3.5 stars. I was chatting with one of my Goodreads friends the other day about Charlaine Harris's older books, which led me to Sookie Stackhouse #1 he3.5 stars. I was chatting with one of my Goodreads friends the other day about Charlaine Harris's older books, which led me to Sookie Stackhouse #1 here. When I realized the Kindle version of this book was only $2.99, I couldn't resist. This urban fantasy series features Sookie, a rural southern gal who waits tables in a bar for a living and considers her telepathy talent a "disability." In fairness, hearing people's thoughts does makes life tougher for her, and forget about romantic relationships.
Sookie is thrilled to meet a real vampire in the bar one night (they're recently come out to the public), and even more excited when she starts talking to Bill (Bill the Vampire? Okayyy...) and realizes that she can't read his mind. But she can see when he's about to run into some possibly deadly trouble, and takes it upon herself to save Bill ... which gets her into trouble herself, so Bill has to save her in turn, and so it starts. In the meantime, someone is killing women who sleep with vampires, and unfortunately Sookie's telepathy isn't doing her any good here. Also all of a sudden Sookie's boss Sam is acting interested in her ("Why now after all this time?" she insightfully asks him). There's something different about Sam too, and it's not just the bedroom eyes he's giving her.
It's kind of similar to Twilight (this book does predate that one by about three years), but with a lot more steam and a much less silly heroine. There are some pretty good scenes in it: "Bubba" the vampire was amusing, and Eric the Viking vampire was appropriately alarming. Sookie was a real character to me, but Bill felt rather flat.
Basically this is kind of an urban fantasy beach book, a supernatural southern murder mystery with a large side of romance. I prefer Kate Daniels and Mercy Thompson, but if this kind of thing is your literary jam, you could do a lot worse. I think I'll pass on the rest of the series, though....more
On sale now! I can't even say how much I loved this book ... okay, maybe except for the jaw-dropping ending. But STILL! If you've read the first book,On sale now! I can't even say how much I loved this book ... okay, maybe except for the jaw-dropping ending. But STILL! If you've read the first book, definitely read this one, even if you weren't so excited by A Deadly Education. If you haven't, read both!! Here's my full review, first posted on FantasyLiterature.com:
The Last Graduate completely sucked me in from start to finish! Galadriel has managed to survive three years at her deadly magical school, the Scholomance, with her junior year capped by an epic battle against a fearsome assembly of maleficaria (magical creatures that feast on wizards, especially youthful ones), as related in the first book in this fantasy series, A Deadly Education. Now El is in her last year at the Scholomance and has achieved her goal of becoming part of an alliance of fellow students (albeit a very small, less powerful one) who will protect each other when they run the gauntlet of ravenous mals that line the hallway leading to the graduation exit. And Orion Lake, the best mal-killer in the school, has progressed from mere annoyance to occasionally still aggravating but valued friend. Which makes it difficult when El’s clairvoyant mother sends her an urgent message to keep far away from Orion.
Even more upsetting for El is that now the Scholomance seems to have her personally in its cross-hairs. Instead of working toward graduation, she’s spending most of her time fighting mals that all seem to be focused exclusively on eating her, and perhaps the group of brand-new, hapless freshmen that the school has inexplicably thrown El in with in one of her classes.
I opened the door expecting to find something really horrible inside, and I did: eight freshmen, all of whom turned and stared at me like a herd of small and especially pitiful deer about to be mown down by a massive lorry. There wasn’t so much as a sophomore among the lot. “You’ve got to be joking,” I said with revulsion …
El is in a constant battle against her innate affinity for massively destructive and violent spells, and the Scholomance seems to be pushing her to make selfish choices, saving her mana or magical power for her own needs instead of helping random freshmen who mean nothing to her. But as El battles the mals and her own dark nature in order to save herself and her friends and yes, random freshmen, the scope of her concern for others starts to grow, leading to changes that are unprecedented in Scholomance history.
I initially had trouble getting into the first book, A Deadly Education. At first El was very prickly and sulky, a difficult main character to like, and there was a lot of info-dumping as Naomi Novik introduced us to the unique world and culture of the Scholomance. But by the end of that book I was fully on board with her character and anxious to see what happened next. And it didn’t disappoint, at all, in fact, The Last Graduate was far more than I expected.
