Perfectly fine, although it felt even more claustrophobic than Harlequin Presents novels usually do - despite the set-up of numerous villains, we nevePerfectly fine, although it felt even more claustrophobic than Harlequin Presents novels usually do - despite the set-up of numerous villains, we never actually meet a single one of them; and the heroine exists basically as a motivating factor for the hero to get over the loss of his wife and son.
Merged review:
Perfectly fine, although it felt even more claustrophobic than Harlequin Presents novels usually do - despite the set-up of numerous villains, we never actually meet a single one of them; and the heroine exists basically as a motivating factor for the hero to get over the loss of his wife and son....more
Totally unremarkable category romance, of the marriage-of-convenience-to-save-a-throne variety. The initial set-up was nice and surprisingly plausibleTotally unremarkable category romance, of the marriage-of-convenience-to-save-a-throne variety. The initial set-up was nice and surprisingly plausible - the hero is the third son who was able to live a relatively normal life as a scientist at Cambridge - and I appreciated that the heroine was also a scientist and seemed fairly believable as one, but any actual character development was hampered by the strictures of category romance, so the hero and heroine both move along the incredibly predictable grooves of Royal Marriage of Convenience Category Romance. She has low self-esteem and no other options, he has a past that he doesn't want to share with her, etc. Why the heroine, a respected scientific researcher, would let herself in for this is never really explained. It was fine.
Merged review:
Totally unremarkable category romance, of the marriage-of-convenience-to-save-a-throne variety. The initial set-up was nice and surprisingly plausible - the hero is the third son who was able to live a relatively normal life as a scientist at Cambridge - and I appreciated that the heroine was also a scientist and seemed fairly believable as one, but any actual character development was hampered by the strictures of category romance, so the hero and heroine both move along the incredibly predictable grooves of Royal Marriage of Convenience Category Romance. She has low self-esteem and no other options, he has a past that he doesn't want to share with her, etc. Why the heroine, a respected scientific researcher, would let herself in for this is never really explained. It was fine....more
This is a Harlequin medical romance from the 2000s, meaning it’s detailed descriptions of medical procedures interspersed with a rather anemic romanceThis is a Harlequin medical romance from the 2000s, meaning it’s detailed descriptions of medical procedures interspersed with a rather anemic romance between two commitmentphobes - Becky’s recovering from a bad marriage, which ended in part because she didn’t want children and also because she’s traumatized by her parents’ unhappy marriage (they got married because she was en route), while Leandro also doesn’t want children (he’s a workaholic and believes children need two present parents) because he’s traumatized by being raised by a stigmatized single mother. Needless to say, when these two ambitious professionals who don’t want children and are very much in a “situationship” (among other things Leandro is moving back to Spain in a few months) accidentally get pregnant, neither is willing to contemplate “a termination,” Leandro insists on marriage, and Becky tearfully refuses.
So far so good. Where the book falls down for me is, firstly, Becky’s traumatic backstory - not only do we have all the above, but she discovered she was pregnant right after her first husband left her (for his pregnant girlfriend), then had a miscarriage for which she blames herself (because the baby knew she didn’t want it, puke) - and secondly, Becky’s insistence that she’s going to be a single mother and Leandro won’t be involved. Becky, my friend, he’s telling you he wants and plans to be involved. You don’t get to unilaterally make the decision that he won’t be.
There’s also the issue that Leandro spontaneously decides, while Becky is telling him that she’s pregnant and will only marry for love, that he totes is in love with her for realsies, which… I don’t know, dude, you have a lot of daddy issues stemming from your lack of a father, do you think that could be impacting your decision-making process here?
Anyway, on the whole I'd classify this as aggressively average - you're getting exactly what you think you're getting, nothing more, nothing less....more
I'm finally calling it quits on this one; there's nothing wrong with it but I stalled out at 46%. Our hero and heroine are FBI agents forced to pose aI'm finally calling it quits on this one; there's nothing wrong with it but I stalled out at 46%. Our hero and heroine are FBI agents forced to pose as a married couple at a couples workshop and the very thin plot basically exists to force them into situations where they have to be all over each other. They're both gunning for the same job, which they may or may not realize, and hoping this assignment gets it for them. He's a lothario and she's a workaholic. It was all competently done, but the plotline and action didn't feel very suspenseful and the characters were more archetypes than individuals, so I didn't find them engaging enough to continue. ...more
I knew this was going to be good when it opened with the heroine attempting to escape a billionaire’s newly-purchased wine cellar at 3 AM with some stI knew this was going to be good when it opened with the heroine attempting to escape a billionaire’s newly-purchased wine cellar at 3 AM with some stolen wine bottles, and the author absolutely came through. Marguerite, in best Harlequin heroine fashion, was working on a handshake deal for the winery’s previous owner to eventually be able to purchase back her family’s vineyard; when he suddenly died, the records disappeared and his heirs sold the place to a tech billionaire - our hero, Evan. In the meantime, Evan needs the winery up and running within six months. Marguerite can do it!
