Guerrilla marketing: Authors behaving badly in bookstores

Few things are as thrilling for an author as seeing a stack of her very own books on a store shelf. If that shelf happens to be at floor level, however, she'll worry that the store's customers will never see her books--and she'll be tempted to scoop them up and relocate them to a spot where they will be more visible to casual browsers.

I understand the impulse. I've felt it myself. But acting on it is wrong.

My friends occasionally report having spotted my books in stores and moved them to better locations. Thinking they've done me a favor, they cheerfully announce that they put all of my books on eye-level shelves. Naturally, they first had to remove the books occupying those prime spots and stick them somewhere else. Although in one instance, a friend who seemed very pleased with herself told me that she had placed several of my books in front of books with "sleazy" covers.

I see two ethical problems with book-moving by authors and their friends: First, retailers own both the books and the display spaces. They shelve books where they think best (and often, where publishers have suggested or even contractually required). What right has anyone else to move them? Yes, it's possible that the retailers won't mind, but it's shockingly arrogant to assume that they won't--and nobody ever asks. The retailers might want or need to have the books shelved in a particular way, which means somebody will have to rearrange the books after the self-deputized helpers leave.

I mentioned two ethical problems, so here's the second: Placing a book in front of another or swapping books on a shelf is unfair to the authors and publishers of the displaced books. For every book that is "promoted" by these tactics, another book is shoved into obscurity. Anyone who tries to live by the Golden Rule must see the injustice of that. Yet it is authors who do most of the book-moving. I can't tell you how often this subject comes up when my writer friends get together at conferences or online. "I found six of your books at WalMart and moved them to the top shelf," one writer will tell another, and she will be warmly thanked for her consideration.

I have never heard any romance author deplore the practice. Everyone appears to view it as a legitimate form of book marketing. I am sorry to say that even my Christian author friends don't seem to have a problem with it. Everyone does it.

But as my mother used to say, that doesn't make it right.

I'd love to see some dialogue on this subject from the community of romance authors, but I'm not holding my breath. If anyone is aware of an article or a blog post on the ethics of interfering with the placement of books in stores, please drop a link in the Comments. And if anyone cares to copy this post to a writers' e-mail loop to spark some discussion, please go right ahead.

Morning glories

Yes, I'm still here. Sorry to leave you wondering for so long. My mind's been elsewhere lately--I haven't been reading other blogs and soaking up ideas to work into posts for NRJW. I did manage to get my regular column for Romancing the Blog written, so you might want to click over and read that. It's about romance authors conducting literary experiments that rub many of their readers the wrong way.

My favorite gardening blog would be even more enjoyable if the blogger didn't spend so much time yammering about and showing pictures of her cats. I don't like cats, so when I see cat photos I don't bother reading the blog entry. I have often wondered if some of the people who come to NRJW for posts about writing aren't similarly disgusted when they see photos of my garden. If that's the case with you, be warned that the rest of this post will be about morning glories. Get out while you can.

It's autumn in our neighborhood. The trees are turning lovely colors and the still-green lawn is littered with leaves.

These morning glories will keep blooming until the first frost, and then my hunk o' burnin' love and I will have to figure out how to untangle and cut the dead vines off the arbor without snipping the green cords of our white twinkle lights (which in the summer we call "party lights" and in the winter we refer to as Christmas lights).

That's a rain gauge on the arbor post. I have to keep plucking away the heart-shaped morning glory leaves that want to cover it like little umbrellas.

I like the purple stars in these sky-blue glories.

This red glory has finished its day's work and closed up. Looks like a peppermint candy, doesn't it?

Sightseeing in Minnesota, I get excited about an outhouse

I had a great time touring southern Minnesota last week with my hunk o' burnin' love and our 26-year-old son. We're big believers in allowing plenty of opportunities for serendipity when we travel, so late one morning on an aimless drive through the country around Owatonna, my husband hit the brakes and our son said wow and we skated across some gravel and came to a stop.

We'd found a 150-year-old church in the middle of nowhere. Oh, it used to be somewhere--the village of Rice Lake, to be exact--but when the railroads came to southern Minnesota and bypassed Rice Lake, the prosperous little settlement fizzled out. The church is the only building still standing. We read all about that on one of the brochures left for curious people by the organization that recently decided to restore the church.

