I think Ann Aguirre is a rad chick with a boatload of talent, and I have yet to read a book of hers that I didn’t enjoy the crap out of.  (And I think I’ve read…6 in the past few months, so that’s not saying nothing.)  I discovered her through the usual method: Shannon told me to buy one of her books.  In this case, though, she told me to buy Grimspace, and I made the first mistake by not listening to her.  “But Shannon,” I whined, “I’m not in a Sci-Fi mood! I’m really feeling my paranormal love hardcore!”  But since I’m incapable of disobeying Shannon’s book recs for long, I compromised and snatched up the recently released Blue Diablo.

I ordered Grimspace the next day, tore through it, and ordered Wanderlust after the third chapter, all while Shannon graciously kept the “I Told You So”s to a minimum.

The narrator of these books, for those not in the know, is Sirantha Jax, a woman with a gene that allows her to guide ships through grimspace in order to reach their destination.  It’s a rare talent and Jax spent a good part of her life pampered and capable of doing pretty much whatever she wants.  When Grimspace begins, she has a lot of growing to do.

I think what I loved most about Doubleblind is how, in a way, it was a turning point.  It had some very awesome parallels to to Grimspace, especially in the relationship between Jax and her romantic interest March.  When the series starts March has got his shit together.  He’s the rescuer, the healer, the one who’s trying to pull Jax out of the mess her life has become.  Over the course of the first three books these two undergo almost a complete 180, until March is in desperate need of help and it’s up to Jax to save him in every way that counts.

The Highlights: The political maneuvering.  Jax the diplomat.  Scary ass March fighting his way to humanity.  Jax not giving up on him.  Vel.  Vel.  Vel.  (Vel!!!!) When I did my quick sum up of books I’d read recently, I believe I stated that the best part was seeing Jax care so hard.  In Grimspace she had a self-acknowledged selfish streak, a first instinct to look out for herself and let the chips fall as they would for everyone else.  In Doubleblind she’s putting her life on the line because humanity itself is in danger, and watching that personal growth evolve over three books has been awesome.

The Gut Reaction: OMGOMGOMG MARCH YOU ARE A SCARY BASTARD <3

The Bit That Seems Vaguely Like a Threat: If you are already a fan of Jax, you should have pre-ordered this book by now.  If you’re not, you should go buy Grimspace.  If you don’t, I will know. Yeah, I will. And remember, I’m coming up with spells to protect against werewolves when I’m done writing this blog post…do you really want me mad at you?

Proof that I Can Be Coherent: Doubleblind is not just the latest chronicle of Sirantha Jax, it is without a doubt the greatest as well.  High stakes, crackling tension and a tangled web of political intrigue would have been amazing enough, but the entire book is built on strong characters and stronger relationships between them, which is proof that you really can have it all.  If you read Ann Aguirre, that is.

One Last Bold Section Because I Like Them: And now I leave you with a blurb & pretty picture.  You should already be buying Doubleblind.

It’s not easy to tread lightly wearing steel-toed boots.

Sirantha Jax isn’t known for diplomatic finesse. As a “Jumper” who navigates ships through grimspace, she’s used to kicking ass first and taking names later—much later. Not exactly the obvious choice to sell the Conglomerate to the Ithtorians, a people whose opinions of humans are as hard as their exoskeletons.

And Ithiss-Tor council meetings aren’t the only place where Ambassador Jax needs to maneuver carefully. Her lover, March, is frozen in permanent “kill” mode, and his hair-trigger threatens to sabotage the talks—not to mention their relationship.

But Jax won’t give up on the man or the mission. With the Outskirts beleaguered by raiders, pirates, and the flesh-eating Morgut, an alliance with Ithiss-Tor may be humanity’s only hope. Which has Jax wondering why a notorious troublemaker like her was given the job…

How much? Well, not long after I got my copy my power went out, and instead of turning my laptop off like a logical person to conserve the battery, I ran through the entire thing reading my copy of Laid Bare. Whoops.

What do you need to know about this book?

1. It’s hot. H-A-W-T hot.
2. It includes a woman and two men in a long-term committed relationship.
3. The men touch each other in the naughty places.
4. (Did I mention that it’s hot?)

