Latest Romance Novels I've Read

[dangermousie]

Short version: pretty good batch.

Long version:

Meljean Brooks - "Heart of Steel". Oh, that one was such a disappointment. Her first intallment in the steampunk Universe, "The Iron Duke," is one of the rare romances I genuinely love. I was looking forward to reading about the lady airship captain/pirate Yasmeen and the archeologist adventurer Archimedes Fox, who were minor characters in The Iron Duke. Alas, I was thoroughly underwhelmed. HoS feels like it has a concept and outline of a good book but it's like a frustrating outline - nothing is fleshed out enough - not the conspiracy, not the characters and their relationships or their past. The books is simply too short. Yasmeen is not my type of heroine but I liked her OK - I just didn't know enough about her to get invested. And Archimedes would normally be the character type I'd go rabid for but the same applied to him - I didn't know enough about him to care. The reason The Iron Duke worked so well for me was that the amazing world-building was combined with the leads I loved and felt were real - Mina and Rhys felt like fully-drawn people. Also, and a little surprisingly, this book is very low on sex scenes. I don't need sex scenes in my books but just a little warning if you are looking for something 'spicy.'

Anna Campbell - "Captive of Sin." Lady Charis escapes from her abusive stepbrothers who seek to marry her off for her fortune and is rescued by Gideon Trevithik, a recently returned 'acclaimed war hero' who is more messed-up than any hero I've come across all year, or close. For one, he cannot bear to be touched by anyone. I adored this book mainly because this is pretty much one x-rated hurt/comfort fantasy. If ever a novel catered specifically to my kinks, this is it - mmmmm, so perfect. Also, it's a good character piece - Charis and Gideon both feel very real and are just such very good people - genuinely good and noble despite some horrible stuff in their past. I rooted for them like mad.

Marsha Canham - "Blood of Roses." This is a sequel to The Pride of Lions and I shocked myself by loving this book to bits, seeing that TPoL left me pretty cold - I didn't dislike it, I just wasn't smitten. I'd say skip TPoL and go straight for this awesome novel. In TPoL, Catherine Ashbrooke, a spoiled English noblewoman was forced by her father to marry a Scottish nobleman, Alexander Cameron, after they were caught in a compromising situation. Love bloomed, bad guys were overcome, blahblah and you'd think they'd settle to a life of married bliss, only - the year was 1745. (Side note: is there a whole subgenre in which English ladies marry Scottish aristocrats who get involved in Jacobite uprisings? First there were the Kilgannon books by Katherine Givens (even if the uprising there was 1715 and the characters quite different) and now this. Seeing how much I loved both Kilgannon books now BoR, I think I need to delve more into this). At the end of TPoL, Alexander sends Catherine back to England for safety, telling her that if she wants to, she can pretend to be a widow, and himself joins the rebellion. This is where BoR starts. I loved loved LOVED this book. Alexander mellowed out and Catherine grew up, so their relationship was that of true equals. There are real obstacles and danger and angst. Plus, I am a sucker for the 'couple already committed facing the world together' trope which happens pretty rarely in romance or other novels (maybe because I am an old married lady, but the 'falling in love' part of the story rarely catches my attention). There are battles, angsty separations (and hot reunions), more h/c than you can shake a stick at, and just general awesomeness. Warning: the death-toll in this one is huge.

Meredith Duran - "Written on Your Skin" and "Bound by Your Touch." Ah, Ms. Duran, I thought we could be friends after I read your "A Lady's Lesson in Scandal" (about a working class woman who discovers she is a long-lost daughter of an earl). I loved that book. But I am forced to conclude it was a fluke because both Skin and Touch were drowning in overwrought prose, had hero and heroine I disliked, and nothing happened. Sure, there is a pretence of a plot (faked Egyptian antiques and shady businessmen being hunted by spies, respectively) but blah.

Roberta Gellis - "Siren Song" - more of a history novel than a romance, I loved this one. A nobleman is sent by Henry III into a household of one of Henry's brother's retainers to check if the retainer is plotting treason. Nobleman falls for retainer's pretty, pragmatic daughter, but the real focus is on William and Elizabeth - the retainer and the wife of the neighbor who loved each other years ago. The characters are well-drawn, the medieval world feels real and so do the mores, and I loved every character I was supposed to love. Go read it now.

Elizabeth Hoyt - "To Desire a Devil" - in addition to 'English lady falls for Scottish rebel' subgenre, there also must be a 'heroine falls for PTSD soldier' subgenre. I love this subgenre, apparently. Reynaud was missing for 7 years as a result of the French and Indian War and presumed dead. In reality, he was a captive of an American Indian tribe and he's finally made his way home to reclaim his title and discover who betrayed his regiment. The common-sense, smart Beatrice, the niece of the person who 'inherited' the title in his absence might help with that (as well as help convincing society he isn't mad). Despite the book title, both Beatrice and Reynaud are good people who do not need reform, even if hero needs to learn to open up - both to emotion and about his trauma.

Shannon McKenna - "Edge of Midnight." girlfriday10, where are you? This book has your name all over it. Anyway, if you love super-alpha heroes beyond devoted to the tough heroine, this is the book for you. Our hero Sean, former mercenary/soldier/stuntman/every other alpha occupation known to man, has only two regrets - one is the apparent suicide of his twin brother years ago, and the other breaking the heart of Liv Endicott, the only woman he's ever loved, in order to save her life. Only now Liv's life is under threat again, they are thrown together, sparks fly etc - this is not erotica but it comes close - this book has a hella very graphic sex. It's pretty graphic in other ways - a gruesome killer and a demented scientist both figure prominently. Heroine is a badass who dispatches one of the two chief bad guys, I loved the hero, and this is a fun fun ride. Secondary OTP made me want to drown them (she was too dim to exist and he was a jerk) but we can't have everything. I think I might seek other books in this series.

