Saturday, May 14, 2011
Six Sentence Sunday, a taste of "Sunny Days, Moonlit Nights"
“Tell me where you are and I won’t divulge it to anyone, but I
have to send you papers to sign. As soon as I file papers you will be legally separated. Still, I must warn you, Sunny, no hanky panky.”
“What do you mean?”
“If White finds you with another man, he can sue him for
alienation of affections,” her lawyer said.
“But that isn’t true, I haven’t left him for anyone else; he’s
the cheater, not me.”
About "Sunny Days, Moonlit Nights"
Brad now knows she's gone, so what is he going to do about it? Is he the type of man who will hand her a divorce, sweet financial settlement and go quietly into the night? Not likely. There hasn't been a divorce in the White family...ever. And Brad is not about to break the family record.
Does he want her back, does he still love her? Did he ever really love her? Something happens to change his mind about the situation but you won't know unless you read the book because that is all I'm revealing here...
Buy Links
Astraea Press (all formats)
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Read my Reviews, on my website, link here:
Website
WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING...
Welcome to the first in my new weekly feature, what the critics say. I will be posting reviews of romance books here once a week. Today we begin with Sue Brown's book, "Nothing Ever Happens".
NOTHING EVER HAPPENS
Reviews by Jessewave March 26, 2011
A guest review by Buda
Summary Review: Andrew and Nathan struggle through seven long years, three marriages, children, a death, and a nosy neighbor with a clipboard to finally get their Happy Ever After. Beautifully drawn characters and an epic love make this book so worth suffering along with them.***This review contains what might be considered spoilers.***
The Blurb:Andrew’s life is a cliché: he’s a gay man trapped in a loveless marriage, thanks to his religious, overbearing mother. Then a new couple moves in down the street, and Andrew finds himself falling for Nathan in a big way. Nathan is straight, married, and just about to be a father, but after one fateful night out together at a club, Nathan has to face the fact that his feelings for Andrew go way beyond that of a friend and neighbor.
When Andrew’s wife asks for a divorce, both men’s lives are thrown into disarray. Arguments about their responsibilities to their wives and children, doubting themselves and each other, and some harrowing lies pull them apart… but they never leave each other’s thoughts.
The Review:First, if you haven’t figured it out from the blurb, let me state up front that Andrew and Nathan fall in love and have sex while each is married to women. While not together, they each have sex with others. I know that these can be auto-reject issues for a lot of readers, so if one of these is your hot-button issue, this book may not be for you.
Andrew, a photographer, is married to Stephanie. They’re the best of friends, but are not in love. They married at sixteen when Stephanie became pregnant with their son Colin, who at book’s open, is nearly ten. Andrew had been abused as a teenager by his homophobic, bible-thumping mother and her belt-and-buckle-wielding pastor, who tried to beat the gay out of him. His reaction was to sleep with Stephanie. She got pregnant. They got married and settled into a life together for their son. Their marriage is in name only because they have both come to accept Andrew’s homosexuality and the love they share is not romantic.Nathan has just moved to the neighborhood with his very pregnant wife, Alex.
The two couples meet at a welcome-to-the-neighborhood party at Allison and Jim’s place. Nathan has just graduated with his teaching certificate and will be teaching fourth grade, Colin’s class, at the local elementary school. Upon their initial meeting, Nathan and Andrew spark a friendship, beginning a tradition of cutting out of the parties early to play soccer in the park with Colin and Nathan’s dogs.
Over the course of the next few months, Nathan and Andrew’s friendship grows closer until Nathan finds a gay porn magazine in between the cushions of Andrew’s couch, seeing Andrew credited as the photographer. This triggers a lot of issues for Nathan, but he mans through it for the most part.
