#DeckTheHarlequin All December Long!

This is all Willaful's fault.  She casually announced on Twitter that she was getting trounced by a friend of hers in their Harlequin GoodReads group and put out the call for folks to join in on a Harlequin reading binge the month of December.

That, naturally, perked up my ears.

Next thing you know Willaful has convinced Elisabeth from Cooking Up Romance to organize the whole thing and we have an official hashtag #DeckTheHarlequin (for all your social media needs).  But even if you're not entrenched in social media - there's still plenty of opportunity to join in on the fun.

Elisabeth has created this entry form.  You can submit one for every Harlequin title you read and at the end we'll be drawing names at random for a series of fabulous prizes!

Check out Elisabeth's blog post for a list of prizes and further details.

The rules are simple.  Any Harlequin, from any line - it all totally counts.  And yes, this includes Mills & Boon, Carina, HQN, Mira, all the category lines, old titles, new titles - really, the possibilities are endless.

Lord knows I have enough to choose from between the Print TBR Pile of Doom and the dumpster fire that is my Kindle.  I hope you'll consider in joining in the fun!

Review: The Baronet's Wedding Engagement

Let's address the elephant in the room shall we?  2017 has been a crap year.  Every morning sees me slowly gaining consciousness, grabbing my phone, checking the news, and immediately regretting that decision while wondering how on Earth people can be 1) this stupid 2) this ignorant and 3) such deplorable human beings.  Needless to say, it has made reading for pleasure rather difficult.  At a time when I desperately want to fall into a story?  I can't.  I simply can't.  It takes me weeks to get through a category length novel.  At this point, audio books are the only thing keeping me afloat while I'm aimlessly floating adrift at sea.

Which makes the return of Jessica Hart to romance a welcome respite.  A couple years ago Hart put that pseudonym on the shelf to focus on her historical fiction novels written as Pamela Hartshorne.  And since Hart was my absolute FAVORITE author working in the Harlequin Romance line?  I'm not proud - I pouted.  But she's been temporarily lured back by Tule Publishing and is part of a new continuity series centering around a royal wedding in the fictional country of San Michele.  People, I fell into The Baronet's Wedding Engagement.  It was comfort food.  Like macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes had a baby.

Flora Deare left her tiny English village of Combe St. Philip to train as a chef.  She loves London, even had herself a steady boyfriend, and then her beloved grandmother died.  Her grandparents basically raised her, and with her grandfather slipping into dementia, she puts her London life on hold and comes home to take care of him.  Naturally her relationship goes kaput and with her grandfather recently passed, she's staying behind in Combe St. Philip to take care of his beloved cat, eventually sell the cottage, and she bakes amazing pastries for the local merchants to sell.  Then wonder of wonders?  Her best friend gets engaged to a Real. Life. Prince!  Hope wants a "small" wedding at the family estate and she wants Flora to cater it.  So she strikes a bargain with Hope's brother, Max Kennard.  She'll cater the wedding at a cut rate, cook meals when he has his children, and in exchange she can use his huge kitchen for her catering business.  Win, win.

Max Kennard is a man with a lot on his plate.  His family, the pride of Combe St. Philip, took a tumble when his father was sent to prison over financial shenanigans.  The family finances in ruins, it was up to Max to save the day, which meant selling everything not tied down in the hope of saving Hasebury Hall (which he did).  But now his sister is marrying into royalty, wants the wedding at her family home and the place is looking a little worn around the edges.  Never mind the fact that it's largely empty of furniture.  The family scandal had a detrimental effect on his marriage, although his ex and he get on fairly well for the sake of their two children.  He's a loner.  A borderline recluse.  He's a pinstripe suit to Flora's bright vibrancy.  And naturally they are perfect for each other.

What we have here ladies and gents is a quiet romance where the characters spend a lot of time talking to each other - which may sound boring, but isn't.  It's happy sigh wonderful.  Max and Flora are both attracted to each other but recognize they have "nothing in common."  Flora is the life of the party, a tall girl with a big personality so different from the willowy wisps that Max seems to favor.  Max is still struggling under the weight of the family scandal and Flora seems well-adjusted on the surface, but is largely marking time and delaying grief over the death of her grandparents.

Inevitably what happens is that for the sake of satisfying a protocol driven future mother-in-law, Max and Flora pretend to be a couple to smooth things over for Hope.  They're both going to be in San Michele anyway - so why not pretend to be a couple to get the Crown Princess off Hope's back about "seating arrangements."

