Top 5 Unusual Historicals for April 2018

Spring seems to have finally sprung for most of us in North America, and April is the beginning of what is the start of my busy time at the office. My favorite way to unwind? Browsing the virtual and physical shelves looking for historicals to add to my insane TBR. Hey, some people play golf, I go book browsing. Here are the historicals catching my eye this month:

A Private Gentleman by Heidi Cullinan

To seal their bond, they must break the ties that bind.
Painfully introverted and rendered nearly mute by a heavy stammer, Lord George Albert Westin rarely ventures any farther than the club or his beloved gardens. When he hears rumors of an exotic new orchid sighted at a local hobbyist’s house, though, he girds himself with opiates and determination to attend a house party, hoping to sneak a peek. He finds the orchid, yes…but he finds something else even more rare and exquisite: Michael Vallant. Professional sodomite.

Michael climbed out of an adolescent hell as a courtesan’s bastard to become successful and independent-minded, seeing men on his own terms, protected by a powerful friend. He is master of his own world—until Wes. Not only because, for once, the sex is for pleasure and not for profit. They are joined by tendrils of a shameful, unspoken history. The closer his shy, poppy-addicted lover lures him to the light of love, the harder his past works to drag him back into the dark. There’s only one way out of this tangle. Help Wes face the fears that cripple him—right after Michael finds the courage to reveal the devastating truth that binds them. 

OMG, gimme gimme gimme. First, look at that cover. Seriously. Second, we’ve got a romance between an opium-addicted hero who falls for a male prostitute. I have to read this if only to see how the author pulls off the happy ending. (Note: newly self-published, this was originally published via Samhain. Check your digital TBRs before one-clicking!)

The Art of Love by Suzette D. Harrison

Ava Lydell is chasing her dream. A gifted artist, she’s fled the violence of the Deep South for the seduction of sunny California. As luck would have it, the economic crisis of The Great Depression interferes with her hopes and plans. Without patronage and reliable sales, her fledgling art studio fails. Now, she faces poverty, eviction…and the distraction of a mysterious, young stranger engaged in a questionable trade that delivers danger to Ava’s front door.  

In an age of Prohibition and poverty, Chase Jenkins has more than most Colored men. He’s savvy, successful, and hazardously employed. A bootlegger living on the wrong side of the law, he’s determined to discover who murdered his baby brother. He has no time for diversions. Especially one packaged in the form of a “midnight” beauty with sultry lips and curvaceous hips. Unable to deny her allure, he involves himself in her affairs despite better judgment. What begins as a crisis quickly becomes a risky romance. Join Chase and Ava on their journey to outlive danger and indulge in the art of love. 

I am stupid excited about this book because it’s set during The Great Depression. I think (maybe?) the late Dorothy Garlock wrote some books during this era, but I’m hard-pressed to recall any others (hey, let me know in the comments section!). California was a destination for many during this time, desperate for a fresh start and a better life. And while I’ve been vocal on my dislike of the trend of criminal heroes in contemporary romances - well Prohibition is another kettle of fish entirely. Contrary thy name is Wendy.

Lady Rogue by Theresa Romain

HER SECRET SCANDAL  

As far as London’s high society knows, Lady Isabel Morrow is above reproach. But the truth is rarely so simple. Though the young widow’s passionate fling with dashing Bow Street Runner Callum Jenks ended amicably months ago, she now needs his expertise. It seems Isabel’s late husband, a respected art dealer, was peddling forgeries. If those misdeeds are revealed, the marriage prospects of his younger cousin— now Isabel’s ward—will be ruined.  

For the second time, Isabel has upended Callum’s well-ordered world. He’s resolved to help her secretly replace the forgeries with the real masterpieces, as a . . . friend. A proper sort of friend doesn’t burn with desire, of course, or steal kisses on twilight errands. Or draw a willing lady into one passionate encounter after another. Isabel’s scheme is testing Callum’s heart as well as his loyalties. But with pleasure so intoxicating, the real crime would be to resist . . . 

This is the third book in Romain’s Royal Rewards series, and while it’s Regency-set, the intriguing pairing a widowed heroine, her former Bow Street Runner lover, and art forgeries is too tempting for me to pass up. Be sure to check out Romain’s recent interview about this book and her new upcoming series over at Love in the Panels.

