Things...

**I recently reviewed Deep Magic by Joy Nash over at TGTBTU (They are under construction. Please bear with the ducks, 'twill be awesome eventually!) It was very good and different.

**Spurred on my enjoyment of Deep Magic and craving more unusual settings, my first official read of 2008 was The Preacher's Daughter, by Cheryl St. John, who I've heard great things about. It was pretty good. I love me some Americana, especially when they have socials with lemonade and pie and fiddlin'. I liked the preacher's daughter, Lorabeth, the girl had gumption. But although the angst of hero Ben was understandable, given his upbringing, it felt kind of contrived. Lorabeth and Ben's courtship and marriage were so angst-free, for him to start acting cold made him seem like a jerk. I don't know, something didn't quite work. Instead of feeling bad for Ben, I wanted him to get a grip. But I'd definitely read St. John again, because I liked the setting and her style.

**I went to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum on Saturday. It was fascinating. Although the slums of the Lower East Side are certainly not romantic in and of themselves, I would love to see more romance set in 19th or early 20th century New York. I think it would be a great setting. Anyone know of any? I tried Brenda Joyce's Deadly series, but I didn't care for the heroine or her love interest (although apparently it changes).

**I found a new tough vampire hunter chick to love. Who'd have thought it possible? My review of Jeaniene Frost's debut should be up soon.

Thank God for Lisa Kleypas...

Man, am I finding it hard to get in the fall swing of things. I'm having a taste of the future I guess. H-Bomb is in Pre-K five days a week, plus I get to chauffeur him to Speech and OT three days a week. Plus work, storytime and various other educational and edifying activities. I also have all these "projects" planned, like organizing my photos and selling stuff on Ebay and weeding the file cabinets and shit. Add to that a LU induced reading funk and kids who take two hours to fall asleep and you have someone who's grumpy and not getting reading done. I did breakdown and get the DVR, though, because I've missed 4 episodes of ANTM and Ghosthunters. I'm in love with it, it's my new toy, though I've only taped kid's shows so far.

I have read one historical all year. Literally. And it was a mediocre one. I haven't even been re-reading old favorites. After reading Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas, I really have no idea why. They may be just the change of pace I was looking for. I feel like I've been doing so much moaning and groaning about authors skimping on creating chemistry and relationships, relying instead on mental lusting (although, to be fair, I have read some good books in the past few months). This book was able to accomplish so relationship development, though the time span is relatively quick, others should take note. All it takes is a few encounters, some banter, some conversation, where the h/h get to know each other, and we get to know them...and I am a happy camper. Lisa Kleypas is a very dependable author, IMO. Even her less memorable books have well drawn characters, good chemistry, great sex, and an HEA that leaves you with a big smile. And what more can I ask for? I would count MTM as one of LK's less memorable books, but it still gets a B+ from me, because I couldn't put it down...it made me laugh and tear up...and hotness!

When an unexpected inheritance elevates her family to the ranks of the aristocracy, Amelia Hathaway discovers that tending to her younger sisters and wayward brother was easy compared to navigating the intricacies of the ton. Even more challenging: the attraction she feels for the tall, dark, and dangerously handsome Cam Rohan.

Wealthy beyond most men’s dreams, Cam has tired of society’s petty restrictions and longs to return to his “uncivilized” Gypsy roots. When the delectable Amelia appeals to him for help, he intends to offer only friendship—but intentions are no match for the desire that blindsides them both. But can a man who spurns tradition be tempted into that most time-honored arrangement: marriage? Life in London society is about to get a whole lot hotter….

Those of you who read the Wallflowers Quartet will remember Cam Rohan from Devil in Winter (great book!). I quite like him. For all his Gypsy exoticism, he was a steady, strong, levelhead fellow. He was the sane one in the relationship. Heroine Amelia Hathaway was almost unhinged in her determination to control things and be independent. At one point in the book, she really bugged me. But her family had been through so much, it was a defense mechanism. They made a great pair, I thought that he would need someone with a strong personality, so as not to be overshadowed and she fit the bill. I enjoyed the Hathaway family, especially Beatrix, the youngest, with her mix of immaturity and intuitiveness. She brought tears to my eyes with the window story. I hope she eventually gets her own book. As a fan of the Wallflowers and Westcliff in particular, it was good to be back at Stony Cross Park. There were some funny moments, sexy moments and some emotional moments.

I found the incident at the end with Amelia's former suitor to be unnecessary. Didn't add to the story. I also disliked big brother Leo more than I should. Overall, I don't think this one will stick with me the way some of Kleypas' others do, but it was a satisfying read. If you enjoy Kleypas, it won't disappoint. If you haven't read her before, start with Then Came You or Dreaming of You. I went on to re-read Scandal in Spring. Am I the only one who really loves this one? I love taciturn, secretly obsessed heroes. Speaking of which, the sneak preview of her next historical at The Good, the Bad and the Unread, has me wanting to do a tap dance. I am so excited for Win and Merripen's book. Kleypas does surly, but seething with love so well, and paired with an invalid from a different class? You have a recipe for angsty, tear-jerky reader heaven. Go look. I think I'm going to go re-read Devil in Winter.

