Rosario's Reading Journal

The Rescue Man, by Anthony Quinn

2013-05-19T03:00:00.000+01:00

TITLE: The Rescue Man
AUTHOR: Anthony Quinn

COPYRIGHT: 2009
PAGES: 416
PUBLISHER: Vintage Books

SETTING: 1860s and 1940s Liverpool
TYPE: Fiction
SERIES: None

Rescue Man opens on the eve of the Second World War. With uncertainty in the air as the world seems on the brink of disaster, Liverpool is a city tense in anticipation of the coming conflict. Orphaned as a child and now approaching forty with no prospect of a family of his own, Tom Baines is a man emotionally adrift. Unable to commit to anything, either personal or professional, he is left looking in at life from the outside, with only his fascination for architecture to connect him.

The outbreak of war brings a new sense of purpose and unexpected relationships. Baines joins the Rescue Men, retrieving the wounded and dying from bombed buildings. Yet in wartime, ordinary rules are suspended, risks taken and Baines finds himself caught up in a love affair that is as heady and all-consuming as it is transgressive.

With writing that is both immediate and deeply steeped in its time, Anthony Quinn recreates wartime Liverpool with emotional intensity in this powerful story of love found and lost.

I picked this one up purely because I loved the idea of reading a book set in my city, on the streets I walk on every day. I wasn't particularly drawn to the storyline, as described in the blurb, but that turned out to be good as well.

The book opens in 1939, with Liverpool preparing itself for war. Tom Baines, an architectural historian, has been dithering over a commission from a publisher to make a record of the city's's architecture. The knowledge that the German bombers will be coming soon spurs him into activity, and rather than continue with his time-consuming drawings, he approaches a photographer. Well, two photographers, because the man he recruits to help him is married to a woman who's just as good with a camera, and they all become friends.

As the months go by, we follow Baines' and the city's fortunes. There's tragedy and destruction and forbidden romance. There's also history, because Baines is researching Peter Eames, an architect who was active in the 1860s and whose legacy Baines admires. Through his diaries, we get a glimpse of the city then, and of what the life of a young professional then might have been like.

A lot of my pleasure in reading this came from the author's clear love for Liverpool, and the fact that I share it. Even though the city's changed a lot since the 1940s (not to mention, the 1860s!), it's still recognisable, and it was wonderful to read the vivid descriptions and not just be able to picture the places in my head, but to be able to overlay them with what they look like now. Quinn not only brings alive the way the city would have looked, it feels distinctly like Liverpool still does today. I loved that element of it.

The Peter Eames sections were fascinating, even if sometimes it felt like Quinn was determined to shoehorn in every interesting bit of history he'd found, like when they all go to St. George's Hall to hear a lecture by Charles Dickens. It was a fun episode to read about, but didn't really have much bearing on the story. However, much as I liked these sections, I much, much prefered those set during the 2nd world war. Tom, due to his knowledge of architecture, becomes a 'rescue man', one of those tasked with going into collapsed buildings to rescue anyone still alive inside (the reasoning being, quite sensibly, that this sort of knowledge might help rescuers make judgements about things like just how likely it was that a particular building would collapse further). He is, therefore, not spending his nights in a bomb shelter but out and about, rushing towards the bombs.

When it comes to the Blitz, it seems people only talk about London, and completely forget that other cities, including Liverpool got hammered as well. The area where I work, for instance, is by the docks and was one of the most heavily bombed in the country. But even knowing about what happened at the time, it can be hard to really get that within living memory, this horror happened. The Rescue Man succeeded in making me feel at least a small portion of just how terrifying and horrendous it must have been.

I also found it quite fascinating to see the effect of the war and the bombings on people's behaviour. Tom is initially a serious, relatively conventional young man, but after the war starts, his attitudes gradually change. So do his relationships, including that with his photographer friends, and this forms the basis of the main story. It was a story I enjoyed well enough, but I have to say, set in a different city, it wouldn't have been nearly as successful.

MY GRADE: A B+.

Two paranormal DNFs

2013-05-17T03:00:00.000+01:00

TITLE: Prince of Power
AUTHOR: Elisabeth Staab

How annoying. I really, really wanted to like this. The first book, King of Darkness, was very promising. I enjoyed it, even though it had some issues, and the author spent a lot of pages setting up a story for the following book that I absolutely loved. I was intrigued by both Anton, the 'good' son of the evil wizard, who wants nothing to do with his family's fight against the vampires, and Tyra, the king's sister, whose role as a powerful warrior is not questioned by the male vampires. It was clear even then that she’s the warrior alpha in that relationship, and that he bloody loves it.

So I started full of hope, but it took me only a few chapters to grind almost to a halt. Turns out the plot was tedious and frustrating at the same time, and I had to force myself to keep reading. Basically, these people are incredibly stupid and sloppy about defending themselves, and that made me want to shake them. It's shoddy plotting, really. Staab needs Tyra to be taken by the wizard master, so she just engineers a situation in which this happens, even though this situation makes her characters come across as complete and utter idiots for not taking the basic precautions. I read about half of the book, and it took me several days, because I’d get annoyed and put it down and read something else. After a while, it became clear the annoying elements weren’t going to improve, and I just gave up.

Oh, and I had some issues with the writing, as well. For instance, Staab is writing from Thad’s POV and he thinks he’ll sit down on the microsuede overstuffed sofa, and looks at the egg-and-dart mouldings. Really, he would have thought in those terms?

MY GRADE: A DNF.

TITLE: The Darkest Day
AUTHOR: Britt Bury

This is set in a world where humans have become extinct. Paranormal creatures have taken over. The main characters' families have been at war forever, and the hero has sworn to kill the heir to the heroine's family. On meeting her, he realises that a) the heir is a heiress, and it's the heroine, and b) she's actually a human, the last pure human left alive in the whole world. So, discovering she's super-special, she decides not to kill her (for now), and they start the trek to his keep instead.

It sounded like it could be a fun read, and I even started it in the best of moods for it. But even in a very forgiving mood, there was a bit too much silliness, and most of all, the heroine annoyed me with her TSTL behaviour. We're talking old-skool foot-stomping, hair-tossing feistiness, putting herself in risky situations just because, etc. She knows all sorts of creatures will eat her in a heartbeat, the minute they smell her human blood, and yet she uses some of the tiny vial of liquid that hides her scent for all sorts of silly reasons? Die, you idiot. And the hero was a dense, caveman idiot as well.

Also, I knew it was reminiscent of Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series, but some of the world-building was a direct rip-off. I mean, the Ascencion is here under another name, the whacky witch who can see the future, etc.

MY GRADE: Another DNF.

The Beekeper's Apprentice, by Laurie R King

2013-05-15T03:00:00.000+01:00

TITLE: The Beekeper's Apprentice (or On The Segregation Of The Queen)
AUTHOR: Laurie R King

COPYRIGHT: 1994
PAGES: 384
PUBLISHER: Picador

SETTING: 1910s England (mostly)
TYPE: Mystery
SERIES: Starts the Russell and Holmes series

Long retired, Sherlock Holmes quietly pursues his study of honeybee behavior on the Sussex Downs. He never imagines he would encounter anyone whose intellect matched his own, much less an audacious teenage girl with a penchant for detection. Miss Mary Russell becomes Holmes' pupil and quickly hones her talent for deduction, disguises and danger. But when an elusive villain enters the picture, their partnership is put to a real test.

The start of The Beekeeper's Apprentice put me in mind of some of the later entries in Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody series. A tongue-in-cheek author's note describes how King came upon this manuscript, and scoffs at the idea that even such an imagination as hers could have come up with "the farfetched idea of Sherlock Holmes taking on a smart-mouthed, half-American, fifteen-year-old sidekick."

The smart-mouthed, half-American fifteen-year-old in question is Mary Russell. Mary's parents have died recently in America, and she's come to live with an aunt in the Sussex Downs. The aunt is mostly interested in the money that comes with Mary's large inheritance, so the girl spends most of her time wandering the Downs, her nose in a book. Her nose is in a book when she literally walks into Sherlock Holmes.

It's 1915 and Holmes has retired to the country, leaving behind the (somewhat exaggerated) exploits narrated in very popular books by his friend, Dr. Watson. He's sinking into depression, spending all his time on his beekeeping. All that changes the day when Mary Russell walks over him as he's lying on the ground, observing bees. Her brilliant deductions show him that she's in possession of a brain at least as good as his. Before he knows it, he's taken her under his wing and is teaching her all he knows.

Many years ago, I read and enjoyed A Letter of Mary, which is the third book in this series. Normally, I'd have gone straight to the beginning of the series, but when I found out Mary is 15 at the start of The Beekeeper's Apprentice, that really put me off. See, Mary and Holmes are a married couple in A Letter of Mary, so I knew there would be a romantic relationship. And even though I loved their relationship in that book and thought that, in spite of a really large age difference, there was a wonderful equality in it, the idea of a 15-year-old girl and a man in his 50s kind of skeeves me out.

Well, I needn't have worried. King develops the relationship between Russell and Holmes slowly and carefully, and over several years. Initially, it's a relationship with no sexual component whatever. You realise these two come to care for each other, but the romantic element comes late. Even better, I didn't get the feeling that Holmes was moulding Russell's mind, Pygmalion-style. He does teach her a lot, but doesn't change who she is. Even from the start, their relationship felt more like one between partners than one between student and teacher. So, I'm happy to say, no creepiness there at all.

Something else that might have been a pitfall is that King, obviously, is taking someone else's character and continuing the story. As someone who has read and enjoyed all the original stories, I was curious to see whether I'd recognise her Sherlock Holmes as the same man Conan Doyle created. I haven't had the best of experiences with tricks like that (see Jill Paton Walsh's A Presumption of Death). And again, King cleared the hurdle with room to spare. This was Sherlock Holmes. In fact (dare I say it?) it was a Sherlock Holmes who was the same man, but with even more depths. Watson was also Watson with depth, and the same goes for Mrs. Hudson.

And as for Mary Russell, she is a wonderful creation. She's a highly intelligent and logical, almost cold young woman. I loved it that King didn't feel she had to soften her or make her behave in irrational ways to make her more acceptable as a heroine. It's made very clear that Russell has feelings and cares about (some) people, but she does so in her own way, without sentiment of mawkishness. The exact thing can be said about Holmes, and I found myself convinced they were soulmates. It's a relationship that's about the meeting of two like minds, and though the bodies they're in are attracted to each other, that's not as important.

The structure of the plot is quite interesting. At first, it sort of echoes how most of Sherlock Holmes' appearances take place in short stories. Mary learns the detective trade through different unconnected cases. At least, it seems that they're all unconnected to anything. But then a villain shows up who clearly has an axe to grind against Holmes, and some of that might have to be reconsidered. All these are interesting cases, peopled by interesting characters, and provide opportunities for some of those excellent, satisfying deductions one associates with a Sherlock Holmes mystery.

