Monday, June 18, 2007

Am I the last person to discover Suzanne Brockman?

I read my first Suzanne Brockman book this weekend. Read it in two big gulps. A friend loaned me Brockman's first of the Navy SEAL series because I wanted to see what authors did to really stand out in catagory romance. Now, of course I know who Suzanne is. I've seen the droves of people lining up to get thier books signed. I even know someone (Maureen) who won a ticket to go to a special dinner with Suzanne Brockman where there was a spoof of her books performed by other list-making authors. I totally got that she was a big deal.

Now I get why.

Was Prince Joe the best catagory book I ever read? Nope. But it was really really good. Sexual tension. Attention to detail. Interesting external plot - some sort of old school internal plot stuff that wouldn't fly today - But man, those male character leapt off the page. And catagory romance has been and will probably always be about the hero. And she writes a hell of a hero. She also writes a bunch of them -- all connected so people can't wait to go get that next book.

Anyone know which book comes after Prince Joe? Because I am addicted.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Molly,

I felt the same way when I "discovered" her several years ago. She's fabulous, isn't she? Wait until you read Over the Edge, which is from Ballantine.

Re her Harlequin/Mira books, I'm not sure which one comes next, but there's:

The Admiral's Bride
Hawken's Heart
Harvard's Education
Everyday Average Joe (which might have been reissued as Prince Joe??? I'm not sure)
Frisco's Kid
Forever Blue
Night Watch (Intimate Moments)
etc

If you have trouble getting any of these, let me know and I'll lend you a copy of mine.

Nancy

Maureen McGowan said...

You know, I've never read her, in spite of going to than fan dinner. And I PAID FOR IT. I didn't win it.
But it was a complete eye-opening experience. First, that she has an entourage. Second, that most of the people at the dinner weren't even at the conference or RWA members. Third, how far some of them had driven to be in Reno for that dinner. Fourth, just how wildly in love with her these 250-300 people were.

I had a great time, and even enjoyed the skit, although I didn't get it at all because I hadn't read the books...

But at least one thing she said during that dinner about how she gets into her Navy Seal heros' heads has stuck with me, big time. Made me realize I don't do enough research.

Unknown said...

Suzanne Brockmann is one of the reasons I decided to try my hand at romance writing six years ago. Being former military, I just fell in love with her heroes!

She actually has two series about Navy Seals. PRINCE JOE is the first in her TALL, DARK AND DANGEROUS series that were first issued as SIMs / some issued later by Mira. They are (in release order):

PRINCE JOE, SIM #720, TDD #1, Jun 1996
FOREVER BLUE, SIM #742, TDD #2, Oct 1996
FRISCO'S KID, SIM #759, TDD #3, Jan 1997
EVERYDAY, AVERAGE JONES, SIM #872, TDD #4, Aug 1998
HARVARD'S EDUCATION, SIM #884, TDD #5, Oct 1998
IT CAME UPON A MIDNIGHT CLEAR, SIM #896, TDD #6, December 1998 (Reissued April 2005 as HAWKEN'S HEART)
THE ADMIRAL'S BRIDE, SIM #962, TDD #7, Nov 1999
IDENTITY: UNKNOWN, SIM #974, TDD #8, Jan 2000
GET LUCKY, SIM #991, TDD #9, Mar 2000
TAYLOR'S TEMPTATION, SIM, TDD #10, Jul 2001
NIGHT WATCH, SIM, TDD #11, Sep 2003

Her second group of SEALS (who slowly move away from being a military group to being...well, don't want to spoil it!) are the TOUBLESHOOTERS (issued by Ballentine) and they are (in order):

THE UNSUNG HERO, Ballantine, June 2000
THE DEFIANT HERO, Ballantine, March 2001
OVER THE EDGE, Ballantine, September 2001
OUT OF CONTROL, Ballantine, March 2002
INTO THE NIGHT, Ballantine, December 2002
GONE TOO FAR, Ballantine, July 2003
FLASHPOINT, Ballantine, March 2004
HOT TARGET, Ballantine, December 28, 2004
BREAKING POINT, Ballantine, July 12, 2005
INTO THE STORM, Ballantine, August 15, 2006
FORCE OF NATURE, Ballantine, August 14, 2007
ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT, Ballantine, October 30, 2007

She created a "Reader's Guide to the Troubleshooters" that at 56 pages is wonderful --- you can download it off her website.

And while, I have every one of her books down in my office (including the reissues - loved the new covers) I got all the above from Suzanne's website. ;)

Like Maureen said, Suzanne is very big into getting into her heroes heads...she does deep point of view better than anyone I know.

Molly O'Keefe said...

oh my lord I have a lot of reading to do -- thanks guys!!!

Anonymous said...

I feel like I've missed out on something not having read her.

My TBR pile is scary huge... it could be years before I read her.

Molly O'Keefe said...

I am also reading my first Loretta Chase -- I know I'm the last one to read her. Except maybe Sinead - have you found her yet? Amazing. I'm reading Mr. Impossible -- what a hero --

Amy Ruttan said...

Nope apparently I am the last. I've never heard of her, but I'll have to check her out.

Anonymous said...

I read Chase's Lord of Scoundrels and the hero in that was incredible as well.

I will definitely pick up Mr. Impossible..

Unknown said...

I've heard of Suzanne but I haven't read any of her books. I'm not normally one for Navy SEAL stories, but everyone raves about hers. One of these days I'll have to try her out.

Molly O'Keefe said...

you know I didn't think I was one for Navy Seals either -- but it just creates this amazing hero.

But I'm LOVING Loretta Chase -- Amy? Aren't you a historical fan, too? You should really check her out -- fun stuff.

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