First Look: Wyoming Bride

I have a new column up over at Heroes & Heartbreakers today.  This one is a sorta-kinda review, a "First Look" of Wyoming Bride by Joan Johnston.  It's a historical western, and a book that was an interesting mix of "cozy western" and "gritty western." 

Why not head on over and check it out?

Lady Of Shame

Earlier this month I read and reviewed The Lady Who Broke The Rules by Marguerite Kaye, the third book in Harlequin's Castonbury Park continuity series.  I liked that story very much, and came to read it by way of a trade paperback 2-in-1 reprint (the series has been getting released as digital first here in North America), Ladies of Disrepute.  With a reprint title like that, it's only fitting that Kaye's story was packaged with Lady Of Shame by Ann Lethbridge, which also happens to be book four in the series.  Just like Kaye's story, it does feature some continuity conflict that carries over the entire series, but it also stands alone very well.

Lady Claire has come home, hat in hand, with no other options.  Her half-brother is the imposing elder Duke, and while there is quite an age difference between them (same father, different mothers), Crispin had always been kind to her.  Well, that is, until she disobeyed him and eloped with her now dead husband.  She was in love (of course) and naturally the whole affair ended in complete disaster (of course).  Her husband was nothing more than a grubby fortune hunter, a gambler and a wastrel.  Lady Claire has fallen far indeed, and her husband's death has created a new problem.  One that requires her to go home and beg forgiveness if she wants to keep her 7-year-old daughter, Jane, safe.

In residence at Castonbury Park is Monsieur Andre, a talented French chef whose culinary imagination is slowly withering in the stifling country atmosphere.  The Duke is so sickly and heartsick over the death of his eldest son he barely leaves his rooms.  There are no dinner parties to plan, no guests to dazzle with his cuisine, but the job pays well and it's the money he's really after, with dreams of one day opening up his own hotel in London.  When Claire arrives, with her delightful daughter in tow, he knows he's in trouble.  He is captivated by her sad eyes, charmed by the young miss Jane, and no!  No, this will not do.  He escaped France after the revolution and Napoleon.  The last thing he needs is to dally well above his station with a disgraced young widow who is determined to do the right thing in order to help herself, her daughter and her brother.  That is to say, she's going to remarry - and this time a man her brother would actually endorse.

Of course we all know where this is going.  Claire and Andre are immediately drawn to each other, although there is quite a bit of tap-dancing around the attraction.  Claire may have been ruined, but she's still the sister of a Duke.  It also doesn't change the fact that Andre grew up on the streets of Paris, worked his way up the ranks of the French Army, and initially only became a chef after he realized that chef's not only prepare food, they also tend to get fed.  After the insecurity of not knowing when you'll eat next, throwing a toque on your head and learning to cook is a small challenge indeed.  Besides that, Andre has a real talent with food.

I love Regencies of this sort because it showcases so beautifully how desperate life could be (and was) for women in the 19th century.  Certainly Claire is privileged, but even that won't save a woman when either she 1) makes a bad decision or 2) has a bad decision made for her "own good."  Arriving home to Castonbury Park she is legitimately fearful that the Duke could throw her out on her ass, and there's not a damn thing she could do about it.  So naturally she'll do just about anything to keep him happy, herself and her daughter safe.  So while she doesn't want to remarry?  She doesn't have a lot of options.  OK, she has no options.  None.

An attraction with the chef, one of the hired help, is not only disastrous for her, but it does nothing but reinforce the idea that she's a wanton woman with the most abominable judgement - even if, as the reader, we know that Andre is a great guy.  He is, also, a scared guy.  A man who is haunted by his life in France, and a man who came to England not only to make a name for himself but because England is safe.  These are two people who, after pasts lived in some dire circumstances, value safety quite a bit.

I really enjoyed this story tremendously.  It had a great upstairs/downstairs vibe, I loved the "ruined" heroine and I loved the fact that I got a hero who actually had a job.  Even better?  The romance is a passionate slow build and believable.  I believe that these two people could fall in love and live happily ever after.  Claire has sand and Andre is totally captivated by her.  I can imagine them taking the finicky ton diners by storm.....

