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REVIEW: Home for the Holidays by Sarah Mayberry

Jane — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:00:11 +0000

Dear Ms. Mayberry:

I think this might be your most emotional romance yet. I certainly felt a little misty eyed (damn you) at the end of the story. Hannah Napier and Joe Lawson meet under inauspicious circumstances. Joe is exhausted and all he can hear is the loud sound of an engine next door. It’s keeping him from enjoying some solitude and it’s bound to wake his kids. Hannah is working on her motorcycle. Once it’s finished, Hannah is going on a long awaited road trip, escaping her ex fiancé and her sister who have found love together. She thinks Joe is good looking but a jerk and Joe, well, he doesn’t appreciate Hannah’s physical attraction either.

Joe lost his wife, Beth, in a car accident a couple of years ago and he is left to parent their two children. He feels like he is losing control over his kids. He does not want to be over his deceased wife Beth. He resents his body’s attraction to Hannah.

Worsening the situation is that the one place where Hannah felt safe, a bar/restaurant called The Watering Hole, has been purchased by Joe. It was Beth’s dream to own a restaurant and when she died and he found himself needing to be with his kids, he quit his job as troubleshooter on oil rigs and bought this restaurant. I found the scenes about and in the restaurant to be unnecessary. It seemed contrived that Joe would buy the one place that Hannah enjoyed hanging out. Given that they lived next door to each other, I wasn’t sure why this was even included. It didn’t add anything to the conflict and after a couple scenes, the bar was almost forgotten.

These are two reluctant lovers. Hannah hasn’t really recovered from the body blow to her heart and ego when her fiancé jilted her for her sister. Joe is trying to reconcile his love for Beth and his feelings for Hannah. Hannah is so much one of the guys that the holding of the door open for her is something that gives her pause. She feels completely out of here element. Their first date is a study in awkwardness. Problematically, Hannah is getting near completion of her bike and Joe can hardly bring himself to talk about the wife’s death without choking up.

They both acknowledge that they are too screwed up to be dating and from then on, the flirting, the talking, the companionship comes easier and harder. Easier because there is no pressure and harder because neither are ready to expose themselves to vulnerability by admitting that there might be a future for them.

It was really wonderful watching the two of them fall in love and it was heartbreaking to see them face difficult challenges. This was a very emotional book and I admit to feeling a tiny bit manipulated at the end. I kept thinking that they had both already suffered and now you were laying this on top of it???

Ben and Ruby were very conflicted about their dad dating, as were Hannah’s mother and Joe’s mother. Everyone seemed to question Joe and Hannah together. I liked it when Joe responded to his mother’s request that Ben come stay with her: ”No. We’re a family. He can’t opt out when it suits him. We have to work this through.” There weren’t easy solutions for any of them although Ben’s resentment over Hannah’s inclusion in their lives resolved rather quickly toward the end.

I loved Hannah and the way that she grew back into believing in herself with the help of Joe and Ruby and even Ben. And Joe as the struggling single father falling back in love was sweet. B

Best regards,

Jane

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

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REVIEW: SEALed and Delivered by Jill Monroe

Jane — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:00:52 +0000

Dear Ms. Monroe:

Is it too corny to say that this book delivered for me? I’m not a huge fan of the Navy SEAL books anymore because I think that there are so many of them and I worried about the machismo level of the hero but nothing about the book was very expected. That was a good thing.

Hailey Sutherland and her sister have taken over the family business, a San Diego institution that was once the place for social events like showers and parties and small receptions. Hailey was not as excited about the revitalization of the family business as was her sister for although she had been engaged three times, she doesn’t really know much about party planning. Because she was engaged three times, had her heart broken three times, she really isn’t in the mood to celebrate others’ newfound love.

When a SEAL team exercise plays out in front of a shower party and the women are drawn to the beach like George Clooney to brunette cocktail waitresses, Hailey recognizes that the Sutherland’s position on the beach could present some unique marketing opportunities for The Sutherland.

Lt. Commander Nate Peterson is stateside helping to train a new set of SEALs due to an injury that has left him unable to perform his duties. He resents being sidelined and stuck training newbies but realizes that in another year or two one of these newbies might be fighting along side of him. I liked that Nate was both a bit peeved but also realistic.

Part of the setup, where Hailey is playing a shower game which requires her to kiss the first man she sees, was a bit irritating. Would Nate Peterson, SEAL hardcore, really stop and kiss some chick during a training exercise? I wasn’t sure but one off note in the book didn’t slow me down. Part of the scene, the part after the kissing, did a great job at rendering how tough the SEALs were. One of the trainees was hit in the head and lost consciousness. Peterson dragged him to the shore and allowed him to recover. The shore was right in front of the Sutherlands. The SEAL trainee recovers and then goes back into the ocean to finish out the training exercise because, as Nate points out to a shocked Hailey (and a concerned reader), the trainee would have to endure much worse in battle.

Hailey’s plan to use the SEAL training exercises as a way to draw in more business is a concern to Nate. He comes to ask her to rethink her plans because the attention and boisterousness of the crowd interferes with the training. In other books, this would become an issue of contention between the two but both recognize and value the other person’s position. Nate recognizes that Hailey needs the business and is willing to listen to an alternative plan. Hailey accepts Nate’s explanation that the training is being compromised and offers up a different solution.

This is not to say that the book is conflictless, but the conflicts weren’t based on disrespecting the other person. The conflict was based on Nate wanting nothing more than an affair and Hailey having sworn off men. She falls in love too easily. Nate begins to court Hailey. There’s no other word for it and I really thought this part of the book was charming.

Nate and Hailey have a deep physical attraction toward each other, but they do not fall in bed immediately. Maybe some would say that means that their passion just wasn’t strong enough but for me, this detail helped me buy into Nate and Hailey’s happy ever after. Nate would be going back into service once he was fully healed which would mean long separations for the two of them. Their ability to forego immediate gratification made me believe the two would be able to survive Nate’s obligation (and desire) to be part of the SEAL teams. Hailey clearly could survive without Nate by her side.

