The Trophy Wife by Janette Kenny is the [...]]]> I haven’t had much luck with Harlequin Presents subscriptions of late. In December, I enjoyed three of my eight books. The problem is that I’m never sure what books I’m going to enjoy and thus the subscription seems worth it. I guess I’ll reevaluate mid year 2012.

The Trophy Wife by Janette Kenny is the next to last addition in the Notorious Wolfe series (or Bad Blood series as it was originally labeled by Mills & Boon). It featured a model with an eating disorder and computer billionaire. While I appreciated that the story attempted to tackle the issue of anorexia and societal concepts of beauty which prizes thinness over everything, I felt that the story was overloaded with sex and dealt very little with the conflict between the characters. I wasn’t even convinced that they knew each other by the end of the book. They had been married for nearly two years but spent so little time together, wrapped up in their own jobs, that they hadn’t even seen their partner’s homes which may have been okay if the first time that they actually went to the other’s homes wasn’t by the 70% mark of the book. C-

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The Power and The Glory by Kimberly Lang. I bailed on this one after the second chapter. The hero is the campaign manager for his father, a Senator, who sounds like a dickwad and the heroine is a protestor for some environmental lobbying group. I am so sick of politics and politicians that I could not stomach reading more than about 20 pages of this book. Maybe in another era I would find this more palatable but, alas, could not. DNF

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The Man Every Woman Wants by Miranda Lee. The heroine is a lawyer who does contract work for a sports agent. She confesses that she has been weaving a tale about their faux engagement to her dying grandmother and now her dyying grandmother wants to meet him. The hero agrees to do this favor for her and has a bit of fun with it. The heroine’s family is sports mad and the heroine showing up with a former star athlete and current sports agent increases her cachet. B-

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A Christmas Night to Remember by Helen Brooks. My main complaint about this story is that it takes place over two days and the couple has serious issues. The heroine is involved in a terrible car wreck. She’s maimed and scarred and has never felt secure in her husband’s love. He’s so beautiful and so rich and there are always dozens of women casting lures for him, all of which he has steadfastly ignored. The heroine was beautiful prior to the car wreck and she prided herself in being able to fit in with the fast and fashionable but now that her legs are less than perfect, she doesn’t know what will become of her and she’s sure that her husband will leave her. In order to prevent him from leaving her, she’ll leave him. He refuses to leave and in the space of two days (right before Christmas) convinces her anew of his steadfast devotion. I should love this story. It is the kind of Brooks’ story I usually enjoy but I wasn’t convinced that the heroine’s deepseated emotional fear could be assauged in just a couple of days. C

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On the First Night of Christmas by Heidi Rice. Cassie gets splashed by a car careening around the corner while she is looking at holiday windows at Selfridges in London. Rather than be a doormat, she marches over to the vehicle, stopped at a signal and bangs on the window. She tells him off and when he fails to provide an appropriate response to her, she jumps in the car only to realize that the driver is a former high school classmate of hers, one she’s always had a crush on. Just off a broken engagement, Cassie’s confidence is at an all time low and when Jace Ryan comes on to her, it’s like a balm to her wounded ego. They embark on an affair, destined to only last until the New Year when Jace returns to New York. In that time period, Cassie falls hard for Jace but Jace is confused by his feelings. He doesn’t really believe in love and just wants to enjoy the moments as they come. I really enjoyed the ending because I felt like it didn’t force the issue. It does have a traditional HEA (provided by the epilogue). B

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On the First Night of Christmas actually had a similar conflict to Once Touched, Never Forgotten by Natasha Tate, a book that I didn’t like much. Once Touched, Never Forgotten is a secret baby story. The heroine decides that the hero won’t be a good father and more importantly, doesn’t want to be a father so when she finds out she is pregnant she leaves him. Five years later he rediscovers her and her secret baby. She had a terrible childhood and was abandoned by her own father. She projects her fears onto the hero that he too will abandon their child. Of course, she never gives him the opportunity to choose. The hero isn’t sure he knows how to love but he promises that he will be a good father. The heroine is relentless in her accusations that he will be a terrible father based on nothing more than her own fears. She was a bitch but then he later uses sexual blackmail to get her to marry him so I figure that they belonged together. And unlike the Rice book, the hero in this one belabored his inability to love over and over again. I got it. She was abandoned. He had crappy relatives. The melodrama was over the top. D

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Dear Ms. Heath,

I got this book from the library after a good friend of mine mentioned that it was one of her favorite [...]]]>
Note to readers: This review contains SPOILERS. If you would like to read this book and prefer to remain spoiler-free, it may be best not to read this review.

Dear Ms. Heath,

I got this book from the library after a good friend of mine mentioned that it was one of her favorite books of the year. Waking Up with the Duke makes use of the conceiving an heir trope which has sometimes resulted in books I’ve loved and other times in books I didn’t care for. I was hoping that this book would be one of the former, but instead, it seems to be one of the latter, and on p.317 (of 375 pages) I have decided that reading further will only make me more frustrated. More on the reasons why in a moment, but first, a brief plot summary.

Waking Up with the Duke begins with Ransom Seymour, Duke of Ainsley (referred to throughout the book as “Ainsley”) drinking with his cousin the Marquess of Walfort. Three years ago a carriage accident that occurred while a drunken Ainsley was holding the reins resulted in Walfort’s being paralyzed from the waist down. The emotional trauma led Walfort’s marchioness, Lady Jayne Seymour, to lose the child she was carrying.

Now Walfort wants Ainsley to atone for his actions by giving Jayne a child and Walfort an heir. Ainsley is stunned and horrified. Although he sleeps around quite a bit, he considers married women off limits. Not only that, he can’t imagine allowing someone else to claim and keep his child. What he can’t deny, however, are his feelings for Jayne, whom Ainsley has loved from afar since the day he met her at Walfort’s betrothal dinner. Unfortunately for Ainsley, Jayne blames him for all she and Walfort suffered as a result of the accident, and thinks very little of him.

When Walfort tells Jayne that he wants her to conceive a baby with Ainsley, she is sickened and hurt. But eventually, for reasons having to do with wanting a child and wanting to give Walfort his heart’s desire, Jayne agrees to Walfort’s suggestion. Of course, there’s an attraction between Ainsley and Jayne, and once they go to Ainsley’s retreat in order to get down to business, romantic feelings develop. Both know that these feelings can’t lead to happiness, and yet, they cannot repress them.

A number of things bothered me while reading Waking Up with the Duke. I’ll begin with Walfort’s behavior in the first hundred or so pages of the book, which felt inconsistent to me. On the one hand he kept talking as if Jayne’s happiness was the most important thing to him, but on the other hand he was not at all possessive of her nor romantic toward her. He seemed at first to be all over the place and it was very hard to get a fix on his character. I would have liked more clues as to his motives.

Later in the book, when his secret was revealed, his motives made more sense, but even then I wasn’t certain how much his request that Ainsely and Jayne conceive a child was driven by selflessness and how much by selfishness. He kept saying that Jayne should not be deprived of children, but the later revelations made his motives more questionable and I was uncertain as to whether my interpretation of his character was that which you intended to convey.

In the beginning, that was true for me of Ainsley as well. Ainsley fit the “fake rake” archetype in that he was said to constantly sleep with women and never spend more than a few nights with each one, but his actual behavior didn’t match these actions. He did not seem casual about his relationships, and was affectionate and sweet a good portion of the time.

I was further confused by his behavior with Jayne in the first eighty or so pages. Perhaps it was simply that the romance was rushed, but Ainsley kept thinking about how he could never be a party to adultery yet at the same time he flirted with Jayne and kissed her after learning that Walfort had not done so since the accident that crippled him.

I think I was meant to believe that Ainsley was sweet, selfless, generous and honorable, but it took a long time for the book to convince me of that because Ainsley kept finding ways to spend time with Jayne while protesting that she was a married woman and therefore off-limits.

For a duke, Ainsley also seemed too humble, and other characters did not behave as if he were a duke either. Jayne thought that his hunting retreat was a one room cottage, and was surprised to discover that it was larger. Ainsley’s mother kept wanting Ainsley to marry and have children but her concern seemed to be almost entirely with his personal happiness and not with the succession of the title. There are times when I feel that a character is a duke merely so that the word “duke” can be on the cover and sell books, and that was the case here. Ainsley’s dukedom didn’t figure in the plot very much, at least in the 317 pages that I read.

Other aspects of his character were inconsistent as well. Ainsley was said to be very discreet, yet to conceive Walfort’s heir, he invited Jayne to his hunting retreat for an entire month. Although Jayne doesn’t use the Walfort title or the Seymour name, Ainsely presents her as “Lady Jayne” which seemed risky to me, revealing both her first name and the fact that she is a lady to his dozen or so servants. Ainsely also takes Jayne also visit a local fair and they regularly go walking in the village, patronizing merchants along the way. In England of 1860, this doesn’t seem discreet to me.

At Ainsley’s hunting retreat, some things happened that bothered me. First, despite Jayne’s wishes to the contrary, Ainsley was determined to bring her pleasure, and he brought her to climax their initial sexual encounter. On the one hand, Jayne’s resulting emotional distress made the scene powerful, but on the other, I had a difficult time reconciling this with Ainsley’s supposed love and selflessness. Physically Jayne may have felt pleasure, but emotionally it made her betrayal of her marriage vows more complete. Had Ainsley been portrayed as morally ambiguous I would have had no problem with his violation of her boundaries, but since he was supposed to be such a good guy, it didn’t entirely fit with the rest of his portrayal.

The pacing of the book felt off to me, with much of it rushed or underdeveloped. For example it took Jayne less than two days alone with Ainsley to change her mind about him completely. Where before she had thought he was hateful, she now saw so much goodness in him. I thought it would have been more believable had it taken her longer to come around.

I also noticed an occasional slipping into contemporary speech patterns in the characters’ dialogue, for example “It hurts so bad” and exchanges like “You deserve so much better than I’ve given you. “Walfort, please, let’s not go there.” And “Is that a threat?” “It’s a promise.”

