Reading Year In Review 2020

Well, that wasn't very much fun. I think most of us are ready to put 2020 firmly in the rearview mirror and move forward into 2021 hoping for better.  Dear Lord, please be better.  2020 was a challenging year for many of you, for a variety of big and small reasons, and I'm no different.  My reading challenge every year is always to get through 100 books. I'm a slow reader by Romancelandia and blogging standards - so hitting 100 books is a pretty big deal for me. Yeah, 2020 saw me getting through 74.  Not great, especially when you consider I count DNFs, novellas, audiobooks - I count everything y'all, my challenge my rules. Here's how the number broke down:

5 Stars (A grade): 4
4 Stars (B grade): 21
3 Stars (C grade ; low B-): 28
2 Stars (D grade): 11
1 Star (F grade): 3
DNF (Did Not Finish): 7
Audiobooks: 13

These numbers are all in my usual ballpark, but 2020 saw more 3-Star reads than 4-Star reads and I always find that depressing.  Here's hoping that ship gets righted for 2021.  

Now, on to the fun part - the actual books. As a reminder, and for those of you new here, my "best of year" list is the best books I READ during said year. It's not specific to books published in that year.  There's older titles featured - mainly because I am always perpetually behind in my reading.  Now, on to the books:

The Romance (in no particular order):

The Lady's Companion by Carla Kelly (Traditional Regency, 1996) - This was my best romance read of the year and the fact it was published in 1996 isn't exactly lost on me. Gentry spinster heroine whose Daddy has ruined them financially decides to take her destiny in her own hands and accepts a job as a lady's companion to a cantankerous widow. She finds an ally and friend in the widow's bailiff. Compelling conflict, emotionally gut-wrenching, and tightly plotted. It's amazing, it's available digitally. Just read it.

To Dream Again by Laura Lee Guhrke (Historical romance, 1995) - This was a reread for me and the title link will take you to my original blog review from 2005. Second son comes home to England with the dream of making children's toys and buys the heroine's factory after the bank calls in her loan after her husband dies. Never mind she's the one keeping the business afloat while her husband chased one get rich quick scheme after another. A prickly heroine written in a time when those weren't the norm who is all out of f*cks when it comes to men. That said, parts of the story have not aged well which I detail a more in my GoodReads review. At one point the self-published digital edition was widely available but at the time of this post it's available via Kindle Unlimited.

Slow Dance with the Best Man by Sophie Pembroke (Harlequin Romance, 2017) - The Harlequin Romance line is one of my favorites because the books feel like warm hugs. Typecast Hollywood actor falls for the heroine, who is gunning for a managerial position at her hometown's Gothic manor that's been converted to a posh hotel. A fluffy concoction with the pleasing Hollywood star falls for A Nobody fantasy. I'm glad I have more Pembroke in my TBR.

Redemption of the Maverick Millionaire by Michelle Douglas (Harlequin Romance, 2020) - A hero who did the heroine dirty swoops into her adopted hometown looking to make amends, only to end up making a muck of things.  Basically this book is one long grovel, because boy howdy did the hero screw up.  Also, it's a small town romance where the author doesn't completely sweep the challenges of small town living under the rug.

Cinderella Unmasked by Susannah Erwin (Harlequin Desire, 2020) - Erwin wrote a book featuring a hero running for political office and I ended up really enjoying it. That's some kind of miracle for 2020. Heroine whose family was done wrong by hero's family ends up falling head over feet. A smitten hero in pursuit who is genuinely a nice guy (not a brooding, angsty playboy!), compelling family conflict, and a Cinderella trope that avoids heavy-handed rescue fantasy. After just two books Erwin is my newest autobuy.

Not Romance, Still Great (in no particular order):

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe (Nonfiction, 2018) - I read this based off Miss Bates' recommendation and this was easily the book of the year for me. At the end of 1972, Jean McConville, mother of 10, was dragged from her Northern Ireland home by the IRA, never to be seen again. It's a story of violence, of politics, where there are no heroes, and it was by far the most riveting book I had read in a dog's age. I cannot recommend it enough. I made all the incoherent great book noises during and after I finished it.

