Year In Review: 2013 TBR Challenge Wrap-Up

One of the reasons I like to host to the TBR Challenge is that it keeps me on track to actually complete it.  I figure it wouldn't look too great for the host to skip months, plus I also try to adhere to my own "themes" every month (even though I don't require participants to).  Here are the twelve books I managed to unearth out of the TBR Mountain Range last year.

Title links will take you to full reviews

The Things That Make Me Give In by Charlotte Stein (2010) - Theme: Shorts! (B)

• An anthology of very short fiction by Stein.  At turns funny, sad, and thought-provoking.  A great taste, highly recommended for fans and those curious to try her work.

Promote: To Wife And Mother by Jessica Hart (2008) - Theme: Recommended Read (A)

• The best of the TBR reads this year.  Great romance featuring older characters with real life problems.

A Marriage-Minded Man by Karen Templeton (2009) - Theme: Series You're Behind On (B)

• Templeton writes nice romances about "normal" people.  This one features a reunited couple.  I remember liking it while I was reading it, but it didn't have a ton of "staying power" for me.

Seducing the Duchess by Ashley March (2010) - Theme: New-To-You Author (B+)

• A problematic read that found me at the right time.  Great dialogue and banter in this one.

The Drifter by Susan Wiggs (1998) - Theme: Author With More Than One Book In TBR (B)

• Doctor heroine with baggage finds herself helping a drifter hero on the run.  Solid read, nice Americana feel, but felt the story could have been tighter in spots.

Patrick Gallagher's Widow by Cheryl Reavis (1990) Theme: RITA winner or nominee (B+)

• A book that held up surprisingly well even though I read it 23 years after it's publication date.  Great hero and heroine, but felt that the majority of the secondary characters were stereotypes.

High Noon by Nora Roberts (2007) - Theme: Classic (author, book, trope etc.) (B-)

• Loved the suspense thread in this one and after a string of disappointing reads I practically inhaled this in one sitting.  Did feel the characters were a little too "perfect" though.

Training the Receptionist by Juniper Bell (2010) - Theme: Steamy read (B+)

• Completely devoid of reality, but I loved it anyway.  Directionless heroine takes a secretarial job at a mysterious firm that requires S&M play with the bosses.

Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold by Ellen O'Connell (2010) - Theme: Western (B-)

• Great story buried in subpar writing.  Authors, find a good editor and hug them tight.

The Suicide Club by Gayle Wilson (2007) - Theme: Paranormal or Romantic suspense (C-)

• Great story idea that fumbles on the execution.  Also found the lovey-dovey let's make babies crap at the end really, really jarring considering how the book ends.  But maybe that's just me.

The Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran (2008) - Theme: All About The Hype (B)

• Loved the first half of this story when it's set in India, but the story lost steam for me when the couple moves to England and there's an introduction of a suspense subplot. 

A Christmas to Remember by Kay Stockham (2007) - Theme: Holiday (C)

• What started out as a really intriguing angsty-read loses me when the author throws in a plot twist that essentially changes the entire complexion of the story.

Looking at all twelve reads laid out like this, I had a pretty solid year digging books out of the ol' TBR pile.  Remember, it's not too late to join in on the fun for 2014.  For more information about the 2014 TBR Challenge - please check out the information page.

TBR Challenge 2013: The Amnesiac's Christmas

The Book: A Christmas to Remember by Kay Stockham

The Particulars: Contemporary romance, Harlequin SuperRomance #1453, 2007, Out of print, Available digitally, Connected to previous book, Man With a Past.

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?:  It's a SuperRomance and it's a Christmas book.  How could it not be in my TBR?

The Review:  Y'all need to bear with me because I have no idea how the hell I'm going to assign a grade to this book.  I mean, really - I have no clue.  There was so much I liked here and yet?  I didn't read the first book in this series.  Oh, I have Man With a Past.  It's in my TBR (because, hello, what book isn't?).  Maybe if I had read that book first I wouldn't have been so annoyed with the "plot twist" the author put in halfway through this story.  Because, you know, I would have known said "twist" was coming and would have been prepared for it.

