L.E. DeLano's Blog, page 3

My letter “B” pick for this year’s A To Z Challenge was BOOKISH AND THE BEAST by Ashley Poston.

Continuing her Once Upon A Con series, Ashley Poston once again creates a charming, heartfelt, and often hilarious fairy tale knock-off set in the realm of fandom for the Starfield universe of TV shows, movies, and this time – books.

Rosie Thorne is still reeling after the loss of her beloved mother – who once had a spectacular collection of books based on the Starfield TV show, and her favorite of them all featured the villain of the Starfield universe, Ambrose Sond, (currently portrayed in the Starfield movies by seventeen year-old Hollywood bad boy, Vance Reigns). Due to some bad behavior – a pattern for Vance – he’s been exiled to a castle of a house owned by his publicist in a small town in North Carolina under the watchful eye of a family friend.

Due to a mishap, local girl Rosie ends up being drafted to catalog the enormous collection of classic Starfield books in the library of the castle house. Rosie recognizes the books immediately as her late mother’s collection, which was sold to pay off medical debt after her death (ain’t America grand, folks?). Vance ends up being forced into helping her in an effort to rehabilitate him. He starts out churlish, disheveled, and annoying, but over time, Rosie and her love of the library begin to thaw his beastly exterior, and the two begin to connect. Special mention goes to Rosie’s BFF’s, Quinn and Annie, who provide unwavering support and lots of comic relief throughout the book. Vance is a self-loathing hottie who learns to love himself as he falls for Rosie, and Rosie is plucky, and adorable. Just as in GEEKARELLA, which I read last year, this story was pure nerdy snuggles and charm. Four and a half stars for this one, plus a smile and a contented sigh.

I began this year’s A To Z Challenge with a highly recommended book on writing, A SWIM IN A POND IN THE RAIN by George Saunders.

George is a professor at Syracuse University who teaches a course on fiction writing that studies Russian short stories by the greats: Chekhov, Tolstoy, Turgenev, and Gogol. Each of the seven essays in the book breaks down the narrative, structure, and the art of the short story.

This really does read like a class, but it’s a damn good class. I don’t do much in the way of short stories, but it was fascinating to unravel the layers of a well-laid shorter work of fiction. This book also includes worksheets (in PDF bundled with the audiobook if you buy it on audio), and is every bit as in-depth as it would be sitting in the classroom. I also have to say the audiobook is an exceptional treat as the stories are narrated by an all-star cast featuring Phylicia Rashad, Nick Offerman, Glenn Close, Keith David, Rainn Wilson, BD Wong, and Renée Elise Goldsberry.

Chekhov once said, “Art doesn’t have to solve problems, it only has to formulate them correctly.” George Saunders digs deep into the crafting of that formula involving reader expectations, flipping the narrative, embracing descriptive prose, and the breathless wonder of letting a story share its secrets first with you, and then the reader. The only reason I’m going with 4 1/2 stars is because I bought this on audio, and I really wish George had set it so we could hear the entire story, then go back and pick it apart. Instead, it’s a start-and-stop reading that really takes away from the magic of the story he wants us to experience.

Writers, read this. Then read it again.

2025 is shaping up to be a busy year! I’m in final edits on my November release, nearly through a project I’ll be querying soon and in my exploratory (i.e. complete random mess) draft of part three of the TRAVELER series. And on top of that, my appearance calendar is filling up. Here’s what it looks like so far – but I always have things pop up throughout the year. My website will always have the full list of appearances and events.

It’s gonna be a crazy year, but I’m ready. Let’s do this thing!

I cannot believe this year is coming to a close. Here’s an overview of some of the highlights:

1 New Release: IN THE DARK OF A DREAM

2 Writing Conferences: Writer’s Conference of Northern Appalachia (WCoNA) & Pennwriters, where I was a workshop presenter

7 Book Shows: Love Is In The Air, The Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books, IABX, Book Fair at Bel Air, Books Books Books, Chocolate Town Book Fest, Carlisle Comic Con

2 Bookstore Events: Towne Book Center and Cupboard Maker Books

1 Library Event at Lititz Public Library

2 Big Announcements: My upcoming 2025 YArelease, and my draft of a new installment in the TRAVELER series

2024 was one hell of a year. Here’s to a fabulous 2025!

My letter “Z” pick for the A To Z Reading Challenge was ZERO TOLERANCE by Claudia Mills. I realized a few months ago that I had no Middle Grade books on my list, so I figured I’d end the year with a quick and easy read. Wow, was I ever in for a treat!

Sierra is a seventh grade honor roll student, reasonably popular, and has never set a toe out of line in her entire school career. One day, in a rush to get to school, she mistakenly grabs her mother’s identical lunch box instead of her own. The problem is, Mom packed an apple – and a small paring knife to slice it. Sierra, being a student who always follows the rules, immediately turns it in to the lunch lady, who then reports it to the principal. Due to the school’s “zero tolerance” weapons policy, Sierra is thrown into in-school suspension to await the trial that will decide whether or not she gets expelled.

Sharing in-school suspension with Sierra is the school’s resident bad boy, Luke, who’s doing time for fighting and for swearing at his teacher. Even though she’s heard all about him, Sierra soon realizes Luke is a bad boy with a good heart, and a story nobody’s really bothered to listen to. His rebellious ways rub off a little, and he and Sierra get in some minor trouble and hilarious hijinx. There’s a lot of scrutiny of “right” and “wrong” and the ways we define people through that lens. There’s even an interesting bit of subplot when Sierra’s lawyer father considers going to the media to spill the dirt he has on the principal if it will keep Sierra from being expelled. She then gets to ponder whether or not it’s okay to do a bad thing for a good reason.

