Wow. Am I on a roll, or what? Three posts in one day.
So, I got back from my fabu Florida vacation, where I had actually sat down and read almost every day for a week, just so that I could provide you with feedback to help you make responsible romance choices. (And lest you think that I'm joking about the sacrifices I make on your behalf, let me remind you that a) I am quite fair-skinned, and b) I can't read in the sunlight without sunglasses. I have a reverse-raccoon look going on. ALL. FOR. YOU.) But I digress.
So, I eased my way into vacation with a li'l wall-banger by the name of A Pirate's Love by Johanna Lindsey. May have mentioned this one to you. I was thinking a shipboard romance, some warm ocean breezes, and a little swashbuckling would set the tone for my warm-weather vacay. I loves me some swashbuckling.
Simply put, I'm glad that I started it before vacation, because then I wasn't tempted to bring it on vacation. Because if I had brought it on vacation, I promise you that it would have been tossed into the Gulf of Mexico... which is polluted enough already without this it-began-as-rape-but-ended-as-love sludge. I should've checked the publication date - 1978. Couldn't get past page 50. Enough said.
I recovered quickly enough once we were on the road. And since I knew that I wouldn't have a lot of un-interrupted time for reading while locked in a car with my 3 precious children, I went for a Regency anthology It Happened One Season by Stephanie Laurens and Mary Balogh and others. I used to quite like Stephanie Laurens, you know. There was a time, eight or ten books ago, that I owned every book in the Cynster series. I enjoy prolific authors and familiar characters. But when I began to need the family trees at the beginning of each book just to try to keep the characters straight in my mind, and when I began to realize that each hero got to 2nd base exactly 1/4 of the way through the book, and 3rd base precisely 1/2 way through the book, and so forth, it all became wayy to much effort. You'll recall that I hate romances that require effort. But again, I digress.
The Stephanie Laurens part of the anthology was completely unbelievable. My bullshitometer was pinging from page 3 and it got worse from there. The Mary Balogh part was well-enough done, I suppose, but I hold Mary Balogh to a fairly high standard and I wasn't impressed. The Jacquie D'Alessandro part was lackluster enough that I'll never seek out anything else the woman's written. But the Candace Hern part was GREAT. Different, yet believable (both the storyline and the characters). Note to self: Might try more Candace Hern. But as for the anthology... totes not worth my $7.99.
I was understandably subdued by this point. Two hits, two misses. But I persevered (again, all for YOU), and moved on to a Jo Beverley Georgian romance, An Unlikely Countess. Stank! And I generally like both Jo Beverley and Georgian roamances. So disappointing. But I can't countenance a romance where some poor peasant girl living in the slums eventually becomes, not just a countess, but a celebrated one. Oy.
Fortunately, the ugly streak ended there. I enjoyed both Wedding of the Season and Scandal of the Year by Laura Lee Guhrke, despite the fact that she's endorsed by Julia Quinn right on the cover. Poor JQ. Anyway, the books were good. Fairly believable, true characters, though the bullshitometer did ping a bit at the way that scandals were blown over and rules were flouted.
And then. And THEN. I started reading the Pennyroyal Green series by Julie Anne Long. And the heavens opened and the angels sing and I remembered why I enjoy romance novels. Seriously. A few too many merry widows, and the plots are a teensy bit contrived, and okay, she's a little bit off with the titles and whatnot. Know what? I enjoy her writing so much I am willing to overlook all. of. that. Great vocabulary without being too stilted, good pacing, GREAT dialogue. And... actual romantic tension! Even with the most head-slappingly arrogant and headstrong heroine (Violet Redmond!), there's still something believable and sort of... loveable about her! And the characters grow like Chia Pets, right before your eyes! They actually metamorphose from these rather hard, unlikeable people into... heroes and heroines. Thanks to the power of lurve. So, yeah. Read the first 4 in the series. Love 'em. Gonna read everything she's written.
And, still on my TBR pile is none other than Breaking the Rules, the latest (and last! Boo!!) Troubleshooters novel. It's like the last chocolate croissant -- I can't bring myself to read it, because then it will be gone. And unlike chocolate croissants, there'll never be another TS book. Profound imagery I used right there, eh? Go ahead. Take a minute. Think about it.
Soooo... have you read BTR? And also, what Julia Quinn moved you to tears (of frustration) the other night? And are you impressed that I wrote 3 posts in one day, or are you really, really impressed?
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