Everything that gave me hesitation about the first book has been resolved. Novik is fantastic when she’s on (Spinning Silver is still one of my favorite fantasies ever), and she definitely is here. There are game-changers afoot in the pages of The Last Graduate. El and her classmates are led step by excruciating step toward a greater purpose than simply surviving and getting out of the Scholomance alive. I don’t think inspiring is too strong of a word.
The Scholomance has always had an international student body, and Novik better fleshes out the diversity in this second novel, with students from different cultures and races playing more significant roles. She also delves more deeply into themes of (often unexamined) privilege and how that affects choices and options. Along the way there are also some great moments of friendship, as El (still sensitive and snappish) grows closer to her classmates, especially the members of her alliance, and gradually learns that it’s okay to rely on others.
“Stop it!” she said. “I think that’s like the third time you’ve asked to be ditched. You’re like one of those puffer fish, the second anyone touches you a little wrong you go all bwoomp,” she illustrated with her hands, “trying to make them let go. We’ll let you know, how’s that?”
There are also some intriguing new characters, like Liesel, the abrasive, ruthless and utterly brilliant class valedictorian (“If you’re wondering how Liesel came into our discussions, so were the rest of us, but she was both impervious to hints that she wasn’t wanted, and also hideously smart, so we hadn’t actually been able to chase her from the planning”).
I’ll admit to a few qualms about the efficacy of the plan El and her class came up with in the end; it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out in the upcoming conclusion of this trilogy. And THAT ENDING. I hate to complain when the rest of the book was SO good, but really it is one of the most jaw-dropping cliffhangers I’ve ever seen. I would suggest that if you’re strongly averse to cliffhangers, you could wait to read this book until the next one comes out … but I wouldn’t want anyone to delay the sheer excitement and fun of The Last Graduate. It has been one of 2021’s reading highlights for me: one of the most exhilarating, delightful and moving books I’ve read this year. Every page was truly a pleasure. Well, except maybe the last one. :)
Previous update: So my daughter (hi, Emily! *waves*) found out I had the NetGalley ARC of this book a few days ago. She loved the first book, A Deadly Education, even more than I did, so she came home from college for a couple of days, mostly I think to borrow my iPad so she could read this ARC. I told her (a) I loved it, and (b) it has a killer cliffhanger ending. Last night I was on my laptop and she was in the same room reading this, and all of a sudden around midnight I hear this "AAAARRGH!!!" from the other side of the couch. *Cue evil laughter from me*
She loved it. And the ending kills. And that's all we need to say for now, except you DEFINITELY should read this series if you have any interest in something sort of Harry Potterish, except with way more carnivorous monsters.
I received an advance copy of this book for review. SO MANY THANKS to the publisher!
Content notes: Gruesome carnivorous monsters, scattered F-bombs and a mildly explicit sex scene....more
99c Kindle Regency romance. I found the hook so interesting that I had to give it a shot: Our American heroine is married (at age 13 1/2) to a handsom99c Kindle Regency romance. I found the hook so interesting that I had to give it a shot: Our American heroine is married (at age 13 1/2) to a handsome English young man who's about 5 years older ... for her own protection, as she has an uncle who's stolen her rightful inheritance in England. So it's to be a marriage in name only for a few years, and her husband Christian heads back to England with his father. Unfortunately there's a shipwreck, and all are lost.
Or maybe not. Five years later the orphaned Azalea (yep, that's her name) heads to England herself. There she unexpectedly meets Christian, who's now a lord ... and who has absolutely no recollection of ever meeting her, let alone marrying her. To make matters worse, Chris is engaged to Azalea's cousin, who she's living with. And Chris has a major chip on his shoulder against Americans, even beautiful redheaded ones. And let's not forget the dastardly conniving uncle!
I will say it was a fun read if you like Regency romances, but in the cold light of morning the contrived nature of the plot, and all of the many coincidences, was just too much for me to take it even a little bit seriously. Read for brain candy only!
Content note: a couple of intimate scenes, including one short but explicit bedroom scene. Of course they are actually married ... (view spoiler)[and by the time they sleep together he has remembered that. But the earlier kissing scene, in which clothing starts to come off even though Chris doesn't know they're married, really has no place in a traditional Regency novel. It's totally unbelievable. (hide spoiler)]...more
Magical fantasy meets Prohibition, Roaring Twenties-era gangsters and bootlegging schemes. The basic concept is a cool one: magic, not alcohol, has beMagical fantasy meets Prohibition, Roaring Twenties-era gangsters and bootlegging schemes. The basic concept is a cool one: magic, not alcohol, has been outlawed, specifically because sorcerers have the ability to create a magical, addictive brew called moonshine, which literally shines with a ruby glow and has an unbelievable kick. Luckily for the forces of law, shine, like all magic, only lasts 24 hours--but the shine-running gangs are trying to figure out a way to overcome that limitation.
