Romantic Reads

Secret Desires of a Gentleman: B+

2009-02-28T14:40:00.000-08:00

Secret Desires of a Gentleman, by Laura Lee Guhrke:

Laura Lee Guhrke does it again! This wonderful entry in her "Girl-Bachelor" series tells the story of Maria, the daughter of the cook for the Marquess of Kayne. She grows up as a close friend of his two sons, the lighthearted Lawrence and the priggish Phillip. However at age 17 she and Lawrence fall in love and attempt to elope but are thwarted by Phillip, who then pays Maria 1,000 pounds to leave and never come back. Twelve years later, Maria, now a successful baker, opens a bakery right next to Phillip and Lawrence’s London residence—when Phillip finds out, he sets out to do everything he can to keep her away from Lawrence.

Maria is delightful and simple: self-sufficient, impulsive, witty, and a shameless flirt, she cares about her bakery more than anything else. Phillip is much more complicated. He values honor and chivalry and takes society’s rules very seriously, and he therefore considers Maria his inferior because of her class. Throughout the book he struggles with his strong reaction to Maria as well as his own cruel treatment of her. He considers himself a good person but he wants her gone.

Like most of Guhrke’s romances, this one develops slowly, with plenty of antagonism between the hero and heroine. Maria and Phillip are well-matched foes, and watching them battle it out was LOTS of fun. Even more fun was seeing them slowly, helplessly fall for each other, and having this process unfold framed by their childhood memories. They are a natural and beautiful couple, and their story is delightful and very sexy.

My only beef is the ending. Phillip’s inevitable change of heart felt very rushed and not entirely authentic, and Maria’s decision to give up her bakery was also glossed over quickly. It all came off a bit implausibly for a Guhrke novel—she usually handles character growth very well, and I was a bit disappointed.

Nevertheless, this is a fantastic read and I highly recommend it. B+!

The Marriage Bed

2007-09-03T17:40:00.000-07:00

Review for The Marriage Bed by Laura Lee Guhrke:

The Marriage Bed is a strange novel; it’s well-written, but I didn’t like it. John, Lord Hammond, married 17-year-old Viola for her money. She’d fallen in love with him, and was heartbroken when she realized he was a fortune-hunter. Despite a short period of happiness together, the two turned away from each other when Viola learned this, and became totally estranged for 8 years. But then John’s cousin dies, leaving him to continue the line of the viscountcy. He tracks Viola down and lets her know he needs a legitimate heir. Though Viola hates him over the course of the novel John charms and woos and seduces her into falling in love once again.

I felt bad for Viola most of the time. She had been lied to and used, then rejected and publicly humiliated by John’s many affairs. Nevertheless, she can’t help but fall in love with him. She tries to be cold, but is too sweet and vulnerable to resist.

It’s hard to like John. He’s seriously charming, and funny, and as Viola says, he’s a “heartbreaker.” He attracts women with his humor and thoughtfulness, and they inevitably fall in love with him. But when he grows bored, he leaves them at the drop of a dime. He is, at his core, heartless—he refuses to recognize that these women (his wife and mistresses) are in love with him, and is incapable of love himself. Obviously, he changes by the end. But the change comes late in the book, which is part of what makes the novel so strange (and unsuccessful).

Being unable to love a woman is the worst crime a romance novel hero can commit. I say this with only a little bit of tongue-in-cheek. We’d rather have a kidnapping philanderer like Sebastian in Devil in Winter, or a former criminal, prostitute, grave-robber and blackmailer, like Derek of Dreaming of You. As long as they love their women, we’ll forgive them anything. But it’s hard to read a book where the hero isn’t in love until the very end, and it’s hard to watch Viola give in time and time again while getting nothing in return.

This romance novel is not a woman’s fantasy. So why the hell would you want to read it? Granted, it’s by Guhrke, who apparently couldn’t write poorly if she tried. But the story is unsatisfying and the characters unsuccessful, so even though I was interested while reading, I give this a C.

She's No Princess

2007-08-19T15:03:00.000-07:00

Review for She's No Princess, by Laura Lee Guhrke:

She's No Princess is set up as the inverse of And Then He Kissed Her; in this case, it's the man who's rigidly proper, and the woman who is wild and flirtatious and cares most for rules. Sir Ian Moore, a British diplomat, has been given the infuriating task of finding an English husband for Lucia Valenti, the daughter of an Italian prince. She's caused too many scandals, and her father wants her out of his country and out of his hair...within 6 weeks. Lucia and Ian, stuck with each other in London, try alternately to manipulate, bully, and on Lucia's part, seduce each other. Like And Then He Kissed Her, it's one long seduction, and it's truly enjoyable to watch Ian trying to resist Lucia's overtures.

Lucia is some sort of living aphrodisiac, and every man she encounters goes crazy for her. Granted, she's an enormous and shameless flirt, so this is more plausible and less annoying than it is in other romance novels. Plus Lucia is fun and mischeivous and a bit outrageous, so it's easy to see why people fall for her.

Ian is pure English, with strict notions of duty, honor, and propriety that he holds himself to. He works too hard and never lets his emotions show or relaxes. It's why Lucia can't help teasing him and working him up, and why it's so fun to see.

As in the last novel of Guhrke's I reviewed, she does a beautiful job of moving her characters from apathy/disdain to obsession. Unfortunately, she leaves a lot to be desired in this story. Neither of the characters seem to develop or grow. The ending is unsatisfying. And most problematic of all both Ian and Lucia do something really cruel to the other, and Guhrke never adequately resolves this.

Add to that the facat that I wasn't sure Ian truly loved Lucia, rather than being taken over by mad lust by a little sexpot, and I couldn't give this novel more than a B. Up to the last 70 pages, though, it's a superb read.

General Fiction, Hugo Cabret

2007-08-16T20:12:00.000-07:00

Review for The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick (kidslit):

The amazing...the beautiful...the strange...it's The Invention of Hugo Cabret! This is a kids' book that can only have come from an illustrator. Hugo Cabret is about equal parts words and pictures, but at over 500 pages long, it can hardly be called a picture book. I'd say it's a mix between your typical picture book and comic book.

The story is set in 1930's Paris, and the title character is a young orphan boy who lives in a train station and keeps the numerous clocks running. Thanks to his father and uncle, both horlogiers, Hugo knows all about the mechanisms behind clocks and gears of all sorts. That's why he dedicates all his free time to restoring a small, robotic man, whom he believes holds a message for him from beyond the grave.

I don't want to give too much away about the story, because the surprises and the twists are all so delightful. But I will say that Selznick brings in a bit of cinematic history that really brings the reader back to that decade. And the way he mixes different visual formats--photography, drawing, and more--is also stunning. The visual aspect of the book obviously dominates, perhaps because it is so unusual, but this word-lover loved every second of it. He tells a great story while illustrating it beautifully and innovatively, and mixes in some fascinating history, as well.

Go read this book. I recommend it absolutely, 100%, to anyone who has an appreciation of kidslit. The drawings will captivate you, the format will surprise and even expand you, and the story will endear itself to you. Go. Go on, now. What are you still doing here?

And Then He Kissed Her

2007-08-11T18:53:00.000-07:00

Review for And Then He Kissed Her, by Laura Lee Guhrke:

Oooh, this is one long, delicious seduction of a novel. And Then He Kissed Her is very sensual--alright, very sexual--but it's also beautiful, and even more than that. Emma Dove has been a secretary at Harry, Lord Marlowe's publishing house for five years. She is capable, compliant, humorless and boring; an all-around amazing secretary. Her only flaw is that she keeps asking Harry to publish her soporific book of etiquette. The 4th time he refuses her, Emma realizes that he's never read the manuscript, and begins to realize that she's wasted her 30 years of life denying herself. As Emma wakes up, Harry's world falls apart, and they begin to see each other in a new light.

Little happens in this book; it is all character development. I loved it. I came to understand Emma completely, and she was fully fleshed-out--proper and repressed, so lonely but in denial about it, and far too sensible for her own good. As the story progresses, her humor and independence emerge, and as Harry says, it's a beautiful thing to watch.

