2008 PEARL AWARDS

BEST ANTHOLOGY: Dead After Dark by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Susan Squires, J.R. Ward, Dianna Love

Blood Lite by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Jim Butcher, Kelley Armstrong, Charlaine Harris

Honorable Mention: The Magical Christmas Cat by Nalini Singh, Lora Leigh, Erin McCarthy, Linda Winstead Jones

BEST FANTASY/MAGICAL: Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Honorable Mention: The Darkest Pleasure by Gena Showalter

BEST FUTURISTIC: Dark Light by Jayne Castle

Honorable Mention: Heart Fate by Robin D. Owens

BEST NOVELLA / SHORT STORY: "Story of Son" Dead After Dark by J.R. Ward

Honorable Mention: "Kung Fu Shoes" in These Boots Were Made For Stomping by Jade Lee

BEST SCIENCE - FICTION & FANTASY: Shades Of Dark by Linnea Sinclair

Honorable Mention: Dragonborn by Jade Lee

BEST SHAPE SHIFTER: Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs

Honorable Mention: Rogue by Rachel Vincent

Hotter After Midnight by Cynthia Eden

BEST TIME TRAVEL: Viking Unchained by Sandra Hill

Honorable Mention: Twist by Colby Hodge

BEST VAMPIRE: Lover Enshrined by J.R. Ward

Honorable Mention: Wait Till Your Vampire Gets Home by Michele Bardsley

BEST OVERALL PARANORMAL: Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Honorable Mention: One Foot in the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

NEW AUTHOR: Ann Aguirre

Honorable Mention: Jocelynn Drake

To read more:

http://rosaromance.splinder.com/post/19896186/

2008 PEARL AWARDS

BEST ANTHOLOGY: Dead After Dark by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Susan Squires, J.R. Ward, Dianna Love

Blood Lite by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Jim Butcher, Kelley Armstrong, Charlaine Harris

Honorable Mention: The Magical Christmas Cat by Nalini Singh, Lora Leigh, Erin McCarthy, Linda Winstead Jones

BEST FANTASY/MAGICAL: Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Honorable Mention: The Darkest Pleasure by Gena Showalter

BEST FUTURISTIC: Dark Light by Jayne Castle

Honorable Mention: Heart Fate by Robin D. Owens

BEST NOVELLA / SHORT STORY: "Story of Son" Dead After Dark by J.R. Ward

Honorable Mention: "Kung Fu Shoes" in These Boots Were Made For Stomping by Jade Lee

BEST SCIENCE - FICTION & FANTASY: Shades Of Dark by Linnea Sinclair

Honorable Mention: Dragonborn by Jade Lee

BEST SHAPE SHIFTER: Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs

Honorable Mention: Rogue by Rachel Vincent

Hotter After Midnight by Cynthia Eden

BEST TIME TRAVEL: Viking Unchained by Sandra Hill

Honorable Mention: Twist by Colby Hodge

BEST VAMPIRE: Lover Enshrined by J.R. Ward

Honorable Mention: Wait Till Your Vampire Gets Home by Michele Bardsley

BEST OVERALL PARANORMAL: Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Honorable Mention: One Foot in the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

NEW AUTHOR: Ann Aguirre

Honorable Mention: Jocelynn Drake

To read more:

http://rosaromance.splinder.com/post/19896186/

Andrew Potter: The unawareness in private moments

Andrew Potter is an award winning artist and regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy of Arts. He is a figurative painter whose style is a form of traditional realism.

Andrew Potter explores the effects of light on classically ideal male figures, light that sculpts the body to provide dramatic form and veiled narrative.


"Love Letter and Roses" by Andrew Potter (Oil Painting)

( more pics )

His subjects are caught unawared and unobserved in private moments. The individual identity of each remains ambiguous in either the way the images are cropped, the way the models are posed, or by the fall of light and shadow on their bodies. This enhances the voyeuristic feel and latent sense of eroticism.

However, warm tonality and soft edged style adds romanticism to the work. Thus they become an exchange of confidences between the artist and viewer of a private and intimate moment.

http://adonisartgallery.3dcartstores.com/Andrew-Potter_c_34-1.html

More at My Website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Art

Bend in the Road by Jeanne Barrack

Bend in the Road is a two stories anthology, but it's really only a book since the two stories are strictly connected.

In the Lion's Den Aryeh Nachman is the bastard son of a wealthy man who provided for him till his twenty-one year and then left him alone in the world. Truth be told, Aryeh was just alone in the world, having left his home in England at eighteen years old when his unrequited but returned love for his tutor gave him no chance: his tutor was from Poland, and after spending five years with Aryeh and realized that he loved the man, he decided to return back home and married. Since to Aryeh was never denied anything, this refusal didn't set well with the young man, and he spent the following years searching for the love he was denied; from careless rake with his father's money to kept man for wealthy and older women, Aryeh is now without money and a roof and he accepts the offer of a traveling Yiddish theater troupe. Here he meets Danaleh, a very young and very innocent man, but even if innocent, and very much virgin, Danaleh knows that he is not interested in woman, on the contrary he is very much drawn to the handsome Aryeh. Even if Aryeh is not much older than Danaleh, he is very much more experienced and he doesn't want to taint Danaleh with his "filthy" desires. But if he only knew that Danaleh, with his naivete and innocence, is more than eager to be the heroine in Aryeh's dreams, in fact Danaleh has a penchant to dress as a woman, a thing he can only realize when he is on stage, but that he would so like to do also in private, with Aryeh.