It may sound like I felt there was nothing good about this book but in fact there were things I liked about it. I loved the setup that Ainsley felt obligated and guilt ridden toward Walfort. I thought Walfort’s character was thought-provoking, in light of the revelations about him. Much of Jayne’s stay at the cottage was both poignant and romantic. For a while, I believed that these two people were falling in love and wanted them to be able to be together.

Unfortunately, my positive feelings evaporated when Jayne returned home. I wanted so badly to know what Jayne and Walfort’s marriage was like in the wake of Ainsley and Jayne’s affair. Was Walfort jealous? Did he regret pushing them together? Did Jayne view Walfort differently after being with Ainsley? Did she feel lonelier in her marriage than she had before? More confused? And how did she feel when she learned she was pregnant? All of this was glossed over in favor of more trivial things.

At this point I am on p.317 and the improbabilities keep coming. The recently widowed Jayne has just received Ainsley in her bedchamber, in her nightdress, without even trying to hide this from her servants. I don’t feel motivated to keep reading.

I really did love the premise of the cousin/friend whom the hero felt responsible for rendering unable to sire an heir asking the hero to sleep with his wife. It is the unrealized potential for a gripping, romantic, complex story that has engendered my frustration and made me finally decide to put the book down unfinished. I know that other readers, like my friend, have enjoyed Waking Up with the Duke a lot more than I have, and I wish that I had as well.

Sincerely,

Janine

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You are well-known in the online romance community as Katiebabs of Babbling About Books. I’m a fan of your quirky sense of humor and I appreciate your thoughtful, honest reviews. I wish I could say I enjoyed your books as much as your blog.

Since I signed on as a reviewer here [...]]]> Dear Ms. Grant,

You are well-known in the online romance community as Katiebabs of Babbling About Books. I’m a fan of your quirky sense of humor and I appreciate your thoughtful, honest reviews. I wish I could say I enjoyed your books as much as your blog.

Since I signed on as a reviewer here at DA, I’ve received three stories to review. Two of those were submitted by you. Unfortunately, both were DNFs. Although I opted to email my thoughts on Lovestruck to you privately, I decided to post a full review of Sleeping with the Frenemy. You’ve always said that you’d rather have a negative review than none at all. I admire you for saying it, and I agree. Nothing kills a book like silence. So here goes.

Deep breath.

I think your writing style has improved since Lovestruck, but a number of mistakes caught my attention in Sleeping with the Frenemy.  If I could sum up the problems in one word it would be “overdone.” The villain is over-the-top evil, there are many unnecessary scenes, and you go too far with your descriptions. The details about bodily functions and female arousal are off-putting, rather than sexy.

The story begins with Deborah and Genevieve, a “perfect” married couple. Gen is rich and powerful and dominant. Deborah is a sweet, submissive dishrag. There are hints that the relationship is abusive, along with strong indications that the women love each other deeply. The opening chapters are a nonstop sexfest.

Although Deborah seems to fear Gen, she submits to her every desire and has powerful orgasms. I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to feel about these scenes, which read like dubious-consent, degrading BDSM.

Let me give a few examples of the details I found off-putting. In the first chapter, Gen and Deborah go to the opera. They notice an overweight couple watching them and start making out. After the kiss, “Gen wiped the drool away from the corner of her mouth.” Am I supposed to find this sexy?

Gen strokes Deborah to climax at the opera and again in the limo. They proceed to their bedroom at home, where Gen brings out the sex toys. Deborah is tired and reluctant but allows Gen to penetrate her with a huge dildo. There’s a geyser of body fluids:

Deborah yelped from Gen’s talented mouth as her tongue went in deep, lapping over her swollen folds and tissues. She moaned and humped Gen’s face, dying slowly as Gen pushed her legs out wider and attacked her pussy with great intensity. Bright purple spots appeared in front of her eyes, and when Gen’s finger went between her ass cheeks, Deborah shrieked and rocked.

She was overcome with pleasure and couldn’t control the gush of her come. It shot out and covered Gen’s face.

Later, Gen transfers an anal toy from her orifice to Deborah’s, ignoring Deborah’s protests. At the end of the night, Deborah passes out cold.

The next day Gen flies into a jealous rage and beats Deborah brutally. The depiction of physical violence is well done and your portrayal of Deborah as a broken woman was the high point of the story for me. Most battered women stay with their abuser because they are in love, and Deborah is no exception. Even after she finds the strength to leave, she misses Gen.

Deborah fakes her death by pushing her car off a cliff, into a river. The car is in neutral, which seems like a giveaway, but whatever. In another improbable scene, she disguises herself as a man and visits her mother at a nursing home. They are overheard discussing Deborah’s plan to escape to Woodberry Creek and assume a new identity.

After Deborah arrives in Woodberry Creek, the story loses momentum. There are mundane descriptions of Deborah brushing her teeth and using the bathroom. She gets her period and shops for tampons. In the feminine hygiene aisle, she meets Bridgette Woodberry, who suggests that the brand of tampons Deborah is looking at might be “too bulky.”

It’s clear that Bridgette is Deborah’s new love interest, but I’m not invested enough to continue reading. Without the spectacle of degrading sex, gushing come, and crazy Gen, there’s very little “juice” to hold my attention.

I know there is an audience for this kind of material and I wish you the best of luck in finding your niche. Although I felt that Sleeping with the Frenemy was smoother and more entertaining than Lovestruck, I have to give it a DNF.

Best regards,

Jill

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It is with regret that I write this DNF review. The blurb of “Stranded with Her Ex” sounded so interesting. Two divorced wildlife researchers – a seal researcher and a shark expert, stuck together out on a remote island, find each other again. But as I’ve sometimes found, blurbs that caught [...]]]> Dear Ms. Sorenson,

It is with regret that I write this DNF review. The blurb of “Stranded with Her Ex” sounded so interesting. Two divorced wildlife researchers – a seal researcher and a shark expert, stuck together out on a remote island, find each other again. But as I’ve sometimes found, blurbs that caught my eye don’t always work out for me when I’m when presented with the total product.

Somehow I got a wrong impression about the tone of book. When Jane emailed me the info, I must have completely missed the part about it being a Silhouette Suspense novel and I kept waiting for the light, frothy comedy I was expecting but found angst galore. It’s certainly not your fault but I had to do 180 mental turn just as the book is beginning which irritated me, again more at myself, for misreading what I was getting myself into. Note to self: always double check category of book before starting.

Daniella is a special snowflake. In the first few chapters I get told over and over how fragile she is, how likely to mentally collapse, how worried her ex is about whether or not she’ll be able to do her job and not go into complete meltdown. It’s wearing to be around people like this – and I’ve worked with a few – and wearing to repeatedly read about how close they and everyone around them thinks they are to a breakdown.

Sean is hunky, hunky, hunky. I get it. But he’s also Mr. Secret Emo Sensitive who was crushed when his attempts to reach out to Daniella following their tragic loss were rejected. He’s worried enough about Daniella’s mental status to almost order her off the island. At the point I stopped reading, that irked me more than made me say “aaah, he cares.”

I’m not a fan of mental lusting and, oh boy, there are tons of this. Literally ‘coming to a halt and staring’ mental lusting. ML to the point that everyone around them notices it and sometimes smirks about it. Sean is turned on by the heroine’s toothpaste aroma. Right.

These are animal researchers on a preserve island. At one point Daniella thinks that this kind of work is not for the faint of heart. It’s not. I applaud you for being realistic about this survival of the fittest. It’s elemental survival. It’s also gory and described – sometimes in detail. I am a bleeding heart when it comes to animals and though I realize in my head that carnivores must eat meat to survive, I don’t want to read about the way the remains of a seal look after the initial strike of a shark. I don’t want that mental image in my head. I respect your talents as an author to describe it so realistically that I have this mental image but I don’t want the image. Then there was the scene of the baby seal with the plastic around his neck, who is obviously doomed, and the ongoing threat of whoever mutilated another seal corpse which I just didn’t want to read anything more about.

Certain aspects of the story get bogged down. There’s lots of detail about the different species of birds on the island. Needed? I don’t think so. That is followed by more information about the early people to live there – which I found myself skimming. And then there is lots of info about surfing, wanting to surf, surfing conditions, surfboards – which I found boring.

So delicate snowflake heroine + emo yet also sorta controlling seeming hero + way too much mental lusting + gory nature stuff + slightly boring parts = DNF.

~Jayne

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A friend recommended your lesbian paranormal romance to me when I asked for something new. Although I'm not a big fan of weres/shifters, I've enjoyed several of your earlier books (written as Radclyffe) and I consider myself an adventurous reader. I was eager to try the new pseudonym and new series.

Unfortunately, [...]]]> Dear Ms. Raand,

A friend recommended your lesbian paranormal romance to me when I asked for something new. Although I'm not a big fan of weres/shifters, I've enjoyed several of your earlier books (written as Radclyffe) and I consider myself an adventurous reader. I was eager to try the new pseudonym and new series.

Unfortunately, The Midnight Hunt didn't work for me. If I had to describe the story in one word, it would be overpowering.

On a quick personal note, fairness in reviewing is something I strive for but do not feel I can achieve. I'm not a lesbian. My opinion on your character's sexuality or how you choose to portray it carries little or no weight. But I can't write a thorough review without being honest about my likes and dislikes. I had a strong negative reaction to the erotic elements in this story and I hope not to cause offense to you or anyone else in the LGBT community with my criticism.

I've said before that I'm new to lesbian romance and some of the tropes are foreign to me. I've grown accustomed to one of the heroines being more androgynous or boyish. At times these characters are "too masculine" for my taste. Most of the cast of The Midnight Hunt fell into this category.

Sylvan Wir is the Alpha to end all Alphas. She's the head of her pack and the leader of the council of preternatural beings. She's like the president of the paranormal world. People nearly piss themselves when she walks by. In this story, vampires and weres are "out" in society, trying to gain acceptance. Sylvan is under a lot of pressure to convince politicians to pass a bill for equal rights. The parallels I saw between "unnatural" creatures and the gay community were interesting. You have an engaging writing style and the premise felt fresh to me.

