Romance is the most maligned genre of literature, despite being the highest grossing. How do publishers afford multi-million dollar contracts for first time literary fiction authors? On the backs of romance. We, romance readers, are the most loyal fans. We are powering through the recession, earning even more profits for Harlequin despite the buying downturn through the rest of the economy. Unfortunately, most people who criticize the genre as “bodice-rippers” and “crotch novels” have never read one. I’ll leave the eloquent arguments to Smart Bitches who Love Trashy Books and Dear Author. Check out the stats on romance readers from the Romance Writers of America to see that we’re a highly diverse, highly educated bunch. Escapist fantasies? What book, besides a textbook, isn’t an escapist fantasy? That’s what reading is. That’s what TV and movies are. ENTERTAINMENT.

Romance novels are delicious. Nom…nom…nomnomnomnomnom.

What I want to share with you now is the time honored wisdom: Don’t Knock it till You’ve Tried it

Here are 13 recommended books (all of which I’ve read and loved) in each subgenre of your reading persuasion. Go ahead, try one. I double-dog dare ya.

1. Contemporary: This Heart of Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
2. Paranormal: Pleasure Unbound by Larissa Ione
3. Historical: It Happened One Autumn by Lisa Kleypas
4. Regency: The Spymaster’s Lady by Joanna Bourne
   
5. Science-Fiction: Games of Command by Linnea Sinclair
6. Fantasy: The Moon Witch by Linda Winstead Jones
7. Suspense: Mr. Perfect by Linda Howard
8. Young Adult: Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith (sigh, or Twilight…but who’s left who hasn’t read it?)
9. Women’s Fiction: Blue-Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas
10. Erotica: Go Fetch! by Shelly Laurenston
11. Contemporary Category Romance: Marriage at the Millionaire’s Command by Anne Oliver
12. Paranormal Category Romance: Raintree Inferno by Linda Howard
13. Suspense Category Romance: Strangers in the Night by Kerry Connor

Title: Gabriel’s Ghost
Author: Linnea Sinclair
Publication Info: Bantam Spectra, October 2005
Genre: Science Fiction Romance
Rating: <3 <3 <3 <3

Yet another hit from Science-Fiction Romance Author Linnea Sinclair. I’m beginning to think she can’t write a bad book! The Lusty Wenches Book Club, which met this weekend to discuss the book, was in agreement: Ms. Sinclair spins a damn fine tale.

Plot:

Space fleet captain Chasidah “Chaz” Bergren has been committed of a crime she didn’t commit and sent to the prison planet Moabar, a sure death sentence. She survives an attempted rape by one of her guards, only to find herself in the clutches of her smuggler adversary Gabriel “Sully” Sullivan, who supposedly died two years ago. She wouldn’t trust him as far as she could throw him, but Sully claims to have come to Moabar with the express goal of breaking her out. With help from the Englatarian Missionaries, Chaz waltzes to freedom dressed as an Eglatarian Nun. Sully needs her help to uncover illegal genetic labs that are breeding monsters – jukors – on the space station where Chaz grew up.

Can Chaz trust Sully after chasing the rebel/smuggler/mercenary through space for years? Especially when Sully’s best friend turns out to be a mind-ripping Stolorth. Sully’s insistence on keeping her in the dark and refusing to answer her questions doesn’t encourage her confidence in their partnership. Yet something is growing between them, and it isn’t just their need to uncover conspiracy and save the galaxy. With each new trial, a new layer of Sully is uncovered, each terrifying, each fascinating, each revealing a tortured man who is very much in love with one stubborn former-space fleet captain.

With the Empire on their tail, Jukors about to reap carnage and their closest allies threatening to jump ship, Chaz and Sully must face their demons and trust each other enough to get out alive.

Discussion:

None of the other Wenches had read Ms. Sinclair before, and all look forward to reading her again. New fans! WOOT! My job here is done. While GAMES OF COMMAND and FINDERS KEEPERS are still my favorite, GABRIEL’S GHOST comes in a close third of my favorite Sinclair books to date. GG was written in the first person, and I prefer third person for romance. A romance novel is in essence a relationship between two people, and getting into the heads of both those characters gives me the greatest rush living vicariously through their unfolding love. While Ms. Sinclair did an excellent job showing us Sully’s emotions as seen through Chaz’s eyes, I would have liked to get into his head and watch him deal with some of his self-esteem issues. The book club agreed that Chaz’s horror of Sully’s true nature wasn’t quite enough conflict to keep the two apart through the end of the book. I thought to myself, “Dude, he’s a great guy. if you don’t want him, GIVE HIM TO MEEEEE!!!!”

That said, Ms. Sinclair isn’t writing straight romance, but science fiction with a romance plot. Non-romance fans will be quite happy with the amount of non-romance plot in the book. Intergalactic battles, intrigue and adventure.

