Review: Starlight

I've always been a social history nut.  Yes, it's all well and good to learn about wars, world leaders and various political maneuverings, but I like learning (and reading) about how your average person lived.  You know, somebody that could have been my ancestor.  That's essentially what Carrie Lofty does in Starlight, the second book in her Christie series.  Yes this story takes place Scotland, hardly a new setting in historical romance circles.  That being said, we have a late Victorian era backdrop, when Glasgow was dominated by ship yards and textile mills.  That's right folks, we're talking industrial revolution, women and children working in factories, and labor union agitation. 

Alex Christie is an astronomer, a man who looks to the stars.  Then his father dies, and leaves all four of his children a task to complete if they have any hopes of getting their one million dollar inheritance.  Alex's job is to turn around a failing textile factory in Glasgow.  He's all set to tell Dad's solicitor to sod off, when his father-in-law comes calling.  An evil, vile man, Alex married Mamie in part to save her from the scumbag.  Mamie died in childbirth, and baby Edmund has not been the heartiest of infants.  Now Josiah is threatening to take Edmund.  Alex has no choice, he needs the money to fight Josiah and the only way to get that money is to jump through his father's hoops.

Polly Gowan is the only daughter of a famed union leader.  With her brothers working on the docks, when her father becomes too ill to continue working at Christie Textiles, Polly pretty much becomes de facto head of the union.  It is not an easy position to be in, and it gets harder when someone sets off an explosive device at the factory.  Now the new master, Alex Christie, wants answers and he takes one look at Polly and thinks she can provide them.  She can, but she has to play things pretty close to the vest. 

Naturally what follows is Polly and Alex working together - sort of.  They both want to find answers behind the factory sabotage.  Alex needs to turn things around to claim his inheritance, thereby defeating his father-in-law.  Polly wants answers in hopes that the other textile masters won't use this latest development to continue to treat their workers like crap.  These are two people who want two very different things, and for that reason there is an exorbitant amount of tension and bickering in this book.

I've read stubborn heroines before, but they were all mere amateurs compared to Polly.  Granted, one understands why she is so combative with Alex.  You grow up poor in Scotland where your only means of meager survival is sitting at a loom all day, in dangerous conditions, for pennies, while your employer has no concern for your welfare, safety, health or the fact that maybe you want more out of your life than just making him money.  Sure Alex is the new guy in charge, but there is nothing in Polly's past or current existence that makes her think that this guy is going to be any different from the ones that came before him.

Alex may be the eldest son of a self-made man, an industrialist who pulled himself up by his bootstraps from the very area where Polly lives, but he's an intellectual.   He's not a businessman, but he has to become one in order to keep his son safe.  And make no mistake, Alex has a protective streak wider than the ocean that separates Scotland from his home in New York City.  Mamie's life was destroyed by her father.  Even marrying Alex didn't bring her peace.  No way in hell is Alex going to let that man destroy his child. 

Polly is a very different sort of heroine from Lofty, who has written several books featuring quiet, buttoned-up women concerned with propriety and safety.  Polly is working-class.  She's not naive.  She's a fighter.  Alex is a man who desperately wanted to save his wife, but couldn't.  So yes, he was married - but in a lot of ways he's still a little green in the ways of passion.  His feelings for Polly, his need for her, are totally foreign to him.

This is a romance that gets better towards the end of the book.  The couple's combative natures brought to mind Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.  That is to say, a relationship built entirely around fighting and make-up sex.  Passionate, exciting, but not exactly the sort of thing that screams longevity.  After a while, it made me a little weary.  I understood why they were combative.  I totally got that.  But seriously, it wore me down.  Luckily the final chapters, which includes the unmasking of the factory saboteur, helped calm my concerns.  That stress resolved, I think Polly and Alex just might be able to be married, and stay in the same room for more than 5 minutes together, before they start arguing with each other.

Unlike Flawless that included quite a bit of "business stuff," Starlight plays more on the romance and conflict between the characters than it does Alex turning the factory around.  Which I suspect will suit most readers just fine, although I would have liked a tiny bit more of that.  I'm not sure how that could have been accomplished without padding the story, but it would have been nice to see exactly how Alex and Polly got to the final chapter of the book.

