Top 4 Unusual Historicals for August 2018

Normally my “sweet spot” for these posts are to find four or five books, preferably published during the month of the blog post, that feature “unusual elements.” “Unusual” typically takes the form of non-UK settings, “nobody” main characters that aren’t titled, unique professions etc. But when I started looking for titles to feature for August? Yeah, pickings were slim. So I did what any good librarian does - I whined on Twitter, got some suggestions, did some more investigating and now we have an August Unusual Historicals list! Huzzah!

Forbidden Night with the Prince by Michelle Willingham

A lifetime of being good…

One night of sin!

A Warriors of the Night story: virtuous Joan de Laurent is fated never to marry. Three betrothals, each ending in the groom’s death, have convinced her she’s cursed! But only her hand in marriage can help darkly brooding Irish prince Ronan win back his fortress. To break the curse, Joan must risk all to spend one forbidden night with the royal warrior…

Willingham does write in the Regency era (mostly for Amazon Montlake these days) but her medievals for Harlequin Historical are personal favorites. She’s got a great handle on the time period, has written stories all over the island (check out her Ireland-set MacEgan series!), and there’s usually plenty of angst-o-rama-jama to make my heart sing.

Joy to the Earl by Nicola Davidson

Shunned for his mismatched eyes and awkward limp, Yorkshire carpenter Jack Reynolds lives a lonely and impoverished existence. Then comes a shocking discovery: he’s the discarded heir of a wealthy noble family, and if he travels to London by Christmas, he’ll not only gain an earldom, a home, and position like he’s never dreamed, but maybe—just maybe—he can finally lose his damned virginity.

Scandalous widow Rosalind Nelson’s life centers around four things—her young daughter, helping couples suffering sexual discord, avoiding all peers, and definitely not falling in love. That is, until the day she rescues a mysterious stranger from a carriage accident. Kind, brave, and achingly seductive, Jack is everything she’s ever wanted. Nothing can destroy their growing bond…except the demons of his past...

This book was previously published in the anthology A Very Wicked Christmas.

This previously published novella popped up on my radar thanks to a Twitter friend. Thank you Twitter friend! For those of you looking for steam, Davidson writes the sexy times and what could be sexier than a carpenter virgin hero? I may have broken a nail one-clicking this...

The Duke with the Dragon Tattoo by Kerrigan Byrne

The bravest of heroes. The brashest of rebels. The boldest of lovers. These are the men who risk their hearts and their souls―for the passionate women who dare to love them…

He is known only as The Rook. A man with no name, no past, no memories. He awakens in a mass grave, a magnificent dragon tattoo on his muscled forearm the sole clue to his mysterious origins. His only hope for survival―and salvation―lies in the deep, fiery eyes of the beautiful stranger who finds him. Who nurses him back to health. And who calms the restless demons in his soul…

A LEGENDARY LOVE

Lorelai will never forget the night she rescued the broken dark angel in the woods, a devilishly handsome man who haunts her dreams to this day. Crippled as a child, she devoted herself to healing the poor tortured man. And when he left, he took a piece of her heart with him. Now, after all these years, The Rook has returned. Like a phantom, he sweeps back into her life and avenges those who wronged her. But can she trust a man who’s been branded a rebel, a thief, and a killer? And can she trust herself to resist him when he takes her in his arms?

Brutal honesty time: I completely skipped over this book when I saw “Duke” in a title that plays up another famous book title (I seriously hate that). I get it. Most readers see “Duke” and can’t grab the book fast enough. Me? Not so much. Then I stumbled across reviews at The Day Job. The hero has to be nursed back to health after crawling out a mass grave (!) and when he’s reunited with the heroine he’s now a “lethal pirate captain.” There’s also a treasure hunt and what Library Journal describes as “the darker side of the Victorian Age.” So, of course, I put myself on a waitlist for this at the office. Because, of course!

The Mysterious Lord Millcroft by Virginia Heath

Life as a duchess…

Or something much more dangerous?

Part of The King’s Elite: constantly told her beauty and charm are all she has to offer, Lady Clarissa is intent on marrying a duke. And intriguing spy Sebastian Leatham will help her! Only, first she’ll assist him with his new assignment—playing the part of confident aristocrat Lord Millcroft. Sebastian awakens a burning desire within Clarissa that leaves her questioning whether becoming a duchess is what she truly longs for…

Again, another title I skipped over (at first) because the back cover blurb makes it sound like your run-of-the-mill Regency spy story. But when I whined on Twitter about this blog post with, “I need historicals that aren’t another Girl Falls In Love With Duke story….” the author responded with, “I've got a girl who thinks she wants a Duke but actually falls for a shy nobody story.” O.M.G. Ladies and gents, that’s an elevator pitch right there! Print is out in August, but y’all need to wait for September 1 for the ebook.

What Unusual Historicals are you looking forward to this month?

Top 5 Unusual Historicals for January 2018

So here we are.  It's the first month of a new year which would typically inspire hope and wonder that we haven't already kicked our well-meaning resolutions to the curb.  I started out my 2018 reading like a house on fire thanks to finding the right books at the right time.  However in the past week I've DNF'ed three books in a row and now I'm browsing around grasping at straws (as you do).  The perfect time to go browsing for new historicals! Here's what is catching my eye this month:

Forbidden Night with the Highlander by Michelle Willingham (medieval)

The handsome Highlander who seduced her…

…is the very man she must marry!  

 In this Warriors of the Night story, Lianna MacKinnon seeks to avoid her betrothal to a Norman lord by giving herself to an intriguing stranger. But afterward, she discovers her sensual lover is none other than Rhys de Laurent—her betrothed—in disguise! They’ve already had their wedding night… Now there’s no escaping their marriage vows!

