Goodbye Elizabeth Thornton

Sad to say, we have lost another voice. Elizabeth Thornton, has passed away. So, here's to you Ms. Thornton.

Happy trails to you, until we meet again.
Some trails are happy ones,
Others are blue.
It's the way you ride the trail that counts,
Here's a happy one for you.
-Dale Evans

Lady's Isabella's Scandalous Marriage by Jennifer Ashley

The MacKenzie brothers are back!
http://www.jennifersromances.com/index.html

What a bunch of manly men! I really loved Jennifer Ashley's The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie and I was looking forward to the second MacKenzie story, Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage, which is Mac's story.

This was an interesting story for me... first of all, it is one of my favorite story lines: a broken marriage. I'm always interested in how authors mend the pieces for that happy ending, especially in historicals where there aren't that many options.

I liked this story very much. Mac is a marvelous hero and he is desperate to get his wife back. Sometimes, almost too desperate. There is some wonderful chemistry between Mac and Isabella and the sex is pretty h-o-t. I became a little irritated with Isabella - evidently it's ok to put cream and other things in one's mouth, but it isn't ok to attempt a reconciliation with the person who is attached to the things one is putting in one's mouth. Mac was soooo nice, and soooo changed that it was hard for me to understand Isabella's reluctance, especially when she was jumping up and down on the bed with him. So, I did get tired of Isabella's no, no, no routine.

Another problem I had with the book was I never quite understood why she left him in the first place. Oh sure, he was drunk a lot, I guess he had a temper (but you never see it), and we are told he was wild and left her for long periods of time, but for some reason, I kept looking for another reason for her leaving him and it was just never there. I also never understood why Mac thought he had to leave Isabella for weeks at a time - what did he think he was saving her from? They do suffer the loss of a child, and I'm not trying to tell an author how to write, especially one who is published. But the loss of the child is where I would have gone with the main reason for the separation. Oh, sure, it is the catalyst for the separation but not the main reason. Of course, I never understood the main reason and I thought that was one of the weakest parts of the book.

It was good to see Ian and Beth again. What wonderful characters, and he isn't miraculously cured, which I thought was a bit of good writing. Cameron and Hart are also there in their manly hunkified maleness. I just wish that I didn't have to wait another year for Cameron's story and then not until 2012 for Hart's... that is a big pain in the batoot!

So, while I liked the story very much and I liked Mac and sometimes Isabella, I did have some issues with Isabella's reluctance to forgive Mac.

Time/Place: England 1880's
Rating:
Sensuality Rating: Hot!

I Kissed an Earl by Julie Ann Long

I hates pirates! I dares ye to find a Fabio anywhares, matey!
http://www.julieannelong.com/index.shtml

I'm not sure why I don't like pirate stories. Eons ago, pirates
flooded Romanceland. Maybe that's it, maybe over saturation... and one of
Romanceland's classics, "Windflower," is after all a pirate story. I suspect though that it's because I have to really suspend belief to actually think that any woman on board a pirate ship is going to find romance, but I might be wrong. I just have never viewed a pirate as romantic.

But back to I Kissed an Earl by Julie Ann Long. This is the fourth in the Pennyroyal Green series. This is the story of Violet Redmond and Captain Flint. To be honest with you, I really didn't like Violet. I thought she was spoiled and oftentimes cruel to the people around her. There were also a number of times when the TSTL routine kicked in. I did like Captain Flint, or at least what little we were allowed to see of him, because in my opinion this was more of a Violet book than a Flint book and I think that is one of the reasons I can't give it a better rating.

Except for some typo hiccups which made me read some sentences over, the writing was superb. Normally, when a typo or incorrect grammar jumps out at me, but the writing and the story are good, I can overlook those problems. After all, I myself am famous for "which do I use - 'a' or 'an', 'a' or 'an', 'a' or 'an', every single time! So, none of us is perfect!

I digress. Back to the book. I enjoyed the bantering between Flint and Violet - I love sarcasm! I loved the potato peeling scene with the Greek cook and later the HOT potato peeling scene between Flint and Violet. Never thought potatoes could be so sensual.

This is a good book, filled with strong writing. I just wish I could have had a little more of Flint's POV. And, by the way, what happens to Fatima, a loose end which wasn't tied? Also, Captain Flint isn't really a pirate, he's just chasing one, so close enough!

Also, if you want to irritate both friends and strangers alike, don't forget that annoying International Talk Like a Pirate Day, September 19th!

Time/Place: The High Sea or thar abouts, 1820
Rating:
Sensuality Rating: Hot

Love in the Afternoon by Lisa Kleypas

Bye bye Hathaway family
http://www.lisakleypas.com/
Another story about the interesting Hathaway family and if I'm not mistaken there aren't anymore Hathaways, so this may be the last.

While Love in the Afternoon is good, it is probably the weakest of the Hathaway series; it has a rushed feel about it.

This story is about the animal whisperer, Beatrix, and Christopher Phelan, a neighbor. The concept is interesting, a sort of Cyrano de Bergerac story without the nose. Beatrix writes letters to Christopher, signs someone else's name and Christopher falls in love with the person responsible for writing the letters.

