L’Amour et Chocolat Series: Shadowed Heart by Laura Florand

book review February 1, 2015 Leave a comment

Shadowed Heart is a follow up to Laura Florand’s The Chocolate Heart which is in itself the fifth book in the L’Amour et Chocolate contemporary romance series set in France. You could read this as a standalone novella, but I don’t really see the point as the purpose of this book is to check in on characters and have visits with the protagonists of the other books in the series. Without everyone’s backgrounds, not a lot is going to make sense.

Luc Leroi and Summer Corey have been married for a short time and they realise they have rushed in where angels fear to tread. Quickly espoused, they decide to have a child despite a. knowing each other less than a year, b. each having personal issues that seriously hinder communication and c. having recently moved to an entirely new location so that Luc can immerse himself in starting a new restaurant. Luc is frantically trying to use what he sees all he has to offer – his skill as a patissier – to secure his future with Summer and she, in turn, is desperately trying to mask her loneliness and isolation. They still need to do a lot of work on themselves and their relationship, and this book reinforced that notion.

I didn’t really care about seeing Luc and Summer again. Their story, The Chocolate Heart, was the weakest and my least favourite of the series. They are both damaged – which is fine – but I didn’t particularly like either one of them. She is profoundly vulnerable and he is a control freak. I bought Shadowed Heart for the visits with everyone else from the stories and it did not disappoint. I must tell you though that the most exciting part of the book was the excerpt of Florand’s upcoming book, Once a Hero, which promises more time with my favourite couple, Dom and Jaime of The Chocolate Touch.

A complete summary of Laura Florand’s catalogue, with recommendations, can be found here.

Links to my other reviews can be found on my complete reading list of books sorted by author or Author Commentary & The Tallies Shameful which includes the aforementioned observations.

How to Catch a Wild Viscount by Tessa Dare

book review January 28, 2015 Leave a comment

Read The Scandalous, Dissolute, No-Good Mr. Wright instead. It’s wonderful.

How to Catch a Wild Viscount came as part of a 99 cent novella set. The grouping includes works by Courtney Milan, Caroline Linden, and other current authors. I quite like novellas as they are a quick read and strip the story down to its bare bones, but what I just said is the only reason to read this book. It’s an early work by an author on my autobuy list, Tessa Dare, and I just wanted to see what it was like.

From Amazon: She’s on the hunt for a hero…

Luke Trenton, Viscount Merritt, returned from war a changed man. Battle stripped away his civility and brought out his inner beast. There is no charm or tenderness in him now; only dark passions and a hardened soul. He has nothing to offer the starry-eyed, innocent girl who pledged her heart to him four years ago.

But Cecily Hale isn’t a girl any longer. She’s grown into a woman–one who won’t be pushed away. She and Luke are guests at a house party when a local legend captures their friends’ imaginations. While the others plunge into the forest on a wild goose…er, stag chase, Cecily’s on the hunt for a man. She has only a few moonlit nights to reach the real Luke…the wounded heart she knows still beats inside the war-ravaged body…or she could lose him to the darkness forever.

It’s a pleasant little novella, but certainly nothing to make an effort to seek out. Dare has published many works since this one and while it isn’t bad, they are all better. Yes, even the one I hated. The plot of How to Catch a Wild Viscount (summarized above) has a paranormal element involving a “werestag” and unless you are Kresley Cole and I can write angry, spiteful reviews of your works, I have no interest in mythical creatures be they metaphorical or literal.

One interesting note: The main characters engage in an act against the drawing room wall and while Ms. Dare writes world-class [insert funky bass-line here] and is the willing-suspension-of-disbeliefiest of all my favourite authors, there is NO WAY IN HELL they doing that in the middle of the day in a public room, Regency or otherwise.

A complete summary of Tessa Dare’s catalogue, with recommendations, can be found here.

Links to my other reviews can be found on my complete reading list of books sorted by author or Author Commentary & The Tallies Shameful which includes the aforementioned observations.

Trade Me by Courtney Milan

book review January 26, 2015 Leave a comment

I have already reread it.