Final Grade = B+

Christmas, Bat Cave Style!

Before we get into the orgy that was Christmas at the Bat Cave, I have a new post up today over at Heroes & Heartbreakers.  This one is all about the recent Harlequin Presents glom I went on, titled (aptly) Unwrapping Presents.  Get it?  Christmas day.  Unwrapped Presents.  And why yes, I actually came up with that title!  Something clever that actually sticks?  Who would have thunk it?

Anyway, why not head on over and check it out?  Hey, and there are even book recommendations!  Best. Christmas. Present. Ever.

+++++

The older I've gotten, and consequently the older my sisters and parents have gotten, buying Christmas gifts ain't as easy as it used to be.  When I was younger, I didn't have much (OK, any) disposable income.  So Christmas meant asking for things that I really needed to get me through the year.  My Mom still jokes about how she had to buy me a new pair of slippers every year when I was a college student.  Now that we're all older, do have disposable income - when we really want or need something?  Yeah, we buy it for ourselves.  Which means holiday gifts tend to be "fun" things that we find - and admittedly, my sisters are WAY better at this than I am.  For example, take a look at some of the goodies I got this year:

Super awesome magnets!  Can't decide if these are going to work or the Bat Cave refrigerator....

OMG!  Running on caffeine!  This travel mug includes a built in tea infuser.  Does my sister know me or what?

T-shirt from Super Librarian Mom. 

Gift from My Man.  Between this and the TBR I may never leave the Bat Cave ever, ever again.

Happy holidays from my Bat Cave to yours - no matter if or what you celebrate.

Woman In A Sheikh's World

Sometimes the category format is just flat-out better for some stories than a full-length single title.  Category is all "no muss, no fuss" - whereas sometimes, with single titles, characters can wear out their welcome or worse, the author starts padding things with a bunch of pointless filler that you honestly don't care about.  That's what I was thinking about while reading Woman In A Sheikh's World by Sarah Morgan.  It's the type of story that is perfect in category, but probably would have annoyed me no end if the author had stretched it out to 300 pages.

Avery Scott has built an extremely successful party planning business with a client list full of the rich, famous and powerful.  One of those clients is Crown Prince Malik of Zubran, who wants her to plan a lavish party to celebrate his upcoming nuptials to a (seriously, hand to God) virgin bride.  No problem, right?  Wrong-o.  Because Avery and Malik once had a hot-and-heavy affair, lasting a whole year, until his overpowering ways and her fear of all things emotional got in the way.  In short, he broke her heart and now she has to watch from the sidelines as he marries another woman.  Which honestly?  She thinks she's happy about.  I mean, it's a whole lot easier to not pine after a married man, so the sooner Malik is married, the better.  Except for one teensy, tiny problem.  Yeah, his intended bride?  Just up and went missing.  As in, ran away.  That just won't do, so Avery decides to help Malik find her, you know by spending time alone with him the desert.  Sure, that'll work out just fine......

Morgan is so smart in the category format and here she really milks it to maximum effect.  She peels the conflict back, in layers, like an onion.  We know going in that Avery is a smart, independent, ball-busting sort of woman.  She built her own business, she's given her life to that business, and when Malik threatens (so she thinks) her independence, she bolts.  She's not about to let some high-handed Alpha male tell her what to do or what to feel.  Naturally as the story goes on, we see what really was behind the demise of the affair.  What Malik felt and thought, what Avery felt and thought, why they had these feelings and thoughts, the emotional back-story that led to both of their broken hearts.

It's all very, very smart, but in a longer book I think Avery would wear out her welcome with some readers.  This is not a cuddly sort of romance heroine.  Frankly, she's very driven, very single-minded, and is more likely to steamroll over the hero before he has a chance to uncover what's really driving her insecurities.

"'You never need anything, do you, Avery Scott?' His voice was soft in the darkness and she squeezed her eyes tightly so that the tears didn't fall.  She couldn't believe she was actually crying.  She could just imagine what her mother would say to that.

