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December 29, 2017
YEAH!!!!!
For those of you who have been waiting for four lonnnnngggggg years, the third book in the Horse of the Apocalypse series by Miranda Davis is out!! It is in ebook format and available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble - probably others. Oh, and it's called: His Lordship's Last Wager.
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5421963.Miranda_Davis/blog
December 29, 2017
Oh for a business trip to Europe.
https://www.victoriaalexander.com/books/
All I can say is I suspect Ms. Alexander may have taken a recent trip to Europe, and in the
process wrote every single sight and sound down. This is a very scenic book and it makes me want to go and see all of those places.
The Lady Travelers Guide to Larceny with a Dashing Stranger is the second in Ms. Alexander’s Travelers Society series. I enjoyed this one more than I did the last. Also, one of my favorite secondary characters, Val, makes an appearance in this one – here’s hoping for his own book.
There’s a lot going on in this story, so I’m going to break this down into a brief plot/premise/whatever – sort of. There’s a painting. Our heroine, Wilhelmina aka Willie, had that painting. It was handed down to her by her grandmother who had been given the painting because…she was loved by someone. Well, it seems Wilhelmina’s wastrel husband gave that painting away to pay off a gambling debt. Her husband has since died, her friends have all deserted her and she’s trying to find money. She believes if she can get that painting back and sell it she will be able to live comfortably – at least for a while. But hark! She is not the only one who wants the painting.
You see, the person who gave that painting to Wilhelmina’s grandmother has a grandson. This grandson, Dante, has inherited allllll of the paintings. He has established a museum of sorts and he wants that painting back. The painting is part of a triptych and he has the papers proving that all of the paintings belong to his family. Dante has had Wilhelmina investigated; he doesn’t think too much of her morals and he also thinks maybe the painting was stolen from his family. He is very passionate about art, culture, history, etc. One of the big differences between he and Willie’s desire to get the painting back is he wants it so he can add to the beauty of his collection; she just needs the money. Willie has no appreciation of the “finer” things of life, Dante does.
So, that’s the set-up, but there is a lot more. There’s a boatload of great secondary characters – mostly all women. Mother’s, daughters, Dante, and they are all headed on a grand tour of Paris, Monaco, and Italy with Willie as the guide. Willie, by the way, has never been anywhere, so everything she is spouting comes from her giant boring guidebook. Along the way they also pick-up a would-be suitor one of the mothers is trying to keep away from her daughter. There is also a trust issue with Willie, which of course means Dante will be keeping secrets from her - hey, it's a romance!
There is a lot of banter, humor, and some funny fights between Willie and Dante. Dante has a big problem with saying the right thing at the right time. His tongue is not connected to his brain. When Willie finds out what Dante has been keeping from her, there are some pretty funny name-calling moments going on in Willie’s brain. I loved Dante’s and Willie’s arguments.
There is so much in this book, almost more than what the page count allows. Not only do we get to read about some wonderful places, we also get to meet some wonderful characters. I loved all the secondary characters and it was great seeing Val again, if I had a quibble with the book it was that the ending seemed to be a little rushed. But, overall I do recommend this book. It was an enjoyable read.
Time/Place: Paris, Monaco, Italy 1889
Sensuality: Warm
December 21, 2017
“We'll meet again
Don't know where
Don't know when
But I know we'll meet again some sunny day
Keep smiling through
Just like you always do
'Til the blue skies
Drive the dark clouds far away
So will you please say hello
To the folks that I know
Tell them it won't be long
They'll be happy to know
That as you saw me go
I was singin' this song
We'll meet again
Don't know where
Don't know when
But I know we'll meet again some sunny day” - Hughie Charles / Ross Parker
Farewell to the romance authors we lost this year: Elaine Barbieri, Helen Cadbury, Janet Chapman, Miranda Neville.
Here are some debut romance authors who have crossed my radar. Congratulations. Clara Christensen, Sara Portman, Olivia Hart, Susan Cliff, Maggie Conway, Mona Kasten, Victoria Gilbert, Jessica Ellicott.
Thank goodness for my giant collection of old books! I’m not sure what was going on this year, but the percentage of new books which I found enjoyable dropped greatly. Here’s hoping for a better year in 2018.
Now for my outstanding historical romance books of 2017. A number of these books had giant laugh-out-loud moments and if you haven’t read any of these books…what are you waiting for?
Outstanding books of 2017, in no particular order.
1. Loretta Chase, A Duke in Shining Armor, 2017
2. Mary Balogh, A Rogue’s Downfall: The Anniversary-1994, The Wrong Door-1993, and Precious Rogue-1995
3. Mary Balogh, The Famous Heroine, 1996
4. Mary Balogh, Lady with a Black Umbrella, 1989
5. Mary Balogh, The Temporary Wife, 1997 (notice any patterns?)
6. Anne Stuart, The Spinster and the Rake, 1982
7. Mary Jo Putney, Angel Rogue, 1995 aka The Rogue and the Runaway, 1990
8. Anne Gracie, Marry in Haste, 2017
9. Caroline Linden, The Secret of My Seduction, 2017
10. Deborah Simmons, The Vicar’s Daughter, 1995, electronic release 2017
11. Lisa Kleypas, It Happened One Autumn, 2005
12. Karen Ranney, After the Kiss, 2000
13. Kelly Bowen, Duke of My Heart, 2016
14. Kelly Bowen, A Duke to Remember, 2016
15. Kelly Bowen, Between the Devil and the Duke, 2017
16. Julia London, Wild Wicked Scot, 2016
17. Julia Quinn, And A Sixpence in Her Shoe, short story from Four Weddings and a Sixpence (the stand-out in an otherwise average group of short stories.)
Disappointing historical romance books of 2017. As I do every year, I will explain how a book makes it to this list. A book does not have to be the worst book ever written to make my disappointing list. If you look at the books on this year’s list you will spot a number of my favorite authors. You may ask, “Well, if these are some of your favorite authors, why are they on this list?” It’s called expectation. I expect a lot out of my favorite authors and sometimes those poor dears are just plain overworked. They have spent tons of years of blood, sweat, and tears just to make me happy and sometimes I am just not satisfied with the results. This doesn’t mean that other readers won’t like the books. It means that for this particular time, this particular book, I was just not pleased. Reviews are very subjective; all kinds of things can affect them. Soooooo, for whatever reason here are the books that were my disappointments for 2017. In no particular order:
1. Eloisa James, Wilde in Love, 2017
2. Elizabeth Hoyt, Duke of Desire, 2017
3. Mary Balogh, No Ordinary Love: The North Tower-1993, The Dark Rider-1992, The Heirloom-1996
4. Licie Laine, My Fair Baron, 2017
5. Tessa Dare, The Duchess Deal, 2017
6. Lillian Marsh, The Forgotten Bride, 1983
7. Lois Stewart, The Reluctant Heart, 1994
8. Julia Quinn, The Girl with the Make-Believe Husband, 2017
9. Elizabeth Boyle, Six Impossible Things, 2017
10. Suzanne Enoch, My One True Highlander, 2017
11. Karen Ranney, The English Duke, 2017
12. Lisa Kleypas, A Wallflower Christmas, 2008
13. Lisa Kleypas, Scandal in Spring, 2006
14. Lisa Kleypas, Again the Magic, 2004
15. Julia London, Sinful Scottish Laird, 2017
16. Maggie Robinson, Schooling the Viscount, 2017
17. Emily Larkin, Trusting Miss Trentham, 2016
No More Wire Hangers – Yes, it’s time for the 2017 Mommie Dearest Award. To be nominated for this category, a character has to be a horrible, nasty relative. And, in Romanceland there are always oodles of brothers who are in debt, beautiful self-centered sisters, cold fathers, and conniving mothers. Let’s take a look at this year’s crop.