In From Stage to Stage is the story of talented musician Yuval Smolenski, the other member of the troupe who has more interest in men than women, but as for Aryeh and Danaleh, it's not simple for him to find a soul mate. He travels with his sister, a grown woman with mental problem who behaves like a child, and Yuval, even if interested, would never marry and leave her alone. And so he is content with the few hush encounters he can snatch in anonymous cities. But being Jewish and gay is becoming more and more dangerous, for a reason or another. Then, while rehearsing for a big marriage during which they will perform, he meets Tsvi, a big man with the face of a monster and the voice of an angel. Also Tsvi is hiding, but more his preferences for men, he is hiding his religious origins: he is a member of the Chassidim, an ultra religious sect of Judaism, and he has some reason why he doesn't want for it to be known. But when he sings, his origins are very much clear, since he sings like he is making love with God, and Yuval can't help to love him as well, despite his external looks.

For complete different reason, both couples don't consider themself worthy of love: Aryeh probably believes to be tainted, Danaleh to be too simple, Yuval consider a problem his religion and Tsvi is running away from his sense of guilty. All of them will find shelter and a new family in the traveling theatre troupe, and around them history will have its course, making the novel quite fascinating and really interesting for the history lovers. Part of this fascination is also due to the very detailed and researched work that the author obviously made: the Jewish culture and way of life of the end of the nineteen century is described in such details that even if you are not familiar with the words and the customs, you will find yourself immersed in them... and if you have some problems, well there is a very helpful glossary at the end of the book!

http://www.mlrpress.com/ShowBook.php?book=JBBEND01

Buy at 1 Romance Ebooks

Amazon: Bend in the Road

Amazon Kindle: Bend in the Road

Reading List:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle

Bend in the Road by Jeanne Barrack

Bend in the Road is a two stories anthology, but it's really only a book since the two stories are strictly connected.

In the Lion's Den Aryeh Nachman is the bastard son of a wealthy man who provided for him till his twenty-one year and then left him alone in the world. Truth be told, Aryeh was just alone in the world, having left his home in England at eighteen years old when his unrequited but returned love for his tutor gave him no chance: his tutor was from Poland, and after spending five years with Aryeh and realized that he loved the man, he decided to return back home and married. Since to Aryeh was never denied anything, this refusal didn't set well with the young man, and he spent the following years searching for the love he was denied; from careless rake with his father's money to kept man for wealthy and older women, Aryeh is now without money and a roof and he accepts the offer of a traveling Yiddish theater troupe. Here he meets Danaleh, a very young and very innocent man, but even if innocent, and very much virgin, Danaleh knows that he is not interested in woman, on the contrary he is very much drawn to the handsome Aryeh. Even if Aryeh is not much older than Danaleh, he is very much more experienced and he doesn't want to taint Danaleh with his "filthy" desires. But if he only knew that Danaleh, with his naivete and innocence, is more than eager to be the heroine in Aryeh's dreams, in fact Danaleh has a penchant to dress as a woman, a thing he can only realize when he is on stage, but that he would so like to do also in private, with Aryeh.

In From Stage to Stage is the story of talented musician Yuval Smolenski, the other member of the troupe who has more interest in men than women, but as for Aryeh and Danaleh, it's not simple for him to find a soul mate. He travels with his sister, a grown woman with mental problem who behaves like a child, and Yuval, even if interested, would never marry and leave her alone. And so he is content with the few hush encounters he can snatch in anonymous cities. But being Jewish and gay is becoming more and more dangerous, for a reason or another. Then, while rehearsing for a big marriage during which they will perform, he meets Tsvi, a big man with the face of a monster and the voice of an angel. Also Tsvi is hiding, but more his preferences for men, he is hiding his religious origins: he is a member of the Chassidim, an ultra religious sect of Judaism, and he has some reason why he doesn't want for it to be known. But when he sings, his origins are very much clear, since he sings like he is making love with God, and Yuval can't help to love him as well, despite his external looks.

For complete different reason, both couples don't consider themself worthy of love: Aryeh probably believes to be tainted, Danaleh to be too simple, Yuval consider a problem his religion and Tsvi is running away from his sense of guilty. All of them will find shelter and a new family in the traveling theatre troupe, and around them history will have its course, making the novel quite fascinating and really interesting for the history lovers. Part of this fascination is also due to the very detailed and researched work that the author obviously made: the Jewish culture and way of life of the end of the nineteen century is described in such details that even if you are not familiar with the words and the customs, you will find yourself immersed in them... and if you have some problems, well there is a very helpful glossary at the end of the book!

http://www.mlrpress.com/ShowBook.php?book=JBBEND01

Buy at 1 Romance Ebooks

Amazon: Bend in the Road

Amazon Kindle: Bend in the Road

Reading List:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle