Goodbye 2018!!! Hello 2019!!

December 26, 2018

"Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne.

For auld lang syne, my jo,
For auld lang syne.
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp!
And surely I'll be mine!
And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

We twa hae run about the braes
And pu'd the gowans fine
But we've wander'd mony a weary foot
Sin auld lang syne..."

Bet’cha didn’t know that song was so long (there's more) and sooooo Scottish.
 
Is it possible that another year has gone by? It seems like we were just welcoming 2018 into the world not too long ago. Well, now it’s time to say farewell to 2018 and I have to admit that I’m really not sorry to see it go. Too-de-loo! As I look back on the number of books I’ve reviewed this year and I notice that there were fewer. Why is that? Simply put, I didn’t finish as many as I usually do. Yes, I picked them up, then put them down. As far as books go, this year has been underwhelming. Here’s hoping next year will sparkle – finger’s crossed.

And now for my wrap-up of things book-ie. Much to my surprise and displeasure the end of one of my favorite review magazines came to a close in May/June of 2018. It was founded by Kathryn Falk and originally was called Romantic Time Reviews. Then it changed its name to Book Reviews. Then one day it went to all digital – I should have seen the writing on the wall at that time. Then this year it was announced – out of the blue – that they would no longer be publishing. I miss that magazine. I found numerous authors by reading the pages of this magazine. I used it as one of my sources, now I have to do a lot of digging through other sources and not all of them are correct. But, I’m still plugging away through numerous library sources, publishing houses, and author sites. Anyway, sorry they are no longer around.

This year I also started numerous reading projects and author gloms. There was the All About Romance Project, the DNF Project (which I seem to have forgotten I was doing, and must be returning to). I also glommed authors Kelly Bowen and Julia Justiss.This year also saw the return of Betina Krahn and Miranda Davis, something which made me very happy. I also did some traveling in my Wayback Machine.

Voices we have lost this year. Although not a romance author, this year we lost Phillip Roth – but thankfully he left a lot of material behind for us to enjoy.

Debut authors who have crossed my radar. Oyinkan Braithwaite, Rena Rossner, Vee Walker, Caryl Bloom, Katrina Carraso, Arif Anwr, Kelli Clare, Tracy Clark, R.F. Kuang, Taylor Bennett, Emma Berquist, Melissa Ostrum, Allison Temple, L. J. Haywood, Gwendolyn Clare, Joy McCullough, Tomi Adeyemi, Lindsey Harrel, Lynn Blackburn, Julia Sonneburn, Angela Surmelis, Melissa Albert, and Richard Lawson.

2018 Outstanding Books. This year we had some slim-pickens. I had to travel in the Wayback Machine to find some of these. I was delighted that some of my old beloved books stood up to the test of time. Anyway, these are the books which made me smile, made me laugh, made sigh, and brought a tear to my eye in 2018. Thanks to all of you authors who brought these gems to me. In no particular order.
1.    Someone to Care by Mary Balogh, 2018
2.    Come Back to Me by Josie Litton – AAR Project, year, 2001
3.    A Most Unconventional Match by Julia Justiss, 2008 – part of glom
4.    The Perfect Rake by Anne Gracie, AAR Project, 2005
5.    A Duke in the Night by Kelly Bowen, 2018
6.    His Lordship’s Last Wager by Miranda Davis, 2018
7.    Beyond Scandal and Desire by Lorraine Heath, 2018
8.    A Good Rogue is Hard to Find by Kelly Bowen, part of glom, 2015
9.    The Lady in Red by Kelly Bowen, part of glom, 2018
10.    Last Night with the Earl by Kelly Bowen, part of glom, 2018
11.    The Governess Game by Tessa Dare, 2018
12.    His Convenient Marchioness by Elizabeth Rolls, 2017

Disappointing Books of 2018. Now to the dark side. If this were a perfect world I wouldn’t have to have this list, but it’s not. I’m sure there are some books on this list which other people loved, or were best sellers, but for whatever reason they didn’t work for me. Maybe sometime in the future I might read it and I will love it – but not this year.  Maybe the editing was distracting, maybe the theme didn’t ring true, maybe I didn’t think there was any chemistry between the heroine and hero.  Sometimes the anticipation doesn’t live up to my expectations, sometimes I expect more from some authors than what they deliver. Whatever reason, these are stories which disappointed me. It doesn’t mean I will never read that author again, in fact I have some author’s who appear on both lists. So here goes, for whatever reason, in no particular order:
1.    Heartless by Anne Stuart, 2018
2.    A Devil of a Duke by Madeline Hunter, 2018
3.    A Match Made in Bed by Cathy Maxwell, 2018
4.    Rules of Engagement by Christina Dodd, 2000
5.    My Fair Lover by Nicole Jordan, 2017
6.    Surrender to the Highlander by Linsay Sands, 2018
7.    Eleanor’s Hero, aka Boxing Day by Jill Barnett, novella, 1997
8.    Redeeming Lord Ryder by Maggie Robinson, 2018
9.    Seduced by a Scot by Julia London, 2018
10.    How to Tempt a Rogue Without Even Trying by Ava Stone, 2018
11.    Born to be Wilde by Eloisa James, 2018
12.    Society’s Most Disreputable Gentleman by Julia Justiss, 2018
13.    Someone to Trust by Mary Balogh, 2018
14.    What Ales the Earl by Sally MacKenzie, 2018