I didn't like this one quite as much as Flawless, but this is the book where I think the author firmly sets roots for her series.  Being the eldest son, Alex's relationship with his father is interesting, and we get some more insight into the man who, instead of just leaving his children a giant pile of money, tasked them all with various missions to earn their inheritance.

This is a good, solid book and so breathlessly different from nearly every other historical romance that's been released in recent memory.  The industrial setting, the working class heroine, and a slice of history that romance readers don't always see because we're stuck at a house party, Almack's or out in the middle of the prairie.  This has been a really intriguing series so far, don't miss it.

Final Grade = B

Digital Review: A Little More Scandal

A Little More Scandal by Carrie Lofty is a recently released prequel to the author's Christie family series.  Clocking in around 90 pages, this novella does the trick of bridging the gap between last year's Flawless, and the soon-to-be-released second book in the series, Starlight.  I'll admit I had some reservations going into this story, as the hero is William Christie, the deceased robber baron father whose final will and testament plays a central role in each of the full-length novels starring the grown children.  I'll be blunt, even though he's dead by the time those late Victorian set novels take place, the man comes off as a bit of a hard-ass.  Opinionated and not one who believes in compromise.  So exactly how is the author going to turn him into a hero for his own romance without morphing him into a pod person?

William Christie is a low-born Scot who has made his fortune the old-fashioned way - which is to say by any means necessary.  His latest goal is to revive a struggling London newspaper, and to do that he needs Catrin Jones.  A nurse during the Crimean War, Catrin was on her way back to England when the ship she was on sank, killing everyone on board except for her.  Naturally now that she's back in London everyone, from the society mavens to the gossip rags, wants her story - which she is loathe to share.  However she's a smart girl, and knows that she won't be the flavor of the moment for long.  She'll string the wagging tongues along, for as long as she can, in order to land herself a husband. 

Where this story excels is with Lofty's historical backdrop of mid-Victorian London.  William is barely tolerated, mostly because he can buy and sell almost all of his "betters."  So they invite him to parties and balls, but that doesn't mean they're welcoming him with open arms.  He's still an uncouth Scot after all, one who has already buried a gently-born wife.  Catrin is tolerated only because she's an amusement.  A circus freak that society can trot out as a curiosity.  And if she won't share with them the salacious details of either the war or the shipwreck?  Well, they'll just make stuff up.  Watching these two navigate shark invested waters puts a nice spin on the popular depiction of the Victorian era - which is to say everyone was sexually repressed, dressed in black, and keeping the smelling salts handy.

Where this story gets a bit murky is with the romantic couple - who, I'll be honest, are both a bit mercenary.  William is classic robber baron and is not above the idea of seducing Catrin in the hopes of her pillow-talking her story to him.  Catrin isn't above parlaying her notoriety into landing herself a man, preferably one who can comfortably take care of her and isn't a dreadful bore in (or out) of the bedroom.  I can see some readers having issues with both of these characters, although I found them rather refreshing.  William is pure Alpha hero and almost hearkens back to the "good ol' days" of historical romances (although he is blessedly not a rapist, so he's actually a step-up) and Catrin is a practical woman who knows exactly who she is, her place in society, and how she needs to spin both to come out ahead.  Mercenary?  Yes.  Boring to read about?  Not in the slightest.

 This novella succeeds in giving readers an interesting setting, definitely different characters, and tiding over fans until Starlight comes out later this month.  Lively dialogue and steamy love scenes spice up the proceedings.  A nice, reasonably priced (currently only 99 cents!) read ideal for curious newcomers and readers already hooked.

Final Grade = B

Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend

It's a joy and wonder when, as the reader, you hit upon a historical romance that not only utilizes history, but does so for the betterment of the romance.  Carrie Lofty has been able to excel at this, in particular with her last several books which have all been set during the 19th century.  With Flawless, the first book in the Christie series, the author mixes a delicious cocktail of emotional payback, colonial South Africa, the grit of the diamond trade, and a marriage in trouble like no other.

