Archive for the ‘Great Female Fiction Characters’ Category
September 15th, 2009 | 
Author: JA Jance is a great writer of fiction and has several recurring figures that I enjoy reading about. Joanna Brady is a small town sheriff in Arizona. Ms. Jance’s other great character is JP Beaumont. She wrote a book several years ago where these two characters meet called “Partner in Crime”. That story left us readers wondering, “what if”. “Fire and Ice” follows these two characters through a series of murders that are connected. JP is following on the trail of a serial killer. Joanna is having problems with a murder as well. She also has an officer who is missing a sister. Yes, you guessed it, the sister is one of JP’s victims.
It is amazing how the author can keep the two areas separate in their series. You go from the desert area of Bisbee, Arizona to the rain-soaked area of Seattle, Washington. I think that is where the title comes from fire-hot Arizona to ice-cold Washington. It is a yin-and-yang kind of thing. And it makes for a “keep you on your toes” mystery!
Even though the Joanna character and the JP character do not meet up until the end of the book it is still a great story and has a very believable if maybe a somewhat disappointing ending. But it does end none-the-less. Pick up your copy today and give it a read. This story may inspire you to read the entire series of Joanna Brady and JP Beaumont books. You can find a listing of them on the author’s website:
http://www.jajance.com/jajance.com/Books_In_Order_List.html
You can pick up a copy of “Fire and Ice” from our ebookstore page as well as all the other great books by JA Jance. You pick up a paper copy of these books or if you own a KINDLE machine you can order the electronic book.
Cheers!
jolenemacinjax
Admin
“KEEP ON READING”
Posted in 
Tags: 
As I stated in one of my previous entries. I like to re-read my favorite books each year. The best is when there are several of the same character. Laurell K. Hamilton writes the Anita Blake series and currently has 16 books out with the great female character with a new one being released in June of this year. The first story, Guilty Pleasures (Buy a box set = Laurell K. Hamilton Set – Guilty Pleasures, The Laughing Corpse, Circus of the Damned and The Lunatic Cafe
These stories are packed full of fun, adventure, mystery and after the 5th book has some very interesting love scenes. The series centers around a female character who is in her mid 20s, short, black hair, buxom but fit and has some strong values and, of course, would like everything to go her way. She is a typical 20-something female in the modern era living in St. Louis except she raises zombies for a living and on the side she assists the local police with cases involving supernatural bad guys. Meanwhile she is trying to cope with being a single woman dating a Vampire, a werewolf and later on in the series living with two leopardmen as well as dating the vampire – Master of the City- and sometimes dating the werewolf – Ulfric or Clan Leader. She has to cope with the stress of the police work and the “good-ole-boy” code, a pushy boss who wants all of her time devoted to raising zombies and making him money, the demands of her boyfriends and their weird relatives, as well as trying to keep fit so that she can outrun the bad guys. Later in the series the vampire hunters are granted Federal Marshall status so that they can hunt bad guys across state lines. This is a help as well as a hindrance for her. She also has an edge. She is what is known as a necromancer with the ability to control all of the “dead”. As her power grows so does her enemies.
This story also touches on the problems of those of us who work nights. Granted she has been taught that zombies can only be raised at night and one of her boyfriends is only alive at night but she also has to deal with friends who call when she has only had two hours of sleep, sales people who call during the day when you forget to turn the answering machine on and in the beginning of the isolation that comes from not being on everyone else’s schedule. For me I just turn the phone off, wait till the kids are off to school, and call my friends and relatives first thing in the morning. And, I like her attitude about life in general, if you can’t do anything to change the bad things happening right now deal with what you can one thing at a time.
These stories will take you out of your stress-filled days and entertain you as only good stories can. These books appeal to both men and women, young as well as old alike. And by old I mean those who are over 100 as are most of the vampires in this series. So, if you feel that you are different and just don’t fit in anywhere just remember somewhere out there there are more people like us we just have to find a way to connect. As these books are about those who are different from the norm each of us can find someone to connect with if we keep trying, reading, researching and participating. Life is an active exercise!
This is a great little interview by JA Jance on her book “Web of Evil” that I found on YouTube! Have you had a chance to read this great writers books? Give them a try. Visit her website for more information and a booklist. I have read all of her books and my favorite character is Sheriff Joanna Brady. She begins as a wife of the local deputy who is running for sheriff and is the daughter of a former sheriff in a small town in Arizona. The story lines moves from working for an insurance agent to her losing her husband and her becoming sheriff while trying to raise her little girl with the help of her best friend, a woman minister, and her in-laws. Her mother is a little “stuck-up” and not much help more of a hindrance to her daughter. Sheriff Brady must get training for herself after she is elected where she meets her future love interest. There are now 13 books with this character. “Web of Evil” is a middle book in the series with the character Ali Reynolds. Ms Reynolds is recently divorced lady who decides to create a blog and gets involved with murder! She also writes about a Detective in Seattle J.P. Beaumont. There are 18 books with this character. I haven’t read all of these yet. Ms. Jance has one book that involves both of these characters called “Partners in Crime”. That is really a great story. I have read all of the Joanna Brady series at least twice. She is another one of those authors that you can re-read her books over again every year and find something that you missed the first time and still enjoy them!
A Great Interview with JA Jance by Stacey Cochran that was talks about how she got started writing, how she creates her characters and her latest book Damage Control. This video is about 20 minutes.
Authors@Google Interview with JA Jance as she talks about her book “Damage Control”! This video is about 50 minutes.