Terese J. Reasor - "Highland Moonlight." Why does every hero of a Scottish romance get named Alexander? I know Scotland was a poor land, but I am sure they could afford more than one name! Anyway, this is pretty low-key but likeable medieval romance of the protagonists learning to work out the issues in their marriage and get past understandable trust issues.

Patricia Veryan - "Time's Fool" and "Had We Never Loved." I was just rereading these - part 1 and 2 of the Tales of the Jeweled Men. I talked about them elsewhere so I will just say they are just as good on the umpteenth reread - I adore the heroes and the heroines and the supporting characters and the adventure and the romance.

Comments

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Canham: IIRC I actually read BoR first and liked it, and then went back and read TPoL and didn't care much for it. I haven't read/reread any of her books in a while, but I think Pale Moon Rider(Highwayman hero, heroine is nonvirgin escaped French noblewoman after the revolution. Shockingly rather Orczy-like, if Orczy grew up on swashbucklers) and Swept Away (or "Swept"-something, I forget. Heroine finds amnesiac with see through clothes on the beach. Shockingly, he turns out to be a spy.) were probably my favorites. I remember enjoying her Robin Hood books too, though it's been a long time.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

It's funny - Pride of Lions did not work for me at all (in fact, I remember reading Kilgannon books a few months later and thinking "this is how you do this type of story, Marsha Canham!") and I only got BoL out of curiosity but I really really loved it - the stakes were more real and higher but mainly, all of a sudden, I went from being irritated by the protagonists to truly loving them. The maturity change really helped.

I wish she didn't kill off every other character I loved and also had some sort of a better prospect for the otp than hiding in caves for God knows how long and never being able to go home, but I suppose with 1745 as a background, not much she could do.

Thanks for the reccomendations, i want to read more of hers.

Btw, if you are in the mood for reds, may I rec Kathleen Givens - she has strong heroines and functional relationships and is not bad on history. She write the Kilgannon books but also four others (medievals).

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I've actually been mostly reading romance novels and bad vampire ya (I don't even like the subgenre!)-the latter in a bit of a trainwrecky way-since I haven't been feeling well the last few weeks. Mostly Mary Balogh (I like her a lot, but while she's usually solid and is prone to Angst in her plots, she might be a bit toned down for you.)

I think I actually have one of Givens' medievals somewhere, but there was this period where about 2/3 of historical romances had Scottish heroes and/or were in Scotland and I'm srtill not over the burnout. (They especially took over medievals, and there aren't really a lot of medieval romances, in comparison, the last decade or so.)

ETA: Did you know Jeannie Lin has a new book out? I had some issues with it-it's a kidnap plot, but largely much better done than most outside of one aspect-but it was pretty good overall. It's about the villain in the first book and the previous emperor's concubine who was the heroine's friend.

Eta: feel better!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I have been reading your vamp ya posts in horrified fascination.

Balogh is not my cup of tea- not sure why.

LOL at the Scottish overload. I only got into romances a couple of years ago and I mainly go by author so I have escaped overloading on any particular theme.

Re: Jeannie Lin. Really? Yay! If for no other reason than I wish more period romances were set outside Medieval Northern Europe/France/UK or Regency/Georgian England. Honestly, how about setting one in Ancient Egypt? Or Byzantine Empire? Or medieval Poland or something. Just for a change.

Re: Eta: feel better!

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Next up on my list is something called Vampire Academy. After that, I'm free, unless something else gets handed over to me. TBH, while the House of Night books were utterly horrific (sadly...the mythology had a lot of potential but...) the one I just read was more eyerolly for trying to be "different" without really actually DOING anything different save for sustenance and a couple powers, and not even tying to hide how heavily she was borrowing from meyer and LJS. (Speaking of Meyer, I read the first 2 chapters of the Edward rewarite when very bored a few nights ago. I should post on that, if only to dust off the sparklepire adventures tag.)

Suzanne Robinson actually had a (rather slim) romance novel set in ancient Egypt (and also wrote an ancient Egypt mystery series under a pseudonym). I can't remember the title, but I recall it being descent. Susan Wiggs and Amanda McCabe both have at least one Renaissance Italy book, and IIRC, most of the McCabe books I binged on a while back had at least one lead who either wasn't British or was raised elsewhere. I think Jade Lee has non-European historicals, but i haven't actually read her, so I'm not sure.

I don't think I've ever encountered anyone actually disliking Balogh or thinking she was bad, she's just one of those solid authors who either works for you or doesn't.

Re: Eta: feel better!

[mainemilyhoon.livejournal.com]

With the caveat that I'm a huge Twilight fan, so my taste might be completely different from yours...Vampire Academy is really good. It's not like the other YA paranormal romance stuff out there, doesn't read like a Twilight-wannabe, and Rose, the main character, is pretty awesome. The fourth book goes a little overboard with the angst, but other than that it's a good series.

Re: Eta: feel better!

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

My feelings on Twilight are complicated: I agree with many criticisms but do not hate Bella and suspect some of the rabid hate many have centers are the fact that it's so deep into her POV and the world through her gaze, but there's no real filter to tone down the pure TEENNESS of her POV, and i find it very interesting in an analytical context.

And I will take it in a heartbeat over the House of Night books.