Archive for: August, 2008

Review: The Serpent Prince, Elizabeth Hoyt

Aug 21 2008 Published by under Reviews

Cover comment: I know folks are getting sick of half-heads, but I think this perfectly captures the promise and peril Simon represents to Lucy, right down to the slithery “Rs” in the title font.

Setting: Eighteenth century Georgian England, both rural Maiden Hill and London

Series: Yes, this is book 3 in the author’s fairy tale themed prince trilogy. Book 1 is The Raven Prince, Book 2 is The Leopard Prince.

Main characters: Lucy Craddock-Hayes, sensible but impressionable virgin daughter of a widowed sea captain, living in rural England, and Viscount Simon Iddesleigh, who presents as a gorgeous, if slightly jaded, dandy with a self-deprecating sense of humor — a persona which serves as cover for some deep insecurities, a tragic recent past, and some very bloody secrets.

Plot: Opposites attract in Lucy and Simon, and they come together more or less straightforwardly, but his secret pursuit of revenge against his brother’s killers presents a huge challenge to their growing bond.

Distinctive features: 18th century setting (powdered wigs and man hose!); marriage represents midpoint, not culmination, of relationship development; hero is a cold blooded killer and his duels are not romanticized; and (I can’t resist adding this) the hero “jostles his elder” after spying our heroine in her conveniently located “kitchen bathtub”!

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4 responses so far

Top 9 Most Romantic Love Scenes in Romance

Aug 20 2008 Published by under Lists

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When I picked up my first romance in March 2007, I had no idea what it was. I didn’t even notice the two people kissing on the cover. I just knew it was about vampires, and that sounded good. The book was J.R. Ward’s Lover Revealed, and I was shocked (shocked!) at the straightforward way in which sex was depicted — no “steel on velvet” or “warm moist depths”. Since then, I have read a lot of romances, and even without considering the huge growth of erotica, I think the level of heat has been turned way up across the genre. As “Smart Bitch” Sarah said on the Today Show, “It’s like really good sex.” I thought it would be fun to list my favorite romantic sex scenes.

Please feel free to comment with your suggestion for a 10th!

Here they are, not ranked:

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24 responses so far

The Eeeeevil Mother in Romance

Aug 18 2008 Published by under Soapbox Derby

You know who I’m talking about. She refers to her daughters or daughters-in-law routinely as “whores”, she refers to their children as “bastards”, she threatens continually to “ruin them all”. She has no sense of humor (unless an evil cackle counts), no personal history, and no apparent interest in anything other than showing up when the plot requires it and insulting our heroine or hero. She’s unbelievable on paper, and we would laugh in her face in real life, yet she makes our favorite characters quake in their boots, controlling their lives with but a sharp word or the crook of a finger.

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3 responses so far

My First Nora (Review – Born in Fire)

Aug 17 2008 Published by under Reviews

Cover comment: Boring, could be anywhere, but easy to buy without embarrassment

Setting: Contemporary Ireland, switching between the heroine’s home in rural County Clare, and the hero’s tony digs in Dublin.

Series: Yes, this is book 1 in the Born In trilogy. Book 2 is Born in Ice, Book 3 is Born in Shame.

Main characters: A starving artist with major family of origin issues, Maggie Concannon is a “fiery” heroine in at least 3 ways: she has reddish hair, is a professional glass blower, and has a hell of a temper. Rogan Sweeney, yin to Maggie’s yang, is urbane, cultured, calm, business-minded, and “born in” money.

Plot: Straightforward romance plot (no spies, blackmail, violence — unless you count rough sex — or paranormal elements).

Distinctive features: Setting, temperament and profession of heroine.

My take in brief: Born in Fire is one of those books that most people love, and while it is not one of my personal favorite romances, I can easily understand why.

First published in 1994, I listened to the Audible edition, which came out earlier this year. Read by an Irishman, the accents were perfect to my ignorant American ears, but the narrator’s version of female voices was to read their dialogue super fast, which it made them all sound slightly hysterical.

Word on the Web:

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5 responses so far

Review Irresistable Susan Mallery

Aug 14 2008 Published by under Reviews

Cover comment: Boring, and not related to text, but easy to buy without embarrassment

Setting: Contemporary Seattle, switching between a working class hood, a middle class suburb, and the well do to Buchanan clan (although class is never an issue for the leads)

Series: Yes, this is book 2 in the Buchanans series. Book 1 is Delicious, Book 3 is Sizzling.