Now on to my prestigious awards.
No More Wire Hangers – Time for the 2018 Mommie Dearest Award. 

Here’s what a book needs, in order to be nominated for this honor. There must be a horrible family member; age does not matter. Gambling brothers, self-centered sisters, spoiled children, conspiring mothers, oblivious fathers. Anything with might cause some boo-hoo moments for either the heroine or hero. And, we never seem to run out of dysfunctional family members.
1.    From A Most Unconventional Match, by Julia Justiss we have Hal Waterman's family who cannot bear to be around a stuttering Hal. Hal is such a wonderful character, and his horrible family only adds to the sympathy we feel for him.
2.    The maniac, abusive grandfather from The Perfect Rake by Anne Gracie. He has all five of his granddaughters under his thumb. Thank goodness he falls and is incapacitated, giving Prudence a chance to find a husband.
3.    Everyone but the heroine from Seduced by a Scot by Julia London. I have never seen so many horrible family members filling a book as I did in this story. There were no laughs to be had here. It was a very traumatic read.
4.    The father from An Earl Like You by Caroline Linden. This father is so awful that he blackmails the hero into impregnating the heroine. The heroine happens to be the daughter of the horrible, blackmailing guy. Oh sure, he’s also has marriage as part of the blackmail scheme, but the whole thing was just tooooo creepy.
5.    The controlling sisters from His Convenient Marchioness by Elizabeth Rolls. They really try to control Hunt’s life – but they are no match for him.
6.    And the winner is Clarissa from The Wedding Gamble by Julia Justiss. Now, technically Clarissa isn’t a relative of the heroine Sarah. Clarissa is a future heroine, but in this book she is a spoiled, temperamental, shrew and she’s horrible to her companion Sarah. Clarissa was a horrible person, and probably tooooo horrible to be given her own book.

2018 Steve Morgan Bonehead Award. 

How many times have we groaned because the hero is such a schmuck? He cannot forget his first love, he’s unfaithful, he’s jealous, possessive, and uses cold-cream instead of being a man with slow hands – if you get my drift.
1.    Brandon from Nicole Jordan’s My Fair Lover. He doesn’t believe in love or marriage because of his parents. He’s a boo-hoo, eat worms kind of sulky guy. But he thinks he should make the heroine fall in love with him. He plays games, he tried to make her jealous, but he still can’t love with her and it is his decision whether they use birth-control or not.
2.    Hugh Deveraux from Caroline Linden’s An Earl Like You. Sometimes you don’t have to be a possessive, cream-user to be a bonehead hero, sometimes you just have to have a Romanceland plan. In this case Hugh must pay his father’s debt. First of all, he doesn’t tell his family about the amount of the debt. But the real bonehead moment is when he decides to take up gambling to get out of debt. What weird thinking, it’s as if he has a giant bone in his head.
3.    There are a couple of boneheads in The Wedding Gamble by Julia Justiss, the heroine and the hero. It’s unusual to have a female in this category, but in this case, we have a heroine who just cannot forget her first luv. Eventually it is the hero who steps to bonehead center stage. Nicholas has a bonehead moment. He’s supposed to be smart, but when his mistress shows up at his wedding he doesn’t see any problem. He doesn’t communicate with his wife, make her feel better, tell her that he didn’t invite his mistress. Nah, he just skips right along into oblivious land.
4.    And then we have Brandon from Heartless by Anne Stuart. You know I have always enjoyed Ms. Stuarts ride-rough-shod-over-people heroes except in this book. This guy ignored the “no” word and moves right on into a forced seduction. Time for a change.
5.    Bonehead heroine! Bonehead heroine! In Cathy Maxwell’s A Match Made in Bed, our heroine Cassandra had a crush on Soren when she was a little girl. And then he broke her little heart and she can never, ever, forgive him. Even when she grows up, she holds a grudge – she hatesssssss him when she’s eleven and she hatesssssss him forever.
6.    And the winner of the 2018 Steve Morgan Bonehead Award is Kerrich, aaarrggghhhh. Rules of Engagement by Christina Dodd shows all of it's 18 years of age. For a moment I thought I was in the Wayback Machine and had been transported to ripped bodice days of yore. This guy has to find an orphan so he can pretend to be nice and Queen Victoria will like him again. He also must find an ugly woman to be his pretend governess, because pretty women just won’t leave him alone – he’s just that wonderful. But the topper moment is when he confesses he didn’t use a sheath because he wanted his ugly-not-really-governess-heroine to get pregnant so she would be forced to marry him. Sigh, my hero.

