Review of Creed's Honor by Linda Lael Miller

I'm a big Linda Lael Miller fan from her historical westerns through her romantic suspense period on into her contemporary cowboys. Here's my thoughts on her latest book in the Creeds Cowboys series.

Connor Creed doesn’t quite know how it happened that he’s spending his life alone on the ranch left to him and his twin brother. No brother, no wife, no family. Maybe some of it has to do with his twin stealing his girl way back when—the woman he thought he loved and the brother he thought he could trust—implicitly. Shows just how wrong a body can be.


Tricia McCall can’t wait to get back to her “real” life in Seattle after settling her father’s estate, such as it is, by selling the rundown camp and abandoned drive-in. Not that it didn’t fill her summers with a lot of fun when she was a child, but that was then and this is now. But, as she starts to live in the small town of Lonesome Bend, she can’t help but wonder if the man who has been stringing her along in Seattle is the “man of her dreams” or just someone she can “pretend” she’s involved with to avoid being involved at all.

When handsome Conner Creed starts turning up at Tricia’s great-grandmother’s house and the town social she’s helping out with and invites her and her friend’s daughter out to the ranch for a trail ride, Tricia can’t help but be intrigued, if cautious. After all, she’s got a life in Seattle to return to—a big city life, the kind of life she’s always lived (except for summers with her father after her parent’s divorce.)

Conner is well aware that anything with Tricia McCall is temporary. But loneliness and a bright and beautiful woman is too tempting a combination. He’s throwing caution to the wind—that is until his twin brother shows up after years of being away and throws a monkey wrench into everything.

Linda Lael Miller knows how to create strong yet vulnerable cowboy heroes that tug at your heart and your heart strings and Conner Creed is a prime example. And Tricia McCall is a good match for him—coming as she does with her own blind spots, especially when it comes to the men in her life. A book that will draw you in, hug you with its warmth, and leave you with a smile on your face. For me, nothing could be better.

Available at Barnes and Nobles

and Amazon.com



For Those Of Us Who Love Our E-Reader

I remember when I first got my Sony e-reader in November 2007--a gift from hubby for my birthday, lucky me. Being a reviewer as well as a reader, the e-reader was a godsend. The things I loved and still love about my e-reader ( I now have an Ipad too which I also use for reading) are:

1. The ability to change font size--my eyes have been eternally gratefully and I still don't need glasses for most things. How wonderful!
2. The fact I can carry around hundreds of books in one, slim tablet.
3. The fact I don't have storage issues with books anymore. Yes, I still read the occasional paperback but I prefer to get my reading matter digitally whenever possible.
4. The instant gratification I get when I hear about a book and in an instant can download it to my device with a few clicks and I'm off reading.
5. The fact that the Sony e-reader takes .pdf files so I can download from various sites and authors can send me their galleys. So convenient.
6. That with my Sony I can read in the sunlight.
7. That I can bookmark easily and thus, when using reference books, I am able to go back and find information that much easier.

Back in 2007 when I took my e-reader, at someone's request, to my chapter RWA, it created quite a stir. Most couldn't fathom giving up printed books to read on a digital tablet despite the advantages cited above. They thought it was just a fad. A few were very interested, including Eloisa James who thought there was potential in e-books for the publishing industry (not only is she a great writer but a smart lady).

So I found it interesting that just four short years later, U.S. publishers are "astonished" at how much of the book market is being served up digitally as referenced by this quote from an article on booksellers.com.

Speaking at the 40th anniversary keynote seminar, HarperCollins president and c.e.o. Brian Murray said the number of US e-readers—grown from 15m a year ago to 40m today—was having a disproportionately large effect on the market because they had reached "core" readers, those buying over 12 books a year. He said: “Some of the heaviest book buyers no longer visit bookstores.” He said some e-books had a 50% share of total sales during the first few months, a “watershed” for the trade.


The full article is short but insightful and can be accessed at:
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/heavy-book-buyers-avoiding-bookshops-says-hc-chief.html
Where this will push authors, publishers, booksellers and readers is anybody's guess but I suspect those who embrace the e-book readership, rather than resist, will fare the best. It's really just another delivery method, one that has the possibility of making the written word more accessible to more people, like the printing press did. And that can't be a bad thing can it?

Princeton Conference on Romance

In the Huffington Post today, Joanne Rendell posted about the conference held at Princeton University exploring the Romance Novel and American Culture. Check it out at The Huffington Post

I attended this conference, pleased to see a serious examination of the romance genre and its subgenres. Romance is a broad and encompassing category with a big tent that holds readers from all walks of life--including, as was demonstrated, serious, literary based academics. As an author of contemporary and historical western romances (and co-founder of www.lovewesternromances.com), the romance genre also encompasses sub-categories that might have difficulty finding a readership without those anticipated romantic elements that unite the genre and assures an optimistic ending.

Inspirationals, urban fantasies, sci-fi, mysteries, suspense, latin, eastern, medieval, turn-of the century, comtemporary, paranormal, world war II, regency, victorian--the list is only limited by the imagination. It is a rich tapestry of writing where the conflict and struggle inherent in finding love is played out against a varied backdrop that adds unique elements to the story. Romance encompasses not only love, but betrayal, risks, danger, hope,dreams and yes, sexual tension. All the emotions inherent in the human experience.

And as I told my husband when I first began to read romance--it brings me back to those heady days when I first discovered I was in love with him. What more could you ask of any genre?