Memories, Schmemories Part II...The Houseparty by Anne Stuart

http://www.anne-stuart.com/
Oh, how I miss Fawcett books, and here is one of the reasons why. The Houseparty by Anne Stuart, published in 1985, has been one of my favorites ever since reading it when it first came out. But, we all know how my memory is, so I was a tad bit nervous when I opened this book. One of my concerns was my big mouth and that I had been telling people what a great book this was. Well, I'm happy to report that it has withstood the test of time! This book is one of the reasons I love the romance genre and if you can get your hands on it, you should take the time to read it.

This story has all of the elements that normally I'm groaning about, but in Ms. Stuart's capable hands they turn into a very delightful story. It has a spy hero, Michael, and a spirited aka feisty heroine, Lizzie. Lizzie was constantly getting in trouble, snooping, going where she was warned not to go, and Michael was always turning up unexpectedly. But it was all great fun. There is also a great scene of Lizzie hiding and people going in and out of bedrooms... very funny.

The story takes place in the span of three days and is filled with tons of memorable characters; any one of them could be the bad guy. This book is a fast, charming read. You may not get any belly laughs out of this, but I believe this story will make you smile. Even though we don't really get to see the hero's POV, he's still a very sexy guy. And that is what makes great writing - a writer who can create this very interesting man without us seeing inside his head.

I'm glad to say that I am still very fond of this book. And by the way... Anne Stuart is a very talented writer. She writes gothics, thrillers, historicals, contemporaries... with a lot of dark male characters. If you haven't read any of her books, you should really give one a try. If you can get your hands on The Demon Count (1980) and Lord Satan's Bride (1981), both from the old Dell Candlelight Intrigue books, you'll will be in for a treat. Some other recommendations: Black Ice, The Devil's Waltz, To Love a Dark Lord, Ice Storm, Ice Blue, A Rose of Midnight, Nightfall, Lord of Danger. And again, a little word of warning - Anne Stuart is known for her very strong, dark, brooding men. She did get her start writing gothic novels, after all.

According to her website, she is working on a historical trilogy about the decadent Rohan family. The first book is scheduled to come out the latter part of 2010.

P.S. - My daughter also recommends the contemporary romance Special Gifts, starring a psychic and a cop.

Time/Place Regency England
Rating:
Sensuality: Very Warm

In Bed with the Duke by Christina Dodd

To all of the peasantry, it's time for the pitchforks and torches!!
http://www.christinadodd.com/
OMG! Where to begin? After a four year hiatus into Contemporaryland and Paranormalville, I was so looking forward to In Bed with the Duke by Christina Dodd. So, I lovingly opened the book. The time period was 1849, not my favorite, but I can deal with it... I started to read and what do you think I see right there on the first page, line nine (yes, I counted)?

Well, peasants let me tell you. The hero Michael is bored bored bored because he's attending a ball that is an "exact clone" of all the others. Exact Clone!!! Exact Clone!!! Clone!!! Clone in 1849? Well, now wait a minute, let's not fly off the handle.

Don't become one of those irritating historically accurate people. Maybe that term is being used legitimately. So, after about a half hour of research, I came across an article from the Medical History journal written by a Professor Ursula Mittwoch. And, do you know what that article was about? "Clone: The History of a Euphonious Scientific Term." Who'd have thunk it? Who writes articles on one word? Well, evidently Ursula did. So, here is the shortened version of what I found: Clone was borrowed from the Greek word Cron in 1899 by a Herbert Webber (it means twig.) In 1905 the "e" was added. And, in 1968 the definition of Clone was expanded to include "A group of genetically identical individuals." Close enough to a ball. (By the way, interesting article.)

So, I started ranting to my better half about being thrown out of a story in the very first page. He suggested I give the book a chance, that maybe it was just a fluke. Although he did question the necessity of using "exact" and "clone" together.

So, I plunged in... Oh dear... another pet peeve: the mythical kingdom. Every time I read a book with a made up kingdom, I always think of that old Bob Hope movie "Where There's Life," which is about a country called Barovia, has a secret society called the Mordia and is populated with Grubitch, Zavitch, Krovoc and Grimovitch. However, the movie didn't take itself seriously, unlike this book.

I can overlook many things, I can even overlook some of my pet peeves. However, what I cannot overlook is a romance that isn't a romance. Please, someone tell me how can the heroine fall in love or lust with a guy who wears a mask, is covered in white powder, wears some kind of a sheet thing, she can't see his eyes and he never... ever... says a word. I mean, really, what is there to love or even find attractive? He might as well be a coat rack... same thing. I just didn't get it.