'Sometimes I pretend to need someone, just to stroke a masculine ego.'

'I doubt you have ever stroked a man's ego in your life.  Knifed it, possibly."

And that's Avery in a nutshell.  She is the way she is for various reasons, it's up to the author, and Malik to coax those reasons out over the course of the story.  Then it's up to Malik to teach her that she doesn't have to be afraid.  In short, these two people who are used to being "in charge" need to learn to trust each other, but it won't be easy since they both have baggage.

I liked that the author didn't make either character solely at fault for anything.  Both Malik and Avery make mistakes, and they both have to own up to them.  I also liked that the author doesn't morph Avery into a pod person to make the happy ending work.  She's independent, she's a businesswoman, she's smart, has her own opinions etc.  Which means, thank you sweet baby Jesus, she doesn't morph into a subserviant handmaiden just because she finally realizes that she loves Malik and wants to spend a lifetime with him.

This is a good solid Presents that bucks the opinion, held by some, that the heroines must all be dishrags while the heroes must all be Alpha jerk-wads.  This book features two headstrong people who learn from each other and recognize that their relationship is going to take time and effort - effort that in the end will be worth it.  Because honestly?  They love each other and are perfect together.  Hey, this is a romance - what could possibly be better than that?

Final Grade = B

TBR Challenge 2012: Home For Christmas

The Book: Home For Christmas by Carrie Weaver

The Particulars: Harlequin SuperRomance #1311, 2005, Out of print, Available digitally, Connected to previous book, The Secret Wife (which I naturally have somewhere in the TBR ::sigh::)  

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?:  Probably for the same reason a lot of random category romances are - I liked the sound of the back cover blurb.  I do know I picked this one up at a used bookstore that has since closed up shop.

The Review:  Nancy McGuire moved to upstate New York looking for a fresh start.  Not only was her husband murdered, but she also found out he was a bigamist.  To add insult to injury?  Nancy desperately wanted a child, she never conceived with her husband, but he did manage to knock up The Other Wife.  So she decides to adopt a little girl from Russia, willingly becoming a single parent much to her mother's disapproval.  It's hard, but she adores Ana and they've built a good life together.  What she does not need is a man in her life, especially a slick-talking, snake-charming ladies' man like Beau Stanton.

Beau is also fairly new to town, and is now flying solo with his troubled 14-year-old daughter, Rachel.  Having been married three (yes, three!) times, Ex-Wife #1 shows up one day, dumps Rachel in his lap and essentially says, "I raised her the first 14 years, you can deal with the next four."  Naturally this kind of upheaval has led to Rachel acting out and Beau's not exactly good at dealing with conflict.  Nancy and Beau end up meeting at a single parents support group and much to their chagrin, end up being paired off as "buddies."

It has been many, many months since I've read a SuperRomance and while this one wasn't perfect, it was a solid read.  There's a lot of baggage here for our couple to deal with.  Beau is one of those guys that seems like all surface, but he really does have hidden depths.  The reason he hides that from the world has to do with various family dynamics (having parents who doted on his "perfect" baby brother....) and Nancy has to learn that a lot of Beau's slick talk is almost like a defense mechanism.  In turn, Nancy has major Daddy Issues, which are at the root of why her first marriage was such a disaster.  Daddy abandoned her, her first husband married another woman while still married to her, and now she finds herself attracted to a guy with three failed marriages under his belt?  Yeah, she's unthrilled.

The stuff with Rachel is fleshed out fairly well.  She comes off as a believable, confused teenage girl.  Poor kid.  Her Mom essentially dumps her off with no explanation and her Dad, up until this new arrangement, was basically a Good Time Charlie who breezed in and out of her life.  Ana is a typical Romance Novel Land toddler, which is to say kind of a plot moppet.  But she's not overly annoying.

