Well, as usual, I'm falling behind on my post a quickie review every week--at least--or something like that goal. Too much to do and too little time. I've been editing like a madwoman on my Montmoors historical gothic romance series, and it's well worth it.
I thought I'd take a little break and watch a movie, Sister Sister, starring Jennifer Jason Leigh among others.
It promised gothic romance at a spooky Louisiana plantation turned bed and breakfast owned by two sisters--Charlotte and Lucy Bonnard--with secrets to protect. Lucy has been deemed "crazy" by the older sister, but all the guys want her from the handyman, Etienne LeViolette, to congressman/guest Matt Rutledge. I liked the atmosphere and the ghost stories around the dining room table, and that kept me watching beyond the first thirty minutes.
Then, about halfway through the movie, the writers gave up the plot and just threw it at my feet. Quite disappointing. As an author, I try not to do that to my readers, and I don't like it when it's done in books and movies. I want to be a bit surprised or at least to be kept wondering. Small twists along the way are good.
In short, I didn't finish the movie once the ending became all too clear. If you don't mind knowing exactly what is going on halfway in, you might try it. For me, the rating is meh as a friend said when I told him I was watching it (Barrymore Tebbs--right again!).
Rating out of 5 stars: 2.5 stars
--For atmosphere, a mean gator that makes an appearance, and a love story I liked.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Friday, May 18, 2012
Review: Sea of Secrets by Amanda DeWees
It's a pleasure to review Amanda DeWees' debut gothic romance novel, Sea of Secrets. I am tempted to call her Victoria Holt for the thinking person, but her work goes well beyond Holt's scope. This novel is a literary gothic romance which is quite thrilling. If that's not tempting enough, take a look at this gorgeous cover.
Here's the blurb for the novel:
After her brother is killed in the Crimean War, innocent young Oriel Pembroke finds herself alone in the world. Disowned by the cruel father who has always despised her, she has nowhere to turn until she is taken under the wing of a glamorous relative she never knew: the former Duchess of Ellsworth, who has scandalized society by remarrying soon after her first husband’s death. At the opulent seaside estate of Ellsmere, Oriel thinks she has found a safe haven—but the darkly handsome young duke, Herron, believes otherwise. Haunted by the death of his father, he suspects that Ellsmere is sheltering a murderer. Even as Oriel falls in love with the duke, she begins to fear that his grief and suspicion are turning to madness. When dangerous accidents start to befall both Herron and Oriel, however, she realizes that someone may be trying to stop them from discovering the truth about the past. And when her father comes back into her life, she learns that he may hold the answer to the most horrifying secret of all...
Plot/Setting: 4/5--This element has to come first simply because the novel is the tragedy of Hamlet: Prince of Denmark, re-imagined and improved in some ways--at least from certain perspectives. I don't want to give too much away, but it is as good as it sounds. Echoes of Shakespeare's great play abound. From Yorick to a Victorian Hamlet to possible murder, it's all there. The skill of blending these tales makes the novel a good read on one level, but even readers who are basically ignorant of the plot points, characters, and philosophical questions of Hamlet will enjoy the story. Oriel Pembroke finds herself in a terrible situation when she is disowned by her father after her brother's death. Family secrets begin to unravel from that moment on, and she finds herself at Ellsmere with her long dead mother's family.
I have taken off one nitpicky star for a particular plotting aspect of the novel. I find the instances of Herron in Oriel's bedroom sleeping and talking night after night unbelievable or a step too far for the time period and social conventions. I understand why DeWees chose to do this (echoes of Ophelia and all that... the heroine doesn't use the best judgment), but it takes away from the story. This detail stands out to me, perhaps, because I've been edited for my own historical gothic romances in terms of propriety and standard behavior between the sexes. It is my opinion that most young women of this era would have thought more about the seriousness of having a man in one's bedchamber in the 1850s.
As for setting, Ellsmere is spooky and dangerous, but it's the shadowy corners of the human mind that are most frightening. The big questions of life and death are asked, and the answers can be unsettling. Imagery of death abounds with skulls, skeletons, murder and more, and Herron's moodiness is a palpable influence throughout the novel. It lends a dark cast to the whole of it. He's a bit bipolar and 100% Byronic.