1. Anthony Earheart’s father from Mary Balogh’s The Temporary Wife. Yes, Anthony (our hero) had a brilliant plan on how to do some double-dealing rotten stuff to his father. However, he was no match for him. His father used both his son and daughter-in-law. Or, he thought he did. Thank goodness for a smart heroine who knew how to do a little maneuvering herself.
2. The mother-from-hell in Karen Ranney’s After the Kiss. This woman will do anything to make trouble. She loves nothing better than to make her son miserable and she doesn’t care who she hurts in the process.
3. Juliet, Cary’s sister from Surrender to Sin by Tamera Lejeune. Sometimes even when a character has their own book, they can still be immature and unpleasant. A very unlikeable sister.
4. Another character who was loathsome and still managed to get a book of her own: the horrible sister in A Scandalous Scot by Karen Ranney – Catriona. She was mean, mean, mean and walked all over her sister – and then she got her own book – oh the humanity.
5. From Sara Portman’s The Reunion, we have another detestable sister. Charlotte is one unpleasant termagant and someone should have sat on her mouth a long time ago.
6. But the winner of this year’s 2017 Mommie Dearest award goes to a dead man. Yes, this year the award has to go to none other than the Earl of Riverdale from Mary Balogh’s new Westcott family series. Nothing more destructive than a bigamist marriage. And, we get to watch the fall-out caused by this callous man in a series which is just beginning.
2017 Steve Morgan Bonehead Award. This is one of my favorite awards. There’s nothing better than a good old rant because the hero in the book is such a jerk. For all of you who don’t know who Steve Morgan is, check out Rosemary Rogers’ Sweet Savage Love. Written in 1974, it is the epitome of the term bodice ripper. He is probably one of the most abominable heroes ever written. Cruel, unfaithful, possessive, jealous, etc., etc. The Bonehead hero does many unforgiveable things and usually he never apologizes. Here are my nominations:
1. Edward, aka Reeve, aka Ward, from Steven Minutes in Heaven by Eloisa James. This guy was stubborn, stubborn, stubborn waaaaay too long. He couldn’t bend, he couldn’t give, and he was really irritating.
2. Then we have the bonehead hero who is mad at the entire world because he’s scarred. He’s a sulky boo-hoo, nobody-likes-me-guess-I’ll-go-eat-worms character. From The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare let me introduce you to “don’t look at my face” Ash, aka Duke of Ashbury.
3. Sometimes I find bonehead heroes who are not creeps like Steve Morgan, but are boneheads for other reasons. We have an oblivious one in The Plumed Bonnet by Mary Balogh. Yes, Alistair doesn’t see the truth even when he’s staring at it for half of the book. He’s a jump-to-the-wrong-conclusion-and-even-if-he’s-wrong-he’s-right guy. It’s his way or no way.
4. Over the course of my reading career I have encountered numerous boneheads and usually they are Alpha guys, but this year I stumbled across a Beta bonehead. Now because his actions were different from most alpha boneheads, I didn’t notice at first. Then I did. Perry from Mary Balogh’s Promise of Spring was a bit of a passive guy. He was so laid-back I found him to be irritating. There is a thin line between passive and indifference. Perry was indifferent enough to appear cruel and uncaring. He made no attempt to stop the bullying overtures of his wife’s ex-lover and that conduct is what placed him on my bonehead list.
5. Then we have a flashback bonehead. Malcolm from The Day of the Duchess by Sarah MacClean gets to be an idiot through a number of the books in this series. He’s a secondary character until he is gifted with his own book. I’m assuming the whole book was to be used for his grovel, however there were other plotlines which were inserted and Malcolm didn’t have enough time for a good grovel. Maybe the heroine forgave him, but I didn’t and we all know it’s all about me.
6. From Lisa Kleypas’ A Wallflower Christmas we have a bonehead squeezed in amongst a ton of secondary wallflower reunion characters. Rafe Bowman exhibits dishonorable intentions toward not only the woman he wants to marry but also the woman he wants as his mistress.
7. And the winner of this year’s bonehead award is from Julia London’s Sinful Scottish Laird. And guess what, instead of a man it’s a woman who has made it to the top bonehead status. Sometimes giving a female character male attributes to prove she is a strong, free-thinking woman doesn’t work. Women do not have to be male-sluts to be strong or to prove they have a place in a man’s world. Inconstancy doesn’t sit any better on a woman’s plate then it does on a man’s. Authors, a woman does not have to be like a man to have her own voice.
Sidekicks, aka Secondary Characters, aka Supporting Cast of 2017. Yes, where would our books be without those scene-stealers, those secondary characters who are the only thing one might remember from a book? You know what I’m talking about – sometimes those characters are so strong they get their own fans. Fans who wait and wait for them to have their own book. And, sometimes those books work and sometimes they don’t (but that’s another story.) Here are my nominations for some memorable secondary characters I stumbled across this year.
1. From Eloisa James’ Wilde in Love we have two people, a couple, and a fun couple: Lavinia and Parth. They were scene-stealers, they made me laugh, and they were the fun that should have been throughout the entire book. There’s nothing wrong with writing comedy.
2. Once again from Eloisa James. In Seven Minutes in Heaven the precocious children Lizzie and Otis. Eloisa James excels in writing children. Sometimes her children are a little bit too advanced for their years, but in this story they stole the show.
3. Sometimes scenes are stolen and not in a good way. We have what I call the S-troup supporting characters from Sarah MacLean’s The Day of the Duchess. I found the sisters Sesily, Seline, Seleste, Seraphina, and Sophie confusing and irritating. And, from the way the author reintroduced Sophie back into a conversation after she had been dropped off makes me think I wasn’t the only one confused.
