Wendy the Super Librarian’s review of  What the Librarian Did by Karina Bliss
Contemporary romance released by Harlequin SuperRomance 16 Mar 10

Being one myself, I’m naturally drawn to romance novels that feature librarian heroines.  Over the years I’ve read some very good ones, and some others that have left permanent psychological scars.  Karina Bliss’s latest for Harlequin SuperRomance is, blessedly, one of the good ones.  Although at times, I felt the heroine’s “issues” overshadowed the romantic storyline.

Devin Freedman has spent the last 17 years being the bass player for the extremely successful hard rock band, Rage.  However a life of sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll have literally taken their toll.  When his doctors give him the unvarnished truth of what his alcohol addiction has done to his body, Devin cleans up and heads to his mother’s home in New Zealand.  Mom has had heart problems, and Devin is finally ready to take control of his life.  To that end, he decides to enroll in college.

It’s there that he meets academic librarian Rachel Robinson who has no idea who the heck he is.  That’s honestly about the only endearing thing he can say about her, since the woman seems hell-bent on challenging him with verbal sparring matches at every turn.

Rachel has led a fairly solitary life, and has just turned down a marriage proposal from a man who by all accounts has “good catch” written all over him.  She’s almost 35, does want a husband and children some day, so why does she keep turning men away?  She’s 35.  Her ovaries ain’t gettin’ any younger.  However, it’s rather complicated.  Rachel has a past that she’s been hiding from for 17 years.  A past that conveniently shows up just as Devin walks through the library front door.

I’m a bit of a sucker for opposites attract storylines, and rock star and librarian are just about as opposite as you can get.  Devin’s love of music eventually became overshadowed by his addiction, and the state of his personal health has given him a wake-up call.  There’s also the small matter that his older brother, the lead singer of the band, is possibly screwing him over financially.  He has a lot to sort out, but cannot help but become distracted by Rachel, who is intelligent, quick-witted, and not impressed by his fame.

The bulk of the conflict centers around Rachel’s past, and a choice she made 17 years ago that she’s now confronted with.  It’s pretty heavy stuff, and an issue I think the author handles well.  That said, it’s heavy enough conflict that I felt, at times, the romance loses some footing.  Especially since Devin and Rachel are extremely fond of jumping to conclusions about each other.  These two are determined to assume the worst about each other, and several misunderstanding crop up over the course of the story.  After a while, it gets a bit exhausting and a little old that these two just don’t confront each other, laying all their cards out on the table.

That being said, this was still a very strong, emotionally charged contemporary read.  Rachel isn’t my favorite librarian romance heroine ever, but she easily lands in the Top 5 and Devin’s bad boy charm makes him the perfect foil.  Karina Bliss is a new discovery for me in the SuperRomance line, and I look forward to reading more of her work.

Grade: B

Summary:

Is Rachel Robinson the only one on campus who doesn’t know who Devin Freedman is? No big deal except that the bad-boy rock star gets a kick out of Rachel’s refusal to worship at his feet. And that seems to have provoked his undivided attention. Devin, the guy who gave new meaning to the phrase “sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.” Devin, the guy who somehow becomes wedged between her and the past she’s kept hidden for years.

It’s up to this librarian to find out firsthand just how “bad” he really is. Because her secret—and her growing feelings for a man who claims he’s bent on redemption—depend on his turning out to be as good as he seems. Which is really, really good.

Read an excerpt.

Wendy the Super Librarian’s review of An Accidental Seduction by Michelle Willingham
Historical romance short story ebook released by Harlequin Historical Undone 01 Jan 2010

I’ve often said that the short story Harlequin Historical Undone line is like a gateway drug.  I read them because they’re quick, sexy reads, and often times I find myself getting sucked into a series or trying full-length novels by new-to-me authors.  This latest from Michelle Willingham is a prequel to her February Harlequin Historical release, An Accidental Countess, and introduces us to the romantic couple.

Emily Barrow is the daughter of a Baron, but thanks to family scandal her situation is rather dire.  Firmly on the shelf, she’s living a hand to mouth existence at the family country estate.  It’s so bad that she’s let all the servants go, and most of the furniture is gone, either having been sold off, or used as fire wood.  In fact, that’s what Emily is doing at the start of this story.  She’s out trying to split wood so she’ll have heat for the night.  That’s where childhood friend, and unrequited love, Stephen Chesterfield, the Earl of Whitmore finds her.

Emily tries to snow the man, but she doesn’t fool him.  Emily is too thin, wearing little more than rags, and while she maybe holding her head high, things have gotten very bad indeed.  Stephen is determined to protect her.

What follows is a story in the vein of Cinderella.  Nice, smart, resourceful girl, who has been cast aside by her useless relations gets rescued by handsome prince.  It’s straight-up rescue fantasy all the way.  Normally the sort of story that gets on my last good nerve, but Emily carries the day by not being one of those Victorian misses who meekly sits in the corner waiting for Prince Charming to arrive on the scene.  Of course she’s living hand to mouth, and things are anything but rosy, but bless her heart – she’s trying and doing the best she can.

Since this is a prequel, the author has to hold some of her cards back for the full-length novel that features the same romantic couple.  At that end, as a stand-alone story, this one isn’t perfect.  The happily-ever-after is extremely reserved, and one is left with the impression that Stephen and Emily are together, not so much because of true love, but because she needs a knight in shining armor, and he needs a wife who doesn’t annoy the crap out of him to get his matchmaking mama off his back.  But the story does end in a nice spot that sets the reader up with the hope that these two crazy kids are eventually going to realize how hopelessly in love with each other they are.  It’s not the best stand-alone tale, but as a prequel, it’s top-notch.  Now I’m really looking forward to reading An Accidental Countess.

Grade: B-

Summary:
Emily Barrow once dreamed that she could marry Stephen Chesterfield, the Earl of Whitmore, and be saved from her dreary life. Then Stephen’s father sent him away, leaving Emily broken-hearted…

Now Stephen has returned to find Emily destitute and alone. He has vowed to help her without compromising her honor…but Emily has other ideas. She doesn’t want his charity, but she does long to know what it would be like to take him as a lover, even if marriage is out of the question. Confined to close quarters with their passion burning as brightly as ever, will Stephen be able to resist the temptation and rescue her, or give in to his desire and completely ruin her?

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian’s review of Erotique: Jillian (Erotique #2) by Susan Lyons
Erotic romance short story ebook released by Spice Briefs 1 Feb 10

I was pleasantly surprised by the first story in Susan Lyons’ new erotic short story trilogy for Spice Briefs, so I happily settled in to read book two on my lunch break.  While it wasn’t without charm, sadly it didn’t work nearly as well for me.  Mostly because I found myself unwilling to suspend my disbelief in regards to the heroine’s work place relationships.

Jillian just helped land a big account at work, and she’s ready to unwind.  She’s thinking bubble bath, a naughty novel and a glass a wine.  However her boss, Carrie (the heroine from book one Erotique: Carrie) has another suggestion.  She gives Jillian a guest pass to the exclusive private sex club she belongs to.  Since the club caters to all sorts of fantasies, Jillian figures why not?  Little does she know that her boss has also given a guest pass to their sexy colleague Sandro Rodriguez.  Both Jillian and Sandro are very hot for each other, but she’s been putting on the breaks because of a past disastrous relationship with a former colleague.  Nope, our girl has learned her lesson.  No more mixing business with pleasure.  Sigh, but now here she is with hunky Sandro in a sex club.  Whatever shall she do?

When reading erotic stories, I’m usually pretty good at shutting reality out and going with the fantasy.  However, I just couldn’t do it this time.  Carrie is Jillian’s boss, and unlike a lot of boss/employee relationships in Romance Novel Land, these two aren’t best buddies.  It’s strictly a working relationship, and yet Carrie just blithely hands over a guest pass to a sex club?  Hello?!

Then there’s the fact that Jillian is gun-shy about getting naked with Sandro because of a past relationship with a former coworker.  Yeah, her ex?  Spread it around the office that Jillian was a “sex maniac” because she liked to have a lot of sex.  Ohhhhhkay then.  It’s entirely possible that the men I know in real life are a pack of drooling deviants, but this one strained.  And frankly if he was gossiping about her sexual preferences at work, why exactly did she not sue his ass for sexual harassment?

The erotic elements of this story are nice, steamy and vanilla – sure to please readers who don’t want to wade through a river of kink to get their kicks.  I also suspect it will work a lot better for those readers who can more successfully shut out reality than I apparently can.

Grade: C

Summary:

Jillian had been careful not to combine her personal and professional lives…even if that meant turning down a date with her sexy colleague Sandro Rodriguez. Still, she was in the mood for some fun and couldn’t resist a guest-pass to the private sex club Erotique from her boss, Carrie. Jillian hoped to relieve her cravings with a hot guy who understood how to tease and arouse her—but she never expected that man to be Sandro! And he was determined to show her just how fun mixing business with pleasure could be….

No excerpt found.

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian’s review of Erotique: Carrie (Erotique Story #1) by Susan Lyons
Erotic romance short story ebook released by Spice Briefs 1 Jan 10

Sometimes an ending can completely ruin an otherwise fine story, and sometimes it’s the ending that totally makes the story.  This first story in Susan Lyons’ Spice Briefs trilogy is an example of the latter.

Carrie looks like your average suburban soccer mom.  However every few weeks she hires a babysitter, gets dressed up in very un-mom-like attire, lets her hair down and hits the private sex club, Erotique.  Erotique is very exclusive and caters to a myriad of fantasies that range from casual flirting to BDSM.  Carrie doesn’t stray too far to the wild side, but she knows tonight she wants passion.  Hot sex, with a hot stranger.  She finds her mystery man, dressed like a riverboat gambler, downing a fine brandy, and he’s more than willing to show her a good time.

To be blunt, this is a fairly conventional story featuring some hot, vanilla sex.  For readers who like the hot stuff, but don’t want to wade through a bunch of kink – this is a good, solid choice.  I’ll admit, the set-up and story weren’t really doing a whole lot for me.  Wow, an exclusive club where people can explore their sexual fantasies?  I’ve only read that a time or two or thousand.  Then I got to the ending.  It’s the ending that truly makes this story, and probably one I should have seen coming, but didn’t.  What could have been a been-there-read-that erotic short, easily forgotten, is instead made memorable by an ending that left me with a smile on my lips.  Good show!

Grade: B

Summary:

Normally Carrie is a very responsible person…but she still likes to walk the line every now and then. That’s when Carrie visits Erotique, a private club where members don costumes and use false names to explore their secret fantasies. For Carrie, it’s a chance for the suburban mom to feel like a sex goddess—especially when a certain masked man is waiting for her….

No excerpt found.

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian’s review of Seducing a Stranger by Christine Merrill
Historical romance short story ebook released by Harlequin Historical Undone 1 Nov 09

Sometimes all it takes is a shorter format to make me more tolerant of certain storylines.  If Seducing a Stranger had been a full-length Harlequin Historical, it probably would have gotten on my nerves.  However as a short read that I zipped through on my lunch break?  It hit the spot.

Victoria Paget was a faithful, dutiful wife who followed her soldier husband to the battlefields of Europe.  When he is killed, she returned home to England, a young widow with many questions.  Her husband had voiced concerns about Timothy Godfrey, a Lieutenant in his unit.  When the entire regiment is killed and only Timothy survives, it’s easy for Victoria to become suspicious.  Is it possible that Lt. Godfrey was a French spy that led her husband to his death?  Determined to ferret out the truth, she discovers he’s a patron of a certain brothel.  With some help, she makes plans to meet him there under the guise of being one of the new girls.

When Timothy enters the brothel he is shocked to discover Victoria Paget.  Between the stories that Captain Paget told about his wife, and the miniature he carried with him, Timothy was more than a little envious.  He half fell in love with her, even though they had never met.  He wanted to speak with Victoria after her husband’s death, but she quickly left for England and he was transferred to a different regiment – only to return home to England shortly thereafter thanks to his own battlefield injury.  But now that he has Victoria in his sights, he’s not letting her get away.

What follows is the classic Big Misunderstanding plot.  Timothy thinks Victoria has fallen on hard times after her husband’s death (why else is she in a brothel?) and being the gallant, valiant sort, is determined to protect her.  Victoria thinks that Timothy is a traitorous scum bag who led her husband to his death, but she’s quickly having doubts.  Not only does this man stir her passions, but he certainly doesn’t act or live like someone in cahoots with the enemy.

Naturally it all eventually comes tumbling out, in no small measure thanks to the lust shared between both characters.  The Undone line promises spicy love scenes, and the author certainly delivers!

At the end, all is right with the world, although I was a little surprised how quickly Timothy forgives Victoria for her deception.  Oh, who am I kidding?  Just the fact that these two didn’t come from money and weren’t titled had me halfway sold on this story before I even started it.

That said, if you have an extreme displeasure for the Big Mis, this one will probably irritate.  But for this reader, it was just right.

Grade: B

Summary:

Though Lieutenant Tom Godfrey had never met Victoria Paget, he desired her. The late Captain Paget’s stories of his wife—and her portrait—were enough to arouse his envy…and his lust. Now Tom’s returned from the peninsula—and never expected to find the young widow in a bawdy house!

Necessity had brought Victoria to the house of ill repute: it was the only place she could confront Tom, whom she suspected was responsible for her husband’s death. But when she meets the virile soldier, his gallantry and her body’s passionate response to him take her completely by surprise.

What started as a one-night seduction may lead to much more…but will they still have a future when all their secrets are revealed?

No excerpt found.

