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January 30, 2019
It's the Procurer's Turn
http://www.margueritekaye.com/
Marguerite Kaye's A Scandalous Winter Wedding is the fourth in the Matches Made in
Scandal series and we once again join the Procurer. However, in this case it’s the Procurer’s turn to have her story.
When we first meet the Procurer, she is still Kirstin Blair and she has just lost her father. I did question the use of the name Kirstin for this time period, but that just might be me. Anyway, Kirstin has just lost her father and she’s on her way to London to find some way of making a living for herself. On the road to London, she meets fellow traveler Cameron Dunbar and the two of them are instantly attracted to each other. They act upon that attraction, they have a grand night of passion and then they part. They have no regrets, and it is an encounter which both of them think they will remember fondly. Fast forward six years and both of them have successful careers. Kirstin has become the Procurer – the woman who solves unsolvable problems. Cameron goes on to build a large business in trade. Then Cameron’s half-sister and her maid disappear. Someone must find her, but the fact that she’s gone must never become known to society. Not knowing that the Procurer is the woman he bedded all those years ago, Cameron approaches the Procurer to solve his dilemma. All he knows is that the Procurer solves the unsolvable. As soon as Kirstin and Cameron are in the same room together again, the chemistry flares. The worlds they have created for themselves will never be the same. But first they must find his half-sister, and Kirstin must find a way to keep a secret from Cameron.
Cameron of course remembers Kirstin and their night of passion – he’s never really forgotten her. Kirstin never gets personally involved with her client’s problems – she has a crew which normally does the dirty work, but this time she decides to do the dirty work. She just cannot say no to this one.
Cameron and Kirstin were an interesting couple. They are written as fully-developed characters who work together really well. They blend together seamlessly whether they are working together to solve the case or building their own relationship. They are both mature, discerning people. Kirstin is the more logical of the two, while Cameron relies on his emotions. That doesn’t mean he was boo-hooing or hysterical, it just means that Kirstin was the more realistic of the two.
The secret. Spoiler. Kirstin’s secret is she has a child from her night of passion with Cameron, and she has raised her without any help. During the time she and Cameron are trying to find Phillippa and her maid, Kirstin does a whole lot of guilt-trip thinking. Cameron is no dummy. He knows there is something from her past she is not telling him. He starts to become suspicious of her, and one day he follows Kirstin to her home and watches as she embraces a young child – about six years old. Well, as I said, Cameron is no dummy, he’s got five fingers on each hand, and he can count. His first reaction is of betrayal, but then he calms down and becomes the most understanding guy in the whole world. When Kirstin finally gets around to telling him about their child, she is flummoxed by his reaction, by his acceptance, his understanding, and by his not holding a grudge. Did I find his reaction upon finding out he was a father believable? Yes. Did I like the way the whole secret child thing was handled? Yes – it was a nice change from other books which might have employed the big misunderstanding ploy. This was a nice change of pace.
I do recommend this story. For those of you who don’t like flashbacks, don’t worry. While there are flashbacks in this story, they do not get in the way of the narrative. Kirstin and Cameron were a complete, confident couple who didn’t resort to tired old clichés of blame-throwing. They respected each other, they understood each other, and they worked together. This was a very well-written second-chance romance.
Time/Place: Regency England/countryside
Sensuality:Warm/Hot
January 29, 2019
Time flies - Tick Tock
http://ammandamccabe.com/
The Governess’s Convenient Marriage by Amanda McCabe is the second in the Debutantes
in Paris series. I have a vague recollection of reading the previous novel, but not enough to help me follow parts of this story. This story is about Lady Alexandra Mannerly, who when the story begins has a giant crush on the crofter's son, Malcolm Gordston. Alexandra is thirteen years old and Malcolm is about nine years older. Because Alexandra really doesn’t have all that much to do, she is allowed to ramble around the countryside. During these wanderings, Alexandra became acquainted with Malcolm and they developed a friendship. They talked, they dreamed, they fished, they roamed the land together. Because of all the time spent together, Alexandra develops an adolescent crush. Malcolm does not return the feeling. To him she was just a child who he could talk to and who follows him around. He may have had an idea that she was infatuated with him, but he was of an age when his interest resided in more fully developed females. You know the ones I’m talking about - the ones with giant convex chests. Men. Anyway, one day when Alexandra was wandering the countryside she stumbles across Malcolm in an embrace with the local hot girl – her chest happens to be convex. She was crushed.