Harry's pretty wonderful himself: seriously charming and funny, very open and honest, and the perfect guy for Emma. He's a bit of a cynic and reprobate, having divorced his cheating wife and therefore been scorned by Society. He doesn't take women seriously and runs through them quickly. Emma helps him grow the same way he helps her, and he's endearing the whole way through (okay, most of the time).

Guhrke is a skilled writer. She moves Emma and Harry from thoroughly disinterested to irresistibly attracted in a process that is slow, enjoyable, and plausible at every step. Everything that happened needed to happen, and was done perfectly. She understands people and her characters, and develops the latter with real talent. This is romance at its best. A.

I Thee Wed

2007-08-11T08:59:00.000-07:00

Review of I Thee Wed, by Amanda Quick:

Too much plot! is my main complaint with I Thee Wed. The romance takes a backseat to the mystery plot. Once again Quick force-feeds us the tale of an imaginary Atlantis-like isle known only to a select few. This time, a circle of Englishmen has studied and mastered the ancient practices of the isle of Vanzagara. The book is full of conversations like "I must use the Strategy of Deception to outsmart the Vanzagara Master of the Outer Circle." Always capitalized, of course.

But I'm being a tad over-critical. Though the dialogue reminded me of a farcical kung-fu movie, I enjoyed the read. A lot. The characters are adorable: Emma Greyson is a funny mix of rigidly innocent and snarky. She became a lady's maid after a bad investment left her broke, and in such a vulnerable position, is insistent that she never appear improper or be seen alone with a man. But she keeps getting fired because of her smart aleck mouth.

Edison Stokes is also cute, a would-be Vanzagara Master who quit because he found it all dumb (cheers!). He's the classic Quick adventurer, overly protective but sweetly adoring. He has no romantic history, strangely enough, but a moving family background. I liked his sense of humor, particularly regarding Emma's quirks and mouthiness.

Don't get me wrong, the book isn't funny. But the characters were fun together and the story engaging, even if there was too much of it. I'd give this book a solid B, but since it pisses me off when authors privilege story over character (or romance), I'm sticking it with a B-.

General Fiction, Black Jack

2007-08-10T14:35:00.000-07:00

Review for Black Jack, by Leon Garfield:

Black Jack is a strange novel, in that it's both very good and somewhat bad. It's historical fiction that takes place in mid 18th-century London, and follows a young teenager named Bartholomew Dorking. Kidnapped by the villainous and enormous Black Jack, who survived his own hanging, Bartholomew (Tolly) finds himself dragged around the country and involved in all sorts of criminal schemes. He rescues a young escaped lunatic along the way, and they grow close, and together they must face a world of danger and malicious people.

The author certainly evokes the ordinariness of lower-class and illicit city life, and he does a great job with minor characters. Like Dickens, all of the secondary characters are exaggerated and one-dimensional, serving straightforward purposes. Garfield does not do so well with the characters of Tolly and Black Jack. I never understood them, and they did things that I never expected based on their characters. I was happy with their progression by the end of the novel, but I didn't get how they arrived there.

What Garfield does well is tell an engaging story, create atmospheres of danger, grim reality, and fast-paced excitement, and show people and society at their most basic and unpleasant. When the book is good, it's quite good, but it was boring in several places. The bright spots are so bright that I definitely recommend this book to others, but I caution you not to expect too much. You can't get terribly attached to the characters; at least, I couldn't.

It could just be me. The praise for Garfield in the front of the book, from authors like Joan Aiken, Lloyd Alexander, Richard Peck, and others is truly astounding. Garfield has a very distinct style, and it may be that his style just doesn't resonate with me.

Gentle Rogue

2007-08-08T21:11:00.000-07:00

Review for Gentle Rogue, by Johanna Lindsey:

Booo. Gentle Rogue was a big, fat stinker of a book, a story that could have been excellent if told by a better writer. The two heroes, Georgina Anderson and James Malory, travel from England to the Americas on the same boat. James, captain of the ship, is the only one who has seen through Georgie’s disguise, as she’s hired herself out as captain’s boy. From day 1 he is determined to seduce her. They fall for each other on board, but on land their already caustic relationship encounters more serious problems, especially when their respective families enter the picture.

This is the third Malory novel I’ve read, and only 1 of the 3 was good (hint: not this one). But Lindsey loves the family to death, and shows off their “playful” teasing and fighting whenever possible. James is the real reprobate of the family, a womanizer to a disgusting extent. He’s a viscount, ship’s captain, one-time pirate, and total asshole who meets any obstacle with brute strength, because he can.

Georgie is an oft-described coolheaded young lady, but never shows it in this story. Lindsey seems to think that any woman who constantly argues, spites others, and has a temper must be strong/interesting/some positive characteristic. Georgie is just obnoxious.

The CONSTANT fighting in this book gave me a headache. Georgie and James argue, their siblings fight amongst themselves, and of course, when the 2 families meet, they hate each other and the insults fly. Conversations veered frequently off-topic into pages of “good-natured ribbing,” but even aside from this annoyance, the teasing was generally pretty malicious, and hardly fun.

Bah. I’m glad to be done with this novel. C-.

Midnight Angel

2007-08-06T14:44:00.001-07:00

Review of Midnight Angel, by Lisa Kleypas:

In the infamous words of The Mask: It's smo-kin'! Midnight Angel is a great read, even if it's pretty basic. Lady Anastasia Ivanovna Kaptereva has fled Russia and takes a post in England as a governess, because she's been convicted of murder and sentenced to hang. She ends up chez Stokehurst, at the estate of Luke, Lord Stokehurst, a widower who lives with his troublesome daughter Emma. Luke can't resist Tasia's crazy gorgeous face, her inner serenity, nor her strong character, and falls hard. Tasia, likewise, learns to love melancholy Luke and his daughter, and together they face the Russian threat that haunts Tasia.

There's an odd air of the supernatural in Midnight Angel. There are fortune-tellers, ghosts, and premonitions; but it all works strangely well with Tasia's unearthly air. She's terrifyingly regal, beautiful, and strong, and seems unreal in a rather plausible and endearing way.

Luke is a moody dreamboat, not quite brooding but certainly damaged by the loss of his wife. His abrupt awakening in Tasia's presence is moving, and Kleypas really made me care for his happiness. He's got the typical obsessive-possessiveness that Kleypas favors, but because he's the type who 'must needs be worshiping at some altar,' it works. And, oh yeah, he has a hook for a hand. I'm not really sure why.

The chemistry is hot (smokin!), the characters are endearing--even Emma, and I usually hate children in romance novels--and the story is actually exciting. I give this highly enjoyable (if not especially exceptional) read a B+.

To Catch an Heiress

2007-08-01T19:18:00.000-07:00

Review of To Catch an Heiress, by Julia Quinn:

There's not much to say about this novel: it's a fine read, and it's altogether unremarkable.

Caroline Trent is a lovely heroine; she's got a terrific sense of humor and is just lighthearted in general, as well as well-intentioned. An orphan, shunted from relative to relative, she's pretty much had to rely on herself for company and confidence, and has done fine on her own. A bit unrealistically fine, to be honest, but that's Quinn for you--not meant to be too serious.

Blake Ravenscroft is a less strong character; he's the same old 'fraid of love, morally upright, overprotective hero one always gets. He's sweet enough, just not that interesting. I liked him, though.

So Blake mistakes Caroline for a notorious Spanish spy, because he's a secret agent or whatever, and he kidnaps her and eventually they fall in love after a few mishaps and too many arguments.

It was a fun read, though it had lots of faults. Quinn rushed everything about this--the first kiss is too early, Blake's feelings get too serious too soon, as do Caroline's. It was a decent read, with lots of humor, but essentially was mediocre. B-.

Mr. Impossible

2007-07-29T19:40:00.000-07:00

Review for Mr. Impossible, by Loretta Chase:

As cheesy as it is, and as strange as it sounds from a reviewer of romance novels, Mr. Impossible is the kind of book that makes me believe in love. And happiness. Rupert Carsington and Daphne Pembroke, two English folk far from home in Egypt, set off on a long, desert-crossing, Nile-sailing adventure to rescue Daphne's kidnapped brother. Though Rupert rubs Daphne the wrong way at first, they grow to rely on and appreciate each other, and of course are madly attracted to each other, as well.