4. Val from Victoria Alexander’s The Lady Travelers Guide to Scoundrels and Other Gentlemen. What a fun guy and I feel the coming of a Val fan club approaching. Hopefully this character gets his own story because he’s really intriguing.
5. From an old book by Mary Balogh, Angel Rogue, we have the characters of Desdemona and Giles. They are a typical couple of mismatched guardians who give chase to the main couple. Sometimes the chasing couple is a distraction to the main story but in this one they were fun to watch and I found myself looking forward to scenes which included them.
6. Once again a young character steals the scene. The youngest brother, Collin, from My One True Highlander by Suzanne Enoch was a delight to read. He was one of the better things in this book. He was just too adorable, and his relationship with his brother was wonderfully written.
7. Another nine year-old, Ellis, from Sinful Scottish Laird by Julia London. Ellis’ character was so well written he almost won this award. The relationship between Ellis and Cailean was so special and so poignant and written so well. I just wish the rest of the book had been on the same level.
8. Catriona. Catriona is in two categories, Secondary Characters and Mommie Dearest. The reason why she is also in this category is because she steals scene after scene of A Scandalous Scot by Karen Ranney. And, that’s really too bad because I did not like her at all. See, you don’t have to be liked to make this list.
9. And the winner for most memorable secondary character this year is dead. Yes, Julia Quinn managed to make me care a whole lot about Thomas in The Girl with the Make-Believe Husband. The interesting thing about Thomas, other than he’s dead, is that we get to know him mainly through letters, flashbacks, and the memories of others. In order to do that Ms. Quinn had to do some mighty fine writing, at least as far as the secondary character.
Garlic Breath award of 2017. So named because a majority of villains in Romanceland eat garlic and have yellow teeth. Portraying villains in this manner makes it easy for us dumb readers to spot them. My favorite villains are the one you can’t really spot. However, on my list you will find the villains you can spot from a mile away and the ones that are hidden deep under pages of great writing. This year I must have not have read too many spy/secret society books because I had a shortage of memorable villains to choose from. But here goes anyway.
1. Nothing says villain more than Francis Ellery from A Duke to Remember by Kelly Bowen. This guy was so awful he had a perfectly sane person committed to Bedlam just so he could have a little money.
2. The next villain is once again created by Ms. Bowen in her Between the Devil and the Duke. While there were numerous villains to choose from in this book, there was one I didn’t see coming .. and I’m not going to tell you who it is!
3. And here we are. We have arrived at the winner of the best villain of 2017. See, I told you I didn’t have many memorable villains to pick from the books I read this year. Anyway, this year we have not one, but a whole group of e-v-i-l men: the Lords of Chaos from Elizabeth Hoyt. These guys have been around for a few books and they just keep producing – like rabbits. I for one am glad to see the last of them. This year they were in the Duke of Desire, the last of Ms. Hoyt’s Maiden Lane series, and they reached the pinnacle of badness – almost over-the-top bad. A number of their group were downright disturbing. There was a dark, depressing feeling caused by this group that stayed with me long after the HEA.
Gus award of 2017. The Gus award is for all those adorable critters who populate romance books. As with the villains there seemed to be a shortage of these scene stealers and I don’t understand why. I know allllll of you authors have pets, I know because I’ve seen the photos on your websites. So I know you have funny pets in your house that are doing wonderful things you could insert into a book or two. Why aren’t you including these little tidbits in your books? Then I can nominate them for my awards – remember it is all about me. Anyway, here are my memorable critters for 2017:
1. From Surrender to Sin by Tamera Lejeune, there are a whole boatload of animals, a whacky Macaw, and a hungry corgi. Sure they were over the top, as was the book and it was written in 2007 – but I needed some animals!
2. Sometimes I don’t especially like the pet in a book. But sometimes that pet is the link which connects the series and it is what I remember about the storyline. In this case we have Poppy the cat from Sally MacKenzie’s Spinster series. Poppy didn’t really make too much sense, she was just strange and wandered through the series being profound. Poppy the profound cat.
3. And the winner is Cato from Loretta Chase’s most recent novel A Duke in Shining Armor. Who would not love this dog? It was such a…a dog. Cato was so much fun and didn’t distract from any of the shenanigans that were going on around it. As with the whole book I found Cato to be just delightful. Thanks for the uplifting book, Ms. Chase!
And now for the heavy lift. It’s time to look at 2017s Timothy Toad award. I always anticipate these guys every time I open a romance book. You just never know when a giant slimy thing is going to grab one’s attention. Sometimes they even have helpers who catch the eye. Let’s take a look at this year’s crop.
1. Occasionally in Romanceland one wonders how come there aren’t more diseases afflicting our heroes, and that would be the case in Mary Balogh’s story Precious Rogue. Joshua’s winky-dink is in a lot of pies and I did wonder why it hadn’t fallen off yet. Precious Rogue is part of A Rogue’s Downfall compilation.
2. Sometimes there is humorous moments involving Timothy Toads. Take for instance The Secret of My Seduction by Caroline Linden. I know that most Mr. Toads would have a hard time performing when faced with a heroine who comes with a pad and pencil in order to take notes. Made me smile.
3. There should be a special award given to Lisa Kleypas and her busy, busy, boys. After glomming her Wallflower series this year my eyes were starting to cross because of all the humpidy-pumpidy which was going on. A nod goes out to Simon Hunter’s sweaty, throbbing, purple celery stalk from Secrets of a Summer Night, and a special two-for-one sale going on in Again the Magic. First John was busy hoinky-doinkying, then it was Gideon’s turn.
4. Then there are moments in books when one wonders just what was the author thinking. In Trusting Miss Trentham by Emily Larkin, our heroine entertains Mr. Toad while our hero Icarus is sleeping. Poor Icarus is awakened by Mr. Toad’s untimely explosion. This scene was unpleasant and crossed one too many boundaries.
5. Then there is the scene from Schooling the Viscount by Maggie Robinson. Poor Mr. Toad is an unwitting observer of our heroine taking things into her own hands. What an eye-full.
6. And the winner of this year’s prestigious 2017 Mr. Toad award goes to Michael’s Mr. Toad from After the Kiss by Karen Ranney. Not only do I worry about all of the Mr. Toad’s dropping off due to disease, I also feel for the heroines on the receiving end of a giant, active, aggressive, starved Toad. I can only imagine how much more money the Azo company would have made in the previous centuries.
And, authors, I never tire of all those over-the-top scenes with Mr. Toad.
Now for some special mentions. I could not let this year pass by without mentioning three memorable moments from this year. First of all, even though I had some problems with Sarah MacLean’s The Day of the Duchess there was one of the best written scenes for the year in that book. In case you want to know which scene, it involves riding on a horse. There is so much emotional impact in that one little scene and I was amazed at such wonderful writing. Truly brilliant.