Then things change, and that happens a lot in this book. Malcolm’s father dies, and he is forced to leave the land. Malcolm decides he must go off and seek his fortune, leaving Alexandra. Lucky for her, her father never finds out about his daughter’s crush on Malcolm. Her tyrant of a father would never, ever allow any kind of a relationship between her and the son of a crofter.
Time hurtles forward. Years pass and it’s time for Alexandra’s coming-out. She’s having a standard aristocratic debutante time, even though her heart isn’t really in it. She’s dancing, chatting, fluttering her fan, dancing, going to the opera, walking in the park, riding, and dancing. Meantime, Malcolm is becoming rich. Then something scandalous happens involving Alexandra’s father. Alexandra and her family become pariahs and are forced to leave society. This book doesn’t really tell us what it was that caused them to be shunned. I’m guessing it may have been in the previous book, but since I cannot recall that book this plot became a problem. I have to say that this novel did not work as a standalone. Anyway, Alexandra, her tyrant father, and her whiny mother disappear into the country. They are shunned by the society which was so important to her father.
Time hurtles forward again. Years pass and now Alexandra calls herself Miss Mannerly instead of Lady and she is a governess. While she isn’t really disguising herself, she’s not making any loud announcements about what family she belongs to. She is in Paris, a city in which Malcolm Gordston is launching his newest, grandest department store. Yes, Malcolm is a very wealthy man. He is now also interested in Alex. When she was having a coming-out, they stumbled across each other, and he noticed that she had developed some interesting curves. But at that time her family hadn’t done whatever it was that they did, so her father wouldn’t allow any contact between her and Malcolm. Even though he was rich, rich, rich. But that was past; now her father’s somewhere hidden and she’s a governess – Malcolm decides he will court her.
The island of disappearing characters. Alex’s father appears, and makes it known to Alex that they need money. Alex is surprised to see her father again, but because of some ridiculous loyalty she agrees to do what he wants. Which is marry Malcolm. Her father walks her down the aisle, she marries Malcolm, then her father just kind of vanishes out of the story. It was all so odd. I’m not sure why her father appeared. I thought the author might have him make trouble for the couple after they were married. But that didn’t happen. He was there, and then he just vanished to the Island of Disappearing Characters – poof.
I guess Malcolm and Alex enter into a marriage of convenience, which of course was anything but. They talk, they laugh, they love, and they overcame allllll the obstacles. Actually, as I look back on the story I would have to say this was a rather lifeless tale. I realized that by the time Malcolm and Alex were married I had lost interest in the story. There were introductions of plots which didn’t go anywhere, characters who vanished, and the pace of the passing years uneven. I’m not a big fan of books which leap through the years, some authors succeed with that narrative and some don't.
While the main characters in this story were interesting, they got lost in the uneven writing, plot-lines which didn’t blend, characters who had no purpose, and year jumping. Sorry to say, this story didn’t work for me.
Time/Place: 1800s England and France
Sensuality: Warm
January 28, 2019
Secondary character-gitis strikes again
https://betinakrahn.com/
The Girl with the Sweetest Secret, by Betina Krahn, is the second story in her Sin and Sensibility series. Because it is a series, a couple of her secondary characters from A Good Day to Marry A Duke have been promoted to leads. It just so happens that one of those leads, Reynard Boulton, aka the Fox, was one of my favorite supporting people from A Good Day to Marry A Duke. Reynard was a fun guy in that book. He is a collector of gossip. He is always sticking his nose in to other people’s business. He watches for any juicy stuff which might come his way, and which he could use to his advantage. Our heroine is another one of the Bumgarten sisters, Frances, aka Frankie. The rough and tumble Bumgarten family are from Nevada, and they have landed in England so one of the daughters can land a Duke. As far as their mother is concerned, it doesn’t really matter which one of her daughters it is – just one of them will do.