Lightening my Load! (Part B)

This will be here awhile. Scroll down for new reviews and stuff.

This time inspired by a post at The Good, The Bad and The Unread, I'm doing a giveaway. When my parents moved last summer, I absconded with many, many paperbacks of varying quality. I had originally planned on reading some of them and using them for the blog, and also selling some on Ebay. It's been nine months and I can't quite be arsed to do anything about them. But after reading the post and comments at Sybil's, I thought some of them might have nostalgia or amusement value for others. So, without further ado, here is my list of vintage romances up for grabs. For the most part they are paperback editions from the late seventies.
Barbara Cartland (from the Bantam Barbara Cartland Library)
The Tears of Love
The Penniless Peer
The Wicked Marquis
Call of the Heart
The Impetuous Duchess
The Karma of Love
The Bored Bridegroom
A Dream From the Night
The Cruel Count
The Elusive Earl

Harlequin Romances
My Heart's a Dancer by Roberta Leigh
That Man Simon by Anne Weale
Under Moonglow by Anne Hampson
Love's Sweet Revenge by Mary Wibberley

Signet Regencies
An Honorable Offer by Catherine Coulter
The Counterfeit Marriage by Joan Wolf

Harlequin Presents
by Anne Mather:
The Arrogance of Love
Forbidden
Rooted in Dishonour
Beware the Beast
by Anne Hampson:
Dear Plutocrat
Fetters of Hate
Passionate Involvement by Lillian Peake
Tidewater Lover by Janet Dailey





This is how it will work. If you are interested, comment and we will get in touch. Each commenter can have up to four. I will pay for Media Mail postage if you are in the US or Canada. If you live elsewhere, we will work together to come to a cheap solution we both like. If nobody wants any, I'll find some other use for them. Perhaps a cover collage.

Attempting to keep it brief...

I'm trying to get my reviews a little bit shorter. It's tough though, I've always got so much too say. Let's give it a go...

**Step into Darkness by Naomi Bellis, was new to me, though it came out last September. It is the author's publishing debut, and I checked it out based upon the intriguing cover and back blurb, which promised a slightly different historical setting (Georgian England/Revolutionary France) and a hint of the paranormal. Step into Darkness kept my interest pretty well, but a few things kept it firmly in the C range. The hero, "Gentleman Jack" Tremaine, is not actually a thief, but a spy. Sorry for the spoilage, but this is revealed rather quickly. I haven't read too much spy stuff, so the revelation didn't bother me, and Jack's spymaster was the most intriguing character in the book. Jack himself, and the heroine, Sarah, were likable but rather bland, as was their romance. I think they fell in love too quickly for my tastes. The tension had the potential to be really juicy, but it was defused too fast. The love scenes were rushed also, particularly the first one,which should've been a bigger moment. The idea of "The Circle", a group (or groups?) of European Aristocracy who have magic powers, was introduced, but not particularly fleshed out. Who were "The Circle?" Where did they come from? What could they do? What influence (if any) did they have on society? I was left with many questions. I'm not sure if some of the blandness and vagueness is due to this being the first in a series, or if it's due to Ms. Bellis being a novice author, but there was enough that was good to keep me from writing the author off. I'll give the next one a try at some point, see if it's a bit more developed or exciting.

**I finally read If Angels Burn by Lynn Viehl. Ms. Viehl doesn't seem to have a website per se, but her blog is really interesting and has excellent resources for writers, especially. I had never read this series before, because I had read some mixed reviews. But I liked the titles and covers, and the descriptions sounded good. So I gave it a go, and I really liked it. I liked it so much that I dreamt that I was at Fortunoff's to get a dress for my sister's wedding, and there were used copies of all the books on a shelf, and in my haste to get to them, I knocked over a display of Lenox. Fortunoff's sells neither dresses nor books, but there you go. The heroine, Dr. Alex Keller, was prickly, without ever getting too annoying. I liked Michael Cyprien (the hero), as well. I did feel that the development into true love was a bit of a leap, but there was so much going on, I didn't mind. Viehl is building an interesting world here, with an intriguing cast, and good possibilities. Will Phillipe get a book, or is he sidekick material only? I really liked the explanation for the cause of the Darkyn's vampirism. It is very dark, though. Some scenes are not for the faint of heart. Damn, the Brethren (the Darkyn's enemy) are freaky! Although it is marketed as paranormal romance, I could give this one to my husband. In some ways, the love story took a back seat to the worldbuilding. But that was okay, because it was an exciting and intense read. I give it a B+ and I look forward to the next books, though I won't find them at Fortunoff's.

A Few Interesting Things...

I'm currently reading For a Few Demons More by Kim Harrison. This series doesn't work nearly as well for me as it does for others, but there is something that keeps me going with it. I looked at my review of Fistful of Charms and a lot of the same things are bothering me about this one. It started off o.k., but now it's starting to drag. I think I've reached my limit with Rachel also. I just don't get why everyone is so enamored of her. I'm determined to finish and review, though.