While I did enjoy the story, every time it could have turned into a really powerful love story, it just dwindled away. The letter writing truth comes out, he gets mad, he gets engaged to the fake signee, he confronts Beatrix, she apologizes, he forgives her, he breaks his engagement, she gets mad, she runs off. Christopher and Beatrix get married, they have sex, they don't sleep together, an ex-comrade shows up, he tries to kill Christopher, he doesn't, he is saved by Christopher and Beatrix. These kind of ho-hum things happen throughout the book, but they shouldn't be ho-hum... there is just no spark!

So, even though it was a satisfactory read, it was just that: satisfactory. This was not one of Ms. Kleypas' outstanding books. I'm wondering if this means we've found another author who has too many irons in the fire? Is it possible to write more than one book a year AND still keep the momentum going?

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

Memories Schmemories, Part IX, The Rake by Mary Jo Putney, 1998

Wow!! Memories have played a trick on me!
http://www.maryjoputney.com/

While I remember this book as good and I even have it on my 10 best romance novel list, I failed to remember how really good this books is! In fact, I think this book might just be pushing toward the number one spot on my list!

This book was originally written as The Rake and the Reformer in 1989, and then some pages were added and it was released in 1998 as The Rake. Both books are wonderful, but since I just read The Rake this is the one I'm going to talk about.

Let's start with that wonderful hero Reggie Davenport, who as of now has made it to my favorite hero list. What a flawed hero Ms. Putney has created in Reggie... he lost his entire family, was raised (sort of) by a really cruel man and is now a drunkard or an alcoholic if we were defining it for contemporary times. His cousin, Richard, the hero of The Diabolic Baron, signs over Reggie's childhood home to him. Reggie, who knows that the life he is leading is killing him, grudgingly goes. That childhood home has been managed over the years my someone known only as A. E. Weston... and of course A. E. turns out to be a Alys - female! female! female!

Reggie and Alys are a wonderful, mature couple... no games are played, no cruel tricks, no spies, no pirates, no kidnapping. Along the way we find out why Alys is the steward and we watch Reggie as he struggles with his drinking problem. We watch them first as friends, then as lovers They have humor, wit and they support each other. There are also some strong, wonderfully-written secondary characters.

This is quite a journey and if you haven't read this book, you really should. Great love story!

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

Memories Schmemories, Part VIII, The Templar's Seduction by Mary Reed McCall, 2007

Can you say "The Return of Martin Guerre" or even the awful remake "Sommersby?"
http://www.maryreedmccall.com/
Not updated since 2007, but she also as a face book account
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mary-Reed-McCall-Author/180541880768

The Templar's Seduction by Mary Reed McCall, is the last book in a series and I believe the last book Ms. McCall wrote. It is my understanding that she's working on another book, however, it's not a romance. This is the only one of hers that I've read and I may go back and glom her other ones... But I have to get my other projects done first.

Set in the 1300's, it's the story of Alex de Ashby disguising himself as Lady Elizabeth's husband in order to save his friend. That's it in a nutshell. I've never been a big fan of people pretending to be someone else in romance... talk about untrustworthy. However, almost from the beginning he is overwhelmed with love and then guilt. Elizabeth, being no dummy, also knows something isn't right and suspects he isn't her husband.

What drew me to the story was Alex's struggle to save his friend's life, and not lose Elizabeth in the process. I liked Elizabeth's reaction to Alex's betrayal and I was glad it didn't drag on forever. The sensuality in the book was hot, but sometimes I found my eyebrows going up and saying to myself, "Oh Puleese Alex! Get a grip on it!" Although, at the end of the book, some of the tying up of loose threads stretched the boundaries of belief.

This is set in a very tumultuous time period; in fact, I can't think of any Medieval time period that didn't have something tumultuous going on. And, that makes me wonder why more romance novels aren't set in that time period. There was so much conflict happening everywhere.

So, if you like a good Medieval story with a knight doing battle for his fair lady, I recommend this as a pretty good read. Just be prepared for an overly sweet epilogue where we get to see everyone from the series and their hordes of children.

Time/Place: 1309 England
Rating:
Sensuality Rating: Hot

Stroke of Genius by Emily Bryan

From whence alert!
http://www.emilybryan.com/index.htm
In Stroke of Genius, the phrase "from whence" is used. Now, for me I don't care because I think it has a nice rhythm; however, there are some people (and you know who you are) who will be kicked out of the story when reading this phrase. So, just be warned, it's in there.

Now, back to Stroke of Genius by Emily Bryan. I enjoy Ms. Bryan's books. I find them light, witty and fast paced... and this book was no different.

There were some really interesting things going on with this story and I think that may have been some of the problem that I had with it. First of all it is a Pygmalion story, which is one of my favorite myths... the story of the artist falling in love with his creation. And, that part of the story was creative and well done. I believe this book could have been more than just a light comedy, as evidenced in Crispen's background story, which I found to be fascinating. I also liked Crispen and Grace's dialog - I found it amusing. I thought her relationship with her mother and father could have been explored just a little bit more. And there were other interesting things that were brought into play but never acted upon. There was Mary, Dorset and his mother, all three interesting characters, but never fully realized. I found the sex play between the servants of Crispin and Grace to be entertaining at first, but then there was too much of them and not enough of Crispin and Grace.

This book had all the makings of a more complex story, but because of word count or something Ms. Bryan wasn't able to create a really wonderful tale that would have been more than just fluff. And the ending of the story really seemed rushed.

I think Ms. Bryan needs a bigger stage for her stories. Let her have more words!!! So, don't get me wrong, this book was light and funny and I do recommend it; however, there was so much more hiding behind the edges and I really wish they could have been explored.

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