Wendy the Super Librarian’s review of The Maid’s Lover by Amanda McCabe
Historical romance short story ebook released by Harlequin Historical Undone 1 Dec 09

Amanda McCabe is quickly becoming one of my go-to historical authors when I’m in the mood for “different.”  Her latest short story for the Undone line features the criminally underused Elizabethan England locale to tell the story of two clandestine lovers.

Anne Percy may be related to nobility, but she’s a poor little orphan girl with few prospects.  There isn’t a lot of joy in her life, until she hooks up with Robert, Viscount Langley, a darling in Queen Elizabeth’s court.  These two cannot keep their hands off each other, arranging secret trysts in the woods near Anne’s home.  However the girl does see the writing on the wall.  She has zero prospects, while Robert is an heir – one expected to make a spectacular match.  He says they just have to be patient, but as the woman in this 16th century affair, she has everything to lose.  So even with her heart breaking, she cuts him loose.  Months later, now living at court, Anne has once again fallen under Robert’s spell – and this time, he’s not letting her get away.

This is ultimately a story about two people unwilling to compromise and communicate with each other.  Robert says they need to be patient, while Anne wants to scurry off and elope.  He’s definitely the more prudent of the two, but it’s easy to understand Anne’s fears.  Her and Robert have spectacular sex together, but he’s not exactly falling on bended knee declaring his undying love for her either.  Still, I couldn’t help but think that Anne was being a bit rash and silly – especially when later in the story she pulls a stunt to gain Robert’s attention.  Why she does this I have no idea.  I mean, the guy has sex with her in a hallway after a dinner at court and she still thinks she doesn’t have his attention?  Trust me cupcake.  You do.

What McCabe does exceedingly well is write about this time period.  It was downright refreshing to read about the Elizabethan era, and the excitement at court surrounding the Christmas holiday.  It’s a setting you don’t see every day in historical romance, and the author must have really thrown herself into research to include some of the interesting details that are found in the story.

Ultimately this was an OK read that kept me entertained on my lunch break.  The chemistry between Anne and Robert really sizzles, but there were moments when I was a touch annoyed with our fair heroine.

Grade: C+

Summary:

Anne Percy lived for her secret trysts with Robert, Viscount Langley, heir to a wealthy earldom and star of Queen Elizabeth’s court. Only then could she forget her life as a poor orphan at the mercy of her noble relatives and lose herself in the delights of his body. Every time they came together, it was just as passionate and wonderful as their first encounter. But even though Robert seemed to want her as much as she craved him, marriage appeared to be one thing they couldn’t share.

Now the lovers are reunited at the Queen’s Christmas feast—where Robert vows to show Anne they should never be apart…and to give her a very sensual Christmas Eve surprise.

No excerpt found.

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian’s review of The Tale of the Dancing Girl (Maeve & Devlin #3) by Grace D’Otare
Historical erotic romance short story ebook released by Spice Briefs 01 Nov 2009

I like to read short stories because it’s a good way to find new authors without investing a lot of time and money.  I hit the jackpot with this latest by Grace D’Otare which is apparently part of a series.  Needless to say, I’m going back and buying the first two stories.

Devlin and Maeve are a married couple driving along a rain-soaked deserted road.  Devlin enjoys it when his wife tells him naughty stories, and this time out he wants a story of a woman who is afraid and a man who helps her overcome her fears.

Delilah is a young widow working as a tutor in the Khan’s palace.  She’s been teaching the girls English, and they’ve been teaching her to dance.  As a favor to a sick girl, Delilah takes her place in a performance for the Khan and some palace guests, only to realize with horror that Colonel Weston is in the audience!  He’s been patiently trying to catch her eye for months, and she’s dismissed him because she has vowed to not fall in love with another soldier.  But after the highly erotic dance, and some personal sensual lessons from one of the girls, will Delilah finally make the leap and fall into the Colonel’s embrace?

This was a highly sensual, erotic story with a satisfying romantic ending.  Delilah is scared, and fearful of moving on with her life, but learning to dance has begun to awaken her own desires.  It takes a push in the right direction to get her to open her eyes, and her heart, to not be afraid anymore.  Weston cuts a dashing figure (in uniform and out) and endears himself to the reader by being totally smitten with Delilah.  Even with the short word count, I bought into their romance completely.

This is a good short story I would highly recommend to both regular erotic romance readers, and those who don’t dip their toes in the genre too often.  There is some girl-on-girl action here, which serves it’s purpose in awakening Delilah from her stupor, preparing her to take a chance on Colonel Weston who has been desperately trying to win her favor.  It’s sensual, erotic, and a romance.  Very well done indeed.

Grade: B+

Summary:

Devlin loves it when Maeve tells him erotic stories. This time, he wants a story about a woman who is afraid—and the man who helps her overcome all her fears….

Delilah took the place of the young dancing girl as a favor…but she didn’t expect Colonel Weston to be among the Khan’s guests! Her provocative movements catch the Colonel’s eye…and awaken her own desire. Can the dance—and a little hands-on tutelage from a fellow dancer—teach Delilah to lose all her inhibitions with Weston once and for all?

No excerpt found.

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian’s review of The Birthday Present (The Countess Trilogy #3) by Alison Richardson
Historical erotica short story ebook released by Spice Briefs 01 Nov 2009

What can I say?  Sometimes it’s an intriguing writing style that keeps me coming back for more, even when I logically know that a story shouldn’t work for me in the slightest.  Which is why I decided to finish out the trilogy, and get some closure, for Richardson’s lusty, wicked and snobby heroine, Countess Anna von Esslin.

It’s been two years since the events of An Impolite Seduction and Anna is now living in Munich.  What is truly troublesome is that she’s been celibate this whole time.  Part of this is because Anna has found her tastes have grown more refined with age (not just any willing young buck will do), but also because her rival, that low-born Scot, James McKirnan has been steering any man remotely desirable away from her salon.  So she’s well and truly desperate when her cousin Robert offers her a birthday present.  A mystery lover who will only take her while she is blind-folded and who is so skilled that he soon has Anna panting after him.

Yeah, we all know where this is going right?

Richardson’s writing style continues to deliver most of the goods here.  Where there were a few instances of tell over show (especially in regards to dialogue), readers once again get a delightful first person narration from Anna’s point of view, and several wicked observations that induce some laughs.

The characters continue to be somewhat of an issue – most notably Anna.  While I do not subscribe to the school of thought that the heroine has to be “likeable” – there has to be “something” there for the reader to grasp on to.  While the author wraps up the saga of James and Anna in a neat package by the end, I’m still left with the question of why, as the reader, I should care what happens to either of these two.  James at least has moments where he’s not totally debauched and vile – and while it’s certainly historical accurate, Anna’s snobbery and scheming can wear very thin in short order.

At the end of this third and final story, I find myself continuing to ponder this series.  Richardson can write, of that there is no question.  These stories have been erotic, evocative, delightful, and even amusing.  If the author were to publish a full-length novel, or even more short stories, I would no doubt happily buy and read them.  All the while, praying that the heroine will be someone who truly deserves any positive outcomes that play out over the course of the story.  Frankly, I was never sure that Anna did.

Grade: C+

You can read reviews for all three stories by clicking on the series tag.

Summary:

Countess Anna von Esslin has done something very uncharacteristic: she hasn’t taken a lover in over two years! None of the men in Munich meet her standards…especially her rival, James McKirnan.

Then the Countess is given a surprising birthday presents—a mystery lover who will only see her when she is blindfolded. He fulfills Anna’s every desire…but when the blindfold comes off, will she like what she sees?

No excerpt found

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian’s review of Her Colorado Man by Cheryl St. John
Historical romance released by Harlequin Historical 01 Dec 2009

Cheryl St. John is, hands down, my number one comfort author.  Her books are the equivalent of a cold winter night, snow falling outside, wrapped in a blanket, cuddled up on the sofa, drinking a mug of hot cocoa.  There is just something about her stories that rich deep down and strike an emotional cord in me.  Her Colorado Man continues that tradition, although I will admit it took me some time to wrap my mind around the jaw-dropping conflict.

When Mariah was 18-years-old she found herself pregnant.  The only soul she told was her grandfather, who promptly suggested she go to Chicago to attend “school.”  She lived there for a year, and when she returned home with young John James, she discovered grandfather, as a way to protect her and his new grandson, had concocted a make-believe husband.  He had a friend, Otto, working as a postmaster in Alaska, and asked him to come up with a name.  In return, Otto would write the occasional letter “home” to keep up appearances.  It’s an elaborate lie, but one Mariah agrees to.  The truth isn’t an option, so she agrees to become Mrs. Wesley Burrows.

Unknown to them is that there really is a Wesley Burrows.  He went to Alaska looking for gold, but quickly learned that delivering mail was a more reliable way to make money.  After an accident leaves him confined to bed, his backlog of personal mail is delivered to him.  Otto is no longer around to intercept them, so among his mail are letters from young John James.  Reading those letters, from a young boy who desperately needs a father, causes something to break for Wes.  He gets better and writes a letter to Mariah’s grandfather.  He’s coming to Colorado to be the father that John James wants and needs.

As one can imagine, this news is a bit upsetting to Mariah.  She had no idea Wesley Burrows was “real,” and the idea of welcoming a stranger into her life is unacceptable.  Yes, using his name was wrong, but what does he want?  What are his motives?  She doesn’t know this guy from Adam, how can she possibly trust him?  Why is he really doing this?

That’s the rub, of course – and it’s easy for the reader to understand how Mariah feels, because Wes’ decision is pretty fantastical.  Not just any man would drop his whole life to become a father just because a boy needs one.  However the author makes it work by explaining more about Wes.  What his life has been like, the accident, and how those letters from John James gave him so much comfort that he wanted to comfort the boy in return.  Admittedly he doesn’t think this plan all the way through.  He thinks, “I can be this boy’s father.” He doesn’t think, “Um, but what about the boy’s mother?” That’s ultimately what gets sorted out over the course of the story.

How willing the reader is to buy into this conflict will determine how well the book will work for them.  It worked fairly well for me because St. John sells it so well.  It also worked thanks to how fresh and lively this setting felt to me.  This is no run of the mill western. Mariah’s family is a large, lively, close-knit German clan that happens to run their own brewery.  Mariah works there, as does almost every single family member.  The brewery atmosphere, the trip to Denver the family takes for business, made this story feel so fresh and different compared to some of the other historical romances I’ve read this year.

At the end of the day, this story delivers exactly what I’ve come to expect from a Cheryl St. John book.  Good, hard-working characters who aren’t prone to hysterics, compelling conflict, and a tenderness that runs through the romance.  The plot and conflict of this story are a bit of a stretch at times, but it’s to the author’s credit that even this cynical skeptic ended up swallowing the idea.  I finished the final page thinking to myself, “Sure, that could have happened.  Hey, maybe it did happen?  And ::sigh::, what a nice story.”

Grade: B

Summary:

When eighteen-year-old Mariah found herself pregnant and unmarried in her small Colorado town, she disappeared. One year later, she returned with a baby—though minus the “husband” who had conveniently ventured off to Alaska’s gold fields to seek his fortune….

But now, with handsome adventurer Wes Burrows turning up and claiming to be the husband she had invented, Mariah’s lies become flesh and blood—and her wildest dreams a reality!

Read an excerpt.

Wendy the Super Librarian’s review of Taming Her Irish Warrior (The MacEgan Brothers #5) by Michelle Willingham
Historical romance released by Harlequin Historical 01 Oct 2009

Michelle Willingham continues her Irish medieval series about the MacEgan brothers with this latest entry, featuring the youngest of the lot, Ewan.  I’ll admit I have a huge soft spot for younger brother romance heroes with a need to “prove themselves” to their older siblings (siblings that usually tend to cast long shadows).  Ewan fits that mold, and while I found him appealing at times, his stubborn nature, coupled with the equally stubborn heroine didn’t always make the romance sing for me.

Ewan is the youngest of five brothers, and while the oldest one is a King, Ewan’s prospects are pretty slim.  It’s imperative that he weds a lady of means, preferably one with some land to her name.  He sets his sights on Lady Katherine of Ardennes.  Unfortunately for him, Katherine has the kind of beauty (and dowry) that inspires a number of suitors.  As a lowly younger son, one with few prospects, he’s got his work cut out for him.

Katherine’s older sister, Honora St. Leger has already survived one disastrous marriage.  After her husband dies, she finds herself thwarting the unwanted advances of her odious son-in-law.  So she returns home to her father and sister to regroup.  For years Honora has secretly honed her fighting skills among her father’s warriors.  In fact, it was Ewan who helped to train her.  She wants to rid the poor peasants of her vile son-in-law, but to do so she needs to raise an army.  There’s also the small matter that the villain terrifies her.  On top of that, her father is pressuring her to remarry, which Honora would rather be skinned alive than do.  That is until Ewan shows up.  He’s there hoping to win the hand of her properly feminine sister, and Honora knows she lacks everything he needs in a proper wife.  So how come these two cannot stay away from each other?  And what will they do with the villain comes calling?

There are a lot of potential pitfalls in the story that will likely turn off some readers.  For one, we have the heroine who likes to disguise herself as a man and play warrior woman.  Then we have a hero who is wooing one sister while lusting after the other.  It all sounds a bit….distasteful.  For the most part Willingham does a good job working the angles.  Chicks in pants playing with swords can annoy, but it fits Honora’s personality well.  Once determined to prove herself to a father who had little use for her, she now welcomes her skills as a means to protect herself – which come in especially handy during the course of her marriage.  Where this story stumbles a bit is with the conflict revolving around Ewan’s wooing of Katherine.