From Courtesan to Convenient Wife by Marguerite Kaye

Every woman wants to marry him  

But what if he is already taken?  

In this Matches Made in Scandal story, Jean-Luc Bauduin, Parisian society’s most eligible bachelor, is determined to take only a wife of his choosing. But until that day comes, he’ll ward off his admirers by hiring Lady Sophia Acton to wear his ring! The passion Jean-Luc shares with his convenient bride is enormously satisfying—until he discovers Sophia’s utterly scandalous past! 

Kaye is one of my favorites in Harlequin Historical and she continues her new Matches Made in Scandal series moving the action to Paris. I love, love, love the “fake relationship” trope.

Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastian

The one you love…

Robert Selby is determined to see his sister make an advantageous match. But he has two problems: the Selbys have no connections or money and Robert is really a housemaid named Charity Church. She’s enjoyed every minute of her masquerade over the past six years, but she knows her pretense is nearing an end. Charity needs to see her beloved friend married well and then Robert Selby will disappear…forever. 

May not be who you think… 

Alistair, Marquess of Pembroke, has spent years repairing the estate ruined by his wastrel father, and nothing is more important than protecting his fortune and name. He shouldn’t be so beguiled by the charming young man who shows up on his doorstep asking for favors. And he certainly shouldn’t be thinking of all the disreputable things he’d like to do to the impertinent scamp. 

But is who you need… 

When Charity’s true nature is revealed, Alistair knows he can’t marry a scandalous woman in breeches, and Charity isn’t about to lace herself into a corset and play a respectable miss. Can these stubborn souls learn to sacrifice what they’ve always wanted for a love that is more than they could have imagined? 

I feel like the blurb does this story a disservice because it makes it sound like your run-of-the-mill Chick In Pants historical and I suspect that will drive some potential readers away. However, early word is that Sebastian has written a “very very queer and very very delightful” romance. Be sure to check out Amy’s thoughtful review over at Love in the Panels. It just makes me want to read this book more.

What Unusual Historicals are you looking forward to this month?

#TBRChallenge 2018: Satin and Silver

The Book: Satin and Silver by Jane Archer

The Particulars: Historical western romance, Signet, 1986, Out of print, Not available in digital.

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?: I found this in a Las Vegas used bookstore and became entranced by the female cover model.  That dress! That choker!  HER HAIR!!  I mean, the dude appears to be drooling on her boobs but LOOK AT HER!  So yes, against my better judgment I bought this.  I mean, how could I not?

The Review: The Bodice Ripper Era in romance isn't all that different from today's genre.  There were good books.  There were bad books.  And then there was a whole lot of meh in between.  This book mostly stays in the meh territory with occasional trips into problematic territories that one kind of expects from this era of romance.  Unfortunately there's little WTF-ery to make this a truly memorable read in the sort of train-wreck vein - so for most of this I was largely bored.  Mores the pity.

Shenandoah Davis (seriously) is in Tombstone, Arizona (because of course she is) working her charms as a gambler and waiting for her uncle (who is in Leadville - because of course he is) to send for her.  All it would take is a mention of Dodge City for the author to hit Bodice Ripper Western Bingo.  Anyway, after the war options were limited for Shenandoah, so her uncle brought her out west and taught her a trade.  But never fear, our girl may work in saloons, but she's still a virgin because....1986.

Rogue Rogan (seriously) has just arrived in Tombstone, sent by "Fast Ed" Davis (yes, the uncle) to collect his niece and escort her back to Leadville.  Rogue doesn't want to dilly-dally for long since he needs to get back to the mine he owns with Uncle Fast Ed, get together some capital, and head back to his inherited silver mines in Silver City, New Mexico before his dastardly cousin, Blackie (seriously), finds the motherlode.  But turns out Shenandoah won't leave until her baby half-sister, Arabella, arrives from Philadelphia, and wouldn't you know it?  Her stagecoach was robbed and she was kidnapped.  It's 1883, why the chit wasn't taking the train I have no idea - but whatever.  Ours is not to reason why.  So before she agrees to go anywhere with him, Rogue agrees to go along with her to rescue Arabella...for a price.  Basically Shenandoah will be indebted to him and he'll name his price "later."  Because 1986 and jackass heroes y'all!

