The Month That Was January 2014

Lemon Drop: Auntie Wendy, Auntie Wendy, Auntie Wendy's on fire!

Me: I've seen a few hunky firemen in my day, but nobody as cute and you two.

Lemon Drop: My deputy and I received the alarm.  Someone has been reading so much she's smokin'.....

Me: Um, yeah.  I kind of didn't have a life last month.  Also, I hit a string of really good reads and started inhaling books in one sitting.

Title links will take you to full reviews.

A Promise For the Baby by Jennifer Lohmann - Contemporary romance, Harlequin Superromance, 2014, Grade = D

• Liked the hero, hated the way he was portrayed as being unreasonable when it was the heroine and her idiot father who drove me up one wall and down the other.

Baring It All by Megan Frampton - Historical romance short story, Loveswept, 2013, Grade = B+

• A very short story that is essentially a love scene.  Loved the tone and style of the writing, a great introduction to the author's voice.

Follow Her Home by Steph Cha - Suspense, Minotaur, 2013, Grade = B-

• Loved that the author cast a 20-something Korean-American girl in the PI role. 

The Man Behind the Mask by Barbara Wallace - Contemporary romance, Harlequin Romance, 2014, Grade = A-

• An emotional boss-secretary romance (don't judge) with oodles of internal conflict.  Inhaled in one sitting.

The Marshal's Ready-Made Family by Sherri Shackelford - Inspirational historical romance, Love Inspired Historical, 2014, Grade = B

• Town marshal takes custody of his orphaned niece and falls in love with tomboy town telegraph operator.  A cozy small-town historical western with very light inspirational elements.

Yesterday's Echo by Matt Coyle - Suspense, Oceanview, 2013, Grade = B+

• Suspense featuring down-on-luck ex-cop hero who was, at one time, accused of murdering his wife.  Great use of setting (La Jolla, California) and a twisty-turny plot. 

Now and Forever by Logan Belle - Contemporary erotic romance, Moxie, 2014, Grade = A

• Second novella in duet that wraps up a romance left unfinished in the first story.  Wonderful characters, wonderful emotion, loved it.

Killing Cupid by Laura Levine - Cozy mystery, Kensington, 2013, Grade = B

• Latest book in the only cozy mystery series I'm still reading.  Solid, delivered exactly what I wanted and expected.

To Tempt a Viking by Michelle Willingham - Historical romance, Harlequin Historical, 2014, Grade = B-

• A first half that dragged for me (too much rehashing of the first book in the duet) that gave way to a dynamite, angst-filled, gut-wrenching second half.

Dating Dead Men by Harley Jane Kozak - Cozy mystery, Doubleday, 2004, Grade = DNF

• Loosey-goosey plotting and characters who didn't behave in a logical manner.  I DNF'ed it around 150 pages and skimmed huge chunks after that to get to the end.

Her Rancher Rescuer by Donna Alward -  Contemporary romance, Harlequin American, 2014, Grade = A

• Good time girl heroine leaves her judgmental small town to take a temporary job at the hero's ranch-slash-corporate retreat.  A story that shines thanks to the author's deft handling of "character growth."  I loved this book.

Sonata for a Scoundrel by Anthea Lawson - Historical romance, Self-published, 2013, Grade = C+

• I loved the concept of this book, but it fell flat on execution for me - mostly in the heroine department.  I wanted, and felt, she should have had more "fire" to her.

Lemon Drop: Deputy!  Turn the hose on her!

Me: Hey ::splutter sputter:: wait a minute!

Lemon Drop: It's for your own good!  Three A grades in one month?  Auntie Wendy, you're getting soft on me.  It just will not do.  You're starting to make The Mean Girls cry.

Me: Sigh.  The "mean girls" are a figment of everybody's imagination.  I'm chalking it up to the Reading Gods taking pity on me and putting a lot of great (and good) reads in my path this month.

Lemon Drop: OK, I suppose.  But pull it together man!  People will start thinking you're nice or something....

Me: Perish the thought /end sarcasm

Digital Review: Every Part Of You: Resists Me

Megan Hart continues her new Every Part of You serial with this second installment, simply titled Resists Me.  With a title like that, the bulk of this installment really shouldn't be all that shocking to the reader.  While Simone is sexy and confident, it's our hero, Elliott, who is holding himself back. He may be powerfully attracted to Simone, but he's not willing to follow her down the rabbit hole.  Yet, anyway.

At the end of Tempts Me, Simone challenges Elliott to a night on the town.  She ends up taking him dancing, where moving together on the dance floor leads to seduction - Simone seducing Elliott.  We already know from the first installment that Simone likes pain with her a pleasure, but since she's not into bondage or domination she has to be very careful when it comes to choosing partners.  She thinks she's got a read on Elliott, and the night they spend together only confirms her suspicions.  Now to convince Elliott of that.

Hart hasn't written anything revolutionary here, but I cannot tell you how refreshing I've found this serial thus far and it's all due to Simone.  Erotic romance has been flooded with unsure ingenues of late who suddenly realize they've been living pale empty lives once they hook up with a domineering asshole billionaire Dom.  Simone isn't aggressive so much as she is confident.  As she tells Elliott, she wants to keep having sex with him but she's not going to beg.  After all, she doesn't have to beg.  She's also the sort of woman who doesn't play games.  If she tells you the sky is green, it really means the sky has inexplicably turned green.  Elliott, used to a certain sort of woman, is totally discombobulated by Simone's frankness.  A spade is a spade for Simone and Elliott is unsure of what to do with that.  It would be easy to dismiss her if she was a flighty head case playing mind games with him, but instead?  She simply calls him out on his bullshit, walks away, and doesn't beg.

Not a whole lot happens in this installment, other than Elliott running scared and the author dropping a few more hints about his baggage.  The meat and potatoes are with Simone.  Simone is the kind of heroine who could turn a straight girl.  She's that magnificently wonderful.  Elliott is being a moron, for now, but that doesn't mean Simone is going to let him see her sweat.  He'll see her around their office building, but she'll look right through him.  And Elliott?  Naturally cannot stop thinking about her, even as he's trying to convince himself that she's wrong about him.

Final Grade = B

Unusual Historicals For February

The February 2014 round-up of "unusual historicals" has gone live over at Heroes & Heartbreakers.

A nice mix of variety this month, including the 1920s, ancient Rome, and a Regency featuring an actress heroine.

Head on over to H&H to see the full rundown.

Flashes Of Me

I first heard of Cynthia Sax last year when I got some promo material for her Seen trilogy.  I was intrigued by the voyeurism premise, but at the time I must have had too many review books on my plate (or something) and I never tried them.  So when I had the opportunity to get an ARC of Flashes Of Me, I decided to give it a whirl.  What with BDSM currently running amok in erotic romance, I'm always happy to try something "different" - and right now?  An exhibitionist heroine and a hero with voyeuristic tendencies sounded rather refreshing.  Unfortunately none of it worked for me.  I did read it in one sitting, but that's honestly the nicest thing I can say about my reading experience.

Katalina is at loose ends, so decides to leave New York for Los Angeles and takes an internship at Blaine Technologies.  What she's not telling anybody is that she's the daughter of Blaine's biggest rival - a rival that Blaine is in the process of buying out.  Just wanting to keep her head down and start over, she uses her mother's maiden name to land the job.  But before she even sets foot in the office building she has a sexy encounter with Blaine's head of cyber-security, Henley.  One thing leads to another, and shenanigans are afoot.

The author is shooting for a Beauty and the Beast vibe with this story, which is normally a theme I cannot get enough of.  Unfortunately this is an instance where I found the whole premise a hot mess.  At first I had high hopes for Kat.  She's beautiful, blond and has big boobs - so naturally everyone assumes she's a brain-dead ninny.  For her part Kat plays that role beautifully, 1) because it's what people expect and 2) sometimes it's better to have people underestimate you.  In her words:

"Some people think big men are dumb.  Some people also think blond women are stupid and no one should wear pink to a funeral.  I learned long ago to ignore some people."

Here's the problem, I don't think Kat is playing.  I really do think she's a brain-dead ninny.  She stumbles around the office like a moron, says inane clap-trap like "My father always says....." and never rises to any occasion where you think she just might possibly have two brain cells to rub together.  In other words, the author wants me to think the "dumb blond" thing is an act and.....