Then it got worse. We have forced seduction, angry sex and rape or whatever you want to call it. And this was from the good guy... the hero. Which is why I suspect the villain was such a nasty piece of work - he had to be made to appear even crueler than the hero. This book was filled with some extremely brutal things. I was transported back to the bodice ripper days and it wasn't a happy trip.

Needless to say, I was very disappointed in this book and probably won't buy the sequel. So, if you want to read a Christina Dodd book, read one of her early ones, the ones where she seemed to care about what went into the making of a good romance story.

Time/Place Early Victorian England
Rating:
Sensuality Rating: Hot if you think forced is hot

Secrets of a Scandalous Bride by Sophia Nash

http://www.sophianash.com/books/main.htm
Secrets of a Scandalous Bride brings to a satisfactory close the Widow Club series. There seemed to be only one book in the series that stumbled and that was Love with the Perfect Scoundrel. Secrets of a Scandalous Bride is a solid read; I only have a few minor quibbles.

Evidently the hero in this book, Rowland, was a villain in a previous book. However, I don't remember him. In fact, it wasn't until I read the names of Ata and Mr. Brown that I remembered which series I was reading. That's one of the problems with books in a series - I really have a problem remembering which one I'm reading. Is this the one with the four brothers who are spies and have animal names or is this the one with the sisters who run a school for wayward waifs who want to be either educated servants or enter society and marry a Duke? I do love a good series though.

Anyway, this book doesn't need the other ones in the series; it is able to stand alone. Both the heroine, Elizabeth, and the hero, Rowland, are well-rounded characters. This is a standard plot of a pretend widow hiding out at the stronghold of the wicked man, but the two main characters are really so well written that this didn't bother me.

Elizabeth is one of those heroines who always has a plan on how to extricate herself, though I don't think any of her plans ever worked. Rowland was the stronger of the two characters, and I really liked him. He is really really a tormented soul hiding behind a gruff exterior (and I do mean gruff), but Elizabeth doesn't allow him to bully her. They actually make quite a wonderful couple. Neither one of them are truthful with one other, but for some reason that doesn't matter and they both know the other person isn't being truthful. And, even though neither one of them were honest with each other, there really isn't any big misunderstanding. I know that doesn't make any sense, but if you read the book you'll understand.

Now for the quibbles. It seemed to me that parts of the book were rushed and all of the loose ends were tied rather quickly, especially the last widow, Sarah. When her particular end got tied I felt my eyebrows go up, and said to myself "Oh, Puleese!"

But all in all, I'd say this is a satisfying ending to a series that, for the most part, I have enjoyed.

Time/Place: Regency England
Rating:
Sensuality Rating: Hot

Lisa Valdez

Well, I just added Patience to by TBR list. Release date is scheduled for April 6, 2010. Will I order it? Will the date be moved? After all of this time, will I even like it? It's either going to be "after all of this time THIS is what we waited for?" or "after all of this time THIS is what we waited for!" That was my Rashomon moment.

Memories Schmemories...Book One, Regency Buck

http://www.georgette-heyer.com/
Georgette Heyer, 1902-1974, is probably one of the main architects of the modern romance genre. Oh sure, there's always Jane Austen, but most modern authors will list Heyer as the one who most influenced their desire to write. She was first published at the age of eighteen and went on to write 51 more novels. She had the pseudonym of Stella Martin and published not only historical, but a few contemporaries and some mysteries. This is my favorite photograph of her, (I've only seen two, so the choice was a little limited.)

Now, on to the book: Regency Buck. Here's the plot, Judith and Peregrine Taverner are the wards of Julian, Lord Worth. Julian loves Judith at first sight, Judith hates Julian at first sight and someone is out to murder Peregrine. And, that's the plot.

To be honest, when I first started to read this book I became a little nervous, because somewhere in the last 30 odd years of reading romance novels, my brain has become lazy. And this book does not allow for a lazy brain. It was like watching Masterpiece Theater or a foreign film without the subtitles. But, once I found Ms. Heyer's rhythm, I became engrossed in the language of the book.

When I say language, I mean the jargon, cant, descriptions of places and historical people that fill this book (and let me tell you almost every famous person from Regency England puts in an appearance.)

Instead of a gown and bonnet with a yellow ribbon, we have a "plain round gown of French cambric, frilled round the neck with scalloped lace; and a close mantle of twill sarcenet. A Poke-bonnet of basket-willow with a striped velvet ribbon rather charmingly framed her face." Instead of snuff, we have a room filled with "lead canisters, labeled with queer-sounding names as Scholten, Curacao, Masulipatam, Bureau, Demi-gros, Bolongaro, Old Paris." We have a place called the Sublime Society of Beefsteaks (loved that one.) There are cravats and quizzing glasses galore...oh, how I miss the quizzing glass. There are two pages of a cock fight, which ends with a brawl and amusing shouts of "Drawn his cork! Fib him, guv'nor! Let him have a bit of home-brewed!" By the way the bird dies (so much for 21st century sensibilities.) And while we are on the subject, nothing in this book is politically correct.