Both characters are dreamboats. Daphne is a scholar of ancient Egypt, obsessed with her studies and a positive genius. She often bores people with her lectures, but when tested she's fearless, uncomplainig, sensible, and has a great sense of humor. Rupert is an angel. In a totally trouble-making, boyish, teasing sort of way. He's a notorious hoyden, sent to Egypt to give his dad some peace. But as he and Daphne grow closer, he proves to be not only funny, but sweet, completely forthright, unabashed, and just a plain good man. He's simple--it's Daphne who has the complexes--and together they pretty much beat all.

The word for their love is genuine. As you read the story you watch them fall in love so naturally--not smoothly, but plausibly. Their romance is filled with humor. The affection and concern between them is moving, and the chemistry is spot-on; I loved them both individually and as a couple.

Even though this book was a slow read--all the Egyptology and the narratives of rival archaeologists got really boring--the perfection of the main characters and Chase's beautiful writing won't let me give it less than an A-.

Brave the Wild Wind

2007-07-29T19:34:00.001-07:00

Review of Brave the Wild Wind, by Johanna Lindsey:

Christ, what a bad book. Brave the Wild Wind was a yawn from start to finish. From the premise--an 18 year old girl running a cattle ranch in frontier Wyoming, all the while chumming it up with the Natives--to the pathetic characterizations, this was just bad, bad, bad.

Jessica has been raised by her father, a man who hates her because she's not a boy, and has taught her to hate her mother. Her father kicked her pregnant mother out years ago, after beating her nearly to death because he found her cheating on him (except he didn't). He'd been an ideal husband up until then. His character is one of the biggest problems I have with this book, because his behaviors are so unbelievable. But it's hardly the only one I have.

When her father dies, Jess's estranged mother comes to look after her, and brings an old friend along to help tame Jess' wild behavior. Enter Chase Summers, an old pal who instead seduces Jess and then tries to trick her mother into keeping her away from other men. But as Chase constantly says (though never proves), he's charming. So it's cool.

Honestly, I didn't have a huge problem with Chase. I pitied him, really, because Jess was so detestable. She is a HUGE brat, a total b*tch, and not in a good way. She's no Scarlett O'Hara--she's not selfish, she's just mean-spirited, and couldn't give a damn how her actions affect others. Worse, her character never develops or changes at all. And she has no sense of humor. She and Chase do nothing but fight, and unlike Wulfric in Joining, who is faced with a similar (though less vicious) heroine, Chase hasn't enough will to control/help someone like Jess. Beneath their fighting, I couldn't detect any sexual tension, nor any hint of a good match. They just made each other miserable.

The secondary plots are boring, Jess is obnoxious, the resolution with her mother is poorly written, and this book was not worth the effort of carrying it home from the library. D.

Joining

2007-07-29T19:27:00.000-07:00

Review of Joining, by Johanna Lindsey:

Johanna Lindsey seems to have sexual identity issues. This is the second book in a row of hers I've read, in which the heroine detests her own body and tries to live like a man. Luckily, Joining is far better than Brave the Wild Wind.

Milisant, the cross-dressing 13th century heroine, is well-matched with Lord Wulfric, though both are furious when they first meet. Betrothed at birth, the couple has only met once as children, when Wulfric accidentally killed Milisant's bird and then broke her foot in self-defense when she brutally attacked him. Needless to say, neither is excited about the upcoming wedding. But Wulfric turns out to be fun and brave, and domineering enough to balance out Milisant's excessive wilfulness. Lindsey does a good job of showing why they fall for each other, and creates decent chemistry between them.

The medieval setting was new for me and Lindsey's portrayal drew me in--I loved the strange rules and customs the characters navigated, and the slight sense of freedom one doesn't get in Regency England. The action subplot and odious King John's cameo were also well-done.

The book was good, but not great. I didn't really like Milisant, who is immature and foolish. I also wouldn't consider Lindsey as good a writer as many of the others I've read, so I'm sticking this book with a B-.

Say You Love Me

2007-07-08T10:38:00.000-07:00

Review for Say You Love Me, by Johanna Lindsey:

Hoo-eee! Talk about one smooth read of romance novel. Say You Love Me is about Kelsey Langton, an orphaned aristocrat who sells herself as a mistress to the highest bidder in order to save her family from ruin. Derek Malory buys her, more as an act of chivalry than anything else, but is quite happy to exert his master-ly rights, too. The two get on like ham and eggs--with plenty of hot sauce--and their fall into love is a natural and entertaining progression.

Yes, Derek and Kelsey are well-matched, and though I adored them both, they were too perfect. Kelsey is innocent and noble, willing to sacrifice her future for her family. She's like a man's wet dream, the perfect mistress--compliant and uncomplaining, and totally hot. Likewise, Derek is chivalrous and responsible, and though the two are a lot of fun together, I found myself almost jealous of their perfection, instead of cheering for their happiness.

The convenient ending only furthered this sentiment--surprise revelations resolve all obstacles to marriage, and none of it seemed too contrived. Those privileged, lucky brats.

There were other flaws--Lindsey digs a deep hole with a truly monstrous villain, and a story of victims so horribly violated, that she can't adequately resolve the plot within the confines of a romance novel. It was too disturbing for such a light read.

There was also too much of the other Malorys. Fine, they're a great cast of characters, very funny, and interesting. But she spends so much time reminiscing about their stories (written in previous books) and showing off the happy couples, that I flipped through a lot of pages. I neither knew nor care about those people.

So even though the book was a breeze and a joy to read, and though the romance was perfectly paced and the couple perfectly paired, I give this book only a B. But despite its serious flaws, I highly recommend it.

(Already read it? Discuss this book here!)

Lord Perfect, Discussion

2007-07-04T08:08:00.000-07:00

I don't know how to cut a post (i.e. make it expandable), so for those of you who haven't read Lord Perfect, you'll simply have to scroll down to avoid

SPOILERS!

That taken care of, I'd like to open a discussion about this Loretta Chase novel! You can read the review for this book here.

First question: Did you prefer the romance between Bathsheba and Benedict, or the storyline between Peregrine and Olivia? Like I said in my review, I loved Olivia because she had Dreadful DeLucey tendencies, but I found the adult story infinitely preferable.

I may have been prejudiced against the kids, though, by the fact that Chase SHAMEFULLY ripped off of Anne of Green Gables in their first encounter. For example, Olivia gets mad and slams Peregrine's writing tablet on his head--blatant Anne and Gilbert!! And of course, Olivia is a "freckle-faced redhead." And THEN Olivia falls on her knees and gives Peregrine a flowery, exaggeratedly formal apology, just like Anne does to Mrs. Lynde. I mean, hello!??!! Totally AoGG.

It would've been OK if Chase had stated this, and it would have been more like she was paying homage than stealing. But no prologue, dedication, or acknowledgements section exists to mention L.M. Montgomery. A crime!!

Other thoughts/complaints/comments?

Lord Perfect

2007-07-04T07:59:00.001-07:00

Review for Lord Perfect, by Loretta Chase:

Chase comes through again with Lord Perfect, the story of a paragon and a pariah. Benedict, Earl of Hargate is a proper, scandal-free widow who lives his life by absolute rules, and encourages his nephew Peregrine to do the same. Bathsheba Wingate comes from the Dreadful De Lucey family, a line filled with thieves, con artists and whores. When her daughter Olivia lures Peregrine on a treasure hunt, Benedict and Bathsheba team up to find them, and inevitably fall in love.

Bathsheba and Benedict have phenomenal chemistry, and the “forbidden” aspect of their liaisons is plausible and titillating. The couple’s fall into romance is as fresh and understandable as can be, as are their own fear and reluctance.