It’s very apparent early on that Ewan is smitten with Honora.  She infuriates him, puzzles him, vexes him, and she drives him totally mad with lust.  As the reader, this is very easy to see and understand.  Unfortunately it takes Ewan a while to realize it.  From a historical standpoint, I get it – making a good marriage match was everything, especially if you were a younger brother with little to no prospects.  He needs an heiress for a wife.  He needs the land, the dowry, the whole deal if he wants any sort of semi-comfortable life for himself and his future children.  So it’s easy to understand why he doesn’t throw Katherine over within the first 50 pages, but it does drag on for the bulk of the novel.  And then there’s the small matter of Honora pushing him away because she’s not what he needs, never mind she’s exactly what he wants.  It was kind of sick actually.  “Darling, I know you lust after me, but go!  Go marry my sister!”

Ultimately something happens that forces their hand, Ewan has to finally make his choice, and the villain must be dealt with.  Still, the couple keeps tap-dancing around their feelings for each other, and the belief that neither is what the other one needs continues to linger.  By this point I found myself getting a bit exasperated with them both.

Willingham continues to write interesting medievals, and it’s to her credit that she delivers a readable story featuring plot devices that generally are harder sells for me.  If you’re a reader who is a sucker for a chick in pants or heroes who start out the story wooing another woman?  This one will surely deliver what you crave.

Grade: C+

Summary:

When did Ewan MacEgan grow to be so overwhelmingly strong and disarmingly sexy? He intends to wed Honora St. Leger’s demure sister—but why should that matter to her? Honora would rather wield a sword than a mending needle and, as a widow, she knows there is little pleasure in the marriage bed….

Ewan MacEgan has set his sights on a wealthy bride but, tantalizingly, he finds himself drawn to the forbidden Honora! One touch and he is longing to awaken her sensuality, for he suspects she will be as passionate in bed as she is on the battlefield!

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian’s review of The Christmas Stranger (The Bancroft Brides #1) by Beth Cornelison
Romantic suspense released by Silhouette Romance Suspense 01 Oct 09

I’ve never naturally gravitated towards Harlequin’s romantic suspense category lines, despite being a longtime mystery/suspense fan.  I suspect it’s because, as much as I love the category format, adhering to a shorter word count, delivering a satisfying romance, and one top of all that, a satisfying suspense plot is a really tall order.  It takes a particularly skilled writer to be able to pull it off.  For the most part Beth Cornelison does in this first book in her Bancroft Brides trilogy.  The suspense plot wasn’t exactly challenging, but thoughtful characters and a climactic finish swoop in to save the day.

A year ago Holly Bancroft Cole’s husband, Ryan, was murdered.  They found his body in an abandoned church, his wallet and shoes missing.  Given the questionable neighborhood, police suspect a vagrant of the crime, but there are precious few leads.  Which means 12 months down the road, the case is still unsolved.  Holly has filled the void with her teaching job and volunteering at a local community aid center.  That is where she meets down-on-his-luck Matt Rankin.  Matt is living in a shady motel, currently in between construction jobs, and has lost custody of his kids to his in-laws.  If anyone needs a break, it’s this guy.  Through a series of circumstances, Holly ends up hiring him to complete renovations on her farm house.  Work has stalled on it ever since her husband’s death, Matt needs the job, and she just wants to be finished with it all.  But what will happen when Holly discovers the many secrets that Matt is keeping from her?  Especially in light of the fact of their growing attraction?

Yes gentle readers, we have ourselves the ol’ Big Secret plot.  It works fairly well here, as the Big Secret is highly charged and very emotional.  However, it does rely heavily on coincidence.  The reader has to be willing to buy into the fact that Matt and Holly’s paths have crossed before – even if they don’t realize it right away.  Sort of like two ships passing in the night.  The author lays out the facts in a slow and concise manner, having Matt unfold his tragic past throughout the entire course of the story.  This is at times frustrating as he shares the truth with Holly in drips and drabs, instead of just laying all of his cards out on the table, and getting it over with – thereby causing turmoil later on in the story.  That being said, both Holly and Matt are very nice people, you want them to succeed, and glory be, even with reticence and holding back, they do talk to each other – making it easy to buy into their budding romance.

The suspense thread here is decent, but it’s fairly obvious early on who our bad guy is.  That said, the author does a fine job of leaving motive up in the air until it’s revealed during the final chapters, and this helped save the day.  It’s easy to get bored with a suspense thread if you unravel it early on, and in this case the author does the smart thing by holding back just enough to cultivate an exciting finish.

While The Christmas Stranger didn’t change my life, it was a fast, quick read that kept me entertained.  Holly and Matt are both very likeable people, and the suspense plot kept the story humming along at a good clip.  There’s also a nice bit of Christmas flavor to the story, that would make this one an ideal holiday read – with an added bit of excitement as Holly unravels the mystery of her husband’s death.  It’s a good, solid start to a new series, and future books are planned for Holly’s two sisters.

Grade: B-

Summary:

After her husband’s death, Holly Bancroft Cole knows Christmas won’t be the same this year. Still grieving, she decides to complete the renovations on her North Carolina farmhouse and hires a construction worker. Drawn to his piercing eyes and gentle manners, Holly can’t shake the feeling that secrets lie behind the handsome stranger’s warm smile.

Haunted by memories, Matt Rankin can’t remember the joy that simple pleasures bring until he meets Holly. When a harrowing attempt is made on her life, Matt realizes he can’t live without this beautiful angel. Now he must protect the woman he loves at all costs—even if it means risking his own life.

Read an excerpt.

Wendy the Super Librarian’s review of From Waif To Gentleman’s Wife (Wellingford’s #5) by Julia Justiss
Historical romance released by Harlequin Historical 01 Oct 09

Over the years I have remained fiercely loyal to Harlequin Historical in part because of their willingness to publish stories set in locales currently not the flavor of the month.  Which means they offer more to readers than just Regency historicals about spies and Dukes.  They were literally my lifeline during a time in my reading life when I was so burnt out on All England All The Time that I would read maybe one Regency-set book a year.  Now that my crippling burn-out has begun to lift, I’ve been making up for lost time by discovering many Regency writers that other readers have known about for years.  This being my first book by Julia Justiss, I wasn’t all that surprised to discover that Harlequin chose to publish a Regency historical that actually felt different.  It was like opening up a window on a warm spring day after a very long, dismal winter.  You mean Regencies can be about more than Dukes and spies?  Wow.

Joanna Merrill is a young widow with few options.  Her soldier husband succumbed to a fever he contracted in India, her in-laws have washed their hands of her, her family is abroad, and she’s sunk.  So she takes a job as a governess, only to find herself thwarting the advances of her randy employer.  When the fine upstanding Lady of the household catches her husband accosting Joanna, she promptly fires Joanna.  What with it being all her fault for throwing herself at a married man.  Joanna is tossed out on her ear, with very few coins to her name.  Desperate, she decides to travel to Blenhem Hill where her brother, Greville, is employed as estate manager.

Sir Edward “Ned” Greaves has purchased Blenhem Hill from his good friend Nicholas Stanhope, Marquess of Englemere.  Nicky gave his distant cousin Greville the job of overseeing the estate, only to learn that he was doing a terrible job of it.  Firing Greville, he’s at a loss of what to do next.  Blenhem is out of the way of his other holdings and he’s loathe to leave his wife and young son.  So when Edward, being a bit of an agricultural nut, offers to buy it from him, he accepts.  On his way to take up residence though, Edward’s carriage is assaulted by Luddite hooligans.  To get to the bottom of the local unrest, Edward decides to pose as Mr. Ned Greaves, the new estate manager hired by Englemere, keeping his own noble lineage a secret.  Which is how Joanna Merrill comes to meet him when she literally collapses at his feet after finally arriving at Blenhem.  The turmoil of the journey, the shock of her current circumstances, and finding out her brother has been fired is just too much.

What follows is Ned and Joanna coming to an understanding.  He’s determined to get Blenhem Hill back on track, which means making repairs, amends and opening a school for the children.  In turn, with no other options available, having no idea where her brother is, and loathe to throw herself on the mercy of distant relation Englemere, Joanna accepts the job of being the schoolteacher.  Naturally as they spend more time together, Ned and Joanna are drawn to each other.  But what will happen when she learns who he really is?  And who is behind the unrest among the local farmers and textile workers?

While Justiss employs the common Big Secret trope, there was so much about this story that felt unique and refreshing.  Notably, the circumstances that Joanna finds herself in, and how realistically they are portrayed.  This is a woman who is smart and resourceful, but at the mercy of people with more power than she has.  You bleed for this woman as she arrives at Blenhem, after all the drama and turmoil, only to discover her last hope, her brother, has been fired and nowhere to be found.  She has to rely on the kindness of a stranger, and ultimately is drawn to Ned because of his kindness, work ethic, and the fact that she believes they’re in the same social stratosphere.

Ned’s a nice guy, and one can understand his reasons for the deception, but his keeping the truth from Joanna for as long as he does is a bit hard to swallow.  Especially after he muses, quite often, how logical, forthright and intelligent she is.  He justifies his secrecy by saying it’s to protect her, but ultimately I was left with the impression that he obviously didn’t think her intelligent enough to be able to handle the truth.  When it all comes tumbling out at the end, it’s hard not to sympathize with Joanna, and the author handles these final chapters of heartbreak and redemption very well.

Part of the author’s long-running Wellingford series, this book stands alone extremely well.  It’s a quick, charming read, very much in the tone of a traditional Regency (well, expect this story has s-e-x in it!).  It’s also so refreshingly different from a lot of the other Regency historical currently cramming the shelves that it was hard for me not to be delighted by this tale.  I read it in one afternoon, and it was an afternoon well spent.

Grade: B

Summary:

When a destitute governess faints on Sir Edward Greaves’s threshold, chivalry demands that he offer her temporary shelter. However, the desire Ned feels when he catches her in his arms isn’t at all gentlemanly….

With her large, troubled eyes and slender frame, Joanna Merrill calls to something deep inside this guarded man. For one who has purposely shunned the conniving beauties of London society, just how much is Ned risking by having this intriguing woman under his roof…?

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian’s review of Touch Me by Jacquie D’Alessandro
Historical romance released by Harlequin Blaze 1 Oct 09

One thing I’ve noticed about the Blaze historicals is that while they’re certainly fun and sexy, they also require a fair amount of suspension of disbelief.  Of course if you’re looking for meaty historical accuracy you probably shouldn’t be picking up a category romance that clocks in just over 200 pages and is published under a line that promises fast-paced, sexy fun.  But for a pure escapist delight?  These Blaze historicals have been just the ticket.  Jacquie D’Alessandro’s Touch Me continues down that path, and it’s a fairly pleasing read.

Fans will remember former mistress Genevieve Ralston as a secondary character from the author’s Avon single title release, Love And The Single Heiress.  Genevieve is now living in the quiet town of Little Longstone.  Her lover for the past decade has unceremoniously dumped her, and she finds that the local hot springs help the affliction that ultimately caused him to spurn her.  She’s living a quiet life until one day Simon Cooperstone, Viscount Kilburn, shows up on her doorstep.

Going by the name Simon Cooper, he’s come to Little Longstone to clear his name.  Genevieve’s former lover moved in powerful circles and has been murdered!  Unfortunately for him, Simon was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and now he’s the prime suspect.  As a spy for the crown, Simon convinces his superiors to give him time to clear his name.  Seems the dead man gave Genevieve a puzzle box, which contains a letter effectively clearing Simon’s good name and unmasking the identity of the real killer.

I know.  When it comes to Romance Land, spies are more prevalent than Dukes in Regency historicals.  But for readers not totally burnt out on spy games, this is a quick sexy read.  Genevieve may have been a mistress, but it hurt when her lover spurned her affections.  She entered their arrangement out of necessity, but after a decade together it’s no wonder that she ultimately fell in love with him.  She’s finally starting to move on with her life, and has absolutely no interest in starting a new relationship or giving her heart to another man.  Then Simon comes along, and the chemistry between them sizzles.

Simon comes to Little Longstone not knowing Genevieve’s roll in her lover’s death.  It’s possible she could have done him in, or hired someone else to do it for her!  However as he spends time with her, he quickly deduces that she’s not only innocent, but doesn’t even know her former lover is dead.  She also doesn’t realize that the puzzle box and innocuous letter are bringing danger to her front door.

Both of these characters have secrets they’re hiding, and it is bothersome that Simon isn’t more open with Genevieve after he deduces she’s an innocent bystander in this whole affair.  Still, I guess being a spy is a hard habit to break.  The ending is terribly romantic, although I’m not sure how terribly realistic – as the happy ending required of a romance novel is certainly going to have fall-out for Simon, who’s a bloody Viscount!  But if you’re looking for fun, sexy, romantic, and an enjoyable way to kill a few hours?  Look for no further.

Grade: B

Summary:

Pleasing a man is something former mistress Genevieve Ralston does very well. But after her lover callously dumps her, she’s definitely off men…until she meets Simon! He’s brooding. Sexy. And she can’t keep her hands off him….

But Simon Cooperstone, Viscount Kilburn, is a spy. His mission: retrieve a mysterious letter in Genevieve’s possession. Intent on seducing her secrets from her, he forgets to guard one thing: his heart.

Each stroke of Genevieve’s talented fingers unleashes his deepest desires. Too late, he realizes that while he may be a master of the art of seduction, he’s no match for a sensual mistress….

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian’s review of Cowboy Christmas by Carol Finch, Elizabeth Lane & Pam Crooks
Historical romance anthology released by Harlequin Historical 01 Oct 09

Holiday time means two things.  1) Harlequin starts churning out the Christmas-themed books and 2) Wendy’s wallet starts quietly sobbing.  It doesn’t help matters that Harlequin has a habit of offering up a western historical anthology.  So I started Cowboy Christmas with some anticipation, settling in for what I hoped would be a solid, heartwarming collection.  Unfortunately, none of the stories inspired more than just an “Meh, it’s OK” reaction from me.