I also thought the writing was excellent. I started listening to this one after the hugely unsatisfying and frustrating The Silent Touch of Shadows. I'd been forcing myself to keep listening, until I got pissed off and just deleted it. And then I started The Beekeeper's Apprentice and felt the difference immediately. King is an elegant writer, and an author who trusts her readers' intelligence, and therefore doesn't feel the need to spell everything out. You have to pay attention, but it's most definitely worth it.

MY GRADE: It was an A-.

The Italian, by Lisa Marie Rice

2013-05-13T03:00:00.000+01:00

TITLE: The Italian
AUTHOR: Lisa Marie Rice

COPYRIGHT: 2012
PAGES: 105 (according to amazon, I’d guess it’s more like 150)
PUBLISHER: Ellora's Cave

SETTING: Contemporary Italy (Sicily)
TYPE: Romance
SERIES: None

Jamie McIntyre is on a working vacation in Palermo, Sicily, soaking up the sunshine and the art, trying to contact a former law student of her grandfather’s. She’s thinking “nerd in a suit”. But Judge Stefano Leone is as far from a boring suit as possible. He’s also the toughest, sexiest man she’s ever met, in bed and out. There’s no resisting his commanding presence—or his beautiful body. Jaime quickly falls under his mesmerizing spell.

Until she’s forced to make an impossible choice.

Stefano Leone is closing in on one of the most dangerous mobsters on earth. He’s surrounded by armed men, his life under constant threat. He’s not had time for sex in years, let alone love. The beautiful American woman, however, slips right under his guard and into his bed…and his heart. But does she truly want Stefano? Or has she been sent to seduce him—or worse?

When I saw that LMR was releasing a new book with Ellora's Cave, I was very excited. My favourites of hers (and the ones I've reread over and over) are those early EC books, such as Woman On The Run and Midnight Angel. Unfortunately, it wasn't back to the same level.

The story takes place in Sicily, where designer Jamie McIntyre is spending some time researching/seeking inspiration for a project. While there, her beloved grandfather has asked her to look up one of his favourite former law students, an Italian lawyer who's now become a judge.

Jamie's not expecting this to require more than a phone call and dropping off the present her grandfather has asked her to deliver, but it turns out getting to Stefano Leone is ridiculously hard. That's because Stefano has been brought in to Sicily to bring down a particularly dangerous mafioso, and this requires him to be under armed guard 24/7. He's had no personal or sex life for years, done nothing but work his socks off to bring down his quarry.

When Jamie does manage to get through, the result is explosive. Stefano is the most attractive, magnetic man she's ever met, and he seems to think the same thing about her. He knows he should stay away from her and give his enemy a way in, but he can't seem to do it.

This has the bones of what could have been a really satisfying, amazing story, but it just wasn't developed enough. As it is now, it’s love (or lust, that immediately turns into love) at first sight, and not particularly sucessful, because I never got a sense that they got to know each other. We're supposed to believe they recognise and instictively know each other, but I didn't completely buy it. Most of their time is spent having sex, and they barely talk. It's excellent sex (I've turned into a bit of a sex scene skimmer, so I was very impressed that LMR actually made me read every single word of sex scenes which took place when there really wasn’t yet a relationship there), and I was actually interested in the relationship as well, but it could have been much better with more room to develop.

I was also quite disappointed with the mafia subplot. I actually think LMR’s suspense subplots tend to be above average, a bit different from the usual, and usually really well done. This one, not so much. The setup is fine, but the big resolution at the end was beyond stupid. We’ve got villains who don’t seem to be aware that you can contact someone other than by phone (do they never text, these idiots?), and someone who would totally delegate a job doing it himself in a very unbelievable way. Idiotic.

On a more positive note, I loved the setting. It's very vivid and lovingly rendered, and I loved that it was populated by believable, regular people. This is no Harlequin Presents vision of Italy, it's much more down-to-earth and clearly done by someone who knows what it's like to live there. The role of judges, for instance, is completely different to that in English-speaking countries, and Rice, as far as I can tell, gets it right (my own country's system is inspired in the Italian). Also, I've always wanted to visit Sicily, and in spite of the mafia element to the story, reading this made me even keener to do it soon.

MY GRADE: A B-, mainly because in spite of my issues with it, it was compulsively readable.

PS - This is nothing to do with the story itself, but why on earth do Ellora’s Cave books always have such rank covers (see a bigger version here). I tend to be pretty forgiving, but there's something about the combination of colours and images here that makes me recoil in disgust. Fluorescent pink and black, the eyes at the top making it look like a cubist painting gone bad, and then there's that ugly, cheap-looking bra front and centre. Ugh.

In Pale Battalions, by Robert Goddard

2013-05-11T03:00:00.000+01:00

TITLE: In Pale Battalions
AUTHOR: Robert Goddard

COPYRIGHT: 1988
PAGES: 400
PUBLISHER: Corgi

SETTING: Various points in 20th century England
TYPE: Fiction
SERIES: None

Six months after her husband's sudden death, Leonora Galloway sets off for a holiday in Paris with her daughter Penelope. At last the time has come when secrets can be shared and explanations begin...

Their journey starts with an unscheduled stop at the imposing Thiepval Memorial to the dead of the Battle of the Somme near Amiens. Amongst those commemorated is Leonora's father. The date of his death is recorded and 30th April, 1916. But Leonora wasn't born until 14th March 1917.

Penelope at once supposes a simple wartime illegitimacy as the clue to her mother's unhappy childhood and the family's sundered connections with her aristocratic heritage, about which she has always known so little.

But nothing could have prepared her, or the reader, for the extraordinary story that is about to unfold.

In Pale Battalions starts with two women, mother and daughter, visiting a 1st World War grave in northern France. The mother, Leonora, points out the date on her own father's gravestone. It indicates he couldn't actually have been her father. And so the story begins, starting with the story of Leonora's life, growing up with her villainous step-grandmother, who makes the girl's doubtful parentage clear and her life hell. It's clear to Leonora that there's some sort of mystery surrounding the circumstances of her birth, but it's only years later that an old soldier friend of her father's approaches her and tells her the whole story about what happened at Meongate, the family pile, around the time when Leonora was born.

It's a complex, melodramatic story, full of twists and turns, but I had too many issues with it to really enjoy it. My main issue, I think, was that the type of plot it was: one of my least favourites. It felt like a steamy, seamy soap opera/family saga, Dynasty on steroids, full of villainous characters who are evil purely because they're evil (the grandmother, Olivia, I found particularly unbelievable). The characters are all either horrendous or weak and rather stupid, and I found it very hard to give a fig about them and their fates.

Most of the book is told in flashback, as Leonora tells her daughter her story, which, in a sort of nested fashion, includes a long section in the middle narrated by her father's friend, Tom Franklin. Tom is the person who reveals the dramatic events that went on in Meongate in 1916, and the first to tell Leonora about her mother, who'd been dismissed by evil Olivia as a whore.

Tom is, to put it mildly, quite the piece of work. The problem is that I think he's meant to come across as a nice guy who stumbles upon a fraught situation and feels a responsibility to help his old friend's wife. Instead, I'm afraid he came across as a Nice Guy™. His reaction to Leonora's mother (also called Leonora) when she's basically screaming for help is classic. Instead of actually helping, even though he knows the guy who's clearly threatening her must have something on her, and is obviously coercing her into something, the horrible waste of space just mopes about how treacherous she is and how she had the chance to be with a nice guy like him but instead she's chosen to become involved with this awful man. Argh!! I just could NOT forgive that for the rest of the book, and hoped he'd die. He's also incredibly STUPID. If you've read this, I'm talking, for instance, about Cheriton's letter. Oh, for fuck's sake! He fucking knows Olivia is evil, and still hands her the letter! And then acts all surprised at her actions! And Leonora I wanted to shake and slap, as well. Just actually speak, woman, instead of playing games, hoping that someone will follow all your clues, reach all the right conclusions and do what you want them to do. If you've read this, I'm talking about her stunt with the telescope. Gah!

Guess you can tell the characters annoyed me? They annoyed me so much that what could have been quite a satisfying mystery, with lots of twists and turns, and big final revelations, didn't get much of a reaction. Plus, I could pretty much see most of the twists coming.

I also had issues with the way the story was told, supposedly as Leonora speaking to her daughter, and then Tom Franklin speaking to Leonora. It was a device that often felt unbelievable, as several times the narrator would tell the person listening details that I found very difficult to believe they would tell (mainly when speaking of issues with sexual content). Would Franklin really have told Leonora, whom he'd never meant before, exactly how a certain woman´s breast felt like when he cupped it? Really? Seriously!

So, not a huge success, I'm afraid. Just not my cup of tea. On the other hand, I reckon my mother would love it, so I've sent it on to her!

MY GRADE: A C-.

Angels of Darkness anthology

2013-05-09T03:00:00.000+01:00

TITLE: Angels of Darkness
AUTHORS: Nalini Singh, Ilona Andrews, Sharon Shinn & Meljean Brook

COPYRIGHT: 2011
PAGES: 406
PUBLISHER: Berkley

SETTINGS: Vary
TYPE: Paranormal romance, fantasy romance, urban fantasy
SERIES: All are part of different series, see review for details

Tales of alpha angels...from four alpha authors.

They soar through the night, unearthly creatures of legends and lore. Four masters of urban fantasy and paranormal romance explore the rapture of the heavens above, and the darkness below in four all-new stories of angels and guardians, and good and evil.

I'm not a big anthology fan, and often end up reading just the one story in them. This one, however, had 3 authors I love in it.

Angel's Wolf by Nalini Singh

In the spellbinding universe of the Guild Hunters, a vampire becomes obsessed with the seductive angel who rules the Louisiana territory. But in her court, all is not what it appears to be.

Singh is one of the authors I love, but mainly for her Psy/Changeling books. This short story is part of her Guild Hunters series, which I stopped reading after the first two. It's a good series, but a bit too Urban Fantasy for me.

Angel's Wolf, however, is very much romance. The plot is a bit of a whodunnit, rather than revolving around angel politics and turf wars, and the brutality and violence are toned down. Noah is an vampire who's still mentally recovering from a horrendous attack. He's sent by the archangel Raphael to help out Nimra, the angel who holds part of Raphael's territory. Someone's tried to murder Nimra, and Noah is to do some discreet digging.

I've got somewhat mixed feelings about this one. On one hand, it's a sweet romance, the mystery plot is interesting and the world-building is spare but well-integrated. On the other, Nimra is a bit too... nice. It feels weird, considering how successful Singh was in earlier books in making Raphael convicing as a creature who's thousands of years old and immensely powerful. You could describe Nimra in just that way, and yet she comes across as a perfectly human and nice girl. I did like that Noah doesn't feel any need to assert dominance over her, just to hold his own, but I can't but feel she wasn't allowed to be too scary because she's a female angel, and that wouldn't have been acceptable.

MY GRADE: A B-.

Alphas: Origins by Ilona Andrews

A woman is kidnapped into a world divided by a superhuman civil war. As the captive of an irresistibly dangerous male, she has two choices: submit and become a pawn, or take hold of her own destiny.

I tried to read this one, but my main reaction was 'blergh!'. I've read Andrews before (Magic Bites) and my reaction was similar. I could see how clever the book was and how technically well done, but it sort of turned my stomach and didn't interest me. Considering that, I stopped after about 20 pages.

