That’s how I understood your comment. I was just going into complete fangirl mode in my own comment — I adore Mills&Boon novels! (see? I’m doing it again *g*)

I did mean that in a positive way (the not noticing), because if I have time to nitpick or notice writing style that means I’m not engaged enough in the story. I was most definitely engaged in this one. :) If only to wonder about why being 37 to his 30 was such a deal… he he

GrowlyCub, if you’d like to look at an example, go to page 62 of THE ITALIAN’S WIFE BY SUNSET. I really love how Gordon introduces this passage: the heroine has driven the hero’s car (with hero inside) around steep and narrow Italian streets during a thunderstorm. He completely loses it when they finally reach their destination as he’s been worried to death something might happen to her on these unfamiliar roads:

“If you ever dare do that again–” he said hoarsely.
“Yes–what–?”
“Come here.”
“Tell me what’ll happen if I do it again,” she whispered provocatively.
“I said come here.”
So she did. She did everything he wanted, laughing and singing within herself, so that her spirit soared and everywhere the world was full of joy.

What follows is a blank line and then the scene without speech tags: they’re obviously in bed after having made love, and he tells her he loves her, which she doesn’t want to hear. Because there are no speech tags and no descriptions, the scene is in a way lifted out of the narrative, just like the characters are cocooned in bed, far away from the world outside. Thus an atmosphere of extreme intimacy is created. It’s just wonderful.

Thanks for the advice. I didn’t see any explicit instruction not to talk about Rita books, but I guess it makes sense not to discuss them in the open.

I guess I’m unobservant, because I didn’t notice any writing issues, nor did I notice the non-tags. :)

I really liked this book. I agree it’s unusual in that there’s the idea that the HEA might have a time limit, but for all we know every couple in a HEA might be run over by a truck the day of the epilogue…

The thing that I had trouble following is the heroine’s obsession with the 7 year age difference. If it had been 17 or she had been in her late 40s or 50s, I might have believed this to be an issue, but 7 years and a 37 year old?

Maybe it’s because I’m 37, but I cannot image most people having serious concerns about being married to somebody who is a handful of years younger. It’s just a total non-issue as far as I’m concerned. But then I’m married to a guy who’s 22 years older than I am, so maybe I’m just different, he he.

Thanks for the recommendation. I’m now trying to decide if I want to find all the other books in the series.

Here's another Harlequin (Silhouette Special Edition) you might want to try: Lynda Sandoval's The Other Sister. Once I got past the first chapter, I was either smiling, laughing, or crying.

I just started this one late this afternoon. So far I’m really enjoying it. A book that includes skiing while a late winter blizzard rages outside seems just the ticket.

I also got Italian’s Bride By Sunset in my RITA package, and I was in such fits over what to give it. It was the most unusual category romance novel I’d ever read, and I was hard pressed to say that it had an HEA. I even asked for advice from a friend who writes for the same line.

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In my case, it was the end that RUINED the book for me, particularly the conversation the hero had with his mother about how the heroine would die in a few years, but he would never love another. He was miserable, she was miserable, and he was destroying his whole life to be with her for a few years, after which, he’d spend the rest of his life in mourning for her.

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I thought you were militant about the HEA, Jane!

You are. It takes practically universal acclaim b/f I’d give a book a look. ::proudly shines bitchy reader badge::

Here’s another Harlequin (Silhouette Special Edition) you might want to try: Lynda Sandoval’s The Other Sister. Once I got past the first chapter, I was either smiling, laughing, or crying.

Its one fault was a little too much kindness and human understanding toward the end. A little too much for my taste, another reader might very well love every bit of it. Still, a great read with a most likable cast.

It remind me at times of Northern Exposure, which I loved, loved, loved in its day.

Sherry Thomas got a Lucy Gordon book in her RITA package??? Grrr …. I’m sure this was supposed to be my package and the people at the RWA offices simply put the wrong address label on it! *g*

I’ve wanted to blog about THE ITALIAN’S WIFE BY SUNSET for a while now (but haven’t yet managed to do so because one of the cats was ill): isn’t it a most unusual book? All in all, it was a bit too melancholic for my liking. Nevertheless, I loved how Gordon subverted a number of genre conventions, e.g. the older heroine / younger hero (who looks even younger than he is), the passages that consist of pure dialogue (no speech tags, no descriptions), the ending that wasn’t completely happily-ever-after.

Lucy Gordon often writes somewhat unusual category romances — THE PREGNANCY BOND is another nice example. It’s one of my favourite M&B novels.