I don't.  She really is a dumb blond.

The story isn't helped at all by the writing, which was straight out of bad late-night cable TV soft core porn.  After a bumpy beginning that showed some promise, the whole affair spirals down the rabbit hole to just plain terrible.  I get it, Henley is a big dude.  As in, football linebacker big.  The kind of guy who probably has to have his clothes custom made he's so big.  But if I read the word "behemoth" once I think I read it a dozen times.  Then there was the dialogue, which was just god-awful.  Henley keeps calling Kat "kitten" for cripes sake.  But the final straw?  What really pushed me over the edge?  The Rescue Fantasy.

Rescue Fantasy tropes have existed in the romance genre since the dawn of time.  There's absolutely nothing wrong with them, when they're done right.  What woman alive hasn't had a day where she just wants someone to swoop in and take care of....everything?  Including her!  We've all been there.  The problem here is that Kat is such an idiot she needs the rescue fantasy.  Otherwise she'd curl up into a little ball and die.  Look cupcake, I get it.  You want the big strong man to protect you.  Hell, I want that too.  But this is the sort of story where that's all Kat has.  Let's say Henley wakes up one morning, finds Kat's blond hair turning ash and her big boobs starting to sag and decides to bang the next pretty intern that walks through the doors at Blaine Technologies?  Kat isn't the kind of woman to stand on her own.  She's not the kind of woman to tell him to take a hike and don't let the door smack you in the ass on the way out.  She would be the kind to ugly cry, have a load of plastic surgery and allow him mistresses on the side just so long as he doesn't leave her.  The author can try to tell me Kat is "smart" all she wants, but that doesn't make it true, especially when she thinks shit like:

"He's a man seeking to plant his seed inside his woman, his urgency palpable, his need gratifying.  I'm a woman submitting, welcoming my man's sexual supremacy, knowing he'll always protect me, cherish me."

I may never stop puking.

I don't slap F grades on books lightly.  There's typically at least something, that one small glimmer of hope.  But looking at this story, thinking about how I felt while reading it, there was just nothing here that I liked.  It did start out OK, but quickly descended into brain-bleed inducing territory.  I'm done.  I'm out.

Final Grade = F

TBR Challenge 2014: His Best Friend's Baby

The Book: His Best Friend's Baby by Molly O'Keefe

The Particulars: Contemporary romance, Harlequin SuperRomance #1385, 2006, Out of print, Available digitally, Connected to O'Keefe's first Super, Family at Stake

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?:  After discovering the awesomeness that is O'Keefe's Supers, I went back and glommed all her older categories that I didn't already have buried in the TBR.  This was one of them.  Plus, I read Family at Stake during the 2012 TBR Challenge, liked it, and wanted to see what became of the heroine's brother.

The Review:  Julia Adams is 24, has a 2-year-old son, Ben, and is now a widow.  Mitch was like a tornado, blowing into her life, sweeping her off her feet, but ultimately it was not the greatest of marriages.  Mitch was a complicated man, who just about everyone believed was a golden boy.  Not Julia though.  Julia knows the truth about her husband, and with no other place to go, decides to head to California and Mitch's parents.  An Army brat, Julia is desperate to set down roots, to have a "normal" life.  Mitch's parents seem about as normal as they come, and frankly, her husband died without leaving her with a whole lot of options.

Jesse Filmore was Mitch's BFF.  They got into a lot of trouble as kids, with the prevailing theory being Jesse was "no good" and corrupting golden boy Mitch.  They joined the Army together, were in the same unit together, and ultimately a mission went wrong killing Mitch and two other men.  Jesse, who was seriously wounded, blames himself for their deaths.  Now he finds out that his dead mother left him the family home, a home that holds nothing but bitter memories.  Jesse's father was an abusive drunk and the only person he could rely on, his sister, got the hell out of Dodge the moment she graduated high school, not bothering to even look back.  Jesse is now back in his hometown, but only long enough to sell the albatross.  He has plans to start over in San Diego.  What he's less than thrilled about is finding Julia Adams in town with her son - living with Mitch's parents, who naturally despise him.  Jesse knows the truth about Mitch - that he didn't deserve Julia, not by a long shot.  Also every time he sees her, Jesse cannot hide from the cold, hard truth that he's desperately in love with her.  His dream girl was married to his best friend.  His best friend who is dead because of him.