The Christmas theme is a very light touch, so if you're normally not wild about Christmas reads, this is a book that doesn't beat you over the head with the holiday.  I also liked that not everything is wrapped up neat and tidy in the end.  Yes, our couple gets together, but just like in real life some elements of their pasts don't magically morph into Sunshine Happiness just because they've fallen in love - most notably, Nancy's relationship with her absent father is still complicated.  The writing is a little uneven in spots, and sometimes I wondered exactly how/when/why Nancy and Beau got hooked on each other - but it's a quick pleasant read pairing up a couple that should be all wrong for each other, but happily are just right.

Final Grade = B-

Short On Time, Long On Christmas

In a comment in a previous post, Ruth asked what some of my favorite Christmas reads were.  It's pretty obvious by reading this blog that I do enjoy reading "short."  I like short stories, novellas, and I love category romance.  Well during the month of December?  I really, really like reading "short."  With added things on my to-do list, along with the normal every-day stuff I have to do on top of that?  Yeah, my minuscule attention span snaps at the thought of any book over 300 pages. 

I went over my reading lists for the previous several years, and also dug around in the keeper stash.  Here is a short list of titles I came up with to satisfy Ruth's curiosity.  All category romance, and all reads I really enjoyed.

First, let's kick things off with the Harlequin Historical western anthologies.  Because, you know, I'm a ho for Harlequin Historical and westerns:

Title links take you to full reviews:

Western Winter Wonderland by Cheryl St. John, Jenna Kernan and Pam Crooks - The St. John story is a real gem about an Old Maid heroine (33!) falling for the new town doctor (a younger man!) with two small children.  The Kernan story is a cabin romance featuring a bounty hunter hero and the Crooks story features a heroine with a very unusual job (she trains carrier pigeons for the Army!).

The Magic of Christmas by Carolyn Davidson, Victoria Bylin and Cheryl St. John - I'll be honest, the Davidson story didn't work for me at all, but the Bylin and St. John stories saved the day.  The Bylin story features a former snooty rich girl turned fallen woman.  The St. John story features a heroine trying to track down her wayward sister, only to come across her newborn twin nephews instead.

Snowflakes and Stetsons by Jillian Hart, Carol Finch and Cheryl St. John - The Hart story features an, actually!, plausible secret baby plot, the Finch story adds a dollop of humor after the Hart angst and the St. John story features a hero and heroine trapped on a stranded Pullman train car together....with two orphans, naturally.

Now, on to the full length category romances!

Title links will take you to full reviews.

The Christmas Stranger by Beth Cornelison - For those of you who want some suspense tossed in with your holidays.  A widowed heroine whose husband was murdered and a seriously down-on-his-luck hero.  The suspense wasn't a mind-bender, but this was a solid read and the first in a trilogy.

Under the Boss's Mistletoe by Jessica Hart - This is the book that introduced me to Jessica Hart, who has quickly become one of my favorite category writers.  Hero inherits stately English manor and decides renting it out for occasions is the only way to keep it afloat.  The heroine is a wedding planner.  The Christmas theme is very different here.  It doesn't take place over Christmas!  Instead the hero and heroine need to get the house ready for a Christmas-themed magazine photo shoot, months before the holidays.

Dear Santa by Karen Templeton - Reserved cold fish hero finds himself a full-time single father to a four-year-old after his ex-wife dies in a car accident.  Completely out of his depth he reaches out to the heroine, his dead ex's BFF.  It's a great read, and the first book in a trilogy.

Sleigh Ride With a Rancher by Donna Alward - Alward likes to slather on the angst in her Harlequin Romance books and I am a major ho for angst.  This story features a running scared heroine paired with a wounded, scarred hero who likes to "fix" people.

Sorry, no full-length reviews for these two!

The Nights Before Christmas by Vicki Lewis Thompson - Thompson is the ultimate hit or miss author for me, but this story was a hit for me when it read it years ago.  Blue-collar hero who is a handyman for an apartment complex.  Heroine who has the hots for him and hears through the grapevine that he fixes more than leaky pipes for the single ladies in the building.  A great read from the dearly departed Temptation line.

