We just got back from the most wonderful vacation. Once we arrived, it was fabulous--two weeks of pretty much miraculous travel synchronicities. I couldn't believe how smoothly everything went.
But did you catch the qualifier? Once we arrived. Because getting there was practically a nightmare. In hindsight, it could have been a lot worse, but it was bad enough. Getting home ended up being a big complicated tangle as well. The upshot of all the mess was that we ended up with even more time in airports and on airplanes than we had expected. Fortunately, I had some pretty good books to read--helped along by some birthday money which I used to load up my Kindle, and also ebooks I borrowed from our library. And since I was on vacation, I could justify reading one romance novel after another --there is no better way to pass a long plane flight. So here you go:
The Suffragette Scandal by Courtney Milan (the last book in the Brothers Sinister series). I'll get the one that was a disappointment out of the way first. Of course immediately after I tell you that I found a great new author (see previous post), the next one of hers I read was disappointing. This was just a weird book. I had a hard time even finishing it. It's the story of Frederica Marshall (Free), the younger sister of the hero of one of the previous books in the series, who is a suffragette. She runs into Edward Clark, a man who is a viscount but doesn't want to be and has effectively disappeared from his life to avoid it. It was an interesting setup, but unfortunately it just didn't make sense. After their first conversation, Edward is stunned at how brilliantly she has outfoxed him, and I had to go back and re-read the conversation to figure out what he was talking about. It was a pretty darn normal conversation. She was spirited and amusing, but brilliantly strategic? she is a genius simply because she asked a few obvious questions about his flimsy story? It was a small-ish thing that probably could have been overlooked, but similar things kept happening. And then about two-thirds of the way through the story, he does something that is completely out of character for the way he has been described, and the story never really recovered from that. Maybe I've read a few too many romance novels where no, I absolutely cannot marry you because of ....., and the reasons why are given in painstaking, dozens-of-pages detail. And then suddenly, in the turn of a page, all of that turns out not to matter and of course I will marry you. I wouldn't care except that like I said, I've read a few too many of them recently. So, my first Courtney Milan disappointment.
But fortunately I didn't let that keep me from reading the other one of hers I had loaded onto my Kindle, because Unclaimed was really good, and unusual to boot. (it's the second one in her Turner series, but I didn't know that until I was about halfway through the book.) Sir Mark Turner has become a celebrity in London because he wrote a book on male chastity. Much to his chagrin, his famous status as a virgin has started a cult-like following in London. A down-on-her-luck courtesan, Jessica Fairleigh, takes on a challenge to seduce Sir Mark and ruin his reputation. She plans to use the money she wins to retire from the courtesan life. There are a couple of unlikely plot twists, but still I found this one to be pretty interesting. There is quite a bit of discussion about what it means to be "good," and why (or why not) one should be chaste. The novel isn't exactly an in-depth discussion of the issues it raises, but it's thought provoking enough--and it asks some legitimate questions that are usually ignored in romance novels. And anyway, it takes some major chutzpah to write a historical romance that has a hero who is a virgin. I was thoroughly intrigued.
Mystic and Rider by Sharon Shinn. Shinn wrote one of my favorite series back in the day when I read epic fantasy all the time (the Archangel books, set in the fictional world of Samaria). I downloaded this one when it was on sale several years ago, right after I got my Kindle, and it's been sitting there ever since. I started it at one point, but there were too many characters introduced all at once, and I gave up. But this time I persevered (eight hours on a plane will do that to you), and it was well worth it. I haven't read a fantasy novel in a long time (other than things I've read with my kids), so it took me a little while to get back in the groove of sword-fights and magic talismans and shape-shifters. But Shinn is a great world builder, and she creates an interesting group of characters. There is a love story that runs through the book, but it's not the emphasis. There was a bit too much politics for my taste (I have to fight that cynical voice that says why the hell do I care about the politics of a country that doesn't exist? I don't even like to read about politics in the real world), but still it kept me thoroughly absorbed through a long day of travel. Four mystics--who have magical powers--are sent on a mission for their king to uncover the loyalties of regions far from the throne. They are accompanied by a couple of the King's Riders, elite soldiers. What they uncover is religious fanaticism leading to the persecution of mystics, sometimes quite ugly. Although the ending of this one is pretty satisfying, it clearly sets up the sequels, which I am looking forward to reading.