After a difficult day at the office, Sylvan returns to her wolfpack compound, only to find that one of the "pups" has been injured. She shifts in a running leap and races to the hospital. When she arrives, snarling her demands for a special were-medic, she meets human ER doc Drake McKennan. Drake is fascinated by the paranormal patient and her protective Alpha. Sylvan growls and snaps and tends to the pup's wound by removing a poisonous piece of metal with her powerful claws.

The animalistic behavior seemed exaggerated and the world-building uneven. Sylvan shows up at the hospital in jeans and a shirt, her feet bare. She can shift into a clothed human, but shoes are beyond her scope? She's also reluctant to tell the human doctor any details about the pup's injury. The girl was stabbed with a silver-based blade, and according to Sylvan "only another Were would know that silver was lethal, even in very small doses." I thought it was common knowledge that werewolves are sensitive to silver. Silver bullets, at any rate.

I also thought Sylvan's characterization was weak. Weres are hypersexual beings, needing constant physical release. If they don't mate, or at least copulate, they can become violent and unstable. Despite the danger, Sylvan is reluctant to see to her own needs. She's unsatisfied with empty sexual encounters but refuses to take a mate. Why? Because her father was devastated by her mother's death. Sylvan decides she'd rather be alone forever than risk losing a partner.

The Alpha's sexual frustration is bad for the pack. Her needy scent can trigger a snarling hump-fest by sending all of the females into heat and causing dominant members to fight for mating rights. I had trouble believing that Sylvan would continue to deny herself release and jeopardize the safety of her pack. Her edgy stubbornness was not a strength or a sympathetic vulnerability.

For me, the most jarring aspect of The Midnight Hunt was its portrayal of werewolf female sexuality. There are frequent sex scenes and the clitoris is described in masculine terms. It acts like a penis. The were-clitoris becomes engorged, stiff, erect, rigid, hard, etc. It can be placed between a lover's buttocks, sucked deep into a mouth, or milked to release. Were-females also have a strip of fur down the center of their abdomen, six-pack abs, and olive-sized nodes on either side of their phallus-like clits. These sex glands ache, grow firm, and need to be drained.

Okay. I don't want to get too personal, but I cringe at the thought of my ladyparts being manipulated like manparts. It's not a turn-on for me to imagine male sex organs on myself or any female. The "nodes" reminded me of testicles, of course, but also of canine anal glands, which I had many unpleasant encounters with while working at a veterinary clinic in my youth. This unfortunate resemblance, paired with the raw animalism and overwhelming masculinity of the characters, disturbed me. About halfway through, I quit reading.

Lora Leigh writes a werecat series in which the heroes have barbed penises, if I remember correctly. I’m okay with that. Enhanced clitorises, not so much.

I think I'll stick to your contemporaries.

Best regards,

Jill Sorenson

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Dear Ms. White,

Jane counts And Falling, Fly among her favorite books for 2010 and it just missed making my list by an eyelash. The book was gorgeously written, thought provoking, sensuous and exciting. All of this, and it really engaged me by making me question what [...]]]> WARNING: SPOILERS ARE HAPPENING BELOW. APOLOGIES IN ADVANCE

Dear Ms. White,

Jane counts And Falling, Fly among her favorite books for 2010 and it just missed making my list by an eyelash. The book was gorgeously written, thought provoking, sensuous and exciting. All of this, and it really engaged me by making me question what I was reading: is it simply (or not so simply) a story about demons, angels and vampires, or is there a hidden subtext and the entire thing takes place in a mental institution? In the end did I need a solid answer? No, because I love turning all of the conversations and events over in my mind and continually dissecting them. Brilliant.

I wish I could say the same about In Dreams Begin, but for me, your second effort was a confusing mess.

Laura is a graphic artist in present-day Portland, and the story, when she’s in her own body and time, is told in first person. But trust me, she doesn’t spend much time in her own body. On the eve of her wedding as she is falling asleep, she’s transported to the body of Irish activist Maude Gonne by Ida Jameson. Ida is Maude’s best friend (if one can call a scheming, mean, miserable, grasping bitch a best friend), and is hopelessly in love with Maude. Ida is totally into the occult and is looking for acceptance through showing members of occult groups how proficient she is at doing occult-type stuff. Apparently W.B. Yeats (yes, as in The Second Coming) is an occultist as well, is close to Maude through the Irish freedom fighters and falls in love with Laura’s spirit inside of Maude’s body. Oh, and Laura falls in love with Yeats when she inhabits Maude’s body.

Don’t get me wrong. The prose is beautiful:

I’m not the sort to fall apart. I’m the girl who didn’t try suicide once in four years of art school. I never get carried away. But okay, maybe I have some things to work out. My arms splay and my thighs fall open on the blackening rug.

I have fallen. Asleep.

The rising dark hides the carpet’s color. The parrot voices grow farther and farther away, screaming with their green wings that it’s crazy to reason with your dreams. And I drift into a blackness spotted only by a swimming, dreaming crowd of stars.

However, I couldn’t follow the flow of the plot for shit.

The story goes back and forth between Laura and Ida, which was a problem for me. With Laura, I felt that she was so poorly drawn that I couldn’t get a handle on who she was or why this might be happening to her. While she inhabits Maude’s body, she doesn’t remember her reality: that she’s married, lives in Portland, has a job. When the story swings back to present-day Portland, her memories of Yeats, Ida and the goings on in Victorian England and Ireland are like fuzzy dreams, so for me her actual character was a whitewash.

With Ida, I have much stronger feelings. I think she’s repulsive, and I do believe I communicated that above. Her motivations are fairly obvious: she wants power and love. But I can’t dredge up an ounce of caring for her. At one point, she meets with a Demon and I actually think they’ve made it back to the Hell of the L'Otel Mathillide that was in And Falling, Fly, but I can’t be sure because frankly, with all of the time jumping and back and forth, I really had no idea what was going on or why. Ida does some really horrible things: sex with people she doesn’t want to have it with, stealing souls, destroying lives. Her despicable behavior was more exciting to read about than Laura’s boring reactions or Maude’s lame ones, but I just couldn’t muster more than a passing interest.

Finally, I’ll come to Yeats: why? Other than using his poetry and prose as part of a hook for the novel, he felt like character wallpaper. I will admit that I’m not really one for poetry, and I hate trying to find all the meanings unless I get them on the first go-round (which is why I love Robert Frost above all) so the chapters that began with Yeats’ work didn’t do much for me, and I couldn’t muster the energy to find the connection between the book and the poetry.

With In Dreams Begin, I just couldn’t figure out where the plot was going or why I should care about any of the characters. The book moved at a snail’s pace, and just as something seemed like it was about to happen, or there would be some illumination as to what was going on, the chapter stopped, Laura woke up, Ida cast a spell, or it was time to read some poetry. Ultimately I grew so frustrated that I had to stop reading. Before you judge, I read 275 pages…and I still can’t figure out what the fuck is going on here. I tried to convince myself to read the last 110 pages but I just couldn’t. DNF

~ Shuzluva

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Thanks for submitting your work to Dear Author.   I'd intended to buy this one because the cover is lovely and I was intrigued by the blurb.   Cross-dressing heroines are a favorite of mine, followed closely by nursemaid heroines, and this story has both!   Even the title, Beguiled, gives off good vibes.   Isn't [...]]]> Dear Ms. Smith,

Thanks for submitting your work to Dear Author.   I'd intended to buy this one because the cover is lovely and I was intrigued by the blurb.   Cross-dressing heroines are a favorite of mine, followed closely by nursemaid heroines, and this story has both!   Even the title, Beguiled, gives off good vibes.   Isn't there a spooky Clint Eastwood movie by that name?

I really wanted to like this book, but I wasn't impressed by the first few pages.   I gave up shortly after, so this isn't a traditional review of the story, plot, or characterization.   It's a quick critique of the stumbling blocks I encountered.

In the opening scene, the heroine, Belle (as in Southern belle) is standing on her front porch, facing a troop of marauding Yankees.   Her little brother shoots and kills one of the soldiers from an upstairs window and Belle's father takes responsibility for the crime.   Belle is horrified:

They intended to hang my pa! This couldn't be happening.

But it was. I couldn't tear my gaze from it any more than I could have ripped my gaze from the face of a corpse at a wake. I felt as if I were somehow standing outside my body, watching instead of experiencing, observing as if it were happening to somebody else.

Like Belle, I felt removed from the action.   I think there were too many filter words like "thought" and "felt," which can create distance.   There's a great article on this at Let the Words Flow.   Belle is screaming and pleading for her father's life, but I wasn't moved because the writing style didn't draw me in.   The "telling" internal dialogue slowed the pace, giving the scene a lackluster quality.

I also noticed a lot of repetition.   In the above snippet, the word gaze is used twice in the same sentence.   Belle gazes two more times in the first three pages.   She also burns two stares, glares, gets eyed, meets each pair of eyes, and watches her father hang before her eyes.   The focus on blazing eyeballs, while common in romance, stuck out to me as excessive.

I skipped ahead a few pages to the scene in which Belle meets Alice.   The Yankees had left an unconscious soldier on Belle's doorstep.   Alice wakes up later and introduces herself as a woman.   There is no confusion, no tension, no gradual discovery of her feminine identity.

When I read about a cross-dressing heroine in m/f romance, I look forward to the hero being perplexed or in denial about his attraction to a beautiful young "man."   I picked up Beguiled with interest, wondering how this dynamic would play out between two women.   Unfortunately, the early reveal gives Belle no opportunity to interact with Alice in disguise, so the concept seemed underexplored.   DNF.

Best regards,

Jill

Book Link | Kindle | Loose Id

Selfish is the Heart is the third book in your Order of Solace series, and I was not sure what to expect of it given how widely my responses to your two earlier works in this series differed. I gave Pleasure and Purpose an A- review, and No Greater Pleasure a DNF [...]]]> Dear Ms. Hart,

Selfish is the Heart is the third book in your Order of Solace series, and I was not sure what to expect of it given how widely my responses to your two earlier works in this series differed. I gave Pleasure and Purpose an A- review, and No Greater Pleasure a DNF grade.

Three things convinced me to give Selfish is the Heart a try despite my disappointment in No Greater Pleasure. The first was my love for Pleasure and Purpose, the second a comment by a reader, Joanne, stating that she'd heard that No Greater Pleasure was written years before Pleasure and Purpose, and the third the description of Selfish is the Heart which I read on Amazon and which intrigued me greatly.

