Cross-Genre Romance

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, December 14th at 9am back at Emmet O'Neal Library.  We'll be discussing Travel Writing.  This is a nonfiction topic.
What are YOU reading?

Thirsty by Tracey Bateman
My first outing into Christian paranormal romance was not bad, not bad at all.  The vampire involved was angsty (obviously, since he refused to indulge his inner cravings), the woman involved was likable, and the town was suitably woodsy and isolated.  The vampire, Malcolm, encountered Nina when she was a teenager.  Nina's father's alcoholism definitely found its way down the family tree and she had passed out at her highschool graduation party.  Malcolm whisked the unconscious girl back to his cave and was about seriously thinking about draining her when the cops showed up to the party.  He found some inner strength and took her back to the river bank to be found by the authorities.  Flash forward about 20 years and Nina is returning to her hometown newly humbled.  Just out of rehab, divorced, unemployed and having lost custody of her children, Nina is coming home to live with her sister, the town's sheriff, until she can get back on her feet.  Almost immediately, Nina's careful attempts to reconstruct her life are well on the way to destruction.  Her sister's very handsome neighbor is just as compelling as he is unnerving, a series of gruesome murders occur, and Nina's stormy relationship with her teenage daughter Meg seems to only worsen as the week goes by.  The only things she's sure about is that one drink would make it all better.  Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure Malcolm feels the same way, just not about alcohol.  Lots of metaphors for the finding, and Bateman's treatment of spirituality and evangelism is subtle and well-done, as is her handling of Nina's struggles with alcoholism.
Holley, Emmet O'Neal

Hawk's Prize by Elaine Barbieri
Mondretta, Leeds

Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee
Mary Anne, Southern History

The Hand I Fan With by Tina McElroy Ansa
Michelle Hamrick, Irondale

The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker by Leanna Renee Hieber
Gina, Gardendale

First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones
This debut novel is almost a “pick 6” in genres. Charlotte (Charley) Davidson is a private investigator in Albuquerque, NM (mystery). She works with and frequently assists her uncle, who is a homicide detective (police procedural). She is a young, urban professional who has a great relationship with her best friend and assistant, and they’re both single and looking (chick lit). She’s also the Grim Reaper, to which troubled souls are attracted so she can assist them to pass through her to the “other side” (paranormal). She’s got a dream lover with whom she is obsessed and who may, or may not, be a demon (romance), and her hilarious, sarcastic, and incisive dialogues are nearly incontinence producing (comedy). There’s truly something for everyone in this first novel and Ms. Jones delivers on all of them. She manages to weave the plots and sub-plots together with great characterizations and a truly innovative premise, and she’s not afraid of a little controversy.
Second Grave on the Left by Darynda Jones
Ms. Jones continues to expand the world of Charley Davidson by telling us more about the people (alive and dead) with whom she is surrounded. The mystery involves the disappearance of an old friend of Cookie’s (Charley’s best friend and co-worker). When other members of the missing woman’s high school class start turning up dead, the race is on to find the links between the past and the present. In other news, Charley’s boyfriend has left his body to be tortured by demons in order to prevent said demons from finding Charley. She’s determined to find and rescue his physical body while his spirit is determined to prevent her from doing so. Their relationship would definitely be listed as “It’s complicated” on Facebook! Throw in her lust-hate relationship with the handsome bounty hunter who works with her uncle, her growing awareness of her own special abilities, and something strange going on with her father and you’ve got all the makings of a first rate genre-crossing read!
Kelly, Springville Road

Cleopatra's Moon by Vicky Shecter
Cleopatra’s Moon is a young adult novel based on the true story of Queen Cleopatra of Egypt and General Mark Antony’s only daughter, Cleopatra Selene. This is a well-written book that cross-genre fans will enjoy.

Shecter’s Cleopatra’s Moon is an interesting blend of romance, history and adventure. She paints a vivid picture of ancient Rome and Egypt, a culture filled with extraordinary sights, sounds and smells. We learn about the deities that are important in the Roman and Egyptian culture, as well as important beliefs and rituals.

Cleopatra Selene is an intelligent, loyal, inquisitive and strong young female character. She has grown up in the royal palace on the Nile and has only known a privileged life. Now, the jealous Roman Emperor Octavianus wants to control Egypt and launches a war. As a result, Selene loses everything and is taken to live in Octavianus’ palace in Rome. She vows that she will regain her dignity, return to Egypt and reclaim her kingdom. While in Rome, she meets two young men who threaten to distract her from her ultimate goal. Will she choose love or her kingdom? You’ll just have to read the book to see.