Lady Vivienne Bancroft is the adopted daughter of Sir William Christie, a tycoon who has finally met his maker.  She and her three siblings have gathered for the reading of their father's will, only to get a very rude surprise.  Seems the old man had one final trick up his sleeve, leaving a failing business to each of his children.  The task?  They have one year to turn the business around.  If they do?  A million dollars is their reward.  If they do not?  They get nothing.  Vivienne inherits a failing diamond brokerage house in South Africa.  She needs the reward, not only for security reasons, but to fix up her lovely brownstone in New York City.  She did not plan on her useless excuse of a husband to muck up the works.

Miles Durham, Viscount Bancroft, married Vivienne for a reason that's as old as time.  He's got a title but is broke.  Her family has buckets of money and wants a title.  However, neither Viv nor Miles planned on the attraction that sizzled between them.  But Viv ultimately could not deal with his reprobate ways, and left him.  They're literally separated by the expanse of the Atlantic ocean.  Miles' pride takes a serious hit, but when he hears the terms of the old man's will?  Yeah, all bets are off.

There's really no way to sugar-coat this, so I'll just come out and say it: Miles is an asshole.  Having been born into a life of privilege, he finds the confines stifling.  His answer?  Be as useless as humanly possible.  Gamble, drink, debauch etc.  His marriage to Vivienne doesn't change his behavior.  Oh sure, he loves seducing his wife.  Getting her to throw aside all her proper decorum and give into the passion, but he's still going to gamble, drink, debauch etc.  It's only after she leaves that he realizes he must have her again, to teach her a lesson.  The lesson being that while she might want to hide behind proper, there's no denying what her true nature is - that of a passionate woman.

For her part, Viv craves respectability.  She demands it.  It means security.  It means safety.  She's tackles London society like a military operation.  However being with Miles, with his reprobate ways, scares the hell out of her.  With one glance, with one twitch of his finger, he can undo it all.  Everything that she craves.  Everything she yearns for.  Safety.  And safety is something that she desires so much, that she'll run away to another continent.  Staying with Miles would mean going down with a ship destined to sink.

What I adore about Lofty's historicals is that she works with the history, not against it.  Her heroines have worries and concerns that feel legitimate to what women may have wanted, in real life, during these time periods.  She also takes the restrictions women faced and weaves it into the story.  Once Miles and Viv strike up their bargain, they know that to turn the brokerage house around they'll have to work together.  As a mere woman, she needs Miles.  He can go places, say things, she cannot.  And Miles needs Viv, because frankly, she's smart. She's a head for business.

For a good chunk of this book, I found the act of reading it exhausting.  Naturally, given the back-story, our couple does have a bit of an adversarial relationship in the early going.  Couple that with a heavy dose of mental lusting, and it takes readers for quite the roller coaster ride.  What ultimately worked for me was watching these two people come to terms with each other.  Miles, for lack of a better expression, finds a purpose.  A reason for being.  Honestly, he grows up.  And Vivienne learns that she can trust her husband.  That he is capable of being the man that she needs him to be.  In the end, these two deserve each other, and in a good way.

When talking personal opinion, I think Lofty has written better stories - but that's me splitting hairs.  She does so much right with her historicals.  It's like she has a portal that will take her back to whatever time and space she wants to spin stories from.  Certainly the history of South Africa isn't entirely romantic (some would argue not at all) - but here she strikes the right balance.  She gives us the grim, but infuses it with the possibilities that any good romance should have.  It's a very good start to what promises to be a very intriguing series. 

Final Grade = B+

Unusual Historical Spotlight: Diamonds, Telephones, The Terror, A Bounty Hunter, and Gambling

Flawless by Carrie Lofty

What You Need To Know: Publication date September 27, 2011; First book in series

Description: 

A passion this seductive is more precious than diamonds. . . .

Sir William Christie, ruthless tycoon and notorious ladies' man, is dead. Now his four grown children have gathered for the reading of his will. What lies in store for half-siblings Vivienne, Alexander, and twins Gareth and Gwyneth? Stunning challenges that will test their fortitude across a royal empire...and lead them to the marvelously passionate adventures of their lives.

Lady Vivienne Bancroft fled England for New York, hoping to shed the confines of her arranged marriage to unrepentant rogue Miles Durham, Viscount Bancroft--though she never forgot the fiery desire he unleashed with his slightest touch. And when the gambling man arrives on her doorstep for a little sensual revenge for her desertion, he is met with Vivienne's dilemma: she must earn her father's inheritance by profitably running a diamond business worth millions in colonial South Africa.

