Tag Archives: Camy Tang

Booked

Deadly Intent (Camy Tang)

I know, I know, I should post more. Sorry for the delay in reviewing this book — work is eating me alive again! Anyway before we go to the review proper, the winner of my Deadly Intent giveaway contest is (drawing is care of random.org :D)…

Drawing c/o random.org
Drawing c/o random.org

Angela!

Congratulations! I’ll be sending you an email after I submit this post. :) Enjoy your new book. :D

Okay, now for the review. :D

Rating: [rate 4.0]

Deadly Intent (Camy Tang)

SCENE OF THE CRIME

The Grant family’s exclusive Sonoma spa is a place for rest and relaxation—not murder! Then Naomi Grant finds her client Jessica Ortiz bleeding to death in her massage room, and everything falls apart. The salon’s reputation is at stake…and so is Naomi’s freedom when she discovers that she is one of the main suspects! Her only solace is found with the other suspect—Dr. Devon Knightley, the victim’s ex-husband. But Devon is hiding secrets of his own. When they come to light, where can Naomi turn…and whom can she trust?

Camy comes back with a new book, this time not with sushi but with a spa, a new spa owner, a handsome doctor and a murder! It’s no secret that I love Camy’s books (see the reviews here, here and here) and having a chance to read this book is really exciting. :D

In this book, Naomi is taking over their family spa, and is not expecting it to be an easy job, but she also never expected that she would have to deal with the murder of her client! Naomi wonders what God has in store for her and if he really wanted her to be where she was. Not only that, but there’s also handsome Dr. Devon Knightley who always seems to be around ever since the murder…and it’s making Naomi not so comfortable because of her crush on Devon. I think Naomi definitely wouldn’t mind giving away  wedding invitations with their names on it, but not at this time, when they’re both accused of murder!

This is a fun and quick read — just the right amount of mystery, suspense and dead bodies and it kept me hanging until the end. I was actually quite surprised to find out who the culprit was, and kind of sad to know why she did all those things. Naomi is a strong protagonist though, and I found myself rooting for her all through out the novel. The faith aspect is nicely tied in as well, and it never felt like it was too preachy — everything felt natural.

Another great book by Camy! :D

Booked

Deadly Intent Blog Tour: Camy on her Characters

Deadly Intent (Camy Tang)

SCENE OF THE CRIME

The Grant family’s exclusive Sonoma spa is a place for rest and relaxation—not murder! Then Naomi Grant finds her client Jessica Ortiz bleeding to death in her massage room, and everything falls apart. The salon’s reputation is at stake…and so is Naomi’s freedom when she discovers that she is one of the main suspects! Her only solace is found with the other suspect—Dr. Devon Knightley, the victim’s ex-husband. But Devon is hiding secrets of his own. When they come to light, where can Naomi turn…and whom can she trust?

From her successful Sushi Series (Sushi for One?, Only Uni, and Single Sashimi), Camy is back with another sure-hit novel! This time she takes a different route from her first three chick lit novels, bringing in a world of suspense, mystery, romance and well, God, into the quiet-turned-deadly spa.

Okay, so that’s my effort at trying to make a good intro. :P But I’m seriously honored to have Camy here on my blog again. I just love her books, with all the action and the solid characters that stay in my mind long after I read them all. I’ve decided to interview Camy this time to pick her brain about her characters:

1. Today is my character Ruth’s birthday. :) Do you give your characters birthdays too, even if it’s not mentioned in the story? If so, when are they?

Um…not really, unless I want to use the birthday as a scene in the story. But I always know how old my characters are. Naomi is 27 years old and Devon is 35.

2. Was Naomi’s character based on anyone (or any people) you know? What about Devon?

Naomi isn’t based on anyone I know, but I always thought being a massage therapist would be a cool job, so I did a lot of research for Naomi’s career and for the spa.

Devon’s personality isn’t anyone I know, but his job is borrowed from the orthopedic surgeon who repaired my ACL (twice). Dr. King is the official orthopedic surgeon for the Oakland Raiders. He’s totally nice.

3. You mentioned in your previous blog posts about which archetypes your previous characters (Lex, Trish, Venus and Jen) fall into. What archetype did you use for Naomi?

Naomi’s a maiden or Persephone archetype. They tend to be easygoing and carefree, but Naomi has been thrust into a more responsible role by her father, who just had a stroke. Worried about the future of his spa, he puts Naomi in charge as acting manager and is grooming her to eventually take over the spa when he retires. Naomi does it to please him, but she doesn’t really want to take over the spa—she’s happy as head massage therapist, because she likes giving massages, not managing a business.

4. All of your novels give us both the point of view of the hero and heroine. I often have a hard time getting into my male character’s heads. How do you do it?

I usually talk to my husband to get his perspective on things. And when I’m writing, I think to myself, Would Captain Caffeine use this word or phrase? How would he say this?

5. If Naomi were to meet any of the Sushi cousins, who do you think will she be friends with?

I think she’d get along with Trish the best. The two of them would know how to have fun, but at the same time, both of them know what it’s like to have responsibility thrust upon them.

6. Who is your favorite female character outside of your books? How about your favorite male character?

My favorite female character is Anne Elliot from Persuasion by Jane Austen. Anne is intelligent, calm, and organized. She withstands her horrendous family with strength and insight, yet compassion—all of which I lack. I think a part of me wants to be Anne.

My favorite male character is Sir Percy Blakeney from the Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy. He’s just always so clever, and yet he has such a passionate love for his wife, which makes him terribly romantic.

7. Who is the next heroine that you are writing about? What can we expect from her?

My next heroine is December (isn’t that a cool name? I borrowed it from a woman who was taking one of my online classes). She will be my toughest heroine to write so far, because her struggles will be so close to home. I’ve always struggled with my weight, and recently I completed the Couch to 5K running training program. I’m going to have December do the Couch to 5K, too!

