Tampa Book Buzz

book buzz:at her command by marcia james

At Her Command by Marcia James

Kids driving you crazy?  Bad day at the office? Pour yourself a cup of tea, turn off your phone, settle into a comfy chair and escape into Marcia James’ racy, riveting, R-rated e-book At Her Command.

(Note: This book is definitely for adults only.  It’s set in a sex club and is far more graphic than anything else I’ve written about here.  If this doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, please skip this review.)

Dominique Petracelli is an undercover DEA agent posing as dominatrix Mistress Bella at the sex club Xecutive Branch so she can investigate drug trafficking charges and mob connection allegations.  Meanwhile, Dalton Cutter is a Metro Police Department detective also investigating the Xecutive Branch.  He’s willing to go undercover as a sex-club customer because he’s determined to avenge his partner, who was murdered during his own undercover investigation of the Xecutive Branch.

Dalton poses as a submissive customer and is assigned to Mistress Bella, Dominique’s dominatrix persona.  Neither is aware of the other’s true identity and they find themselves strongly attracted to each other.  It’s easy to guess how Dominique and Dalton will end up — especially with the all-too-similar side story of undercover detective/Xecutive Branch masseuse Suzi and club customer/undercover FBI agent Calvin — but  James has the readers wrapped around her little finger and eager to devour every single word.

While this book might not be for everyone (given the subject matter), readers willing to explore Marcia James’ lusty, steamy thriller will find themselves…um…satisfied.

James’ book is available at Cerridwen Press.

books-a-million grand opening this weekend in brandon

The Brandon Mall now has a Books-A-Million store! The grand opening is this weekend.

• 2-4 p.m. today — historical romance author Karen Hawkins will sign her new book How to Abduct a Highland Lord
• 5-7 p.m. today — chick lit author Kimberly Llewellyn will sign copies of her new books Tulle Little, Tulle Late and The Quest for the Holy Veil
• 6-8 p.m. tomorrow — bestselling author Tim Dorsey will sign copies of his new book Hurricane Punch

There will also be story times for kids, music and samples of Ghiradelli chocolate. Visit the Brandon Westfield Mall’s website or call 813-571-2062 for more info.

(Thanks go to local author Kimberly Llewellyn for sending me this info.  It’s my fault that it’s posted so late.)

ohio author marcia james’ risque new book

I’ve never read an e-book before.  I prefer the tangible, tactile sensations of a “real book” made of paper and ink over the impersonality of a computer screen any day. But the times are a-changin.’  Ohio author Marcia James sent me a copy of her e-book At Her Command, currently available from Cerridwen Press, so it looks like I’ll be reading my first e-book really soon.  Here’s the description she sent me:

DEA agent Domino Petracelli is chasing a career-making promotion and nothing will keep her from getting her man.  Okay, so she’d rather infiltrate a Columbian drug cartel than go undercover as a dominatrix at D.C.’s Xecutive Branch sex club.  But she’s up to the task.  As the leather-clad Mistress Bella, Domino investigates the club’s drug ring while juggling a surreal roster of kinky submissives — and resisting one sexy client who’s not what he seems.

Police detective Dalton Cutter is a man with a mission — avenging his partner, who was murdering while investigating the Xecutive Branch.  Retracing his partner’s steps, he goes undercover as a club client.  Dalton’s handled killers, junkies and pimps, but can the alpha-male cop act submissive long enough to fool Mistress Bella?  And will their sexual chemistry, crackling louder than Bella’s whip, derail Dalton’s investigation?

At Her Command, a comic romantic suspense, pokes fun at the alphabet soup of D.C. law enforcement agencies.  When the DEA, the FBI and the D.C. police unknowingly put operatives undercover at the same club, sexy sparks fly.

At Her Command will be available as a trade paperback in April.  NOTE: RATED R FOR RISQUE.  Visit www.marciajames.net to learn more.

book buzz:trust in the wind by vicki m. taylor

Trust in the Wind by Vicki M. Taylor, ISBN 1594262047

Trust in the Wind is a simple and sweet love story.  Joanne is a young single mother who works hard to provide for her son Joey, but is barely able to make ends meet.  When the police are called to her slightly seedy apartment complex for an investigation, she meets Hillsborough County Sheriff Roy Bonhan.  Roy is a widower who has sworn off of love and dedicated himself to his job.  Joanne and Roy find themselves irresistibly drawn to each other despite their fears of letting love into their lives again.

After reading the summary on the back of the book, I had a good idea of what was going to happen, but Taylor makes it work.  Her characters are vivid and believable, and she makes you care about what happens to them.  Trust in the Wind is a touching and hopeful book that left me smiling long after I’d finished reading.

Book Buzz Barometer: B+

Taylor’s website is www.vickimtaylor.com.

online book club review:the time traveler’s wife by audrey niffenegger

The Time Traveler’s Wife is a most unusual book.  It’s the story of Henry and Clare, their love and their life together.  Clare met Henry when she was a child — he was in his 40s – and grew up loving him and knowing they would be together.  Henry met Clare when he was his 20s and was startled to find this young woman who knew him so well.  Henry has a chrono-displacement genetic disorder, you see, that causes him to time travel.