Swept together in an exotic undertaking filled with heated passion and hungry temptation, will Vivienne and Miles discover that the marriage vows they once made are the greatest snare--or the most treasured reward?

 What Makes It Unusual: South Africa baby!

Love on the Line by Deeanne Gist

What You Need To Know: Publication date October 1, 2011; Inspirational (my past experience with this author is that she doesn't beat readers over the head with "the God stick" - but I can't speak for this particular title yet).

Description: 

Rural switchboard operator Georgie Gail is proud of her independence in a man's world ... which makes it twice as vexing when the telephone company sends a man to look over her shoulder.

Dashing Luke Palmer is more than he appears though. He's a Texas Ranger working undercover to infiltrate a notorious gang of train robbers. Repairing telephones and tangling with this tempestuous woman is the last thing he wants to do. But when his stakeout puts Georgie in peril, he realizes more than his job is on the line.

What Makes It Unusual: ZOMG - a Texas Ranger undercover and a switchboard-workin' heroine!

Love's Charade by Jane Feather

What You Need To Know: Publication date October 4, 2011; Reprint

Description:

A LADY REVEALED
The Earl of Linton had never been prone to sentiment. Only boredom could have led him to rescue Danny, a filthy street urchin, from the clutches of a drunken brawler. Once rescued, however, the spirited ragamuffin proved a handful even for the usually unflappable nobleman. Not only did a simple bath require force, but the squirming brat imprisoned in his arms turned out to be a winsome young lady--and a strangely familiar one at that...

A HEART DISGUISED

Danielle was grateful for the Earl's timely intervention, but not for his arrogance and bruising strength. She had fended for herself quite well until now, against dangers more far-reaching than anyone imagined. That she had won the Earl's considerable protection only made it more vital that she keep her wits about her--and never give in to the quickening of her heartbeat every time his deceptively lazy eyes bore into hers...

What Makes It Unusual: Set in Paris on the eve of the French Revolution.

Night Hawk by Beverly Jenkins

What You Need To Know:  Publication date October 25, 2011

Description: 

Outlaw. Preacher.  Night Hawk. He’s had many names, but he can’t escape the past.

Since Ian Vance’s beloved wife was murdered years ago, the hardened bounty hunter knows he’ll never feel love or tenderness again, so he’s made it his mission to ensure others get their justice. But when he’s charged with delivering a sharp-eyed beauty to the law, Ian can’t help but feel he may still have something left to lose.

Orphaned at twelve, Maggie Freeman has always found her way out of trouble. But now there’s a vigilante mob at her back who would like nothing more than to see her hang for a crime she didn’t commit. Maggie may have to accept help for the first time in her life . . . even if it’s from the one man standing between her and freedom.

As the past closes in, the sassy prisoner and toughened lawman may just find a passion between them that could bring blinding happiness . . . if they’ll let it.

What Makes It Unusual:  Western baby!  Western!  YeeHaw!

Fortune's Son by Emery Lee

What You Need To Know: Publication date November 1, 2011

Description:

Love is the ultimate gamble…

Seasoned gambler Philip Drake knows every trick and uses most of them. After years of infamy, he’s ready to accept the mantle of respectability with his earldom— until a devastating racing loss and the threat of debtors’ prison force Philip right back into his gaming ways…

Susannah, Lady Messingham, is a woman with a past who refuses to belong to any man again. But Philip’s skill catches her eye and she persuades him to teach her how to win at the tables. Their new partnership turns into an exhilarating high-stakes game that entangles them in terrifying risk and unimaginable rewards....

What Makes It Unusual:  Georgian-era England (oh, and the gambling thing....)

• This is just a small sampling of upcoming and recently released titles. Have you read any promising unusual historicals of late?

Digital Review: Portrait Of Seduction

Never have titles been more fitting than in Carrie Lofty's series for Carina Press.  First with Song Of Seduction, and now this latest release, Portrait of Seduction - that's exactly what the author does.  She seduces the reader with her stories.

