The Hunt Club

Author: John Lescroart
Published: December 26, 2006 (Signet)
Category: Fiction
Rating: 8/10

This is my first John Lescroart read, and I was surprised at how much I liked The Hunt Club. It starts in the past, when one of our main characters, Wyatt Hunt, used to work in the Child Protection Services in San Francisco. He's one of the few good guys, fighting the good fight despite corruption in the department, particularly in his boss. After he was set up for failure, he left and because a private investigator, collecting an interesting crew in the Hunt Club, ranging from children he'd saved in the CPS to high-powered attorneys.

Homicide inspector Devin Juhle has just caught a major case: the shooting death of a sixty-three-year-old federal judge and his twentysomething mistress. While Juhle works, Hunt plays, hooking up with TV star and legal analyst Andrea Parisi - once he escorts her safely home and sobers her up, that is.

But before Hunt knows it, Juhle's case will be of great interest to the members of The Hunt Club. Especially to Hunt himself. Not just because Andrea's card was found in the wallet of one of the victims, but because just hours after their first romantic encounter, she disappears...

The story is compelling and and the descriptions of San Fran have just the right amount of detail. The pace is well set, without being nonstop, but still riveting at the same time. And when it came time to reveal the murderer? I was totally surprised, which is rare, as I sometimes flip to the last few pages to find out because I get impatient. The ending appealed strongly to my need for a-holes getting what they deserve.

The hint of romance between Hunt and Andrea isn't awkward, unlike the last manly book I read was. I didn't pick up this book to get a romance; I wanted a change from my usual reading! I don't want to read a thinly-constructed romance that's been shoehorned into the storyline.

Old Friends and New Fancies

Author: Sybil J. Brinton
Published: July 2007 (Sourcebooks); 1st printing: 1914 (Holden & Hardingham)
Category: Fiction
Rating: 7/10

When I first started reading Old Friends and New Fancies I had mixed feelings because I felt a bit lost. The only Jane Austen I've read voluntarily is Sense and Sensibility, and Pride and Prejudice was last read in sophomore year of high school for English. This really lives up to the claim on the cover, "The first Jane Austen sequel ever created," as characters from all six Austen novels are brought together in Bath thanks (or no thanks) to Lady Catherine.

There is a lack in character development, but I might feel that way because I haven't read four of the original Austen novels (sacrilege, I know), and perhaps Brinton expected the reader to have a basic knowledge of the books and characters. I think that to enjoy the book , having a good idea of P&P and Mansfield Park would be the most beneficial. Thanks to Wikipedia, I started reading faster once I wasn't so confused about what was going on.

It's easiest for me to view this from a P&P-centric view, so to me, the book focused on the marital prospects of Georgiana Darcy, Col. Fitzwilliam, and Kitty Bennet. Thanks to the social rules of the time, there are a lot of hurdles on the way to matrimonial felicity. Sometimes, I'd say to myself, "If he/she just came out and told him/her about what happened, we wouldn't be reading about enduring emotional suffering for several months." But you know, because the characters are in polite society, they don't talk about the things they should and spread gossip about the things they shouldn't.

Georgiana and Fitzwilliam are engaged at the beginning of the story, but they don't have those kinds of feelings for each other, thank goodness. I'm absolutely skeeved at the idea of cousins marrying each other, and a Georgiana-Fitzwilliam match has not gone unexplored in other novels. They agree to break off the engagement as they will not suit and go off to pursue true love. Fitzwilliam finds it in Mary Crawford of Mansfield Park, a woman with a closet full of skeletons that the horrible Steele sisters are more than eager to let out in the middle of Lady Catherine's party. Of course, Lady Catherine doesn't hesitate to practically kick Mary out of her house, and Mary's pride is injured and she doesn't want anything to do with Lady Catherine's relations, even if she loves one of them.

Georgiana, however, finds herself involved in a love triangle between Kitty Bennet and Lt. William Price of Mansfield Park. Kitty saw him first and is under the impression that Price will offer for her because he's nice to her. If Price knew that being polite to Kitty and asking her for some dances would lead him to such a pickle, I doubt he'd ask any young ladies to dance knowing he might be engaged before he even knew it. He declares himself to Georgiana but she won't have any of it because she's Kitty's friend. Kitty has rejected a marriage proposal from Mr. Morland because she wants Price instead.

It boggles the mind a bit, so I think it'd be easier to show you the book's relationship's in a crude MS Paint diagram. Arrows show where feelings are one-way, mutual, etc.

It does seem confusing, but I found as I kept reading that I really wanted to know what happened next. It was like reading correspondence from my friend inside Old Friends and New Fancies filling me in on the latest gossip. The writing style allows no detail involving our main characters to go unnoticed, and I have no reason to gripe about the book being too boring with basal exposition. It's very character-driven and doesn't wait for you to catch up. I plowed through the second half of the book like nothing. I think I was slow reading the beginning because I dislike Lady Catherine, Lucy Steele Ferrars, and Anne Steele. Awful people! Sadly, no poetic justice for any of those women, unless you count being yelled at by Lady Catherine enough punishment for the Steele sisters.

I enjoyed Old Friends and New Fancies but maybe a real Austen fan who actually reads the original novels would enjoy it to its full capacity.

Coffee, Tea or Me?

Author: Trudy Baker, Rachel Jones, and Donald Bain

Published: June 3, 2003 (Penguin)

Category: Memoir

Rating: 6/10

Remember that scene on Austen Powers where he wants the "sexy stewardesses" and the flight attendant tells him that they're not called that anymore? This book recounts the adventures of two sexy stewardesses from the golden age of flying, when in-flight cocktails didn't cost $5 a pop, passengers dressed up for the flight, and gourmet meals came standard.

The majority of passenger stories involve sexual advances made, the worst being one that involved a man requesting a stewardess and having his member out and ready for some TLC from her. Of course, sexual harassment wasn't limited to passengers. Some captains and their flight crew hazed newbies with a trick that resulted in the stew's bosom resting on the captain's head every half hour for about a minute. Maybe that didn't happen, but I believe that that kind of behavior definitely went on back then. The girls accepted it as part of their job, but in today's politically correct world, lawsuits would be flying faster than greased monkeys.

The parts where Trudy and Rachel are telling their stories are the best. But some parts go off in totally different styles, like where they categorize the different kinds of passengers who hit on them and I found that I skipped reading them. Bain is a ghost writer, so I'm wondering which parts are his, and I'm really guessing that those non-anecdotal sections come from him.

The first half of the book is really interesting and funny, but I found that the second half wasn't as engaging. I just enjoyed getting a glimpse into a time when air travel was far different than it is today.

Northern Lights

Author: Nora Roberts
Published: October 2004 (Putnam)
Category: Romance
Rating: 8/10

This is my first Nora Roberts book that revolves around the hero, and I thought it was different, but in a good way.

Lunacy was Nate Burke's last chance. As a Baltimore cop, he'd watched his partner die on the street - and the guilt still haunts him. With nowhere else to go, he accepts the job as Chief of Police in this tiny, remote Alaskan town. Aside from sorting out a run-in between a couple of motor vehicles and a moose, he finds his first few weeks on the job are relatively quiet. But just as he wonders whether this has been all a big mistake, an unexpected kiss on New Year's Eve under the brilliant Northern Lights of the Alaska sky lifts his spirit and convinces him to stay just a little longer.

Meg Galloway, born and raised in Lunacy, is used to being alone. She was a young girl when her father disappeared, and she has learned to be independent, flying her small plane, living on the outskirts of town with just her huskies for company. After her New Year's kiss with the Chief of Police, she allows herself to give in to passion - while remaining determined to keep things as simple as possible. But there's something about Nate's sad eyes that gets under her skin and warms her frozen heart.

And now, things in Lunacy are heating up. Years ago, on one of the majestic mountains shadowing the town, a crime occurred that is unsolved to this day - and Nate suspects that a killer still walks the snowy streets. His investigation will unearth the secrets and suspicions that lurk beneath the placid surface, as well as bring out the big-city survival instincts that made him a cop in the first place. And his discovery will threaten the new life - and the new love - that he has finally found for himself.