A few months after a rather traumatic birth for Nathan’s son, Daniel, Nathan accompanies Andrew and Gary to a gay club for the first time. Gary, Andrew’s best friend and fuck buddy, is very protective of his friend and lays the groundwork for his role in the rest of the book–Drew’s guard dog. It is because of this club visit that Andrew and Nathan’s friendship faces its first very serious crisis.The first time I read the book, I devoured the first nine chapters without pause. I only stopped because I worked early the next morning and required sleep. The second time I read the book, it was the same way. It is in Chapter Nine that Andrew’s world begins to explode when Stephanie asks for a divorce because her boyfriend Joe has proposed.
This is a difficult review to write because so very much happens that it’s hard to talk about how our heroes change and grow without giving away secrets or getting into the details of events in the seven year span of the story. Instead of that, I will say that after reading this book the first time, I couldn’t stop thinking about Andrew and Nathan and all they’d been through together and separately. Andrew is, simply put, a good man. He stood by Stephanie and Colin when she got pregnant at sixteen and would have probably continued putting his son first had Stephanie and Joe not decided to get married. He fell irrevocably in love with Nathan but refused to pressure him to leave his wife so the men could be together, leaving Nathan to slowly, slowly find his way on his own. I find Nathan honorable. He never expected to fall in love or lust with another man. He and his best friend, Gabe, had fooled around once, but that was it. Then when he finds himself feeling so deeply for Andrew, he’s torn between staying with his wife and supporting his child or losing his family, his career and his comfort zone to pursue Andrew. It is not an easy place for either man to be and is, occasionally, a difficult read. I set it aside several times when scenes were too intense, but found myself seeking it out again after only a short break. Reading a second time did nothing to diminish either man and has only caused me to think about them more frequently. In all the drama, though, humor sparkles. After the first club visit, Nathan and Andrew take Colin and his friend Bobby on a weekend camp out. Bobby is an obnoxious little boy who never shuts up and constantly gets himself in trouble. On the drive to the camp site, Bobby keeps up a constant stream of chatter, driving Nathan crazy:He glared at Andrew, who was looking pretty fucking relaxed. Fucker!
As soon as they started the journey he’d put his earphones in and blanked everyone in favor of something with a really irritating beat. What was worse was the mindless humming and the leg slapping. Oh yes, the leg slapping really pissed Nathan off. He wouldn’t put it past Andrewto start playing air guitar with his leg.And yes, there it was.Fucker!I did have a couple of niggles. Often, I was unsure of exactly what Gary and Gabe’s relationship was, though it seemed to be as much in flux as Nathan and Drew’s. Several times, the timeline lost me. At least one time was intentional, as it lost Drew as well. Also, Andrew was referred to as “the older man” far too many times. It wasn’t enough to annoy me, but enough that I noticed. Probably one or two more of the phrases would have hit the Annoy Buda button. (No, Wave, you can’t have one!) Lastly, at the end, when Nathan finally comes to Drew, I wasn’t entirely convinced he did it of his own volition. When he says he’s just gotten used to being bi, I wanted to cuff the back of his head. Seven years after first sleeping with Andrew? Slow learner much? Andrew is hesitant to accept that what he’s wanted for the last seven years has finally come to pass, but eventually Nathan convinced us both.Though the first reading left me a bit emotionally unsettled because of all the men go through on their arduous journey to their Happy Ever After, I couldn’t stop myself from delving back into their lives. I freely admit to being an angst whore, and this book delivers in abundance. Sue Brown wrote to incredibly flawed, genuinely human, incredibly adorable men I couldn’t help but fall in love with.
Highly recommended.
5+ out of 5 Stars!
BOOKS WITH GREAT REVIEWS WILL BE ADDED TO MY RECOMMENDED BOOKS LIST, COMING SOON.
BUY LINKS
Dreamspinner Press
Amazon
NOTHING EVER HAPPENS
Reviews by Jessewave March 26, 2011
A guest review by Buda
Summary Review: Andrew and Nathan struggle through seven long years, three marriages, children, a death, and a nosy neighbor with a clipboard to finally get their Happy Ever After. Beautifully drawn characters and an epic love make this book so worth suffering along with them.***This review contains what might be considered spoilers.***
The Blurb:Andrew’s life is a cliché: he’s a gay man trapped in a loveless marriage, thanks to his religious, overbearing mother. Then a new couple moves in down the street, and Andrew finds himself falling for Nathan in a big way. Nathan is straight, married, and just about to be a father, but after one fateful night out together at a club, Nathan has to face the fact that his feelings for Andrew go way beyond that of a friend and neighbor.