I loved the characters, too. Benedict is such a prig, and therefore endearing whenever he breaks one of his not-so-ironclad rules. Bathsheba is well-meaning but feisty, and quite funny, too. But she’s best when rebelling against her Dreadful DeLucey tradition, and her daughter’s tendencies in that direction.

The smartbitches review claimed to be more interested in the kids than the adults, and I’ll admit Olivia was a riot and made a great pair with Peregrine. But I was always eager to return to the parents’ narrative, and found them vastly more interesting. The only complaint I have is about the ending, which was way too pat and easy. No amount of money could have repaired the reputation of a Dreadful DeLucey, and certainly not enough to make Bathsheba marriageable.

Nevertheless, the great writing and the perfect romance make this a fun read. Add to that the hilarious bits about Dreadful DeLucey-ishness, and you’ve got a solid B+ read. It wasn’t memorable enough to warrant a higher grade, but if there are more DeLucey books out there, I’m all over them!

(Already read this book? Discuss it here!)

Pet Peeves and a Philosophy of Romance

2007-06-27T14:05:00.000-07:00

I'd like to explain why you won't see any classics listed as romance novels on this page. On many other pages, I see polls of "What's your all-time favorite romance novel?" and books like Pride and Prejudice or Jane Eyre pop up. This irritates me to no end, and thus these books are in no danger of appearing on my list of Romantic Reads.

I define romance novels as books produced by a specific industry, having one essential focus and, usually, using unoriginal devices to create a story. The essential focus, of course, is the romance between two main characters, and any character development inevitably contributes to the conflict and resolution between them. As for the unoriginal devices, I don't mean that pejoratively-- the alpha male, the sex scenes, the Big Misunderstanding, etc. are all recycled in different enjoyable ways by romance writers. OTOH, I don't think that any of them are particularly realistic, or convey any deeper truths about society or individuals.

The work of Austen and the Brontes involved much more than creating interesting stories. They were masters of the English language, and of the artistic form we refer to as a novel. They explored different aspects of humanity, created believable situations and characters, and played with the novelistic form to put as much meaning into 300 pages as possible. They also wove fascinating tales. I do not believe that romance novelists do any of this. Moreover, romance novels are, on the whole, not particularly innovative, certainly not ahead of their time, and--please don't be offended by this--largely correlative to the male-targeted pornographic industry.

So now that I've dug myself into deep sh*t, assuming anyone reads this, one might wonder why I bother to read and create a blog devoted to romance novels. Let me say this first: I will be happy to adjust my definition as I learn more about the genre. As you can tell from my reading log for this year, my exposure to the romance industry is fairly limited. I read a lot of the same authors, I haven't branched out into fantasy, sci-fi, gay, whatever branches of romance novels that are out there. I barely even read contemporary stories, and almost everything I've read takes place in Regency England. So let me be the first to admit that my experience is limited, though I'm working on it.

That said, I don't expect to find anything drastically different, based on the few examples of those other sub-genres that I have seen and read.

I haven't answered the question yet, you say? Quite right. Well, I read romance novels because they're fun. Because I like sappy love stories, because I like happily-ever-after, because I like the easy reads. For an avid reader like myself, reading romance novels is akin to watching television. I relax, I am pandered to, and I don't have to think. That's a really nice thing to have. I also enjoy the trashiness of them, even the less-trashy ones. I don't ask a lot from my romance novels, and they don't offer a lot. And that's just fine with me.

Dregs

2007-06-27T13:57:00.000-07:00

Reading these books were all painful experiences. I advise you to avoid them at all costs, unless you like to read things that will give you fodder for enough criticism to fill a blog.

Notice that many of the worst novels are by some of the authors who have written my favorite novels. Proof in print that while not everyone can write Gems, any author can produce crap. Also, I fully expect that this list of Dregs will end up considerably longer than the list of Gems.

Because You're Mine, by Lisa Kleypas
It's In His Kiss, by Julia Quinn
Only in Your Arms, by Lisa Kleypas
The Finer Things, by Brenda Joyce
Nights in Rodanthe, by Nicholas Sparks (not technically a romance novel, though)

Gems

2007-06-27T13:50:00.000-07:00

The best of the best. Cream of the crop. These are some of the finest works to emerge from the romance novel industry, according to this humble reviewer. If you haven't read them yet, do.

Dreaming of You, by Lisa Kleypas
Halfway to Heaven, by Susan Wigg
Brighter Than the Sun, by Julia Quinn
Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas
And Then He Kissed Her, by Laura Lee Guhrke

Reading Log

2007-06-23T11:21:00.000-07:00

In case you're interested, here's a list of what I've been reading. If I've written a review about it, then it's linked below.

2008 - 2009 reads (Sept. through February 2009):

Romance Novels

Not Quite a Lady (Chase) (very good)
The Pirate Lord (Jeffries) (mediocre)
Secret Desires of a Gentleman (Guhrke) (excellent)
Seduce Me At Sunrise (Kleypas) (mediocre)
Nights in Rodanthe (Sparks) (atrocious)
Hot Target (S. Brockmann) (very good)
A Wallflower Christmas (Kleypas) (very good)

General Adult Novels

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (B. Smith) (excellent)
The Tempest (Shakespeare) (excellent)
Breakfast of Champions (Vonnegut) (mediocre)
Haroun and the Sea of Stories (Rushdie) (good)
The Running Man (King) (good)

Kids' Lit

Nancy Drew: Bungalow Mystery
My Teacher is an Alien (Coville) (excellent)
My Teacher Fried My Brains (Coville) (very good)
My Teacher Flunked the Planet (Coville) (very good)
The Secret of Platform 13 (Ibbotson) (very good)
Nancy Drew: Tower treasure
Fly By Night (Hardinge) (very good)
The Trumpet of the Swan (White) (good)
The Hunger Games (S. Collins) (excellent)
The Princess Bride (Goldman) (good)
A Drowned Maiden's Hair (Schlitz) (good)
Whales on Stilts (Anderson) (mediocre)
Nancy Drew #83
Nancy Drew: Twisted Candles
Nancy Drew #152
Babysitter's Club: The Babysitter's Remember
Nancy Drew: Password to Larkspur Lane
Nancy Drew: Mysterious Letter
Gregor the Overlander (S. Collins) (excellent)
Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane (S. Collins) (excellent)
Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods (very good)
Gregor and the Marks of Secret (excellent)
Gregor and the Code of Claw (very good)
Ender's Game (Card) (excellent)
Xenocide (Card) (good)
Babysitter's Club: Claudia and the New Girl
A Great and Terrible Beauty (Bray) (very good)
Rebel Angels (Bray) (good)
Beka Cooper: Terrier (T. Pierce) (excellent)

Non-fiction:

The Big Sister's Guide to the World of Work (DiFalco)
The Omnivore's Dilemma (Pollan)
A Short History of Nearly Everything (Bryson)
A Primate's Memoir (Sapolsky)
Three Black Skirts (Johnson)
Gorillas in the Mist (Fossey)
On Writing (King)
The Unemployment Survival Guide (Stringham)
The Anti 9-to-5 Guide (Goodman)
Talent is Overrated (Colvin)
Suze Orman's 2009 Action Plan
The Naked Ape (Morris)

2007 reads:

Romance Novels

Brighter Than the Sun (J. Quinn) (amazing)
Prince of Dreams (L. Kleypas) (sucked)
How to Marry a Marquis (J. Quinn) (good)
Faking It (J. Crusie) (meh)
Splendid (J. Quinn) (good)
Romancing Mr. Bridgerton (J. Quinn) (good)
The Charm School (S. Wiggs) (good)
Minx (J. Quinn) (wonderful)
Devil in Winter (Kleypas) (best thing ever!)
Someone to Watch Over Me (L. Kleypas) (amazing)
It's In His Kiss (J. Quinn) (sucked) (and moreover--WORST ENDING EVER!)
Captives of the Night (L. Chase) (horrible)
Lady Sophia's Lover (Kleypas) (good)
Worth Any Price (Kleypas) (wonderful)
Secrets of a Summer Night (Kleypas) (good)
On The Way to the Wedding (Kleypas) (amazing)
Lady Be Good (S. E. Phillips) (decent)
When He Was Wicked (J. Quinn) (sucked)
Somewhere I'll Find You (Kleypas) (good)
Sugar Daddy (Kleypas) (good)
Seduction (Quick) (very good)
To Sir Phillip, with Love (Quinn) (wonderful)
The Wedding Game (Feather) (decent)
Because You're Mine (Kleypas)
Affair (Quick) (good)
A Man To Call My Own (Lindsey) (good)
Lord of Scoundrels (Chase) (excellent)
Lord Perfect (Chase) (wonderful)
Say You Love Me (Lindsey) (wonderful)
Joining (Lindsey) (good)
Brave the Wild Wind (Lindsey) (dreadful)
Mr. Impossible (Chase) (amazing)
To Catch an Heiress (Quinn) (meh)
Pleasure for Pleasure (James) (very good)
Midnight Angel (Kleypas) (wonderful)
Gentle Rogue (Lindsey) (rubbish)
I Thee Wed (Quick) (good)
And Then He Kissed Her (Guhrke) (amazing)
She's No Princess (Guhrke) (good)
Everything and the Moon (Quick) (forgettable)
The Marriage Bed (Guhrke) (meh)
Wait Until Midnight (Quick) (forgettable)
Where's My Hero? (Quinn, Kleypas, MacGregor) (good)
Honey Moon (Phillips) (decent)
The Least Likely Bride (Feather) (good)
Something Sinful (Enoch) (good)
In the Prince's Bed (Jeffries) (wonderful)
His Every Kiss (Guhrke) (amazing)

General Adult Novels

The Eyre Affair (J. Fforde)
No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (McCall Smith)
Jude the Obscure
Maus (I and II)
Vanity Fair (gimme a break, I read MOST of it!)
Woman in White (W. Collins)
Daniel Deronda
Katherine (A. Seton)
Middlemarch
Naked (D. Sedaris)
The Other Boleyn Girl (Gregory)
Blindness (Saramago)
Hercule Poirot's Christmas
Como Agua Para Chocolate (Esquival) (yes in Spanish! go me!)
Hickory Dickory Dock (A. Christie)

Kids' Lit
The Thief Lord (C. Funke)
The People of Sparks (J. Duprau)
Whale Rider (W. Ihimaera)
Sounder (Armstrong)
Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery (Freedman)
Replay (Creech)
Beka Cooper: Terrier (Pierce)
Little House in the Big Woods
On the Banks of Plum Creek
Chasing Redbird (Creech)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Black Jack (Garfield)
The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Selznick)
Farmer Boy (Wilder)
By the Shores of Silver Lake (Wilder)
The Long Winter (Wilder)
Little Town on the Prairie
The Royal Diaries: Cleopatra VIII (Gregory)
Animorphs: The Ultimate (Applegate)

Non-fiction
The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous and Broke (Orman)
Automatic Wealth for Grads (Masterson)
In My Family Tree (Siddle)
Gorillas Among Us (Prince-Hughes)
The Four-Hour Work Week (Ferris)
Teach Yourself Visually: Knitting (Turner)
Dress Your Best (Stacy and Clinton!)

General Fiction, Jose Saramago

2007-06-23T11:01:00.001-07:00

Review for Blindness, by Jose Saramago:

Saramago's novel Blindness is an intense, terrifying, and thoughtful work, about an epidemic of blindness that sweeps a country. Saramago won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998, and this book, even translated from his native Portuguese, proves he deserved it.

He writes with an unusual style--there is no distinction between narration and dialogue, no punctuation to separate the words of different characters. It's hard to adjust to, and because of this it disorients the reader in a similar way to the disorientation of the characters. Like them, we find ourselves struggling to identify speakers, to distinguish people, or to follow new events. As the epidemic spreads, unfortunately, the government and its people fail to adapt to the new circumstances. At first the gov. tries to quarantine all those infected, and house them in a former mental institution to isolate them. There we meet our main cast of characters

7 people, none of whom have names, all blind save the "doctor's wife," who snuck into the asylum to stick with her husband. They are identified by their occupations or their actions only. These seven characters are the first to go blind and to arrive in the asylum, and they are present as more and more people are brought into the asylum. Since they are quarantined there are no doctors provided, no administrators, no firemen, no one to fix the plumbing or bury the dead. There are only soldiers, stationed beyond the asylum gates, ready and willing to shot anyone who ventures too far outdoors. The inmates are left to govern themselves, and it's the criminals who take over, turning their small world into a place of cruelty and violence.

The novel also includes the rest of the country, as everyone eventually goes blind. Saramago raises interesting questions. When faced with an unimagined, widespread handicap, how would people survive? How would a country and government keep functioning? He offers answers to these questions that are plausible and chilling.

Most of the story is told from the POV of the doctor's wife, the only person who can see. I don't know if this was hesitance on Saramago's part to narrate as a blind person, or if it was just practical--readers have someone they can relate to, who experiences the story the same way we do. In either case, it works out. We get to observe, as though omnisciently, everything that happens, and therefore witness all the repercussions of a government's incompetence. The novel functions as a social commentary in that way, and I couldn't help but make connections between its government, and the US gov's response to Hurricane Katrina. Thought-provoking, Blindness is an excellent read and ought to be force-read to any government official who might have to deal with disaster (i.e. all).

About Me and Romantic Reads

2007-06-22T23:40:00.000-07:00

This blog was created because I am crazy about romance novels. I started writing reviews to keep track of the novels I'd already read--because romance books tend to be similar, I would go to my library and pick up an Amanda Quick novel, and have no idea whether I'd read it already.

Now I've made this blog, because I figured I may as well share my reviews with others. I also wanted a chance to gab about those books I've read with others who have read them; not enough of my friends have the guts to read romance novels! And yes, I do think it takes guts to walk up to a cash register and buy a book with two half-naked people making out in a field of flowers on the cover. So this blog is a chance to connect with other people who have the courage to face those cashiers, and to hear your rants and raves about books I've read.

You can find your way around this blog using the links on the right side of the page--Romantic Reads Reviews, Non-Romantic Reads, and Discussion Forums. I've tried to make it all as user-friendly as possible, but if something bothers you, let me know.

I should also mention that my future reviews will be significantly shorter than those posted. The reviews already up were simply transferred from my Live Journal, where I didn't really care about readability. But I plan on editing those, and limiting my future reviews to something like 200 or 250 words.

Lord of Scoundrels

2007-06-22T23:19:00.000-07:00

Review for Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase:

Whoo-hoo! Lord of Scoundrels is quite a book; no wonder so many people name it as their favorite romance novel. In it, Jessica Trent travels to Paris to rescue her brother from the sinful underworld of Lord Dain, Marquess of Athcourt. As soon as they meet, however, their mutual attraction explodes, and they fall into a sort of courtship that neither wants. Soon they find themselves married, forced to learn how to get along, and facing Dain's numerous personal demons.

Jess is 27, and should rightly be considered a spinster, but no one thinks of her that way. She's too clever, fierce, sexy, and cool. She understands Dain, is unashamed of her own feelings, and is unafraid to share them.

No, the fear is left to Dain. Though he hides his insecurities well, they make him cruel and distant. He has no use for women, who are mostly repulsed by his ugly face and his well-earned nickname, Beelzebub. But behind his cold exterior lies a serious case of self-loathing, and a conviction that no one could ever love or even be attracted to him. Much of the novel deals with these problems, because the marriage can go nowhere until he and Jess handle them.

The first half of the novel is sheer genius. From the moment Jess and Dain meet, their attraction is palpable. The combination of 2 intensely forceful characters is thrilling. Moreover, Chase's writing is fantastic. Her words run smoothly, and she is well-read, with a great sense of humor. I also liked that she described and explored the characters' thoughts, placing a greater emphasis on the mind than on action or storyline.

There are some downers to the book. After the 2 marry, the story becomes less exciting, less interesting. Jess is open and generous towards Dain, and Dain gets over a lot of his dilemmas. All of this is important, it just wasn't as fun as the first half of the book.