I also appreciated the secondary romance between a young bride to bride to be. The arc of Nate and Hailey’s romance was somewhat echoed in that of the secondary characters. B

Best regards,

Jane

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REVIEW: Runaway Lady, Conquering Lord by Carol Townend

Jayne — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:00:22 +0000

Dear Ms. Townend,

I’ve enjoyed several of your other books for Harlequin Historicals and was delighted when you contacted me offering a copy of your latest in the “Wessex Weddings” series for possible review. (Note: FTC discloser out of the way!) And the heroine is a Fallen Woman too. Even better. At first I didn’t realize that the hero is the same man used as a decoy in “An Honorable Rogue,” but once I recalled this, it upped the incentive to read the book.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Four years ago, Lady Emma of Fulford would never have thought she’d be sorry to lose her livelihood – washing dirty laundry in an icy cold river – that puts clothes on her back and a roof over her head. But then she also never thought she’d have an illegitimate child or not be living in her father’s noble household. A love affair gone bad has landed her where she is today and that somewhere is desperate to escape the abusive father of her child who has somehow tracked her down.

Her appeal for a job to the garrison commander of Winchester, Sir Richard of Asculf, initially gets her nowhere. They have a bit of a history since he’s a BFF of Emma’s brother in law, Adam, who was awarded her father’s lands. Richard takes a little pleasure in seeing her in such reduced circumstances since Emma apparently made life difficult for them after the Battle of Hastings fallout but he’s also honest enough to admit that she stirs his sexual interest. Not that he’s going to lay a hand on her as Adam would nail him for it.

But with Judhael making threats against her and terrified that he’ll discover the fact that they have a son, Emma is pushed to offer herself to Richard as a mistress with the hope that he’ll take her and her son with him when he returns to Normandy to settle an inheritance. Can these two find love as well as sexual feelings for each other during the journey?

I like a good medieval and am glad to see the subgenre making a bit of a comeback. But for me to be interested in it, I need more than the standard Norman knight (who’s usually a bastard) and willowy Saxon maiden snipping at each other in faux medieval dialogue. I mentioned before how much I appreciate the fact that you avoid this but let me say it again to emphasize how much this means to me. No “mayhaps!” No “tis, twases!” No irate Jayne!

I haven’t read the first book in the series “The Novice Bride,” but I gather that Emma is quite changed since then. Several mentions are made of how her viewpoints on various things have changed since her days as the daughter of a powerful Saxon thane. At this point, she’s taken refuge in an inn with several ‘ladies of the night’ and far from looking down her nose at them, she thinks of them as friends. She’s even tickled pink when they show up after her wedding to wish her well. She’s practical and not above doing what it takes to see to the safety and care of her child.

Richard is shown to be human. He’s a man who can appreciate Emma’s curves and who is also not adverse to enjoying, just a little bit, seeing her pay a bit for her past actions. But his honorable side quickly comes out on top and he goes to great lengths to help her and feels guilty when they succumb to passion. I figured some revelation was coming to explain his nightmares and at first rolled my eyes a little that a big Norman knight would be so anguished at what bothers him but then thought again about how any warrior might take a particular death hard and be haunted by it.

The book is also a bit of a road romance and I enjoyed reading about the journey conditions. Definitely not modern traveling with ‘en suite’ bath included and one can forget having any privacy. You handled some aspects of the story differently than I expected which in this case is a good thing. When a potential wife for Richard is mentioned, I had images of catfights and outraged foot stomping to dread but thankfully this didn’t come to pass. When Emma imagines she feels someone watching her during their trip, I thought of several scenarios involving showdowns between the men. Again, you took a different path.

Emma’s venture towards “please don’t go there” territory alarmed me somewhat. True, she is given one good reason but I would have preferred that she ask before she acted. And let’s be honest, Judhael displays more common sense about her choice of action than she did considering she also has the welfare of her child to consider.

“Runaway Lady, Conquering Lord” – and can’t we just tell this is a Harlequin title? – is a fairly fast read and is quite readable, which I consider to be two different things. It stays away from many of the subgenre’s conventions and features two likable lead characters. I think readers interested in medievals will welcome it to the list. B-

Jayne

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REVIEW: Hidden Conflict by Various Authors

Joan/SarahF — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:00:01 +0000

Dear Authors and Readers.

If you will excuse a personal history, you will see its relevance to my review. I enlisted in the Army National Guard after 9/11. I became a US citizen and commissioned (became an officer) in 2003. I accepted a medical retirement in May of this year, at the rank of Captain, after 7 ½ years of service. I never went overseas, but I served in the Katrina response in Louisiana. I was a soldier and damn proud to be so.

But I am also bisexual (with some extra kinks outside the Kinsey continuum). This is the first time I’ve been able to admit this in public (well, I came out on Twitter on National Coming Out Day) since figuring it out because of the US military’s destructive Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy. My sexuality in no way affected my service. All outward appearances show a happily married, monogamous, heterosexual soldier, which is mostly what I am. But every now and then the issue came up and I had to bite my tongue. I could have been kicked out of the service if anyone had dug too deep, for a reason that didn’t affect my service or that of others around me.

At a time when Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is destroying the careers of loyal, hard-working, supremely competent soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen of the American Armed Forces, this fictionalized retrospective of men who serve together and love each other is never more necessary and welcome. I was thrilled to receive it (free) from the publisher (through Jane) and while it did a great job of showing the soul-destroying problem of homophobia in general, I could have wished that it had focused more specifically on the subtle differences of the problem of being gay in the military, rather than just showing gay military men.

“Blessed Isle” by Alex Beecroft
I don’t know what it is about Beecroft’s writing that ravishes me so. Maybe it’s that her prose is like Keats’ poetry to me: redolent with scent, aching with color, and beautiful with taste and sound. Maybe it’s how she scours me inside with the deeply-felt emotions of her characters. But this story manages to do in 58 pages what False Colors did to me in more than 300.

