The 9/24 issue of Macleans takes a slightly startled look at women’s sexual health in Harlequin romance novels.The article discusses several recent novels that tackle sexual violence and sexual health…

author who writes Down Under books

Susan Napier usually does New Zealand, but she occasionally does Australia. And all her books are exceptional.

There are only a few Harlequin authors who set their books in Australia or New Zealand and I’m sure it would be possible to track your book down like this Ann. Helen Bianchin is another author who writes Down Under books

It sounds like a book I’d like to read!.

There are some gems there and even the worst ones are campy enough to make me laugh instead of making me want to throw them against the wall.

Man, I totally agree. I loved me some Anne Mather and Violet Winspear. I would love to re-read this one, but I can’t remember title or author. It was set in Australia (or maybe New Zealand?). The heroine has come back after being away at university. The hero is her uber-alpha stepbrother, and he had a super weird name like Kano, or something stranger than that even. She brings a boy home with her, which really causes some trouble. Damn, if I could remember the name, I would so buy it.

I actually also bought Blackmailed Into Bed. I thought it was much better than FFW but I gave it an unremarkable C-.

I think it’s just that modern Harlequins don’t do anything for me.When I say modern I mean the books they’ve published since the mid 1990s. They’ve changed so radically from what they used to be–and I don’t only mean the abysmal titles we get nowadays. I know society has changed and evolved but, to me, most of the new Harlequin books don’t reflect that change in a positive way. A shame too.

I’ll just keep collecting the vintage harlequins from the 70s-80s, I think. There are some gems there and even the worst ones are campy enough to make me laugh instead of making me want to throw them against the wall.

Too many great books out there waiting for me to read them without having to settle for a “stinker”.

Thanks, ladies, for the “heads-up”!

Is this Fortune book connected to that series? If so, there might be many readers who bought it to make a set, like buying every book that’s connected to the Mallory family (Johanna Lindsay) or MacGregors (Nora Roberts, when she used to write for H/S).

I know that I make extra trips to the Walmart to pick up Merline Lovelace’s “Code Name Danger” books whenever she comes out with one. She started that in 1995! And I don’t really read that many categories these days, but Code Name books? Must. Own. Don’t know why, since a few of them are in my TBR. I think it’s from my love of the first set of the “Code Name Danger” books, which were so good.

oh but first… Estelle where did you here ‘buzz’ about this book? Was it THIS book, the series or just hearing about Betts in general? I have been curious as to WHY this one seems to sell so well. Because man talk about a book you DON’T want to be your introduction to the masses.

I love Heidi Betts like a fat kid loves cake (tm karens). And I really think she found her feet in the Desire line. I am not certain if this is the last one until her St Martin’s books or not although she has an novella in a HQN antho this month.

But man if this is her last one… that so sucks.

She has done eight Desires and none have been this bad. In fact I can’t recall the last Desire I read that was this bad of a book. I don’t know if it sold so well because her other books have been great and in fact the last one (horrid title aside) was one of her best, if the Dakota Fortunes series is that popular or if it is the ‘forbidden’ stepsibling plot.

All I know is if you have never read Heidi Betts, don’t toss her aside based on this book. If you haven’t read a Desire in a while, don’t toss the line because really they have gotten better and more interesting as of late.

This book… not so much. It is the worst Betts I have read and up there with the worst Desire. It is prolly a good thing she is moving because really I would say her first four Desires: Bought by a Millionaire, Blame It on the Blackout, When the Lights Go Down and Seven-Year Seduction were her all good A- to C+ range. Her last four, except for Blackmailed into Bed which was the best, are more to C- to F.

I am curious as to why you gave it a D, if you couldn’t find anything positive to say. I still can’t decide my grade.

I’m still amazed that I managed to finish it. It’s a ‘watching a trainwreck with horrified fascination’ kind of book.

You know, to me it actually didn’t even feel like a reprint from the 70s-80s. Most of the Harlequins I read from that period were miles above that book. At one point I thought it might have been a spoof. But that Harlequin line doesn’t do spoof.

I agree with all the things you said Jane. But what got to me the most was not Creed with his forbidden lust (no way I’ll call it love) and forbidden stick thing but the way Maya was always devasted after each encounter but kept dropping her panties in the blink of an eye any time Creed so much as glanced her way. Seriously, I lsot count of how many times that happened.

I do so miss the 70s-80s crop of Harlequin books. The heroes were all tall, dark, handsome, rich and overbearing but at least we weren’t subjected to the seriously underwhelming trip through their mind since we only got the heroine’s point of view. The Harlequin line worked much better that way IMO. And I seem to remember the heroine had more pride usually, often leaving in a snit because they thought they’d been slighted or thrown over. Then the hero came charging in to bring her back ‘where she belonged’. Campy and over the top but somehow much more satisfying that what we get in Harlequin books these days.

What’s frustrating though is that, sometimes, you come across some little gems (such as Into Temptation by Jeanie London which I recently read or Secret Admirer by Susan Napier). So I always feel obligated to ‘keep looking’, hoping to find one such gem.

“The bonefish grill”? Awesome.

the “FORBIDDEN stick�

Isn’t there a rule book somewhere that’s banned this? This kind of stuff makes me cringe and remember why I usually hide my reading material in public.

*snort! Awesome!

katieM