If there had been any hint of mining anywhere in the purple-y back cover blurb I would have left this book in Vegas, stunning female cover model aside.  Wendy's first rule of historical westerns: any one that mentions a mine tends to be a stinker.  I know, I don't get it either - but every single one I've read, I've slogged through or intensely disliked.  There's also the problem with this being three books in one.  You've got the Arabella rescue, the Leadville prelude, and then the mad dash at the end of the book (after 460+ pages) in Silver City where the author brings all the players together for a final, rushed showdown.

When the "romance" isn't insta-lust, it's sex scenes with dubious consent.  In fact the first "love scene" happens after the hero gets insanely jealous seeing Shenandoah with one of the villains (suffering from a punishing embrace that he takes to mean she's totally compliant!  Because OF COURSE!) and only stops just short of forcing himself on her after she turns all willing like a lust-filled jelly donut.  He gets jealous a lot.  She gets jealous a lot.  And they have lots of angry-like sex with punishing kisses because OMG they can't keep their hands off each other!  Because OF COURSE!

Just in case you don't realize how desirable Shenandoah is - every single male character in this book (except her uncle because...eww), wants to have sex with her - consensual or not.  Really, it doesn't matter.  Men turn into mindless rutting zombies when Shenandoah walks into a room.

Arabella's characterization is also rather insulting - given that she goes from proper eastern-bred lady to self-loathing Stockholm Syndrome sufferer who keeps flailing herself on the rocks no matter how understanding her uncle and sister are.  But don't worry - she miraculously sees the light just in time at the end to save the day (because OF COURSE!).  And falls in love with a guy named Cougar (seriously).

There's not even a heaping pile of one tragedy after another with a side of WTF-ery to keep me going.  No avalanches or earthquakes or marauding pirates who kidnap the heroine to a Caribbean island.  I mean, really?  What kind of Old School romance is this?

Anyway, I wouldn't recommend this.  When it's not dull as dishwater, it seems to only feature the most annoying of the Old School Romance tropes.  I do love this cover (do you think that dress could work at the office?  Asking for a friend....), but that's pretty much all this has going for it.

Final Grade = D-

Reminder: #TBRChallenge for April

Hey, hey, hey!  For those of you participating in the 2018 #TBRChallenge, a reminder that your commentary is "due" on Wednesday, April 18.  The theme this month is Kicking It Old School.

A theme that is all about diving deep into your TBR - for our purposes, Old School is defined as any book that is 10+ years past it's original publication date.  Yes, 2008 was 10 years ago ::sob:: 

But what if you're a freak (sorry, you just are) who only has very recent releases in your TBR?  Hey, no problem!  The themes are optional.  The goal is to read something, anything, out of your TBR.

I am more than likely going to be late this month with my own Challenge.  I'm mired in a slump at the moment AND I have family visiting from out of town this next week.  So yeah, have fun without me y'all!

Reminders:

1) If you're participating via social media, remember to use the #TBRChallenge hashtag

and 

2) It is not too late to sign-up!  You can get further details and links to all the blogs participating on the 2018 TBR Challenge Information Page.

Review: Hired by the Brooding Billionaire

My only previous experience reading Kandy Shepherd resulted in a DNF....out of boredom.  For me, the kiss of death in category romance is boredom.  The whole point of category is the short word count, the fast pace, and the hyper-aware focus on the romance.  But the previous book I tried by Shepherd was so blah that I couldn't be bothered.  Which would explain how Hired by the Brooding Billionaire, an ARC I've had on my Kindle since 2015 (!) is just now getting read.  I was in the mood for a Harlequin Romance, my reading equivalent of comfort food, and opened this one to start reading not realizing who the author was.  Well, in for a penny, in for a pound.  And you know what?  It's not perfect, but I was engaged.

Shelley Fairhill is a horticulturalist/gardener and every day she walks past a magnificent home with a horribly neglected garden.  Underneath the mess of overgrowth she knows there's a real gem yearning to be restored, so she screws up her courage to buzz at the front gate.  The owner, Declan Grant, is a recluse and only buzzes her in because he's waiting on some computer parts and he thinks she's the courier finally arrived.  Um, no.  Needless to say he closes the door in her face, but not before she foists her business card off on him.

