Sunday, August 31, 2008

Here's your chance! Hate my book here!

Forty people agreed to blog about At His Command during the month of August, and I've been thanking them by linking to their posts. Here are some snippets from the last batch (click on the links to read the reviews in their entirety):

Brittanie A.Terrell writes, "I loved this book. I have read all of Brenda Coulter's books and I think this is my new favorite of hers."

Amy Riley writes, "Brenda Coulter’s At His Command is one I recommend! The story is very sweet, the prose is strong, and the characters are likeable."

Laura Domino says, "Brenda Coulter’s books are an interesting peek at the lives of heroes who have flaws, an unquenchable desire for the heroine, and enough sense to make things come together at the end. This book, Coulter’s fourth, takes a look at an Army pilot turned civilian attorney and the constant problems he tries to ignore, but can’t. Her characters feel real."

And author Camy Tang writes: "This was a really great book! I tend to be very moved by military stories, and the way the author handled the pain of losing deployed loved ones was well done. I teared up in several places and thoroughly enjoyed crying."

Thanks to all of these bloggers and also to Princeton McKinney, another of the bloggers who posted my book video.



I believe I have now thanked and linked to every blogger who posted a review of my book. But as I went over my list just now, I noticed that nine people who accepted a free book in exchange for a promise to blog about it sometime during this past month didn't keep their end of the bargain. Maybe they just forgot, but I'm wondering whether some of them didn't care for the book and were worried about hurting my feelings. Of all the reviews I've seen, only one blogger admitted to not enjoying the book. (And yes, I quoted from her post and linked to it.)

As regular readers of this blog know, my ego isn't so fragile that I cry over bad book reviews. I honestly believe that a few bad reviews mixed in with the good ones draw attention to a book--and how can that be a bad thing?

So here's your big chance, dissatisfied At His Command readers. Leave a comment here (anonymously, if you wish) and tell us what you really thought of the book. As long as you keep it clean and polite, I promise not to delete your comments or pick them apart and try to prove you wrong.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your open attitude is so refreshing, just as your book is. I doubt you'll have many dissatisfied, but even if you do, it's just as Proverbs 27:17 says, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

God bless you and your writing.

Camy Tang said...

Thanks for the link luv, Brenda!
Camy

Anonymous said...

I posted a review on my blog. I really liked it!

Here's the link:

http://www.writeinthelight.com

Unknown said...

If it will help sales of the book, I'll retract my previous glowing praise for the book and write something scathing. ;-)

Winter Peck said...

Wow, wish I coulda "hated" your book. Oh, well, I'll try to pick it up sometime soon.

Guess, I'll go enjoy the company of my soldier hubby for now. <};^)

Unknown said...

I'll be sure and leave you a note when I've read AHC, I've been picking up all the HH books knowing yours was on the way and I have this habit of needing to read the entire series in order.

Saw yours on Sept 1 and grabbed it before I missed out. Been waiting since A Season of Forgiveness for something else by you.

Melissa

Janny said...

Brenda...

Okay, I'll come clean. :-)

I was one of those people who got the free book, agreed to blog about it...and then found myself reading, and reading, and reading, trying to like it. I just couldn't. And yes, for once in my life, I was actually thinking before putting my writing foot in my writing mouth and hurting feelings. I think that in my heart, I "knew" your feelings wouldn't be hurt--but I do try occasionally to be a Kinder, Gentler Janny, and this was one of those times.

My biggest problem was the conflict set up between hero and heroine, which to my mind simply didn't amount to enough to keep an entire book going. To me, this was one of those instances in which a good long conversation between the hero and heroine would have solved the conflict. Yes, it would have been a difficult conversation...but if we're going to believe that these two people have a chance at a life together, then we have to believe they're capable of having that conversation. They're strong people. They've been through war, for heaven's sake...but they can't face their true feelings and reveal those to each other?

I admit, I just couldn't get past that. I read pages of the hero telling himself, "I can never have a normal life" (why? because he was crippled?) and the heroine asking herself, "Why is he pulling away from me?" (why don't you ask him, honey?), and after a few instances of this, I couldn't deal with these people anymore and put the book down.

That's the truth...that this book just didn't work for me. So there you have it, for what it's worth. I'll be glad to publicize your book on my blog now, but I didn't want to go into that with this kind of review...at least not without telling you first. Which I was also trying to think of a way to do Gently....

(!) Just shows to go ya.

Okay, confession over. I hope this didn't sting too badly...

Janny

Brenda Coulter said...

Sheri, thanks for the blessing.
<3<3<3

Camy, I missed seeing you this summer. Hope you'll be at ACFW next week.

Laura, thanks so much for that review. You're a peach!

Chad, I don't know that it would affect my book sales, but I'm thinking your scathing review would be good for some laughs.
;-)

Winter, thanks. Uh, I think.
;-)

ForstRose, thanks for picking up my book. Hope you enjoy it.

And Janny, thank you for speaking up. I just blogged about your reaction to my book.