Other things that have been distracting me:
**I was lucky enough to win an e-book of Claiming the Courtesan from Dear Author. (Have you checked out the forums, BTW? They're just getting going, but look to be fun.) This was especially awesome because I was planning on giving this one a pass, until all the controversy erupted. Now I must read it for myself. I think Campbell's next release sounds good too. Now I don't have an EBook reader, so my method of choice for reading e-books is Microsoft Reader. When I popped on over to Fictionwise to claim my book, I was told by the site that I didn't have the proper software. Huh? Apparently, my copy of MS Reader has never been 'activated' and thus cannot get downloads from Fictionwise (a security measure. Moreover, I cannot activate my copy because I lack "Active X" controls. When I attempted to find out more about this Active X nonsense, I got pages and pages of jargon I could not understand. Has anyone ever faced this issue? I tried to backtrack and get it in Adobe Acrobat instead, but no dice. Arrrghhh!

**Elizabeth Hoyt guest blogged at Sybil's and Rene Lyons guest blogged at Sanctuary's Finest. Must get on reading their books. [Woo-hoo, I'm having good karma lately, and my love of leaving comments for authors is paying off. I won a copy of The Leopard Prince.] I love it when authors do the guest blogger thing.

**Has anyone read these?
Witchling by Yasmine Galenorn

Night Life by Elizabeth Guest

When Darkness Comes by Alexandra Ivy


**Things I'm excited about:






That's all. I shall return when I make it through the next round of birthday madness. And when I finish off the Harrison book.

Simple Jess? Simply Hilarious!

A guest review...

Awhile ago, I had the brilliant idea of forcing friends who normally never read romance to read and review a book chosen by me, based upon their personality and proclivities. Margee, of Sportsquee, which gets many more daily hits than me, was my first victim. Margee is a production slave in the Sports division of a major network, and as such, works about 14 hours a day. She is also my baby sister. I don't really think she really reads all that much besides magazines, with her crazy schedule. At first I was going to go with the obvious, a sports romance, but then I read Simple Jess by Pamela Morsi. I thought that it would be unusual enough and well-written enough to melt her cold, dead heart. Let's see how that went, shall we? My comments will be in purple at the end. Straight from the Sportsquee bunkers in Wyandanch, here she goes:

Devon, my eldest sister, whose taste I trust completely, has asked me to guest-review the novel Simple Jess. Devon thought this would be a perfect read for me since the hunky hero of the story is mildly retarded. I’m not sure if that is a comment on my ex-boyfriends, my affection for the Thatcher clan of Life Goes On or my taste in music. Regardless, I was pleased to delve into a story containing someone actually referred to as “Simple Jess.”

Synopsis: Althea Winsloe, a widowed mother living in the Ozarks enclave of Marrying Stone Mountain is under siege. Her husband Paisley (sadly, we never get to meet his siblings Plaid, Polka Dot, and Argyle) has been gone for a few years now, done in by that romantic novel cliché of choking to death on a chicken bone. Now both her meddling mother-in-law and town elder Granny Piggot are insisting that she marry. Every rootin’ tootin’ bachelor in town has his mind set on courting her, mostly to get their grimy mitts on her deceased husband’s land and remarkable pack of hunting hounds. But the headstrong Althea is determined not to marry again, as Paisley was a bit of a douche. So when the slow-witted Jesse Best approaches her about fulfilling his lifelong dream of owning a hunting hound, Althea seizes the opportunity to screw over the dudes trying to come a-courting. She puts “Simple Jess” to work getting her and her grating son Baby-Paisley ready for the winter, and as payment he can have the dogs. But it isn’t long before Simple Jess feels hard down there, especially when he notices those round things with points that are peeking out of Miss Althea’s josie. And Althea can’t help but notice the strapping figure, innate kindness, and naturally blond hair of her new hired hand. Meanwhile, two suitors pop up. There’s Oather Phillips, who is reluctant to court Althea because he’s a closeted gay and handsome assbag Eben Baxley. Unfortunately, Oather’s sister Mavis, she of wild red hair and maternal instincts, tried to trap the ne’er-do-well ladies man Eben into marrying her long ago, by engaging in a moonlight tryst in the presumably filthy woods of Marrying Stone. And now Eben Baxley has come to town intent on wooing Althea, and humiliating/making a mistress of Mavis. To spare his sister the humiliation of having her erstwhile lover as a neighbor, Oather sets out to court the widow Winsloe. But our strong-willed widow’s round and pointy parts only notice one man: Simple Jess.
[Click post title for full post]

The Bad: First of all, Devon, there were not nearly enough sex scenes in this book. Not even close. I had to keep re-reading the same one just to keep interested. Don’t get me wrong, when Simple Jess and Althea finally boned, it was pretty hot, but there should’ve been some josie-ripping within the first 30 pages to satisfy someone whose website focuses mainly on what athlete you’d prefer to hit it with. And the sex scene, like much of the book, was punctuated by moments of unintentional hilarity on the part of Simple Jess’ naïveté. “Ohmygosh, you’re holding it!” is a line I don’t think I’ve ever read in a love scene before. And it brought back so many memories from high school. And I know it was all in an attempt to set the Appalachian scene, but the language of the book was just a little too much for me. Unfortunately, I’ve somehow incorporated it into my daily life. I fear it’s caused some trouble at work. “I’m gonna be a-digitizing on this here deck. We ain’t got but one that ain’t rolling tape.” “The editors been done gone since the little feller done brought the Chinese food. But don’t worry, sugartail, I can get a-fixin’ yer sequence.” “I’m sorry, boss. I don’t fancy a rollix with you. I plan on beating the bed with none but my husband.”