The truly great aspect of the novel is that I was still guessing about what Oriel would do, whom she would love nearly until the end. There are several twists, and just knowing the story of Hamlet isn't enough to figure out what's really going to happen, whodunnit, and so on.
Characterization: 4.5/5-- The characters are quite well drawn. Oriel Pembroke is the heroine--a sort of artless Ophelia who still wears her hair in a braid. She is a heroine who grows and changes throughout the novel. Herron, the dark and enigmatic duke, is tortured and oh so handsome of course. Charles, Herron's cousin, plays a nice foil to Herron. I won't give more than that away. The minor characters are well drawn, too.
Literary Elements: 5/5-- From Herron pacing the floors at night to a variation on the "To sleep..." speech from Hamlet, this novel is satisfying on all levels.
Romantic Elements: 4/5-- I find the novel quite romantic. We are sucked into Herron's struggle, fear, and doubt as he questions whether his father was murdered by his uncle Lord Claude and what knowledge his mother, Gwendolyn, Duchess of Ellsworth, had in it. Oriel's doubt and affection is torn between Herron and Charles in a way that reminds me of Mary Stewart's novel, The Ivy Tree. Let me share one passage where Herron is described so you can get a feel for the lush prose in the novel:
Herron stood in the doorway, lounging against the jamb, making no move to come further into the room. Now that he no longer had a shadow over him I could get a true idea of his appearance, and I could not keep myself from staring. He was almost inhumanly beautiful. His face tapered sharply from wide cheekbones, lending his features a faunlike appearance. The fierce angularity of his bones was balanced by his mouth, sweetly curved and generous. Black hair swept in unruly waves, slightly longer than fashion, from a high, clear brow, and eyes whose color shifted brown and gold like sunlight off the drowned leaves in a forest pool were fringed with long, soft lashes; his eyebrows were uncompromising slashes of black. He was surveying the company, those remarkable eyes moving restlessly. The combination of softness and strength in his face was arresting, and I knew I was not the only woman at the table to stare.
Amanda DeWees. Sea of Secrets (1191-1195 and 1188-1191).
Sounds like a hero we'd all like to meet in a dark hallway, doesn't it?
Rating: 4+ stars ****+
Do yourself a favor and run to pick this novel up. It's one of the best historical gothic romances I've read in a long time. I'm looking forward to more from Dr. DeWees.
Sea of Secrets on Amazon. The novel will be just .99 May 19th and 20th (That's tomorrow!). That's a steal for hours of enjoyment and a great gothic romance.
Amanda DeWees' website
Amanda DeWees on Facebook
Here's the blurb for the novel:
After her brother is killed in the Crimean War, innocent young Oriel Pembroke finds herself alone in the world. Disowned by the cruel father who has always despised her, she has nowhere to turn until she is taken under the wing of a glamorous relative she never knew: the former Duchess of Ellsworth, who has scandalized society by remarrying soon after her first husband’s death. At the opulent seaside estate of Ellsmere, Oriel thinks she has found a safe haven—but the darkly handsome young duke, Herron, believes otherwise. Haunted by the death of his father, he suspects that Ellsmere is sheltering a murderer. Even as Oriel falls in love with the duke, she begins to fear that his grief and suspicion are turning to madness. When dangerous accidents start to befall both Herron and Oriel, however, she realizes that someone may be trying to stop them from discovering the truth about the past. And when her father comes back into her life, she learns that he may hold the answer to the most horrifying secret of all...
Plot/Setting: 4/5--This element has to come first simply because the novel is the tragedy of Hamlet: Prince of Denmark, re-imagined and improved in some ways--at least from certain perspectives. I don't want to give too much away, but it is as good as it sounds. Echoes of Shakespeare's great play abound. From Yorick to a Victorian Hamlet to possible murder, it's all there. The skill of blending these tales makes the novel a good read on one level, but even readers who are basically ignorant of the plot points, characters, and philosophical questions of Hamlet will enjoy the story. Oriel Pembroke finds herself in a terrible situation when she is disowned by her father after her brother's death. Family secrets begin to unravel from that moment on, and she finds herself at Ellsmere with her long dead mother's family.