My husband is an architect who used to design churches, and our son is interested in old buildings. So for more than half an hour, I pretended to be patient while the guys tramped all around the church, peering into the windows (most of which still have their original wavy glass) and inspecting the new concrete-block foundation and talking about everything the restorers are doing right and wrong. (That's our kid in the photo, checking out the foundation.)

"I want lunch," I whined when my husband told me the roof wasn't original, that it and the bell tower had been destroyed by a long-ago fire. "Can we go now?"

"Not yet," my son said as his father took more photographs. "You have to come and see the outhouse."

I just looked at him. After seeing the ugly church, I had little interest in its outhouse. But he insisted, so I sighed and trudged around to the back of the church...and was enchanted.

Growing on the side of the outhouse were the most beautiful morning glories I have ever seen. How could they be that blue? I have morning glories in my garden right now, white ones and blue ones and purple ones and magenta ones, but no screaming blue ones like these. I want these!

I'm not sure what it says about me that the most thrilling part of my trip to Minnesota was discovering a vine-covered outhouse in the middle of nowhere. But these photographs are mementos of a very good day.

My take on the writers conferences: RWA vs. ACFW

After attending the recent American Christian Fiction Writers conference in Minneapolis, I was joined by my husband and one of our sons for a few days of sightseeing and visiting relatives in Minnesota. We returned home late Thursday night, but I haven't blogged until now because I've been a little under the weather. Those of you who have been waiting patiently for a new post have my warmest thanks.

ACFW was a wonderful experience. A first-time attender, I was asked repeatedly how that conference compares to the annual Romance Writers of America conference, which I have been attending since 2002, when I sold my first book.

My answer is that RWA has been far more useful to me for networking, gleaning industry news, and picking up tips on how to promote my books and run my home-based writing business more efficiently. The focus at ACFW seems to be on fellowship, encouragement, and writing better. While ACFW delivered on the first two promises in spades, I am not an auditory learner, and I have no patience for sitting through lectures which include a lot of material I already know, so I was uninterested in the workshops on how to become a better writer.

I don't attend how-to-write workshops at RWA, either. But in addition to offering far more workshops than ACFW, RWA covers a much broader range of topics. While I saw only a couple of ACFW workshops on the actual business of writing, at RWA I can always count on picking up new information on things like internet promotion, negotiating book contracts, and figuring federal taxes as a writer. (A confirmed do-it-yourselfer, I have neither a webmaster, a literary agent, nor an accountant).

The fellowship at ACFW was lovely, and a nice feature of the conference is that it includes daily opportunities for corporate worship. But I felt a little left out at a conference that seemed to continually stress following the call to spread the gospel of Christ through writing quality Christian fiction.

I respect and applaud the people who write primarily for that reason, but I am not one of them. Perhaps one day I will be called by God to join their number, but for now I am simply writing wholesome romance novels for my entertainment and yours. If anyone finds spiritual lessons in my books, that's the Lord's doing, not mine. Of course I'm thrilled when I hear He has used my writing to speak to readers' hearts--but the reason my books contain spiritual truths is not that I'm trying to teach lessons. I simply happen to view the world from a Christian perspective, and that comes out in what I write.

RWA has been more useful to me than ACFW because when it comes to writing fiction, I identify more with romance novelists of all stripes than with Christians who write novels in order to promote the gospel. Hey, I'm a conservative, evangelical, Bible-reading Christian--and if you haven't picked up on that, then you haven't read any of my books. But my books aren't sermons with a little romance thrown in to make the lessons more palatable. They're just entertaining love stories about Christian men and women.

I have said before that one big conference a year is really enough for me. So while I met a lot of new friends at the ACFW conference and came away feeling refreshed and ready to get back to work, next summer I will again be attending the RWA conference.

One final note: I can't tell you how tickled I was every time I introduced myself to someone at the ACFW conference and was told, Oh, I read your blog! "No rules," right?

Right. Thanks for reading.

