In My Mailbox #1

I've seen this meme on other blogs and I've been meaning to do it for a while but kept procrastinating. I plan to do it every two weeks. For this first one, I'll post books, print and digital, that I have received in the past two weeks.

In My Mailbox was started by The Story Siren. It's a way to share and highlight all the books we receive, even if we don't review them. I plan on sharing books I buy, receive for review, get from the library, borrow from a friend, etc.


First up, a book that my friend Jax loaned me: Tales of Dark Fantasy 2, an anthology. Most of the authors are new to me (always fun). The main reason I'm interested in it is because it has a story by Kelley Armstrong, one of my very favorite authors.






 I won a book on Twitter, thanks to Kensington Press.It's an ARC of Blood and Fire by Shannon McKenna. I've never read her before, so I'm looking forward to this.






I received several books for review, several print and one digital. You'll see some of these in the next few weeks, one in the fall and one probably not at all. Most of the books scheduled to be reviewed are books that I'm behind on, reviews that are owed. Occasionally I take on blog tour books that look too good to pass up. Doing so helps keep me fresh.

 

1) The Bad Always Die Twice by Cheryl Crane 2) Maximum Witch by Jodi Redford 3) Dark Taste of Rapture by Gena Showalter 4) The Kingdom of Childhood by Rebecca Coleman 5) Velva Jean Learns to Fly by Jennifer Niven (this was an unsolicited review book that just showed up; it's not really my type of book so I probably won't review it)

I also bought several books, which arrived this week and downloaded a bunch of freebies from Amazon for my Kindle plus bought a couple of e-books.

Spell Bound I had pre-ordered but it just arrived this past week, Archangel's Consort I got from PaperbackSwap (a wonderful swap site) and both Crossroads and Deadlock had been on my wish list for a few months.

The Amazon freebies were a varied bunch:

 



   

It was a good couple of weeks for books. I didn't even list my library ones. Maybe next time. In the meantime, if you can't find me, send food and drink for the cat and I. We're buried in books. :D

Review of Predators of Darkness: Aftermath by Leonard Hilley II

Publisher: CreateSpace

Release Date: May 24th, 2011 (kindle edition)

Series:  #1 in The Darkness Series

More Info: Amazon     The Book Depository

Book Blurb (from Amazon):

Fear What Lurks In The Shadows

The desolate streets of downtown Pittsburgh in 2073 are a reminder of the missile attack that forever changed the lives of the surviving scientists and students hidden in the fallout shelter of Helmsby's Genetic Research Center. Believing themselves to be the only survivors, they station themselves inside the center until food supplies near depletion. Thinking the fallout has lessened, they emerge three years later to discover strange creatures patrolling the streets in search of human flesh and blood. The creatures possess the ability to shift their genomes and alter their appearances by realigning their genetic sequences. Daniel Hutchinson, their leader, teams with Lucas Ridale and together they set out to scavenge the area for food and supplies with the hope to find other survivors. But Daniel's most recent journey uncovers mysteries more frightening than the shifters. He discovers the tip of Pittsburgh has been fenced off from the rest of the area. Low-flying helicopters observe the streets, making him ponder the question: Were the shifters released as simply part of a military experiment with humans being their prey?

My Thoughts:

There's a lot to like about this book - an intriguing plot, filled with conspiracies and twists and turns, that's an intriguing blend of mystery, thriller, science fiction, dystopia, and urban fantasy, with some romance mixed in; lots of action; and dialogue that can be sharp.

There were also a fair number of things that didn't work - the dialogue and prose could be stilted; copy editing issues that by themselves were mostly minor but occurred often enough to be annoying; an utter inability to write believable romance scenes, and, most disturbingly to me, what appears to be a strong case of misogyny on the author's part.