I have taken off one nitpicky star for a particular plotting aspect of the novel. I find the instances of Herron in Oriel's bedroom sleeping and talking night after night unbelievable or a step too far for the time period and social conventions. I understand why DeWees chose to do this (echoes of Ophelia and all that... the heroine doesn't use the best judgment), but it takes away from the story. This detail stands out to me, perhaps, because I've been edited for my own historical gothic romances in terms of propriety and standard behavior between the sexes. It is my opinion that most young women of this era would have thought more about the seriousness of having a man in one's bedchamber in the 1850s.
As for setting, Ellsmere is spooky and dangerous, but it's the shadowy corners of the human mind that are most frightening. The big questions of life and death are asked, and the answers can be unsettling. Imagery of death abounds with skulls, skeletons, murder and more, and Herron's moodiness is a palpable influence throughout the novel. It lends a dark cast to the whole of it. He's a bit bipolar and 100% Byronic.
The truly great aspect of the novel is that I was still guessing about what Oriel would do, whom she would love nearly until the end. There are several twists, and just knowing the story of Hamlet isn't enough to figure out what's really going to happen, whodunnit, and so on.
Characterization: 4.5/5-- The characters are quite well drawn. Oriel Pembroke is the heroine--a sort of artless Ophelia who still wears her hair in a braid. She is a heroine who grows and changes throughout the novel. Herron, the dark and enigmatic duke, is tortured and oh so handsome of course. Charles, Herron's cousin, plays a nice foil to Herron. I won't give more than that away. The minor characters are well drawn, too.
Literary Elements: 5/5-- From Herron pacing the floors at night to a variation on the "To sleep..." speech from Hamlet, this novel is satisfying on all levels.
Romantic Elements: 4/5-- I find the novel quite romantic. We are sucked into Herron's struggle, fear, and doubt as he questions whether his father was murdered by his uncle Lord Claude and what knowledge his mother, Gwendolyn, Duchess of Ellsworth, had in it. Oriel's doubt and affection is torn between Herron and Charles in a way that reminds me of Mary Stewart's novel, The Ivy Tree. Let me share one passage where Herron is described so you can get a feel for the lush prose in the novel:
Herron stood in the doorway, lounging against the jamb, making no move to come further into the room. Now that he no longer had a shadow over him I could get a true idea of his appearance, and I could not keep myself from staring. He was almost inhumanly beautiful. His face tapered sharply from wide cheekbones, lending his features a faunlike appearance. The fierce angularity of his bones was balanced by his mouth, sweetly curved and generous. Black hair swept in unruly waves, slightly longer than fashion, from a high, clear brow, and eyes whose color shifted brown and gold like sunlight off the drowned leaves in a forest pool were fringed with long, soft lashes; his eyebrows were uncompromising slashes of black. He was surveying the company, those remarkable eyes moving restlessly. The combination of softness and strength in his face was arresting, and I knew I was not the only woman at the table to stare.
Amanda DeWees. Sea of Secrets (1191-1195 and 1188-1191).
Sounds like a hero we'd all like to meet in a dark hallway, doesn't it?
Rating: 4+ stars ****+
Do yourself a favor and run to pick this novel up. It's one of the best historical gothic romances I've read in a long time. I'm looking forward to more from Dr. DeWees.
Sea of Secrets on Amazon. The novel will be just .99 May 19th and 20th (That's tomorrow!). That's a steal for hours of enjoyment and a great gothic romance.
Amanda DeWees' website
Amanda DeWees on Facebook
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Quickie Review (YA gothic romance): Liz Botts' The Hidden Door
This was one of my first forays into spooky YA/gothic romance. The cover first caught my eye a while back:
Daphne, Justin, Riva, and Malcolm are looking for the Hidden Door at their school on Halloween night. It's in a building called The Hun which was named after Vlad the Impaler's home. There's a mystery surrounding the door and a stone gargoyle, and meanwhile, a vampire is on the loose, biting and scratching people. To add to all of that, Daphne and Justin have an unresolved past, and she's still crazy about him.
This is a light, fun romp that has some cool Gothic elements and that touches on more adult themes like mental illness. I recommend this one mainly for YA. I think my daughter would enjoy it if she were a bit older. She's eight now, but in a couple years, I think it would be a hit! If you like stories about teens, I think you'll enjoy it, too.
