Put-Down-Able

I really don’t like doing negative reviews.

Mostly I feel compelled to offer an objective reason why I don’t like the book, which might in fact mean that I need to re-read it or at least spend some time analyzing what it is EXACTLY that I don’t like.

Frankly, I’d rather move on to something that I like better. Life is too short to re-read books you didn’t like the first time.

So I’m going to offer up a short list of books that I’ve put down this summer and not gotten around to picking up again, and try not to get too hung up on being fair or objective. I just didn't like 'em, OK?


Love Is All You Need, by Lori DeVoti. This was a UBS gamble. Nadia (my 4-year old) liked the cover. Wonder why, LOL. Actually, it seemed not bad and I may eventually finish. Nevertheless, it languishes.

Shimmering Splendor, by Roberta Gellis. I actually did finish this one, but ugh. It was awful.

Jacob, by Jacquelyn Frank. Just can’t get into it.

Master of Surrender, Karen Tabke. It’s pretty bad. Very “I hate him but he makes my nether parts tingle!” And I pretty much hate him too. Also, the prologue features flesh-eating bats, which I find seriously eye-rolly.

Pleasure Unbound, Larissa Ione. I did finish this one, but probably won’t continue with the series. The characters just didn’t do it for me; it seems like Ione couldn’t decide whether her demon race should be redeemable or not. They’re pretty much NOT, except when they are… which is too inconsistent for me.

Not bad, considering my reading volume lately.

Any clinkers you readers want to share?

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Of Libraries and Loretta

Today I’d like to give a little shout out to Andrew Carnegie, and the King County Library System in particular. For someone like me, whose geekitude encompasses both a voracious reading habit and a mild internet addiction, the on-line reservation system rocks my world.

Last week I squeezed in a trip to the library on the way to picking up my kids at their aikido class. When I got to the library, I had 11 books waiting for me on the reservation shelf. I swished them through the barcode at the self-checkout station and was back on my way to aikido. Total elapsed time: 9 minutes. I think parking took the longest.

So I got two nice piles, one from Loretta Chase and one from Judith McNaught; the latest release from Deborah Smith (just started that one today), and a fantasy trilogy from Roberta Gellis. Oh, and I owe them 10¢. Which I could pay online if I want.

I’ve been reading Loretta Chase now since Not Quite a Lady came out last year. The Carsington brothers are fun (Miss Wonderful, Lord Perfect, Mr. Impossible) but I really really loved The Last Hellion and Captives of the Night. CotN is a direct sequel of The Lion’s Daughter, while The Last Hellion has only a small intersection with a couple of characters.

There are certain constants in Regency romance. You can pretty much expect mention of Almack’s, balls, routs, eccentric dowagers, and descriptions of ballgowns. At some point, the heroine is going to need to navigate the ton.

Loretta Chase is different. High society still factors, but the heroines operate mostly outside of society. They are career women ahead of their time; some by necessity, others by passion. They are less protected & more mature than your typical regency deb, and therefore, to my mind, far more interesting. The heroes’ reactions to them range from hilarious to truly moving. Chase’s heroines just seem more... participatory in their stories. They are right alongside the heroes, scrapping through adventures with bad guys, foraging for clues in locations both exotic and low-brow, and contributing plenty of brainpower to the plot.

As they say, death is easy; comedy is hard. Something about the diction and voicing of historicals makes it even harder to achieve, as far as I’m concerned, so the fact that Chase can make me laugh out loud in an empty room is doubly impressive. Here’s a snip from The Last Hellion that completely cracked me up:

setting: a dicey neighborhood in London, 1828. "He" is our hero, a well-dressed duke.

He fell to his knees. "Sweet Aurora, behold me prostrate before you-"

"That isn't prostrate," she said reproachfully. "Truly prostrate is out flat, face down--"

"Bung upwards, she means, Your Grace," a tart called out.

"I should do anything for my goddess," he said above the male segment of the audience's raucous suggestions of various acts he might perform in his present position. He would kill them all later, he decided.