The second moment I want to mention is from Elizabeth’s Hoyt’s Duke of Desire. Raphael has to be one of the most angst-filled heroes I’ve ever read. This storyline was just too much, too painful. While the writing was superb, I found the storyline so disturbing I couldn’t quite like it.
And finally, it was a pleasure to reread one of my all-time favorite Mary Balogh books, Lady with a Black Umbrella. This little gem of a book proves beyond a doubt that Ms. Balogh can write some pretty funny stuff. A wonderful, feel-good book.
So goodbye 2017. I’m always on the lookout for some new and exciting authors. Believe me when I say I know how hard authors work. Even when I’m not so fond of what you created, I realize you have all put a lot of yourselves into those words. I’m still looking forward to works from my auto-buy authors and also keeping an eye out for those old books which have gathered dust. Here’s to 2018 and hopefully a new historical from Courtney Milan.
December 12, 2017
Well that was fun
http://www.lorettachase.com/
And to think I almost didn't read it. Yes, yes! Shine the hot light on me. This was a prime
example of reading a book when one was in a bad mood. Now, I don't know why I was in a bad mood and usually when I pick up a Loretta Chase book I'm doing a happy dance. But when I first opened this book I couldn't get into it. I was irritated, I couldn't grab onto Ms. Chase's writing rhythm, so I closed it and picked up an old old book and read that instead. After cleansing the doldrums away I returned to A Duke in Shining Armor and was I ever glad. What a delightful story - I had numerous chuckles and some strong laugh-out-loud moments. This was a pure joy, just in time for the holiday. Was everything smooth sailing? Of course not, I can always find something to whine about. Was this as good as my all-time favorite Lord of Scoundrels? Bite your tongue! But if you are in the mood for some light-hearted silliness, some goofy guys, some immature pranks, then this one is for you.
A Duke in Shining Armor begins Loretta Chase's new trilogy Difficult Dukes and I suspect that none of the Dukes are going to be asked to join Mensa. It will be interesting to see just where Ms. Chase takes the remaining not-so-bright heroes. I'm not sure their antics are sustainable - could be, could not be - we will see.
Lady Olympia Hightower, only daughter of the Earl of Gonerby is getting married. The story begins with her wedding day. She is having second thoughts. You see, she has been voted "most boring" girl of the season seven years in a row by the other debutantes. She is a wallflower, she's smart and she wears glasses, glasses that she needs. Imagine her surprise when she is first courted then asked to marry by the handsome, dissolute Duke of Ashmont. He and his two friends the Duke of Blackwood and the Duke of Ripley are up to all kinds of antics. Some funny, some not so funny. Ashmont is constantly drunk and constantly fighting duels. Because Olympia accidentally saves him, he becomes interested in her and proposes.
The day of the wedding Ashmont is there along with his two friends. They have had a night of carousing and he's a little worse for wear. He appoints his friend Hugh Ancaster, Duke of Ripley, to make sure everything goes as it should. When the people start to wonder just where the bride is, Hugh is sent to find her. What he finds is a surprise. The bride, in all of her finery, is climbing out of the library window. It seems she has changed her mind. The brandy she has been drinking has given her courage to make a run for it. Before Hugh can stop her, she's off. He gives chase. Which leads us down the path of a wonderful road-trip romance.
This was such a fun story. There are so many things which go wrong on this trip. True, some of the things, like saving a dog, have been done tons of time in Romanceland. However, in this book the save-the-dog routine has a fresh, funny feel to it. Hugh and Olympia's journey is intermingled by some of the great secondary characters in the story. Blackwood and Ashmont (say next heroes) give chase, so we start to learn what makes them tick along the way. But they are not the only secondary characters abounding in this book, there are: her aunt, Ashmont's uncle, Blackwood's wife - and the dog. All of these characters were strong, well-developed people with just enough mystery left over for the next books.
This is a fast-paced book, one thing happens after another - almost like a screwball comedy. But we also have a look into some of the deeper reasons behind some of the things the three men do. But mainly this is a fun book. I did have a few quibbles. The men are like immature college frat boys, always doing one plank after another. I did question whether the party they had with only people who had a speech impediment was funny. I considered it rather a mean thing to do and was surprised that the author put that section into her book. That and me not understanding why Hugh and Ashmont had a duel took this book out of a DIK category.
Overall, this is a delightful story filled with humor, wit, and some poignant moments - but mostly it was a delightful read. I highly recommend this latest Loretta Chase story.
Time/Place: 1833 English road-trip
Sensuality: Warm,hot
November 30, 2017
Pass me the chocolate - Puleese.
http://www.marybalogh.com/
Ahhhhhh, you know I love Mary Balogh. There isn’t anyone quite like her when it comes to
putting words together – tons and tons and tons of words. And allllll of those words mean something, they all have to be studied, felt, and cried over. Here’s the deal: I’ve read a number of Ms. Balogh’s books in the last few months and I think it’s time to take a breather. I have developed word-i-tis, a disorder often found in romance readers' brains. It’s caused by an over-abundance of angst and hero brain-think.
Someone to Wed is the third in the Westcott family series. The story continues with Alex, who is now the Earl of Riverdale thanks to his bigamist uncle. In this story we get to see that it isn’t only the children of the original earl who were harmed by his actions, but also those on the periphery. Alex had his own estate. He was doing quite well making it profitable and had recently helped his mother and sister to have quite comfortable lives. Everything seemed to be going well for him, then the bigamy thing happened. Now he has a decrepit estate with no money in its coffers and people who are depending on him to fix it. By the way, Alex is a beta hero and he has to fix everything that needs to be fixed. He’s a real nice guy, almost toooo nice. So what is Mr. Nice guy going to do to save alllll the people on his estate? Well, he has to marry someone, someone with lots of money.
Miss Wren Heyden has lots of money. She inherited her money from her uncle’s glass-work factory and she’s been running it ever since his death. She’s one smart cookie. She’s pretty much happy with most of her life, except for one thing. She’s lonely. She wants to be loved. She wants a family, she wants children, and she wants to know the sensual side of marriage. She doesn’t necessarily want grand passion but a little tweak every now and then wouldn’t be bad. But how does she go about it? You see, she’s a recluse. She’s hidden herself away from the world all of her life. Why? She has a large purple birthmark on one side of her face. This is where Balogh’s angst comes in. While Wren is a strong woman in many ways, she has a lot of insecurities when it comes to her physical appearance. That also leads to some mental anguish. She wears a veil which covers her face, but even when that veil is removed she protects herself by hiding behind a self-imposed shell. When the story begins, she has been interviewing men for the role of husband. So far, she has crossed two men off of her list. On her list of eligible men is Alex. She has invited him to her house and he has accepted. He believes he is going to a house party, imagine his surprise when he finds out he is the only one invited. Then he finds out why. At first he is insulted, then he isn’t.