The national bestselling author of No Greater Pleasure delivers a new novel featuring a reluctant student of seduction.

To escape an arranged marriage, Annalise Marony decides to become a Handmaiden of the Order of Solace. But she is thwarted at every turn by Cassian, a teacher of the faith, who must test her dedication. Older than most of the girls, Annalise knows that she will be expected to please a patron in pleasures of the flesh-and she is not shy about teasing Cassian. And as they both play out the game of master and student, the secrets in their souls will either tear them apart-or bind them together forever.

My attention was captured by this and I anticipated this book with excitement, but unfortunately the first ten chapters did not live up to the description above (more on that later), and I stopped reading at page 125 (of 307 pages).

Readers of the two earlier books in this series know that the books take place in a fantastical setting. By fantastical I don't mean there is a lot of magic or strange creatures, just that the world is a fictional one. It is somewhat reminiscent of 19th century Europe, although its religion is quite different. Here is a description of that faith, taken from my review of Pleasure and Purpose.

It is the prevailing religious belief that each time a soul finds perfect solace, even if only for a moment, an arrow appears in the god Sinder's quiver. According to legend -’ and many people's faith -’ when the quiver is full, Sinder, his wife and his son, The Holy Family, will reunite, bringing peace and harmony to mankind.

To that end, the Order of Solace was created. The women who enter the order, called handmaidens, make it their task to bring solace to the patrons who engage their services. Sometimes doing that involves sex, but there is more to it than that. To give an idea of the handmaidens' outlook, here are the five principles which comprise the tenets of the Order of Solace's philosophy:

“1. There is no greater pleasure than providing absolute solace.
2. True patience is its own reward.
3. A flower is made more beautiful by its thorns.
4. Selfish is the heart that thinks first of itself.
5. Women we begin and women we shall end.”

Most of the women who enter the Order of Solace do so out of true faith, but Annalise Marony is different. Although her mother is deeply religious, Annalise herself is not, but she is trapped in an engagement she agreed to but later changed her mind about. Annalise's fiancé, Jaquin, is a childhood friend she has a lot of affection for, but he is not attracted to her – or to any woman. Jaquin is gay.

In order to escape marriage to Jaquin in a way that won't bring dishonor to either of them, Annalise pretends to have a vision that leads her to join the order and train to become a handmaiden. She plans to stay a student without ever graduating, since she has no interest in catering to the whims of patrons.

On Annalise's arrival at a forest near the Order's motherhouse, she is given misleading directions by a man. She does not realize right away that this is a test of her dedication. When she finally arrives at the motherhouse, Annalise encounters the same man again. He is Cassian, one of the few men who live in the motherhouse, and he is a priest and instructor there.

An attraction develops between Annalise and Cassian, but Cassian refuses to acknowledge those feelings. Cassian has divorced himself from other people emotionally, and cut himself off from their affection for reasons that aren't made fully clear in the section I read. But as Annalise and Cassian encounter each other again and again, they get under one another's skin. Will Annalise thaw Cassian's heart? Will she come to respect the faith she disdains? Will the two admit their feelings and will they find solace?

I did not read far enough in this book to find out the answer to most of these questions, for the following reasons.

My feelings on Annalise were mixed; she was not instantly sympathetic to me, but not immediately unsympathetic either. Her disdain for the beliefs held by her fellow novitiates at the motherhouse did not appeal to me; even though I find the tenets of the Order of Solace's faith antifeminist, I still didn't enjoy seeing the novitiates' honest and profound devotion scorned.

Still, this unappealing aspect of Annalise's character was somewhat mitigated by her kindness to Tansy, her sweet, younger roommate, and her affection for Jaquin, her fiancé, despite the fact that he had no romantic or sexual feelings for her.

But as the novel proceeded, I found myself less and less interested in Annalise. Perhaps the problem there was that she was simply too ordinary, and lacked some of what I think of as the sheen of romantic glamour that I feel most romance protagonists (including many of your own main characters) possess.

I also felt that in the portion of the book that I read, Annalise did not face any deep internal conflict or strong external obstacle to make her compelling. Perhaps that changes later in the book, but if it does, I didn't get far enough into the story to know about it.

Cassian was more immediately interesting, especially when he was first introduced. It was evident from early on that he had walled himself off from the rest of humanity, and I was curious at first as to the reason he had closed himself so completely to warmth and affection.

Unfortunately, by the time I stopped reading, some hints had been given about that, but the answer was not yet revealed. And in the meantime, while waiting to learn the reasons for Cassian's coldness, I became frustrated with it because I wanted to see more of a relationship develop between him and Annalise.

Having read several of your works, I know better than to count on feeling instant sympathy for the main characters, and I believe I might have still enjoyed the book even so, had the story unfolded with more narrative drive. But the book's pacing was sedate and slow, and as it continued there was too little interesting new information revealed about the characters and their situation.

A third problem for me may have been one of expectations. The book description posted on Amazon states that Annalise is "thwarted at every turn by Cassian, a teacher of the faith, who must test her dedication." This conveys a strong conflict that did not materialize fully enough in the first ten chapters to entice me to keep reading.

After reading that description, I had the impression that Cassian would be testing and thwarting Annalise left and right, and given that Annalise was also described as "a reluctant student of seduction" and that most of the earlier Hart books I'd read were erotic, I also expected some of those tests to be sexual. In the first 125 pages, at least, that was not the case. The only sex scene in that portion of the novel was brief, and it was not between Annalise and Cassian.

Annalise and Cassian's scenes consisted mainly of squabbles in the religion classroom that did not seem to me to give the story much momentum. There were also many scenes of Annalise and Tansy's friendship, and while I liked Tansy's sweetness, these didn't move the story forward much either. Cassian's scenes with a young boy in need of an adult male's attention were a bit more interesting.

Admittedly, I am a reader with a short attention span and when a book is paced slowly and lacks a strong enough conflict to engage me, my reading speed, which is slow to begin with, lags to a turtle's pace. That was what happened with this book, and so, at the end of chapter ten, I stopped reading and decided that this particular book was just not for me.

I am not happy to give another of the books in this series a DNF grade, especially when I loved Pleasure and Purpose so much. I do hope that other readers enjoy the book more than I did.

Sincerely,

Janine Ballard

Book Link | Kindle | Amazon | nook | BN | Borders
| Sony|

I’m really excited about the fact that Carina has three m/m romances in their opening month line-up and I was extra-excited that you’d written a m/m Tarzan revisioning. All I can say now is that I really hope Carina’s other two m/m romances can redeem this book.

James Litchfield is part of [...]]]> Dear Ms. Dee:

I’m really excited about the fact that Carina has three m/m romances in their opening month line-up and I was extra-excited that you’d written a m/m Tarzan revisioning. All I can say now is that I really hope Carina’s other two m/m romances can redeem this book.

James Litchfield is part of an 1888 expedition to the Congo in Africa. As an anthropologist, he’s thrilled to find a man who has been brought up by gorillas. He hides his discovery from the rest of the expedition, though, sneaking away to spend time with the man he dubs Michael, teaching him words, and falling in love with him, and having sex with him. His secrecy is rendered moot, however, when he succumbs to malaria while out with Michael, who carries him back into camp and is captured. The rest of the story tells of their journey back to England, Michael’s exploitation at the hands of the man who funded the expedition, James’ struggles both to help Michael survive and to stay away from him sexually and emotionally because he thinks he should, and finally the custody hearing about Michael’s future.

As an academic educated in the post-colonial tradition, I was first intensely uncomfortable with the facile way the story presented — or, more accurately, made passive reference to but mostly ignored — the massive problems with British “scientific” exploration in places like the Congo in the nineteenth century. I tried hard to convince myself that a text told from the perspective of one of the 1888-set characters wouldn’t be able to recognize the terrible damage done to African people and places alike by British feelings of cultural superiority and superior fire power. But as I got further into the book, I realized that everything was facilely written. Nothing went deep, nothing was truly discussed or examined, nothing MEANT anything.

Also, an 1888-set text shouldn’t have James musing about his “homosexuality,” considering the word was first published in English in 1895 in a translation of von Krafft-Ebing’s Psychopathia Sexualis, which itself was only published in German in 1886. As scientific as James may be, I really don’t think he’d think about his sexuality *as* a “sexuality” — that is, as a sexual *identity* — or be calling himself “a homosexual” in 1888. This bugged the crap out of me.

But the facile writing and the bad research were themselves symptoms of the overall issue that the book seemed to be a puppet play motivated solely by plot elements. Go back and read that plot summary — it’s all about what happened, not what the characters felt. James must find Michael, so let’s direct puppet James over into clearing to be attacked by a leopard so Michael could save him. Puppet James would logically feel X in a particular situation, so let’s tell the reader that he’s feeling X. There’s almost no showing in this book — it’s all telling. And that much telling just gets tedious. Very quickly.

It was also just sloppy. At one point, Michael, who can read body language better than anyone else, tells James that one of his colleagues is sad:

James through back over Blake’s behavior during the meal and realized his usual river of speech had been somewhat dammed and his great appetite had diminished. “You’re rigth. He does seem upset about something. I wonder what it is.”

He would be certain to ask Blake. It suddenly occured to him he gave very little thought to the particulars of Blake’s life when the man had proven a trusty and valuable friend. “I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”

And that was it. He didn’t talk to him, or at least, we didn’t hear about it. And it’s like that again and again. You need to show that Michael is perceptive, so you have him talk about Blake. It’s logical that James wonder what’s wrong with him, so he does. But because nothing has any emotional weight at all, you never bring it up again. That’s the most egregious and obvious example, but it’s a problem throughout the book that none of the characters’ actions mean anything beyond the 10 pages or so in which they happen.

And there’s no internal conflict. At all. Oh, every now and then James gets an attack of conscience about his “homosexuality” or about his interference in Michael’s life, but these men fall in love very quickly, they have sex, they enjoy each other. There are no internal barriers to overcome on either side and the external barriers…while not forced, are all just puppet emotions: James/Michael SHOULD feel this, so let’s tell the reader he feels this, but, again, it doesn’t MEAN anything because these men are just puppets.