This is the second book in a series and yes, of course I still have book one waiting for me in my digital TBR.  Willingham is basically an autobuy for me, so yes, this will get added to the pile and read...one of these days.

A Delicate Affair by Lindsay Evans (1920s)

Golden Worth is a proud southerner. But when some “good” Georgia boys threaten to lynch him, he runs north to Washington DC to make music and a new life for himself. He doesn’t count on falling for the untouchable Leonie Harper, an aristocratic beauty with a mind for sin. He knows better than to want her, but the Radcliffe-bound girl who’s supposed to be a blushing debutante is anything but. She captivates him, tempting him to want things he once thought were out of reach.  

All too easily, Golden falls into Leonie’s scented embrace, even though he suspects she’s only playing with him until something richer comes along. 

Can this country boy convince a big city girl to take a chance on real love, or will she leave him swinging in the wind?

This is the first novella in a multi-author series with a new story set in a new decade releasing every month during 2018 (a 2010-set romance ends the series in December 2018).  From what I can tell this appears to be Evans' first historical (she's got a number of contemporary category romances under her belt).

Wallflower Most Wanted by Manda Collins (Regency)

THE PICTURE OF ROMANCE  

A dedicated painter, Miss Sophia Hastings is far more concerned with finding the right slant of light than in finding Mr. Right. But when an overheard conversation hints at danger for another local artist, Sophia is determined to get involved. Even if it means accepting help from an impossibly good-looking vicar who insists on joining her investigation—and threatens to capture her heart…  

 Reverend Lord Benedick Lisle knows that Sophia is no damsel in distress. But he won’t allow her to venture into peril alone, either. . .especially since he finds Sophia’s curious, free-spirited nature so alluring. But protecting her from harm is becoming more difficult than the vicar could have expected as he and Sophia confront their fiery mutual passion. Who could have known that the art of love would prove so irresistible?

I know.  Typically this column steers clear of Regency-set historicals but VICAR HERO!!!!!  Ahem.  We need more vicar heroes.  Says Wendy.  Also, Collins is a librarian. 

Tempest by Beverly Jenkins (western)

What kind of mail-order bride greets her intended with a bullet instead of a kiss? One like Regan Carmichael—an independent spirit equally at home in denims and dresses. Shooting Dr. Colton Lee in the shoulder is an honest error, but soon Regan wonders if her entire plan to marry a man she’s never met is a mistake. Colton, who buried his heart along with his first wife, insists he only wants someone to care for his daughter. Yet Regan is drawn to the unmistakable desire in his gaze.  

Regan’s far from the docile bride Colton was expecting. Still, few women would brave the wilds of Wyoming Territory for an uncertain future with a widower and his child. The thought of having a bold, forthright woman like Regan in his life—and in his arms—begins to inspire a new dream. And despite his family’s disapproval and an unseen enemy, he’ll risk all to make this match a real union of body and soul.

This is the third book in Jenkins' current series for Avon.  I love that Colton is surprised that Regan is "far from the docile bride" he was expecting.  Darlin', you're the hero in a Beverly Jenkins romance novel.  You should have been prepared that the heroine wasn't going to be some simpering miss.

 Sunrise Over Texas by M.J. Fredrick (western) reprint

Texas Frontier, 1826  

Kit Barclay followed her husband into the wilds of Texas only to be widowed. Stranded with her mother- and sister-in-law to care for, with no hope of rescue before winter sets in, Kit has only one goal: survival. So when a lone horseman appears on the horizon, and then falls from his mount in fever, Kit must weigh the safety of her family against offering aid and shelter to the handsome stranger.  

Trace Watson has lost everything that ever mattered to him. Trying to forget, he heads to the frontier colony of San Felipe, not caring if he lives or dies. But when he wakes to discover he's being nursed back to health by a brave young widow, he vows to repay her kindness by guiding the three women back to civilization, no matter what the cost.  

Soon, Kit and Trace are fighting the elements, Indian attacks and outlaws—as well as feelings they both thought were long buried...

When I saw this title pop on Amazon I thought, "I'll feature this because it was originally a Samhain title."  Um, yeah.  No, it wasn't.  Imagine my surprise - this was actually originally published by Carina back in 2010.  Anywho - Fredrick obviously got her rights back and I'm more than half in love with this cover.  It's also a western set pre-Civil War which is nearly unheard of (take it from the historical western reader - these are hard to come by!).  A couple of my reading buds really liked this one back in the day and I could of sworn I owned it but a cursory glance in my digital TBR is telling me I don't.  Well, I'm buying it now.

What Historicals are you looking forward to this month?

Catching Up and Various Mini-Reviews

Oh hi there.  Yes, I have a blog.  A blog that I've ignored for over a week.  So what has Wendy been up to?  For one thing, work has been nutty.  I've been dealing with hiring new staff and contracts.  Both very important things, but it's made for long, mentally exhausting days at the office.

Then there's the fact that I finally bit the bullet and bought a FitBit.  Yes, I'm now officially one of The Borg.  So far it's been extremely helpful in holding me accountable.  It's made it easy for me to keep a food journal, track my exercise and smack me in the face with my inactivity during the work week (I sit a lot at my job, which I'm sure is slowly killing me....)

But I have managed to get some reading done - sort of.  I finally wrapped up a series I was neglecting and I got through two audiobooks.  Well, sort of.

You Belong to Me by Karen Rose was an audiobook I had to DNF at the 50% mark because I loathed the heroine.  She's a medical examiner and discovered a dead (and tortured) body on her regular morning run.  It's quickly determined that she was meant to find the body and that the killer is, for some reason, fixated on her.  Then more dead bodies start turning up.  There's a hunky homicide cop hero who is immediately captivated by her and the "romance" goes from zero to 60 in less than 12 hours.  The hero's boss is painted as this unreasonable jerk because he thinks the heroine is hiding something.  Gee, you don't say?

