The New Year at Enduring Romance and Need a New Reviewer

Good morning, Blog Buds!
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Now that my baby's out of the newborn stage and we're past the holiday season, I mean to blog on schedule, any genre on the second Thursday of each month and Young Adult on the fourth Tuesday of each month.  My ARC stack is at maximum capacity.  If your book is already there or on the way, you're good for go.  If not, please know it might be a while before your book gets reviewed if you send it.  Please remember unsolicited ARCs go to the bottom of my stack, unless they're from established favorite authors.  Established favorite authors have their own catagory in the sidebar directory.
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Meanwhile, my fellow reviewers here, Mfitz, Robin, and K continue to review.  Please, send them ARCs.  K *prefers* eBooks.  I can't remember the preferences of the others.  Click on 'Meet the Reviewers' on the sidebar.
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Now a call for a new reviewer.  We have room for another reviewer, or two or three even.  I like to space reviews out by a couple of days so each new review stays on the top of the page where busy bloggers are unlikely to miss it surfing through.  So, that makes Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays the days for posting reviews.  Once a week, twice a month, it's open as long as there's room and you're consistant.  If you already have a review blog, you could always post your review on both blogs.  I don't mind.  We need more Fantasy reviews, I think, Paranormal Romance, and reviews of books featuring *non-white* protagonists, like Latino Romance or African American Romance.  A reviewer of Inspirational Romance would be great too. 
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I like a buffet, you know. 
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I think one of the advantages of having a book reviewed at Enduring Romance is that the author can reach readers who don't usually read his or her genre.
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If you want to review here, just bear in mind we review all genres, except Erotica and Horror.  Please be sure your definitions of Heat Level and Violence are compatible.  See those definitions on the sidebar.  Also, we only post positive reviews here, which means you need to like or love the book before you review it.  It's okay to say if something doesn't work for you, but you must say it politely.
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My reviewing style is to help readers find the books they'll love.  If that's your style too, email me.
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The other thing to remember is Showcase Sunday, which is the third Sunday of each month.  On that day, reviewers may post book news, opinions, and whatever they want all day long.
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Other than that, I'm hoping to do more author interviews.  I haven't figured out how to work that in yet.  I'll let you know.
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Thanks for popping in and Happy New Year!

Kimber An's To-Be-Reviewed Stack

*1/19/10*

Kimber An is temporarily not accepting ARCs.

Print Books:

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THE MOTION OF THE OCEAN by Janna Cawrse Esarey. This is the first Memoir ever for me, I think.

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SET THE DARK ON FIRE by Jill Sorenson. Another Romantic Suspense, I think. I hope Mystery Robin doesn't mind me snagging this one.
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SOLD AND SEDUCED by Michelle Styles
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eBooks:

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ART AND SOUL by Melody Knight

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THE MINUTION CHRONICLES: Volume 1- SAVING ZINITHERON 
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CHASING SHADOWS by Lauren Hope.  Romantic Suspense

Another Bookstore Review

Good morning, Blog Buds! I had to tell you all about a new-to-me bookstore my husband and I visited on our hot, hot date yesterday. When you love books as much as we do, believe me there's nothing hotter than a really good bookstore..Pandemonium Bookstore is located in Wasilla, Alaska, a thoroughly happenin' town since it's home to our governor, Sarah Palin. It's the largest town in the Matanuska Valley, so named after the glacier and also known as the bread basket of the state because of the farming. And it's got a fair-sized campus extension for the University of Alaska. Anyway....
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The brilliance of the creator and owner of this bookstore is stunning. I didn't learn his or her name because I didn't want to be biased. But, let me tell you why I think he or she is brilliant. *He or She knows her local patrons extremely well and puts that knowledge to work.*
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I think I mentioned in my last bookstore review for Title Wave Bookstore (an awesome independent) in Anchorage, Alaska that there had been a Big National Chain Bookstore in a nearby mall. It failed and it's failure came as no surprise to me. Why? Because the majority of the people living and working in the neighborhood in which it was located was African American. Not only did this Big National Chain Bookstore segregate the African American authors, but there was only one pathetic little shelf for them. Well, Pandemonium is the exact opposite.
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To begin with, Pandemonium is situated in the parking lot of Home Depot. Who goes shopping at Home Depot? Mostly men. And not just any men. *Married Men with Families.* Women go shopping there too and women are also the largest segment of the book-buying public.
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Husband: "Uh, Honey, I need to go to Home Depot and pick up some..."
Wife (leaping up): "The one in Wasilla next to Pandemonium Bookstore? Round up the kids!" (skips merrily away, grabbing her purse)
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I'll start at one end of the store and go to the other. On the immediate left as you walk in is the conference room with a long table and comfortable chairs. My husband said it was being used by a religious group yesterday. There's a local Bible college nearby and many churches in the area.
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Beyond that to the far left is the children's section. Naturally, they have all the best titles, but what they also have is *Homeschool Supplies.* Homeschooling is HUGE in Alaska! Even the Governor's eldest daughter is finishing her high school education at home. Some of you may have heard the erroneous rumor that she'd dropped out. Absolutely not true. Homeschooling has always been huge in Alaska because educating children who live waaaay out in the Bush has always been a challenge. Many of them simply live too far from a regular school to attend. I know of at least one village in which children fly back and forth in an airplane to attend a school. For the poo-pooers, you should know Homeschool kids continue to win top honors at the National Spelling Bee and Geography Bee and get into nearly every college in the nation, including Harvard and the Air Force Academy. Homeschooling can work beautifully. But, I'm on my soapbox here because educate our children at home too. I was thrilled to be able to examine curriculum in person which I'd only ever read about in homeschool supply catalogs.
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Besides the homeschooling area, they had a playhouse and antique desks set up for children to leisurely read and parents to collapse in exhaustion with their own books while they did so.
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There's a good sized adult section with gifts, non-fiction, and fiction sections. The Science Fiction & Fantasy aisles were decent. Considering how appealing this store is to the female population (even the bathroom was a girl's delight) I was surprised there weren't more Romance novels. The Romance genre accounts for about fifty percent of all books sold, you know. But, I guess it was a space issue. This store is small, but extremely well-organized, and I predict will expand at some point. Remember, our economy is a lot better here in Alaska than it is for you Lower 48ers.
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The coffee shop is glorious with a fire place and a delightful selection of treats and sandwiches. We had Italian sodas, the first ones we've had since our favorite coffee shop went out of business when we were newlyweds.
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The coffee shop seemed to be a well-populated hang-out for the early twentysomething crowd, all of them polite, enjoying the company of friends, and/or doing their homework, probably for that nearby UAA extension campus, or that local Bible college. I did say the patrons were well-served at Pandemonium, right?
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Lessons Learned:
1) Know your patrons (or readers, in the case of authors.)
2) See a need, Fill a need.
3) Respect and appreciation go a long way.
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When I got home, I wasn't surprised to discover this bookstore also has a well-organized, pleasant website- http://www.akbookstore.com/;)