I was annoyed by the stupid townsfolk who were worried about how the murder investigation would affect tourism. At one point, the murderer sets up one of the witnesses of the long-ago crime in a suicide. Nate knows deep down that it wasn't a suicide, but the mayor and other townspeople say he's just trying to stir up trouble because he misses the city cop life. This was one of those books where I wanted to grab characters and shake the stupid out of them.

I loved Nate. He falls into the vein of Roberts' Roarke (Born In...), Rogan (Born in Fire), and Ben (Montana Sky) heroes. He's a strong man who's secure enough in his manliness to own up to his feelings of love to a woman who'd rather use him for some sweaty sex and throw his womanly feelings in his face. Thankfully Meg has less screentime than Nate.

Northern Lights was good, but it still doesn't top Montana Sky.

The Villa

Author: Nora Roberts
Published: March 26, 2002 (Jove)
Category: Romance
Rating: 6/10

This is definitely my least favorite Nora Roberts book. There's a lot going on, with a lot of characters with very Italian names, and the potential for the true identity of the murderer is high with the horribly bitchy and evil women sprinkled throughout the cast.

The Villa is about the Giambelli family, one of the biggest and most successful wine companies in the world, and focuses on three women, from three generations of Giambellis. There's Tereza, the family matriarch, her daughter Pilar, and Pilar's daughter, Sophia, head of PR and marketing for the family business. Tereza has been married to her second husband, Eli MacMillan of MacMillan Wines, for twenty years and has always been surprised that a hard woman like her has found love in her marriage of business convenience. Pilar was married to a sorry excuse for a man, Tony, who couldn't keep it in his pants and they were separated for several years until his current trophy girlfriend wanted to be a trophy wife and demanded a divorce so they could marry. Sadly, Pilar never stood up for herself in the marriage, so you can't lay all the blame on Tony's feet. The daughter that resulted from their marriage, Sophia, is like lightning, always on the move and thinking about her next project. She's got her grandmother's backbone, is fiercely independent, and thinks of sex like a man.

Tereza and Eli decide to finally merge their two wineries and create the Giambelli-MacMillan wine company, and restructure the company. Basically, the company will be headed by Sophia and Tyler MacMillan (Eli's grandson) at the end of a one-year trial period if they satisfy the new COO during that time. Think of The Villa as a spin off of Montana Sky. Of course the people who find they aren't getting what they thought was always coming to them are pissed, creating lots of potential enemies, feuding, bitterness, and general cattiness and bitchiness from certain females.

Pilar finds love in the new COO, David Cutter, and Tyler and Sophia fall for each other. Neither relationship happens easily, as Pilar is reluctant to enter into another relationship so soon after Tony. David has two teenage kids and the hurt of a wife who walked out on the family. Ty doesn't want to love Sophia, but he gives in eventually, and Sophia is total piece of work. She's confident to the point of arrogance, so she thought she could just get away with sleeping with Ty a few times and doesn't want to open herself to a relationship and get disappointed because she's got some sort of daddy complex going on, having always loved her father even though he never loved her, and resenting him for not loving her. Everybody's got baggage!

There wasn't much romance in Ty and Sophia's relationship, mostly because Sophia is such a hard person and she didn't like leaning on Ty for support. Even when she did, it didn't seem truly heartfelt. However, the relationship of Pilar and David was the softest and most romantic in the whole bunch. Once Pilar got past feeling bad about starting a new relationship, it was lovely watching a new family form as she and his children felt each other out and realized it was for real; no one's walking out on anybody again.

So with the overabundance of emotional baggage, and threats, personal attacks, internal corporate sabotage, and murder, there's a lot going on at once. And I think it was too much going on, where I just wanted to get through the book so it'd finish. Roberts really outdid herself when she created the trophy wife and disgruntled employee characters because they were absolute queen bitches who didn't think anything of public insults and clearly never had any manners or decency. It annoyed me how they got away with what they did for so long. But you know that the one you want to be the bad guy is never really the bad guy. These two bitches were too obvious to the be real killer. As for the real killer, it was kind of an anticlimax, and the book wound down within three pages, leaving me something like, "Huh? That was it after 486 pages?"

Rendezvous

Author: Amanda Quick
Published: November 1991 (Bantam)
Category: Historical Romance
Rating: 9/10

I started reading Amanda Quick a really long time ago, back in high school I think, before Putnam published her work. I decided to take a big step back in time and pick up one of her older titles and Rendezvous was a great read after a series of so-so summer reads.

Augusta Ballinger was quite sure that it was all a dreadful mistake. The chillingly pompous and dangerously disturbing Earl of Graystone could not possibly wish to marry her. Why, it was rumored that his chosen bride must be a veritable model of virtue. And everyone knew that Augusta, as the last of the wild, reckless Northumberland Ballingers, was a woman who could not be bothered by society's rules.

That was why the spirited beauty had planned a midnight encounter to warn the earl off, to convince him that she would make him a very poor wife indeed. But when she crawled through his darkened study window, Augusta only succeeded in strengthening Harry's resolve: to kiss the laughter from those honeyed lips and teach this maddening miss to behave! How could he possibly know that it was he who was in for a lesson... as his brazen fiancée set out to win his heart - and an old and clever enemy stepped in to threaten their love, their honor, and their very lives?

I loved Harry and Augusta together. Their relationship was so passionate and the surrounding events didn't take away from the development of their relationship. I had my doubts of Harry at times, when he was trying to make Augusta follow his rules. He figured her personality was something he could fix. Augusta, being the emotional Ballinger that she was, was determined to have Harry love her. Harry is that stereotypical "hero who's been hurt by evil woman in his life and has built a wall around his heart to protect himself" and Augusta is the perfect woman to shake up his regimented life.

This was a fantastic romance with great characters and well-written plot. This is a keeper on my overcrowded bookshelf.

Map of Bones

Author: James Rollins
Published: April 2005 (HarperCollins)
Category: Thriller
Rating: 7/10

I have read James Rollins' fantasy work written under the name of James Clemens and enjoyed it a lot. In fact, I'm dying to read the third in the Godslayer series published by Roc, but I've heard that he's more popular as Rollins and his suspense novels therefore take up more of his time. I'll have to keep waiting to read Tyler Ser Noche's further adventures.

During a crowded service at a cathedral in Germany, armed intruders in monks' robes unleash a nightmare of blood and destruction. But the killers have not come for gold; they seek a more valuable prize: the bones of the Magi who once paid homage to a newborn savior . . . a treasure that could reshape the world.

With the Vatican in turmoil, SIGMA Force leaps into action. An elite team of scientific and Special Forces operatives under the command of Grayson Pierce and accompanied by Lieutenant Rachel Verona of Rome's carabinieri, they are pursuing a deadly mystery that weaves through sites of the Seven Wonders of the World and ends at the doorstep of an ancient, mystical, and terrifying secret order. For there are those with dark plans for the stolen sacred remains that will alter the future of humankind . . . when science and religion unite to unleash a horror not seen since the beginning of time.

This book was nonstop action and well written in that aspect. I also enjoyed the descriptions of their high-tech equipment and investigatory techniques. I thought there'd be periods of calm, but once the team has rolled out of one predicament, they've rolled right into another, and by strokes of incredible good luck, they survive. I really thought more people would die, especially Rachel's older uncle.

There's also a little romance between Rachel and Gray, although it's awkward at best. Throughout the book, Rachel likes looking at him and Gray feels this need to protect her. My inner romantic wants there to be a successful romance, but the constant action makes a romance rather absurd and out of place. In the middle of a supernatural defeat of the bad guys, Rachel and Gray finally kiss, and it's practically in the presence of God. At the end of the book, Gray even goes back to Italy to see Rachel, but when I look at the blurbs for future SIGMA books, it doesn't appear that he's with her (like James Bond always has a new floozy in every movie), and I find that really awful when it supposedly felt so right in a spiritual sense.