The Good: Mavis and Eben totally hit it. Decently executed, but I could’ve used another forest-bound rollix or four. Also good, the author developed the story and the characters slowly. Like, glacially slow (again, no sex!). While it did little to satisfy my thirst for tingling thighs and ripped union suits, it did give a lot of credibility to Althea’s budding love for Simple Jess. I found myself completely believing that Althea could love the feeble-minded lug that gets hard at the sight of her. Simple Jess was well written as long as someone else was narrating. While his child-like view of his new feelings of love and desire was pretty affecting, his internal struggle to figure out what the josie-peeking round parts with the points were, made Apple Juice shoot from my nose.

All in all, Simple Jess gave me hope, and whole new set of dating criteria. The dating pool in New York is even crappier than the one in Marrying Stone, after all. I think I’ll head down to the Radio Shack in my finest josie now.

Ah well, I guess Margee won't be getting a pair of Simple Jess jammies to match mine. I adored this book. One of the things I liked best about it was the lack of unintentional hilarity regarding Jess . (Then again, I'm a much nicer person than Margee. Really) I also loved the innocent sensuality of it all. I love how Morsi was able to make it both hot and sweet. This one's a classic, IMHO. I've got to track down my own copy.

Best of the Blogosphere...

I've been meaning to do a roundup of some interesting things I've seen lately. You may or may not have seen 'em, or find 'em useful, but this way I can access them again easily.

FREE THINGS!
--Found at Dear Author: Michele Albert, who also writes as Michelle Jerrott, is offering a free download of her first book, Absolute Trouble. Her next release sounds pretty interesting, about an organization that deals with stolen art and antiquities. I love that kind of stuff.
--Also found at Dear Author--
RegencyReads.com, which rereleases traditional Regency romances in electronic format, has two free downloads, a novella called Lady Bountiful, and a sampler anthology.
--Found at Brianna's Mommy-- The members of Romance Divas challenged each other to write a story for Valentine's Day. Click on the link for short stories in a variety of genres and steam levels.

Other Blogs!
--Serial Drama, a blog for hilarious Soap Opera snark.
--Unusual Historicals, a blog by authors who set their romances in unusual locations and locales. Kristie did a column at Access Romance about how hard it is to find a variety of historicals, and Bev mentioned this site.
--It seems like every other erotic romance out there is being labelled as BDSM. I found a review site devoted to the genre. Some of us like this stuff more than others, but I've found that that "BDSM" label encompasses a huge variety of content. I was thinking there should be a review site that could help readers determine whether or not a book fits within their taste and comfort zone. And voila! It is written by an author,Miranda Heart, but it's honest. She's not just doing PR for her buddies.

That's all for now! I'm going to bed.

Best of 2006...

Historical Style!


I didn't read a lot of memorable historicals this year, so this was an easy one to pick. Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas was a great read. Kleypas is a very reliable author, in my opinion. Even her mediocre books are very readable. I think she's just good at creating chemistry between her characters, and also at creating memorable heroes. Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent is a fabulous rake--witty, cynical and naughty, without any tiresome torturedness. He just was who he was, unapologetically, and what he was was delicious. It's a toss up between him and Derek Craven, for real. I enjoyed the stuttering, mousy Evie Jenner too, although she wasn't quite as vividly drawn. The Virgin and the Rake has been done, done, done to death, but this was a nice take on the story. The gaming club setting was a nice callback to Dreaming of You, and I loved the secondary character Cam Rohan, who will be the hero of Kleypas' next historical.

Ahhh, Loretta Chase! Another very reliable author. I just wish she published more often. Her books are distinguished by great characterizations, and sparkling dialogue, and Lord Perfect was no exception. I liked the proper hero (Benedict Carsington) and the unsuitable heroine (Bathsheba Wingate), which is a reversal from the usual. This was a fun road romance. I love how Chase creates these very contained characters who fall ridiculously in love. It turns them into idiots and they don't know why. And it always works.

There has been a lot of discussion about the state of the historical. There are certainly a lot of mediocre ones out there. It just seems like they keep retreading the same plots, character types, and settings over and over again. But books like these remind me that a good historical romance can be the greatest escape there is. There's nothing like a world of wealth and beauty, with gorgeous men, balls and ladies' maids, to take you away from your concerns and daily grind.

Slogging through...

Prior to the publication of Lover Awakened, I had been working on Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife by Linda Berdoll. I love Pride and Prejudice, I don't consider myself to be any kind of purist, so I was quite pleased by the idea of a sexed-up sequel. I've actually loved this story in all of its incarnations: the old BBC miniseries, as well as the Colin Firth one, the old Olivier movie, and the recent Keira Knighteley one (even though she kinda bugs). The Darcy-type hero is one of my favorites: the arrogant, upright, reserved type, felled by love. And he is the archetype to be sure. Anyhow, Berdoll's book rolled along nicely for awhile, but then my attention started to flag. It's just that the pages are so damn big! And the font so damn small! So I put it down for a week or so, then picked it up again. I'm torn. I'm enjoying her characterizations, but aside from the physical difficulty I'm having in reading it, the language is really getting on my nerves. Ms. Berdoll has obviously done quite a bit of research into the language and slang of the time. And she seems to feel the need to throw in every word she came across, multiple times. She also structures the sentences awkwardly and it often comes across as fake and forced, rather than authentic. It is extremely overwritten. We're just getting around to events foreshadowed from way back. It's just all taking too long. I think I'm going to skim because I do want to see what happens.