The romance and sex scenes alternately had me rolling my eyes and laughing at their awfulness. A friend thanked me for providing her with giggles as I shared excerpts from the book. Some examples:

1) "Her stomach felt like a net full of excited butterflies as her hormones excited places in her body where she’d never experienced sensations before." Also, this sentence needs some serious punctuation help

2) "The burning passion hidden in her heart unleashed from its prison." Purple prose AND cliches.

3) The scene, too long to share here, where Daniel is in a drugged sleep and still manages to have sex, complete with ejaculation, all while asleep. He also brings his partner to orgasm. This may be possible, but it's unlikely, there's the whole matter of consent, and...eeeewwwww.

None of the characters were completely likable, all had their flaws and unpleasant traits, but that helped to make them fell more real. Oddly, the author doesn't seem to have intended that. Two of the main characters, Daniel and Julia, the ones I believe we are meant to root for, he periodically describes in glowing terms but then has them say or do things that contradict those descriptions. Julia is described as "...disposition was sweet, and she was respectful of those she worked with." This same sweet, respectful woman drugs one woman and attacks another, a patient that she is supposed to be treating, yet the author writes as if he sees no contradiction.

Daniel has been seeing a woman, Johanna, who is supposedly his mate, but he admits in his thoughts that he's only using her for sex and he doesn't even like her. As it happens, she is using him for sex and also to maintain her social standing in the colony. He promises another woman that if she defeats Johanna in battle, that they will become mates. Instead of honoring that promise when she wins, he hooks up with someone else. So, on the one hand, the characters are believably flawed but on the other hand, they can be obnoxious or downright nasty. There really are no black and white characters; all of them, whether identified as good or bad, are shades of gray.

When the story first starts, Julia seems pleasant and sweet; she also suffers from unrequited love and is jealous of the woman who has the man she wants. In short order, Hilley shows us that she is not so sweet or kind:She's so jealous that she slips birth control pills into the other woman's daily vitamin regimen: "  “Estrogen?” Johanna frowned. “Isn’t that like for birth control?” Julia smiled. “Exactly.” Johanna’s face flushed red. “You sorry bitch! You’re the reason I’ve not gotten pregnant. I’m not sterile. All this time you’ve been giving me birth control pills? How could you? Why would you do this to me?” " So much for Julia being sweet and respectful.

Hilley starts out with women falling into the old, worn out, useless cliches of women being saints or sluts. Over the course of the book, Hilley turns all the key female characters, and some of the minor ones, into bitchy, nasty women. He appears to have a low opinion of women. One such example: "Cadby laughed. “That’s been arranged, sir. Brenda is going to kill him.” “Brenda? She won’t kill him. They were intimate at one time.” “At one time,” Cadby said. “But love-scorned women, what do you do with them? Besides, I offered her a promotion.” Charming. Not.

The story held my interest for the most part but I had trouble getting past the really bad romance writing and his apparent dislike of women.  It's the first in a series so I hope both of those will improve.

I received a PDF from the author for review.

Random Book News - Dr. Seuss, Censorship and an awesome indie bookstore

There were some really interesting bits of news today on the web so I've gathered up the ones that appealed to me so you could see them in all in one place. I also tweeted most of them.

First up, awards were being given out today at the Authors After Dark conference in Philadelphia. I caught a couple of announcements on Twitter; the Smart Bitches blog won for best blog (I don't know what the parameters were for the award but I do like their blog a lot so I was happy to hear the news) and Samhain Publishers won for best publisher. Again, I don't know what the parameters were but they do publish several of my favorite authors (Moira Rogers, Sierra Dean) and their website is fairly easy to navigate.

Over at the Book Lantern blog, there's an interesting post on censorship, sparked by an author's reaction to a reader's comment on her blog. I'm not a believer in censorship or banning, and for the most part I agreed with what the author had to say. However, the poster at Book Lantern also brought up some good point, particularly with respect to the author's analogy in defense of her work. I just discovered this YA blog today, thanks to a tweet on Twitter, but I will be visiting them often.