Greta Zwieg started forging paintings because of Napoleon.  All of Salzburg is in a constant state of worry, and people are determined to protect their valuables.  So while Greta's fakes hang on the walls, the real masterpieces are safely tucked away.  However, quite by accident, Greta soon learns that her uncle is passing her fakes off as the real deal, and selling them to unsuspecting buyers!  She is horrified by this deceit, but as a single woman, a poor relation at that, she does not have the power to stand up to him - the man who gave her a home after her parents both died tragic deaths.

Oliver Doerger is living a lie.  Born a bastard, this former military man is posing as a valet for his aristocratic half-brother and playing spy.  Uncertain times have led Oliver into this life.  His brother needs him.  His country needs him.  Then a dramatic night at the opera puts him in the path of Greta Zwieg.  Even as they both intellectually know that no good can come of their attraction, they succumb anyway.  She's a well-born lady with a dangerous secret and vile uncle.  He's a not-so-well-born "servant" with a dangerous secret. This love affair should have doomed ending written all over it - but, of course, since it is a romance novel, it happily does not.

What I love about Lofty's historicals is that she never flat-out ignores the history.  She uses that history, bends it a bit, and spins her characters into people that very possibly could have existed in real life.  Greta, while a smart woman, has no real power.  She's completely under the thumb of her uncle, and haunted by what happened to her parents.  Defying her uncle is not an option.  At least not an option if she wants to stay safe.  For a woman in the early 19th century, safety was a very important thing indeed.

Oliver is a good man, a solid man, a man who would make any woman in the appropriate class a good husband.  But Greta is not in his class.  She's so far out of his league he might as well be standing on the moon.  Even though he is masquerading as a valet, he's still a bastard.  Period.  End of story.  So while he's horribly tempted by Greta, and dangerously attracted to her, he knows (and she knows!) that nothing good can ever come of it.  Of course, does this stop them?  Uh, no.

If I had to describe this novel is one word it would be passionate.  With Song of Seduction, that passion expressed itself through the music.  With Portrait of Seduction, that passion plays out in the utter need and want that sizzles between the couple.  Lush, seductive, these two people are burning for each other - even as they know, intellectually, that their passion will destroy them.  There is a reason that writers and storytellers have been exploring themes of forbidden love for thousands of years.  When the story works, it captivates quite like nothing else.

In many ways, I felt this was a tremendously strong story.  I did, at times, find myself frustrated with the characters - especially Greta who, at times, was a little insensitive.  However, to be fair, this insensitivity fits perfectly into the type of woman she is, the time period she inhabits, and the difference in station from Oliver.  Still, when she did do, or say something, that hurt his feelings, I had that urge to reach through the mechanical cogs of my Sony Reader and happily slap her simple.

Still, it's to the author's credit that she makes it all work without throwing the historical baby out with the bath water.  A large reason why it works is because she smartly sets this story during the chaotic time of the Napoleonic Wars.  I was lost, swept away by the magic the author weaves, and invested in this romance that should have had tragic overtones, but never, ever did.  The passion, the threat of war, the uncertainty, the angst - I positively wallowed in it.  It's a big, sweeping, dramatic story that hearkens back to a time when historical romance meant grand passion smartly displayed against a backdrop of compelling historical detail.  Don't miss it.

Grade = B+

Note: This title is available from Carina Press and at other fine e-retailers.

Unusual Historical Spotlight: Far East, Middle East, Austria, Arizona and the Circus

Wanted: Mail Order Mistress by Deborah Hale

What You Need To Know: Publication date March 22, 2011; Book 3 in a trilogy

Description: 

Betrayed by his first wife, Simon Grimshaw won't marry again. But sultry nights in Singapore can be lonely—nothing a beautiful English mistress wouldn't fix!

Bethan Conway answers an advert to become a wife, believing it will help her secret search for her missing brother. But Simon isn't the ugly old man she was expecting. He's a hot-blooded bachelor who wants a woman in his bed—a position Bethan's more and more tempted to fill!

What Makes It Unusual:  It's set in Singapore!

Portrait of Seduction by Carrie Lofty

What You Need To Know: Publication date May 2, 2011, Book 2 in a series, digital only

Description:

Greta Zwieg forges masterpieces. With her copies on their walls and the original paintings safely hidden, the noble families of Austria can rest assured their treasures will survive Napoleon's advances. But now Greta’s uncle is changing the rules, selling her counterfeits as originals. Greta abhors the deceit. Anxious for her family's safety in a perilous time, she is nevertheless determined to put things right.