So, no internal conflict, all telling and no showing, bad research, no MEANING…purpose…theme, no emotional weight or repercussions, and no artistry whatsoever or anything other than by-the-numbers logical plot points that are obviously the results of a “What if…Tarzan were a m/m story instead?!” thought on the author’s part: add all this together and this book was really awful. The idea was great, but rather than figure out what the situation would MEAN to the men, you just directed them through the motions of the plot. I couldn’t figure out how far I needed to read into it to be able, in all good conscience, to give it a DNF review, so I actually read the whole thing. ::shudder:: As such, I therefore feel perfectly justified giving it a D. Not an F: it wasn’t actively ridiculous or contrary to all good taste or immoral, which are my criteria for an F. It was just boring as shit and frustrating, because it could have been so good.

And I think I’m probably not going to try to read any of your books again. We don’t mesh.

Best regards,
-Joan/Sarah F.

Book Link | Kindle | nook | Books on Board | Carina Press

Your review request caught my eye because you described the heroine of your novel, Star Gazing as congenitally blind, and mentioned that this story takes place on the Isle of Skye. You also mentioned that the book was short listed for RNA’s Romantic Novel of the Year award. I surfed over to [...]]]> Dear Ms. Gillard,

Your review request caught my eye because you described the heroine of your novel, Star Gazing as congenitally blind, and mentioned that this story takes place on the Isle of Skye. You also mentioned that the book was short listed for RNA’s Romantic Novel of the Year award. I surfed over to Amazon and read some very enthusiastic reviews, and decided to take you up on your offer and review the book.

Unfortunately, what I’ve read of Star Gazing has failed to engage me and I was only able to read at a glacially slow pace. Even more than a hundred pages in, I remain emotionally detached, and so I’ve come to a point where, in order to write this post on a timely basis, I’ve given up on finishing the book.

Star Gazing does have some good qualities which I will describe after the following plot summary:

The novel begins when its heroine, the blind, forty-five year old Marianne Fraser, runs into a cyclist near the front door of the Edinburgh home she shares with her sister, Louisa. The bottle of burgundy Marianne is carrying shatters and the door keys slip from her hands. A stranger offers his help and as he assists her, their mutual love of opera comes up.

Later, while at the opera, during the intermission, they meet again. Louisa, Marianne’s sister, is away buying drinks when the man introduces himself as Keir Harvey. Keir’s last name is a shock for Marianne since it was her late husband’s first name.

Marianne’s late husband worked in the oil industry and was killed in an accident. Marianne was devastated not only by Harvey’s death, but also by the miscarriage she suffered shortly afterward. The experiences she had with men in the years that followed were unpleasant, so she is somewhat jaded about the opposite sex when she and Keir meet. And she is not sure what to think of Keir when she tries to introduce him to Louisa, only to realize he is no longer there.

Keir and Marianne encounter one another again at the botanic gardens, and she confides in him about the losses she has suffered. When Keir is away, he mails her a cassette tape of him talking. On his return, Marianne invites Keir to her house for dinner, but he does not show. Louisa suspects that Keir is a figment of Marianne’s imagination, but then he reappears. It turns out that Keir, whose job is to spot hazards and prevent accidents from happening, was in an accident on an oil rig, and has been in the hospital. When Marianne realizes he was injured, she not only forgives his absence, she also accepts an invitation from him, to come to his home at the Isle of Skye.

In Skye, Marianne and Keir sleep in separate rooms, but in a rather reticent way, they both acknowledge their attraction. Keir describes the surroundings to Marianne, and explains that he tries to protect the area’s natural habitat. It would be cliched to say that Keir becomes Marianne’s eyes, but he makes it possible for her to perceive things she can’t see.

Marianne is a rather different kind of romantic heroine, not only because she is blind, but because she carries a lot of bitterness. She is, as she herself says, “incandescently angry.” Although I understood why Marianne might have a chip on her shoulder, especially after her husband’s death, her miscarriage, and having other men attempt to take advantage of her blindness or put her in the helpless-woman-in-need-of-rescue role, I still didn’t feel much of an emotional connection to the character.

Keir, who is a few years younger than Marianne, yet clearly mature and responsible, was somewhat more appealing. But with him too, as with Marianne, I felt somewhat at arms’ length, in this case perhaps because most of the time, there wasn’t much insight into his thoughts and feelings.

Star Gazing is written in alternating third person and first person sections, both in present tense. The third person sections in the first hundred or so pages keep the characters at a distance from the reader, with a lot of dialogue but very few internal thoughts.

The first person sections I read provided Marianne and Louisa’s viewpoints. Louisa’s POV included some humor, and she was a colorful character, a 51 year old writer of vampire novels who struggles with her weight and has a friendship with a younger goth named Garth.

The best part of this book for me were the descriptions of how Marianne perceives the world:

I love the garden in all seasons. I especially love it when it rains. I like to shelter under the trees when they’re in full leaf and listen to the patter of rain as it forms a kind of sound-sculpture for me, defining the size and shape of a tree, giving me an aural sense of scale, of distance.

I also appreciated the way Keir used Marianne’s auditory sensitivity to translate images into sounds for her:

‘If you look east, one of the brightest stars you’ll see is Arcturus. It has a yellow-orange glow. Most stars look cold. Icy. They’d sound like…flutes. No, piccolos. Shrill. Arcturus looks warmer. A cello maybe… It looks like the stove feels when it gives off just a bit of heat. Arcturus glows, but it doesn’t burn or blaze like the sun. It’s like the feeling you might have for an old friend… or an ex-lover, one who still means something to you. Steady. Passionless. On second thoughts, make that a viola… How am I doing?”

Yet the emphasis on Marianne’s blindness became less interesting to me as the book went on. I would have preferred to see it treated as just another facet of her character, and less of a focal point.

My main problem with the first hundred pages of this book was not this, though, but rather that the writing felt subdued. The emotions were somber and understated to a point where the writing felt dry to me, and I felt detached from the characters and from their story, despite the fact that the prose was above average.

The pacing also felt slow to me, but that may have been due to my lack of engagement. If there is such a thing as a book that is too grounded in reality for me, this book was an example of that, since Marianne and Keir lacked a kind of romantic glamour that I look for, and I think what I read of their story could have benefitted from more dramatic turns.

I wish I had been able to get more caught up in Star Gazing, and I expect there are readers to whom it might appeal more. But I have not been able to overcome my emotional detachment from the story, and rather than force myself to finish it, I’ve decided to stop reading. Therefore for me, this one is a DNF.

Sincerely,

Janine

This book can be purchased at Amazon or in ebook format from Sony or other etailers.

I’ve enjoyed several of your books, and three of them, the novels Dirty and Broken, and the novella collection Pleasure and Purpose, are among the best books I’ve read in recent years. I was thrilled by Pleasure and Purpose and greatly looking forward to No Greater Pleasure, its sequel, so I’m genuinely [...]]]> Dear Ms. Hart,

I’ve enjoyed several of your books, and three of them, the novels Dirty and Broken, and the novella collection Pleasure and Purpose, are among the best books I’ve read in recent years. I was thrilled by Pleasure and Purpose and greatly looking forward to No Greater Pleasure, its sequel, so I’m genuinely sorry to report that I found the first half of the book unsatisfying enough to put the novel down unfinished. The following, then, will not be a full review but rather an attempt to articulate the reasons I stopped reading.

Like Pleasure and Purpose, No Greater Pleasure takes place in (to crib from my review of the earlier book) “a fantasy setting which resembles mid nineteenth century Europe in terms of its technological development.”

It is the prevailing religious belief that each time a soul finds perfect solace, even if only for a moment, an arrow appears in the god Sinder’s quiver. According to legend — and many people’s faith — when the quiver is full, Sinder, his wife and his son, The Holy Family, will reunite, bringing peace and harmony to mankind.

To that end, the Order of Solace was created. The women who enter the order, called handmaidens, make it their task to bring solace to the patrons who engage their services. Sometimes doing that involves sex, but there is more to it than that. To give an idea of the handmaidens’ outlook, here are the five principles which comprise the tenets of the Order of Solace’s philosophy:

“1. There is no greater pleasure than providing absolute solace.
2. True patience is its own reward.
3. A flower is made more beautiful by its thorns.
4. Selfish is the heart that thinks first of itself.
5. Women we begin and women we shall end.”

Tranquilla (“Quilla”) Caden, a handmaiden in the Order of Solace, arrives at a house called Glad Tidings as No Greater Pleasure begins. The owner of the house is Tranquilla’s newest patron, Gabriel Delessan.

Quilla is greeted with suspicion by Florentine, Gabriel’s chatelaine and cook, and with surliness by Gabriel himself. Gabriel is an alchemist and has retained Quilla’s services to have his comfort and order in his laboratory seen to, not to attain solace. As he explains to Quilla, he requested a handmaiden so that he would not have to put up with “lies” and “pandering.” He does not want to hear that it’s her pleasure to please him, merely that she will do her job, which will not involve sex.

Quilla does her best to perform her task, seeing to it that Gabriel doesn’t forget to eat, replacing his broken teacups with whole ones and oiling a squeaky hinge on one of the doors, cleaning his lab, conversing with him when he seems to want conversation, and keeping silent when he doesn’t.

From Florentine, Quilla learns that Gabriel is married to a beautiful woman who may or may not be mad. Saradin cheated on Gabriel and drank some potion from his lab in an attempt to abort a baby. Her son was born healthy, though it is unclear whether or not Gabriel is the father. Sometimes Saradin screams in the middle of the night, but at other times, she seems completely sane, if oblivious to Quilla.

Gabriel does not discuss his wife with Quilla, but he does tell her that his own mother betrayed his father in a similar fashion. Gabriel’s half-brother Jericho is the result of an affair between Gabriel’s mother and her brother-in-law, Gabriel’s uncle. Gabriel is disgusted with his now deceased mother and uncle, but he does not take out his anger on Jericho, who is not to blame for the circumstances of his birth.