Random House announced that they will be publishing an anthology of lost Dr. Seuss stories called The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories. I loved the Dr. Seuss books as a child and I love them today as a teacher so this is awesome news in my utterly biased opinion. Dr. Seuss wrote books that were respectful of young children, were playful, blended fun with educational ideals and morals, and were pretty much timeless. The stories were originally printed in the womens magazine Redbook in 1950 and 1951. There are others from his magazine period but the selection was narrowed down to these seven. Because they were originally printed in magazines, the artwork was minimal and the vp's and publishers of Random House/Golden Books Young Readers Group made the decision to let the original artwork stand. For more details, see the PW article here.

And last, but certainly not least, PW Children's Bookshelf has an article about an independent South Carolina bookstore, Booklovers Bookstore, that took the initiative to help out their local school system. I say, next time you order a book, do it from this store and keep this awesome store in business. What exactly did they do? Here's a quote from the PW CB article:

...new initiative mandating dedicated reading time for all students has, despite its necessity, compounded a familiar problem for teachers: more to do and less time to do it in. Responding to the resource crunch, Booklovers Bookstore in Aiken, S.C.recently created a school liaison position for Pat Wood, a retired school librarian/media specialist with 32 years of experience in Aiken schools. Wood's job will be to help teachers "currently working on establishing a [book] collection to meet the needs of this new intitiative," which calls for each teacher to set aside specific time for reading. more

* Bolding added by me.*

I'm all for encouraging reading, but if you have ever dealt with a public school, you know that the demands on a teachers time are endless and time, of course, is not. Teachers have a difficult challenge already fulfilling all of the expectations and requirements but more and more gets dumped on them. This program has the potential to be a boon to the school and I hope that it works out well. 

Ok, that's it for now. There will be more random news posts, as I collect news and remember to post them, thus making them random in both content and occurrence. :D Now, back to finishing my book. The review is supposed to go up today; I don't know if that will happen. :P It may be tomorrow. 

The Fine Art of Book Promotion - A Guest Post by Kari Lee Townsend

 Kari Lee Townsend lives in Central New York with her very understanding husband, her three busy boys, and her oh-so-dramatic daughter, who keep her grounded and make everything she does worthwhile…not to mention provide her with loads of material for her books. Kari is a longtime lover of reading and writing, with a masters in English education, who spends her days trying to figure out whodunit. Funny how no one at home will confess any more than the characters in her mysteries!
 
Kari writes fun and exciting stories for any age, set in small towns, with mystical elements and quirky characters. You can find out more about her on her website www.karileetownsend.com and also on the group mystery blog she cohosts, called Mysteries and Margaritas, at www.mysteriesandmargaritasblogspot.com

TEMPEST IN THE TEA LEAVES: A Fortune Teller Mystery 

In the fortune telling business there are a lot of pretenders, but Sunshine Meadows is the real deal--and her predictions can be lethally accurate… 

Sunny is a big city psychic who moves to the quaint town of Divinity, NY to open her fortune-telling business in an ancient Victorian house, inheriting the strange cat residing within. Sunny gives her first reading to the frazzled librarian and discovers the woman is going to die. When the woman flees in terror, Sunny calls the police, only she's too late. The ruggedly handsome, hard-nosed detective is a ”non-believer.” He finds the librarian dead, and Sunny becomes his number one suspect, forcing her to prove her innocence before the real killer can put an end to the psychic's future.

**********************************************************************************

Kari took some time to write about what's involved in promoting a book. There are so many books available these days, how does a book or an author stand out in the crowd? You might think an author's work is done when the manuscript goes to print, but the author's work is just beginning. Read on to see what goes into promoting that book that caught your eye.

 

          People often think that because I’m with a big publisher that I don’t have to promote my books on my own as well. My response is always, “Wrongo!” Now, granted, if you’re a big selling author, chances are your publisher is going to spend more money on you, promotion wise. However, even big name authors would be foolish not to do any promotion on their part. This business is just that…a business. Every publisher does a certain amount of promotion, depending on the size of the publisher and what they promise you in their contract. However, even if they sign you for a three-book deal, that doesn’t guarantee all three books will come out. If your first book does okay, then they might try book two. But if book two does even worse, then odds are they won’t put your book three out. So why wouldn’t you do all that you could as an author to help get the word out?