Main characters: Elissa Towers, waitress, single mom in her mid twenties to 5 year old Zoe, with checkered past, and Walker Buchanan, early thirties, retired Marine with some PTSD and an incident in his past. His family owns 4 well known restaurants in Seattle.

Plot: Straightforward romance plot (no spies, blackmail, or paranormal elements, although there is one violent scene involving harm to the heroine and her child).

Distinctive features: None, actually.

My take in brief: This is an adequate contemporary. It reads very much like the kind of solid series romance for which the author is well known. Well written, with likable characters and believable, if less than compelling, internal conflicts for both.

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One response so far

Stock siblings in romance

Aug 13 2008 Published by under Genre musings

Have you ever noticed that in romance series featuring male siblings, you can often find the same character types? This seems true regardless of subgenre. This isn’t a comment about quality, by the way. Sometimes, these characters are done really well, so that they stand out regardless of how similar they are “on paper” to others in the genre (they’re not really “stock” characters at all), but other times, they read like the author is following romance writing by the numbers.

In contemporary, I am just finishing up Susan Mallery’s Irresistable, which features a hero, Walker, who is dark and mysterious, has a lot of inner demons, and can’t trust himself to bond with women or children. He has an (I think) older brother, Cal, who is serious and hard working and carries the family’s name on his shoulders (in Delicious), and another brother, Reid, a retired major league pitcher who is a footloose womanizer, determined never to settle down (Sizzling). Kathleen O’Reilly’s Sexy O’Sullivans series gives us the hardworking, responsible eldest (Gabe, in Shaken and Stirred), the middle brother with tragedy in his past who cannot bond (Daniel, in Sex, Straight Up, a book that was so much better than its title, BTW), and the footloose, womanizing, never get married youngest (Sean, in Nightcap). Then you have Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ Bonner brothers, and while the brothers’ places in the family tree don’t mimic the structure outlined above, you have the same three basic characters: Cal, the pro quarterback, never-gonna-settle-down womanizer (Nobody’s Baby But Mine), Ethan, the serious one (his is the secondary romance in the next book), and Gabe, the dark tortured soul with a tragic past (Dream a Little Dream). (How about Nora Roberts’ Quinn brothers? Haven’t read this series…)

In historicals, you have Loretta Chase’s Carsington series, about three brothers. Benedict (Mr. Perfect), who is the eldest, is the uptight, responsible one. Alastair (Miss Wonderful), who is a war veteran, carries dark demons and fears he may never be able to have a normal relationship, while Rupert (Mr. Impossible) is the youngest: goofy and womanizing and determined never to settle down. How about Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton’s? I am pretty sure you can find all three characters there (although they may not all be Bridgertons).

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6 responses so far

Vacation — a great way to start blogging. Not.

Aug 11 2008 Published by under Uncategorized

Ok, so starting a blog a few days before I took off on summer vacation was maybe not the best idea. I thought I could get a few posts in, the way I have seen those hard core bloggers on the sidebar do, but alas, I obviously have a long way to go before I can be described as even a “medium-soft core” blogger.

I am almost finished listening to Susan Mallery’s Irresistable, and am half way through Elizabeth Hoyt’s The Serpent Prince. I also recently read or listened to (as in least week) Nora Roberts’ Born in Fire, which was my very first Nora read (I have read some of the JD Robbs).

Reviews soon!

2 responses so far

Is Verity Durant a “Feminist” Heroine?

Aug 07 2008 Published by under Feminist contentions, Genre musings

Rachel Potter’s C+ review of Sherry Thomas’s Delicious over at All About Romance is, IMO, very well done, although I liked Delicious a lot more than she did. But what struck me most about Potter’s review were the following statements (and, in my biz, it’s a compliment when someone’s writing inspires you to think hard about something, so I hope Ms. Potter, should she ever stumble upon this, takes it in that spirit):

” Verity is a strong character, never a victim even when victimized. Readers who like feminist heroines will love her. … Readers who like love triangles, feminist, sexually experienced heroines, disguises, and strong sensuality might like it more than I did, however.”

I personally *heart* all of the things in that list, which explains, in part, my more positive view of the book. But I find myself asking, “Is Verity Durant a feminist heroine?” And what does that even mean?

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2 responses so far

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