Finished Animal Magnetism by Jill Shalvis. This is the first book in her Animal Magnetism contemporary romance series.

Lilah Young runs a kennel and rescues animals in the small town of Sunshine, Idaho. She’s trying to wrangle several animals into behaving when she rear-ends former soldier Brady Miller’s truck. To Lilah’s surprise, Brady offers to give her a ride after the accident. The two are immediately attracted to each other, but Brady pulls back when he realizes that Lilah is good friends with his foster brothers, whom he’s come to Sunshine to visit. Still, Brady has a hard time staying away from Lilah, and she from him, even though they both know that Brady doesn’t plan on staying in Sunshine for long …

I’ve heard a lot of good things about Shalvis’s books, plus I like small-town romances, so I decided to try this one. All the elements were there: a quirky heroine, a hero trying to figure out what he wants in life, entertaining secondary characters, lots of cute animals. But somehow, the book just didn’t gel for me.

The meet-cute at the beginning was well-done, but I did think it was a little unrealistic that Brady gives Lilah a ride after she damages his car, and then the two of them kiss at the end of the ride.

I did enjoy reading about Lilah’s kennel, all the animals she takes care of, and how she tries to find good homes for strays. It was also interesting to see Brady try to reconnect with his foster brothers and let his guard down after being a solider for so long.

However, it just didn’t feel like there was that much conflict in the book. Lilah and Brady are attracted to each other from the beginning and quickly decide to enjoy each other’s company while Brady is in town. Brady keeps saying that he’s going to leave, but it doesn’t feel like it will actually happen. I also thought that a couple of the secondary characters had more zing and chemistry than Lilah and Brady did. I found myself wondering more about them than I did about Lilah and Brady at times.

Overall, this one didn’t quite work for me, but if you like small-town romances, you might give it a try.

My grade: D+

Would I read this author again: Yes. I’m interested in seeing what Shalvis does with the other characters in the series.

Memorable quote: “Lilah Young stared at the truck she’d just rear-ended and gave herself exactly two seconds to have a pity party. This is what her life had come to. She had to work in increments of seconds.”

And randomly chosen winner of the copy of The Hum and the Shiver by Alex Bledsoe is:

Jen Wylie

Congrats! Please e-mail me your snail mail address so I can forward it on to Alex. If I don’t hear from you by Sunday, Oct. 23, I will have to pick another winner.

I want to say thanks again to Alex for taking the time to guest blog and to everyone who commented on the post. Thanks, everyone!

Is over at:

Paper Cut Reviews

I’m a fan of the Eddie LaCrosse fantasy series byAlex Bledsoe. So when I saw that Alex had a new book out, The Hum and the Shiver, I asked if he’d be nice enough to guest blog, and he said yes.

WARNING: The post gives away a plot point or two from the book. So if you don’t want to know what happens, skip to the giveaway info at the bottom.

Take it away, Alex:

All authors, if they’re serious and honest, put bits of themselves into whatever the write, and that includes authors of fantasy, science fiction and horror. These most unrealistic of genres, in fact, demand the realism of the author’s personality in order to work. Would horror greats like Poe, Lovecraft and King be the same if their individual childhood landscapes and adult difficulties weren’t evoked in their fiction? Would Tolkein be as vivid without his intense interest in languages?

In The Hum and the Shiver, I wrote about variations of my own Southern background. The rhythms of speech, the priorities, the way of life was familiar to me, and I had no trouble recreating it and then adding the story’s fantasy elements. Further, like secondary character Don Swayback, I’d worked in small-town newspapers, so I understood how they operated within their communities. I don’t actually play music, but I know a lot of musicians so I’ve observed them, talked to them and internalized their experiences enough to, I believe, recreate them.

There was one scene, though, that constantly defeated me. A character finds out her child has died. It’s a crucial moment, and obviously a dramatic one, but each time I tried to write it, it rang false. It was a moment that had to be real for the book to work.

So I took it from life. My life.

When I was ten, my older brother died. I was in my room playing when my father told my mother, and I remember the wail she let out as vividly as if it happened yesterday. I also remember what my father said to me when I came out to see what had happened. It was my first experience with the death of someone close to me. So I used it to make the moment real.

When my mother read the book, she didn’t even blink at the scene. No doubt her memories are completely different from mine. But for me, it’s the kind of detail that makes a crucial moment in the story work far better than any fictional version I could conjure. Far from being exploitative, as a writer it’s both my right and my duty to use my own unique experience to bring my fiction to life.

I don’t consider The Hum and the Shiver to be a “realistic” novel. It is fantasy, after all. But to make that fantasy believable, to make the broad strokes work, you have to ground it in realistic detail so that the reader doesn’t notice the line between what’s real and what’s not. And for every author, the best detail comes from his or her own life, from your own unique treasure of moments and emotions.

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION

Thanks so much for guest blogging today, Alex! I appreciate it. To celebrate the release of The Hum and the Shiver, Alex is giving away one copy of the book. The giveaway is open to US/Canada residents. To enter, leave a comment on this blog post talking about a fantasy book or world that you’ve enjoyed or a book that you are looking forward to.

The giveaway will be open through noon, Wednesday, Oct. 19 EST. I’ll post the winner here on the blog on Friday, Oct. 21. Happy commenting!

DailyCheapReads was nice enough to feature the Bigtime e-books on the site today, which I really appreciate. They also featured Spider’s Bite back in September when it was available for a discounted price.

Just a reminder that the three Bigtime books — Karma Girl, Hot Mama, and Jinx — are available for $2.99 each through various online booksellers. I’ve also written a new Bigtime e-story — A Karma Girl Christmas — that’s available for 99 cents (I’ll be posting more on that story soon).

Thanks again to DailyCheapReads for featuring the books.