               Some basic must haves you can set up any time. First, you need a website. And make sure you put the links to all the booksellers on your site, and keep it active. Update it frequently. Some people have a newsletter. If you do, then make sure you send one out a few times a year. You should also have social network sites: a Twitter page, a Facebook Author page, etc. I also am part of a group blog because it’s easier to keep up with than a personal blog. I also think it’s wise to be on several loops and list serves and forums. You don’t want to always talk about your books, but you should always have the information in your signature line. Then every time you post something or comment on someone else’s post, people get to know your name and will remember your book.

           I like to start six months in advance. I first order bookmarks. I make sure they have my book cover on them, as well as the release date, the ISBN number, a blurb, and some quotes from other authors. There are all kinds of sites for this. I used www.printingforless.com and I ordered 4,000 of them. I also ordered signed by author stickers and bookplates for autographs. I don’t bother with postcards because my bookmarks have all the same info on them, and readers tend to collect bookmarks rather than postcards. 

Next, I ordered Pat Rouse’s Bookseller and Readers Groups Mailing list. You can reach Pat at Rousepat@aol.com This list is invaluable. She has contact information for chain and independent bookstores as well as reader groups and book clubs all over the US and abroad that specifically want bookmarks, press releases, ARC’s, etc. She covers all the genres they are looking for and how many they want of each promo item. ARC’s I would send out 2 to 3 months ahead of time to reviewers. Bookmarks I like to wait unto 2 weeks to 1 month ahead of time tops. Readers hate to get excited about a book and then realize they have to wait until several months to read it. RT also has a program where they send out 7000 bookmarks to bookstores across the US for you, but I like the more personal, hands on approach I get from using Pat’s list and sending them myself.

Then I looked up all the upcoming mystery conferences and conventions and started sending bookmarks and promo items to their goody room. I figured even if people didn’t keep them, it would once again put the image of my name and book cover in their minds. Not to mention, it earned me several pre-orders. I even held an It’s a Mystery Contest called, “Where are Kari’s Bookmarks?” when they didn’t show up at one conference. It was fun and clever and different, once again making people remember my name.

Taking out some ads can be beneficial as well.  There are many choices. Ads in various magazines and newsletters, as well as online ads and even ads in conference brochures. Also, you can often write articles for readers journals, newsletter, and magazines, too. 

             Make sure you set up a blog tour. The Internet is a powerful tool and a fabulous way to spread the word quickly to a wide range of people. Contact reviewers and bloggers a good 3 to 4 months early so you have time to get them a review copy and schedule times for when they will review your book, as well as interview you and or let you do a guest blog post. You should schedule it for the entire first month your book is out. I like to start a week early to generate initial buzz and then keep it going all month long. Giveaways are a big hit as well, and I like to do one per blog. Your publisher will often help you with providing the books for that. Other people do 5 at the end of the entire blog tour. Either way, giveaways entice readers to check out your post.

Once I got my author copies a month early, I mailed some to auctions and to conferences and luncheons, etc, to use as giveaways in baskets and door prizes. It creates buzz for when the book launches a month later. The more generous you are and the more you reach out to the people who matter, the more bang for your buck you will get. Booksellers, librarians, and readers groups love to spread the word about a book they are excited about, especially if the author is friendly and generous. Don’t underestimate the power of word of mouth, especially when their contacts are in all the right places.

Finally, once your book comes out, be sure to hit the road running. Participate in your blog tour. Drop by local bookstores and sign their stock. Order bookplates ahead of time and offer them up on your website so if someone buys your book and wants a signed copy, you can mail an autograph to them. Host a book signing. Run a contest. 

