Jennie’s Top Ten of 2012
A Gentleman Undone, Cecilia Grant, A
Reviews by Dabney here and Janet here. Sublime, gorgeous tale of an honorable but emotionally scarred soldier and an even more scarred ex-prostitute who is another man’s mistress. I love Grant’s characterization, her prose and the way her stories unfold.
A Lady Awakened, Cecilia Grant, A
Review by Jane. I knew this book was special from the opening pages (actually, I’d have known even before if I better trusted the buzz I’d heard; and being that I’m not that plugged into the romance community, you must know the buzz was loud). Grant gained instant auto-buy status from me.
Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn, A
Review by Dabney. I wasn’t going to include this since it’s most definitely *not* a romance (if anything, it will put one off of marital love for life), but I saw that Dabney had included it in her top ten list, and I figured if it’s good enough for her, it’s good enough for me as well. I don’t read thrillers, but Gone Girl gave me a bit of an idea of what it’s like to sink into a really thrilling thriller – “page turner” is a cliche, but it applies here. I know some people didn’t like the ending, but it worked for me – perhaps because I have, I think, a perverse take on the heroes and villians of this novel.
On the Island, Tracy Garvis Graves, A
Review by January. Gripping, riveting and involving story – not great literature (the prose and characterization were serviceable), but super-readable. I read it in a day; it’s been years since I’ve read a book from start to finish in a single day. So I have to give it an A for that alone. I continue to realize that I have a weird attraction to (sort of) dystopian, man-against-nature themes.
Review by January. Gripping, riveting and involving story – not great literature (the prose and characterization were serviceable), but super-readable. I read it in a day; it’s been years since I’ve read a book from start to finish in a single day. So I have to give it an A for that alone. I continue to realize that I have a weird attraction to (sort of) dystopian, man-against-nature themes.
Ravishing the Heiress, Sherry Thomas, A-
Jane’s review is here. I have a friend who was frustrated by this book, and I totally understand why. The hero’s blindness to the heroine’s devotion to him for pretty much the entire book was almost painful to read at times. But I read just about every frustrating page on the verge of tears; I was that emotionally invested. That doesn’t happen to me very often, and I have to commend a book that manages to tug my heartstrings so thoroughly.
Beguiling the Beauty, Sherry Thomas, B+
Jane’s review here. Clearly, I liked this a bit better than Jane did, though I agreed with her criticisms, by and large. The hero’s obsessive “love” for the heroine when he doesn’t even know her is borderline-creepy. What I liked was the homage to Judith Ivory’s Beast, and the honest and thorough depiction of what it means to be as beautiful as the heroine, Venetia, is. Beautiful heroines are a dime a dozen but I really like books that examine what it might mean for a woman to stand out in that way in society.
Tempting the Bride, Sherry Thomas, B+
Review by Kati here. This one was almost an A- for me (as was Beguiling the Beauty, come to think of it). This trilogy by Thomas is interesting to me because each of the books can be fairly criticized as pretty flawed, and I can understand, with each of them, why even a Thomas fan might not like one or another of them. In the case of this book, we have the hoary cliche of amnesia, as well as both hero and heroine who are immature and frankly unlikable at times. Yet each book in the series ended up moving me and absorbing me so much. I value that above a flaw-free book.
At Your Pleasure, Meredith Duran, B+
Dabney’s review is here. I ranked this one so highly mainly on the strength of the writing and the tight plotting. I actually found the characters, especially the hero, somewhat problematic, and I didn’t like the power imbalance between the hero and heroine. But it was romantic and absorbing, and I did believe in the HEA. As with Thomas, Duran’s prose more than makes up for elements that don’t work as well for me.
The Ugly Duchess, Eloisa James, B+
My review is here. I liked this a lot, perhaps not quite as much as When Beauty Tamed the Beast, which made my top ten list in 2011. This is one of several romances on this list that had gender-imbalance issues that bugged me. I can’t fault a writer for writing realistically about what it meant to be a woman in 19th century England, but ultimately I think featuring themes that I don’t love does bring my grade down a little bit for these books. But The Ugly Duchess has very appealing characters and sparkling prose, so it does belong on this list.
The Importance of Being Wicked, Miranda Neville, B+
Joint review with Janine here. I was glad to have another chance to try Neville since my first experience with her was just so-so. This complex and romantic tale was a good deal better, and I’ll be looking forward to diving into the rest of her backlist.
Bookmarking these best-of lists for when I’m in a reading slump!
I must read Gone Girl. So many people are gaga for that book.
@Janine: It’s interesting to consider what genre it falls in–it’s not really suspense or a mystery and there are aspects of it that suit the romance classification. I’d say it has an HEA that matches its tone–maybe I should tout it in the “courting respectability” thread….
@Dabney: LOL!
“Gone Girl” wasnt really a romance and the characters are too twisted. Theyre so messed up and clearly dont belong together. And the ending left me scratching my head and a big WTHeYyy
“Gone Girl” sounds more like a thriller to me. I saw it on an NPR best mysteries list, but it’s clearly described as, and called, a thriller.
@Annie: In some ways I felt like the characters who were together in the end deserved each other. It’s a twisted story, to be sure.
@Annie: See, I thought Nick and Amy totally belonged together and that their ending was perfect for them. I’ve read other of Gillian Flynn’s works; this book is light for her!