I’m Back!

Hey, guys! Brand shiny new modem here, which means I’m back on line. Thank goodness. I’m such an addict.

I’ve heard from several people that Amazon, at least, has been shipping copies of RITES OF SPRING (BREAK), and it should be appearing on bookshelves everywhere tomorrow. (Or maybe today. Some places jump the gun.)

I’m having a small contest (though it doesn’t take much to win): Send me photos of your copy of ROSB in the wild and I’ll send you a special treat. What treat, you ask? Well… the hint is in the cover of the novel itself.

Meanwhile, there are some reviews coming out. Night Owl Romance gave the book five hearts and a “top pick” and I’m not linking to the review, since it’s spoilertastic, though I will quote from some of the non-spoilery sections:

I loved this book. Ms Peterfreund’s writing style is easy to read and you just want to see what will happen next. She brings just the right feel to college life, the worry of what next along with the fun of not having any real responsibilities… The characters are excellent. Amy is the main character and you feel as though you know her. She is confused and still trying to do the right thing at all times even if it’s not what the majority want…This is the third book of a series. I haven’t read the previous books and still loved this one. While things that happened in the previous books are mentioned, you don’t really have to know exactly what happened to enjoy this book. In fact, I’d love to go back and read the previous books as this one was so good.

And Publisher’s Weekly has this to say:

The third installment to Peterfreund’s Rose & Grave series follows the Diggers—members of Eli University’s elite, secret society Rose & Grave—on a spring break trip fraught with intrigue. Amy “Bugaboo” Haskel can’t wait for her first visit to the society’s private Florida island, Cavador Key: a prank gone awry against a rival society has loaded Amy’s spring semester with petty revenge plots. The pranking takes a sinister turn at Cavador, where Amy nearly drowns after her lifejacket appears to have been tampered with. And there’s a small band of weirdos on the periphery, as well (a disgraced government official and his family are on the island, and a gaggle of Rose & Grave conspiracy theorists are camped out on the next island over). As tension escalates, Peterfreund adds an appealing romance subplot. While the stakes are uneven and the climax is predictably soggy, the novel moves fast, packs some laughs and does its job as a light diversion.

Darn tootin’ it’s soggy! I would consider myself remiss, as a storyteller, if I sent a girl who rather famously cannot swim to an island and didn’t take plotly advantage of that. To start with, when I go to that great Algonquin Round Table in the sky, how would I ever look Chekhov in the face?

Speaking of Chekhov, his weaponry, and Yale, I watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull last week. It was not my favorite of the IJ movies, sadly. Or even my second favorite. Though I still love Karen Allen, and am once again impressed with Shia LeBeouf. Unfortunately, this movie reminded me far too often of Peter Jackson’s horrific King Kong — I feel like they pretty much used the same sets, and recycled whole set pieces. And I couldn’t figure out why Indy hiked toward the mushroom cloud in the opening scene. And there was a big ol’ gun on the wall that they never managed to use, which mystified me. However, all the scenes at Yale were fun to watch, especially when they drove into the Library and ended up in the Commons Dining Hall, or appeared to be driving down Elm Street from one shot and College Street from another. You also got a couple of seconds of the Skull & Bones tomb, so, fun!

I also went to SilverDocs (which is the American Film Institute’s documentary film festival) last week, and watched All Together Now, which is about the collaboration between Cirque de Soleil and Apple Records to make a Beatles-themed Cirque show called “Love.” Very very cool film, about the nature of collaboration, and artistic respect, and the Beatles. (I had no idea how much Dhani Harrison looks like his dad. Exactly. It’s eerie.)

Sailor Boy and I also went to see This Beautiful City, which is a documentary play put on my The Civilians theater company about the evangelical Christian communities in Colorado Springs. Yes, it’s a documentary. Theater. And a musical, to boot. Very unusual creation, but extremely well done.

And I read. I read four historical romances last week:

A Rake’s Guide to Seduction, by Caroline Linden. First book for me by this author, but certainly not the last. My favorite part was the author’s inclusion of diary entries by the characters. I love that in books. It was one of my favorite parts of Betina Krahn’s RITA-winning Book of True Desires, too.

Secrets of Surrender, by Madeline Hunter. I won Maddy’s latest at a recent WRW meeting. This one is about a ruined gentlewoman who is given one opportunity for redemption: to marry a lowborn-made-good engineer, thereby making her respectable and giving him a boost up the social ladder. Totally fell in love with the hero of this one. Kyle. Sometimes you need a break from all the dukes and viscounts and such in historical romances. Kyle was not a gentleman, and he wasn’t a secret one, either. No one was about to die and make him an earl. So refreshing!

Forbidden Shores, by Jane Lockwood. Historical erotica, with a splash of romance. Gorgeous, gorgeous atmosphere in this one. The first half of the book is set entirely ship board, and with none of the niceties you usually see about ship board-set books. This one is gritty. Really, really down and dirty. And then they get to the Caribbean, and you meet the slaves, and Lockwood does not let up on the setting realism one little bit.

Rumors by Anna Godbersen. This is a YA, a sequel to last year’s Gossip-Girl-meets-Edith-Wharton’s The Luxe, which I loved. So dishy. This one was even more about social niceties and frocks. I remain confused about the ending, but it’s clearly in the groove of series now, so I bet each successive book is going to be more and more of a cliffhanger ending.

And now I write. Later!