 

In historical romance’s greatest writer (and increasingly open iconoclast) Courtney Milan’s latest novel, Trade Me, her work steps sideways into the New Adult genre. In their early twenties, the main characters are young enough to be my children, but instead of putting me off, it created a similar kind of narrative distance to the historical elements in the romances I generally prefer. So much has changed since I was that age that this really is a different world for me. Milan brings themes of identity and the roles we are given in life, as well as family politics, into this alternate setting and builds a story around them with her usual skill, style, and charmingly memorable romantic moments.

Tina Chen is the twenty-one-year-old daughter of Chinese refugees. Her single focus in life is creating the financial security her family requires and this means she looked down the list of secure, well-paying professions and her finger landed on doctor. Tina has bills to pay and aspirations to fulfill. She works all the time on her university courses and at her job, she has no time to play.

Tina’s classes bring her into contact with Blake Reynolds. The only child of a Tech billionaire, twenty-three-year-old Blake has taken time off from working for his father to complete a university degree. His relentless but loving father sees it as self-indulgent folderol. After an in-class confrontation, Blake suggests to Tina that they switch lives for the remainder of the semester. She is leery of the trust fund baby, but cannot resist the financial incentive that living his life would provide. She and her roommate move into his house. He moves into the not-so-very converted garage they live in.

Blake would seem to be indulging in poverty tourism, but he has excellent reasons for wanting to lift himself out of his daily existence and hopes to make the most of this escape. Tina’s pressures are visible and more tangible. Blake’s are internalized and haven’t been acknowledged or even noticed by the people around him. His responsibilities to his father’s company and Tina’s assumption of them require that they spend a lot of time together working/trying not to fall in love. Just Tina really. Blake is ready, willing, and able to fall in love with as soon as Tina gives the word, and before that really.

Trade Me flew by in the best possible way. The story was so well-constructed and written that I just floated through the book absorbing the characters and enjoying the ride. Tina and Blake were both interesting and sympathetic, which is not surprising for her given her challenges, but quite an author’s feat for him as he is  good-looking, successful, and filthy rich. The rich man’s son has problems of his own, most stemming from his relationship with his father, and he is young enough that his dad could participate in helping to fix them if only Blake could bring himself to voice his feelings.

The last portion of the book did suffer from Too Much syndrome. There was a whole lot of family drama and the kind of public denouement that is almost impossible to get away with. Milan nearly pulled it off and it certainly made for an exciting finish. Trade Me was a great, engrossing book which I would recommend warmly to readers. I look forward to the rest of the series.  If Milan has been bolder in character choices in her last books, the next one in this Cyclone series, Hold Me, promises to be a game changer.

New Adult romance recommendations can be found here.

A complete summary of Courtney Milan’s catalogue, with recommendations, can be found here.

Links to my other reviews can be found on my complete reading list of books sorted by author or Author Commentary & The Tallies Shameful which includes the aforementioned observations.

 

Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati

book review January 21, 2015 Leave a comment

Before I continue to catch up on reviewing books I read last year, I want to take a moment to thank my ones of loyal readers who have all been waiting so patiently for more posts; silently and without interruption, or page views of the site to disturb my concentration, ignoring my blog completely to make sure I felt no pressure, going about your lives as though my sporadic reviews all of books in exactly the same genre are not the fulcrum of your very existence, and now you will be rewarded with a cursory and uninspired review of a book I liked well enough: Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati.

From Amazon: (Proof! “Cursory”. I’m not even going to write my own plot summary.)

When Elizabeth Middleton, twenty-nine years old and unmarried, leaves her Aunt Merriweather’s comfortable English estate to join her father and brother in the remote mountain village of Paradise on the edge of the New York wilderness, she does so with a strong will and an unwavering purpose: to teach school. (This is really just the first chapter or so.)

It is December of 1792 when she arrives in a cold climate unlike any she has ever experienced. And she meets a man different from any she has ever encountered–a white man dressed like a Native American, tall and lean and unsettling in his blunt honesty. He is Nathaniel Bonner, also known to the Mohawk people as Between-Two-Lives. (Hero alert!)

The first book in a larger series, Into the Wilderness is a historical novel in the vein of Outlander – a comparison the author no doubt finds tiresome – but without all that pesky time travel. A grand adventure and a great romance, the heroine is building a new life for herself in a strange country.  Elizabeth has been thrown into new cultures, both one that looks a lot like what she left behind in England and another that is completely new and foreign, plus there’s an attractive young man in the area. The hero is capable, stalwart, and other handy to have around frontiery things.  Nathaniel and Elizabeth take an instant interest in each other and manage to triumph over all machinations, travails, and travel (but not time travel as was previously clarified), to be together.