Rating: 4 stars ****
Buy Links: http://www.amazon.com/The-Hidden-Door-Botts-ebook/dp/B005TDRI1W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336052361&sr=8-1
http://www.astraeapress.com/#ecwid:category=1221951&mode=product&product=6958405
More about Liz Botts: http://www.lizbotts.com
Daphne, Justin, Riva, and Malcolm are looking for the Hidden Door at their school on Halloween night. It's in a building called The Hun which was named after Vlad the Impaler's home. There's a mystery surrounding the door and a stone gargoyle, and meanwhile, a vampire is on the loose, biting and scratching people. To add to all of that, Daphne and Justin have an unresolved past, and she's still crazy about him.
This is a light, fun romp that has some cool Gothic elements and that touches on more adult themes like mental illness. I recommend this one mainly for YA. I think my daughter would enjoy it if she were a bit older. She's eight now, but in a couple years, I think it would be a hit! If you like stories about teens, I think you'll enjoy it, too.
Rating: 4 stars ****
Buy Links: http://www.amazon.com/The-Hidden-Door-Botts-ebook/dp/B005TDRI1W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336052361&sr=8-1
http://www.astraeapress.com/#ecwid:category=1221951&mode=product&product=6958405
More about Liz Botts: http://www.lizbotts.com
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Barrymore Tebbs' The Yellow Scarf
Isn't this a great cover? The author of The Yellow Scarf and cover artist, Barrymore Tebbs, did it. I love the script and how it sort of ties in with the story; I think it has an Eastern flavor. Once you read it, you'll understand. :)
Here's the blurb for Barrymore Tebbs' The Yellow Scarf:
1969. The Rolling Stones perform a free concert in London’s Hyde Park. Flying high on grass and LSD, Peter, Barnard, Bree, and Tristan rock along with nearly a quarter million people as The Stones make history. With them is Pandora, the once-famous fashion model whose downward spiral into addiction made international headlines, now clinging desperately to the belief that only a power greater than herself can restore her to sanity.
After the concert, these five friends decide to take a weekend jaunt to the country to visit Hampton Close, a crumbling old country house Peter recently inherited from his Great Uncle, Basil Townsend. A former protégé of Aleister Crowley, Basil Townsend was once one of Britain’s most notorious practitioners of the Black Arts.
But inside a locked room at Hampton Close, an ancient evil from a distant land lies festering in the warm, wet darkness, waiting…waiting…waiting…
And my review:
Plot: 5/5-- The novella starts off with a bang and an interesting cast of characters. Tebbs makes London in 1969 come alive. The story moves swiftly to its shudder inducing climax in old Uncle Basil's house. I read it in the afternoon, and I liked it, but I didn't feel frightened. That night... trying to sleep was a different story. It creeped me out, and I couldn't stop thinking about it. So, I didn't sleep too well. I'd call that a great horror story!
Characterization: 4/5-- I adored Peter, the hero of the story if there is one, who is described as a conservative fellow who is trying to shake it off. His friend Barnard is also a well drawn figure with an Afro--the quintessential ladies' man. I thought of Jimi Hendrix. Pandora is a pitiable young woman in recovery from drug addiction. And Bree is the type of not-so-intelligent type of girl you'd expect to find at a spooky old house where things to awry. Finally, there's Tristan, a young man who is at least bi-curious and is in a sort of love triangle with Bree and Barnard. Tebbs highlights the sexual mores of the time with this relationship.
Atmosphere/spooky elements: 5/5-- This story sneaks up on you. At first, it's all acid trips at the Rolling Stones' concert, and then it's sheer revulsion and terror. If you like a good story of the macabre linked to mythology, the occult, and the 1960s, this is your thing.
I'm leaving off romantic elements since this isn't a gothic romance. It is, however, a great psychological Gothic/horror novella. If you like houses with pasts, likable characters, Gothic atmosphere, and a good twist, you'll really enjoy it. 4.5+ stars. Don't miss it!
Here's the buy link at Amazon. For .99 or for borrowing free if you have Amazon Prime. Pick it up if you want to get scared.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Yellow-Scarf-ebook/dp/B007U5S9B0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1334894222&sr=1-1
**For the sake of full disclosure, I also edited The Yellow Scarf. Be on the lookout for Barrymore Tebbs' upcoming novel, The Haunting of Blackwood Hall. If you like Victoria Holt's work, I think you'll love it.
