Phyllida is listed in the no. 1 (top) position in OUT Magazine's June/July issue "Hot List: Literature" feature on "Summer Reads."

My hero, Andrew (a total top), would be proud.

I was Googling myself the other day. Actually, it was Good Friday. As an Episcopalian by upbringing (aka Catholic lite), I felt this was the only appropriate way to observe so solemn an occasion.

And what did I find? On the Barnes and Noble listing for Phyllida, an absolute rave review, the kind that an author dares to imagine only in her most narcissistic dreams.

I braced myself for the shattering crack of doom as the earth stood still and all of creation went flying (as in the H.G. Wells story, "The Man Who Could Work Miracles"). Nothing. I then flapped aimlessly around my apartment, unable to sit still in front of my computer, wondering why I was still inhabiting this middle-aged body and had not yet sprouted wings or been teleported into the fifth dimension to sip nectar and be fed ambrosia by beautiful, half-naked, bisexual young men.

When it was clear I wasn't headed for Mount Olympos, I e-mailed everybody in my address book and called those people who might not come over to my apartment and bash me on the head for starting their weekend off with unseemly gloating and boasting. On Monday, I figured, I would be deluged by the alerted media. I'd better get my beauty sleep, wash my hair. Perhaps Botox or a face-lift was in order. And was it possible to get a full set of dental implants over Easter?

But what do you know? Monday came and life went on as before. One thing is different. I can now die happy. I have written the book I wanted to write. I have managed to get it published without having to change it. And I have received a well written rave review from a reviewer who sees the book as I would like it to be seen and expresses her opinion with concise, literate style.

To wish for anything more might be seen as...ungrateful. And so I thank you, Cynthia Johnson, reviewer for Library Journal. I thank everyone at HarperCollins who made this possible. And I thank my friends and coworkers who have endured the ongoing saga of the perils of Phyllida, the trials and tribulations of authorship and publishing, with forbearance and even the remarkable ability to feign interest. Thank you all.

If you'd like to read the complete review, here's the link to the Fiction reviews of the March 15 issue of Library Journal:

http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6541458.ht ml?q=ann+herendeen

There's another great review of Phyllida online at the Midwest Book Review. Reviewer Cassandra calls it a "fun read," and says that I have "smartly brought together the style of Jane Aust[e]n and a strong command of English history." Later she says, "Herendeen has a delightful sense of humor and her inflection like [Charlie?] Chaplin's is perfect for getting laughs." Finally, referring to the book's "dry wit and sparkle that makes it well worth reading," she calls Phyllida "a little bit like an English pot pie with a Lubitsch touch [with] good dialogue, historical accuracy and some unusually delightful [set] pieces."

Read the entire review on the Reviews page:
http://www.annherendeen.com/Reviews.html

There's 4 1/2 strawberries (out of 5) review of my bisexual Regency romance at Forbidden Fruit : the original slash fiction magazine for girls who like boys who like boys.

Reviewer Emily Veinglory said: Phyllida and the Brotherhood of Philander ... delivers page after page of rollicking regency romance ... [with] two main characters that charm and exasperate and a plot that bolts out the door from the first page and never slows down right to its climactic ending ... Phyllida was clearly written by a woman who enjoys a good story and is pulling out all the stops--if you can read with the same ‘damn the torpedoes’ attitude this is definitely the book for you!

She also called many of the scenes "laugh-out-loud funny."

Read the complete review on the Reviews page:
http://www.annherendeen.com/Reviews.html

Reviewer Natasha Smith gave my bisexual Regency romance novel a 4 (out of 5) on the Romance Junkies Web site

Here's an excerpt from the Blue Ribbon review:

“Romance abounds in Phyllida and the Brotherhood of Philander … At 528 pages, it is not a short, quick read but a tale well told. I soon found myself fully immersed in the story [and] quickly forgot about everything but finishing this book. Although not for underage readers, Ann Herendeen has woven a romantic story that I found satisfying."

Read the complete review on the Reviews page:
http://www.annherendeen.com/Reviews.html

There’s a terrific review of my book, Phyllida and the Brotherhood of Philander: A Bisexual Regency Romance, on the witty, snarky web site, Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Novels, which begins by describing Phyllida as “a very clever, highly articulate, historically sharp and delightfully entertaining romance.”

"Herendeen has a writing voice that matches the tone and restraint of the Regency," the reviewer goes on to say, "and her descriptions and dialogue are fantastic. Furthermore, the plot was fast paced, but each character had a degree of depth such that no one character was wooden or stock."

Read the whole thing at:
http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/index.php/weblog/phyllida_and_the_brotherhood_of_philander_a_bisexual_regency_romance
( Read more... )

There’s a terrific review of my book, Phyllida and the Brotherhood of Philander: A Bisexual Regency Romance, on the witty, snarky web site, Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Novels, which begins by describing Phyllida as “a very clever, highly articulate, historically sharp and delightfully entertaining romance.”
Read the whole thing at:
http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/index.php/weblog/phyllida_and_the_brotherhood_of_philander_a_bisexual_regency_romance

I’m writing a longer version here of an already long comment that I left on the site, because the reviewer described certain parts of the story, including what I hoped would be a delightful and heartwarming final scene, as “jarringly modern” and decided I had included them, and justified them in my Author’s Note, as “fantasy.”

Please note: This discussion will eventually refer to some specific plot details, so if you haven’t yet read Phyllida but would like to, and would prefer not to have the story spoiled, then please be careful about reading beyond the LJ cut, here. ( Read more... )

My bisexual Regency romance novel, Phyllida and the Brotherhood of Philander, was reviewed in Echo, "a biweekly magazine of news, culture and entertainment for a lesbian, bisexual, transexual, transgender and gay readership."

If you want to see this short and sweet review, go to http://www.echomag.com/
Click on "Previews & reviews" on the menu on the left, then click on "Between the covers."

Reviewer Ken Furtado caught the book's essence when he said: "Phyllida is not Tom Jones ... but reading it was a lot of fun."

I've made it in the world of Amazon.com--I've been reviewed by the most prolific and influential online reviewer, Harriet Klausner!
You can see her review at:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1420869639/102-7693220-1548908?n=283155

To learn more about Ms. Klausner and her speed-reading life of reviewing, check out these two articles:
First, from the Wall Street Journal http://www.opinionjournal.com/la/?id=110006483

and from Wired News: http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,53488-0.html?tw=wn_story_mailer
( Read more... )

( click here to read more about the Expo )

Also in attendance & autographing copies of her work, will be Ann Herendeen the author of the new Bisexual Regency Romance novel, “Phyllida and the Brotherhood of Philander”.

For those of you who have not read it, "Phyllida" is the story of a self-identified gay man in 1812 London who makes a marriage of convenience with a practical but impoverished lady of good family and then surprises himself--and her--by falling in love with his wife ...   then meets his ideal male partner.  

Like all true romances, the story has a happy ending, in every sense of those words.   Those of us who have read it have found it hysterical as well as historic, and most delightfully erotic.