There's nothing flashy here, it's simply a lovely story, lovingly written, about two nice people.  The royal wedding provides a suitably romantic backdrop with the author taking readers through the English countryside and a fictional Mediterranean country (seriously, how romantic can you get?).  The contrast in personalities play well off each other, and when Max finally admits his feelings to Flora it is One. Big. Happy. Romantic. Sigh.

The characters do consummate their relationship, but this is a lovely closed door romance with all the fairy-tale trappings a reader could want.  Although book two in a series, it stands alone fairly well and I sunk right into this story desperately wanting to do nothing else but spend my time reading.  A minor miracle given the dumpster fire of 2017.  Now I'm off to pick up the other three books in the series.

Final Grade = B+

Review: Call Me

I've known Alison Kent for about as long as I'm been kicking around online Romancelandia - so when her home was flooded during Hurricane Harvey I wanted to support her in the quickest way possible.  I bought some of her books.  I've read Kent before, but as incredible as this is going to sound - I've never actually read any of her early category romances.

I know, right?!  Me.  Wendy.  Category Queen. 

Call Me was first published by Harlequin Temptation in 1996 and Kent's path to publication is one of the more incredible "first call" stories out there.  She was featured on an episode of the CBS news magazine, 48 hours.  The quality isn't the greatest, but you can watch the clip on YouTube. 

Harley Golden is on a flight back to Houston when she makes eye contact with a devastatingly handsome man across the aisle.  As they're disembarking from the plane he hands her his business card with the words "Call me" scrawled on the back.  Things like this don't happen to women like Harley.  Her self-confidence all ready at a low ebb thanks to an ex-husband who couldn't keep it in his pants, the idea of calling a perfect stranger?  She's not that brave.

Gardner Barnes is one of those millionaire cowboys that crop up in category romance fairly regularly these days.  He's got a busy working ranch, an 18-year-old brother about to graduate high school, and an uncle who lives with them.  His parents are gone, his love life non-existent.  Gardner eats, sleeps and works the ranch.  He's not the kind of guy to toss around his business card in the vain attempt to pick up women.  It's not his style.  But he takes one look at Harley sitting across from him on the plane and he can't say no.  He doesn't want to say no.  So Gardner Barnes does something totally out of character for the first time in his life.

What happens next is that of course Harley calls and of course they keep on calling each other.  The conflict of the story is essentially the long distance nature of their relationship (they're on opposite sides of the state from each other) and that they both want different things out of life.  Gardner wants to find a wife to squirt out a couple of kids for him because he's concerned about "the legacy" of the ranch.  But he doesn't want to fall in love because he doesn't believe in it because his parents screwed him up.  Because of course they did.

Harley's self-esteem took a hit when she divorced Brad so she has decided that the next time around she wants it all.  The whole shebang.  A man who will be devoted to her, worship her, and love her with every fiber of his being.  Oh, and she's not wild about the idea of having kids because, you guessed it, her parents screwed her up.  Because of course they did.

This story starts out fantastic.  It's hard to explain to readers not entrenched in category, but when an author is firing on all cylinders, the tight, shorter word count really sings.  And it sings here.  Kent hits all her emotional beats.  You can tell this was a story where she had an ample amount of time to polish and hone her craft (no looming deadline) because it's very tight and very sharp.

What didn't work as well for me?  The conflict in the second half.  Frankly Gardner begins thinking of Harley as a potential brood mare and that's just about as sexy as it sounds. 

Harley Golden embodied everything female - from the mystery of innocence, to the madness of seduction, to the arousing potential to carry his child.

I liked the guy well enough in the beginning, but when he's all "give up your business and squirt out a couple of kids for me but I can't love you because I don't believe in it" I was hoping that a West Texas lightning storm would fry his behind back to the Dark Ages. 

The Temptation line was billed as Harlequin's sexiest line (at that time) and the heroines definitely tended to run more modern.  We have that here.  Harley is in her 30s, divorced, and runs her own antique business.  Gardner is a sexy, virile cowboy who helps her find her groove thang.  But then it devolves into more traditional roles.  While Harley says she doesn't want kids, but she really means is "Yes, I want kids but only with a husband who loves me" and Gardner is like the Regency era Duke who simply wants to find a woman to squirt out an heir and a spare without any emotional entanglements getting in the way.  The whole thing felt very 1990s.  One foot in "modern" and one foot in "traditional" roles. 

It's probably unfair for me to ding this story for that reason, but here I am - dinging away.  The further along I read the more annoyed I became.  Great premise, interesting characters, and then it devolves into this baby conflict which...ugh.  The long distance relationship, the fact they both have demanding businesses and screwed up childhoods?  Should have been enough.  So what started out as a solid B read slid downhill the further we descended into Baby Drama-Rama.

