Huh. I think I get why Ilona Andrews abandoned this starter to a new series. It has some pretty disturbing elements, and it’s got about a million surfHuh. I think I get why Ilona Andrews abandoned this starter to a new series. It has some pretty disturbing elements, and it’s got about a million surface details but nothing that really sticks. It’s like the proverbial river that’s a mile wide and an inch deep.
Karina Tucker is a widowed mother of a young daughter, Emily. While driving Emily and a few other kids home from from a field trip they make a quick stop at a building because Jacob HAS to use the restroom. It's an ugly, somehow menacing building (Karina! just send Jacob into the bushes with some tissues!).
And from there Karina (and Emily) are involuntarily pulled into a weird, deadly dimension. With lots of men - also menacing, but hot, so ... The few women are just there for backdrop. It's all about the alpha guys here.
Will Karina be able to overcome a bad start (seriously, a really, REALLY bad start) and control her density destiny? (view spoiler)[C'mon, it's an Ilona Andrews book! (hide spoiler)] Will the rapey man have a good heart and Reasons for how he acts? Who cares?
I’d only recommend it if you’re an Ilona Andrews completist and not too picky about your urban fantasy.
Full review to come.
Content notes: Lots of language, violence, kidnapping, assault ... but no sex....more
f you like Ilona Andrews' brand of romance-driven urban fantasy, grab this one!
4.5 stars. Rose and her two little brothers, George and Jack, ages 10 f you like Ilona Andrews' brand of romance-driven urban fantasy, grab this one!
4.5 stars. Rose and her two little brothers, George and Jack, ages 10 and 8, live in the Edge, a sort of halfway place between our world (which they call the Broken, since magic doesn't work there) and a parallel world called the Weird, where magical powers reign. In the Edge, magic works, but not as well as in the Weird. Most people can't pass through from one world to the other, or even sense that the other world exists, but there are exceptions, like Rose and her brothers. And Declan, the mysterious guy from the Weird who appears on Rose's doorstep, with magical powers even she can't match, and barges into their lives. Rose doesn't trust Declan an inch ... but she can't deny he's the hottest guy she's ever seen. And just maybe she'll be glad he's there, as deadly magical hounds begin appearing in the Edge and killing people.
I read this urban fantasy for the second time last night, when I really should have been reading other books, but it totally sucked me in and I couldn't help it! Not just the power of Declan (who is awesome), but there's William the shapeshifter, and George (a necromancer), and Jack (another shapeshifter), and Mamere, their French-speaking grandmother...
And how did I miss even giving it a star rating the first time I read it? But I liked it even better the second time.
Full review to come (really! I am going to get to it, sooner or later)....more
2.5 stars. Brain candy for alpha guy romance novel lovers, with a glossy veneer of fantasy. I have to admit that I read the Kindle sample and totally 2.5 stars. Brain candy for alpha guy romance novel lovers, with a glossy veneer of fantasy. I have to admit that I read the Kindle sample and totally got sucked in, enough that I actually paid $4 for this book. But this one is best left to romance readers who like sexytimes with take-charge guys and don't mind much if they make a few serious douche moves.
Seoafin Wilde, who goes by Finnie, has deeply missed her parents since they died in a plane crash when she was a teen. When a witch finds Finnie and tells her that there is a parallel world where her parents are still alive, and that Finnie's twin in that world would like to trade places with her for a year, Finnie jumps at the chance, and even pays a million dollars to do it.
The good news: Her twin Sjofn is a princess in a winter wonderland.
The bad news: Sjofn is gay and didn't tell Finnie that she wanted the trade because she was entering into an arranged marriage with a powerful, tough guy known as The Drakkar. Which happens within an hour of Finnie's arrival in this world. Frey Drakkar, none too pleased with having his hand forced into marrying a (he believes) lesbian, dumps her in a filthy dirty hunting cottage way up in the mountains and leaves her, totally alone, for six weeks while he goes off and Does Important Stuff. Finnie is NOT happy but decides to make the best of things. She cleans up the cottage, and when Frey shows up six weeks later she's thriving, having the time of her life with people in the local village, hanging out at the pub and playing cards. <---I loved this part, which is what tempted me into downloading the book.
As one might expect, there's hot (married) love, though it takes longer to get to than you might guess. Also lots of adventures of the romance novel sort, in a fantasy world with magical elves, dragons, and people who want to take over the kingdom and get other people (like Sjofn's parents, Frey Drakkar, and even Finnie) out of the way.