Blowin' in the wind

You wouldn't think people living in the midwestern United States would be much affected by a major hurricane hitting the gulf coast. But early last Sunday afternoon, Ike came to my state and mixed it up with a cold front moving in from the north. There wasn't much rain, but wind gusts were clocked as high as 75 miles per hour. That's hurricane force, folks.

No lives were lost and we didn't get much rain, but our historic neighborhood with its many mature trees was hit hard. Falling trees destroyed cars, damaged houses, and took out power lines. Since early Sunday evening, chain saws have been buzzing everywhere, but several of our streets are still blocked by huge fallen trees. And in front of every house --and I do mean every house--is an enormous pile of limbs.

Three days after the Big Wind, over one-third of the residents in our major metropolitan area (yes, I'm being coy about where I live) are still without power. The electricity was off at Chez Coulter for more than 24 hours, so we lost a refrigerator full of food. It came back on for a while, but went off again. Last night we got it back, to the envy of many of our neighbors. The power company expects it to be a full week before they have 90% of its customers back online.

Of course I'm grateful that our house and cars weren't squished by falling trees, but my garden was ravaged by the winds. One wood arbor (not the big one by the patio) was ripped out of the ground and smashed. A rose trellis was pulled up, but we might be able to repair that and we should be able to save the rosebush. Large pots of flowers were knocked over by the wind, including a poured-concrete urn that I can't even lift.

My hunk o' burnin' love has already dealt with the fallen tree limbs, but zillions of small branches still need to be picked up. Both fountains are full of leafy litter and need to be emptied. Several rosebushes need to have their broken canes trimmed...and so on. Unfortunately, the bulk of the garden cleanup will have to wait for more than a week.

Later this morning I'm leaving for Minneapolis and the American Christian Fiction Writers conference. I'll be away from my blogging desk until Friday, September 26. The original plan was to schedule blog posts to appear during my absence, but after spending the better part of three days "being Amish" (doing without electricity), I don't have time to organize that now.

If you're attending the conference or if you live in the area and plan to stop by the huge Mall of America booksigning on Saturday, don't look for me at the signing. Yes, I do have a book out this month. But the noise and confusion of a multi-author booksigning is a little too much for a highly distractible person who also suffers from chronic headaches. It's easier for me to just skip it! But I'm not a shy person by any stretch, so please hunt me down at the conference and say hello.

Hot news for writers targeting Steeple Hill Books

Here's a heads-up for romance writers who are targeting my publisher, Steeple Hill Books: Yesterday morning Executive Editor Joan Marlow Golan e-mailed Steeple Hill's authors and agents to announce three big changes at Steeple Hill. I don't have permission to quote from the e-mail, but here's the gist of it, with my comments:

1. As many of you know, Senior Editor Krista Strover left SH a couple of weeks ago to work at another Harlequin line. Effective September 15, Melissa Endlich will be promoted to Senior Editor, Steeple Hill Love Inspired and Steeple Hill Love Inspired Classics. ("Classics" are reissues of old Love Inspired novels.) Also effective September 15, Tina Colombo will come on board as Senior Editor for Steeple Hill Love Inspired Historical and Steeple Hill Love Inspired Suspense.

2. In July 2009, Steeple Hill Love Inspired will begin releasing six titles (up from four) each month. Friends, the editors will have to begin filling those extra slots immediately, so this is a great time to submit to LI. (No changes were announced for LI-Suspense, which releases four titles each month, or Love Inspired Historical, which releases two.)

3. Also in July 2009, Steeple Hill's single-title program will cease publication. SH plans to focus on its enormously popular series romance books.

Hey! Let's do the Large Hadron Rap!

Need a break from your writing? Tired of playing Flight of the Hamsters? Then grab a lab coat, a hardhat, and some eye protection and celebrate this week's kickoff of the world's biggest-ever science experiment by doing the Large Hadron Rap with the fun-loving scientists of CERN.

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, here's a brief explanation of CERN, the Large Hadron Collider, and the planned experiment from Wikipedia:

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator complex, intended to collide opposing beams of protons (one of several types of hadrons) with very high kinetic energy. Its main purpose is to explore the validity and limitations of the Standard Model, the current theoretical picture for particle physics. It is theorized that the collider will confirm the existence of the Higgs boson, the observation of which could confirm the predictions and missing links in the Standard Model, and could explain how other elementary particles acquire properties such as mass.