But that first part is so perfect that I can hardly allow the second half to detract from it. Dain and Jess are two of the best heroes I’ve read in any romance, and Chase is an excellent writer. I give Lord of Scoundrels an A-.

A Man To Call My Own

2007-06-22T23:17:00.000-07:00

Review for A Man to Call My Own, by Johanna Lindsey:

All the key elements, save one, are present in A Man to Call My Own. It's a good-twin/bad-twin story, about 2 young women in the late 1800s who lose their father and are sent to live with their aunt in Texas. Though Marian and Amanda are of age, their father has stipulated in his will that their aunt must be their guardian and approve of their choice of husbands before they can receive their inheritances. Marian, who uglifies herself and has alienated all the men in their New England town because she fears her sister's jealousy, is game. But super-bitch Amanda whines during the whole cross-country trek. When they are picked up by their aunt's friend Chad, he is too blinded by Amanda's beauty to notice her personality. Marian, strongly attracted to Chad, nevertheless shuns him because she knows her sister would get jealous if he showed interest in her (or vice versa). Slowly, as Marian gets used to ranch life and gets to know Chad better, they are unable to resist each other. Their relationship is complicated by a crazy series of surprises that keeps them apart.

Both Marian Laton and Chad Kinkaid are great characters, and they're really very similar. Both are brave, kindhearted, adventurous, and, at least when Amanda isn't around, both very polite. They're not complex figures at all, though Chad certainly finds the alternately spinsterish/sexy Marian very mysterious. But when both are allowed to be themselves, they are a simple and happy couple.

Which actually is part of the book's problem--there's no chemistry between the two. Half the time they are hooking up, Chad thinks she's Amanda, so I couldn't see what was special about their connection. I wasn't really sure why Chad fell for Marian in the first place, though they do work well together. But their sex scenes are boring and uninspired, and though I liked them as a couple, that necessary romance novel passion was missing.

Otherwise, the book was pretty good. The secondary characters are all interesting, especially Amanda, whose story I loved. Unfortunately, near the end of the book Lindsey tosses in some kidnapping schemes, some inheritance-stealing plots, and so on, which are all very far-fetched and irrelevant. The Big Misunderstanding between Marian and Chad was also problematic. I liked how the characters handled it, and I enjoyed reading all the angst, but other readers might be annoyed by its flimsy premise.

I do recommend this book, despite my criticisms. As I said, most of the elements are there, and I had a hard time putting it down. Lindsey is clearly a skilled writer (despite the excessive grammatical errors), and she made the Old West come alive for me. I'm now looking forward to reading more books by her, as well as more romances in that setting. I would like to give the book a B, but I've given other books with fewer flaws that grade, so I'll have to stick her with a B-. Nevertheless, I expect to be reading some Lindsey novels again soon.

General Fiction, Sharon Creech

2007-06-22T23:16:00.000-07:00

Review for Chasing Redbird, by Sharon Creech: (kidslit)

I think I like Chasing Redbird even better than Creech's award-winning Walk Two Moons. In this book, Zinnia Taylor discovers an old, overgrown hiking trail in the woods behind her Kentucky farmhouse, and decides to restore it. As she digs up the 20-mile long path, camping out by herself, she has time to uncover her own unacknowledged emotions--about the recent death of her aunt, about forgotten memories of her cousin, Rose, and of her current troubles with Jake Boone, who keeps giving her gifts. Zinny progresses along the trail and slowly learns to overcome some of her own guilt, to speak out more (instead of being drowned out by her loud family), and to separate her own identity from that of Rose, who was the same age as her but died at four years old.

Zinny narrates the novel, and she is a wonderful character. Though quiet to the point of absurdity, what goes on inside her mind reveals to the reader real maturity, depth, and a great sense of humor. She's quirky in the way that all of Creech's characters are, but she's particularly unique in her single-mindedness. Once she determines to do something or feel a certain way, she can't stop or change course. I loved watching her go, as well as being privy to her thought-provoking insights and her struggles with loss and guilt.

Everything about this novel hits the right note. The Taylor family dynamic is clearly healthy, but it's easy to see why Zinny feels overlooked and turns to her aunt and uncle as parents. The connection between Rose and Zinnia is haunting but wonderful at the same time. Creech's quirkiness as a writer always redeems itself with deeper meanings. For example, Aunt Jessie has a wall hanging that says "Life is a bowl of spaghetti- every now and then you get a meatball." Creech, via Zinny, reworks this simple, almost silly metaphor up, down and sideways, drawing insight from it that never would have occurred to me. Then there's Jake, a thief who gets more endearing with everything he steals to give to Zinny. Or Zinny's squabbles with her sisters--though their rivalries are small and thoughtless, the hurt each of the girls feel is undeniable and cutting. The book has ghosts, strange sayings, really funny scenes, and erratic chapter lengths, but every element works, and they all work together to form a cohesive picture of Zinny's life and mind, and of this one summer that truly changes her life.

I usually offer a bit of critique at this point of the review, but there's not much to say. I suppose that Uncle Nate, Zinny's father figure, needed to be developed more. I was left with the impression that Zinny was closer to Aunt Jessie than to him, which she denies. It wasn't a big deal because, well, he was alive and Jessie was dead, and this book is essentially about death. The same thing goes for her parents; clearly they are saddened because Zinny is closer to Nate and Jessie than to them, but this is never worked out or discussed in any way.

But none of this means that Chasing Redbird is anything short of brilliant. The characters are beautiful, the story is intriguing, Zinny's voice is irresistible, and Creech deals with some seriously heavy questions as only kidslit authors can. As Zinny wonders about death and responsibility, relationships, attachments to people and things, fear, and grief, she fulfills one of literature's most important functions: the act of putting age-old, universal questions in a unique and interesting light. Creech doesn't often venture answers to the questions, but the way she poses them helps us do so for ourselves.

To Sir Phillip, With Love

2007-06-22T23:15:00.000-07:00

Review of To Sir Phillip with Love, by Julia Quinn:

Another excellently funny Bridgerton novel, To Sir Phillip with Love is the story of Eloise, a talkative perfectionist and spinster. After 10 years on the marriage market and after the wedding of her chubby, quiet best friend Penelope, Eloise is feeling rather desperate to find a match. So she accepts the surprising offer from her pen-pal of one year: he invites her to visit his house in the country, to see if they will suit for marriage. The only problem is, Eloise does not forewarn Sir Phillip Crane that she is coming, nor does she let anyone know she is leaving home. Her arrival at Sir Phillip's house causes all sorts of awkward situations, and she is stunned to learn that he has two children. Eloise stays, however, and slowly comes to know Phillip and his devilish kids.

Eloise is a great heroine, and typical of Quinn--she's funny, forgiving, kind, headstrong, and an absolute romantic. I found her match with Phillip to be perfect. She was just what he needed and, well, she liked him, so that worked out fine. Like most Bridgertons, she was also perfectly self-confident, which is a rare pleasure to find in romance novels.

I adored Sir Phillip, too. He's a rather scatterbrained botanist, and a bit passive in his life. He's satisfied as long as he's not causing harm, and wants a wife to direct both his and his children's lives, and to manage things at home. His struggles with his own parenting skills are beautifully written and heartwrenching to read about, and, surprisingly, made me care about that part of the story. Usually I'm just annoyed by any kids in a romance, but here they really worked.

The novel is simple enough, though Eloise and Phillip are slow to fall in love, and when married, are even slower to find a successful balance. I mean that in the best way possible--it's nice to see the author taking her time in developing their relationship. Quinn also tells the story with such a keen sense of dialogue and social interactions. All the awkward moments are horribly, hysterically awkward. The kids are believably horrible, and the foibles of Eloise and Phillip play out in all of their interchanges. Add to that Quinn's fantastic sense of humor and the many enjoyable scenes with the Bridgerton family, and you've got an A- book.

General Fiction, Sounder

2007-06-22T23:13:00.000-07:00

Review of Sounder, by William Armstrong: (kidslit)

Sounder is a brief, bare story about a young boy and his family living as tenant farmers--sharecroppers, really--in the South. The time period is a bit ambiguous, but I would guess it to take place in the mid or early 20th century.