Vixen in Velvet by Loretta Chase. I'm a huge Loretta Chase fan, but that is mostly based on her earlier novels--Lord of Scoundrels and the Carsington Brothers series. Her recent novels, while still good compared to the average romance novel, have not been up to the high standard set by those earlier books. But I enjoyed this one--maybe not as much as those early ones, but it was plenty good enough. Leonie Noirot, the youngest of three sisters, is the one who runs the business side of their dressmaking shop. She falls in love with Simon Blair, the Marquess of Lisburne, and has to reconcile her dedication to her career with the limited scope that would be allowed the wife of a nobleman. The way he forces her to weigh out the pros and cons of marriage to him is one of the more charming scenes I've read in a romance in a long time. The basic relationship issue in each of the Noirot sisters books is exactly the same--how can you ask me to give up my career?--so if you read them right in a row, it would probably be pretty boring. But it's been awhile since I read the previous one, so it was OK.
Fiancée for Hire by Tawna Fenske. Fun, quick read about a veterinarian named Kelli who agrees to be the fake fiancée of her best friend's hunky older brother so that he can catch an international arms dealer. Really enjoyed this one, although the plotline about the arms deal got a little lost in the shuffle. I couldn't exactly figure out what happened at the end. That is a very brief description, but this might be the one I enjoyed the most out of this entire list.
We've been back for several days now, and the first two days I was so brain dead from jetlag that I let myself continue with my vacation reading, resulting in two more:
The Collector by Nora Roberts--a new one from Nora. I downloaded it from our library, and I'm so glad I didn't pay for it. It started out well, and I did finish it, but after awhile it just seemed like a re-hash of earlier books (mainly Chesapeake Blue and The Search, plus a few others thrown in for good measure). Plus there are several implausible plot twists and a couple of major too-stupid-to-live moments. The heroine has no spine, and the one time she finally stands up to the hero she's doing something so stupid you can hardly believe it. Also, there are several girly-girl moments that seriously annoyed me ("No girl can ignore her phone when it's ringing." Really? I do it all the time. "No girl can visit Florence without buying shoes." Sorry, I just did it ten days ago. etc.) Not recommended unless you're a die-hard NR fan--and if you are, you've probably already read it since it's been out for months now.
Duke of Midnight by Elizabeth Hoyt. Hoyt is another author I love because of her early books. Her new series, Maiden Lane, has not appealed to me (as I've said before). This one is Book 6, and while it has its problems, it's easily my favorite of the Maiden Lane books. It's the story of the romance between Artemis Greaves, a poor relation/lady's companion to her wealthy, gorgeous cousin Penelope, and Maximus Batten, the Duke of Wakefield. Maximus is determined to marry Penelope because she is the most suitable bride for a duke, but he can't ignore his attraction to Artemis. The plot gets overly complicated at various different points, and I never was quite clear on why he was so dead-set against marrying Artemis, but I enjoyed the scenes where it was just the two of them--especially the early ones. Artemis definitely has a spine. The Maiden Lane series revolves around the Ghost of St Giles, a batman-like character that fights crime in the slums of London. For some reason Hoyt has been unwilling to let this tired plotline drop, because there have been three different Ghosts so far in the series. But at the end of this one, there are signs that this part of the story might finally be over, so maybe the seventh book will be even better.
And that's it. Hope you are finding some fun things to read this summer!
1 comment:
It's just me, commenting on my own post. I hadn't read any reviews of The Collector when I wrote this, and I skimmed through a few of them yesterday. Several of them praised NR for writing such a strong female lead, which truly surprised me. That woman was a total wimp. Every time the male protagonist told her to do something, she did it. She might huff and puff a little, but she always caved in. He even told her "Be quiet" tersely, in front of his father, and she meekly shuts up. That would have been the end of that relationship for me. I might have held my tongue so as to not make a scene in front of his family, but I would have been right out the door afterwards. But she barely protests. Occasionally making some noise about how you disagree does not equal having a spine, standing up and doing what you want to do, or refusing to do what you don't want to do, *in spite of disagreement* is what equals a spine. Say NO and mean it. And then when she finally does something that she knows ahead of time the hero won't like, it's so stupidly unsafe that it just makes her look like an idiot with no impulse control. Jeeze, do you think this hit a button with me? I got seriously pissed off while reading all those reviews about what a strong person this woman was.I can't even remember her name. Lila. It was Lila. Hmmmm. I guess I need to think about why this makes me so angry. Maybe because I've had to work so hard to learn to have a spine myself.
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