She's keeping secrets.  Some of them are just seriously stupid.  She's a musician.  Nobody can know that for some reason.  She plays the electric violin in a club she owns (while decked out in S&M-like gear because OF COURSE!) with her BFF (who does some weird act with whips - because OF COURSE!) and a defense attorney.  The hero follows her and finds out she's been keeping secrets and while they're having their first "love scene" against a back alley wall, the villain leaves another dead body in the heroine's car.

As if that weren't enough, the heroine justifies not being totally upfront with the cops because it's her private life and she wants to "keep something just for myself."

Yeah, I'm done.  Look cupcake - YOU'RE A MEDICAL EXAMINER!  You work with cops all the time.  Some mad man is out there torturing people to death, it's somehow linked to you, and YOU WANT TO KEEP SOMETHING JUST FOR YOURSELF?!?!?!?  This isn't your first rodeo. Buh bye.

Final Grade = DNF

Unlaced by the Outlaw by Michelle Willingham is the fourth and final book in the author's Secrets in Silk quartet for Amazon Montlake (Attention: Kindle Unlimited users...).  This series has mostly ranged from OK (the majority of the books) to Oh Man, That Was Really Good (the second book).  This book is Margaret's story, the sister who is wound so tight that you'll find diamonds if you follow her into the bathroom.  She's spent the entire series tap dancing around the hero, a totally unsuitable and way beneath her Scottish Highlander-type.

This is the sort of book that wraps up the series well, and is a pleasant distraction while reading, but doesn't have a lot of staying power.  The high points of this series has been Willingham's interesting premise, her not throwing out the history baby with the historical bathwater, and the world-building.  But I'll be honest - I think I prefer the author's medievals to when she ventures into Regency era.

Final Grade = C+

I first discovered Marcia Muller as a teenager, browsing the stacks at my local, small town library.  I'm feeling nostalgic, so decided to relisten to the first book in her Sharon McCone, private investigator series, Edwin of the Iron Shoes on audio.  This was first published in the late 1970s, and mostly holds up well - namely thanks to the McCone character, an independent young woman working and living in San Francisco.

What didn't hold up so well was the homicide cop character of Greg Marcus - who has particular ideas on a woman's role, and refers to Sharon by the incredibly offensive "nickname" Papoose (Sharon is of Native American heritage).  But, if I'm being totally honest - his character fits well within the landscape and era Muller was writing this book in - and guys like Greg Marcus still exist today so....yeah.

The mystery itself was engaging, and the book (on the short side) was a quick listen on audio.  Muller could have fleshed out the secondary characters a bit better, and it reads like a mystery from the late 1970s (stylistically speaking) - but I enjoyed the nostalgia trip.

Final Grade = B-

Undressed By The Earl

Michelle Willingham's Regency-set Secrets in Silk series for Amazon Montlake has been a bit of a mixed bag for me.  The second book in the four-book series has, so far, been the strongest entry for me, with book three, Undressed by the Earl leaving me with the same reaction that the first book left me with.  It's OK.  It's pleasant, but it didn't always pass the put-down, pick-up test.

Amelia Andrews is the youngest of four sisters, their father a baron recently returned from fighting on the Continent.  While Daddy was away the girls and their mother fell on hard times.  Oldest sister, Victoria, took to designing and making ladies undergarments, which have proven to be a sensation at an exclusive London dress shop.  The fly in the ointment is that nobody can ever know.  If word got out that these gently born ladies even knew what corsets were, let alone designed them?  The family would be ruined.  While the family really no longer needs the money, the sewing has largely been given over to the wives of tenants that live on their Scottish property and those families really, really need the extra money.  So the business carries on, amidst all the general Regency shenanigans romance readers have come to expect.

Amelia fancies herself in love with a rake.  The same rake that happened to break off an engagement and thereby "ruin" Amelia's older sister Margaret.  But never no mind, Amelia knows that she can change him!  She loves him!  He and Margaret were all wrong for each other.  So despite everybody telling her how completely wrong the guy is for her, she's got her sights set.  Into the mix enters David Hartford, the Earl of Castledon, who Amelia thinks would be perfect for Margaret.  Never mind that Amelia once compared Castledon's personality to that of a handkerchief.

David is a widow with a young daughter.  He loved his first wife, and being a bit of a wallflower really has no desire to marry again.  But he also recognizes that his daughter needs a mother and decides that maybe he can find a woman who wouldn't be adverse to a marriage of convenience.  Instead he finds himself spending too much time with Amelia, who he believes is "too young" for him and not suitable at all for what he thinks he needs in a wife.  But he can't stay away.  Especially when she seems determined to throw herself at the completely wrong sort of man.

My issues with this story have everything to do with pacing.  The first half is spent detailing Amelia trying to find a suitable wife for David and David trying to convince Amelia that her affection for the rake is totally misplaced.  There's tap-dancing and banter and plenty of ballroom scenes.  It wasn't until the second half of the story when Amelia realizes that everybody really was right about the rake all along (like, duh) and circumstances spur her and David into coupledom.

From the above description it sounds like Amelia is young, naive and a bit brain-dead.  What I really appreciated and thought Willingham was genius to do is that she gives Amelia dimension.  On the surface, yes Amelia may appear to be those things.  But she's smarter than anyone gives her credit for.  She does not spend the whole book thinking the rake is the man of her dreams (thank God!) and she'll call a spade a spade.  Like when she calls David's first wife "St. Katherine" - to his face.  On that score?  David does hang on to the "perfect first wife" thing for a long, long time.  Until the bitter end in fact, when he finally wakes up to realize that he loves Amelia and that's OK.  He's allowed to find happiness twice in his life.