Set in the late eighteenth century, Captain Harry Thompson, late of her Majesty’s Navy, safely ensconced in Rio, begins a journal of his relationship with his Lieutenant, Garnet Littleton. They met when Harry took his first command of the Banshee with orders to escort three transport ships to Australia. Buffeted by storms, typhus, mutinous convicts, and his own yearning for the free-spirited Garnet, Harry only finds happiness when he and Garnet are marooned for months on their own small Pacific island. The actual sexual activity is minimally detailed, but you feel every prick and rush of longing and satisfaction, the abject fear and bone-deep rightness when the men fall in love. See how much Beecroft can do with so few words:

When we woke, that first morning, we made love. Nothing needed to be said; we both understood it would happen as soon as we had the physical resources to allow it. It was sweet and weary and gentle, and afterwards I held Harry tight and mourned for all the things he had had to lose to make this possible. I wished I might give his prudishness and his confidence and his career back to him. And in a petty part of myself I wished he might have come to me despite them, instead of needing to be ruined first. But I will say that holding on to him afterwards, in the warm glow and satisfaction of coitus, I entertained the inexcusable thought that the past months had been worth it.

Harry and Garnet find their happy ending and record it for posterity, for a time when their love might be celebrated rather than reviled, for a time after their death when they don’t have to pretend. The story is told in journal form, with Harry’s memories interspersed with Garnet’s as they reveal to each other, even after years together, their feelings and motivations in the past, as they reveal them to their reader, who also becomes a character in the story. So even the journaling has a place in their relationship. Brilliantly, perfectly done. Grade: A+

“Not to Reason Why” by Mark B. Probst
This is a narrative — a very boring narrative – of Custer’s last campaign, told from the perspective of a corporal (I think? Too bored to go back and look). Brett has the hots for Dermot. Dermot is married to Sarah. Dermot loves Sarah very much, and Brett is jealous of Sarah. There’s absolutely NO indication that Dermot feels anything at all for Brett beyond deep friendship and besides one kiss Brett almost (but not quite) forces on Dermot a few days before the big battle, there’s nothing overtly romantic about this story at all. In fact, there’s nothing covertly romantic either. This is not a romance (especially since it does not end happily); this is a narrative representation of a campaign: They saddled up, then they stopped here, then had dinner, then dicked around in the evening as soldiers tend to do, then slept, then had breakfast, then saddled back up for another grueling day of chasing Indians, then stopped for lunch, then…. Seriously, with a little more detail to prove that Probst had done his research (They stopped under overhanging cliffs. They crossed the stream eight times.), that’s what the story is like. Every now and then Brett will think something emotional for a sentence or two, but then he’ll ignore it and move on. I hate to play to stereotypes, but this read like it was a “romance” written by a man, and hey, look! It was written by a man. Okay, dude, you did your research; now tell me a fucking story.

And seriously, someone please proofread: “Dermot was in line looking none the worse for wear, though Brett could see his eyes were still vacuous from lack of sleep.” Really? I do not think that word means what you think it means.

And if we’re going to have a story about a man who runs away from battle, who deserts his troops, then lines like “The heat was stifling and there were times Brett would have welcomed a warrior arrow straight into his heart just to end it all” are not only not helpful, they’re patently wrong.

After Brett does desert, the level of his thought processes about his actions are symptomatic of the level of emotion and characterization in the rest of the book:

The wind and his body heat had dried his clothing and he began to warm up. His thoughts were a jumble of images and confusion. He couldn‘t sort it out enough to put together a plan of action. A piercing accusation kept surfacing—You are a coward and a deserter. Was he? What good would it have done to have stayed and died with the rest? Perhaps a couple more Sioux and Cheyenne may have been wounded or killed, but it would not have saved a single soldier‘s life. He longed to be unconscious so he didn‘t have to think. After the celebrating quieted and morning drew near, he got his wish and fell asleep, lying on his side on the creek-bank.

Oh! Coward! Deserter! Right, check. Let’s move on, folks, nothing to see here.

The author didn’t seem to be aware of the weight of his words, and coming after Beecroft’s clarity and precision, it was almost painful. At one point, Brett engages Dermot in deep conversation:

“Wrong side?” Dermot frowned. “How can you say that? There is no wrong side against the Indians.”

“I mean wrong side, in that it may not be the victorious side.”

“There‘s nothing wrong with dying to protect your country.”

“Dermot, haven‘t you ever noticed how these things are reported in the newspapers? When we win they say it‘s a victory, but when they win they say it‘s a massacre.”

Then after the Brett escapes/deserts, he listens to the Indian victory drums: “It went on for hours. The chanting haunted him. He wanted it to stop. It tormented him by constantly reminding him of the massacre. He sat huddled on the riverbank; the drums felt like his own heartbeat.” Completely, utterly without irony, Probst uses the word he’d previously questioned.

Dermot was cardboard, Brett was an unlikable, whiny, cowardly turd, there was no romance, no emotion, no connection. What there was was wishy-washiness. Was this deep, thoughtful commentary or just campaign details? Neither. Sorry. Grade: F

“No Darkness” by Jordan Taylor

Okay, so when the book starts like this:

“Lieutenant Darnell!”

“Sir?”

“Oh, there you are. Why are you skulking, man?” The red-faced, broad-shouldered platoon sergeant did not wait for an answer but plowed on before Darnell could even open his mouth, “Find someone to take with you down to the cellar. There should be half a ton of supplies in this bloody shack and no one seems able to find so much as a tin of jam.”

Private Morgan stepped forward and saluted the sergeant. He had large front teeth and matching ears that reminded Darnell of a corgi.

“Sir,” the private said. “Me and Stokes searched the cellar already. Nothing, sir. No sign anything‘s been in there for some time, sir.”

The sergeant walked right past him as if he had neither seen nor heard the private. “Well, Lieutenant? What are you waiting for?”