Marley Pierce wouldn't believe it if she hadn't seen him with her own eyes.  Beau Buchanan is back in town.  The same Beau Buchanan who seduced his way into her panties when she was eighteen.  The same Beau Buchanan who went hot and heavy with her for two glorious weeks her first summer away from home.  The same Beau Buchanan who knocked her up and couldn't run fast enough when she told him she had a bun in the oven.  Beau Buchanan ruined her life, shattered her family, and Marley has spent the last five years trying to redeem herself in the eyes of her family and the small town where she lives.  She owns the local nursery and has gotten the contract to do the landscaping at a new housing development.  And Beau Buchanan?  His Dad's company won the contract to do all the electrical.  Oh fun times!

Beau doesn't remember Marley, he wishes he did.  A Marine, he was wounded in Iraq.  Those wounds included a serious conk on the head - which means Beau is suffering from "retrograde amnesia."  The doctors assure his father he'll likely remember things "in time" but during this recovery period Beau is to get therapy and "remember on his own."  In other words, no coaching.  Which is kind of tough for Marley since he 1) ruined her life and 2) is now playing the amnesia card.

I immediately got sucked into this story.  Beau was a Grade A Jerkface.  I mean, the guy was a douchebag.  So it's easy to understand why Marley is floored to see him waltzing into her life again.  And then she meets this "new Beau" and is really confused.  He's so unlike the guy she knew at eighteen.  He has changed from the lying reprobate he used to be.  But her life is, well, complicated.  She's got a brother who wants to kill him, an ultra-conservative dickhole father and a mother who has been popping pills to hide from the world thanks to her "whore" daughter.

Seriously, can you imagine Sunday dinners at that house?

Anyway, it's a good little story.  Things are moving along swimmingly.  I start to wonder how the author is going to get Marley and Beau together given their past history together, even if Beau doesn't remember it - then whamo! 

The plot twist.

Sigh.

Which, you know, maybe would have been fine if I hadn't been so blindsided by it.  But that twist basically changes the entire story for the reader.  I was no longer reading the story I had become invested in.  How?  Because the twist changes the story.  It changes everything I had been reading for the first half of the book.  And dammit all to jingle bells, I had become invested in THAT story.

Which leaves me in a quandary.  I liked the characters, I loved the angst, I really enjoyed the author's style (so glad I have more books in my TBR!) - but I cannot tell a lie.  The plot twist kinda ticked me off.  Because again, it changed the story I was reading.  It took away the story I had become invested in.  And to a certain extent?  That twist robs the reader, and Marley, of what I think we both deserved and needed.  Closure.

So for lack of a better answer?

Final Grade = C

And since I know it will drive some of you crazy if I don't say - please highlight to see the spoiler plot twist:  Beau isn't really Beau.  He's Beau's buddy, Jack Brody.  They were in the Marines together and they apparently look A LOT alike.  So much so that when Jack is recovered wearing Beau's dog-tags (which is explained), everyone thinks that he's Beau.  It's only after an incident involving a food allergy that Beau's father realizes that his son ain't his son.  They buried Beau, not Jack.  Jack is alive.  Beau is dead.  Beau doesn't get the chance to be redeemed and Marley doesn't get the chance to 1) confront him and/or 2) cut off his balls.  Frankly, that kinda pissed me off.  /end spoiler

Please keep the spoilers out of the comments, just in case.  Thanks all!

TBR Challenge 2013: The Duke of Shadows

The Book: The Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran

Particulars: Historical romance, 2008, Pocket, Out of Print, Available digitally

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?:  When this book was first released, everybody and their dead grandmother seemed to be reading it.  Dear Author even got a wee bit of blowback for posting three separate reviews for it.  I had nothing better to be annoyed about at the time, so basically dug in my heels, resisting.  Because that is what Wendy does when everybody is talking about the exact. same. book. for what seems like weeks on end.  At least until I went to RWA 2008 (Washington DC?) and got a copy for free - which has been languishing in my TBR ever since.