Wren and Alex are an interesting couple. This is a slow moving romance. These two circle each other, they do a lot of thinking, and they don’t like each other at first. Alex is repulsed not by Wren’s face but the negative person that she has become. Then they start to know each other, become friends, then decide that they wouldn’t make a good marriage and end the relationship. Alex goes back to London and Wren visits her glass factory. Wren knows there are just too many public things she would have to do to be an earl’s wife. Then there is a lot of brain think. Alex thinks about his problems, he thinks about his sister, he thinks about his land, he thinks about Wren. Wren thinks about Alex, she thinks about glass, she thinks about pretty women. Lots of brain think. I do recommend lots of Advil. Then Wren goes to London because she wants to give Alex’s life a chance. So, she starts to step out into the world. This is where I have a little quibble with the book.
Wren is the one who has to change the most. She has to accommodate his world, she has to throw off the veil, she has to go to the opera, she has to meet his family, and she has to walk in the daylight. For their marriage to work, she has to do the hard stuff – all he has to do is accept and support. It didn’t really seem to be a fair balance.
Overall, if you like Mary Balogh you will like this book, but it is a heavy-duty Balogh brain think story. Wren and Alex take a long time to find their romance, they take a long time to grow. When the conclusion to the story arrives you know that Wren and Alex will have a successful, mature marriage, maybe not a grand, maniacal passionate marriage, but one that will last.
Time/Place: Regency England
Sensuality: Warm/Hot the Balogh's way
November 30, 2017
Just when does rich become too much?
http://www.joannashupe.com/
Do you ever ponder - when reading romance books - if they would be so romantic if there
wasn’t so much wealth flung around in them? What if our couple really had to struggle with day to day living? What if the proverbial pot at the end of the rainbow didn't come along? Well, you don’t have to worry about that in this book, because our hero has just oodles and oodles of cash. Actually, that was one of my problems with this story, or maybe it’s just the mood I was in when I read it. Yeah, sure it must be nice not to worry about where the next hamburger is coming from, but gee-willikers I sure get tired of reading about all the preponderance of wealth. In A Daring Arrangement by Joanna Shupe, we get to have a glimpse into the Gilded Age of New York – oh boy! A time period of rich, overindulged, capricious people such as the Astors, Vanderbilts, Whitneys, etc.
We have Lady Honoria Parker, daughter of the Earl of Stratton. She has been exiled to America because she was caught in the arms of an unsuitable man. So, she’s been sent to live with her aunt in New York. Well, she’s not a happy camper. She is still in luv with the artist/man she was caught in the arms of and she is bound and determined to return to those arms. She also has a my-father-doesn’t-like-me-no-matter-what-I-guess-I’ll-go-eat-worms problem. So, what is her solution? Get ready for the Romanceland stretch plot-line. She believes that if she can create a big enough scandal her father will cave in, let her return to England and marry her artist/man. Cause she can’t help lovin’ that man of mine/hers. Honoria must ponder what to do to; just what could she do that would be so horrible that her father would haul her back? Wait, what’s that noise she hears on the floor above where she’s dining? Sounds like a herd of elephants or maybe just a few horses. She must investigate that noise. What? You mean to say that some drunken man has brought horses into the hotel. Why he must be just terrible. He may be just what she needs to become scandalous. Enter, the rich, self-made man about town – Julius Hatcher.
Julius Hatcher is drunk. He’s celebrating his birthday or something on the floor above the restaurant. He is rich beyond measure, but he’s also creating quite a name for himself in the scandal sheets. He is enthralled when he is approached by the lovely English miss with the plan to create a scandal. And, he’s drunk enough to agree to her scheme. You see he is yearning to gain entry into society so he can find the men who destroyed his father, thus he can destroy those men. So, my fellow romance reader Petunia-people, we are asked to accept the plot-line: Julius Hatcher must clean up his act so that he can be received into the top echelon of society, so he agrees to help Honoria create a scandal so she will be returned to England and the arms of her beloved. They will do this by having a fake-engagement and somehow Honoria will create a scandal and Julius will become squeaky clean. I was very confused by how all of this was going to work – and, it never did. Over my years of accepting plot-lines which don’t always made sense, I’ve been able to enjoy the books. But, this one asked me to leave behind anything that made sense just so our couple could have a reason to be in the same room together.
I will admit that the writing had possibilities, but for me, the premise of the entire book required that I should put my dumb-hat on and I was not able to.
Time/Place: 1890 New York
Sensuality: Warm/Hot
November 14, 2017
Cardboard - not fully lifelike; shallow; two-dimensional:
http://www.eloisajames.com/
Well, this is the third book in a row with a favorite author that hasn’t met my expectations.
This is Eloisa James' first book in the Wilde series, Wilde in Love. In it we are presented with a different time period, Georgian, which was refreshing. I always enjoy the heroes in this time period because their clothing is so at odds with he-man swagger and usually the stories are quite entertaining. For the first few pages of Wilde in Love I was grinning – the entrance of our hero Alaric was so much fun. Unknowingly, Alaric has acquired tons of swooning female fans because he has written books based on his travels. What he doesn’t know is that someone has written an over-wrought melodramatic play based on his books. The scene when his ship is about to dock is very funny and I was rubbing my hands in glee. Sad to say, the rest of the book didn’t continue the momentum.
This is a story of prejudice, basing opinions on nothing, and then not being able to accept the truth when it’s staring directly into one’s eyes. Most of the prejudices, stubbornness, and immaturity landed on the heroine Willa Ffynche. By the way, was the name of Ffynche a play on words? I noticed a few other names, for instance Mr. Fumble. I know that Ms. James does a lot of wink-wink at romance readers, but there seemed to be a little bit of a heavy-hand in this book. I have no problem with romance novels which have deliberate caricatures, satire or parody, but the entire book should envelope that type of humor. Sometimes ridiculous humor is very funny.
This book is also uneven; it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. In the first part of this book I felt as if I were on a hamster wheel – going around and around and not getting anywhere. The problem for me lies with Willa’s character. I could not connect with her. She had never met Lord Alaric Wilde, but she had developed strong opinions based solely on her perception of who he was. Those perceptions seemed to be based on other women idolizing him and a silly play she’d never seen. Even after she is introduced to him and begins to know him, she still maintains her prejudices against him. She doesn’t like guys who have adventures. Yes, that’s the reason for her dislike of Alaric. It’s based on some weak do-da surrounding the death of her parents – but I found this motivation very contrived. There were so many problems with Willa that I can’t include them all in this review. I will mention Willa and her cousin Lavinia’s obsession with dirty books and talking bawdy. That could have been another funny bit, however like the rest of the book it didn’t happen all the time. I would have appreciated it more if Willa and Lavinia’s antics had been more outrageous. For me Willa was an entirely flat character, which is too bad because Alaric had possibilities.