When Andrew’s wife asks for a divorce, both men’s lives are thrown into disarray. Arguments about their responsibilities to their wives and children, doubting themselves and each other, and some harrowing lies pull them apart… but they never leave each other’s thoughts.
The Review:First, if you haven’t figured it out from the blurb, let me state up front that Andrew and Nathan fall in love and have sex while each is married to women. While not together, they each have sex with others. I know that these can be auto-reject issues for a lot of readers, so if one of these is your hot-button issue, this book may not be for you.
Andrew, a photographer, is married to Stephanie. They’re the best of friends, but are not in love. They married at sixteen when Stephanie became pregnant with their son Colin, who at book’s open, is nearly ten. Andrew had been abused as a teenager by his homophobic, bible-thumping mother and her belt-and-buckle-wielding pastor, who tried to beat the gay out of him. His reaction was to sleep with Stephanie. She got pregnant. They got married and settled into a life together for their son. Their marriage is in name only because they have both come to accept Andrew’s homosexuality and the love they share is not romantic.Nathan has just moved to the neighborhood with his very pregnant wife, Alex.
The two couples meet at a welcome-to-the-neighborhood party at Allison and Jim’s place. Nathan has just graduated with his teaching certificate and will be teaching fourth grade, Colin’s class, at the local elementary school. Upon their initial meeting, Nathan and Andrew spark a friendship, beginning a tradition of cutting out of the parties early to play soccer in the park with Colin and Nathan’s dogs.
Over the course of the next few months, Nathan and Andrew’s friendship grows closer until Nathan finds a gay porn magazine in between the cushions of Andrew’s couch, seeing Andrew credited as the photographer. This triggers a lot of issues for Nathan, but he mans through it for the most part.
A few months after a rather traumatic birth for Nathan’s son, Daniel, Nathan accompanies Andrew and Gary to a gay club for the first time. Gary, Andrew’s best friend and fuck buddy, is very protective of his friend and lays the groundwork for his role in the rest of the book–Drew’s guard dog. It is because of this club visit that Andrew and Nathan’s friendship faces its first very serious crisis.The first time I read the book, I devoured the first nine chapters without pause. I only stopped because I worked early the next morning and required sleep. The second time I read the book, it was the same way. It is in Chapter Nine that Andrew’s world begins to explode when Stephanie asks for a divorce because her boyfriend Joe has proposed.
This is a difficult review to write because so very much happens that it’s hard to talk about how our heroes change and grow without giving away secrets or getting into the details of events in the seven year span of the story. Instead of that, I will say that after reading this book the first time, I couldn’t stop thinking about Andrew and Nathan and all they’d been through together and separately. Andrew is, simply put, a good man. He stood by Stephanie and Colin when she got pregnant at sixteen and would have probably continued putting his son first had Stephanie and Joe not decided to get married. He fell irrevocably in love with Nathan but refused to pressure him to leave his wife so the men could be together, leaving Nathan to slowly, slowly find his way on his own. I find Nathan honorable. He never expected to fall in love or lust with another man. He and his best friend, Gabe, had fooled around once, but that was it. Then when he finds himself feeling so deeply for Andrew, he’s torn between staying with his wife and supporting his child or losing his family, his career and his comfort zone to pursue Andrew. It is not an easy place for either man to be and is, occasionally, a difficult read. I set it aside several times when scenes were too intense, but found myself seeking it out again after only a short break. Reading a second time did nothing to diminish either man and has only caused me to think about them more frequently. In all the drama, though, humor sparkles. After the first club visit, Nathan and Andrew take Colin and his friend Bobby on a weekend camp out. Bobby is an obnoxious little boy who never shuts up and constantly gets himself in trouble. On the drive to the camp site, Bobby keeps up a constant stream of chatter, driving Nathan crazy:He glared at Andrew, who was looking pretty fucking relaxed. Fucker!