The Review:  Emmaline Martin was sailing to India with her parents to reunite with her betrothed when tragedy strikes.  There's a shipwreck, her parents die, but Emma miraculously lives.  Of course her rescue causes quite the gossip because she was, after all, rescued by.....men!  Surely she must have been ravished or compromised and thoroughly ruined.  Besides the speculation regarding her person, there are numerous rumors that people are delighted to share with her regarding her fiancé's various paramours.  Between the grief she feels for her parents, the uncertainty of finding herself in such a foreign land (India), and her fiancé being an asshole?  She meets Julian Sinclair, the Duke of Auburn.

Julian is also not immune to gossip and scandal.  He's part Indian, which naturally causes all sorts of talk among the British occupiers in that country.  Julian also feels, quite strongly, that mutiny may be at hand among the Indian troops.  Naturally though, the British occupiers are paying him no mind, and there is rampant speculation that Julian cannot be trusted.

This was a tale of two books for me.  The first half (Part I), which takes place entirely in India is really the money shot.  It's fantastic.  The author does a great job of showing the country through the eyes of her unsettled, grieving heroine, painting a portrait that shows the reader how Emma could, on one hand, be captivated by India, but also uncertain of her.  This is also where the real meat and potatoes of the romance lies.  Julian and Emma being thrown together, and literally fleeing for their lives once Julian's predictions come to pass.

The author gives us a romance between two outsiders.  Julian's struggles and the sheer amount of assholery he has to put up with given his "mixed" bloodlines is handled deftly.  Emma is an proper heiress, from a good family, who finds herself thrust into the spotlight at a time when she should be allowed to lock herself away and grieve.  As the reader, you want these two people to get together, if only for the fact that you know they're perfect for each other.

Where the book faltered for me was in Part II - once the story leaves India and moves back to England.  Frankly, this whole portion of the story hinges on improbability.  Emma is an heiress, a notorious one who survived a shipwreck, escapes India, and has a broken engagement to boot.  Julian is not only a bloody Duke - he's a bloody Duke who is part-Indian that people love to gossip about!  How these two could go three years (three years!!!!!) without having any contact or inkling about the other one is just patently absurd.  Honestly the only thing keeping them apart during this time is Emma's stupid pride, which was just annoying enough to, well - annoy me.  And Julian?  It doesn't say much for his intelligence and powers of deductive reasoning that he doesn't ferret out the truth about Emma once they both land in England.  It takes a chance encounter for them to come face-to-face again.

And by this point I started to lose interest.  Emma's haunted by what happened in India.  Emma paints some pictures.  Someone is out to silence Emma permanently.  Yada, yada, yada.

Which makes it sound like I didn't enjoy this book.  I did.  The first half is really great and Duran's prose is flat-out lovely (coupled with the fact that this was her debut - wow!).  I just spent the entire second half wishing things had taken a different path.  Like, oh, that the couple never left India at all and that story started, stayed, and finished there.

Final Grade = B

TBR Challenge 2013: Those Crazy Kids

The Book: The Suicide Club by Gayle Wilson

The Particulars: Romantic Suspense, Mira, 2007, Out of print but available as an ebook.

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?:  I have an autographed copy, which means I picked this up at an RWA conference.  Which one is the question.  Given the publication year best guesses are either 2007 Dallas or 2008 San Francisco.

Review:  I was a mystery and suspense reader long before I discovered the romance genre.  So it's probably not all that surprising that when it comes to romantic suspense, my enjoyment of the story really tends to revolve around the suspense end of things.  Normally I'm more than happy to let a weaker romantic storyline slide if the suspense is up to snuff.  In the case of this book?  Let's just say the suspense starts out on the weak side and by the time it picks up steam I found the "romance stuff" jarring.

Lindsey Sloan is in charge of the "gifted and talented" program at Randolph-Lowen High School in close-knit, everybody-up-in-your-damn-business, small town Arkansas.  Still she's shocked when Former Big City Detective, Jace Nolan visits the school and suggests that one (or more) of her students might have been behind a rash of arsons that targeted black churches in the immediate area.  Lindsey tells him he's full of crap, and essentially throws him out on his ear.  But Jace isn't one to give up easily, and proceeds to make a nuisance of himself.  Which proves to be a problem - since whoever is behind the crimes has noticed a cop sniffing around Lindsey.  Ergo?  Lindsey is now in danger.