I’m confused. Unless things are very different in the British army in World War I from the US Army now, lieutenants don’t call platoon sergeants “sir” and platoon sergeants don’t call lieutenants “man” and give them orders. And no one salutes NCOs. So I don’t think much of your research abilities if that’s how the book starts. I mean, seriously. And my father (British AND British history buff) also confirmed for me that the officer corps in 1915 was still very much of and from the upper classes and Darnell is not upper class. He’s almost the opposite of upper class.

Inaccuracies aside, this has to be one of the most depressing stories I’ve ever read. This is precisely why I don’t read stories that aren’t romances with HEAs. Yes, I understand that World War One was a desperately horrible war. Yes, I understand that being gay in the military is terrible. AND, I understand that the purpose of this anthology was not all about the happy endings. But can we have ANY bright points of light? Can we have ANY happiness in the story? Apparently not.

LT Darnell and PVT Fisher get shelled into a cellar with no way out. Fisher’s broken so many ribs he can’t do anything to help get them out. Darnell literally ruins his hands digging them out, but even when they get out, it takes days to find anyone else and of course when they do, disaster strikes. There’s only a relationship between these men on the level of two men who find themselves stuck in a cellar together, trying to get out. The fact that they’re both gay doesn’t really factor into it at all.

What I do think is interesting is that both this story and the last both conform to the melodramatic abjection of the married gay man being the one to bite it. Think Brokeback Mountain, right? Sure, Jack’s more out, more comfortable with himself than Ennis, but he’s the one who marries first and stays married so he’s the one who has to die. Ditto these two stories.

This story isn’t a romance. Not in the slightest. Not that it’s trying to be — and that’s fine, of course. But it isn’t really even a story about being gay in the military. It’s just a depressing story about a horrific war. I don’t know how to grade it. It’s not badly written like the previous story (research abilities aside). It’s just…not something I choose to read. So, I guess…Grade: C-

“Our One and Only” by E.N. Holland
This is the only story that truly deals with the problems that being gay specifically in the military can produce. Philip is Eddie’s lover, but when Eddie dies in France in 1944, Philip is left feeling invisible, able only to admit to being Eddie’s best friend, not able to fully express his grief over his beloved’s death. The story is told over 40 years, at intervals of a decade. We see Philip deal (or not) with Eddie’s death, even though every now and then you want to hit him over the head and say “Get OVER yourself already!” The story shows the expected and unexpected repercussions the life and death of one soldier have on his friends, fellow soldiers, and family. While not amazing, this story is thoughtful, interesting, and eventually has a hopeful ending (not with Eddie, obviously).

One thing pulled me out of the story. In 1954, Philip thinks, “he always thought war was sort of pointless and his feelings only sharpened after Eddie‘s death.” Maybe this is just me overthinking things, but if there was one “just” war, one necessary war, it was World War Two and I don’t think very many people can disagree with that. Yes, war is devastating and horrible, but with Hitler as an aggressor, there’s not much else that the Allies COULD have done besides what they did. WW2 was not a pointless war; of any war in history, it was the least pointless. The mindset Philip expresses is very much a post-Vietnam mindset and I found it jarring in this story.

Other than that, I enjoyed watching this man through 40 years of his life and I was very happy that he had a hopeful ending “blessed” by his long-lost partner. Grade: B

Overall, while I think that an anthology against DADT, showing the emotional devastation it causes, is a wonderful idea, it was only the last story that really dealt with the peculiar problem of being gay specifically in the military. Because in 1790, 1876, 1915, and 1944, being gay was a problem NO MATTER WHAT. So being gay in the military was no more or less difficult that being gay anywhere else (it might have been easier, perhaps, considering close proximity). I would really like to have seen the awful Custer-era story or the depressing WW1 story dropped, and a story about the Gulf War or even Iraq or Afghanistan added, to make the point that “being gay in the US military” specifically IS an issue NOW, because being gay now is much more accepted than in 1876 and it’s the military that’s ridiculously behind the times.

I once had someone ask me why a gay person would join the US military when they know they’re not wanted, and the question made me shake with rage. Gay and bisexual men and women want to join the military for the same reasons as everyone else: we love our country and want to defend it, we like the opportunities and benefits, we’re loyal and hard-working and honorable people. Just like everyone else. Why should we not be able to serve? We have just as much to offer — more, perhaps, since we’re joining knowing we’re not wanted, joining knowing we’re going to have to hide who we are in order to serve.

Anyway. Overall, I’d give the entire anthology a high C+ or a low B-, but the whole thing is completely and utterly worth buying just for the sublime Beecroft story, “Blessed Isle,” with a nice added bonus of the gentle “Our One and Only.”

Best regards,
-Joan/Sarah F.

This book can be purchased at Amazon. No ebook version that I could find.

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REVIEW: Blaze of Memory by Nalini Singh

Janine — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:00:06 +0000

Dear Ms. Singh,

Blaze of Memory begins shortly after Devraj Santos finds an unknown woman unconscious on his doorstep. Dev is the director of the Shine Foundation, an organization that assists the Forgotten and protects their children from those who would exploit their psychic powers.

For those who haven’t read the earlier books in the Psy/Changeling series, the Forgotten are the descendants of Psy who dropped out of the net that psychically links the members of that race. Those Psy intermarried with humans, and their descendants manifest psychic gifts that are frequently different from those of the Psy. Some of the high ranking Psy view the Forgotten as a threat, which is why they persecute them.

As director of the Shine Foundation, it is Dev’s role to put the Forgotten first at all times, and to do whatever is necessary to keep them from harm. Dev has a cold and ruthless side to his personality partly because of that, and partly because of his psy ability, which remains shrouded in mystery for much of the book but is said to involve metal. But despite his hard edges, Dev feels protective of anyone who has been abused, and the woman he finds on his doorstep clearly qualifies.

When she wakes up, the mystery woman does not remember anything, even her own name. She is also malnourished, and her amnesia appears to have been brought about by psychic tampering. But she is quickly identified as Ekaterina Haas, a former colleague of Ashaya, the heroine of Hostage to Pleasure.