After Dark

Author: Jayne Castle
Published: September 1, 2000 (Jove)
Category: Paranormal Romance
Rating: 5/10

I'm not sure if the rating is due to the fact that I read the sequel, After Glow before this one. I loved that book so much and expected so much from its predecessor, when I really shouldn't have done that. The paranormal psychic terminology is more complex in After Dark than AG, where Castle simplified the long terms into "ghost hunter" and "tangler" for the two types of psychics.


The events of AD accur after Lydia's "lost weekend," when she was lost in the catacombs under Old Cadence for 48 hours. She's now a has-been para-archaelogist working at Shrimpton's House of Ancient Horrors, a puny excuse for a museum. Just as she's about to get consulting work with the mysterious Emmett Smith, she finds a corpse in one of her displays.


Lydia and Emmett's relationship is very rocky, what with her dislike of ghost hunters and their guild. Emmett happens to be a very powerful ghost hunter and a former Guild Boss in another city. They almost get it on a few times but Lydia usually stops him because it would be unwise to mix business with pleasure. And then when the deed is actually done, it's like they're dealing with murder and then bang! They're in bed. Something about the relationship was slightly off, so I had a feeling like the two weren't really meant for each other.

But please, don't stop reading Jayne Castle books because After Dark is disappointing, because After Glow, its sequel is fantastic. Emmett and Lydia are so lovely together in that book. I would definitely recommend skipping AD and going straight to AG.

Queen of Diamonds

Author: Barbara Metzger
Published: June 6, 2006 (Signet)
Category: Historical Romance
Series: House of Cards Trilogy #3
Rating: 6/10

It was the final and in my opinion, a big disappointment after how much I enjoyed the first two books in the House of Cards trilogy. The Endicott brothers have been searching for their long-lost little sister, Lady Charlotte and they've made some inroads in their investigation, finding out that she was raised under the name of Queenie Dennis. The young woman in question was lied to about the whole situation, thinking that she was an orphan used for blackmail purposes because she looked so much like Lottie. And she believed the lies told by one of the men who killed her mother, thinking that she'd be hanged for being a part of the scheme. Because of that, she ran away to France to learn how to become a trendsetting modiste.

Queenie Dennis, a diamond in the rough, just might be the famous Lottie. And fate takes a turn when she returns to the swirl of the beau monde under an assumed identity as a dressmaker fresh from France. Queenie quickly becomes the talk of the ton and catches the eye of the handsome Lord Harking, who has come to London in search of stolen family heirlooms. As Queenie's desire for him grows, her lies begin to catch up with her. Will Harking call her bluff, or will love hold the winning hand?

I was too annoyed with Queenie's lack of common sense to enjoy Queen of Hearts. She knew that Ize, the criminal, was not to be trusted, but believed his transparent cover story about how she's definitely not the missing Lottie and that if she goes to the Endicotts, they'll throw her in jail. Never mind the fact that she had nightmares about the carriage "accident" and kept shrugging it off.

Lord Harking on the other hand, made the book bearable because he was such a good guy. He was on the trail of his wastrel of a brother-in-law who'd stolen the Harking diamonds and met Queenie in the course of the investigation. And so he became the hero who's more interested in furthering the relationship than the heroine, as Queenie feels that all her lies and her "criminal" background would prevent her from marrying Harking.

Ugh. It could've been so much better if I didn't want to strangle the heroine so badly.

Goddess of Light

Author: P.C. Cast
Published: April 5, 2005 (Berkley)
Category: Romance
Rating: 6/10

Twins Artemis and Apollo have been sent to the kingdom of Las Vegas to test their mettle in a world where they are no longer worshiped. The last thing Artemis expected was to be obliged to a mortal through a heartfelt wish - and she demands that her golden brother make that wish a reality. Who better than the handsome and charming God of Light to bring love to this lonely woman?

But Apollo is not quite prepared for this spitfire of a woman in her stiletto heels. Pamela may be a mortal, but she is a goddess in spirit - and in Sin City, where all of life is a gamble, Pamela finds the courage to let go of her fears and love again. After all, you only live once. Or do you?

This is probably my least favorite of Cast's books. Artemis annoyed me to no end with her nose stuck in the air, complaining about the humans and their world that wasn't good enough for her goddessness. There was something absurd about this book, and it's not because I'm not comfortable with this kind of romance/fantasy/gods amongst humans novel. I've liked other Cast books, but I kept imagining a guy like Arnold Schwarzenegger with Greek accent, naive arrogance of a god, and broken English saying that he's Apollo and Pamela is his chosen woman.

Bacchus, the god of wine and revelry is all pissy that the twins are having a great time in his city, and decides to irrationally get revenge on all the gods coming to enjoy themselves in Vegas by taking it out on Apollo and his newfound love. I rolled my eyes more than once when reading about Bacchus sulking and whining about how he wants Vegas all to himself.

And the ending? Come on! It's practically another City of Angels. Pamela gets killed and winds up in Hades' domain. So she and Apollo decide to jump into the River Lethe and be reborn, as true soulmates will always find each other.

Lady Beware

Author: Jo Beverley
Published: June 5, 2007 (Signet)
Category: Historical Romance
Rating: 5/10

This is a prime example of the old adage: "Don't judge a book by its cover." I saw this book and thought it looked so romantic and lovely. And I really enjoyed Beverley's previous book, To Rescue a Rogue, so the book about the sister of that title's hero should be pretty good too, right?

Not so much. I spent the first two-thirds of the book figuring out if I disliked the hero, Horatio "Canem" Darien, Viscount Cave. His family has suffered disastrous scandal in the past and he has decided to restore the family name by taking advantage of the Debenham family. He makes a deal with Thea, sister to Dare of To Rescue a Rogue, saying he'll vouch for Dare (he'd been suspected of ducking out of his duties as a soldier during the war) if Thea will act as his fiancee for six weeks. Thea agrees, and this makes me wonder if Canem's help in TRAR was all a lie. It's later revealed that it's not a lie, but I still don't believe him.

And after Canem's assistance to Dare, Thea's parents are so grateful that they make it their mission to help Canem rejoin society, despite the fact that his older brother was a murderer. Thea spends a good portion of the book avoiding Canem, so there's not much interaction between the two, and that was really disappointing to me. Thea gives in to her attraction to the jerk she believes is manipulating her family, and that only gets her into a load of trouble, leading to her being set up to appear as another victim to the crazy Cave family by an old enemy of Canem's.

The last third of the book was good, but I don't think it was worth the first two-thirds. I kept reading doggedly, hoping that the character development would pick up, and spent a good chunk of that time hating Thea's slutty cousin Maddy (whose actions contribute to Thea's scrape with Canem's enemy) and had no idea how such an evil and selfish little thing could have come out of the Debenham family. Ah well, there's always a black sheep.

Rapture in Death

Author: J.D. Robb

Published: October 1, 1996

Category: Romantic Suspense

Series: In Death #4

Rating: 8/10

It's another Eve Dallas! This one picks up where Immortal in Death left off, joining Eve and Roarke at the end of their honeymoon.

They died with smiles on their faces. Three apparent suicides: a brilliant engineer, an infamous lawyer, and a controversial politician. Three strangers with nothing in common--and no obvious reasons for killing themselves. Police lieutenant Eve Dallas found the deaths suspicious. And her instincts paid off when autopsies revealed small burns on the brains of the victims. Was it a genetic abnormality or a high-tech method of murder? Eve's investigation turned to the provocative world of virtual reality games--where the same techniques used to create joy and desire could also prompt the mind to become the weapon of its own destruction...

Pretty standard Eve Dallas stuff, didn't disappoint, and very entertaining.

Lily

Author: Lauren Royal
Published: April 1, 2003 (Signet)
Category: Historical Romance
Series: Flower Trilogy #2
Rating: 7/10

I'm still catching up on vacation reading, and it's almost the end of June! The discrepancy in the posting date occurs because I date the post the day I finished reading the book. I loved the first book in the Flower trilogy, Violet, and I get the feeling that Lily isn't as big a book as its predecessor was. The passion of Lily and Rand wasn't as great nor was the relationship as daring as Violet and Ford. But the gentle sweetness of Lily and Rand's story is appropriate because she has such a gentle (too gentle at times) nature. Here's the cover blurb:

Lily Ashcroft has never understood the need for her rather eccentric family's motto: “Question Convention.” In fact, at the tender age of sixteen, Lily took one look at Lord Randal Nesbitt and wished for a most traditional institution—marriage. But now her older sister Rose has her sights set on the dashing scholar, and known for always doing the right thing, Lily puts her own longings aside to help Rose in her quest to land him.