I liked Alaric, he could have been a terrific hero – if only he’d had a good heroine to balance him out. For most of the book, he is befuddled by all the ridiculous fame his books have garnered. But once again the narrative of the story doesn’t take advantage of how outrageous this could have been. Things are mentioned throughout the tale, and if they had been written in an over-the-top manner all of these plot-starts would have worked. But, it seemed to me that Ms. James could just not break free and write absurd comedy. I for one would not think any less of Ms. James if she could let loose and write ridiculous farce.
Secondary characters. The secondary characters in this story almost steal the show and I have hopes for Lavinia and Parth Sterling in their book. In this book their relationship is full of funny banter, almost touching on farcical. Puleese, continue with the fun in their story. I was less interested in Roland and Diana, but even they had more appeal than the main characters of this story.
Bottom-line. I was disappointed in Wilde in Love. I had great hopes when the story began, but it wasn’t long before the characters became flat and I didn’t really care what happened to them.
Time Place: Georgian England
Sensuality: Warm/Hot
November 13, 2017
Goodbye Maiden Lane
http://www.elizabethhoyt.com/
Yes, it is time to say goodbye to Maiden Lane (except for the two novellas which are coming
out soon). I’ve enjoyed most of the Maiden Lane stories – some of them have been quite exceptional. For the most part they’ve given us some hot guys, incredible characters, and memorable stories. I will say I was glad the Ghost of St. Giles didn’t make his/her appearance in this story. That character lost its appeal a few books ago. Instead we have the Lords of Chaos to contend with in Duke of Desire. For me, Duke of Desire is just tooooooo dark a tale for the ending of a great series.
Duke of Desire depressed me. It is filled with Elizabeth Hoyt’s trademark great writing. With all of Ms. Hoyt's books, there are always vivid images – you can smell the places our characters inhabit, the words are always eloquent - full. That may have been some of the problem with this book – it was toooo vivid, toooo painful and there wasn’t enough time given in the tale for the eventual healing.
In this book we have Raphael de Chartres, the Duke of Dyemore – he has a scar on his face and scares housekeepers and scullery maids. We also have Lady Iris Jordan. The last time we saw our couple they were dancing at a ball in the previous novel, Duke of Pleasures. When this one begins a kidnapped Iris is tied up and in the middle of a bunch of naked guys with masks. These guys are up to no good, they mean to do harm to her. So, we have a kidnapped woman, surrounded by naked men who intend to rape her, then kill her. Of course, being a heroine in a romance novel, she has time to check out one of the masked men. She is very impressed with his giant winky-dink. That was in the very beginning of the book and believe me, it was a big eyebrow-raise moment. Who does that? Who is interested in humongous winky-dinks when surrounded by a group of degenerate killers? Anyway, the guys have kidnapped the wrong woman, so Raphael (part of the group of guys) insists on taking Iris out of the deep dark abbey where the Lords of Chaos have gathered. He is actually a good guy, just in case you didn’t know – after all, he’s the owner of the big winky.
Well, Iris is a tad bit upset and doesn’t see Raphael as a rescuer. She ends up shooting him. This makes Raphael mad. He tells her that he is rescuing her and now she has ruined everything, so now she has to marry him. That way he can protect her. I’m not sure how marriage to him will be a protection, but hey it’s fiction after all.
Anyway, Iris marries Raphael. Now she can become better acquainted with his giant protrusion – and she does. She also doesn’t scream and run from the room when she looks at his scarred face. In fact, she wants to know why he has it, and sets out to find out. She is “Miss Perfect” and he is the opposite. He tells her not to go places, she ignores him. He tells her to follow his orders, she doesn’t. She goes into rooms she’s not supposed to. While you may think she exhibits TSTL characteristics, she’s actually quite smart. When she stumbles across some drawings of naked children in her late father-in-law’s bedroom she is puzzled. Her brain starts to become suspicious of things in the old castle. Spoilers. When you read this scene in the book, you should know right away what kind of man Raphael’s father was and you should suspect what he did to his son. And, it is hard to read. I had to put the book down a number of times; it was just too painful.
Raphael is one of the most angst-filled heroes I’ve seen in a long time, but he has reasons. I know Ms. Hoyt always writes dark stories with anti-heroes and I’ve loved them in the past; however, this time I don’t think there was a good balance between what happened to Raphael when he was a child and his emergence from the darkness later on. Probably Iris was supposed to counterbalance Raphael’s darkness, but it didn’t work. Raphael’s pain is too heavy-duty and there wasn’t enough space allotted in the book to make it work. Because so much time was spent trying to fix Raphael’s pain, the romance in the book didn’t work. Raphael’s pain is so hard to read; the romance in this book suffers and takes a backseat.
I wish Duke of Desire hadn’t been the last book in the series. As I said before, I was sad to see this series end with such a depressing book. Hopefully, the remaining novellas will let us get a glimpse of some of our beloved Maiden Lane characters. And, not be so depressing. Puleese.
Time/Place: Georgian England
Sensuality: Hot/grueling
November 9, 2017
In search of Camille.
http://www.marybalogh.com/
Mary Balogh’s Someone to Hold is the second story in the Westcott family series. This one
happens to be about Camille Westcott and Joel Cunningham. If you’ve read the first in the series, you will know that Camille is the illegitimate product of a bigamist marriage. She has grown up privileged, thinking she was the legitimate daughter of an aristocrat. She’s been surrounded by people who have put her on a pedestal, but it’s a false pedestal and something she hasn’t earned on her own. She’s on that pedestal just because of her birth; she has no other identity. Then her world is shattered when she finds out her father was never legally wed to her mother. She has grown to expect certain things just because she was born into a certain place in the world. Now, everything is falling down around her feet, her friends turn from her and her fiancée breaks their engagement – she doesn’t know who she is. And, that’s what this book basically is – Camille’s search to find herself.
Before I go any further I will say this was not one of my favorite Balogh books; I had a problem with Camille. Camille was very unlikable. She was unlikable in the previous story and she still is. She does some odd things to find herself. One of the things she does is find employment at the orphanage her half-sister Anna was employed in. By the way, Anna also grew up in that orphanage. I never quite bought into the idea of Camille finding herself in that orphanage. I didn’t understand her reasoning. Sure, sure, she would have found out what made Anna tick but how she was going to find herself? This didn’t ring true for me. On the up side, Camille gains a certain amount of freedom, which she never had before.
Joel Cunningham is Camille’s love interest, although I couldn’t see any romantic chemistry between the two. Camille was so involved in finding herself without the help of anyone else, that the romance became secondary. I also have to add that I found Camille’s constant declining of help from her family selfish. Not only did she reject Anna’s help, but she cut herself off from her sister Abigail. Abigail had none nothing to deserve Camille’s boo-hoo-pity-me attitude.