Final Grade = C

#TBRChallenge 2017: The Marshal and Mrs. O'Malley

The Book: The Marshal and Mrs. O'Malley by Julianne MacLean

The Particulars: Historical western romance, Harlequin Historical #564, 2001, Out of Print (sort of), Rights reverted back to author and book republished under the title Tempting the Marshal in 2016.

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?: Author Susanna Kearsley gave me this book.  She brought it special to an RWA Conference (and I'm sorry, I can't remember what year!), told me it was one of her favorite westerns, and she gifted it to me.  Yes, when it comes to historical westerns and Harlequins, my reputation precedes me.

The Review: I didn't love this as much as Susanna did, but it's easy to understand why she was drawn to it.  As far as plots go, MacLean was obviously hit with some divine inspiration when she cooked up this one.  There's a sophistication to the Big Secret that you just don't see every day.

Josephine "Jo" O'Malley wants vengeance.  The most powerful man in town, Zeb Stone, owner of the dry goods store and running for mayor, murdered her husband Edwyn.  And nobody is going to do anything about it given Zeb's influence and the fact that the local law is as useless as decaffeinated tea (seriously, just wrong).  So she does what any self-respecting romance heroine is wont to do - she dresses up in men's clothing, takes her herself and her gun down to Zeb's store and plans to shoot the man right between the eyes.  To protect her son, Leo, she's willing to commit murder.

What she didn't bargain on was Fletcher Collins, the new marshal that, literally, just rode into town.  He's walking the business district when he sees Zeb being robbed at gunpoint in his store.  The culprit is of slight build, making him think he's no more than a boy, and the look in the kid's eyes?  Yeah, that's no killer.  Naturally though, stuff happens.  Fletcher ends up getting shot (and knocked out cold) and the bandit gets away.

Great.  So not only did Jo chicken out and not shoot Zeb but she ended up shot for her trouble.  She's gotten dressed in the women's clothing she left out by the privy to aid her escape when she nearly passes out cold and the town deputy finds her.  That's how both she and Fletcher both end up at the doctor's office getting treated for gunshot wounds and she quickly realizes...he doesn't know that it was her trying to shoot Zeb.  Everybody thinks she was an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire.  But that begs the question - what was she doing in town, alone, at that time of night?  Because dang, Fletcher Collins is just the sort of persistent lawman who will not let something like this go - especially since he's now been humiliated during his first night on the job.  

Making everything even more complicated?  Turns out Zeb is Fletcher's brother-in-law.  Leaving Jo not only in a panic that she'll be found out, but that she and her boy are still in danger, there's no hard evidence that Zeb murdered her husband and who is going to help her?  Certainly not the man's brother-in-law and new town marshal! 

Yes, it's all very involved but MacLean totally makes it work.  Jo is the bandit and Fletcher doesn't know that.  Fletcher is willing to listen to Jo about her suspicions but isn't about to just take her word for it that Zeb is A Bad Man without some actual proof he can sink his teeth into.  Plus, you know, the guy is married to his sister.  But he is willing to listen to her and doesn't dismiss her accusations outright, a refreshing quality in a good romance hero.  Then, of course, there's the small matter of the pair being attracted to each other, and how is that possibly going to work?  Jo did try to kill a man, Fletcher is a very black or white, law and order, sort of guy, plus there's baggage for both of them.  Fletcher's feelings for his late father.  Jo's marriage and her feelings for her dead husband.

The best moments in this story for me were once Fletcher realizes that Jo and his bandit are one and the same and the pair join forces to investigate Zeb.  I did feel they were a little slow on the uptake regarding Zeb's shenanigans (frankly, it's obvious) but these are two characters who treat each other like adults, listen to each other, and work as a team - which plays well within this story.

The ending does feel a bit rushed, especially since the first half or so of the book feels more methodical, but it ends the way you want it to end although dagnabit, I don't think MacLean ever has written about a book about Zeb's wife/Fletcher's sister, and that's simply a crying shame.

I'm currently mired in a wicked slump, in large part thanks to recently relocating the Bat Cave (moving has a way of sucking any joy out of my life) and while this book didn't light a fire in me, I zipped through it over the course of two lunch breaks at The Day Job.  If I wasn't in such a persnickety reading mood I think I would rate this one higher - which means if you dig historical westerns, this is one I think you should pick up.