What no one counts on are Rand's feelings. Though he hasn't seen Lily in four years, he's never forgotten her fresh and innocent beauty. Falling victim to both desire and love, Rand begins to contemplate matrimony. But now he finds himself caught in a thorny position between two lovely sisters—the one he's expected to wed, and the one he truly wants.…

At first, I thought the most annoying part of this book would be Rose, for being so desperate to catch this ONE PARTICULAR MAN for a husband, but I've changed my mind. The most annoying thing about this book was Lily. Rand confesses early to Lily that he's not interested in her older sister, Rose, but Lily doesn't care. She promised Rose that she would help her bag Rand for a husband, and short of setting Rose up in a compromising situation, that won't happen. Lily even knows that she has true feelings for Rand, and that Rose doesn't have feelings of affection for Rand beyond his title and money. You would think that someone with Lily's sweet nature (she rescues animals) would realize that everyone would be in a world of hurt if she followed through with Rose's plan to catch Rand. It smacks of her being a doormat to her sister and a lack of common sense.

There's a big of background story for Rand, where he has to confront his father and prove that his evil older brother used to commit heinous crimes before he died. This is the real conflict to Rand and Lily's happy ending, as you can only stretch out the pissed-off sister angle for so long. Sadly, his father was always blind to his heir's acts of cruelty and punished Rand for trying to stir up trouble as a child, spurring Rand to leave the home as soon as possible and establish himself as a professor. There's another lapse of common sense when Rand's father demands that Rand marry another woman because the heir was supposed to marry her, and there's this convoluted section where everyone waivers back and forth about who should be married, as Rand and Lily are engaged at this point.

There's one more in the trilogy, telling Rose's story, but that'll wait until post-Harry Potter reading.

Born in Ice

Author: Nora Roberts
Published: August 1, 1995 (Berkley)
Category: Romance
Series: Born In Trilogy #2
Rating: 8/10

Born in Ice tells the story of Brianna, sister of Maggie Concannon from Born in Fire. Now, I didn't like Maggie too much in that book, but I found that I liked her a lot better in this one. I believe that motherhood and marriage suit her. Brie's story is very much the center of this book, with very little to distract from it, as she and the hero, Grayson Thane are together in close quarters (he's a guest in her bed and breakfast for a few months).

I'm still catching up on my vacation reading reviews so here's a blurb about it:

When the harsh storms of winter descended upon western Ireland, the locals stayed indoors--and visitors stayed away. Brianna Concannon's bed-and-breakfast became a cold and empty place. But that was fine with Brianna. She enjoyed the peace and quiet, even when the icy winds howled at her window. But this year she's expecting an unusual guest--mystery writer Grayson Thane from America. A restless wanderer with a painful past, he plans to spend the cold winter alone. But sometimes fate has a plan of its own. Sometimes a fire can be born in ice...

It felt like a very cozy read, like I was in Brie's little B&B and with Gray while he tromped over the countryside looking for material to add to his next bestselling suspense novel. They both had baggage, but it wasn't annoying because it was so well blended into their characters. Gray was one of those nomadic men who don't want to get tied down to material possessions or people. He moves from place to place as needed for researching his next novel and his nature is a result of growing up as an orphan. He falls for Brie without knowing it, and the things he does, like sneaking into her hospital room after her car accident and keeping company with her all night (even reading a cheesy romance novel out loud to her), reveal the loving nature that he doesn't want to admit he possesses. Brie wants to make something with him despite his refusal to settle down for something more than temporary and their happy ending was the stuff of a good movie ending.

Maggie and Brie's mother though, was the worst part of the book. As Gray was shaped by the fact he was an orphan, Maggie and Brie were shaped by the awful relationship between their parents. They grew up under the watch of a harridan of a mother who was all too eager to preach from the Bible about how everything her daughters did was a sin or disrespectful to the mother whose only mothering action was giving birth. I guess no book's complete without me wanting to strangle a character.

Apart from the mother, I enjoyed this very cozy, great-for-a-rainy-day read.

After Glow

Author: Jayne Castle
Published: February 24, 2004 (Jove)
Category: Paranormal Romance
Rating: 9/10

Don't you just love it when you start reading a new book and it's unexpectedly awesome? I'm talking about that degree of awesomeness where you want to read every book by the author, especially those in the same setting. Jayne Ann Krentz, writing as Jayne Castle, has created an easy-to-read blend of romance and science fiction. It's classified as paranormal romance, but I don't quite think it fits there. Then again, there's no scifi romance genre.

The story is set on the planet of Harmony, colonized by humans and abandoned by an ancient alien race that left behind fantastic cities and catacombs made of a glowing green quartz-like material. When the humans colonized, they realized that latent psychic powers surfaced easily on Harmony, and two very important types of psychics came about. One is the ghost hunter, a psychic who can dispel floating balls of alien energy that are usually found in the catacombs. The other is the tangler, a psychic with the ability to unravel psychic traps left behind by aliens in the catacombs. Para-archaelogists excavate in the catacombs and a well-organized dig will not be without good tanglers and ghost hunters.

Our heroine, Lydia Smith, is an ostracized tangler and para-archaelogist. Six months before the events of the book, she was lost in the catacombs for 48 hours and should have stayed lost, but thanks to her dust bunny named Fuzz, she found her way out, but had no memories of the events that occurred. She blames her ordeal on the two ghost hunters on her dig, and those ghost hunters blame Lydia for what happened. Because of that, she has a severe bias against hunters and the Guild that governs them.

There's a serious cute factor in this book in Fuzz the dust bunny. He looks like a bundle of dust that you'd find under your bed, has six legs, and two sets of eyes (one set used just for hunting at night). It should sound disgusting, but he's so endearing in the way he perches on Lydia's shoulder munching on pretzels (his favorite snack), and he's described so charmingly that I want a dust bunny now! He's very protective of Lydia, and you'd think "What can a little ball of fluff do to me?" They mention this quote in the book, that if you can see a dust bunny's teeth, it's too late.

Lydia's dating Emmett London, former Guild boss in Resonance City. He's in Lydia's home town as a favor to his father, Mercer Wyatt, the Guild Boss in Cadence. He's the typical Krentz/Quick hero, the hunter with quiet strength, is very protective of those close to him, and very much believes in thinking before acting. Despite being the strong, almost-silent type, Emmett is a romantic and is more open to moving his and Lydia's relationship forward.

The background story involves Lydia unraveling the mystery of her "lost weekend" in the catacombs. At the same time, Emmett has to stand in for his father as Cadence Guild boss, which brings in all sorts of tension (Lydia dislikes the Guild because of how they handled the two hunters who abandoned her; Wyatt's wife is Emmett's ex-fiancée, etc.), and there are various murders going on that may be related to both Lydia and Emmett.

So while we have a really interesting world and Guild politics to read about, the romance is fantastic and passionate, and I LOVED the characters. I'm very excited to read any new Jayne Castle books, because it appears that her recent publications are set on Harmony. Emmett and Lydia actually started their relationship in After Dark, so it helps After Glow move faster, as we don't waste time with relationship exposition. I was sad to see it end.

Lady Anne's Dangerous Man

Author: Jeane Westin
Published: January 3, 2006 (Signet)
Category: Historical Romance (Restoration England)
Rating: 7/10

Yet another mini review because I read this back in May and I'm doing this review in mid-June. Lady Anne's Dangerous man is one of those adventurous historical romances (and a twist on Robin Hood) where the main characters are bouncing all over England, due to Lady Anne's harebrained escape from John Gilbert, our Robin Hood. They don't stay long in Whittlewood Forest or various stops along the road back to London. And when they're in London, all I took from the description was the fact that it's dirty and there's a plague outbreak.

