Darlene's Digest

The New England Chapter of RWA presented the Readers' Choice Award to The Pirate's Secret Baby at its conference this past weekend. I was thrilled to receive word of the award, and humbled when I saw the finalists, all excellent novels from top writers. It's recharged my writing batteries and I'm back at work on the follow-up tale. I realized this week that I needed to go back and steer my characters in a slightly different direction, ramping up the conflict. However, even though this re-writing puts me behind schedule, it's a lot easier to change what I've got than start fresh. One of my favorite writing quotes is, "You can fix anything but a blank page." For this morning though, I'm basking in the love my pirates received. I'm so happy that readers enjoyed my tale of pirates, puppies, precocious poppets and a befuddled governess. Thank you all for your support!

It Started With a Scandal by Julie Anne Long My rating: 5 of 5 stars Another winner from Ms. Long, who continues to delight with her Pennyroyal Green series. I liked everything about this novel: the slow build, the dialogue, the use of place,  the secondary characters. It was not an over-the-top romp, and the problems the protagonists faced were very real problems. As always, I look forward to Julie Anne Long's next novel with great anticipation. View all my reviews

There was a rustle from the roof and the ancient ladder creaked as Roberts lowered himself next to the back window where she stood. “Let’s see,” he said, wiping his forehead and looking out behind the house. “You have got cabbage palm, mangoes, tomatoes, and if I’m not mistaken, some yams and peppers gone wild in that garden.” Amanda was impressed. “For a sailor you know a great deal about the things growing here.” “When I’m on land, Mrs. Stephenson, I usually stay at my farm.” “You’re a farmer?” His silver eyes twinkled. “Shocked you, have I? I enjoy growing things and bought some property on the St. Johns River years back to farm. Nothing grows on the ocean,” he said softly, looking back out over the garden. “Some of the sailors on the Zephyr were farm boys who ran away to sea. And I wanted nothing more than to run away from the sea and spend my days on my farm, eating fresh food I grew myself.” -- Captain Sinister's Lady I'll be at our farmers market later this afte...

Lighting the Flames by Sarah Wendell My rating: 5 of 5 stars I loved this story. It was sweet, and funny, and about friends-to-lovers, and summer camp, and so much more. I started reading it at a Jewish summer camp in the off-season, during the holidays. Yes, this is a real thing. So much of what Wendell describes in Lighting The Flames rang true, and I loved being in that place at that time reading about Gen and Jeremy. I loved how the camp friendship blossomed, and I loved that Jeremy was in what's a non-traditional role for romance heroes (he's a funeral director). Wendell, through the character of Jeremy, explained with great sensitivity the unselfish act of kindness that it is to be a shomer ( shomeret for women), sitting with the dead before they take their final journey. I've done it, and Jeremy's recounting of his time doing it was meaningful and added depth to his commitment to Gen. It was pretty clear how she could fall in love with a mensch like him. L...

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins My rating: 4 of 5 stars The people in this book are terrible human beings and are all unreliable narrators. I enjoyed it immensely. It's like a train wreck you can't tear your eyes away from, one bad decision and senseless act following another, but it builds and builds until you're dying to know what really happened. Kudos to Ms. Hawkins on her debut thriller. If she can duplicate this skill and storycrafting, she has a great career ahead of her. View all my reviews

This Gun for Hire by Jo Goodman My rating: 5 of 5 stars I don't know who I liked better in this excellent novel, the hero or the heroine, but I thought they were both fabulous. Goodman hits all the right marks with her snappy writing, wonderful story, and characters that linger long after the last page is turned. It's also great fun to read a Western historical romance again. Too few really good ones get published today, so this was a treat. I look forward to Goodman's next book with great anticipation. View all my reviews

Pocket Apocalypse by Seanan McGuire My rating: 4 of 5 stars Anyone who's visited Australia knows that while the humans are friendly, there are hundreds of other Aussies of the flora and fauna variety waiting to kill you as soon as you exit the airport. I live in Florida, where we've got our share of dangerous plants, insects and critters, but we're amateurs at killing people compared to Australia. The Australians are also extremely strict, and rightly so, about preventing the introduction of non-native species to their unique habitat, so leave it to Seanan McGuire to make things worse by adding werewolves into the mix. Pocket Apocalypse  is the latest in the InCryptid urban fantasy series, and a welcome return to the Price family and the creatures and humans in their world. Alexander Price joins his Aussie girlfriend on a trip to her home. He has experience dealing with werewolves, though it's a trauma he'd rather not revisit. The novel features some returni...

Radiance by Grace Draven My rating: 4 of 5 stars I really enjoyed this new book in a series. The human woman/non-human lover/mate is now a common one in fantasy, but it's delightful to see it done well, with some thoughtful world-building and interesting conflicts. I'm looking forward to the next Wraith Kings book. View all my reviews

I'm thrilled to be able to add "award winning author" next to my name, and to list the awards my books have won. It's not bragging (well, OK, maybe it is), but winning a prestigious award, I believe, helps potential readers be more willing to take a chance on an author or a book. I know I've discovered some wonderful books that way. Every time I enter a book in a contest, I promise myself I'll judge at least one writing competition. That's how it works in many contests--authors, librarians, booksellers are the judges. But the contests only work when people are willing to step up to the plate, when they give back to their community. I'm judging a contest now. I won't say which one, but I volunteered because if I had entered that contest, I'd want to be confident there were judges in place to take on the task of reading and evaluating the submissions. Our close community of romance readers, authors, editors and publishers only works when we all p...