This story is crammed full of so much heartbreak and angst that I practically inhaled it in one sitting.  Julia is at loose ends, not sure what to do or who to turn to.  She also has feelings for Jesse.  He's the perfect guy, the guy she thought her husband was until he showed his true colors.  Jesse is everything Mitch wasn't.  He's also the only other person out there who knows the truth about Mitch, and now that she's back in her husband's hometown - where everyone thinks he's a saint?  Jesse is a life raft.

There's a lot of angst going on this book, and O'Keefe has a wide array of secondary characters.  Mitch's parents, plus Rachel, Mac and Amanda (see the first book, Family at Stake) all play healthy roles.  Because of this, there isn't a lot of page time devoted to just Jesse and Julia.  In fact, they spend very little time on page, together, until the second half of the story.  Because of this, I felt like the conflict, the angst, overshadowed the romance.  The romance got a little lost at times.  Certainly it helped that Jesse and Julia shared a past, but it was a brief one, and mostly their attraction smacked a little of "love at first sight."  Well, that, and Jesse knew what a rat bastard Mitch was, and here's this pretty young wife the guy doesn't remotely deserve.  Jesse was, to a certain extent, jealous.  Also, a bit angry at Mitch - who seemed to get away with everything while Jesse was left holding the proverbial bag.  I got that Jesse and Julia cared about each other, but I never quite figured out how/why they fell in love - other than the fact that they both got screwed by Mitch, just in different ways.

Normally when I feel like the romance isn't quite there, I would slap the story with my patented "average" grade - but O'Keefe does angst so very well.  Even with my quibbles, this story is better than a C.  It just is.  It really ripped my heart out in places, and all the secondary characters added such a nice dimension, really rounding out the story to make it feel bigger than it's 290+ pages.  O'Keefe has written better books (says me), but I would hardly classify this one as a dud.

Final Grade = B-

Bend Me, Shape Me, Anyway You Want Me

Ask any romance reader and they can recall certain events in their reading lives with startling clarity.  One of mine was the mind-blowing moment in time when I discovered "romantic" erotica.  Picture it: Wendy, home alone, just a girl and a copy of Cooking Up A Storm by Emma Holly.  I didn't come up for air until I had inhaled every glorious word of it.  I then, predictably, went out and bought up as much "romantic" erotica as I could find, which back in those days wasn't much.  I tried authors indiscriminately, with varying success.  I enjoyed some books in those heady first days that I'm not sure would work for me if I were reading them for the first time now - a good 10+ years after discovering the sub genre.  That's how I can explain my experience reading The Initiation of Ms. Holly by KD Grace.  Had I read this book 10+ years ago I think I would have loved it.  But now?  There wasn't quite enough here to set my jaded erotic reading soul on fire.

Rita Holly is on a malfunctioning train, trapped in a tunnel, and she's claustrophobic.  She's very close to a full-blown panic attack when she finds herself alone in a secluded corner with Edward.  Edward who rocks her world and gives her the orgasm of a lifetime.  All without knowing what the heck he looks like.  But she does get his digits.  When he throws her a text and invites her to dinner at the mysterious and very exclusive club, The Mount, she jumps at the chance to see him again.  Instead she finds herself dining with a masked Edward, and partaking in various party favors with others in attendance.  She's eventually offered an initiation into The Mount.  All she has to do is endure a series of various humiliations while the villain dances behind the scenes.  But for a chance to boink Edward again?  Rita is just about ready to do anything.

This story reminded me a lot of books I read during my early erotic reading days.  There's a whole lot of sex, and not a whole lot else.  Doing a quick perusal at various online review venues, I've seen some readers liken this to "porn" and say there "isn't much plot."  Oh, there's a plot.  It is a little on the thin side, but there's enough plot to sustain a full-length novel.  No, the problem with this story is character development.  There isn't much.  Certainly not enough to explain actions, and the inaction, of various characters.