As time goes on, Quilla feels thwarted to realize that Gabriel does not want joy or solace. He will not cooperate with any of her attempts to help him become happier. Yet he doesn’t send her away, even though Quilla feels she is doing every task but the one that gives her purpose.

Gabriel’s half-brother Jericho arrives at Glad Tidings and is instantly smitten with Quilla, but Quilla doesn’t trust his sincerity. Jericho flirts with Quilla and makes it clear that he wants to pursue a relationship with her, something Quilla cannot indulge in while Gabriel remains her patron.

Quilla is startled to comprehend that she is beginning to feel jealous of Saradin for holding Gabriel’s attention. In previous assignments for married patrons, Quilla has never envied a spouse, nor was she sorry if her presence in a house brought a married couple closer together. But now she finds herself feeling differently.

No Greater Pleasure was a frustrating read for me because its premise sounded so intriguing and I hoped for an emotional reading experience. Instead, I found myself feeling relatively indifferent to Quilla and Gabriel’s fate.

One of the problems was that in the first quarter or so of the book, there was a lot of dialogue that seemed geared at explaining the principles of the Order of Solace, as well as the nature of a handmaiden’s role and work. Since I had read Pleasure and Purpose, I was already familiar with all of this, and I felt I was treading well-worn ground.

It didn’t help that some elements of the scenario — the surly patron who does not believe in solace or in the order, the skeptical servant who sees the handmaiden as a whore — were present in your wonderful novella “Stillness” and were therefore familiar to me as well. I suspect that to readers who have not read Pleasure and Purpose, this material might feel more fresh.

Quilla wasn’t unsympathetic, but she also wasn’t as compelling to me as the three handmaidens in Pleasure and Purpose. True to her name, her mood stayed even for a good part of the section I read. Although this wasn’t always the case, she often took things in stride to such a degree that I found her difficult to relate to. Since she did not seem to feel things that deeply, it was hard for me to feel deeply for her.

As for Gabriel, in the first half of the book, at least, he was sullen much of the time and therefore not very appealing to me. Although the book was written in third person, in its first half we never got Gabriel’s viewpoint (or anyone else’s other than Quilla’s), so even though Gabriel’s position wasn’t enviable, and I was willing to sympathize with him, I never truly experienced deep sympathy.

The situation Gabriel and Quilla found themselves in wasn’t particularly romantic to me. Understand, I’m not categorically opposed to adultery in books. For me, it all depends on the circumstances. But with Saradin, Gabriel’s shrewish wife, under the same roof with Quilla and Gabriel, it was hard to get into a romantic mood.

Perhaps that shouldn’t matter, since I’m not certain if the book is a romance. I have to admit that I often read for the romantic elements even in books outside the genre, and that may be a factor in my response.

Speaking of genre, I’m also not certain whether the erotic novel label would be appropriate in this case, because in the section I read, over half the book, there was no sex to speak of, unless you count the time Quilla was briefly subjected to overhearing Gabriel and Saradin going at it. I expect this changes eventually, but I didn’t get that far.

Quilla did not even kiss anyone in the book’s first half, though a few people tugged on her braid. I was frustrated enough by this state of affairs (or should I say, non-affairs) that I almost wished she would forget about solace and tumble into bed with Jericho, who, though probably untrustworthy, at least showed interest in her.

There are some good things about No Greater Pleasure which are worth mentioning. The gaslight fantasy setting is unusual, the Order of Solace premise truly inspired, and the prose is generally solid and at times evocative.

I had the feeling that this novel was heading for some kind of major development, but in the end, it pace of getting there was too slow for me. My interest kept wavering, I kept putting the book down, and finally I concluded that this book was not for me.

Just as I have enjoyed your other books, I’m sure there are other readers who will enjoy the unusual setting and premise in this one enough to overlook the things that bothered me, readers to whom the plot and characters will appeal more than they did to me. I wish I were one of them, but for me, No Greater Pleasure is a DNF.

Sincerely,

Janine

This book can be purchased at Amazon or in ebook format from Sony or other etailers on October 6, 2009.

Cesar is tired of bailing his younger brother out of hot water so when Ferdinado asks for access to his trust fund, Cesar heads out to see who it is that has her gold digging claws in Ferndando. He finds not a statuesque model blonde, but a mannish, [...]]]> Ruthless Tycoon, Inexperienced Mistress by Cathy Williams

Cesar is tired of bailing his younger brother out of hot water so when Ferdinado asks for access to his trust fund, Cesar heads out to see who it is that has her gold digging claws in Ferndando. He finds not a statuesque model blonde, but a mannish, petite redhead. Not Ferdinado’s type and certainly not his. The two get stuck in a snowstorm. They have sex. Jude becomes pregnant and the real fireworks begin. Cesar is standard HP hero (alpha, hot, assholic). Jude isn’t a doormat but falls pretty easily for Cesar. B-

This book can be purchased at Amazon or in ebook format from Sony or other etailers.

Up Close and Dangerously Sexy by Karen Anders

Given that the haikus have come to a close here at Dear Author, I submit my own:

Stranger danger here
As long as he gives good Os
No worries, she thinks

I stopped after the second scene. The heroine is in the sister’s apartment. Some stranger comes in and thinks she’s the heroine’s twin. He gets in bed with her and brings her to orgasm with his hand. “She had an orgasms with a complete stranger, a man who was close to her sister.” Then he handcuffs her, threatens here, and she continues to flirt with him. I had to stop reading to protect my Sony Reader.

This book can be purchased at Amazon or in ebook format from Sony or other etailers.

Travis’ Appeal by Marie Farerrarella

I stopped at Chapter 11 because I just got bored with the story. There was no conflict at all. Travis was a hard working lawyer. Shanna is a devoted daughter who gives massages to anyone. She also wore gyspsy blouses (all the better to see your breasts, my child). Chapters 1-11 is full of talking and ruminating about stuff. Workaholic lawyer fiinds love in the arms of free spirit. The end.

This book can be purchased at Amazon or in ebook format from Sony or other etailers.

Under the Influence by Nancy Warren

I liked this one and not just because the secondary romance involved a hot Asian guy (unheard of for romances) but because it was just a little different. Premise is the opposite of Travis’ Appeal. In Under the Influence, overworked female business consultant finds love in the arms of a free spirit. I think where the story fell down is when the heroine, Natalie, demands some kind of showing of stability from Johnny, the bartender, and we find out that he is, of course, financially secure. Either you love him because he’s a free spirit or you don’t. The ending, in other words, seemed like a cheat to me. B-

This book can be purchased at Amazon or in ebook format from Sony or other etailers.

I’m going in blind Never read your HP fic Bought for hot cover

Looking for a fix I need a new series to Get my ‘crack’ fix on

Sorry – this ain’t it I tried, I really did try But you soon lost me

Here’s a quick recap [...]]]> Beware: There May Be Spoilers Ahoy.

I’m going in blind
Never read your HP fic
Bought for hot cover

Looking for a fix
I need a new series to
Get my ‘crack’ fix on

Sorry – this ain’t it
I tried, I really did try
But you soon lost me

Here’s a quick recap
Clary sees a cute boy at
a club…and he’s killed

But his killers? Hot!
And only Clary sees them!
Plot unfolds from there.

Right away, I have
Many, many issues with
Heroine Clary

She’s a hardcore Sue.
Clary Sue can see ‘Hunters
She is SPECIAL, guys!

- Show quoted text -
Miss Perfect? Miss Chosen One?
Misses the big clues

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER (maybe this should be spoiler-cut all the way to
the end)

Clary Sue’s mom was
Married to the bad guy and
Then ran away, hid.

Never told Clary
Sue about her missing dad.
Big “Who is dad” plot.

IT’S THE BAD GUY. WHY CAN NO ONE SEE THIS BUT ME. WTF.

Ahem. Sorry. Cough.
That’s the big ‘gasp’ plot reveal
She is evil’s kid.

Cue lots of ‘oh noes’
And then? Epic wallbanger
moment happens here.

Hot hero guy Jace?
She’s been kissing? Get ready.
‘Nother big reveal

Won’t spoil it here but
It rhymes with TWINCEST. So. Yeah.
Book hits wall. I’m done.

DNF.

This book can be purchased in mass market from an independent bookstore or ebook format from the Sony Store and other etailers.

Auto-buy for me Jane Austen and zombies? This is my dream come true.

At first, I’m puzzled. Why is Jane Austen sharing copyright with Seth?

Public domain book But I read and it [...]]]> Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance – Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem! by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

Auto-buy for me
Jane Austen and zombies? This
is my dream come true.

At first, I’m puzzled.
Why is Jane Austen sharing
copyright with Seth?

Public domain book
But I read and it is clear
more ripoff than new.

The text, dialogue
word for word what Austen wrote
…with minor changes.

This book reads more like
wild usage of “Find/Replace”
tool in MS Word.

At first, this is cute.
Men are judged by number of
kills, not money. Nice.

Darcy is a catch
Because he is a master
of zombie slaying.

The Bennett daughters
act the same, talk the same
but they are…ninjas.

My eyebrows? Raised but
I still read. Netherfield Ball?
Invaded by dead.

Darcy slights Lizzy
Instead of laughing it off,
she wants to…gut him????

This is where you start
to lose me. Despite Bennett
bloodthirst, I press on

But when Darcy asks
Lizzy to dance with him,
the story has changed.

Instead of the Austen
version where she declines, she
gives him ‘cut direct’

I realize at
this point that Grahame-Smith?
Doesn’t know his Jane.

I don’t mind a spoof
Of beloved author. BUT.
You missed the basics.

Give the cut direct?
MAJOR deal in Regency.
But no one here blinks.

I realize that it’s
A bit silly to get mad
over a detail.

But missing that small
detail showed me something big.
You skipped your homework.

This is not a fan’s
Loving homage. This is a
shameless grab for cash.

Maybe a cute gift
for people that appreciate schtick
But fans of Jane? Pass.

DNF

This book can be purchased in mass market from an independent bookstore or ebook format from the Sony Store and other etailers.