Turns out it doesn't take all that long for Shelley to hear back from Declan.  She thought the ship hadn't sailed so much as sunk at the dock.  But turns out his posh neighbors aren't too pleased with the overgrown garden and Declan has money to throw at the problem to make it go away.  So he calls Shelley and immediately finds himself enchanted with her.

I really liked these characters.  Shelley is my kind of girl.  5'10", strong, working a physically demanding job that requires less than appealing work wear and constantly overlooked.  Her last relationship ended so disastrously (Steve failed to mention that he was already married) that she's sworn off men and has plans to use her big pay day from Declan to travel.  Declan is a game designing wunderkind, having sold his Lara Croft-like creation at a young age basically making him a gazillionaire.  He was married and adored his wife, Lisa.  She died immediately following childbirth, as did their newborn daughter, Alice.  Declan blames himself and continues to mourn - hence the whole living like a hermit in his magnificent house and letting the garden go to hell.

This is a pretty straight-forward romance that gets dinged on execution.  The author has a tendency to get stuck in the weeds (ha!) and there's a lot of gardening goo-gah here that feels like filler.  It takes a while for the romance to get moving because Shelley is rhapsodizing over the garden and Declan finds himself creatively energized by Shelley to the point where he starts designing a new gaming heroine.  Once the gardening stuff settles down to a dull roar, the story picks up steam and I really liked the ending.  I suspect some readers may feel like Shelley overreacts (I don't think she did).  She  basically has to draw her line in the sand.  She loves Declan but she can't spend her life trying to heal a grieving man who cannot let go of the past out of guilt.  It's the choice Declan makes at the end, how he chooses to take those first steps towards dealing with his grief and his guilt, that were quite memorable.  It's not something we see a lot of in romance novels, let alone in our romance heroes.

No, it's not perfect.  The gardening porn was a bit much and the pacing dragged in the early chapters.  However I really liked these characters and was ultimately charmed by them.  Comfort food indeed.

Final Grade = B-

Review: The War Bride's Scrapbook

The downside to being management and no longer doing day-to-day selection at The Day Job is that a lot of books fly under my radar now.  God bless Dorine, who mentioned this book on her blog a while back.  In 2011, Caroline Preston wrote another scrapbook/novel, The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt - which I simply adored.  Now, seven long years later, she's following up with another, The War Bride's Scrapbook.

As the title suggests, this is a story of a young woman who meets a soldier a mere 3 weeks before he deploys overseas.  When he leaves?  They're married.  Lila is a Virginia (Charlottesville) girl who has never been lucky in love.  Her plump figure and working/middle class parents haven't done her a ton of favors, although her mother has always had ambitions for her two girls to marry college boys.  Lila actually has some brains though, and wants to study architecture, an avenue not open to her since no school in the South is going to admit a mere female into such a program.  So she settles for doing claims adjustments at the insurance company where her father works, and selling war bonds post-Pearl Harbor.

She first met Perry Weld when she showed up to do a claim adjustment.  He was nice to her and she was smitten by his New England good looks.  But the encounter is over before it can begin, and Lila admits that her girlish crush could never be anything more.  I mean, the guy is totally out of her league.  However, their paths cross again after Pearl Harbor, when Perry answers an ad Lila placed for a roommate.  He's looking for temporary lodgings before he ships out and Lila, well she didn't specify what gender a potential roommate should be.  Before you know it a whirlwind courtship ensues and the two are married just before Perry ships out for England with his combat engineering unit.

I still read print, but tend to gravitate towards digital roughly 90% of the time because of convenience and my terrible eyesight.  However, this is a book ideal for the print format.  It's entirely told in scrapbook form, sort of like a picture book for adults.  There's photos, drawings, news clippings, and letters written by both Perry and Lila (heads up fans of epistolary stories!).

For that reason, it's a bit much for readers to expect dynamite character development.  I did get a good feel for both Perry and Lila by the end of this story, but the format doesn't lend itself to a heavy deep-dive into exploring the psychology of the characters.  The secondary players add colorful bits (Lordy, especially Perry's parents!) and the scrapbook moving between the battlefields and the homefront makes for a nice juxtaposition of wartime experiences.