This one is for readers who like:
✲ alpha males -- and this one has a bad habit of making huge, fundamentally life-changing decisions for a woman without her knowledge, let alone her agreement. He's terrifically protective, and he has his kind moments, but they're surrounded with some eye-rollingly bad "Me Tarzan, You Jane" kind of stuff. Seriously, don't bother with this romance novel if this kind of thing is a deal-breaker for you.
✲ Mary Sue heroine: gorgeous, stacked, beloved by all who meet her, talented at (almost) everything. Except her vocabulary is lacking a little. "That is so cool." "Unbelievably cool!" "Absolutely freaking cool." "Super-freaking-scary." You get the idea.
✲ fluffy worldbuilding -- "winter wonderland" pretty much describes it. It's medieval-lite: all of the citizens are happy and prosperous in the kingdom ... though how they're prospering with so much snow covering their land was a question that crossed my mind. No one ever seems to get dirty unless they're housecleaning, but then they can jump in the handy-dandy hot spring by the cabin. And the clothes and underwear are AWESOME. Plus: sexytimes for all, despite the medieval-like setting. The fantasy world was supremely unrealistic and you have to be willing to just roll with that.
✲ romance-novel explicit love scenes. Also Finnie throws around F-bombs when she's upset. Which, understandably, happens quite often with Frey. ...more
It's Kindle freebie romance time again! This was a light and pleasant read, with a few twists that made it a little more interesting than the standardIt's Kindle freebie romance time again! This was a light and pleasant read, with a few twists that made it a little more interesting than the standard Highlander-in-kilt + lovely maiden historic romance.
Colin MacPherson was washed overboard in a storm and washes up on the isolated Isle of May off the coast of Scotland.
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The island looks abandoned, but it isn't, quite: seventeen-year-old Tess was shipwrecked when she was just six, and was brought up by an old couple who lived alone on the island. Now the couple has passed away and Tess is alone, avoiding all other humans who may visit the island because she knows they'll rape her or something. But Colin is very handsome, and even though he's always been the love 'em and leave 'em type, something in Tess's lovely, wild innocence speaks to his heart and makes him tame his typical seductive ways, even though they're all alone and oh so very lonely. Yup: it's instalove. Well, okay, it takes about a week for them to decide they're in love.
Anyway, gradually Tess learns to trust Colin, and then the question arises of where Tess originally came from and how she ended up where she is, and Colin is all, Fear not! I will help you! I won't spoil the mystery; it's a bit simplistic, as is this book, but for the light, clean historic romance category it's a decent read. Tess is suspiciously socially adept for a girl who's been living in isolation her entire life with an old, very simply-living couple (seriously, how'd she learn to curtsy so well?), but whatever, it's romantic fantasy. Definitely in the brain candy category, but if you like this kind of sweet read, grab it while it's free.
I will never again rag on Regency romances for being contrived. . . . Well, okay, maybe I will, but at least I'll do it knowing that they don't have aI will never again rag on Regency romances for being contrived. . . . Well, okay, maybe I will, but at least I'll do it knowing that they don't have a monopoly on such silliness. This one was every bit as bad. Grace, a virginal 20-something year old, wants to start her own business; old Italian man offers to finance her startup business if she can work a year as an assistant for his hot son Lucian without falling in love or starting a relationship with him. So she hides her gorgeousness behind tinted glasses and bad makeup, wears baggy, shapeless clothes, and rinses her lovely blonde hair a muddy brown color and sticks it in a tight bun (feel free to roll your eyes here). Oh, yes, she also wears her mother's engagement ring and pretends to have a fiancé.
Luc still manages to sexually harass flirt with Grace, from the first day, but somehow she gets through eleven months safely, when suddenly Luc gets his baby niece dumped in his lap while his brother goes chasing off to Italy to try to fix things with the baby's mother. Of course Luc needs help with the baby and, of course, only Grace will do. And he needs her to live in his apartment to do it. And pretend to be engaged and then married to him so as to allay the concerns of the authorities about an abandoned baby. Throw in a little more employee sexual harassment, some purple prose romantic moments, a few diapering scenes and a truly bizarre amount of police and social services interest in this baby, and we're good to go! It tries to be slapstick humor, but the idiocy of the plot twists and the attempts at serious sexual tension cut against it.