Find Barrymore on Facebook: Barrymore Tebbs
and at his blog which also reviews and discusses all things Gothic:
http://barrymoretebbs.blogspot.com/
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Review: Evelyn Berckman's The Heir of Starvelings (a novel of innocence and evil)
This novel is an unusual one. I have one of its early covers, courtesy of Barrymore Tebbs:
Gorgeous, huh? And the painting behind the woman sort of goes along with the novel. A painting plays a major role in the plot. I had heard before that Berckman's gothics are worth reading. She is lauded as a hidden gem among gothic romance/romantic suspense novelists. Many say she never got her due. I tend to agree after reading The Heir of Starvelings.
I'm not sure how many gothic romances she wrote, but I ran across this one at a Friends of the Library sale and snagged it. My cover looks like this. I couldn't find another on the Internets. I really like the teeth:
A naive innocent, Davina Milne, winds up at the fabled Starvelings--a ramshackle out of the way estate--one day as she's wandering in the woods. The opening sequence is quite tragic and scary. What she finds there changes her life--a neglected young boy who's more than just a common urchin. He's a lord who has been neglected by the lecherous Lord Stanyon and other household members.
The novel is worth reading for the introductory materials alone. Berckman obviously had a great passion for history and its preservation, and Victorian Era history is the focus of this historical gothic/gothic romance.
Plot: 4/5--I enjoyed the novel. It also had a couple great twists. The story line stands out among the many Gothics I've read, and it haunts me when I think about it.
Characterization: 5/5--Davina is a great heroine--strong and bold. She knows her own mind, and she's full of integrity. It's nice to find a heroine who isn't of the TSTL (too stupid to live) variety. Lord Stanyon, William, and the other characters are so well drawn, they step off the page, and indeed, the story is supposed to be based upon a true one.
Atmosphere/creepy elements: 5/5-- This novel nails the closed, isolated and claustrophobic feeling that a good Gothic has. Starvelings is a nightmare, and it's peopled with pathetic human beings. The villain is also scary in his own special way as is his minion. The true fright of this novel is the reality of the way that some human beings are neglected and forgotten... and left to a living horror of an existence.
Romantic elements: 5/5-- I can't say too much about this, but I loved the two males in the novel. One is a lover who has died in the Crimean War, and the other is a young lawyer who woos Davina.
** 4+ stars. I recommend it. If you're looking for something different that has a happy but wistful ending, you'll love it.
Gorgeous, huh? And the painting behind the woman sort of goes along with the novel. A painting plays a major role in the plot. I had heard before that Berckman's gothics are worth reading. She is lauded as a hidden gem among gothic romance/romantic suspense novelists. Many say she never got her due. I tend to agree after reading The Heir of Starvelings.
I'm not sure how many gothic romances she wrote, but I ran across this one at a Friends of the Library sale and snagged it. My cover looks like this. I couldn't find another on the Internets. I really like the teeth:
A naive innocent, Davina Milne, winds up at the fabled Starvelings--a ramshackle out of the way estate--one day as she's wandering in the woods. The opening sequence is quite tragic and scary. What she finds there changes her life--a neglected young boy who's more than just a common urchin. He's a lord who has been neglected by the lecherous Lord Stanyon and other household members.
The novel is worth reading for the introductory materials alone. Berckman obviously had a great passion for history and its preservation, and Victorian Era history is the focus of this historical gothic/gothic romance.
Plot: 4/5--I enjoyed the novel. It also had a couple great twists. The story line stands out among the many Gothics I've read, and it haunts me when I think about it.
Characterization: 5/5--Davina is a great heroine--strong and bold. She knows her own mind, and she's full of integrity. It's nice to find a heroine who isn't of the TSTL (too stupid to live) variety. Lord Stanyon, William, and the other characters are so well drawn, they step off the page, and indeed, the story is supposed to be based upon a true one.
Atmosphere/creepy elements: 5/5-- This novel nails the closed, isolated and claustrophobic feeling that a good Gothic has. Starvelings is a nightmare, and it's peopled with pathetic human beings. The villain is also scary in his own special way as is his minion. The true fright of this novel is the reality of the way that some human beings are neglected and forgotten... and left to a living horror of an existence.