As expected for a third book the series baggage is pretty heavy here.  I loved seeing more glimpses of Amelia's parents, who are slowly trying to repair their marriage after so many years apart.  Also stuff happens to set-up Margaret's book, the final one in the series, and the villain from the first two books is back to do dastardly villain stuff.

While the first half never quite fully engaged me, the second half of the book is pretty good and injects enough emotional angst into the series to have me intrigued for Margaret's story.  While I haven't loved these books as much as some of Willingham's medievals, they have been charming and I've enjoyed the world the author has created.

Final Grade = C+

To Tempt A Viking

I've always felt that authors should write the story they want to write and not think about readers.  Mostly because, well, readers are nut jobs.  Myself included.  Which is why I think authors (especially those working in genre fiction) should be rewarded for taking risks.  Those risks may not necessarily work, but it's always rewarding, for me, to read a story that plays outside of the usual sandbox. 

That's what Michelle Willingham has done with her Forbidden Vikings duet for Harlequin Historical.  The premise of this series is one of an arranged marriage that is dying a slow, painful death - and in the midst of that death the married couple falls in love with other people.  Romance is a genre that tends to put a healthy emphasis on "traditional" relationships, so an author writing stories set around this idea of a married couple splitting up, then falling in love with someone else?  Forgive my language, but it's risky as shit.  To Sin With A Viking was all about a husband desperately trying to mend the chasm between him and his wife, only to end up being taken captive by a nearly starving Irish woman and falling in love with her.  To Tempt A Viking runs parallel to that story for the first half, giving us the story of what happens to Elena, the former hero's wife, when she is taken hostage by a band of starving Irish villagers and ultimately rescued by Ragnar Olafsson, a fierce warrior and her husband's best friend.

Elena desperately wants children, but five years of marriage to her husband Styr and she's remained barren.  Her inability to conceive has worn her down to the point where she is consumed by it.  She has pushed her husband away, and he thinks Ireland will somehow give them a fresh start.  Instead she gets kidnapped and he gets taken captive.  Ragnar swore to Styr that he would protect Elena, and he immediately joins the fray to rescue her.  He catches up with her, only to be taken captive by the same band of starving young Irishmen.  Biding his time, looking for the right moment, he rescues Elena - only to find himself wounded and both of them stranded with nothing more than the clothes on their backs.  Oh, and the smoldering attraction between them, of course.  Because wouldn't you know it?  Ragnar has been in love with Elena for years, only to realize and be reminded of the fact, repeatedly, that he's not good enough for the likes of her. 

This was a second half book for me, mostly because I have read the first book in the series.  The first half literally parallels the events of the first book.  The only difference being that we're reading about it from two different points of view.  This will likely be fine for new readers who didn't read the first story, but for those of us who have?  It felt too much like a rehash for me.  I found myself going, "Yeah, yeah, yeah - let's move on already, I know all this."  So needless to say when Styr finally shows up on scene and he is reunited with Elena?  I was jumping for joy.  Finally!  I'm past all the stuff I already know and can move on to the "new stuff."

And it's the "new stuff" where this story really cooks.  Because by this point Styr is in love with another woman and Elena realizes that there is no saving her marriage.  She's not happy.  She's miserable.  She just hasn't quite come to the realization that she's in love with Ragnar.  She knows he's her friend and she knows she cares for him - but she's still smarting over the disintegration of her marriage to Styr and she feels very much like a failure for not being the wife her husband wanted or needed.

Some conflict works better in historicals than in contemporaries, and Elena's struggle with infertility is one of them.  Is infertility a heartbreaking struggle for many women?  Yes.  But in contemporaries I find myself annoyed by heroines who somehow think their lives are "over" because they are unable to conceive.  No, it's not.  You are more than a uterus.  And don't get me started on heroines who won't explore foster parenting or adoption because they want their "own babies."  That's a Wendy rant that will send us down an endless rabbit hole.

In historical time periods though?  It's much easier for me to roll with.  As a woman your entire sense of value was your uterus.  If you couldn't squirt out babies, male babies at that, well what good were you?  So it's easy to see how this is a Big Hairy Deal for Elena, not only because her inability to get pregnant is a smear against her husband's name, but she is also a woman who really wants kids.  That's her ambition, to be a mother.

What is very interesting is that Elena eventually comes around to a way of thinking that so many of her contemporary romance heroine counterparts fail to grasp.  Eventually she does realize that yeah, it sucks she can't seem to get pregnant, but that doesn't mean her dream has to die on the vine.  She can still have a family, she just may need to go about it a little differently than other women.

Willingham has a knack for angst, and the final chapters of this story are really gut-wrenching.  Can Elena and Ragnar move past the long shadow of Styr?  Will Ragnar eventually clue into the fact that he is good enough?  I could have done without the epilogue, which I found syrupy and a little disappointing to be honest, but for readers who love those Big Happy Family With Lots O' Kidlets Running Around epilogues, this book has one for you.

I found this to be an interesting and challenging duet.  It was not always an easy read, but I appreciate that the author took a common romantic trope (the arranged marriage) and put a different spin on it without making either Styr or Elena out to be villains.  I also appreciated that at the end of the day both characters ended up with the people they were meant to be with all along.

Final Grade = B-

Sidenote: I'll be honest, beefcake covers tend to be like white noise to me anymore.  I barely notice them and they barely register.  But this cover?  I want to lick this cover.  TMI?

Unraveled By The Rebel

Unraveled by the Rebel by Michelle Willingham is the second book in her Secrets In Silk series.  I had a mixed reaction to the first in the series, but I tend to like Willingham's books and the promise that at least a couple of the sisters would end up with "non-titled" heroes propelled me into trying this story.  I'm glad I did.  Not only did it explode the mercury in my Angst Thermometer, it was a really good read.