Erin Brown is a damaged heroine.  I love damaged heroines.  I love reading about strong women overcoming the tragedies of their past to kick ass in the future (where ass-kicking is a metaphor and not always the actual act of kicking people’s asses, though hey, sometimes I dig that too.)

Something bad happened to Erin, and she’s got to overcome it and let people in.  But oddly enough, though I was originally interested in the book because of that aspect of her character, the part that enchanted me was the opening section where she takes a liking to her neighbor.  Her solution?  A case of beer, a box of condoms, and a straight-forward come on, followed by hot, dirty sex.

Oh yeah. That’s what I’m talkin’ about.

My not-so-secret weakness is books where the heroine is down with her badass sexuality and the hero has to struggle a little to catch up.  I loved how secure and open Erin was about who she was and what she wanted.  It balanced out her struggles against her past experiences in other areas, and made me cheer for her as the book progressed.

Now I’m not saying I didn’t truly like both of the men who rounded out this book (Ben especially gets big heaps of love from me <3) but Erin is the one who made this story for me.  And Lauren Dane did an amazing job with the dynamic between all three of them, amazing enough that she sold me on their happily ever after, and that’s not all that easy.

Laid Bare is available to pre-order on Amazon & is reputedly shipping from B&N now! And if you hop over to Lauren Dane’s blog today you’ll be able to get in on her month long Laid Bare with Flair contest! Today she’s giving away a copy of one of our books, along with a hand knitted scarf made by yours truly, and some cool earrings too!

When it comes to book recs, I have a go-to girl.  Shannon C. may not share my exact taste, but it’s close enough for horseshoes or hand grenades, and she knows enough of my quirks to know when something is going to work for me.  I’ll buy damn near any book on her recommendation, especially because I know she’ll tell me if a book she loves is something I might not be into.

When it comes to Blue Diablo, it wasn’t the book that got her recommendation (because she hasn’t read it yet), but Ann Aguirre as an author.  Shannon’s a huge fan of the Jax Series and the one thing she’s talked about constantly is how much she loves Jax as a heroine.  Shannon and I share an appreciation for smart, sassy, sometimes difficult heroines, so I found this very promising.

However, since I’ve been in a paranormal-y mood of late I picked up Blue Diablo first.  And man, I’m so glad I did, because I have got a big ol’ girlcrush on Corine Solomon.

It was love at first sight for me’n Corine. I can’t even tell you why I love that opening so much, but it packed a wallop. I don’t know what everyone else means when they talk about a strong narrator’s voice, but this is what I’m talking about.  Of course, the rambling love song I could go off on here would be targeted at the writing and not the heroine, and this is not the time or place.  Because this is all about Corine.

She’s tough, and when I say tough I almost never mean black-belt-kung-fu-where’d-she-pull-that-sixteenth-gun-from? tough.  I mean inner-strength, the kind that makes you keep on keeping on even when you’re running on empty and the bad guys just made a pit-stop at the Exxon Station of Evil.

I was talking to Molli & Vivian Arend on twitter a few days about the heroes I love, and I said something that applies here: They’re badass because they have to be, not because they happen to be.

That was Corine for me.  She wasn’t an inherent badass.  When the bullets flew she hit the deck, because it was the smartest place for her to be.  She didn’t have the necessary skills to level the playing field, so she didn’t.  She fought her way uphill because she had people who needed her.  That is my kind of tough.  In the grand scheme of things I think that’s a lot more impressive than someone who is stone-cold and capable of mass destruction.

Anyone who knows me can guess what’s coming next, and it’s especially timely considering some of the shenanigans on twitter over the weekend.  You see, someone left a review for Blue Diablo in which incredulity was expressed over the fact that Corine Solomon thinks a lot about sex when she’s not having it, which baffled the (male) reader, because aren’t women just about the tenderness and cuddling?

Oh dear.

So, yup, Corine thought about sex. And man, sometimes she thought about hot, dirty, sweaty sex with near-strangers. (And what a hot near-stranger he was.)  She also thought about how good sex had been with her ex.  She’s not shy, timid or restrained about it, and I loved her for it.  And contrary to the reviewers claims, the dwelling on sex wasn’t omnipresent or overbearing.  It was a refreshingly healthy attitude that didn’t feel forced in either direction.