Tara Marie just mentioned Darcy's Story by Janet Aylmer on her blog. It got me thinking that there are a ton of pretty recent sequels or offshoots of P&P. I every time I turn around someone mentions another.

Here are some more:

The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy by Mary Street

Letters From Pemberley: the First Year by Jane Dawkins

Mrs. Darcy's Dilemma by Diana Birchall

The Darcys by Phyillis Furey

Mr. Darcy's Daughters by Elizabeth Aston (and sequels)

Pemberley by Emma Tennant

Suspense and Sensibility or, First Impressions Revisited: A Mr. & Mrs. Darcy Mystery (Mr. & Mrs. Darcy) by Carrie Bebris (and sequels)

I have no idea if this is interesting to anyone besides myself. I'm just amazed at all the attempts to pick up Darcy and Elizabeth's story. I've left out a bunch. And the reviews are mixed to say the least. Ah well, if anyone's looking to read a P&P sequel, here's a place to start. Ta for now.

Comfort reads...

No I haven't read anything new since my last post, and my brain is not up to reviewing just yet. But I'm getting there. I did however return to a book that I first read last December, and have read about four times since. A book that deservedly has the reputation of being one of the best romances evah, and never fails to put a smile on my face and give me a little happy. Yes indeedy, this is my tribute to



Yes, the cover sucks, especially because that guy is so not Dain!!! But still, Stephanie, you should read this. The witty repartee, the wonderful tormented hero, the funny and eccentric heroine...this book just encapsulates for me, all that is great about reading romance. I'm too lazy to write my own reviews, I'll just link you to some good ones that give a taste of what makes this book so great. If you haven't yet, check this one out. It's a great example of a historical romance.

Mrs. Giggles' review

Lori's very recent review

Mailyn's review

Rosario's review

AAR review by Kathy

Ok, I think that's enough for now. You get the idea.

Are any of these good?

In my efforts to stave off reading ennui (good historical word), I got some more books from the library. My pile is getting very big! Anyway, I was thinking that while I love historicals, but I always stick with the tried and true (Kleypas, Carlyle, Chase). I never try anything new.

With that in mind I grabbed these:



Once a Scoundrel by Candice Hern--Ugh, I felt weird having the circ lady check this out. I hate clinch covers. Is this author any good?



To Wed a Scandalous Spy by Celeste Bradley--I know nothing about this author, except that in one of her books, the hero has a very big shlong, which is why I picked up this one (does that make me a bad person?). But this is not it, apparently.



Untie My Heart by Judith Ivory--This should be decent. I loved "The Proposition", and I've heard a lot of good things about Ms. Ivory's books.

For change of pace, I also got See Delphi and Die by Lindsey Davis. I've been reading this mystery series, set in Ancient Rome, since I was a freshman in High School. Then I checked out Why Buffy Matters: the Art of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This is the one I ended up reading. I'm about halfway through. I'm amazed by the proliferation of academic Buffy books. This author is reperatedly referred to as a leading "Buffy Studies" scholar. Buffy Studies? Can you imagine if it becomes a major one day? I can remember people scoffing at Women's Studies not that long ago.

So anyone got any hisotical favorites for me to check out? I want to try Julie Ann Long. A couple of bloggers have mentioned her lately, but she's not at the libraries I frequent. Although it's overdone, I do love the early 19th century setting. Not a fan of Medievals. Wouldn't mind seeing something set in America or elsewhere.

Old News for Many...

I'm sure, but I went to Lisa Kleypas' website and Scandal in Spring will be out August 1. Squeeee!! I liked Daisy in the other books in this series. It seems like a lot of people were unhappy that Cam from DIW will not be the hero of this book, but I love this set-up. And I like that the heroes of Kleypas' last couple of books have been slightly different from her norm of

--a classic "Kleypas hero"--tall, dark-haired, self-made and more than a little sarcastic. Underneath his self-assured exterior, however, he is consumed with love for the heroine. .

From her website. Well, except for the sarcastic part, she likes the sarcasm. But then, so do I. Sarcasm is good. Here's the excerpt from Scandal in Spring which I have read many, many times. I heart it, I lurve it, here it is.

Question: now that Kleypas is leaving Avon, will she still be doing "Squawk Radio"? I don't know a lot about the whole politics of publishing thing, but that blog seems like a big old Avon love-fest. I would imagine that it's not officially connected to Avon though. It would be too bad, 'cause those authors all have a nice little blogging chemistry going on.

Dead and Loving It and Three Little Secrets

Happy Mother's Day to everybody out there, be they grandmothers, mothers, aunts or if you just have a child in your life who you love!