As soon as they started the journey he’d put his earphones in and blanked everyone in favor of something with a really irritating beat. What was worse was the mindless humming and the leg slapping. Oh yes, the leg slapping really pissed Nathan off. He wouldn’t put it past Andrewto start playing air guitar with his leg.And yes, there it was.Fucker!I did have a couple of niggles. Often, I was unsure of exactly what Gary and Gabe’s relationship was, though it seemed to be as much in flux as Nathan and Drew’s. Several times, the timeline lost me. At least one time was intentional, as it lost Drew as well. Also, Andrew was referred to as “the older man” far too many times. It wasn’t enough to annoy me, but enough that I noticed. Probably one or two more of the phrases would have hit the Annoy Buda button. (No, Wave, you can’t have one!) Lastly, at the end, when Nathan finally comes to Drew, I wasn’t entirely convinced he did it of his own volition. When he says he’s just gotten used to being bi, I wanted to cuff the back of his head. Seven years after first sleeping with Andrew? Slow learner much? Andrew is hesitant to accept that what he’s wanted for the last seven years has finally come to pass, but eventually Nathan convinced us both.Though the first reading left me a bit emotionally unsettled because of all the men go through on their arduous journey to their Happy Ever After, I couldn’t stop myself from delving back into their lives. I freely admit to being an angst whore, and this book delivers in abundance. Sue Brown wrote to incredibly flawed, genuinely human, incredibly adorable men I couldn’t help but fall in love with.
Highly recommended.
5+ out of 5 Stars!
BOOKS WITH GREAT REVIEWS WILL BE ADDED TO MY RECOMMENDED BOOKS LIST, COMING SOON.
BUY LINKS
Dreamspinner Press
Amazon
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
CONFESSION AND LIES WEDNESDAY!
NUDE BEACH!
This is a true story told to me by “Sarah”, a pseudonym to protect…the guilty! This happened quite a while ago, but Sarah wants to confess it now.
When I was single I spent several summers sharing group houses on Fire Island off the Long Island Sound with other young singles. Each summer I ended up in a different community. This particular story happened the year I rented with a friend and two or her friends in Kismet.
Two things you need to know about me, one, I was a physically shy girl and young woman. I didn’t take showers in the girls’ locker room and never walked around the house I shared with three other women naked and not because one was a lesbian, but because I was always reserved, private and shy. Still am today in many ways.
At that time, I worked as the media director for a division of a large advertising agency, a conservative, traditional company with a stellar reputation. I wore business suits every day, was well respected and quite private with fellow employees, being friendly but not too friendly. I worked hard to obtain my position as a manager and department head and was proud of my standing in the company.
That summer, our house of four hooked up with another house of men and women. We became brother/sister houses. My friend, Judy, was friendly with the folks in that house and we all hung out together, drinking, partying and joking around most every weekend. I found Johnny, the incredibly handsome guy in our “brother” house, extremely attractive. Johnny was making the rounds of the women in Kismet. He finally got around to me.
While I couldn’t resist spending a night with him, I hoped he wanted more. It seems he did, buzzing around me, hanging at our house, sitting me on his lap and generally being where I was. I had a thing for him.
Kismet is the community closest to the nude beach on Fire Island. That particular beach is in a secluded area, quite a walk from our little town. When my friends suggested going to the nude beach, I resisted the idea. Not my cup of tea. But by the time a second or third trip was proposed, Johnny put some pressure on me to join him. He was so sweet and assured me he would be by my side and everything would be okay. I was terrified but Johnny managed to convince me and everyone else was going, so I went along, reluctantly.
Once we got there, I disrobed with the others in our group and sat close to Johnny, trying not to look at people. Pierre, a member of Johnny’s house stared at me with lascivious eyes, making me quite uncomfortable. I spoke to Johnny, cuddling up into his shoulder. He put his arm around me and spoke to Pierre, who backed off. I began to relax a bit and lay down on my stomach next to Johnny, feeling less self-conscious about revealing my backside than my front.