I appreciate the set-up, which is that Marguerite is confident and capable, information which Evan has verified by others before hiring her, while Evan is an overworked businessman with a Troubled Younger Brother and a secret heart of gold. I’m a sucker for a heroine with a good head on her shoulders; Marguerite acknowledges the attraction between herself and Evan while establishing ground rules right away - they can’t have a romantic relationship while she works for him. Erwin sketches out the mechanics of the wine business with enough authority that I believe Marguerite knows what she’s doing, while not getting bogged down with more information on vintnery than a reader could ever want. The romance develops slowly and more-or-less realistically, and there are some delightful secondary characters.
Where the book falls down, however, is the conflict. Marguerite had a handshake deal with the winery’s former owner to purchase it from him eventually, but the records vanished when he died; she is convinced this meant that he never intended to honor their deal and furthermore doesn’t share this information with Evan. Meanwhile, Evan has Stereotypical Commitmentphobic Romance Hero panic at the thought of falling in love with Marguerite. You can see the problems coming from miles away and it's frankly annoying....more
Hannah is a manager but manages only her sister; Gavin is an attorney. Neither of them are particularly impressive as doing their jobs - the author trHannah is a manager but manages only her sister; Gavin is an attorney. Neither of them are particularly impressive as doing their jobs - the author tries but clearly has no idea what she’s talking about - and Gavin comes off as smarmy on a regular basis, while Hallie is your stereotypical Harlequin workaholic babe-who-doesn’t-know-it. Will he be able to loosen her up? Will she be able to get the playboy to commit? Because this isn’t a very good book, the tit-for-tat agreement they come up with is that Gavin, a lawyer, will help Hallie loosen up; while Hallie, an entertainment manager, will help Gavin with his interior design, because she “saw [his] minimalist condo once” and from that can figure out all his design issues. I just - couldn’t the author have made Hallie an interior designer, instead of making it clear that she thinks Any Monkey Could Do This Job So Why Not My Heroine?
This is a sequel book so we have to meet all of Gavin’s brothers and their perfect gorgeous wives. This doesn’t work for me in books with insecure heroines, and Hallie is a very insecure heroine; because the wives are all previous heroines and this is a category series, they have to be kind and relatable to the reader, meaning that Hallie’s insecurities come off as unfounded and silly.
My other big issue is, Gavin comes off as a jerk. He mistakes Hallie for her twin sister, says some not so great things about Hallie, and then basically forces his way into her apartment to apologize - which he does by not actually apologizing. Sure, this is on-brand for an entertainment attorney. It is not on-brand for a romance hero I enjoy reading. This is also one of those books where we’re supposed to find it attractive that the hero spends money like water, e.g. surrendering a perfectly good truck (of course) so he can lease another brand-new truck (“Show me the best you have. I’m feeling spendy today”) because “it’s no fun to drive a used car.” Really? Cause they can give those the New Car Smell (TM) these days, you know. But you see he knows how to Enjoy Life and the heroine is Too Uptight.