However, where this book ultimately stumbled for me was with the ending.  Look, I'm well aware this isn't, technically, a romance novel.  And Americans - we have this tendency to romanticize World War II.  So part of this is definitely on me - but dammit Janet, this has a bittersweet ending.  I'm going to spoil it and say, yes - Perry comes home alive.  But both he and Lila have been changed by their experiences and I'm left with the feeling that their marriage is....well, "challenging."  I mean, look - all marriages are challenging.  Things aren't great all the time.  But the author has to go, burst my bubble, and tell me things get challenging post-war and....

I go from the heady glow of lovers reunited to a bucket of cold ice water dumped over my head.  The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt, technically, wasn't a romance either - but, as I recall, it had an ending that left me with a hopeful feeling.  This ending?  Just left me depressed and a little sad.

I enjoyed this while I was reading it, it's a really cool concept and the content is dynamite.  But dammit Janet, me no likey the way it ends.  Now I'm off to read a romance novel.  Because, dammit.

Final Grade = C-

#TBRChallenge 2018: Hotbed

The Book: Hotbed by Portia Da Costa

The Particulars: Contemporary erotica, Black Lace, 2002, In Print

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?:  Before the term "erotic romance" was coined, there were only a few select authors in Romancelandia pushing those sexual boundaries.  Which means if you wanted to get your kicks, you went across the pond to the Virgin Publishing imprint, Black Lace.  The majority of what they were publishing was erotica, but there were a few authors who specialized in happy endings, albeit "not traditional" ones.  After discovering Emma Holly through her 2002 Berkley historical romance, Beyond Seduction, I was on a mission to find her Black Lace titles and discovered other authors along the way, including Da Costa.

The Review: It's been a while since I've read a Black Lace novel and it's going to take me a few days to recover.  I have no idea how I'm going to review this or how I'm going to assign a grade to it - but let's get this party started and see where we end up, shall we?

First things first, this is erotica.  It's not erotica with a tinge of romance, it's not erotic romance - no, it's foot to the floor, fast and furious, erotica.  In recent years Da Costa's writing interests have taken her firmly into erotic romance territory (and hot vanilla at that), but she got her start writing erotica and this is most definitely from her erotica period.  Repeat after me: This. Is. Erotica. Not. Erotic. Romance.

Natalie is slowly getting pushed out of her magazine job in London and decides to head back to the quaint English village where she grew up and where her half-sister Patti still lives.  But this isn't a visit to see her sister, not really.  No, there's a shady politician, one of those Moral Majority-types, who is rumored to have his sticky fingers in a lot of pies.  In a bid to jump-start her flagging career, she's looking to do a bit of muckracking.  What she finds instead is a whole lot of sexual shenanigans.  Good Lord, the shenanigans!  In her tiny, dull hometown?!  Who woulda thunk it?

Sure, Natalie is living in cosmopolitan London - but it's Patti who is having all the fun, with a hunky window-washer roommate, a drag queen, and various other participants at said drag queen's BDSM club.  Because, of course!  This drag queen, with the EPIC name of Stella Fontayne, is basically the puppet master in the story - pulling various strings, manipulating everybody to basically amuse themselves. (Gender identity and pronouns aren't discussed but reading in between the lines, Stella struck me as bisexual with a fluid gender identity).

It's not long before Natalie, hot on the trail of the politician, is getting distracted by her hormones.  There are men.  Many men.  There is humiliation and BDSM and, you know, the whole half-sister thing.

And that's how you know this is erotica.  A big deal is made over them being half-sisters (because that somehow makes this less squirky?!) - but eventually there's several instances of voyeurism and a scene at the end where they speed right across that line.  Also there are some dubious consent issues at play here.  Characters are coaxed into things they're not completely comfortable with from the start.  They end up having the best orgasms of their lives, but it doesn't make the consent issues any less squishy.

Go ahead, think less of me - but I still read this book with a kind of morbid fascination that's hard for me to describe.  This is erotica and I compartmentalize erotica completely different from romance.  I, personally, don't have to be "turned on" by what the characters are doing to read and/or enjoy the story - and ultimately getting "turned on" is not why I read erotica. I'm into erotica, predominantly, for heroines who aren't persecuted for being sexual beings and to be "challenged."  Challenging erotica, for me, involves taboo, how the author addresses those taboos, and how the characters operate in the world they inhabit.  Certainly there are things I do not want to read about - and I think any erotica reader will tell you that.  So yes, even as wrong as half-sisters are?  I read this.  Go ahead.  Judge me.