I get it.  Great sex can melt your brain.  No, really - I get that.  What I don't get, and is never really explained, is why Rita would be willing to go through the humiliation she does (two words: chastity belt) after one hot encounter with Edward.  Especially since Edward isn't exactly forthcoming about, well, anything.  There's also a total absence of free will in this story.  As in, none of the characters seem to have it.  Naturally we have a villain.  A villain who rules over The Mount and it's members like her own personal fiefdom.  She's also outnumbered.  The only thing keeping her in charge is that the other members haven't tossed her out on her butt.  Why haven't they done so?  I don't know.  Obviously she's a dominant personality, I get that.  I also get that such sexual relationships have a whole mess of psychology behind them, plus there's a whole "secret society"-thing going on.  But really?  She's a bitch, she's making everyone miserable, and she's still there.....because, why again?  Seriously, jellyfish have more spine.

In the end I just didn't know enough about these people and there wasn't enough on the page to explain why they acted the way they did, why they made the choices they did.  What I did get was enough sex to make my God-fearing grandmother roll over in her grave.  Seriously, every single chapter and about the only kink the author doesn't explore is bestiality.  You name it, it's probably in this book.

Which means it all boils down to what you want out of your erotica.  If all you're looking for is a bunch of sex that features plenty of variety?  This one will more than satisfy.  I can see a reader whose only experience with erotic-anything is Fifty Shades picking up this book and having their mind blown.  However as a seasoned erotica reader, this wasn't really enough for me.  I wanted more.  At this stage in my reader development I'm really in it for the characters more so than just getting a bunch of hot sex.  Don't get me wrong, hot sex is great and all sorts of fun - but it's just not enough anymore.

Final Grade = C

Reminder: TBR Challenge for February

For those of you participating in the 2014 TBR Challenge, this is a reminder that your commentary is "due" on Wednesday, February 19.  This month's theme is Series Catch-Up.  That means picking up a book from a series you're currently behind on.  I mean, this should be easy right?  However, remember - the themes are totally optional and are not required.  Maybe you have somehow magically been able to avoid series.  Or maybe you're all caught up on your series reading (what's your secret?)  Hey, that's OK!  It's not important what you read, just that you pull something (anything!) out of the TBR pile.

It's also not too late to sign up for this year's challenge.  For more details, please see the information page.

Note: I normally hit Twitter on #tbrchallenge days to post links for all the commentary.  However this month I'll be knee-deep in a visit from Lil' Sis and Lemon Drop.  I'll still tweet - but it's probably not going to happen until Thursday.

On The Road: With NPR

First things first, I'm over at Heroes & Heartbreakers with another scrumptiously angsty Delicious Despair post talking about To Tempt A Viking by Michelle Willingham.

Because, you know, we all need more emotionally tortured hunky Vikings in our lives.

Head on over and read all about it.

+++++

So yeah, it's this past Monday.  As in, two days ago.  And I get this random e-mail from some guy claiming to be a producer for On Point with Tom Ashbrook, a nationally syndicated radio program for NPR (National Public Radio for you folks outside the States).  First thing I did was Google him.  Because, dude, you should see some of the e-mail I get.  Anyway, it seemed legit and all I could think about was my two NPR-lovin' sisters. 

They wanted to talk to someone who was a blogger/critic and someone must have had the brilliant idea of "hey, maybe a librarian!" - and they got me.  Because apparently when you Google "librarian" and "romance novels" - Wendy is what you get stuck with.

Arrangements were made.  Paperwork was filled out (because for my employer it ain't worth doing if you don't have paperwork to fill out) and I hauled myself to the local college radio station, where I would be joining the program "live."

Yes, live.

I've never done anything in radio, and it was a really cool experience.  Of course Wendy + public speaker = crap shoot (on the best days), but I think I did an OK job and hopefully I represented the genre and it's readership well. 

You can listen to a podcast of the program here - and yes, I know, they put the dreaded "BR" word in the title.  But never fear, author Angela Knight, who was also featured on the program, does a great job of addressing that wee lil' issue.