It's a great concept, but the world-building gets shortchanged somewhat as the story focuses on a star-crossed love affair between Joan, a sorcerer in the control of mobsters, and Alex, another sorcerer who's trying to infiltrate the same mob as an undercover cop.
3.5 stars. I must have really been in a historical romance novel kind of mood the last couple of days, because I whipped through three of them, all Ki3.5 stars. I must have really been in a historical romance novel kind of mood the last couple of days, because I whipped through three of them, all Kindle freebies, in one day (some skimming may or may not have been involved). Don't judge (I had a really rough week with work and I was looking for pure escapism). This one was the best of the three by a fair amount (the other two were self-published freebies, Lord Grenville's Choice and Ruse & Romance. The funny thing is that all three involve marriage-of-convenience/forced into marriage kind of plots, which is more than likely an indication of just how overused that trope is in romance novels, but it's still kind of fun when it's done well.
We're in the Georgian (pre-Regency) period here, with the Earl of Salt Hendon and country squire's daughter Jane Despard reluctantly getting engaged, him because of a deathbed promise and her because her father's will tied up a fortune that her beloved stepbrother will only get when she gets married. But it gradually becomes clearer and clearer that "Salt" and Jane have a History--and how! That history is disclosed bit by bit over the first few chapters, but half the fun is gradually figuring out what exactly went wrong between these two, and how it happened. The other half, of course, is finding out how they're able to redevelop trust and love for each other, especially when there's someone close to Salt who's extremely determined to make sure it doesn't happen, and has absolutely no scruples about how she goes about it.
It's a highly melodramatic tale, and occasionally the story wanders off onto random trails and dead ends that don't really help the plot along and/or are unnecessary distractions. Also Jane is a Mary Sue, perfection personified in every way, while Salt is the rake with a heart of gold who treats her cruelly at first because he thinks she betrayed him four years ago, so you have to be down with those kinds of personalities.
Overall it was a fun way to spend a couple of romance-reading hours, and this is one of the better romance freebies I've found. As of the date of this review, it's still a freebie, as is another of Brant's books, Midnight Marriage, which I liked even better....more
3.5 stars, rounding up because this collection of scenes from the first four KATE DANIELS books is a Kindle freebie, made available out of the goodnes3.5 stars, rounding up because this collection of scenes from the first four KATE DANIELS books is a Kindle freebie, made available out of the goodness of the authors' hearts. Download it here at the author's website.
This collection of nine different retold and new scenes from Curran's point of view is a must for serious fans of the KATE DANIELS series. It includes Kate and Curran's first meeting ("Unicorn Lane"), Curran feeding Kate soup, knowing she isn't aware of the significance of feeding in shapeshifter culture ("Soup"), the famous hot tub scene from Magic Strikes ("Hot Tub") and more. My favorites were a couple of new scenes at the end of this collection, "Conclave" - where we get to see Curran chew out the alpha shapeshifters - and "Awake (Fathers and Sons)" - where Curran and his father figure, Mahon the bear shapeshifter, settle their differences in a rather alarming way.
Be warned that you should read the at least the first four books in this series first, because spoiler city here. Plus the scenes won't make much sense anyway if you're not familiar with the series.
It's great fun, even if they're not complete stories in and of themselves. And some of these outtakes (that fight with Mahon!!) will really stick with me.
How can a historical romance that contains so much manufactured drama be so banal? How many different ways can a heroine find to be an idiot? How hardHow can a historical romance that contains so much manufactured drama be so banal? How many different ways can a heroine find to be an idiot? How hard is it to find a competent proofreader to fix your punctuation?
That dress. That dress! How can this not be a fun romantic read? And so I dived into 1899 New York City high society, with its whirl of dances and socThat dress. That dress! How can this not be a fun romantic read? And so I dived into 1899 New York City high society, with its whirl of dances and social calls and hidden agendas. And came to a stuttering halt very quickly.