As if the incest weren't enough, other problematic elements rear their ugly head with the ending, when I felt like Natalie morally and ethically sells out. Also, the Stella character.  I mean, I'm glad Natalie is having a grand ol' time, but Stella is a manipulator.  I don't expect a happy ending in my erotica but I do like the heroine to be "in a better spot" at the end - and I didn't get that here.  Stella will continue to manipulate and Natalie sells out. 

I'm going to cop-out and assign this an average C grade.  It's erotica.  It's problematic.  But that's exactly what I want from my erotica - for it to be problematic.  But I can't think of who I would recommend this to (dear Lord, no one!) and as much as I love some of Da Costa's work (and I do!) this one is strictly for fans - those curious to read her entire backlist and follow her evolution as a writer.  Now I'm off to have a glass or two (or three) of whiskey.

Final Grade = C

Review: The Broken Girls

I'm a sucker for Gothics.  The suspense, the atmosphere, the woman-in-peril who doesn't realize at first she's in peril who then has to wiggle out of it.  So it seems pretty inconceivable in hindsight that it took me until 2016 to tear through Simone St. James' entire backlist on audio.  Once I was done?  I was bereft.  Because by that point the publication date for her upcoming novel, The Broken Girls had been delayed.  Well, it's finally here and I can say it was well worth the wait.

20 years ago Fiona Sheridan's sister, Deb, was found dead.  Lying in a field, near abandoned Idlewild Hall, in Vermont.  Pretty, vivacious, 20-year-old Deb had been murdered by her popular, rich, boyfriend, Tim Christopher, son of the wealthiest and most important family in town.  Tim was convicted, is still in prison, but Fiona is stuck.  Haunted by the tragedy and the wreckage it left in it's wake.  She's dating Jamie, a police officer, son of the former chief of police who worked Deb's case, and is working as a freelance journalist.  When she hears Idlewild Hall has been purchased and the new owner wants to reopen it as a girls boarding school, Fiona has the excuse she needs to start digging.  Naturally, she unearths a whole lot of secrets.

In 1950 Idlewild Hall was a boarding school for families to dump off their cast-off girls.  Girls who were trouble.  Girls who were "bad."  Four such girls are roommates, become friends, and all of them witness things they can't explain.  There's a ghost at Idlewild Hall, Mary Hand - who shows you things that you can't unsee.  Who confronts you with your greatest fears, your darkest secrets.  They all see her and one day one of the band of four disappears...without a trace.

This is a time slip novel, moving back and forth between the 1950 story and the 2014 story - St. James taking two different threads and expertly weaving them together.  I'll admit to some reluctance when I heard that St. James was leaving her 1920s English settings behind to move to 1950s Vermont, but that uneasiness was quickly replaced with the uneasy feeling this book's atmosphere evokes.  Folks, it's creepy.  Not just the ghost stuff, but the secrets.  Fiona's psyche.  The truth that's lying just below the surface that eventually bubbles up and boils over.  It's riveting and page-turning and I waffled between savoring every delicious word, prolonging my reading pleasure and guzzling it like a college student whipping out a beer bong.

Usually in time slip stories there's one story line thread the reader is drawn to over the other, which was not my case here.  I loved the 1950 girls - the girls nobody wanted, the girls everybody underestimated, the girls who ultimately end up saving themselves and finding their own brand of justice.  In the 2014 story I was drawn to Fiona's emotional turmoil, her relationship with Jamie haunted by ghosts, and her persistent digging into the secrets hidden at Idlewild.

All of St. James' books thus far feature what one would classify as "romantic elements."  That's certainly the case here, given the Fiona/Jamie relationship, but I will say of all her books this one probably is the lightest in the romance department.  This isn't a criticism from me, but a heads-up to readers who were drawn to some of her earlier books where the romantic arc played a bit more of a prominent factor.

If you're already a St. James fan, this is a great book.  I loved it.  I'm jealous of all of you who now get to read it for the first time.  If you enjoy Gothics and are looking for a creepy good mystery with a light touch on the paranormal woo-woo?  This is it.  St. James' monsters in this book feature the unknown supernatural but also the very real, flesh-and-blood terror that only living mankind seems capable of inflicting.  Don't miss it.

Final Grade = A