Over all I feel like this is a very New Harlequin Category romance - there’s a much bigger emphasis on friends and family than in old-school HP novels, with scenes of Hallie giggling to her girlfriends about her latest date (and Gavin talking to his buddies). This isn’t a trend that generally works for me with category novels, I think; they’re too short. It works in Hallmark movies because I really want to see Autumn Reeser hang out with Lacey Chabert and Alison Sweeney, all of them with perfect, perfect hair; but a Harlequin heroine’s friends don’t have enough page time to make me care about their perfect, perfect hair. The actual romance seemed to take second place, and neither Hallie nor Gavin seemed to express real emotion - it felt like watching dolls being moved around a stage - so I DNF'd at chapter nine, when these supposed adults were still twittering about the idea of maybe kissing a second time OMG....more
As usual, Anne McAllister has written a delightful category romance that fits none of the strictures of advertising or the back market cover copy. TheAs usual, Anne McAllister has written a delightful category romance that fits none of the strictures of advertising or the back market cover copy. Theo is a sailor who has recently been named "the world's sexiest sailor" and has fled to Santorini to avoid the publicity - his billionaire status is only vaguely alluded to and frankly is completely irrelevant. Martha is fleeing an entirely realistic heartbreak. The two of them end up having a fling that, for Martha, feels like more; but she can tell Theo doesn't feel the same. When his sister marries her brother, however, they meet again - only for him to realize she's pregnant. He proposes marriage and she tells him to get bent. He pursues her and, in best caretaking alpha fashion, takes care of her while constantly proposing. McAllister doesn't devote too much sympathy to his Manpain Which Means He Cannot Love, and anyway it's low-key and relatively realistic; over all the emotions behind the whole book feel low-key and relatively realistic. This is just a nice accidental pregnancy contemporary. ...more
I have deeply mixed feelings about this one. While we learn pretty early on that our heroine, Emmie, is infertile due to cancer, I hadn't been expectiI have deeply mixed feelings about this one. While we learn pretty early on that our heroine, Emmie, is infertile due to cancer, I hadn't been expecting (view spoiler)[the hero, Matteo, to have lost an infant, and for there to be quite so much focus on his dead baby (hide spoiler)]. Additionally, while Emmie does not miraculously become fertile, in the epilogue (view spoiler)[they are parenting toddler twins and an infant who, conveniently, all survived the car crash that killed both their parents, had no other family and were - surprise! - Matteo's godchildren, so he was awarded guardianship. Milburne doesn't tell us anything about the children's biological parents but she can't seem to decide whether Matteo and Emmie are the children's parents (Matteo refers to them as "someone else's children" but also calls Emmie their "mama") and it's just such a slick elision of how adoption actually works and bypasses, well, everything involved with adoption, from logistical issues to emotional ones... it bothered me, honestly. (hide spoiler)] It also heaped on the drama with lots of miracle endings (view spoiler)[(the heroine's long-estranged parents reunite and remarry off-page in about two lines, the heroine's sister is finally cured of a serious eating disorder when the hero sends her to a clinic) (hide spoiler)] in a way that always strikes me as sloppy. I know that it's a Harlequin Presents novel but some of them manage to use the tropes and over-the-top drama to get at something real and gripping. This did not. ...more
This is a pretty standard hero-blackmails-the-heroine-into-sex Harlequin Presents, and Bianchin's heart wasn't really in it. Her heroines are generallThis is a pretty standard hero-blackmails-the-heroine-into-sex Harlequin Presents, and Bianchin's heart wasn't really in it. Her heroines are generally a little ballsier than this, and her heroes are less sleazy. Here, Diego has had a thing for Cassandra ever since she was sixteen and he made out with her (yes, he was considerably older than sixteen at the time) and he keeps asking her out on dates and she keeps saying no... so he buys up her family's debts and then tells her that either she becomes his mistress for a set period of time or he tells her ailing father (1) about the debts and (2) that her brother is gay (which Bianchin refers to as "his sexual proclivities"). If an author's going to go with the Blackmail Mistress plot, she needs to be a lot more over-the-top with why - vengeance or a dramatic breakup or something. This is just kind of sleazy and gross, with a side of homophobia, and Cassandra's too low-key (as Bianchin heroines often are) for it to not be icky. ...more
For a Harlequin category romance this was surprisingly low-drama, but it really worked for me - the hero is realistically jerky, but not so much so thFor a Harlequin category romance this was surprisingly low-drama, but it really worked for me - the hero is realistically jerky, but not so much so that it's implausible that the heroine likes him despite herself; while she has an actual personality such that it makes sense that the hero would fall for her. ...more