Oliver Doerger is living a lie of his own. Acting as valet for his aristocratic half brother, Oliver thwarts an attempt on Greta's life and is overwhelmed by the forbidden passion that flares between them. Although he's not truly a servant, he is a bastard and a spy--certainly no match for a woman of such exquisite quality.

Though both fear discovery, they cannot resist each other. When the truth comes out, and the city falls into chaos, Greta and Oliver will be forced to choose: love or duty?

What Makes It Unusual: It's set in Austria!

Innocent In The Sheikh's Harem by Marguerite Kaye

What You Need To Know: Publication date June 21, 2011; Book 1 in a series.

Description:

Lady Celia Cleveden thinks of herself as eminently sensible from the tips of her sturdy boots to the top of her unadorned bonnet. It seemed logical she would marry an equally practical gentleman.

Until she's rescued by wildly enigmatic desert prince Ramiz of A'Qadiz, while traveling across his unforgiving sands. He offers her a place in his harem and Lady Celia ought to be shocked…except the seductive desert and intoxicating Ramiz make it curiously tempting….

What Makes It Unusual: It's set in the Middle East!

Catch Me by Lorelie Brown

What You Need To Know: Publication date July 18, 2011; digital only

Description:

Maggie Bullock's father needed expensive medical care and if that meant stealing from their friendly swindling banker, so be it. Once her father was on the path to recovery she would face the consequences. The whole thing was surprisingly easy until she's kidnapped by bounty hunter Dean Collier.

Collier is tired of tracking down worthless scum. He's afraid he'll lose his last scrap of humanity and become a stone-cold killer, just like the men he brings to justice. He jumps at the chance to become sheriff of Fresh Springs, Arizona. The one condition—capture Maggie.

He figured it'd be easy. Until beautiful, loyal Maggie breaks through defenses he'd thought cemented. His feelings for her run the range from fury to confusion to love, but if he doesn't bring her in someone else will. Can there be a future between a sheriff and a fugitive?

What Makes It Unusual: It's my blog and I say westerns are unusual.  The minute I walk into a bookstore and start tripping over historical cowboys left and right, I'll stop featuring them.  Ahem, anywho - this one is set in Arizona.  Not a whole ton of westerns that feature a southwest flavah.

The Greatest Love on Earth by Mary Ellen Dennis

What You Need To Know: Publication date August 1, 2011

Description:

Set against the exotic world of an 1875 circus and the high-society milieu of Denver, Colorado, Mary Ellen Dennis's The Greatest Love On Earth sweeps readers into a story of death-defying feats, dangerous rivalries, and a love that has all the thrills and romance of the greatest show on earth.

Bold, beautiful Calliope Kelley has two passions in life: her father's circus and Brian O'Connor, and she just may lose them both. For years she has singlehandedly struggled to keep the Sean Kelley Circus going. Then Brian O'Connor, the daredevil animal trainer Calliope has adored since childhood, returns to the circus, having found everything a man can want. . .except the right woman.

Soon their passion will explode under the Big Top. Soon a deadly enemy will begin sabotaging Calliope's beloved circus. As terror becomes the star attraction, it will take a woman's indomitable dreams and a man's enduring love to survive and triumph over the most impossible odds of all.

What Makes It Unusual: The circus!  OMG, the circus is in town!

• Because I can't realistically catch or feature all titles (I'm one woman after all!) - what "unusual" historicals have you run across in the last couple of months, or are upcoming this summer that you have enjoyed and/or are looking forward to reading.  Share the love in the comments section!

eBook Review: Song Of Seduction

I'm a simple girl, with simple tastes. A meat and potatoes girl, if you will. I'm not going to scoff at an eight-course meal, expertly presented - but I'm just as happy to settle in for a good steak, cooked to perfection (medium, thankyouverymuch) and a falling apart baked potato with plenty of butter and sour cream. Authors who consistently deliver "meat and potatoes" in novel form tend to keep me happy and satisfied. Then there are authors like Carrie Lofty who is, I'm beginning to believe, incapable of giving the reader "just meat and potatoes." No, it's an eight-course meal or nothing at all. With Song Of Seduction, readers should prepare to settle in, savor every morsel, and be at the restaurant for a while.