Lady Anne Gascoigne is eager to take her wedding vows - until she discovers her devious fiancé has conspired to let King Charles II steal her virtue. To save her honor and her life, she must flee under the protection of a notorious but charming rake who has just escaped hanging - only to be captured by Anne's heart....

The illegitimate son of a powerful man, John Gilbert lives by his wits and his sword, leading a merry band of men who rob the rich and corrupt, then escape to a forest hideaway. As proper Lady Anne blossoms under John's command, copening up to the freedom and sensuality he offers, she poses a new set of challenges for him - to stay alive long enough to ensure her protection, earn an equal place by her side, and convince her of his undying love....

The story was interesting, although a bit on the heavy side. John Gilbert has a rival outlaw with the oh-so-original name of Black Ben, and I thought he was superfluous to the storyline. I also had problems with Lady Anne, who was so full of herself thanks to her aristocratic upbringing that she runs away from John and safety, going back to the city she's supposed to keep away from. She, with her arrogant optimisim/confidence, thinks her uncle, a bishop, can help her when he only turns around to give her back to King Charles.

I didn't finish this book for Anne; I finished it for John, because he was a really good man, and more of a nobleman than the king. He'd been unlucky to be a bastard, and his father tried to give him his estate, but the three legitimate sons took it away from him and drove John to his life as a Robin Hood. I was very happy to see John justly rewarded for his good and heroic nature at the end of the book.

A Perfect Gentleman

Author: Barbara Metzger
Published: October 5, 2004 (Signet)
Category: Regency Romance
Rating: 6/10

I'm really behind in my reviews and this book wasn't very good when it could've been so much better what with its premise and all. I had to think really hard to remember what happened in the book. I still gave it a 6/10 because I didn't think it was so bad that I stopped reading it.

Viscount Aubrey "Stony" Wellstone is at the end of his rope - and at the end of his family's once-great fortune. Desperate, he tries his luck at the gaming tables, where an offer to exchange his debts for a gentlemanly favor leads to a profitable new profession... as an honorable escort accompanying the cream of the ton.

Fiercely independent Ellianne Kane would normally have no use for an upper-class attendant - even one as stricking as the viscount - but she is in dire need. Her younger sister has vanished while in London, and the flame-tressed beauty aims to find her. Only Stony's knowledge of proper society can help Ellianne in her quest. And only Stony can prove to her that there is far more to their relationship than money....

There are also the requisite Metzger character quirks. For example, Stony faints at the faintest sight of blood. I guess this wimpy quirk is supposed to make his later heroic actions all the more meaningful. Ellianne is in town with her Aunt Lally, widowed by a sea captain, and has the mouth of a sailor and a mild case of Tourette's. As she's usually seated quietly on the other side of the room, Stony assumes she's sleeping, so when things like "No balls at Bow Street. No balls a'tall, I say" are heard, she blames it on an imaginary parrot left by her deceased sea captain uncle. She's also got an old dog that happens to be a vegetarian, but he has a penchant for attacking Stony (but the dog has no teeth because he's old), so Ellianne has taken to carrying small cooked potatoes on her person.

At the same time, a serial murderer is on the loose, and Ellianne is constantly afraid of that her missing sister might turn up at the morgue as another one of the victims. However, as a mystery, it's kind of blah. Not memorable, and you could see the murderer's true identity from a mile away.

If I were asked for my recommendation on a Metzger to read, I'd definitely recommend passing over this title. Metzger's got better.

Born in Fire

Author: Nora Roberts
Published: October 1, 1994 (Jove)
Category: Romance
Series: Born In #1
Rating: 7/10

Yet another Jennie-approved book. She practically glued this one to my forehead to make this my next Nora Roberts read.

The couple in Born in Fire is the typical alpha male + strong, independent woman. Rogan Sweeney is the head of an Irish corporation that operates art galleries worldwide. He wants to open a gallery showcasing Irish artists and the first step in that direction is to find a new Irish superstar artist. He finds his next artist in a piece of beautifully blown glass in his grandmother's home. Unfortunately, the artist, Maggie Concannon is fiercely independent and doesn't want someone telling her to how to make art and when to make it.

Honestly, I didn't care for Maggie that much. She was too spiny a character for me to like. A hot millionaire who loves her and respects her talent wants a relationship with her, and she's all, "I like being a hermit and you might someday ask me to create a piece on commission that I don't want to do!" I don't remember very much about the development of their love story, but it seemed as though Rogan was doing a lot of the work on it and waiting for Maggie to come around. Then again, Maggie did have a rough family life, with a mother who hated the man she married and produced two daughters out of duty and didn't bother raising them or maintaining their household. She left the work to her daughters and husband while staying abed claiming some imaginary illness.

The descriptions of the Irish countryside, the art galleries, and Maggie's glass blowing were fabulous though. But didn't I start reading this book for the romance? Despite my dislike of how the romance was handled, the book was well written, and set the reader up for the next book in the trilogy, Born in Ice, about Maggie's sister Brianna, and I am eager to read her story.

The River Knows

Author: Amanda Quick
Published: April 24, 2007 (Putnam)
Category: Historical Fiction
Rating: 8/10

In the course of investigating Elwin Hastings, a man of good society, although of evil soul, plain-looking Louisa Bryce finds herself locking lips in a dark hallway with the handsome Anthony Stalbridge of the powerful, yet eccentric, Stalbridge family. Louisa was about to be discovered by the guard, but Anthony grabbed her and kissed her to give them an excuse to be away from the party going on downstairs, finding that it's very pleasant to kiss the quiet and inconspicuous Mrs. Bryce. But Amanda Quick has always been good at creating characters that have more than what appears to be on the surface.

Louisa used to live under another name, where she operated in trade as a rare book dealer. However, a nobleman with a penchant for preying on lone women in trade wanted her for his next victim. She wound up killing him in self defense, but knew that in society's eyes, she would turn up guilty, so she faked her suicide in the Thames River and became Louisa Bryce, a companion to the eccentric Lady Ashton, and a career as a correspondent for the Flying Intelligencer, first seen in Quick's Wait Until Midnight, exposing the misdeeds of the elite members of the ton. She's looking for proof that Hastings is involved in financing a notorious brothel catering to the most depraved sexual appetites.

Anthony, on the other hand, is looking for evidence linking Hastings to the supposed suicide of Anthony's ex-fiancée two years prior. He can't move on from Fiona's death because of the rumors that she killed herself due to his ending their engagement (she was in love with another man). If he could connect Hastings to Fiona's death, the air will finally be clear.

While they do discover the evidence they require thanks to Anthony's skills as a safecracker, they discover a deeper and more twisted crime under Hastings' belt: the blackmail of innocent young ladies he had seduced by another accomplice. They now believe Fiona was killed because of this scheme, and Anthony is determined to bring Hastings to justice. Lousia, as a reporter, naturally wants to follow the story through to the end.

Louisa and Anthony share one of those relationships where they work extremely well together, but she stereotypically doesn't take direction from him just because he' a man and she's a woman. She is a forward-thinking Victorian woman, goshdarnit! The more intimate parts of the illicit love affair they begin are charming and humorous at times, as Louisa was disappointed with the first time (she was never married; the deceased Mr. Bryce is just a cover) and Anthony, as a man, had to provide her with an experience "approaching transcendence," like those described in novels.

I liked the hero and heroine, the background mystery was well-developed, and supporting characters were entertaining. Another good Amanda Quick read.

Montana Sky

Author: Nora Roberts
Published: Reissued June 27, 2006 (Berkley), First print March 1996 (Putnam)
Category: Romance
Rating: 9/10

Finally, my first Nora Roberts (not counting the J.D. Robbs)! Jennie, the Nora Roberts expert, recommended this title for my first, and I have to give her a big thank you because I had such a great time reading this book.

Montana Sky is the story of three half-sisters, each sharing the same father and very different mothers. Willa, the youngest, has lived on Jacky Mercy's ranch her whole life, as her mother died before Jack could divorce her. The other two sisters, Tess and Lily, return to the ranch to attend the funeral and the reading of the will. In order to claim their inheritance, each a third share of the ranch (one of the best in Montana), the three women will have to live there for one year.

