Review- The Lost Cats and Lonely Hearts Club

While covering a story, feisty network reporter Madison Shaw gets more than she bargained for when she rescues a box of orphaned kittens. Suddenly the glamazon of the Manhattan news room is doing two am feedings to keep these furbabies alive!

This is certainly a change of pace for the high maintenance workaholic she’s become and taking care of the kittens makes Madison realise how far off track she’s come—after all, she was a stray once too…

When a video of her caring for the kittens goes viral, she knows her image as a hardnosed reporter is shot to hell. What Madison doesn’t expect is the media circus that propels her and the kittens to stardom. And the domino effect that has on her, her career and her love life—especially when she meets sexy Officer Nick Marino!– Amazon

Labor Day is coming up and here is the perfect last beach read of the season. One woman on the wrong road to success and happiness finds the true path by rescuing four stray kittens.

Look, it is what it is- fun, nothing more. A perfect book to pick up, put down, and pick up again. You can see the predictable plot twists coming but that doesn’t make less enjoyable. It’s designed to give you happy, warm fuzzies and it does.

There are bad guys who get what they deserve, the hot, good guy who gets Madison, the best friends who each get a kitten (and  their own books), and Madison who gets everything a book heroine should get.

This is the perfect example of what a 3 star book should be. Read it.

Review- Twistered

My name is Dorothy. I live in Kansas. I’ve seen a few tornadoes in my day, but nothing like the one that dropped my dead ex-husband, Wade, on my doorstep in a crushed motor home. Wade looked almost as beat up as the RV when he spilled from the back door, his red sneakers sticking out.

That was just the beginning of a crazy Memorial Day weekend when I won a big contest (complete with cash and a car), was accosted by a studly FBI agent, uncovered an old case of blackmail, discovered my ex-love might still love me, dealt with the Wickeds motorcycle gang, managed the annual charity dog show…and nearly died from a gunshot wound.

I almost had the feeling that I wasn’t in Kansas anymore….– Amazon

I read this book well over a year ago and never got around to a review. For me a cozy mystery is a light, entertaining read and Twistered is precisely that but with a, pardon the expression, twist.

The twist is Wilson’s adept marrying of a modern mystery in a fictional real world setting with the characters, settings, and plot points of the Wizard of Oz book, movie, and actors. She does it brilliantly, at times subtly, at times brashly, and she does it in a way that doesn’t interfere with the flow of the story.

She even manages to include monkeys.

The only problem for me was the ending, I’m picky about my endings, and this one seemed to drag on just a little too long but not enough to ruin the whole experience. An excellent example of what a carefully crafted cosy should be.

Racism, Sue, and Suzan

Hello, Dear Readers, I am trying to get myself back into a blogging frame of mind. Not easy but I’m trying. Today, however, I am reblogging Teach Me Tonight‘s excellent post on the past and present racism of Sue Grimshaw and how she is perceived by people on both sides of the issue.

As Twitter filled with authors and readers wondering what possessed two separate small publishers to hire her as an acquisitions editor,  one, Jack’s House, let her go but the other, Glenfinnan, has doubled down on the insistence that Grimshaw is a Nice White Lady and not at all what so many people have the receipts for.

Glenfinnan’s CEO, Suzan Tisdale, even went live  to give us 12 cringe worthy minutes defending her bestie. This link will get you to the post. THen Teach Me Tonight posted her blog with some history of Grimshaw’s past behavior and a transcript of Tisdale’s defense including screenshots of people’s reactions posted on Twitter.

Racism and the Corporate Romance Buyer: a “little fiasco” involving Sue Grimshaw

Laura Vivanco

There’s been a lot of discussion about readers and publishers and who has the greatest role in blocking the publication of particular books/preventing them becoming a success. There’s also been discussion about how the RWA awards (which can help boost an author’s career) might be shaped by racism and homophobia.

Recently, another type of player has been under discussion: the corporate book buyer. In particular, Sue Grimshaw. In 2007, Grimshaw was interviewed at Dear Author and the importance of her role was explained: Link to post.

The next day Vivanco posted a second piece, Shaping Submissions via Omissions, which details how Glenfinnan’s submission requirements keeps any sort of diversity out.

Both posts provide a clear picture of the effect of a pattern of behavior that should no longer be socially, ethically, or morally acceptable.