I finally finished Dead and Loving It by MaryJanice Davidson. Not awful, but...meh. In a word, light.

Light in tone, light on plot, light on characterization, light in any kind of substance. I get the feeling that MJD is a one-trick pony and its getting old fast. For example, her heroines were all pretty much the same, barring physical description--loud-(and foul-) mouthed, sarcastic and prickly, in order to hide inner pain, insecurity and low self-esteem. It was kind of grating after awhile. Nitpick: I'm not a fan of the phonetic spelling of dialogue, most often used with the poor Scotsman (i.e., "I dinna wan' tae gi'w'ye", or something). Likewise the "day-um"s, "bay-be"s and "Gawd"s bug. I don't care if it's more expressive. That's just me though. I was also left rather unmoved by the sex scenes, which surprised me, as three of these stories had previously been published by Ellora's Cave. Everything just seemed so rushed and, well, light.

The book kicked off with Santa Claws, which was essentially PWP (porn without plot). Meh. Monster Love was slightly more substantive and interesting, featuring lonely vampire Richard and angry werewolf, Janet. I was unthrilled that their first sexual encounter had a forced feel to it, but I liked that MJD made the point that vampires and werewolves are different than humans, perhaps monstrous, but remaing true to their natures as she presents them. There's No Such Thing As a Werewolf was my personal favorite, featuring a blind werewolf and (I'll leave it a spoiler). I was looking forward to A Fiend in Need a lot. This is the story of George the fiend (that is, a feral vampire) from the "Undead and..." books and Antonia, the psychic werewolf from Derik's Bane. I went straight to it, and read it again, just to make sure. Disappointing. Too much Betsy, Sinclair and the rest of supporting cast. Even with their love scene, I felt like I had missed something, like some relationship development happened, that I missed in favor of Betsy bridesmaid dress buying banter. It was too quick, too light. But I did like that George wasn't turned miraculously normal by love, but remained weird and monosyllabic. I'll look forward to seeing them in Undead and Unpopular (which I'll check out of the library), but again, meh. In short, if you like MJD, check it out of the library, and take the suggestions made on Amazon and read it slowly, so as not to get annoyed by the sameness.

Quickie review of Three Little Secrets by Liz Carlyle: another solid read. Though not my favorite of hers, I still polished it off in a night. It hinged on the good old Big Misunderstanding, which was annoying at first, true. But it made sense in light of her characterization of the hero and heroine, and was also less annoying because they both pretty aware that they may have acted, and be continuing to act, stupid. I really like Liz Carlyle, see my Two Little Lies review. My favorite so far is The Devil You Know. She has a great ability to make romance cliches (Big Misunderstanding, Secret Babies, Forced Marriages) interesting, understandable and a good story.

One Dead Pervert

Ugh, life is not being blogging friendly. Although I've had no time to write, I have gotten some reading in. This past week I read Captives of the Night by Loretta Chase. I was very excited for this book because the hero, the Comte D'Esmond, made a brief but memorable appearance in Lord of Scoundrels and was the villain Ismal, in The Lion's Daughter. As I have mentioned (ad nauseum), I loved reformed bad guys, so I was quite interested in his journey from Albanian asshole to French nobleman and hero. At the heart of CON is a murder mystery--who killed Francis Beaumont, the blackmailer and debauchee who made appearances in Lord of Scoundrels and The Last Hellion. One interesting part of this book was looking back on the other two titles and realizing how certain events in those books were part of the larger story here.

So anyway, our hero Esmond, who carries out various and shady deeds for the government, had previously foiled Beaumont's blackmailing scheme. At that time, he met Beaumont's artist wife Leila, and was quite fascinated by her. Leila pretty much avoids her odious husband and instead consumes herself with work. Things get bad when she finds Francis dead after they have a loud quarrel (heard by the servants, of course). The resulting inquest brings the super hot and unsettling Esmond back into her life. Together they will figure out who killed the loathesome Francis. And perhaps fall in love and live happily ever after, if they can get past Esmond's many secrets.

This has a different tone than a lot of Chase's book. It's darker--Beaumont was a real sleaze, and a lot of people hate him passionately. It was a pretty good mystery actually. Most mystery subplots in Romances are pretty weak, and that's cool, b/c that's not what I'm reading the book for. If I wanted a mystery, I'd read one. But in this case, the mystery almost seemed to overpower the romance. Compounding that, Esmond was a very enigmatic character, even after he came clean about his past. In any case, I didn't find this book as involving or memorable as many of Chase's others. But it was still worth a read, particularly if you've read some of the other titles I mentioned. There was entertaining dialogue, good love scenes and it moved quickly.

One more thing, t hen I'll shut up

So I've been following Eloisa James' "spoiler trail" on her website. The things she mentions as clues are things I did notice, but rather than reading them as signs that Imogen was realizing who Gabe really was, I just saw them as signs of Imogen's confusion over her feelings for the two men. Even the whole Silchester thing (see her April 13 note),where Imogen realized it was Rafe prior to their first lovemaking, I was like "yeah, okay, whatever you say." I think Ms. James was too subtle for my simpleminded ass. I will re-read this book at some point, but for now I'll quit my bitching, and just accept the fact that it didn't work for me.

