Monday, April 30, 2007

Once More, With Feeling

Annie West, a wonderful author friend and fellow chocolate fiend, sent me a hardback copy of her upcoming Mills & Boon release, For the Sheikh's Pleasure. Annie's gesture felt even more special when I looked inside the cover and found she'd dedicated the book to me! What a gal!

Now, before you say, "I don't read romance," pick up the new breed of category romance novels and judge them for yourself. Check out Harlequin and Mills & Boon. If you're into TV's Grey's Anatomy, I prescribe a dose of Fiona Lowe's medical romances. She writes true-to-life medical emergency scenes and heart-tugging romance that'll give you palpitations.

As a reader, it's impossible not to get lost in the world Annie West creates for her characters. There's nothing better than an escape hatch from everyday drudgery. From a technical point of view, I think the sheer emotion Annie pours into her stories makes her work so absorbing. You feel what the heroine feels. You get to know her so well it's hard to walk away once you reach the end of the book. It isn't easy to elicit a reaction like that from a reader. Writers in any genre need to make their audience care about the protagonists, fall for them, even. I don't know exactly how Annie does it, but I suspect it has a lot to do with talent rather than the Lindt chockies I ply her with.

Other Books on My Teetering TBR/Halfway-Through Pile:
The Surgeon's Chosen Wife by Fiona Lowe (Harlequin)
Atlantis Rising by Alyssa Day (Berkley Sensation)
Victoria and the Rogue a historical YA by Meg Cabot (Macmillan)
Dairy Queen a YA by Catherine Gilbert Murdock (Pan Macmillan Australia)
Animal Attraction a YA romantic comedy by Jamie Ponti (Simon Pulse)
Fairest by Gail Carson Levine (HarperCollins)
Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty (Pan Macmillan Australia). Thanks for giving me this book, Janette H!

3 comments:

Fiona Lowe said...

Vanessa, lovely to see you in the blogsphere and thanks for those kind words about my writing.

I have everything crossed for you that it makes it hard to walk :-)

Fiona x

Authorness said...

Thank you, Fiona! You're going beyond the call of duty.

x V

Annie West said...

Vanessa - FINALLY managed to leave a comment (I hope!). I've been enjoying your blog but unable to talk back!

Thank you, thank you for the lovely words about my writing. I'm tempted to say 'who me?' but instead I'll smile and just lap it up. Let me just say, though, that I'm thrilled you connected to my characters so well!

I do think that there is a place for chocolate in a writer's life - thank you for providing some of it! I'll have to be careful not to get too hooked though.

Good luck with your TBR pile. If it's anything like mine, you'll be surrounded by books for a long time to come (sounds lovely, doesn't it?).

Annie