Tuesday, November 01, 2011
Practicing what she preaches
 Nora Roberts has a new book out, and while I am (once again) suppressing my irritation over the $16 price tag, I was interested to learn that the story was directly inspired by the historic inn Roberts and her husband recently bought and renovated. I still have my doubts about the book*, but the inn sounds adorable—the decor was inspired by famous literary couples, so you can choose your room based on your novel of choice: Pride and Prejudice, The Thin Man, Jane Eyre, The Princess Bride... *$16 for a paperback is NEVER OKAY. Labels: New Releases, Nora Roberts
Monday, November 29, 2010
Wordcandy's Wedding-Book Review Extravaganza Part I: Bridal Fiction
 Earlier this month, Nora Roberts released Happy Ever After, the final novel in her 'Bride Quartet'. I've grown fonder of this series with each book, so I trotted out to my local bookstore—this time only grumbling a little over the price. At the library a few days later (and clearly still in a wedding-book-friendly frame of mind), I picked up Rebecca Mead's One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding, a nonfiction exploration of the excesses of the American bridal industry. The two made for an interesting compare-and-contrast reading experience, so today I'll be reviewing 'em both. Enjoy! Nora Roberts' Happy Ever After is the final entry in a series about the romantic and work-related adventures of four young women. Mac, Emma, Laurel, and Parker are lifelong friends and the co-owners of Vows, a wedding-planning service. Vision in White was Mac's story (the Vows photographer), Bed of Roses was Emma's (florist), and Savor the Moment was Laurel's (pastry chef). Happy Ever After deals with the romance of Parker, Vows' hyper-organized wedding coordinator, and Malcolm Kavanaugh, a local mechanic. We've written before about Roberts' problems with creating plausible drama. She has moved steadily away from the sturm und drang-filled plot climaxes of her earlier work, but she has yet to find a decent replacement. Instead, her otherwise sane, stable, socially adept characters either tote around a massive emotional hang-up due to a relatively minor cause (like Jack, the love interest in Bed of Roses, who never got over his parents' perfectly amicable divorce), or they don't have any significant problems at all, as is the case here. Parker and Malcolm really like each other, and while their path to wedded bliss has some minor hiccups, everything is rapidly and neatly resolved. While romantic angst might be in short supply, Roberts does a great job of exploring the behind-the-scenes work that goes into creating fairytale weddings. The most memorable moments in the Bride Quartet have always been the scenes where the four heroines work together to soothe hysterical mothers-in-law, oust drunken groomsmen, and break up fistfights between first and second spouses. Unfortunately, these scenes don't carry the weight of real urgency—Vows is already a well-established business, and the four women are more than strong enough to overcome the challenges they encounter. Still, the combination of Parker, Mac, Laurel, and Emma's rock-solid friendship, the low-key but pleasant romantic storylines, and the over-the-top nature of their job makes this series a sunny, stress-free read. Tune in this afternoon for my thoughts on the Wordcandy Wedding Book Extravaganza Part II: Ms. Mead's One Perfect Day. Labels: Book Reviews, Nora Roberts
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Who knew she was dating Harry Potter?
 Speaking of Nora Roberts' Bride Quartet, there's a game! It's an interactive "Hidden Objects" sort of deal, and apparently there will be separate games for each book in the series. Now, I'm not gonna lie: I love Hidden Object games, but the voice-over for this one was so embarrassing I had to close the window. Still, if you're a braver woman than I am (and trust me, most of you are), feel free to check it out on the I-play site. Labels: Nora Roberts, Video games
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Savor the Moment, by Nora Roberts
 Savor the Moment is the third book in Nora Roberts' best-selling Bride Quartet. This installment focuses on pastry chef Laurel McBane, co-owner of Vows, the wedding-planning company she founded with childhood friends Parker, Emma, and Mac. Laurel's been hiding a monster-sized crush on Parker's older brother Delaney for over a decade, and plans on keeping it secret forever—until one impulsive kiss transforms their relationship from friendly to romantic. Laurel and Del are intelligent, attractive, well-adjusted adults who totally dig each other. This, naturally, creates a dilemma. If they're perfect for one another, where's the drama? The angst? Roberts has written herself into this corner before, and in the past she's handled it by giving one of the characters some massive (and usually kind of stupid) emotional hang-up. Happily, that isn't the case here. Laurel and Del have issues, but everything is sunshine and roses until the very end of the book, when they have a relatively (by romance novel standards) mild argument... which immediately leads to them clarifying their feelings for one another and riding off into the sunset. Seriously—that's it. The book is sweet, funny, and drama-free. It's not the most exciting thing ever written, but if you're looking for a few hours' worth of pleasant distraction, Savor the Moment is practically a Golden Ticket. Labels: Book Reviews, Nora Roberts
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
You do have to admire her gall, though.