Juliette Andrews is the daughter of a baron.  For the last several years the family has been at their Scottish home while Daddy has been busy fighting Napoleon on the continent.  The family finances have fallen into disrepair leading the eldest daughter, Victoria, to secretly sew and sell sexy lingerie (the corsets are flying off the shelves in London!).  This enterprise is, obviously, held as a closely guarded secret because if the truth came out?  The family would be ruined.  Juliette helps this enterprise by keeping the books and tinkering with her father's ledgers so their mother is none the wiser.  She is also in love with local boy, Paul Fraser.  She's above him in station, but it doesn't stop from young love blossoming.  That is, until Paul's father is lynched by the villain, an earl whose lands border the Andrews' property.  Paul is sent away to live with his uncle in Edinburgh and starts medical school.  While he's away, he and Juliette write each other.  Until one day, Juliette's letters simply stop coming.

Juliette stops writing Paul because she's ruined.  That dastardly earl?  Yeah, becomes obsessed with her in hopes of securing her family's lands.  He manages to get Juliette alone and rapes her (this event takes place before the start of the book - so readers are saved from actually reading about it as it happens).  Not only that, but there were "complications" from the brutality.  Juliette believes she is unfit to be any man's wife, let alone Paul's wife - a man she does desperately care about.  And now Paul is back home, putting on the full court press.  He's proposed.  Repeatedly.  She's said no.  Repeatedly.  He's determined to find out why Juliette is pushing him away.  He thought she cared about him.  Will he be able to convince her?  And more importantly, what will happen when he finds out that the man who murdered his father also brutalized the woman he's always loved?

Oh the angst!  The glorious angst!  Willingham has never been shy about writing gut-wrenching, soul-crushing angst and she really slathers it on in this book.  Juliette has an epic Big Secret and Paul is the very definition of a Hero In Pursuit.  These two are perfect for each other, they love each other, but given Juliette's trauma and complicated life - it's easy to see why she would feel the need to push Paul away for his own good.  Lucky for her, and the reader, that Paul doesn't give up easily.  There's also a bit of a Dickensian twist to Paul's back-story, and while I probably should have been annoyed about it - I wasn't.  Juliette needs protecting, and time to recover her sense of personal strength, and this twist to Paul's story achieves that goal.

If I had one quibble about this story it's that I'm not sure it stands alone perfectly well.  I think it can be read without any knowledge of the first book, but I don't think readers will get the same experience.  The first book really lays the groundwork for the family lingerie business, and also delves more deeply into the absence of the girls' father.  What this book accomplishes that I'm not sure the first book did?  It really cements the series.  While I finished the first book merely vaguely curious about the other sisters, I finished this story anxious to get my hands on the final two books in the series.  Willingham has created four sisters who all have distinct personalities, but yet still read like four women who really could be sisters.  They're not just playing "types."  They're sisters.  As the reader, you understand their differences, but totally buy into the idea that they all could have sprung from the same womb, and been raised in the same environment.

It's a really good, angst-filled, emotionally-draining read.  Now I just need to wait for Amelia's book.

Final Grade = B

Digital Review: Those Wacky Highlanders

Readers often talk about how digital has changed the way they read.  For me?  The only noticeable difference I see is the way I read short stories and novellas.  I've always enjoyed anthologies - being a quick, easy, and cost effective way to try multiple authors in one scoop.  But with digital?  It's just easier to read (and buy!) one short story or one novella by one author.  What Harlequin has done with Highlanders is give readers the traditional anthology format in digital by spotlighting three of their authors currently working in Scottish settings.

The Warrior And The Rose by Brenda Joyce is a story that I suspect will please her fans, but me?  Yeah, not so much.

Lady Juliana MacDougall is going to her family's chapel to pray for her brother's safe return (he's off fighting against Robert Bruce).  She thought she was far away from the war, until the war shows up to murder her bishop and burn down her chapel.  Alasdair Og came to exact vengeance after he discovers that Juliana's brother sent the bishop to spy on them.  Sworn enemies, that doesn't stop from Alasdair from admiring Juliana's spirited nature or from Juliana from noticing the hot and hunky highlander.

This is an I Hate You, I Hate You, We Are Sworn Enemies, Let's Have Sex, Now I Lurve You books.  Honestly, it's a story that probably could have worked in a full-length novel, where the author would have had more time to really develop the emotional complexities a relationship like this would entail.  But here?  It's rushed.  And sadly the sex is written in a vague sort of way, so you can't really chalk up the hate one minute, love the next stuff to some sizzling bedroom play.  If you're a fan of the author, or a big Scottish history nut (Juliana and Alasdair were apparently a real life couple) - then this maybe worth a whirl.  For me?  It was pretty unsatisfying.

Grade = D

The Forbidden Highlander by Terri Brisbin didn't light my world on fire, but it gets better the further along you read and the author does well with the short format.

James Murray is in love with Elizabeth MacLerie.  The fly in the ointment?  It's been arranged for James to marry Elizabeth's BFF.  So he convinces Elizabeth to run away with him, to find an old priest in a nearby area, so they can elope.  Sure, people will be pissed, but by then the deed will be done.  Except bad weather stalls their travel long enough for Elizabeth's disgruntled brother (who thinks his sister has been kidnapped) to give chase.

Part of this story reminded me of Romeo and Juliet in respect that James and Elizabeth strike me as dumb kids.  But the further the story rolls along, plus the introduction of Elizabeth's Big Secret spices things up a bit.  I liked that Elizabeth's past does effect James and he does react to it, and I also liked that he comes around ("Gee, I was kind of an asshat to her....") on his own and a third party doesn't need to point out the error of his ways.  It wasn't a super-spectacular read for me, but it was enjoyable.