Then there’s Joel’s story line. It was just odd. He was an artist who painted portraits of people based on their personalities. He would get to know them and then miraculously come up with these great pieces of art. These pieces of art were quite popular with society, so he was able to make a living at them. But, I found Joel’s story to be a little…searching for right word…boring. Then toward the end of the book, he finds out who his father was and inherits lots of money from a curmudgeonly relative. I thought this was a very contrived. It was the poor-guy-to-rich-guy routine. I was a little surprised to see this device in a Mary Balogh book.
Parents. One of the things that bothered me in the book was Camille’s need to look good in her father’s eyes. And, I will be blunt – her father was a bit of a shite. I can understand how a young Camille would try everything she could think of to win her father’s affection. But, how many times does one have to be kicked in the teeth before one sees that some people are just not worth the bother? Then she forgave him. That had me gritting my teeth. Why Camille had to forgive her father was beyond me. Just because you are family doesn’t mean you have to like them. It’s alright to realize that your father isn’t someone you want to be around. It’s also alright to think that just possibly… maybe… you don’t really like him, let alone love him. I think Camille would have appeared stronger if she had some kind of epiphany about her father and not “forgiven” him. He wasn’t worth the pain. I also never understood why Camille’s mother went into hiding while her children suffered.
For me this story didn’t work. I didn’t particularly care for Camille, I thought the romance was flat and for once I was not able to get lost in a Balogh book. Very disappointed. The only thing I liked about this story was when Camille and her half-sister Anna finally started to accept each other.
Time/Place: Regency England
Sensuality: Warm
Just found out that Miranda Neville passed away. I had a number of her books, in fact some of them were/are really quite wonderful. Goodbye Ms. Neville.
October 29, 2017
So quiet you almost don’t hear it.
http://www.marybalogh.com/
Someone to Love, the first novel in the Westcott series by Mary Balogh. This story is a wonderful example of Ms. Balogh’s writing a simple love story which isn’t really simple.
There isn’t any spy, villain, kidnapping, rescuing, or big misunderstanding. There is a misunderstanding but it’s so subtle one almost misses it. Ms. Balogh is at her best when she writes quiet stories and this is a great example of just how strong silence can be.
By the way, there is a pedigree chart in the beginning of this book which comes in handy. You see, we are introduced to a plethora of characters and there just may be a quiz at the end of the series (I made that up).
Anna Snow is a twenty-five year old teacher who works at an orphanage. She also happens to be an orphan herself. She likes her job and she is happy with herself. However, she yearns for someone who will love her and whom she can love. Everything is moving along normally at the orphanage; the children love her, she has a best friend Joel, her little room and the respect of the woman who runs the place. Then one day everything changes when she receives a letter from a solicitor requesting her presence in London.
Weeks earlier, the Westcott family, along with Avery Archer, Duke of Netherby, are gathered for the reading of the will of Earl of Riverdale. At the end of the will reading, Riverdale’s widow requests a meeting with the solicitor and Avery in which she tells them that her late husband had fathered a bastard child. She asks the solicitor to locate this person, give that person a settlement and then the family can then wipe their hands of her/him. Well, imagine the entire family's surprise when they are called back together some time later to find a stranger in their mist. Because they think that stranger is the illegitimate product of Riverdale they do not look on her very kindly. But more is in store for this aristocratic family. It seems that the earl was already married at the time of his second marriage – which means he committed bigamy. That also means that the orphan – Anna Snow – is now the legitimate off-spring and the three children by his second marriage are illegitimate. What a mess! And what a terrific beginning for a series. I can see alllll kinds of problems arising from this mess.
I was a great fan of both Anna and Avery. They both have hidden depths. Avery is not portrayed as the typical romance hero – he’s not tall, he doesn’t have muscles oozing out all over his body – he’s a sleepy-eyed fop. Those are the best kind and sleepy-eyed guys hark back to the early days of romance when most heroes had those eyes. So, because he reminded me so much of a number of my favorite old-time heroes, I liked him quite a lot.
Anna, I loved. She was such a strong woman; she understood so much. She was also very gentle, but she only allowed people to walk all over her so much. There were numerous times in this book when she took the control of her life away from her new-found family. I loved her reasoning and I loved the little speeches she gave. Together Avery and Anna made a great couple. And, their romance was a gentle, quiet thing, full of self-discovery.
I did have one quibble with a portion of the overall book and that quibble took me out of the story. If you have read the book, you may know which part I am referring to. It was an odd moment, I don't know if historically Avery would have really practiced any form of martial arts. So, it was a stretch for me to believe this portion. Having said that let me say this – briefly – I read historical romance books to escape – they are escapism. These days all I have to do is turn on the television and I am bombarded with things which are making me crazy. Which is why I do not like romance books which have an agenda, be that agenda left or right. I have read some of the comments about this portion of the book and they make me sad. Sometimes I think we scream our opinions so loudly we cannot hear others speak. When does one become a bully? Is someone a bully even when they are screaming the truth? Or what they perceive is the truth? I am rambling here, so I will stop.
Overall, this is a well-written book by Ms. Balogh. It is a gentle offering and I do recommend it
Time/Place: Regency England
Sensuality:Warm/Subtle
October 23, 2017
Secondary characters - sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.
http://www.saraportman.com/
The Reunion is Sara Portman's debut book and I'm always on the look-out for new authors.
There's always a hope that each one of them may become one of my auto-buys. So, I always have my fingers crossed dreaming of the day when I have found the new Mary Balogh or Lisa Kleypas. Well, while Ms. Portman's debut novel is a descent attempt, it doesn't quite make it up to the top rung of the ladder.
The good stuff. The novel started off pretty well. The writing had a modern feel about it. There weren't the thought-provoking words of a Balogh or Kleypas, but I can adjust. After all, I'm a big fan of Julia Quinn books. As I said the story started off nicely. The plot is composed of a hero who at one time was quite insensitive to his fiancée. They were both very young, never met each other, and were being forced into the arrangement. So, why should our hero really care what he says to his seventeen year-old fiancée. Especially when he has an axe to grind with his domineering father. Well, anyway, John (hero) insults Emma (heroine) then takes off without any benefit of an explanation, goes to America and then comes back four years later in need of a wife. By the way, he has sort of forgotten all about Emma.
Well Emma hasn't forgotten about him. Unbeknownst to him, his leaving has made her a pariah in society. She has been scorned all those years he was missing. However, and here's one of the satisfying things in the book, Emma is no longer the boo-hoo seventeen girl. She's a strong woman. She speaks her mind and she speaks her mind in public. Woe to those who feel the bite of her sharp tongue. I really liked Emma a lot in the first part of the book. Eventually John and Emma run into each other at a party. He has no idea what he did to her, he doesn't actually even know who she is - but he is interested in her. She knows who he is, though, and she lets loose her tongue. Being a Romanceland hero, he is instantly attracted to her. So he sets out to court her, and she doesn't make it easy for him. That was a fun part of the book. Then they get married.