I can do shallow and superficial for a hundred pages or so (Exhibit A: The Bookshop on the Corner), but over 400 pages* of banal gossip and backstabbing and jostling for social position? Ugh. Even the secret romances weren't very interesting. I was ready to slit my wrists after a few chapters.
Lesson learned: Don't get sucked in by lovely cover art.
*Not to mention that you have to read the three sequels to get the whole story, which, judging from the reviews of book #4 that I've read, doesn't end particularly well and has justifiably made a lot of readers very unhappy and angry. Glad I passed....more
I will never again rag on Regency romances for being contrived. . . . Well, okay, maybe I will, but at least I'll do it knowing that they don't have aI will never again rag on Regency romances for being contrived. . . . Well, okay, maybe I will, but at least I'll do it knowing that they don't have a monopoly on such silliness. This one was every bit as bad. Grace, a virginal 20-something year old, wants to start her own business; old Italian man offers to finance her startup business if she can work a year as an assistant for his hot son Lucian without falling in love or starting a relationship with him. So she hides her gorgeousness behind tinted glasses and bad makeup, wears baggy, shapeless clothes, and rinses her lovely blonde hair a muddy brown color and sticks it in a tight bun (feel free to roll your eyes here). Oh, yes, she also wears her mother's engagement ring and pretends to have a fiancé.
Luc still manages to sexually harass flirt with Grace, from the first day, but somehow she gets through eleven months safely, when suddenly Luc gets his baby niece dumped in his lap while his brother goes chasing off to Italy to try to fix things with the baby's mother. Of course Luc needs help with the baby and, of course, only Grace will do. And he needs her to live in his apartment to do it. And pretend to be engaged and then married to him so as to allay the concerns of the authorities about an abandoned baby. Throw in a little more employee sexual harassment, some purple prose romantic moments, a few diapering scenes and a truly bizarre amount of police and social services interest in this baby, and we're good to go! It tries to be slapstick humor, but the idiocy of the plot twists and the attempts at serious sexual tension cut against it.
Sarah can't believe I'm not going 1 star with this, but this book, as silly as it is, doesn't quite wallow in the pit of awfulness to the extent that I demand of my 1-star books. I've got standards here, people! ;) But I will say that it was a close call.
************* Previous post: Sarah sucked me in to a buddy read, after Karly suggested it. I have such great GR friends! The question is, which will provide the better laughs/ranty review material, this one or Shattered Dreams?
Arabella (Bella), who likes to wander off by herself unescorted, runs into a handsome earl who (just because she's Kindle freebie today (May 4, 2015).
Arabella (Bella), who likes to wander off by herself unescorted, runs into a handsome earl who (just because she's unescorted, forget the well-bred accent and nice dress) assumes she's a lightskirt and kisses her face off. She likes the kissing and decides not to tell him she's a proper young lady, because of reasons. And of course, every time she runs into him thereafter--which happens with truly astonishing regularity, considering she doesn't give him her full name or address--her brother and chaperone and friends are never around, or if they are, nobody and nothing ever clues our earl in to the actual facts. Probably because he is blinded by his lust passion.
Fair warning: this is a Regency romance of the kind I particularly dislike, where gently bred, virginal young ladies act like they were born in the 20th century and enthusiastically indulge in steamy premarital sexytimes with the hero (earl, duke, whatever nobility is the flavor of the day). To make matters even worse, from an anachronism point of view, we get the whole scene with "Yes, I lost my virginity to you but I don't want you to propose to me just because of that." Again, understandable in a contemporary romance but utterly unrealistic for 1815 or whenever in Regency times this was supposed to be set. (I was tempted to shelve this as "fantasy" *snickers* but I resisted the temptation for fear I would mislead some poor unsuspecting person checking out my GR bookshelves.) Also, it's a pretty superficially written romance; no depth to it and no surprises.
I skimmed through it and deleted it. Not my cuppa tea, but it might be someone else's who likes rather steamy brain candy romances.