The Man Who Loved Christmas by Kathryn Shay - The second book in Shay's America's Bravest series for SuperRomance is an opposites attract storyline.  Firefighter hero that loves Christmas so much he plays Santa Claus every year.  The heroine lost her husband and child one Christmas, so needless to say she's not a huge fan of the holiday.  On top of that?  He's a risk-taker and she's by-the-book - and oh yeah, they're training recruits together. (Note: I'm not finding a stand-alone digital copy of this title available.  You can purchase it in a bundle though with the other three books in the series - which is where the title link will take you).

And that, as they say, is that.  This very likely just the tip of the iceberg, given that I lost a lot of my past reading records in the Great Computer Meltdown Of 2008 (whimper).  But hey, this is a good jumping off point and I freakin' love Christmas romances.  Suggestions welcome in the comments!

The Lady Who Broke The Rules

God bless Harlequin, they love continuity series.  For the uninitiated, a continuity is a series written by multiple authors with, typically, an overarching plot thread that appears throughout all the books.  Honestly, while they have happened in the past in Harlequin's historical realms, they're not terribly common, so it's nice to see a series like Castonbury Park.  Think of it as a Regency-set Upstairs, Downstairs inspired by the popularity of Downton Abbey.  It features the dysfunctional, blue-blood Montague clan, along with their servants.  Originally released as ebooks here in North America, Harlequin is now issuing the series in 2-in-1 trade paperback editions, which is how I came to read The Lady Who Broke The Rules by Marguerite Kaye, which is paired in the Ladies of Disrepute volume with Ann Lethbridge's Lady of Shame (which I will also review, uh just as soon as I read it).  While Kaye's story is the third book in the continuity, I had no problem keeping up.

Kate Montague is well and truly ruined.  A broken engagement, mere days before the wedding, without any explanation whatsoever from her, pretty well insured that....especially since the jilted groom was more than willing to talk trash.  Her father, a Duke, could have quashed the talk, as could her aunt, who raised Kate after her mother passed away.  But given that they are so fed up with her, they've pretty much left her reputation in tatters, and like to constantly remind her of what an epic disappointment she is.

Into Kate's world enters Mr. Virgil Jackson, not only an American, but a freed slave who has pulled himself up by his boot-straps.  In the pottery business back in the States, he's in England to talk business with Josiah Wedgwood.  It's at a dinner party that he meets Kate and they become fascinated with each other.  Not only is she unlike the other English ladies he's met, she has started a school on her family's land.  Given that Virgil is very interested in establishing similar schools back home, he agrees to visit Castonbury Park.

All historical romance readers have opinions on what makes a good historical romance.  Some say it's the characters, some say it's the storyline, others say it's the author getting the history "right."  For me it's a bit more simplistic than all of that.  The author has to make me believe.  Yes, it may sound fantastical.  Yes, it may even strain at the seams.  But if the author has me believing not only that it could happen, but hell.....maybe it did happen?  I'm sold.  And while the idea of a disgraced English lady falling in love with a freed slave does sound amazing, Kaye sells the whole thing really, really well.  In part because she lays groundwork for how Virgil, just a slave 10 years earlier getting the crap kicked out of him over a failed insurrection, could wind up in Boston running a profitable business.

The story itself is an intriguing mix of light Regency banter and heavy, introspective angst.  In particular, Virgil's past is very brutal.  The prologue in this story is not for the faint of heart.  Virgil's actions have very dire consequences that continue to haunt him 10 years later.  Likewise, Kate is also lugging around baggage.  Granted she has never been a slave, but what befalls her was sadly common for women throughout history (and hell, even to this day, in some cases).  Keep the girls ignorant, tell them to do their duty, hell honey - just lie back in that marriage bed and think of England.  'Twill all be over soon enough and after all, you're just a silly women.  Like you could possibly have wants, desires, ambition and intelligence?  Stand up straight, look pretty and for the love of Christ, keep your opinions to yourself.