Katya, as she renames herself, begins to remember bits and pieces of the psychic violation that has altered her and left her able to experience emotions. The visions come to her in nightmares, and she is not always able to retain the memories. One such nightmare reveals to the reader, but not to Dev or to Katya, that Katya is a sleeper agent whose mission is to infiltrate Shine and gather information on the children of the Forgotten and their abilities. After she has done so or attempted to do so, she is to kill Dev.

But although neither of them knows the exact details of her mission, both Katya and Dev are keenly aware that she may be programmed to do something treacherous. Katya asks Dev to kill her before he allows that to happen, and Dev agrees. It is in fact something he has already planned on, but Katya’s courage earns his admiration and makes the prospect of killing her even more painful.

Once Katya is well enough to leave her hospital bed, Dev insists that she come with him to his house in Vermont, since he can’t trust her not to harm the children he has sworn to protect. Although Katya knows that she may in fact be a sleeper agent, she feels a compulsion to head north. Katya is angry at finding herself an effective hostage when Dev denies her the freedom to leave. She is also offended by the fact that Dev distrusts her even when she is being completely honest.

But despite the tension between them, Dev and Katya can’t completely resist their growing attraction to one another, especially when Katya’s nightmare memories leave her in need of Dev’s comfort. They are uncertain about what the future holds for either of them, and everyone who observes them feels that their love is doomed.

Katya and Dev’s storylines are interspersed with hundred-year old letters written by a mother with Psy powers and addressed to her young son, Matthew. The letters chronicle the lives of the writer’s family through the implementation of Silence, the protocol that keeps the Psy from experiencing emotions but also prevents them from committing horrific crimes.

Also interspersed are logs from a place called Sunshine Station, where something bad happened, and scenes that involve the members of the Psy Council, some of which are becoming aware of a dark patch forming in the PsyNet, something that may prove dangerous to all the Psy.

The first third of the book was slow to engage me for the following reasons. First and foremost, Katya and Dev’s story felt a bit repetitive early on since their budding relationship keeps running into the wall of Dev’s justifiable distrust. I felt that in that section of the book, they were essentially arguing in circles.

Secondly, much of the information in the letters to Matthew is about the inception and early implementation of Silence, and this terrain has already been covered in earlier books in the series, albeit not from this perspective. I realize that some readers won’t have read the earlier books leading up to Blaze of Memory, but for the reader who has, there isn’t much that is new in the epistolary storyline.

Third, like the main plot, the subplot about the Sunshine Station takes a while to kick into higher gear. And lastly, we don’t visit much with the changeling characters until later on in the book. I have grown attached to those characters, and before they appeared, I missed seeing them.

However, in the second half the book really gathers momentum. Since to go into the details would involve spoilers, I’ll just say that the Sunshine Station subplot eventually grabbed this reader by the throat, changeling characters from previous books play a significant role in the second half, and most importantly, Katya and Dev’s relationship turns around. Their arduous, star-crossed path to a happy ending makes their relationship richer and deeper, and that makes reading about it very satisfying.

The ending of the book is very emotional, and although I’ve begun to detect a pattern in the endings of your last three books, it still got to me viscerally. I think I may have cried harder toward the end of this book than I ever have while reading your books.

While this book isn’t up there with my favorites in the series, Caressed by Ice and Branded by Fire, I still felt it was worth reading and would not hesitate to recommend it to readers. B for this one.

Sincerely,

Janine

This book can be purchased at Amazon or in ebook format from Sony on November 3.

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REVIEW: Captive of Sin by Anna Campbell

Jane — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:00:44 +0000

Dear Ms. Campbell:

I read your controversial debut and while I appreciated the chances you took, it didn’t inspire me to read your other books. When Captive of Sin arrived on my doorstep, I thought I would give the book a chance.

Sir Gideon Trevithick finds a woman cowering in the stable where his horse is quartered. She has clearly been beaten and when he extends his mantle of protection, she would rather be alone and in pain that accept his help. Gideon will not be gainsayed and sweeps the woman into his carriage and away from the perceived danger. He vows that he will not only protect her but he will not harm her himself.

Lady Charis Weston is one of the wealthiest women in England. Her stepbrothers are trying to force her into marriage with another man to pay off their debts. Charis refuses. She is only a few months away from gaining control over her fortune. Her stepbrothers engage in a series of small punishments which crescendo into threats of rape and of actual physical abuse. She runs away with no clear picture or plan, just an instinctive need to be away. She doesn’t trust Gideon and tries to escape several times until she realizes she is in far more danger by herself than in the hands of Gideon.

Gideon is honorable and he has no intention of laying a hand on Charis. He can’t, actually. As a result of a year long incarceration as a spy, Gideon cannot bear the touch of another human being nor can he touch someone. To do so triggers a serious PTSD response wherein he gets physically ill.

Gideon and Charis fall in love which each other although but are not able to overcome the Gideon’s aversion to touch. This theme of this story is that true love conquers all and while I would like to believe it, I felt that Gideon’s trauma was so extensive that the good loving of Charis wasn’t sufficient to cure Gideon.

I felt emotionally detached even though there were two very moving scenes in the story. I kept questioning the rapidity Gideon’s recovery from his lack of desire to be touched. I loved the idea that Charis would be proactive and that she was determined to play on his desire for her until she could break through. But the trauma of Gideon’s captivity which built over a year’s time just seemed so quickly resolved under the seductive machinations of Charis. I think I wanted to see more tentativeness on the part of Gideon; more days of seduction by Charis. I’m not sure if the story was rushed or you felt that prolonging the “cure” would be tiresome. My reaction was simply that Gideon was too damaged to merely succumb to the wiles of a pretty girl.

I also felt that Charis was wholly underdeveloped. What was her character arc? How did she grow? What was her emotional conflict?