Historical books of the romantical variety can fall one side or tother of the verisimilitude divide and the ones which feel realistic are my preference. Most romances I read are not of the epic, multi-tome variety and I enjoy the plunge into detail that books like this one provide. I want to know everything: What are their clothes made of?  Who knit their socks? What are their pillows stuffed with? Did they even have pillows? How long does it take to travel? Where did they get the yeast for the bread? and so on. I can’t get enough of that kind of thing, but while I enjoyed this book, I had virtually no interest in the rest of the series in which the story continues for several more books, its chronology jumping ahead years at a time and Elizabeth and Nathaniel’s story takes a back seat to that of their family. Into the Wilderness was a consistently entertaining read, but, like that other series I can’t seem to help/am unwilling to stop comparing it to, the plot could be a bit Perils of Pauline as Elizabeth moves from adventure to crisis to challenge and back again.

Links to my other reviews can be found on my complete reading list of books sorted by writer or Author Commentary & The Tallies Shameful which includes the aforementioned observations.

Douglas: Lord of Heartache by Grace Burrows

book review January 19, 2015 Comments: 2

I am going to review Grace Burrows’ historical romance Douglas: Lord of Heartache by posting spoilers and complaints. One of them is informative, yet icky. You have been warned.

What is with Grace Burrows and precious bodily fluids? She’s not the only one who mentions them, but she is the only one whom I ever read that actually uses the term “mop up”. Is it for verisimilitude? Is it just her thing? It’s not that she discusses them more than others, but there’s an extra layer of prurience and “clean up on aisle 6!” to it.

The heroine, Gwen, has had (unpleasant) sex once in her life and became pregnant, yet the second time she participates, she gives no thought to pregnancy. From my limited experience, I know Burrows writes instant family romances, but does the small human walking around and calling her “Mama” not tweak any sense of caution? MOREOVER, despite getting pregnant the only other time she indulged, the heroine has to be told by the hero of her condition. She didn’t realise, despite having lived in seclusion as a result of her transgressions, and, this is the big clue, missing her period, that she is pregnant.  The hero has been away for some time, but with just Gwen’s naps to go on, he draws a correct conclusion. How does she not fall down more? In a genre built around pseudo-historical realities, far-fetched plotting, inconceivable social situations, and a hot man for every overlooked woman’s bed, the “and then my beloved whispered in my ear that I have fallen gravid” trope is one of the most ridiculous.

Novellas have to get in and get out quickly (kind of like Gwen’s sex life, HEY-O) and Douglas: Lord of Heartache managed to pack some melodrama into the compact length. Stilted, illogical melodrama that lots of people must love because Burrows is a tremendously successful genre writer. I don’t get it and that is a shame because she has a vast back catalogue and I do so love to storm through those.

 

Links to my other reviews can be found on my complete reading list of books sorted by writer or Author Commentary & The Tallies Shameful which includes the aforementioned observations.

The Complete Reading List by Author

book review Sticky Comments: 35

Short Version: Recommended books are in bold, reviewed books are linked, these are ruthlessly streamlined recommendations lists –

So You Want to Read a (Historical) Romance…
Ten Great Romance Novellas to Get You Started
Plus just for funsies: The Worst Romance Novels I Have Ever Read

I have more content based lists over there on the right  –>

Annual Reading Tallies & Author Commentary 2012 – 2017
On reading romance: Emotional Version and Pseudo-Intellectual Version.

My AUTOBUY List (Links Will Take You to a Summary of the Author’s Catalogue)
Tessa Dare (on probation right now actually)
Laura Florand Though she stopped publishing.
Talia Hibbert
Lisa Kleypas   The Queen for a very long time. Her back catalog is very deep and strong.
Julie Anne Long  Historicals only
Courtney Milan  The. Very. Best.
Lucy Parker Delightful. witty contemporaries
Sally Thorne Because her debut was just that good!

