Wicked Becomes Her by Meredith Duran

Do heroes have hairy moles?
http://www.meredithduran.com/index.html

Well, what can I say... Wicked Becomes Her was an interesting book to read. I am a big fan of Meredith Duran's wonderful writing. Some of the writing in this book was so vivid you could smell it, especially when the characters journey to Paris. There must have been lots of research going on to make the time period in that particular place seem so alive.

I thought the verbal exchanges between Gwen and Alex were wonderful, witty, and at times I even chuckled at some of them. I was especially fond of all the inner workings that were rummaging around in their heads. And, I was really liking this story until we came to an embarrassing moment.

Let me stop and ramble about embarrassing moments in books and movies. I used to think it only happened to me, but I think that these little moments happen to others, too. Every once in a while, I will be reading or watching something and the character will do something that for some reason embarrasses me. I feel sorry for them and they are not even aware of it! For instance, a long long time ago I read a time travel book - I forget the name of it, but it was something about lightning striking. Anyway, this heroine is flung back into time and while there she belts out a country song in front of a room full of people. I was totally embarrassed... and there was a moment like that in this book, in which the heroine is singing from Carmen and invites the onlookers to join in. I thought the scene was silly and I was embarrassed, and that threw me out of the book.

And then there were all of the characters in the book that just went nowhere... There was Barrington, the sort-of villain and someone I thought might be in line for the hero spot in the next book... UNTIL it was revealed he had a mole with a hair coming out of it. Well, cross him off the list. And then it turned out he wasn't really a villain. Then there was Gwen's companion... went nowhere. The party at Barrington's... nowhere. The woman with the garter... nowhere. The peep holes... nowhere. The brother... Well, you get the idea. There were just too many nowhere's, to say nothing of the silly lie that Alex was keeping from Gwen... what was that all about?

I wish I could give this book two ratings - loved the first half, not so much the second, and it's really a shame because Meredith Duran is one of the better new writers around.

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

Just ordered!!!!

My books for this month and I am excited!!!! Mary Balogh, A Secret Affair: Constantine's story, Emily Bryan, Tessa Dare, Lisa Kleypas, Sara Lindsey, Sally MacKenzie, Kasey Michaels, Julia Quinn and Sherry Thomas have all been added to my TBR. Can't wait to get them into my greedy little hands, then I'll have to figure out which to read first. Of course the shipping date might have a little bit to do with which I read first.

Thank You!

Thank you Tracy for the lovely Bodacious Blog award. And everyone go visit Tracy at http://ahhhhhromance.blogspot.com/

Never Less Than a Lady by Mary Jo Putney

Another hero with a bum leg! Two in a row.
http://www.maryjoputney.com/

At first I thought the reason it was taking me so long to read this book was that my husband was chattering away in my ear every time I picked up the book. Much like Pavlov's dog, instead of foof+ding=slobber it was pick up book=talk. So, I was pondering how do I tell him to zip it without hurting his feelings.

But then he went camping and I still had a hard time connecting with this book.

I liked the beginning of Never Less Than a Lady. It also helps if you've read the first book in the series because that's where Alex Randall and Julia Bancroft meet.

This had all of the earmarks of a classic Putney story: the very understanding, but tortured hero and the very tortured, scarred, abused heroine. But, everything was almost too 21st century for me. The hero was too understanding; the heroine wanted to help out all the abused women in the world in a most modern way; the evil stalker killer made an appearance in the beginning and then again at the end, but there was no tension in between. There was a silly "misunderstanding" that occupied about two pages and wasn't necessary to the plot, nor did it enhance the story, so I'm not sure why it was there.

So, I must apologize to my husband for blaming him for the length of time it took to read this book, because normally I am pretty good at tuning certain sounds out. No, the problem this time was with the book - sorry to say it was just a so-so read.

I have always been a Mary Jo Putney fan, but, I've noticed that when some authors switch romance genres and then come back (in this case from historical to contemporary to fantasy to historical again) it takes a few books for that author to find her voice. At least that's what I'm hoping, because Ms. Putney did write one of my all-time favorite books and I'm hopeful that someday she'll write another. (By the way, that book was The Rake!! )

And, nice cover art!! Loved the dress color.