MY GRADE: It was a DNF.

Nocturne by Sharon Shinn

Accepting a position in a secluded and whispered-about mansion, a woman soon discovers the source of its mystery: the blind, tormented angel who lives there, and whose secrets could now destroy them both.

I adore Shinn's Samaria series, and this short story, while not up to the level of the full-length books, was good.

Moriah is a human woman who's taken refuge at a secluded and isolated school for young offenders. We understand from the beginning that she has some reason to avoid angels, but when she realises that the 'ghost' in one of the nearby service building is a blind angel, she can't resist approaching him.

This is a story with no real external plot, just about Moriah basically pushing and prodding the angel, Corban, into not just giving up on life, and realising there's still a lot he can do. They fall in love, too, but I found that aspect a lot less compelling than the story of Corban moving beyond self-pity, and his crisis of faith because of the circumstances that blinded him, and of Moriah realising she, too, can come back to real life.

MY GRADE: A B.

Ascension by Meljean Brook

When vampires disappear from a community he's protecting, a world-weary Guardian doesn't know what evil he's hunting, but he'd rather hunt alone than accept help from his ex-lover and fellow Guardian, Radha. But Radha refuses to leave him, because she's determined not just to help him save the community...but to save him.

I've been doing a reread of the entire Guardians series before Michael's book, but this is one I managed to miss, so it was actually a first-time read. Reading it so soon after the other books, I had them very present in my mind: Radha, the Guardian who dyes her skin blue and Marc, the loner who takes care of the US Midwest.

Of course, there's much more to them than we'd previously seen. It turns out that not long after becoming a Guardian, Marc became friends with Radha, and after a while, they became lovers. He, however, had his heart set on becoming this celibate warrior, and that didn't end well. For over a century they have avoided each other (in fact, Marc has avoided all the other Guardians for some time).

And then, during the events in Demon Marked, Radha realises Marc is not just a loner, he's lonely. As this story starts, she shows up in his area, purportedly to help him investigate who's been killing vampires in a small town, but really to check on him.

This story worked for me on every level. Often when characters have been apart for such a long time I get a sort of bitter feeling, a sense of what a waste it was that they didn't sort things out earlier. But with Radha and Marc, that wasn't the case. It didn't feel like a misunderstanding that could have just been sorted by a nice chat, it was more a matter of Marc having to do a bit of growing up and changing of his own, before they were right for each other. As a romance, it's very satisfying.

And then there's the mystery of what's happening to the vampires, which is suprisingly surprising. I thought as I was reading it that it wasn't meant to be anything special, just a little McGuffin-type thing to have Marc and Radha do while they fell in love. It wasn't, it was interesting and fun in its own right, and the resolution was very, very cool.

I also loved the tlimpses of what it was like when there were so many more Guardians, and how it wasn't all lovey-dovey all the time. Just imagine, there was such a thing as falling in with a bad Guardian crowd!

MY GRADE: A strong B+.

A strong enough anthology. Rather than a simple average across grades, I think it's more a B overall.

Something Like Normal, by Trish Doller

2013-05-07T03:00:00.000+01:00

TITLE: Something Like Normal
AUTHOR: Trish Doller

COPYRIGHT: 2012
PAGES: 225
PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury

SETTING: Contemporary US
TYPE: New Adult romance
SERIES: None

When Travis returns home from a stint in Afghanistan, his parents are splitting up, his brother’s stolen his girlfriend and his car, and he’s haunted by nightmares of his best friend’s death. It’s not until Travis runs into Harper, a girl he’s had a rocky relationship with since middle school, that life actually starts looking up. And as he and Harper see more of each other, he begins to pick his way through the minefield of family problems and post-traumatic stress to the possibility of a life that might resemble normal again. Travis’s dry sense of humor, and incredible sense of honor, make him an irresistible and eminently lovable hero.

This is one of the New Adult books everyone seems to like, so I had high hopes for it. It's entirely narrated from the point of view of Travis, a 19-year-old soldier who's serving in Afghanistan. As the book starts, he's on leave and staying at his parents' house, and almost wishing he was back in Afghanistan. His father is a complete prick, his mother excuses him, and his ex-girlfriend is now his brother's girlfriend (which doesn't keep her from climbing into Travis' bed at every opportunity). Not to mention the fact that, after some very traumatic experiences in the last year, he's finding it impossible to just slot back into his old life, as everyone expects him to just do.

I suspect the only reason I didn’t absolutely love this was that I approached this as a romance novel. There is a romance, and the book does focus on it, so it’s not that I didn’t get a romance novel. It’s that the romance I got did not appeal to me at all.

The romance has Travis reconnecting with Harper, a girl whom his thoughtless actions as an arsehole 14-year-old harmed quite terribly. He pretty much can't stand to be with anyone else, but being with Harper calms something in him, and before long, they're involved. I could see what he saw in her, but I just couldn't understand why she'd want anything to do with him.

For starters, there's the infidelity, which is a bit of a hot button for me. As I mentioned earlier, Travis' ex, Paige, keeps sneaking into his bed and he doesn't throw her out. Some of these episodes happen when he's already pursuing Harper. It felt very sordid. Travis just gives in whenever Paige decides she wants to have sex with him. There’s no thought there, although he feels afterwards that he shouldn’t have done it. It’s an “it didn’t mean anything” kind of deal, and when he tells Harper about it, she forgives him pretty easily, with no explanation at all, not even a need for him to explain why he’d done it, nothing.

She really does forgive MUCH too much. The infidelity is bad enough, but the history between them is horrendous. They kissed when they were 14, and he embellished the story a bit when he told his friends (said he felt her up, that sort of thing). Fine, he was 14. But then the story got exaggerated more and more (it’s implied Paige was behind it, so clearly, she was this vicious slag even at 14), and people are soon saying Harper fucked everyone in the party, and she gets this really awful reputation, and Travis says nothing. Yes, he’s 14, but this does have a severe effect on Harper. I mean, they’re 19 in this book, and Harper says she still gets grabbed by random guys because of it, and has never had a boyfriend. She needed to make Travis suffer before she even looked at him. It really annoyed me that the message seems to be that because he’s a soldier, then he’s automatically forgiven all this.

There were other things that bothered me. Women Travis’ age are either Harper or all sluts. Nice sluts, like Amber or Lacey (Harper’s friends) or evil sluts, like Paige, but sluts, all the same. Argh!

I did like some things about the book, though. As a story of a young man coming back from war, mourning a friend and feeling completely out of place in his old life, it’s really good. Without any psychobabble, Doller shows how his experiences of war have shaped Travis and the difficulties in having changed so much when those left behind haven't. The family drama was also good. Just not the romance. I think if the focus had been on Travis, and not so much on his relationship with Harper, this would have worked much better for me.

MY GRADE: A C+.

The Next Always, by Nora Roberts

2013-05-05T03:00:00.000+01:00

TITLE: The Next Always
AUTHOR: Nora Roberts

COPYRIGHT: 2011
PAGES: 352
PUBLISHER: Berkley trade

SETTING: Contemporary US
TYPE: Romance
SERIES: Starts the Inn BoonsBoro trilogy

The historic hotel in BoonsBoro, Maryland, has endured war and peace, changing hands, even rumored hauntings. Now it's getting a major facelift from the Montgomery brothers and their eccentric mother. As the architect of the family, Beckett's social life consists mostly of talking shop over pizza and beer. But there's another project he's got his eye on: the girl he's been waiting to kiss since he was fifteen...

Roberts' latest trilogy, called Inn BoonsBoro, is centred around 3 brothers who are refurbishing a run-down former inn and turning into a literary-themed luxury B&B. This first entry focuses on Beckett Montgomery, the easygoing, cheerful brother, and Clare, the owner of the town's independent bookstore. Beckett has always had a big crush on Clare, ever since they were teens. Unfortunately for him, Clare fell in love young and married her high-school boyfriend. They moved away when he joined the military, but a few years (and three kids) later, Clare was widowed and decided to return home. Beckett has been cautiously circling her ever since then, waiting for the right time to do something about it.

This is a series that has received very lukewarm reviews, with several people whose opinions I respect even characterising it as plotless 'house porn'. Understandably, then, I wasn't particularly excited to read it. In the end, I picked it up mainly motivated by the same type of inertia that keeps me reading JAK's books.

And at first, I thought it was exactly what I was expecting. There was A LOT of detail on the inn's renovation, and though it did sound gorgeous, it got old very quickly. All the inn stuff completely overshadowed the romance, too. Not that the romance was, at first, much to call home about. It was a boring one, as it felt like there was no tension at all, no conflict or obstacles.

And then, sneakily, the romance started to grow on me. Beckett and Clare became fun, and Clare, especially, started to behave in ways I wasn't expecting. She felt a bit wet at the beginning, and I thought she was going to be all reluctant about getting involved with someone else, because she didn't want to risk being hurt again / betray her dead husband / introduce her kids to someone new, just in case (take your pick. I've read all sorts of combinations of these in romance novels with widowed heroines). She wasn't. While she clearly loved her late husband deeply, and she was a great mother and devoted to the boys, she didn't have any such hangups, and went for what she wanted. It was refreshing. I really liked her and Beckett together.

Their relationship is not just about the romance, but about Beckett and Clare's three little ones. I'll be honest: Clare’s life would be hell on earth for me. I read about the little day-to-day details; getting three rambunctious boys ready for school every single morning, knowing that dates might well be cut short if anything happens to any of the children, etc., etc., and shivered. But she clearly loves it, and so does Beckett, so reading about him carving a place in this routine, creating a relationship with the kids as well as with Clare, was lovely. It was also very funny and sweet. It's weird; I could go all awww and melt a little inside at things like the scene where Beckett and the boys have a Men’s Night, even while knowing it's not a life that would suit me.

I've said it before about NR's trilogies, but to me, they feel like a long book where the focus shifts from one couple to the other in each third. Clare and Beckett are clearly the main characters here, but their relationships with others (including the protagonists of the two upcoming books) are big parts of the story. I liked the relationship between the 3 female friends (Clare, Avery, who runs the pizza place across the street, and Hope, who moves to town to take over the running of the Inn). Roberts does female friendship well. They are supportive and good for each other, but not some sort of idealised perfection. And the Mongomery brothers feel like real brothers, although I did think it was interesting that there is no element of order of birth in the brothers’ relationship. In fact, I’m not sure which of the 3 is the oldest. I find that refreshing. Authors too often rely on this as a sort of shorthand -he’s like this because he’s the oldest, etc., when that’s not always necessarily the case (as my younger sister well knows!).

Another thing that Roberts' trilogies have in common is that there is always some kind of overarching storyline. Here it's partly the inn's renovation (which I admit is over-the-top detailed, but as I wasn't listening to the audiobook, it was easy enough to skim), but also the existence of a ghost who lives in it and who wants something. It's not the most exciting storyline ever (the ghost's pretty harmless, and there's no real tension -they’ve all accepted that there’s a ghost), but I'm interested in finding out more.