-A-
Albert, Annabeth Waiting for Clark (Bryce/Clark)
Albert, Annabeth Save the Date (Randall/Hunter)
Alexander, R.G. Ravenous novella (Declan/Trick/Jennifer)
Alexander, Victoria Love with the Proper Husband (Marcus/Gwen)
Alexander, Victoria Lady Amelia’s Secret Lover novella (Robert/Amelia)
Alexander, Victoria The Prince’s Bride (Rand/Jocelyn)
Alexander, Victoria The Importance of Being Wicked (Winfield/Miranda)
Alexander, Victoria Lord Stillwell’s Excellent Engagements novella (Winfield/ Felicia&Lucy&Caroline)
Alvarez, Tracey In Too Deep (West/Piper)
Andre, Bella The Way You Look Tonight (Rafe/Brooke)
Ann, Jewel E. When Life Happened (Gus/Parker)
Ashe, Katharine In the Arms of a Marquess (Ben)
Ashley, Jennifer The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie (Ian, not surprisingly/Beth) – GENRE OUTLINE
Continue reading →

Author Commentary & Tallies Shameful

book reviews Sticky Comments: 3

Shortcuts:    

I have more lists over there on the right—>

My AUTOBUY List (Links Will Take You to a Summary of the Author’s Catalogue)
Tessa Dare (on probation right now, so not an autobuy, but still an autoread)
Laura Florand – She’s been on hiatus since 2017. I miss her SO MUCH!
Lisa Kleypas
Julie Anne Long – historicals
Courtney Milan – The. Very. Best.

2020 READING LISTS:

Recommended books are in bold.

The (Shamefree) Tally 2020

  1. Costello, Lauren Braun & Russell Reich Notes on Cooking: A Short Guide to an Essential Craft
  2. DiAngelo, Robin White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
  3. Fashionary Fashionpedia: The Visual Dictionary of Fashion Design
  4. Feldman, Deborah Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots
  5. Fisher, Carrie Wishful Drinking
  6. Stone, Victoria Helen Problem Child (A Jane Doe Thriller)
  7. Whedon, Joss & Georges Jenty Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Long Way Home

The (Shameful) Tally 2020

  1. Bowen, Sarina and Elle Kennedy Epic (Wes/Jamie)
  2. Clayborn, Kate Beginner’s Luck (Ben/Ekaterina “Kit”)
  3. Hall, Alexis Boyfriend Material (Lucien/Oliver)
  4. Hibbert, Talia Bad for the Boss (Theo/Jennifer)
  5. Hibbert, Talia Undone by the Ex-Con (Isaac/Lizzie)
  6. Hibbert, Talia Sweet on the Greek (Nikolas/Aria)
  7. Hibbert, Talia Work for It (Olu/Griffin)
  8. Hibbert, Talia Untouchable (Evan/Ruth)
  9. Hibbert, Talia A Girl Like Her (Nathaniel/Hannah)
  10. Hibbert, Talia That Kind of Guy (Zach/Rae)
  11. Hibbert, Talia Damaged Goods (Samir/Laura)
  12. Hibbert, Talia Get a Life, Chloe Brown (Red/Chloe) 
  13. Hibbert, Talia Take a Hint Dani, Brown (Zafir/Danika)
  14. Holt, Leah When It Rains, He Pours (Liam/Glory)
  15. Kelly, Carla Regency Royal Navy Christmas (Micah/Asenathe) (Andrew/Lorna)
  16. Kleypas, Lisa Chasing Cassandra (Tom/Cassandra)
  17. Knight, JJ Big Pickle (Jace/Nova)
  18. Lauren, Christina Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating (Josh/Hazel)
  19. McQuiston, Casey Red, White, and Royal Blue (Alex/Henry) FANTASTIC!
  20. Parker, Lucy Headliners (Nick/Sabrina)
  21. Quinlan, Bria The Last Single Girl (John/Sarah)
  22. Reid, Rachel Tough Guy (Ryan/Fabian)
  23. Roberts, Nora Vision in White (Carter/Mackenzie)
  24. Rochon, Farrah The Boyfriend Project (Daniel/Samiah)
  25. Snyder, Suleikha Tikka Chance on Me (Tyson/Pinky)
  26. Sosa, Mia Crashing into Her (Love on Cue (Anthony/Eva)
  27. Vincy, Mia A Wicked Kind of Husband (Joshua/Cassandra)
  28. Vincy, Mia A Beastly Kind of Earl (Rafe/Thea)
  29. Weatherspoon, Rebekah Wrapped: A FIT Adjacent Christmas Novella (Aiden/Shae)
  30. Weatherspoon, Rebekah Rafe: A Buff Male Nanny (Rafe/Sloan)

2019 READING LISTS:

Recommended books are in bold.

