A friend loaned me A Chance Encounter, one of your earliest books. Given that the book is twenty-five years old and does contain a few elements that I associate with romances from that era, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I know some of your traditional regencies are being reprinted and hope that this one will eventually join them. It may be slightly outdated, but it is also enormously engrossing.

The opening of A Chance Encounter bears some resemblance to that of Pride and Prejudice. The town of Granby is agog to learn that a wealthy young man, William Mainwaring, is about to begin residing in the manor house he inherited from his uncle. Not only that, Mr. Mainwaring is bringing company with him.

In very little time, Granby is rife with speculation as to what William Mainwaring looks like, whether he is married or single, and what kind of balls and parties his presence in Granby might occasion. One thing is certain, Mrs. Rowe decides. Her daughter’s Cecily’s wardrobe must be updated in honor of Mr. Mainwaring’s arrival. And Miss Rossiter, Cecily’s companion and former governess, should obtain a new dress too.

But Elizabeth Rossiter does not want a new frock. She is perfectly comfortable in her gray dress, and for all that she is twenty-six and well born, she has no interest in catching an eligible man’s eye or indeed, in marrying. Elizabeth prefers to blend into the background. And she is trying her best to do just that when William Mainwaring and his friends pay a return call on the Rowes, and among the party is the man she once loved.

Robert, now the Marquess of Hetherington, was a penniless younger son when Elizabeth met him during her one season in London. At first the two became friends, and then they became smitten. Exactly what it was that separated them isn’t revealed until late in the book, but it’s clear that neither one is interested in rekindling the relationship.

Yet despite her polite coolness to Robert, and his own coldness to her, Elizabeth is unhappy to see Robert turn his charm full force on her charge, Cecily. She does not want to see the girl’s heart broken, and grows even more agitated when she learns that Miss Norris, one of William’s guests, has every expectation of a betrothal to Robert.

Meanwhile, William Mainwaring begins to open up to Elizabeth, and she realizes that he is not toplofty, but merely shy. He begins to charm her by coming out of his shell, and Elizabeth realizes that she could easily grow to care for William, and that William is developing feelings for her.

But how can she allow herself to love William, when Robert is his friend? Is she truly over Robert, and if not, would it be fair to encourage William? Yet if she discourages William, will she be cheating herself of the happy future she could otherwise have?

A Chance Encounter is written in omniscient third person viewpoint and while we get much access to Elizabeth’s thoughts, there is almost none of the hero’s POV. You’ll notice that I have tried not to give away which of the two men Elizabeth ends up with, so I will just say that since we get very little of his POV, this character is not as fleshed out as Elizabeth.

Like Elizabeth, I had a tough time deciding which of the men she should be with. I wasn’t always crazy about the man she ultimately chose. And although by the end of the book I was fine with the choice she made, I felt for the other guy, too. My enjoyment of A Chance Encounter was therefore centered less on the development of the romance itself, and more on the characterization.

Many of the side characters in the town of Granby were delightful, from the tongue-tied girl Lucy Worthing, to the sparring Cecily and Ferdie, who might or might not marry someday, to my favorite, Mr. Rowe, whose fatherly banter with Elizabeth, whom he referred to as “Cinderella,” charmed me to my toes.

But what really made this book click with me is the restrained Elizabeth, who keeps her deep feelings below the surface. She is fiercely independent, but most of the time, not in a way that feels anachronistic. She also has a wry sense of irony, a stubborn will and a kind heart.

I loved watching Elizabeth grapple with the choices facing her, which were not just marriage to William or marriage to Robert, but also, a life as Cecily’s companion, or governess to some other family, or staying with her brother and sister-in-law. Because Elizabeth considered most of these options, often weighing them thoughtfully yet occasionally acting impulsively, she was a heroine whose depths absorbed me so much that I lost track of time reading the book.

As mentioned above, there are some old fashioned elements to this book, both in terms of the plot and in terms of the characters’ behavior. Unfortunately I can’t go into them in details because they involve big spoilers, so suffice to say that I felt some of what kept Elizabeth and the man she chose apart was contrived. I did like the plot twist in the middle of the book, though again, to say what it is would be to spoil it.

Readers should also be aware that the sex in A Chance Encounter amounts to no more than a couple of paragraphs, and that is not really surprising given that the book was first published in 1985. I didn’t feel this as a lack, though, because the book absorbed me so deeply. A Chance Encounter gets a B/B+ from me.

Sincerely,

Janine

This book can only be purchased used and it is fairly expensive. Hopefully it will be reissued by Signet or Ballantine who is currently republishing formerly out of print Balogh regency titles.

• ISBN-10: 0451159667
• ISBN-13: 978-0451159663

I reviewed a short story of yours in my review of Sindusty I from Dreamspinner Press. It was one of my two favorites of the anthology. I had this to say about it: “I adored this sweet little story. Patrick is a video game designer, working the final kinks out of a game weeks before release. He’s not perfectly sculpted and toned—he’s a dork and kind of soft around the edges. His friends buy him a prostitute for his birthday, just so he’ll get laid. But Jack keeps coming back, “the gift that keeps on giving.” The connection between the characters, the fun they have and the affection between them makes this a gem of a story. Grade: A-”

But I didn’t realize I’d already read a story of yours when I dove into the short (70 pages) “Rules Were Meant to be Broken” from Dreamspinner. I chose it because it’s labeled a BDSM romance and while I think that’s a gross mislabeling (one-time use of handcuffs does NOT make a BDSM romance), I certainly don’t hold that against you because the story was just wonderfully fresh. Aaron has lusted after his best friend for 15 years and has an elaborate set of rules he follows so that Dale doesn’t find out:

“In fact, he’d devised a “Big List of Rules For Hiding That You’re In Love With Your Best Friend” just for this purpose. Rule #4 was: seeing the guy really shouldn’t make your heart beat faster, so just pretend it doesn’t.”

Rule #9 said: you’re not supposed to be jealous of the girls who sleep with your best friend. It was always the hardest rule to follow.

It was hard for me to warm up to Dale. He’s a no-good layabout with no job, no ambition, and indiscriminate taste in women…and apparently in men, too, as Aaron finds out later. It’s that indiscriminate taste that is the cause of him calling Aaron at 3am one morning so Aaron can help him out of the handcuffs one of his bar pickups left him in attached to the bed before she stole his wallet. And Aaron’s reaction to being that close to Dale while he’s freeing him makes Dale realize how much Aaron wants him and Dale acts on that realization. However, by the end of the book I loved Dale and I adored Aaron the whole way through. I loved the quirky secondary characters and the obvious deep friendship between the men, even before the grow biblically closer. But most of all, I loved your voice. The “in love with my best friend for year and YEARS” storyline is trite and can be awful, but you pwned it so beautifully, with such a freshness, I loved the story. Grade: Another A-

Then I moved to “Ganymede,” a short story in the I Do Too anthology by MLR Press (review of the whole anthology forthcoming). This story is incredibly different from the other two of yours I’ve read. If asked, I would have said they had different authors. But again, your voice shines through, even though it’s so different in the other two stories. An American vinter goes to Italy to drop in unannounced on a legendary but retired Italian wine-maker who is experimenting with non-technological ways of making wine, in order to become the Italian’s student — acolyte, even. The story is told in present tense, which threw me, but the language is evocative and exciting, and the characters are brilliantly detailed snapshots of two deeply imagined, beautifully written men. I think the relationship happens a little too quickly, but the lushness of your language and the richly layered characterization and motivation mostly make up for that. I also loved that these men were both (?) older. Certainly the Italian was over 60 probably. The story is just…different, but in such a good way that it makes me excited about your future stories as long as you keep writing. Grade: B+

The question becomes at this point: you’re brilliant with short stories, but what are your longer stories like? Can you sustain that brilliance? All’s Fair in Love and Advertising allowed me to figure this out. Quick answer: Oh, hellz YES!

The book is about 150 pages and Max is a character I should have hated. He’s an advertising genius, a complete workaholic, but not in the grim alpha-hero way. He’s neurotic and melodramatic and completely over-the-top. One of those people who’s impossible to work with but absolutely brilliant. He’s not over his wife leaving him two years previously (and breaking their partnership) and he hides his hurt by “turning gay.” Which should be insulting and obnoxious and awful, but just isn’t, somehow, because it’s just…Max.

He’s competing for an account for Avionics, a flight technology company that needs to up its visibility and therefore its stock value in order to avoid a take-over bid by Omnion, the Evil Corporate Empire. Of course, Max meets Joe, the founder and owner of Avionics and falls for him, hard. But in a completely neurotic, manic, Max-like way.

Again, voice is what carried this story. It was told in deep third person perspective from Max’s perspective. I haven’t laughed out loud at a book so much in a long long time. I was giggling through most of it. Max was maddening and adorable at the same time. In trying to find a quote, I just want to cut and paste the whole thing. But try this. Joe just told Max that he liked his work, and Max, who is a typical New Yorker who can’t get beyond the fact that Joe is from Montana, challenged him to name his favorite:

“You know, I liked the gum thing. That was catchy. And the beer stuff. Everyone likes that. But I think my favorites are the commercials you did for that financial services company, the serious ones with the black-and-white footage and the literary quotes. Gotta admire someone who can work e.e. cummings into a commercial about asset protection.”

Max blinked. That campaign dated from at least ten years ago. It wasn’t one he was generally remembered for, but it happened to be his own personal favorite. He lifted his chin stubbornly. Just because Bennett appreciated his work didn’t make him any less of a yokel; it just made him a yokel with good taste. Any moment now, Max knew, the charm would rub off, and Bennett would show his true, narrow-minded colors.

Max did his best to hurry along the process. “I read your company is headquartered in Montana.”

“We have a small office here in New York. But, yeah, most of the operation is back in Wilcox,” Bennett said. “A small town, but we like it. Great views of the mountains. And we’re one of the biggest employers in the state. So that has its perks.”

“Is that what drew you there? Tax breaks?” Max lifted an eyebrow inquiringly. “Or was it the handy proximity to the local militias?”

Bennett laughed again, but it didn’t have quite the same humor as before. “Naw, no playing at war out in the woods for me. Wilcox is where I grew up. After I retired from the Air Force—” His voice got tighter. “Medical retirement. My jet got shot down in Bosnia. It just made sense to come home. Be near family while I was laid up. I ended up staying put.”

“Oh,” Max said weakly. “I didn’t realize—”

Bennett shrugged. “Hey, all in the past now, right?”

Happily, the sommelier chose that moment to descend upon them. Bennett turned his attention back to the wine list, and Max fidgeted in his seat. There was an uncomfortable feeling in his chest, something he wasn’t used to, something that left him off-kilter. Possibly it was a sense of shame. That would explain why he didn’t recognize it right off the bat.

And that makes Max sound like an asshole — and he IS — but I loved him all the way through and I loved that Joe liked his abrasiveness. And Joe was delicious — I could totally see how he fell for Max and it was obvious what he was feeling and why, even though we never get into his head. And again, the secondary characters were wonderful. For such a short story and the large cast of characters, the characterization was pitch perfect. And I totally did NOT see the twist at the end of the story, which was refreshing. Altogether, I adored this book, devoured it, and will come back to it again and again. Grade: A

And finally, there’s the unfortunately-covered “SPAM! It’s what’s for Christmas”. Ben is a washed-up, unemployed baseball pro with a bum knee. His boyfriend just threw him out and he’s desperate to get him back. Desperate enough to answer an ad for nude male models. Where he meets the delicious photographer, Gavin. Hijinks ensue, but Ben really wants his boyfriend back…he thinks. We don’t see much of Gavin, to be honest, even though what we do see *is* delicious. This is Ben’s book and Ben is…adorable. Trying to make it work, trying to readjust his life after his dreams are destroyed, trying to figure out what he really wants. Again, the tone of the story, Ben’s voice and his characterization, make it something I just couldn’t stop reading. Grade: B+

You’ve got free fiction on your website (bittersweet) and on your Livejournal (a fairy tale retelling with beautiful writing that stretches my disbelief a little bit too much on the plot, but still gets a B grade because the characters are so good). (Oh. Also: a short story in a Ravenous Romance anthology that I refuse to buy or even request. Not even for you. Sorry.)

And sadly, that’s it. You need to write more. And longer. And OMG, if you keep it up, I think K.A. Mitchell’s got a rival in the m/m world (although the beautiful thing is, of course, you’re not rivals. If you both just keep writing, then the world will be a better place and we can all be friends with sunshine and rainbows and iPadsunicorns!).

Best regards,
-Joan/Sarah F.

This anthology is composed of three erotic contemporary stories and one erotic paranormal, similar to the previous anthology, Unlaced. Once again, the stories are loosely joined by the use of a corset in each of them, but the device is tangential to what’s happening in the individual stories, not unlike many of the other anthologies out there.

No Strings Attached by Jaci Burton.

Ella Hicks is the CEO of Hicks Construction, a company she built with her husband James, and took the helm when he died five years ago. She’s made a success of her company, and leaned on a particular friend and sometimes rival, Clay Mansfield, for business advice. Ella has spent so much time making Hicks Construction a powerhouse that her sex life went to the grave with her husband. Huh…too morbid? This story definitely isn’t. Ella realizes that she needs to do something to get herself out of this anti-social and anti-sex rut, especially since she’s been spending more time eyeing Clay’s ass than worrying about building codes. She schedules a vacation in an exotic locale, hoping to find rest, relaxation, and an anonymous partner for some meaningless, yet satisfying sex. Not exactly the smartest thing for a woman to be alone and on the prowl, and this is where Clay comes in.

Clay Mansfield has realized that Ella is more than his good friend’s widow. Sure, Clay deludes himself into thinking he’s going on vacation in the same spot as Ella just to make sure she doesn’t get herself into trouble, but that thought lasts half a second, or at least until he sees Ella at the pool:

Clay finally exhaled. It was Ella. Holy shit. She sure looked a lot different in a bikini than she did in boots, jeans and a work shirt.