Sarah can't believe I'm not going 1 star with this, but this book, as silly as it is, doesn't quite wallow in the pit of awfulness to the extent that I demand of my 1-star books. I've got standards here, people! ;) But I will say that it was a close call.
************* Previous post: Sarah sucked me in to a buddy read, after Karly suggested it. I have such great GR friends! The question is, which will provide the better laughs/ranty review material, this one or Shattered Dreams?
This novella takes the Cinderella fairy tale, turns it inside-out, throws it down and smacks it around, checks its pockets for loose change, and then This novella takes the Cinderella fairy tale, turns it inside-out, throws it down and smacks it around, checks its pockets for loose change, and then gives it a sweet kiss good-bye, with one more hard pinch to the rear as it's walking out the door.
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Ember, our Cinderella character, is red-haired and freckled, has a twisted foot and, at least according to her, is not particularly pretty. She lives in a country where the prince was blessed at birth--or rather cursed--by a fairy godmother witch, with charm. Everyone loves him. All the women want to sleep with him. The magic makes him look like a god to everyone that sees him. Ember is so alarmed at the overpowering desire she's developed for him, simply by laying eyes on him, that she becomes a witch, illegally, so she can fight the curse-driven attraction. But it stands to reason that a guy who's always had all the women falling all over him all his life, will want the one woman who doesn't.
Ember turns as many of the fairy tale tropes on their heads as it possibly can: Cinderella (Ember) is a witch, and not a particularly nice person. She works with fire as the source of her magic--hence the ashes--and lives in simpler clothes and helps around the house because she wants to. Her stepmother and stepsisters are prostitutes, but they and Ember get along swimmingly. The prince takes advantage of other people and whores around, because he can.
One of the fun extras is the characters' occasional retelling of other fairy tales, which are also twisted and upended, like this Sleeping Beauty/Snow White mashup:
The players enacted ... the tale of the stuck-up princess who so despised common work that she died of spite after pricking her finger on a spinning wheel when her affianced Prince took her to his peasants' summer Fair. The tale ended happily, though, for the lazy princess had a bastard sister who'd been working as a maid for seven brothers in the woods. She had the beauty of her royal sister, but not the princess's haughty ways. The prince married the bastard sister, and everyone lived happily until they died.
This story does contain some quite explicit sex scenes, as well as a few F-bombs, crude graphic language (quite a bit of talk about (view spoiler)[guys' "cocks" and womens' "cunts" (hide spoiler)]) and some talk about prostitution and so forth. The prince's ball is a "Harlots' Ball," and Ember goes dressed as one--think "goods on display," big time. But the odd thing is that this story actually is quite sweet at its heart. What darkness there is in this story is pretty limited. Ember likes to consider herself a badass, and in some ways she is, but she doesn't kill humans for her magic or delve into truly dark spells (other than some voodoo dolls for guys who pretty much deserve the torture). The whores (her stepmom and stepsisters) all have hearts of gold. True love still prevails.
So if you want something truly dark, this novella isn't it. If you like your fairy tales clean, this definitely isn't that either. But if you like the idea of mixing sexytimes and a bit of subversiveness into a fairy tale romance, this one is a fun read. There's a scene toward the end with the witch who originally gave the Prince the curse, that adds a nice touch of depth to the story.
This is quite well-written for a self-pub book. The Kindle formatting has some problems, mostly with erratic indenting (it started showing up at 18% and pretty frequently thereafter), and I noticed the occasional punctuation or spelling error (e.g., "broaches" where it meant "brooches"), but other than that I didn't pick up on any major problems. And (at least when I wrote this review) it's a 99 cent Kindle special, so worth grabbing if you like this type of naughty story....more
Jennifer L. Armentrout’s Obsidian is one of a slew of young adult paranormal romanc1.5 stars. Full review, first posted on www.FantasyLiterature.com:
Jennifer L. Armentrout’s Obsidian is one of a slew of young adult paranormal romances that were published in the aftermath of the runaway success of Twilight. The plot, therefore, will sound familiar, though some of the details are different: a teenage girl, Katy Swartz, moves to a small town in West Virginia with her widowed mother to make a new start. Katy is a 4.0 GPA student and book review blogger who’s never caused her family trouble and considers herself a reserved and practical girl. Trying to meet new friends, she drops by the house next door and is confronted with a naked, well-muscled chest attached to an unbelievably handsome but annoyed boy her age, Daemon Black, with eyes “so green and brilliant they couldn’t be real” and “full, kissable lips.” He is also highly irritable (just because she knocked on his door?) and insulting, but why should rudeness and a condescending attitude block the course of true love if it’s a hot guy with piercing green eyes and kissable lips?