So I got two wisdom teeth taken out Tuesday morning. Yeow, I'm so glad I didn't get all four. I swelled up so much, I'm just starting to feel better this evening. Well, except for the sinus infection and my period. Somebody put me out of my misery now.

Over at Smart Bitches, they're talking about inaccurate historical names. My name gets bashed several times, but since I'm not a regency-era male, I won't take offense. The only hero named Devon I can think of was in The Windflower, which most squee over, but I don't remember it at all. I read it in high school, and I probably didn't like it 'cuz a dude had my name.

Much Ado about Taming of the Duke...

I guess I wasn't the only reader who had some issues with this book. Over on her website, Eloisa James is leaving a spoiler trail, mapping Imogen's discovery of Rafe's masquerade. She is also planning to write an additional chapter to cover this. Also, over on the Avon Author's Board she has answered a lot of reader's questions (I have not read the whole thread yet myself).

I don't get much sleep these days. My daughter doesn't sleep at night. I'm trying to get her to sleep, resulting in even less sleep for me than before. So maybe, in my sleep-deprived haze, I was overly harsh on TOD. But...so far, I'm not convinced that Imogen knew, and I'm not convinced that she was in love with Rafe. Falling in love? Yes. Confused and conflicted about her emotions? Definitely. I guess I'll have to keep reading, in order to understand when Imogen fell and who she fell for. Even "the little a-ha moments" pointed out so far, seem murky. I kinda think that James is doing a lot of telling w/o so much showing, but I'll follow the threads and spoiler trail and whatnot and try to re-read the book before she posts the new chapter to see if I feel differently. I'm kinda sadly obsessed with this, but again I really wanted to like this book better.

Loretta Chase is worthy of fangirly adoration...

Finished Lord Perfect yesterday. I loved it. Loretta Chase has such a great, witty, unforced style. Her books are always fun. And her characters are always memorable. They also seem true to the time, rather than 21st century people set down into the 1820's. And I adore her sense of humor. I love how her characters always fall madly in love at first sight, although they are never quite aware of it. Instead, they are disconcerted by the fact that they're becoming undone. By the time Chase's heroes and heroines get together however, it is always clear that it is an attraction of the mind and spirit as well as the body. That truly makes her stand out. Oh well, my brain's not functioning well enough to write a real review, but Lord Perfect is defintely worth a read. If someone were to ask me for a rec for a great historical romance writer, she's the first one I'd think of.

Taming of the Duke (spoilers ahead)

I first ran across Eloisa James when I read a novella by her in "The One That Got Away." I liked it. Then I found out that she was an English prof at Fordham University, which a number of family member attend/have attended. So as some kind of show of solidarity, I continued to seek her work out. I like her, with qualifications, so it was interesting to see, as I got into the whole romance thing, that she inspires such mixed and strong feelings. I admire the fact that she is trying to do something different. She plays with structure, supporting large than usual casts of characters and multiple subplots. She also writes more human characters: they can be weak and selfish, even annoying. Her heroes are strong, but beta, and her heroines can have very strong personalities as well. It seems to be for these reasons that a lot of readers dislike her work. I actually like these elements. She's got a nice writing style as well. My beef with James is that in the process of challenging herself and readers, she seems to lose sight of the primary challenge of a romance: to create a clear, engaging, believable love story between two characters.

I was really looking forward to The Taming of the Duke. I put aside Lord Perfect for it.
I had enjoyed the two previous books in the "Sisters" series, and I had enjoyed Rafe Jourdain, the Duke of Holbrook's appearances in them. He looked to be an unusual hero, a drunk with a gut, but there was definitely some kind of tension or feeling between him and Imogen, and I was excited to see what James would do with it. Similarly, I didn't particularly care for Lady Imogen Maitland, she was often petulant and immature, but there were glimmers of something likable and I wanted to see how the author would make these two over and give them an HEA. In TTOTD, Imogen returns to the home of her guardian, Rafe, just as he's getting to know his illegitimate half-brother, a Cambridge professor named Gabriel Spenser. For reasons I'm not going to bother getting into, the two are going to mount a theatrical production at Holbrook Court. Rafe drives Imogen crazy as usual, but she is intrigued by his brother, who looks a lot like him, but has a sober dignity that Rafe lacks. Although, he is unmarriageable due to his birth, Gabriel is the perfect candidate for the affair that Imogen is desperate to have (yeah, she's still a bit annoying). But just who is it that Imogen is meeting in the shadows, bearing a fake mustache?


SPOILER


Wait for it...

WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT!! I really wanted to like this story. The weakness can be summed up quite easily--not enough Rafe and Imogen. There was too much Imogen and 'Gabriel' and too much of the real Gabriel's romance (Although I enjoyed the character and the love story, it needed its own forum 'cuz it took away from the story at hand). Furthermore, it really bugged me that Rafe continued his charade thoughout the book. It made him seem stupid at best, downright creepy at worst. I couldn't believe that he wouldn't think that Imogen wouldn't hand him his balls when she found out that he had sex with her while pretending to be someone else. If they had had sex, he had come clean, had the inevitable blow up, and continued from there, I would've liked it much better. As it was, Imogen was in love with a made up person for reasons based on lust. Although I definitely believe that there were strong sparks between the two, and feeling (which makes it all the more disappointing), I just didn't believe in their (especially Imogen's) declarations of love at the end. We just didn't get enough of their love story. They weren't there yet, y'know? I'm really curious to see if the element of dishonesty bothered anyone else.

