The Q Awards

The Q Awards

The Starred Q means that this independent published book is of the quality expected of a New York publisher.

The Q means this book meets the minimum standards. It may have some writing defects, a few copy editing problems, but is worth reading.

The Red Typo warns readers that book doesn't meet the minimum quality standards. Poor writing or poor editing.

I hope this helps.

Reviewers are welcome to employ this rating system.

Finding Your Way Around

I have added an Authors list to help you find the reviews you are interested it. It also helped that I learned a lot more about using Blogger and WordPress to create blogs and websites. Eventually I will upgrade www.midnightblood.com to a WordPress site, when I have time, but by make certain changes here, I should be able to incorporate my Blogger site easily into the new site and save myself time and trouble.

For now listings include:

Authors (alphabetically) with the title of the book reviewed.Click on the author will take you to the review.

I also have categorized the articles by subject and genre. Click on the topic will bring a list of all articles related to that subject.

news - Updates about me and the blog.
articles - not reviews.
Q Awards - books that are published independently (eBook and print) that are ratedd by quality.
Wings Press - books published by my publisher, Wings ePress, Inc.

Genre (this list will grow) It is also somewhat limited to what I like to read.Again click on subject will bring up all reviews.
Fantasy
Urban Fantasy - These include paranormal series like Anita Blake and Harry Dresden. .
Paranormal romance - Romance with supernatural or paranormal elements.
Mystery
Mystery Cozy
Paranormal mystery - Mystery with supernatural or paranormal elements.
Romantic Mystery
Mystery Native American / South West
Historical Mystery Egyptian
Historical Mystery 19th Century

Try Just Once More

By Kate Henry Doran

“Maggie McQuire didn’t have time to die. With only two days left before the opening ceremonies of Saranac Lake’s winter carnival, there were too many things left undone.”

So begins this fast pace book, with one of the best first lines I have ever read in a long time. Maggie and her three grown children, Tom, Devon, and Lauren, are finally putting their lives back together after the horror that was her husband / their father’s death and the media circus and accusations of possible murder that followed. Tom has become a police officer, riding mounted patrol, Devon is a world famous artist, and Lauren beginning a promising career as a dancer. Everything is going well for Maggie and her children, except that Devon was mugged and later involved in a drive-by shooting, and Lauren stalked, and then Tom is critically injured when his horse goes down during a riot.

Oh yes, Maggie’s brakes failed and she barely avoids ending up at the bottom of a ravine along with her car, thanks to a Good Samaritan. She is very attracted to the Good Samaritan, his deep, soothing voice and good looks until she learns he is the one thing she detests more than reporters, a cop, the Chief of Police and Tom’s boss. And Michael learns she is another nurse, just like his detestable ex-wife. Sparks fly, lots of misunderstandings, lots of romantic ups and downs. And lots of humor. That was one of the best things about TRY JUST ONCE MORE, the sense of humor. Maggie faces her days with humor, laughing at herself and life, but she has a sharp witty tongue that is often unleashed on Michael.

After awhile, Michael begins to suspect that there might be something more sinister behind the accidents than just bad luck. But why would anyone want to kill Maggie and her kids? The answer is surprising and shocking.

Not only is this book full of humor and witticism, it is also vividly real. Maggie is a member of AA and she must struggle every day. I cried with her when Tom almost died, I grieved as Michael relived his own son’s death, and when Maggie finally unlocked her heart to share her past with Michael.

My only complaint is that this book needed to be more, possibly four books. There was so much going on, so much that happened in the past, hinted at, but never fully explained, that it felt like it should be one of those romance series where the author writes a romance for each character. I would have loved to know how Rachel became scarred, about Devon and Nessa’s relationship, and more about Kit. But it was enough to get to know Maggie and Michael, to find that romance can happen to those over 40. TRY JUST ONCE MORE is a great romance, shadowed by a great dark evil.

Reviewed by Linda Suzane

Try Just Once More
by Kate Henry Doran
Wings Press
Paperback: 332 pages
Publisher: Wings ePress (2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1597058386
ISBN-13: 978-1597058384

Visit Kat's website www.KatHenry.com

Awards

Sometime ago, I reviewed a novel. This book had been accepted for publication; in fact, was in the final stages of editing and shortly going to be published. The author was someone with a long impressive list of books published by various Internet publishers. I was truly surprised by what I read. It was what I consider a second draft in need of considerable work. The story had problems like not clearly setting the scene and changing the nature of characters half way through the story. There were lots of typographical and spelling errors, including correctly-spelled-wrong-words. I was amazed that the publisher had accepted it for publication. Certainly the basic story had strong potential, but in my opinion, the version I read was nowhere near ready for publication.

That’s the problem today. It’s far too easy to publish books. At least with “mainstream print publishers,” there was a level of professionalism. Now, my 9-year-old-grandson can turn out a beautifully printed, even illustrated book, with all of his mis-spellings and poor grammar. I’m not saying that all books published by the mainstream publishers are worth reading or that all Internet published books are poorly written. Not at all. Internet publishers have opened the doors to many talented writers who found New York doors closed and in doing so have expanded the boundaries for writers and readers alike. I am saying though, just the fact that a book has been published is no longer a guarantee of quality.