The story gets off to a good start. A complaining Reynard has to lug Frankie’s drunken Uncle Red home. He promised to look out for the family while his friend Lord Aston Graham is on his honeymoon with Daisy. Daisy is the eldest of the Bumgarten sisters. At the same time Reynard is hauling Red home, Frankie has decided she cannot sleep. In this case, Frankie doesn’t go to the library for a book like most heroines do. No she goes to the kitchen to warm up some milk. Frankie is still wearing one of those semi-transparent nightgowns which is a prerequisite of romance novel heroines. Those nightgowns are handy for standing in front of a fireplace. While Frankie is warming the milk she hears a noise, and suspecting a burglar she grabs the handy-dandy bread paddle and aims it at the housebreaker’s head. Lucky for Reynard, it is only a glancing blow. After surviving the bread paddle, Reynard and Frankie immediately clash. They just do not get along. That doesn’t stop Reynard from staring at Frankie when she stands in front of the fireplace though. While he may not like her attitude, he’s got nothing against her hum-dingers.
Frankie is a free-spirit; she isn’t particularly fond of the closed in spaces of London, nor suppressing her outspoken ways. She is used to having her own way, and was happy riding her horse across the desert in the wide-open spaces of Nevada. She’s one tough hombre. She doesn’t take well to having people control her, which is what Reynard tries to do. Because of the promise he made to Aston, he is constantly underfoot. Frankie finds him an irritation. There are some pretty amusing point-of-view narratives which go on when these two are together. I made note of one of Frankie’s charming mental impugning’s when she referred to Reynard as a “lowdown, kipper-suckin', sidewinder." The story is peppered with a number of amusing reflections by both Frankie and Reynard. However, even with all of the funny dialogue I had a hard time staying with the story. There were toooooo many distractions. There were duels, vicious women trying to trap men into marriage, going to France, running all over the country, a pushy mother, a drunk uncle, and a heel-clicking Prussian villain. There was just tooo much going on.
Back to Reynard and Frankie. As much as Reynard irritates Frankie, she saves him from a fate worse than death – marriage. A really obnoxious young woman tricks Reynard into appearing in her bedroom. The obnoxious woman throws a fit, and her horrible father shows up. This woman doesn’t really care which man she’s trapping into marriage, just as long as he is a man. She has to get married because she’s the eldest. She had her eyes set on the heel-clicking Prussian but he was too smart. Which leads me to why I am mentioning this scene. There was a note written by the horrible woman. She intended it for the clicking Prussian, but Reynard intercepted it. Remember he is a snoop. So, he goes to the woman’s bedroom, the woman screams, the father appears, and Reynard is almost trapped into marriage. However, Frankie has witnessed it all and she blurts out the truth to allllll of the witnesses. While Reynard doesn’t have to marry the woman, he does have to fight a duel with her father. This whole scene struck me as odd. Supposedly Reynard collects information by using a great deal of stealth. He’s supposedly smarter than everyone else, able to avoid allll kinds of traps and tricks. I have to ask if he’s so good at doing all this covert activity, how could he be fooled by the note he intercepted. Why did he step into the trap? Didn’t make too much sense. But this storyline sort of disappears after the while, the heel-clicking villain blackmails the obnoxious woman and her family, and they just kind of fade away as the chapters flip by. The villain doesn’t disappear, but the family does.
Even though I am a great fan of Betina Krahn, this book is not one of my favorites by her. There was just something lacking in the narrative. All actions in the book seemed to have a number of directions they were taking. Plots were started, then just sort of disappeared. While I thought Reynard and Frankie could have been great characters, their romance was lost in all the hubbub. It was just an ok read, and not what I have come to expect from Betina Krahn. I was disappointed that Reynard and Frankie did not have a better story. And, I’m growing weary of pushy mothers.
Time/Place: 1880s England
Sensuality: Warm
January 22, 2019
Next stop, the Greycourt Family
https://www.elizabethhoyt.com/
We have now left Maiden Lane behind and are preparing our entry into the Greycourt family series. I was sorry to say goodbye to the Maiden Lane series, even though I was growing
weary of alllllll the Ghost of St. Giles who kept appearing. Yes, I admit the last few books in the Maiden Lane series were not quite as intriguing as the ones in the beginning. But now we have a new series to look forward to by Ms. Hoyt which centers around the Greycourt family and takes place in the flamboyant Georgian time period. As soon as I received my copy of this book, I tore into it. Alack and alas, I was a little disappointed in the first book in this series.