My, my. Whatever could this be?  It appears to be a reprint (the one hundred and forty-seventh edition, I believe) of Nora Roberts's 1991 novel Genuine Lies, and it costs sixteen dollars. Are you kidding me? SIXTEEN DOLLARS? For a reprint?!? In paperback? THAT HORSE IS DEAD, WOMAN. STOP BEATING IT. Labels: Nora Roberts, Re-releases
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Tulle gone wrong.
Hmm. Penguin seems to have bumped up the release date for the second book in Nora Roberts's 'Bride Quartet'. Behold the cover for Bed of Roses, now coming out on October 27th:  That's... surprisingly ugly. I'm not sure why, but something about that image (The pose? The colors? The cleavage?) says "generic romance novel" much more strongly than most of Roberts's recent books, including the equally wedding-themed cover for the first title in the series. Labels: Nora Roberts, Upcoming Books
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Ouch!
 While stopping by Target last night to pick up an immersion blender (my new favorite kitchen appliance, by the way), I finally saw the $16 Nora Roberts paperback in the flesh. Unfortunately, Target, usually an excellent resource for discounted new releases, has totally failed me. You guys know those "Bookmarked" discount stickers they put on books, indicating the titles are 25% off? Well, I saw one on the Nora Roberts release, but for some reason it was only 20% off. Seriously, why does everyone want me to pay through the nose for this sucker? I'm getting increasingly curious... but I have a long way to go before I'm curious enough to shell out $12.80, Target. Labels: Nora Roberts
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
No. Just... no.
Nora Roberts usually has such nice (if forgettable) cover art, but this looks like something you'd see advertised as the entertainment at a mid-range Vegas hotel:  I wonder what happened? Labels: Book Cover, Nora Roberts
Monday, March 16, 2009
Oh, Lifetime, you crazy kids...
First of all, I have to apologize for the lack of updates last week. Nathan and I both came down with the colds from Hell (actually, we still have them), and Megan was off on vacation, so there was no one around to do any work. On the up side, I've had nothing to do all week but read and sleep, so as soon as I can sit at a computer for longer than fifteen minutes without having to take a hour-long nap, I'll start typing up reviews. Anyway, I see that Nora Roberts is starting a new series, and this time it's a quartet:  One thing, though: this is a paperback, and yet it costs sixteen dollars. WHY, NORA? Don't you get enough money from us already, with your four-to-six-bestselling-new-books-per-year schedule, to saying nothing of your re-releases? Why are you doing this? ...did you invest everything with Bernie Madoff? Because a serious lack of funds is the only reason I can see for justifying something like this:  Yeah, that's Lifetime's promo image for their four upcoming movie adaptations of Roberts's novels. Now, I've never seen a Lifetime movie (judging by these images, I'm not missing much), but what on earth convinced them to go with the "pastel-colored lady porn" look for their promo? I mean, none of these novels are trashy bodice rippers, so why promote them that way? I am truly confused, and must now take another nap. Labels: Nora Roberts, TV, Upcoming Books
Monday, December 08, 2008
For once...
