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Summary: This book is wonderful!
Review: As a novice romance writer, this book has helped me tremendously with dialogue. I suggest any beginning writer invest in this literary wonder!
Rating: 
Summary: Bad Writing!
Review: As a professional writer and novelist, I think this is a terrible book, quite possibly the worst writing book I've ever seen! It's full of tired and uncreative phrases down to "her slender white neck," and I would really like to see her "ivory shoulders beckon to him." It's more likely that he would run away screaming.Though this book may help spark some beginning writer's imagination, it can also inspire the very worst of writing. I bought this book years ago when I first started writing romance. Needless to say, it quickly found its way into the trash can. Aspiring writers who are seriously interested in writing and publishing romance novels would do well to think up their own phrases.
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Summary: Any romantic writer will love this...
Review: As a writer, I had never wandered into Romance writing until recently challenged to do so by friend of mine who writes romance. Of course, a little research was in order. This was my favorite of the resource books I picked up. It provides examples of good tags -- that is a descriptive sentence which smoothens out the writing and makes a story much more enjoyable. It is broken down into themes and subjects common to all romance novels, and the examples are wonderful. I highly recommend this book to any writer looking to inject some good description into their work.
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Summary: I hate it, I love it, I loathe it, I use it
Review: Don't give it as a gift. Really. This book is beyond insulting to a writer. But, is it useful? You better believe it! It's especially useful when your brain has just cramped up from writer's block; or, when you need just the right hue of green for the hero's eyes and all you can think of is "glittery mold". Save yourself from insult and be sure to buy this book before someone thinks it a kindness to buy it for you.
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Summary: Helpful for first time writers dream!!
Review: I didn't know if I wanted to buy this book at first or not, because I wondered how much help it would be to me and I hate spending money or books then after I get it I HATE it, but I'm SO HAPPY I purchased this gold mine of a book.
Since, I'm trying to work on my first novel and was running out of ways for the hero and heroine to communicate with each other without words, this book came in so handy for me.
There phrases you can use for hand, eye, finger and body movements also in the back are different ways to describe the color of your characters eyes, hair, or anything else you need a fresh word for.
This book may not be helpful to an advance writer, but to a newbie like me I found it worth the money. I'm so please with it I have marked several of the pages I found most helpful.
Rating: 
Summary: How Capt. Chicken Won the War
Review: I found myself physically ill after a good three quarters of the entries in the book, and strangely inspired by the rest. The vocabulary ideas are excellent. But in general I veiwed it as a cop out. The moment I put this sissy-aid of a book back in the library returns I missed it, and wished I had to to look through every once in a while. It is now reserved by some women in suburbs for the rest of the mammals' domination of the planet, and I am forced to spent honestly earned dollars on it. In afterthought, the book does get the ball rolling in certain situations. I don't write romance, therefore some of the entries and ideas are too overly dramatic for my use, but it does get the ball rolling in terms of sentence structure and word choice.
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Summary: Good Little Book for Creating Better Narrative
Review: I found the Romance Writers' Phrase Book, by Kent and Shelton very helpful for the Christian contemporary romance novel I just completed. Moreover, I think this assortment of narrative "tags" would be beneficial for any fiction story, especially one containing much dialogue. Some entries are simply gestures, such as, "she closed her hand over his," but others are clearly meant to be used with dialogue, such as, "he ripped out the words impatiently." This book is full of short, one-liners, called tags, that are frequently used in dialogue and narrative with the reader almost oblivious to them. However, they add so much to the "showing, not telling" of a story. No two people stand and talk without facial expressions, gestures and eye contact. This book gives you the wording you need to make your otherwise "cardboard" people come alive and seem real. To move from a book of cold, hard facts to one with moving, exciting scenes one would benefit from the Phrase Book. The over 3,000 descriptive tags are arranged under topics, such as emotions, facial expressions, and body movements, making it easier to find the perfect phrase to add life to your story. Unfortunately, the topics are not alphabetized and it could use an index (I made my own to use alongside it), but being it's a small, soft-cover book, it's not hard to flip through as you are creating your story. I agree that it is not the most recent (1984 edition) and a revision is greatly needed, but I found it very handy. There are enough phrases I can use, I can certainly afford to throw out the others that are out of date. I would say that by the condition of my rather dog-eared book, I consider it very helpful and my almost constant companion while working. If a newer version ever hits the book store, a copy will certainly be on my shelf of books I most often use.
Rating:
Summary: Helpful
Review: I found this book quite helpful in sparking some ideas when I was in a dry period. My secret weapon is The Romantic's Guide by Michael Webb. It is a book of 100s of creative, romantic things he has done for his wife. His adventures make most romantic hero tame by comparison. Author of 17 romance novels.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Waste Your Time!
Review: I found this book to be of absolutely no value to me. It's chapters and phrases offer nothing new to the writer, wannabe writer or reader of Romance. If you're seeking to write a Romance, you should be able to come up with descriptive phrases without having to stop your writing and look up a phrase in the book. Additionally, if you have ever read a romance novel, as you should have if you're considering writing one, you don't need this book - just check out your old stack of paperbacks.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Waste Your Time!
Review: I found this book to be of absolutely no value to me. It's chapters and phrases offer nothing new to the writer, wannabe writer or reader of Romance. If you're seeking to write a Romance, you should be able to come up with descriptive phrases without having to stop your writing and look up a phrase in the book. Additionally, if you have ever read a romance novel, as you should have if you're considering writing one, you don't need this book - just check out your old stack of paperbacks.
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