It’s time for my monthly rambling and I’ve missed a couple so I will try not to blab for too long. 
It feels good to be back among the bloggers. With my daughter getting better everyday and more independent, I am finding more and more time to myself. (YEAH!) Tuesday she was “unplugged” – the PICC line came out. Physically she is getting stronger. Her physical therapist told her to put the walker up when walking around the house. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. 
I went to Romance Slam Jam at the end of April and had a great time. I got a chance to revisit some of my favorite authors (Hi Gwyneth – can’t wait to read your Hightower Honors series. Hi Wayne – I promise no more badgering about Daniel’s story
. Hi! Kayla – I will read your Spice stories one day). I finally met some of my favorites for the first time and even met a few new ones – Pamela Yaye (Kimani Romance author) was great to chat with and I found Trouble with Luv now I need to get Other People’s Business which is out of print
. I always enjoy meeting people who share of love for reading and that’s what RSJ is all about – a big reunion of readers and writers of romance. It’s like one big family reunion. This was my third RSJ and I hope I make it to California next year. I won one of the big contests while there. Where Are the Authors? – an IMRR sponsored contest was a scavenger hunt. Find the 15 authors on the list and collect their signatures and place your finished sheet in the box for a drawing. It was actually quite fun. I recognized Kimberly Kaye Terry from the eHarlequin community, got her to sign my sheet, walked away from the group only to realize another author on the list was standing there too – quite sneaky of her to stay quiet because I didn’t recognize her. The prize? A tote bag containing 19 books (most of the authors were new to me and a couple were on my wish list), a $10 B&N gift card, several bookmarks and other miscellaneous items. I love winning, especially books. My new books?!!
Something New - J J Murray
Moon Shadow - Lucinda Betts
Wolf Tales IV - Kate Douglas
Wolf Tales V - Kate Douglas
Sexy Beast III - Kate Douglas, Lacy Danes, Morgan Hawke
Eros Island - Lucinda Betts, Dawn Thompson, Devyn Qunn
A Drummer's Beat to Mend - Kei Swanson
The Wedding Gown - Dyanne Davis
Always You - Crystal Hubbard
Ebony Eyes - Kei Swanson
The Roux in the Gumbo -Kim Robinson
Dream of Shadows - Seressia Glass
Arms of a Stranger - Giselle Carmichael
The Politics of Love - Giselle Carmichael
Caught Up - Deatri King-Bey
Bound to Ecstasy - Vonna Harper, PF Kozak, Lisa Riley
Big Spankable Asses - Angie Daniels, Kimberly Kaye Terry, Lisa G Riley
Death's Favorite Child - Frankie Y. Bailey
A Special Summer - Victoria Wells
I also won two books during a couple of reader sessions:
Whisper Something Sweet - Deatri King-Bey
Her Kind of Man - Pamela Yaye
My goal before the end of the month is to get all my books blogged to help the count and goal for the month. As of today, I have read 60 books and blogged 51 (well 3 of those are half done).
My whine for the month. I received a $20 gift card from Borders which is closed in my area, but luckily Amazon.com has a store teamed with Borders. I placed an order for books that were on my wish list or so I thought. I was trying to get This Time for Good by Carmen Green – the first book in the Three Mrs. Fosters. I accidently ordered The Perfect Man – the same book I ordered from eHarlequin earlier this month. Now I have two of the same books and still need the first. It will cost me more to return the book through Amazon than it will to buy the book. 
Lastly my rant: Book covers are not a selling point for me. I don’t judge a book by the cover and I don’t buy a book because I like the cover. I don't put much thought into the cover, BUT this month I read two books that as I read the story the cover bothered me almost to distraction.
First, Something Real by J J Murray.
Both the hero and heroine were overweight, plus size or as the author in the POV of the heroine described the hero as overweight when she first saw him. He’s a country boy who looks like he has been working hard on the farm – do you see a country boy on the cover. She’s described as 230 pounds at one point and not very tall. Loved the story, it’s been on my TBR wish list since I read Renee and Jay by the same author, but every time I read a description of the H/H I found myself looking back at the cover shaking my head. It’s a beautiful - funny at times - love story and I hate the cover. It bothered me so much. It was sooooooooo wrong.