The romance itself is a very slow build, and naturally being a romance we do get a happy ending.  I liked that the author doesn't morph the secondary players into pod people.  Oh sure, Kate and Virgil end up together, but even if she is ruined it's not like everybody is going to welcome their union with open arms.  I will admit that I wonder how they will fair, an interracial couple in the early 19th century, but as naive as this makes me sound - they love each other.  I think they'll find their way.

Final Grade = B

Side note: The author has some interesting historical tidbits in the Behind The Scenes section of her web site.  Well worth checking out.

Reminder: TBR Challenge For December 2012

For those of you participating in the 2012 TBR Challenge, a reminder that your commentary is "due" on Wednesday, December 19.  Yes, it's here folks - the end of 2012 and the last month of this year's challenge!

The theme this month is Holidays.  I know readers who would rather gut themselves than read Christmas romances, so for the sake of this challenge - any holiday will do!  As for me?  I'll probably be going with a Christmas-theme since I'm a total sucker for those.  Yes, I would be the reason we all get inundated with "those books" this time of year.  But remember, if the theme doesn't appeal or you don't have anything that applies in your TBR?  Hey, it's all good!  Just read something else.  The themes are merely suggestions in your quest to get a long-neglected book out of your unread pile.

And now?  We look forward to the 2013 TBR Challenge!  For more information, and details on how you can sign up - please visit the information page.

The Month That Was November 2012

Lemon Drop: All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up.

Me: You know, not many women can pull off turbans.  You and Joan Crawford maybe.....

Lemon Drop: Puhleeze, that beeyotch has got nothing on me!

Me: Well, that's true.  And while I know you're not quite three, you're already more stable.

Lemon Drop: Yeah, dude - what was up with the wire hangers?  My Mommy is a little nutty, but even she isn't that far gone.

Me: Change of subject time!  Here's what I read last month kiddo.  I was a reading machine!  Solid in the quality department as well.

Sleigh Ride With The Rancher by Donna Alward - Harlequin Romance, 2012, Grade = B

•  Heroine with childhood baggage and still grieving over friend's death visits scarred hero's ranch before Christmas as a favor to her grandmother.  Running scared heroine, a hero who has suffered tragedy, lots of angst, textbook Alward.

A Night Of No Return by Sarah Morgan - Harlequin Presents, 2012, Grade = B+

• A boss-secretary romance featuring an emotionally wounded hero and a heroine who puts the fun in feisty.

Winter Warriors by Michelle Willingham - Harlequin Historical, 2012, Grade = B-

• Three-story anthology featuring some of the offspring from the author's MacEgan Brothers series.  Liked the first two stories, wanted to hit the hero in the third story....hard.  With a sledge hammer.

Forward Passes by Jami Davenport - Contemporary romance ebook, 2012, Grade = B

• Second book in the author's series featuring a fictional American football team.  Abrasive asshole hero with a heart of gold, and a heroine with a bumpy history when it comes to jocks.

Counterfeit Cowboy by Lacy Williams - Love Inspired Historical, 2012, Grade = C

• A goody-goody heroine but a hero with a questionable past and a good message made this a solid inspirational romance.

The Spymaster's Lady by Joanna Bourne - Historical romance, 2008, Berkley, Grade = C

• Liked the writing, but wasn't sold on the idea that the hero and heroine were equals when 1) she uses her wiles in her "job" yet is somehow miraculously still a virgin and 2) she doesn't kill people.  Also the twist regarding the heroine?  Didn't buy it.  At all.

Wyoming Bride by Joan Johnston - Historical Romance, 2013, Bantam Dell, Grade = C+

• Forthcoming First Look post for Heroes & Heartbreakers.  An interesting mix of cozy and gritty.

Marrying The Enemy by Nicola Marsh - Harlequin Presents, 2012, Grade = B

• Upcoming review for TGTBTU. Great heroine and a marriage of convenience plot.

Hajar's Hidden Legacy by Maisey Yates - Harlequin Presents, 2012, Grade = B

• I'm normally not into fictional royalty or sheikh books - but hello?  Beauty and the Beast!  I can't say no to that.