Eight years ago, as his mentor lay dying, Arie De Voss transcribed the man's final musical contribution to the world and promptly claimed it as his own. Love And Freedom gave him fame, allowed him to secure patrons and work, but that one act by a desperate man, is now casting a long shadow. Now living in Salzburg, Arie is hard at work composing a new symphony. A masterpiece that will, hopefully, cleanse his soul.

Mathilda Heidel is a prodigy on the violin, but holds that fact a closely guarded secret. Desperate for a respectable, proper existence, she abandoned her gift to marry a perfectly respectable doctor, a man she was not in love with. When he is tragically murdered, she goes to live with the Venner's. Lord Venner, a gifted politician, and his lovely wife, Ingrid, who is like a sister to Tilda. It's through the Venner's patronage that Tilda meets her musical idol, Arie De Voss. A man she has dreamed of, a man whose music has touched her soul. However it comes as a bit of a surprise to realize the man is nothing like the idea of him she placed on a very high pedestal. Be that as it may, he awakens her passion for the violin, and lessons begin. Lessons in music, lessons in passion, lessons in love, and more importantly, lessons in truth.

Let's get this out of the way up front: this is not a book you can abandon after the first 20, or even 50, pages if it fails to engage. The author is setting out to seduce the reader through the music and the characters, and frankly, that takes time. If you suffer from a short attention span, or are in a mood for "fast-paced," Song Of Seduction is going to be a slog of a read. It's a story designed to be savored. Slowly. Every morsel to be thoughtfully chewed and reflected upon. To illustrate this point, the author employs descriptive passages to weave a spell. As the reader, we can't hear the music, but we feel it. We feel it as a slow burn coursing through the characters' veins. As Arie seduces Tilda with his music, she seduces him with her violin.

The use of descriptive passages, the slow unfolding of the romance, did make the first half a slow starter for me. I struggled with this story for a while, unsure of how I truly felt about it, until I realized how truly remarkable and different it is. First, we have the backdrop of 1804 Salzburg, which the author spends time introducing us to. Then there's the fact that the heroine acts like one would expect a heroine in 1804 to act. I'm not a massive stickler for historical accuracy (::snort:: hardly), but even I get annoyed after a while with 19th century heroines who behave like hoydens, throw themselves at the hero, and toss up their skirts without so much as a by your leave. Everything a woman did, even the seemingly mundane, had consequences. One small step out of line, and you were branded. So being a violin prodigy, a widow with a tragic past, would be enough to brand Tilda as scandalous, and even worse. She's a woman haunted by the shadow of gossip, a woman willing to deny who she really is because of her desire to be perfectly ordinary. The problem being, of course, that she's anything but.

Arie is a bit more of a mysterious character than Tilda, and it takes a while to get a firm grip on the guy. He's talented in his own right, but haunted by that one fateful decision. His interpersonal skills are atrocious, but he finds he has to make nice with others if he wants to make a living with his music. He's captivated by Tilda, but is uncomfortable with her idolization. For her part, Tilda may idolize Arie, but she quickly learns that the man is, most of the time, insufferable. It's through the music that they find their way to each other, and through the music that they fall in love. When the truth (his and hers) comes spilling out, they are also, in part, healed by that music.

This is a hard book to assign a grade too. I've waffled on it quite a bit. The slow start had this one sitting around a C+/B- for a while. But as the author peeled back the layers, challenged her characters, revealed more of them, I realized how remarkable this story is. The interesting setting, the heroine who behaves like someone I'd expect to exist in 1804, the temperamental and musically gifted hero, and most importantly, the passion. True, unadulterated, pure passion. While one would think that's a given in every romance novel, it takes a story like Song Of Seduction for one to realize, that sadly, passion isn't always in abundant supply. So for all those reasons and probably a few more I haven't thought of yet....

Final Grade = B+

Song of Seduction is a digital-only release from Carina Press. It can be purchased at Amazon (Kindle), B&N (nook), and direct from the publisher (PDF and EPUB).