Let’s take a look at a few of my reasons for this. There are a whole lot of angst-filled people in this story, and I can only assume we will get to visit them when it’s their story-time. There are friendships which were torn asunder, misunderstandings galore, families ripped apart, murder, blackmail, mysteries, and heroes who don’t seem to be too heroic. One of the problems I had with this story was that it all seemed to be a long prelude for the rest of the series, and little time was given to the romance. So far we have Ranulf de Moray, Christopher Renshaw, Julian, Lachlan, Caitriona, Elspeth, Messalina and Freya. And, I know I’ve left out some of the other living characters. We also have dead Aurelia Greycourt – her death is the reason for all the angst. Oh, then there is the ancient secret society called Wise Women – oh, no not another secret society. By the way, the Wise Women are witches.
Our heroine, Freya, is a member of the Wise Women. In fact she is their “Macha.” It didn’t take me long to feel as if I’d stepped into one of my daughters old D and D games. Ah, yes such fond memories I have of my daughter explaining to me all about the magical people in D and D land. Alllll the mage, and wizards, and trolls – oh my. It never took very long for my eyes to glaze over, or for my ears to hear blah, blah, blah. But one must always encourage ones child, so I usually incorporated a nod of my head here and there throughout the narration. Anyway, there were parts of this book that took me back to those days. And, my entire brain glazed over.
Freya, the Macha, has the job of spying, keeping a look-out for anyone who might be contemplating doing further injury to the Wise Women. In the beginning of the book we are introduced to Freya as she runs through the streets of London trying to save a baby from his guardian. She jumps into a passing carriage. And, much to her surprise that carriage is occupied by Christopher Renshaw. She knows him, but he doesn’t recognize her. He’s bored, and he thinks that something just might be up when a woman with a baby jumps into his carriage. Then she jumps out and takes off running, followed by a bunch of men in hot pursuit. Mighty suspicious, he thinks rubbing his chin in contemplation. He does wonder why the woman was glaring at him. Although he does have to admit that they were nice, sparkling, glaring eyes, and they seemed mighty familiar – ummmm.
Of course Christopher is the man Freya blames for her family's disastrous condition – after all he’s wearing her brother’s ring. I knew I had a problem when this revelation was made clear to me, and I knew that what I had on the pages in front of me was a jump-to-conclusions-based-on-nothing heroine. And, Freya really jumps to lots of conclusions, even though she’s the Wise Woman Macha.
Another issue. Even though this story takes place in 1760, the narrative would like us to believe that there were still witch hunters abounding in the countryside. Those witch-hunters were called Dunkelders – at least in this book. Dunkelders – that word made me cringe, and I did waste a whole lot of time searching for it.
Back to Freya. When she’s not spending her time running through London saving people, she’s acting as a companion to a Lady Holland. Supposedly Lady Holland doesn’t have any idea who Freya is. Joy, oh joy, they have been invited to a house party in the country. Also at that house party is Freya’s old friend Messalina Greycourt. They are not speaking. Messalina is there because she wants to find out what happened to Lady Randolph. Lady Randolph, a neighbor, seems to have disappeared. Messalina suspects Lord Randolph did something nefarious to his wife. Freya on the other hand thinks that Lord Randolph may be a Dunkelder. Lord Randolph is also trying to pass a law which would make witch hunting legal again. Freya wants to find something to use against him so he won’t do it. Messalina just wants to find Lady Randolph. Eventually, after a long talk, Freya and Messalina start working together.
Guess who else is at the party? Christopher. Christopher is there because he’s being blackmailed, and the blackmailer is at the party. It seems that his dead wife Sophy wrote some letters which he doesn’t want anyone to see. Are you keeping count? Wise Women, Dunkelder, kidnappers, murderers, blackmailers, witches, friends/not friends – it was all tooo much.