This was a very good read, but predictable. Then again, if I were the target age for the book, I doubt it would read that way without the decades of hindsight that I have now. This was a funny and thought-provoking story. Four stars.

My letter “Y” pick for the A to Z Book Challenge was YOUNGBLOOD By Sasha Laurens. I expected to like this one a whole lot more than I did. Vampire boarding school? One vamp girl from a lower class family and one from a prominent and wealthy vampire family? Sapphic romance? I was so ready to rip into this one. And while the plot had a lot of intrigue involving long-concealed secrets in the boarding school archives, a vampire community forced to rely on synthetic blood for food, and past drama between the two main characters, Kat and Taylor’s relationship just didn’t evolve in a satisfactory way for me.

The story relied way too much on the old miscommunication trope for friction in the building of the love story and all it did was drag the story down for me. Kat and Taylor had enough going on in the school and the cleverly built vampire world that could have impacted their relationship in deeper and more interesting ways rather than relying on a series of misunderstandings between them for the two to fight through. Laurens weaves an intricate plot and builds a dark, mysterious world that I loved to explore – I honestly wish this had been a series of books instead of a stand-alone. Still, it wasn’t enough for me to love it. Good book, not a great book. Three stars.

My letter “X” pick for the A to Z Reading Challenge was XTREME BEHAVIOR by Em Petrov. My first thought when I started this book was “Ooops – looks like it’s book three of a twelve book series.” My second thought was “Hallelujah! I have letter “X” books to review for the next decade!” You have no idea how hard it is to find titles that begin with X.

Anyway – yes, it’s book three of the XTREME OPS series, but it easily reads as a stand-alone. Who doesn’t love an alpha-male hero special ops guy? Alix fits the trope perfectly. He’s trying to track down a serial bomber before they kill again, and enlists the help of a gorgeous pain-in-the-ass K-9 handler named Vivian and her furry partner, Zack. Alix and Vivian have worked together before, and she has the unique ability to get on his last nerve, under his skin, and affects other body parts that leave him grinding his teeth. Vivian handles him like a pro, and when sparks start flying the spice starts building and whoa! So very steamy, hot, and surprisingly heartfelt. Petrov also throws in plenty of awkward “almost” encounters and humorous nuggets here and there to build and relieve tension. The story had a very thrilling and satisfying conclusion all around.

My only beef with the story is that it took a bit too long to get to the “I love you” admissions, and when Alix finally gets there, Vivian freaks even though it’s clear she’s crazy about him. It felt a little forced just to extend the love arc. Other than that, this was a great story and now I have to keep myself from reading the rest of the series and wrecking my future reading lists! Four and one-half stars for this one.

My letter “W” pick for the A to Z Challenge was WHITE HOT KISS by Jennifer L. Armentrout. I’ve made no secret that I adore this author. She’s got a huge following in Romantasy and Contemporary Romance, but this is one of her earlier works and is targeted at YA (though it is slightly on the line of spicy by YA standards).

Layla has the typical problem of most magical teen protagonists – she just wants to be like every other teen she knows. Most of these are made up of Wardens, magical demon-hunting people who can shift into literal stone gargoyles when they fight or need to rest. Layla is an orphan who was raised by a clan of Wardens, as he herself is half Warden. The problem arises shortly after her seventeenth birthday, when the other half of her heritage starts drawing demonic attention, including that of a really hot demon prince named Roth. Layla discovers that her mother is none other than the powerful demon Lilith (something her Warden clan knew but never told her) and as the only half-warden, half-demon in existence, there are several factions in hell that find her valuable.

With the help of Roth, and to a lesser degree, her best friend/unrequited love interest – a Warden named Zayne (who of course, is set to be a part of a very messy love triangle), Layla begins the quest to learn about her demon and Warden legacies and what the fallout of her conception means for mankind. We only to scratch the surface of all the various cover-ups and lies in this book. Roth the demon prince carries a powerful attraction – and knows a lot more of the truth about the Wardens – than Layla had anticipated. The chemistry between these two is sizzling, despite Layla’s initial longing for Zayne, whom she can never have because if Layla kisses anyone with a soul, her demon instincts take over and compel her to consume it.

All in all, this book had rich world-building, fully-fleshed out characters, and left on a cliffhanger that perfectly sets up book two of this series. It was a fast read, a little predictable and filled with teen angst, but a good story overall. Four stars.

So I finally dumped Twitter/X and made the move to Bluesky. Follow me there or on any of my social media sites.

My letter “V” pick for the A to Z Book challenge was THE VINE WITCH by Luanne G. Smith. I wanted to like this book more, I really did. It has a wonderful gothic feel at the start, and beginning a book with the protagonist as a toad is definitely intriguing. From there, the story sort-of dragged for me as Elena, our young witch emerges from a seven year curse and begins the journey to find out who cursed her to get her revenge.

The story meandered and it felt like the author couldn’t decide if it was historical fiction, fantasy, YA, or a gothic horror story. The romance between Elena and her love interest was slow and without much substance until it suddenly accelerated out of nowhere with minimal chemistry. I did like that Elena wasn’t a stereotypical heroic protagonist, and the prose in this book was rich and lush and perfectly suited to the story. The ending, however, lacked credibility and overall, I have no real urge to move on to book two. Three and a half stars.