He almost felt guilty over the tightening of his cock.

Almost.

Clay and Ella give each other what they need: a guiltless fling that goes deeper than just a zipless fuck (apologies to Erica Jong), providing them with a level of satisfaction that wouldn’t otherwise be reached. One of the caveats of this relationship is that it won’t go beyond the vacation; once they’re back in Oklahoma, it’s back to business as usual. Delightfully, it’s Clay that realizes there’s no “usual” much faster than Ella. The depth of characters and relationships was impressive for such a short story. I never felt that Ella and Clay’s interaction was forced, or that there was some sort of strange hook to make everything work. This was an enjoyable read. A-

La Petite Mort by Jasmine Haynes

I hate making a comparison, but in an anthology, I think it’s inevitable, especially when two straight erotic contemporaries are put one after the other. This story struck me as strange, with a dash of sad and dark thrown into the mix. Sophia, a former model currently working as a VP at Caprice, a high end cosmetics company, has a polyp on her uterus that needs to be removed and biopsied. Sophia has no close friends, no relatives and no one to turn to to discuss her fear that the polyp might be cancerous. Ford Connelly, the CEO of Caprice, knows that Sophia is off her game when she barely makes it through a presentation, and brings her into his office to confront her.

While I might be able to overlook a dark and slightly sad beginning, I couldn’t ignore that the characters crossed a major line when Ford essentially forced Sophia into telling him why she needed a day off. Ford and Sophia’s prior interactions had been purely on a business level, and I know it was important to have Sophia open up, but the way it was done stuck in my craw. From here, the story continues into uncomfortable territory. Ford asks Sophia if she could do anything at all, what would it be…and yep, it’s a MMF threesome. Ford has the hots for Sophia (it’s mutual) and wants to make this happen for her, so he sets it up for her the night before her surgery. Yeah, she’s gonna do two men before uterine surgery. In addition, guy number two was such an oddball; more of an acquaintance of Ford’s than a friend. This story was out of my comfort zone due to the awkward and contrived set up. D

Honor Bound by Joey W. Hill

I am, without a doubt, a huge Joey W. Hill fan. That said, I felt that Controlled Response, the contribution to the prior anthology, was tough to swallow for a variety of reasons. Honor Bound was the complete opposite, both a strong and erotic love story combined with a woman regaining her sense of self through finding love. We’re back with the Kensington & Associates gang, and this time it’s Peter’s story, the soldier who loves breasts for those of you that read the last anthology (I really need to get my hands on Matt Kensington’s story…). But in truth, this story is just as much about Dana as it is about Peter. Dana is a Sargent, about to be shipped out to Iraq, when she decides to spend her last night at The Zone, and upscale BDSM club that has appeared in many of Ms. Hill’s other stories. Peter is able to touch Dana on a deeper level than any other Dom before. And Dana is the submissive Peter has been searching for. Peter catches her in the airport as Dana is about to ship out, and she extracts a promise that Peter will write to her, but she isn’t going to write back.

Dana is injured in combat, and when Peter returns from Afghanistan he makes it his mission to get her to realize that she can’t give up on life, or on him, as a result of her injuries. Dana’s healing odyssey is great to read. Peter is her taskmaster, her rock and her friend – whatever she needs, while still being true to his Dom self. One of the things that I had a tough time with was the introduction of a secondary character dying of AIDS. I feel that Ms. Hill uses a desperate secondary character to highlight something special about either the hero or heroine in many of her stories, and this was a totally unnecessary detour in Honor Bound. The growth of Dana and Peter’s relationship was strong enough to hold it’s own. B+

Rhio’s Dancer by Denise Rossetti

I gotta be honest here: it’s very strange to read three contemporaries and have a paranormal thrown in there at the end. It actually took me about 15 pages to get into the story, but once I managed to get past my initial hesitation, this story was delightful. Captain Rhiomard made a brief appearance in the prior anthology, and I’m happy to see him get his own story, because after reading it, he really deserved it. Rhio is the Queen’s captain of the guard, and has been a warrior for a long time. Caracole’s Queen Sikhara is in negotiations with the Trinitarian Republic and their ambassador. The Trinitarians are slavemasters that take what they want by force, and Rhio is on the lookout for a trap, which he suspects is in the form of Dancer, the woman and warrior that is the evenings entertainment. Rhio is taken with her immediately, and realizes that he will have to win her trust.

“Where were you born?”

“What has that—?” Catching his eye, she broke off. “In the southern desert beyond the Trinitarian border.”

“How long have you been a slave?”

“Fifteen years, four months and twenty days.”

“How old are you now?”

“Thirty.”

Rhio glanced up from his notes in time to catch the shiver she couldn’t prevent. “I ask you again, Dancer. Are you cold?”

She hesitated. “A little.”

Without a word, he rose and went to light the fire. Hell, she’d walked all the way from the royal chambers barefoot without a word of complaint. He should have done it the moment they entered the building.

Rhio is patient, honest, and recognizes Amae for the warrior and strong soul she is. Amae respects and is attracted at the most visceral level to the warrior in Rhio. I freely admit that the initial scenes of this story weren’t a huge hook for me, but once I got into it, the story was a quick and very enjoyable read. B+

~Shuzluva
This book can be purchased at Amazon
(affiliate link), Kindle (non affiliate), BN (non affiliate link due to laziness), and nook (non affiliate link).

I didn’t expect anything of this book except that the excerpt intrigued me, so to discover a gem like this was a wonderful surprise. I love how you played with both the Cinderella fairytale and the old skool Harlequin Presents tropes and came up with something so powerful and good.

Tom is an auto-mechanic. Or not even that? Tom works at a quickie lube joint (no, not that kind). He’s a year out of a relationship with Wells, a pampered scion of a rich family who seems to like slumming. Wells disappeared one day and Tom only found out later that he’d been left for a woman. The story opens when Well’s cousin Law pulls up in his Lamborghini Diablo and offers to take Tom to Well’s wedding reception. Law is huge, filthy rich, invincibly powerful — all the requirements for a Harlequin Presents dominant asshole male. Tom doesn’t know what Law’s motivation is, but Tom sees it as an opportunity for revenge, for final closure, and he agrees to go.

I love the descriptions of Law:

Law Castille was an impressive guy. Always had been. He had always intimidated Tom, damn him anyway.

His bold profile presented toward Tom with a high, solid cheekbone, heavy jaw, and rounded chin. His full lips were seductive, cruel. His dark hair was corporately trim, but it looked soft. Tom couldn’t see his eyes for his sunglasses, but knew they were striking, very dark with a hard, gemstone gleam.

He was bigger even than Tom remembered, sleek and massive as a prize bull. He had his shirtsleeves rolled up around his huge biceps. His muscles didn’t have that distorted, outsized, veins-popping steroidal look. To make sure, Tom glanced down at his crotch. Steroids shrank the testicles. Nope. There was nothing small down there.

The black fabric of Law’s trousers was drawn tight across his heavy thigh, showing the interwoven cabling of muscles underneath. Tom’s cock lifted.

He tore his glance away and sank back into the bucket seat. Last thing he ever wanted was to get caught getting hard for Law. He wasn’t sure where that had come from. Testosterone had reached critical mass in here. He didn’t dare look back or he would turn into a pillar of—okay, into a pillar. He stared straight ahead.

After the wedding, Law corners Tom in his apartment and you manage to write one of the best forced seduction scenes I’ve ever read. Tom is still convinced Law is straight and that he’s about to be raped by Law as a way to put him in his place. Tom has always been sure that he’s dominant, so to have Law threaten him and then penetrate him terrifies him . . . and remakes his world. You do an absolutely brilliant job of showing how very much Tom is both scared out of his mind and yet also desperately wants Law, and then showing how Tom remakes himself for the better in his new role and in his relationship with Law.

The conflict is very Old Skool Harlequin Presents: what does Law feel for Tom? Tom admits to himself very early that he loves Law and although the reader can see Law caring for Tom, his ruthlessness and his granite demeanor mean that Tom has very little idea of his role in Law’s life. The doormat to asshole ration that’s Jane’s way of measuring a good Presents is almost even. While Law’s an asshole, he’s a fun one without apologies or angst, and Tom is no one’s doormat. And the ending is pure Old Skool Harlequin Presents, too, with a full declaration of love at first sight and ruthless drive to the goal of stamping himself on Tom’s life and truly memorable grovel. Utterly, brilliantly perfect.

And I love your humor:

He flipped open the phone. “Hi.”

Law didn’t waste time with hello. “We’re on the ninth hole, fishing Aquaman out of the water hazard.”

Golf. What fun. “And what are you learning about your business partner?”

“He can’t swim,” Law said for starters. “And I really need to rethink my position with his company.”

Tom grinned. “What’s he learning about you?”

“If he were paying attention to this phone call—and he’s not—he would know that I can be led around by my dick.”

“I’m not leading you, Law.”

“But you could.”

I also love that the difference between Tom as a mechanic and Law as a billionaire is never an issue between them. Jessica at Racy Romance Reviews posted about this recently in her review of Victoria Dahl’s Lead Me On. But unlike in Pretty Woman — which this book is obviously modeled on, down to the polo game — the class difference between Tom and Law is never an issue. And whether that’s realistic or not in real life, it’s completely refreshing in my reading. The conflict in this book is pure romance-angst about what Law feels, rather than Tom wondering whether he deserves Law or will be able to live up to Law’s lifestyle or whatever else he might think as a mechanic going out with a billionaire.

There is one completely shocking scene toward the end of the book that I don’t want to give away. But you’d written Law so well up until then that I could not only believe that he’d done what Tom thought he’d done, but could forgive him for it too, as Tom did. Perfectly done. I haven’t been on the edge of my seat reading a book in a long time the way I was with that scene and the aftermath of it.

The story is told almost entirely from Tom’s deep third person perspective. And while I always miss seeing the relationship from both sides when this happens, I think adding Law’s perspective as you do, late in the book, is actually unnecessary. The scene where Law receives a blackmail threat can be cut and explained when Law discusses it with Tom, and Law’s thoughts about his conversation with his mother could also be part of the denouement with Tom, rather than told from Law’s perspective. It just seemed a curious choice to add his perspective more than three quarters of the way through the novel when it’s not totally necessary to our understanding of the plot.

That aside, this book is, as I said, a complete gem. It took me back to my days of reading Harlequin Presents when I was thirteen, but with the twist of it being a wonderful, sweet m/m romance instead, told with humor and obvious caring. Thank you!

Grade: B+

Best regards,
-Joan/Sarah F.

This book can be purchased in ebook format at Torquere Books.

This book was provided to the reviewer by either the author or publisher. The reviewer did not pay for this book but received it free. We do not earn an affiliate fee from Torquere Books through the book link.

It has been five years since we’ve had a new Laura Kinsale book to read, and Lessons in French is quite a departure from her last book, Shadowheart.

Callie, or more properly, Lady Callista Taillefaire, is a 27-year old thrice-jilted heiress who wants nothing more than to live in relative peace – and raise her prize bulls. She believes that the only real attraction she possesses is her fortune, that her coppery hair, shy disposition, and agricultural passion are not only unfashionable, but also downright repellent to any man of worth. And especially to one man, in particular, whom she hasn’t seen in ten years but who regularly stars in her imaginative daydreams.

Trev, or more properly, Trevelyan Davis d’Augustin, Duc de Monceaux, fled Shelford and Callie after her father, the earl, found the two of them hidden in his carriage, practicing more than the French Callie had been supposedly learning from Trev’s mother, the duchesse. It was one thing to politely tolerate displaced French émigrés as neighbors, but quite another to tolerate one’s daughter being ruined by a young, handsome, wild, and clearly unworthy young Frenchman. Now that the duchesse is so ill, however, Trev has returned, a wealthy man, with the happy news that he has won back the family estate as Monceaux.

Trev has done nothing of the sort, of course, having spent the past ten years in a somewhat itinerant and disreputable series of roles, from French prisoner to military translator to boxing promoter. It is the last that has made Trev’s fortune as well as his fate, which at the moment is not looking so optimistic. For unbeknownst to Callie and his mother, Trev is not even supposed to be in England, else he be hanged for a forgery it matters not whether he actually committed.

But he is happy to take the risk, not only for his mother’s sake, but also for the happy surprise that Callie is still in Shelford and still unmarried. And it is very clear to the duchesse (and likely even the village goats, who “very properly kept their opinions to themselves”), if not to the thrice-rejected Callie, that Trev is in love with the young woman with whom he shared so much youthful passion and so many harebrained adventures.

So what’s one more?

Callie’s cousin, the new earl, gambles away Callie’s beloved Hubert, a bull of such fine conformation that Callie is planning on taking him straight to the upcoming county exhibition at Hereford. When Trev’s plans to buy Hubert back from Colonel Davenport (who has wanted Hubert for quite some time, and who also plans to show him at Hereford), go awry, Trev and Callie find themselves falling right back into their own companionability, with Trev thinking this will be his last indulgence before leaving England for good, and Callie thinking she will spend three days with the one man she truly loves before retiring to the country as a spinster heiress.

The farcical adventures that follow implicate nearly everyone in the novel, from Major Sturgeon, one of Callie’s three suitors who has returned to re-win her hand, to a mysterious woman from Trev’s past, to Trev’s clever, ailing mother, to the newly-minted fiancée of Callie’s younger sister, Hermione.

Janet:

There’s a point in the novel where Trev tells his mother that Callie “is a little heroine: she is all heart,” and that’s basically how I felt about the book as a whole. I found it a very emotional read, even though the tone was often quite light and even a bit cynical, at times. Callie and Trev’s loneliness was so palpable to me as a reader, and it reminded me of several other, darker, Kinsale books, especially My Sweet Folly and Seize The Fire. Callie seems much more like Olympia or Folie to me than Merlin from Midsummer Moon, the book to which people seem to be comparing Lessons in French. And Trev felt much more like Robert Cambourne, or S.T. Maitland, or Sheridan Drake, without so much angst and past trauma. Despite the whimsy and wit, there was a definite thread of regret in the narrative, too:

It was not that she sounded disappointed, or miffed, or offended, the way any number of women of his past had sounded when he had tactfully refused their very agreeable offers. She didn’t weep or withdraw. There was only that single small syllable she spoke, but he heard all the damage, the hurt they must have given her, those bastards who had left her standing at the altar or alone in the line of chairs against the wall, all their excuses and lies, those blind, blind, stupid bastards who never saw what was right before their eyes.