Unlike some of my fellow reviewers here at Dear Author, I don’t try books by new-to-me authors as frequently as I probably should. A lot of that is simply due to the fact that I am a slow reader and it takes a lot of my reading time to keep up with [...]]]> Dear Ms. Dayton,

Unlike some of my fellow reviewers here at Dear Author, I don’t try books by new-to-me authors as frequently as I probably should. A lot of that is simply due to the fact that I am a slow reader and it takes a lot of my reading time to keep up with new books by authors whose previous works I’ve liked. But another piece of it is that although I can enjoy books in a wide variety of genres, I am, even so, a finicky reader with very specific tastes. Nine times out of ten, when I try an author I haven’t read before, those tastes go unsatisfied.

Such was the case with New Blood, which I decided to try after hearing it was steampunk and reading an excerpt that intrigued me. I don’t feel that New Blood was a bad book–I have certainly read much worse, and the fact that I made it to the one-third point shows that it is stronger than many of the other books I’ve tried, only to put down much earlier. But for me, New Blood also wasn’t a very absorbing book. It was very easy to put down and I ultimately decided not to finish reading it.

New Blood is set in alternate version of nineteenth century Europe, one in which some men practice magic while women are forbidden to do so. There is one type of magic, however, that women have particular affinity for: blood sorcery.

The story begins when an Englishman known only as Jax finds the object of his long search in a Transylvanian forest. Amanusa is the daughter of a Romanian woman and an Englishman. She lives alone in her cottage and practices healing and the minor spells which women can get away with casting in Eastern Europe.

Amanusa has suffered loss and abuses in the past, so when Jax appears in her garden she is reluctant to trust him, even after he introduces himself as the former blood servant of Yvaine, a deceased blood sorceress from England. Before she died, Yvaine commanded Jax to find her successor, and that is what Jax believes Amanusa to be.

Jax becomes possessed by Yvaine’s magic, and the dead sorceress communicates with Amanusa through him, telling Amanusa that a great evil is rising and that blood sorcery will be needed to combat it. Amanusa begins to feel sympathy for Jax, but she is afraid to accept his offer to teach her blood magic. She knows that to learn true sorcery is to risk the persecution of the Inquisition, which hunts down women who practice powerful magic.

Still, Amanusa is hungry for justice, so when Jax explains that blood magic is the working of justice rather than evil, it does not take Amanusa long to change her mind. She is only beginning to learn how to use her abilities when a group of anarchists whose camp isn’t far from her cottage insist that she come and heal one of their wounded.

One of the anarchists, Teo, clearly wants to rape Amanusa, but Jax, who pretends to be slow-witted so that the anarchists will allow him to accompany Amanusa to the camp, is determined to protect her.

At the anarchist camp, Amanusa and Jax encounter an insectile machine made of metal that has injured a man and exudes evil. They manage to contain the thing, which they sense is anti-magic, in a box.

Eventually, Teo pushes his luck and Amanusa’s blood magic is set loose. Jax and Amanusa escape the camp, but rumors follow them, and they soon find themselves in the hands of the Inquisition. They must attempt another daring getaway, and hope that they reach England safely.

Meanwhile, in France, English wizards are investigating the appearance of a patch of evil space inhabited by insectile machines which have killed children. A similar patch has appeared in England. One of the wizards, Henry, thinks blood magic will be needed to combat this evil. But only women have an affinity for blood magic, and the other wizards think no good can come of teaching magic to women. Not only that, there are no blood sorceresses left…

I began New Blood with high hopes. I love the concept of the steampunk genre which blends fantasy, science fiction or paranormal elements with the setting of our own nineteenth century or a world which contains nineteenth century level technology (I believe that the “steam” part of the term “steampunk” refers to the nineteenth century railroads and boats which were powered by steam engines).

In this case, though, I felt that I didn’t get as much of a feel for the setting as I had hoped. Occasionally there was a mention of some period item such as hoop skirts or railroads, but there was not enough period detail for me to feel transported a century and half back in time. There was also not as strong a regional and cultural flavor to the depictions of the Romania and Paris settings as I would have liked.

Another problem for me was the characters. Amanusa and Jax are both sympathetic characters who gradually grow to care about one another, but neither one was compelling to me. I felt that I could stop reading without wondering about what happened to them in their future.

When I tried to figure out why I felt this way, I realized that, in the section that I read, neither one of them had conflicted feelings for very long, nor did they badly want anything that they could not attain.

True, Amanusa did resist accepting the role of blood sorceress at first, but it didn’t take her long to change her mind. And yes, Amanusa did want justice for her loved ones, but it didn’t take her that long to attain it. And even there, Amanusa kept thinking of her need in terms of justice, but since we weren’t given specific memories of her dead loved ones, nor her feelings of sorrow for them, it was hard for me to feel invested in seeing this justice attained.

As for Jax, he was a fairly muted character and after the opening scene, in which he feared Amanusa, he did not seem to have deep feelings beyond his liking for Amanusa and his occasional anger or worry when she was threatened. I understand that his feelings were sublimated partly was because he was under Yvaine’s spells for so long, but still, it made it hard for me to care deeply about his fate.

The part of the book that I read had an episodic feel to it. Amanusa and Jax seemed to go from one situation to another but these felt more like separate incidents that happened to the same characters than like a whole, connected story about the two of them.

The main, overarching plot wasn’t the story of Jax’s mission to find Amanusa in the nick of time, or of Amanusa’s quest for justice; it was the story of the evil patches rising across Europe and of Amanusa’s training in the use of blood magic. This story failed to compel me for two reasons. The first is that stories of the rise of a dangerous evil shrouded in mystery which threatens the land and must be combated through magic have been a mainstay of the fantasy genre at least since Tolkien, and therefore, it’s not a premise that feels very fresh to me.

Secondly, I fully acknowledge that I am probably not a member of the target audience for this book. I read more for compelling characters than I do for dramatic plots (though I love it when I get both in the same book). I was also hoping for more romantic development than I got in the first third of the New Blood. The book is labeled “Paranormal Romance,” but to me, the fantasy elements seemed more pronounced than the romantic ones.

I suspect that readers of epic sword-and-sorcery fantasy might enjoy this book, though. The prose is solid, the characters sympathetic and I also appreciate that in their relationship, Amanusa and Jax don’t fall into typical gender roles. I wish that the section I read had gelled better for me, and kept me turning the pages. I also wish the book luck in finding its audience. For me, New Blood is a DNF.

Sincerely,

Janine

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon. No ebook format yet.

I laughed a little when I finished this book because it had virtually all the common HP/SD tropes smushed into one small category. We have the secret baby, amnesia, asshole boyfriend with trust issues, evil other woman, and an abduction for added spice (plus the requisite travel to an [...]]]> Tycoon’s Pregnant Mistress by Maya Banks.

I laughed a little when I finished this book because it had virtually all the common HP/SD tropes smushed into one small category. We have the secret baby, amnesia, asshole boyfriend with trust issues, evil other woman, and an abduction for added spice (plus the requisite travel to an exotic locale).

There is something kind of fun about a secret baby mistress abduction amnesia story but the melodrama level was a bit too high for me. Essentially the heroine is the mistress of a wealthy developer and she is unjustly accused of selling secrets to his competitor. She’s virtually tossed out of his home and then kidnapped. But once the kidnappers realize that there is no use for her, she is released unharmed. This stretched my credibility even for an HP. As a result of her trauma, she gets amnesia and her lover comes to take care of her and as a result learns that she could not have possibly sold secrets to his competitor. Of course, why he couldn’t have figured out that before, I’m not sure. C

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon or ebook format from the Sony Store and other etailers.

Antonides’ Forbidden Wife by Anne McAllister

Two words: Asian Heroine. I’m giving this book a B just for that. This might be my new grading scale. Every book with an Asian heroine starts at a B grade from the beginning. Actually, I think I would have given this book a B even without my personal race bias.

PJ Antonides marries Ally (half Japanese) as a favor over 10 years ago and neither bothered to get a divorce. PJ kind of liked the excuse of being married. It was an easy way to fob off his family and other women even though no one was really sure whether to believe him. Ally decides she is going to marry this nice doctor and trots off to see the PJ to get her divorce, only PJ isn’t so sure that he wants this divorce. He tells Ally that he isn’t going to sign the papers unless she pretends to be his wife for an upcoming family reunion. This is a story of mini misunderstandings, unrequited feelings, misaligned stars, and PJ’s charming Greek family.

Note to Harlequin: just because the model has straight hair doesn’t make her Asian.

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon or ebook format from the Sony Store and other etailers.

Her Ruthless Italian Boss by Christine Hollis

I read this book with a look of wtfery on my face. I could feel it. My face was contorted for at least the first 20 pages, as I tried to figure out what the hell was going on with the characters. Beth met Luca  Francesco a few years ago when Luca was in the army. They were in love but Beth didn’t want to marry a soldier. Or maybe she didn’t want to marry someone poor. Or maybe she wanted to marry Luca but he turned her down. Luca is now one of the richest men in Europe, Beth has no money, and his heart was broken so much that he wants revenge or he doesn’t want revenge, he wants to court her, or something. Seriously, I had no idea what was going on in this story. The motivations of the character were more slippery than a wet fish. Beth was a doormat throughout much of what I read, first lamenting her monetary loss but then deriding any efforts to see to her comfort. Luca hates Beth for leaving him and vows something but also treats her like spun glass.

Ultimately I gave up because, well, it just didn’t make sense. DNF

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon or ebook format from the Sony Store and other etailers.

I didn’t start reading your books until the publication of the second Bridgerton novel. The hoopla surrounding it was impossible to miss. Once I’d finished it, I had to go back and read the first book and then each of the following books in the series. My favorite remains Colin and Penelope’s [...]]]> Dear Mrs. Quinn,

I didn’t start reading your books until the publication of the second Bridgerton novel. The hoopla surrounding it was impossible to miss. Once I’d finished it, I had to go back and read the first book and then each of the following books in the series. My favorite remains Colin and Penelope’s story. As I read each novel after book four, I noticed that my enjoyment dimmed slightly. Not by much but, yes, there was a downward trend. But at eight books it was a lengthy series and such is to be expected.

