Suzanne Enoch, Something Sinful - Charlemagne Griffin and Sarala Carlyle (yes, I realize, these are the worst Regency first names ever) start out as business rivals but their interactions are more a study in attraction than business dealings. Throw in a meddling family, a few members of the Chinese Imperial Dragon Guard on a mission to recover stolen silks, and an evil ex, and you get a lot of fun. This one was so entertaining! Like most Enoch books, it features little angst and a pair of supremely well-adjusted, good people. You'd think an angst junkie like me wouldn't like it, but somehow I did. Maybe because I think both the hero and heroine would be awesome to know and/or hook up with.
Adele Ashworth, The Duke's Captive - if romance novels are anything to go by, there must be more Dukes in England than there are mice. Five years ago, our hero was kidnapped by evil sister duo, drugged and starved and chained in a dungeon for 5 weeks. Why? It's a romance novel, go with it. Now he's out gunning for revenge for the surviving third sister - who was neither a kidnapper nor a jailer but whom he blames for not letting him out and who he kinda thinks raped him. But he is not just revenge-motivated - he is also super-obsessed with her. This thing should be a lakorn. This sister is now a widow with a small boy, is a painter, and has a secret or dozen. People seem to either love this book for being 'intense' or loathe it due to stuff heroine does to hero or hero does to heroine. I am oddly in the middle - I didn't care enough about either of them to find anything intense, and also not enough to get mad about things. Though realistically - while there is some serious questions about consent in what he does with her, there is no question at all that what she did with him was not consensual in any way - ummmm, if a dude is drugged out of his mind, enough to not remember anything or know what his name is, or even if he has a name, having sex with him is not romantic or even legal under modern laws, no matter if he is asking you for it and no matter the genders involved. Hero thinking it OK once he figures it out years later notwithstanding. This said, this is not the book to read for morality or even realism. If you like BDSM-lite fantasies involving period-dressed effed up people though - go for it.
S. H. Kolee, Love Left Behind - the hero of this one makes the hero of Duke's Captive seem mild-mannered and super sane. In this modern romance wish-fulfillment (sorta), our ordinary heroine has perfect romance with uber hunk but then evil secondaries and heroine stupidity break up the little paradise they got going. Five years later (I am noticing a theme), he is a Hollywood superstar but is still as obsessed with her as ever once they meet again. OK, the writing style is actively painful. And seeing I read ff.net on a routine basis, that is saying a lot. Hero and heroine are dumber than a really dumb box of rocks - one short conversation, or even a few braincells between them, would have resolved all their misconceptions and issues forever. Hero is borderline creepy/stalkery/controlling in his fixation - there are about a million red flags all over. Let's face it, if someone wrote in to Dear Prudence about him, she'd advise a restraining order. And why he cannot let go of our incredibly dull leading lady, I do not know. Sex scenes are not bad though and I like reading about effed up people being ridiculous (duh), so I don't regret my $3 purchase.
Meredith Duran, Your Wicked Heart - this Victorian novella was simply lovely and poetic and heart-aching and and and - I only wished it was longer. Duran writes some of my favorite romances for a reason. Amanda is a secretary who quits her abusive employment to elope with a Viscount whom she doesn't love but likes and sees as stability. Only seeming Viscount scarpers off before the wedding and she is confronted by the real Viscount her suitor has been impersonating, who needs her to help ID the miscreant. Over their trip, the two slowly and unwillingly come alive and come together. This was seriously so so so good! Both the hero and the heroine were realistic, not damaged but marked by their lives, and the book pretty much simmered with emotion. Go get it!
Liz Carlyle, Hunting Season - this novella by the always-dependable Carlyle manages to pack full servings revenge and romance in half the normal length. Our hero seeks revenge for his younger sister, who was seduced by a fortune hunter and killed herself. This is how his path cross with a lovely, common-sense young widow who is the fortune hunter's next target. It takes place over a relatively short span and in pretty much one setting (a house party) but, as with Duran's novella, there is nothing I'd improve except for wishing there was more as I got so attached to both heroine and hero, who were wounded but very functional and very good people. I pulled harder for their happy ending than I do in majority of full-length romances I read.