ETA: You know, I thought this author's name sounded familiar when I was reading this book, but I didn't pursue that thought further. I should have. I just checked out the author's page and realized that she wrote Rogues, Rakes & Jewels, which I thought was even more silly and unbelievable than this book (that one I gave 1 star). Claudy will be relieved to know that I'll never read or review another book of hers....more
Grimspace is what this novel calls the hyperspace dimension used for FTL (faster than light) travel between star systems. Ominous, no? Certain humans,Grimspace is what this novel calls the hyperspace dimension used for FTL (faster than light) travel between star systems. Ominous, no? Certain humans, like our main character, Sirantha Jax, carry a gene that enables them to guide space ships through grimspace. But Sirantha has been involved in a tragic and mysterious crash that killed everyone aboard her ship except her, and now she's in custody and being blamed for the crash, and is undergoing psychological torture treatment. When a tough-looking stranger shows up and offers to break her out if she helps his cause, Jax decides she has nothing to lose. And so begin her wild adventures across space with an unusual set of crew mates.
This is a fun science fiction space opera type of story, but truthfully? What it felt like was an urban fantasy, even though there's no magical fantasy element and very little urban about it. But there's a smart-mouthed kickass heroine, lots of humor and sarcasm, non-stop action and adventure, and a strong romantic component to the story. Which isn't a bad thing, if that's the kind of book you're looking for. I liked the older main characters who are both damaged in their different ways, but good people at their core. Bonus points for being the first book in a series, but not having any cliffhangers at the end.
It was an exciting roller coaster ride and I had a lot of fun reading it. This one goes in the "not deep but fun" category. Even though it's written in first person present tense, which is a narrative style that always annoys me, the plot was gripping enough that I didn't even realize it until I read a friend's GR review that mentioned it. I had to go open the book up again to see if it was really true. It just goes to show if the story is compelling enough, normal rules may not apply.
Content note: violence and death, scattered F-bombs and a mildly explicit sex scene....more
This novella takes the Cinderella fairy tale, turns it inside-out, throws it down and smacks it around, checks its pockets for loose change, and then This novella takes the Cinderella fairy tale, turns it inside-out, throws it down and smacks it around, checks its pockets for loose change, and then gives it a sweet kiss good-bye, with one more hard pinch to the rear as it's walking out the door.
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Ember, our Cinderella character, is red-haired and freckled, has a twisted foot and, at least according to her, is not particularly pretty. She lives in a country where the prince was blessed at birth--or rather cursed--by a fairy godmother witch, with charm. Everyone loves him. All the women want to sleep with him. The magic makes him look like a god to everyone that sees him. Ember is so alarmed at the overpowering desire she's developed for him, simply by laying eyes on him, that she becomes a witch, illegally, so she can fight the curse-driven attraction. But it stands to reason that a guy who's always had all the women falling all over him all his life, will want the one woman who doesn't.
Ember turns as many of the fairy tale tropes on their heads as it possibly can: Cinderella (Ember) is a witch, and not a particularly nice person. She works with fire as the source of her magic--hence the ashes--and lives in simpler clothes and helps around the house because she wants to. Her stepmother and stepsisters are prostitutes, but they and Ember get along swimmingly. The prince takes advantage of other people and whores around, because he can.
One of the fun extras is the characters' occasional retelling of other fairy tales, which are also twisted and upended, like this Sleeping Beauty/Snow White mashup:
The players enacted ... the tale of the stuck-up princess who so despised common work that she died of spite after pricking her finger on a spinning wheel when her affianced Prince took her to his peasants' summer Fair. The tale ended happily, though, for the lazy princess had a bastard sister who'd been working as a maid for seven brothers in the woods. She had the beauty of her royal sister, but not the princess's haughty ways. The prince married the bastard sister, and everyone lived happily until they died.
This story does contain some quite explicit sex scenes, as well as a few F-bombs, crude graphic language (quite a bit of talk about (view spoiler)[guys' "cocks" and womens' "cunts" (hide spoiler)]) and some talk about prostitution and so forth. The prince's ball is a "Harlots' Ball," and Ember goes dressed as one--think "goods on display," big time. But the odd thing is that this story actually is quite sweet at its heart. What darkness there is in this story is pretty limited. Ember likes to consider herself a badass, and in some ways she is, but she doesn't kill humans for her magic or delve into truly dark spells (other than some voodoo dolls for guys who pretty much deserve the torture). The whores (her stepmom and stepsisters) all have hearts of gold. True love still prevails.
So if you want something truly dark, this novella isn't it. If you like your fairy tales clean, this definitely isn't that either. But if you like the idea of mixing sexytimes and a bit of subversiveness into a fairy tale romance, this one is a fun read. There's a scene toward the end with the witch who originally gave the Prince the curse, that adds a nice touch of depth to the story.
