ATLANTIS UNMASKED by Alyssa Day & Books Which Slip Through the Cracks at Enduring Romance Through No Fault of Their Own

All us reviewers here at Enduring Romance read and review books out of love for great stories and a desire to help our fellow readers find the books they'll love. We don't get paid, except with free ARCs and we have very busy real lives outside the blogosphere. Once in a while a book which we meant to review will not get reviewed. I was just over at Romancing the Blog http://www.romancingtheblog.com/blog/ and noticed the advertisements for Alyssa Day's newest books, ATLANTIS UNLEASHED and ATLANTIS UNMASKED, and I thought, "Oh, crap, I don't think the first two books in her series got reviewed!" http://www.alyssaday.com/

What happened is Alyssa Day sent me the first two, but I was suddenly deluged with ARCs when they arrived. So, I packed them up and sent them to another reviewer. Since then, that reviewer has stopped reviewing for us, due to an even busier real life outside the blogosphere.

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Sometimes we have near-misses too. Just yesterday, author Lauren Hope emailed me because she couldn't get a hold of the reviewer who reviewed her first novel, HIDDEN SHADOWS. Well, it's smart to try to get the reviewer who loved your first book because odds are she'll love the second one too. Unfortunately, that reviewer has since been deluged by real life outside the blogosphere too. I looked up Ms. Hope's new book, CHASING SHADOWS,

loved the premise (estranged parents team up to rescue their baby) and asked her to send it to me instead. She did, electronically by the way. I have a groovy new mini-laptop, so I'm happy to read eBooks now too. http://laurenhope-booknews.blogspot.com/

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Then, there are books which slip through the cracks because of my own human error. I've been wanting to read and review WARLORD'S DAUGHTER by Susan Grant

since it came out in March of this year. You only have to click on Susan's name in the tags to know how much we enjjoy her stories here. But, alas, I still have not reviewed and I can't find it anywhere. How it slipped through the cracks when I was so excited about it, I have no idea. Such is life. MOONSTRUCK, also by Susan Grant, is up for the RITA, the most prestigious award in the Romance genre. http://susangrant.com/
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My policy here at Enduring Romance is we only do positive, or mostly positive reviews, because our goal is to help readers find the books they'll love. Think of us a matchmakers. We want the authors who write the books we love to keep writing and they can only do that if they make money for their publishers. So, when we choose books to review we only choose books we're sure we'll at least like. If an ARC arrives and I realize after a few pages in that I cannot read it or post a positive review, I mail it back at my own expense. I've only had to do that once. The book was beautifully written, but I didn't find out until a few pages in that it contained scenes of child rape and murder. Well, if you've hung out here long, you know how incredibly sensitive I am about children.

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So, if you're an author or author's associate who's sent an ARC to an Enduring Romance within the last three months and it still has not been reviewed, email me, Kimber An, and I'll try to track down what happened. However, if you sent an ARC which was not specifically requested, you should know that requested ARCs take priority.

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I'm still reading and reviewing right now, though not on a set schedule due to my new baby. Besides pregnancy bedrest, I'm also a clumsy nursing mother. I'm pinned down while my baby nurses, which means all I can do is sit there and read until she's finished. I'll get back on a regular blogging schedule in a couple of months.

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So, maybe you're wondering what I'm reading now. THE KING'S DAUGHTERS by Nathalie Mallet.
Her first book, PRINCES OF THE GOLDEN CAGE, was my favorite book of 2008. http://www.nathaliemallet.com/

AMAZON INK by Lori Devoti

You'd think being born an Amazon a woman would have it made and never want to do or be anything else. I mean, good grief, there's Wonder Woman with her brass bra and invisible airplane and Xena Warrior Princess with that really cool frisbie thing she pelts the bad guys with and it spins right back in her hand. But, you know, there's one terrifying creature not even an Amazon can defeat - a baby. As a nanny, I've seen the most powerful Real Life Kick-Butt Heroines transformed into mushy mamas in an instant. So, when I read about AMAZON INK over at Tia's book review blog, Fantasy Debut, I just had to have it. I emailed Ms. Devoti and she snail-mailed it right to me. http://fantasydebut.blogspot.com/

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As mushy as mamas can get with their babies, if you've ever encountered a mama Polar Bear you know they're anything but mushy when their cubs are threatened. This is why I am perpetually baffled why there are not more Kick-Butt Heroine Mamas in Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy. In fact, until AMAZON INK landed in my P.O. Box, I only knew of Susan Grant's heroines in her SFR novels, like CONTACT. But, I guess they don't have as many Polar Bears in New York City, where the big publishers hang out, as they do here in Alaska. Anyway... http://susangrant.com/

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Mel's an Amazon who's rejected her birth-culture and at first I couldn't imagine why. These woman are large in a good way and in charge. Men are toys to be used for one good thing and discarded.

