Comments on: REVIEW: Scandal in Copper Lake by Marilyn Pappano

By: trisha

trisha — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 01:07:15 +0000

And while I think their collective free-spirited outlook on their lifestyle and their being portrayed as strong, independent women might be indicative of a subversion of this clichÃ©, I remained uneasy about this aspect from start to finish.

Jia, I’m with you about this, and the overall grade you gave the book. The relative lack of suspense didn’t affect my enjoyment, but this part did. It was always in the back of my mind. Though I agree that, otherwise, Pappano’s handling of both the race and class issues did elevate the story.

You might also want to try Nancy Warren’s new Blaze, Under the Influence, for the secondary romance. It’s multiracial, with practically no discussion of race, but I actually found it/them much more interesting than the main characters’. Although I was confused by the timeline regarding Ben’s backstory, but maybe I missed something.

By: Doreen

Doreen — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 23:49:03 +0000

Pappano is a must read for me, not just her Silhouettes but also her single titles. I guess I’m a squealing fangrrl when it comes to her, but I find her stories to be intelligent, human and often with a major twist you don’t see coming, which is difficult to do in a category.

Really, look up her backlist. You won’t be sorry.

Doreen

By: Jia

Jia — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 01:31:05 +0000

@Evangeline: No, I haven't. This is the first book I've ever read by Pappano. Thanks for pointing it out to me!

By: Evangeline

Evangeline — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 23:00:52 +0000

I agree with your review Jia: the handling of the interracial aspect is what bumped the grade up for me as well. Have you tried the Selena McCaffrey series Pappano wrote under the name “Rachel Butler”? I had the same issues with the suspense part of the series as I did with this book, but the relationship between Selena and Tony is what kept me reading.

Regarding the racial stereotypes, I’m with LoriK. It just seemed like a traditional sort of family background for a line of powerful women (think Practical Magic).

By: LoriK

LoriK — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 22:45:04 +0000

In fairness, the idea of a family of women who have only daughters and never marry isn’t just a racial stereotype. It’s also a pretty common trope in stories involving magic, witches, etc.

By: Jia

Jia — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 21:39:31 +0000

It’s appropriate that Jane had this review go up after Jade Lee’s first sale story. I think there’s an audience ready and waiting for more multiculturalism and more diversity in the genre. I personally would love to see more interracial couples in which both the hero and heroine are people of color since that would reflect more of what I see in real life.

By: Rae Lori

Rae Lori — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 20:27:13 +0000

I would love to see HQN have more IR couples featuring women of color as the heroines. There were a few in the past with a pairing like ‘Scandal’: one was in the Desire line (Brenda Jackson) and another in the Kimani lines (Robyn Amos). I think there was even one in Special Edition. But I would love to see more, especially in the Intrigue and Nocturne lines (just because those are my favorite ;-)). I can’t wait to get to this in my TBR pile. I’m glad you reviewed it, Jia!