Digital Review: Every Part of You: Tempts Me

Yes, I'm the reason.  I'm the reason that so many readers out there bitch express dissatisfaction with the latest publishing trend of digital serializations.  I love them.  The urgency, the anticipation waiting for the next installment, even the cliffhangers from one episode to the next.  I blame it entirely on the soap opera addiction instilled in me at a very young age by my mother and grandmother - an addiction I have only been able to kick by trading it in for another, romance novels.

This all being said, I'll admit I am curious how Megan Hart is going to handle the format.  She's not a writer known for "soapy" plots, which lend themselves so well to serializations.  However, Hart is definitely one of my very favorite writers (period, regardless of genre), most notably for the skill she shows in creating authentic-feeling characters.  That was more than enough for me to give the first installment of her Every Part of You series, Tempt Me, a whirl.  And wouldn't you know it?  Now I'm hooked.

From her office, Simone Cooper has a direct line of sight into Elliott Anderson's office.  Elliott is a high-priced lawyer, devilishly handsome, who favors classically tailored suits.  He also favors willowy blonde women that he likes to take back to his office and bend over his desk.  Simone admits it, she's a wee bit of a voyeur, but watching Elliott doesn't so much scratch an itch as it does get her all hot and bothered.  Until, finally, one evening, working late, she finds herself sharing an elevator with him.  Before Elliott knows what hits him, he's inviting Simone to a party he feels committed to attending, even if he has no desire to.

That's pretty much the gist of this first installment, but don't let the simplicity of it fool you.  Hart's strength as a writer has always been in her characterizations - and she excels in laying the groundwork for both Simone and Elliott.  Simone is a woman with hidden depths, and a sexual kink towards pain/pleasure.  What I loved about her is that she's not a submissive.  She gets off on pain, but she's not the sort of woman who cottons to a man bossing her around, telling her what to do, basically thinking that "dominating" her gives him carte blanche to take over her entire life.  This was exceedingly refreshing, especially given that Elliott is, to put it bluntly, kind of a jackass.  Reading in between the lines there are definitely reasons for his tendency towards being an asshole, but the author isn't about to let the cat out of the bag this early in the game.  So yeah, while he's kind of a jerk?  It's OK since 1) the reader knows there's more going on behind the scenes and 2) Simone doesn't roll over and die.  Simone is just the sort of woman to tell him what an asshat he's being.

So while this first story doesn't feature any over-the-top soap opera shenanigans, it does feature the very best of what Megan Hart does so well as a writer - she hooks you with her characters.  And hell, Simone alone is enough to make me want to walk over hot coals to get my hands on the next novella.

Final Grade = B

Digital Review: Stupid Cupid

One should always be open to trying new things.  Whether that be food, a new hobby, or, when it comes to reading, new authors.  Sometimes taking a step outside brings about delightful consequences, and other times?  You drink the noxious potion that the Mad Hatter offers and you end up with the mother of all headaches.  I'm sad to report that it's the latter I felt upon finally finishing the Valentine's Day anthology, Confessions of a Secret Admirer. 

Waiting For You by Jennifer Ryan headlines the whole affair and gets things off to a rocky start.  Taylor Larson has come home to Fallbrook, having inherited her grandmother's falling down ranch.  She runs into her old boyfriend, Seth Devane, now a married man, in town.  It's a hi-how-are-you-doing sort of exchange and in barges Seth's older brother Grant who essentially escorts Taylor to her car warning her to stay away from Seth, whose marriage is a little bumpy at the moment.  Taylor is pretty pissed about this, given that her and Seth are "just friends" and it's really Grant who she has always had a thing for.  Grant eventually realizes he's a jackass, and goes about woo'ing her until we get to our happy ending.

Ever read a story and feel like you should already know who all the players are?  That's how this one read.  Like the author dunked me in the middle of a Giant Series Ocean and "assumed" I already knew what was going on.  So I went investigating and turns out this is actually a prequel novella, with the first book in the McBride series coming out until March!  Dude, nobody has any knowledge of this series yet, and already with the first novella I'm flummoxed by this feeling like I'm supposed to know what the hell is going on before the story even starts.  It left me not giving a damn who these people were, what was going to happen to them, and why am I bothering with this story again?  None of it worked for me.