Now, the reason John wanted to marry so badly was because he had a sister back in America who everyone in the ton thought was dead. He wants to bring her back, but he knows that she will in all likelihood be made to feel unwelcome. So, he needs a strong wife, someone who isn't afraid to stand up to a few aristocratic snobs. Hence Emma. Well, what he has neglected to tell his new wife is that his sister (Charlotte) is a giant termagant - and that's being nice. Having read a few romance books in my time, I of course knew where the Charlotte storyline was going to go. You see, John has an unpleasant friend Hugh whose main purpose in the book seems to be to make snotty comments to Emma and be Charlotte's eventual luv-bub. Yes, there is a secondary love story in the book and it's odd.
The secondary love story was a bit of a distraction. It was almost as if it was a big secret, then there were a few eye-glare moments, then they were a couple. The secondary romance didn't work for me. But that wasn't really crucial to me liking the book or not - my issue was with the secondary character of Charlotte. Charlotte was really, really an obnoxious, unlikable, petulant character. I could find nothing to like about her; I could feel no sympathy. It was also with this character that I started to get irritated with John. Why he didn't do something about Charlotte's annoying behavior was beyond me. I guess I am really not all that fond of men who let other people take care of their problems.
Overall, I will be trying her next book in the series - I haven't given up and I'm still hopeful. I thought the first part of the book was very good, but when Charlotte was introduced in the story I just wanted to reach through the pages and strike a blow.
Time/Place: Regency England
Sensuality:Hot
For those of you who have been waiting for four lonnnnngggggg years, the third book in the Horse of the Apocalypse series by Miranda Davis is out!! It is in ebook format and available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble - probably others. Oh, and it's called: His Lordship's Last Wager.
process wrote every single sight and sound down. This is a very scenic book and it makes me want to go and see all of those places.
No More Wire Hangers – Yes, it’s time for the 2017 Mommie Dearest Award. To be nominated for this category, a character has to be a horrible, nasty relative. And, in Romanceland there are always oodles of brothers who are in debt, beautiful self-centered sisters, cold fathers, and conniving mothers. Let’s take a look at this year’s crop.
2017 Steve Morgan Bonehead Award. This is one of my favorite awards. There’s nothing better than a good old rant because the hero in the book is such a jerk. For all of you who don’t know who Steve Morgan is, check out Rosemary Rogers’ Sweet Savage Love. Written in 1974, it is the epitome of the term bodice ripper. He is probably one of the most abominable heroes ever written. Cruel, unfaithful, possessive, jealous, etc., etc. The Bonehead hero does many unforgiveable things and usually he never apologizes. Here are my nominations:
example of reading a book when one was in a bad mood. Now, I don't know why I was in a bad mood and usually when I pick up a Loretta Chase book I'm doing a happy dance. But when I first opened this book I couldn't get into it. I was irritated, I couldn't grab onto Ms. Chase's writing rhythm, so I closed it and picked up an old old book and read that instead. After cleansing the doldrums away I returned to A Duke in Shining Armor and was I ever glad. What a delightful story - I had numerous chuckles and some strong laugh-out-loud moments. This was a pure joy, just in time for the holiday. Was everything smooth sailing? Of course not, I can always find something to whine about. Was this as good as my all-time favorite Lord of Scoundrels? Bite your tongue! But if you are in the mood for some light-hearted silliness, some goofy guys, some immature pranks, then this one is for you.
putting words together – tons and tons and tons of words. And allllll of those words mean something, they all have to be studied, felt, and cried over. Here’s the deal: I’ve read a number of Ms. Balogh’s books in the last few months and I think it’s time to take a breather. I have developed word-i-tis, a disorder often found in romance readers' brains. It’s caused by an over-abundance of angst and hero brain-think.
wasn’t so much wealth flung around in them? What if our couple really had to struggle with day to day living? What if the proverbial pot at the end of the rainbow didn't come along? Well, you don’t have to worry about that in this book, because our hero has just oodles and oodles of cash. Actually, that was one of my problems with this story, or maybe it’s just the mood I was in when I read it. Yeah, sure it must be nice not to worry about where the next hamburger is coming from, but gee-willikers I sure get tired of reading about all the preponderance of wealth. In A Daring Arrangement by Joanna Shupe, we get to have a glimpse into the Gilded Age of New York – oh boy! A time period of rich, overindulged, capricious people such as the Astors, Vanderbilts, Whitneys, etc.
This is Eloisa James' first book in the Wilde series, Wilde in Love. In it we are presented with a different time period, Georgian, which was refreshing. I always enjoy the heroes in this time period because their clothing is so at odds with he-man swagger and usually the stories are quite entertaining. For the first few pages of Wilde in Love I was grinning – the entrance of our hero Alaric was so much fun. Unknowingly, Alaric has acquired tons of swooning female fans because he has written books based on his travels. What he doesn’t know is that someone has written an over-wrought melodramatic play based on his books. The scene when his ship is about to dock is very funny and I was rubbing my hands in glee. Sad to say, the rest of the book didn’t continue the momentum.
out soon). I’ve enjoyed most of the Maiden Lane stories – some of them have been quite exceptional. For the most part they’ve given us some hot guys, incredible characters, and memorable stories. I will say I was glad the Ghost of St. Giles didn’t make his/her appearance in this story. That character lost its appeal a few books ago. Instead we have the Lords of Chaos to contend with in Duke of Desire. For me, Duke of Desire is just tooooooo dark a tale for the ending of a great series.
happens to be about Camille Westcott and Joel Cunningham. If you’ve read the first in the series, you will know that Camille is the illegitimate product of a bigamist marriage. She has grown up privileged, thinking she was the legitimate daughter of an aristocrat. She’s been surrounded by people who have put her on a pedestal, but it’s a false pedestal and something she hasn’t earned on her own. She’s on that pedestal just because of her birth; she has no other identity. Then her world is shattered when she finds out her father was never legally wed to her mother. She has grown to expect certain things just because she was born into a certain place in the world. Now, everything is falling down around her feet, her friends turn from her and her fiancée breaks their engagement – she doesn’t know who she is. And, that’s what this book basically is – Camille’s search to find herself. 
Someone to Love, the first novel in the Westcott series by Mary Balogh. This story is a wonderful example of Ms. Balogh’s writing a simple love story which isn’t really simple. 
There's always a hope that each one of them may become one of my auto-buys. So, I always have my fingers crossed dreaming of the day when I have found the new Mary Balogh or Lisa Kleypas. Well, while Ms. Portman's debut novel is a descent attempt, it doesn't quite make it up to the top rung of the ladder. 