When you’re all done, it’s time to start all over again. New idea, new book, new promo plan J Good luck! I hope this post is of some help to you. And don’t feel overwhelmed. You can do as much or as little as your pocketbook and time allow. The point is…do something! You can’t just rely on your publisher to do it all for you.

To find out more about me and all my books visit my website at www.karileetownsend.com or go to my group mystery blog at www.mysteriesandmargaritasblogspot.com Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/karileetownsend Like my Facebook Author page at www.facebook.com/karileetownsendAUTHOR

Dual Review of Tempest in the Tea Leaves by Kari Lee Townsend

Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime

Release Date: August 2, 2011

Series: #1 in the Fortune Teller Mystery series

More Info:  Amazon     The Book Depository

Book Blurb (from Goodreads):

Leaving the Big Apple for the quaint town of Divinity, New York, Sunny is determined to make it on her own as a psychic. With an ancient Victorian house as her place of business, Sunny uses various psychic methods to aid the town's residents. But when she uses tea leaves to give a reading for a frazzled librarian, what she finds at the bottom of the cup is anything but helpful.
Sunny informs the police of her deadly vision, but her warning is too late. And with hard-nosed, ruggedly handsome Detective Mitch Stone denying her abilities and naming her prime suspect, the situation is dire. Now Sunny has to use her visions to clear her name, before the killer can put an end to the psychic's future...

Our Thoughts:

Jax:

This was a fun book, not too long, and a great way to start a series. Light, with a quick pace, it sets up characters that you want to learn more about. There are lots of little twists, and while I had a good idea of who the villain might be, I still had more than one suspect by the time of the big reveal.

I like Sunny. I like Sunny and Detective Stone together, both as crime solving partners and a potential romantic pairing. And Morty the cat! Creepy in the best of ways, I look forward to seeing more of Sunny's odd little protector.

This is my favorite kind of summer read, one that I can peek up from to see what the kids are up to, and delve back into without losing that feeling of being into the story. It's welcoming, even for a murder mystery.

Bea:

This was a light story but unlike Jax, I didn't find it to be quick. I had trouble staying interested, and kept putting it down. It did keep me guessing, there were twists and turns in the mystery; unlike Jax I didn't catch on to who killer was until almost the end. I also found it refreshing that Sunny didn't have an easy time getting people to talk to her, the answers didn't fall in to her lap; she had to work for them. That is one of the more common weaknesses of cozy mysteries and Townsend avoided it.

Sunny could be naive, was rebellious with her parents in a manner that reminded me of a teenager, and was headstrong at times but her heart was in the right place and she came across as genuine and like someone you might meet around town. The conflict with Mitch, the detective working the case, felt manufactured to me - young, flaky, new agey psychic versus the conservative, stubborn, know-it-all detective. I didn't really feel the attraction between them but the dialogue could be fun and snappy.

Morty was intriguing, I'd like to learn more about him. I can't quite figure him out. I think I liked him the best of all in the book.

Overall, I found it to be light, standard cozy mystery fare, nothing special. If you like the fortune teller angle (it's what initially caught my interest), don't mind some stereotypes, and want an easy way to pass the time, curl up with a cup of tea and give it a try.

We each received a copy of this paperback from the publisher.

Review of Ideal Man by Julie Garwood

Publisher: Dutton Adult

Release Date: August 9, 2011

More Info:  Amazon     The Book Depository

Book Blurb (from Goodreads):

Dr. Ellie Sullivan has just completed her residency at a large urban hospital. While jogging in a park nearby, she witnesses the shooting of an FBI agent in pursuit of wanted criminals, a couple identified as the Landrys. The only person to see the shooter's face, Ellie is suddenly at the center of a criminal investigation. 

Agent Max Daniels takes over the Landry case. A no-nonsense lawman, he's definitely not the ideal man that Ellie has always imagined, yet she's attracted to him in a way she can't explain. 