Sidekicks, aka Secondary Character, aka Supporting Cast of 2018. 

The one thing about all romance books is that they must have a hero and heroine. Those are the characters who carry the entire book, but sometimes there are other people in the book who draw our attention away. Sometimes they are just great supporting characters and their just being there makes the book even better than it is. Their importance to the story cannot go unrecognized, and sometimes they are even rewarded with their own stories. Here are my nominations for great supporting characters of 2018:
1.    Gavin from Seduced by a Scot, by Julia London. Gavin was one of the few things I liked about this story, I had a lot of sympathy for this teenage boy who was left behind – his name might hint that he may have his own book when he grows up.
2.     Eleanor, Duchess of Worth from Devils of Dover series by Kelly Bowen. Eleanor played an eye-catching eccentric who made me laugh. She was especially good in her son’s book; A Good Rogue is Hard to Find.
3.    Rosamund and Daisy from The Governess Game by Tessa Dare. Yes, they are children and we all know children steal the show. That is true in this book. What wonderful characters, and what great chemistry between them and the hero.
4.    More children steal the show: Eula from Tempting the Laird by Julia London and Georgie and Henry from His Convenient Marchioness by Elizabeth Rolls. “Kids! I don’t know what’s wrong with these kids today! Kids! Who can Understand anything they say?”
5.    Tormod. Sometimes there are secondary characters who actions are very stupefying. In the case of Tormod from Surrender to the Highlander by Linsay Sands, it might have been handy for the hero, who was looking for a murderer, if Tormod had told someone about the secret passages.
6.    The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse series by Miranda Davis is notable for the chemistry between the four mail friends, which we got to read about in His Lordship’s Last Wager. Great dialogue.
7.    Arthur. Arthur from Betina Krahn’s A Good Day to Marry a Duke. Arthur was a total oblivious man. Afraid of women and more interested in bugs and flowers than anything else. He was such a sweet supporting character and he stole my heart.
8.    Sometimes the only chemistry in a book is between the secondary “friends” and the lead character. That is the case in A Devil of a Duke by Madeline Hunter. Dukes, Dukes, Dukes, friends forever. The book sparkled when the Duke friends were on the pages together.
9.     And the winner is King. Here is a great example of a secondary character who does more than just support. He almost takes over when he appears in the books he’s been in. He’s everything an alpha male should be, mysterious, dark, domineering and sensual. He is a fascinating character who Kelly Bowen has created, and has appeared in two of her series'. I hope she gives him his own story soon.

Garlic Breath Award of 2018. 

Now it is time to recognize the villains in the story. Sometimes villains are hard to spot in books. But, sometimes authors are not quite so subtle. They paint the villain with recognizable markers, such as crooked, yellow teeth, usually accompanied by bad breath. Sometimes that bad breath has a garlic odor. I myself have no problem with garlic. In fact, I like garlic on my bread and pasta. But in Romanceland garlic seems to be evil. Sometimes I pick my villain nominations because they are hard to spot, and sometimes I pick them because they are so glaringly obvious. Let’s have a look at this year’s crop of bad guys.
1.    The dread pirate Louvel from Nicole Jordan’s My Fair Lover. Yes this book appears to have had numerous things about it which caught my eye, Louvel really wormed his way in. He was everything which was vile – he had a grudge against the hero. He was an abusive, psychotic killer. A down-right creep, and I’m not sure why he was allowed to live with his long suffering, victim, mistress at the end of the story.
2.    The silly villain from Surrender to the Highlander by Linsay Sands. You know how sometimes the villain takes time to explain why they’ve done what they do? Well in this case the heroine is the one who takes the time to explain to the villain why the villain is killing people – a very silly part of the book.
3.    There is nothing subtle at all about this villain. The menacing villain of Adam Levire, the Marquess of Valence. This guy is so abusive he has caused his wife to fake her own death. Now he is engaged to be married again and his supposed dead wife must stop him. This villain is written creepily realistically and it works. This villain we love to hate. Very memorable. From I've Got My Duke to Keep Me Warm by Kelly Bowen.
4.    In The Wedding Gamble by Julia Justiss we had more than one villain. We have an old-fashioned evil mistress, a standard slimy villain, and a few mean family members who could be on either this list, or the Mommie Dearest list. An example of some stereotypical villains.
5.    The villain/s of Josie Litton’s viking series treks through three books before the big reveal. The biggest villain in the book does come as a surprise. Great job for such an old series.
6.    Not all villains are killers. Sometimes a villain can be found in smooth-operators; which is what happens in Julia Justiss’ book A Most Unconventional Match. Maybe it’s because this slime-ball reminded me of one of my favorite slimy character actors from the movies, George Sanders. If you’ve never heard of George Sanders, I suggest watching the old movie Picture of Dorian Gray or The Ghost and Mrs. Muir – George is at the top of his game in those films and the “villain” in this book is like him.
7.    And the winner is: the Duke from Wicked and the Wallflower by Sarah MacLean. Ms. MacLean introduces a very creepy father in her new series. I'm looking forward to the paths these characters will be traveling down to get to their HEA. What is the hold he has over his children? And, is the one son a villain or a hero? Only time and new books will tell just what that hold is. Interesting character. Yes, some villains can be interesting.