Lying there with him, I began to enjoy the experience, feeling the soft, warm breeze against my skin…all of my skin. I put my head down on my hands and closed my eyes. As I drifted off to sleep, I was jarred awake when I heard my name, spoken by a familiar voice.
“Sarah? Is that you?”
I lifted my head up to see the secretary to the president of my ad agency standing there, fully clothed, looking down at me, stark naked. I looked up, unable to speak.
“Susan!” I managed to squeak out.
Susan laughed and moved away, chuckling at the look of horror on my face. Johnny gave me a puzzled look as I gathered my clothes, dressed quickly and returned to the house, wondering how she could recognize me from that angle with no clothes on!
P.S. I never heard anyone at the office speak of my being discovered at the nude beach, but every time I waited outside the president’s office to see him, in my crisp white shirt and dark suit, Susan always had the biggest grin and a twinkle in her eye.
***********************************
PLEASE VOTE FOR “SUNNY DAYS, MOONLIT NIGHTS FOR MAY BOOK OF THE MONTH AT SINCLAIR BOOKS. THANK YOU!
About the book
Do you have someone in your past you would like to reconnect with? Caroline Davis White wasn't looking for Mickey, now Mike Foster, her childhood crush, she was fleeing her philandering husband, seeking peace and quiet, time to reflect on changing her life. But there was Mike, saving her from a mishap...again, bigger than life and even more handsome.
A well-known artist, Sunny thought she could escape, disappear back to the cabin where she spent her summers as a child. But she was wrong. Her husband refused to let her go. There hadn't been a divorce in Brad White's family...ever! And he wasn't about to start breaking the tradition now. Could Caroline shake him loose and what about Mike? Where did he fit into her life?
A well-known artist, Sunny thought she could escape, disappear back to the cabin where she spent her summers as a child. But she was wrong. Her husband refused to let her go. There hadn't been a divorce in Brad White's family...ever! And he wasn't about to start breaking the tradition now. Could Caroline shake him loose and what about Mike? Where did he fit into her life?
Buy links:
WORDS INSTEAD OF "SAID"
WORDS INSTEAD OF "SAID"
All the people who are supposed to know tell me not to use dialogue tags. “If you simply must use a dialogue tag, use ‘said’,” they say. But “said” gets repetitious and the greatest sin is to repeat words too often in your prose.
I like to use dialogue to move the story along. Sometimes I have dialogue taking up a couple of pages. If I don’t use a tag, can the reader keep up with who is talking? Maybe not, to me the greatest sin is confusing my reader. What is a writer to do?
Writers are constantly looking for synonyms. We use the thesaurus on Word or the old fashioned kind, a printed book. But synonyms for the word “said”, used in dialogue tags may be hard to slip past your editor. I made a list, a long list, I often print out and keep next to my computer when I’m writing. Here is a small sampling, some serious and some in jest.
Examples of synonyms for “said” and when to use them:
Confessed – use this when your hero is telling your heroine he has the hots for her sister.
Uttered – do not use this when the hero or heroine is in the barn milking a cow.
Toasted –can only be used in the presence of champagne.
Alleged – can only be used by lawyer hero or heroine.
Pronounced - use this if your hero is a justice of the peace.
Revealed – good substitute if your heroine is a stripper.
Joked – can be used even if your hero is not a comedian.
Shot back – can be used even if no gun is present.
Sneered – You don’t have to be Snidley Whiplash to sneer, but you should be a bad guy.
Seriously, even though dialogue tags are not in favor these days, sometimes they are necessary to keep the reader from becoming confused. Here are several of my favorite tags, I use to make sure the reader knows who is talking:
Stated
Told
Replied
Responded
Murmured
Muttered
Whispered
Sniffed
Admitted
Snapped
Retorted
I like to use a telling tag, giving the reader an idea how the dialogue was delivered to help move the emotion of the story along. Maybe I’m old fashioned, but some tags are necessary or the dialogue becomes too sparse. It seems better to me to use a simple tag and make the dialogue terse and to the point rather than eliminate tags and have the dialogue drone on to make sure the reader knows who is talking.