Ellie heads home to Winston Falls, South Carolina, to attend her sister's wedding. Shortly after she arrives, though, she receives a surprise visitor: Max Daniels. The Landrys have been captured, and she'll be called to testify. But they've been captured before, and each time the witnesses are scared into silence-or disappear before they can take the stand. Max vows to be Ellie's shadow until the trial, and it isn't long before sparks fly.
 
My Thoughts:

"Ideal Man" is a pleasant, easy to read romantic suspense. It's heavier on the romance, since we know early on who the villains and we know that they will be trying to kill Ellie; the real questions are when and how they'll attack, and will they be caught first. Still, it's a quick, fun read, perfect for vacation or sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office.

Ellie has had a challenging life, with being a childhood prodigy and the difficulties that that entails, being sent away when she was only twelve to keep her safe (I can't say more without giving too much away) and a broken engagement two years ago that has put a strain on her relationship with her sister Ava, as well as the whole family. Now, she's witnessed a murder and her life is in upheaval again. She copes fairly well, and is determined to keep her family in the dark for their own good. Ellie is compassionate, confident, loyal, smart, and tries to do the right thing. She's been hurt in the past and lets that hurt rule her. By the end though, she's managed to move on emotionally. At times, Ellie is too perfect, but overall she seems like she could easily be the girl next door.

Max is also good at his job, intimidating to look at, also loyal, devoted to his family, and has had his share of troubles (really though, who hasn't?). He has been after the Landrys for years and is determined that nothing will go wrong this time. He doesn't count on being attracted to the witness, Ellie.He's leaving as soon as this job is done so at first, they try to resist the attraction. Also, Max doesn't seem like Ellie's type at first or so she thinks

He was definitely out of her comfort zone. The man had so much testosterone, he made her nervous.

And,

An intimidating man who was built like a monument and could melt iron with his menacing glare - this was what she was attracted to?

 But, as they get to know each other, they build an emotional attraction to go with the physical attraction.

Max and Ellie make a likable pair, the plot holds together well, and it moves at a good pace. There are a few cliches and some unlikely coincidences but overall, a good story.It's worth a read and would also be worth re-reading.

I received an eGalley from NetGalley.

Kindlegraph - Doing it right

Recently, I saw authors tweeting about Kindlegaph. I didn't know what it was but assumed it was an Amazon service for authors. Then one author mentioned that she got her first request from a reader for a Kindlegraph and the light bulb in my head went off. It's a signed book cover for your Kindle ebooks. Very cool.

If you have a Kindle, you can go to Kindlegraph's site, look to see if your favorite author or book is listed and if they are, you send a request. You need to give them your Kindle email, they give you an email address to add to your Kindle account's approved email list and when the author sends their autograph, Amazon sends you an email letting you know that your Kindle document has arrived. Then you download the document to your Kindle and voila, you have a signed book cover.

I went to their site and looked around. You have to have a Twitter account to sign in and that's where I ran into a problem. Now obviously, based on the first paragraph, I do have a Twitter account. But when I read the TOS (Terms of Service), I said "Hell no". Why? By signing in with Twitter, you agreed that Kindlegraph could see who you follow, follow new people for you, tweet for you, and update your profile. WTF? Why do you need to do that? 

I tweeted that while the idea of Kindlegraph was good, the TOS were unacceptable. I didn't use a hashtag nor did I @reply, but when I got home from work, I had a reply from @kindlegraph, responding to my concerns. We exchanged several more tweets and then I got this tweet: 

kindlegraph Kindlegraph

@

@BeasBookNook Hi again! Can you try the "sign-in with Twitter" link again? I wasn't aware of less permissive options and I've selected them.

So I did and sure enough, they'd changed the TOS. They now read thusly:

This application will be able to:

• Read Tweets from your timeline.
• See who you follow.

This application will not be able to:

• Follow new people.
• Update your profile.
• Post Tweets for you.
• Access your direct messages.
• See your Twitter password.