Another issue. Freya as a heroine. Freya is also very hard to like. She’s stubborn, jumps to conclusions and treats her ex-friends and the hero horribly. If she’s an example of a Wise Woman, I’m not sure I want to read about the others in the group. There were too many plot lines threaded throughout the story, too many too keep track of, and definitely too many to remember by the time the next book comes out. There was also more than just the hero and heroines point of views throughout this book – it was very dizzying.
Because of all the different plots clamoring at us from the side-lines, the chemistry between Christopher and Freya is sadly lacking. Not even the requisite humpa-bumpa scenes could add to the romance. If anything the humpa-bumpas seemed to add a sense of seediness to the book. For the sensual side of a romance to work there has to be an emotional connection between our hero and heroine, and there wasn’t.
I’m hoping the next book in the series is better, because the first book in this series is not up to what I have come to expect from Ms. Hoyt’s usual magnetic prose. For the most part, Ms. Hoyt’s Maiden Lane series was jam-backed with atmosphere. All of my senses came alive in that series, but this one just doesn’t live up to its predecessor. Keeping my fingers crossed for the next book in the series.
Time/Place: England 1760
Sensuality: Warm/Hot/Seedy
January 10, 2019
I must be really smart or maybe I’ve just read too many romances
http://www.cathymaxwell.com/
In Cathy Maxwell’s The Duke That I Marry, I spotted the villain as soon as he appeared on
the page. He hadn’t even said a word. Since I don’t read too many mystery books, it must be the ton of British mystery shows I watch. After thousands of Poirot, Marple, Frost, Sherlock, Vera, Barnaby, and my latest obsession, Shetland with Jimmy Perez, it’s hard to hide the villain.
Anyway, the story begins with a betrothal being broken by Willa Reverly. She believes she is being ignored by her fella, Matthew Addison, Duke of Camberly – and she is. Since his ascension to the title he’s had a lot to take care of, and attending to his fiancée is not at the top of his list. But Willa gets his attention fast by sending him a note breaking off their engagement. Well, he needs her money, so he drops everything he’s doing and dashes off to the city. Matthew is quite a smooth talker when it comes to the ladies, and it isn’t long before he has Willa back into his good graces. Their engagement is back on.
Well, Willa’s actions did one unforeseen things – it sparked Matthew’s interest and made a few things start to twitch. All of a sudden Mathew wants Willa. Given Matthew’s past interest in another woman, this portion of the story seemed a little hurried. But, anyway now Matthew wants Willa and he is more than eager to make her his. Willa, of course, wants love in her marriage. After some really horrible advice from her mother about bleeding, size, and dying in childbirth, Willa is not all that excited about her wedding night. And, unlike numerous Romanceland first times, Willa’s first time is a disaster. While some people may not care for the actions of the groom, I thought it was a refreshing change from most of the romanticized versions which are written in novels. I thought the wedding night was both sympathetic and realistic. It gave both Willa and Matthew a chance to grow, adjust, respect each other, and finally love each other.
Overall, while this story didn’t blow me away, I did like it. I found both Matthew and Willa to be interesting characters. They both were complex characters with many flaws, and that’s what made this story good. We get to watch both characters accept their flaws, and grow with them. I did have some quibbles with Matthew’s sisters. I thought they were rude, overbearing, selfish women who didn’t care whether they hurt Willa or not. I also thought that the mystery, blackmail, and villain were the weaknesses in this story. While I’m not giving this a rousing recommendation, I do recommend it.
Time/Place: Regency England
Sensuality: Warm/Hot
January 9, 2019
Reality Check – Nah, this is Romanceland
http://www.lorraineheath.com/
When a Duke Loves a Woman is Lorraine Heath’s second book in the Sins for All Seasons
series. So far, this series seems to be about the Trewlove family. Ettie Trewlove is the matriarch of the Trewlove clan. Ettie seems to have had a soft spot for children left on her door steps. Over the years she has taken in a number of them and raised them. They have formed a family. Those children are now grown and form a group of future heroes and heroines. They are: Beast, Aiden, Finn, Fanny, and Gillie. We were introduced to the gang in the previous story, Beyond Scandal and Desire. That story was Mick Trewlove’s tale. This is Gillie’s story.