I actually really enjoyed this: for once Penny Jordan directly addresses the messy and less-than-admirable emotional states of her revenge-driven mommI actually really enjoyed this: for once Penny Jordan directly addresses the messy and less-than-admirable emotional states of her revenge-driven mommy-issues hero and, to a lesser extent, desperately young widow heroine. Even after the big revelation - (view spoiler)[her sons are actually his sons! surprise surprise! - she maintains that she did the best thing by marrying his sixty-something cousin, because both she and the hero were too young and screwed-up emotionally to adequately parent. Her husband supported and encouraged her to get medical and psychiatric help which has led to her being a stable, settled person who is able to lovingly but not smotheringly parent her twins. (Oh, of course it's twins, come on.) While the hero is convinced that now that he's the twins' biological dad he could have done it at any time, the heroine knows this is absurd. Anyway, there's a big revelation scene where the hero tells the heroine He's Changed Really and she says yeah, no, it doesn't work that way - so he spends the next several months proving it, by agreeing to move with her and the boys to London, allowing her the final say in disputes over their upbringing, and not overstepping boundaries. That said, the thing that finally changes her mind is another accidental pregnancy, which makes me feel kind of bad for her. (hide spoiler)]...more
Everyone in this book is an idiot who can't communicate properly and also behaves contemptibly in some form or other. There is a last minute exoneratiEveryone in this book is an idiot who can't communicate properly and also behaves contemptibly in some form or other. There is a last minute exoneration of the heroine's alcoholic absentee father (view spoiler)[with the revelation that her mother suffered from paralyzing mental illness for the heroine's entire childhood which she somehow... didn't notice? (hide spoiler)] oh and by the way he's the same age as the hero. This was just kind of ick all around. A secondary character does make the very salient point that the gold-digging heroine isn't any worse than the hero, who is significantly older, not particularly attractive, and married the heroine (who worked for him) after knowing her for less than five months - clearly he just wanted a beautiful young wife, and she is that, so can he really claim to have been victimized here?...more
I really love how Lohmann tackles controversial/unusual (in Romancelandia) situations in her books but I often have difficulty connecting emotionally I really love how Lohmann tackles controversial/unusual (in Romancelandia) situations in her books but I often have difficulty connecting emotionally with her characters and this is another one of those books. Mina, who is living with HIV, was well-drawn and sympathetic, but Levi has so much going on - his wife’s suicide, some sort of traumatic mine accident, his possibly-alcoholic brother-in-law and his enmeshed relationship with his sister’s family - and further issues brought up by his relationship with Mina - she’s a college professor, he’s a contractor; he’s ten years older than she is - that the focus on Mina and her HIV just feels unbalanced. The only thing Levi really deals with is his feelings about his wife’s chronic illness (depression) and what that means for a potential relationship with someone else with chronic illness. Everything else warrants maybe a paragraph or two, and then is dropped; Levi’s focus, and the book’s focus, is Mina’s HIV.
In terms of the romance pacing, too, it just… moves too quickly. They’ve barely started dating before Mina’s getting super sick and Levi is taking care of her on a really basic level (like he has to break into her house and she’s not capable of calling an ambulance basic). Other characters are mostly set up as unsupportive of Mina, and it can’t avoid looking like they’re set up that way to make Levi look better by comparison - even though, e.g., his terrible sister only knows about Mina’s HIV because Levi TOLD her about it (without Mina’s permission and knowing that Brook is horrible).
Over all, the tone of the book just got too didactic for me. It felt like Brook (and other characters) were set up as Ignorant Reader Stand-Ins, so they can say things like "What about Tom Hanks's character in Philadelphia?" and Mina can respond with a list of movies that have more positive portrayals of characters living with HIV. It felt discomfiting in a way, like Lohmann didn't trust her readers to engage with Mina's HIV on Mina's terms; and in turn that can feel a little offensive, like when I'm reading a book that pauses the narrative to explain in detail what Rosh Hashana is rather than moving forward with how the character engages with Rosh Hashana (because even if we've never heard of Rosh Hashana, we all have Google, so breaking something down Wikipedia-style just isn't necessary). So, like, I'm glad this book exists - and I'm pleased that Harlequin published it - but I just don't think it has much staying power....more
Really fun road-trip romance in which a spa executive and an overbearing lawyer head out to "rescue" his grandmother from her determination to fulfillReally fun road-trip romance in which a spa executive and an overbearing lawyer head out to "rescue" his grandmother from her determination to fulfill her bucket list. (Well, the hero wants to return grandma to her old, bingo-playing church lady self; the heroine wants to secretly text Grandma all their plans so she and her reunited first love can escape capture.) There's some category romance ridiculousness (we can't say Batman or Superman in a HQ novel apparently?) and towards the end the plot dips a little into the obnoxiously traditional with (view spoiler)[a dumb third-act breakup (hide spoiler)], but overall this was just light and sweet and witty. ...more