I wasn’t thrilled with the book that came next, Miranda Cheever, as shown by my C+ review grade. But I heard that this was an older manuscript you’d pulled out, dusted off and polished up for publication while you worked on two all new books. So, okay I was still willing to keep reading your novels. And with “The Lost Duke of Wyndham,” at first it looked like you and I were sympatico again.

But even though my final grade for “Duke” was better than “Cheever,” I couldn’t help but notice that certain aspects of the writing style were beginning to stand out as annoying for me. When I began to read “Mr. Cavendish,” what had been slightly annoying in the later Bridgerton books and vastly irritating at the beginning of “Duke” became something I couldn’t overcome. Namely, the over bantering dialogue. It’s like the book is trying to be a 30′s sophisticated movie on steroids.

The circle blathering, mental and verbal, is enough to drive me insane. You didn’t used to write this way. I’m sure of it and Jane feels the same way. I made it through the last book because it seemed to die down after about the 1/2 way mark but this time, I’ve had it. I just can’t take it anymore. As Amelia and Thomas jibbered on to each other, talked over each other and repeated each other, to me, literally ad nauseum, I ended up huffing (at my ereader) “just bloody well get the *&^$@# on with this scene.” They didn’t. At which point I fumed,” Shut up. Just _shut_ up!” To no avail.

Then Amelia heads off in mental la la land so often that the other characters often have to yank her back and tell her what they all said during the 5 minutes she was off in space.

It wasn’t just the craft that didn’t work for me but the story as well. There’s the hook of this book. Namely, that we see Thomas and Amelia’s PsOV for the events that were covered in “Wyndham.” I was curious and admit to looking forward to watching you handle this. I also liked Thomas a great deal in book one but in this one, he was more a snotty nosed brat for much of what I read. Amelia had her moments as well. At the start, I had thought this could prove interesting- hidden depths and all – but then she began to annoy me too.

As for the dual plot told from different PsOV, nah, didn’t work too well. Maybe if I’d enjoyed the actual writing style used for the story, then it could have. But endless yammering + same plot = annoying –> nuts.

I hope that this isn’t the parting of ways for me and your books. And obviously your writing style is still working well for tons of readers so I have no expectations that you’ll change it. Perhaps a fresh plot will rejuvenate my interest but alas, for “Mr. Cavendish” it’s a DNF.

~Jayne

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon or Powells or ebook format.

It’s taken me a while to get around to reading your debut, The Spymaster’s Lady. Back in the winter, Robin asked me if I would review it in a conversational review with her before your next book came out, and I promised that I would. When I got to reading it [...]]]> Dear Ms. Bourne,

It’s taken me a while to get around to reading your debut, The Spymaster’s Lady. Back in the winter, Robin asked me if I would review it in a conversational review with her before your next book came out, and I promised that I would. When I got to reading it last week, my repsonse to The Spymaster’s Lady was far from Robin’s own experience of the book and she suggested that I convert the notes I had prepared for a conversational review into this letter instead, so that the review could stand on its own.

Readers who have not yet done so can find a plot summary for The Spymaster’s Lady in Jane’s A- review. Another opinion can be found in Jayne’s A- review. And readers should also be aware that this review will contain spoilers.

The writing in The Spymaster’s Lady is crystalline in its beauty and sharpness. The prose is just gorgeous, scintillating, and as others have noted, the French dialogue and Annique’s POV thoughts in French are absolutely spot on in capturing the cadences of the French tongue. You are a brilliant stylist, a wordsmith of the first order, and I am just in awe of your gift for language.

Therefore, I want so badly to love this book and give it my whole heart, and it is frustrating that I can’t.

My frustration centers on Annique’s character, but I don’t really dislike Annique herself. I feel that she is cute and therefore could have been endearing, but the problem I run into is that I don’t feel that her portrayal is consistent, or that she is all that she is being described as. To explain what I’m saying, I will go through my issues one by one.

First, we are told that Annique is an amazing spy, but as a good friend of mine pointed out when we discussed the book, every time Annique and Grey grapple in any way, he always gets the upper hand. When he wants to entrap her in chapter two, he succeeds (and he does it by using her thirst for water against her, as if she were a wild animal). When she tries to escape in the carriage, he stops her. When she tried to escape again (being softhearted and not wanting to kill him in the process), he knocks her away and hurts her. When he decides to drug her with opium so that she won’t attempt another escape, she does not detect the opium in her coffee, even though she’s blind and so her other senses are supposedly acute. And on it goes… He gets the upper hand every time, and puts one over on her more than once in the process.

There were a few times when Annique was able to do something that showed a bit of competence, especially toward the beginning of the book. I would get my hopes up that maybe the strong, successful spy described in everyone’s POV thoughts would materialize, but then Grey would set out to best her again, and she’d fall for his next trick. This made the feel stymied, especially in the book’s first half. By the second half, when Annique began to give away the most important state secrets she possessed to a man whom she thought was a complete stranger, I had given up my hopes that there was a brilliant female spy to be found in the pages of The Spymaster’s Lady.

Second, Annique also seems too vulnerable and innocent to me for someone who has been spying since childhood. I felt that her innocence and sense of wonder were childlike to a point where the age and power gaps between her and Grey were disturbing and made me uncomfortable at times, most especially when they were having sex.

There are places where the dialogue reinforces Annique’s extreme youth and inexperience, for example, Adrian actually says to her “Annique, you will not grow up to be big and strong if you don’t eat your vegetables” (I realize this was a witty remark, but it encapsulates the way I saw Annique). And Grey says, “You’re not a child, Annique. Stop acting like one.” Adrian calls her “Ma pauvre” and Grey, “My little halibut.” To me these sound like the kinds of things parents say to children. It made me feel that the heroine was being infantilized.

Third, I feel that Annique’s virginity is very improbable given how she makes her living. When Grey realizes that she doesn’t have much sexual experience, he has this thought:

How many men, Annique? Not many, I’ll bet. Did your masters keep you unawakened so you could play the boy more convincingly? Their mistake. It left her vulnerable. Achingly, ignorantly vulnerable. He’d use that against her, sooner or later.

It’s that “Achingly, ignorantly vulnerable” that I have a problem with in a character who is said to be a super-competent spy. And I also don’t understand why staying a virgin would make it easier for Annique to act the part of a boy. It’s my opinion that one is either a good actor, or a bad actor. I don’t see how sexual experience or lack thereof makes a difference.

Since I don’t feel that it’s a logical motive to keep a spy a virgin, especially when she already knows how to act the part of a courtesan and could no doubt glean important secrets through sex, I feel that the real reason for Annique’s virginity is to telegraph to readers that despite her being a French spy, Annique is a good girl and pure of heart. And using a heroine’s sexual ignorance to show that she is virtuous is admittedly not my favorite trope in romance.

I felt that the virginity=virtue trope was reinforced by the way Grey at first thought of Annique as both evil and a whore, and even tried to dress her in a whore’s clothing until he came to the realization that she was not an evil killer and not sexually experienced. The two realizations coincided with one another and came at the same point in the story.

This reminded me a bit of some of the romances from the 1970s and 1980s, like Woodiwiss’s The Flame and the Flower, where the hero thinks the heroine is a whore and treats her badly until he finds physical proof of her virginity. I am glad that Grey did not go that far, but he did treat Annique coldly at first and his realization that she was neither sexually experienced not evil came on the heels of a scene in which they come close to loveless sex, so I was very strongly reminded of this “whore or virgin” trope.

A fourth reason why Annique’s character does not work so well for me is that she is a paragon. Vulnerable, brave, supposedly smart and said to excel at her job, brilliant at memorization, virginal, pure and gallant — not a personality flaw in sight. Nothing to give her a shade of gray. And that, especially when combined with her improbable virginity, makes her less than believable for me, and harder to relate to.

A fifth problem I had with the book was not in Annique herself but in the British spies’ reactions to Annique. Not only was she a paragon, but I kept feeling I was being told (in the hero and his friends’ thoughts and dialogue) what a paragon she was. How clever, how brave, how good, how expert a spy.

The hero and the secondary characters’ going on about Annique’s virtues made me feel that I was being told how to interpret Annique’s character. In other words, it felt heavy-handed. And since I did not agree with their assessment of Annique as a great spy, the feeling that I was constantly being told that she was something that she wasn’t was extremely frustrating to me.

There were times when other things felt heavy-handed to me as well, for example, there’s a conversation between Grey and his men when he tells them that Annique was in Bruges when some of their fellow spies died. Adrian and Doyle start recapping who died there, who they served with in the past, and how it was supposed to be an easy exchange of the Albion plans for the gold. But I saw no reason for Adrian and Doyle to be telling Grey that — he’s the section head spymaster, so he already knows all this. Which makes me feel like the information is there only for readers, and not because it is a natural subject matter for the characters.

Something else that felt heavy-handed to me was Annique’s admiration for the English spies. It was like the mirror image of their admiration for her, and those were places where I felt that rather than being left the room to interpret the characters of Grey, Doyle and Adrian for myself, I was being told what to think of them.

And that brings me to another topic, which is that the way entire British Service behaved around Annique seemed out of character for spies and interrogators who needed the information she held so badly.

In a nutshell, my problems with The Spymaster’s Lady all come down to the issue of believability. Spying is a rather ruthless and dirty business, and that was not reflected in the book, at least, not to my satisfaction.

I had difficulty suspending disbelief and that’s where I feel that I needed more — more competence from Annique, whose ineptitude only grew in the book’s second half, more ruthlessness and shades of gray from all the characters, more showing and less telling me (via the chorus of Annique’s admirers) what to think and feel. One of the things I look for in a book is room for interpretation, a place for my own imagination to connect with the characters, and for all the gorgeous writing, I don’t feel that I got that here.

At this point I have reached page 311 (chapter thirty-three), but the more I read, the more frustrated I grow. I don’t think I’d have made it this far if not for my original commitment to Robin. I’ve now read well over four-fifths of the book, so I could force myself to finish, but then I’d have to grade it, and there is simply no grade I could give The Spymaster’s Lady that would be reflective of both my appreciation of the beauty of the language, and my growing frustration that I did not find this book believable, realistic, or convincing. The more I read, the more the latter overshadows the former, and so, I think it best that I stop here. DNF.

Sincerely,

Janine

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon or Powells or ebook format.