Grade = B-

Rescued By The Highland Warrior by Michelle Willingham has a pretty unsavory premise, but I ended up loving the journey the author took me on.

Celeste de Laurent's husband is dead and having provided no heir (let alone a spare!), her brother-in-law and wife are set to inherit big.  But Wifey isn't willing to chance it.  I mean, Celeste could still be pregnant and just not know it yet.  So when she's not trying to poison her with herbs to make her miscarry, she's openly threatening her.  Celeste's entire life has been built on protecting and providing for herself and her younger sister.  She knows she's not preggers and she's so scared of going back to desolate poverty that she concocts a scheme to get pregnant by....oh anyone will do.  But she decides to find Dougal MacKinloch, the guy she tossed over to marry her dead husband.  Why?  Because while she was madly in love with Dougal, love don't pay the rent.  Needless to say, Dougal is still smarting over that rejection.

So yeah, the heroine sounds like a total bitch, right?  But as a woman, you can understand it.  It's medieval Scotland.  As a woman if you don't marry well you're pretty much screwed (and not in a good way).  Having grown up in poverty, then throwing herself on the kindness of strangers to make a good match for her after her parents die -  it's not like she had a ton of options of throwing that all away just because she happened to be in love.  I suspect a lot of readers won't "like" her.  I'm not sure I always liked her - but I did understand her.

There's great emotional stuff here, and I loved that when Dougal thinks Celeste deceives him (again!) - his entire family rallies around him.  This was definitely my favorite story in the bunch.  Willingham packs a lot of angst in a short word count.

Grade = B

Yep, pretty much a standard anthology.  A story I didn't like, a story that I liked OK, and a story I liked quite a bit.  If you're a fan of Scottish historicals and looking for some new-to-you authors, this anthology isn't a bad way to go.

To Sin With A Viking

I've never bought into the concept that characters tell authors what to write: "I had other ideas but Hunky Hero spoke to me and started behaving in a way I hadn't planned!"

I'm not a creative-type (at all) - but seriously?  Spare me.

Authors make choices.  Certainly they create characters out of whole cloth, and certainly I want these fictional people to "feel real," but the author is still in control of the ship, says me.  Please don't try to tell me, as the reader, otherwise.  It just makes you sound like a flake.

Michelle Willingham makes a choice in her latest, the first in a duet, To Sin With A Viking.  It's a really interesting choice, and very different from what we typically read in the romance genre.  How many books have we all read about arranged marriages, marriages of convenience, and mail-order brides that turned out swimmingly? Tons, right?  What Willingham does here is give us an arranged marriage that is in the midst of falling apart.  And while in the process of the final death throes, the married couple falls in love with other people.

Styr Hardrata has sailed to Ireland with his wife and his men looking for a fresh start.  His marriage is not good.  They were childhood playmates, a marriage was arranged to unite their clans, and while he worked to provide and she settled into the role of being the perfect wife - they have not been blessed with children.  Their childless state is starting to wear on Elena, who has begun to spurn Styr in the bedroom.  He's hoping a move, a change of scenery, will help to save his marriage.  What he didn't plan on were the starving locals to overtake them and kidnap Elena.

Caragh Ó Brannon is slowly wasting away.  In the midst of a famine, her older brothers have left the village to find food, leaving her and her younger brother to fend for themselves.  She tries to stop him from attacking the Vikings, but he does anyway - taking the woman hostage.  Fearing for her brother's life, Caragh does the only thing she can do - she beans Styr over the head and takes him captive. Needless to say when he wakes up, to find himself in chains and his wife missing?  Yeah, not a happy guy.

What follows is Styr and Caragh slowly making their way to each other.  He's duty-bound to find Elena and is determined to cut her brother's throat if any harm comes to his wife.  He doesn't feel this way out of love - but more out of a sense of honor, duty, and shame for not being able to protect her.  If a man cannot protect a woman charged in his care, what good is he?  However he is also drawn to Caragh.  He helps her find food and eventually they decide to sail together to track down her brother and his wife.  They're powerfully attracted to each other, but nothing can ever come of it.  Styr's marriage may be in trouble, but he is still married.  And where exactly is Elena?  Will they find her?  Dead or alive?

This is a solid, well-written Viking story.  The author does a nice job with the time period, and it's got all the necessary grit you would expect in a book set during this era.  It's dark and passionate, with plenty of angst to keep the romance humming along to it's final conclusion.

The problem is, of course, that initial choice the author makes.  Yes, it's evident very early on that Styr's marriage is not good.  That both he, and Elena, are not happy people together.  You also know, going in, that this is a romance - so the author is going to right the ship and make sure these two people find the right partners, for them.  They'll make a good husband and a good wife - just not for each other. That still doesn't negate the fact though that Styr IS married.  And for readers, like me, who throw up a big ol' mental road block over such a state - this is an issue.  It's not the author's "fault" or even the way she writes it.  It's just the simple fact that I, as an individual reader, would very likely have a block to this sort of plot development no matter who was doing the writing.

Which makes this a very hard book to assign a grade to.  I initially thought of slapping it with a C - which is my catch-all for "average" or "it didn't work for me but I recognize that may be because of my personal reader baggage etc."  But this story is better than average.  And hell, it does what all good first books in a series should do - and that is make a reader desperately hungry for the next book. I want Elena's story, due out in January, like yesterday.  Or, you know, right now would be good.  So while it made me uncomfortable at times, and I found myself saying, "But, but, but - he's married!" in my own head?  Yeah....

Final Grade = B-

P.S.: For those of you who are interested in trying this book - it's currently available for $1.99 in digital.

Unusual Historical Spotlight: China, Old School, Highlanders, Civil War, Western, Yachts, And Vikings

I'm going to do my darnedest to do one of these posts every month, highlighting "unusual" historicals that catch my eye.  I try to spread the wealth around among publishers, but dang - it's a venerable Harlequin-Palooza this month!  Have your shopping list handy.....

