From http://rockread.westofmars.com
When Lisa Marie Wilkinson sent me a copy of her first book, Fire at Midnight, it was to thank me for the posts I'd made for her at Win a Book. This happens not often enough; authors sending books to me and Bridget to say thanks. We've read some great stuff, and (rarely) some not-so-great stuff. And we've appreciated the chance to experience it all.
Fire at Midnight was a standout for me. I loved the way Lisa Marie (Yep, we're on a first-name basis) was able to take her plot to the point of cliche, only to pull it back from the (sometimes literal) precipice and spin off in a new, unexpected direction. I loved the plucky heroine and the complexity of the deceptions, the illusions, the way things folded over on themselves and unfolded in such surprising ways.
I told Lisa Marie that. Well, I gushed to her. And then, she read a piece I'd written for the Meet and Greet -- and declared us Soul Sisters.
If that wasn't flattering (and encouraging) enough, she sent me one of the first, precious galley copies of her upcoming release, Stolen Promise. She valued my opinion, she said. I swooned.
I was promptly hooked at the first line: If she ran away again, her father would beat her.
Because you know she -- whoever she is -- is going to run away. Despite the risk, which is pretty great. I mean, we're not talking about a spanking here, boys and girls. We're talking serious beating, for committing a serious offense. And yes, we know all that from the first line.
Just like that, we're off with Jade, a young Gypsy woman who's running from a marriage to a man she knows deep in her gut is an abuser. We readers can't help but sympathize with her fears -- and her fears aren't entirely self-centered, either. She's got a sister to look out for, to worry about. There's more, too: as a Roma, she's got the bigger picture to think about. Keeping the society alive. Her role within that drama.
Enter our first deception -- and I haven't talked to Lisa Marie about this theme she keeps returning to, which is this matter of mistaken identity and the need everyone in her books has to lie -- in the form of a man named Evan. We readers can figure out pretty quickly that he's the man who her father promises her to in lieu of the abusive Dimitri, but Jade? Nope. She's too frantic, too worried about what will lie ahead. We can believe in her clouded vision; she's focused on what'll happen when Evan returns her to her Roma society.
Plenty lies ahead even before they reunite with the Gypsies, not just for Jade but for her sister, the fittingly-named Liberina and for Evan, too. More deceptions and misunderstandings. And an unmistakable pull between Jade and Evan.
Oh, yes, I get what's going on between them. It echoes my own life, even the parts that aren't romance novel-ish. Jade and Evan, on the other hand, are all romance novel.
These two need to find a way to meld their individual needs with the pull of society. They need to know how to fit into various societies, none of which will be particularly welcoming to two such as them. Too White and European to fit with the Gypsies, not White and American enough for the people who socialize at Evan's Southern Plantation. Or are they?
I don't just get the strength of the attraction -- if one can call it a mere attraction, as it definitely goes deeper than that -- I get Jade, too. She's the sort of heroine I'd be, willing to mortgage her pride in order to get her sister away from a life with Dimitri -- a life this heinous man has threatened to make miserable. And short. You know what I mean. You do.
There's a darkness to this book that Fire at Midnight lacked.
Now, of course it's not so dark that there's not the Happily Ever After. I mean, hello? This is a romance after all. The fun in a romance novel lies in the way the characters navigate the obstacles thrown in front of them. It's the thrill of the chase, on many levels, and in Stolen Promise, Lisa Marie gives us many levels, indeed.
Yep, I'm a fangirl. Expect to hear more about Lisa Marie Wilkinson. She's proven in both of her first two novels that she's a force to be reckoned with in the romance world.
I can't wait to watch her grow and improve. 'Cause as she improves, the world had better look out. She's damn good now.
When Lisa Marie Wilkinson sent me a copy of her first book, Fire at Midnight, it was to thank me for the posts I'd made for her at Win a Book. This happens not often enough; authors sending books to me and Bridget to say thanks. We've read some great stuff, and (rarely) some not-so-great stuff. And we've appreciated the chance to experience it all.
Fire at Midnight was a standout for me. I loved the way Lisa Marie (Yep, we're on a first-name basis) was able to take her plot to the point of cliche, only to pull it back from the (sometimes literal) precipice and spin off in a new, unexpected direction. I loved the plucky heroine and the complexity of the deceptions, the illusions, the way things folded over on themselves and unfolded in such surprising ways.
I told Lisa Marie that. Well, I gushed to her. And then, she read a piece I'd written for the Meet and Greet -- and declared us Soul Sisters.
If that wasn't flattering (and encouraging) enough, she sent me one of the first, precious galley copies of her upcoming release, Stolen Promise. She valued my opinion, she said. I swooned.
I was promptly hooked at the first line: If she ran away again, her father would beat her.
Because you know she -- whoever she is -- is going to run away. Despite the risk, which is pretty great. I mean, we're not talking about a spanking here, boys and girls. We're talking serious beating, for committing a serious offense. And yes, we know all that from the first line.
Just like that, we're off with Jade, a young Gypsy woman who's running from a marriage to a man she knows deep in her gut is an abuser. We readers can't help but sympathize with her fears -- and her fears aren't entirely self-centered, either. She's got a sister to look out for, to worry about. There's more, too: as a Roma, she's got the bigger picture to think about. Keeping the society alive. Her role within that drama.
Enter our first deception -- and I haven't talked to Lisa Marie about this theme she keeps returning to, which is this matter of mistaken identity and the need everyone in her books has to lie -- in the form of a man named Evan. We readers can figure out pretty quickly that he's the man who her father promises her to in lieu of the abusive Dimitri, but Jade? Nope. She's too frantic, too worried about what will lie ahead. We can believe in her clouded vision; she's focused on what'll happen when Evan returns her to her Roma society.
Plenty lies ahead even before they reunite with the Gypsies, not just for Jade but for her sister, the fittingly-named Liberina and for Evan, too. More deceptions and misunderstandings. And an unmistakable pull between Jade and Evan.
Oh, yes, I get what's going on between them. It echoes my own life, even the parts that aren't romance novel-ish. Jade and Evan, on the other hand, are all romance novel.
These two need to find a way to meld their individual needs with the pull of society. They need to know how to fit into various societies, none of which will be particularly welcoming to two such as them. Too White and European to fit with the Gypsies, not White and American enough for the people who socialize at Evan's Southern Plantation. Or are they?
I don't just get the strength of the attraction -- if one can call it a mere attraction, as it definitely goes deeper than that -- I get Jade, too. She's the sort of heroine I'd be, willing to mortgage her pride in order to get her sister away from a life with Dimitri -- a life this heinous man has threatened to make miserable. And short. You know what I mean. You do.
There's a darkness to this book that Fire at Midnight lacked.
Now, of course it's not so dark that there's not the Happily Ever After. I mean, hello? This is a romance after all. The fun in a romance novel lies in the way the characters navigate the obstacles thrown in front of them. It's the thrill of the chase, on many levels, and in Stolen Promise, Lisa Marie gives us many levels, indeed.
Yep, I'm a fangirl. Expect to hear more about Lisa Marie Wilkinson. She's proven in both of her first two novels that she's a force to be reckoned with in the romance world.
I can't wait to watch her grow and improve. 'Cause as she improves, the world had better look out. She's damn good now.