So, all in all, a surprisingly satisfying book, very much a comfort read.

MY GRADE: A B.

A couple of DNFs

2013-05-03T03:00:00.000+01:00

TITLE: The Silent Touch of Shadows
AUTHOR: Christina Courtenay

The plot of this one made me think of the wonderful Mariana, by Susanna Kearsley, so I picked it up even though I'd never heard of the author before. The heroine, Melissa, is invited to visit her estranged aunt at the ancestral family home. As soon as she arrives, she begins to have visions about a mysterious knight, for whom she feels a strange attraction. Then she meets a young vet in town, and faints at his feet, because he's so similar to her dream man. And it turns out he's been dreaming about a woman with an eerie similarity to Melissa, as well.

I liked the idea of it, but I couldn't stand listening to it. Mainly, I found both Melissa and Sibell (her 15th century ancestress, whose story we also get) exasperating. They were both very limp and annoying, and the audio didn't help. Their internal thoughts often sounded a bit hysterical. Part of that might have been the reader (a couple of times I tried saying some of the dialogue in my mind in another tone to see if it would sound any more logical, and it did), but there were some definite issues with the characters. And it wasn't just Melissa and Sibell, several other characters behaved in unbelievable, cartoonish ways, like Melissa's aunt and husband.

I was really struggling, even with the audiobook, so I gave up.

MY GRADE: A DNF.

AUDIOBOOK NOTE: As I mentioned, not great. It was this version, narrated by Jilly Bond.

TITLE: For The Love of a Soldier
AUTHOR: Victoria Morgan

Lady Alexandra Langdon, a well-born but impoverished young woman, desperately needs money. To get it, she decides to dress up as a man and gamble. But things don't work as planned, when notorious war hero Garrett Sinclair, the Earl of Kendall joins the table and wins all of Alex's money. Kendall is not one to ruin a young man, though, and seeing Alex blanch, he returns her money. Which is why, when she later accidentally overhears two men plotting to kill him, she feels obliged to warn him.

I just didn't connect with the writing, and the lack of logic in Kendall's actions annoyed me. Instead of being grateful to Alex, he's suspicious and accusatory. Even after realising he is a respectable she, that she has got injured basically saving his life, and that she's in a very vulnerable economic situation, he's all smarmy innuendo and aggressively tries to get her to bed even though she has said she does not want it. I did not like this man, and the writing didn't inspire me to spend any more time with him.

MY GRADE: A DNF.

April 2013 reads

2013-05-01T03:00:00.000+01:00

Some excellent books, including amongst the ones I’m still reading.

1 - The Beekeper's Apprentice, by Laurie R King: A-
review coming soon

Audiobook. Starts a series starring Sherlock Holmes after his retirement, when he acquires a partner, Mary Russell. Mary is a wonderful narrator, reminded me a bit of Harriet Vane, from the Wimsey series.

2 - Demon Marked, by Meljean Brook: A-
original review here

Last full-length book before Michael’s! It does an excellent job of setting up the finale of the series, but the romance is also fantastic. It’s a sort of enemies to lovers deal (well, with the enmity only being felt by the hero), and the slow build of the relationship, the change from distrust to belief, is fantastic.

3 - Angels of Darkness, by Nalini Singh, Ilona Andrews, Sharon Shinn and Meljean Brook: B
review coming soon

I’m not a big anthology fan and would normally have just read the Meljean Brook story (really good, BTW), but I like Shinn and Nalini Singh, so I read theirs as well. They’re not their best, but good enough. I tried Ilona Andrews’, but it’s not really my thing.

4 - The Last Boyfriend, by Nora Roberts: B-
review coming soon

2nd in this series, centred round the redevelopment of a B&B. The hero is the organised, dependable brother, the heroine is the owner of the pizza place across the road. Nice, but I found it hard to get excited about it, especially the heroine, for some reason.

5 - Jamrach's Menagerie, by Carol Birch: B-
review coming soon

Part Oliver Twist, part Moby Dick, part Alive. It's one of those where I see the good things about it, and I even enjoyed bits, but it was really not my cup of tea. I just didn't care what happened for most of the book.

6 - Take What You Want, by Jeanette Grey: B-
review coming soon

New Adult. Heroine wants a one-night-stand and picks up a guy who happens to be in her class, but whom she doesn't recognise. Turns out he's had a crush on her for ages. I liked it; it was sweet, but the conflict felt a bit contrived and like it should be really easily fixed.

7 - Rush Me, by Allison Parr: B-
review coming soon

Another New Adult. Intellectual, snobby heroine becomes involved with sports star. It had its moments, and I did enjoy much of it, but I can't say I believe in the relationship completely.

8 - Too Hot To Touch, by Louisa Edwards: C
review coming soon

Fun plot (characters are competing in a sort of cooking contest), and even good family drama, but the romance was a bust. Nothing offensive, or anything, I just didn't see the connection at all and the first half seemed to be all sex, which is boring when I don’t care about the characters.

9 - The Silent Touch of Shadows, by Christina Courtenay: DNF
review coming soon

Audiobook. Picked it up because the plot reminded me of Susanna Kearsley's Mariana, but it didn't work at all. I found the main character exasperating.

10 - The Darkest Day, by Britt Bury: DNF
review coming soon

Paranormal romance, the main characters' families have been at war forever, he arrives to kill her but discovers she's super-special and drags her to his keep instead. A bit too much silliness, and the heroine annoyed me with her TSTL behaviour.

11 - Beauty Dates The Beast, by Jessica Sims: DNF
review coming soon

The heroine is a regular human who works for a dating agency for supernaturals, and attracts the attention of a sexy cougar-shifter. It just wasn’t my thing. I didn’t click with the voice, and the characters annoyed me. I read almost half of this, but it took me over a week, and I couldn’t be bothered to continue.

12 - Life After Life, by Kate Atkinson: still reading
review coming soon

Audiobook. I’m almost done with this, and if I suspect that if I’d finished it, it would be my top book of the month. We follow Ursula Todd’s lives, as when she dies, she starts again, and something in her tries to avoid her previous fate. Mindblowing. I’m about ¾ done and so far it’s amazing.

13 - Dream Eyes, by Jayne Ann Krentz: still reading
review coming soon

Audiobook. Paranormal weapons and research, yadda yadda. Very ho-hum so far.

14 - Whiskey Beach, by Nora Roberts: still reading
review coming soon

This one I’ve only started. The hero has had a nightmare being the main suspect in the murder of his soon-to-be ex wife, and has come to the family pile to lick his wounds. The heroine is this yoga instructor / masseuse / general all-around nurturer who, so far, keeps butting into his life trying to help him heal. We’ll see.

May 2013 wish list

2013-04-30T03:00:00.000+01:00

Only 1 book on my 'definitely get' list, but a fair few which sound like they could be good.

Books I'm definitely planning to get

A Prior Engagement, by Karina Bliss (May 7)

Bliss is still one of my few autobuy authors in category romance, and I like the sound of the plot. It’s always good when an author takes a ridiculous plot (like amnesia) and tries to do something different with it.

Books that interest me and I'll keep an eye on

Undeclared, by Jen Frederick (May 1)

The author describes it at DA’s open thread for authors as “New Adult book featuring a Marine and his pen-pal of four years”, which sparked my interest.

Where It May Lead, by Janice Kay Johnson (May 7)

I haven't read Johnson before, and this one could be a good place to start. The plot certainly interests me, but I suspect it will probably sink or swim on how understandable the heroine's actions are.

Thinking of You, by Jill Mansell (May 7)

Sounds cute, and I really liked the one Mansell I read.

Heart of Iron, by Bec McMaster (May 7)

This is part of a steampunk series. Much as I love the steampunk element in Meljean Brook´s Iron Seas series, I haven’t read more in the genre, and I really should. I've heard great things about the first one, Kiss of Steel, so I probably start with that one, though.

Feel The Heat, by Kate Meader (May 7)

This is a début author, I think. Even though the previous ‘chef’ books I've read haven’t really worked for me, I can’t help but keep trying!

Keeping The Moon, by Sarah Dessen (May 11)

I've been meaning to try Dessen for a while, and this apparently has a protagonist who is adjusting to losing a lot of weight, which is something I went through at that age.

Like This, For Ever, by SJ Bolton (May 28)

I read and enjoyed the first one in this series (even though it was on the borderline of being too graphic), and it's one I mean to keep up with.

Exposed, by Laura Griffin (May 28)

The heroine is a forensic photographer, which I don’t think I've seen before. Griffin hasn't been a complete success for me before, but I'll keep trying her every now and then.

Once upon a Tower, by Eloisa James (May 28)

This is one of James’ fairy tale retellings, this time with a ‘princess in the tower’ theme. I'm not quite sure what’s going on from the blurb, but I’ll give it a shot.

Any Duchess Will Do, by Tessa Dare (May 28)

Hmm... I’m not sure about this one. There seems to be this sort of Pygmalion theme to it, Duke and serving girl, but Dare has been able to make me enjoy really unbelievable stuff before, so...

Got Game?, by Stephanie Doyle

2013-04-28T03:00:00.000+01:00

TITLE: Got Game?
AUTHOR: Stephanie Doyle

COPYRIGHT: 2011
PAGES: 317
PUBLISHER: Self-published

SETTING: Contemporary
TYPE: Romance
SERIES: None

Oh, Yeah. Game On!

The world of professional golf is rocked when the new ranking system allows Reilly Carr - the country’s best female player--to compete with the big boys. Now everyone wants to know if she will or won't play in golf's premier event…The American.

But her tough choices are complicated further when Luke Nolan - her on again, off again lover - suddenly decides now is the time to turn their friends-with-benefits set up into a real relationship!

If she's going to make the cut she'll need to battle her game, the press and most of all her heart. The stakes have never been higher.

I'm not the biggest golf fan, but the idea of it being the heroine who was the superstar athlete, rather than the hero, drew me in.

Reilly Carr has been the best player on the women's golf circuit for a quite a while. She's so good that she's miles ahead of the competition; so much so that things have started to feel a bit boring for her. And then a new ranking system is introduced, and it turns out that Reilly's new rank automatically qualifies her to play in the top tournament, where obviously, no woman has ever played.

Whether to take that chance is a difficult decision. Will she make a fool of herself, given that basic physiology means that even the strongest female player can never hit the ball as far as the best male players? Will it ruin the rest of her career in the women's circuit, if they feel that Reilly doesn't think that circuit is good enough for her?

After some soul-searching, Reilly decides to take the chance (no spoiler, it's pretty obvious, really!). It will require her to train her ass off, but she's ready for it. However, she didn't count on the complications. First, there's Luke Nolan, a former golfer himself, with whom she's been having a sort of fuck-buddy relationship. Luke has suddenly decided he wants more. And Reilly seems to have acquired a stalker, who really isn't happy about her recent choices and wants her to know it.

There was some really good stuff here. Reilly is definitely not your typical romance heroine. She's supposed to be an elite, extremely succesful athlete, and she acts like it. She's confident to the point of arrogance, a bit jockish and very, very driven. Her personal life has been pretty eventful, as well. She's been married and divorced twice, and has an additional broken engagement. And it's not a problem. Doyle allows her to be like that and still be a romance heroine.