During the span of the year, three women who are so different from each other become the sisters they never had for each other, and of course, the perfect man for each sister appears quickly, even if Tess, the stubborn city girl screenwriter, doesn't realize it yet. She winds up with Nate, the cowboy lawyer who breeds quarterhorses. Lily, the battered woman, finds a gentle man to heal her heart in Willa's half-brother (through the mother, so there's no incest here!) Adam, who works on Mercy Ranch managing the horses. Willa finally falls for the man she swore never to marry (because her father wanted it), Ben McKinnon of the neighboring rival ranch. With all these hot yet courteous gentleman cowboys, I think I might have to set aside my rule of "no cowboys in my romances."

The descriptions of ranch life and the wild, yet beautiful land of Montana were fantastic and appealed to the part of me that always wanted to have a chicken coop so I could feed chickens and have fresh eggs each morning.

I did feel some anxiety while reading this book because the reader knows that Lily's abusive ex-husband is stalking her while working on Ben's ranch. It's like when you're watching a horror movie and yell at the stupid characters on the screen that no, it's not a great idea to split up. But the tension and pressure brought on by the villain are great accoutrements to the romances and even nudges them along.

This was a fantastic read, great for a lazy weekend, and is not your average fluffy romance. It has funny moments and serious moments and the dialogue is spot on. I was just a little disappointed at the end and felt that for a book with three well-developed romances (usually one romance is in the forefront and the rest are very minor) could've done well with an epilogue. For example, Tess was about to get on a plane back to CA after the year on the ranch, but changes her mind at the last minute to stay with Nate. And that's the last you hear about her. It would've been nice to see her sisters' reaction to her decision to stay, and to find out about Mary's first child. If it had a good epilogue, this would've been a 10/10.

And remember, this was a Jennie-approved book! Guaranteed for some seriously good reading.

Immortal in Death

Author: J.D. Robb
Published: July 1, 1996 (Berkley)
Category: Romantic Suspense
Series: In Death #3
Rating: 8/10

I realize why Nora Roberts has such a huge readership. If I have a craving for a good romantic suspense, I know I can depend on her In Death series. Sure, each book is pretty formulaic, but that means that I can find things I know I like within its pages, and return to characters I know and love.

Eve Dallas, our favorite tough lady cop, is going to marry our beloved hero Roarke, and she needs a dress. Her best friend Mavis recommends her current boyfriend Leonardo, an up-and-coming fashion designer. But in the middle of Eve's consultation with him, an angry supermodel flies into the loft and demands that he dump Mavis or she'll ruin his career. Of course, the supermodel turns up dead and Mavis is suspect numero uno.

Sometimes I wonder how it's possible that Eve can work on cases in which she has a personal interest, and this is the worst one yet. While she's working on the case, Eve suffers from nightmares that reveal the horrors of the childhood memories she'd suppressed. She'd been found in an alley as a child, beaten and broken, with no name and no memories of her family. But it appears that her mind has decided that it's time to deal with the past now that Roarke is there to love and support her. Once she recalls the truth of her father's death (she killed him), she tries to call off the wedding and turn herself in as a murderer. But nothing comes of that, and Eve's boss even tells her not to bother and stop wasting time on the ridiculous idea of turning herself in when she's got to figure out who killed the supermodel.

I'll also admit that Roarke is awesome. He's an alpha male, but he knows that Eve wouldn't stand for it. He compromises and lets her be difficult, but he'll take charge in one matter when she's too obsessed with something else (i.e. having her car fixed while she's focused on her investigation).

The mystery, which is just something in the background of the whole Eve-Roarke relationship, wasn't too mysterious. When you have a cast of characters, there's only so much suspicion that can be thrown around, and the few new characters that get introduced are automatically the prime suspects to the reader. I've read only three of the Eve Dallas books, and each murderer is someone we meet in the course of the investigation. I'm waiting for the day the murderer is a complete surprise. But the lack of that won't stop me from reading these books!

White Lies

Author: Jayne Ann Krentz
Published: January 2007 (Putnam)
Category: Paranormal Romance
Rating: 7/10

Apparently, White Lies uses the Arcane Society Krentz created under her penname Amanda Quick in Second Sight. I think I started reading that book, but stopped reading it for some reason I don't recall.

Clare Lancaster is a level 10 parasensitive human lie detector. Apparently, this is a super big deal and she could be a level 17 for all we know because level 10 parasensitives just can't be measured. Having been fired from her last job and being unable to find a new one, due to being suspected of a murder she didn't commit, she goes to Stone Canyon, AZ, home of her father (the man who supplied the sperm in a one-night fling) and his family, at his request. Several months before, her half-sister contacted her for desperate help because she believed her husband Brad was evil, which he was, but then Clare walked in on his murder scene soon after that and was suspected (but cleared due to her father's influence) of doing the deed.

Upon her return to Stone Canyon, Brad's mother goes ballistic, and it doesn't help that she's on meds and has become an alcoholic. She's bent on the idea that Clare killed Brad because they were having an affair and Brad wouldn't leave her sister. She even tries killing Clare in revenge, and winds up doing a dead man's float in her pool, and unfortunately discovered by Clare, who wanted to talk things out with the crazy lady.

And then there's the man. He's Jake Salter, an employee of Jones & Jones, a paranormal investigation firm that does a lot of work for the Arcane Society. He's using Clare's affluent father to disguise his true purpose in Stone Canyon. Apparently, someone's starting a rival organization to the Arcane Society, called the Cabal. Jake is also a level 10 parasensitive, a hunter. I was a little fuzzy on what a hunter actually does, but I figured it has to do with being very predator-like... and manly... and very, very sexy. I think I have a crush on him.

But this book was not really about the romance, which comes together rather easily and with a cute gimmick at the end of the book (there's an Arcane Society dating service that matches parasensitives up with suitable mates). It was more about the mystery and Clare's pseudo-family and how they come together. I could've done with a little more Jake :)

Visions of Heat

Author: Nalini Singh
Published: Marcy 2007 (Berkley)
Category: Paranormal Romance
Series: Psy-Changeling #2
Rating: 7/10

Visions of Heat continues from where Slave to Sensation left off. The Psy heroine is Faith Nightstar, a cardinal level F-Psy, which means she can see visions of the future. She was raised under Silence, the heartless Psy program that teaches all Psy not to feel emotion, lest their psychic powers get the best of them and bad things happen. But we all know, after STS that Silence was not successful and the Psy Council has been hiding the killers that have resulted from the program.

Faith, as a foreseer, thinks that insanity is inevitable. Apparently, they're really delicate and have to live in complete isolation from everyone and the more powerful the foreseer, the more this applies. Since she's the most powerful foreseer of her time, Faith has been living by herself since she was a child in a guarded house in the wilderness on the edge of DarkRiver territory. And this mysterious guarded house has attracted Vaughn D'Angelo's attention.

Lucky for him, Faith wants to meet Sascha Duncan, mate to Vaughn's pack leader, Lucas Hunter. Faith has been suffering visions of murder, which she shouldn't because Silence keeps foreseers from seeing such emotional visions. Their predictions are reserved for business dealings (which I found sort of unethical) only. Faith is afraid that she's going to crack under these horrific visions, although she seemed ready to crack over just about anything.

Vaughn's inner jaguar, apparently more developed than most changelings' animal alter-egos, wants to claim Faith, and he goes along with it. He keeps pushing Faith to her breaking point to make her stronger, and it's not like she's the only one who benefits. The more accustomed she becomes to touching and emotional interaction, the sooner Vaughn can take her to bed, which he eventually does.

I was enjoying the relationship between Vaughn and Faith more than the whole Psy murderer subplot. They catch the killer, but it was a little too easy and almost an afterthought in the storyline. I love Vaughan, our alpha male hero; Singh can definitely write an alpha male. Her heroines are lacking though. They're all fragile and about to break, and I'd really like to see a future story where we have a strong Psy female to start with. Faith did seem a bit braver than Sascha though, dropping out of the Psynet without any idea of the private web of stars that was created when Sascha dropped out in STS. Then again, she just figured she was going to die, so maybe it wasn't actually bravery. I guess Singh is trying to appeal to the audience that likes having everything taken care of by their man?

