A Matter of Sin by Jess Michaels-guest Blog and Review

 TODAY I AM HONORED TO HAVE JESS MICHAELS AS MY GUEST. JESS HAS BEEN NICE ENOUGH TO BE MY GUEST BLOGGER AND WILL TALK ABOUT THE EVER MURKY TOPIC OF BOOK REVIEWS- HOW DO AUTHORS DEAL WITH A NEGATIVE REVIEW?  
As the Reviews Come In
Jess Michaels
Hi everyone and a huge thank you to Julie for allowing me to stop by here today. If you don’t know me, I’m Jess Michaels and I write erotic historical romance. When Julie asked me to blog here, I asked her about any topics she’d like to see me cover and she was kind enough to throw out a few ideas. One of them really stood out to me, probably because yesterday my latest book, A Matter of Sin, was released into the world.
She asked me about reviews. Specifically negative reviews.
It’s a truly hot topic in the world of bloggers, readers and writers. After all, if you trace the origins of many of the kerfuffles in the world of publishing, a good portion come from a writer’s response to a review. Now I can’t speak for any other writer, but here is my take on reviews:

1. I want them. I need them. Just like every other writer. I seek them out from blogs and reviewers. I truly appreciate reviews from bloggers and readers who take the time to leave them, good or bad. Every review has an impact on the Amazon algorithm and helps other readers decide what to buy. So it’s win-win for everyone.
2. I think every reader is entitled to their opinion. After all, you paid for the book, read the book and your reaction to the book can’t possibly be “wrong”. It’s how you feel, that’s not an arguable point.
3. I don’t read them. Well, I try anyway. And that goes for positive or negative reviews. Good ones can only give you a swelled head and bad ones can only give you a broken heart. A review isn’t for me, it’s for readers and I don’t feel like I should be part of that. I’m going to write what I like and some people will love it, some people will hate it. It is the way of the world and the way of an artistic endeavor. If I tried to change to address one person’s negative thought, the next book would only bother someone else for the exact thing I changed. I figure my audience will find me and if someone doesn’t like me, hopefully they don’t torture themselves by reading more than one or two books.
4. I don’t respond to them. Again, the review is not for me. Even if they are a personal attack on me rather than on my book, even when they are incorrect in their information, I don’t respond. Now if someone emails me directly or contacts me directly via my social media, of course I respond to them. But there is a difference between a positive or negative review left in a public place and a personal interaction between me and a reader.

If you read my book that just came out, I totally hope you will leave a review, for good or for bad! In fact, I hope you will! Just don’t be surprised to hear that I’ll be at home trying to ignore when a new review pops up. Trying….
Do you leave reviews for books? Has an author’s reaction to a review ever kept you from buying them?
 THANKS SO MUCH JESS FOR STOPPING BY TODAY!   MY REVIEW OF A MATTER OF SIN BY JESS MICHAELS 
A Matter of Sin by Jess Michaels
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A Matter of Sin- The Ladies of Pleasure # 1 by Jess Michaels is a 2014 Samhain publication. I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This is a delightfully wicked and steamy historical romance set in the Regency Period era. There is a new and titillating book circulating entitled “Ladies Book of Pleasures”. Now this book is pretty naughty stuff for regency times and it speaks frankly of what a lady should do to enjoy certain pleasures in life.
Lady Isabel Avenbury has decided that once she finds a match for her youngest half- sister, she will finally have the time for her own pleasures and will seek out a lover. When she arrives at a country home as chaperone for her sister she happens upon a copy of the infamous “Ladies Book of Pleasures” in the library. Intrigued ,she decides to borrow it but is caught by Marquis Lyndham- Seth Rowland.
Seth isn't really into this tedious search for a bride and all that goes with that. He cringes as the thought of some silly girl becoming his bride when Isabel is so lovely and sensuous. Although by society standards Isabel, a widow, is past her prime, Seth finds he can't keep his mind, his eyes or his hands off of her. The suggestive and provocative book Isabel discovers leads them into a torrid and passionate affair, but Seth has responsibilities. He needs to find a wife and Isabel is not the type of woman he needs to marry.
The people who lived in the regency period, men especially, were very opposed to the discussion of sex in social circles, in books, or anywhere for that matter, in front of ladies. Ladies were to pretend to have no knowledge of sex while having a house full of children. So, if a book came along that gave women some much needed information and advice they may have feigned shock and offense, but were most likely very curious. I don't know if a book was ever really published in this era that was comparable to “ Ladies Book of Pleasures” but if there was I can just imagine women sneaking around trying to get look at it. Each chapter of the this book begins with a quote from the Ladies of Pleasures and I thought many of the quotes were funny and were most likely prevalent then, but just as prevalent today in many instances.
“At the most unexpected times, our lives can change. Most ladies are encouraged to run from it, but why can't we embrace it?”- Ladies Book of Pleasure
For the most part this is a really light and fun read, although there are a few moments of angst, misunderstandings, sadness and heartbreak. There also moments where as a woman I could really relate to Isabel and so will many of you. Duties, responsibilities, family obligations and a thousand other things can have us neglecting our health and well being as well as our personal emotional needs and happiness. So, even though we shouldn't shirk our duties we should also take the time to enjoy life's pleasures and do a little something for ourselves and make the time for romance instead of putting it on a back burner.
This is a wonderful story and I had a lot of fun reading it. This one gets 4 stars
Available Now!!
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K5RAA8ABN: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-matter-of-sin-jess-michaels/1119633303?ean=9781619219960Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/a-matter-of-sinSamhain: http://store.samhainpublishing.com/a-matter-of-sin-p-73494.html