Romantic elements: 5/5-- I can't say too much about this, but I loved the two males in the novel. One is a lover who has died in the Crimean War, and the other is a young lawyer who woos Davina.
** 4+ stars. I recommend it. If you're looking for something different that has a happy but wistful ending, you'll love it.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Part II: Ways to Find New Gothic Romances
This is part two of a requested series. :) My next blog post will be a book review. I promise. I have a couple I have needed to get to for a while.
I think I covered using the subcategories on Amazon last time. This time around, let's talk about a few other tricks.
First, this one seems obvious, but it might not be. Just under the book information, if the book has sold any copies, Amazon adds a section of book covers/pages you can scroll through and click on. I've chosen Holt's Mistress of Mellyn in Book format as my example here. You can see the
There might be an easier way to do this, I'm not sure. Here's how I do it:
1. Type in the name of a favorite author of gothic romance. I've chosen Victoria Holt for an example to stick with what I have above. Keep in mind that some of the older authors are tagged well under Books, so let's use Books for this search. I type her name into the search bar on amazon and pull down the Books tab to the left.
2. Once the list comes up, I pick one of her books I like and click on it. In this case, I've chosen Mistress of Mellyn
3. Once the page comes up for that book, I scroll down to the bottom quarter of the page to the tags section. In this case, there are a few tags like gothic romance, jean plaidy, and cornwall. When I click on the gothic romance tag link, it pulls up several books in that genre (or that the author or readers claim are in that genre). You can add tags as well. Is there a book by one author that reminds you of the work of another author? Tag it with that author's name or agree with an existing tag. :) That will help readers find new authors and weed out tags that are unrelated to the product.
Interestingly, if you check out the tags for the Kindle version of this book, they are all related to the $9.99 price. Apparently, many readers of e-books think that's too much to pay for the digital version of this classic. Your thoughts?
I think I covered using the subcategories on Amazon last time. This time around, let's talk about a few other tricks.
First, this one seems obvious, but it might not be. Just under the book information, if the book has sold any copies, Amazon adds a section of book covers/pages you can scroll through and click on. I've chosen Holt's Mistress of Mellyn in Book format as my example here. You can see the
Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought
section just under the book. If you scroll through those 11 pages, you are sure to find a new book or two to check out. I did! :)
You'll also notice on this page the section above the tags, a little more than halfway down the page: Customers also bought items by...
This section can be fun to click around in by author name or cover (for some authors listed). You never know: you might find a new author.
This section can be fun to click around in by author name or cover (for some authors listed). You never know: you might find a new author.
Now, on to using tags to find new books:
There might be an easier way to do this, I'm not sure. Here's how I do it:
1. Type in the name of a favorite author of gothic romance. I've chosen Victoria Holt for an example to stick with what I have above. Keep in mind that some of the older authors are tagged well under Books, so let's use Books for this search. I type her name into the search bar on amazon and pull down the Books tab to the left.
2. Once the list comes up, I pick one of her books I like and click on it. In this case, I've chosen Mistress of Mellyn
3. Once the page comes up for that book, I scroll down to the bottom quarter of the page to the tags section. In this case, there are a few tags like gothic romance, jean plaidy, and cornwall. When I click on the gothic romance tag link, it pulls up several books in that genre (or that the author or readers claim are in that genre). You can add tags as well. Is there a book by one author that reminds you of the work of another author? Tag it with that author's name or agree with an existing tag. :) That will help readers find new authors and weed out tags that are unrelated to the product.
Interestingly, if you check out the tags for the Kindle version of this book, they are all related to the $9.99 price. Apparently, many readers of e-books think that's too much to pay for the digital version of this classic. Your thoughts?
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
How to Find More Gothic Romances... Part I
Wow. It's been too long since I last posted. Please forgive me. Life is hopping, but in a good way. :)
I wanted to start a little series on ways to find new gothic romances-- as in contemporary ones or novels/works that might be new to you.
I think starting with Amazon makes sense since they sell a lot of books and most people have Kindles as their e-readers (or maybe you're like me and you just use Kindle for PC!). I'm going to focus on e-books today, but many of the tips for hunting for Kindle editions will work for print, too.
I'm going to write about these as they come to me, so consider this part I. If this trick is a "duh" to you, please forgive. I'm assuming some readers might not be aware of these ways to find new books. If you have other ideas, leave them in the comments.
