• 926 and counting …

    Finished Show No Mercy by Cindy Gerard. This is the first book in her Black Ops, Inc. romantic suspense series about a group of former soldiers who form their own private security company.

    This one is about reporter Jenna McMillan, who goes to Argentina to chase down a hot story on a reclusive billionaire. But when someone tries to kill Jenna with a car bomb, Black Ops operative Gabe Jones steps in to protect her. Gabe and Jenna have a history, and their past attraction heats up once more as they try to stay one step ahead of the madman who’s chasing them …

    I’ve been looking for some new romantic suspense authors to try and someone suggested Gerard to me. So I picked this one up at the bookstore.

    I thought it started out a little slow, as Gerard establishes some of the Black Ops members and shows how the group was originally formed. But after that, it’s all action, all the time — bombs, shootings, raids, and more.

    Sandwiched in between all the action is Gabe and Jenna’s romance. Overall, the romance works well given their past history, but I would have liked a little more downtime with the two characters instead of them almost constantly being in danger. I also would have liked a little more explanation about their past history together — and how they took down the bad guy the first time. That story almost seemed like it could have been a book by itself.

    One thing that I found interesting and refreshing about the book is that all the male characters are hyper-aware of their feelings. Gabe knows how he feels about Jenna and how she feels about him from almost the beginning of the book. One of the other Black Ops guys is also in love, knows it, and isn’t ashamed to admit it. That was a nice change of pace from the cliche hero who thinks that feelings are a sign of weakness.

    Overall, if you like nonstop action and a healthy dose of romance, you should like this book. Thumbs up.

    Up next: Something from the TBR pile.

    Books in my TBR pile: About 20.

    What about you guys? Reading anything good right now?

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    Decisions, decisions …

    2 Comments

    So I finished my rough draft of my young adult fantasy, Quiver — it’s right at 50,000 words. And it’s pretty much all crap at this point (more like a long outline than anything else). I’ve got some good scenes, especially the big fight scene at the end. But the problem is that the beginning sucks and I have no idea how to fix it at this point.

    I’ve rewritten the first four chapters three times now. But every time, I feel like the setup for the story is totally cheesy. So I think I’m going to put it aside for a while and work on revising my Spy book , while I noodle on the beginning.

    Or I might try one more crack at rewriting the beginning of Quiver. What can I say? I’m a glutton for punishment … :rolleyes:

    What about you guys? What do you do when you get stuck on something? Share in the comments.

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    One year to go …

    2 Comments

    One year from today, Feb. 3, 2010, the first book in the Assassin urban fantasy series will be released. At least, that’s the plan right now. I know it’s a long wait, but I really think it will be worth it.

    Since there’s a year to go now, things will start gearing up soon (finally!). My editor, agent, and I will be talking official titles for the first book and the series as a whole. That’s the first thing that will get nailed down and finalized, probably by April or so.

    I should get some preliminary cover art by June/July, and I’ll have to do copy/edits revisions probably around September or so. Advanced reading copies will start going out in November/December for reviews.

    Anyway, more to come, so stay tuned! :ww:

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    Super blahs …

    6 Comments

    Congrats to the Steelers for winning the big game. I feel sorry for the Cards, though. That was a really heartbreaking way to lose. But now, on to the important stuff — the commercials. 😎

    Overall, I thought the commercials were pretty weak this year. I liked the Clydesdale commercials, especially the one with the horse playing fetch. But then again, these are always my favorites. I also enjoyed the Audi commercial with Jason Stratham that was a bit of a spoof of Stratham’s Transporter character. Other than that, though, nothing really blew my socks off.

    The one with Carlos Boozer of the Utah Jazz started out well, but then, it got a little sappy. And I had no idea what they were advertising. The Olympics? Jewelry? Buying stuff online?

    The beer commercials were lame and not funny at all, along with the car and cell phone commercials. Overall, they were all just … meh. They didn’t even show any cool movie trailers this year. Even G.I. Joe looked cheesy.

    And the commercial for Heroes where they are playing football with all the NFL greats … I hope you got a lot of money for that, John Elway. Because it was lame. :rolleyes:

    I wasn’t that impressed with the halftime show, either. Half the time, I couldn’t even understand what Bruce was saying/singing. And I felt real sorry for the cameraman he slammed his crotch into when he did his run-and-slide move. The NFL should just get Jimmy Buffett to do the halftime show next year. Seriously. Call Buffett now.

    What about you guys? Which commercials did you like? Share in the comments.