A Husband For Christmas by Carol Finch

Victoria “Tori” Thurston enjoys her life in a tiny west Texas town where she runs her own bakery.  Her parents are major movers in Fort Worth society, which means they have the perfect potential husband picked out for her.  Naturally Tori isn’t overeager to abandon her business to wed some stuffed shirt, so she tells her parents it’s too late, she’s already married to local marshal, Logan Daniels.  However now she’s really in the soup.  Her parents expect her home for Christmas and they want to meet this mysterious husband.  Now all she has to do is convince Logan to play her husband for a quick holiday visit home.  Surely that won’t be too difficult.

This is the humorous story in the anthology, and Finch does a nice job keeping the proceedings fairly light and fluffy.  Unfortunately she skims over a lot of the sticker details in order to achieve that goal.  Tori has always played second fiddle to her gorgeous older sister.  She has a good relationship with The Chosen One, but her parents, while not mean-spirited, are offhandedly neglectful of the more enterprising Tori.  None of this family baggage is really addressed, other than for Tori to realize that her sister’s life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.  I also was disappointed there wasn’t more than a passing western flavor to this tale.  Honestly the author could have plucked these characters up and dropped them anywhere else in time or place and the story wouldn’t have changed all that much.

Grade = C







The Homecoming by Elizabeth Lane

Clay McAllister has spent the last three years in prison because of his reckless, stupid younger brother.  All he wants is to return to his ranch, his wife Elise and their young son.  When he arrives though, he discovers the ranch in disrepair and Elise less than happy to see him.  Why had Buck never returned home, delivering the money they made on their last cattle drive together like Clay had begged him to?

I love holiday stories that center around redemption and forgiveness.  However, this one hinges on one of the more insulting plot devices around – The Character Who Won’t Read Letters That Explain Everything.  Yep, you guessed it.  Clay wrote his wife faithfully from prison and she marked them all Return To Sender without reading them.  So naturally while she thinks she knows what happened, she really doesn’t.  Honestly, who the hell does this?  It makes absolutely no sense.  Also, while there is more than enough conflict to keep this story chugging along, there’s really too much conflict to keep this story chugging along.  If ever a story was begging for a full-length treatment, this one is it.

Grade = C







The Cattleman’s Christmas Bride by Pam Crooks

Allethaire “Allie” Gibson is returning to Montana in disgrace.  She’s been accused of embezzling money from a fundraiser she was spearheading back in Minneapolis, and she needs to see her father in Montana to explain her innocence.  That’s when the train is held up by outlaws and they find a whole wad of cash in her trunk!  But she’s innocent!  Before the authorities on the train can take her in for questioning, she’s saved by local rancher,Mikolas “Mick” Vasco who was nearby when he heard the train stop in the middle of the tracks.  He spirits Allie away, determined to help her clear her name.  There’s one small wrinkle though – a few years back Mick was one of the men who kidnapped Allie for ransom!

This is a sequel of sorts to the author’s previous book, The Cattleman’s Unsuitable Wife.  If you haven’t read that story, this one is a bit rocky.  Mostly because the majority of the conflict is a holdover from that book.  Once the author catches the reader up to speed, it sails along at a smoother clip, but too much is glossed over.  Namely the heroine’s compulsion for drinking brandy in secret and the small matter of the stolen money, which is apparently going to be fodder for a future book.  Which ultimately makes this story nothing but a placeholder between books.  If you’re a fan, you’ll likely want to read this one.  Otherwise, there’s not a whole lot here for newcomers.

Grade = C

All in all these stories never rated above OK for me.  This anthology was a quick pleasant read, but it didn’t set my world on fire.  If you’re hooked on Crooks’ series, this one is probably worth a look.  Otherwise, while it’s a decent diversion, it didn’t have a whole lot of staying power.

Overall Grade: C

Summary:

Twelve days of Christmas—three heartwarming romances!

A Husband for Christmas by Carol Finch

To reassure her overprotective parents, Victoria Thurston must convince the town marshal to be her “holiday husband.” But the magical, festive air—and Tori’s luminous green eyes—make it very difficult for Logan Daniels to keep to their marriage in name only!

The Homecoming by Elizabeth Lane

Brooding rancher Clay McAllister paid his reckless brother’s dues in a tough Kansas jail. Now Clay must win back his beautiful wife, Elise. And, after three years apart, some yuletide passion is just what Clay and Elise need to reignite the fire that still smolders between them….

The Cattleman’s Christmas Bride by Pam Crooks

With her reputation cruelly slandered, Allethaire Gibson is forced to flee to the snowy Montana mountains. There the dazzling socialite unexpectedly finds a Christmas romance with a man who has fought for respect just as she has—rugged cattleman Mikolas Vasco!

Read an excerpt – Finch Story, Lane Story, no excerpt found for Crooks story

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian’s review of Under The Boss’s Mistletoe by Jessica Hart
Contemporary romance released by Harlequin Romance 10 Nov 2009

Sometimes the right book finds you at just the right time.  Having been mired in what I’m calling The Reading Slump From Hell for the past month, I’ve been slogging my through one book after another.  However, just as I was about to dissolve in puddle of tears, I picked Jessica Hart’s latest Harlequin Romance.  The skies parted, and I swear I heard a heavenly choir belting out a rockin’ tune.

At twenty-seven Cassandra Grey is a supreme disappointment to her family.  Her brothers and sister are wildly successful, while Cassie has flitted from one job to the next.  However she’s finally settled on a career she thinks is right for her.  She’s working for a wedding planner, although business has been a bit slow lately.  That’s when her boss gets a call from Jake Trevelyan inquiring about their services and asks to meet with Cassie.  Jake and Cassie knew each other when they were younger, and the last time they saw each other was full of teenage angst culminating in a scorching kiss.  Cassie looks back on her behavior and is slightly mortified.  But the business needs the booking, and Cassie needs her job, so she agrees to meet with Jake.

Turns out Jake isn’t getting married.  No, he’s inherited Portrevick Hall, a stately manor in the quaint small town where he and Cassie grew up.  Jake is a very successful business man, but even he cannot afford a huge English manor.  No, the Hall is going to need to pay for itself, so he has the idea of making it available to the public for various events.  Oh, like weddings.  Someone told him Cassie was in the wedding business now, so he gives her a call.  When she shows up, he discovers Cassie is still the sweet, slightly bumbling, chaotic girl he remembered.  However she has some good ideas, and agrees to hire her to turn the Hall into a venue.

In order for this story to work, the reader has to be willing to buy into a couple of things.  For one, that Cassie could work for a wedding planner.  She’s certainly a sweet, charming and lovely girl, but she’s also a bit disorganized and messy.  She’s the type of person who is always 15 minutes late, she wouldn’t know sleek and cool if it bit her in the butt, and she thrives on clutter.  This doesn’t mean she’s too stupid to live.  No, Cassie is a bright girl.  She’s just not what I would call “Type A.”  But she’s charming, delightful, and just what Jake needs in his life.  Also, the prologue of the story is a bit overwrought.  That being said, it sets up the story by showing Cassie at 17 and Jake in his very early 20s.  Overwrought with a fair amount of exclamation points is pretty much par for the course at 17.

Jake grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, so when he got a chance to escape his hometown, he took it and ran.  To compensate for a childhood where everyone treated him like trash, he became the classic over-achiever.  The right suit, the right tie, the right job, and the right girl.  Jake has attached himself to smart, cool, sophisticated women who always wear black.  Cassie is most definitely not his type.  So why is he so drawn to her?

What I liked so much about this story besides the fact that it was charming and sweet, was that Jake and Cassie spend a fair amount of time talking to each other.  After slogging through one too many romances where the romantic couple is unwilling or incapable of this it made Jake and Cassie’s interaction with each other a breath of fresh air.

What I enjoy about the Harlequin Romance line is that they’re multi-generational stories.  The type of stories that you can read and then give to your mother, grandmother or teenage daughter without missing a beat.  Under The Boss’s Mistletoe is a textbook example of this.  Read it, savor it, and then give it to your 13-year-old daughter to read.  You’ll both love it.

Grade: B+

Summary:

In high school, Jake Trevelyan was Casie Grey’s dream rebel. He surfed, rode a motorbike – now he’s her new boss! It’s events planner Cassie’s job to transform Jake’s mansion into a snow-kissed wedding venue. NOT to relive her old fantasy that they’re the ones getting married. Posing as the happy couple for a publicity photo shoot, Cassie pinches herself as Jake leans in for a show-stopping kiss … but it’s just for the cameras, isn’t it?

Read an excerpt.

Several bloggers have answered comments on the AAR forums about blogging recently. In doing so, some have noticed a recent snippiness and touchiness in the reading community, from readers and from writers. I was hanging around at Wendy’s blog recently, something I do a lot, and she’s noticed something similar, too. Mrs. Giggles has spotted it. 

I think I have an inkling as to what might be going on, or at least some of it.

Actions and consequences…

I heard a program on the radio this morning, “Whistleblowers” about Paul Moore and how he warned the bank HBOS about its risky strategies and its target-based culture, and how it and banks like it pushed consumers into taking too many risks. It was all about selling, he said and they didn’t look at the long term consequences, and the unbalanced risk it introduced.

Sound familiar? It should.

It’s happening in the book business, and it’s not all down to the recession. Before 2009, signs of strain were already showing. Historically, books have always followed the newspaper model of distribution – copies were distributed to suppliers, bookstores for the main part, and those that didn’t sell were returned. That meant that you could drop into your local bookstore and be confident of finding the book you wanted. It also meant a bucketload of returns. Then Anderson News, one of the biggest distributors went under.

Two things were happening. The supermarkets were buying books in bulk, undercutting traditional retailers and doing their own distribution. And the newspaper industry was failing. It would have made sense to try to do away with the “sale or return” system, but it was too convenient to the companies involved – the accounting and financing of the publishers would have had to be restructured, and that can’t be done quickly, and it was a good thing for the supermarkets, who wouldn’t have surplus stock to sell or dispose of.

Sell or die…

At the publishing houses, there were a number of fine editors who had a lot of control over the books the house took and what was done with them. It gave each house a distinct identity, and its authors were given relative artistic freedom. Now, no decision is made independent of the marketing and finance departments. The question was no longer asked, “Is this book good for us?” but “Can we sell enough copies?”

A carefully balanced portfolio of bestsellers, middle ground authors and risky chances that could take off in a big way or could bomb spectacularly, was abandoned for the best seller model. Big authors, controversial themes, with big money put behind them. Middle ground authors, career authors with reputations but no huge sales were dropped. I’ve met a few, and while being resilient and determined to weather the storm, there’s a core of unhappiness and cynicism that just wasn’t there before. Existing authors are sometimes desperately chasing targets, because if their current book doesn’t sell up to target, they’re dropped. No second chances.

The publishing business has gone from brutal to savage, from relatively civilised to a jungle culture. If you don’t sell, you’re gone. No benefit of the doubt, no “see what your next title does,” no “this will be a slow burner.” Without that attitude, we wouldn’t have had The Lord of the Rings, or The Chronicles of Narnia, or even Dorothy Dunnett’s Lymond Chronicles, all series that became massive sellers, but had relatively slow starts.

Wait, we don’t get them, do we? Not any more. A series has to start with a huge bang and go on to sell and sell, otherwise it’s gone. A writer with a three-book contract will see her books cut off after the second, even the first, leaving the readers hungry for the last ones, and increasingly determined not to buy a series until it’s all out. So sales at first are low, and more get cut. A self fulfilling prophecy.

Big publishers are struggling to stay afloat. If it weren’t for cash reserves and the massive profits they stand to make by selling e-books and not passing on savings to authors or readers, they’d probably go under. Midlist authors are going to the e-publishers, giving up or trying for the big one. Or writing for Harlequin, which is taking serious note of the market and going from strength to strength.

Ahead of the curve…

Harlequin always had the drop on other publishers with its direct mail order service, which didn’t depend on distributors or returns. It had a regular audience and after slipping behind in the late 1990’s, turned its lines around and rejuvenated or dropped them. And Harlequin has an established, successful e-bookstore.

You’d expect me to say e-publishing is where the future is because I write for e-publishers. Well that’s not why I do it. I’ve had chances to write for others, but the offer or the money wasn’t quite right. I promised myself I’d do this to make myself happy, not to go for the big bucks or the huge sales. As it happens, I think I’ve fallen into the right part of the industry. Right for me, right for the future.

No, I don’t think we’ll see the end of the paper book. It’s a transition. But the sale-or-return culture, plus increasing costs in distribution and production, plus increasing pressure from ecologists has all pushed producers of print to think again. It’s been coming for a long time, from the day when Rupert Murdoch pushed the print unions to breaking point and then smashed them, from the day when Anderson’s closed its doors, to when Wal-Mart became indispensable to many people and one-stop shopping became important.

Make a fast splash…

So, back to the point of the article. Writers and readers getting snippy. Of course there’s no one reason. Writers are being pressured to write the big one, the big series, the High Concept book, something that is different but stays the same. Nobody’s telling them to, it’s just the way “the market” is going. Fewer authors, higher sales per unit. Splashy, lots of action, lots of sex.

For some writers, that’s exactly what they want to do. Others don’t, their metier runs to a different kind of book and they’re getting short shrift now. The chase for the next big thing has resulted in markets rising and falling ever faster. Right now it’s urban fantasy, next it’s steampunk, but if you aren’t already in there and working hard, either close to publication or accepted, then forget it, because for the writer, that’s over. The publishers have all the authors they want in that genre and you’re going to have to look for something else, something with a platform, a high concept, a distinct genre.