I don’t know if it’s a common timeframe among certain books, or Trev’s somewhat cynical romanticism, but I loved the sense of longing portrayed in both Trev and Callie’s characters; it gave the novel as a whole a poignancy that felt a bit darker rather than lighter to me.

Joan:

I’ve actually had a hard time going back to Lessons in French for a reread, the same way I do for Seize the Fire, precisely because it’s a little bleak, and shot through with longing and loneliness. The comparison with Midsummer Moon is coming from Kinsale herself, and although Lessons in French does indeed have what Kinsale terms “hedgehog humor” here and there, the fact that Hubert is in fact a huge lumbering bull, rather than a little spikey hedgehog, has symbolic relevance to the book’s feel. The humor is there in the characters’ banter with each other, but it’s doesn’t inflect the overall feel of the book itself.  The underlying emotion of the book is melancholy – nostalgia for a lost time and place that wasn’t all that great to begin with, regret for lost innocence that wasn’t all that innocent anyway, yearning for a companion without being sure that someone to share things with would actually solve anything.

Janet:

I agree, Joan, and this issue has me reflecting on the whole idea of Callie as an ‘anti-kick ass heroine,’ which I’ve seen around, too. I don’t, actually, like to think of Callie in those terms, because the quality in her that seems so prominent is the way she copes and endures the powerful losses she’s suffered, the way she remains optimistic and good-hearted.

On the one hand there is the way she uses her daydreaming as a substitute for what she cannot openly wish for:

It seemed worse than a disgrace now, it seemed a betrayal to be here with Trev, to want him beyond anything else, and yet be entertaining a proposal from another man. But it was not as if Trev had asked for her hand. Indeed, he said he was going away back to France. And he had said nothing to suggest that he desired to wed her and take her home to his estates. She might indulge in a great number of fantastical daydreams, but that was one fantasy that she ruthlessly denied to herself.

. . .

Callie tried to make a daydream for herself. It was what she always did when she could not quite bear what was real. She was, as most of those who knew her had informed her with some exasperation at one time or another, quite capable of becoming so lost in her thoughts that she did not hear any words spoken to her. But this time she could find no way to lose herself in any reverie—or delusion, as they all seemed.

And then there is the way the unfolding of the story finds her in a very real adventure, one that makes her unable to use her old coping mechanism and immersed in a reality that exceeds both the fear and joy of her daydreams. In any case, the happiness is suffused with loss and the tragedy is infused with comedy, such that in my opinion they are really inseparable.

I think that’s why I found the first love scene so powerful; it’s like Trev is bringing Callie fully into the present, fully into herself, fully into her awareness of both of them as a couple. at least in that moment:

He held himself over her, his mouth hovering just above hers. “You want it all?” he breathed. He felt wild now, unreasonable. “You want me?”

She made a faint nod in the darkness. He wanted her with a need that had the blood hammering in his veins. He felt her lips part. Her body was delicate and soft beneath him, freed of all the petticoats and corsets and limits….

He turned his head down and kissed her temple, holding himself still inside her. He wanted to move so badly that he was shaking, but he waited in exquisite torment. “Je t’adore,” he whispered. “Je t’aime. Do you want me?”

Her tension softened. Her hands opened across his back. “Oh yes,” she breathed.

He pressed into her. She whimpered, but it was a sweet passionate sound, frantic, her body closing and squeezing around him.

“Do you want me?” He drew back slowly, torturing himself.

“Yes.” She arched up, taking him deep as he pressed again. A moan escaped her.

Trev arched his head back, his eyes closed. “You want me?”

Because this is a Romance, of course, this uncomplicated space cannot last. But I think it’s those moments in the text where we get the emotional payoff for enduring all the yearning and longing and loss we readers experience on behalf of the characters.

Joan:

Which is not to say that Callie and Trev aren’t as fully realized as any of Kinsale’s other heroes and heroines. They are and both are delicious. And if this were a character-driven book, it would be truly, deeply, wonderful. But Kinsale’s weak point has ever been plotting and the raft-load of coincidences, machinations, and deus ex machina that brings together the loose ends begs a little more suspension of disbelief than I’m willing to grant.

Janet:

You know, I really felt that the plotting of Lessons in French was much tighter than in previous novels, especially books like My Sweet Folly and Seize the Fire, both of which I felt echoing faintly through this book. But perhaps because of that, it felt that there were too many coincidences that acted in concert to facilitate the ending of the book. A figure from Trevor’s past shows up just at the right time; Hermione’s new fiancé proves useful in exactly the right way at the right moment; an old suitor of Callie’s returns to catalyze a whole series of revelations and connections previously unknown, etc. And while I appreciated one very clever turn related to Callie’s three failed engagements, even that felt a bit contrived, as you suggest in the deux ex machina mention.

I’m usually willing to tolerate some deux ex machina results in farce, but this novel was so much more than that, I agree with you that it undermined the strong character-driven elements of the novel.

Joan:

I was also impatient with the pacing of the revelations. It took me a while to get into the book. I know stuff is hidden, especially about Trev’s life, but it took too long for the reader figure out what was going on. Once I was let in on the book’s secrets, it was a much quicker, more engaging read.

Janet:

Me, too! The first time I read the book, I really had to work to get through the first hundred pages. It felt slow, even lazy, much like Hubert! Now the second time I read it, these pages went much more quickly, probably because I already knew how things unfolded and could pick out all the hidden clues and half-expressed significances.

Joan:

Re-reading what I wrote above, it seems harsh. Any other book with these issues would get a C rating. But this is still the incomparable Laura Kinsale, who can write a book in Middle English and get people not only to understand but also to adore it, who can write about sadomasochism in Renaissance Italy and win a freaking RITA. Lessons in French is a tour de force that in any other author would have us singing to the skies with praise and wonder. But this is the first Laura Kinsale book in five years and had incredibly high expectations. So, while it’s not her personal best, IMO, it’s still stunning and amazing and brilliant.

Grade: B+

Janet:

There is must so much I love about this book. I love that it’s a pastoral; I love Callie’s affection for Hubert and the fact that she feeds him Bath buns (this may be partially because I love Bath ;D); I love Callie’s agricultural ambitions and her canny understanding of the social dynamics she must negotiate; I love Trev’s romanticism, and I swooned at the very impassioned speech he delivers to Callie when she tries to insist for like the hundredth time that they are merely friends; I love the care that’s obvious in drawing the picture of this not quite idyllic story-scape. And I think the novel deftly balances the tragic with the comic in a way that does not erase the tragic but still allows us to celebrate Callie and Trev’s ultimate happiness. While Lessons in French is not my favorite Kinsale, its poignancy has stayed with me ever since I read it, making it a strong B+ for me, too.

Best regards,

-Joan/Sarah F. and Janet

This book can be purchased at Amazon
(affiliate link), Kindle (non affiliate link). I looked at Books on Board and Fictionwise, but the title does not appear available there.

FTC disclosure: This book was provided to the reviewer by either the author or publisher. The reviewer did not pay for this book but received it free.

I was literally in the middle of writing this review when the news broke on Tuesday that an Iranian nuclear physics professor was killed by a bomb left outside his home in Tehran. Now I know that the circumstances of this man’s murder have nothing in common with one of the opening scenes in your book other than the words “Iranian nuclear scientist,” but I must confess that I am quite sure I would not have paid nearly as much attention to that news story had I not just finished reading your latest book,Fault Line. I am reminded that real life is as compelling and as fraught with peril as is the best suspense fiction. And that sometimes the two intersect in the most unexpected of ways.

This is not the first guest review of your book to appear here. Carolyn Jewel wrote one back in December that appeared before I had a chance to even start reading the copy Jane so kindly gave me. I’m glad I read Carolyn’s review first because her perspective as a writer, technology sector worker, and resident of the Bay Area gave your book a great deal of credibility. I am none of those three things. I am a working mom from the midwest who devours about 4 romances a week. I would have taken the book at face value anyway, but it’s nice to know that the book is grounded in reality. You include a lot of detail in the book that is really helpful in setting your scenes–whether in the location is Istanbul or Palo Alto. I liked the way that you gave me a feel for two places that are equally foreign to me.

For those who don’t know, Fault Line is primarily a suspense story involving a special piece of encryption software called Obsidian. The developer of the software is murdered just before he is to meet with his attorney, Alex Trevan. Alex is responsible for obtaining a patent for Obsidian as well as finding venture capitalists to bring Obsidian to market. Alex stands to gain a great deal should Obsidian perform as promised. When one of Alex’s friends who works in the US Patent Office, and was helping keep Alex informed about the patent’s status, suddenly also turns up dead, Alex becomes suspicious. But then someone breaks into Alex’s house in the middle of the night and Alex knows he needs help. So he turns to his older brother, Ben, an army soldier who is an assasin for the US government’s war on terror. They’ve been estranged for many years. Ben comes home to Palo Alto to help. It’s his first trip there since the death of their mother and old hurts and resentments surface time and again as they attempt to solve the mystery of who is after Obsidian and why. Also mixed up in the whole affair is Sarah Hosseini, an attractive young lawyer in Alex’s firm who happens to be an Iranian American.

As has been pointed out repeatedly, this book is not a romance. Nonetheless, I think it would appeal to other romance readers like myself because we like to read about relationships, or more specifically, relationships that have a positive outcome. Personally, I was just as interested in what was going on between Ben and Alex (as well as how Sarah factored in) as I was in the race to protect Obsidian and save Alex and Sarah’s lives. Ben and Alex had seen their family torn apart by a tragedy that also left behind a good deal of guilt and bitterness. I liked the way you used the circumstances surrounding Obsidian to reveal just what kind of men Ben and Alex had become–what their strengths and weaknesses were, and how they had moved on (or not) from the family tragedy. As the stress builds over their circumstances, more and more of that anger and bitterness is let out until they finally really talk to one another. I also really liked the way that both Ben and Alex had the opportunity to do heroic stuff–in other words, the book is not all about Ben riding to the rescue.

But there is also the developing relationship between Ben and Sarah that would appeal to other romance readers. There is some fabulous dialogue between the two of them. Ben leaps to conclusions about Sarah simply because of her race–he is instantly suspicious of her. Sarah stands up to him and challenges his thinking. In return, Ben recognizes that Sarah has made some safe choices in her life and I sense he’s challenging her to take risks. When lust blooms between them it fits, and the romance reader in me hopes that there will be a lot more to this relationship–in a future book perhaps?

This book has a great opening line: “The last thing Richard Hilzoy thought before the bullet entered his brain was, Things are really looking up.” That caught my attention. But there was a lot of ground to cover before Ben and Alex got together. According to my Stanza reader (I read an e-copy on my ipod touch), I was 30% into the book when Alex finally emailed Ben. I found that first 30% a little slow-going at times. The pace was much faster once Ben & Alex were together and I pretty much read straight through from there. I give this book a solid B+.

I will be watching for your next book and perhaps an opportunity to meet you at the RT book signing this spring. Meanwhile, I’ll be looking for some of your older titles. Finally, and again, my thanks to Jane and the DA crew for my copy of Fault Line and the chance to write this review.

Sincerely,
Phyl
“She makes her own quilts”–Prov. 31:22 (NJB)

This book can be purchased at Amazon (affiliate link) or in ebook format from Sony (non affiliate link) or other etailers.

When I told some friends I was reading your YA novel, Flygirl, and what it was about, one of them directed me to this article at The New York Times. It’s about the awarding of Congressional Gold Medals to the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), who provided the United States Army with their valuable flying skills during World War II, in order to free up male pilots to serve in the war.

To quote from your Author’s Note, “Flygirl is a fictionalized account based on the true story of the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots and their heroic feats.” It is also the story of Ida Mae Jones, a brave and determined young woman who is not willing to let anything, even her skin color, stand in the way of her dream of flying.

Flygirl begins in December of 1941, in Slidell, Lousiana, when Ida Mae, the narrator of the story, is eighteen. She and her friend Jolene clean for the Wilsons, a white family, and as they clean, they daydream. Jolene dreams of being a singer, though she doesn’t have the voice for it. Ida Mae’s heart’s desire is to become a pilot, something she already is in every regard but one.

When Ida Mae was a young girl, her father taught her to fly in his “Jenny” cropduster. Ida Mae later prepared hard for her pilot’s test, and performed beautifully when she took it. But her instructor, a white man who’d passed other black pilots at Tuskegee, told Ida Mae, “You can fly, no doubt about it. But no woman’s gonna get a license out of me. Go home, Miss Jones. You’ve failed.”

Now Ida Mae dreams of going to Chicago’s Coffey School of Aeronautics to obtain her license, and she is saving up to finance the trip. But when the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, her dream is shelved. Ida’s brother, who is studying to become a doctor, enlists in the army. Before shipping out, Thomas asks Ida Mae to look after her widowed mother, her young brother Abel, and her grandfather, and Ida promises that she will.

A year and a half pass. Thomas is stationed in the South Pacific, where the war is going badly. Black families like the Joneses and white ones like the Wilsons ration sugar, coffee, and other staples. Jolene donates her silk stockings to the army parachute program. “Jenny,” the Joneses’ cropduster, remains in the barn collecting dust, since fuel is also rationed.

One day, Abel brings home a newspaper clipping from school. It is an article about the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots program, which will train women to fly military planes within America’s borders, freeing more male pilots to fight in combat. The instant Ida Mae reads about the WASP program, she desperately wants to be a part of it. Here is a way to realize her dream of flying, and to make a real difference in the war effort, to help Thomas in a more meaningful way than rationing sugar and stockings.