The LHC was built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), and lies underneath the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva, Switzerland. It is funded by and built in collaboration with over eight thousand physicists from over eighty-five countries as well as hundreds of universities and laboratories. The LHC is operational and is presently in the process of being prepared for collisions. The first beams were circulated through the collider on 10 September 2008, and the first high-energy collisions are planned to take place after the LHC is officially unveiled on 21 October.

Did you read all of that? Great. Now you're ready for the hilarious video:



Doesn't that just make you itch to go out and smash some atoms? Party on, nerds!

Road to Roubaix

When I heard the other day that Lance Armstrong plans to come out of retirement, I yawned. Somebody please wake me if the Texan ever pulls on his big-boy shorts and enters the Paris-Roubaix, the most exciting seven hours in all of cycling--and one of the many tough races Lance never entered. Yeah, okay, winning the Tour de France is a pretty big deal, let alone winning it seven times. I just think it's a shame that here in America, "bike race" means Tour de France and only Tour de France, even though the Paris-Roubaix packs more thrills into a single daylong race than the Tour delivers in three weeks of cycling.

Lance's intrepid teammate (and my favorite cyclist) George Hincapie, who took second place at Paris-Roubaix 2005, shares this perspective: "It's the hardest one-day race on the calendar. I kind of feel the same after a Tour de France, after three weeks of racing, I feel the same after doing a one-day at the Paris-Roubaix."

A couple of months ago I preordered a DVD of Road to Roubaix, a new documentary about the race. My Number One Son, who helped organize this year's Bicycle Film Festival in Chicago, got to see the film there in August, but my DVD didn't arrive until yesterday afternoon. Believe me, it was worth the wait.

If you're at all interested in cycling, don't miss this beautiful film. It truly captures the spirit of the world's toughest bicycle race.

Here's the trailer:



You can order the DVD here.

In which I lead you down the garden path

My hunk o' burnin' love is a front-porch kind of guy who likes to call greetings to the people who walk past our house and sometimes pause to look at our garden. He's an architect, so for years he's been talking about modifying our Cape Cod-style house to give it a front porch.

I've been lukewarm on the idea because I enjoy having a garden right outside my front door and seeing roses and other colorful things through the lace curtains in the living-room windows. So a few weeks ago when he started in again with the porch talk, I said, Hey, why don't we just drag a bench to the front garden and park it under the living-room windows and pretend that's a porch?

It turned out to be one of my better ideas. And my husband satisfied his urge to build something by widening the discreet stepping-stone "service" path and laying what I'm calling a patio-ette. Now I sit on the bench to sip cafe latte and stare at my garden and he sits on the bench to sip wine and wave at the neighbors. Life is good.

Here's another view of the patio-ette. The walkway, hidden behind the euononymous in the left foreground, goes from the wide front stoop (just visible at the top center of this photo) to the driveway. Yes, there are now two routes from the front door to the drive. This one is actually a shortcut through the big garden outlined by the main walkway.

The climbing roses at the top left of this photo are the wildly fragrant Zephirine Drouhin. It'll be lovely to sit right beside them when they're blooming again. And this weekend, that patch of dirt in the center of the picture is going to get a nice bunch of lavender that needs moved from elsewhere in the garden.

The Japanese anemones are blooming, and will keep at it for the next several weeks. I adore these little green balls and glowing white flowers. (Yes, that's my new walk again on the right side of this photo.)

Moving now to the back garden... Hanging this cheap pot of strawberries on the arbor turned out to be a great idea because the bunnies can't jump this high. We have already bought a pretty wire basket, twice this size, for next year's berries.

This is probably the last Gerbera daisy we'll be seeing this year. They make great centerpieces for outdoor tables because there are always three or four stalks blooming in wild colors.

This tired geranium is telling me summer's over. And I haven't seen a single hummingbird at the feeder outside my office window today, so I guess they've headed to Florida or Mexico already. Soon the leaves will be turning, and while mums don't number among my favorite flowers, we'll probably scatter some potted ones here on the patio and in the front garden. Anything to keep some garden color going for as long as possible.

