Since we are well into January now, I thought I would post about something winter- and book-related.

In both the Elemental Assassin and the Mythos Academy series (and in the Bigtime series too), I refer to characters wearing toboggans, or knit/winter hats. A while back, a reader wrote to me asking if maybe I meant toque (also a winter hat) instead because toboggan can also mean a sled. Honestly, I had never heard of the word toque before, and it never occurred to me to use another word for toboggan.

I think this just might be a regional difference. I’m from the South and in my neck of the woods, a toboggan is a winter hat, and a sled is a sled. If I tell my mom that I’m wearing my toboggan, she knows that I’m wearing a hat. I would never say that I’m going to slide down a hill on my toboggan; I would slide down a hill on my sled.

Since both the Elemental Assassin and the Mythos Academy series are set in the South, I didn’t think anything about using the word toboggan. But I’ve had a couple of folks e-mail me about this now, and I’m wondering what other words/phrases I use that might mean something else or might be interpreted differently in different parts of the country and world.

And it’s not just words — it’s food too. I know when Wheezley and I travel to other places, especially when we go up north, we always wonder if the restaurants will have sweet tea or not. For those of you who don’t know, sweet tea is just what it sounds like — tea that already has sugar in it (usually a lot of sugar). In the South, practically every restaurant (even the fast food joints) will offer you a choice between sweet or unsweet tea. But when we went to Texas a few years back, they only had unsweet tea in one of the restaurants we ate at.

But it works both ways too. For example, I don’t eat grits, which are another Southern staple. In fact, I’d never really even heard of grits until I visited some of my cousins who live in another Southern state where they are more popular. So I guess it all just depends on where you grow up and what you hear and eat along the way.

What about you guys? What regional words or food items have you noticed in books, if any?

I have posted the back cover copy for Widow’s Web, the seventh book in my Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series.

There are no big spoilers here, but if you absolutely don’t want to know what the book is about before you read Thread of Death (since the e-novella hints at a few things in Widow’s Web) or By a Thread (the sixth book), you may want to skip this post.

Here’s the description:

I used to murder people for money, but these days it’s more of a survival technique.

Once an assassin, always an assassin. So much for being plain old Gin Blanco. With every lowlife in Ashland gunning for me, I don’t need another problem, but a new one has come to town. Salina might seem like a sweet Southern belle, but she’s really a dangerous enemy whose water elemental magic can go head-to-head with my own Ice and Stone power. Salina also has an intimate history with my lover, Owen Grayson, and now that she’s back in town, she thinks he’s hers for the taking. Salina’s playing a mysterious game that involves a shady local casino owner with a surprising connection to Owen. But they call me the Spider for a reason. I’m going to untangle her deadly scheme, even if it leaves my love affair hanging by a thread.

Basically, this story will delve into Owen’s past, and readers will learn what Owen was up to while he was living on the streets of Ashland with his baby sister, Eva. You can also read the first chapter of Widow’s Web, if you wish. Again, if you absolutely don’t want to be spoiled, you may want to skip reading the chapter.

I’ve seen the cover art, which is awesome as usual. I can’t share the cover just yet, but the predominant color is blue this time, and Gin is seen with a weapon that is not one of her silverstone knives. Is that enough of a teaser for you guys?

Widow’s Web will be out on Aug. 21. Technically, it’s a September book, but instead of releasing the book the last Tuesday before the first of the month like usual, my publisher decided to bump it up a week to Aug. 21. Widow’s Web is up for pre-order at Amazon, and I imagine it will be up for pre-order sometime soon at Barnes & Noble. I’ll post more information as it becomes available.

Finished Sweet Valley Confidential: Ten Years Later by Francine Pascal. This book looks at characters in her popular Sweet Valley High series ten years later.

Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield were the darlings of Swee Valley High and as close as twin sisters could be — until Jessica committed a terrible betrayal. Furious, Elizabeth left Sweet Valley behind and moved to New York, where she now works as a journalist covering the theater scene. But Jessica wants her sister’s forgiveness and tries to reconnect with Elizabeth, all the while thinking about what she did to drive her sister away in the first place …

I really wanted to like this book. I have fond memories of reading (and rereading) the Sweet Valley High series when I was younger, and I thought it would be fun to see what the characters were like later in life.

I did like the references to characters and events that happened in the original series, and I thought the different paths some of the characters took were interesting.

However, the rest of the book just didn’t work for me. My biggest problem was the writing. It wasn’t smooth, and it didn’t flow very well. Also, the structure of the story was awkward, as there are a lot of flashbacks to various events that happened to Elizabeth and Jessica leading up to the rift between them. The book just wasn’t as fun and readable as I remember the original series being.

Overall, the story had potential, but the execution didn’t work for me.

My grade: F

Would I read this author again: Maybe. I think it would be interesting to go back and reread the original Sweet Valley High books to see how they compare to my memories of them.

Memorable quote: “She could still grab it in time, but Elizabeth didn’t hurry. Slow, with purpose. Slow, giving the internal anger and hurt time to shoot from zero to a hundred. It needed only seconds, like the start-up speed of a Maserati. Except it was never at zero. Not anymore. Hadn’t been for the last eight months. And she couldn’t imagine a time when it would ever be there again.”