The 2018 Gus Award. 

Oh, those lovable critters who come bouncing in to steal a scene. Sometimes they curl up at the fireplace with our brooding hero; sometimes they save our heroine; sometimes they are there for comic relief. The Gus award is named after the adorable dog in Jill Barnett's Dreaming - Gus happens to be the funniest thing in that book. This year we had a few, but memorable scene stealers. Here are my nominations for 2018:
1.    Laddie, the dog from Surrender to the Highlander by Linsay Sands. Laddie is one of those big slobbery dogs that seem to populate Scotland. Laddie is there to help solve the murder, but not participate in alllll the conversation.
2.    Fergus, from His Convenient Marchioness by Elizabeth Rolls. Now, Fergus is another one of those big lovable dogs who also happens to have some scene stealer competition from two adorable tykes.
3.    And the winner is Raven from Believe in Me by Josie Litton. As it happens Raven is a bird who can talk to humans. Raven is an all-around helpful bird. Raven also spews mysterious wisdom. How can that be, you may ask. Well, Raven is actually the bird part of human shape-shifter. Animals can’t always be perfect.

Welcome to the 2018 Timothy Toad award. 

There is something common in all Romanceland novels which often catches our attentions. It is that appendage which always seems to control our heroes. Some are as big as trees, some our purple, some have supporting buddies, some even talk to the heroes. Sometimes they do odd things which draws our attention to them. Regardless of what they do or say, there are some Timothy Toads which just cannot be forgotten.  Here are my 2018 nominees for this year’s prestigious award:
1.    From Believe in Me by Josie Litton a twitching toad. This year I noticed there were less giant scary toads running around the heroine’s bedroom. Instead I what I saw was an increase in twitching and the Timothy Toad in this book seem to have an abundance of twitching going on.
2.    The innocent Mr. Toad from Born in Sin by Kinley MacGregor. While this guy may have been pretty big, he was also innocent. That innocence leads to a pretty funny consummation scene.
3.    In Ava Stone’s book How to Tempt a Rouge without Even Trying there was an overabundance of twitching performed by Mr. Toad’s willy-whankee-doodle. I guess if something male twitches in a book that means we are supposed to feel the sensuality. A twitch does not mean there is any chemistry between the appendages and orifices involving the hero and heroine.
4.    Sometimes a romance novel just quietly moves along. The characters grow and evolve, and sometimes they don’t. Sometimes out of the blue a giant Timothy Toad rears it’s giant bulbous head without any warning. Sometimes it’s attached to a bonehead hero and shouldn’t be in the book. Sometimes it can be very jarring. This is what happened in The Wedding Gamble by Julia Justiss.
5.    In Madeline Hunter’s A Devil of a Duke, we get to hear about a rake's toad. We are told over and over and over again about his past life. He is a prime example of a Timothy Toad who should have fallen off years ago.
6.    In Heartless by Anne Stuart, we are once again given a Mr. Toad who doesn’t understand the word no. This giant protrusion is no longer welcome in romance books of our time.
7.    And, the 2018 winner of one of the biggest ewwwww moments which involves food and a gigantic Mr. Toad. From Surrender to the Highlander by Lynsay Sands is a truly icky moment in which Mr. Toad participates in. Even closing my eyes cannot make this scene go away. There was just toooo much information given which involves jam, jelly, oral conversation and a third party noticing stuff oozing from an orifice.

And now for a special moment from 2018, well actually it is from 2005 – I just reread it this year. One of my favorite heroes showed up in The Perfect Rake by Anne Gracie. Yes Gideon. While Gideon may have been irritating, arrogant and obnoxious, he was a wonderful, funny character and I loved him. He made a great hero.

So goodbye 2018. Hopefully, 2019 will bring me some new authors I can turn to for distraction. Keep on writing all you auto-buy authors and keep those toads a-twitching.