Grade = D

Sweet Fortune by Candis Terry finds our heroine, Sarah Randall, moving to Sweet, Texas after her career washes out in Los Angeles.  Tired of being overlooked, she decides to play secret admirer to hunky town cop, Brady Bennett.  Armed with advice from her well-meaning friends, and a few well-placed anonymous gifts for Brady to find, she starts putting on the full court press.

Terry has an easy, breezy writing style that is quite charming and for readers who cannot get enough of the whole small-town-Texas-thing, this is a series that may be worth investigating.  This novella is smack-dab in the middle of a series, but it was like night-and-day compared to the Ryan story.  I had no problems keeping up, but.....the more I think about it, the more I am increasingly annoyed how every other woman in this story who wasn't 1) the heroine or 2) a former heroine was portrayed.  We have 1) the overly aggressive real estate agent who is about as subtle as a 13-year-old who bathed in Axe body spray 2) the aggressive town dominatrix who the hero thinks is the one leaving him gifts and 3) the single Mom the hero sees at the local bar, and gee he might want to stop by sometime soon just to make sure her kids are being well taken care of.

Here's a thought asshole - MAYBE SHE GOT A GODDAMN BABYSITTER!!!

Ugh.  I did like the writing style, but other than that?  Well, there is a moment when the town dominatrix tells the hero to "get over himself."  Which just goes to show that 1) all Texas small towns need a dominatrix and 2) we need more dominatrix romance heroines.

Side note: This story opens with the heroine enjoying a "crisp" autumn day in L.A.  Authors, we don't "do" autumn in SoCal.  You know what September and October are like here?  Try 100+ degrees in the shade.  Oh, and usually half the state is burning down.  Hey, that's it!  Maybe the author meant "crisp" as in "everything is burning to a...."

Grade = C-

Major League Crush by Jennifer Seasons is the best story of the lot, assuming you can get past the dialogue.  The heroine is a nerdy girl and creator of a very popular comic strip.  Her comic alter ego is obsessed with a baseball player who lives across the hall from her.  You guessed it, our heroine, Roberta "Bertie" Cogswell, lives across the hall from a baseball player who she has been secretly crushing on for years.  Until one morning she runs into Drake Paulson in the hallway and they decide to attend a Valentine's Day party another tenant in the building is hosting.

This was another story where I really enjoyed the writing style.  Bertie is funny and charming, in an awkward sort of way.  The problem here is the hero, who has the deductive reasoning skills of a rock.  Then there's the fact that he talks like no man under the age of 85.  He actually calls Bertie "girlie."  Seriously, "girlie."  Oh, and my personal favorite, "little mouse."

Just shoot me now.

85-year-old men who pull their pants up to their chins and make annoying sucking noises because their dentures don't fit right say "girlie."  Not hunky baseball player romance heroes.

But there's a bright side.  Once the painfully obvious dawns on Drake, he goes about woo'ing Bertie in a very sweet fashion.

Grade = C+

So what I am left with is an anthology that breaks the norm for me.  It's usually one dreadful story, one OK story, and one story I really, really liked.  Here it's: didn't like at all, would have been OK if my inner feminist wasn't so offended and OK if you can tolerate a hero who talks like my long-dead grandfather.  Sometimes trying something new ain't for sissies.

Overall Grade = D+

On The Road

I'm on the road, talking about two totally different sorts of reads.

First up, head on over to Heroes & Heartbreakers to read my First Look of Crazy Stupid Sex by Maisey Yates.  What happens with an app developer falls for rich, lay-about playboy?  Boy, what doesn't!

Next, I'm over at The Good, The Bad and The Unread with a review of Sherri Shakelford's latest inspirational western romance, The Marshal's Ready-Made Family. Using western romance fan shorthand - think of it like a kinder, gentler version of a Maggie Osborne story.

Paint Me Like One Of Your French Girls

It's happened to all of us.  We begin a book and it starts out like gangbusters.  Then, for sometimes totally inexplicable reasons, the middle begins to sag under it's own weight.  As readers we slog on, mostly based on the promise of the great beginning, and sometimes we are rewarded with a solid ending.  Sometimes not.  Portrait of a Scandal by Annie Burrows may be the first time in my reading history where the middle of the story is the best part about the whole thing.  This is a story that starts out slow, starts going gangbusters in the second half and then begins to wither on the vine towards the end.