Gillie has made a life for herself in the Whitechapel district of London. With a little encouragement from her family, she has become the proud owner of a tavern by the whimsical name of The Mermaid and the Unicorn. That name is a reflection of Gillie’s personality.
The story begins with Antony Coventry, Duke of Thornley, aka Thorne being attacked by a group of thugs in Whitechapel right outside Gillie’s door. What’s a duke doing in Whitechapel you may ask? Well, it seems that his betrothed, Lavinia, left him at the altar. Don’t hate her - she did leave him a note. The note said she had some old business to finish, or a problem from her past to settle, or angst to recover from. Whatever it was could only be done in Whitechapel. Whitechapel, a place where aristocratic women can hide out and not stick out like a sore thumb. Because he’s a hero, Thorne took off after her. He followed her to Whitechapel, but cannot locate her. He’s searching for her when thugs come across him, rob him, and proceed to beat him up. By the way, Lavinia’s book is next. Anyway, the attack is going on in the alley behind Gillie’s tavern. Gillie charges into the fray, and chases the attackers off. But Thorne is in pretty bad shape, so Gillie drags him into her tavern to tend to his wounds. Oh, by the way, Gillie is six feet tall, has short hair and wears trousers.
As we all know, I’m not particularly fond of heroines dressed in trousers, but this time it works. Gillie is different. She is a complex heroine. She has feminine and masculine qualities, she is vulnerable and strong, she is brave and cowardly. Gillie is also the character who is more fully-developed.
While Gillie may have a tavern in Whitechapel, that doesn’t mean she’s not a respectable woman. She is. Even though she has a mother and a bunch of alpha-male brothers, she is an independent woman – and that’s just the way she wants it. She has done almost everything on her own. Everyone in Whitechapel respects her and her wishes. Now she has a strange man in her bed and she is fighting to save his life. She is also trying to keep his presence a secret from her family and friends.
Thorne and Gillie are instantly attracted to each other, but they actually resist for a long time. Thorne and Gillie are an interesting couple. One of the main things I found so fascinating was the immense class separation between them. He’s a Duke, she’s an owner of a tavern in Whitechapel. I was quite eager to find out just how Ms. Heath would accomplish a HEA. Would she end up creating some kind of silly solution or would it be a satisfying ending? It was alllll very nerve-racking for me. Realistically,
the difference between Gillie and Thorne’s worlds should have been so
huge it couldn’t work. However, by the end of the book I was cheering
Gillie and Thorne on – make it work! Make it work! Make it work!! They
made a great couple; both were kind, loving people who had a great deal
of love to spread around to others.
When Thorne recovers his injuries, he knows it is time to return to his home. Before he leaves Gillie’s tavern, he persuades her to help him find Lavinia. That gives both of them an excuse to be together.
Thorne is a typical manly-man hero of Romanceland. But what Thorne has in abundance is loyalty. He is loyal to his fiancée, and loyal to Gillie’s wishes. There is also a wonderful secondary character by the names of Robin. Robin is a delightful young boy, an orphan who has been taken in by Gillie. Thorne takes Robin under his wings and forms a great relationship with him. There is some really great aawwwwwww moments between Robin and Thorne.
There is of course, the requisite appearance of Gillie’s family. After all we have to have a check-in of Mick to see how he’s doing. And, we have to get to know alllll the future heroes better – Finn is next and he’s holding a grudge. The appearance of Gillie’s brother almost set off my Ick-o-meter. Spoiler. Even with allll of Thorne’s care in preventing a baby, Gillie still ends up expecting. She does not tell Thorne. That’s not the moment which raised my eyebrows though. All of her brother’s, except Mick, propose marriage to her. Ick. Now, I know, I know, they are not related by blood – but they grew up as sister and brothers. While I think the marriage proposals were supposed to be cute, for me they were kind of icky.
Overall, while this was not the bestest book I’ve ever read, I loved the characters, I loved Heath’s solution of class division, I loved the secondary characters, and I loved the Trewlove family. This was a very satisfying read and I highly recommend it.
Time/Place: England 1871
Sensuality: Warm/Hot
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.
Scandal series and we once again join the Procurer. However, in this case it’s the Procurer’s turn to have her story. 