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Over the centuries since they populated Greek mythology, they've adapted to life among humans who have little tolerance for their magic. Things got better once women got the Right to Vote in the United States, but they still have to move secretly. They've set up 'safe camps' for their Twelve Tribes.

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Mel rejected that life, took her daughter, and started a tatoo parlor with her mother and grandmother.

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Harmony (an interesting name for the daughter of such a conflicted woman) knows little of her true heritage and believes herself to be just a regular teenage girl. And that's exactly how Mel wants her to stay, no matter how much her mother and grandmother nag her.

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But, then, a mysterious killers starts depositing murdered Amazon teenagers on Mel's doorstep. Of course, she's horrified. Of course, her Mama Bear instincts are on ten. However, she also doesn't want to blow her cover with her daughter or the rest of her 'normal' life. So, she performs the traditional Amazon death rituals for them and secretly takes them to an Amazon safe camp so the bodies can be returned to their families. Doing this without the Amazons figuring out she made the delivery is not easy.

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All this forces Mel to relive why she left the Amazons.

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Mel also had a son. And she wanted to keep him.

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Boys are considered worthless in Amazon culture and her son was disposed of without her consent. While Mel's mother and grandmother didn't understand her strange attachment to a son, they did love and support Mel enough to leave the Amazons with her. They've hoped and tried to convince her to go back ever since.
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Meanwhile, Mel's got humans to deal with. The police are trying to find out why teenage girls are being murdered in the area and Mel needs a new tatoo artist for her business. Of course, she only hires women tatoo artists. During the hiring process, she must choose between the most qualfied candidate, a man, and the second-best one, a woman. Although she refuses to admit it, the fact that the man, Peter, is handsome makes her unorthodox choice easier. For the first time ever, an Amazon, Mel, affords a mere male the dignity of professional status in her place of business.
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Before things can get cozy, however, the Amazon Queen shows up royally ticked off at her former best friend, Mel. The Amazons figured out Mel was the one who delivered the bodies and now they believe Mel's the murderer too. They're determined to bring her in. Mel's family remains loyal while Mel struggles to keep her daughter safe and ignorant. And then an annoying human male detective shows up asking her questions too.

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Well, goshdarnit, what's a mama to do? If you're a mama, you'll probably figure it out. Mamas always do whatever's necessary to protect and provide for their babies, whether they're six weeks old or sixteen years old. It's just when you're an Amazon Mama, it often involves a variety of weaponry not available to the rest of us.
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If I'd seen AMAZON INK in the store, I wouldn't have looked twice. At most, I would've looked at the cover and groaned. "Oh, good grief, another stereotypical Kick-Butt Herone. For those readers, like me, who prefer a buffet to the same ol' thing every day of the week, AMAZON INK will drag you into the Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy section of the booksore, or back. The appeal of Mel is all in her motivation - it's *Primal* and instantly understood by anyone who's procreated. Sex is great, but any dog can do it. Survival? Well, yes, that's primal, but a parent will sacrifice his or her life in an instant for his or her child. That's primal and profound.

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AMAZON INK hit the bookshelves in May, so it might not still be on the shelves right now. If it's not, I say it's worth ordering on-line. Or, your bookstore will probably order it for you and then you won't have to pay for shipping. Remember, though, buy NEW because that's how authors make money so they can keep writing the stories you love. Here's Lori Devoti's website link- http://www.loridevoti.com/

Jr's Latest Middle Grade Book Reviews

http://excellentmiddlegradebookreviews.blogspot.com

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If you want to send an ARC to Jr, please email me. Everything for her blog must go through me, her Fierce Alaskan Mama.

LORD BRAYBROOK'S PENNILESS BRIDE by Elizabeth Rolls

My dear sweet Mom gave me three romance novels for my birthday. The two I asked for were… well… okay. The third one, Lord Braybrook's Penniless Bride, was a surprise. It was also absolutely wonderful, proof yet again that my Mom knows me better than I know myself.

Julian, Lord Braybrook is not exactly a footloose and fancy-free bachelor. He spends his days dealing with his adventure loving four half-siblings and chair bound stepmother. The latest situation is convincing his seventeen year old half-sister Alicia that she does NOT want to marry dashing Harry Daventry. The young man is skating along on a very low income and his spendthrift half-sister would, as Julian states to her, 'run the fellow aground inside of a month.' Teenage girls being teenage girls (I remember how that was), Alicia thinks living in genteel poverty romantic.

Julian, upon investigating Daventry, hears that he has a mistress set up in a townhouse. He goes to have a talk with this woman and discovers that the Miss Daventry in question is, in fact, Harry's sister. She is about to be evicted from her home. Julian seizes this opportunity to hire Christiana as a companion to his stepmother and show Alicia first hand what genteel poverty is like. Nothing like a healthy dose of reality to pop those romantic notions.

