February Reads!

I swear I read a lot in February! It’s just that I read the same thing over and over and over again and that was the Circle of Nine – Novella Collection that will be (drum roll please) officially released on the Spring Equinox, March 20. (Or for those of you who have read the first Circle of Nine book . . . that holiday is better known as Ostara.) Here's a first look at my cover for the collected set. (For those of you who were following the releases of the individual novellas as e-books, you've seen the cover in its varying shades already.) 

For any author moving toward publication, the number of times you read through your book can seem infinite. At each step in the process, you read through again, checking for typos and/or formatting errors at a minimum. Now, I’m at the point of the final check on everything. So far, so good.

This book is officially Book Two in the Circle of Nine series. While this isn’t the sequel that follows the main character Brigit Quinn, these stories give you more of the lives of three of the historical characters from the first book and are best read between the initial novel and the sequel which will be out later this year.

One of my critique partners is also moving quickly toward publication, and I was thrilled to read through her novel, which will be released this spring as well. (God Awful Thief by Silvia Acevedo) This is the hilarious, fast-paced sequel to her novel God Awful Loser. It’s available for pre-order now if you want to reserve your copy.

While I spent considerable time this month on books that have not yet been published, I did manage to read two novels just for fun. One was Disaster at Havendale by Richard E. Davis, who was the guest author at our Books & Beer book club on March 3. I am a big fan of fast-paced disaster stories and that is the strong point of this novella—great action scenes and suspense! The novel is intended for the adult audience but is written in part from the perspective of a teenage main character, which is not an issue as it fits completely within the plot line. Even so, I’d give this a three-star rating, mainly because the teen dialog felt a bit unnatural to me. For the epic suspense scenes alone, I will be picking up the sequel when it is out.

I also returned to my good old favorite JD Robb for an entertainment break. JD Robb is the pseudonym of Nora Roberts when she’s writing her futuristic police murder mystery novels that are also labeled the “In Death” series. Brotherhood in Death didn’t disappoint, and in fact, this is one of the first times in a few years that I’d give five stars to an installment in this series. The formulaic component of a police investigation was initially made much more intriguing by the personalities/private lives of the main characters and the setting in the near future where there are some cool technological advances. I feel like a few of the recent books were disappointing in that they didn’t include enough of the personal life of these main characters. Brotherhood in Death returns to what I think is the best balance with a story that begins with the murder of Dennis Mira’s brother. (Mr. Mira is the spouse of the beloved police psychologist who frequents these stories and who is somewhat a surrogate mother to the main character Eve Dallas.) Of course, more murders follow and Eve has to untangle all the clues along with her hunky mega-millionaire Irish husband, Roarke. (sigh)

So a little work and a little fun . . . and then bam! February was over.

What should I read in March? Any suggestions??