Behind the Blogger: Melanie from bookworm2bookworm

Welcome to Behind the Blogger. Behind the Blogger is a feature where I interview and get to know fellow bloggers from different blogs in the blogosphere.

This week I would like to welcome the lovely Melanie from bookworm2bookworm. Melanie is super nice and writes awesome reviews. If you haven't checked out her blog before now, you definitely should. So please give Melanie a warm welcome!

1. Why did you become a blogger?
Last year I read Judith James’ “Libertine’s Kiss” and it blew me away. Then I read some reviews that stomped me, and then I said to myself, I think I should write an Amazon review and make sure people know how good this thing REALLY is! And THEN, I went around blogosphere and figured, why not try?! And the rest is history now!

2. Can you tell me a little bit about your blog?
When I decided to venture into this Blog-world, I never, ever thought it would be so much fun. At the time, I thought it would be a one woman pony show, dedicated to all you bookworms out there. Recently I’ve talked my RRAH fellow reviewer Krissie to hitch a wagon to my pony, so we could both have some fun. As an avid reader I love to talk about books I’ve read, especially romance novels. Right now b2b (short for bookworm2bookworm) is a mix of book reviews (mostly), and some book announcements, author interviews and guest posts, giveaways and just a tad of personal. I’m thinking to start another blog that would take out the personal out of b2b…not sure yet.

3. What is your favorite book(s)? Why?
Oh my! Too many favorites, so I’ll narrow that down by letting you know my favorite this year: Julie Anne Long’s “What I Did for a Duke” and Joanna Bourne’s “The Black Hawk”

4. Is there a scene from a book that just stands out to you? What is it?
A scene from “Outlander” from Diana Gabaldon. Jamie was imprisoned by the sadistic Jack Randall at Wentworth prison. Clare finds him, and Jamie is trying to save her by telling Jack that he won't resist his rape, abuse, and sexual torture if he lets Claire go. Jack agrees, and lets Clare go…Jamie’s kneeling in shackles one hand on the stool, and ‘Black Jack’ drives a nail through Jamie’s hand…

5. Who are some of your go-to authors?
You free for the next few days?! Thank God Diana Gabaldon comes out with her books every few years or so or I would be on food stamps by now! Okay, maybe I just exaggerated a tad :) Joanna Bourne, Laura Kinsale, Judith James and Eileen Dreyer…Kieran Kramer, Ashley March, Maureen Driscoll, Charlotte Hawkins are some new names that I added this year.

6. What are some of your favorite genres?
History in general, Regency in particular, and anything in between, but seldom contemporary. Contemporary story has to be an exceptionally good read for me to venture out of my ‘comfy’ zone…

7. When reviewing, do you stick to the books that you normally like to read, or are you more open?
I am open to new and self-published authors, and as a matter a fact I have a soft spot for them. As for the genre, I’m open to some, like time travel, but I can’t seem to get into the paranormal stories. Those just aren’t for me…

8. What are some of your favorite tropes? What about those tropes pulls you in?
My favorite is older heroine/younger hero trope, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be an explicitly filled book with erotica, although, some of those are surprisingly good. Sylvia Day’s “The Stranger I Married” and Lavinia Kent’s “A Talent for Sin” are two that come to mind off the top of my head…

9. What was the last book that blew your mind?
Again, too many but I’ll play…Let’s see…Joanna Bourne’s THE BLACK HAWK which is in one word SUBLIME! You’ll have to stop by my blog soon to read the review of it… *shameless plug 1*

10. Do you have any advice for other aspiring bloggers?
Well, I’m still a ‘newbie’ myself, but there are bloggers out there that I look up to, and one of those is a girl by the name of Kathryn – REGENCY ERA , then there’s Christine from ROMANTIC CRUSH JUNKIES, Rita from NOT ANOTHER ROMANCE BLOG and last but not least, Nancy from ROMANCE READER AT HEART who gave me an outlet to express my view’s not to mention a TON of free books! *shameless plugs 2, 3, 4 & 5*

‘Honesty is the best policy’ I say, so be yourself, write your thoughts then read them out loud, and never forget it’s all subjective. What YOU like, I might not, but that’s okay. Try not to be rude, but sometimes you need to vent at a very bad read, and the only person to blame for it is the author, so make sure they know how you feel. After all, you just spent your time (and possibly your money) reading their work, and they want your opinion, your thoughts on it, so let them know how much fun you had or how disappointed you were and especially why. WHY is the key to a good review. It’s not enough to say I didn’t like it. Why didn’t you like it? Did it offend you in some significant way? And if it did, you need to tell me WHY? Or did the author not deliver a quality product. That will happen on occasion, and make sure they hear you loud and clear as to WHY you think it fell short of your expectations. Or did it totally suck? Which part and WHY?

I read Nicola Cornick book and loved the writing, but couldn’t connect with either hero or heroine, but I gave that book 4 Stars. The reason is obvious, but just to be clear, the author put out a great book, plot wise, prose-wise and pace-wise. It’s not her fault that I didn’t like the characters.

On the other hand, one of Catherine Coulter’s books was written so bad that I just couldn’t help myself and was on her like ‘Moses on the Pharaoh’ and totally went off. I was truly offended for being taken for granted. And I LOVE CC! Maybe it hurt because I love her work so much…

11. When you aren't blogging, what do you like to do in your spare time?
I love to garden and my home garden is filled with all sorts of plants that attract butterflies! And my roses :)

My second hobby is cooking, and I experiment all the time (which makes my DH and my coworkers very happy). I used to paint and loved it, but it has taken a back seat now to my blogging…and then there are my evening walks with my DH that I adore (walks and him; he always sneaks a kiss by the same house, and that makes my heart melt).

Oh and how could I forget?! Hanging out on FB and Tweeter is quickly becoming a ‘hobby’ too, so come on over and ‘hook’ up with me at Twitter-@b2bMelanie and my Facebook Bookworm2bookworm Blog page, so don’t be shy, stop by and LIKE me, really, REALLY like me [she said w/Sally Fields sincerity]

Dani, thanks for having me! This was too much fun, can we do it again?! Just kidding!