This book never really got off the ground for me thanks to the set-up, which I couldn't buy into.  Jace is going with his gut thinking it's a high school kid.  He's backing up his gut with a profile the FBI worked up - which essentially says they were "thrill crimes" so most likely young, white, male with a few brain cells.  Which leads to Jace meeting with Lindsey in the principal's office.

OK, you have arsonists targeting black churches, in the South (!!!) - and yet I'm supposed to believe FBI and/or ATF aren't crawling all over this backwater town?  Really?  I mean, really?!?! And given the flimsy "evidence" (which is to say, none - other than the FBI profile) that Jace has to work with, I'm supposed to believe that a High School Principal not only doesn't throw him out on his ass while citing various right-to-privacy concerns, but that he would take the time to pull a teacher into a meeting of this nature?  I mean - right out of the gate?  More likely the principal would tell cops to come back when they have, oooooooh, ANY evidence at all (you know, something that isn't just a half-baked hunch), then call a faculty staff meeting.

But hey, that's just me.  I mean, I'm crazy enough to think the FBI and/or ATF should be there, so what do I know?

Lindsey is one of those Pollyannas who thinks there is good in everybody and all her students are perfect little angels that poop rainbows.  You know who is more believable and less annoying?  The guidance counselor - who enjoys helping kids and working with the students but also admits that some of them?  Yeah, are shitheads.  Why Shannon wasn't the romance heroine is anyone's guess.  Her, I liked.  Even if she does have suspicions about the bad guy and didn't cough them up immediately.  At least with her you understand WHY she was holding back (she felt her "gut" wasn't enough to try and convict anyone without, you know, any proof whatsoever.  Come to think of it, maybe she could grown a penis and been the cop hero instead?).

Anyhoodle, I kept reading along mostly because I had to see how the suspense thread turned out - and it does pick up some once the arsonists become bored and have to get their kicks some other way.  However by this point?  The romance gets to be a real problem.  I'm not sure how else to explain it other than it's jarring.  I was uncomfortable reading about mushy "love stuff" and romantic sex scenes given the content of the suspense thread.  And in the end?  After the whole thing comes to a full boil?  To have Jace and Lindsey blissfully fall into each other's arms, declare their love, and then joke about having children together?  When the climactic and devastating finish directly involves teenagers?

Yeah, too soon.  Just.....way too soon.

So where does that leave me?  Well, it had it's moments.  Although the execution needed some help, the concept of the suspense thread worked for me and I wanted to see how it turned out.  I just wasn't particularly moved by either of the main characters, therefore I wasn't particularly moved by the romance.  But while it didn't inspire love in me, it also didn't inspire outright hate either.  I didn't love it, but it also didn't make me Hulk-Rage-Angry.  In other words, I'd read this author again but not necessarily rush out to recommend this particular book to a friend.

Final Grade = C-

TBR Challenge 2013: Eyes Of Silver, Eyes Of Gold

The Book: Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold by Ellen O'Connell

The Particulars: Historical western romance, Self-published, 2010, Available in print and digitally.

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?:  At RWA 2013 in Atlanta, KristieJ threw down the gauntlet.  Said I had to read this book.  Then Rosie said that if I read this book?  Yeah, she'd totally blog again.  And since her blog has been a dead zone, and frankly all my Old Guard Blogging Buddies have been abandoning me (Why aren't you all thinking about me?!?!?!) - if I could get Rosie to blog by reading this book and get KristieJ to stop saying "Wendy, Wendy, Wendy" over the same book?  That is what we call killing two birds with one stone.  I downloaded it on to my Kindle right there in that Atlanta hotel room.

The Review:  Anne Wells is 28 years old, still unmarried, and so head-strong that her father has decided it's high time he bring her to heel.  Since Anne seems unwilling to budge and refuses to marry the man her father has selected for her, he keeps her a prisoner in their own home - but resourceful Anne manages to escape.  The problem?  Daddy Dearest has also been withholding food - so when a storm hits, a weakened Anne takes shelter in a barn - not realizing said barn belongs to Cord Bennett.