We're Ready For Our Close-Up Mr. DeMille

Remember way back in July when I was at the RWA conference in Washington D.C.? Well while I was there I taped a video interview for Romantic Times with author Carrie Lofty. I just got word yesterday that our three-part interview is now online - just in time to promote Carrie's most excellent new book, Scoundrel's Kiss.

A couple things of note:

• That's it. Nothing but carrot sticks for me.

• I don't normally play with my hair that much. It was a gorgeous day, we filmed outside, but there was a breeze. Hence the hair playing.
  

• We had no script we were working off from. None. Nada. No notes, no nothing. This is a completely off the cuff, fly by the seat of our pants interview. And I think it turned out pretty damn good. Says me.
  

Below I'm posting all three videos, each running about 5 minutes a piece. I know. If you wanna watch them - great. If you'd rather poke your eyes out with a dull spoon - you don't have to watch. We can still be friends. Honest. Here it goes:

Video 1: Carrie and I discuss her debut novel, What A Scoundrel Wants



Video 2:Carrie and I discuss her latest release, Scoundrel's Kiss



Video 3: Carrie and I discuss her unusual historical settings

Reap What You Sow

I liked Carrie Lofty's debut novel, What A Scoundrel Wants, for the reasons several readers I know didn't care for it. Both hero and heroine were "morally flexible." I'll be honest - Will and Meg would sell their own mothers if the price were halfway decent. And while romance readers seem more than willing to buy into dubious heroes? Yeah, not so much heroines (don't get me started on this subject). Also there was the fact that Meg hung her sister, Ada, out to dry. In a genre where heroines seem willing to easily forgive their sisters for some pretty inexcusable behavior, I kind of found that refreshing. I guess I'm more vindictive than I thought?

Scoundrel's Kiss gives us Ada's story, and our villain from book one is certainly reaping what she has sown. She left England, feeling betrayed by her sister, for Spain. Emotional pain, and physically injuries she sustained in the first book, cause her to turn to a cruel mistress - opium. We meet Ada in the throes her addiction, where she's literally at the point where she'll do anything for a fix. That's how she ends up in a brothel, and where our hero, Gavriel de Marqueda finds her.

Gavriel is inches away from becoming a monk and must complete one final test to prove his worthiness. His test? Ada. Clean her up, get her off opium, and put her on a path to a better life. The problem is that Gavriel is no saintly monk. He's a warrior, running from his past, his basest desires, and the evil he has committed. He wants to become a monk to atone, and now, standing in his way, is Ada. A woman so tempting, so challenging and so alluring, that no man is nearly saintly enough. Certainly not Gavriel.

My one requirement in romance novels is that the characters have free will. Good, bad, indifferent, I want them to have a choice (all "bad" choices are still choices nonetheless). Ada has made disastrous choices. One after another. This story details the consequences of those actions. Certainly nobody deserves to be an addict. But Ada made her choices, hurt people she loved, manipulated situations and people to suit her purposes. This is not a "nice girl" at the start of this story. She's not the type of heroine who goes skipping through the forest singing to woodland creatures. She's a hard woman.

The difference between this story and What A Scoundrel Wants rests solely on the hero's shoulders. Lofty has given us a classic wounded hero. Gavriel's childhood was beyond wretched. He's haunted by his past, desperate to atone, and willing to do just about anything to leave his old life behind. This is a hero, I think, most romance readers will be willing to get behind. He's determined to save the heroine from herself, live by the vows he has made, renounce his old life, and naturally along the way it all goes horribly awry. For that reason alone, I suspect this book will work better for readers who weren't enthralled by WaSW.

"Most men only take vows when they feel strongly," she said. "They believe. They feel connected to a higher ideal. They feel compelled - obliged even - to make a promise to God. They do not use them as a prison or a punishment. You've hidden from the world and put a cage around yourself."

Lofty continues to write different, challenging historical romances using unique settings (medieval Spain!) and characters. It's a shame her contract with Zebra has been fulfilled, and not renewed, because her rich tapestry of secondary characters are practically begging for future adventures (OMG - Jacob!). Whether or not you can roll with these types of characters and stories is incidental. Historical romance needs more risk-takers like Lofty, and sure as shootin' it needs more publishers willing to wander out on a limb. Not all different is "good" - but in this instance, I think it is. What a great way to start off 2010.

Final Grade = B+