The (Shamefree) Tally 2019

  1. Shrimpton, Jayne Victorian Fashion

The (Shameful) Tally 2019

  1. Balogh, Mary Someone to Trust (Colin/Elizabeth)
  2. Balogh, Mary Someone to Honor (Gil/Abigail)
  3. Balogh, Mary Someone to Remember (Charles/Matilda)
  4. Blakeman, Aviva Stacked (Mags/Imogene)
  5. Blakeman, Aviva Say My Name (John/Zelda)
  6. Bowen, Sarina Brooklynaire (Nate/Rebecca) DNF
  7. Bowen, Sarina novella Studly Period (Pepe/Josephine)
  8. Bowen, Sarina novella Yesterday (Graham/Rikker)
  9. Bowen, Sarina, Speakeasy (Alec/Mae)
  10. Bowen, Sarina Fireworks (Benito/Skye)
  11. Dare, Tessa The Wallflower Wager (Gabriel/Penny)
  12. Dare, Tessa novella His Bride for the Taking (Sebastian/Mary)
  13. Kelly, Carla The Unlikely Master Genius (Able/Meridee)
  14. Kelly, Elizabeth Christmas Rescue (Elias/Ivy)
  15. Kennedy, Elle The Risk (Jake/Brenna)
  16. Kleypas, Lisa Devil’s Daughter (West/Phoebe)
  17. Lang Ruby Acute Reactions (Ian/Petra)
  18. Lang, Ruby Hard Knocks (Adam/Helen)
  19. Long, Julie Anne Lady Derring Takes a Lover (Tristan/Delilah)
  20. Long, Julie Anne Angel in a Devil’s Arms (Lucien/Angelique)
  21. Milan, Courtney Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure (Violetta/Bertrice)
  22. Morton, Lily Rule Breaker (Dylan/Gabe)
  23. Parker, Lucy The Austen Playbook (Griff/Freddy) – FANTASTIC
  24. Reid, Penny A Marriage of Inconvenience (Dan/Kat)
  25. Reid, Rachel Game Changer (Scott/Kip)
  26. Reid, Rachel Heated Rivalry (Ilya/Shane) – GREAT
  27. Thorne, Sally 99 Percent Mine (Tom/Darcy)
  28. Walker, N.R. novella Red Dirt Heart Imago (Charlie/Travis & Lawson/Jack)
  29. Walker, N.R. Switched (Israel/Sam)
  30. Walsh, Brighton Our Love Unhinged (Cade/Winter)
  31. Walsh, Brighton Second Chance Charmer (Cade/Winter)

2018 READING LISTS:

Continue reading →

The Survivors’ Club: The Arrangement and The Escape by Mary Balogh

book review December 22, 2014 Leave a comment

My theory that there are more soldiers in Regency romances with PTSD than served in the Napoleonic Wars continues to hold water.

Mary Balogh has been publishing romances since the year I was eligible to vote. Not surprisingly, she is a consistent writer of good quality. I have only read about six of her books, but I believe that the final book of her Slightly Series, Slightly Dangerous, is a classic. She likely has at least one more and as I wait for new books from my favourite authors, I should probably try to find out what they are.

The Survivors’ Club Series:
The Proposal  (Hugo/Gwen) – pleasant
The Arrangement  (Vincent/Sophia) – very sweet, understated
The Escape (Benedict/Samantha) – meh
Only Enchanting (Flavian/Agnes) – Wonderful, read this one. Read it twice.
Only a Promise  (Ralph/Chloe) – very good
Only a Kiss (Percy/Imogen) – meh
Only Beloved – sweet

The Arrangement

From Amazon: Desperate to escape his mother’s matchmaking, Vincent Hunt, Viscount Darleigh, flees to a remote country village. But even there, another marital trap is sprung. So when Miss Sophia Fry’s intervention on his behalf finds her unceremoniously booted from her guardian’s home, Vincent is compelled to act. He may have been blinded in battle, but he can see a solution to both their problems: marriage.