 I am happy to report that Nora Roberts's latest book ( The Pagan Stone, the final book in her "Sign of Seven" trilogy) does NOT feature an obnoxiously smug heroine. This is quite an accomplishment for Ms. Roberts, actually, who frequently confuses "sexy, self-sufficient and confident" with "condescending as hell"*. If this is something you have found off-putting about Ms. Roberts's previous books, allow me to reassure you: read away, because the three women in these books treat each other with easy respect and affection. *The worst example of this was Mia Devlin from the "Three Sisters Island" books, who went around addressing her friend (who was the same age, but had a troubled past) as "little sister". Labels: Nora Roberts
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Nora returns!
 Well, autumn is rollin' in, so it must be time for another Nora Roberts trilogy. Her upcoming novel Blood Brothers is due out on November 27th. Here's the publisher's description: In the small village of Hawkins Hollow, three best friends who share the same birthday sneak off into the woods for a sleepover the evening before turning 10. But a night of pre-pubescent celebration turns into a night of horror as their blood brother oath unleashes a three-hundred year curse.
Twenty-one years later, Cal Hawkins and his friends have seen their town plagued by a week of unexplainable evil events two more times - every seven years. With the clock winding down on the third set of seven years, someone else has taken an interest in the town's folklore. Quinn is a well known scholar of local legends, and despite Cal's protests, insists on delving in the mystery. But when the first signs of evil appear months early, it's not only the town Cal tries to protect, but also his heart. Ooooh, are there killer clowns in it? Labels: Nora Roberts
Thursday, December 07, 2006
La Nora
 The page for the Lifetime TV movie adaptations of four of Nora Roberts's novels is up. While it's encouraging that Ms. Roberts is excited about these productions, my hopes are not high, seeing as: A) two of the four books featured are damn near unreadable-- Blue Smoke and Carolina Moon. Why does Roberts get such a thrill out of lingering in the mind of a serial killer? If I wanted to read a Thomas Harris novel, I'd read a Thomas Harris novel. (Okay, I totally wouldn't: I'd get my head checked, as I would have clearly lost my mind. But you understand what I'm saying.) B) even the descriptions featured on the page are totally cheesy-looking ("...the gals know this forced family reunion isn't going to be smooth sailing, but they don't expect to go head to head with someone out to sabotage them..."). Gals? Smooth sailing? Gals?! C) the one of the books that I really liked ( Angel's Fall) features Heather Locklear as the main character, a lonely, traumatized woman in her mid-twenties. Don't get me wrong: Locklear is a total babe and a fine actress, but she's not who I would have cast as a broken young woman terrified that she's losing her grip on reality. Regardless of my feelings, the first of these movies is due to air on January 29, 2007. Labels: Nora Roberts, TV, website
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Nora Roberts churns 'em out
The book covers and descriptions of the final two books in Nora Roberts's Circle Trilogy are up. Dance of the Gods is due out October 3rd, and Valley of Silence is due out October 31st. The descriptions below are culled from the Publishers Weekly review and the publisher's remarks, respectively:  "...The relationship between the bigheaded, anachronistic Larkin and the hot-tempered, thoroughly modern lone-wolf Blair gives the proceedings a satisfying emotional core, especially rewarding when their anger turns finally to lust. Fulfilling their destiny, the six warriors enter the stone circle to travel backward in time to Geall for the fateful battle with Lilith."  "...Moira finds herself playing the roles of warrior and royal, as she follows the tradition of her people and prepares to take the crown before leading them into battle. And if that isn't enough, she finds her thoughts turning to Cian more often than not. So what's a chaste and intelligent young woman to do when given less than a month with the man she loves, who's not a man, but a vampire? And how will the people of Geall fare against an army of blood-thirsty vampires who have had centuries to prepare?" Labels: Nora Roberts
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Nora Roberts movies?
 LOS ANGELES, February 1: Four bestselling novels from Nora Roberts will be adapted into original TV movies through a deal announced today between the author, Peter Guber's Mandalay Television and Lifetime Television.
