I know how tempting it is to check review sites after the release of a new book, especially when you’re a brand new writer. Reviews can either make your day or send you into a HUGE funk, wanting to do nothing but cuss, cry, or bury your head until the feelings of dejection pass.

Sad fact is, we can’t please everyone. A book that might just rock a readers world, hits the wall with a loud smack with other readers. It’s something, as writers, that we must get used to. I talk with lots of newbie writers who just freak out over them and I always say the same thing…don’t put a lot of stock in reviews. Chatting with a reviewer one day not long ago, I mentioned something about 3’s being considered by writers as not being all that good. She was shocked. Three means GOOD usually so why would we be upset? she said. I think maybe that’s because we hope for the 4 or 5 that tells us the reviewer just “LOVED” the book and we don’t really like settling for less than that. No one likes hearing their book is only so-so and though she liked it, didn’t necessarily want it on her ‘keeper shelf’. Maybe we writers just need to get over ourselves. There isn’t a damn thing wrong with GOOD. If we provide a few hours of enjoyment, then we should be happy with that.

This being said, I’ll say too that most of my reviews have been great. No complaints but believe me, there have been some that weren’t so good too. I’ve been slammed because my story is too short. I’m been grilled over a ‘too whiny heroine’ or ‘too ansty’ hero. One reviewer who prefaced his review by saying he hadn’t read the other books in my series, believed I had not advanced the series story line and thought my Texas characters had simplistic dialogue. I think the real kicker was the bad review I got for a menage story because the heroine served lasagne to the two heroes. See, the reviewer just HATES lasagne and couldn’t get that damn lasagne off her mind while reading the story. Yuk. Lasagne. Yes, I probably deserved to be slammed over that. I mean, that’s fair, right? Basically, we all have review horror stories. Best thing to do is read them, forget them (good or bad) and move on.

In other news: Drilled has a release date. My contribution to the Cougar Challenge series releases at Ellora’s Cave on April 14th. YAY

I’ve had several notes from readers lately about when they can expect the fifth book from the High Plains Shifters series. Gabe and Katalin’s story is coming soon. I don’t know the exact date yet but I promise to keep everyone posted. I am hoping it’ll come out sometime this summer with two more stories to follow. I’m writing as fast as I can so please bear with me. And thanks to all of you for asking.

Have you ever started reading something and you think…hey, great book and THEN you read what the heroine is wearing and it takes you back to your youth and the days your mom wore a paisley caftan around the house? And that hero with the mullett…oh boy…blast from the past huh? Funny thing though. You aren’t reading a book from the 1970’s or 1980’s are you? You are reading a new release. I constantly have those WTF moments when reading something and it totally takes me out of the story. It is one of my biggie pet peeves. Nothing ages an author more than not doing her homework when setting the scene in a book.

It doesn’t have to be hair styles or fashions either. It can be the way the entire scene is set. Lava lamps and little touches are a-okay if the apartment you are describing belongs to a character who loves quirky little things here and there. Not a biggie. But when his/her ‘pad’ has Austin Powers place stamped all over it, you know you are reading something by an author who has her head stuck in the past. Imagine this, the hero brings the heroine to his place for a romantic dinner and a little seduction. In his pov he thinks, damn, she is so hot, so sexy, she looks like a rocker chick from an 80’s girl power band.
Or better yet, he thinks…I can’t want to get her out of smokin’ hot dress with the white pilgrim collar and the big cabbage roses all over it. Ummm Hmmmm what a smoldering hot temptress. I’m going to carry her across my shag carpet to my black satin-covered heart-shaped bed and screw the perm right out of her hair. She will run her fingers through that big wad of hair on the back of my head, too. It gets me hot just thinking out it.

This is one of my big writing/reading pet peeves. Everyone has them so it’s okay to bitch and whine about it here. I do it all the time. Let’s face it, we all have our pet peeves, those little detail things that take us right out of a story. What are some of yours?

Not much going on today but a lot of writing. Currently I’m trying to finish up the third book in a trilogy I’m doing with Desiree Holt and Cindy Spencer Pape. Almost there! YAY! I figure I’ll finish it up by the end of the weekend. Crossing fingers!

In the meantime, let me share two new reviews for two different books!

