the mindless sheep of the Haute Ton from Ball to Ball, turning faces and having fun. A widow who is on the look-out for a new husband amongst the best of the best and in direct competition with a childhood rival. At first it seems, that there is nothing to commend Phillippa to the reader – except for the subtle aspects of her personality that are revealed to the reader, little by little, one sentence here, another there; generally inserted in the middle of the flow of her thoughts to point out that she is much more clever than she lets out and that she is fully aware that her life is nothing but appearances and there is more substance to be uncovered.

The person to do it, the other protagonist, is Mr Marcus Worth. Someone who, in the eyes of Phillippa, at least to start with, is not worthy of too much attention. A not too specially handsome 3rd son, who works for the government and who does not stand out in the crowd. They don’t pay much attention to each other until they have one of their interactions and Phillippa tries to play one of her games with him:

Phillippa laid a small, gloved hand on his shirt and brought her eyes up, shyly, to meet his, which were a dullish brown, with perhaps some hazel in them. His hair was a similar shade of dullish brown, uninspiring, not worthy of a single swoon. Indeed, aside from his height, Mr Worth fell into the category of most men: pleasingly formed, handsome enough in an unobjectionable and totally uninteresting way.

Now, most men would have fallen into blushes and stutters, entranced at the notion of having her undivided attention, not to mention the intimacy of her hand placed lightly on their shirtfront. Unfortunately, Mr Worth chose this particular moment, for likely the first time in his life, to distinguish himself from the category of Most Men

Later that same evening is when the tables are turned for good and we are introduced to the plot of the book: Phillippa overhears a desperate Marcus and another member of the Ministry of War talking about a plan to hit the Ton’s upcoming Balls with a mysterious purpose. No one will believe Marcus – who believes a French spy who is supposed to be dead is back to life and will strike again. All he has is a list of all the events that will happen in the season and his instincts to guide him. He needs help infiltrating the parties but being Bad Ton he can’t. Phillippa, who believes Marcus to be the famous spy Blue Raven who fought the French offers a bargain: she will get him free access to the events if he will allow her to reveal his identity in the last event of the season: her own Benning Ball. This will surely grant her immortality, success , fame!

Marcus, at first obviously says no to such absurd offer but as time passes and he can’t get an invitation to the first event he sees no other alternative than to agree to it. And this is when they realise there is more to it than they wanted: Phillippa comes to grasp the significance of what she got herself into and feels fear but also the urge to help solving the mystery, whereas Marcus finds out that there is a true brain behind the mask of civility that she wears in society.

They work together and they become friends, soon enough, he is the first person she looks for once she arrives at the parties because she can talk to him and he comes to truly respect her.

And the investigation carries on, the twists come from left and right – this is a spy story that is full of tension and I was extremely (and pleasantly) surprised at how things played out in the end.

The point is: the plot works. It is a good mystery with some unresolved issues –which I am eager to learn more about in future novels. The characterisation works: both characters are revealed to the reader and to each other gradually and there is nothing EXTREME about either of them – and this is what is so refreshing about Revealed and sets it apart in the romance world. Phillippa does not turn out to be repentant and become a do-gooder heroine nor does the unassuming hero proves to be greatest Spy of all history , or the best lover of the Ton, nor does he has a Title hidden somewhere: he is a beta character who he is so good natured and with such a nice sense of humour. It is really a simple, organic, believable, natural love story between two people.

Which brings me to the writing. I am forever looking for good, different prose – and I found Kate Noble’ s to be both beautiful and clever as evidenced by the use of a simple sentence in this book:

“It’s just me” .

Both Phillippa and Marcus use that throughout the book. To begin with, it is a means of introduction, of saying hello. Then it becomes their signature greeting. Then, it becomes full of meaning and towards the ending it made me melt faster than a block of ice in the Brazilian Summer whenever they used it specially during their sex scene. But the sentence is also about identity, which is after all, the theme of the novel and the point of conflict between them: would they love each for who they really were: Marcus being just Marcus and Phillippa being just Phillippa?

One thing is certain: Revealed is not just a simple romance novel, it is a damn good one.

Notable Quotes/ Parts:

It was the oddest thing, but Philippa was beginning to think there was something wrong with her hands. Whenever Marcus took her hand in his as they stepped through the turns, she felt it.

Which is ridiculous, because of course she felt it, she did have a sense of touch that would tell her whether or not someone had taken her hand. But it was stronger that that. It was as if her hand, without consulting her own thoughts, was especially attuned to being held in the hand of Mr Marcus Worth. And as such, whenever he released her hand, it felt the lack of his.

Additional Thoughts: This was quite of a warm novel. There is nothing extreme about the sex– so habitually these days, I see sex in romance novels being over used, often in a drearily commonplace manner to the point that makes it either laughable (like having the hero walking around in a constant state of excitement like a human tripod) or tiresome with endless pages of sex scenes at an odd moment of the novel (not so long ago, I read one where the hero and heroine were crossing Hell – HELL- fighting grave peril and mortal danger and decide to engage in hot sex while at it) . The sex in Revealed is very warm with one sex scene and two kisses before that – and it’s all the better for that. It feels all very organic (I used that word before, but it is so fitting) and simple and it is beautiful when it finally happens. Not trite at all.

Does anybody else feel like that? Have you reached a point where you skim sex scenes in your romance novels?

Verdict: Good writing, engaging spy story, different characters; sweet and funny – what’s not to like?

Rating: 9 – Damn Near Perfection

Reading Next: A Taste of Magic by Tracy Madison