Jul 28, 2017 | reviews, romance
Red never shies away from a challenge.
Never.
But when Miss Hannah St. John strides into his life demanding—yes, demanding—he help her, he’s certain she’s more challenge than even he can handle.
Hannah is determined to transport an artifact from France—one that will change everything—even if it means working with a lawless man like Red. Nothing is more important than preserving history.
Nothing.
Not even the touch of a smuggler who inconceivably makes her stomach twist.
When it becomes clear the irritating bluestocking will do anything for this blasted artifact and needs saving from herself, the earl-turned-smuggler steps in.
Carting a cursed stone across the country with a know-it-all woman is not Red’s idea of fun, particularly when their journey runs far from smoothly…so why does he find himself enjoying her company just a little too much?
You’re the Rogue That I Want, by Samantha Holt
The premise sounded interesting: a bluestocking needs the help of a smuggler in order to retrieve an artifact that her father has claimed from the French. She doesn’t realize he’s also an earl. Against his better judgment, he decides to help her when it becomes clear she’s doing this no matter what he says.
I wish I could say this one worked for me but it just …didn’t. I had trouble with writing, which felt overly formal and a little stuffy. I had trouble with some of the character decisions — Hannah in particular makes some poor choices at the start of the book and it feels like these are completely forgotten about less than three pages later.
I had a lot of trouble with the fact that the artifact is described in such a way that makes it clear it’s a stand in for the Rosetta Stone — discovered used as building material in a fort in Egypt by French soldiers, has both hieroglyphics and ancient Greek, considered the key to potentially understanding the hieroglyphics system — and then Red is described as casually picking it up and carrying it when the carriage has to be abandoned. Along with his luggage.
Maybe it’s just because I saw the Rosetta Stone just this month when I got to go to the British Museum but …the Rosetta Stone weighs approximately 1680 pounds.
There really wasn’t any getting back into the story for me at that point, although I tried. I stuck it out until the end.
Some of the side characters were a little more interesting — I liked Hannah’s aunt, and there’s clearly a story or two behind Red’s smuggling companions. I don’t know if that’s enough to make me give the series another shot, but your mileage may vary. The Amazon reviews certainly have a range of opinions, so if you can get it for a deal it might be worth checking out anyway.
Jul 21, 2017 | reviews, romance
Something borrowed…
Through wit and sheer force of will, Ash Cohen raised himself and his younger brother Rafe out of the London slums and made them (in his unbiased opinion) the best confidence men in England. Ash is heartbroken when Rafe decides he wants an honest life, but he vows to give his beloved brother what he wants.
When Ash hears of a small-town heiress scrambling to get her hands on the dowry held in trust for when she marries, he plans one last desperate scheme: con her and his brother into falling in love. After all, Rafe deserves the best, and Ash can see at once that captivating, lonely Lydia Reeve is the best.
Lydia doesn’t know why she instinctively trusts the humble stranger who talks his way through her front door and into her life. She just knows she’s disappointed when he tries to set her up with his brother.
When a terrible family secret comes to light and Rafe disappears, Lydia takes a big risk: she asks Ash to marry her instead. Did Ash choose the perfect wife for his brother…or for himself?
True Pretenses, by Rose Lerner
I’m not sure how to start this review.
I picked up the book because I follow Rose Lerner on Twitter and she was highlighting the $0.99 sale on it this week. As a fast reader (and a reader with a limited budget for books), I like sales. It looked interesting enough. I grabbed a copy. Since I wanted something a little more traditional after last week’s sci-fi story, I decided to dive in.
The story is set in the Regency period, in the town of Lively St. Lemeston. (The book is the second in the series but is only loosely connected to the first; I had no trouble following the story without having read the first book.) Lydia’s father was one of the patrons for the Tory party in the town, and Lydia served as his political hostess for many years. His death leaves Lydia scrambling to figure out how to preserve her father’s legacy in the town — a legacy she regards as partially hers and one she doesn’t want to see wasted. But to continue her work requires access to money and her brother is uninterested in spending any on political patronage. That leaves her dowry as the only possible solution, assuming she can find a husband.
Meanwhile, Ash and Rafe have traveled across England, conning those who can afford it in order to put food in their bellies and a roof over their heads. When Rafe informs his brother that he no longer wants to lie, Ash is desperate to come up with a scheme that will keep his brother in England and safe. The life of an honest gentleman seems the perfect solution, provided the lady is willing.
Since this is a romance novel, there are any number of twists and turns on the way to a happy ending. We’re humans and feelings are messy things, capable of tangling us up inside until we’re so tied in knots that feel impossible to resolve. It’s not a sensation I often associate with a romance novel and yet it’s true to love in real life, I think. The fairy tale phase is nice but the reality is that we are all messy, layered human beings and sometimes that plays out in unexpected ways. This book examines that, in a quiet, subtle way.
Ash comes across as honest and genuinely good, making it possible to overlook his less-than-ethical past, while still capable of making mistakes. Lydia comes across as pragmatic and driven, with flaws and blind spots that seem realistic. Both their brothers are their own people with believable motivations and reactions and it’s interesting to watch as Ash and Lydia’s relationship has ripple effects on their families and the world around them. The setting of small town life in general and political life in particular was a new and different take on the standard Regency romance genre, at least for me, so that was also intriguing.
In summary, I really enjoyed this book. It wasn’t flashy or fast, just a quiet, believable relationship built on mutual respect and a willingness to learn and see each other between two people who are very used to hiding their true feelings from the world. I’m left feeling thoughtful and introspective and I don’t think that’s a bad thing at all.