Amethyst Dalby is a spinster.  Discarded by her family, she begins living with an eccentric aunt, who it turns out had quite the head for business.  When dear old Auntie dies, she bequeaths the whole lot to Amy, who follows lock-step in her aunt's footsteps - right down to her opinion on the male of the species.  Which is to say they're basically useless.  With Napoleon now soundly defeated, many English gentry are once again flocking to Paris - including Amy who wants to expand her newly acquired business holdings.  Traveling with her are a paid companion, the companion's young daughter, and a Frenchman she hires to oversee her business transactions.  Because after all, an English lady cannot just run around playing at business - I mean, it simply isn't done.  What she doesn't expect is to arrive in Paris only to be confronted by her past.

Nathan Harcourt is the fourth son of an earl, and at one point had designs on Amy.  They made eyes at each other during her first season and they both fancied themselves in love.  However even if he is a fourth son, Nathan hitching his wagon to the daughter of a lowly vicar just will not do.  Before you can say unrequited, Nathan and Amy are ripped apart thanks to the maneuverings of others.  Nathan believes the worst in Amy and Amy has her poor wee heart trampled on when Nathan marries someone more "suitable."  So naturally when they lock eyes on each other in Paris?  It's heartbreak and loathing all over again.

Nathan believed lies told to him about Amy by a trusted friend, a friend who it turns out could be easily manipulated by Nathan's old man.  See, Nathan has a path before him and that's politics and marriage to an ambitious woman who can set him on that path.  Amy, a mere country vicar's daughter, will just not do.  So while Nathan should know better, he's too young, foolhardy and stupid to logic things out.  It is only after he sees her in Paris, concocts a plan for revenge (of sorts) and has all his supposed beliefs shattered that he realizes what an idiot he has been.

Amy was heartbroken when Nathan threw her over and married his, now-dead, wife.  She thought for sure he loved her.  Naturally she begins moping around the house, and confesses to her parents what has happened.  They, predictably, place a lot of blame on her doorstep.  She's a trollop, mourning the loss of a man who didn't even have the decency to speak with her father about offering for her.  When her aunt arrives to whisk her away, it's a god-send, until of course Auntie decides to impart her wonderful advice about the male of species on to her already spurned niece.  I don't throw the word "man-hating" around lightly (mostly because 99% of the time it's thrown about by insecure little boys), but Amy is essentially taught by her aunt that no man, anywhere, could possibly have any interest in her without it being totally nefarious.

It's Big Misunderstanding conflict all the way, until the second half, when Nathan realizes he's been a complete moron.  He then goes about trying to apologize to Amy, make up for lost time, and these moments are really the meat and potatoes of the story.  Amy continues to question everything, sometimes believing the very worst about him, but it's easy to see how she might.  Nathan doesn't have a great track record, and the voice of her dead Aunt is whispering loudly in her ear.  In fact the whole thing is going along swimmingly, until finally, we hit the finishing chapters.  There's angst, there's heartache, there's enough emotionally charged dialogue to make my heart swoon.  And then it's like someone told the author she was two chapters short of hitting word count and we get an annoying, tacked "argument" and another "big misunderstanding" to drag the whole thing past what was, a very natural conclusion.  It flat-out didn't work for me.

So what do we end up with?  I loved the setting, which the author paints with a loving brush.  She ably conveys the excitement that Amy and Nathan would feel in a city like Paris, so full of possibilities, so full of opportunities to break out of their respective ruts.  They don't have to pretend in Paris.  They don't have to worry about what other people will think.  They can be who they truly are.  I liked that the author didn't whitewash the challenges that a businesswoman would face during this time period.  In other words, Amy has to conduct a lot of business using the men in her employ as "fronts."  I also liked that once the whole Big Misunderstanding from their youth dawns on Nathan, that he really goes about woo'ing Amy.  It's just the ending.  The tacked-on silly argument that felt like a cold bucket of ice-water at the end.  What started out as a "second half, probably B- read" falls, depressingly, short.  Oh what might have been.

Final Grade = C+