Daemon’s sister Dee (also gorgeous) befriends Katy, but there are some strange things about Katy’s neighbors besides their unbelievable hotness and their eerie green eyes: the locals don’t trust “them” for unspecified reasons; Daemon and Katy go swimming in a mountain lake and he disappears underwater for ten minutes, then tells her she was imagining things. There are instant storm clouds and blinding flashes of light when unexplainable events occur. Katy gets brutally attacked by someone trying to find “them” and then her wounds heal incredibly quickly when Daemon arrives on the scene. So what are Daemon and Dee, exactly? The truth finally comes out halfway through Obsidian ― and no, they’re not vampires ― but finally Katy understands a little bit more about the struggles Daemon and his people are dealing with, and the enemies that are pursuing them.
But this mystery is secondary to Daemon and Katy’s love/hate relationship. Daemon blows hot and cold, talking sexy to Katy one minute and behaving like a complete jerk the next minute. He insults her, flirts, smirks, chases her and then tells her to go away, and humiliates her in front of others. And it happens over, and over. He adamantly tries to undermine his sister’s friendship with Katy ― even his sister calls him “a dick,” but she excuses him because he’s just overprotective and “wasn’t always like that.” Somehow Daemon and Katy avoid kissing until near the end of the book, but then they have a heavy, pull-the-clothing-off make-out session.
In many ways Obsidian is comparable to Twilight; it has a similar plotline and many of the same weaknesses, with a main character who repeatedly makes foolish choices, an improbably hot love super-powered interest who is trying to push her away “for her own good,” and one-dimensional enemies who are evil personified. But I can’t even recommend this book even as brain candy because the main characters’ relationship is so messed up (yes, worse than Bella’s and Edward’s). Daemon is all alpha and protective and, yes, conflicted, but mostly he is rude and condescending toward Katy. Why are we training young girls to think that being treated like crap is a romantic thing?
Other problems include paper-thin world-building: we spend an inordinate amount of time with Katy navel-gazing, examining her conflicted feelings about Daemon, and very little time learning about Daemon’s people and their society. It’s very odd how they’ve almost seamlessly adopted human culture, and they have a completely implausible set-up with the U.S. Department of Defense, which is aware of this group and their ability to masquerade as humans, but just turns them loose on society with no apparent oversight, testing, etc.
The DOD thinks we’re harmless freaks. As long as we follow their rules, they give us money, our homes, and leave us alone.
Unbelievable.
I recommend Obsidian only for readers who adored Twilight and want more of the same, and don’t have issues with love interests acting like total jerks as long as they’re good-looking. The ending is slightly redemptive, but it’s also a cliffhanger ending, so it’s clear there will be more of Katy’s and Daemon’s conflicted relationship to come. But I won’t be reading about it.
Initial review: Did I pay actual money for this book? Please please tell me I got it as a Kindle freebie.
(ETA: Whew! It was a freebie. Thank goodness. I was seriously starting to worry about my lack of judgment.)
I consider this the equivalent of Twilight; it has basically the same general plotline (except, you know, (view spoiler)[aliens (hide spoiler)] instead of vampires) and the same weaknesses. So it starts with three stars, and then loses a star for being a retread and because the main characters' relationship is so messed up (yes, worse than Bella and Edward). Daemon is all alpha and protective and, yes, conflicted, but mostly? He acts like a douchebag. Why are we training young girls to think that being treated like crap is a romantic thing?
Other complaints (I'm on a roll now): Paper-thin world-building -- why do we spend all our time with Katy navel-gazing, examining her feelz for Daemon, and so little time learning about the (view spoiler)[aliens (hide spoiler)] and their society? It's very odd how they've almost seamlessly adopted human culture. And a totally unbelievable set-up with the Department of Defense (view spoiler)[knowing about all these aliens who can masquerade as humans, and just turning them loose on society with no apparent oversight, testing, etc. (hide spoiler)]. Even if the DOD issue is going to be dealt with in a later book, it would never in a million years have played out this way.
Recommended only for readers who love Twilight and want more of the same, and are okay with hot guys acting like total jerks. The ending redeems it slightly(view spoiler)[, when Katy tells Daemon what he's offering isn't good enough for her -- yes! -- but she still wants him bad. (hide spoiler)] And of course it will all be worked out in some later book in the series, but I won't be there to see it.
