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+

Review: Don't Tempt Me

Don't Tempt Me by Loretta Chase

This was a very enjoyable book from one of the best writers of romance writing today.

Kidnapped and sold into slavery as a 12-year-old, when she was visiting the Middle East with her family, Zoe Lexham was been missing for 12 long years. After a daring escape from a harem, Zoe is returned to England hoping to live the life she was meant to live, that of a privileged English lady. However her notoriety makes it nearly impossible that she will be accepted in society. She needs help, and finds it in the person of family friend, Lucien de Grey, the Duke of Marchmount.

The loss of Zoe on top of the losses of his parents and his brother, lead Lucien to avoid feeling anything. He has turned into a care-for-nothing cynic. But Zoe's return and his determination to make the "Harem Girl" respectable force Lucien to experience emotion again.

This is a very well crafted story with a well matched hero and heroine. As Zoe and Lucien were friends as children, their romance was very believable. Lucien especially is very sympathetic. Lucien slowly begins to feel emotion again when Zoe makes him laugh then makes him mad, then makes him love. My heart ached for him at the end when he finally heals from years' worth of bottled up grief.

My only reservation is that, for some reason, I didn't fully connect to the story. I'm not sure why and I suspect it was not the fault of the book.

My grade: B+

Review: Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie or Why I Like What I Like

The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley

This book has gotten a lot of hype and good reviews online, in part because the hero is so unique.

Lord Ian Mackenzie, a younger son is considered mad in 1881, London. He had been institutionalized but is now returned to his family where he helps his oldest brother, Hartland, the Duke of Kilmorgan. Ian's excellent memory and facility with numbers has increased the family fortunes and become indispensable to Hart's work in diplomacy. Ian meets a colleague's fiancee, Beth, realizes that he doesn't deserve her and talks her out of the betrothal. The book continues as Ian persues Beth amidst an investigation into two murders of which he has been accused.

Lord Ian suffers from what we today would call Asperberger's syndrome. He dislikes crowds, can focus intently on an object and will rarely look anyone in the eye. I give the author a lot of credit for writing a hero who is on the autism spectrum. I'm not very familiar with autism but Ian displays characteristics of the condition consistently throughout the book. The author doesn't pretty it up either; Ian suffers from rages and we see how that affects his family.

However, while I can appreciate that the author wrote something different from so many other historical romances, and I'm all for greater diversity in settings and characters, I didn't really enjoy the book. It comes down to this for me: I have to make an emotional connection with the characters. I have to find their situation believable, agree, or at least understand, their actions and care that they deserve their HEA. This is a completely subjective but explains why I keep reading Sabrina Jeffries. Her plots are unoriginal and her writing is not very sophisticated but she ALWAYS makes me care about her characters. Unfortunately Ian and Beth left me cold.

Grade: B (for originality)

Review: Seduce Me at Sunrise

Seduce Me at Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas
(Hathaways #2)

I read this riveting story right after reading the first book in the series, Mine Till Midnight, and I'm glad I did.

First, the back story. Winnifred Hathaway has been in poor health since she suffered a bout of scarlet fever that almost killed her. She was nursed back to health by her sister Amelia and family friend Merripen. Merripen is a gypsy who was abandoned as a child and adopted by the Hathaways. He has stayed with them, watched over them, and they are now his family.

When our story opens Winnifred is returning to England after a two year absence. She had been living at a clinic in France and through the talents of Dr. Harrow has completely regained her health. Dr. Harrow has returned to London with Win to conduct business as well as to court her. Winnifred is anxious to see her family and especially Kev Merripen whom she has loved for many years. Win doesn't realize that Merripen returns her affection but, because of his gypsy blood, believes himself unworthy of her.

Kev Merripen, like all of Kleypas' heroes, is terrific. He is an intense man with strong feelings for Winnifred. In lesser hands the "I'm not worthy" plot can get old. However in Kleypas' hands, Merripen's anguish, his yearning and repressed feelings are very real. The man is tortured, loving Win but unwilling to marry her and subject her to society's prejudice.

The book was a really good romance that was made even better by the other characters. Amelia and Cam from book #1, the two other sisters and Leo Hathaway are all important to the plot of this story which raises this series to a family saga romance like Mary Balogh's Bedwyn series.

I'll have to wait until fall to read the next in the series, Tempt Me at Twilight, Poppy's story. Can't wait.

Grade: A

Review: Mine Till Midnight

Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas

(Hathaways Book #1)

Lisa Kleypas is a great author. I've liked almost every one of her books, and even the odd book I haven't been crazy about (I'm probably the only one who didn't love The Devil in Winter) has still been well written and well plotted. Foretunately, this is one I enjoyed.

Here's the basic set-up: The ramshackle Hathaways have recently risen in society when Leo Hathaway inherited a title and a moderate income. Leo, however is griefstricken upon the death of his fiancee and is engaging in what today we would call risky behavior. Frankly, he is trying to kill himself. Drinking too much, brawling, smoking opium. So it is left to his oldest sister Amelia to look after her three younger sisters, Winnifred, Poppy and Beatrix. She encounters half-gypsy Cam Rohan, introduced in TDIW, who agrees to help her search for her missing brother. They have a few other chance encounters and he becomes more involved in the affairs of the Hathaways.

There were just a couple of things I had to overlook to enjoy this book. I had lukewarm feelings for the heroine, Amelia who keeps refusing Cam's proposals, even though she is sleeping with him and desperately needs his support, both financial and emotional. Also I was never really convinced that Cam loves Amelia for who she is. Their romance didn't come across as 100% believable.

Those elements were minor and didn't affect my overall enjoyment of the book. The plot is not at all straightforward, with a complications thrown in from a hive of bees, a fire, a former suitor and a long lost treasure.

This served as an excellent intro to the Hathaways and as a set-up for the future books in the series. Winnifred's story is next with the intriguing Merripen who is also a gypsy and family friend. I also look forward to Leo who suffers much in this book and should make a great hero.

Grade: B+