I love heroes who love their heroines from the beginning. Kel-Patin (Games of Command) was like that. Sully has that same adorable affliction. Makes me melt. I want to steal Sully for my hut. Chaz is a kick-butt, self-sufficient heroine who knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to fight for it. Faith is a big struggle for her after all the men in her life (father, brother, ex-husband) have walked out on her.

We could have analyzed the theme of faith or the treatment of religion in the book (the Engletarians) or the symbolism of Chaz’s knife, but we didn’t explore the many layers of Ms. Sinclair’s excellent writing. We liked it. We want more. We want Ren’s story, ‘cuz he almost stole the show.

Join us in April for the Lusty Wenches Book Club. We will be reading GABRIEL’S GHOST by Linnea Sinclair.

The Lusty Wenches, five avid romance fans/aspiring authors, have been together for almost a year now. We meet approximately once a month for tea or brunch to analyze the latest great piece of romantic fiction. The first few months we tore apart the Best First Book RITA finalists for 2008 trying to figure out what made a great first book. (We still don’t know.) Now we take turns choosing a tasty morsel for the group to devour, trying of course to hit every subgenre of romance.

Past books have included:

• Prime Time by Hank Phillippi Ryan (May 08)
• The Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran (Jun 08)
  
• Dead Girls Are Easy by Terri Garey (Jul 08)
  
• Treasure by Helen Brenna (Oct 08)
• Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn (Nov 08)
  
• The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (Jan 09)
  
• Where the Heart Leads by Stephanie Laurens (Feb 09)

April Read: GABRIEL’S GHOST

2006 RITA(c) Award Winner!

A life-and-death battle where giving up the ghost has a whole new meaning…

After a decade of cruising interstellar patrol ships, former Captain Chasidah Bergren, onetime Pride of the Sixth Fleet, finds herself court-martialed for a crime she didn’t commit—and shipped off to a remote prison planet from which no one ever escapes. But when she kills a brutal guard in an act of self-defense, someone even more dangerous emerges from the shadows.

Gabriel Sullivan—alpha mercenary, smuggler, and rogue—is supposed to be dead. Yet now this seductive ghost from Chaz’s past is offering her a ticket to freedom—for a price. Someone in the Empire is secretly breeding jukors: vicious and uncontrollable killing machines that have long been outlawed. Gabriel needs Chaz to help him stop the practice before it decimates imperial space. For Chaz, it’s a matter of survival. For Sully it means facing the truth about who—and what—he really is. The mission means putting their lives on the line—but the tensions that heat up between them may be the riskiest part of all.

Title: Finders Keepers
Author: Linnea Sinclair
Publication Info: Bantam Spectra, April 2005
Genre: Science Fiction Romance
Rating: <3 <3 <3 <3 <

Another smashing hit from Linnea Sinclair. Neither intergalactic intrigue nor universal destruction can stop true love. *happysigh*

Plot:

Trilby Elliot is a two bit trader with an antique trading vessel living on the fringes of society. What she lacks in polish, she more than makes up for in grit and brains. Though the Zafharin government and hers, the Conclave, have been a three year old truce, she isn’t happy to have an injured Zafharian officer crash land on her doorstep in a ‘Sko fighter ship – especially if the viscous ‘sko might be coming after him. She drags him to her sick bay and patches him up. He isn’t appreciative when he wakes. Instead, he tries to knock her out and take over her ship. Eventually they agree to combine forces to fix her ship and get back to civilization. If only her injured guest didn’t have his own agenda…

The man known as Rhis Vanur has classified and dangerous information, and his government needs it pronto. Someone in the Conclave Government is leaking secrets to the ‘Sco. He knows the untrustworthy ‘Sco will destroy the Conclave and come after the Zafharin next. Vanur is impressed by Trilby’s ingenious fixes for her ancient bucket of bolts and – despite his reputation as a heartless tyrant – finds himself growing fond of the quick-witted trader. That doesn’t mean he won’t do anything necessary to accomplish his mission, even if he has to kidnap her and sabotage her ship. With her friends missing and Trilby on a ‘Sco hit-list, Vanur can convince himself it’s for her own good.

After they return to the Zafharin and put the clues together, Vanur hatches a plan to uncover the traitor in the Conclave by reconnecting with Trilby’s suspicious ex. He isn’t using her as bait – per say – because he’ll be with her, protecting her with his life. The fate of the galaxy rests in their hands.