Given the dark tone of the story, I thought the ending was a bit too kittens and rainbows for the two of them. I think that had I been more emotionally attached to both I would have enjoyed the ending more. As it was, though, I recognized this story was well written with good prose and emotionally moving from an objective perspective, but I felt that there was a barrier between myself and the characters, mostly because I doubted the redemption of Gideon from his self hatred to acceptance. B-

Best regards,

Jane

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REVIEW: From Waif to Gentleman’s Wife by Julia Justiss

Jayne — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:00:53 +0000

Dear Ms. Justiss,

You’ve been writing Regency set stories for years now so by now, I’m sure you’re more than familiar with all the conventions, the standard plots, the trope characters, all the things we’re used to seeing in this historical category. Well, I am too so when I come across something different, I’m liable to sit up, smile and say, “Yes!”

I’m sure that Sir Edward Greaves was, even if only briefly, a minor character in your book, “An Unconventional Match.” Alas, I don’t recall him. Shame on me as he’s a nice guy. As he, himself, thinks, he doesn’t have the lofty title of his friend Nicky Stanhope, the Marquess of Englemere, or the money his financial wizard friend Hal Waterman does but he’s not a bad catch on the marriage mart. So far, his attempts to find a wife he can admire as well as love, and who he thinks would enjoy living with him in the country, have not panned out but hope springs eternal.

In the meantime, he’s intrigued by a little property owned by Nicky. It’s far from Nicky’s other holdings and has currently been run almost into the ground by land agent mismanagement. In these postwar years when crop prices have plummeted and out of work Peninsular War veterans roam the countryside searching for work, it’s hard for even well maintained properties to cover their expenses. When an estate has been as badly administered as Blenhem, it’s almost a lost cause. But for Ned, this “perfect storm” is like a red flag and he offers to buy the property.

Widowed Joanna Merrill is truly destitute when she arrives at Blenhem, late on a stormy night, on foot and half starved. Unjustly thrown out of her last post by his wife after the Viscount got frisky and cornered her in her room, Joanna’s only hope is to find her brother who was managing a small property for their very distant relation the Marquess of Englemere. Only when she arrives, Greville is gone and another man has taken his place.

For various reasons, Ned has decided to take the role of an untitled land agent to allow him to discover just what went on under Greville’s management. He’s immediately attracted to the lovely Joanna but as a relation to his friend, she’s “hands off.” Trying to help her find employment, Ned hits on starting a school for the estate children with Joanna as the teacher. As their interest in each other grows, they attempt to discover what went on at the estate. But will Ned wait too long to tell Joanna who he really is?

For the most part, this is a quiet, country Regency. There is little about ton life in London, no Seasons, no Almacks, no dowagers quizzing young misses. I like that Joanna is a gentleman’s daughter while Ned is a Baronet instead of the usual Duke. And though he is sort of undercover in a way, he’s not a spy for Wellington. The use of the Luddites as a background conflict as well as Joanna and Greville’s experiences at the hands of the aristos is inspired. It’s been years since I saw this aspect of the times used in a Regency.

Ned doesn’t wallow away his romantically broken heart with wine, women and song. No, this boy throws himself into dethatching grass, soil additives, farming techniques and other agricultural improvements. Be still my beating heart. He’s also actually got a good reason for going undercover, as it were, at his new property. He thinks things out and truly wants to do the best for his tenants. What a guy!

I like that Ned listens to Joanna and doesn’t dismiss her concerns and statements about the aristocracy and their abuse of their privileges. He offers considered responses and tries to show Joanna the other side of the coin.

Joanna does get to see the real Ned even though she thinks he’s lower in social station than he is. Ned doesn’t hid who he really is, a man interested in farming and improving the lot of his tenants. While he, in turn, finds out more about her closely held feelings than he would have been able to in more polite, conventional realms. When they do start their physical relationship, I felt that they knew each other and didn’t just jump into lust. I will admit, however, to being slightly tired of the prevalent mental lusting up til then.

When the truth is revealed, at least Joanna doesn’t completely dismiss Ned’s entreaties to listen to his side of things, then to go to London to seek out her many-times-removed cousin the Marquess to see if he can assist her in finding her brother. Then she does listen to Nicky’s wife Sarah – who, thankfully, doesn’t meddle too much – and considers what Sarah, who knows Ned, has to say.

I did notice that Joanna mentions how diligently Nicky appears to work for his tenants at his various properties but then that brings up the question of why Blenhem was allowed to sink so far into disrepair while Nicky still owned it.

Another thing I noticed is when Joanna first arrives in London, she thinks something about how Nicky never offered to assist her. But then, I thought she had dismissed all thoughts of even going to him to seek aid. So is this really his fault he didn’t offer to help a relation who never called on him?

I was glad to see Jesse and Mary have a happy, and believable, ending. Yes, they will be sailing to America but honestly, I doubt that they could have lived in this small village given what Mary was forced into.

I hope readers looking for a slightly different Regency will check this one out. The innovative use of the actual concerns and conflicts of the age – progression of technology and factories, destruction of traditional handicrafts of rural England and fate of wounded soldiers after the Napoleonic wars were finally over, make it stand out. The mental lusting dragged and I had some slight questions about various parts of the plot but overall, I enjoyed it. B-

~Jayne

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REVIEW: To Desire a Devil by Elizabeth Hoyt

Jayne — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:00:24 +0000

Okay people, listen up. This is the last book in the series and the whole thing is a spoiler for the first three books. You have been warned.

Dear Ms Hoyt,

Capturing my attention for an entire series before I’ve even read the first book is something. Me remembering that a new book in a series is coming out without having someone remind me of it is something. Keeping my attention and enthusiasm for a series all the way into book four is something. So don’t be bummed that the grade for this one is lower than most of the others.

At last, here we are at the final book of the series when the bombshell, which was hurled at us in the preview included at the end of the previous book, explodes. For the length of the other three books and all during the seven years since the horrible events at Spinners Falls in the Colonies, everyone has known that Captain Lord Reynaud Hope, heir the Earldom of Blanchard, is dead. The pitifully few fellow Englishmen taken with him as captives by the Indian allies of the French saw poor Reynaud die. Two years later, his father died in England and the Earldom passed on to a distant relative, Reginald St. Aubyn who now lives with his niece, Beatrice Corning, as his hostess.

