Seeing that I am currently stuck in Santiago while the airline tries to hustle a new plane instead of the one which they had to cancel due to the pilot being sick, I have (sadly) plenty of time for this.
Gaelen Foley, Her Secret Fantasy - cute if not particularly memorable (something I find true of most Foley books). Our heroine Lily must marry into money to shore up her family's fortune. It's unfortunate, then, that she is attracted to Derek Knight, a younger son military officer recently on leave from India, who is still processing a life in which he doesn't have to constantly fight. There are evil secondaries, an embezzlement plot, and sexy makeouts. Derek and Lily are both rather lovely people but I was never drawn into this one.
Liz Carlyle, Never Romance a Rake - I loved this one! Hero is a borderline-alcoholic, barely functioning aristocrat tormented by his long-ago family guilt, and heroine is borderline-respectable Frenchwoman who needs to find a husband stat. And who the hero wins in a card game to protect her (trust me, it makes sense). I loved loved loved it! Both the leads are heavily bruised by the past and deprivations and truly appalling childhoods, and the big joy of this book is watching them slowly come alive with each other.
Mary Jo Putney, The Rake - Speaking of rakes. I think this one is super-famous, and I enjoyed it, but not as much as some other Putneys. Hero is an alcoholic *gasp! In a period romance! Indeed* who finds out he actually does have one small estate to his name, and decamps there trying for a new life. And he discovers his estate manager is a woman, who is hiding from demons of her own. It's really good actually, and the biggest strength is how immensely likeable Reggie, the hero, is. I actually found the romance secondary to his struggles, tbh.
Mary Jo Putney, Petals in the Storm - EEEEE! So much fun! Mainly because it uses one of my favorite set-ups. Long-ago lovers who meet again. At 21, Rafe Candover was madly in love with, and engaged to, Margot Ashton, who was all of 18. But he found out she cheated (pssst, not a spoiler, since this is a romance novel - he was set up), and when he confronted her about it, she threw the engagement ring in his face without defending herself and that was that. He loved her enough to beg her to marry him anyway once a few days passed, but by that point she was gone to France, to be killed there a short time after. And Rafe went on to being an unhappy person who slept around, as one does in those sorts of books. And now it's 13 years later, post Waterloo, and Rafe's friend Lucien, who is a spymaster of some sorts and for whom Rafe does occasional work, has asked him to travel to Paris to help to convince one of the lady spies to keep working and also help uncover a plot against Wellington. Rafe does so and...surprise surprise...the spy is his long-lost love Margot, who is actually alive. Angst! Anger! Betrayals! Hot make outs! Awesomeness! I really like this book and Rafe and Margot (though it really was one of these 'if you'd just talked, idiots!' situations) and the angst (Rafe believes she doesn't love or want him any more, and that of course she cheated on him) is delicious. My one problem is a personal and irrational pet peeve. I don't expect the heroine to be a virgin at 31, and I don't even care if the heroine had slept with a battalion prior to meeting the hero, but the fact that heroine had a happy, long-standing sexytimes relationship with a close friend for years before she and Rafe meet again (though after they broke up the first time) is really off-putting. It's irrational, I know.
Mary Jo Putney, Silk and Shadows - Our hero is an exotic 'prince' who has come to London to achieve rrrrrrevenge! A pity (not really, no) he ends up falling for his target's fiancee and sort of shifts focus to sexy makeouts. It's a lot of fun but I don't really have a lot to say about it, except that if you find mentions of child abuse (of sexual sort) triggering, stay away. Also, I am much less saintly than the heroine, so I was pretty POed when she told the hero that she gets why he wants revenge but she can't stay with someone who is killing/etc.
Cecilia Grant, A Lady Awakened - lovely language, lovely hero, and a heroine for whom the words "utter prig" were invented. I don't remember the last time I loathed a heroine so. I kept hoping that would change, but no luck. Hero, whom she treated like dirt throughout, must be a true masochist.
Lisa Kleypas, Lady Sophia's Lover - I loved this one due to its highly functional OTP! Sophia gets herself hired at Bow Street as assistant to Sir Ross Cannon, the Bow Street Magistrate, in an effort to get revenge for her brother, whom Sir Ross sentenced years ago and said brother died as a result (pssst, he didn't, he is the hero of Worth Any Price). The problem is, the longer she is around Sir Ross, the more she likes him - his integrity, bravery, intelligence etc. This one is seriously seriously awesome and Ross/Sophia are so supremely functional, and if I was ever to marry a romance hero, this guy would be it.
Julie Anne Long, Perils of Pleasure - I am clearly addicted to JAL's Pennyroyal Green series, a series of books involving the inhabitants of the tiny village of Pennyroyal Green, which is dominated by two powerful and feuding families, the Redmonds and the Everseas. This is the first in the series and beyond awesome. Colin, the youngest Eversea son, has a reputation for both legendary charm and legendary ability to survive war, duels, society craziness, and God knows what. But that is about to end - when the book opens, he has been wrongly convicted of murder and is about to be hanged. Only to be rescued as he literally steps on the gallows by Madeline Greenway, a mysterious mercenary who has been hired by a secret client. And then someone tries to kill Madeline, and Colin and Madeline go on the run - to find out who wants her dead and to prove his innocence. First things first - I loved Colin! I liked Madeline quite a lot, but this was one of those books that was totally made by the hero. He loves mischief and adrenaline, he uses his charm as a shield, and is trying to process the horrible injustice done to him without exploding in anger, and the phrase Madeline once uses for him "impossible grace under untenable circumstances" is so so so very perfect. Throughout this book, in addition to anything else, both Madeline and Colin get to figure out what it is they truly want in life, as well as who they truly love, and it's just such an utter gem of a book.
Julie Anne Long, Like No Other Lover - EEEE! Another good one! Cynthia is a fortune-hunter because she cannot afford not to be, for whom the Redmond house party is her last chance. And Miles Redmond is an explorer and someone who used to be a second son but due to his older brother Lyon disappearing is now the heir (pssst, JAL, I need that book about Lyon/Olivia, stat!). Miles has been drawn to Cynthia from the first moment he saw her years ago - irrationally and utterly. But he overheard her dismissing him as a dour second son, and that was it. This is just such a wonderful book with truly lovely hero and heroine who are both smart and honest with each other and fight their attraction (he offers to help her with her suitors!) and just - guuuuuh! No words!!!
Julie Anne Long, After the Surrender - aha, at last a JAL book I didn't love. Hero is a former army officer and heroine is someone he loved years ago when she was married (no adultery, it was all yearning etc). She is now a widow and needs his help to find where her sister disappeared to. I found the hero and heroine neither likeable nor interesting and the resolution of the mystery was rather tasteless AND whitewashed. Anyway, blah, skip.
Julie Anne Long, How the Marquess Was Won - I! Loved! This! One! It's really hard to explain why in words, but trust me, it is so lovely, mainly because the heroine is so hopeful and overcame so much and the hero is such a lovely person, and they are both drawn to each other like magnets. Heroine is a teacher in a girls' school and hero is an aristocrat who is followed as a fashionable trend-setter by everyone. I honestly cannot explain why it's so good, but it is.
Julie Anne Long, Notorious Countess Confesses - provided you can overlook the rather huge WTF of a devout member of the clergy having guilt-free premarital sex (seriously, JAL, why not have them wait until the wedding night?), this book is lovely lovely lovely. Hero is a vicar (!!!) and heroine is a former courtesan (!!!!) who moves to his parish. This really is genuinely good, mainly because I adored both Adam and Evie.