Jolene punctures Ida Mae’s ballooning hopes by telling her the program is almost certainly for white women only. For a brief moment, Ida Mae, whose skin is light enough that she could pass for white, considers pretending to be white in order to be able to fly for the military. It doesn’t take her long to realize that such an action is fraught with danger, though, and she tries to give up her dream.

But then Abel points out a picture of a Chinese American pilot who is a member of the WASP, and Ida begins to hope again. With Jolene’s help, Ida Mae forges a pilot’s license, applies to the program and is granted an interview. Just before that interview begins, she sees a black woman being refused entry to the program due her skin color alone. When the interviewer assumes that Ida Mae is white, Ida nearly backs out, but her dream of flying overcomes her fears, and she decides that she if she is accepted, she will join the training program for the WASP.

And so begins Ida Mae’s life as a military trainee pilot in Sweetwater, Texas, a life that is both thrilling and frightening. Even as Ida makes friends with fellow WASP aspirants Patsy Kake, who was part of a barnstorming show, and Lily Lowenstein, a sheltered and wealthy Jewish girl, she wonders whether these women would remain her friends if they knew that she is not white.

The training program is arduous — two out of every three girls wash out — but even more than the long hours of training, it is her deception that takes a toll on Ida, and her worry for her brother Thomas’s safety. Lily and Patsy’s friendship is a godsend, but in becoming part of their world, is Ida creating a gulf between herself and her childhood friend Jolene?

There is also a civilian instructor in the program, Walt Jenkins, who is clearly attracted to Ida and interested in her. Ida’s heart flutters whenever Walt is near. But Walt is white, and he does not know that Ida is black. How can she allow her attraction for him to show without misleading him? And even if she told him the truth, would a future with him mean leaving her family behind?

Flygirl is beautifully written and resonant. Ida Mae remains a sympathetic and believable character throughout the story. She is both courageous and unsure of herself, and I liked the way we see her mature over the course of the story. I also liked that I never felt the book was making a judgment about her choice to “pass.” Instead, we readers are invited to decide for ourselves what we think of her decision.

Ida Mae’s family members are vividly depicted, from her brothers, who respect and admire her, to her mother, who disapproves of her desire to fly, to her supportive grandfather, “Grandy.” Her friends, first Jolene and later Patsy and Lily, are a kind of second family to Ida. I especially liked Patsy, an independent free spirit who worked as a wing-walker in a barnstorming act before joining the WASP.

The romantic elements play a minor role in the novel — it is much more a coming of age story, and a story about how Ida deals with the discrimination she faces both as an African American and as a woman. It is also a book about friendships and family relationships, and their challenges and rewards. And, of course, it is the story of the brave, patriotic women who served their country for little recognition or compensation.

I have just a couple of complaints about this story. One is that Lily, who is Jewish, is depicted as having led a privileged life and is said to have “never known what it was like to be hobbled by somebody else’s rules.” As a Jewish woman, I have a problem with this depiction, because it doesn’t do justice to the prejudices Jews faced in this country in the 1940s. Sometime in the past couple or so years, I watched “The Jewish Americans” documentary on PBS, and I remember seeing that Jews, too, were turned away from many establishments during the 1940s. I find it hard to believe that even after two years of serving in the WASP in several parts of the country, Lily would not have encountered much prejudice.

My other problem was more minor: a moment of annoyance at something Ida did that constituted cheating on one of her tests in my eyes. But since she felt bad about it and did her best to make up for it, I got over that.

One of the things I loved best about this book was the way the 1940s came alive. I truly felt I had been transported there, and was reminded of films from this time period when I read the book. It’s not an era that I often see in novels, so it was a treat to be immersed in it here.

I also enjoyed your writing style very much. Ida Mae’s first person present tense narration was confiding and immediate. There are memorable turns of phrase like this description of a female pilot who gets some bad news: “Melanie looks at me and her face crumples like a newspaper, only all the headlines are sad.”

As I was reading, I felt I was in the sure hands of a capable author. I experienced both sadness and happiness with Ida Mae, and would recommend Flygirl not just to young adults but also to adults who want to learn more about the first women to fly for the U.S. army, or to experience this young woman’s journey. B+/A-.

Sincerely,

Janine

This book can be purchased at Amazon (affiliate link), Kindle (non affiliate link), Books on Board (non affiliate link), or other etailers.

I’ve been waiting a long time for your next book but hot damn if you haven’t come through like a champ. We’ve got pirates, um – I mean privateers, pirate treasure, hot sexing, early Florida, lots of insects and a great match up of hero and heroine. Yep, well worth the wait.

Sophia Deford and Jack Burrell don’t exactly hit it off when they first meet. Nor when they meet again five years later. And none of what follows would have ever happened without Captain Tanner and his tales of a pirate treasure buried somewhere in the back, piney woods of swampy, alligator ridden Florida. And without having run into Captain Sinister (yeah, we get to visit with an old friend!), they wouldn’t be married either. But needs must and there’s a treasure worth £50,000 to be found. Question is, who will get it in the end? Or will a greater treasure than that be found?

What a fun book! I’m always on the lookout for a pirate book – okay, okay privateer book, and in addition to sea battles and eye patches (smart trick Jack has there) I also get Florida in the days when it was a “free for all” between the Spanish, English and the newly minted United States. I can’t think of any other authors who employ this combo of plot and setting and again I say, brava for using it well.

But it’s not just an action-adventure story, though there’s plenty of that. It’s funny too. Lots of the humor is right there on the surface but then there’s the sly laugh as when Sophia comments that the naughty book Jack gives her to read has pages stuck together. Sophia and Jack are wonderful together and I laughed through their adventures as they one-up each other and initially sleep with an eye open around the other.

Sophia might be tiny but she packs a punch and keeps Jack on his toes from the get-go. I love it when the relationship between a couple is balanced all the time regardless of their physical size. These two are equally smart, cagey and quick witted. For each time one comes out on top, the next bout will probably go to the other. And they don’t hide their intelligence – especially Sophia. I love it when a heroine actually gets to flaunt her smarts.

Jack’s a great hero. And it’s a treat to read a story in which the hero professes his love first then waits to see if his heroine will return it, eventually, or double cross him out of the money. Oh, and I love his response when Sophia confesses that she’s not a virgin. “Then we will both enjoy this.” Jeez, if Sophia hadn’t taken him then I would.

Once again, I feel totally at ease in the setting of early 19th century Florida even though I actually know little about the place or politics. You meld it into the story so well that everything just flows and I get enough of what’s needed to understand what’s going on without it turning into a history lesson. Good onya for including the subplot about Reuben and Betsy. It’s emotional without being melodramatic and adds some darker shadows to the story.

I hope that your next book will shoot down the pipeline a bit more quickly but as I said, this one was worth waiting for. A fantastically matched couple, fun and adventure, seeing Captain Sinister again = a happy Jayne when I electronically flipped the last page. B+

~Jayne

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I was reminded about your Holiday Outing by Jessica’s review of it at Racy Romance Reviews. I read Holiday Outing and enjoyed it, I think when it first came out, before I was reviewing. I especially loved the perfect depiction of a Jewish family, with all their lumps and bumps, but I thought that the family situation got too much attention and the relationship too little. Carol of the Bellskis rectifies this situation and is, I think, going on my keeper shelf.

The story opens with Seth breaking up with his boyfriend, who also happens to be his boss. He’s furious and desperately hurt when Lars refuses to go to Seth’s aunt and uncle’s kosher B&B like he said he would because of what people might say. Lars is afraid of being outed. Despite it being completely obvious to the reader and to Seth that he loves Seth, he refuses even to treat Seth with civility at work in case people suspect. Seth can’t take it anymore and breaks up with Lars. He then drives the five hours to the B&B only to discover that his aunt and uncle are missing and there’s an inn full of guests expecting kosher food and Hanukkah celebrations every night. He muddles badly through the first evening and is despairing in the kitchen when Lars shows up. Lars saves his bacon (harhar) by being a brilliant cook and they work through their relationship issues while catering to a houseful of guests and dealing with the search for Seth’s missing relatives. It sounds like a full story, especially for just less than 100 pages, and it is, but it’s perfectly done, because no matter what’s actually happening — searching for a lost dog under the house, say — the focus is always on Seth and Lars working things out.

And I love how Seth doesn’t immediately take Lars back. He’s furious and hurt and aching and he makes Lars sleep on the couch. I love how Lars is desperate to get back into Seth’s good graces that he puts up with anything from Seth but doesn’t back down about coming out. I love that Seth is still furious with Lars, still terribly hurt and that he isn’t afraid anymore to let Lars know, no matter how much it might hurt Lars to hear it:

“I don’t trust you. I know you love me, but not enough. Not more than your ego or your career. You care, but just not enough. So I can’t trust you to put my well-being on par with yours. I don’t trust you, Lars, and it’s killing me.”

I love Lars’ obvious fight with himself:

Lars immediately entered the room and crouched at Seth’s feet. He looked up. For once he appeared uncertain.

“How can we resolve this?” Lars asked quietly. “There has to be a compromise we can settle on.”

“This isn’t a lawsuit,” Seth told him. “Sometimes there isn’t middle ground. I don’t want to be hidden, and you don’t want to be outed. Where’s the compromise?”

Lars ran a hand over his face. “I don’t know. But we have to try.”

“I don’t want to be something you’re ashamed of anymore.”

Lars hesitated. But he didn’t pull away. He bowed his head and rested it on Seth’s thigh.

They sat there like that a long time.

As Seth asks himself at one point:

Why the hell were relationships so fucking hard?

And that’s what I love about this story. Seth and Lars obviously have a good relationship, but they’ve hit a bump and they have to work on it, and its every bit as emotionally wrenching as it should be. Every relationship in the book — and there are quite a few of them with so many guests in the house — has a small or large issue that has to be worked through. It shows what happens AFTER the HEA and does it so well.

One drawback to the story was also one of its strengths. The story is told entirely from Seth’s perspective. You’re very good at making it obvious what Lars is thinking and feeling, so I didn’t miss his perspective too much, but it almost felt like an Old Skool Harlequin in that we only got one point of view. It’s very well done and by no means lacks emotional impact because of it, but it’s basically a first-person perspective, told in third person.

But it’s also laugh-out-loud funny in some places:

Lars’s cock was already hard, obtrusively begging for attention, nudging little Excuse me? Hello? Morse code against Seth’s hip the entire shower.

Neither does the story shy away at all from the fact that these are Jews we’re talking about:

Lars had tremendous prospects of becoming a very good Jewish mother. He had the food portions right, at least.

The main issue I had with the story was Lars’ motivation. He was terrified of being outed, convinced somehow for some reason that his life would be over if he came out. I am somewhat impatient with this motivation, especially since it’s never really fully justified. Yes, Lars is worried about the response of his homophobic business partner, but as Seth says, it’s his fucking business too. I guess I think in this day and age, in a metropolitan setting, generic fear of coming out is no longer an adequate reason not to come out and needs more explanation, rather than less. Or at least, in this story, I was just impatient with Lars’ stubbornness about the issue — which is perhaps precisely what you wanted. However, that said, it was obvious that Lars fully believed in his own fear and his change of heart at the end was strongly felt and signaled his full and total commitment to his relationship with Seth, so that almost made it all okay.

All in all, I adored this story and now plan on glomming your entire backlist. The hectic situation of the B&B was handled beautifully in that the focus of the story was always 100% on the relationship between Lars and Seth and by the end of the story, I fully trusted that they’ll make it.

Grade: B+

Best regards,
-Joan/Sarah F.

This book can be purchased at Loose Id.

On the Edge was the first of your books that I’ve read, but it will not be the last.

Rose Drayton and her two young brothers, Jack and Georgie, live in the Edge, an area where two dimensions known as the Weird and the Broken overlap. In the Weird, people have magical abilities and magical creatures exist there as well. The Broken is our world, where no one possesses magic.

Rose and her brothers do have special abilities, and in Rose’s case, hers are powerful enough that men from both the Edge and the Weird want to marry her in order to make use of her gene pool. Rose has refused all these offers in no uncertain terms.

Since her mother died and her father abandoned her family, Rose has been raising Jack and Georgie. To support the boys, Rose works as a cleaning lady in the Broken. She has to save every penny just to buy Jack shoes, and between his shifting and Georgie’s raising creatures from the dead at the expense of his own health, she has her hands full.

One day an earl from the Weird turns up on the Draytons’ doorstep. The man, who goes by the name of Declan, wants Rose to come away with him to the Weird. Declan possesses powerful magical abilities and can therefore do Rose a great deal of harm, so Rose cuts a deal with him. She will issue Declan three challenges and if he completes all of them successfully, she will go with him. If not, Declan will go away and leave Rose and her brothers in peace.

Shortly thereafter, Rose loses her cleaning job through no fault of her own. Because the household is in desperate need of money and because Declan rescues Jack from two menacing magical creatures which he calls hounds, Rose agrees to let Declan stay under her roof in exchange for a gold coin a day.

Rose soon finds herself attracted to the handsome and clever Declan but she mistrusts his motives. The boys, who have no male figure in their lives, begin to look up to him. As the four of them join forces to fight the dangerous hounds, the connection between Declan and the Draytons deepens.

While I liked them both, at first I felt that Rose and Declan were a little too good to be true. As I kept reading, though, I began to see that they had a few limits and flaws. Rose is stubborn and mistrusting where men are concerned, though she has good reasons to be that way. Declan isn’t always as upfront as he could be, though he too has his reasons.

It takes a little while for the story to get rolling and for Declan to appear, but the wait is worth it. The romance between Rose and Declan echoes fairy tales and folk tales, while at the same time being refreshingly grounded in the reality of Rose’s daily struggles to make ends meet and cope with all the trouble her brothers get into. The secondary characters, especially the shape-shifting Jack and the necromancing Georgie, are also delightfully real.