I struggled to write a review that reflected the situation honestly and afterward considered what to do about the problem. We reviewers have a even more important role than we had before. Before we wrote about whether we liked a book or not. Now, we also need to let the readers know the quality of the published work. “Self-published” scares people away because we have visions of poorly spelled, poorly written, unedited books, that no publisher wants. That may not be the case. Even when there is an actual publisher and the work is edited, quality standards vary among the Independent Publishers.

I decided we need a new rating system that rates the professionalism, the quality of the book, that can promote those books, whether self-published or published by Internet publishers or small press print publishers, that live up to a standard of quality, and can warn readers of those who don’t.

The Q Awards

The Starred Q means that this independent published book is of the quality expected of a New York publisher.

The Q means this book meets the minimum standards. It may have some writing defects, a few copy editing problems, but is worth reading.

The Red Typo warns readers that book doesn't meet the minimum quality standards. Poor writing or poor editing.

I hope this helps.

Reviewers are welcome to employ this rating system.

Kitty and the Silver Bullet

By Carrie Vaughn

Oh goody, it’s always nice when you find a favorite new author and don’t have to wait too long for the next book. I just finished the SFBC edition, Long Time Listener, First Time Werewolf, an omnibus of Carrie Vaugh’s first 3 books, Kitty and the Midnight Hour, Kitty Goes to Washington, and Kitty Takes a Vacation, when I discovered her fourth Kitty and the Silver Bullet.

I was eager to continue the story of Kitty Norville, radio DJ and reluctant werewolf who seems to always get herself in trouble despite her best efforts to avoid it and lead a normal life.

This time her mother is ill and she returns to Denver despite the fact that the leaders of her old pack have promised to kill her on sight if she ever returned. But keeping out of sight isn’t an option when she is pulled into the local vampire political struggle and dead bodies start turning up.

Carrie Vaughn continues to show her ability to tell a captivating story. This book is going to find a place on my “must own” shelf next to Jim Butcher, Kim Harrison, Charlaine Harris, Laurell K. Hamilton. I can hardly wait to learn more of Kitty’s story, and I was pleased to see a new one is coming out this fall.

Reviewed by Linda Suzane October 14, 2008

KITTY AND THE SILVER BULLET
Carrie Vaughn
Grand Central Publishing
2008

A Stroke of Midnight

By Laurell K. Hamilton

In some ways I liked this book better than the previous ones, but I absolutely hated the ending. Or rather the lack of an ending. It is as though the author wrote a certain number of words and then just quit leaving the story in the middle. In the previous book SEDUCED BY MOONLIGHT, Merry and her body guards “slash” harem returned to the faerie sithen, foiling several assassination attempts against herself and even the Queen of Air and Darkness, Andais.

This book starts the next day with a press conference, followed by the murder of a demi-fae and a human reporter. Merry convinces Andais to let her bring in human police and CIS investigators hoping that they can discover clues with science that magic might hide.

But that isn’t the only problem Merry has. The Goddess is determined to restore the power to the fae using Merry. Because Merry is descended from five fertility deities, it of course involves sex, and it doesn’t matter if it is inconvenient for Merry to stop what she is doing and fuck someone new.

Suddenly her bodyguards are being attacked. When Galen almost dies, it brings home to Merry just how important he and the others have come to her.

Merry just doesn’t have time for all that is going on, but the newly awaken sithen helps by speeding time up within its confines.

This book becomes more and more fantastical as new powers or rather old powers are restore, like the way Merry gets a tattoo. Laurell K. Hamilton’s imagination is beyond creative, as are her sex scenes. Each one is different and highly erotic. It is no longer so much about getting her pregnant, but about being a vessel that the Goddess will use. It is good that she really isn’t adding any more lovers too her roster of handsome, broody men. We have enough to keep tack of.

As I said, I enjoyed this book because although there was a lot of sex, there didn’t feel as though there was a lot of gratuitous sex. Some but not all. There was a purpose to the sex, it wakened powers, made things happen. Besides there was just too much other stuff going on that crowded out some of the sex.

And there lies the problem. There is so much left hanging at the end of the story, there is no sense of completion or satisfaction. Sort of like Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back and just like then, we have a long wait until the next installment. Ugh!

Reviewed by Linda Suzane June 14, 2005

A Stroke of Midnight
By Laurell K. Hamilton
Published by Random House
Copyright 2005
ISBN#: 0-345-44357-8
Series: Merry Gentry #4
Genre Subgenre: Paranormal

Kitty takes a Vacation

By Carrie Vaughn

Kitty has run away from all the notoriety that Washington caused. She is staying in a
mountain cabin. Then someone leaves a dead rabbit on her porch, painting a cross in
blood on her door. Who is trying to place a curse on her and why?

Then Cormac shows up with her lawyer, Ben. Ben has been bitten by a werewolf. Ben
and Cormac grew up together, cousins, and best friends. Cormac had been hired to
take out a werewolf, and asked Ben to back him up, but something went wrong and Ben
got bitten. Cormac is guilt-ridden but can’t bring himself to follow through on his
promise to kill Ben if something should happen.

Kitty nurses Ben through the trauma, helps him during his first full moon, and realizes
that Ben is now her pack. As well as her lover.

But trouble is brewing. Something evil is slaughtering cattle. The sheriff thinks it is a
werewolf, Kitty. But it isn’t. It is something far worse.

Carrie Vaughn has captured me, I am totally enamored with the story of Kitty Norville
and can hardly wait until the next in the series.

Reviewed by Linda Suzane

Kitty takes a Vacation
Warner Books Copyright 2007