Get Well Soon: History's Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them by Jennifer Wright (Nonfiction, 2017) - I've got Sasha Devlin to thank for this recommendation and this was a great listen on audio. Kind of weird to read a book about plagues that was written pre-COVID, and frustrating in that humans have this uncanny knack for repeating the same mistakes over and over again. Engaging, written with the layperson in mind, with a touch of gallows' humor. I really enjoyed this and even learned some stuff.

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey (Dystopian, 2020) - A dystopian western that's queer and feminist AF.  Fleeing an arranged marriage when her best friend (and lover) is murdered, the heroine hooks up with a subversive band of traveling librarians. It's a slim book (category romance length) so the world building isn't terribly intricate, but I loved the feminist themes of the story and got sucked into the western world like whoa.  Not a typical read for yours truly, and one that I'm hoping will become a series.

Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park (Historical children's fiction, 2020) - After her mother dies, 14-year-old half-Chinese heroine moves with her white father to the Dakota territory. The author grew up loving the Little House series, while recognizing all the inherent problems with that series.  There are a lot of heavy themes in this story (racism, injustice, and the heroine is assaulted at one point - not raped) but it never feels like a heavy book. It's hopeful, with a lovely sense of place and history.  

When I started thinking about this blog post my impression was that I had a pretty dire reading year - but as I looked back I realized that there were gems - it's just said gems were buried in between mediocrity and books I'd rather forget. So long 2020. Please do let the door smack you on the way out.

Review: Redemption of the Maverick Millionaire

She was such an idiot. He saw her as an obligation, nothing more - a problem he'd needed to fix. While she was as big a fool as ever where he was concerned. He hadn't shunned other women because nobody else could live up to her memory. He'd been punishing himself.

 I love reunion stories. Especially reunion stories where the hero has done the heroine dirty and has to crawl over broken glass to win her back. If your tastes run towards the blood-thirsty as mine do, then Redemption of the Maverick Millionaire by Michelle Douglas has you covered. Whoa doggie, did this hero have his work cut out for him!

Four years ago Damon Macy betrayed Eve Clark and she walked out of his life leaving scorched Earth behind.  Damon was in love with her, even though he firmly believed she was way too good for him. Now he's gotten wind that a developer has his claws in Mirror Glass Bay, the small Australian coastal village where Eve has built a new life revitalizing the local motel.  The developer plans to build a big splashy resort, one Damon fears will drive Eve's motel into the ground, so he pulls some strings and buys the developer out.  It's the least he could do for her after his betrayal.

There's a small fly in the ointment however - Eve wanted the development project to happen!  The truth is that Mirror Glass Bay's economy needs a shot in the arm, young people are leaving the town, and if something doesn't happen soon the school will close, the medical clinic - and then where will that leave Mirror Glass Bay?  As a ghost town.  Now here comes Damon, swooping back into her life like a bull in a china shop ruining any hope for the town's future.  Or has he?  Suitably humbled by his grandstanding, Damon vows to her that he'll make it right and now he's staying in her motel for at least a fortnight and dammit all the hell, she's still painfully attracted to him even as she fights the urge to throat punch him.

This is a reunion story where the heroine has every right to want to throat punch the hero and he's racked with guilt from the first chapter.  His guilt, knowing full well what he threw away, this is a Harlequin hero who has been celibate for the four years since the heroine walked out of his life.  A rarity to be sure, and it gives reader an imperfect hero in pursuit.  I questioned for a good chunk of this story if he truly still loved her or if he was just assuaging his guilt - and while that sounds dreadful, it actually makes for a tension-filled read.

Eve was devastated by Damon's betrayal and sure, she ran away from Sydney - but she ran to what turned out to be a better life for her.  Fixing up the motel, making a new home for her and her grandmother, being a successful local businesswoman with the pulse on her community.  She didn't fail in Sydney - she got the rug pulled out from under her.