A book about kind, broken people falling in love, Vincent and especially Sophia are lovely people dealing with the blows that life has seen fit to give them. He, blinded in battle, is trying not so much to rebuild his life, but to rediscover his freedom and she, belittled and unwanted, the liberty to be herself and  make a life on her own terms. The gentle, but deep, mutual devotion they come to share made this a sweet story

The Escape

From Amazon: After surviving the Napoleonic Wars, Sir Benedict Harper is struggling to move on, his body and spirit in need of a healing touch. Never does Ben imagine that hope will come in the form of a beautiful woman who has seen her own share of suffering. After the lingering death of her husband, Samantha McKay is at the mercy of her oppressive in-laws—until she plots an escape to distant Wales to claim a house she has inherited. Being a gentleman, Ben insists that he escort her on the fateful journey.

I remember swimming and that the heroine’s mother-in-law is a b*tch of the first water. Those two aquatic-themed tidbits are unrelated. The Escape may not have been my most closely read book of the year, but it’s not the least. Other than the swimming and the bitchiness, I’m a little fuzzy on the whole thing. It’s one of those novels where a couple is thrown together, go on a road trip, and decide on a brief affair that gets a permanent extension. He’s wounded in body and soul, she’s a mentally abused shut-in from a kingdom far, far away. Things work out and this process involves canoodling.

The Arrangement and The Escape were both library books and I am likely to seek out more books from The Survivors’ Club, but not to pay for them. Mary Balogh’s publisher is not savvy when it comes to e-book pricing. If copies were $3.99 or less, I would stock up, but they leave their prices high, even for her back catalogue, so it’s the library for me.

Captious Aside: Does anyone else question whether it should be “Survivor’s Club” or Survivors’ Club”? It should be the latter, right? It’s not even consistent when I look it up online.

Also by Mary Balogh:

A Handful of Gold – Meh, but I did have fun reviewing it.
Slightly Dangerous – CLASSIC

Links to my other reviews can be found on my complete reading list of books sorted by author or Author Commentary & The Tallies Shameful.

Knitting in the City Series: Neanderthal Seeks Human, Neanderthal Marries Human & Love Hacked by Penny Reid

book review December 15, 2014 Comments: 2

Don’t worry, despite the title it’s not one of these:

saur

Now, you can’t unsee it either.

The Knitting in the City contemporary romance series is extremely highly-rated on Amazon and I both do and do not understand why. I don’t know what juju is in these books, but I keep re-reading the ones I have, particularly Neanderthal Seeks Human and Neanderthal Marries Human which both focus on the same couple. Re-readability is a kind of litmus test for me with this genre. I interact with the novels differently than I do other books. If one grabs me, I will reread my favourite sections and revisit the book again and again. If I really like it, such as A Kiss for Midwinter, I will read it again from cover to cover. (Note: I did this yesterday.) and not just the good bits. That does not mean what you think it means.

Knitting in the City Series

  1. Neanderthal Seeks Human – Strangely compelling
  2. Friends Without Benefits – Meh
  3. Neanderthal Marries Human – More strangely compelling
  4. Love Hacked – Pretty darn good
  5. Beauty and the Mustache – Really liked it
  6. Ninja at First Sight – quite good
  7. Happily Ever Ninja – frustrating
  8. Dating-ish: A Humanoid Romance
  9. A Marriage of Inconvenience

The heroine of Neanderthal Seeks Human and Neanderthal Marries Human, Janie, is both wonderfully quirky and highly capable. A buxom goddess, her sense of self is in contradiction to how other people perceive her. A first person narrator, she misinterprets or is oblivious to a lot of what goes on around her, experiencing the romantic self-doubt even the most together people feel. Janie is very likeable and that goes a long way. She might misunderstand, but she is smart and kind. I would have like to hear the hero’s perspective as well and the second book, Neanderthal Marries Human, incorporates it with good results.

Quinn Sullivan (Holy romance novel name, Batman!), owns a large security firm. He’s self-made and has a dubious past. Taciturn and stoic, he has many qualities that would be really annoying in real life, but are perfectly groovy in a hero. I enjoy these large, quiet protector types, even though such a creature would drive me crazy almost instantly were he real. Quinn communicates almost exclusively with his eyes, slight changes in the way he holds his mouth, and with his hands. He can’t keep them off of Janie. I cannot resist a besotted hero.