'Course his plan would work better if he could keep his hands off the witty and beautiful Christiana Daventry.

I've read quite a few novels by Elizabeth Rolls and enjoyed them all. Lord Braybrook's Penniless Bride, however, is my favorite. Julian is a good man grappling with some serious prejudices, prejudices around illegitimacy that were the cultural norms at the time. Christiana, having a huge chip on her shoulder, is extra sensitive to his prejudices.

The minor characters are richly drawn. When on page two, six year old half-brother Davy declares that he won't marry Alicia because he was going to marry his Mamma instead, I killed myself laughing. Especially when Julian's response was a very dry "Excellent notion, old chap. Only not unless you want to land in Newgate!" This is the witty banter I adore in Regency romances.

But Lord Braybrook's Penniless Bride is not all laughs. This is certainly a three hanky read (the end with Nan's mom, wowsers, bawling my eyes out). There are no magical happy endings for everyone. The reconciliation that I expected (and dreaded because it would have been SO staged) didn't happen and I LOVED that. Elizabeth Rolls creates a wonderful world with just the right mix of reality and fantasy.

You can read more about Lord Braybrook's Penniless Bride and other novels by Elizabeth Rolls at http://www.elizabethrolls.com/

KING'S DAUGHTERS by Nathalie Mallet on the way!

My ARC's on the way. As you may remember, Miss Mallet's first book PRINCES OF THE GOLDEN CAGE was my very favoritest book last year. Here's her website to learn more- http://www.nathaliemallet.com/ Awesome cover art, hmm? Maybe it's the bear, you know, and me being an Arctic Princess myself.
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Detective Inspector Chen Series - Liz Williams

It's Summer. Time for a get-a-way to someplace warm and exotic.

OK, so we all can't take off and go to Tahiti, or even Florida, or Virginia Beach, but we can travel through books. Liz Williams' wonderful Detective Inspector Chen Novels make for a great reading vacation.

The series is set in Singapore Three a sprawling city in an alternative near future. Creatures from Chinese folklore walk the streets rubbing elbows with traditional grandmothers, and urban techno-punks. Heaven, Earth, and Hell are linked by next generation cell phones, and with the right paperwork business tycoons travel between the levels of reality. Det. Insp. Wei Chen is a detective who can summon ghosts, while investigating why the ghost of a wealthy industrialist's daughter has not shown up for her appointment in Heaven, Chen is pared with Seneschal Zhu Irzh, a vice cop from Hell, literally. He's a demon, but honest and honorable in his own way, and somewhat cursed with a conscience. Chen is middle aged and hard working, he has spent his professional life dedicated to a goddess, he does not rock the boat or break rules, except for marrying a beautiful young demon who he helped escape an arranged marriage in Hell. Needless to say that complicates things when her former fiancee and her family seem to bee connected with the missing ghost.

All this takes place in Snake Agent. In the other two books the plot thickens, a goddess goes mad, two nice young ghosts have a son, who might not be all he seems, Chen, and Zhu Irzh, and Celestial Warrior, who looks like a fragile, young girl, get sent on a fact-finding misson to Hell complications insure and various adventures take place. Oh and there are Dragons. Williams books are Urban Fantasies, but without the cliches that often make the sub genre feel stale these days. She does a wonderful job of realizing Singapore Three, and it's mirror city in Hell. Williams makes her readers feel like they have been to the city, from the small stifling hot go-downs and street markets to the glittering homes and offices of the super-rich business and industrial elite to Chen's house boat docked on the edge of the City's crowded harbor. Hell is run by powerful ministries, War, Epidemics, Lust etc. Upper Class demons, and souls who's family did not follow the proper ceremonies, or pay the right fees to get then into heaven live lives much like folks on earth , the lower levels are full of mindless horrors and hungry ghosts. Heaven is perfect, peach scented and maybe just a touch boring, for those not ready to become Celestial beings.

Chen, Zhu Irzh are great characters. The supporting cast is also wonderful. There is Chen's sweet demon wife Inari, her pet tea pot badger. Robin Yuan, is a wage slave at Paugeng, a powerful multi-national parmacutical company and Mhara , a timid young demon being used as a lab rat in Paugeng's research diversion. Jhai Tserai, is the Paugeng heiress, a brilliant business woman, murder suspect, not all the she seems and possibly Zhu Irzh's soul mate. Mrs. Pa is an elderly widow raising the grandson because her daughter's ghost didn't want him growing up in Hell. Mai a young woman sent to Hell by mistake when she died of cholera at age three.

So, if you can't get away the usual way to some place exotic this summer you can't go wrong diving into a books and taking a visit to Singapore Three.

Good Post on ePublishers at Dear Author

http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2009/06/16/whats-keeping-you-from-buying-an-epublished-book/