I also really liked the golf stuff. I was really interested in the preparation and what steps Reilly took to improve her game, and the actual playing scenes were tense and exciting. I loved that Doyle was able to give us a happy ending in that area that didn't feel unrealistic.

I did, however, like the golf more than the romance. The latter was a bit boring, mainly because there was no real tension. The problem was that there were no real obstacles to keep these two apart. Luke decides to be very devious and play games with Reilly, but I never really understood why he found it necessary, instead of just being straighforward.

I wasn't crazy about the suspense subplot, either. It felt like a very standard, typical stalker plot, and it was too easy to guess the culprit.

This is a self-published work, so I should mention that it was ok on the writing end. No excessive typos/garbled phrasing or anything like that. The story did feel a bit bloated round the middle, though, a bit too long and in need of a bit of judicious editing and trimming. It says 317 pages on the kindle page at amazon, but it felt much longer (I’ve tried to check the number of words, but I can't find the information). Still, I've seen plenty of professionally edited books with sagging middles, so I won't automatically conclude that the fact that it was self-pubbed was the issue.

MY GRADE: A B-.

Don't Bite The Messenger, by Regan Summers

2013-04-26T03:00:00.000+01:00

TITLE: Don't Bite The Messenger
AUTHOR: Regan Summers

COPYRIGHT: 2012
PAGES: 91
PUBLISHER: Carina Press

SETTING: Alt version of contemporary Alaska
TYPE: Urban fantasy
SERIES: Prequel novella

Anchorage, Alaska

The vampire population may have created an economic boom in Alaska, but their altered energy field fries most technology. They rely on hard-living—and short-lived—couriers to get business done...couriers like Sydney Kildare.

Sydney has survived to the ripe old age of twenty-six by being careful. She's careful when navigating her tempestuous clients, outrunning hijackers and avoiding anyone who might distract her from her plan of retiring young to a tropical, vampire-free island.

Her attitude—and immunity to vampires' allure—have made her the target of a faction of vampires trying to reclaim their territory. Her only ally is Malcolm Kelly, a secretive charmer with the uncanny habit of showing up whenever she's in trouble. Caught in the middle of a vampire turf war, Sydney has to count on Malcolm to help her survive, or the only place she'll retire is her grave...

I read this novella only because the full-length book that follows it is set in Santiago de Chile. Pretty much every single romance novel I’ve read that’s been set in South America has been set in the jungle, rather than in a setting that looks anything like where I’m from, even though there’s as much non-jungle as there is jungle in the continent. Santiago isn’t Montevideo, but at least we’re talking about a Southern Cone urban setting, which I thought would be interesting.

Someone mentioned, though, that I probably wouldn’t be able to make much sense of Running in the Dark unless I read Don’t Bite The Messenger, which sets up the whole thing. Since it was short and cheap, I picked it up.

The novella is set in a world in which vampires have come out, so to speak, and are forced to live in a low-tech world, as something about their auras/energy fields is hell on electronics. This means no email or phones (why no landlines, though, I wonder?), so communications between the different factions rely on human go-betweens, whose work is enormously risky.

Our heroine, Sydney, is one such messenger, and she's survived for an unusually long time. She's almost ready to retire now, so you know what that means, right? Yep, everything is about to turn to shit.

Well, at least the novella made it clear that we are talking paint-by-the-numbers urban fantasy, which is really, really, REALLY not my thing. I suspected this would be the case, but before reading the novella, I could hope against hope that this time it would be different. It wasn't. I was just not interested in the characters and all the tedious vampire turf wars. Why should I care? Summers doesn’t give me a reason. There are no stakes (hey!) that are in any way meaningful to me. What do I care if vampire X takes over from vampire Y? Just because Sydney works for vampire X? Well, so what? They all seem just as vile. That’s what keeps me away from UF, plots are too often like this.

There's the beginning of a romance here, with this vampire, Malcolm, who is supposed to be this suave, magnetic character, but I just couldn’t see the attraction or charisma, and I was completely uninterested.

Yep, even the Santiago setting won’t tempt me now. Not to mention, even that makes little sense now. Basically, in this world, vampires choose to live as near the poles as they can (where nights are longest in the winter) and move from hemisphere to hemisphere every 6 months, following the winter. This is a pretty cool, logical idea, and I liked it. The action starts out in Anchorage, in Alaska (fine, makes sense), but then they move to Santiago which is not as logical. Santiago is as far South as, say, Los Angeles is North. Maybe somewhere like Ushuaia would make more sense.

MY GRADE: A C-.

Shades of Milk and Honey, by Mary Robinette Kowal

2013-04-24T03:00:00.000+01:00

TITLE: Shades of Milk and Honey
AUTHOR: Mary Robinette Kowal

COPYRIGHT: 2010
PAGES: 304
PUBLISHER: Tor

SETTING: Alternate version of Regency England
TYPE: Fantasy romance
SERIES: Starts a series

Shades of Milk and Honey is an intimate portrait of Jane Ellsworth, a woman ahead of her time in a world where the manipulation of glamour is considered an essential skill for a lady of quality. But despite the prevalence of magic in everyday life, other aspects of Dorchester’s society are not that different: Jane and her sister Melody’s lives still revolve around vying for the attentions of eligible men.

Jane resists this fate, and rightly so: while her skill with glamour is remarkable, it is her sister who is fair of face, and therefore wins the lion’s share of the attention. At the ripe old age of twenty-eight, Jane has resigned herself to being invisible forever. But when her family’s honor is threatened, she finds that she must push her skills to the limit in order to set things right--and, in the process, accidentally wanders into a love story of her own.

This debut novel from an award-winning talent scratches a literary itch you never knew you had. Like wandering onto a secret picnic attended by Pride and Prejudice and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Shades of Milk and Honey is precisely the sort of tale we would expect from Jane Austen…if only she had been a fantasy writer.

"...the sort of tale we would expect from Jane Austen…if only she had been a fantasy writer." is optimistic, but illustrative. This is Austenland with magic, Regency England as it might have been if, in addition to being able to sketch and play an instrument, accomplished young ladies had been expected to be proficient in creating illusions using a force called 'glamour'.

In this world, Jane Ellsworth and her sister, Melody, navigate society's strictures and try to find themselves husbands. Jane is the plain, sedate sister, almost an old-maid, but is extremely talented at manipulating glamour. Melody is beautiful and vivacious, and even though she's pretty crap at magic, everyone expects her to make a great match. Jane loves her, but is increasingly annoyed by her thoughtlessness.

And that's it, really. There are a number of potentially elegible men, parties and semi-accidental meetings, nice and not-so-nice neighbours, all with slight twists to what their equivalents would have been in an Austen novel.

I felt quite mildly about it all. I did really like the concept of bringing magic into the setting, and I liked how Kowal did it. The idea of glamour integrates surprisingly well into the Regency-style society, and shapes the characters in interesting ways.

Unfortunately, the story itself is a bit blah. I found Jane a tiny bit dull, I'm afraid. There needs to be a little sparkle there for a character to be interesting, and it wasn't there in Jane at all. The romance was just as unexciting. The concept of it is romantic, and if you just described the bare bones to me I'd tell you I'd love to read it, but the execution wasn't great. Mainly, we don’t see the process of falling in love, so it felt unsatisfying, and I found it hard to care.

That was the main thing, but I had several other niggles. The pacing was weird... most of the book was quite gentle, with no 'big' things happening, but then when the final resolution comes, there are all sorts of chases and people waving guns around, which was a bit disconcerting. I also found Kowal's conceit of sticking in weirdly-spelled words every now and then (just a few, like , 'shew' for 'show', or 'surprize', or “chuse”) strange, and a bit too self-consciously Austenesque.

I don't regret reading this, but I don't think I'll continue with the series.

MY GRADE: A C+.

The Mephisto Club, by Tess Gerritsen

2013-04-22T03:00:00.000+01:00

TITLE: The Mephisto Club
AUTHOR: Tess Gerritsen

COPYRIGHT: 2006
PAGES: 464
PUBLISHER: Ballantine

SETTING: Contemporary US
TYPE: Mystery
SERIES: 6th in the Rizzoli / Isles series

Evil exists. Evil walks the streets. And evil has spawned a diabolical new disciple in this white-knuckle thriller from New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen.

PECCAVI
The Latin word is scrawled in blood at the scene of a young woman’s brutal murder: I HAVE SINNED. It’s a chilling Christmas greeting for Boston medical examiner Maura Isles and Detective Jane Rizzoli, who swiftly link the victim to controversial celebrity psychiatrist Joyce O’Donnell–Jane’s professional nemesis and member of a sinister cabal called the Mephisto Club.

On top of Beacon Hill, the club’s acolytes devote themselves to the analysis of evil: Can it be explained by science? Does it have a physical presence? Do demons walk the earth? Drawing on a wealth of dark historical data and mysterious religious symbolism, the Mephisto scholars aim to prove a startling theory: that Satan himself exists among us.

With the grisly appearance of a corpse on their doorstep, it’s clear that someone–or something–is indeed prowling the city. The members of the club begin to fear the very subject of their study. Could this maniacal killer be one of their own–or have they inadvertently summoned an evil entity from the darkness?

Delving deep into the most baffling and unusual case of their careers, Maura and Jane embark on a terrifying journey to the very heart of evil, where they encounter a malevolent foe more dangerous than any they have ever faced... one whose work is only just beginning.

The crime scene Detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles are called to on Christmas Eve is a doozy. Not only has the body been horribly brutalised, they also find evidence of Satanic rituals. Their investigation leads them to the Mephisto Club, a group of well-heeled intellectuals who say they study evil. They seem to believe that some evil-doers are more than human. Demons, in fact.

And then the Mephisto Club is targetted directly. What is the killer's relationship to them? And what does all that have to do with a terrified young woman on the run in Italy, from whose point of view we keep getting scenes?

Given how much eye-rolling I did while I was reading the book, I'm surprised I enjoyed it as much as I did.

My biggest issue was the Mephisto Club itself. I'm someone who appreciates people spending time pursuing knowledge just for the sake of knowledge, but man, what a bunch of humourless, self-important crackpots! Gerritsen misses the mark completely with them. I imagine they're meant to come across as serious and somber and almost scary, but they were so preposterous (especially the leader, who shows quite an interest in Maura), that I couldn't take them seriously. And I still don't get what sort of power they have, that they could butt into the investigation to the extent they did.

And there are also the developments in Maura's relationship with Father Daniel Brophy. These didn't work for me at all. Partly it was about the utter idiocy of Maura's actions and how bad her decisions are. It was also partly about me not seeing the attraction at all, much as I would feel if she'd gone for someone who was cheating on his wife (I may think requiring celibacy from priests is a stupid idea, but the fact remains that to do what Brophy is doing requires cheating and lying). Not to mention, Gerritsen seemed to run out of space and didn't develop the issue much at all. Maura and Brophy act, but I don't quite understand what they think they're doing, to be honest. It's all still left hanging at the end of the book, but without any feeling that there is some sort of cliffhanger, it's simply that the issue disappears. It's a bit puzzling.