Running is what Sara and her sister have become good at to survive- only someone should have told that to the outlaw wolves who managed to capture them. But now she has to deal with the fact that her heart doesn’t want to run from the big, hunky Texas shifter who helped to rescue them and it appears Cactus may not let her.

From the moment he first laid a finger on the delectable Sara , Cactus knew he was a goner,but he didn’t really care because it wasn’t every day a wolf found his One. Only Sara had been sorely mistreated and if it took everything he had, he was going to make sure she wasn’t running before he got a chance to make her realize they belonged together.

Cowboy White Knight, strong female with a secret, lots of intrigue and hot, scorching sex all combined with that Carlysle touch of humor and style that just grabs and makes you read. I loved Sara’s strength and Cactus’s knightly ways which are something long gone in our current days. While I love my wolves, Ms. Carlysle just has a way of making those cowboys a bit larger than life, thus suiting Texans to a T (I know cause I married one…lol).

Title: Jaguar Hunger
Author: Regina Carlysle
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave Publishing
Reviewer: Jennifer Leigh
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Heat Level: O

Noah Littlehawk and Aaron O’Malley are jaguar shifters on the search for their mate. Their private investigation company has been hired to keep an eye on a man’s mistress. Violet Carson is actually just an employee that he has been stalking and trying to push into a relationship. She is terrified of him and desperately wants out of his employ. She has come to the vacation house because she believes she is going to die. A jaguar shifter going through estrus without her mates rarely survives the transition. The two men are instantly attracted to her, not realizing that she is their long-awaited mate.

This was a genuinely good read. There was nothing about the main characters not to like. The men have known each other since they were cubs and have built a strong friendship between themselves. They are hot, sensitive, and passionate. The perfect combination! Violet is so sweet and scared that you just want to give her a hug and tell her not to worry, everything will be just fine. The attraction between the three of them was sizzling, and the sex scenes were scorching! There is a lot of sex, all ménage, but it was well-written and integral to the storyline. You get the sense early on that the three truly care about each other, and their relationship will be strong enough together to face the coming danger. It was simply a good, solid story. It was very enjoyable and I would love to read more about the jaguar shifters. That being said, those who enjoy shifter stories are sure to love Jaguar Hunger. Highly recommended.

Now I don’t want to serious ‘date’ myself here but back when I first started reading romances there wasn’t a huge selection out there. The average romance reader had basically two genre choices. Contemporary and historical. Really. It’s true. I know that might be hard to believe considering the selections out there these days. You know, it’s kind of like driving around and trying to figure out where you want to eat. Do you want Italian, Tex-Mex, Seafood? Or do you want to hit one of those all you can eat buffet places where there is a ginormous selection all under one roof? That’s the way the romance world works these days. Back in the day, I just didn’t know what I was missing because there were really only two options if you loved romance. These days we have everything. If you want love and a happily ever after there are plenty of non sex or sex lite books. There is the inspy genre and erotic, two opposite ends of the spectrum. Good. More choice for everyone and that’s a good thing.

Whether you are a reader or a writer or both, the choices in material is downright amazing. Paranormal got hotter than hot several years back beginning with vamps and shifters. Now they have evolved into specialized vamps (even some that sparkle) and wolves aren’t the only shifters available. These days we read about jaguars, panthers, tigers, lions and bears. Well shoot…just about any animal you can think of. We have demons, dragons and all manner of paranormal creature who is only looking for love and acceptance and the chance to find that perfect mate. We have menage featuring every kind of ‘mix’, romantic comedy, ghost stories, sci-fi. Hell guys, the list is endless.

During the Romanticon booksigning last year, a reader came up and asked me if I had books without any “funny stuff”. It took me a second to realize she wanted straight m/f stories without all the other stuff. Fortunately I had some of those to offer and pointed them out but I also write some menage and paranormal. Since that wasn’t on her ‘to buy’ list, I was simply happy that I write in several different genres. Personally, my tastes veer all over the place depending on my mood. Some days I want dark and intense, sometimes I want to be transported to another time and place, and then, there are those moments when I need to laugh. Lucky for me, there is availability in books to suit my mood.

What are your favorite genres? What would you like to see more of? Are there any genres you find yourself getting tired of?