Now I need to go do my thing where I read something really literary and worthwhile to balance the cosmic scales. ...more
DNF at about 30%. I have issues with this one on several levels:
• I should have known this one wouldn't be for me when, in the first few pages, our maDNF at about 30%. I have issues with this one on several levels:
• I should have known this one wouldn't be for me when, in the first few pages, our main character Delilah (<-----oooh symbolism) explains how it's okay that she occasionally sleeps with her ex-husband, who is now married to another woman and has a child with her, because she "had him first" and she doesn't intend to ever take him away from his second wife. So it's all good. Um, no. It's not.
• Delilah is a wealthy, privileged white woman who goes to Africa in the 1920's, and finds herself and True Meaning in Life. Unlike almost all other white people, she understands the natives and has sympathy for them. Cliché and stereotype overload.
• More adultery: Delilah falls for a guy named--wait for it--Ryder, who's rough and crude and kind of rapey but (of course) very handsome, and who also understands and loves Africa. He's also (I peeked at the end) separated from a wife who's living in Egypt. But it's okay that he cheats on her regularly because, apparently, she's a slut. No, it isn't.
Delilah has good qualities but I just didn't want to live with her any longer, or in her world where cheating abounds and no one seems to blink twice about it. I can see how others might really like this book, but it's just not my cuppa. ...more
Not bad for a Kindle freebie, so I suppose I'm grading it on a bit of a curve. This Regency romance novella features Amelia, a sharp-tongued lady withNot bad for a Kindle freebie, so I suppose I'm grading it on a bit of a curve. This Regency romance novella features Amelia, a sharp-tongued lady with the nickname of "the Dragon," who specializes in fixing everyone else's problems, and Jameson, the childhood friend of Amelia's brother (and of Amelia herself), a handsome guy of the rakish and mischievous sort. Jameson has broken off an engagement to another young lady, which was Not Done, and Amelia is trying to fix his standing in society, as well as convince the other girl that she's better off without him and find her a better fiancé. Jameson decides that what he really needs a wife with some intelligence and a strong backbone, and it suddenly occurs to him that his old friend Amelia would fit the bill extremely well. The only trouble is convincing Amelia herself that this is a good idea.
It started off fairly strong but I thought the storyline got a little weak toward the end. But I liked the main couple and the story had some nice touches of humor and some pretty good banter, and I enjoyed it overall, so four stars it is. Well, maybe 3 1/2 stars, but I'm going to round up....more
One of my GR groups was reading Trade Wind and having an in-depth discussion about whether a relationship (spoiler for Trade Wind here) (view spoiler)One of my GR groups was reading Trade Wind and having an in-depth discussion about whether a relationship (spoiler for Trade Wind here) (view spoiler)[that begins with rape can really lead to lasting love. (hide spoiler)] One of our readers mentioned The Sheik in connection with this discussion, and curiosity + free on Gutenberg sucked me in.<-----I'm kind of bad that way.
This book was pretty much our grandmothers' and great-grandmothers' Fifty Shades of Grey. It really has no redeeming qualities; it's rather fascinating and off-putting at the same time. It's sort of like a very old-timey Harlequin romance, except for All. That. Rape. This book is seriously rape fantasy reading, in a 1920s kind of way (which means the bedroom door is firmly closed on anything more than kissing), and unless you can get into that on some level, you're really going to hate this novel. There are also lots of beautiful wild horses that get subdued and broken by the sheik and his men, and the analogy to the relationship of the main characters is not subtle.
In Algeria, the sheik character, Ahmed, kidnaps a beautiful and independent but cold-hearted Englishwoman, Diana Mayo, (a) because he hates the English generally (for reasons disclosed later in the book that made me think, geez, get over it, big guy), and (b) just 'cause he wants her and he can do it. No one has ever seriously told this guy "No" before, and he's an extreme alpha male who wouldn't believe it anyway. (view spoiler)[ He keeps her four (!) months and uses her pretty much non-consensually many, many times before they work it all out and Love Makes Everything Right. Also, it turns out he's actually not only a white guy, but an English lord, so I guess that makes everything better. (hide spoiler)] There's lots of casual racism in this one, and the N word is used a couple of times by some of the characters.
