Review: A Lady of Letters by Andrea Pickens

I really miss the old line of Signet Regency's and this book is a perfect example of how good they could be.

Here is the plot in just a few sentences. Lady Augusta Hadley, firmly on the shelf, has been writing pamphlets and editorials under the name Firebrand and has just recently begun a correspondence with a gentleman of like mind who also cares about social justice. She does not realize that her new penpal and the annoying Earl of Sheffield are one and the same. Although she typically hides her brash personality, Augusta keeps running into the Earl and can't seem to keep her opinions to herself. When she needs help she finds he is the only one she can turn to.

This was published in 2000 and while the bluestocking/rake plot line has been done to death, this one is one of the best I've read. Just goes to show that any plot can be a winner in the right hands. The book really focused on the romance and the emotions of the characters. After the last historical that I read, Untouched which was overly sexy, this was refreshing. There was a lot of dialogue between the hero and heroine, they spent a lot of time together and I believed they truly loved each other. I should mention that there was a mystery subplot, but it was used to reveal the characters developing trust in each other.

A Lady of Letters was a very enjoyable read, and highly recommended.

My Grade: A

Review: Untouched by Anna Campbell

Last weekend's romance novel was by new author Anna Campbell. She made quite a splash with the controversial Claiming the Courtesan. That one did not appeal but her second book sounded right up my alley.



Matthew Sheene, a marquis, has been held captive by his greedy uncle so that he, the uncle, can control the family fortune. Matthew suffered a fit of some sort when he was 14, and that is the basis for his uncles charges of insanity. Matthew himself is not sure of his sanity and, locked away on a small estate as he is, he has little to compare himself with and almost no human interaction. To make his captivity more palatable the uncle brings Matthew a woman to entertain him. Unfortunately for Grace, he kidnaps her, a widow, rather than a prostitute. At first Grace is very frightened of her situation, then begins to care for Matthew.

Unfortunately this book didn't work for me. I enjoyed it at first and was willing to suspend disbelief enough to accept the rather preposterous set up. I liked the characters, especially Matthew, and I think the author did very good job of making Matthew, who is powerless and a victim, hero material. Things went south for me about half way through the book in the third redundant sex scene. The author spends much more time on sex than on a developing relationship or the emotions of the charcters. Also the writing is overblown. I think this author was shooting for epic but ended up with melodramatic.

I think the seed of a good book is buried under all the wordy, overwrought prose. If the author could tone down the exaggeration, and aim for subtlety, her writing would greatly improve and her story could blossom. Bad metaphor, I know.

My Grade: C

Review: Immortals After Dark books 1 & 2 by Kresley Cole

This series is my first real foray into paranormal romances. I first read Kresley Cole's historical If You Dare, which I loved, so I thought she would be a good intro to paranormals. And now I'm addicted because these books are really good.

Warlord Wants Forever by Kresley Cole
Short Story in Playing East to Get
(Immortals After Dark #1)

This short story is a wonderful introduction to the Immortals After Dark series. Cole has created a parallel world "The Lore" which is peopled with all sorts of supernatural creatures -- vampires, werewolves, fey, ghosts, phantoms, Valkyries, demons, witches, gods and goddesses.

This is Nickolai and Myst's story. Nikolai Wroth is a Forbearer, a group of vampires who do not hunt humans and so are not tortured by the memories of the people that they have killed. They are at war with the Horde vampires and when he seizes a Horde stronghold he finds Myst, a Valkyrie, imprisoned. He immediately recognizes her as his Bride but convincing a resistant Valkyrie will not be so easy.

My Grade: A-

A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole
(Immortals After Dark book #2)

Werewolf Lachlain MacRieve has spent the last 150 years chained underground, tortured by a vampire. When he senses his destined mate Emmaline above ground he sacrifices a limb to break free and reach her. Emmaline is half vampire and half Valkyrie, alone in Paris and vulnerable. Lachlain in disgusted to learn that his mate is a "leech" and Emma thinks Lachlain is mad. He forces her to go with him to his home in Scotland and hopes to woo her on the way.

I shouldn't have enjoyed this as much as I did, as I'm generally not crazy about Scots or Scottish accents and Lachlain is a bit of a jerk in the beginning. But I totally forgave Lachlain and the Scottish accent grew on me so that I really enjoyed this book. The best part was reading about Emma, who is very weak for a Valkyrie, discover her powers and come into her own. And I do love Kresley Cole's men. They all seem to treasure their women.

My Grade: B+

I have just loved this series. The world the author has created is fascinating and expands with each book. We learn more about the Lore, the creatures who live in it and how the groups align with each other. Creatures in the Lore love to fight and since they are all immortal the fights are pretty violent -- bones are broken, characters are entombed, or tortured. In a lot of ways it's like reading stories about superheroes.

Highly recommended.

Review: Letters to a Secret Lover

Letters to a Secret Lover by Toni Blake

Most of the books I've reviewed on this blog have been 'A' or 'B' reads for me. Thing is, if I'm not enjoying a book I don't finish it. So you won't find many 'C' or 'D' reviews here, but you will find DNFs (Did Not Finish), which is the case with this book.

After an embarrassing photo of her getting dumped by her fiancee makes the rounds, Lindsey Brooks runs off to Montana to reconnect with her roots. She has the, in my opinion stupid, idea to buy her deceased aunt's canoe livery, which is currently owned by sexy, reclusive, Rob Colter.

I read about 100 pages before quitting, primarily because I found the hero and heroine unlikeable. Rob came across as a tactiturn ass and Lindsey as a shallow twit who is so impractical she wears high-heeled, pointy-toed boots on a hike!