This is an interesting novel filled with historical details. Cleopatra’s Moon is a great read for young adults or adults who are interested in historical fiction, Egyptian history or books about strong women in history.
Leslie, Central Fiction

Circus of the Damned by Laurell K. Hamilton
Leigh, North Birmingham

GENERAL DISCUSSION TOPICS

One participant mentioned the plot for a book she believed would have been great for discussion but she could not remember the author or title.  We discussed a couple of websites that are useful resources for accessing the "collective knowledge" of readers to help in finding books when all you know is the plot.  First off, look to your peers for outstanding RA assistance!  Send an email to "everyone" in the JCLC email system.  Many of us have had luck finding titles this way.  Especially good for those hard to find children's titles is Loganberry Books' "Book Stumper" link.  Smart Bitches, Trashy Books is especially good for romance titles.  They have a special "Help a Bitch Out" archive and you can email them with HABO in the subject line.  They are all over Facebook too so their collective intelligence is legion.

Time travel came up, and you can't mention time travel and cross genre romance without also mentioning Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series.  Also rans include Time and Again by Jack Finney and the 1979 movie, Time After Time, based on Karl Alexander's novel of the same name.

Thomas Perry's The Butcher's Boy, Sleeping Dogs, and The Informant.
Kirkus Reviews 2011 April #1
Twenty years after a trio of lowlifes forced him out of retirement (Sleeping Dogs,??1992, etc.), the Butcher's Boy is back. When you're a professional killer who works freelance, your employers are likely to include a large number of nasty guys. So it's not clear to Perry's nameless hero, who started calling himself Michael Schaeffer when he moved to England and settled in Bath as the husband of Lady Margaret Holroyd, which of his former associates sent the three men who inadvertently flushed him out of hiding and then tried to kill him. He has no trouble tracing the three to midlevel New York capo Michael Delamina, whom he kills on page two. In order to identify Delamina's boss, however, he has to consult his old nemesis, Elizabeth Waring of the Justice Department. Taking a leaf from Hannibal Lecter's??playbook, he urges her, "Tell me, and I'll tell you something." When Elizabeth fingers rising under-boss Frank Tosca as Schaeffer's next target, he gives her some juicy information on an old Tosca murder in return. But although "he had never failed to accomplish his goal when all it entailed was killing someone," her news comes too late to help. By the time Schaeffer kills Tosca, the ambitious under-boss has convened a sit-down in which his counterparts from across the country have agreed to join his vendetta against the Butcher's Boy-a goal Tosca's death only makes them more eager to pursue. For her part, Elizabeth is so determined to bring Schaeffer into the Witness Protection Program as the ultimate informant that she's willing offer him a series of unauthorized deals, which of course he spurns. Schaeffer is squeezed between two collective adversaries with virtually unlimited personnel and resources. On the other hand, only Schaeffer is the Butcher's Boy. Beneath the sky-high body count, the twisty plot is powered by Perry's relentless focus on the question of where the next threat is coming from and how to survive it.
Jon, Avondale

California - police officer dealing with ghosts who can do certain things
at certain times/locations- good read.

AUTHOR Dorst, Doug.
TITLE Alive in Necropolis / Doug Dorst.
PUBLISHER New York : Riverhead Books, c2008.
Booklist Reviews 2008 June #1
Headstones outnumber citizens in the sleepy California city of Colma, just south of San Francisco. Twenty-nine-year-old rookie cop Michael Mercer patrols the streets and cemeteries of this eerie enclave, where such legends as Joe DiMaggio and Wyatt Earp are buried and where the spirits of celebrities seem to materialize at will. But it's the real-time assault of privileged teenager Jude DiMaio (found drugged, bound, and naked in a burial area) that puts the neophyte officer to the test. Who would do such a thing, and why is DiMaio so reluctant to report the perpetrators? Meanwhile, Mercer has problems of his own. A romantic relationship with an older woman turns sour, and he seems to be drifting away from his cadre of college friends. He's also troubled by thoughts that a recently deceased officer lost his sanity toward the end, filing police reports about the offenses of residents long dead. Dorst's atmospheric if overlong debut is part mystery, part compelling account of an angst-ridden young man finding his way in the world. Copyright 2008 Booklist Reviews.
Jon, Avondale

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Atta Olivia Clemens series: A Flame in Byzantium, Crusader's Torch, and A Candle for D'Artagnan.  Epic historical vampire romance, what's not to like?  And BIG kudos to BPL for being the only library in the county carrying all three.  I've just put A Flame in Byzantium on hold.
Holley, Emmet O'Neal

Also, Laura Whitcomb's A Certain Slant of Light.  She haunts them, rather benignly, until they die (though not causing the unfortunate event).  This time around, it's an English teacher and she enjoys her days listening to his lectures until the day she notices that one boy in class actually sees her.  This has never happened before since she became a ghost.  Then he talks to her!  Turns out he's a ghost too and has discovered that you can possess a body, someone who's just committed suicide.  Now they have to find her a body.  Love ensues.
Holley, Emmet O'Neal