The sheik's dark eyes mesmerize, the heroine quivers, her bosom heaves, her pride gets lost somewhere along the way, everyone gets all melodramatic, you get the idea. Oh, also: pretty much every guy who sees Diana wants her bad, including the sheik's bestie, a French nobleman, which causes issues later on.
I really can't recommend it but it was interesting reading, in a kind of salacious way, and from a historical point of view. It also led to a film and Rudolph Valentino becoming the sex symbol for that era.
2.5 stars. This is a time-travel romance that is a sequel to Yellowstone Heart Song, which I kind of enjoyed, enough that when this sequel went on sal2.5 stars. This is a time-travel romance that is a sequel to Yellowstone Heart Song, which I kind of enjoyed, enough that when this sequel went on sale for 99 cents, I bit. If you're into rather steamy time-travel romances, I'd recommend strongly that you read Yellowstone Heart Song first, which appears to be a permanent Kindle freebie, so win-win!
This sequel explores the relationship between Sarah, the daughter of the main characters from the first book, and Chase, a troubled young man who mysteriously travels from 2035 back to 1835. It's pretty much like the first book otherwise, except that Chase really wants to figure out how to get back to his own time. But Sarah is so beautiful, and pure (unlike any other girl Chase has ever been around, of course), and she's handy with a knife, which she puts in his face when he threatens to get out of line with her, and he knows he doesn't deserve her, and if you can't see where it's going from about page 10 you're really new to the romance genre. There are a couple of interesting subplots in the story, like Chase's run-ins with the local native Americans, so I didn't feel like this was a complete waste of my time.
If you liked the first book and just want more of the same, read this book. If you really loved the first book, there are three more sequels after this one. I think I'm done here. Moving on . . ....more
Update: Well, it appears the buddy read has fallen apart, no big loss (sorry, Sarah), but I have to confess to paging through (in a Kindle-y kind of wUpdate: Well, it appears the buddy read has fallen apart, no big loss (sorry, Sarah), but I have to confess to paging through (in a Kindle-y kind of way) this old-timey 1979 Harlequin romance very late one night when my normal defenses against crappy romances were down.
This--THIS--is why I give some romances two stars that other reviewers hit with one star. This is the one-star book to end all one-star books. This book defines awfulness. It's the most screwed up imaginable mix of virginity-prizing 70's attitudes and brutal, hurtful, torturing alpha males. And there's a happily ever after ending! The mind, it boggles.
If you're interested in a play-by-play recap of the plot, check out karen's amazing and very funny review. I can only add my heartfelt agreement to everything karen says.
Now excuse me while I go wash my hands and look for that bottle of brain bleach.
Prior post: End of May 2015 buddy read with Karly and Sarah. Ignore whatever else you may read, it's really all Sarah's fault!
Sarah is looking for horrible, awful romances to rant about, and since karen's fantastic review of this one was permanently imprinted on my brain, I suggested it. And somehow the sticky web has spread to capture Karly and me. ETA: and Nenia! Let the rantfest begin!
I have to admit I still have a soft spot for alpha male romances (albeit not the torturing, rapey type), but I suspect this book may kill it right off.
If you like the reformed rake romance trope - and I have to admit that I'm kind of a sucker for it, logic and sensibility be hanged - this is a reallyIf you like the reformed rake romance trope - and I have to admit that I'm kind of a sucker for it, logic and sensibility be hanged - this is a really good one. Maybe even my favorite romance of this type, partly because the man's change in heart is explained so well and is actually believable.
The scandalous Lord Rival has decided it's time to stop wasting away his life, and try to restore his dilapidated family estate. But he's (secretly) a pauper, so it's clear to him that he needs to marry a rich woman to fund the restoration of Rye Vale. Olivia Fairfax, a wealthy but reclusive lady in her mid-twenties, is at the top of his list of heiresses. Unfortunately Lord Rival mistakes Olivia for a servant at their first meeting, for understandable reasons, and then, less understandably, compounds his mistake by admitting to this attractive servant his need to marry into wealth. So now Olivia is on her guard against him, and George, Lord Rival, has blown his chance with her. Except that fate, in the form of a late mutual friend's bequest, conspires to throw them into each other's company. And Lord Rival decides that he isn't ready to give up on Olivia yet...
I liked this for a lot of reasons: Intelligent, capable heroine. Man who knows he's a cad but, somewhat to his surprise, discovers unexpected depths in himself. Steamy kisses. Witty banter. More steamy kisses.