My grade: DNF

Review: Bound By Your Touch by Meredith Duran

Bound By You Touch by Meredith Duran

This was a very good book but my grade is a little lower than others you'll find around the blogosphere. Read on to find out why.

Lydia Boyce meets James Durham when he interrupts her speech about her father's archeological findings. James, Viscount Sanburne, is only interested in showing up his father with his new antiquities acquisition, which turns out to be a fake. Lydia and James team up to investigate the fake and find adventure and romance.

The above description doesn't begin to hint at the depth to this book. The characters, their romance and their relationships with their families are very complex. Both Lydia and James have unhealthy relationships with their fathers -- Lydia idolizes her father and James hates his. But all of their behaviors and decisions are determined by their feelings for dear old dad. Lydia has a difficult, (and very real) relationship with one of her sisters. I loved it that Lydia and James had to resolve these unhealthy relationships to find their happily ever after. The writing was fantastic and the character development first rate. The author is great at internal dialogue so we get to know the characters and understand their thinking and motivation.

Now, on to what didn't work for me. The story was almost too complex. At times it was hard to follow and I had to read it slowly to make sure I got everything. Also while the internal dialogue worked most of the time, there were other times when I thought, "these people think way too much." For example during the one of the sex scenes Lydia is analyzing what's happening -- what it means, what James is thinking, why she's doing this -- and it pulled me right out of the story. These little things reduced my enjoyment and therefore kept this from being an 'A' read.

My grade: B+

Why some books should have an expiration date

My reading habits have changed in the last year. I'm now reading less "literature" and more romance. No don't get me wrong I have read romances regularly since about 1993, but for many years I read romances in between other books. I was keeping up with my favorite authors but seldom experimented. Now it's as if I've reawakened to the genre and have realized that I missed some damn good books. For example, I've read almost NO paranormals. So to make up for lost time I've been trying new-to-me authors.

I recently started, then skimmed, Stephanie Laurens, Devil's Bride and boy if any book needs an expiration date it's this one. The plot, in brief: A new governess, Honoria, meets "Devil" Cynster over the dead body of his cousin. Devil quickly realizes that she is the woman for him. She balks for several chapters, but finally succumbs. Yet the book is drawn out for many more pages to solve the not-so-mysterious murder of the cousin.

The characters are stereotypical -- she is a bluestocking and he is a dangerous rake. She refuses to marry because of her totally unrealistic goal to explore Africa. I lost all respect for Honoria for either a) having such an ridiculous goal which she is postponing for no good reason or b) giving up her dream for a man. Devil is only a little better but still too domineering for my (2009) tastes. The mystery plot is laughable, plus the book is way too long considering the events the book covers. This makes the plotting seem very loose with way too much unnecessary detail.

The thing is I don't know how I would have reacted to this book if I'd read it within a couple of years of publication. I might have found it refreshing that the heroine, not the hero, needed to be pursuaded to marry. I might have like the bluestocking character. However 10 years later this was a bore. I would say it expired in the year 2000.

Reading this made me realize how much the romance genre has grown. There are some really great, fresh books being published today. Authors such as Judith James, Julie James, Kresley Cole, Meredith Duran and Tessa Dare are taking the genre into the future. I have just begun to explore paranormals and I know I have many new authors to discover. This experience has also made me realize that I should try to keep up with books as they are published, not let them languish on my shelves. I'll enjoy them more.

Review: Goddess of the Hunt

Goddess of the Hunt by Tessa Dare

I've been anticipating this book since I read a favorable review in Publisher's Weekly describing it as "all the best of romance in one novel". Now I'm not one to run out and buy a new-to-me author or a debut author right away. My limited book buying bugdet makes be very cautious in my purchases. But when I also read a good review on Dear Author I rushed out to buy this and it went to the top of my TBR pile. Boy, I'm glad I did.

The plot: Lucy Waltham has loved her brother's friend Toby since she was 12 years old. Now, when it seems he's to propose to another woman, Lucy decides she'll have to seduce him. Unfortunatelfy she has no experience in seduction. Fortunately, her brother's friend Jeremy Trescott is available for her to practice with.

This book uses two of my favorite plot devices. I love books set at a house party, in this case at a hunting party at the Watham's country estate. This setting allows for a small cast of characters a few of which are hopefully well developed and opportunities for privacy for the h/h.

I also love the friends to lovers plot. In Goddess of the Hunt Jeremy and Lucy are not friends since she has always been the tag-along younger sister to her brother and his friends, but still they have known each other for years. They just begin to see each other in a different light. After three kisses Jeremy is absolutely sure that he wants Lucy. Lucy needs a bit more convincing that she doesn't, in fact, love Toby. But Jeremy can be very persuasive.

It's amazing to me that this is a debut. The writing is first rate and seemless. Dialogue is very real and amusing. But I think what made this stand out is the "scenes", for lack of a better word, that the author uses to tell the story. They are creative and fresh. There are many instances of this but I think the best one is how the author gets the h/h to marry. The easiest way to force a marriage is to have the h/h be caught in a compromising situation. I've read a zillion of those scenes and I've come to expect them. In GOTH a compromising letter is found that could be easily explained away. EXCEPT Jeremy wants her and sweetly steps forward to accept responsibility. There were several scenes that were done so well that I had to go back and reread them before finally putting down the book.

In summation, Goddess of the Hunt was a fine debut and I look forward to the next two books in the trilogy.

My grade: A-