The villain of the story is really over the top, and that was one of the very few problems I had. I felt that the book lost some of its grounding in the real every time this villain or his minions made an appearance.

The romantic in me would also have liked for Rose and Declan to have more time alone together than they did, but I was pleasantly surprised at how satisfying their courtship was even with two children around most of the time.

I really enjoyed On the Edge, and I especially loved the way reality intermingled with fantasy in the world of the book. The characters might have magical powers needed to save their world, but they also shopped at Wal-Mart and had to stretch their pennies to pay for gas and groceries.

I would recommend this book to fans of Charlaine Harris and Patricia Briggs, and to anyone who enjoys a romantic fairy tale now and again. I had great fun reading it and I feel that its spot on my top ten list of 2009 favorites was well-deserved. My grade: B+/A-.

Sincerely,

Janine

This book can be purchased at Amazon or in Mobi/eReader/epub format from Fictionwise or other etailers.

This book was provided to the reviewer by either the author or publisher. The reviewer did not pay for this book but received it free. The Amazon Affiliate link earns us a 6-7% affiliate fee if you purchase a book through the link (or anything for that matter). We do not earn an affiliate fee from Books on Board through the book link.

I’m probably not going to do this book justice in the review and I actually have some fear of turning people off the book based on what I am going to write. Robin and I talked about the book and she said it was brave and I agree. It’s brave because Jane, the heroine, is a complicated and messed up character that is both likeable and unlikeable afraid of her own sexuality and ashamed of her past. She is full of prejudice and bias and anger and shame and in order to achieve her happy ending, she has to overcome these things.

It’s often acceptable to read about the damaged hero finding redemption but I appreciate Jane’s road to acceptance just as much as an infamous rake redeemed story.

There is a memorable scene in the Princess Bride wherein Valerie, cries “Liar, Liar” and shakes her finger at Miracle Max for denying that Westley said “True Love” after Max extracts breath from Westley’s mostly dead body. Valerie says that ever since Miracle Max was fired by Prince Humperdink his confidence was shattered and he was afraid to perform any magic.

Jane is like Miracle Max only she never had any confidence. Jane’s mother was a prison groupie who moved from prison town to prison town latching on to various lifers. Jane’s biological father was a lifer who wrote to her from prison regularly until she was twelve. She had no male role model in her life and she thirsted for affection and approval from someone. After Jane suffered one rejection too many at a young age, with her newly blossoming body, Jane went out looking much older than she was to find the only kind of affection that she could from boys and men who never should have touched her.

She ran with a hard crowd and after allowing herself to be used one too many times, Jane had a wake up call and she changed her entire life. She dyed her hair, changed her name, moved away from her family, and suppressed every instinct that she had ever had and became, to the best of her ability, plain Jane. She works as the office manager in Quinn Jenning’s architectural firm. She is efficient, responsible, and very good at her job. She dates upwardly mobile professional men like lawyers, vetinarians, dentists. She is certainly not attracted to a man like William Chase with his beat up pickup, his tattoos, his big rough body, and his job as a excavation specialist, even if he does own his own company.

The truth is that a woman with confidence and self respect (as Jane would like to see herself) would not care whom she was seen with as long as she loved that man. But Jane lives under specter of hurt and shame. She has rebuilt but to a large extent it’s all a facade. Jane refers to herself as faking her way through each day. With Chase, she can let go and be herself but Jane isn’t even sure who she is anymore, only who she wants to be. What she doesn’t understand and has to come to grips with is that she needs to love and accept herself, all her flaws, her past mistakes, her weaknesses and her strengths because who she is is worth loving. And she’s strong. When you read about her past and how she recreated herself, you realize how strong of a person Jane really is.

As for Chase, he understands the embarassing past. He has one. He’s accepted his mistakes. He loves his alcoholic father while being saddened and angered by his father’s addiction. He’s in a good place in his life. The question, of course, is what attracts Chase to Jane who plays hot and cold, who tries to use Chase as a sexual object, who really is embarassed to be seen with Chase.

At first, Jane appeared to be an uptight secretary who might be interested in being messed up by a bad boy and then Chase realizes Jane is far more complicated. Something about her draws Chase and while he knows he’s being dicked around, he sees something worthwhile in Jane. Even more importantly, Chase knows that he can’t fix Jane, that she has to fix herself. And Jane, well, she can’t control everything:

Ending the kiss with a faint taste of her bottom lip, Chase framed her face in his hands so she’d have to meet his gaze. “I’m falling for you,” he repeated.

“No.”

He let her go. “You have no say in it. Sorry.” Reaching past her, he opened the truck door. “Where to?”

“Chase, we can’t… There’s no future for us. None!”

“You want to go to your grandma’s house?”

She put her hand flat to his chest and pushed him. He took a step back so she’d feel some satisfaction. “Listen to me!”

“I’ll do whatever I want, Jane. I just thought you deserved fair warning.”

What makes this such an easy read is though the subject matter might be weighty, the overall tone of the book is fairly light. Chase and Jane have great dialogue. There are very humorous moments interspersed throughout the book. One of my favorite is when Chase and Jane are at a biker bar and a bosomy redhead comes on to Chase while Jane is off talking to someone else, trying to get some information on her parole skipping brother.

Chase’s head jerked up so fast the room spun. Smack in the middle of that spinning was a tight bundle of angry Jane.

Her lips flattened into a thin line as she narrowed her eyes at the woman. “Would you please remove your hands from him?”

“I don’t think so, darlin’,” the woman drawled, tightening her hold on Chase. He raised up his free arm to show his helplessness.

…
Jane drew in a deep breath, her nostrils flared, and he saw the flash of rage in her eyes as she went to the dark side. “Get your tits off him, you heifer!”

“Jane!” Chase coughed, a shocked laugh choking off his voice. But the woman finally let him go.
…
Arms crossed, Jane watched until she was at least ten feet away before turning her glare on Chase. “You want me to leave so you can get a closer look at those?”

“No!” He held his hands up in complete surrender. “I couldn’t get away from her.”

“Funny, because you look awfully big and strong. Almost like a full-grown man.”

Chase gave her his best puppy dog eyes, silently begging for forgiveness.

Further, the story is very sexy and the sex scenes, while hot and explicit, actually mean something. They advance the story, the character arc, the romance. It’s not like you can skip these scenes because they aren’t just descriptions of sex but exhibits of the state of mind of the characters and where they are in the relationship. For Chase, he tries to show her she’s worth more than a quick lay and for Jane, it’s a release, but as Jane and Chase’s relationship matures, so does their interaction during sex.

It’s really beautiful to see Jane gain her courage and embrace her confidence at the end of the story.

So why the B+ grade? Jane and Chase were so carefully drawn and so were Jane’s family, her mother, her irresponsible brother, her stepdad, and even her grandmother. Yet, conflict was inserted toward the end with Jane’s ex boyfriend Greg in a hamfisted way. Greg’s actions lack organic motivation and his portrayal seemed obviously manipulative of the events at the end of the story.  Fortunately, the story does not end on this note.

This story has a lot of depth and I think it takes quite a bit of skill to write such a deep story with such a light hand. B+

Best regards,

Jane

P.S.  I still think we readers deserved one last sex scene with Chase and his shaved head.

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This book was provided to the reviewer by either the author or publisher. The reviewer did not pay for this book but received it free. The Harlequin Affiliate link earns us an affiliate fee if you purchase a book through the link.

I had been hearing positive buzz from several quarters for this, your debut romance, so I approached it with perhaps higher-than-usual hopes. Maybe because of those high hopes, the read started out a little rocky for me. The heroine and hero encounter each other in the first scene, and I found myself disappointed right away because while the heroine is portrayed at being good at her profession, both her actions and her interior monologue give lie to that. I was really hoping to see more audacity and confidence from her.

Jenny Keeble meets Gareth Carhart, the Marquess of Blakely in her guise of Madame Esmerelda, London fortuneteller. Blakely has been brought along to Esmerelda’s by his puppyish cousin, Ned. Ned has been a client of Esmerelda’s for two years, and Blakely thinks it’s about time he does something to remove his cousin from the woman’s influence.

Esmerelda does indeed have enormous influence over Ned, and she does take his money. But in exchange, she’s given Ned something he desperately needs….hope. Ned is prone to depressive episodes and it was in the throes of one of these that he first visited Jenny, asking her to give him a reason why he shouldn’t just end it all. Since then, Jenny has helped to keep Ned relatively stable and in addition to lining Jenny’s pockets, Ned has provided her with something she’s had little of in her life – friendship.

Blakely is a rather familiar character, the scientifically-minded, aristocratic, cold-fish hero. He’s more comfortable in the jungles of Brazil, observing the fauna, than in a London drawing room taking tea with his social equals. He feels a little too familiar at first – he’s given the requisite autocratic upbringing to explain his distrust of emotion. But he does get fleshed out along the way, in large part by showing his interactions with his much younger half-sister – he loves her but has no idea how to show her or tell her this, and as a consequence they have a strained relationship. His relationship with Ned is even worse – his attempts to toughen up Ned, his heir, have contributed to Ned’s self-confidence issues. Ultimately I sympathized with Blakely, once I could see the vulnerability beneath the steely facade. His childhood had been as traumatic as Jenny’s in its own way.

Jenny was, it’s strongly implied, born on the wrong side of the blanket, fostered out to a farm family and then sent to boarding school at age four. She has no idea where she comes from and has never really had anyone to love or be loved by. At 18, she fled the school in scandalous fashion, figuring that if she were to be an outsider, it might as well be on her own terms. I was never quite clear how she made the leap from that to faux-Gypsy fortunetelling; I understand that options for a woman in her position were limited but it still seems like rather an outre career choice. Nonetheless, she has done fairly well for herself, managing to build a savings and maintain her independence. Blakely comes along to threaten that.

Ned, firmly believing in Jenny’s prognostication skills and wanting to prove them to Blakely, devises a “scientific” test after Jenny predicts that Blakely will meet his future wife at an upcoming ball. Jenny and Ned each have their own reasons for wanting to win, and Jenny devises a series of tasks for Blakely to complete on the way to finding true love. Thus we have Jenny, Ned and the veracity of fortunetellers on one side, and Blakely and science on the other side. Quite a battle ensues.

There is a lot to like in this book. The hero and heroine, though familiar types, are well-drawn and sympathetic. The secondary characters, particularly Ned, are intriguing and fleshed out. The prose is mostly smooth, though I’m deducting points for the use of “orbs” to describe eyes. The love scenes are well-done.

What didn’t work as well for me was a persistent tendency to tell rather than show. Or rather, to tell and show. I don’t mind internal monologues, but when the internal monologue tells me things as a reader that I already know, I feel like I’m not being given enough credit to understand the story and characters without having things spelled out. Sometimes less is more.

All in all, though, that was a fairly minor irritation. I really enjoyed Proof by Seduction, and am looking forward to your future books. My grade: B+.

Jennie

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This book was provided to the reviewer by either the author or publisher. The reviewer did not pay for this book but received it free. The Harlequin Affiliate link earns us an affiliate fee if you purchase a book through the link and the Sony link is in conjunction with the sponsorship deal we made for the year of 2009. We do not earn an affiliate fee from Sony through the book link.

On Saturday, September 15, 2001, seventeen-year-old Samar “Sam” Ahluwahlia encounters a man she doesn’t know at the door to the house she and her mother share. The man is wearing a turban, and his presence on her doorstep disturbs Samar. But he turns out to be not a menacing terrorist, but a loving uncle, part of the extended family from which Samar’s mother is estranged. Samar is surprised by how quickly she grows fond of her sweet, gentle uncle Sandeep.

That’s just one of the many changes Samar experiences in the wake of 9/11, an event during which, as she puts it, “my regular, sort of popular, happily assimiliated Indian-American butt got rammed real hard into the cold seat of reality.”

Linton, New Jeresy, where Sam lives, is close to the epicenter of the attacks, and many of the people there view Sam’s turbaned uncle with wariness or suspicion. Sandeep’s presence in her life also makes Samar wonder what she is missing by never having known her other relatives, her family’s religion of Sikhism, or anything about her cultural heritage. Sam envies her best friend, Molly, for knowing who she is:

If I had to describe it, I would say Molly’s family is a painting in bright, vibrant colors, while my family–meaning me and Mom–is bland neutrals and beiges in a taupe frame. Molly’s family is 100 percent, no question, without a doubt, Irish. They all know it, celebrate it whenever possible, and broadcast it with great pride.

When Molly encourages Sam to express her heritage through fashion, Sam observes that:

Molly’s way more into my “Eastern” heritage than I am. It’s not as if I’m not into it…it’s just that it was never really into me.

My mom spent a whole lot of time, when I was growing up, smudging the hard lines that made us different from everyone around us. She dressed me like everyone else, packed my lunch with all the same snacks as the other kids, and stressed the fact that we’re all more the same than different. “You’re American,” she’d say, “and that’s all that matters. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

But now Samar is beginning to become conscious of the differences her mom tried to erase. When some of Molly’s relatives react negatively to Sam’s uncle Sandeep, the girls’ friendship is strained and tested. A conversation at school with another Indian-American girl named Balvir leads Samar to realize that some of the kids view her as a “coconut.”

“A coconut?” I’ve been mistaken for Dominican and everything else she listed, but a coconut?

“Yeah, you know…brown on the outside, white on the inside.”

That catches me off guard. In grade school I was called plenty of names–paki, doo-doo skin …all kinds of things to let me know my brown skin was not coveted. This is the first time someone’s telling me I’m not brown enough. It’s true I’ve always been like the center of a daisy, if daisies had dark centers. Surrounded by all these white petals: Molly, my best friend, and her family; Mike, my boyfriend, and his buddies; and just about everyone else except Mom.

But that’s because whenever I tried to hang out with the Indian kids at school, they talked about things I knew nothing about, sometimes using words in languages other than English–which is the only language I’m fluent in. Things always got real awkward real fast when we realized we had nothing much to talk about other than school. In some ways, that was even harder than the obvious differences between myself and the white folks I surrounded myself with.