MUCH better. I signed up, looked for authors, and sent off several requests for signatures. So far, I've only gotten one, though I sent the requests several days ago. Thanks to PJ Schnyder for being so prompt! ETA 8/7/11: I've since gotten more autographs from one of the authors that I had requested.

I am very impressed with Kindlegraph's customer service, their attention to detail and their prompt response to my concerns. If you have a Kindle, if you like having signed books, GO SIGN UP!!! Yes, you need a Twitter account, but if you only ever use it for this, it's well worth it.

The Kindlegraph site has a video that shows how the process works, but here's a photo of what I got from author PJ Schynder. Note that your actual ebook is not autographed; you get a cover of your chosen book with the author's signature. My apologies for the photo quality, I used my cell phone camera.

Review of The Keepers by Monique O'Connor James

Publisher:  Astraea Press


Release Date: June 5, 2011


More Info: Amazon      Astraea Press


Book Blurb (from blog tour material):

Jess denies God. In his infinite wisdom, he’s taken everyone she’s ever loved. Moving to the French Quarter was a ploy to erase the guilt she felt for rebuking her faith. Perhaps, if she hadn’t met Justin, an angel preoccupied with getting back into God’s good graces, and drowning in his hatred for humanity, her plan would have worked.

Justin’s general disdain for the human race makes him difficult to like, but some higher power has appointed him her keeper. Justin’s convinced he can mend her broken relationship with her maker, but in the process he learns a thing or two about his own humanity.

Never mind falling in love, that’s not supposed to happen. In fact, it may even be forbidden. Jess just wants Justin to understand her plight, and he wants to protect her from a world she doesn’t know.

If neither are equipped to save the other, then whose soul will live and whose will perish? 

My Thoughts:


Where to start? This review is difficult because, to be blunt, I just didn't like the book. Several times I came close to making this review a DNF - Did Not Finish. There were several factors - a glacially slow pace, irritating characters, and extremely poor proof reading and copy editing. Regular readers of the blog know that the latter item is a huge pet peeve of mine and it can impact my enjoyment of a story. I did finish the book, but it was a struggle. 

I'll start with the slow pace. The book opens at a funeral, where we meet Jess, one of the main characters, and her brother Jordan. Their mother has died and Jess is a mess. After the funeral, she heads to New Orleans, where her parents, now both dead, had an apartment that they used for vacations. Jess ruminates on how much she hates God because he took her mother away from her. Then she goes to a bar, instantly becomes best buddies with a woman she's never seen before and is attracted to a group of guys, one in particular, who go out of their way to ignore her. There's an altercation between one of the guys and another man who walks up to their group (he is another key character in the book, it turns out). Then the woman, Vi, invites Jess, to join her the next night at a casino where the guys work. Doesn't sound slow, does it? Sadly, the pace dies. Jess meets, flirts, and fights with one of the guys, Justin, for the next 40% of the book. Oh there's the occasional bit of forward movement - the lone guy from the bar, Dawson, tries to run her down, Vi and Jess take a road trip, but most of the first half of the book, and much of the latter half, is Jess and Justin fighting, flirting, sulking, etc. We don't even find out that Justin is an angel until about a third of the way into the book. Oh, there are a few hints here and there but if I hadn't read the book cover, the hints would have had me thinking he was some sort of vampire. I kept wondering why Jess was so special that she had so many angels watching over her (Justin is only one); turns out the reason is nothing earth-shattering and was, in fact, anti climactic. Although, maybe if Justin, via the author, hadn't made such a fuss about how special Jess was and how important it was to keep her safe, I might not have been so disappointed. But, it was a big buildup with little payoff. The action picks up toward the end of the book but by then I just didn't care.

Now, the irritating characters. Sadly, those would be the main characters, Jess and Justin. Jess is naive, impulsive, and careless. Still, she could have been likable if she weren't also whiny, rude, and thoughtless. Justin is even ruder (these angels are not at all cherubic or angelic), more thoughtless, and has no use for humanity.