I am drowning in books so I'm trying to permit myself to do better about DNFing. This is the fourth book in a series so it already started out a problI am drowning in books so I'm trying to permit myself to do better about DNFing. This is the fourth book in a series so it already started out a problem for me - we're introduced to about a million characters and we're supposed to like and trust all of them. Add in that the book is set in/outside San Diego and, uh, let's just say it bears no resemblance to the San Diego I knew, and then follow it up with lines like "Rachel loved to cook but had very few occasions to do it. She stayed busy with her social obligations, organizing charitable events and philanthropies." Oh, philanthropies, of course! I spend a lot of time organizing those, or would if I were a socialite, even one on the "social fringes" of San Diego who spends most of her time managing charities "especially for the navy SEALs." (No, this is not a Navy SEAL book.) I don't usually read romantic suspense and this did not seem to be working as a starter. Done....more
Okay but tried to marry category romance ridiculousness (lots of princes, blackmailed into a fake relationship, heroine and hero with the common senseOkay but tried to marry category romance ridiculousness (lots of princes, blackmailed into a fake relationship, heroine and hero with the common sense of baby ocelots, etc.) with realism (heroine is in recovery from a serious and fairly graphically described eating disorder). They don’t really work together and the end result is to make the hero’s I-will-insult-you-to-keep-you-safe soliloquy absolutely unacceptable. There is no coming back from those words....more
Well this was a thing. Take one Caribbean setting, add a mysterious white dude who owns half the island, and toss in the world’s most hapless heroine:Well this was a thing. Take one Caribbean setting, add a mysterious white dude who owns half the island, and toss in the world’s most hapless heroine: romance! Or, you know, ridiculousness. The heroine, her weird father, the hero, and the heroine’s inconsistently written mother could all win awards for lack of communication, and when, as here, the potential consequences include serious psychological trauma, it’s hard to sympathize with any of them....more
Enjoyable as a romance but had a couple of major flaws that prevented me from enjoying it fully, notably that the hero’s ex-wife is presented as evil Enjoyable as a romance but had a couple of major flaws that prevented me from enjoying it fully, notably that the hero’s ex-wife is presented as evil for having an abortion (nominally for having one without telling him, but let’s get real: the real reason she’s bad is because she Didn’t Want A Baby Because Of Her Career, whereas the hero totally did want a baby; and as we later learn, the hero had married her thinking she would “change” and stop enjoying life in the city and want to move out to the country and be a stay-at-home mom which is so, so ick) and the way the heroine’s father and every other person involved in her conception/abandonment are presented as blameless. The story we’re given is that this guy’s sainted, beloved wife, while suffering from postpartum depression, left him for about a month, during which time he started having unprotected sex with his longtime indispensable secretary, who was in love with him (but he totally had no idea!); then his wife called him up and said “hey, I want to get back together,” and he agreed, returned to his secretary-mistress, and “didn’t even have to tell her” that he was dumping her, she simply resigned and never spoke to him again. I… come on, how is this okay behavior? Furthermore, he promised his illegitimate daughter during their one meeting that he would never tell anyone about her… and then a few weeks later went on national television and told everyone about her. The author goes for a really convoluted story about how the heroine’s half-sister had an abusive, controlling husband who had photographs of the heroine with their father and was using them to both blackmail and continue abusing his wife, so the only way the senator could save his daughter was to out his other daughter on national television with basically no warning. Come on.
Anyway given that the entire Kendrick family is so saintly and loving and accepting, the heroine is the one who then gets lambasted for being whiny about her entire life imploding and not wanting to meet them, because after all they’re just the nicest people and ready to welcome her into their lives. I just found the whole situation wildly uncomfortable; it felt like everyone, hero included, was telling the heroine to “get over it” and the author had set up a situation where they were correct to do so. ...more
Lots of telling rather than showing, and (unusually for Bianchin) the heroine is a single mom - which is unfortunate because Bianchin has zero interesLots of telling rather than showing, and (unusually for Bianchin) the heroine is a single mom - which is unfortunate because Bianchin has zero interest in writing a realistic child. Hello, tiny plot moppet; how convenient that you instantly adore the hero, never throw a temper tantrum, and can be parked with willing teenage babysitters at a moment’s notice so Mommy can huff and puff and fuss over the fact that some hussy is throwing herself at your New Daddy - despite the fact that New Daddy isn’t interested in her and has done everything but throw Mommy over his shoulder and drag her back to the cave. The hero displays zero interest in the child until it becomes necessary for him to win over the heroine, instead demanding that she park the kid with a babysitter so that she can attend fancy dinners and glare at him.
It just feels more than usually paint-by-numbers, with wooden characterization and not much zing; the fact that the heroine refuses to acknowledge that the hero is interested in her for most of the book is more frustrating than anything else. There is, bizarrely, a scene towards the end of the book where (view spoiler)[the other woman declares that the heroine can never have the hero and the heroine walks away… and that’s it, we never see or hear from the other woman again. (hide spoiler)] It’s just very slapdash, like Bianchin had a contract and a deadline and she was going to do her job dammit. ...more
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