Rake's Ransom

Author: Barbara Metzger
Published: January 2006 (Signet), 1st printing: January 1987 (Walker)
Category: Regency Romance
Rating: 9/10

Miss Jacelyn Trevayne is the apple of her father's eye, and the bane of her neighbor's existence, as Jacey has taken it upon herself to ruin every foxhunt possible. To teach her a lesson for her hoydenish ways, the neighbor, Squire Bottwick, arrests her dog Penelope for a period of three days. Jacey won't stand for that, so she decides to fight fire with fire, and kidnap the squire's nephew. Unfortunately, she kidnaps the wrong man. Instead of goofy Arthur Ponsonby, she kidnaps dashing Leigh Merrill, Earl of Claibourne. Since the squire didn't take Jacey's ransom note seriously, he didn't respond and Jacey and Leigh were together in a cottage for a few hours, thus compromising Jacey. Leigh, being an honorable gentleman, despite his rakely reputation, offers for her, even giving her a betrothal period in London so she can figure out if they'll suit, and even find someone better than an impoverished earl for a husband.

This is the funniest Metzger I've ever read. I was giggling from the first chapter, where Jacey's exploits in foiling the local hunts were detailed. There was an instance where she had a couple village boys gather dead fish and scatter them all over the place, and the most recent hunt had Jacey walking Penelope about the countryside while she was in heat, thus causing all the hunting dogs to go crazy.

While Leigh is escorting Jacey about town, we get these little moments where he shows that he has more than an honorable interest in marrying her. There's a moment in a modiste's shop where her newly hired stickler of an abigail is giving conflicting opinions about the decolletage of a gown, so Jacey marches out to Leigh and demands to know where a lady's gown should start and end, and Leigh finds himself staring at this bosom that's practically presented to him with blazing neon arrows screaming "LOOK AT THESE!!" He calmly tells her, "You'll have to decide, Miss Travaine. You'll be the one drawing attention... You have to consider whether you wish to be approved or admired." Jacey fires back that since he'll be escorting her, her choice would affect him, and Leigh says, "Tell me when you are going to wear it so I can buckle on my sabre to fight off all the smitten mooncalves." Swoon. I love that language. Smitten mooncalves indeed!

I felt like this book was more about society and all the intricate steps one must take to be accepted by the haute ton. Even though it's nothing new, I can't get enough of those little rituals, like morning calls and rides through Hyde Park at the fashionable hour. The rich descriptions and excellent made up for the anticlimactic romantic ending. I was just a little disappointed in how Jacey and Leigh wound up together, in one of those "Huh, that's it?" moments. But their happy ending is not the only one, as Jacey, ever considerate of her friends, plays matchmaker rather successfully, even for one of the villains (who turns out not to be villainous, just slightly stupid).

Great fun and I think this might be my favorite Metzger to date.

Lady Jane's Nemesis

Author: Patricia Oliver
Published: July 2000 (Signet)
Category: Regency Romance
Rating: 7/10

This was a very different regency romance, as all the Signet Regency Romances I've read lead up to the hero and heroine getting married. In Lady Jane's Nemesis, marriage occurs very early in the book, and the story concerns our hero and heroine becoming accustomed to their arranged marriage. Lady Jane Sinclair was betrothed at birth to her father's best friend's son, as a way to solidify their friendship. Twenty-five years later, and Roger Hastings, Viscount Summers, has yet to make good on the agreement. During a morning ride, Jane hears a woman laughing and discovers Roger with a half-naked, and very married Lady Horton. Outraged, Jane returns to Penhallow Hall, deciding to extricate herself from her betrothal (despite the signed papers).

She tries to convince her father to break the betrothal agreement, but he will have none of it, and tells Roger's father to kick his son in the pants and get him moving. So Roger becomes the charming suitor and Jane, who has had tender feelings for Roger for quite some time, gives in to his promises that there will be no more contact with Lady Horton.

I did think that Jane gave in a little too easily to Roger if she was truly so offended about what she'd seen. But I guess that's why they say love is blind? Apart from that, it's a well-written story resulting in a more grown-up kind of love, with great main and supporting characters.

And Then He Kissed Her

Author: Laura Lee Guhrke
Published: February 2007 (HarperCollins)
Category: Historical Romance
Rating: 8/10

This one's a Victorian version of the classic cliche of employer and employee falling in love, and it does

Right, so Emmaline Dove has been an excellent secretary to Viscount Harrison Marlowe, so much that he's begun to take her for granted. Emma's been trying to publish a book on etiquette, and keeps submitting manuscripts to Harry, and he keeps rejecting them. When she finds out that he's been rejecting them without reading them, she quits, and Harry realizes how much he depended on Emma. They work together again when Harry buys the newspaper Emma writes a column in, and they get to know each other beyond the professional relationship they used to maintain when Emma was his secretary.

Harry has problems with remarriage because he endured a scandalous divorce from his adulterous wife. Emma doesn't want to have scandal ruin her good name, as she is so focused on writing about etiquette and maintaining her spotless image. She keeps refusing Harry, and he confronts her with the way Emma has hidden her true self behind walls of etiquette and propriety, only to satisfy what other people think of her. She realizes he's right and agrees to begin an illicit love affair with him. They spend lovely weekends together in a cottage in the countryside.

Although Emma knows that the relationship is for sex only, she falls in love with Harry, and when she realizes this, she breaks off the affair. And once again, when Emma leaves him, Harry realizes what he's missing out on. Classic "want what you can't have" thinking.

In terms of the employer-employee romance, I really liked it, much more than The Raven Prince. The story was well-written, although the romance was a bit slow in development. Not too much drama, just the right amount, and that always gets a star from me!

Moonspun Magic

Author: Catherine Coulter
Published: July 1999 (Signet), First edition published 1988
Category: Historical Romance
Series: Magic Trilogy #3
Rating: 6/10

Just what I always wanted in a romance: evil twin vs. good twin.

Rafael Carstairs has returned to England after several years as a spy during the Napoleonic Wars. While traveling through Cornwall on the way to London, he rescues a young lady from smugglers. This young lady, Victoria Abermarle, has been living with her cousin, wife of Damien Carstairs, Baron Drago, and Rafael's twin. Damien was trying to ravish his wife's cousin, and even told vicious lies about Victoria to her one suitor. And men being phenomenally stupid in this book, the suitor believed Damien's claims, rather than trying to talk it out with Victoria. Of course a man's word must be taken ahead of a woman's word.

Rafael and Victoria decide to marry, as they get along well and she needs protection. And it seems as though all will be well in their world, but Damien tells Rafael the same horrible lies he told Victoria's previous suitor, and Rafael begins doubting her innocence. On their wedding night, Victoria stops him, saying she has to tell him something, and he thinks she's about to admit that she's not a virgin, and flips out. He says mean things to her and keeps on having to make it up to her. Victoria's angry with him for believing Damien and refuses to tell him her secret, even though it would've cleared everything up if she'd communicated. He figures what could she have that was so important to reveal during their wedding night? Apparently, Victoria has a big scar on her thigh from a childhood riding accident, and she's unable to handle much physical exertion, so that rules out dancing and riding for extended periods of time. The scar affects her emotionally too, as her cousin has always made it sound like it was something awful, so she's afraid that Rafael will reject her for being imperfect when he looks so perfect.

When they finally have a wedding night, he realizes that Damien was lying, and says so, and Victoria is angry at him for sleeping with her just to find out if she was a virgin. And she still refuses to tell him about her leg. It's this constant dance of mistrust, and I kept wishing that they'd just grow up already.

After the wedding, they return to Cornwall so Rafael can investigate a revival of the Hellfire Club, which has been committing the gang rape of several young women, and one of the victims was the daughter of a viscount, which brought about Rafael's involvement. The newlyweds stay at Drago Hall, and that gives Damien the opportunity to masquerade as Rafael. I knew it was going to happen, and Victoria is clever enough not to fall for his tricks. However, Rafael hears about this and thinks that Victoria is cheating on him, which leads to more mistrust and anger, as Victoria finds out AGAIN that Rafael believes another person's word over her own.