 The piece of furniture was so representative of human decadence he found it nauseating, yet it was his favorite place to ruminate on all that irritated him about man's existence.

not…but if you’re asking me if I still hate humans, if I still think they’re an ungrateful stench clinging to the beauty God has created, then yes, sometimes I do.”

That last quote, I admit, is quite descriptive and evocative. The thing that really irritated me about him was his constant harping on how stupid Jess is. The problem was, most of the time, it wasn't borne out by the story. She does do one careless thing near the beginning, walking home alone from a bar in the wee hours of the morning, which is when Dawson tries to run her down, but that one action on her part is seemingly enough to condemn her in Justin's eyes. At one point he thinks to himself

Did she really not believe he could protect her from the demon?

 There are several problems with this statement - Jess doesn't know about the demon, she doesn't even know that demons exist, she doesn't yet know that anyone wants her dead, and she doesn't yet know Justin is an angel. But, this is typical of Justin's thinking.

Jess often acts much younger than her twenty-four years, though she does admit one point that her mother spoiled her. Vi, the woman she met at the bar, shows up at her apartment the next door and promptly takes over running Jess's life - cooking, cleaning, taking her clothes shopping, etc. Jess does, once or twice, think about how nice it is that Vi does all this, but she doesn't say it nor does she thank her or ever do her fair share.

Without complaint, her roommate kept the place sparkling and never pointed out what a slacker Jess could be. 

I did like this thought that Jess had about Vi - 

...she did make an excellent sister. She worked on Jess like her favorite pet project,...

That statement nicely sums up their relationship.Vi is seemingly content to care for Jess and doesn't really seem to have a life of her own. However, there is more to Vi than meets the eye (hee, I made a rhyme) and I was pleased to find that my guess about her wasn't too far off of the mark. I did have trouble believing just how quickly they bonded, it never felt real; once the truth about Vi is revealed, then it makes more sense. That said, Vi was easily the most likable person in the book. I would have liked more of her. 

Finally, and what really got me, was the lack of proof reading and copy editing. While reading this, I made over 200 notes and highlights, and most were related to the shoddy proofing and editing. There were many, many other examples that I just didn't bother to highlight or note. I'll cite a few examples, some were just annoying while others made for more difficult reading.

Jess repositioned pain contorting her face.

          Her mother was stroked her face, alight with the look of adoration only a mom could give. 

She had to be imaging his inability to control his strength.

He bowed leveling with her, his eyes, which were usually in perpetual motion, were stone. (I shared this one, along with several others, on facebook and it provoked quite a reaction. I wasn't the only one bothered by it.)

 “Awe come on, man."

There are many, many, many more such examples. 

James tried to write a story about God (the Christian God) and humanity's relationship with him. Humans do doubt God; we doubt his existence, we question his motives and his actions,we doubt his love for us, we turn our backs on him. In the story, Jess is angry with God for taking away her mother, her father, and her sister. She hates him and fights Justin as he tries, in his own, "I hate humans and I'm jealous of them", twisted way, to help her find her way back to God. But Justin is so annoying and irritating, Jess is such a whiner, that I, for one, couldn't buy into the message.

There's also a sub-plot with a romance between Jess and Justin and that wasn't particularly believable either.

If you want a love story, a story about angels in the modern day world, or a story with a positive message about God's love, almost any other book will be better. However, as annoying as Justin was, I did like James' version of angels. It's different, has a solid base in Christian theology and mythology and I respect her for not making her angels all cute and sweet. She took a chance and you have to admire that. 

 

I received a PDF of this story from Author Blog Tours for review.


ETA 8/14/11: Ms. James put a post on her blog announcing that she is temporarily pulling the book from vendors so that she she and her publisher can go through and fix the typos, grammatical errors, and other copy editing issues. After it's fixed, it will be re-released. Kudos to Ms. James and her publisher for doing this. It shows respect to the buyers and readers and can only improve the book. Good for you Ms. James.