The Sword Dancer by Jeannie Lin - Harlequin Historical - May 21, 2013

Description:

Sword dancer Li Feng is used to living life on the edge of the law--a woman alone in the dangerous world of the Tang Dynasty has only her whirlwind reflexes to trust. She "will" discover the truth about her past, even if that means outwitting the most feared thief-catcher of them all....

Relentless, handsome and determined, Han sees life--and love--as black and white. Until he finally captures the spirited, courageous Li Feng, who makes him question everything he thought he knew about right and wrong. Soon he's faced with an impossible choice: betray the elusive sword dancer he is learning to love, or trust his long-disregarded heart and follow her to dangerous, tempting rebellion....

What Makes It Unusual?:  WooHoo!  More Tang Dynasty China from Lin!

Forever Wild by Louisa Rawlings - Samhain - Digital Only - May 21, 2013

Part of Samhain's Retro Romance Line, this was first published in 1986 by Popular Library (Warner Books)

Description:  

From the corruption of Boss Tweed’s New York to the Paris of the Impressionists, two couples fight to fulfill their greatest dreams and desires.

Willough, a well-bred child of wealth, yearns to take her place at the head of her father’s iron empire in the wilderness of the Adirondacks. Accustomed to polished city men, she finds herself drawn to the raw masculinity of Nat, her father’s foreman. Can she leave behind the trappings of city life and learn to embrace the rough country and rough man she is destined to love?

Marcy was born in the mountains, attached to the High Peaks, and yet she yearns to leave and see the world. Drew, Willough’s artist brother, has rejected his father’s business and thrown himself into painting. Together they travel the world, but is love enough to see them through the hard times?

 What Makes It Unusual?  I swooned when I read "Boss Tweed's New York."  Seriously.  1986?  This one could be chock full of Old School Shenanigans!

Highlanders by Brenda Joyce, Terri Brisbin & Michelle Willingham - HQN - Digital Only - June 1, 2013

Description:

The Warrior and the Rose by Brenda Joyce
Lady Juliana MacDougall prays for her loved ones to survive battle against Robert Bruce...but the battle comes to her when her lands are attacked by a band of Highlanders, including a man wearing the colors of her clan's worst enemy. Taken hostage by Alasdair Og, Juliana quickly learns he's as exceptional a lover as he is a ruthless warrior. But how can she ever love Alasdair when he's her blood enemy?

The Forbidden Highlander by Terri Brisbin
Honor-bound by an arranged betrothal, James Murray never anticipated falling in love with his intended bride's dearest friend instead. The passion between James and Elizabeth MacLerie is undeniable, but they are torn between love and loyalty to their clans....

Rescued by the Highland Warrior by Michelle Willingham
Celeste de Laurent is determined to never again live in poverty. After sacrificing love for a secure marriage, she now stands to lose everything as a widow. Her only hope is to bear an heir--and what better man to father her child, and save her from a terrible fate, than Dougal MacKinloch, the only man she ever loved?

 What Makes It Unusual?  Och!  Lassies lurve their Highlanders!  (Please note all three of these stories are connected to series by the authors).

An Outlaw In Wonderland by Lori Austin - Signet - June 4, 2013

Description:  

In a time of war, love has its own rewards...

Saving soldiers' lives at the Confederate army hospital Chimborazo, Annabeth Phelan is no ordinary Southern belle. She's never known work more exhausting or rewarding. And she's never known a man like Dr. Ethan Walsh, with his disarming gray eyes and peculiar ways. But now the Confederacy is charging her with another service: find the Union spy at Chimborazo.

Ethan's one passion is saving lives, and if he can do that by helping to end the war, he will--even if it means spying for the North. He's gotten used to fooling Confederates, but he can't bear lying to Annabeth. And together, they are about to discover a new passion--one that could even transcend the chaos of war.  

What Makes It Unusual?  OK, so yeah.  The title makes my brain hurt a wee bit.  And OK, so Chimborazo Hospital was in VIRGINIA and I'm not sure why the cover model is dressed like a cowgirl in Utah.  Whatever.  It's an American Historical!  Yippee!

Heart of the West by Penelope Williamson - Pocket - June 25, 2013 - Reprint (first published 1995)

Description:

She was torn between two brothers...

All her life proper Bostonian Clementine Kennicutt yearned to escape the pious tyranny of her father's rule. So when Gus McQueen rode into town and swept her off her feet, she was ready for him. Eloping with the carefree cowboy was the answer to her prayers... until she met his brother.

The One She Married...

In the Big Sky country of Montana, Clementine yearned to feel the simple love of a wife for her husband. She'd pledged her troth to Gus, and she swore she would die honoring her promise, but each day her heart betrayed her.

And The One She Was Born To Love...

Zach Rafferty's love was not like the soft affection of her husband -- it was the wanton need of a dangerous man. And, despite her promise, Clementine knew he was the one meant for her all along...

 What Makes It Unusual?: A western!  I would appreciate comments on this one - because I know Williamson has many fans out in Romancelandia.  I'm intrigued by this one, but the love triangle aspect makes me a little squeamish.....

A Lady Dares by Bronwyn Scott - Harlequin Historical - July 23, 2013

Description:

According to society, I, Elise Sutton, haven't been a lady for quite some time-a lady couldn't possibly run the family company and spend her days on London's crowded, tar-stained docks. And she most certainly wouldn't associate herself with the infamous Dorian Rowland-privateer, smuggler and the Scourge of Gibraltar himself.

But I need Rowland and his specialized expertise-especially with the wolves circling, waiting for me to fail. I yearn to feel alive, and Rowland, who can kiss like the devil, inflames my senses and makes me dare to break free....