Final Grade = B-

Top 5 Unusual Historicals for November 2017

I was actually setting out to work on this post when I got word that Heroes & Heartbreakers would be phasing out the blog.  The editorial staff is choosing to focus on posts with firm deadlines in their final couple of weeks and since this post wasn't actually done - well,  I'm opting to post it over here.  These posts originated on this blog before H&H asked if I would be interested in taking them over there - so it's a bit like coming home for Unusual Historicals.  Here's what is catching my eye for November:

A Texas Christmas Past by Julia Justiss (Tule Publishing)

Death denied Felicity a future with the man she loved, but her spirit lingers in the the Harwood House Hotel hoping to heal broken hearts and help them to find love again... 

Widowed World War I nurse Audra Donaldson returns from France planning to devote her life to helping those suffering the lingering effects of war—effects she knows all too well, as she suffers from them herself. When, staying at the Harwood House Inn on a Christmas visit to her brother, she hears a man in the throes of a violent nightmare, she goes to him without question—and is stunned by a physical attraction as strong as her desire to help. 

About to embrace the beautiful angel come to save him from the horrors of the battlefield, former soldier Drew Harwood recoils when he realizes Audra is real—and has seen his “weakness.” Brusquely rejecting her offer of help, he intends to avoid her. But more than just her beauty continues to draw him back. Though this compassionate, kind, and giving soul has seen more of war than he has, somehow, talking with her brings him peace--and seems to comfort her, too. If he can just resist acting on the desire she's ignited in him since his first glimpse of her... 

But someone else was watching, too. After tragedy denied Felicity a future with Drew, her dying wish was that he live his life and be happy for them both. To her sorrow, a year later, her former fiancé is still struggling. Deciding Audra is the perfect lady to heal the wounds of her beloved, this determined ghost resolves to bring Drew and Audra together. Who can resist a love that lasts beyond time?

OK, to be honest the whole "ghost thing" is giving me pause.  But, this is Julia Justiss, it's post World War I, and I liked her debut western for Tule.  So of course I one-clicked the hell out of this.

 A Hope Divided by Alyssa Cole (Kensington)

The Civil War has turned neighbor against neighbor—but for one scientist spy and her philosopher soldier, war could bind them together . . .  

For all of the War Between the States, Marlie Lynch has helped the cause in peace: with coded letters about anti-Rebel uprisings in her Carolina woods, tisanes and poultices for Union prisoners, and silent aid to fleeing slave and Freeman alike. Her formerly enslaved mother’s traditions and the name of a white father she never knew have protected her—until the vicious Confederate Home Guard claims Marlie’s home for their new base of operations in the guerilla war against Southern resistors of the Rebel cause.  

Unbeknowst to those under her roof, escaped prisoner Ewan McCall is sheltering in her laboratory. Seemingly a quiet philosopher, Ewan has his own history with the cruel captain of the Home Guard, and a thoughtful but unbending strength Marlie finds irresistible.  

When the revelation of a stunning family secret places Marlie’s freedom on the line,  she and Ewan have to run for their lives into the hostile Carolina night. Following the path of the Underground Railroad, they find themselves caught up in a vicious battle that could dash their hopes of love—and freedom—before they ever cross state lines.

Good Lord, I'm on the edge of my seat just reading the plot description!  Also, one of the best historical covers I've seen in ages.

The Hired Man by Lynna Banning (Harlequin Historical)

A home for the drifter 

Cordell Winterman is haunted by his mistakes—and the years spent paying for them. Broke and hungry, he takes a job as a hired man on Eleanor Malloy's farm. 

Eleanor needs help. Desperately. Her kids are running wild and the place is held up by spit and rust. But as Cord helps her set her home to rights, Eleanor realizes she doesn't just need this enigmatic drifter with hunger in his eyes…she wants him, too!

I know, we're heavy on American-set historicals this month but I couldn't not post this one.  The whole hired man showing up to help out a heroine neck deep is about the only way I can take the Rescue Fantasy trope these days.  Sign me up!

 Her Christmas Knight by Nicole Locke (Harlequin Historical)

A knight to protect her—this Yuletide 

By order of the English king, Alice of Swaffham searches London nobility for the traitor dealing information to the Scots. Little does she know that the mysterious spy she seeks is the man she once loved and thought she'd lost forever… 

If Hugh of Shoebury felt unworthy of Alice before, as the Half-Thistle spy he can never claim her heart. Now he must fight to keep not only his dark secrets—and Alice—safe from a vengeful king…but also his burning longing for her at bay!