The boring tea being held by the Earl for his political cronies becomes less boring, in fact it becomes the talk of London, when Reynaud bursts into the room looking like a savage himself. And suddenly, right in the same house with her, lives the man with whom Beatrice fell in love when she and her uncle moved into Blanchard house and Beatrice first saw the portrait of Reynaud which hangs in the blue salon.

Only the man himself is nothing like she imagined. Gone is the laughing young man who left with his fellow soldiers for America. In his stead is a man who frightens half of London with his sometimes crazed behavior and who terrifies the one man who never thought his traitorous deeds would be uncovered. Is Reynaud a man who can find some tenderness and love in his heart for this woman who now loves him as he is instead of as how she dreamt he was? Or will the traitor finish what was started seven years ago before Reynaud is able to rediscover how to love?

Perhaps this book suffers somewhat from the “Devilish” syndrome wherein readers eagerly await a final book with a promised hero who then must live up to impossible standards. Perhaps it was the balance of the story which felt somewhat off to me. Maybe I wasn’t completely convinced of the hero’s sudden capitulation into headlong love for his heroine, who has already committed her heart to him by the middle of the story. I’m not sure what is the cause but I ended this book feeling somewhat let down.

Beatrice is a lovely heroine who compliments the other strong heroines she follows. She’s practical but with a romantic streak. She wants to believe that romance survives matrimony despite the unexpected “thud” sound she hears that heralds the letdown a dear friend is experiencing with her own marriage. Beatrice has been courted a little but no man has ever lived up to the dream she’s embroidered in her head about Reynaud. Yet, when the man himself doesn’t live up to her fantasy, she takes stock, really looks at her feelings and admits that she’s fallen for him as he is. She pushes for him to reveal to her parts of his captivity so that she’ll know him better. She doesn’t shrink from his grimness nor make excuses for him nor patronize him with empty platitudes. She wonders if her love alone will be enough for the two of them and she’s willing to accept this if that’s how it will be. In other words, she isn’t a missish weakling.

Reynaud is tortured, literally so as we learn throughout the course of the novel. He’s withstood seven years of hell by the overriding desire to get home. He’s been changed by his experience, as are all men who’ve survived war, and will never be the carefree man he was. If he had not been written with lingering effects, I would have cried foul. That he is resistant to anything which might weaken him, even if he might not be aware of that, is logical. He avoided the things which could have tied him to his Indian captors – marriage and children – and initially he avoids the deeper feelings which he might develop for Beatrice. His decision to marry is based on what it could gain him in other respects rather than for any tender feelings.

I was going to say that as with Hartley, Reynaud is too alpha for my tastes. He pays lip service to Beatrice’s wants too often. However, in his defense, I will allow that managing to live through what he did would probably turn almost anyone into an alpha just to survive. But if he’d come at me the night after taking my virginity and told me that I didn’t have enough experience with sex to know if I really wanted it again that night or not, I’d have told him, “Dude, you don’t know my knee well enough to know how it’s going to feel when I ram it up between your legs. But I’d be happy to let you find out.”

It takes too many outside influences to push Reynaud towards love. First Beatrice’s friend, Jeremy Oates, who is himself a broken survivor of war, has to extract a promise from Reynaud to take care of Beatrice when, up to then, all Reynaud can think when he sees Beatrice is “mine!” Then when the traitor makes his move and uses Beatrice as a pawn – and haven’t we seen too much of that already in this series? – suddenly, WHAM! Reynaud’s iron hard shell cracks and it’s love. Usually I enjoy watching how the fairy tale chapter headers mirror the action in the book but the heavy handed “bang me over the head with it” true love which has the strength to conquer the Goblin King (read traitor) ending of this one almost made me snicker.

I will say that I enjoyed watching Munroe and Hartley effectively spike the guns which were aimed at the bill which Beatrice and Lottie had worked so tirelessly for. It doesn’t take grand gestures to effect change, just smart ones. I wished that the subplot involving Lottie and Nate had got more resolution instead of the half baked “feel good” ending which didn’t seem to deal with the deeper issues which had caused them to separate. The outing of the traitor of Spinner’s Falls also fell flat for me. I had wanted all the information we had to be tied together somehow and the identity to be a “WOW, I should have seen this!” moment for me. Instead I felt cheated by the sleight of hand.

I wanted to finish this series with a bang. I wanted to close the book and feel replete, sated, emotionally spent – but in a good way. I felt a mild dose of these things but not the whole hog experience I was longing for. Don’t get me wrong, it is a good book. I enjoyed it and seeing Reynaud and Beatrice find their HEA but it’s not quite the book I was hoping for. B-

~Jayne

This book can be purchased at Amazon. The book will be available in ebook form on November 1 which is either the official release date or a way for publishers to punish you ebook readers.

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REVIEW & Giveaway: Queen of Song and Souls by CL Wilson

Jane — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:17:31 +0000

Notes: It is impossible for me to write this review without giving spoilers for the series so if you just want to enter the contest, skip to the comments and tell me your favorite soul mate story. We are giving away five copies of this book (and by we, I mean Dorchester and Dear Author).

Dear Ms. Wilson:

I can see you don’t hesitate in ripping out the reader heart and squeezing it until we are gasping. This is not a bad thing. ne thing that sets you apart from other authors (not all but some) is that you are willing to take chances with your characters. Rain and Ellysetta, the main protagonists, remain inviolate. Their love continues to flourish, but war is not without its casualties and the knife of the soulmate can create real tragedy.

Ellysetta Baristani is a Tairen Soul, one of the only female Tairen Souls in the land. She was found living amongst the humans in Celieria when a dangerous glimpse through time, aided by magic, revealed to Rain, a Tairen Soul and leader of the Fey, that she would somehow help to save his people. It was discovered that Elly is Rain’s truemate, destined by magic to be his other half.

