Review: More and More by Stella Cameron

I feel badly about this. I've heard really good things about Stella Cameron. I even think I've read her books before. But I really disliked this book. A lot. There was almost nothing that made me happy to have read it. Honestly, I'm only happy to have read it so I can clear it off the shelf to make room for a book I'll like. I hate reading experiences that leave me feeling this way.

The historical-set romance opens with an unnamed narrator addressing the reader and telling of his (the narrator's) horror of the fact that his family has allowed boarders into 7 Mayfair Place and of his intention to rid the house of these undeserving, paying folk. Then the tale bumps into gear as Finch More is introduced. She is a 29 year old spinster who lives with her head in the clouds brother as they try to make their way as owners of a small import company. Their biggest client is also their next door neighbor, Ross, Viscount Kilrood. He is an antiquities afficianado but is also involved in some serious foreign intrigue that endangers both the Mores and himself and holds the fate of a small South East Asian country in the balance.

At the start of the story, Finch is accosted and given a strange message that chills Ross down to the bone, knowing that he is the intended recipient of the message. And so begins his vigil to get close to Finch, who is not only in danger but also attracts him like no other woman ever has. While he and Finch alternately argue heatedly and tease and titillate each other, Finch's brother is kidnapped by the baddies. Not content to be waiting at home to hear that he has been saved, Finch insists on helping to rescue him. Ross is dismissive of her skills as a woman but Finch is ridiculously headstrong and thoughtless as a bull in a china shop. The tension of where her brother is is broken up by incredibly steamy sex scenes. And the whole tale is this way. Ross and Finch have only known each other briefly and not well at all before they are panting and lapping at each other only to be interrupted by the pesky detail that they still don't know where Finch's brother is.

The novel as a whole only spans a few desperate days so everything about the relationship is rushed and lust-spiked. Love? Well, the narration tells us it is true love but there's no evidence of that that I read. And our initial narrator? Well, it turns out he's the ghostly ancestor of the owners of 7 Mayfair Place. He interjects himself into the narrative with regularity, making the tale choppy and just generally causing the reader annoyance. Really, this was just not the book for me and I shudder to think there might be more in the series lurking on my shelves for me to read.

Review: Dangerous by Millie Criswell

Ethan Bodine is a Texas Ranger who has the hardest assignment of his career: he has to track and bring in his brother Rafe on a murder charge. Wilhelmina Granville, called Willy, a horticulturist turned bounty hunter, is also after Rafe, desperate for the reward money so she can save her aunts' home from foreclosure. A professional lawman and tracker and a green, innocent newly returned west after years in Boston would of course be destined to meet this way, right? Well, in this book they are and so not only do they meet up but Willy saves Ethan's life with the judicious use of a parasol poke to the eye. After that, Ethan's sense of justice and fair play keeps the two of them together as lust ratchets up and eventually blossoms forth as fully-fledged love, complete with misunderstandings and groveling.

Just about everything in this book is so completely unbelievable to the point that it becomes hard to read with a straight face. The sexual tension is pretty palpable almost from the get go. Willy's attitude about sex and specifically premarital sex is not typical of the era. Her blase acceptance of pregnancy outside of marriage is positively modern. She is certainly drawn as an early feminist but the characterization goes too far, making it impossible to believe her as a character of her time. It was also rather unbelievable that Willy, with no experience of tracking, would be able to be as quick and effective (and sometimes more so) than Ethan with his years of experience. Sometimes I can go with the flow on things like this but I couldn't do it with this book. Each additional farfetched moment served to rankle and irritate like a burr under a saddle blanket. Other people have really loved it but I was relieved to turn the last page and move on to the next read.

Review: The Perfect Wife by Lynsay Sands

Normally medieval-set historical romances are not my romances of choice. There's just altogether too much dirt and battle. But this particular book had enough humor, slapstick and otherwise, to leaven the difficult realities of life in the eleventh century.

Lady Avelyn is not a slight girl; she is a fully grown woman, rounded, comfortable and eminently skilled to be mistress of her own home, just the sort of woman her soon to be husband Paen wants to marry. However, she has spent so many years being bullied by her nasty cousins that she can only see faults, fretting that Paen will reject her upon first sight despite their long-standing betrothal. And so Avelyn, who had intended to lose weight for her wedding but hasn't managed to do so, allows her mother to bind her tightly and sew her into her wedding dress, which will, of course lead to disaster. It is stunts like this and others that lead Paen to decide that his new wife is sickly, frail, and completely accident-prone, something that worries him unduly.

Refreshingly, the misunderstandings between Paen and Avelyn do not lead to arguments but they continue to keep the newly married pair apart regardless as neither addresses the issues. And so these two, tentatively attracted to each other, fumble along getting to know one another even as Avelyn evades attempts on her life from an undiscovered source. This particular plot line is the one that provides the major plot climax and enables Avelyn and Paen to finally see each other. The scenes between Avelyn and Paen are a bit more humorous than sexy but they are likable characters overall and it is rather nice to be able to laugh at the stress of getting to know your spouse only after the wedding. A light read, fans who like a little less seriousness in their historical romances will find this quite appealing.

Review: I'm in No Mood for Love by Rachel Gibson

Clare Wingate arrives home unexpectedly only to discover her fiance in flagrante delicto with the washing machine repairman. She doesn't have time to focus on this catastrohe because she has to act as bridesmaid to her good friend so she decides to deal with Lonny and his infidelity (and sexuality) later. But later turns out to be after an extended amount of time and drinks in the hotel bar and Clare can't remember much of the rest of her evening, knowing only that she has awakened naked in a hotel room. Worse yet, it appears she has awakened in the bed of her childhood nemesis Sebastian, now a gorgeous reporter who has chased important and dangerous stories around the globe. When she assumes that the two of them slept together, Sebastian doesn't disabuse her of the idea, thinking it's rather fun to see perfect, monied little Clare flustered.

There is a reasonable amount of friction between the two characters but there is quite a lot of time spent on each of their seperate development and growth and not nearly as much as might be expected in a romance on the actual relationship and its evolution. It is interesting that Gibson chose to make Clare a romance author who can't even command respect from her mother given her choice of subject matter despite the fact that her rather over the top prose has made Sebastian hot and bothered. The story doesn't follow the traditional arc of a romance but it also doesn't work as anything other than a romance novel and so this deviation from the conventional, instead of being a strength, ends up weakening the story and leaving the eventual resolution feel a bit rushed. It is also a tad wearying that the character who is unable to sustain the concept of "friends with benefits" is Clare, causing Sebastian to panic until he realizes that he too needs more than to stay the cliched commitment-phobic male. Romance fans will likely not be ambivalent about this one, either hating it for its tepid relationship or loving it for its ability to show major change and growth in the main characters independent of each other. Personally I'm rather wishy-washy about it, appreciating the attempt but ultimately finding that the attempt created flaws that wouldn't otherwise have been as evident.