Battle of the Book Covers

Okay, I admit, this picture of Yul Brynner as Ramses is totally gratuitous.

I hope you'll forgive no book review this week. I'm totally fried from launching The Holy Bennu into Queryland and getting a request for a Full right off the bat. Meanwhile, I'm getting my littluns back on the Master Schedule and HH is working long hours. You know the drill. Anyway...

:o)

Linnea Sinclair blogged about her new book cover for Down Home Zombie Blues Monday at http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/ and it got me thinking about the issue of book covers. Based on what I've learned, every author who stays in the business for long gets stuck with at least one book cover they hate. Except Jana Deleon. She's two for two. Well, I think she's two for two. I haven't actually asked her.

;)

Now, here's where I get analytical. I hope the authors will bear in mind I love them and their books. 'Kay? Alrighty...here's the old Down Home Zombie Blues. Good points? Jorie looks totally hot, just like Pat Benator, and she's packing heat. Not-So-Good Points? It's an irritating shade of red. I love red, but that shade of red is physically painful to look at. Oh, and the guy doesn't look like the hero at all.

Here's the new book cover.

Good Points? It's BLUE! I love blue. In fact, I've never met a shade of blue I didn't like. Cool spaceship. Not-So-Good Points? This novel has excellent potential for snaring the male readers and the female readers who are not into the Romance genre. The kissing couple on the front screams Romance and is similar to a myriad of others.

:]

My Conclusion: It would be great if the publisher took Jacqueline Lichtenberg's advice and released the novel in both covers. If they don't and you wouldn't be caught dead reading a Romance novel, order it on-line and hide it behind a copy of Sports Illustrated. I've read it and it's worth it. Trust me.
:o)

My favorite Susan Grant book covers. Okay, right off the top we've got Star King. I've never been impressed with the male chest, except when it comes to snuggling my husband. Show me some finely sculpted male buttocks, however, and I get whiplash. Nevertheless, this bad boy (he's actually good) looks Egyptian to me with those gold arm bands. I watched Yul Brenner as Pharoah Ramses in The Ten Commandments and never quite got over it.

Least Favorite. Doesn't match the story as I read it. Bummer. 'Cause it's a great story.

Now, compare this to Jana Deleon's debut novel, Rumble on the Bayou. Similar art concepts, but Jana's book was knock-down funny! I mean, good grief, the heroine finds a stoned alligator in a fat lady's swimming pool on Page One! The cover art matches up.

Michelle Moran's the new girl on the block and she got incredibly lucky with her cover art. Fits the novel perfectly and stands out on the bookstore shelf too.

This is the kind of Romance novel cover I love. And I still haven't even read My Invisible Husband by Sheila Goss. Why do I love it? The soft, tender covers convey the desire for true love in the story, the promise of love, and is soothing to my eyes. It reminds me of my own husband, tender, protective. Visually, it tells me this is a novel good for reading after a long, hard day at the dish sink and diaper table. (Psst, I'm a stay-at-home mom.)

I know book covers are supposed to entice a reader to pick the book off the shelf and buy it. More than that, the reader is being told what the story's about. If that story doesn't match up, the reader feels cheated. Now, a fantastic cover may entice a reader to buy off the shelf, but if the story does NOT match up she may never buy another novel by that author again.

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No wonder so much angst goes into getting it just right. And even so, readers are highly individual.

;)

Am I the only one who never got over Yul Brenner as Ramses?

On the bright side, my husband has nothing to worry about if he goes bald. I'll just sew him a kilt.

;)