Apart from the constant annoyance of secrets, mistrust, and lies, there is a good story. It could've been a lot less soap opera-esque in terms of drama quota if the characters were less stupid. Even up to the end, Rafael doesn't fully trust Victoria, infiltrating the Hellfire Club without telling her and having Damien (who turned a new leaf) act as Rafael. And Victoria, after finding out that she'd been duped so she wouldn't try to "help" Rafael and cause more problems for him. But at least this time around, she doesn't get angry with him.

Maybe I picked the wrong Coulter to start off with, as I've read some reviews for this book that say the other two books in the trilogy were better.

Not Quite a Lady

Author: Loretta Chase
Published: April 2007 (Avon)
Category: Historical Romance
Quote of Choice: "Oh, now you are going to become all masterful. If you think you can intimidate me with your— with your great size and— and swaggering arrogance, I recommend you think again."
Rating: 10/10

Hooray! The new Loretta Chase is finally out and I loooooooooved it. The dialogue was excellent and so funny.

Lady Charlotte Hayward, at twenty-seven years of age, is an expert at NOT getting married. She's gorgeous and intelligent, but she's been guarding a deep dark secret for ten years. When she was seventeen, she was duped by a libertine and gave birth to a boy in secret, with the assistance of her very-not-evil stepmother and maid. The baby was given away, and figured that it may not have survived because it was so weak at birth. Charlotte has no desire to marry because her husband would realize that she's not a virgin and reject her and expose her for a fraud.

Darius Carsington is a gentleman scholar, studying animals, their mating habits in particular. And he regards his relations with women the same way animals do. There is no love nor desire to marry. His father, fed up with his youngest son, issues a challenge. Restore Birchwood (the estate neighboring Charlotte's father's estate) within one year or marry.

Charlotte literally trips over Darius while she's out on a walk on his property, and the two start off on the wrong foot, bickering with each other in the most amusing way. They are both determined not to be attracted to the other. Darius has a rule against innocents and Charlotte is unwilling to trust men after her experience with the man who had his way with her and left.

However, Charlotte and Darius are thrown together frequently, as her stepmother has taken on the task of restoring the manor house at Birchwood, spending money that Darius doesn't have. Every time they meet, they rub each other the wrong way, and Darius winds up having wicked thoughts about her. Every time they kiss, Charlotte is angry at him and herself, usually whacking him with her bonnet and stomping off in a huff.

They give in to the attraction one afternoon, when Charlotte is crying over the prospect of marrying a man she doesn't love, and she reveals her secret to Darius. I was ready to applaud Charlotte at that point because the TRUTH has come out before the end of the book, and she and Darius can work through it. And hooray! Darius is accepting of Charlotte's past and the fact that she's not perfect. It was nice to see the hero and heroine act like adults and communicate, and they declare their love soon after, which is lovely. So many historical romances have the heroine refusing the hero until he admits that he loves her, and that usually takes until the very end of the book.

The conflict though, is Colonel Morrell, who I kept calling "Colonel Mustard" in my mind. He wants Charlotte for his wife, but he'd be the kind of husband who doles out heaps of discipline to make her into a proper wife. None of this traipsing across the countryside and helping her stepmother redecorate a bachelor's home. Basically, he's the male character I hate quite easily. He discovers Charlotte's secret and attempts to blackmail her with it, but unsuccessfully so, as Charlotte and Darius go to her parents and reveal the truth, along with their intention to marry.

Charlotte's father isn't upset about how Charlotte had a child, but the fact that she was too afraid to tell him about her problem, and accepts his new grandson, giving the poor child a large, loving family, and lifting Charlotte's burden of guilt from her shoulders.

This was a great romance, with minimal annoyance to me (and I get annoyed rather easily!). I could not get enough of Charlotte and Darius's dialogue, as they are the epitome of "that bickering-but-in-love couple."

Almost Heaven

Author: Judith McNaught
Published: April 1990 (Pocket Books)
Category: Historical Romance
Rating: 7/10

Elizabeth Cameron, Countess of Havenhurst, had a promising future ahead of her. She possessed beauty, grace, and charm, and was about to be betrothed to a viscount when she met Ian Thornton, disowned grandson of the Duke of Stanhope. The cover blurb says that his lineage is mysterious, but the duke's son married a commoner and was disowned. Ian is the duke's son's only child, and should be the heir to the duke now that his father has passed away. I didn't understand what was so mysterious when everyone knew Ian's story. Ian and Elizabeth spend some time together at a house party, and Ian wants her for his wife after she uses her quick wit to prevent a ridiculous duel, but before he can follow through, the couple is set up and discovered in the greenhouse (just talking) by her brother Robert.

Robert challenges Ian to a duel, and dishonorably fires before he's supposed to, wounding Ian, and as a result, Elizabeth's betrothal to the viscount is off the table. Her brother disappears, most likely to escape from his creditors, and a ruined Elizabeth takes charge of Havenhurst. Two years later, Elizabeth's uncle contacts Elizabeth's former suitors and offers them a chance to marry Elizabeth, after a short visit to see if they will still suit. Three respond to the offer, although Ian didn't want Elizabeth. Due to his incompetent secretary, the wrong response went to Elizabeth's uncle.

Elizabeth's arrival is a surprise to Ian, and the two butt heads. Lucy, Elizabeth's duenna, sees that the two are perfect for each other and set them up with time alone so their relationship can develop again. Ian still believes Elizabeth is a schemer. After all, he was under the belief that she flirted with him when she was betrothed to a viscount, and led him on. However, they figure out that the person who set them up in that greenhouse was one of Elizabeth's rivals (and a supposed friend - girls are mean!!). After her visit, Ian decides to marry Elizabeth because they love each other and he wants to save her from a marriage to a lecherous old man. To do so, Ian reconciles with his grandfather and becomes his legal heir.

On the day they marry, the man investigating Robert's disappearance tells Elizabeth that Ian may be responsible for Robert's departure, or murder even. She loves Ian, so she marries him anyway, hoping that it's not true. Unfortunately, Ian had a hand in Robert's disappearance, throwing him onto the crews of one of his ships because Robert tried to murder Ian after the duel. After this point, the romance could've been a lot shorter if they'd talked to each other. But they loved each other too much. Elizabeth didn't want to accuse Ian of something he may not have done, and Ian didn't want to tell Elizabeth about what he'd done until he figured out what actually happened to Robert.

And in the grand tradition of conflict-ridden romance, Robert reappears, spewing lies about what happened, and Elizabeth runs away, selling the emeralds Ian gave her for a wedding gift for funds. Ian is accused of murdering Elizabeth, and when she sees this in a newspaper, she confronts Robert and he admits that he lied about what happened to him. She pays him off and returns to London to show herself at Ian's trial. He's declared innocent, but he now wants to divorce his wife.

This book frustrated me so much at times. Like before, in Something Wonderful it takes a big sacrifice from the heroine to make the hero realize that he's wrong. Elizabeth sells her beloved Havenhurst to pay Ian back for the emeralds. He finally tracks her down (after buying back the emeralds and Havenhurst), and admits that he's an idiot and never stopped loving her. After kissing and making up, they talk and share what they'd been hiding from each other. You know, things would've been a lot easier if they'd just communicated!

The other thing that kept bugging me was how rich Ian was. I know that he had a lucrative shipping business, but he paid Elizabeth's uncle £150,000 to marry her. Then there was £45,000 for her emeralds. Then he paid £200,000 to buy back Havenhurst. So the money and everyone's assumption in the worst in everyone else made this book extremely aggravating, but the love story between the Ian and Elizabeth was lovely. McNaught's description of their first moonlit waltz in the garden at the house party was so romantic. It was all in Ian's, "Dance with me, Elizabeth." ::swoon::

I think McNaught's historical romances are all about deception and betrayal, so I think I'll pass on her in the future. Too much frustration.