This is making writers edgy. They’re putting out books faster, and each book is getting a little less theirs, a little more of a product. Less love is going into creating it. Editors are all about buying the next book and spotting the next trend, not nurturing the writers they’ve already bought. It’s not their fault, it’s just the way the market is going.

Readers can only buy what is in the bookstores. If you love paranormal but you hate the market leaders, you’ll look for something else, pick up the next book with a great cover and blurb. Maybe you’ll find something. But rarely a book with great depth, something that speaks to your soul. It’s always been like that, there have always been splashy, dramatic books, and good luck to them. We all need one of those to read from time to time. But readers want more, they want different, and it’s getting harder to find. It’s not the reader’s concern to analyse and decide what they want. Why should they? But if they don’t find what they want, they’ll move on to videos, video games, other genres.

So writers, edgy with the increased pressures and with writing more books are snipping at readers, and readers, dissatisfied but not quite knowing why, are snipping back.

There are always exceptions, always a great book, always an author who ploughs her own furrow, but it’s the general trends, not individual greatness or otherwise that is driving the market. Always the Pareto rule, the 80:20 ratio that goes into the marketing and finance departments. There’s a reason for the saying “the exception proves the rule.”

Plus it’s the change of the season, and that always brings a bit of disturbance. So maybe it’s just the weather.

Wendy the Super Librarian’s review of An Impolite Seduction (The Countess Trilogy #2) by Alison Richardson
Historical erotica short story ebook released by Spice Briefs 1 Oct 09

I’m not above admitting that even when the characters may not hold a lot of appeal, that good writing will keep me coming back for more.  Such is the case with Alison Richardson’s latest Spice Briefs short story, the second in her Countess Trilogy, and the second story to feature the lusty young widow Countess Anna von Esslin.

It’s been three years since the events The Countess’s Client, and Anna has traveled to the English countryside to help her young cousin Charlotte.  Charlotte, the poor ignorant chit, has gone and gotten engaged to a rather dull and priggish Viscount.  Worse still?  The girl is still a virgin!  Determined to set about properly educating the girl (oh, and to attend the wedding), Anna is expecting a rather tiresome visit.  It gets unexpectedly complicated though when she discovers that James McKirnan is her cousin-in-law’s neighbor.  Having ended their affair three years ago in Paris, amid quite a bit of scandalous whispering, Anna is not very happy to see him.  However James has moved up in the world, and is determined to make Anna his – by whatever means necessary.

The problems I had with the first short story in this trilogy are still evident here.  Anna is still an insufferable snob and for the life of me I can’t figure out what James sees in her, other than she’s a spectacular lay and she’s playing hard to get.  James continues to be an uneasy mix – one moment charming and likeable, the next an intolerable jackass.  I’m still trying to figure out why I should care about what happens to either of these two.

Which probably leaves you, gentle review reader, wondering why the heck I read this story when the continuing characters didn’t gel for me the first time around.  Well, I’ll tell you.  Richardson has a delicious writing style.  Anna is, on one hand, all about societal class structure and her station in it, and on the other hand, deliciously scandalous.  I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at several moments over the course of this story, ranging from Anna’s opinion on why men seem to prize virginal brides so much (two words: performance anxiety) and how she wriggles out of a sticky situation at the end of this tale.

I’m still not willing to shout from the roof-tops and recommend these stories wholeheartedly, but darn if the writing style and Anna’s scandalous lifestyle don’t keep me coming back for more.  It’s like a trashy night-time soap opera set in Victorian times.  No wonder I’m hooked.

Grade: C

Summary:

“There is nothing in the world less appealing than a chaste young man.”

At least that’s the opinion of Countess Anna von Esslin, who is shocked to learn her cousin has gotten engaged without a single taste of passion. But while the Countess arranges her cousin’s seduction, she is also reunited with James McKirnan, a man intent on seducing her. And James is certainly far from chaste…

No excerpt found.

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian’s review of His Secret Agenda by Beth Andrews
Contemporary romance released by Harlequin SuperRomance 13 Oct 09

It’s often overlooked thanks to the dopey titles Harlequin likes to slap on their books, but I strongly believe that some of the most interesting, innovating, and compelling stories are often told in the category format.  I can practically hear your disbelief over the telecommunication wires.  Yes, amongst the amnesia, secret baby, tycoons and virgin secretaries – writers publishing with Harlequin are churning out interesting, challenging stories featuring interesting, challenging characters.  No one is demonstrating this more for me right now than Beth Andrews.  With only her third book for Harlequin SuperRomance, she’s already shown that she’s a writer willing to take some risks.

Allison “Allie” Martin used to be a criminal defense attorney working for one of the most prestigious firms in Manhattan.  Then something happens (cue Big Secret music), she quit her job, and moved back to her hometown of Serenity Springs, New York.  She bought the local bar, and has been running it ever since.  What Allie hasn’t stopped doing is rescuing people from themselves.  She can’t seem to help herself, and it’s her attraction to strays that has created a small problem for her business.  She keeps hiring unreliable bartenders.  When Dean Garret walks into the bar for an interview, she takes one look at the Texas cowboy and says no thank you.  Sorry to waste your time mister.

Dean is not an easy fellow to brush off.  He needs the job because he needs to snoop (cue Big Secret music).  He’s been hired to do a job, and his instincts tell him that Allie Martin has the answers he’s looking for.  So he does a bit of a two-step, pulls a few strings, and Allie has no choice but to hire him.  In other words, she’s desperate, he can mix drinks, and his cowboy hat is practically charming the panties off her female customers.

The reason authors keep going back to the Big Secret plot device is because when it works – it really cooks.  It makes for a compelling read.  In this instance, both Allie and Dean are hiding something.  Allie hasn’t even told her family why she quit law and decided to run a bar for a living, and Dean isn’t about to come right out and tell Allie what he’s really doing in Serenity Springs.  He needs answers, and to his way of thinking, if he comes right out and asks Allie, all she’ll do is dodge and lie to him.

These secrets, and the minor suspense sub plot, keep the story humming along.  Dean is suitably charming and sexy – not to mention a little sneaky.  He’s also got the requisite baggage required of most romance novel heroes (he’s estranged from his family).  Allie is a nice girl, although one would think her years working as an attorney would have helped dim her rose-colored view of people.

Her character worked fairly well for me, but I can see her not working for other readers.  Allie has made some rough choices, and her work as a criminal defense lawyer probably isn’t going to endear her to some readers (in my experience, people have very strong opinions about lawyers who represent the accused).  She’s paying a price for some of those choices she made, which is probably why I expected her to be more jaded.  Instead she seems downright determined, bordering on naive at times, to believe the best in everybody.  Which is probably why Dean is so successful at hiding his true mission from her.

At the end of the day though, I did enjoy this return visit to Serenity Springs.  There is definitely an unresolved thread at the end of this story, and one suspects it is going to be mined for the author’s next book, which is due out in May 2010.  While it wasn’t a perfect read, I still enjoyed it quite a bit, and Beth Andrews has safely moved into my autobuy category.

Grade: B-

Summary:

Dean Garret is about to break the number one rule of undercover work. And it’s all because his new “boss” is as pretty as a professional cheerleader and has a do-gooder’s heart. Who can resist that combination? Still, Dean suspects Allison Martin is hiding something behind her dazzling smile. That something being the runaway mother and son he’s been hired to find.

To get the job done, he needs to gain Allie’s trust. Only, the lawyer-turned-bar-owner isn’t cooperating. But she can’t remain immune to his good ol’ boy charm and sexy drawl forever. Because Dean never fails. And he’ll do anything to solve a case. Even if it means he has to break all the rules.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian’s review of Texas Wedding For Their Baby’s Sake by Kathryn Albright
Historical romance released by Harlequin Historical 1 Sep 09

As readers, oftentimes when we read a book we love, we immediately hope for a sequel.  Sometimes those sequels are just as good, and sometimes it’s a case of be careful what you wish for.  I loved the first book in this series, The Rebel And The Lady, and gave it a glowing review last year.  I really and truly adored it.  So naturally, I was looking forward to this follow-up romance, featuring the wayward Brandon Dumont, who left behind a sweetheart in South Carolina to join the fight for Texas’ independence.  I wish I could say this story worked just as well for me, and I loved it just as much.  Sadly, I cannot.

 Five months ago Brandon Dumont arrived in Texas to join the fight for independence.  He ended up getting captured and was ultimately rescued from a Mexican prison camp by his older brother, Jake.  A doctor, Santa Anna only kept him alive to tend to the hundreds of wounded Mexican troops.  He walked away from the ordeal bitter, scarred, with a bum leg, and a serious case of post-traumatic stress.  Brandon is completely out of sorts, treading water, with no plans for his future.  The only thing on his agenda is the impending arrival of Franklin, the family hired hand from Charleston, who is making the trip for Jake’s upcoming wedding to his fiancee’, Victoria.  Imagine their surprise when Franklin arrives with the lovely Miss Caroline Benet in tow.

Caroline and Brandon were sweethearts that were planning to marry.  However, a failure to communicate, and a kiss shared between Caroline and Jake (oopsie!) sent Brandon running off to Texas.  Since he hasn’t returned to Charleston, she decides to take matters into her own hands and go to Texas to find him.  See, the poor gal is pregnant with his baby, and she’s determined to let him know he’s going to be a daddy.  It does come as a shock to her though that the Brandon she finds in Texas is completely different from the Brandon she fell in love with in Charleston.

This story requires an extreme amount of patience on the part of the reader, and it was only my love for the first book that had me persevering through to the grand finale.  Brandon and Caroline are “torn apart” because they’re both two stupid kids who won’t talk to each other.  My profuse apologies to all the Regency romance couples I maligned over the years for “not talking to each other.”  Turns out romantic couples from the American South also suffer from the affliction.

When Brandon isn’t having a pity party for himself, he’s pushing Caroline away for “her own good.”  No, they can’t be together.  He’s too damaged.  He’s no good.  Besides that, she done him wrong.  Caroline starts out equally as shaky: a prim Southern belle who’s sole purpose in life is to look pretty, smile and do needlepoint.  She’s a bit of a stuck-up snob once she lands in Texas, simply horrified that Brandon would want to live like this rather than returning to South Carolina.  But do you think she tells him about the baby right away?  Of course not!  That revelation doesn’t come out until after they fall into each others’ arms again and Jake finally notices that she’s got a baby bump.

Adding to my annoyance was the fact that Jake, the wonderful hero from The Rebel And The Lady, who I adored, was an insufferable jackass for about three-quarters of this book.

Still, I kept reading – and I was rewarded for it, because the story did get better for me.  Brandon keeps up his noble, sending-away-the-woman-I-love-for-her-own-good nonsense pretty much until the bitter end – but Jake stops being an ass and glory be, Caroline grows up.  The girl reaches deep down and finds her spine.  She starts giving it to Brandon with both barrels and when she actually calls him a coward (to his face!) I wanted to reach through the pages and kiss the girl.  Truly.

It took some patience on my part, but I found the ending of this story ultimately rewarding.  Unfortunately I had to slog through the first half of this novel to get to that point, and there really wasn’t a whole lot I liked there.  In the end, I found it a disappointing follow-up to one of my favorite historicals from last year.  Bummer.

Grade: C-

Summary:

Brandon Dumont is not the man he was. Embittered by war, he’s now a rugged survivor, a broken hero. Certain he’s not fit for society, he finds his lonely self-imposed exile shattered by the arrival of the woman he once bedded and left behind.

Since her fiancé went to war, social butterfly Caroline Benét has had to grow up fast. She’s held up a stagecoach at gunpoint and left the safety of Charleston for wild Texas territory—all to find a man she no longer knows…for the sake of their unborn child….

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Five years later…

it is like crossing the great divide you are AWED and AMAZED you made it to the otherside

Or we can say it is in honor of KristieJ’s nifty guest post up at Sue Grimshaw’s TrueRomance Blog.

Regardless… Cheryl St.John is just happy she can stop asking me where the winners are…

Petticoats and Pistols give-away these winners were picked from US commenters on any ‘Great Western Drive’ post on Wendy’s, Kristie’s or TGTBTU. Since I took so amazingly long to do this I will be sending emails today as well, err if I can find an email for the winner that is…

Emily is the winner of

HIS SUBSTITUTE BRIDE by Elizabeth Lane

Mandy is the winner of

CATTLEMAN’S UNSUITABLE WIFE by Pam Crooks

Lusty Reader is the winner of

TOUCHED BY LOVE by Tracy Garrett

Missy is the winner of

COWBOY CHRISTMAS by Mary Connealy

Cecile is the winner of

TAMING THE TEXAN by Charlene Sands

Mageela is the winner of

IN A MOTHER’S ARMS by Victoria Bylin

Leslie is the winner of

SOARING EAGLE’S EMBRACE by Karen Kay

Lori is the winner of
MOUNTAIN WILD by Stacey Kayne

AztecLady is the winner of

NOTORIOUS by Patricia Potter

Barbara is the winner of

HER MONTANA MAN by Cheryl St.John

Patricia Barraclough is the winner of

MARRYING MINDA by Tanya Hansen

Please email your address to redwyne @ gmail dot com and I will send it to the author.  That way I know it has been rec’ed.

I have Tucker’s Claim and will announce that winner today as well but first sleep… and then maybe I will post the other two books I have to give away. It could happen.