While the Neanderthal love story was sweet, the secondary plot was more dramatic in nature and a little cray-cray: Major events being dropped in and then glossed over, tons of family baggage, and things taking a turn for Too Much.

Like the Neanderthal books, Love Hacked suffered from cloak-and-dagger-and-not-really-unwilling-suspension-of-disbelief sub-plotting and benefited from a sweet relationship. The hero, Alex, was different from almost any I’ve read. Filling a usual heroine’s role, the Victim of Circumstance, he has a very difficult past, a not much less complicated present, and a heroine, Sandra (Holy not a romance novel name, Batman!), who not so much rescues him, but accepts him as he is. He is also the youngest hero I’ve ever read. He has crammed a lot into his young life and this makes the match believable.

Was that coherent? Do I care? Did I stutter? I have been working long days for the past 10 weeks (poor me) and these three Knitting in the City books have become the vodka tonics to my long day. To be perfectly honest, with some romances, – not these – this has meant skipping from the set up to when the couple first gets together. Plain escapism isn’t enough, I require full immersion and recurring familiar escapism, so I re-read. Apparently, my work brain needs to be subsumed immediately and can’t be bothered with all that lovingly crafted exposition. Revisiting books that are already familiar or have recently become so [cough]theseones[cough] fills the bill.

Question: Sandra is 28 and a practicing psychiatrist. Doesn’t that take about 12 years? Would she be done with her undergrad/medical school/residency already?

Penny Reid’s Catalogue gives an overview of her published works , some of which I recommend and some of which I dislike intensely.

Links to my other reviews can be found on my complete reading list of books sorted by author or Author Commentary & The Tallies Shameful.

The Season Series: Season for Temptation, Season for Surrender, and Season for Scandal Season for Desire by Theresa Romain

book review December 14, 2014 Leave a comment

Confession: I blasted through all four books in the Season Series some weeks ago and while they left an impression, they did not leave a great deal of detail. No disrespect to Theresa Romain intended, I would recommend them as pleasant escapism, but everyday life has been quite busy of late and reading these books was taking a hit of reality evasion followed by a black out.

Season for Temptation (James/Julia)

James has come to spend Christmas with his fiancee’s family. Neither he, nor Louisa, are exactly on fire for each other, but they find one another pleasant and could do worse. Fortunately and unfortunately, Louisa has a younger sister, Julia, who takes one look at James, and he her, and finds a true match.

Season for Surrender (Alex/Louisa)

Louisa is not sorry that her engagement fell through, but she is tired of the conciliatory looks and remarks. She is persuaded to attend Alexander, Lord Xavier’s scandalous holiday house party. She wants the opportunity for a bit of adventure before descending into spinsterhood. Bonding over a mutual love of books and libraries Louisa and Xavier make their way towards a partnership. She needs to overcome her shyness, he needs to overcome some bad habits.

Wonderful Period Detail: When he invites Louisa to call him by his first name, Alex realises that at no point in his life has anyone ever really done so.

Season for Scandal (Jane/Edmund)

Alex, Lord Xavier has a handful of a cousin, Jane, who has a habit of gambling to make ends meet. When a game goes awry and crippling financial obligations result, she is extricated by Edmund Ware, Baron Kirkpatrick. They make a marriage of convenience which goes well, goes very wrong, and comes right in the end.

Season for Desire (Giles/Audrina)

The hero is an American. GADZOOKS! Giles and his father are in England on the trail of a family treasure. A chance meeting with Lady Audrina Bradleigh and a meteorological occurrence lead to a partnership in the search. Not surprisingly, this leads to another partnership as well.

The Season Series was notable for its excellent juxtaposition of historical detail, well counter-balanced expressions of physical affection, and interesting characters. Often these books have either history or romance on their side, so it was nice to read novels with both. The second book, Season for Surrender, was my favourite, but I would recommend all of them. They have a fine sense of fun and successfully become serious when they needed to; the people felt real and the historical elements realistic, and that is not as common as one might think in the genre. As long as the emotional lives of the characters ring true, historical waffling can be overlooked to some extent, but it is still a pleasure when the two are successfully dovetailed.

Links to my other reviews can be found on my complete reading list of books sorted by author or Author Commentary & The Tallies Shameful.