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

A Lady's Guide to Improper Behavior by Suzanne Enoch

http://www.suzanneenoch.com/
Let me gush!!! I am a big fan of Suzanne Enoch, and I think over the years her writing has matured from light-weight froth to a little bit of dark narrative. I loved A Lady's Guide to Improper Behavior the moment I was introduced to the dark, brooding, irascible hero, Batholomew, aka Tolly... and why shouldn't he be a gloomy Gus? After all, he has shrapnel in his leg, and he was left for dead in a well with his massacred patrol. Talk about some major issues - anyone would be a grumpy-face. Tolly isn't the most fun to be around at family gatherings.

And, it is at one of these family gatherings that Tess, who has always considered herself to be the soul of propriety, loses all of that control and gives Tolly a thorough tongue-lashing. Once these two get together it was a joy to see them helping each other and picking at each other until their fears all dissolve into that HEA. I couldn't put this book down, and there was an especially interesting subplot involving Tolly's accountability that had me wondering how Ms. Enoch would resolve it. I'm not going to tell you how she does, but it was done very realistically.

The secondary characters were solid, and I found Lachaby to be very amusing (gentleman's gentleman.) The only quibble was with the name of the series, The Adventurers Club. I have no reasonable reason for not liking that name; it just irritates me. And then there is the character Sommerset, who owns the house the "lost boys" of the adventurers club are hiding in. I find his character to be pretty obnoxious, and it will be very interesting to see how Ms. Enoch changes him from odious to hero and keeps it believable.

And, if she'd only be a little bit more forthcoming about her upcoming books on her website, everything would be perfect!

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

Memories Schmemories Part VI, The Kiss by Sophia Nash, 2008

http://www.sophianash.com/books/main.htm
Yes, The Kiss is only two years old, but as part of my Memories Schmemories project I'm also rereading books that I gave an A rating upon my first read. Hence, the reread. (And, I'm waiting for my new shipment of books to come in.)

So, has my reading taste changed in two years? I have to say, not very much. This is a romance that involves childhood friends, three of them: Quinn, Georgiana and Anthony. It is also a wonderful unrequited love story and, yipes, a virgin widow story. However, Georgiana doesn't know she's still a virgin. She thinks her wedding night with Anthony was consummated. And since Anthony dies while in the act, he can't really say that the act wasn't completed.

There are a lot of things going on in this story. There are numerous secondary characters and for the most part it is told wonderfully. There were some misunderstandings that I could have done without, especially when Quinn thinks that Anthony was Georgiana's great love. Another thing that bothered me was I wish Quinn would have been more honest about his feelings... and then I thought that over. Really, if all of the misunderstandings are ironed out on page 50, then what's left for me to read? So, maybe when I'm whining about misunderstandings I should consider that.

Anyway, this was a solid read and in my opinion the best in the Widow series (this is the second one in the series if you are keeping count.) However, I'm giving it a minus for some bumps in the road (the many misunderstandings.)

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

The Secret Duke by Jo Beverley

Wigs and warts and glasses...
http://www.jobev.com/

I'm always thrilled when I get to visit the Georgian world of Jo Beverley's Mallerons, especially when Rothgar shows up. However, even Rothgar's presence couldn't save The Secret Duke from being tedious.

First of all, and this is just me, there were like fifty kazillion of my pet peeves in this book... Perhaps I exaggerate, but there were several. There was a pirate (or a fake pirate), there was a silly revenge plot, mistaken identities (lots of them), and disguises out the wazoo. But since I have so many pet peeves, I can usually get past some if the book is good. In this case, both the hero (who I should have liked) and the heroine were boring. And, you would think with all of the hiding, disguising, and evil sleazy people in this book it would be somewhat exciting, but, sad to say it wasn't. I forced myself to slog through this book; I couldn't face another DNF. But, this book took way too l-o-n-g. I just wanted it to be over.

I have a great respect for Ms. Beverley. I just wish this series could have ended on a high note. I suspect that we probably haven't seen the last of the Malleron family.

I hope not, anyway.

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