If only the ‘Sco didn’t have their own agenda…

Discussion:

I read very quickly, so all the unfamiliar names trip me up. Usually this prevents me from reading heavy sci-fi or fantasy, but I’m so very glad I stuck it out with Games of Command. After that book I fell in love with Ms. Sinclair, and my sophomore reading was no slacker. Ms. Sinclair’s plots are ingenuous and complex. Her characters are deep, layered and real. Finders Keepers had similar archetypes to Games of Command: the heroines are both independent rebels and the heroes are both unfeeling machines. Similar self doubts and similar interactions, but I loved them both. Games of Command is still my favorite, probably because of the Furzels and because Kel-Paten was so cute loving Sass from the beginning. Finders Keepers didn’t have a secondary love story like GOC, but it did have some great growing friendships between secondary characters. One complaint – heroes should NOT have mustaches. Ew.

I cannot recommend Ms. Sinclair enough. Finders Keepers is definitely a…well…keeper!

Title: Games of Command
Author: Linnea Sinclair
Publication Info: Bantam Spectra, February 2007
Genre: Science Fiction Romance
Rating: <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

In honor of Ms. Sinclair’s last day on the Desert Island I am finally writing my rave review of 2008 RITA finalist GAMES OF COMMAND, which I lurved. The Book Smugglers also had an excellent interview with this fabulous author. Currently GAMES is the only book of hers I’ve read, but I intend to rectify that immediately.

Plot:
Captain Tasha “Sass” Sebastian is a former rebel trying to uphold a new alliance between her human United Coalition and the biocybe Triad. She is shocked to find herself under the command of her former nemesis Admiral Branden Kel-Paten. Why would the Coalition place her with the emotionless biocybe when the two spent the war shooting at each other across the galaxy? It is a disaster waiting to happen. But Kel-Paten hides a deep secret that could cost him his life – emotions get one reprogrammed. (Can we say Psy?)

Alliance crews are dying mysteriously. Kel-Paten and Sass rescue wanted rebel Jace Serafino from a dead ship. Only Sass’s friend Dr. Eden Fynn can reach Serafino around the traps someone placed in his brain to prevent him from accessing memories of his ordeal. (Cue secondary love story.) Clues point to sinister dealings within Triad.

In search of clues, the ship crash lands on a mysterious green planet where reality is not what it seems. Navigating space is child’s play compared to untangling the complex weaves of emotion, perception and memory in this new frontier. Together Sass and Kel-Paten must escape the perilous traps of the mind and find their way through the intricate mysteries of the heart.

Discussion:
GAMES OF COMMAND is a Desert Island Keeper not only for the original and complex world building, but because the love story between the spunky rebellious Sass and the cold seemingly-emotionless Kel-Paten catches hold of your heart strings and takes you for a wild ride. It is a gift to make the reader care so deeply for the hero and heroine’s happily ever after. There are many elements that make a good book – style, characters, plot, setting – but nothing is so important as making the reader invested in the outcome of the story. Ms. Sinclair has this gift. Almost as soon as I was introduced to the hero’s point of view, I fell for him. Hard. There is nothing sexier than a man who’s pretending to be a tough guy and trying to save the world, but inside is head over heels, vulnerably in love with the heroine. Be still my heart.

I admit I was hesitant to start the book. Typically outer-space settings and star wars plots aren’t my style, but Ms. Sinclair’s engaging characters quickly overcame my biases. My favorite characters – excluding the heartthrob hero – were the furzels, the cat-like furry companions who have special secret powers and inquisitive minds. The reason I bought this book, out of the two or three Ms. Sinclair was autographing at the RWA National Conference, was because Ms. Sinclair wrote her cat into the book and on the cover (see pic left). A cat person myself (and still morning the loss of my baby), I had to read the book. The furzels made me cry.

Sass is a great heroine – intrepid, down-to-earth, quick-witted – without the accompanying harsh cynicism that often comes with tough-chick heroines. Kel-Paten…What can I say? He’s the knight-in-shining-armor ever girl dreams of finding. Sass is one lucky gal.

I look forward to reading the rest of Ms. Sinclair’s books!

Don’t forget to check out the DIK three day interview with Linnea:

Day 1: About Me featuring Linnea Sinclair
Day 2: Linnea Sinclair – the Interview
Day 3: Linnea Sinclair’s last day

Read the Dear Author review of GAMES OF COMMAND here.

Please stop by the Desert Island Keeper blog today and tomorrow for a fabulous interview with RITA-winning science fiction romance author Linnea Sinclair. I met Linnea at RWA Nationals in San Francisco after hearing much squeeing about her books from Ramblings on Romance. After Ms. Sinclair told me she had written her cat into the book GAMES OF COMMAND (he even made the cover!) I had to have it. I admit I was hesitant at first about a star trek-like setting, but I was hooked as soon as I started the book. Complex world building, seat-of-your-chair action, and a knock-your-socks-off heartthrob hero. The Furzels made me CRY. I cannot recommend this five-heart book strongly enough.