What Makes It Unusual?  While set in 1839 England, the author puts a different spin on things by including yacht racing into her story.  Also, we should all buy this book if only for the cover art.  That hat rocks my world.

To Sin With A Viking by Michelle Willingham - Harlequin Historical - July 23, 2013

Description:

Caragh O Brannon defended herself bravely when the enemy landed-only, now she finds herself alone with one very angry Viking....

Styr Hardrata sailed to Ireland intending to trade, never expecting to find himself held captive in chains by a beautiful Irish maiden.

The fiercely handsome warrior both terrifies and allures Caragh, but he is forbidden territory. He is the enemy...and he is married. Yet Styr harbors a secret that just might set them both free....

What Makes It Unusual?  Vikings!

Whew!  I have several of these on tap already, waiting to be read and reviewed (the Lin, the Highlanders anthology and the Willingham).  Any of these catch your eye?  Read any good "unusual historicals" lately?

Victoria's Secret

Anybody who talks about books online (OK, let's use the "R" word - reviews books online....) will tell you that reviews for not-so-good books are easy to write.  For me, personally, the chance to vent is a cathartic experience.  Reviews for books you loved can be a little more difficult to write, since it's sometimes hard to articulate why you loved it so much, but it's still a joy to write them and gush about something that deeply affected you.  Now books that are OK?  Yeah, those are the killers.  Sometimes a book isn't lighting your world on fire, but it's readable and you cannot really pinpoint anything terribly wrong with it.  That's kind of what my reaction was to Undone By The Duke by Michelle Willingham, the first book in a Regency quartet for Amazon Montlake.  For a long time this book was a pleasant read that was a little too easy for me to put down and walk away from.  It wasn't until the final third of the story when things picked up for me, and by then I wasn't terribly happy with the hero.

Victoria Andrews is the oldest of four sisters and for the last five years has been a recluse at her family's home in Scotland.  When the family moved from England, Victoria became separated from them, having spent several days lost in the Scottish wilderness.  It's an episode that has effected her so deeply that she simply cannot leave the house.  In the 19th century this affliction is kept a secret, for fear that she'll be committed to some god-awful institution, but as the 21st century reader we know that Victoria suffers from anxiety, panic attacks, and agoraphobia.

Her father is on the continent fighting in the war, which leaves her mother as head of the household.  Things are very precarious financially, so much so that Victoria has secretly been sewing gowns and selling them to a dressmaker in London through a middleman (a family "friend" of sorts).  While sewing a dress for her younger sister, Victoria hits on the idea that dagnabit - corsets are made out of really uncomfortable materials!  Using some scraps she has lying around, she makes up a sample and imagine her shock when it brings in a lot more money than any of her gowns ever did.  With her mother packing up her three sisters for a visit to London (to hopefully find husbands for two of them), Victoria uses the time alone to work on her new ideas.  Then a gravely wounded man shows up on her doorstep and spins her orderly world into chaos.

The man in question is Jonathan Nottoway, who is in Scotland to look over some property he got from the odious Earl of Strathland in exchange for settling a gambling debt.  Unlucky for Jonathan is the fact that the Earl has made a habit of terrorizing the locals, evicting them from the land.  So when an obviously English guy shows up on what is known to be the Earl's land?  A boy thinks he's Strathland and shoots him in the leg.  He makes his way to Victoria's house where, even though she's terrified and unchaperoned, she stitches him up and nurses him back to health.  All the while not knowing he's a Duke, with a capital D.

What follows is Jonathan becoming smitten - in part because he has a White Knight Complex (two words = Daddy Issues) and Victoria's vulnerability plucks at his heart-strings.  Also for once in his life here's a woman who has no clue who he is.  She thinks he's just some ordinary guy.  They get to know each other without the Duke thing hanging over either of their heads, and Jonathan, who is used to females and their mothers practically stripping naked in front of him, this is a welcome respite indeed.

There are several things about this book I really enjoyed.  I liked that Victoria's enterprise for making money for the struggling family isn't just carelessly tossed off.  It's a big hairy deal that a gently born woman, even if she's the daughter of a lowly baron (and a newly minted one at that!), would sew and sell anything - let alone women's unmentionables!  The threat of scandal!  The family would be completely ruined!  I also liked that Willingham sets a nice stage, giving us moments told in points-of-view of Victoria's sisters and, especially, her mother, Beatrice.  While her husband has been fighting in Spain, it's been up to Beatrice to keep the family and finances together....and it has not been going well.  On top of that, while they weren't a love match, her husband and her did grow fond of each other and had a happy marriage - until recently.  The cracks are forming, the distance has grown, and she's trying to hide the fact from everybody that she's completely overwhelmed.

What didn't work so well is that we have a Hot And Cold Running Duke.  The first half of this novel, when he's hiding his Dukedom, he's a lighter person.  Teasing Victoria, working to help her overcome her fears.  In the latter half?  Yeah, he's kind of an asshole.  Especially since he blatantly ends up railroading Victoria.  Interestingly enough, I found I liked this asshole-ish Duke a bit better.  He's got darker edges, the Daddy Issues come completely to the forefront, and it spurs Victoria forward to conquering her own fears.  Our girl might start out a mouse, but she begins to grow a backbone.

So yeah, it's a bit of a mixed bag here.  There's nothing in this story that annoyed or made my angry - but it never really elevated itself above pleasantness either.  I'll likely read the follow-up books featuring Victoria's sisters, especially since I suspect two of them are going to get non-titled heroes.  However I'm not so impatient for them that I'm performing animal sacrifices and dancing naked under a full moon in the hopes that will make the author write them faster.

(Dear PETA: totally kidding about the animals.  Dear Innocent Eyeballs: totally kidding about the dancing naked thing too.)

Final Grade = C+