Just as Samar begins to realize that she wants to befriend other Indian-American kids, and to know her grandparents and cousins, even if they are as religious and strict as her mom has told her, she encounters another obstacle in the form of her boyfriend, Mike’s, lack of understanding.

Mike has graduated and is working in retail to help his mom pay off her credit cards debt, but the hardship he faces has embittered him. When Sam’s uncle is harassed by some boys Mike knows, he does not offer the kind of empathy he has sometimes shown Samar in the past.

“Look, I’m not saying what they did was right, Sam.” He turns to face me. “But maybe if you didn’t hang out with your uncle so much, you wouldn’t have to deal with that kind of crap.”

I’m stunned. Words slip through my teeth like smoke. I can’t look at him. If I do, I might burst into tears.

“You could pass for anything. When I first met you, I thought you were Mexican.”

My voice comes out as a gravelly whisper. “But I’m not. I’m Indian-American just like my mom…and Sikh, like my uncle.”

He turns the music up, and the lyrics of Get Rich or Die Tryin’ fill the little black Civic. “Who has to know?” he says.

I look out the window on my side.

Me. I know.

As all the quoting I’ve done in this review shows, Shine, Coconut Moon is a thoughtful, sensitive look at issues of culture and assimilation, diversity and self-knowledge.

The writing is at once delicate and penetrating, and Sam’s first person narration shines with her often painful honesty about her confusion. I liked Samar very much, and found myself moved by the challenges she faced in her quest to discover her roots.

The other characters were mostly sympathetic as well, even when they were at odds with Samar. Molly, Samar’s friend, wasn’t always in the right, but she was a good friend much of the time. Sharan, Sam’s mother, wasn’t always in the right either, but she clearly loved her daughter. Uncle Sandeep had a touching gentleness. Even the villains of the story, such as they were, weren’t without their own issues.

I do have a few criticisms. First, I felt that Samar’s ignorance about her own cultural heritage strained credulity at times. I found it hard to believe that at the age of seventeen she would not even know the correct pronunciation of the word Sikh, or that the people of the Indian diaspora refer to themselves as South Asian, even though she was one of them. I understand that her mother did not teach Sam much of anything about her background, but I still think that in seventeen years of life she would have picked the most basic things up.

Second, I also felt that Samar’s mother’s childrearing didn’t completely fit Sharan’s background as a psychotherapist. In my opinion most people with her grounding in psychotherapy could have foreseen the difficulties she was creating for her child by keeping her completely separated from any and all family besides herself and failing to teach her anything about her background. Had Sharan been a member of a different profession, I would have found her choices more believable.

The novel’s final chapter serves as a kind of epilogue showing a more assured and self-aware Samar than the one with which we’ve spent much of the book. I found it comforting, but at the same time, it felt a bit out of place.

But these aren’t major criticisms. Shine, Cocount Moon moved me and made me reflect about my own life, and the degree to which I have assimilated since emigrating to the United States; the things I miss about the culture of my native country and the large family I left behind. There are no easy answers when it comes to these issues, and so the book was not always easy reading for me, but I am glad I bought it, and got to experience Samar’s touching journey. B/B+ for this one.

Sincerely,

Janine

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

Dear Mr. London,

I am so glad that someone from Vire Press contacted Dear Author about reading this book. As one of the blurbs printed in the front said, I was hooked from the prologue. This is one version of “the homefront” that I’ve never seen before.

You drop us straight in on the action. Doc Hastings has died and there is a scene at his funeral that somehow dates back to his time of service in France during WWII. But instead of then starting the story with a scene between Will and Virginia, what comes next is something that was probably played out in countless towns across America then: a group of young boys playing at soldier. Until one gets hurt, is taken to the town doctor/quack and overhears doc telling someone that Virginia Sullivan is “knocked up.”

As he ponders what the term means – he’s only 12 – I start to wonder more and more about this town and its people. Who is Virginia? Who knocked her up? Who is the man doc told about her condition? Who are these boys in this small Texas town?

You take us along, leading us down the path of the tale, slowly introducing more and more of the people here and telling us who they are and what they do. As this happens, small town life in rural Texas during the war comes into focus as clear as if I were standing there and watching it all. Some of the townspeople are kind and helpful. Others are mean as snakes, including Virginia’s brother, and others are thick as thieves as they run the black market in town.

It turns out that the man doc told is Poppy Sullivan, Virginia’s father, who then cooks up a scheme – without telling her – to print an announcement of her elopement months before to a young man now in the army as a doctor. Only by book’s end, Will still hasn’t learned he’s married as Virginia’s SOB brother – and the town’s postman, has kept all Will’s letters from his sister. It’s not all Bart does but like the other do-wrongers in town, comeuppance is just around the corner and you deliver it sweetly and neatly.

However, the book ends with several unresolved issues – not unexpected since this is the first in a trilogy – including the continuing saga of another young soldier and the woman who’d spurned him for years. Well, suffice it to say the small town gossips are setting the grapevine on fire wondering where they were all night. And where’s Poppy and corrupt Sheriff Hoskins? And the town quack? And…and…I’m salivating to find out “what happens next.” B+

~Jayne

This book can be purchased at Amazon. No ebook format.

This book was provided to the reviewer by either the author or publisher. The reviewer did not pay for this book but received it free. The Amazon Affiliate link earns us a 6-7% affiliate fee if you purchase a book through the link (or anything for that matter).

Our recent discussion of multiculturalism brought this book to my mind. I first read it a few years ago, after reading some of Kathleen Eagle’s books, when I was trying to find more accurate information about Native Americans in the 19th Century. And I can honestly say that short of time traveling, this is probably as close to the real thing as we’re going to get.

Deloria was born in 1888 to a prominent Yankton Dakota family. Her father was an Episcopal minister and she was partly raised on the Standing Rock Reservation. She spoke both the Yankton and Lakota dialects and spent much time recording oral histories while working in anthropology and ethnology. She got it, as it were, straight from the mouths of those who had lived the life.

“Waterlily” is her story of life on the plains during the 19th century just as the white man was beginning to enter Lakota life. It’s told mainly from the point of view of the women and not the warriors or holy men. It’s not told as a remembrance but rather shows the life of one young woman from birth to young adulthood. And through her story, we get a window into the complex social structure that undergirds Lakota life as well as the more day to day mundane tasks that filled her life.

Waterlily is born then raised in the tight social circle of her family unit or tiyospaye. There she learns the correct social kinship which was required among a people living in such close physical proximity. Manners were everything and without everyone knowing his or her place in the greater scheme of things, life would have been untenable.

As I read about how loving grandparents gently corrected and instructed their grandchildren, I couldn’t help but contrast it to behavior I see in public now. There’s a funny scene in which Waterlily’s family listens in horrified amazement as a relative and his wife tell them about how they’ve seen white parents interacting with their children in a newly built fort. Striking a child? Yelling at them? Such things would never be done in the camp circle.

We see how important the rituals of daily life were, how one brought honor to himself and his kinsfolk by giveaways, how everyone in the extended family worked together to make life pleasant and how the delicate kinship avoidance rules could alleviate any and all in-law jokes.

The Sundance is described in such a way that we can grasp how important it was in bringing the people together to support men who had made vows in support of their family and community. Modern eyes might view it as distasteful but to the Lakota it was something to be honored.

Deloria avoids romanticizing anyone and presents Waterlily’s real father as something of a layabout before he acts like a total ass and divorces Blue Bird, her mother. But things work out for the family as shown by Blue Bird’s second husband and how he quietly supports his family. Lakota marriage is shown through Waterlily’s first marriage as well as her second which follows the beginnings of the scourge of diseases which were brought to the Plains people.

Though the book isn’t a romance per se, Waterlily does find love with someone. But it’s a quiet, dignified love which befits a people who didn’t wear their hearts on their sleeves and emote about their “feelings” eight times a day. The slower, leisurely presentation might bore readers who want Action! on every page but if you’re looking for a book about this long gone lifestyle from someone who presents it with love and careful attention to detail, check out “Waterlily.”

~Jayne

This book can be purchased at Amazon in used format. It is an out of print title.

• Publisher: Bison Books (August 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803247397
• ISBN-13: 978-0803265790

First off, I have a bone to pick with marketing. This anthology (featuring stories by Laurell K. Hamilton, Yasmine Galenorn, Marjorie M. Liu, and Sharon Shinn) is clearly marked on the spine as Urban Fantasy. And yet? Only one out of the four stories has an actual urban fantasy setting. All of the others are traditional fantasies. I mean like trolls, ogres, elves, and magician-type fantasies. MISLEADING.

The tagline on the cover reveals the common thread of all the stories: “All-new tales of magic revealed—and matrimony refused—from four of today’s most provocative authors”. Okay, so all the stories feature heroines who are trying to get out of unwanted betrothals. And yet this whole “four of today’s most provocative authors” thing? What do they mean by that? Are they implying these stories are super smexy and feature kink? Because they don’t. In fact, these stories would pretty much be comfortable on the shelf with inspirational romances. Barely any smooching to be found. So what’s so provocative about that? Honestly, out of these 4 authors, only Laurell K. Hamilton probably fits the provocative label, and only then if you mean “writes crazily complicated orgies in her other books”.

1. Can He Bake a Cherry Pie by Laurell K Hamilton

Anyway, on to the actual story critiques. Laurell K. Hamilton leads off the anthology with “Can He Bake a Cherry Pie?”

You guys.

This story is c-c-crazy. At it’s core, it is a pretty basic fairy tale featuring a heroine who wants to escape an unwanted betrothal. In order to do so, she announces that she is going to rescue Prince True — a sort of male Sleeping Beauty figure in their kingdom. True was captured by a sorceress 50-odd years ago after being a douche.

Seriously.

Actually, he basically announced that men were waaay more important than women and that women’s work was useless in comparison. That’s it? Why aren’t 75% of the men prisoners in her lair, then? So anyway, the sorceress, in a fit of girl power, challenged him, won, and has kept him prisoner in her lair, forever beautiful and ageless. According to legend only a girl well versed in the womanly arts can free him. All righty then.

So our guileless (and virtually brainless) heroine makes her way to the cave of the sorceress, fully anticipating her own death. But dying in the act of rescue is so much better than marrying an oaf. So whatevs. Heroine makes her way to the rope and board bridge stretching over the chasm leading the cave and is greeted by a rabid troll. She basically squeaks and closes her eyes waiting for the death blow, and BECAUSE SHE IS TOTALLY WEAK AND DOES NOT FIGHT BACK OR EVEN MAKE EYE CONTACT, she passes the first test.

The second test finds her facing an Ogre just inside the mouth of the cave. Said ogre threatens to chop her up into pieces and eat her and heroine agains squeaks in distress and closes her eyes. Because ew. Then the ogre NOTICES HER SHOES. Which are impractical party shoes. Because the heroine left in a hurry, yo. And she likes sparkly things? So the beauty and impracticality of her shoes lets her pass the second test.

The third test is the most bunk-ass sphinx you would ever hope to meet. This sphinx doesn’t even ask questions in the form of obscure riddles. WTF? This sphinx is interested in fabric dying techniques, dessert recipes, and gardening. The heroine’s housekeeping skills enable her to pass. Good thing, too, as she would have been eaten alive.

Ultimately, at the end of this gantlet, the sorceress is met, challenges are posed, and the asstacular Prince True is found. After a bit more craziness, involving — you guessed it — baking cherry pies, the heroine lives happily ever after.

I just. I mean. What is the message in this story? I know what the message is supposed to be. I.E. Womanly skills (aka cooking, gardening, and housekeeping) are important and have meaning — but that is really not what the story shows. The heroine is supremely stupid and wins the day by being cowardly, impractical, and good at trivia. GIRL POWER!

As an added bonus, this story is a mere 35 pages. I think the true miracle here is that I kept reading the anthology after I finished this story. I give this a D-.

2.  The Shadow of Mist by Yasmine Galenorn

Next up is Yasmine Galenorn’s “The Shadow of Mist”. First off, kudos for being the lone urban fantasy story in this “urban fantasy anthology”. This novella is set in her “Otherworld” universe, and I have to be honest, I haven’t read any of the other books in the series. To be perfectly frank, plot-wise, this wasn’t a great introduction to it.

Siobhan, the heroine, is a selkie who has been on the run from her fiance for over 100 years. The last few decades, she’s relaxed her guard somewhat, and has found happiness and love in the Pacific Northwest with her boyfriend Mitch. The story opens with her long lost fiance Terry calling her on the phone to helpfully inform her that he knows where she is and is coming for her. Why? Because he will not be denied, yo! This is the equivalent of villain monologueing — he has no earthly reason to warn her of his arrival, and without his helpful information she would have been a sitting duck for his kidnapping attempt. Of course, that would have completely eliminated the plot as well.

IMO, this is a lazy plot device that serves no other purpose than to allow the heroine to call in ye olde cast of characters from many previous novels to assist her in her fight against the villain. To her credit, I must say that Galenorn does a great job with said characters. The problem is, I was more intrigued with them than I was with the heroine of the story, who was totally weak and wimpy in comparison. In fact, the heroine spends the entire story having events happen to her, rather than trying to become the master of her fate.

She refuses police assistance because she’s pretty sure her family will still force her to marry Terry. Even though she’s pregnant with Mitch’s baby and knows Terry will totally force her to miscarry if he catches her on her own. Oookay. She is repeatedly almost dragged off with Terry and his henchmen, and is repeatedly rescued by characters from previous books. And then? In the big showdown? (Which is totally not big at all and really sort of anticlimactic.) Siobhan saves the day by complete and total accident. It’s honestly the equivalent of someone tossing something out a high rise window and killing a wanted criminal who just happens to be walking by below.

Deus ex sucksalot.

For all my complaints, I will say that Galenorn succeeded in making me interested in her world and the characters that occupy it. I will most likely be picking up the first book in her Otherworld series, and hoping the plotting goes better in a full length novel. My grade for this story is a C-.