So, two biggies, really, but in spite of them, I enjoyed the book. The investigation ended up being fascinating, I suspect being made more so for all the manouvering around the Mephisto Club that Jane had to do. She's back to being an interesting character, and so was the young woman in Italy whose story we get in drips and drabs. I started out kind of resenting her sections, but quickly became engrossed in them, and couldn't wait to hear more.

Just as Maura has some personal developments, so does Jane. In her case, it's to do with her parents, and that was cool. I wanted (and still want) Jane's mother to hand her father his head on a plate, divorce him, and take him for everything he's got, the fucking pig. It's kind of unresolved at the end, but I have high hopes. We'll see whether I get what I want here.

MY GRADE: A B.

AUDIOBOOK NOTE: There seem to be several versions of this book available, the one I read was this one, narrated by Lorelei King, who was really good. The voice she did for Jane was a bit of an abrasive one, but that fit perfectly with my idea of what she would sound like.

Icebreaker, by Deirdre Martin

2013-04-20T03:00:00.000+01:00

TITLE: Icebreaker
AUTHOR: Deirdre Martin

COPYRIGHT: 2011
PAGES: 304
PUBLISHER: Berkley Sensation

SETTING: Contemporary US
TYPE: Romance
SERIES: Part of the New York Blades series

Good thing high-powered attorney Sinead O'Brien has a rule about never dating clients. Because Adam Perry, the newest star of the New York Blades-and her newest client-has her headed for the penalty box. If only she could prove he's just another jock...

Adam's been charged with assault after a borderline hit on another star player, but off the ice he's a private, no-nonsense guy who knows the Blades are his last shot at Stanley Cup glory. Assembling her case, Sinead tries not to get distracted by Adam's dazzling good looks or strong work ethic, but she quickly discovers that there's a wounded man under that jersey, and she's starting to fall for him-hard.

Now Adam's having trouble focusing on the goal with Sinead in his sights. And Sinead is tempted to break her 'no dating clients' rule. Can they play on their newfound feelings without penalties?

Sinead O'Brien is one of the best lawyers in town, so when the star player of the New York Blades (the ice hockey team this series is built around) lands in trouble, they come find her. Adam Perry's done nothing outside the rules of the game, but after he did something called an 'open-ice body check', the district attorney from the opposing team's town has decided to charge him with assault.

Adam initially finds Sinead cold and is frustrated that she doesn't understand hockey, while Sinead is just as frustrated at Adam's brick wall impersonation, and his refusal to do anything more than answer her questions with monosyllables. But then they start talking to each other, and begin to see that under their tough exteriors, they actually share quite a lot.

I read about half of the book before giving up. It was a combination of things. First, Sinead didn't ring true to me. She's supposed to be a driven career woman, but didn't appear to have that much work to do, or to find it particularly important or interesting. Also, she's supposed to be a sensible, mature woman, but she behaved like a 12-year-old sometimes.

I thought I'd like the relationship between her and Adam, but I'm afraid I found it boring. I loved the idea of having a romance between these two people who at first seem so different (uptight lawyer, professional sportsman), but actually turn out to be very similar in terms of work ethic and worldview, but it just didn't engage me at all. I didn't feel they connected very well, and there didn't really seem to be any obstacles to their relationship at the time I gave up.

And then there was the fact that the writing felt very simplistic. This might be because I'd just finished A Gentleman Undone, by Cecilia Grant, so the contrast was huge. It was all tell, tell, tell, not much show, and I found it annoying.

I also got very bored of the preaching. There was a bit on hunting that made me roll my eyes, but it was mostly the stuff about violent play in hockey. We're told over and over again that old-style hockey is the best there is, and that the commissioner is wrong to try to tone down the violence because true fans love old-style hockey. Martin's whole argument seems to be that players accept the risk when they decide to play in the NHL, so anyone saying any different should butt out. I wasn't convinced. Workplace safety and discussions about acceptable risk are kind of my area, so I couldn't help but make the obvious opposite arguments. Should someone who simply wants to play hockey professionally have to make that choice at all? Is it right that the choice is between playing professionally and risk very bad injuries or not play professionally at all? It's one thing if we're talking about an occupation that is unavoidably high risk (if you want to go into deep-sea fishing, you really are going to have to accept quite a high risk to your safety), but it sounds like those sorts of hits Adam specialises on could be phased out, if it wasn't for the fact that some (most?) fans like them. Not to mention, are 18-year-old men in position to make that choice rationally and in an informed way? Knowing what I know about risk-processing, I doubt it. Now, I don’t know anything about hockey, so I’m prepared to be told there’s another argument for keeping those types of moves on the ice (much in the same way I was told that lowering the fences in the Grand National would actually be more dangerous for the horses, because it would make the course faster -no idea if that’s actually true, but it’s a way of looking at it that goes beyond the first, obvious impression). The thing is, those were not the arguments Martin was making, and I got really tired of the one-sided view, especially since it was one I had so many issues with.

So, book closed.

MY GRADE: A DNF.

A Gentleman Undone, by Cecilia Grant

2013-04-17T10:49:00.001+01:00

TITLE: A Gentleman Undone
AUTHOR: Cecilia Grant

COPYRIGHT: 2012
PAGES: 350
PUBLISHER: Bantam

SETTING: 19th century England
TYPE: Romance
SERIES: Follows A Lady Awakened, and some of the characters in that one show up here, but it stands alone well.

A seductive beauty turns the tables on a gentleman gaming for the guiltiest of pleasures in this rich and sensual Regency romance from beloved newcomer Cecilia Grant.

Lydia Slaughter understands the games men play—both in and out of the bedroom. Not afraid to bend the rules to suit her needs, she fleeces Will Blackshear outright. The Waterloo hero had his own daring agenda for the gaming tables of London’s gentlemen’s clubs. But now he antes up for a wager of wits and desire with Lydia, the streetwise temptress who keeps him at arm’s length.

A kept woman in desperate straits, Lydia has a sharp mind and a head for numbers. She gambles on the sly, hoping to win enough to claim her independence. An alliance with Will at the tables may be a winning proposition for them both. But the arrangement involves dicey odds with rising stakes, sweetened with unspoken promise of fleshly delights. And any sleight of hand could find their hearts betting on something neither can afford to risk: love.

A Lady Awakened was one of my top reads last year, fresh, different, and immensely satisfying. So, while I tried to keep them at a realistic level, my expectations for Grant's second, A Gentleman Undone, were sky-high. Well, I'm very pleased to say Grant did not disappoint. AGU was yet another book I'd never read before, and I loved it.

Will Blackshear is just back from the war, and carrying a heavy load. He feels responsible for the death of one of the men who served with him, and is determined to do whatever he can for his widow, who's been left practically penniless. He's found a way to give her that freedom, but in order to do so, he needs a stake, and that drives him to the gambling tables. He reckons that as long as he plays soberly and carefully, he should be able to best the drunk lordlings who frequent those places.

And then, on his first night, he meets Lydia Slaughter. Lydia is a courtesan, there with her protector, and on a mission much like Will's. She's very much aware of the insecurity of her life, and is determined to make enough money to be able to retire. She doesn't need that much, only enough so that the interest from her investment will allow her to live a modest life. Her thought process is similar to Will's, only Lydia is a mathematical genius* and has taught herself how to be a total cardsharp. Between the card-counting and the outright cheating, she's hard to beat. When her protector falls into a drunken stupor at the table, she starts playing his cards, as if it was just a lark, and sweeps all the money from the table.

Most of the men there just laugh it off, but Will is not amused, and confronts her. And there starts their relationship. Lydia offers to teach him how to play (partly to make amends, partly to make sure he doesn't give her away -best use of the Monty Hall problem in a romance novel, BTW!), and when it becomes clear her habit of playing her protector's cards when he falls asleep cannot continue, they become allies and hatch up a scheme to collaborate in some high-stakes play. And all the while they get to know each other, and the initial attraction between them grows and grows.

Their relationship is just amazing. It's an impossible one, as Will is pretty much penniless and there's no way he can support Lydia, and Lydia understandably feels she can't endanger her position with her protector until she's got enough money to ensure her independence. And yet, the more time they spend together, the more they yearn for each other. I loved that Will ‘sees’ Lydia from the beginning. He wants her from the moment he meets her, but not so much because she’s attractive physically, but because she interests him as a person. As for Lydia, it doesn't take long before she starts seeing the differences between Will and other men. He's honourable and good, and that makes the physical attraction hard to resist. They both try, but it's impossible to resist, harder and harder every time, and Grant conveyed just how difficult perfectly.

Something else I thought was incredibly good was the relationship between Lydia and her protector, Edward. I loved how nuanced Grant’s portrayal of it was. Lydia actually enjoys the sex, at least at the start of the book, before the relationship deteriorates. However, the degradation of such a relationship comes through loud and clear, even when the sex is still enjoyable. Grant doesn't show this through making Edward into some sort of monster. When the book starts, he’s decent enough to Lydia. He's someone who cares about satisfying his mistress in bed, isn’t abusive physically, or anything like that. But he treats her like a mistress, not like a real person with feelings, not like someone he respects. She’s there to attend to his sexual needs, and that arrangement feels degrading. And with a heroine as self-aware as Lydia, so conscious of her place in society and lack of power, that hurts. In a genre where having the heroine become the hero's mistress is so often written as sexy and hot, it was a very refreshing perspective.

There is, of course, a HEA, but when I found out about Lydia’s history, it was obvious that she would have a LOT of trouble trusting someone enough to love. The way Grant had established her character made that very clear. I was actually borderline at the end as to whether it was believable that she’d be able to love Will at all. I was convinced in the end, but I liked the sense of risk and danger the uncertainty gave the book, even with a guaranteed HEA.

Highly recommended, and I can't wait to see what Grant comes up with next.

MY GRADE: An A-.

* I've read more than one book where one of the characters is some sort of genius in a particular area, and often don’t find those convincing. I suspect it’s because the authors themselves aren’t geniuses in that area, so all they show is what the characters do, but not how this changes the very way they are and how they think. It was different here. I was convinced that Lydia’s mathematical abilities (which she herself admits are more about calculation than abstract mathematics) affect the way she views the world and thinks of things, and that was fantastic.

How To Misbehave, by Ruthie Knox

2013-04-15T03:00:00.000+01:00

TITLE: How To Misbehave
AUTHOR: Ruthie Knox

COPYRIGHT: 2013
PAGES: 121
PUBLISHER: Loveswept

SETTING: Contemporary US
TYPE: Romance novella
SERIES: Starts the Camelot series.

As program director for the Camelot Community Center, Amber Clark knows how to keep her cool. That is, until a sudden tornado warning forces her to take shelter in a darkened basement with a hunk of man whose sex appeal green lights her every fantasy. With a voice that would melt chocolate, he asks her if she is okay. Now she's hot all over and wondering: How does a girl make a move?