Ah well, I'll still look forward to Josie's story. I wonder if she'll hook her up with Mayne. I suppose it's realistic, but James' habit of heroes that are much older than the heroine yucks me out a bit. Very Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Especially since the heroes comment on the heroine's youth. It's like they know they're stealing them from the cradle.

ETA after reading reviews on Amazon: I just want to state that there was not a glimmering of evidence that Imogen had realized Rafe's charade until the denouement. As written, I really don't believe she made that discovery until his proposal. Just one line to acknowledge it. Again, disappointing.

Bad title, Good Book

Recently, I read The Charmer and The Romantic by Madeline Hunter. There were some things I liked about both books, and other things that left me cold. But when I saw that Lady of Sin would be about Nathaniel Knightridge and Charlotte, the youngest sister of the Duclairc family, I was psyched because I enjoyed their appearances in The Romantic quite a bit. And I enjoyed Lady of Sin quite a lot, though I don't like the title. It's too...hooker-esque, and kinda dumb, though I know it's because this book follows Lord of Sin, which I skipped because I was sick of rakes.

I think that Hunter's strength is in creating characters with a strong self of self, who, while they might go against the grain, still fit into the time and place. In particular, her heroines contain a maturity and self-awareness that distinguish them from a lot of Regency/Early Victorian fare. Like Sophia and Pen in the other titles, Charlotte (Baroness Mardenford/Lady M.) engages in an affair, knowing that there may be disastrous consequences, simply because the desire to is strong enough. There's little fluttering or blaming the hero, and if self-recrimination takes place afterward, it's for good reason. But unlike Sophia and Pen, Charlotte is not annoying. She is unapologetically clever and opinionated, without being grating, and she doesn't go haring off, making stupid decisions, just because she can. I think it's because she is portrayed as a very empathetic person. She is a good match and foil for lawyer Nathaniel, the fifth son of an Earl, who is himself a very strong, opinionated, arrogant, yet empathetic guy. And I like stories where sparring partners realize that their dislike is masking other emotions entirely. One imagines that such relationships probably don't end so well in real life, but it makes for good reading.

As LOS opens, Charlotte goes to see Nathaniel on the day a man he unsuccessfully defended is to be executed. They've alway disliked each other, but they end up smooching, and Charlotte is painfully aware that this is not their first intimacy. At an orgy (Naughty!) held by the notorious Earl of Lyndale (hero of Lord of Sin), the masked Charlotte and Nathaniel hit it off and got it on. Nathaniel doesn't recognize her and Charlotte would like to keep it that way. However, as a series of events keeps throwing them into proximity, they realize that that not only is desire between them still there, but also is quite strong, and seems to involve the mind and heart as well as the body. I liked that they resolved the issue of their one night stand quickly, and it didn't turn into some stupid big misunderstanding. They are brought together by a mystery surrounding Charlotte's late husband and her brother in law, and while I didn't find the plot particularly suspenseful or compelling, I didn't care. A good romance is a character driven story of two individuals coming together, and if I'm drawn to the hero/heroine's love story, the plot is incidental to that. I liked Nathaniel and Charlotte and I really enjoyed seeing their vigorous dislike turn to love. The love scenes were good and there were lots of them (although perhaps the word "vulva" was overused). If you like strong, mature characters with lots of passion, this is a good bet. I'll be reading Hunter's future books, and I want to try her Medievals. They are very well-reviewed and I've got to get over my Medieval dislike (but that's another post).

That is all. Everyone's asleep and I'm off to drink my McSorley's. Erin Go Bragh!

Ahh...need a cigarette

Devil in Winter was so good. So good!! I didn't want to put it down, which hasn't happened in a long time. I'm sure after the afterglow wears off, I might find some criticism, but for now, no. It was a delicious and satisfying read, and I just felt so happy afterwards. Yes, I'm crazy.

I just loved Sebastian and Evie so much. Sebastian was awesome, a real rake, not a cheesy, half-assed one. He was really funny, too. Kleypas has had some amusing moments in her books, but I've never laughed so many times during one. My personal favorite comment was when he said that he was going to embark on a spree of orgiastic debauchery that would only end when someone got arrested (paraphrase). I was browsing around Mrs. Giggles last week, and I loved this rant. I think that it suits Sebastian quite well, and in general should be used by authors as a reference when creating "good" bad boys, instead of obnoxious assholes. Liked Evie a lot too. Sure, she was another shy, sweet innocent virgin, but she had a will of steel. I just really bought that these were two damaged souls who saw something in each other and could love and accept each other for who they are. Well done, Lisa Kleypas. I just hope the other authors I'm looking forward to bring their a-game as well.

When is Scandal in Spring out? After reading the excerpt at the end of DiW, and the excerpt on the author's site. I'm psyched for this one. It seems like she might be going a in an unusual direction with the hero. I've always liked Daisy, too. Well, off to re-read. Yeah, I am.