The titles being considered for the four movies include Blue Smoke, Carolina Moon, Montana Sky, The Villa, Brazen Virtue and River's End. Guber will executive produce, alongside Stephanie Germain, whose credits include Ike: Countdown to D-Day for A&E; Lifetime's Gracie's Choice and The Pilot's Wife for CBS.
Trevor Walton, SVP of original movies at Lifetime, noted, "Selling an average of 21 books every minute, Nora's talent is endless and the American public cannot get enough of her work."
Peter Guber, Chairman and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment Group, added, "Building this exciting filmed franchise by combining Lifetime's powerful brand with Nora Roberts, a stratospheric author, will create a compelling entertainment experience."
Roberts has more than 280 million books in print. Since 1999, every book published under her name has hit the New York Times best-seller list.
Mandalay's television credits have included Intensity, a four-hour miniseries based on the best-seller by Dean Koontz, for FOX; and First Daughter, a two-hour TV movie for TBS. Mandalay is headed up by Guber, who was the studio chief at Columbia Pictures in the 1970s and later chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures. He founded Mandalay Entertainment in 1995. The studio's releases have included I Know What You Did Last Summer and Donnie Brasco. The company also operates Mandalay Mosaic Television Group, a producer of series and feature entertainment for broadcast and cable and owner of Dick Clark Productions.(Source: http://www.worldscreen.com/print.php?filename=lifet201.htm) Well. No offense to Nora Roberts- whom we here at Wordcandy totally view as an American Treasure- but twenty bucks says these are seriously going to suck. Labels: Movie, Nora Roberts, TV
Monday, December 05, 2005
The Nora Roberts Machine
This post was originally going to be a rant about how American book covers are so much less attractive than the covers offered overseas, complete with many telling examples... but, as usual, I got distracted and didn't get beyond pulling the covers for Nora Robert's latest trilogy.  The group of us happened to be on vacation in London this spring when the second book of the "In the Garden" trilogy ("Black Rose") was released. Julia and I were delighted to discover how great the cover looked. (We actually spent quite a bit of time looking at different covers of some of our favorite books. Julia bought many, many Heyer novels.) I am not sure why we get the less appealing covers here in the states but we should definitely take a page (the cover page) from our friends in the UK. In other news, we have the release dates for Ms. Roberts's 2006 books, which I will put at the end of this post. Looking over the list, I think this has the potential for being an okay year, but I have my doubts. We have a few more "In Death" books and a new trilogy. I am not sure if this is going to be a good or a bad thing, since based on the titles of the books I am thinking they are going to deal with magic. Ms. Roberts and magic can be an iffy combination. But at least they're coming out quickly.  Don't forget to look for the gold "NR" logo on Roberts's books- this indicates that the book is a completely new title, not one of Roberts's fifty million reprints. January:MEMORY IN DEATH (Hardcover) THE QUINN BROTHERS (Trade Paper reissue) February:ORIGIN IN DEATH (Mass market paperback) THE QUINN LEGACY (Trade paper reissue) April:BUMP IN THE NIGHT anthology featuring “Haunted in Death” novella (Mass market paperback) June: BLUE SMOKE (Mass market paperback) July: BORN IN DEATH (Hardcover) MEMORY IN DEATH (Mass market paperback) MONTANA SKY (Trade paper reissue) September: MORRIGAN'S CROSS, Vol. 1 The Circle Trilogy (Mass market paperback) October: ANGEL'S FIST (Hardcover) DANCE OF THE GODS, Vol. 2 The Circle Trilogy (Mass market paperback) November: VALLEY OF SILENCE, Vol. 3 The Circle Trilogy (Mass market paperback) Labels: Nora Roberts
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Nora Roberts has a new book out, and while I am (once again) suppressing my irritation over the $16 price tag, I was interested to learn that the story was directly inspired by the historic inn Roberts and her husband recently bought and renovated. I still have my doubts about the book*, but the inn sounds adorable—the decor was inspired by famous literary couples, so you can choose your room based on your novel of choice: Pride and Prejudice, The Thin Man, Jane Eyre, The Princess Bride... 