But then, I’m an author, not an editor.
About the book
About the book
Do you have someone in your past you would like to reconnect with? Caroline Davis White wasn't looking for Mickey, now Mike Foster, her childhood crush, she was fleeing her philandering husband, seeking peace and quiet, time to reflect on changing her life. But there was Mike, saving her from a mishap...again, bigger than life and even more handsome.
A well-known artist, Sunny thought she could escape, disappear back to the cabin where she spent her summers as a child. But she was wrong. Her husband refused to let her go. There hadn't been a divorce in Brad White's family...ever! And he wasn't about to start breaking the tradition now. Could Caroline shake him loose and what about Mike? Where did he fit into her life?
A well-known artist, Sunny thought she could escape, disappear back to the cabin where she spent her summers as a child. But she was wrong. Her husband refused to let her go. There hadn't been a divorce in Brad White's family...ever! And he wasn't about to start breaking the tradition now. Could Caroline shake him loose and what about Mike? Where did he fit into her life?
Buy links:
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Six Sentences, a taste of "Sunny Days, Moonlit Nights"
Six Sentences from "Sunny Days, Moonlit Nights "
Mike thought about Sunny. Some things she had told him didn’t add up. Being a scientist at heart, Mike was logical and liked to analyze things to get to the essence. Sunny was hiding something but he felt confident, with time, she would confide in him.
He was amazed to find such a beautiful, shapely woman had
emerged from the gangly kid he had known. He felt drawn to her,
just as he had then, trusting her in ways he would never trust
another woman as beautiful as she.
He was delighted to find the funny, smart, independent kid she once was still lived inside that stunning body.
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL YOU GREAT MOMS!!
A Little About the Book
Do you have someone in your past you would like to reconnect with? Caroline Davis White wasn't looking for Mickey, now Mike Foster, her childhood crush, she was fleeing her philandering husband, seeking peace and quiet, time to reflect on changing her life. But there was Mike, saving her from a mishap...again, bigger than life and even more handsome.
A well-known artist, Sunny thought she could escape, disappear back to the cabin where she spent her summers as a child. But she was wrong. Her husband refused to let her go. There hadn't been a divorce in Brad White's family...ever! And he wasn't about to start breaking the tradition now. Could Caroline shake him loose and what about Mike? Where did he fit into her life?
Read reviews at: website
Buy links - $3.99 ebook, $9.99 paperback (amazon)
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Astraea Press
Mike thought about Sunny. Some things she had told him didn’t add up. Being a scientist at heart, Mike was logical and liked to analyze things to get to the essence. Sunny was hiding something but he felt confident, with time, she would confide in him.
He was amazed to find such a beautiful, shapely woman had
emerged from the gangly kid he had known. He felt drawn to her,
just as he had then, trusting her in ways he would never trust
another woman as beautiful as she.
He was delighted to find the funny, smart, independent kid she once was still lived inside that stunning body.
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL YOU GREAT MOMS!!
A Little About the Book
Do you have someone in your past you would like to reconnect with? Caroline Davis White wasn't looking for Mickey, now Mike Foster, her childhood crush, she was fleeing her philandering husband, seeking peace and quiet, time to reflect on changing her life. But there was Mike, saving her from a mishap...again, bigger than life and even more handsome.
A well-known artist, Sunny thought she could escape, disappear back to the cabin where she spent her summers as a child. But she was wrong. Her husband refused to let her go. There hadn't been a divorce in Brad White's family...ever! And he wasn't about to start breaking the tradition now. Could Caroline shake him loose and what about Mike? Where did he fit into her life?
Read reviews at: website
Buy links - $3.99 ebook, $9.99 paperback (amazon)
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Astraea Press
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