1. Look under Gothic Romance.
If you know a bit about Amazon, you probably realize that authors or publishers can categorize their books under two areas when they post them to Amazon. I tend to have most of mine put under gothic romance and whatever else is applicable. So, it's easy to go to the Amazon homepage and go to the search pull down. Click Kindle Store there. Then, type in Gothic Romance. One the list comes up, you'll notice that Relevance is next to the "Sort by" list on the upper right hand side. I leave it that way and scroll through. This gives me a list of the top 100 gothic romances. One of mine shows up at #34 today. ;)
When you glance through the list, you'll see a lot of vampire stuff and fantasy. I skip over much of that as I do some of the poorly edited/terribly blurbed ghost stories or gothic romances on there. I know as a writer that if the blurb/description of the book is not up to par (ie, only a line or so that doesn't adequately describe the story as a writer should be able to do or a blurb fraught with mistakes), the book will usually follow suit.
I usually find a gem or two that I'd like to check out in the .99-3.99 range. Here are two I found today.
This one isn't a novel, but it looks fascinating, and I'm going to snag it free:
The Tale of Terror: A Study of Gothic Romance
And this one looks promising for $2.51:
http://www.amazon.com/Nachtst%C3%BCrm-Castle-Gothic-Austen-ebook/dp/B002PK120K/ref=sr_1_10?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1330529211&sr=1-10
And a pricier one but pubbed with Dorchester recently:
The Ravencliff Bride
So, that's a start. If you want print, you can search for Books and gothic romance. To be on the safe side, I might hop over to Goodreads and check the reviews for that second one. I'd hesitate on buying it longer than I would taking the freebie. ;) The third one is a bit more than I like to pay for a Kindle edition, but your opinion might vary.
I'll cover something else of this nature in my next post since I'm running out of time this morning. Have you found any good reads using this method?
I wanted to start a little series on ways to find new gothic romances-- as in contemporary ones or novels/works that might be new to you.
I think starting with Amazon makes sense since they sell a lot of books and most people have Kindles as their e-readers (or maybe you're like me and you just use Kindle for PC!). I'm going to focus on e-books today, but many of the tips for hunting for Kindle editions will work for print, too.
I'm going to write about these as they come to me, so consider this part I. If this trick is a "duh" to you, please forgive. I'm assuming some readers might not be aware of these ways to find new books. If you have other ideas, leave them in the comments.
1. Look under Gothic Romance.
If you know a bit about Amazon, you probably realize that authors or publishers can categorize their books under two areas when they post them to Amazon. I tend to have most of mine put under gothic romance and whatever else is applicable. So, it's easy to go to the Amazon homepage and go to the search pull down. Click Kindle Store there. Then, type in Gothic Romance. One the list comes up, you'll notice that Relevance is next to the "Sort by" list on the upper right hand side. I leave it that way and scroll through. This gives me a list of the top 100 gothic romances. One of mine shows up at #34 today. ;)
When you glance through the list, you'll see a lot of vampire stuff and fantasy. I skip over much of that as I do some of the poorly edited/terribly blurbed ghost stories or gothic romances on there. I know as a writer that if the blurb/description of the book is not up to par (ie, only a line or so that doesn't adequately describe the story as a writer should be able to do or a blurb fraught with mistakes), the book will usually follow suit.
I usually find a gem or two that I'd like to check out in the .99-3.99 range. Here are two I found today.
This one isn't a novel, but it looks fascinating, and I'm going to snag it free:
The Tale of Terror: A Study of Gothic Romance
And this one looks promising for $2.51:
http://www.amazon.com/Nachtst%C3%BCrm-Castle-Gothic-Austen-ebook/dp/B002PK120K/ref=sr_1_10?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1330529211&sr=1-10
And a pricier one but pubbed with Dorchester recently:
The Ravencliff Bride
So, that's a start. If you want print, you can search for Books and gothic romance. To be on the safe side, I might hop over to Goodreads and check the reviews for that second one. I'd hesitate on buying it longer than I would taking the freebie. ;) The third one is a bit more than I like to pay for a Kindle edition, but your opinion might vary.
I'll cover something else of this nature in my next post since I'm running out of time this morning. Have you found any good reads using this method?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