Shaking off bad reviews

I've been giving short shrift to the blog lately because I'm spending so much time in the garden. More on that tomorrow, probably, with some photos. Today I'd like to respond to a comment left by Janny on this post. Janny's polite, thoughtful remarks on why she didn't care for my latest book are too long to quote here in their entirety, so you curious types will just have to click on the link. But here are some snippets:

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....

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....

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....

I hope this didn't sting too badly...

It didn't sting at all, Janny. And because I think it might help some of my writer friends deal better with criticism of their work, I'd like to explain why.

When I send a book out into the world, I'm offering readers something I'm proud of, something I hope will delight them. But I'm a realist, so I readily acknowledge that not everyone will love my books. Publishing a novel is very much like presenting your special cheesecake to a family that has just moved in next door. You don't know those people, so you don't know whether they're on strict no-cheesecake diets or have weird allergies or just plain hate cheesecake. Even if they adore cheesecake, they might not care for your version of it. But you make the gesture with the best intentions and the neighbors thank you warmly. If you find out later that your marvelous creation was dumped in the trash ten minutes after you left, you're disappointed, but you don't burn your recipe and sign up for a cooking class. You know you made a darn good cheesecake.

So the neighbors didn't agree. Big deal. Life is still worth living.

Every time we read a novel, our life experiences, personal values, and individual tastes color our perception of the story and determine whether we will be engaged or turned off. Some readers might be captivated by a sweet heroine that others find cloying. Some might rave about an exciting plot that others find boring and predictible. Even the greatest books are never universally loved. And have you noticed there's always somebody sticking up for the truly awful books?

In general, a book review says more about the reviewer's tastes than it does about the quality of a given book. On the surface, Janny's comments might appear to be an indictment of my writing. But look closer and you'll see that she's really talking about herself. She's telling us what she likes and does not like in a romance novel--and my book didn't meet her standards.

Okay, Janny didn't like the book. I'm disappointed. But my editors liked it, reviewers liked it, and I get e-mail every day from readers who like it. More important than any of that, I like it. I enjoyed writing it and I'm proud of the way it turned out. So my self-esteem is in pretty good shape.

You can't please all of the people all of the time. Any writer who fails to acknowledge that simple truth is inviting others to suck the joy out of her writing life.

I hope this post encourages somebody.

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.

The garden as a writing aid

Early this morning, the novel-writing was not going well. After deciding I didn't like my opening paragraph, I fiddled with a new one for over an hour--and still didn't like it.

I put the teakettle on, grabbed my camera just in case, and stepped out into the wet back garden to clear my head.

I thought about Julie Andrews and her "Raindrops on roses"...and I hummed a little.

I paused at these beaten-down roses and this small, deformed Gerbera daisy and reflected that even imperfect things in the garden
--and in life--can be beautiful.

I wondered what kind of spider would be coming to check this wet web for bugs.




I wondered why, out of the whole packet of mixed-color morning glory seeds, all I'm seeing is white blossoms. What happened to the jazzy pinks and cobalt blues? Are they planning to make a fashionably late appearance? (You can't even see the morning glories in this photo, can you? That's the problem.)

I heard a fly buzz and wondered why that always sounds like people conversing quietly behind a closed door. And why, even when I know it's just a fly buzzing, I always hold my breath and try to eavesdrop.

Then my teakettle whistled and I came back inside. During the five minutes it took to steep my pot of Earl Gray, I realized what was wrong with my opening paragraph and fixed it.

It's good now, thanks to one very brief stroll in the garden.

AT HIS COMMAND is in stores now!

My apologies to those of you who aren't interested in my latest inspirational romance novel and to those who have already read it and moved on with their lives, but a couple of people asked to be reminded when At His Command became available in stores.

It hit the store shelves yesterday. Unless your local WalMart cheated and put their copies out last weekend.

Remember, the book won't be available for long, and if your store sells out they won't order more because "category" romance novels are sold pretty much like magazines: when they're gone, they're gone, but that's okay because next month's books are already on the way. Of course that's not a problem for you online shoppers. You'll always be able to snag a copy from Amazon or one of the other book e-tailers. (But why wait?)