Perhaps my favorite part about Corine, though, was how she built a team.  She’s the clear heroine of the book, but it wasn’t a book about how she saved the day all by herself.  Maybe it’s the gamer-geek in me, but there is something so appealing about a hero or heroine who doesn’t lone-gun it.  I loved watching her pull together the strengths and abilities of the people around her and loved watching them solve problems together.

Sometimes a badass heroine is the one who knows when to duck so the people with the big scary guns can do their thing.  And Corine is badass.

My question for you: What do you like more? Watching the hero/heroine (or hero & heroine) overcome their obstacles on their own, or seeing them work as a team with secondary characters?  And as a follow up, are you hiding any d20s in your closet? (If you don’t know what it means, the answer is probably no.)

Answer before the end of the day on Friday, June 5th, for a chance to win one of two copies of Blue Diablo, purchased for you by me, with love.

Read an excerpt from Blue Diablo at Ann Aguirre’s website.

A couple weeks ago I got a recommendation from Anne Scott, our fabulous editor at Samhain. She’d recently read Sea Witch by Virginia Kantra and had really enjoyed it. I found the first chapter with a quick google search, and by the 5th paragraph I was hooked.

Why? Well, there are a couple reasons, and the first one is all my own. I grew up on the coast of Maine, and I love stories set in tiny fishing towns. (Though for the record, anything with a year round population of over 1,000 is NOT tiny! My village had a year round population of around 60. We only broke 100 when the summer people came to town.)

But that’s not why I bought the book. I bought the book because in the first chapter we meet a seven hundred year old heroine who has come to the coast of Maine to find herself a hot fella so she could get her groove on.

Oh yeah! squealed my inner fangirl. Because while I like a good journey of sexual (and sensual) discovery as much as the next person, sometimes I want a heroine who knows exactly what she wants and isn’t afraid to ask for it using any means necessary. Margred was bold, confident and ready to get down with her bad self. And I loved it, because I don’t think heroes should get to corner the market on understanding lust better than love.

The fact that the opening paragraphs make it clear that Margred has found and lost a mate already was the cherry on the top. One!True!Mate! stories are like fine gourmet meals for me. Only the masters can serve them up in a way that I like, and even then I only indulge on special occasions. But no worries here, the hero in this story is decidedly human. Double oh yeah with extra sprinkles!

Margred is a 700 year old selkie who has lost her mate and lives a solitary and peaceful life in the sea. On the rare occasions she gets a yen for a little skin-on-skin contact she can always find a handsome man and frolic under the moonlight. The lack of lasting connection implied in such interactions, however, certainly puts one in mind of behavior more often seen in the brooding, distant heroes we love to, well, love.

Heroes certainly can get away with more, that’s for sure. Margred is not an an easy heroine, and that’s part of why I like her. No one who’s lived so long as a powerful, immortal creature is going to be warm, soft and snuggly just because she meets a handsome man. My friend Shannon and I discussed how Margred’s aloof and occasionally condescending behavior could grate on the nerves. If you don’t like your heroines prickly and slow to learn love, she might not be the character for you.

Me? I love it. It shows a depth of characterization and consideration of world-building that makes a story real and vivid. Perhaps a heroine who goes from Zero to Melty in 2.6 seconds and is kind and generous to strangers, children and kittens is easier to cheer for, but how realistic would those traits be in a woman who has spent most of 700 years alone and content to be that way? And Shannon agreed with me that the characterization would have felt a good deal more shallow without that prickly outer shell.

It also makes her eventual capitulation that much sweeter. She does fall in love, and watching it happen, watching her fight against it and then fight for it, makes it so much more meaningful. And while I could go on and on about the ways I adored Caleb as a hero, this isn’t a post about Rockin’ Heroes.

I’ve been urging people left and right to buy this book, but I’m so excited about it I’m going to buy someone else a copy. On Friday May 22nd I’ll pick someone from the comments and order them a paperback copy. Meanwhile, I’m going to be busy reading Books #2 & #3… unless you ask my editor (in which case I’m writing Crossroads) or my husband (in which case I’m packing up my office.)

(Really, Anne brought this one on herself. Now we have to make deadline with our next book, or she’ll never give me awesome recommendations again.)

My Question To You: Do you like books with heroines who are olders/more experienced than the hero? And I’m talking centuries, not decades. If so, what are some books you’ve read that you liked? If not, what bugs you about them?

Click here to read the first chapter of Sea Witch at Virginia Kantra’s website.