Cord is half-Indian, and despite his white father and Indian mother being married, there are events in Cord's past that make everyone in town think he's the devil incarnate.  When Daddy Dearest finds Anne in Cord's house?  Um, yeah.  Anne is assaulted (spoiler: not raped, for those of you with that particular trigger) and after the two are hastily married in some sort of bizarre, sicko ceremony?  Cord is beaten nearly to death.

But, of course, he doesn't die - because then our story would be over before we get 30 pages into this affair.

Anyway, the rest of the story pretty much follows Cord and Anne being thrown together, trying to make the best of it, despite the fact that both of their families should be shot, dismembered and sent through a hay thresher.

But I'm blood-thirsty like that.

This is a book that generated waves of squee'ing fangirls some time ago, and I sort of, kind of, understand why.  It's a compelling story.  The author employs Old Skool Romance Writing Rule #3 that the more external "bad stuff" that happens to the romantic couple, the better.  Also, the female characters in this story (OK, mostly Anne - but also sister-in-law Martha) have some spunk.  I like spunky heroines, so the moments when Anne starts mouthing off to various asshole secondary characters (and she's got plenty of targets to choose from), were really great.

But the writing?  Oh, the writing!  I gotta hand it to the author, she came up with a good story.  Too bad she decided to TELL it to me instead of painting me a picture.  Seriously all that was missing was a campfire, a log to sit on and some marshmallows for me to roast.  Damn near everything was told to me, nothing was really shown.  Which is unfortunate since I wouldn't have minded crawling around inside the characters' skin, getting to know them, seeing things through their eyes.  Instead I get "this happened, then that happened, and oh by the way, this happened 10 years ago to Cord and that's why everybody thinks he's the spawn of Satan."  The worst was during the climactic finish when a secondary character TELLS Cord (and naturally the reader) events that went down to spur the story towards the finish line.  You know what would have been better?  Actually SEEING those events first hand.  You know, AS THEY OCCURED!  Not reading some secondary character relating them to Cord AFTER THE FACT and therefore, TELLING me what happened.

SHOW ME!  SHOW ME WHAT HAPPENED!!!!!!!

Ahem.   OK.  Where was I?

Oh yeah.

But I kept reading.  Why?  Because, like I said, it's a compelling story.  Despite the fact that the villain is one-dimensionally eviiiiiillllllllll and all the secondary characters are painfully, moronically, unobservant (I think I'm supposed to think they're stubborn - but seriously a dumber bunch of people you'll never meet.  I kept hoping Cord would shoot his dumb-ass brothers, or baring that, Anne would - but alas.  Opportunity wasted).

Venting my spleen all over this blog post probably makes you think I'm going to slap this with a low grade - but I'm not.  I read it in 2 days and like I said, it's a compelling story.  And while the writing did bug the hell out of me, it does get marginally better as the story wears on.  In the end I'm glad I read it, and I did like it (my venting aside), but it also depresses me a little to think about what might have been.  What if this story saw a critique group?  What if an editor really sunk their claws into it?  What if the writing had been SHOWING instead of TELLING?  What if, what if, what if.  Yes, I'm happy that so many readers have squee'ed over this book, a historical western (people squee'ing over westerns = happy, happy Wendy) - but it makes me weep for the better written westerns that have died on the vine the past 10+ years in Romancelandia.  In the end, I'm slapping it with the grade I am because I did like the story - but will I ever recommend this tale?  Maybe?  Possibly?  But with serious reservations and a whole lot of "but, but, but...." thrown in as I'm "hand-selling" it.

Final Grade = B-

TBR Challenge 2013: Training The Receptionist

The Book: Training The Receptionist by Juniper Bell

The Particulars: Erotic romance ménage BDSM novella, #1 in trilogy, Samhain, 2010, Digital Only

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?:  I picked this up as a free download at the Samhain Publisher Signing at RWA 2012 (in Anaheim). 

The Review: Normally for TBR Challenge day I try to read something out of the print pile, but I'm currently traveling.  And since I had to bring several print books with me for my current stint of contest judging, I was loathe to add yet one more print book to my carry-on luggage.  The Kindle was coming with me anyway, so I looked for something appropriate for this month's theme, and found this novella.  Being a total sucker for boss/secretary stories (I know, I know....), I settled on this one rather quickly. 