Finished Sweet Reward by Christy Reece. This is the third book in a trilogy in her Last Chance Rescue romantic suspense series.

Jared Livingston is an agent for Last Chance Rescue, a group that helps people in bad situations. When his ex-wife’s baby girl is abducted, Jared and the rest of the LCR agents vow to find the girl. Along the way, Jared meets Mia Ryker, who also runs a rescue business. The two of them, along with the other LCR agents, soon discover that the abduction is part of a chilling pattern of kidnappings. A series of events and clues leads the couple to a dangerous man that Mia has a past connection to. Jared is attracted to Mia, and she to him, which complicates things when she’s forced to go undercover to get close to the man behind the abduction ring, a man who has his own plans for Mia …

I liked the first book in this trilogy, Sweet Justice, and wanted to read more by Reece. I’m glad I did.

I really liked Mia’s character. I thought she was smart, strong, and tough, and I enjoyed how warm, outgoing, and full of life she was, despite all the tragedies in her past. However, I didn’t like Jared nearly as much, especially since he spends part of the book questioning Mia’s qualifications and skills. I didn’t like that about him at all. The villain was interesting too, although I thought he was a little too trusting of Mia, given her sudden reappearance in his life.

There’s a nice balance between the abduction plot and the growing romance between Mia and Jared, and there’s plenty of action to keep you turning the pages.

Overall, this is a solid romantic suspense.

My grade: C+

Would I read this author again: Yes. I think Reece does a good job of balancing the romance and suspense elements.

Memorable quote: “Most people didn’t know the truth, and since it was no one’s business, he kept his mouth shut.”

Today I thought I would share some of the books I’m looking forward to reading this year. Note that all the descriptions are from Goodreads:

Lothaire by Kresley Cole: I know, I know, this one actually came out earlier this week, but I need to catch up and read Dreams of a Dark Warrior first before I tackle the latest book in the Immortals After Dark paranormal romance series:

ALL FEAR THE ENEMY OF OLD

Driven by his insatiable need for revenge, Lothaire, the Lore’s most ruthless vampire, plots to seize the Horde’s crown. But bloodlust and torture have left him on the brink of madness — until he finds Elizabeth Peirce, the key to his victory. He captures the unique young mortal, intending to offer up her very soul in exchange for power, yet Elizabeth soothes his tormented mind and awakens within him emotions Lothaire believed he could no longer experience.

A DEADLY FORCE DWELLS WITHIN HER

Growing up in desperate poverty, Ellie Peirce yearned for a better life, never imagining she’d be convicted of murder — or that an evil immortal would abduct her from death row. But Lothaire is no savior, as he himself plans to sacrifice Ellie in one month’s time. And yet the vampire seems to ache for her touch, showering her with wealth and sexual pleasure. In a bid to save her soul, Ellie surrenders her body to the wicked vampire, while vowing to protect her heart.

CENTURIES OF COLD INDIFFERENCE SHATTERED

Elizabeth tempts Lothaire beyond reason, as only his fated mate could. As the month draws to a close, he must choose between a millennia-old blood vendetta and his irresistible prisoner. Will Lothaire succumb to the miseries of his past … or risk everything for a future with her?

Rainshadow Road by Lisa Kleypas: I love Kleypas’s contemporary romances, and I’m looking forward to this second book in her Friday Harbor series:

Lucy Marinn is a glass artist living in mystical, beautiful, Friday Harbor, Washington. She is stunned and blindsided by the most bitter kind of betrayal: her fiancé Kevin has left her. His new lover is Lucy’s own sister. Lucy’s bitterness over being dumped is multiplied by the fact that she has constantly made the wrong choices in her romantic life. Facing the severe disapproval of Lucy’s parents, Kevin asks his friend Sam Nolan, a local vineyard owner on San Juan Island, to “romance” Lucy and hopefully loosen her up and get her over her anger.

Complications ensue when Sam and Lucy begin to fall in love, Kevin has second thoughts, and Lucy discovers that the new relationship in her life began under false pretenses. Questions about love, loyalty, old patterns, mistakes, and new beginnings are explored as Lucy learns that some things in life — even after being broken—can be made into something new and beautiful.

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore: I thought Graceling, the first book in the Seven Kingdoms young adult epic fantasy series, was really excellent, and I’m hoping this one is too:

Eight years after Graceling, Bitterblue is now queen of Monsea. But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities, lives on. Her advisors, who have run things since Leck died, believe in a forward-thinking plan: Pardon all who committed terrible acts under Leck’s reign, and forget anything bad ever happened. But when Bitterblue begins sneaking outside the castle — disguised and alone — to walk the streets of her own city, she starts realizing that the kingdom has been under the thirty-five-year spell of a madman, and the only way to move forward is to revisit the past.

Two thieves, who only steal what has already been stolen, change her life forever. They hold a key to the truth of Leck’s reign. And one of them, with an extreme skill called a Grace that he hasn’t yet identified, holds a key to her heart.

What about you guys? What books are you looking forward to reading in 2012?