GAMES OF COMMAND

Synopsis. The universe isn’t what it used to be. With the new Alliance between the Triad and the United Coalition, Captain Tasha “Sass” Sebastian finds herself serving under her former nemesis, biocybe Admiral Branden Kel-Paten–and doing her best to hide a deadly past. But when an injured mercenary winds up in their ship’s sick bay–and in the hands of her best friend, Dr. Eden Fynn–Sass’s efforts may be wasted.

Wanted rebel Jace Serafino has information that could expose all of Sass’s secrets, tear the fragile Alliance apart–and end Sass’s career if Kel-Paten discovers them. But the biocybe has something to hide as well, something once thought impossible for his kind to possess: feelings . . . for Sass. Soon it’s clear that their prisoner could bring down everything they once believed was worth dying for–and everything they now have to live for.

Today through Wednesday Author Ann Aguirre is guest blogging on the Desert Island Keeper Blog. Please stop by and say hi! I met Ann at the RWA national conference this year and she was completely out of books by the time I found her at the publisher signings. Not surprising, considering all the great things I’ve heard about her books.

Stay tuned for more fabulously sexy author guests on the Island where the margaritas are cold, the heroes are hot and the books are to die for:

• September 4 – 6: Nalini Singh
• September 8 – 10: J.L. Langley
• September 11 – 13: Katie Reus
• September 15 – 20: Josh Lanyon
• September 22 – 24: Linnea Sinclair
• September 29 – October 4: M/M Romance writers including: Ally Blue, Jet Mykles, J.L. Langley, James Buchanan
• November 3 – 5: Michele Lang
• November 6 – 8: Meljean Brook
• December 1 – 3: Carrie Lofty
• December 4 – 6: Shiloh Walker
• December 17 – 20: Samantha Kane

The Desert Island Keeper Hero round-robin game is over. It was fun. No one got any work done. But we got a fabulous list of our favorite heroes. My To Be Read (TBR) list is HUGE. Based on the final composition of the island, I have compiled a list of the 13 authors who had the most heroes make the DIK hero list. J.R. Ward tops the list with 8. (9 if you count Carolyn Jean’s pick of the Omega.) (edited- sorry Christine!!!) Authors 8 through 12 each had three heroes make it to the island, so they are listed in alphabetical order. Josh Lanyon had 3 heroes, but they were fought over so I listed him at the top of the 3-hero authors. Patricia Briggs has 2 heroes, but made the list over the runners-up because Adam was fought over. Viciously. You know it’s gotta be love.

Authors who Rock and their Heroes:

1. J.R. Ward: Zsadist, John Matthew aka Tehrror, Rhage, Qhuinn, Vishous, Wrath, Rehvenge, Butch O’Neill, the Omega *coughCarolynJeancough* (edited – sorry Christine!).
2. Meljean Brook: Hugh Castleford, Colin Ames-Beaumont, Savitri Murray, Michael, Ethan McCabe *coughMineHahahacough*, Belial.
3. Nalini Singh: Lucas Hunter, Hawke, Vaughn D’Angelo, Judd Laurens, Clay Bennett, Dorian
4. Suzanne Brockmann: Tom Paoletti, Sam Starrett, Max Baghat, Stan Wolchonok, Mr. Jules Cassidy
5. Laurell K. Hamilton: Doyle/The Queen’s Darkness, Rhys, Nathaniel, Barinthus
6. Lisa Kleypas: Cam Rohan, Sebastian St. Vincent, Derek Craven, Gage Travis
7. Josh Lanyon: Adrian English, Taylor MacAllister, Jake Riordan
8. Linda Howard: Gray Rouillard, James Diaz, Sam Donovan
9. Kresley Cole: Cadeon Woede, Bowen MacRieve, Conrad Wroth
10. Sherrilyn Kenyon: Zarek of Moesia, Acheron, Vane Kattalakis
11. Stephanie Meyers: Edward Cullen, Jacob Black, Ian
12. C.L. Wilson: Gaelen vel Serranis, Rain Tairen Soul, Kieran Vel Solande (I forgot mine!)
13. Patricia Briggs: Adam Hauptman, Dr. Samuel Cornick.

Runners up:

• Kelly Armstrong: Jeremy Danvers, Clay
• Anne Bishop: Lucivar Yaslana, Daemon Sadi  (edited to add)
• Jennifer Crusie: Calvin Morissey, Phineas Tucker
• Janet Evanovich: Joe Morelli, Ranger
• Patricia Gaffney: Michael McNeil, Sebastian Verlaine
• Judith Ivory: Mick Tremore, Graham Wessi
• Samantha Kane: Derek Knightly, Ian Witherspoon
• J.L. Langley: Nate, Jake Romer
• Linnea Sinclair: Branden Kel-Paten, Gabriel “Sully” Sullivan