Jul 14, 2017 | reviews, romance, scifi
Amanda Bryant has been a spy for five long years, but when aliens suddenly appear claiming a deadly enemy threatens Earth’s very survival, Amanda is asked by her superiors to accept the most dangerous mission of her life…volunteer to be an alien’s bride, to share the strange warrior’s bed and then betray him.
Accepting the assignment, Amanda is processed as the first Interstellar Bride and transported halfway across the galaxy to her new mate’s battleship where she awakens to discover she has been matched to not just one huge Prillon warrior, but two.
Shocked by her craving for the touch of two dominant alpha males, Amanda attempts to hide her body’s immediate reaction to Commander Grigg and his second, Rav. Resistance is futile as her new mates expect to control every aspect of her life, and her pleasure, and neither will hesitate to deliver a thorough and embarrassing spanking should she disobey their sensual commands, or resist a complex and deeply arousing series of medical exams designed to ensure her sexual readiness for their claiming.
Seduced and cherished by two alpha alien warriors who hide nothing from her, Amanda quickly comes to realize that the threat to Earth is very real. When she witnesses a battle with the enemy and the resulting death of a highly respected warrior, she knows she must tell her mates the truth and hope they can forgive her for her duplicity before it’s too late.
Loyalties will be tested as Amanda fights the most important battle of her life. How can she protect the warriors she has grown to love and save the people of Earth from making a terrible mistake? Will her human contacts believe her when, with every touch, every look, they will see just how thoroughly she has been mastered by her mates?
Mastered by Her Mates, by Grace Goodwin
I like to occasionally branch out and read something different than my normal subgenres, so when this went by on Bookbub as a free ebook, I picked up a copy to read. A lot of my reading has been non-Regency, recently — something that happens from time to time as I go through cycles. The main emphasis of this one has been fantasy and young adult, but I wanted a change of pace for a book.
Mastered by Her Mates is the prequel to the Interstellar Brides Program series, although it’s listed as book #6. The premise is that Earth has been contacted by aliens and will be allowed to contribute to an ongoing battle in one of two ways: warriors and women to be their brides, since human women are compatible with a number of the alien species. Amanda, our heroine, is the first to go through this protocol, with the goal of spying and sending back information on weapons and technology that the aliens deem Earth unworthy of receiving.
It was certainly an interesting change of pace. This isn’t a romance in the traditional sense that I would normally think of it. The setting is sci-fi, which is fine. There are two heroes instead of one, which doesn’t bother me but could be an issue for some. Where it’s not a romance is in the plot.
Or to be more accurate, the lack thereof. The book is heavy on the sex scenes and skimpy on things like plot. There are points where you can see a vague effort made in that direction, but to me, they come across as flat. Probably because the characters themselves read as charicatures of a given personality trait. The alpha, protective hero. The doctor concerned for his brother in arms. And the heroine, supposedly a top-notch spy but mostly just desperately craving the heroes after two sexual encounters, one of which was a dream. The plot elements feel like the framework necessary to transition from one sex scene to the next.
At least the sex scenes were rather steamy, so if that’s what you’re looking for, this isn’t badly written. But I would put this firmly in the erotica category, as I’d need more of a plot and character development to consider it an actual romance. I’d consider picking up one or two of the others for when I’m in the mood if they were $0.99 or even $1.99, but I’m not willing to spend much more than that. Still, if you are curious and can grab one on sale, it’s worth a look.
Jul 7, 2017 | reviews, romance
A career is blooming…
A glittering French aristocrat is on the run, disguised as a British governess. England’s top spy has a score to settle with her family. But as they’re drawn inexorably into the intrigue and madness of Revolutionary Paris, they gamble on a love to which neither of them will admit.
The Forbidden Rose, by Joanna Bourne
While I enjoyed The Spymaster’s Lady, it was the secondary characters who really made the book sing for me. Doyle was one of those secondary characters and here we get a chance to get to know him better. The catch? The story actually takes place years before The Spymaster’s Lady, when the beheadings are still going strong in Paris.
This means that the cast of secondary characters is different (although some faces are still present, if younger), which had the potential to be a problem since it was the comradeship between the secondary characters that worked so well for me in the first book. Making up for that, though, is the fact that Marguerite de Fleurignac is an amazing heroine. I love how she’s both pragmatic and fanciful and doesn’t let being terrified stop her from doing what needs to be done. In particular, the scene where we meet her worked incredibly well for me.
(As an aside, I have no idea where the “British governess” bit in the blurb comes from because I certainly didn’t get any of that from the book? Don’t let the blurb scare you. This book is good.)
The action is fast-paced and while there’s a few plot threads that feel a little weak, it overall comes together in an excellent story. The book is set entirely in France and the descriptions are once again vivid. This Paris is a very different Paris from the one we find in, say, Loretta Chase’s Silk Is For Seduction — gritty, rough, and sometimes violent — and it does an excellent job of conveying some of the emotions that drove the Revolution and the years that followed it. It makes me curious to go explore the city and find some of the places she writes about.
I did like the little flashes we got of some characters who were mentioned only in passing in the first book, including one in particular. (Yes, I’m being vague again because spoilers.) You could certainly read this book first and then the first one without missing too much, but some of those flashes lose a lot of their meaning because they required the context of the first book to really make sense.
I’m looking forward to the next book in the series, that’s for sure. (And I’m also looking forward to Hawker’s book, when I finally get there. He’s certainly a character.)