Niffenegger lets both Henry and Clare tell their sides of the story, so the chapters move between her point of view and his.  The story also jumps around in time, just like Henry does in his life.  Thankfully, each jump cut in the book includes the date and the age of Henry and Clare in that year. Sometimes Henry is 42 and 17 in the same storyline and the older time-traveling Henry spends time with his younger, present self.

Sounds confusing, huh?  It is, a little bit, but it’s oh so interesting.  And sadly nostalgic. Henry doesn’t tell Clare, his friends or any of his younger selves much about their futures, but carries within himself a sense of dread and foreknowledge. Niffenegger imbues her novel with a sense of melancholy, which turns to sadness in the end.  After a long build up leading to Henry and Clare meeting in both of their presents, the story of their adult, married life moves too swiftly.  The ending feels rushed and the epilogue seems tacked on as an afterthought.  Perhaps Niffenegger was trying to make the reader feel the same way as Henry does while time traveling — rushed, nostalgic, confused and disoriented — or perhaps she was trying to give Henry and Clare’s love story a happier ending.  I don’t know.

Sweetly melancholic, The Time Traveler’s Wife is a haunting and unusual love story.

What did you think?

reading guide for the time traveler’s wife

ReadingGuides.com has some reading guide questions and links to reviews of The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.  Click here.

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger is the TBB Online Book Club pick for this month.  The Tampa Book Buzz Online Book Club is housed at Target’s Bookmarked website.  Each month we pick a book to read and discuss on the Bookmarked site.  During the month, I’ll post tidbits about the author and/or the book here.  At the end of the month, I’ll tell you what I thought of the book and hopefully you’ll do the same.  Email me at tampafilmfan (at) aol.com for more info.

did you know…

…that Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler’s Wife, loves Mary Roach’s book Stiff (a book that I love too!)?

…that Niffenegger once spent fourteen years creating a visual book and teaches a bookmaking class?

…that she is also an artist?

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger is October’s reading selection for the TBB Online Book Club.  The Tampa Book Buzz Online Book Club is housed at Target’s Bookmarked website.  Each month we pick a book to read and discuss on the Bookmarked site.  During the month, I’ll post tidbits about the author and/or the book here.  At the end of the month, I’ll tell you what I thought of the book and hopefully you’ll do the same.  Email me at tampafilmfan (at) aol.com for more info.

book buzz:no coincidence by ann baker

No Coincidence by Ann Baker, ISBN #0976431505 

Morgan McGhee is an attractive blond who works at the 911 Communications Center in Tampa. Married — happily as far as anyone knows — to the handsome, successful City Director of Finance, Morgan’s life is changed irrevocably one night when her husband Greg is shot right in front of her in their own home. The assasination puts her on the run for her life, confused, accused and immersed in Tampa’s criminal underworld.

It’s no coincidence that author Ann Baker is able to write such convincing 911 Communications Center scenes, given her background as a Law Enforcement Officer, Traffic Homicide Investigator and Law Enforcement Dispatcher. Baker’s references to corruption within the offices of local city government make for interesting reading, especially to anyone who’s lived in the Tampa Bay area for any length of time.

The weakness of No Coincidence, however, is with its characters. Morgan, the story’s protagonist, becomes involved with the man who rescued her after her husband’s murder, but discovers that this mystery man might not be as safe as he appears. Without giving away any important plot points, all I can say is that I found the romantic relationship between Morgan and her rescuer unbelievable and quite frankly, creepy. It’s distracting to have a main character as gullible and unlikable as I found Morgan to be.

No Coincidence is the first in a series of Morgan McGhee mystery novels that Baker has planned. I hope that in future books, Baker writes less unbelievable and far-fetched romances and instead plays to her strength by writing solid, intriguing murder mysteries.

Book Buzz Barometer: C-

Baker’s website is www.authorsden.com/annbaker.

october’s tbb online book club pick is…

…The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.  Happy reading!

The Tampa Book Buzz Online Book Club is housed at Target’s Bookmarked website.  Each month we pick a book to read and discuss on the Bookmarked site.  During the month, I’ll post tidbits about the author and/or the book here.  At the end of the month, I’ll tell you what I thought of the book and hopefully you’ll do the same.  Email me at tampafilmfan (at) aol.com for more info.

book news:mcree, jacobs, kelly, leto, llewellyn, london, rock, st. claire, boucher

*The Pinellas Public Library Cooperative has revamped its website. They now offer downloadable versions of their monthly newsletters, among other things.

*Local author David McRee (Florida Beaches) was recently mentioned in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Congratulations!

*There are several Tampa Area Romance Authors members who have books out this month:
WRONG PLACE, WRONG TIME? by Ann Jacobs
HERE COMES TROUBLE by Leslie Kelly
THE DOMINO EFFECT by Julie Elizabeth Leto
TULLE LITTLE, TULLE LATE by Kimberly Llewellyn
IF YOU COULD READ MY MIND… by Jeanie London
THE KNIGHT’S COURTSHIP by Joanne Rock
THRILL ME TO DEATH by Roxanne St. Claire
(thanks go to local author Joy Smith for sending me this list)

*Local author Wendy Boucher earned mega-blogosphere points recently by having one of her posts mentioned on The Daily Kos. Way to go, Wendy!