A couple of things I really liked about this story was that it's a small town romance with some realism.  Oh sure, there's still a healthy polish on the veneer, but the lack of economic opportunity in such towns is rarely (hell, if ever!) addressed in small town romances - so polish or not it was nice to see a little realism for a change.  The fear of the residents is that if "something" doesn't happen soon, the closure of the public school and small medical clinic won't be far behind.  Also, consent is actually discussed - although not in so many words. Damon wants to win back Eve but there's more than one instance here were boundaries are discussed.  She tells him to back-off on more than one occasion, and he does. So much of the push-pull in the romance tango here comes into play because Eve, against her more rational instincts, makes the first move and gets spooked.

What didn't work so well?  Some pacing issues. It's a little slow to start and sags in a couple of places.  Also, Eve's grandmother is made out to be kind of a Big Deal (Eve moved to Mirror Glass Bay so her grandmother could still live an independent life) but there's only two really small scenes in the book where she makes an appearance and it's not until halfway through the book when she shows up. She's only one of 2 people outside of Eve who knows what he did to break her heart, you'd think A Spry Romancelandia Granny would have made her presence felt a heck of a lot more given the circumstances.

Pacing issues aside, it's still an engaging small town romance featuring a hero who has to spend a good chunk of the story groveling.  And I'm just blood-thirsty enough that I'm always going to want more of that.  Yeah, he did her wrong, but I finished the last page fully believing that he'd spend the rest of his life making it up to her.

Final Grade = B

The DNF Round-Up

My pile of ARCs is beyond out of control and if there is any hope of me seeing the light at the end of the tunnel I have given myself permission to start DNF'ing (Do Not Finish) more.  I DNF for a variety of reasons - which this round-up will ably illustrate.  Here are three titles I recently gave up on, but hey - maybe they'll work for you!

Snowbound Surprise for the Billionaire by Michelle Douglas was downloaded via Netgalley because 1) Harlequin Romance 2) Christmas read and 3) Boss/Secretary trope.  Unfortunately I ended up DNF'ing it around 30% out of disinterest.

It starts out promising, with the hero buying the heroine's family farm but stipulating that he wants her to stay on to help jump start his business plan.  She's desperate to "escape" and have a life of her own.  When the hero overhears this he proposes she travel with him to Munich on business.  His PA cannot travel with him for some reason that I forget now and heroine would serve as his temp.

This lost steam for me with the, what I felt was, odd transition from the farm to being the hero's PA on a business trip.  After that it descends into a travelogue of Munich, the heroine being a wide-eyed tourist, happy to finally escape the Australian countryside.  Nothing terribly "bad" about this per se - I was just bored by it.  It didn't grab me.  It was totally shaping up to be an "average" C read for me, and I was ready to move on.

If you know absolutely nothing about baseball there's probably a good story in A League of Her Own by Karen Rock - an author I've really enjoyed in the past.  Heroine was collegiate softball star and now coaches.  Her Daddy owns a minor league, Triple-A baseball team.  Daddy has heart attack, heroine convinces him to give her the vacant head coaching job on the team.  Hero is a washed up pitcher, now sober, who was signed by Daddy and hopes his second chance jump-starts his baseball career.

The baseball stuff here is wronger than wrong.  Triple-A is the top minor league stop before you go to the big leagues.  Minor league owners do NOT sign players.  General Managers and the front office with the "big clubs" are responsible for filling out rosters (through free agency, the draft, Rule 5 picks etc.) in the entire farm system (Single, Double and Triple A teams).  Their job, their desire, is to pick talented players who will eventually become major league baseball players.  Your farm system, at all levels, is there to serve the major league club.  Hence no minor league owner anywhere would sign a player.  A major league owner might have some sway, but not a piddly minor league owner.  It's not plausible.