My favorite line comes from the hero while talking to the villain "The scruples of persons of your kidney are, alas, hidden from me." I don't know why, but I loved that line and I want to use it someday. I'm sure it will be impressive, probably stop people in their tracks.

Now, for the romance part of the book. If you blink you'll miss it. First of all, (and here is where some of that lazy brain comes in) Julian has no POV (point of view). And, talk about enigmatic heroes, Julian is enigmatic with a capital E. If not for the occasional lift of the eyebrow or softening of the face, you'd never know he was in love. No twitching, throbbing manroots in this book! Judith, on the other hand, does have an occasional POV and there is a pivotal scene after she has done something incredibly stupid that is very well written.

Would I recommend this book? In my humble opinion, this is probably not one of Ms. Heyer's best. However, I believe everyone should read at least one of her books. And, I'd also suggest not reading them all at once; they're better in small doses. So, I've included a list of twelve of her books, compliments of the All About Romance website. My favorite on this list is Venetia; reminds me of Putney's The Rake.

Ms. Heyer was famous for creating her own slang to fill her books and I'm sure this book was packed with her creations. Of course this means it probably weren't historically correct, but you know what, I didn't really care. This book is not a romance as I know them to be anymore, however it did take me back in time. Now, whether it took me back to Regency England or England of the 1930 might be up for discussion; but, in the end it didn't matter because it was good to visit an old friend again...Here's to you Georgette! And thanks!

Time Period: Regency England (real Regency England)
Rating: Romance:
Sensuality Rating: Kiss

List of recommendations:
Devil's Cub, 1934 sequel to These Old Shades (An Infamous Army and Regency Buck are sequels to Devil's Cub)
The Grand Sophy, 1950
Frederica, 1965
Venetia, 1958
These Old Shades, 1926
Arabella, 1949
The Masqueraders, 1928
Sylvester, Or the Wicked Uncle, 1957
Faro's Daughter, 1941
Cotillion, 1953
The Nonesuch, 1962
The Unknown Ajax, 1959

Memories Schmemories...

I have decided to start a new project. And here is why. Needless to say, I have been a tad bit disappointed in the last few months by the quality of the writing that has been published. So, I thought I'd read one of my old books to do a cleanse my brain. Well, while I was looking at my database, and yes I am a list person, I got this simply brilliant idea. First of all, in my database I have, out of around 3000 books, only 159 which I gave the coveted A! Now, granted, I only started rating them in the year 2000, so the number is a little off. Soooo, of course, I made another list. This list is all of the ones I rated with an A, plus books that I have fond memories of or remember being really good. Now, of course, we are all aware that memories are sometimes not very reliable, but I'm going to give it a go.

Sooo, I'm calling my project Memories Schmemories and at least twice a month, in between new books I will be reading some older books. And some of those books will even be in first person (I wasn't always as picky as I am now.)

I'm starting with the first book I read that started me down the road to Romanceland. This is not one of those books that you were force to read in high school or sneaked home (Peyton Place), but one that caught my eye when I was perusing the library shelves one day in the 1970's. This should be interesting...memory don't let me down.

Regency Buck by Georgette Heyer, first published in 1935.

To Tame a Dangerous Lord by Nicole Jordan

http://www.nicolejordanauthor.com/
To Tame a Dangerous Lord by Nicole Jordan, fifth book in the Courtship War's series. This is a typical Nicole Jordan book, so if you like Nicole Jordan you'll like this one. You know what I mean...lot's of hot sex (I think there was a twenty page sex scene or so it seemed) and a really arrogant guy and I do mean arrogant. Not only is he arrogant, he is also one of those spy guys, so he is of course suspicious of everything the heroine does. He of course jumps to all of the wrong conclusions and treats the really nice heroine, Madeline, like dirt. How did England keep their colonies as long as they did with these spy guys? He of course was betrayed by an evvel woman early on, so all women are not to be trusted. And while we are on the subject of those millions of spy guys in Romanceland, do all of them just jump to the wrong conclusion? Also, thrown into the patch is a really nasty grandmother, not a cute funny one, but really mean. Although Madeline does stand up to her. I really wanted Madeline to smack Rayne (the hero) in the face, but she never did. What she did do was blame herself for all of their problems.

So, this is an solid read, but it is also a typical Jordan book, so beware.

Time Place: Georgian England
Rating:
Sensuality Rating: Hot