Wendy the Super Librarian’s review of Silent Watch by Elle Kennedy
Romantic suspense released by Silhouette Romantic Suspense 01 Aug 2009

Romantic suspense is an extremely tricky genre for an author to write.  You have to juggle both romance and suspense, devote equal time to both plot lines, and keep the reader satisfied on both counts.  Couple that with writing the sub genre in the shorter category romance format?  Yeah, it can be a recipe for disaster.  But oh, when an author gets it right?  It’s a joy and wonder to behold.  Unfortunately while there were some bright moments in Elle Kennedy’s first Silhouette Romantic Suspense, the reliance on too many well-worn romantic suspense cliches dampened my enjoyment.

Swimsuit model Samantha Dawson barely survived her encounter with the serial killer, The Rose Killer.  For her protection, and hoping it will break the case wide open, the FBI lets everyone believe she’s dead and spirit her to a safe house out in the middle of nowhere.  Then another woman is attacked, and she miraculously also survives, but she’s so traumatized she’s refusing to spill her guts to the authorities.  One of the agents working the case, Blake Corwin, is particularly haunted by the Rose Killer case, and is desperate for any type of lead.  His brilliant idea?  Show up on Sam’s doorstep and try to convince her to talk to the latest victim.  Imagine his surprise when Sam opens up the front door and greets him with a shotgun.

My enjoyment of this story was marred by too many contrivances that readers have seen one too many times in other romantic suspense stories.  We have the damaged FBI agent who is haunted by the death of the woman he loved, and failed to protect.  We have the gorgeous heroine in peril who is still traumatized by her encounter with a serial killer, but then turns around and does stupid crap that puts her in danger.  There are moments in the story where the romance does shine, and that’s when Blake and Sam are talking.  Just talking to each other about their lives pre-Rose Killer – Sam’s work as a model, their respective childhoods, etc.

Unfortunately those nice moments are broken up by plot turns that had me scoffing.  Blake is apparently determined and obsessed with catching the Rose Killer, but other than playing bodyguard to Sam, the reader never actually sees him doing any investigative FBI-type work.  Then, with her cover blown sky high, and with a serial killer on the loose, Sam keeps wanting to leave Blake’s house to go “outside.”  We even have a chapter where the two go outside to frolic in some freshly fallen snow.

No, I’m not making this up.

I did like that Sam called Blake on quite a bit of his “failed to protect the woman I loved, and I shall never love again” bullshit – but I was mightily annoyed that a pivotal emotional scene involving a secondary character later in the story is marred by Sam and Blake ripping each others’ clothes off and boinking like bunnies.  In the end, there just wasn’t enough here to keep me terribly engaged in the story.  Some of the relationship stuff was nice, but too often this story felt like “been there, done that.”

Grade: C-

Summary:

Blake was tracking the Rose Killer in order to forget the woman he couldn’t save. Now there was a new lead: a survivor. Convincing Samantha “Sam” Dawson to help was only half the battle. Resisting the allure of the fiery beauty was downright impossible.

Sam wanted nothing to do with men. With the city. With the fame of her former life as a model. Six months after the heinous attack, she still bore the killer’s trademark scar. But if she was as tough as she thought, she’d have to face her fears to catch a killer—and dare to love again.

Read an excerpt.

Wendy the Super Librarian’s review of The Countess’s Client (The Countess Trilogy #1) by Alison Richardson
Historical erotica short story ebook released by Spice Briefs 1 Sep 09

I’m a complete sucker for historically-set erotic stories.  Which means I do a lot of impulse buying.  This first book in what is being dubbed as “The Countess Trilogy” was the type of story that started out good, got really intriguing, and fell totally flat by the ending.  I’m still not quite sure what to make of it, but I know enough to say it didn’t really work for me. 

Anna von Esslin is the daughter of a Prussian army general, a young widow, a countess, and incredibly horny.  However she’s well aware of the double-standard that women must endure when it comes to sex.  Men can whore around all they want, brag up a storm about it, and no one shuns them.  Oh no.  But if you’re a woman?  You have to be discreet.  Your very existence depends on it.  Which means hooking up with men who will not brag about the interlude (yeah, good luck with that) or men no one will believe if they do spill the beans.

She’s in Paris visiting with her cousin, and is very bored.  But she hits upon an idea.  Her cousin is a regular visitor to a brothel and all the girls there are sick to death of servicing an uncouth, boorish client.  Anna is so desperate, she agrees to take the man on.  Not realizing, of course, that the Scotsman, James, while being of lowly birth, is actually moving around quite freely in some of her social circles.  He thinks she’s a common whore, and she thinks he’s a mere mechanic.  When the truth comes out, it makes for some unpleasant surprises.

While I found the writing style very engaging in this book, and Anna’s attitude towards sex deliciously scandalous, I have a hard time reading about snobs.  Anna, her cousin, pretty much everyone in this story is a snob.  Certainly this is very historically accurate, but even so, it’s hard to give a damn about the main character when she’s such a selfish snobbish bitch.  James worked a lot better for me, but I tend to like guys with dirt under their nails, and I felt sorry for him getting roped in with this woman who ultimately sniffs haughtily at him and acts as if he doesn’t matter in the least.

I was very curious to see how it would all turn out, but the ending takes a bit of a bizarre turn, James takes an “unlikeable” turn and I felt like it didn’t truly end at all.  Nothing is resolved in the least, and I found it all really unsettling.  Also, I can’t seem to find any “clues” as to where this story is going to go.  Since this is a “trilogy,” are Anna and James going to be in the next two stories?  Or is the author going to move on to different characters?  Honestly, with the way the ending is set up, it could go either way.  As it is, the author doesn’t have a web site (Grrrr!), so I’ll have to wait and see in October when the author’s next Spice Briefs, An Impolite Seduction is released.

Grade: D+

Summary:

“The practice of genuine virtue leads to a life of odious boredom.”

So feels widowed young countess Anna von Esslin, who is denied her normal erotic pursuits while staying with relatives in Paris. Without her usual opportunities for pleasure, the countess resorts to visiting a local brothelbut not as a client. To get the satisfaction she craves, the countess must masquerade as one of the girls….

No excerpt found.

Wendy the Super Librarian’s review of The Warrior’s Forbidden Virgin by Michelle Willingham
Historical romance short story ebook released by Harlequin Historical Undone 01 Sept 2009

Michelle Willingham is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors for the Harlequin Historical line, and with her second Undone short story, she’s one step closer to landing on my auto-buy list.  Alright, I’ll admit – it doesn’t exactly hurt her cause any that she has written one of my very favorite types of heroes in this story

Sir Ademar of Dolwyth is a very handsome and skilled knight.  Unfortunately he’s not terribly outgoing with the ladies, and has trouble formulating this thoughts into speech.  Part of the reason is that he’s painfully shy, the other part being that his father branded him a dimwit from a very young age.  He’s madly in love with Lady Katherine or Ardennes, and has traveled a long way to throw his hat in the ring of potential suitors.  Too bad she’s in love with someone else.

Katherine fancies herself in love with Ewan MacEgan.  However, he’s in love with her older sister Honora.  Katherine feels betrayed, to say the least.  She’s bitter, angry, but clearly sees the truth written all over Ewan’s face.  He loves her sister, not her.  In her despair she’s wandering around the battlements in the rain when Ademar happens upon her.  He wants to comfort her, but the words won’t come.  Instead of sending him away, she asks him to stay.

What follows is Katherine realizing that her “love” for Ewan was nothing more than a crush, and her seeing Ademar for who he truly is.  A good, brave man, who would lay down his own life to protect and love her.  I’m a complete and total sucker for a shy romance hero who is unsure of his worthiness for the heroine, and on that score I fell hook, line and sinker for Ademar.  I was ready to run away with him myself before I was even past the first few pages.  Katherine took some time to grow on me, mostly because she was pining for another man, and there were moments where I felt like she was using Ademar – but ultimately she comes around and realizes what a wonderful guy he is.

This story actually runs parallel to Willingham’s upcoming full-length Harlequin Historical, Taming Her Irish Warrior, which tells the story of Ewan’s and Honora’s romance.  While I have yet to read it, this short story reads like it literally could have been dropped in the middle of that book if the author didn’t have to adhere to a word count for the HH line.  As it is, this story stands alone very well, and gives the reader a taste of what the full-length novel will be like, which will surely entice a fair number of readers.

Grade: B

Summary:

Sir Ademar of Dolwyth does not think beautiful Lady Katherine of Ardennes would ever consider him for her husbandespecially since she is in love with someone else! But when Katherine’s heart is broken, Ademar is there to offer her comfort…and passion. For though the Norman knight cannot tell Katherine how he feels, he can show her without using any words at all….

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian’s review of Eye Of The Storm by Delilah Devlin
Erotic romance short story ebook released by Spice Briefs 01 August 2009

I’m a bit of a contrary reader.  Sometimes I want angst and gritty realism, other times I want something escapist and sexy.  This latest Spice Briefs short story from Delilah Devlin scratched the last itch.  In order for readers to enjoy it, they really have to be willing to go with pure fantasy.

One year ago Janie went to Jamaica to mend a broken heart.  She got some help from Marcus.  They had a brief, torrid affair, and agreed to have no further contact with each other.  One year later, they would agree to meet back up in Jamaica.  If they both showed, that will be the signal that they should explore a more structured relationship.  However when Janie lands in Jamaica, she not only sees Marcus, but his best friend Cade as well.  Janie isn’t exactly fond of Cade, but when Marcus suggests she ask them both up to her room, she starts looking at both men in a whole new light.

Gauging from various blogs I follow, I know some readers are a bit burnt out on the menage a trois M/M/F aspect that tends to crop up in erotic romance.  This story isn’t likely to change your mind if you’re already burnt out, but if you’re like me and not?  It’s a quick, sexy short story featuring two very different male personalities for the heroine to play with.  Also, if you’re a reader that needs The Condom Moment, this story will also likely not work for you.

The author does include a couple of small instances where she writes a Jamaican accent into the dialogue.  Blessedly she doesn’t do this throughout the whole story, and I suspect these few instances were used to add some “flavor” to the setting.  I’m not much of a fan for written accents (Och! Scottish brogue!) and while I wasn’t wild about the author using it here, at least she didn’t pepper it throughout the whole blessed story.

All in all this was a quick, sexy read with a fun and erotic setting.  It didn’t light my world on fire, and it’s unlikely to move readers burnt out on M/M/F stories, but for the rest of us?  It’s a pleasing way to spend your lunch break.

Grade: B

Summary:

One year ago, Marcus healed Janie’s broken heart with his love. Now she has returned to Jamaica to see if their passion is as strong as before. Then Marcus’s friend Cade shows up, too. Janie never really liked Cade, but when Marcus asks her to take them both to her bedroom, Janie soon learns that the two men know exactly what she needs….

Read an excerpt.

Wendy the Super Librarian’s review of The Daddy Audition by Cindi Myers
Contemporary romance released by Harlequin American 14 July 2009

Cindi Myers continues her series set in the resort mountain town of Crested Butte, Colorado with this romance featuring a washed-up single mom actress and the man whose heart she broke ten years ago. I read and really enjoyed an earlier entry in this series, which was my sole motivation for picking up this latest title. I’m sorry to report that this tale didn’t work nearly as well for me, with most of the blame getting heaped on to the heroine’s shoulders.

Tanya Bledso was Crested Butte’s rising star. She was pretty, popular and the lead in all the school plays. She was also Jack Crenshaw’s sweetheart. However none of that was enough to keep her in her hometown. The moment she got her high school diploma in hand, she was on the first bus out of town, heading for the bright lights of Hollywood. She landed a couple of commercials, and soon was featured on a popular daytime soap opera. She got married, had her daughter, soap opera got cancelled, and now she’s back in Crested Butte to start over. Partly to lick her wounds, but also to raise her daughter, Annie, in the kinder, gentler environment than Los Angeles.

Jack Crenshaw’s heart was broken the day Tanya left for L.A. without so much as a backward glance. Now she’s back in town, and it’s opened up old wounds. However, he’s no longer the boy who so tried to impress her by joining the drama club. No, now he’s a man trying to impress her. He turned his father’s small construction outfit into a major player. He built all the condos that are springing up around town. He’s a successful, handsome, eligible bachelor. So how come he can’t seem to get over his high school sweetheart?

My main issue with this story is Tanya who comes off as one part self-absorbed and two parts dense. She practically ran out of town as if her hair was on fire, so big were her dreams and ambition. So even though she’s now the head of the local community theater and arts program, she still feels a failure. It doesn’t really help matters that she had to move in with her parents. She left town and moved on, but when she comes back she’s dismayed that Crested Butte didn’t wrap itself up in bubble wrap and wait for her. She gives Jack crap for building condos in the area. She whines about how the town has changed and how many newcomers there are. I couldn’t help thinking “Get over it cupcake. Life goes on whether you’re around or not.” Then when someone mentions to her that maybe her fleeing town 10 years ago just might have left Jack nursing a broken heart she’s shocked. No, really? Jack might have been upset that his girlfriend took off without even talking to him about it? She just assumed he was aware of her plans. Gee, why would he be upset?

Moron.

Jack seems like a nice guy, but he spends a lot of time (oh, like 10 years) pining for a woman who took off without giving him a thought. He also drags his feet for a while in confessing to Tanya how he really feels. Jack eventually does lay all of his cards out on the table, but he takes his sweet time getting around to it.

The ending is kind of sweet, but it doesn’t really help much with Tanya’s character, who still comes off as self-absorbed and wanting her own fan club. By this point Jack saves the day, but ultimately by the last page I’m left with the feeling that he deserves better.