Second, When a Man Loves a Woman 
. Many heroines are described as having long flowing hair and the covers will depict such as character. The heroine in this book is described as having a beautiful head of locs. Locs are beautiful and surely there is a model out there for the cover art. If not, go with the drawn pictures I have seen on book covers. For visual, have you seen Kimberly Kaye Terry’s hair? 
I hope she doesn’t mind me doing this, but I have hair envy when I see her hair. She’s not a model, but her hair is beautiful and it seems that the art design department didn’t read the character sketch or just didn’t care. This one bothered me personally. I guess they both did.
End of rambling. End of rant. Now back to blogging and reading books.
See what I read last year - Star's Reading Lounge
http://www.myspace.com/kimanipress
http://www.myspace.com/kimani_tru
I sympathize with your cover
I sympathize with your cover problems.
"Perhaps what the average member of a group is capable of doesn't limit what a given individual can accomplish." -- Boston Globe, letter to the editor
March's Member of the Month!
Cover ranting
So many of us have ranted about covers this year. I really hope that some editior somewhere is seeing all these complaints. Maybe, just maybe someone could read a little of the story so that the cover somewhat matches the story inside the cover. When
Bonsal
Cover ranting
So many of us have ranted about covers this year. I really hope that some editior somewhere is seeing all these complaints. Maybe, just maybe someone could read a little of the story so that the cover somewhat matches the story inside the cover. When they are really bad, it actually detracts from the story and I like you keep looking at the cover when the H/h are described.
Bonsal
Star, I know what you mean
Star, I know what you mean about the covers. I will be reading a book and the characters definitely do not match up with the models on the cover of the book. Hopefully they will get it right one day.
Tiffany
BJBC
My Shelfari Page
I recently ranted about
I recently ranted
about the medical covers. Well, today I just finished a Desire where the 'featured' outfit in the story was a flirty red sundress with silver shoes. On the cover are gold colored shoes and outfit.
LOL, I didn't think I paid much attention to covers. I guess I only pay attention when there is something glaringly wrong.
Nancy
Star, I joined in Nancy's rant....
...about the medical covers. It's absolutely crazy when the covers don't match the story. IMHO, it would be better if they used an object, landscape, cityscape, or still-life to represent the story instead. That way we could envision the characters the way the author describes them and/or the way we want to.
Yes, I love Kimberly's hair. There's so many possibilities with gorgeous hair like that! Oh, and someone else that I think has beautiful long hair that's fixed different every time I see a pic of her, is Alicia Keys. And her singing is awesome, too!
"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."
- Mark Twain
re: Rambling, Whining and Ranting
Really glad to hear your daughter is doing well...and I totally agree with the book cover rants! Some of them make me crazy.
Hi Star!
Congrats on winning all those books! You've got some good ones in the bunch. I've read several of them and enjoyed them.
As for book covers, I don't even keep them in my mind when I'm reading a book. The cover models very seldom match the characters in the book. I know for Protect and Serve the heroine has sisterlocks and as you can see on the cover those are not sisterlocks... Hopefully it won't bug readers to the point of distraction. LOL.
Gwyneth
Gwyneth Bolton
http://www.gwynethbolton.com
Hightower Honors: Four brothers on a mission to protect, serve and love
Book two MAKE IT HOT available September 2008
Thanks everyone for your
Thanks everyone for your understanding with the covers. Maybe I was in a bad mood. Covers don't usually bother me, but for some reason these did. Something Real was a great fun love story and I know commercially the "powers that be" think that full size figures won't sell. <roll eyes> I know I've heard authors complain about the covers too.
Bonsal & Nancy - I think that was my problem. Something Real's cover was just way wrong. Minor things can be overlooked, but could they at least get close.
Thanks Gwyneth for the heads up. I will keep that in mind when I read P&S.
Thanks Lady A - She is on her way to Girls State next week and then Governors School. She will be responsible for her own physical therapy while she is gone. She's 17 so I'll try not to worry. We've stressed the importance of being careful.
Hey does anyone know where I can send my son for the summer? I could be home alone for 7 weeks.
See what I read last year - Star's Reading Lounge
http://www.myspace.com/kimanipress
http://www.myspace.com/kimani_tru