Oh look - something that isn't an American-set historical!  See, I haven't forgotten the medieval fans out there.  Locke rolls on with her Lovers and Legends series for Harlequin.  Danger and intrigue all wrapped up in a Christmas romance?  Oh Harlequin, you totally "get" me!

The Drifter by Susan Wiggs (Harlequin / MIRA)

Leah Mundy has spent her life dashing from town to town, one step ahead of her father’s dreadful reputation. Now, she wants to create a home for herself and build a medical practice in Coupeville, a cozy village nestled amid the majestic isles and mountains of Washington Territory. But her neighbors are loath to trust a newcomer, especially a woman doing a man’s work. 

On the run for a crime he didn’t commit but can’t deny, Jackson Underhill is desperate when he holds Leah at gunpoint. He needs her doctoring to mend his wounds, but he soon realizes that she is also capable of healing his soul. But Jackson has been hardened by life as an outlaw, and Leah knows that a future together is impossible…unless they confront his past and learn to trust the redeeming power of love.

Yes, I'm aware that this is a reprint but LOOK AT THAT COVER!  I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw it.  It's worth a look, as I said when I reviewed it as part of the 2013 TBR Challenge.   

What Historicals are you looking forward to this month?

Reminder: #TBRChallenge for November

For those of you participating in the 2017 TBR Challenge, this is a reminder that your commentary is "due" on Wednesday, November 15.  This month's theme is Recommended Read.

A book buried in your TBR because someone recommended it to you - a blogger, a reader friend, a family member, a review you read somewhere, it all counts!  But what if you don't listen to book recommendations?  "I read what I want when I want and nobody tells me otherwise Ms. Wendy!"   Hey,  no problem! Remember: the themes are optional!  The whole point of the TBR Challenge is to read something, anything, that has been languishing for far too long.

You can find more information about the challenge, and see the list of participants, on the 2017 Information Page.  (And it's never too late to sign-up!)

The One Where Wendy Kills Another Blog

First, yes - I know this blog has been a dead zone of late.  I've been neck deep in relocating the Bat Cave for the past month and moving day was last weekend.  I love the new place but everything is still in too much disarray for my liking (in a nutshell, less storage space means finding "creative" solutions) and it's making me squirrely.  I'm hoping that it will all be settled by this weekend though because I have big plans to lie in a prone position and drink adult beverages to celebrate.

I'm out of sorts anyway.  Not reading.  Buried neck deep in moving.  Busy, busy, busy at the The Day Job.   So I wasn't really prepared for the e-mail that landed in my in-box like a wee mini bomb going off.  There's still no official statement, but staff has shared the news on Twitter so at this point I think it's fair game to blog about.

Heroes & Heartbreakers is closing.  Well...pivoting (and let me tell you how much I LOATHE that term).  None of this is gospel, but my impression is that Macmillan will be kicking things over to St. Martin's marketing team and the focus will move towards the newsletter and social media accounts.  What this means for those of us who've provided content for H&H over the years, I'm not sure.  Most likely that 1) I'm out of a "job" 2) Will need to back-up my published posts and 3) That I've managed to kill yet another group blog (by my count, this is #4).

And yes of course I'm making this All. About. Me. 

I'm sad.  One, because I feel a bit blindsided (totally didn't see this coming) and two, because I have been with H&H from the beginning.  It was such early days that the blog didn't even have a name or a host.  Megan Frampton (former H&H editorial director) asked me to write some posts on spec for something she was calling "Project X."  Eventually the idea found a home at Macmillan and H&H was born.  That was 2011.

Now it's 2017, the world is on fire, blogs continue to go the way of the Dodo, and Wendy is sad.  I loved writing for H&H and I loved them as a group blog - mostly because you could literally find everything there.  Books, movies, TV, self-published, traditionally published, romance sub genres and related commentary of all stripes.  There have been other well-done group blogs in Romancelandia, but H&H was the one that got it the most right (in my opinion) with the variety of voices and depth of content.  And now it's closing.

What does this mean for Wendy?  Well, besides trying to finish settling the Bat Cave this weekend and eating my feelings?  I'm not sure yet.  Most of my H&H work were one-off posts that can find a home here, leaving the only lingering question of my Unusual Historicals column.  I will likely continue it, probably on this blog (which is actually where it originated to begin with) - although losing the wider H&H audience getting their eyeballs on those books pains me more than you know.  "Unique" historicals is a hill I will die on folks!

My best wishes to the excellent staff at H&H who I have adored working with over the years, and my fellow bloggers who churned out such amazing content these past six years.  Change happens, and yes I'll roll with it, but that doesn't mean I can't whine about it for a little while first.