Building contractor Tony Mazzara was just looking to escape nature's fury. Instead, he finds himself all tangled up with lovely Amber. Sweet and sexy, she's ready to unleash her wild side. Their mutual desire reaches a fever pitch and creates a storm of its own--unexpected, powerful, and unforgettable. But is it bigger than Tony can handle? Can he let go of painful memories and let the force of this remarkable woman show him a future he never dreamed existed?

As seems the rigueur these days, Ruthie Knox's new Camelot series kicks off with a novella.

Ever since Tony Mazzara and his team have been working at Amber Clark's community centre, she has found it hard

to take her eyes off him. She's too shy and inexperienced to do anything about it, until the day the tornado alarm goes off. It's late in the afternoon, and most people have gone. Tony's stayed behind to finish a few things, and as programme director, Amber has had to stay as well. When the alarm goes off, they're the only two people left in the building, and end up sheltering in the basement together. And with nothing to do, they talk.

I must say, I wasn’t too impressed at the beginning with the combination of the very innocent, gee willikers heroine and the hero who goes all “I want you, but I can’t commit, so I won’t sleep with you, because you’ll glom on to me and then suffer”. I kind of rolled my eyes at Amber, and didn't think "hot!" when it came to Tony, I thought "Arrogant ass!". But, see, Amber thought the same and called him on it, and suddenly, I saw there was much more to her. And as the book progressed, it became clear there was much more to both of them, and then I got really interested.

Unfortunately, there was a bit too much here for a novella, and it ended up feeling too short. Both Amber and Tony's issues were interesting, and especially for Tony, quite different. What was keeping Tony away from Amber even though they clicked so well was something big, and his behaviour made total sense. That’s when the novella felt like it wasn’t the right format, and much too short. There was so much baggage for Tony to work through, that I doubted he’d have been able to just do it in his own head and get over his issues in an evening. The whole thing needed a lot more space to be done in a satisfying, believable way (which, BTW, I'm quite sure Knox would have been able to do).

I did like this, since I was interested in the characters and Knox's voice is one I enjoy, but it didn't hit the mark quite squarely enough.

MY GRADE: A B-.

A Murder is Announced, by Agatha Christie

2013-04-13T03:00:00.000+01:00

TITLE: A Murder is Announced
AUTHOR: Agatha Christie

COPYRIGHT: 1950
PAGES: 322
PUBLISHER: William Morrow

SETTING: Late 1940s England
TYPE: Mystery
SERIES: A Miss Marple book

The villagers of Chipping Cleghorn, including Jane Marple, are agog with curiosity over an advertisement in the local gazette which reads: 'A murder is announced and will take place on Friday October 29th, at Little Paddocks at 6.30 p.m.'

A childish practical joke? Or a hoax intended to scare poor Letitia Blacklock?

Unable to resist the mysterious invitation, a crowd begins to gather at Little Paddocks at the appointed time when, without warning, the lights go out!

This is one title I've been looking forward to getting to since I've started my Marple Marathon. Not only does it have a fun setup, it's also one I have absolutely no memories of, even though I must have read it (the only thing I do remember is that the Spanish version my mum had was titled "Se Anuncia Un Asesinato", and if my mum had it, I read it).

So, how about that setup? Well, the book opens with the villagers of Chipping Cleghorn perusing that most invaluable source of gossip, the personal ads column in the local paper. This week, in between the offers of puppies and requests for domestic help, there is the following invitation:

A murder is announced and will take place on Friday, October 29th, at Little Paddocks, at 6:30 p.m. Friends, accept this, the only intimation.

It's a shocking way of inviting guests to a party, everyone thinks. What was Letitia Blacklock, owner of Little Paddocks, thinking? But at Little Paddocks, there is much surprise as well. None of the residents admit to having placed the advert, even though there is suspicion it must have been one of the young ones, probably Miss Blacklock's nephew (it's just the sort of thing he'd do, it's felt).

When the day comes, every single one of the villagers finds a reason to drop by the house. And at the appointed time, the lights go off, a shot rings out, and someone is dead.

I enjoyed this. I liked that though part of the investigation does depend on who-was-where-at-what-time machinations, most of it is about the characters and seeing them interact and develop. Christie is widely thought to be stronger on plot than on characterisation, but in this book, she did really well in the latter. Each of the villagers is distinct and interesting. She even has a large number of middle-aged and old spinsters, who, rather than being a type, are all completely different. Interestingly, Miss Marple is one of them, and she gets about as much space as they do. She's definitely very much in the margins, in these early books!

As for the plotting... well, the solution is extremely clever, and the way Christie salts her clues throughout the plot is nothing short of masterful. Even though I was listening to it very attentively, and as usual, I was trying very hard to catch her clues, I missed them completely and fell headlong for one of her red herrings. At first, it seems there are not that many possibilities, but soon all sorts of possible motivations and solutions appear, and it was one of them that I so mistakenly went for. On a purely intellectual level, it was quite satisfying to see.

However. I'm afraid when I finished admiring Christie's construction, I couldn't help but feel it was all maybe a bit too clever. Overcomplicated, I suppose. It was a brilliant plan, sure, but once you start thinking about it, the culprit could have accomplished their objective in a much simpler way, even if it would have been blunter and inelegant. It would have been easier and a lot less risky, since the way things actually happened relied a lot on things happening like clockwork, when they could have easily gone very wrong. So on a gut level, I couldn't really believe the story. I still enjoyed the book, but it's a reason why I wouldn't put it amongst my favourite titles by the author.

Finally, one of the things that has struck me the most since I've started this rereading Christie's books last year is that these books being so much of their time has its good and bad sides. On one hand, It's fascinating to see how a Christie presents her own time, all very matter-of-factly, since it would have been unremarkable to her readers (of course rationing meant a chocolate cake would be an extreme luxury! It didn't need to be said). However, some of the attitudes (racism, sexism, xenophobia, extreme class discrimination and snobbery, you name it) can be painful. Sometimes this can turn an otherwise good mystery into a complete wallbanger (see my rant about The Body In The Library), but mostly, it's something I can cringe at and then just continue reading. It was the latter case for A Murder Is Announced, fortunately. The portrayal of the couple of foreigners in the story is pretty cringe-worthy (especially the callousness with which the refugee woman who works at Little Paddocks is treated in the narrative), but it was something I was able to ignore quite ok.

AUDIOBOOK NOTE: The version I got from my library was an old one, from Chivers Audio Books, narrated by Rosemary Leach. The narration was acceptable, but not great. Leach read the text in what I can only call a languid manner, as if she barely had the energy to continue reading, with pauses which were a beat too long. I see audible has 2 versions, one read by Joan Hickson and a newly released one read by Emilia Fox. I've never heard an audiobook narrated by Hickson, but Fox narrated the version of They Came To Baghdad that I listened to a few months ago and she was fabulous. I'd say go for one of those two if you are interested in this in audio.

MY GRADE: A B.

April 2013 wish list

2013-04-05T03:00:00.000+01:00

As usual lately, a large number of books coming out on the same day.

Books I'm definitely planning to get

Now, this is a good month. Several of these are autobuy authors.

Love Irresistibly, by Julie James (Apr 2)

Yay, another Julie James! I’d buy her books without even checking the blurb, but this one sounds great. I like that the heroine has a job I don’t think I’ve seen before in a romance novel: she’s general counsel for a restaurant company, and the hero wants permission to plant a bug in one of their restaurants.

Let It Be by Kate Noble (Apr 2)

A Kate Noble book, and set in Venice! Squee! I like the sound of the story, too.

The Ashford Affair, by Lauren Willig (Apr 9)

It was mentioned in one of the DBSA podcasts a while ago, and I thought it sounded amazing (Downton Abbey meets Out of Africa, I think SB Sarah said!). Plus, I love the structure Willig uses of separate present-day and historical storylines, which connect to each other.

Whiskey Beach, by Nora Roberts (Apr 16)

Single title Nora Roberts books are always a treat. The description of this one starts out familiar, suggesting it’s going to be the usual romantic suspense, but then “they find themselves caught in a net that stretches back for centuries”, which suggests something a bit different. I’m intrigued.

The Mystery Woman, by Amanda Quick (Apr 23)

I should put it under the “I’ll wait for reviews” section, but who am I kidding? I’m going on the queue at the library as soon as it shows up as ‘on order’. It sounds like exactly the stuff she’s been writing for the past few years.

Wedding Night, by Sophie Kinsella (Apr 23)

This sounds like it could be loads of fun. A couple who suddenly decide to get married, two friends of theirs who think they’re making a mistake and try to stop them, a Greek island setting... I’m so there!

Books that interest me and I'll keep an eye on

Sweet Madness, by Heather Snow (Apr 2)

I haven’t tried Heather Snow yet, but she seems to write historicals with really unusual heroines. This one seems to be a student of psychology, and it looks like the hero suffers from PTSD.

Life After Life, by Kate Atkinson (Apr 2)

This one sounds like a bit of a departure for Atkinson. The books of hers that I’ve read have been mysteries (albeit quite literary ones). This one is, as far as I can tell, about a woman with an infinite number of lives.

Rush Me, by Allison Parr (Apr 8)

I can’t remember where I heard about this one (I added it to my wish list before it even had a proper release date!), but it does sound interesting (“ how can a Midwestern Irish-Catholic jock with commitment problems and an artsy, gun-shy Jewish New Englander ever forge a partnership?”), and I do like New Adult.

I'm back!

2013-04-04T09:46:00.000+01:00

I'm back! All rested up and recharged, after a whole month on holiday in Uruguay. I spent loads of quality time getting to know my first nephew, who was born only hours after I landed. I'm biased, but he's really the most beautiful and wonderful baby in the world (my sister calls this photo 'the Karate Kid').

I also spent my time catching up with old friends, watching football, and reading, reading, reading, sometimes even by the pool. Yep, unfortunately, the weather was nowhere near as good as it is when I visit over Christmas, but considering it was snowing back in England, I can't really complain.

I read some really good stuff, too. My favourite of all the books below was probably JK Rowling's The Casual Vacancy. My expectations were really low, after seeing reviews that mostly ranged between lukewarm and actively hostile, but I thought it was fantastic, a real punch in the gut. I'll be writing reviews soon.

On hiatus

2013-03-02T03:00:00.000Z

Bye bye for a little while! I'm off to Uruguay for the rest of the month, both to welcome my first nephew (who looks like he'll be arriving sooner, rather than later) and for a much overdue holiday. See you in April!

February 2013 reads

2013-03-01T18:00:00.000Z

Pretty good for a short month! A few DNFs -I'm becoming more and more willing to just drop books when they´re not working out, which I think is a good thing.

1 - Demon Blood, by Meljean Brook: A
original review here

Since I originally read these books as they came out, over a period of years, it's been difficult to compare them to each other, and realise how much better the series has got with every installment. Now that I've read all the previous ones in a matter of months, I can say that this one, the story of Guardian Rosalia and vampire Deacon, and her big plans to even out the fight between Guardians and their foes, is the best one so far. The plot is fantastic and jaw-dropping, and the romance is angsty and incredibly satisfying. I adored every page.