3.  The Tangleroot Palace by Marjorie M. Liu

The third story in this anthology is Marjorie M. Liu’s “The Tangleroot Palace“. This was an ethereal, dreamy story with a strong fairy tale feel to it. It was also my favorite of the bunch. Sally, our intrepid heroine, is a princess who is being forced to wed a Warlord from a neighboring kingdom. Their mothers were childhood friends, and though they ended up in different countries, it was their dream that their children would meet and marry someday. But Sally ain’t havin’ it. Even though her father’s kingdom is being tormented on all sides by mercenaries and squabbling lords, Sally wants the right to choose her own destiny. This leads her to the stories titular location — the Tangleroot Forest.

A place of magic and legend, the forest draws people in, but rarely lets them out. On her journey to the forest, Sally meets a traveling circus trio whose members are more than meets the eye.

As I mentioned, this was my favorite of all the stories, and although the identity of the hero was easily guessed — heck, I wouldn’t even call it a guess, it was blatantly obvious — that wasn’t the true point of the story. The secret at the heart of Tanglewood is the true mystery to be solved here. My grade is a A-.

4.  The Wrong Bridegroom by Sharon Shinn

Lastly, was the most lengthy of the stories, “The Wrong Bridegroom” by Sharon Shinn. I really wanted to love this story from the get-go. I love 90% of Sharon Shinn’s books, and while I ultimately ended up really liking this story, I found that I had to power through a big chunk of it to get to that point.

Told from the 1st person POV of the heroine, Princess Olivia, the story starts out with a royal challenge to find the person worthy of receiving her hand in marriage. Although there has long been an understanding between her and the oh so perfectly stuffy Sir Harwin Brenley, Olivia would rather die than marry that hugemongous boor. Because she is spoiled and stubborn and young and foolish and petty. And young. Young. YOUNG. So the King, a ruthless and selfish man, has arranged a series of challenges to find the Princess a husband.

I guess it is to Shinn’s credit that she writes the heroine so well. She perfectly encapsulates the spoiled attitude of a 21 year old princess with a horrible, neglectful father, a surprisingly wise stepmother she refuses to listen to, and a lifetime of getting her own way. And because she so perfectly captures her character, I spent 75% of the story wanting to kill Olivia. Or at least bitchslap her.

After a tie occurs between two competitors for her hand, Olivia makes the tie-breaking decision and immediately sets out on a trip with her new betrothed to visit his family. As they journey along at a snail’s pace, in a not-very-princess-like horse and cart, they add unexpected members to their party along the way and start to see people, places, and things that the sheltered Olivia has never experienced before. Not much time passes before Olivia begins questioning what makes a good husband, a good ruler, and a happy life.

Although this heroine was grating and immature (which I think may have been exacerbated by the 1st person narration), when it got good, it got reeeeal good. In fact, it made me miss my stop in the morning, necessitating a 5 block hike to work. For that reason, I have to give this story a solid B+.

So overall, though this anthology was seriously mislabeled, the bulk of the book was entertaining. The Liu story and the Shinn story comprise over 2/3ds of the length, thanks to the super short Hamilton tale. If you are a fan of romantic fantasy with a fairy tale feel, you’ll enjoy this. Weighing the letter grade in terms of story length, I would give this a B-.

LOVE,

NONNIE

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

Recently I reviewed The Countess’s Client, the first Spice Brief in your Countess Trilogy. I enjoyed the story, and especially its haughty narrator, Anna, Countess von Esslin, a young widow with a taste for good sex on her own terms. To read more about her, I purchased An Impolite Seduction, the second story in the trilogy.

As An Impolite Seduction begins, three years have passed since Anna has last encountered the man who makes her heart, and other parts, go pitter patter. As she puts it:

I have had many men in my short life, and in every case but one, I have left them on cordial terms. The one exception, an execrable Scotsman I had known in Paris, was guilty of the basest treachery against me, and after we parted my one consolation was the knowledge that I could likely live out the rest of my life without ever having to set eyes on him again.

But Anna was too quick to console herself with James’ absence from her life. While visiting England to attend her cousin Charlotte’s wedding, Anna discovers that James is the neighbor of the man Charlotte is affianced to. Anna will be forced to spend much time in his odious, common, and oh-so-sexy, company.

And that is not the only problem afoot. It seems that Charlotte’s betrothed is a pious earl entirely lacking in sexual experience, and Charlotte herself is also a virgin. Anna is worried that her cousin’s wedding night will be disappointing at best.

What is a cosmopolitan countess to do but invite an Italian gentleman to seduce cousin Charlotte out of her pitiable inexperience, and maintain utmost decorum at dinner while a certain execrable Scotsman strokes her to orgasm beneath the table?

I had tremendous fun reading An Impolite Seduction. The sex was sexier here, in my opinion, than in The Countess’s Client, enhanced by Anna’s snobbery, which added to the sexual tension in paragraphs like this one:

Yet the right suit of clothes does not make a man a gentleman, and I was well aware that James was nothing more than the son of a common tradesman, whatever pretensions he might affect. Men from the lower orders have their uses, of course (and James, to be frank, fucked like a prize-winning Thoroughbred), but they should understand that they serve at our pleasure; they must not try to lead where it is their duty to follow.

Of course James does not understand this at all, and I loved the way the antagonism, and sparks, between Anna and James kicked into higher gear, as each of them attempted to rout the other.

I did wish that their relationship was developed a bit more outside the bedroom than it was, but this is erotica after all. Also, the story is written with a wink at the reader, leading us to understand that Anna doth protest too much; the narration sometimes indicates that Anna means yes when she says no. I mention this because it is something that some readers may object to, but while I understand why, I was able, for the most part, to view this story as a lighthearted romp.

Several moments had me guffawing; the blend of hilarity and sexual tension was highly entertaining. The last paragraph was priceless and I am now eager to read the final story in this trilogy, The Birthday Present. B+/A- for An Impolite Seduction.

Sincerely,

Janine

This book can be purchased in ebook format at Sony and other ebook retailers.

I have been anticipating the release of What Remains of Heaven, the fifth book in your Sebastian St. Cyr mystery series, for several months. I’ve come to expect a new book in this series every year, and while I’ve liked some of the offerings more than others, each has been satisfying (with grades ranging from A- to B), and the continuing turmoil in Sebastian’s personal life has held my attention from book to book.

Just a quick note: I think it’s probably going to be hard to entirely avoid spoilers for earlier books in the series in this review, so if you haven’t read the series, intend to, and are fanatical about remaining spoiler-free, you might want to stop reading now.

Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, has rather inadvertently and reluctantly become known as a murder investigator (don’t you hate when that happens?). His imperious aunt comes to him accompanied by her friend, the ailing (but still formidable) Archbishop of Canterbury, to request Sebastian’s assistance in finding out who killed the Bishop of London, Francis Prescott. Bishop Prescott had been summoned to the village of Tanfield Hill one night upon the discovery, in a recently opened crypt, of a body that did not belong there – a long-deceased man found not in a coffin but on the floor of the crypt, with a knife sticking out his back. The Reverend Earnshaw, who had ridden to Lond to inform the bishop of the grisly discovery, is late in meeting him at the crypt and discovers Prescott practically atop the first body, with his skull bashed in.

Sebastian has no particular personal interest in this crime (unlike some of the previous ones he’s investigated), but agrees to look into it because of his regard for his aunt. Bishop Prescott, as it turns out, had any number of enemies (don’t they always?). He had angered many with his abolitionist stance, and the fact that he was being considered for the powerful position of Archbishop of Canterbury may have made some who opposed his views on slavery nervous. One of this group, a foppish aristocrat named Lord Quillian, was overheard threatening the bishop shortly before his death. Additionally, Prescott was see arguing with a butcher the day he was killed (it turns out the butcher’s son has an unpleasant past association with Sebastian, which ends up complicating his investigation), he had had a run-in with William Franklin (a real historical figure and son of Benjamin Franklin, William had been exiled to England for his support of the British during the American Revolution) and there was apparently acrimony between the bishop and his nephew Peter Prescott, an old school chum of Sebastian’s. Things get even murkier with the introduction of a subplot about a mysterious spy who had operated against the British during the revolution 30 years earlier; this thread ends up involving both Prescott’s family and Sebastian’s own (this is another one of those series that makes me wonder if there were only a couple of dozen people living in London in the 19th century, since the same people turn up over and over again).

As with previous books in the series, the mystery didn’t engross me hugely. At times it felt like there were lots of potential red herrings and improbably coincidences thrown at the reader, but those may be par for the course in mysteries, for all I know; I haven’t been a regular reader of the genre since I was a teenager. When I read mysteries these days, I tend to filter out the very same information that mystery fans are probably filing away to see if they can figure out the solution to the crime. I really don’t care about solving the crime myself, and untangling the clues makes my head hurt, so it’s hard for me to assess the worth of this book as a straight mystery, except to say that I was impressed by how neatly all of the pieces fit together in the end. That’s really all I ask of a mystery; other readers may have more stringent requirements. (I guessed one fairly obvious “surprise” early on, but the the ultimate identity of the killer did surprise me.)

Again, as with previous books in the series, my real interest is the setting and the continuing characters. Sebastian remains an intriguing and highly sympathetic hero, one who has been buffeted by a number of distressing revelations over the course of the series. This book is no exception, and while these revelations are fairly melodramatic, even soap-operaish in nature, there was an internal logic to the ways in which the characters were manipulated, I thought.

As in past books, Sebastian’s romantic travails are featured in What Remains of Heaven, but I was a little disappointed that the characters seemed to pretty much tread water for the course of the book. Sebastian’s relationship with Hero Jarvis is complicated by the consequences of their night together in the last book, but while they meet up a number of times in What Remains of Heaven, their conversations have a repetitious quality that frustrated me. (Hero has her own reasons for wanting to get to the bottom of the bishop’s murder; he was a friend of hers and was helping her with a personal problem.) Sebastian’s relationship with Kat Boleyn is rocked by an entirely unshocking shocking revelation, but there are still considerable obstacles between this couple and their HEA (and honestly, I’m more on Team Hero at this point). I would have preferred a bit more balance between the mystery and Sebastian’s relationship drama. I don’t mind the series being drawn out, and I realize that this dictates that things go slowly on the personal front, but I do want to see some progress in the course of a book.

Sebastian’s relationship with his father continues to intrigue; the two have been very up and down in the course of the series, owing to the fact that Hendon was hard on Sebastian as a boy and continues to lie to him about Very Important Things now that Sebastian’s an adult, things that Sebastian has a way of finding out, leading to a fresh round of recriminations and then estrangement. I can’t help but like Hendon in spite of his flaws because he really is a fully drawn character; he loves his son but he can’t seem to stop making mistakes with him. He has functioned at times as an antagonist in the series, but he’s anything but one-note (unlike, say, Sebastian’s sister, whose personality seems to be permanently set on Witch).

The prose is mostly smooth, marred here and there by a lack of subtlety and a tendency to over-explain (Hero at one point thinks that it’s tedious that as an unmarried female the rules of society dictate that she can’t visit a man she wants to question in the murder case; I would think the vast majority of readers would understand enough about the mores of regency society that they would not need to have these circumstances pointed out to them so explicitly). My enthusiasm for the series really does rest mainly with the characters; Sebastian, Hero, Hendon, Kat and a few others are sympathetic enough to make me care about them and faceted enough to keep me interested from book to book.

My grade for What Remains of Heaven is a B+.

Jennie

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

I love the title of this book, because it’s so true to the characters and to the book. I’ve been disappointed, sometimes even sickened by some of Loose-Id’s titles recently (no, I didn’t review them, I couldn’t bring myself to do so), so I was happy to be intrigued enough by the excerpt to buy Bound and Determined. And I’m so glad I did. This book, while lacking slightly in the pure romance department, is a fabulous look at a BDSM relationship with some amazing characterization and some really hot sex.

First a warning for readers, though: the characters in this book are a masochist and a sadist. Yes, much of the relationship is about dominance and submission, which many people have less issue with than with pain play, but the sadomasochism in this book is strong. Not violent and visceral like Anah Crow’s (brilliant) Uneven, but it’s there, its unabashed, and if that bothers you, don’t read this book. However, if you’re intrigued by the psychology behind masochism, this is the book for you, because it’s beautifully depicted.

Sterling is a college senior. He figured out that he was gay years ago, but he’s only figured out his attraction to BDSM very recently. He’s been domming a friend, but they both know it’s not working, and the friend takes Sterling to a BDSM club, where he watches a well-respected dom Owen (and Sterling’s former English professor) scene with and then break off his relationship with a submissive woman. Sterling has a moment of clarity (he’s not a dominant, he’s a submissive and a masochist) and chases down Owen and asks Owen to be his dom. Owen, understandably, refuses. After all, he’s just broken off a relationship, Sterling’s a former student, not yet 21, and almost half his age. But Owen is not proof against Sterling’s persistence, and, to be honest, his beauty, and finally agrees to become Sterling’s dominant.

One thing to make clear is that this IS a dominant/submissive and sadist/masochistic relationship. Owen does not consider himself Sterling’s boyfriend. They do not have a traditional relationship. And although Sterling gets to come and their connection is a sexual one, because fundamentally, BDSM *is* aobut sex, Owen refuses to have either anal or oral sex with Sterling until Sterling is 21. Which pisses Sterling off, because he’s not a patient person, and over which they fight a few times. Which makes it awkward every now and then when they’re not in dom/sub roles and find they have very little in common. This is the one concern I had with the book: what kind of relationship can they have beyond the D/s? Because at the end of the book, they’re together as committed partners as well as dom/sub, and I think the relationship building gets skimmed a little too much and I wonder what they’ll talk about of an evening when they’re just lounging around together.