The Mermaid's Tale by Grace D'Otare - Erotic romance short story ebook, 2012, Self-Pub, Grade = B-

• Married couple who make-up naughty stories for each other take a whirl at setting The Little Mermaid during WWII French Resistance.  A quick read, although I did want a few more naughty shenanigans.

Forbidden by Saskia Walker - Erotic romance short story ebook, 2011, Walk On The Wild Side Books, Grade = C

• Privileged girl destined to marry someone her father's age falls for the hunky gardener (OK, estate manager).  A story that is a harder sell for me in a contemporary setting, but Walker writes great sex.

Restraint by Charlotte Stein - Erotic-kinda-romance short story ebook, 2012, Xcite, Grade = A

• Heroine thinks the hero hates her guts, but turns out our guy is just really, really repressed.  Oh man, LOVED this story.  Loved it so much I want to marry it and have its babies.....

The Librarian by Logan Belle - Erotic romance ebook, 2012, Pocket, Grade = D

• Repressed young woman fresh out of library school gets her dream job at NYPL and becomes a sub to a major library benefactor's Dom.  Standard issue BDSM with an ending that pissed me off six ways from Sunday.

Me: Hmmm, I think you might be a little young for the turban look kiddo.  I mean, it's the sort of look that belongs on Grand Dames Of A Certain Age.  I'm not sure a three-year-old qualifies, even if you are a pretty awesome three-year-old.

Lemon Drop: I am big!  It's the blogs that got small!

Me: Oh brother.

Note: I would like to publicly apologize to anybody who had anything to do with Sunset Boulevard.  Lemon Drop made me do it!

Come One, Come All: TBR Challenge 2013!

Christine prodded me on Twitter the other day, and the answer is yes - there will be a TBR Challenge 2013.  Because honestly?  Wendy needs some help in climbing that mountain range.  Even if I only manage to get 12 books read off the pile every year, that's still better than nothing.

This will be my third year hosting the challenge, and it's really been oodles of fun.  I hope past participants have enjoyed it as much as I have and will think about signing up again for the new year.  For the uninitiated, just what is the TBR Challenge?  Well.....

Simply put, it's where readers pick up a long neglected book from their TBR pile, read it, and comment on that read on the 3rd Wednesday of every month.  The idea is to read those long neglected books that you just had to get your hands on at the time, but have been languishing in your pile, all lost and forgotten.

Commentary on your chosen TBR read can happen anywhere online (your blog, Facebook, GoodReads, Twitter, a message board etc.) just provide me with a link when you sign-up so interested readers can follow all the challengers!

This is a voluntary challenge and I want this to be fun.  Hey, life happens.  If you have to skip a month, there will be no ridicule.  Likewise, while there will be bragging rights for those that complete the challenge without skipping a single month - there is no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Since some readers like a little guidance, I will also be keeping with tradition and providing themes.  These themes are totally voluntary.  If you don't have anything in your TBR that fits, the theme doesn't appeal, or you just want to read something else - go for it!  Again, this is meant to be a fun challenge.

I have once again set up an information page on the blog that gives all the background, proposed themes, dates of the challenge for the whole year, along with the list of participants so you can all follow along!   I kept some of the themes from previous years, but have also added a few new ones for 2013.  They are:

January 16 - We Love Short Shorts! (Short stories, Novellas, category romance)
February 20 - Recommended Read (something recommended by a fellow reader)
March 20 - Series Catch-Up (pick a book from a series you're behind on)
April 17 - New-To-You Author
May 15 - More Than One (An author who has more than one book in your TBR pile).
June 19 - Lovely RITA (RWA RITA nominees OR winners)
July 17 - The Classics (Something classic within the romance genre - an author, a specific book, a trope/theme - I'm open to wide interpretations here!)
August 21 - Steamy reads (Erotic romance, erotica, something spicy!)
September 18 - Western (Contemporary or historical)
October 16 - Paranormal or romantic suspense
November 20 - All About The Hype (a book that created such chatter that it was inescapable).
December 18 - Holiday themes (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, it's all good!)