2 - Skios, by Michael Frayn: A-
review coming soon

A charming, irresponsible man decides, on an impulse, to claim to be the Dr. Norman Wilfred the beautiful young woman is waiting for outside of arrivals at Skios airport. Farce is not my favourite kind of comedy, but when it's done as well as this, and with as much satire, I love it.

3 - Doukakis's Apprentice, by Sarah Morgan: B+
review here

The Greek tycoon hero takes over the advertising agency the heroine has been running to get back at her father, who owns it. Very Harlequin Presents setup (well, it is an HP), but Morgan turns these elements on their heads and delivers a reasonable, intelligent hero and a heroine who gives as good as she gets. I really, really liked it.

4 - The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things, by Paula Byrne: B+
review here

A look at Jane Austen's life and times, using objects relevant to her life as a starting point. Really interesting and absorbing. I liked this thematic, rather than strictly linear, approach.

5 - King of Darkness, by Elizabeth Staab: B
review here

The set-up reminded me of JR Ward's books. We've got the newly ascended vampire king, struggling to lead his subjects in a fight against beings devoted to destroy them. It's got a completely different feel to it, though: no ridiculousness and larger-than-life exageration in the characters, and really strong females. It did fall down a bit on the plotting side, but it's a promising start.

6 - Death du Jour, by Kathy Reichs: B
review here

Audiobook. 2nd in the series featuring forensic anthropologist Dr. Tempe Brennan. In this book, Tempe's busy. There's a horrific domestic arson fire, the body of a candidate for sainthood for her to analyse, a missing girl, bodies found on a monkey island, plus, Tempe's worried about her sister. The coincidences were a bit much, but I was able to suspend disbelief and enjoyed seeing how it all came together.

7 - The Girl With The Cat Tattoo, by Theresa Weir: B-
review here

Max the cat is worried about his owner, who's still in a bad state after her husband's death. He decides to find her a man. Cute book, but it sometimes skated a bit too close to cutesy. I did like the scenes narrated from Max's POV, though. He was a very cat-like cat!

8 - Lessons in Love, by Charlie Cochrane: B-
review coming soon

Starts the Cambridge Fellows mystery series, in which the two titular characters, professors of English and Mathematics respectively, fall in love and solve mysteries in early 1900s Cambridge. I had some issues with stilted dialogue and that things felt a little bit simplistic, but the romance was sweet and very romantic, and I'll continue with the series.

9 - In Pale Battalions, by Robert Goddard: B-
review coming soon

Twisty, soap operaish novel involving family mysteries arising from the 1st World War. I liked the twists and was intrigued, but I found pretty much all the major characters unpleasant (even the ones who were supposed to be good guys) and some of the more soap opera elements made me roll my eyes.

10 - The House on Tradd Street, by Karen White: DNF
review here

Melanie unexpectedly inherits a historic old house, complete with ghosts. Jack suspects there's treasure hidden in it and approaches her. I stopped reading after realising that every single character was trying to bully Melanie into living her life as they thought she should be living it, especially the hero, who was an asshole about it, to boot.

11 - Beyond The Night, by Joss Ware: DNF
review here

Starts a post-apocalyptic series, centred around a group of men who wake up after an earthquake and find out they've been asleep for 50 years and the world has been devastated. The heroine in this one is part of the developing resistance against the beings she suspects of having caused the seemingly natural disasters that wrecked the world. I read about 2/3 of it. I was initially fascinated by the world-building, but then it all became too ridiculous. Plus, the romance just didn't engage me.

12 - Ash, by Malinda Lo: DNF
review here

I picked this one up because I heard it was a lesbian retelling of Cinderella, and thought that sounded interesting. The characters weren't, though, and the narrative felt very superficial. I struggled through almost half of it, and then gave up.

13 - Graceling, by Kristin Cashore: still reading
review coming soon

Set in a world where some people have special powers ('graces') that give them all sorts of skills, our main character is Katsa, whose grace is killing. So far, it's just as good as the wonderful Fire, and I'm loving it.

14 - A Murder is Announced, by Agatha Christie: still reading
review coming soon

When an invitation to "a murder" at someone's house in the village appears in the local paper, everyone assumes it either refers to a game or is a joke. But then someone dies. I'm about halfway through, and so far it's good, but not amazing.

15 - Calculated in Death, by JD Robb: still reading
review coming soon

Eve Dallas' latest outing takes her into Roarke's world of money and business. At least, that's what it looks like about a third into it. My main impression so far is that it's good, but sad.

March 2013 wish list

2013-02-26T03:00:00.000Z

A relatively small number this month. Probably a good thing, considering how many I got during February!

Books I'm definitely planning to get

Just the 3, but they're all books I'm looking forward to.

Along Came Trouble, by Ruthie Knox (Mar 11)

I loved Ruthie Knox's first 2 Loveswepts. Unlike those two, the plot description of this one doesn't particularly draw me to it (bodyguards, ex-military, tabloid press -meh), but I'm interested in seeing what Knox does with it. Plus, the idea of the series sounds like fun.

Lover At Last, by JR Ward (Mar 26)

I've gone a bit off Ward lately, and even though the couple featured in this one (Qhuinn and Blay) were the only two characters who interested me in the last few books, I don't much like where their story has been going. Still, gay romance front and centre a in mainstream, blockbuster romance series! I'll be reading it, and I hope it does well and opens some doors (especially since rumours are that whether Meljean Brook's Scarsdale book is traditionally published will depend on how this one does). ETA: Sorry, turns out that's not true, please see Meljean's comment below.

Books that interest me and I'll keep an eye on

A Most Improper Rumor, by Emma Wildes (Mar 5)

The series (Whispers of Scandal), seems to be about heroines who are caught up in different sorts of reputation- ending situations. In this case, the heroine is a suspected murderer who asks the hero to clear her name. Emma Wildes is an author I've been meaning to try, and this one might do.

An Inquiry Into Love and Death by Simone St. James (Mar 5)

I didn't adore St. James' The Haunting of Maddy Clare as much as everyone else seemed to, but it interested me enough to give her brand of creepy, eery ghost story another chance.

The Turncoat, by Donna Thorland (Mar 5)

I'm really not sure about this one, but I haven't read a romance set during the American Revolution for ages. Depending on reviews, this might do.

Dark Tide, by Elizabeth Haynes (Mar 12)

I really liked Haynes' Into The Darkest Corner, she does suspense well. Plus, a houseboat!

Doukakis's Apprentice, by Sarah Morgan

2013-02-23T03:00:00.000Z

TITLE: Doukakis's Apprentice
AUTHOR: Sarah Morgan

COPYRIGHT: 2011
PAGES: 192
PUBLISHER: Harlequin Presents

SETTING: Contemporary England
TYPE: Category romance
SERIES: None

With her family business in crisis. Polly Prince does her best to keep calm and carry on. But hard work alone can't save her company from a takeover by the infamously ruthless Damon Doukakis -or her traitorous body from the lethal sensuality of her boss!

As his new apprentice, Polly accompanies Damon to Paris to negotiate the business deal of her life! Worse still, Polly must at all costs resist Damon in the most dangerously romantic city in the world.

I've been hearing really good things about Sarah Morgan, and Brie's review of her latest pushed me into finally trying her, even though she writes mainly for Harlequin Presents, a line that really isn't to my taste. Brie suggested several titles to start with, and it turned out I had Doukakis' Apprentice on the TBR already, so there, decision made!

The setup is very Presents. The hero is Damon Doukakis, Greek tycoon extraordinaire. His sister has ran off with Peter Prince, a feckless businessman twice her age and won't get in touch. Worried that his sister might actually marry him, Damon decides to takes over Prince's advertising agency, to force the man out of hiding.

It turns out that Prince is even more irresponsible than Damon thought, and for years, the agency has been effectively ran and kept alive by his daughter, Polly. She's been pouring her heart and soul into the company and is single-handedly responsible for keeping them afloat despite of the fact that their Board is entirely composed of useless, blood-sucking leeches. With better management and someone reining in the Board, she's convinced the company could be a success. When Doukakis takes over, Polly is terrified. She's sure he's out for revenge, and rather than take a proper look at the situation, he will just shut down the whole thing to get back at her father, putting the people who are like a proper family to her out of work.

Things start out as you would expect in this line, with the very familiar angst at the injustice of having the heroine wrongly judged. Damon instantly makes assumptions about Polly and accuses her of being useless, a rich girl on a lark, who's never done a day of hard work in her life. Typical Presents. I have to admit, it's a very effective technique, and it hits you (and it did hit me, in this case) straight in the gut. It's also a bit manipulative, and now that I've read so many of these books and recognise exactly what the author's doing, it does annoy me a bit.

But then things just flip. Damon turns out to be a reasonable guy, whose first step is to actually look at the evidence. He then reasseses his initial conclusions. Not only that, he admits it to Polly, and is very clear about his admiration and respect for the amazing work she has done.

And there's more! They end up jetting off to Paris for this important meeting, and Morgan allows her big alpha hero to be wrong. About business! Yes, we're not talking about a story where the conclusion is that women are good at the fluffy, creative stuff, but for serious business, you need a man, and women needn't worry their pretty heads about it. Polly's good at the creative side, but when it comes to pitching for accounts, she knows what she's doing as well, and her approach is more effective than Damon's. The story ends with her business being given the management help it needs, but with his business changing to incorporate the more employee-friendly practices of Polly's (creches! no more hot-desking!).

[As an aside, speaking of those business practices of Polly's: some of them are the kind of thing that would have driven me crazy when I first started this blog. The accountant has no idea what he's doing and can't use a spreadsheet, but he's a dear, so she'll keep him on and try to teach him, very slowly. The mail-room lady gives everyone the wrong mail, but again, she's a dear, so people just fix her mistakes. I've written reviews where I screamed in exasperation at that sort of thing, annoyed at what it says about femininity, that a true woman must be nurturing and couldn't possibly be ruthless enough to run a business properly. But now... it turns out I don't mind so much. I've become increasingly socialist in my own age. Oh, the gender role thing still annoys me, and that incompetent accountant is keeping a competent one who could do the job better out of work, but still, there's nothing wrong in a business has providing good jobs for its employees as one of its reasons for being.]

The relationship between Damon and Polly is really, really good, too. She gives as good as she gets in the business sense (read some of the quotes in the Dear Author review, they show that perfectly), but also in their personal interactions (even though, completely unnecessarily, a virgin *sigh*). A lot of the fun comes from seeing the suave, powerful Damon perpetually off-balance with her, and gradually coming to care for the woman he discovers under the surface. It turns out he can give her exactly what she needs, someone who cares about what happens to her, rather than assume she's tough and she'll be all right and can handle anything. Damon comes alive as well, showing both Polly and the reader his vulnerabilities, the family history that made him into the overly serious and protective man he became. It was a romance I found believable and satisfying.

So, a fantastic book, but I have to say, not one that makes me feel any different about Presents. I liked it in spite of the Presents-ish elements. In fact, I loved it because it overturned these elements and stood them on their head.

MY GRADE: A B+.