It's actually a novella, and, as I said, the story is kept as bare as possible--no character has a name, the setting is unknown, and not much happens. The characters' emotions are not deeply explored--rather, we're left to interpret them based on the characters' actions. When the "woman," the mother/wife of the family, hums, we know she's worried or that something has gone wrong. When "the boy" goes out day after day to search for his missing dog, and then goes out day after day to search for his father's labor gang, we must imagine the turmoil and the agony of emotions that drive him, and draw the connections ourselves. None of them are ever expressed.

The author, Armstrong, also very subtly points out the injustices that make the family's life difficult. There are few black/white collisions, but gently, without harsh language, Armstrong describes the racism that contributes to the family's poverty. He shows their struggles to survive without emphasizing them in any way; everything is accepted as a part of life, and it all fades into the background. The father, Jean Valjean-like, is sentenced to years of hard labor for stealing food for his family, but we don't see the theft, the trial, or his punishment. He simply disappears.

The dog, Sounder, receives most of the emotion and the attention of the protagonist (the boy) and narrator. When the father is arrested, it's Sounder who barks and screams and growls his anger, not anyone in the family. We see Sounder injured and bloodied and blinded and losing his most precious asset, his voice. Armstrong frequently reminds the reader of Sounder's loss of voice, and details his woes. Through Sounder we come to understand a bit better the depths of inhumanity that the family is faced with.

Personally, I didn't really connect with this novella. I didn't find the writing that remarkable, though it was good (the book won the Newberry Medal). Armstrong makes everything seem so unremarkable and does very little to develop the characters; I could not get into the story because of this. But it's a quick read, and a classic, and is certainly not boring. It's possible that kids would appreciate its simplicity and matter-of-fact tone more than I did.

Seduction

2007-06-22T23:11:00.000-07:00

Review for Seduction, by Amanda Quick:

I'm usually not a huge fan of Amanda Quick--I have little tolerance for suspense plots interfering with all the lovin'. But Seduction is the best of her books that I've read so far, and held my attention from the first page to the last.

The story opens with Julian, Earl of Ravenwood, proposing to Sophy Dorring. Actually, he technically proposes to her grandfather, but to him it's all the same. Having already suffered one disastrous marriage, he now wants to marry a simple, off-the-market country woman who will bring him "an heir and no trouble." Sophy, who has been secretly in love with the Earl for years, agrees to the marriage but envisions a much different relationship than Julian expects. Over the next few months, as the two get to know each other, there are plenty of antics and conflicts that make Julian's "No trouble" dream seem laughable. It doesn't help that Sophy is on a mission to avenge her dead sister, and constantly gets herself into trouble (according to Julian).

As a character, Julian is a bit of a harda*s, but he very quickly lightens up. His only problem is that, having been cuckolded numerous times by his first wife, he's hella paranoid of any betrayal from Sophy, or of any unfavorable gossip about his marriage. On the whole, he's stubborn, possessive, smart, sexy, insecure, and perfectly enjoyable.

Sophy is a delight. She's a mixture of lots of other great characters I've read-- she's a bit Hermione Granger, a bit Daisy Bowman (Kleypas' Wallflowers), a bit Ellie Wycombe (Quinn's Brighter than the Sun). She is wacky and sort of scattered, stubborn, really sharp, and completely outrageous. She's a true feminist, too, which is a rare treat in a romance novel. Everything she does is completely insane but understandable, and she's an adorable heroine.

The story itself was actually really funny! Julian's and Sophy's conflicts were usually amusing, something I didn't expect from Quick. Also, the suspense plot actually weaves perfectly well into the rest of the storyline, and only pops up at opportune moments. Sophy and Julian made a perfect match, the pacing of their relationship was neither too slow nor fast, and the sex scenes were kinda hot.

There were only a few drawbacks. The first and most glaring was that their relationship was too easy. Julian had earned the nickname "devil" before the beginning of the novel, for his cold, heartless persona, but that quickly disappears with Sophy. He really did not hold true to that whole image, at all, and Sophy's endeavor to "teach the devil to love again" was not that hard. And of course, we want romances to be hard, don't we? When Julian eventually confesses his love, I thought it came after an appropriate interval--not an interval extended by some man's frozen heart. Another problem was the whole thing about Sophy being in love with Julian for years. It added nothing to the story, and she didn't even act like she was in love most of the time, anyway (except when appropriate).

So mostly this novel was a great read, a lot of fun, and I give it a B+.

General Fiction, Anya Seton

2007-06-22T23:10:00.000-07:00

Review of Katherine, by Anya Seton: (Historical fiction)

Katherine is a work of historical fiction that explores the romance of John of Gaunt and Katherine de Roet, those eternal medieval lovers. The story goes that John fell in love with his kids’ governess when both parties were married to other people. The two became lovers for 40 years and eventually, near the end of his life (when they were both widowed), John made Katherine his third wife.

Seton creates a Katherine who is, for most of the book, endearing, and the love she shares with John is moving and believable. The book is filled with historical details of daily life, architecture, clothing, medicine, etc. that all create an interesting backdrop for the story. The author also elaborates on quite a few political happenings that might have effected the lives of the two heroes.

Unfortunately, Seton goes a bit too far with it all. Minor incidents that only slightly impact the main characters take up pages and pages of writing. Seton also painstakingly describes *everything*--every frill of every dress, every piece of furniture in every room. It grows quickly tiresome. And there is so much nastiness among the characters that it is sort of hard to bear. I guess that was the reality of life at any royal court, and the reality of any woman flagrantly committing adultery during a fanatically religious era. But it would have been nice to see Katherine overcoming, or at least trying to overcome, some of the bad sentiments of the people around her.

The book has its ups and downs. The interesting and evocative parts are so good as to make the book one that I would recommend to others. But I would do so with a caveat: don’t be afraid to skim. Many of the parts add little to the story, as do many of the descriptions. And they are not well-written enough to be enjoyable by their own right. I also would add one more warning: it’s a sad novel. It doesn’t seem to be one, during the first 300 or so pages, and it doesn’t purport to be one during the last 50. But for me, Katherine’s struggles dimmed her joys, and I couldn’t be quite as happy for the lovers at the end as I felt the author wanted me to be.

Sugar Daddy

2007-06-22T23:08:00.000-07:00

Review of Sugar Daddy, by Lisa Kleypas:

Sugar Daddy is Kleypas' first contemporary novel, and it is quite good.

Liberty Jones is a young teenager whose family has just moved to a trailer park in Welcome, Texas. There Liberty falls for Hardy Cates, a gorgeous and helpful high school graduate. She and Hardy feel a seriously deep connection, but eventually he leaves town to pursue his own life. We follow Liberty as she grows up, raises her little sister, and pursues a career. When she changes jobs, she finds a new romance, and everything goes smoothly until Hardy re-appears.

Both heroes are great--they're typical alpha males, sweet but controlling. There's really not a big difference between the two men, except what Kleypas almost artificially imposes. And those differences seem to stem from the fact that one was born rich and the other poor.

Liberty is a wonderful heroine and an entertaining narrator. The novel is told in the first-person, in Liberty's easy voice. She's strong and caring, sharp and honest about her emotions, and yet is endearingly protective of those emotions and of those she loves.

The story of Liberty as a teenager in Welcome reads like poetry. I did not feel like I was reading a romance novel, but rather the story of a girl's life. Liberty's restrained relationship with Hardy was believable and had me praying for them every second. As Liberty leaves Welcome, her second major relationship was also well-written, and I couldn't help but adore the couple.

Unfortunately, a lot about the novel pissed me off. It starts going downhill as soon as Hardy leaves, and gets worse once Liberty leaves Welcome. The secondary characters in Houston are nowhere near as rich and believable as those in Welcome. Things improve when Liberty meets her second hero, but the interval is too long. Also, the novel is too predictable.

So this is a tough novel to grade. It has a great heroine and two adorable heroes, as well as phenomenally good story-telling in the beginning. Because of its many flaws, I'm going to go ahead and give it a B. As a first attempt in a new sub-genre, it's pretty darn good.