This is quite well-written for a self-pub book. The Kindle formatting has some problems, mostly with erratic indenting (it started showing up at 18% and pretty frequently thereafter), and I noticed the occasional punctuation or spelling error (e.g., "broaches" where it meant "brooches"), but other than that I didn't pick up on any major problems. And (at least when I wrote this review) it's a 99 cent Kindle special, so worth grabbing if you like this type of naughty story....more
3.5 stars. It's Kindle freebie romance time again. This one is reasonably well-written, although there are a few missteps (for example, sometimes the 3.5 stars. It's Kindle freebie romance time again. This one is reasonably well-written, although there are a few missteps (for example, sometimes the writing is more "telling" than "showing" or act in a way that's inconsistent with the way their character's been drawn) that mark it as a self-published novel, and it never really rises above its roots in the romance genre. But if you like romances, this one is still a freebie (as of Dec. 2015), and it's a quick, enjoyable read.
Set in Appalachian country in Kentucky, we first meet Sarah Browning as a 15 or 16 year old teenage girl in 1954, crushed by some cruel gossip she overheard (mean sister alert!). Seeking solitude, she trespasses on her neighbor's property and meets up with an oddly intelligent deer.
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Though she doesn't know it, the deer is her neighbor Owen Campbell, who has the ability to shapeshift into both deer and wolf form.
The story follows Sarah and Owen through the years, as they cross paths occasionally, though Owen is in animal form each time. Sarah eventually goes away to college and returns home in 1959 when her father dies. She takes a job as a librarian, and she and Owen finally meet in human form and, after a couple of false starts, begin to develop a relationship. Of course there are complications -- only one of which is that Owen has trouble figuring out how to confess his shapeshifting abilities to Sarah.
The main characters are sympathetic but have some personal shortcomings and baggage that contribute to relationship difficulties and misunderstandings. Sarah's sister Kathy, the aforesaid mean sister, turns out to be a more complex and relatable character than I would have initially guessed. I would have liked the shapeshifting subplot to have played a larger role in the story, but it was reasonably well integrated into the plot.
Although this is the first in a series of related novels, it's a stand-alone book with no loose ends or cliffhangers.
Content advisory: a couple of explicit sex scenes. Not for clean romance only readers.
Jewish winter (or summer) camp isn't an event I'm at all familiar with, and this book tosses you right into this world at a turning point in the relatJewish winter (or summer) camp isn't an event I'm at all familiar with, and this book tosses you right into this world at a turning point in the relationship of Jeremy and Genevieve, who have been summer camp buddies (first as campers and then as camp counselors) for most of their lives. The owners of the camp are trying a family winter camp over Hanukkah as an experiment, and Jeremy and Gen have been hired as counselors for the week-long event. They haven't seen each other for about a year and a half, since they both went off to school in different places. Before they parted, there was one single kiss that has them both wondering how to pursue the relationship now that they're finally both in the same place again.
This is a fairly light--and lighthearted--contemporary romance, with lots of funny banter between Jeremy and Gen and lots of camp antics. I got a little lost a few times when things were going on (color wars?) that might be a lot more familiar to readers who have gone to sleep-away camps. I had a few minor complaints: Jeremy often seemed kind of immature, the story occasionally got a little disjointed (e.g., someone named Michael shows up long enough to complain about Jeremy's work ethic, and then promptly disappears from the story), and a couple of times events were of the head-scratching variety (why was Gen getting all excited, with her heart beating faster, when it was just Scott driving her home from camp, not Jeremy? Seems like an editing glitch). But overall it was a pleasant evening's read.
3.5 stars, rounding up to 4 for the uniqueness value. I enjoyed this look into one small part of Jewish culture.
Content advisory: some swearing, including a couple of F-bombs. Some innuendos and talk about should we or shouldn't we. Fade to black scene. Nothing explicit....more
3.5 stars. I grabbed this one from the library in one of my "Regency romance brain candy" moods. It's a twofer, with several characters from the first3.5 stars. I grabbed this one from the library in one of my "Regency romance brain candy" moods. It's a twofer, with several characters from the first novel showing up in the second one. Both are connected by a theme of "oh crap we have scandalized society so we have to get married even though we don't love each other," but the heroines have vastly different personalities.