Minor league owners do NOT hire coaches!  Again, GMs and the front office at the "big clubs" do that.  The major league club has drafted all of these talented players, they're not leaving those players in the hands of a some coach that the minor league owner hired who could be a total wahoo.  And while I'm at it?  There is more than one coach on any minor league team.  Using the Toledo Mud Hens as an example (Detroit's Triple-A team) you have a pitching coach, hitting coach and yes - then your manager (head coach).  Hell, when the Tigers hired new pitching coaches for both Triple A and Single A this off-season the announcement came from Dave Dombrowski's office (Tigers GM).  And while I'm at it - even though Daddy is looking to sell his Minor League team because they are losing money?  He'd have a hard time doing it without input from the major league club, who he would be under contractual obligation to.  Major League Baseball teams enter into agreements with these minor league affiliates.  Teams can even change affiliation over time (the Syracuse Chiefs, now Washington Nationals Triple A was once the Triple A team for the Toronto Blue Jays, one example) - but again, these are contractual agreements.  Like stadium deals.  You're going to be "our team" through 2017, for example.  Now if the major league club decided to not renew the contract?  Then yes, Daddy could sell the team.  But he'd also have no players - since the abandoning major league club would move their rosters to whatever city they set up camp in next. 

Then the heroine gets the job as manager and starts thinking of ways to increase attendance.  Uh, no.  NOT YOUR JOB CUPCAKE!!  Your job is to manage.  To coach.  To get the players ready for a possible call-up to the big club.  The job of PR?  The job of getting butts in the seat?  Minor league teams, especially as high up as Triple A (!!!) have front office staffs for that.  Minor league promotional departments are legendary in fact.  Best family fun a little amount of money can buy in a lot of cities.

So yeah, the baseball stuff is jacked up.  But if you know nothing about baseball and don't rightly care?  Heroine is desperate for Daddy's approval, the hero is a recovering alcoholic, and if you combine both of the chips they have on their shoulders you've got Texas.  I've liked Rock's books in the past but this one was a non-starter for me. Because, you know, baseball. 

You can all wake up now.  This concludes Inside Baseball Hour at the Bat Cave.

Texas Mail Order Bride by Linda Broday is the first book in a trilogy and doesn't release until January 6.  For that reason I hesitated blogging about it, but figure my quibbles are minor enough that they won't turn off every reader of this blog.  Heroine is a mail order bride from the South (uh, somewhere - I can't remember) who steps off the train only to realize her groom (the hero) has no idea she even existed.  He didn't write her all those letters, some impostor did - and his two brothers have assured him it wasn't them.  She has nothing to go home to so convinces the crotchety general store owner to give her a job.  Hero continues to be flummoxed by her very arrival and presence even though they were barely on page together for the first couple of chapters.  Naturally, you have the two sequel-baitin' brothers hanging around and it appears someone is out to settle a score with the hero over Lord knows what because I didn't get that far.

I DNF'ed this one because of writing style.  I've read Broday in the past and liked those books to varying degrees.  But here?  Ever start a book and feel like you should "know" the characters already?  Like you're jumping into book #3 in a series without having read the preceding two?  Yeah, that.  And since this is book one in a trilogy?  It was really unsettling.  There's just....no early character development.  I was like, "I don't know these people so why should I care about them?"  What I did read led me to believe this is going to be a "fun" historical western of the light, bantering variety - and honestly?  Those are harder sells for me.  I like dark, gritty, holy crap are we gonna die when winter hits?! historical westerns.  But if you like fun westerns?  Read a sample, see if it's your thing.  The older I get the pickier I get with westerns, mostly because I want what I want - and so very few western romance authors seem to be working in "gritty" milieus these days. 

Maggie Osborne could come out of retirement any day now.  Seriously.

Don't feel too sorry for me though.  In between the DNFs I found several quality reads, including two books that will make my eventual Best of 2014 list.  We'll see how many more of these style posts I do in the future.  One of my resolutions for 2015 is to put books on shorter leashes.  Otherwise, I'll never get through the pile.