Because You're Mine

2007-06-22T23:03:00.000-07:00

Review of Because You're Mine by Lisa Kleypas:

This novel was a waste of a perfectly good hero. Almost every word was a pain to read. Usually I devour romance novels in one night, even if they're bad. This book took me 2 weeks. It was so bad I could only read it a few words at a time.

With THAT rousing intro, what's it about? Logan Scott is a world-famous London actor, and devotes his every breath to his theatre company. But one day Madeline something-or-other crosses his path, and everything changes. Maddy is the young daughter of a blue-blooded family, betrothed to a neighboring lord about 50 years older than she is. Maddy can't bring herself to marry him, so she runs away to ruin herself by sleeping with the notorious rake, Logan Scott. Logan rejects her immediately, but she soon falls in love with him and continues to pursue him.

Logan Scott is wonderful; he's your typical cold, successful alpha hero. I loved him for being an ornery bastard, but he's also a compassionate employer and a good friend. Logan is about the only aspect of this novel that reminds one of Kleypas' talent as a writer.

Maddym on the other hand, is TSTL--Too Stupid To Live. She is a wretched, ridiculous, totally shallow character. At no point could Logan manifest any believable attraction for Maddy. She is a MORON. She has no character quirks, no emotional depth, nothing.

By the end, once Logan's love for Maddy became a given, and the plausibility of his love became irrelevant, it got a little tolerable. She and Logan, when married, were an alright pair.

But most of the book is pure rubbish. There is not one interesting page among the first 200. And the major conflict of the novel is OUTRAGEOUS. At one point, Maddy soliloquizes, "Nothing about the scene seemed real." I couldn't agree more.

Ugh. The only reason I trudged through to the end was so that I could write a review about it. I give this novel an F+.

When He Was Wicked

2007-06-22T23:02:00.000-07:00

Review for When He Was Wicked, by Julia Quinn:

This book was a damned disappointment. Quinn is perhaps my favorite romance novelist, but When He Was Wicked just sucked.

Michael is in love with his cousin John's wife. Francesca Bridgerton Stirling is happily married to John, and the three of them make a happy trio of close friends. Michael is careful to hide his feelings, and no one suspects them. Then, one day, John suddenly dies, and everything changes. Though Michael resists his feelings out of guilt, he still loves Francesca, and eventually they marry and live happily ever after together, of course.

There is much I liked about the book objectively, but these things did not make a whole romance. Michael and Francesca are each likeable, and Michael's love for her is very sweet. I also really, reaaalllyy respected that Quinn didn't demonize John for the sake of the romance. The problem is that Michael and Francesca SUCK together. They have ZERO chemistry. I did not, for a second, believe that Francesca really loved him. They never have an enjoyable conversation after John's death. Even Michael's love for Frannie was only plausible because it was love-at-first-sight. But their relationship was entirely physical--their sex was the only real connection I saw between the two. (And even the sex scenes boorrrinngg and waaayyyy too numerous)

Frannie often says that she doesn't know why she's with Michael, but that she can't stop. I don't think Quinn knew why Frannie was with him. Frannie essentially becomes a slave to sex, and there is no other rationale behind her decision to stay with Michael.

Ah, well. They can't all be gems. I give this book a D.

Devil in Winter

2007-06-22T23:00:00.000-07:00

Review of Devil in Winter, by Lisa Kleypas:

Ah, Devil in Winter, the best of the Wallflower quartet. Evie Jenner is a fairy-tale heroine, young and beautiful with gleaming red hair, locked up in a tower by her evil uncles. They want to marry her off to her repulsive cousin and thus secure her dowry for themselves. But instead of waiting around to be rescued, Evie escapes and runs off with the villain to Gretna Green. The fact that Evie speaks with a stutter, is painfully shy and has suffered years of physical abuse only makes her act of daring even more remarkable.

But Evie is only one of the book's shining stars--the villain/hero, Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent, is the other. He's sinfully, criminally gorgeous, the worst kind of jaded ladykiller. In the prequel he kidnapped the heroine and tried to force her to marry him, which is why Evie knows he'll be desperate enough to marry her. Sebastian is heavily in debt and needs a quick and easy way to get some cash--marrying Evie, a rich heiress, is his way out.

The story details their long journey to Gretna Green, their very hot marriage night, and their slow discovery that they actually love and need each other. The pacing of the romance is perfect.

Devil in Winter is seriously well-written, cohesive in story and writing. Kleypas used motifs that she kept in mind over the course of the novel—i.e., the relation of Sebastian to anything "devil"- or hell-ish. Her consciousness of this metaphor is a marked improvement over some of her previous attempts, such as the half-hearted use of perfume and Lillian's sense of smell in It Happened One Autumn.

This romance novel is amazing, and I give it an A.

Somewhere I'll Find You

2007-06-22T22:55:00.000-07:00

Review of Somewhere I'll Find You, by Lisa Kleypas:

Somewhere I’ll Find You is a far-fetched but decent story about two people wed as children by their controlling fathers. In defiance, Julia ran off as a teenager to become an actress, leaving her parents’ love and support behind in order to escape her forced marriage. When they finally meet, it turns out they’re both quite hot, so suddenly their forced marriage doesn’t seem quite so irksome. Unfortunately, Damon does not like her career, and Julia isn’t willing to give up acting. This conflict, with a couple of half-hearted plots tossed in, carries the story to its resolution.

I loved Julia Hargate—her passion for acting was moving, and she was fairly witty, kind, and genuinely torn between Damon and her career. Damon, on the other hand, was not likeable. He’s presented as the typical Kleypas alpha male, but he’s too mild to pull it off. Kleypas couldn’t seem to choose between sweet or overbearing for his character; I felt that he was, at heart, very sweet, but Kleypas unfortunately made him an ass. His possessiveness was excessive and obnoxious, and his change of heart about Julia’s career was unconvincing.

But the novel wasn't bad. The main conflict of Julia’s career seemed important and historically accurate. The book was interesting and read very quickly. And one of the side characters, Logan Scott, was a pleasure to read about. He got rather used and abused by Damon and Julia, but at least he kept things interesting.

There was one big flaw, however: the “forced marriage” was actually illegal, and everyone knew it from the start. The angst about the marriage didn’t make sense, since both Damon and Julia knew it was invalid. The entire premise was pointless.

Nevertheless, I did enjoy the read. I could’ve wished for a better match for Julia (coughLoganScottcough), but since she seemed to like Damon, I swallowed it. I give it a B-.

General Fiction

2007-06-22T22:45:00.000-07:00

Reviews of non-romantic reads, including general fiction, fantasy, and children's/YA literature. Books are indexed by genre, then author's name and title:

Children's literature:

Armstrong, William
Sounder
Creech, Sharon
Chasing Redbird
Garfield, Leon
Black Jack
Selznick, Brian
The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Adult general fiction:

Saramago, Jose
Blindness
Seton, Anya
Katherine

Fantasy:

Pierce, Tamora

Discussion Pages

2007-06-22T22:44:00.000-07:00

Links to discussion forums for all of the reviewed romance novels, listed alphabetically by author's name, then title:

Chase, Loretta
Lord Perfect

Kleypas, Lisa

Lindsie, Johanna

Quick, Amanda

Quinn, Julia

Romance Reviews

2007-06-22T22:32:00.000-07:00

Here are all the romance novel reviews on this blog, listed alphabetically by author and then title:

Chase, Loretta
Lord of Scoundrels
Lord Perfect
Mr. Impossible

Guhrke, Laura Lee
And Then He Kissed Her
She's No Princess
The Marriage Bed
Secret Desires of a Gentleman

Kleypas, Lisa
Because You're Mine
Devil in Winter
Somewhere I'll Find You
Sugar Daddy
Midnight Angel

Lindsey, Johanna
A Man To Call My Own
Say You Love Me
Brave the Wild Wind
Joining
Gentle Rogue

Quick, Amanda
Seduction
I Thee Wed

Quinn, Julia
To Sir Phillip, With Love
When He Was Wicked
To Catch an Heiress