For the three or four of you who haven't yet seen the video teaser, I'm posting it again:






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

Karla Akins writes: "This book...gives us a lively picture of what it’s like to be an American War vet in today’s service. It’s a poignant salute to the men and women in uniform. I give it five 'boo-yahs!'"

Jan Hoffman writes: "This book, Coulter’s fourth, displays the hallmark of what we’ve come to expect from this award-winning author: a plucky heroine, a hero to die for; wry, witty romance and gut-wrenching emotion."

Because he was one of those guys who never expected to like a romance novel, let alone choose one for his blog's Book of the Month, horror writer Michael Rigg's review pushed all of my gratitude and giggle buttons with his review. If you click over to his blog you'll see some photographs, including one in which he appears baffled by the skinniness of my book, but here's a taste of his review:

"...At His Command is not only the first romance novel I've ever read, it's also one of the smallest, thinnest (only 216 pages), and lightest novels I've ever read. The reading is very easy, flows almost like it isn't there, and has some of the simplest - almost non-existent - description I've ever read.

"Sounds like it's going to be a pretty bad review for a "book of the month," doesn't it? Not so fast. If you're thinking the fact that it's an easy read, simple and light, is a bad thing, you are far from my heart on At His Command. You know the expression "less is more?" Brenda's description, which I previously referred to as "almost non-existent," is actually PERFECT.... Furthermore, what Brenda lacks in - well, nothing really - she more than makes up for with the best characterization I've encountered in months of heavy reading."

Note to reviewing bloggers: If you want me to link to your post, please shoot me an e-mail to make sure I see your review.

More book reviews: 6 thumbs-up and a raspberry

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

Weston Elliott, after admitting to being no fan of romance novels, writes: "...I would highly recommend this book, and here's why:

"It is clean - no smut - but there is a really great kiss! It is a romance, after all!

"It is religious - but not preachy. It shows the simplicity of living the faith one believes as a straight-forward part of life, without trying to explain why or convice anyone. I, personally, loved that!

"The characters are real - stubborn, faulty, and true to life."

Martha Rogers writes: "Brenda Coulter has given us a wonderful love story of two people who are considered heroes in the eyes of others, but both have doubts about that.... This is a great read."

Anne Greene says: "Along with a top-notch story, Brenda gives the reader interesting peeks into the life of an Army nurse and a helicopter pilot. Having a strong army background myself I can vouch for Brenda's authenticity. Brenda's characters live, breathe, and overcome real situations. The topic is serious, but the writing is funny and keeps the reader glued to the story to the very last word."

Laura Hilton writes: "I enjoyed getting to know Maddie and Jake, and watch as their relationship moved forward. Tied together by an orphaned boy with a heart problem caused by a bomb that killed his mom, Ali is a sweetheart and both Maddie and Jake are instrumental in getting Ali the care he needs. Don’t miss AT HIS COMMAND. It is a winner."

Anita Reaves says: "Brenda Coulter has written an entertaining read. She starts off her book with a great hook... [and] continues her witty phrasing of words throughout the book. A truly enjoyable read."

Jessica Nelson writes: "What a sweet romance! The characters were immediately likeable and sympathetic. And though there are some painful moments in the book, Brenda balances them with a nice dose of humor. This is the first book of hers I've read and I really liked it. Not only was the characterization great (I could practically hear the Texas twangs) but she used lovely metaphors and her writing style is active and smooth. Plus, the first kiss . . . Actually, I think it was the second, but let's just say the first REAL kiss was great! I loved that scene."

Annette Irby didn't like the hero of At His Command. She writes, "...the way his resistance [to the heroine] came across was harsh. Personally, I felt he was too callous with Maddie several times in the story, so much so, that when the two leads finally reconciled the potential romance wasn’t believable because he didn’t seem repentant enough. I think if he’d given in to at least one instance where he felt compassion after pushing Maddie away, that would have helped."

Note to reviewing bloggers: If you want me to link to your post, please shoot me an e-mail to make sure I see your review.