Grade: C-

Summary:

Tanya Bledso couldn’t wait to leave Crested Butte to chase dreams of Hollywood stardom. Now the single mom has returned to run the local theater and raise her daughter. But the peaceful, charming town she took for granted has exploded into a bustling tourist attraction, thanks to one man.

Jack Crenshaw. Property developer extraordinaire…and her former high school sweetheart.

Ten years hasn’t cooled the heat between them. Worse, Jack is bonding with her daughter and giving her the crazy idea he’d make the perfect family man. But is he ready to forgive and forget the heartbreak of the past for the role he seems born to play?

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian’s review of Evil At Heart (The Beauty Killer Series, Book 3) by Chelsea Cain
Mystery/Suspense novel released by St. Martin’s Minotaur 1 Sep 09

As much as I love the romance genre, mystery/suspense will always be my first love. It’s also interesting to note that while there are many fine romance authors who write stories that I adore, it’s the mystery/suspense writers that seem to turn me into a squealing, slobbering fangirl. The kind of fangirl that wrings her hands while counting down the days until the next book in the series is released. Such was the case with Evil At Heart, the third book in the continuing saga of pill-popping, burnt out detective Archie Sheridan, and the beautiful, manipulative serial killer, Gretchen Lowell.

Cain seems to be working on a fast timeline for this series, with Evil At Heart taking place only four months after the first book in the series, Heartsick. It basically picks up immediately following Sweetheart. Detective Archie Sheridan has survived another attack at the hands of serial killer, Gretchen Lowell, and is currently residing in a mental hospital. He checked himself in voluntarily, has kicked the Vicodin habit, and is seeing a shrink. He could probably be working towards getting released, but he has no interest. No, he’s quite happy where he is. He’s on an indefinite leave of absence from the force, and even though Gretchen is on the loose, things are pretty quiet. Until the dead bodies start piling up.

Gretchen and Archie had called a truce, of sorts. He’d stop trying to kill himself and she wouldn’t kill anyone else. So when bodies start turning up featuring some of Gretchen’s calling cards, Archie finds himself back in action. The question being though, is it really Gretchen? Ever since her escape there have been sightings all over the world. Also, in her wake, the public has developed a sick fascination with her. There are Beauty Killer bus tours, T-shirts, manicures, and fan clubs. While these new murders certainly look like Gretchen’s work, something feels off to Archie. Do they have a copycat killer on their hands?

There’s usually a point in a mystery/suspense series where the books stop standing on the own. Evil At Heart would be the book. While I do think the previous two books can be read out of order (although I don’t recommend it), I think this story won’t work nearly as well for the uninitiated. For one thing, there’s not a whole lot of character development here. The author is pretty much relying on the fact that you “know” these people already. You can certainly read it, and understand it, but I don’t think you’d “get” nearly as much out of it.

Cain is very clever in the way she writes her Gretchen Lowell character. She teases the reader. She doesn’t info-dump a lot of psychology and back-story, and instead offers glimpses into the relationship between Gretchen and Archie. Also, while Gretchen is largely off stage in this novel, her presence is constantly felt. She’s like a fog that drifts in, only to hover over a city for days on end. What is her plan, and what is she doing, because Gretchen isn’t just a brutal killer. She’s a master manipulator as well, and she manipulates everyone and everything within her universe.

My gut reaction to this story was that it wasn’t as good as the first two novels. In some instances, it kind of felt like a place-holder. The story advances, somewhat, but not near as much as in the last book, which was loaded with shocking revelations. That said, it’s still pretty darn good and compulsively readable. For fans of the first two books, Evil At Heart should work quite nicely. Gretchen is still evil, Archie is still massively screwed up, and reporter Susan Ward is still prone to Too Stupid To Live moments. All that being said though, I did find this new book to be more graphic than the previous two. Certainly when you have a book about a serial killer, there are going to be dead bodies and violence , but the author really cranks it up to the next level here. There was a moment in the book that I actually had to set it down and walk away from it. Serious heebie-jeebies . I know this sort of thing is incredibly subjective, but this is coming from the girl who was reading books about medical examiners and autopsies as a teenager. Just saying.

While I wasn’t as madly enthralled with this installment as the previous two books in the series, it’s still a page-turning suspense story featuring some of the most seriously damaged characters ever to populate the genre fiction universe. For readers already plugged into this series, nothing I say here is really going to sway or deter your desire to pick up this entry. For the rest of you, start with book one.

Grade: B+

Summary:
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Gretchen Lowell is still on the loose. These days, she’s more of a cause célèbre than a feared killer, thanks to sensationalist news coverage that has made her a star. Her face graces magazine covers weekly and there have been sightings of her around the world. Most shocking of all, Portland Herald reporter Susan Ward has uncovered a bizarre kind of fan club, which celebrates the number of days she’s been free.
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Archie Sheridan hunted her for a decade, and after his last ploy to catch her went spectacularly wrong, remains hospitalized months later. When they last spoke, they entered a détente of sorts—Archie agreed not to kill himself if she agreed not to kill anyone else. But when a new body is found accompanied by Gretchen’s trademark heart, all bets are off and Archie is forced back into action. Has the Beauty Killer returned to her gruesome ways, or has the cult surrounding her created a whole new evil?
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Read excerpt here.

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian’s review of Full House Seduction (The Donovan Clan, Book 4) by A.C. Arthur
Contemporary romance released by Kimani Romance 1 Aug 09

Category romance is my last hold-out for impulse book buying. Every month I cruise the eHarlequin web site, read a mess of back cover descriptions, and make a shopping list. I don’t spend a lot of time investigating authors, titles, and series information. Sometimes this is a good thing, as I discover quite a few gems and new autobuy authors. Other times? Yeah, it bites me in the ass.

Full House Seduction has a terminal case of series-itis. I guess I should have gotten a clue when I saw “Donovan Clan” in the back cover description, but I obviously had not had enough caffeine that day. This is book four in a series featuring the powerful, casino-owning Donovan clan and reads like it. Buried underneath all of the name-dropping, references to past characters, and series baiting for future books, there’s actually a pretty decent romance.

Noelle Vincent is a drop-dead gorgeous former party girl. However she’s finally decided that it’s time to grow up, get herself an education, and cut out all the drama in her life. She’s been working really hard with her brother-in-law, who owns a very lucrative casino in Las Vegas. He’s been so impressed with her that he is sending her to Maryland to oversee the completion of a new casino they’re building in the Chesapeake Bay area.

For Noelle, this promotion couldn’t have come at a better time. She recently found out that the guy she fell head over heels for, and was burning up the sheets with, is married! Needless to say she dumped his sorry butt pretty quick, but he’s still calling her, sending her text messages, begging for forgiveness.

When she lands in Maryland she meets up with Brock Remington (best romance hero name ever!). Brock owns the construction company that’s building the new casino and he’s also an adopted member of the Donovan clan. However, even though the family welcomed him with open arms, and never made him feel “less than” – he’s still haunted by the memories of his biological family and past.

The moment he lays eyes on Noelle he’s attracted to her, but he has no interest in a steady relationship. Noelle may be free-spirited, sexy and fun, but she’s also tired of selling herself short. She’s determined to turn her life around, and that means no more hopping into bed with the first handsome face that looks her way.

I really liked Noelle and think a lot of readers will be able to relate to her. She’s made a lot of mistakes in her past, but she’s determined to make a better life for herself, work hard, and not disappoint her family anymore. She’s got gumption, spunk, and is a fairly straight shooter who will tell you exactly what is on her mind. While certainly Brock (and a multitude of secondary characters) ride to her rescue during the course of this story, she does stand up and make her own voice heard. She doesn’t sit back and wait for someone else to clean up the mess. She’s working right beside them.

Brock is your prototypical wounded hero. He’s still haunted by his past. Part of the time I felt he really needed to just get over it. Yes, his childhood was shit. It was really crappy. But he was adopted by the Donovan family who loved him, doted on him, and never made him feel like anything other than part of the family. Certainly feeling unworthy as a teen makes sense, but he’s a very successful businessman now. With an adopted family who loves him. I couldn’t help thinking he should just get over it already.

While Noelle and Brock are nice people, it’s the series-itis that really drags this story down. A lot of time is spent on past couples, name dropping, and rehashing old history. When this happens, the writing also suffers, because the author goes from “showing” us the story to “telling” us about all these characters, who they are, their relationships with each other, etc. None of it really pertains to the story at hand. Certainly these people have relationships with Noelle and Brock – but they aren’t Noelle and Brock. They aren’t the romance.

I suspect this story will work a lot better for fans of the series. Certainly they’ll like revisiting the former couples, and reading about Noelle, who from what I can gather, was featured in some of the previous stories. However for the uninitiated, it’s all a bit overwhelming.

Grade: C

Summary:
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Noelle Vincent may have led a wild and scandalous life, but really, isn’t every woman entitled to a few secrets? Now the former party girl is gambling on her future when she’s tapped to get a new casino off the ground. Suddenly she’s upping the ante when she gets her first eye-opening glimpse of gorgeous developer Brock Remington.
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Ever since he was adopted, Brock has followed a simple law of the Donovan clan: always play your cards close to your chest. But all bets are off when he falls for the sexy, free-spirited new site manager. They’re both consenting adults, but Brock wants more. Is Noelle willing to roll the dice on their future, even if it means defying the odds and playing for the highest stakes of all?
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Read an excerpt here.

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian’s review of Cowboy Comes Back by Jeannie Watt
Contemporary Romance released by Harlequin SuperRomance 14 July 2009

When someone asks me why I like to read category romance I tell them it’s because of the strong focus on the romance. When the author is working with shorter word counts, they don’t have the time or space to delve into multiple character story arcs and secondary plot threads. Every single word counts, and those words have to be used towards building the romantic relationship between the hero and heroine. All that being said, one of the reasons I enjoy the Harlequin SuperRomance line is that it is one of the longer category romance lines. Authors can introduce some secondary characters and maybe a secondary plot thread. Unfortunately when it came to Cowboy Comes Back, I felt the author tried to juggle one too many balls and the romance ended up suffering.

Kade Danning and Libby Hale were childhood sweethearts. They had a lot in common – Kade living with an abusive single father and Libby with two parents more concerned with slowly drinking themselves to death than with her. They were young and in love. Until Libby told Kade that she didn’t think she was ready to get married. He translated this into rejection (because he’s a moron) and then proceeded to knock up the next available woman that came along. He married his first wife, they had a daughter, he made a name for himself on the rodeo circuit. Then it all went to hell when he found out his financial man swindled him, the IRS came calling, his wife divorced him, and Kade fell into the nearest bottle.

Kade’s come crawling back home now that his asshole Daddy is dead. He has settled his debt with the IRS, but his rodeo career is finished and he needs money to move closer to his ex-wife and daughter. He’s home only long enough to fix up the family ranch and sell it. Then he’s out of there. Which frankly, suits Libby just fine. Kade’s betrayal still stings and she’s nursing a serious grudge. It doesn’t help matters that Kade’s daughter has also been in town visiting her father. So not only does Libby have to see Kade’s handsome face, she also gets to be smacked up side the head with the evidence of his infidelity.

The conflict between Kade and Lily is pretty serious stuff. It’s certainly serious enough to sustain the entire length of a Harlequin SuperRomance novel, especially since Lily had every right to 1) skin Kade alive and 2) slice off his Mr. Happy. Instead, the author keeps the romance dangling on the line for entirely too long. Lily and Kade don’t really spend much time together, on the same page, until almost half way through the story. Instead the author introduces a mountain of secondary conflict – such as Lily’s evil bitch of a boss, Kade’s job search, a wealthy man who is unhappy about a herd of wild mustangs grazing on his land, and Kade’s horse, Blue, who he let loose in the wild after he left home. All of it is marginally interesting, and certainly the stuff about the mustangs and ranching add a lot local color to the setting of the story…..but none of it was the romance. And that’s why the reader is there. For the romance!

Because so much time is used to set up other aspects of the plot, I never really got on board with the happily ever after. This is probably because I thought Lily had every right to be majorly pissed off, and towards the end the author turns it around so she has to take some of the blame for their initial break-up all those years ago. Look, Lily had cold feet. She was unsure of herself. Kade was the one who couldn’t keep Mr. Happy in his Wrangler jeans. While certainly most break-ups take two people, and it’s usually not just one person’s fault – I didn’t see that here. Frankly, Kade’s lucky Lily didn’t gut him with a steak knife.

All this being said, this is a well-written story, and the characters were all interesting people that I could get behind. I just felt the pacing was off, and the time spent on other aspects of the plot made for a weaker romantic storyline. Which isn’t necessarily good in any kind of romance novel, but it’s really detrimental in a category length one.

Grade: C+

Summary:
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Now that his rodeo career is over, Kade Danning has nowhere else to crawl but back home. He wishes he could just keep his head down, fix up his father’s abandoned ranch and then sell it so he can afford to spend more time with his daughter. Move back, then move on—quickly. Unfortunately, after ten long years he can’t avoid Libby Hale.
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Kade has loved Libby all his life and he’d give his championship titles never to have hurt her. But he did. And convincing her to forgive him is the hardest challenge he’s ever faced—in or out of the arena.
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Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Our three blog hosts cum Western Romance experts have taken the time to tell you a little more about their thoughts and feelings concerning this beloved genre of theirs. So sit back and have fun with these ladies as they answer the same questions from their very differing points of view!

Sybil in Sybil-ese:

GREAT WESTERN DRIVE: What was the first western romance you ever read?

SYBIL: No clue. Whirlwind Bride by Debra Cowan is the first western I see reviewed on TGTBTU on 3/14/05, but was nowhere near my first western. Or my first Harlequin Historical. I want to say prolly Nicole Jordan’s The Outlaw or Elizabeth Lowell’s Winter Fire, which lead to the Only Series (Winter Fire is still my FAVE and the only series ROCKS).