Before anyone asks - yes, I read things other than romances - nonfiction mostly. But that I can discuss with Mr Mousie, while I doubt he'll want to hear my discourses on heaving aristocratic bosoms or manly werewolves.
Adele Ashworth, The Duke's Captive - if romance novels are anything to go by, there must be more Dukes in England than there are mice. Five years ago, our hero was kidnapped by evil sister duo, drugged and starved and chained in a dungeon for 5 weeks. Why? It's a romance novel, go with it. Now he's out gunning for revenge for the surviving third sister - who was neither a kidnapper nor a jailer but whom he blames for not letting him out and who he kinda thinks raped him. But he is not just revenge-motivated - he is also super-obsessed with her. This thing should be a lakorn. This sister is now a widow with a small boy, is a painter, and has a secret or dozen. People seem to either love this book for being 'intense' or loathe it due to stuff heroine does to hero or hero does to heroine. I am oddly in the middle - I didn't care enough about either of them to find anything intense, and also not enough to get mad about things. Though realistically - while there is some serious questions about consent in what he does with her, there is no question at all that what she did with him was not consensual in any way - ummmm, if a dude is drugged out of his mind, enough to not remember anything or know what his name is, or even if he has a name, having sex with him is not romantic or even legal under modern laws, no matter if he is asking you for it and no matter the genders involved. Hero thinking it OK once he figures it out years later notwithstanding. This said, this is not the book to read for morality or even realism. If you like BDSM-lite fantasies involving period-dressed effed up people though - go for it.
S. H. Kolee, Love Left Behind - the hero of this one makes the hero of Duke's Captive seem mild-mannered and super sane. In this modern romance wish-fulfillment (sorta), our ordinary heroine has perfect romance with uber hunk but then evil secondaries and heroine stupidity break up the little paradise they got going. Five years later (I am noticing a theme), he is a Hollywood superstar but is still as obsessed with her as ever once they meet again. OK, the writing style is actively painful. And seeing I read ff.net on a routine basis, that is saying a lot. Hero and heroine are dumber than a really dumb box of rocks - one short conversation, or even a few braincells between them, would have resolved all their misconceptions and issues forever. Hero is borderline creepy/stalkery/controlling in his fixation - there are about a million red flags all over. Let's face it, if someone wrote in to Dear Prudence about him, she'd advise a restraining order. And why he cannot let go of our incredibly dull leading lady, I do not know. Sex scenes are not bad though and I like reading about effed up people being ridiculous (duh), so I don't regret my $3 purchase.
Meredith Duran, Your Wicked Heart - this Victorian novella was simply lovely and poetic and heart-aching and and and - I only wished it was longer. Duran writes some of my favorite romances for a reason. Amanda is a secretary who quits her abusive employment to elope with a Viscount whom she doesn't love but likes and sees as stability. Only seeming Viscount scarpers off before the wedding and she is confronted by the real Viscount her suitor has been impersonating, who needs her to help ID the miscreant. Over their trip, the two slowly and unwillingly come alive and come together. This was seriously so so so good! Both the hero and the heroine were realistic, not damaged but marked by their lives, and the book pretty much simmered with emotion. Go get it!
Liz Carlyle, Hunting Season - this novella by the always-dependable Carlyle manages to pack full servings revenge and romance in half the normal length. Our hero seeks revenge for his younger sister, who was seduced by a fortune hunter and killed herself. This is how his path cross with a lovely, common-sense young widow who is the fortune hunter's next target. It takes place over a relatively short span and in pretty much one setting (a house party) but, as with Duran's novella, there is nothing I'd improve except for wishing there was more as I got so attached to both heroine and hero, who were wounded but very functional and very good people. I pulled harder for their happy ending than I do in majority of full-length romances I read.
Before anyone asks - yes, I read things other than romances - nonfiction mostly. But that I can discuss with Mr Mousie, while I doubt he'll want to hear my discourses on heaving aristocratic bosoms or manly werewolves.