Overall, my favorite so far has to be Captives of the Night (though the title is a bit more gag-worthy than usual). The heroine is smart and ballsy and takes no crap from anyone, and the redemption of the hero is a story that gracefully twines together with the mystery plot in a flawless pied à deux of pacing. Andrea’s fave is Mr. Impossible, which asks the question, what if the alpha hero is cute and strong and everything, but just not that...well... smart? The answer may surprise you.

I like the recent offerings too – Chase continues to write heroines that really go for what they want, whether society approves or not, and I love that.

Knights In Shining Armor

Who can resist? Medievals, when they're well done, are such a lovely treat.

Yes, I know the real medieval knight bathed rarely, probably had bad teeth and beat his wife regularly with a stick no larger than his thumb, but ... but... well, just shaddup about all that OK? It's called suspension of disbelief.

I had an impulse to go back and re-read a bunch of these to be completely sure that I should recommend them to you, but, well, I have a stack of other things I haven't read yet calling my name, so here is a list based on memories from the last couple decades before Regencies took over as the only saleable era of the moment. If some of them don't hold up, I apologize, but what can I say, I enjoyed them at the time.

>Roberta Gellis, the Roselynde Chronicals (ooh, score, there are some new ones)! Well-researched without being cumbersome; densely plotted. Lovers of a great Robin Hood story will enjoy the royal politics and intrigue that drive these books. Gellis' heroines are appealing to me because they don't come off as hapless victims of gender oppression; they know they wield the political power of subtle influence. Women like Gellis' heroines are the reason for the saying "Behind every great man is a great woman."

>Catherine Coulter’s “Song” series: Those of you who don’t need magic or ghosts or time-traveling to imagine yourself atop the crenellated walls, bright pennants snapping in the breeze, should check these out. I’ll admit that I read them quite some time ago, so some of the details escape me. What I do particularly remember about them is that the women’s work of running the castle – ensuring that all of the household is clothed* and fed, and that the sick and wounded are attended to—is portrayed as important, and non-trivial, and not easy… (is that redundant?)… that the marriage and the responsibility of a fiefdom was a partnership, in a strikingly full-circle sort of way to modern times.

*bearing in mind that “clothing” a small town involves raising and shearing sheep, carding, spinning, weaving, & dyeing before they ever get to the sewing part, and scissors were high-tech…

>Lynn Kurland: Her books about Artane start out as straight historicals, then acquire a trio of entertaining comic-relief matchmaking ghosts, time travelers, and ever-more fantastical plots involving ghosts coming to life and other unlikely events. She has also written about cats who are angels in disguise and a number of straight up fantasy novels which I have heretofore missed. If you loved fairy tales as a child, if you've ever dreamed about going back in time (while retaining certain personal hygiene habits and products), Kurland knows exactly how to tap into those fantasies. The stories are rich with details, layered plots, and interconnected characters. Her protagonists, both male and female, have their flaws and challenges (frex, being dead) but they also have distinctive personalities, quirky humor, and best of all, the relationships are superbly written.

>Christina Skye’s Draycott Abbey series: A benevolent and powerful ghost guards Draycott Abbey through the centuries. Time-travel and an ongoing good-vs.-evil battle puts these squarely into the realm of romantic fantasy, so if you prefer more realism, pass these by. But if you like a little magic along with your castles, you won’t regret checking these out. I will concede that as the series continues they seem to get a bit labored or repetitive. I like her contemporaries too ("Code Name" series) and I think she probably switched just in time to keep from getting too stale.

>Marsha Canham—from Scotland to Wales, Sherwood Forest to “Bloodmore Keep”, Canham delivers. You’ll find little touches of magic in these books, but in a sort of mystical sense, without the comic effect of Kurland and Skye. Just enough to make you sigh and wish. Lots of adventure, politics, and passion. I strongly recommend, although I’m having a little trouble putting my finger on exactly why I like them. You’ll just have to trust me on these.

>Johanna Lindsey: It is with a certain reluctance that I include these. To be honest, I can’t remember a single thing about any of these, except that I really, really loved them, especially the Viking ones. The thing is, I was 13 or 14 at the time. And the cover blurbs sort of make me cringe today. So, if you’ve been living under a romance rock and never heard of JL, check them out, but at your own risk. Unless you're 13 or 14, in which case you should totally go for it.