In The Famous Heroine, Cora is a wealthy merchant's daughter thrust into high society when her efforts to save a duke's young son from drowning are noticed by the ton. Cora is a little awkward and not exactly petite, and meeting Important People freaks her out. Luckily Francis Keller becomes her buddy, but neither of them intends anything more (he because he's nursing a broken heart, she because she thinks he's gay, and both because their social spheres are so far apart). Unfortunately a couple of compromising situations occur . . .
In The Plumed Bonnet, Stephanie Gray, a governess, has unexpectedly inherited an estate and wealth. Her purse and luggage are stolen while she's traveling to claim her inheritance and, decked out in some gaudy borrowed plumage, she's picked up by a duke who assumes she's a prostitute. He humors her in pretending to believe her claims to be a newly wealthy ex-governess, then finds out she's actually telling the truth. Contrived but enjoyable, with a worthwhile if rather anachronistic message about women having the right to control their own lives.
Not bad overall, but I wouldn't tell anyone to go out of their way to read these romance novels. It was early days for Mary Balogh.
Content advisory: a few post-marriage steamy scenes in both stories....more
Not bad for a Kindle freebie, so I suppose I'm grading it on a bit of a curve. This Regency romance novella features Amelia, a sharp-tongued lady withNot bad for a Kindle freebie, so I suppose I'm grading it on a bit of a curve. This Regency romance novella features Amelia, a sharp-tongued lady with the nickname of "the Dragon," who specializes in fixing everyone else's problems, and Jameson, the childhood friend of Amelia's brother (and of Amelia herself), a handsome guy of the rakish and mischievous sort. Jameson has broken off an engagement to another young lady, which was Not Done, and Amelia is trying to fix his standing in society, as well as convince the other girl that she's better off without him and find her a better fiancé. Jameson decides that what he really needs a wife with some intelligence and a strong backbone, and it suddenly occurs to him that his old friend Amelia would fit the bill extremely well. The only trouble is convincing Amelia herself that this is a good idea.
It started off fairly strong but I thought the storyline got a little weak toward the end. But I liked the main couple and the story had some nice touches of humor and some pretty good banter, and I enjoyed it overall, so four stars it is. Well, maybe 3 1/2 stars, but I'm going to round up....more
One of my GR groups was reading Trade Wind and having an in-depth discussion about whether a relationship (spoiler for Trade Wind here) (view spoiler)One of my GR groups was reading Trade Wind and having an in-depth discussion about whether a relationship (spoiler for Trade Wind here) (view spoiler)[that begins with rape can really lead to lasting love. (hide spoiler)] One of our readers mentioned The Sheik in connection with this discussion, and curiosity + free on Gutenberg sucked me in.<-----I'm kind of bad that way.
This book was pretty much our grandmothers' and great-grandmothers' Fifty Shades of Grey. It really has no redeeming qualities; it's rather fascinating and off-putting at the same time. It's sort of like a very old-timey Harlequin romance, except for All. That. Rape. This book is seriously rape fantasy reading, in a 1920s kind of way (which means the bedroom door is firmly closed on anything more than kissing), and unless you can get into that on some level, you're really going to hate this novel. There are also lots of beautiful wild horses that get subdued and broken by the sheik and his men, and the analogy to the relationship of the main characters is not subtle.
In Algeria, the sheik character, Ahmed, kidnaps a beautiful and independent but cold-hearted Englishwoman, Diana Mayo, (a) because he hates the English generally (for reasons disclosed later in the book that made me think, geez, get over it, big guy), and (b) just 'cause he wants her and he can do it. No one has ever seriously told this guy "No" before, and he's an extreme alpha male who wouldn't believe it anyway. (view spoiler)[ He keeps her four (!) months and uses her pretty much non-consensually many, many times before they work it all out and Love Makes Everything Right. Also, it turns out he's actually not only a white guy, but an English lord, so I guess that makes everything better. (hide spoiler)] There's lots of casual racism in this one, and the N word is used a couple of times by some of the characters.
The sheik's dark eyes mesmerize, the heroine quivers, her bosom heaves, her pride gets lost somewhere along the way, everyone gets all melodramatic, you get the idea. Oh, also: pretty much every guy who sees Diana wants her bad, including the sheik's bestie, a French nobleman, which causes issues later on.
I really can't recommend it but it was interesting reading, in a kind of salacious way, and from a historical point of view. It also led to a film and Rudolph Valentino becoming the sex symbol for that era.
Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽
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