The Fey people are in decline. Too few women to be truemates to the men. Too many men giving up hopes of finding a truemate and dying. Too few progeny and ultimately, too many enemies. The Fey are tottering on the edge of extinction and swept up in a true good versus evil battle with the Mages. The story continues with the increasingly fraught battle between the humans, Mages, Fey, and even an Elf or two.

The Mages, workers of Azhran, a black power, are increasing their control over humans and spreading the mage marks far and wide. Mage marks are magical marks on a person that puts them nearly completely under the control of the Mage who has marked them. Through these marks, humans act as puppets for the Mages.

There are humans who are working with the Fey to combat the Mages and their marked humans, but the battle is taking increasing tolls. I know, because this is a romance, that the Fey will ultimately win out but as I read the series, I begin to wonder at what cost. Oh, your readership isn’t full of fear at every turn of the page like a George RR Martin reader, but I do confess to trepidation at the end result.

Probably my biggest complaint is that while I do enjoy Rain and Ellysetta, their conflict is the least interesting to me at this point. Their romance has been consummated and the conflict, both emotional and external, does not really rest with them. For me, the storyline that continues to have the most power is that of Shan and Elfeya, the birth parents of Ellysetta.

The two are locked in the dungeons of the High Mage. One cannot live without the other and their love for each actually keeps each other alive when perhaps the truest mercy would be for them both to pass into the spirit world. Instead, they each keep funneling power to the weaker party, helpless to stop themselves because their mate bond means that they must be together.

Queen of Song and Souls also returns to the story of Adrial vel Arquinas, and Talisa Barrial. In book one, it was realized that the Fey had mates amongst the Celerians because the Celerians had all descended from Fey some long, long time ago. The problem is that the Celerians were intermarrying with the Elds to form political connections. One recently married Celerian, Talisa, found out that Adrial, a Fey, was her truemate. Talisa had dreamed of Adrial and refused marriage proposal after marriage proposal and then, when it seemed like she would never meet with Adrial, she agreed to a political marriage. Just one month after she married, Talisa and Adrial meet. Talisa had taken her vows and her husband refused to release her. Talisa initially wishes to leave her husband but her father reminds her of the importance of her marriage and honor is what makes a person worthy of love. He counsels her to act with honor.

Throughout the book, Rain is called upon to make decisions for the betterment of his people as a whole. He breaks Ellysetta’s heart again and again as his decisions leave some in peril and some in despair. Ellysetta has to deal with the horror that her existence was brought forth from immense pain and sorrow in order that prophecies may be fulfilled.

I was really impressed with how you’ve taken the soul mate concept and shown that it is not without its consequences and not every truemate instant ends in happiness. I thought the pacing of this book was a bit uneven but it ended with a bang. I look forward to the conclusion of this high fantasy romance and hope that there will be more to follow. B

Best regards

Jane

This book can be purchased at Amazon. No ebook format that I can find.

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REVIEW: An Unexpected Suitor by Anna Schmidt

Jayne — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:42:23 +0000

Dear Ms. Schmidt,

I am coming to look forward to your many novels set on the Massachusetts coastal islands. Plus you use the turn-of-the-century (turn of the last century I should say) era which is something I’d love to see more of.

Nola Burns initially appears to be an uptight, dried up spinster who’s as rigid as her corset while Harrison Starbuck has been known as a scamp and a carefree rogue since his boyhood. Nola’s hardworking, having taken over the care of her siblings at the death of their parents and since run the teahouse which was her childhood home. Harry is well off due to his instinct for a good business deal. Now they’re about to clash over Harry’s latest venture.

The beachfront teahouse is the perfect location for Harry’s planned luxury hotel to accompany the cabaret he’s building to entertain the locals and summer tourists upon whom they all depend. But it’s all Nola has and she’s not going to sell it or see her business ruined without a fight.

When Nola allows the actors to stay in her house in order to fill in for the summer staff she was unable to hire, the town busybodies’ tongues begin to wag. That wouldn’t bother strong willed Nola but the unsigned, threatening letters which have begun to appear finally start to take their toll on her. Can these two see a way for both to get what they want and how long will it take them to see in each other what the rest of the town already knows?

In many ways, “An Unexpected Suitor” reminds me of “The Music Man.” The time frame, the initially unbending heroine, the charming hero, the disapproving town elders and music thrown in to top it off. For while the town thinks well of Harry, they’re not so sure about the theater people he’s begun to associate with and whom he’s bringing to the island to stage his latest play-turned-operetta.

It reminds me of how restricted were the lives of most women of the time. There is Harry’s unmarried older aunt who’s finally “of an age” not to be bothered by gossip and speculation that she lives alone and the women of the theater, whom most respectable people have already consigned to sin, but poor Nola is still bound by the conventions of the day. I enjoyed watching first Nola’s, then everyone else’s, opinions of the theater people change. Even the minister confesses to his shame that he isn’t immune from preconceived notions. You remind all of us, regardless of creed, to step back and examine ourselves. But you do it without preaching which is something I admire.

The relationship between Nola and Harry takes time to develop. At first they appear not to know each other well at all which is something I found odd. They grew up in the same small town and in their youth, Nola seems to have had a crush on Harry but, when the book starts, it’s almost as if they’re strangers. However, I do like how you conveyed their growing interest in each other without resorting to mental lusting.

The pace of the story is more like the lazy days of summer and there are several subplots. While I enjoyed the story and the characters, I did get impatient at times. I felt a little tightening up would have moved the story along more quickly while not losing the substance of the novel. And while I admire Nola for not casting stones or making accusations before the identity of the letter writer is revealed, her stubborn determination to blow off the threats finally began to seem foolhardy.

Though this book doesn’t match my fondness for “Gift from the Sea,” it’s still one for which I think there is an audience. The setting and time period are ones I hope will be further explored even if I hope the pace is quickened, just slightly. B-

~Jayne

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Dear Author: Romance Novel Reviews, Industry News, and Commentary » B Reviews Category

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