That aside, everything else is wonderfully done. The characterizations are perfectly clear: Sterling’s bratty but conflicted, so used to getting his own way, brought up to be a hard-ass by his dick of a father, but so desperate to submit, to serve, but so eager to get off because OMG, he’s 20 and a walking erection. And Owen’s older and wiser and very much in control but still vulnerable to a pretty pout and a desperate “please,” just like we all are. And oh, the BDSM is beautifully done. The scenes are hot and these boys TALK. In fact, that’s part of the characterization: both Sterling and Owen are in their heads too much, too smart not to take apart everything they do, alone and together. And so the reader understands every step of the way, everything that’s going on.

In fact, at a climactic (harhar) point in the book, Owen says to Sterling, “I’m not your father,” which causes Sterling to freak out and leave. And the characterization is so perfectly done that even though the scene was told from Owen’s perspective, I was in both of their heads to such an extent that I knew why Owen had said that (he wanted Sterling to know he wasn’t doing something to punish him the way Sterling’s asshole of a father did), felt his utter shock when Sterling reacted apparently illogically by running away from a reassurance, and yet, at the same time, completely understood WHY Sterling was running away (he thought Owen was saying that he thought Sterling was looking for a father figure and he felt Owen didn’t really know him). The scene was so well-done it actually pulled me out because I was astounded at how well I viscerally understood the motivations and feelings of both Sterling and Owen right away.

Back to the BDSM, though. It’s a very formal BDSM. Owen likes things just so and is very much into training Sterling. It sounds too much like hard work to me, especially since Sterling’s quite so much of a brat, but you make it work beautifully, precisely because it’s so much a part of their characters. And the BDSM is done lovingly and well. Here’s an description of Sterling’s masochism:

God, it hurt like nothing else ever. He screamed so desperately that it didn’t even come out very loud; there just wasn’t enough air behind it to create volume. It was like his nerve endings were using up all his oxygen, and he couldn’t breathe or think through the searing pain.

He couldn’t do anything. He was gone.

The scary part was how fucking good it felt, the bright agony ripping him free of restraints that weren’t made of rope or chain. He used the pain, just as Owen had told him to, shaped it, loved it, let it take him. Dimly, distantly, he felt his climax begin, lagging long moments behind his scream, an afterthought, as if his body was trying to kill the pain with pleasure, which was stupid, really, because they were both the same.

And one of Owen’s sadism:

“It’ll hurt,” Owen said, and there was something in his voice that told Sterling how much it would hurt and how much Owen wanted to do it. It was hard to wrap his head around at the beginning of their relationship; the way that for all Owen made him feel safe and protected, Owen got off on hurting him, leaving him bruised, marked, crying. With anyone else, that would have freaked Sterling out, but he didn’t just love Owen, he trusted him. Totally. No limits.

It was what allowed him to ask for more than he could take, made reckless by arousal, knowing that Owen was more aware of his limits than he was. Spanking him scarlet and hot turned Owen on, but controlling Sterling, reining him in, curbing his impulses, did even more for him, and Sterling knew that.

But both of these are told from Sterling’s perspective and brings up one tiny niggle more that’s my own personal issue more than anything else. You GET submission *and* masochism, or at least Sterling does a brilliant job of showing it to us and making us understand it. But when we’re in Owen’s head, it’s much more about the dominance than it is about the sadism. Yes, he gets off on hurting Sterling, but that’s much less explored than his dominance is. And that disappointed me slightly. But not enough not to thoroughly enjoy this book.

The book was a wonderful, slow, thoughtful read with some really REALLY great sex and a fascinating depiction of some very formal, very safe, and yet still emotionally dangerous BDSM. The plot of the book, such as it is, is focused on the emotional trajectory of the relationship and on Sterling’s issues with his idiotic father. There’s no suspense plot, no saving the world, nothing but two people falling in love as they explore each other, both physically and emotionally. Which is why the lack of exploration of what they have in common besides BDSM and hot hot sex was vaguely disappointing as well. But only vaguely. In the end, I trusted that they’d stay together because they were both too damn stubborn to do anything else: Bound and Determined indeed.

Grade: B+

Best regards,
-Joan/Sarah F.

This book can be purchased at Loose Id in ebook format.

Back in July of 2008, I reviewed Tangle XY, an anthology of short speculative m/m stories. Earlier this year, Blind Eye Books, the publisher of Tangle XY, came out with Tangle Girls, an f/f anthology. As with Tangle XY, some (not all) of the stories are multicultural, and many have fairy tale or science fiction elements, but in this anthology the commonality all the stories share is the focus on girls who love other girls. Here are my reviews of the six stories:

“Raccoon Skin” by J.D. EveryHope

In “Raccoon Skin,” Sophia, a college student, arrives at her parents’ home on a pre-dawn morning. After seeing that her parents’ trash can that has been upended by a raccoon, Sophia goes outside to put it back up, and while there, she sees crows attacking a golden eagle. The eagle falls to the snowy ground, and Sophia chases the crows away. Just as she is debating whether to take the eagle inside, the bird shifts shape and turns into a human girl — and not just any girl, but Sophia’s girlfriend, Caterina.

Caterina and Sophia met in college and began dating, but Sophia never told Caterina that she hadn’t come out to her parents. Now it seems Caterina has also been keeping secrets: not only is she a shapeshifter, she is also a princess from another realm, and her younger brothers’ lives are in danger. Caterina wants to return to her land and rescue her brothers, but her injuries are serious. Sophia convinces her to ask Sophia’s parents for shelter and help and allow Sophia to save her brothers instead.

Caterina gives Sophia a ring which will open a path to Caterina’s world when dawn arrives. Just as Sophia is about to go through the portal, a raccoon speaks and warns her that Beyond, where she is about to venture, is a dangerous place. Her odds of success will be better if she and the raccoon trade skins.

Sophia agrees. Clothed as a raccoon, she enters Beyond and it is indeed a dangerous journey. Fortunately, the raccoon skin proves very helpful.

“Raccoon Skin” is a charming quest story that reminded me a bit of some of fairy tales I read as a child. I loved the way the mundane was transformed into the magical, and enjoyed the clever ways Sophia found to see past the deceptive illusions of the Beyond. It was also neat to see the traditional gender role upended, so it was a heroine who charged to the rescue. I would have liked to see more of Sophia and Caterina’s relationship, but on the whole, I really enjoyed the story. My grade for “Raccoon Skin” is a B+.

“Amazons” by Jesse Sandoval

“Amazons” was the reason I plopped down $12.95 for Tangle Girls. I loved Sandoval’s story in Tangle XY, “Los Conversos.” The setting of “Amazons” is unnamed, although the title of course alludes to the Amazon. As the story, which appears to be historical, begins, its unnamed female narrator is rowing a boat on a jungle river. She observes the crocodile beneath the water and the black snakes hanging from the trees above with respect.

Once I saw one of those snakes lift a grown man off his feet and swallow him whole. The man pissed himself as the snake wrapped herself around him as if she were falling in love. She opened her thin mouth and took him in a deep kiss. I watched her eyes the entire time. She had the mesmerized gaze of utter adoration, as if this man’s form, his meat and muscle, had entranced her and drawn her into an unthinkable action.

I remember seeing that same unflinching stare long ago, looking back at me from a silver mirror. My hands trembled as I tried to load the pistol, the slender bullets wavered and slipped between my fingers. Then I caught sight of myself in a mirror. I gazed into my own eyes, the wide pupils dilated, entranced with desire. My reflection knew that I was a murderess before I did. She passed that assurance to me in a glance. My fingers have never trembled since.

How did the narrator come to look in the mirror and see a murderess? Since this story is only six pages long, I don’t want to give it away, but the story begins in Europe, where the main character met a woman named Maria, with whom she shared slices of cake and stories about the New World.

The imagery in “Amazons” has a hallucinatory beauty that captures what it is like to be drunk on love, willing to do anything for the other person. The story is haunting and powerful, though I wish it were longer so that I could feel I really knew Maria. I can’t wait for Jesse Sandoval to write a novel or a short story collection so that I can drown in his gorgeous prose. Ms. Kimerbling, if you’re reading this, can you do anything about that? My grade for “Amazons” is a B+/A-.

“The Conclave” by Trent Roman

Tanya Drake has been dating Erin, a centuries-old fey, but the relationship is becoming frustrating for her. The two met at the private Catholic school in which Tanya was enrolled. It wasn’t long before they became lovers. But Erin has a habit of comparing Tanya’s lovemaking to that of lovers from her past, lovers as famous as Sappho and Gengis Khan’s concubines. Erin also disappears for days on end only to reappear expecting the relationship to resume as though she’d never left.

After one such disappearance, Tanya tries to question Erin and find out how serious she is about their relationship. To make it up to Tanya, Erin offers to sneak her mortal lover into “the biggest bash in two worlds,” a party for immortal beings known as the Conclave. What kind of adventures will Tanya have at the Conclave, and how will they affect her relationship with Erin?

“The Conclave” is written in a crisp, snappy style I enjoyed. I liked the way Tanya and Erin arrived at the Conclave, too. But though Tanya is said to be a high school student, the character comes across as older. Erin is jaded and doesn’t treat Tanya that well, taking their relationship very lightly, so it’s hard to care about her, but Tanya isn’t sure if she’s serious in her feelings for Erin, either, so it’s also hard to care about how the relationship will change.

I felt that essentially, nothing that is deeply important to the characters happened in the story, so nothing that happened was all that important to me as a reader, either. After “Raccoon Skin” and “Amazons,” it was hard not to be disappointed in this one. My grade for “The Conclave” is a C-.

“Under Suspicion” by Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon

Set on the spaceship Mastodon, “Under Suspicion” begins when a shipwide alarm sounds, alerting United Star Fleet Ensign Lily Branoch and her fellow crewmembers to an accident in the main hanger. In the process of helping to rescue people trapped under “cargotainers,” Lily encounters a beautiful marine whose name she doesn’t catch. She glimpses the woman again before she learns that she is Lt. Cruz-Ortega.

Lily is powerfully attracted to the woman, so much so that she can’t get the lieutenant out of her mind. But this distraction becomes a problem when Lily begins to suspect that the beautiful Daniella may be involved in a plot to smuggle weapons off the Mastodon. Could Daniella Cruz-Ortega’s lovely face be hiding treachery? And even if not, will Lily ever get up the gumption to ask her out?

“Under Suspicion” was an enjoyable story and it probably had the most relationship focus of any of the stories in this collection. Lily was likable and the enigmatic Daniella was compelling. The worldbuilding was solid and I liked the military atmosphere. My main complaint is that due to the nature of the plot, the relationship between the two women did not develop that much. Nonetheless it was fun, though I would have liked it to be a bit more substantial. C+/B- for “Under Suspicion.”

“Cupcake” by Erin MacKay

Erin MacKay’s “Cupcake” takes place in the future, on a colonized world. The viewpoint character is Stasya, a professional assassin. As the story opens, Stasya receives an assignment from Rupi, a man who has hired her to kill in the past. This time Stasya is astonished at the target, whom she describes as “just a…a cupcake.”

Mitusko Jennings-Villega’s husband wants to collect on his wife’s life insurance policy, but Mitsuko is constantly watched by her wealthy father’s guards. To kill her, Stasya has to infiltrate “High Street,” Mitusko’s rarified world of corporate celebrities. Yet once she meets Mitusko, Stasya is in for a surprise. Mitusko realizes she is an assassin, and she is willing– no, ready — to die. Will Stasya be able to kill the woman she is beginning to admire and care for?

“Cupcake” is written in clean, straightforward prose and while the worldbuilding isn’t completely fresh, it’s well-executed. The story felt a little oppressive to me (though not nearly as much as MacKay’s story in Tangle XY, “Crossing the Distance”), but on the whole I liked it.

Stasya is a compelling character, though I wish her past, and especially her reason for becoming an assassin for hire, had made her more sympathetic. Mitsuko isn’t as morally ambiguous, but her life hasn’t been very meaningful. Though neither character is always likable, the story still kept me involved, probably because of the danger and high stakes. My grade for “Cupcake” is a B.

“Dead and the President” by Tenea D. Johnson

Set in a dystopian future, Tenea De. Johnson’s “Dead and the President” begins when the consciousness of the main character, a young black woman named Dead, is inhabiting the body of the President. Dead intends to speak to the world from within his body, but the President pulls out a gun and shoots himself in the head.

Dead then begins recounting her history to the reader. She was born in the Basin, where many people have inherited the special abilities given to blacks by a doctor who believed he was making genetic reparations. Dead’s talent is “phasing” into other people and controlling their actions.

Dead is a motherless twelve year old when she is tagged by the Internal Processing Department, which tracks those with unusual abilities, and uses her talent to escape. She ends up Topside, where life is much nicer and safer, but she can’t forget about the hungry kids she left behind in the Basin, and eventually, she hatches a plan to help them.

Dead has the potential to be a sympathetic character, and there were a number of relationships that could have been involving in this story, not just the sexual one Dead eventually has with another young woman, but also her friendships with a girl named Nina in the Basin, and with an elderly woman named Cecilia in Topside. But these pass by the reader quickly, like houses glimpsed briefly from the window of a moving car. It is hard to get invested in these people, even when they mean a lot to Dead, because we readers hardly get to spend time with them.

What gets the most attention in “Dead and the President” is the setting. Dead’s world is an interesting place, but I almost stopped reading a few pages in, when the unfamiliar terms became difficult to decipher. I still don’t understand exactly what a couple of them mean, even after reading certain paragraphs three or four times. Johnson has a nice writing style, and another thing I liked about the story was the way the futuristic setting reflected social and political injustice. This aspect of the worldbuilding was well handled and thought-provoking, but for me, it’s not enough to make up for what’s missing. C- for “Dead and the President.”

Overall, the anthology was a bit uneven, but still worth reading in my opinion, with four enjoyable stories and two weaker ones. I want to reiterate my plea for more fiction from Jesse Sandoval, who writes so beautifully. I will be keeping my eye out on future offerings from Blind Eye Books, too. My overall grade for Tangle Girls is a B-.

Sincerely,

Janine

This book can be purchased at Amazon. No ebook.