 So who's in with me?  Honestly, it's loads of fun and beneficial if you need a little pick-me-up when dealing with monstrous TBR Guilt (I can't be the only one who suffers from that....).  All you need to do to sign up is leave a comment on this post, or e-mail me, with a link for where you will be posting your "commentary."

And if you want to take a little time to mull it over?  That's fine too.  You can sign-up anytime over the course of the year.

TBR Read: Front Page Affair

The Book: Front Page Affair by Mira Lyn Kelly

The Particulars: Harlequin Presents Extra #136, 2011, Out of print, but available digitally.

The Review: Outside of the TBR Challenge, I have been crap for reading books out of my TBR this year.  But I'm working on a little project right now, which required me to read some Presents, and voila!  This particular book by Kelly was one I picked up at a Borders going-out-of-business sale (::sob::) after I read this nice review by Lynne Connolly over at TGTBTU.  I didn't love it as much as she did, but I did find it to be a very solid, enjoyable read.

Nate Evans is a big time business tycoon-y type (because, aren't they all in Presents-Land?) who needs to get the paparazzi off his scent.  There was a wee bump in his personal life some months back, something he settled quietly, but his absence from the social whirlwind has been noticed.  What he needs is a distraction.  To give the wagging tongues and cameras something else to feast on.  Enter stage left, Payton Liss.

Payton is from an Old Money Family and knew Nate as a kid.  Hell, she had the mother of all unrequited crushes.  But alas her brother and Nate had a falling out, which meant as a casualty Nate started staying away from her.  Well now, here they are, at the same society wedding and he's proposing a most outrageous proposition.  He wants them to pretend that they've been having a clandestine affair for months!  Payton wants to tell him no, but she's sorely tempted.  Yes she wants hearts, flowers, marriage and babies - but this is Nate.  And even if he tells her in no uncertain terms that he's not the settling down type?  Wouldn't it be delicious just to have a taste?  Especially since she's tired of always being the "good girl" in the family.

What follows in Nate and Payton striking a bargain, having a good time together, and naturally having their stupid, stupid feelings get in the way.  It's a classic set-up for most any friends-to-lovers story and Kelly infuses it with likeable characters that are honest with each other.  They like each other, they have fun together, there's a nice playfulness to them when they aren't burning up the sheets.  Then Stuff Happens at the end, the heroine blessedly stands firm and doesn't allow the hero to railroad her (Huzzah!) and it all comes to a close with a nicely done emotional finish.

What didn't work quite as well for me was the set-up to this whole affair.  I'm willing to roll with a New Money Businessman getting followed around by the paparazzi (but even that strains a bit).  What I wasn't quite as willing to roll with was why Nate wanted to keep the past several months a Big Huge Secret.  Uh, especially since HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG!  I get that the court of public opinion is going to tar and feather you anyway you slice it - but when there is irrefutable evidence (as in, good enough to hold up in a court of law) - I just wasn't entirely buying it.  Although at the end of the day, it does illustrate that deep down, underneath the New Money Tycoon exterior, Nate is a decent guy.

So yeah, if you can buy the set-up and adore the friends-to-lovers theme as much as I do (ZOMG!), this was a quick, fun read.  Kelly is now on my category-reading radar.

Final Grade = B

Richard Harrow = Yummers!

I don't think I've blogged about it much at all, but I am hopelessly addicted to Boardwalk Empire.  Season Three wrapped up last night, and now I am not only on hiatus from the show - but from the yummy Richard Harrow character as well.

This is....not good.  Especially since our scarred, wounded, swoon-worthy Richard (who is totally swoon-worthy when he's not shooting guys in the face....) had a GREAT storyline this past season.

So yeah, why not head on over to Heroes & Heartbreakers where I talk about how Richard is really an ideal romantic hero.  Seriously, he's got badass scars, he's loyal, protective, nice to kids, and so sweetly vulnerable.  You know, when he's not shooting guys in the face.