Highly recommended if you like the romance genre. I don't claim it's deep literature, but it gave me major romantic feelz, and for that it gets all the stars. One of my very favorite Regencies.
Content notes: it's not explicit, and the main characters may or may not go all the way (it's left kind of ambiguous), but they do some fooling around in bed, so if your personal standard is squeaky clean, this will probably not be the book for you....more
A romantic, swashbuckling type of tale from the talented Daphne du Maurier that, unfortunately, fell flat for me. Lady Dona St. Columb is a noblewomanA romantic, swashbuckling type of tale from the talented Daphne du Maurier that, unfortunately, fell flat for me. Lady Dona St. Columb is a noblewoman in 17th century England, discontented with her husband, family, the British court, and pretty much everything in her life. She takes out her frustrations on everyone around her and then flounces off to her husband's estate in Cornwall to rusticate and make the people around her miserable there instead.
There are stories of a pirate who's been raiding the Cornish countryside, and Dona could be in trouble when she stumbles across the pirate ship's hiding place in a cove ... right on her estate! But it's romance, not danger, that mostly ensues in this rather dreamily written novel (in fairness, the excitement and adventure ramp up later in the novel, before we get to a rather odd ending).
Du Maurier writes well, but this book was just not for me. My problems with it are mostly tied to my own personal reading likes and dislikes, rather than an objective assessment of the book's qualities. In other words, your mileage may vary.
The main character, Dona, is a spoiled, selfish, headstrong woman, dismissive of her spouse and children. The first scene she's in shows her being unreasonable and rude to her servants. As I got deeper into the book I liked her a little better (or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that I disliked her a little less) as I came to understand her frustrations, but she's not the type of woman I identify with, or want to get to know better, either in real life or in a book. Dislikable protagonists are a tough one for me to swallow.
I also have a really deep aversion to cheating on your spouse, which includes reading romances where one of the main characters is cheating, and I'm not big on justifications (he's a louse, she doesn't understand me, etc.). Dona married a guy who's a drinker and apparently as dumb as a box of rocks, but he loves her, wants to make something better of their marriage and is willing to try to change, and she won't give him the time of day. Instead she takes up with ...
The pirate, who is handsome, well-read and independently wealthy, but justifies his piracy because he's a Robin Hood, stealing from the unworthy rich and giving to the poor. Huh. I'm pretty good at suspending disbelief, but this was all just a little too unrealistic to buy into. He admits that he just needs adventure to bring meaning to his humdrum life. I can respect that, but hey, go explore Africa or something rather than becoming a criminal.
In general, this reads to me like an unhappily married woman's fantasy of how she'd like to ditch her boring and unfulfilling husband and existence and go off on romantic adventures. From what I've read of Daphne du Maurier's life, I think that's likely the case. I just couldn't respect the characters or their choices....more
For a long while this book felt formulaic - it's another teenagers-with-superpowers science fiction plot with a dash of Hunger Games - and I thought SFor a long while this book felt formulaic - it's another teenagers-with-superpowers science fiction plot with a dash of Hunger Games - and I thought Shannon Hale was just phoning it in here, which made me sad because I like most of her other books so well, especially The Goose Girl. But as I got closer to the end it started feeling more creative and more real to me.
It does have several weaknesses: Aside from much of the story feeling like it was paint-by-numbers, there was a plot turn midway that gave me that same wait, what? feeling that I had when I was watching Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and all of a sudden there were aliens inhabiting my fantasy adventure.
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There was also an over-the-top Evil Bad Person (who, of course, wants to control the superpowered teens for nefarious purposes) and the obligatory YA love interest. And I still don't understand (view spoiler)[why a couple of the fireteam members felt compelled to keep gathering all the tokens together in one person, when it was pretty clear at the end that each of the five tokens was supposed to have remained with a different person (hide spoiler)].
On the other hand, I thought the plot ultimately showed a fair amount of creativity, there was a half-Latina main character with a disability (missing right hand), and I will forgive a YA book a lot that has the main character thinking these thoughts about love at the end:
There were times when I thought I loved him. But I see now that I didn't really. Attraction, infatuation, and consternation do not love make. I don't know if I love him now, but I like him so much the joy is exquisitely painful. And this, too, is new.
Overall, I thought this was a decent read of the "superteens save the world" variety, if you like that kind of book. I'm not going to put it on any of my favorites lists like I do with The Goose Girl but it was reasonably enjoyable in its own way....more
Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽
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