BUT back when I read trash (I say that with so much love and why I am confused to this day why romance is called ‘trash’), but from 13 to early 20s (I slowed down around 17 cuz I was verra busy causing trouble, uh I mean working), in between reading all of V.C Andrews, Sidney Sheldon, Daniele Steele, Jackie Collins I read a western romance. All I recall, it’s a cover with a bathtub type thing (barrel like) with the outlaw behind her. She was kidnapped. And uh… that is just about it… This is the time to I read Glitter Baby by SEP.

I always say my first romance was Shadowheart by Laura Kinsale because that is when my OCD blogness started. When I went searching for like minded people, found Maili’s blog and AAR. It is when I started my blogspot and blah blah blah (I warned you I ramble, yes?) AND didn’t figure out until after I was blogging for a few years? that Glitter Baby was THE SEP. So I still don’t really ‘count’ that nameless book.

GWD: Do you have a favorite western romance author?

SYBIL: I have favorites I like to bitch about *g*. No longer writing westerns but SHOULD BE faves would be Susan Kay Law, Maureen McKade, and Dana Ransom.

GWD: How about a favorite western hero? Heroine?

SYBIL: Oh I suck at this type of question, can I phone a friend?

GWD: When reading, what do you look for in the perfect cowboy?

SYBIL: Oh holy hell, these questions were put together while I was dealing with the website cuz yuck. I will go with K and W gave amazing answers and point you to them. [Ed. you could try, Syb!]

GWD: And the perfect cowgirl to go with that cowboy?

SYBIL: Someone who can hold their own…

GWD: How do you know when you’re reading a bad western romance? Are they any signs?

SYBIL: The author takes the idea that alpha means abuses, demeaning, or assholish. But oddly I can read and LOVE Elizabeth Lowell’s old westerns. For some reason they don’t trip my switch as being ‘too much.’

If the characters all sound like they are in 2009, I can’t read that, or if the cheese is just too fantastic. The whole drama over Cassie Edwards was odd to me because her writing seems like such a bad joke, I was not at all surprised it was copy and paste.

GWD: What’s the one thing that will really turn off you when reading a western romance?

SYBIL: LOL the above

GWD: How do you know when you’re reading a good Western

SYBIL: LOL I make it through the first few chapters without a headache from rolling my eyes.

GWD: Is there one Western that stands out above all others?

SYBIL: Ride the Fire by Pamela Clare. There is something about a book that opens with a man pointing a gun at a very pregnant woman demanding she doctor him and she gets the upper hand in the first few chapters.

GWD: Who is the Western Author who no longer writes them that you miss the most?

SYBIL: Oops, I answered this, huh? Did I miss anyone? Lorraine Heath REALLY should come back as well as Patrica Potter

GWD: Why do you think westerns have seen such an ebb and flow over the years?

SYBIL: I think it is totally about glitz and glam. People think west and think of the work, sweat, work, bawdy women, work and go ewwwww I want that pretty, pretty, pretty Regency book. Waltz me baby, which is all well and good, but people tend to forget a lot of the Regency history in those books are painted with the same romance brush as westerns.

Personally I don’t ‘put myself’ into the shoes of the heroine. I don’t want to fall in love with the hero as much as I want to fall in love with the love story. And some of my themes lend themselves so well to westerns – Second Chance stories, Road Romances, ‘Cabin Romances.’ People also forget America had a lot of money and glam in the East, so some of those ‘westerns’ can give them both things. They even have virgins in the west… honest.

Ramblin’ Kristie J:

GWD: What was the first western romance you ever read?

KRISTIE: I’ve been reading Westerns for years, so I can’t remember exactly which one it was – but I have a feeling I was at a UBS looking for Rexanne Becnel and forgot her name and ended up getting a Rosanne Bittner instead. I can’t remember what book it was – but it blew me away and I was hooked from then on.

GWD: Do you have a favorite western romance author?

KRISTIE: Well, Rosanne Bittner *g*. Also Patricia Potter, Cheryl St. John, Lorraine Heath (Westerns only). Those are the ones who first come to mind.

GWD: How about a favorite western hero? Heroine?

KRISTIE: Hero – there are too many to choose from!! Heroines one of my favorites is Miranda Hayes from Outlaw Hearts by Rosanne Bittner.

GWD: When reading, what do you look for in the perfect cowboy?

KRISTIE: I always love a hero who is wrecked for the heroine – in any genre. I also love the tortured hero. Lobo from Patricia Potter is one who fits both those bills.

GWD: And the perfect cowgirl to go with that cowboy?

KRISTIE: As for cowgirls – one who is strong, who doesn’t rely on the hero to bail her out. One who wears dresses for the most part, although I did just finish Stacey Kayne’s latest, Mountain Wild, and she was a trapper yet I really liked her. I think it was because she was forced into her circumstances rather than choosing it. [Ed. See, Sybs, not so hard!]

GWD: How do you know when you’re reading a bad western romance? Are they any signs?

KRISTIE: I started reading one not long ago and the author put in “Western” speak!! It was awful – even worse than Scottish speak. I couldn’t get past the first chapter. It may have been a good story, but I’ll never know. Wooden stereotypes are also annoying.

GWD: What’s the one thing that will really turn off when reading a western romance?

KRISTIE: Bad writing, bad writing, bad writing. As much as I love Westerns, a poorly written book will turn me off.

GWD: Is there one Western that stands out above all others?

KRISTIE: Outlaw Hearts by Rosanne Bittner. If someone asked for my choice for one that embodies most of what I love about the genre, this is my number one pick.

GWD: Who is the Western Author who no longer writes them that you miss the most?

KRISTIE: Lorraine Heath – without question. Her Westerns had a poignancy – every single one – and I don’t think she has captured that as well in her English historicals.

GWD: Why do you think westerns have seen such an ebb and flow over the years?

KRISTIE: I think all genres have an ebb and flow but the Western more so then most. I don’t think a lot of readers have tried them, so they don’t know what they are missing. I think a number of readers who have tried them just haven’t read the right one for them. And I think some readers like being carried away by the fantasy of England. But if they read the right one – and see what a good Western can offer – I think they can be swayed. There are a lot of genres I thought I’d never try and yet when I read that one book, I was converted. And I think there are quite a fan of Westerns who have kind of ‘forgotten’ about them. We are really hoping to reach all those groups with this Drive.

Wendy, the SuperLibrarian:

GWD: What was the first western romance you ever read?

WENDY: Nevada Nights by Ruth Ryan Langan, a 1980s-tastic western romance that I read when I was around 14 years old and the first book I read that had gasp s-e-x in it. This book features some of my favorite old-skool tropes. Convent-raised heroine? Check. Mysterious gunslinger named Colt? Check. Soap opera style plot featuring heroine’s odious long-lost family? Check. I wouldn’t recommend this book to readers today, but, dang, as a doe-eyed teen I flipping loved every single word.

GWD: Do you have a favorite western romance author?

WENDY: Hands down Maggie Osborne. She wrote fantastic heroines and never took the easy way out in her stories.

GWD: How about a favorite western hero? Heroine?

WENDY: This is tough. I have a huge soft spot for Beta heroes, so probably Dillon Hennessey from The Horseman by Jillian Hart. Although I also have a soft spot for younger heroes who feel like they have to ‘prove themselves’ – so on that front I think Austin Leigh from Texas Splendor by Lorraine Heath wins.

GWD: When reading, what do you look for in the perfect cowboy?

WENDY: I’m looking for a hero with a strong moral code. Heroes that, while they might have terrible reputations, will ultimately do what’s right.

GWD: And the perfect cowgirl to go with that cowboy?

WENDY: Generally speaking, I like heroines with gumption. They don’t have to kick ass and rescue themselves necessarily, but I also want them to do more than sit in the corner, ring their hands and cry. A lot of western heroines start out their romances literally up against a wall (and no, not in a good way!) and I like reading about a woman who isn’t going to simply roll over and die or pray for a hero to come along and rescue her.

GWD: How do you know when you’re reading a bad western romance? Are they any signs?

WENDY: There’s a long-lost gold mine in the plot. Seriously. Every terrible western I’ve read tends to feature a long-lost gold mine. Also, there’s a bathing scene. Hero and/or heroine spies the other one taking a bath in a stream, pond, lake, whatever and they get all tingly. Sort of like spies in Regency historicals, the bathing scene has been done to death in westerns and it needs to be taken out behind the barn and shot.

GWD: What’s the one thing that will really turn you off when reading a western romance?

WENDY: Too-stupid-to-live heroines who aren’t dead yet. Look, living in the west was hard. There weren’t a lot of comforts, and for that matter, there wasn’t a whole lot of structured law. When I read about a heroine doing something stupid in a western, I think to myself, “How is she not dead yet?”

GWD: How do you know when you’re reading a good Western?

WENDY: Westerns aren’t all that different from other romance subgenres. I’m looking for what I call the Emotional Gut Punch Moment. That moment when the author takes all the emotion, heartbreak, angst, etc., rolls it up and smacks the reader over the head with it. Every book in my keeper stash has such a moment. That moment where the author literally rips my heart out, resurrects it, and stuffs it back into my chest cavity.

GWD: Is there one Western that stands out above all others?

WENDY: This is tough because I’ve read so many great westerns over the years. I would say Lorraine Heath’s Texas/Leigh brother trilogy, mostly because it’s one of the few times in my life I’ve ever read a series back-to-back-to-back. Also, A Reason To Live by Maureen McKade, just for the sheer emotional intensity of that story. That story knocked me out.

GWD: Who is the Western Author who no longer writes them that you miss the most?

WENDY: Definitely Maggie Osborne, who retired after her last book in 2004. I really admire many of her books and, frankly, I think the romance genre desperately needs more writers like her.

Of authors who are still publishing but have left the west? Probably a toss up between Lorraine Heath and Nicole Jordan.

GWD: Why do you think westerns have seen such an ebb and flow over the years?

WENDY: Demographics have changed. The baby boomers literally grew up on westerns, in books, films, and TV. You couldn’t turn on a TV in the 1960s without tripping over a cowboy. But as time has advanced, publishers (like every other industry) is desperate to court that 18-49 year old demographic, and frankly? Those readers (of which I’m one) didn’t necessarily grow up on westerns. Also, publishers want to make money – so they’ll hop on The Next Big Thing, whatever that is, when it starts to sell. Hey, the western romance was king at one point, but like everything, it couldn’t last forever. Readers got burnt out. They got tired of slogging through crap to get to the gems. So they went looking for something “new.” I think readers will come back to the western, especially those readers hungry for real emotional stories. It’s just going to take publishers willing to take the “risk” and talented authors churning out quality stories.

GWD: And there you have it, Western fans, the be-all, end-all last word of the biggest fans in blogdom about reading those famed Western romances. You ready to gnaw on some bones with these gals?

Wendy the Super Librarian’s review of His L.A. Cinderella by Trish Wylie
Contemporary romance released by Harlequin Romance 14 July 09

Confession time. Even though I love reading about hot, sweaty, raunchy sex – every now and then I feel like a sweet romance. The kind where there are just kisses or the author closes the bedroom door in my face. Silhouette Romance used to be my go-to Harlequin line for these types of story, but when they closed up shop a couple of years ago I found it hard to make the switch over to Harlequin Romance. My perception? A whole lot of royalty and tycoons – neither of which I’ve overly fond of. But Irish author Trish Wylie’s latest intrigued me right out of the gate. A Los Angeles set romance about two former screen writing partners who find themselves working together again.

Cassidy Malone used to have big dreams of Hollywood. She shared those dreams with her lover, Will Ryan. But when their last movie tanked at the box office, and family obligations began piling up, Cassidy gave up her dream to become a school teacher in her tiny Irish village. Will left, without a backward glance, and made it big. He now lives in Malibu, has a score of successful films based on his screenplays, and runs his own production company.

Will drops Cassidy an e-mail asking for her help. They signed a contract way back when and the studio is calling it in. Their last film that was a box office flop? Thanks to DVD sales, devoted fans, and Internet buzz, it’s generated into a monster hit. Studio wants a sequel, and Cassidy packs her bags. But how can she work with Will once again when she hasn’t written anything in years and she’s still nursing a broken heart?

I was sold on this story thanks to the interesting, and different plot. However, the style in which it was written kept me at arm’s length when it came to the romance. While not written in first person, the author spends the majority of the book firmly lodged in Cassidy’s head. This would be fine, except it gives Will the short shift. The reader is left with Cassidy’s impression of him. The lout who left her high and dry in Ireland. The guy who pursued his career and didn’t give her a second thought. It doesn’t help matters that over the course of the story he comes off as extremely ambitious, stubborn, and a touch demanding. I desperately wanted to get to know him, but the author doesn’t give the reader that opportunity until the final chapter. What we see of inside the hero’s mind in that final chapter is certainly intriguing, and I couldn’t help feeling sad that I didn’t get to know him better.

The story is engaging, the banter fast and furious, and the story itself played out a bit like a chick lit novel. It was an engaging book to read while lying in bed, and the uniqueness of the plot really elevated the story for me. That said, more hero please.

Grade: C+

Summary:
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Cassidy Malone describes herself as a plain, slightly plump schoolteacher—totally unsuitable for Hollywood life. Unfortunately she is now at the beck and call of top movie mogul and old flame Will Ryan.
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Once upon a time she signed a contract, in a whirlwind of youth and confidence. Now, as they write the script they never finished, Will’s devilish smile and lethal charm make her yearn for the safety of the classroom!
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Read an excerpt here.