Thanks for having me here, Tina!
Camy

Camy Tang writes romance with a kick of wasabi. She used to be a biologist, but now she is a staff worker for her church youth group and leads a worship team for Sunday service. She also runs the Story Sensei fiction critique service. On her blog, she gives away Christian novels every week, and she ponders frivolous things like dumb dogs (namely, hers), coffee-geek husbands (no resemblance to her own…), the writing journey, Asiana, and anything else that comes to mind. Visit her website at http://www.camytang.com/ for a huge website contest going on right now, giving away fourteen boxes of books and 30 copies of her latest release, DEADLY INTENT.

* * *

OH AND BEFORE I FORGET!

I’m giving away a copy of Camy’s new book! Just leave a comment on this entry with your name and email address so you’ll be a part of the raffle. :) Deadline of entries is Monday, July 27, 2009. I’ll be announcing the winner by Tuesday, July 28, 2009. :D

Booked

Only Uni (Camy Tang)

Rating: [rate 5.0]

Only Uni (Camy Tang)Senior biologist Trish Sakai is ready for a change from her wild, flirtatious behavior. So Trish creates three simple rules from First and Second Corinthians and plans to follow them to the letter. No more looking at men as possible dates, especially non-Christians. Second, tell others about Christ. And third, she will persevere in hardship by relying on God. And just to make sure she behaves, she enlists the help of her three cousins — Lex, Venus and Jennifer — the only Christians in their large extended family.

But Trish’s dangerously tempting ex-boyfriend, Kazuo the artist, keeps popping up at all the wrong moments, and her grandmother, who has her eye on his family money, keeps trying to push the two of them back together again. Then there’s Spenser, the hunky colleague at work who keeps turning Trish’s thoughts in the wrong direction.

It just isn’t fair! She’s trying to hard, but instead of being God’s virtuous woman, she’s going nuts trying to stand firm against two hunky guys. Trish thought following her three rules would be a cinch, but suddenly those simple rules don’t seem so simple at all.

So I finally got my hands onto this book — much thanks to Camy for her e-group contest and the free books! This book is signed too, so I’m definitely keeping this.

Anyway, so I read the Sushi series out of the original order, and it really doesn’t matter, except if you don’t want to know what happened to Trish at the end of this book. Nevertheless, reading Single Sashimi first didn’t spoil me of the details in this book, so it was still a fun read.

If Lex is kind of boyish and Venus stays away from boys, Trish…well, she embraces them. She’s the flirtiest among all the cousins, and it came to a point that she let her cousins down because she chose a guy over them (that was foreshadowed in Sushi for One?). This time, though, she’s determined to turn over a new leaf by making three rules based on the book of Corinthians. She can do this, right?

If only life were so easy, then maybe everyone could make up a set of rules in their life and avoid sin at all times. But life isn’t like that, and Trish had to learn it the hard way. From a roommate who gets her kicked out of her place to finding a new place that is basically a dump (with mutant mold and discount sinks)  to her ex-boyfriend wooing her again to her hunky colleague and to churchmates who couldn’t understand the way she worships (and there’s more, actually), this book is such a fun read, just like the two other books in the Sushi series. There was never a dull moment, and the faith issues were realistic and tackled head on.

The ending was quite surprising (but of course, since I’m already spoiled, it wasn’t that surprising, but I bet other people would think it is surprising for Christian fiction), but it presents a reality of life, where we have to face the consequences of our actions and be responsible for it. It’s something all Christians — be it a new one or one who has been a Christian all his/her life — should remember.

Oh, and to actually get how the ending happened, you’d have to pay attention to the smaller details in the book. I was kind of surprised when it was sprung on to Trish, but reading the past pages showed that Camy left enough clues about it. :P

So far, out of the entire series, my favorite female character is still Venus, but my favorite male character is Spenser, hands down. He’s second to Kevin Novak from the Ashley Stockingdale series. :D

I’m kind of sad that the Sushi Series is over (save for the novella about Jenn which is exclusive for Camy’s e-group — so join now!), but I can’t wait to read the other things that Camy will write! I’m sure they’d just be as awesome. :D

Booked

Sushi for One? (Camy Tang)

4 Comments

Rating: [rate 5.0]

Sushi for One? By Camy Tang

Lex Sakai’s family is big, nosy and marriage-minded. When her cousin Mariko gets married, Lex will become the oldest single female cousin in the clan.

Lex has used her Bible study class on Ephesians to compile a list of traits for the perfect man. but the one man she keeps running into doesn’t seem to have a single quality on her list. It’s only when the always-in-control Lex starts to let God take over that all the pieces of this hilarious romance finally fall into place.

After being a visitor and reader of Camy’s blog since last year, I finally got a copy of her first book. I stumbled into Camy’s blog while searching for books to buy from Amazon from my dad, and I’ve been following her blog ever since. I waited for her book to come out here but it seems like it hasn’t yet (so sad), but I’m glad I finally got a copy of this now. :D

I read in one of the reviews from Amazon that the blurb at the back of the book (written above) does not do the book justice…and she’s right: it totally did not. There was so much happening in the story that I felt like I was watching a TV series. I couldn’t let the book go because of all the enjoyable characters and scenes — Lex’s very annoying grandmother, her silly brother who keeps on setting her up with every guy he meets, Aiden, the silent observer and her physical therapist, Mimi, the flirtier cousin and her three closest cousins and friends, Trish, Venus and Jenn. Even if there was a lot happening, everything went well together and was somehow significant as the story goes on.

Continue reading Sushi for One? (Camy Tang) →