And I frackin' loved it.

Dana Arthur lives in "Low-Life Long Island."  She's in her early 20s, getting ready to move into a dumpy apartment on a scary side of town, is single, and is flitting from one job to the next.  Which is how she ends up answering an entry-level receptionist ad for the firm Cowell & Dirk.  Exacting Mr. Cowell is currently out of town on business, which means her training period is being spearheaded by his partner, Simon Dirk.  Simon is demanding and particular about how a receptionist should not only meet the needs of their clients, but also the needs of him and his partner.  Yeah, you guessed it - Mr. Simon Dirk and Mr. Ethan Cowell have very particular ideas on what their receptionist's on-the-job duties should entail - and it's up to Simon to get Dana up to speed.  If that means a little "punishment" for her mistakes?  Well, so be it.  The question is, will Dana be up for the challenge, and now that Simon finds himself drawn to her, will he be willing to share with Ethan?

For those of you who have seen the movie Secretary (with James Spader and Maggie Gyllenhaal), that's kind of what we have here - except there's way less angst, Dana is not as "damaged" as the Gyllenhaal character, and there's the ménage angle.

I was sucked into this story right away thanks to the first-person narration.  I love first-person.  I want to have babies with first-person.  And certainly Dana is a great character.  I love that she's not standard issue romance heroine.  I love that she's got a little edge to her.  I love that she doesn't have her life planned out perfectly and she's sort of half-assing a lot of things.  She acts like a young woman in her early 20s.  She likes to party, she likes tattoos, she hates to be bored.  And certainly this new job?  Not boring. 

I have stated many times, publicly, that I am over BDSM.  Yeah, I lied.  Turns out I'm not over BDSM when it's written well - and it's written well here.  Dana is the sub (and yes, I've also publicly stated I'm over female subs), but I never felt like she wasn't in control.  Dana has choices in this story.  She has power.  Simon may be asking her to do things, he may even be "punishing" her - but she has the choice to walk away.  She has the choice to tell him no.  She doesn't want to.  And she never acts like some mealy-mouthed, innocent, brain-dead ninny that needs protecting and coddling.  Dana is in this situation because she wants to be there and she can walk away at any time.  Bliss!

This is a novella and it certainly does subscribe to the Erotic As Fantasy school of plotting.  As the reader you need to let go and just enjoy the ride.  You also need to be aware (I wasn't going into it!) that this is actually the first novella in a trilogy and yes the next two entries follow the same three characters.  Which means this month's TBR Challenge was completely counterproductive for me.  Yeah, this one is off the pile, but I immediately went out and bought the next two. 

And I'm currently holding myself back from immediately buying everything else Bell has written.

Damn.

Final Grade = B+

TBR Challenge 2013: High Noon

The Book: High Noon by Nora Roberts

The Particulars: Romantic suspense, Putnam, 2007, In Print

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?:  I picked this one up at RWA 2007.  Nora was the luncheon speaker at Librarians Day that year and this book was part of the swag.  Yes, I've had a book in my TBR since 2007.  Don't hate the player, hate the game.

The Review: I was all set to read a historical for this month's TBR Challenge, but got derailed when I DNF'ed a category romance I requested from Netgalley (sorry Harlequin!  Look, I review a ton of your books, DNF'ing one isn't all that terrible - is it?).  Anywho, I was looking at the historicals in my pile that fit this month's theme and I just wasn't feeling it.  The clock was ticking (I wanted to put this review to bed before I left for RWA!), and even though this book clocks in at a staggering 467 pages (have I mentioned I'm slow reader?), I took the plunge.

Nora's about as classic as it gets when it comes to romance.  Some folks wonder why.  Why her?  Well, I'll tell you why - besides what must be a killer work ethic - she can spin a story.  Is she the bestest, super supremo writer on the planet?  No.  But she tells a good story and keeps you engaged.  After DNF'ing a category romance that didn't make me care one iota, Nora's ability to spin an engaging story was not lost on me.  I inhaled this book, despite my quibbles.

Police Lieutenant Phoebe MacNamara is a hostage negotiator for the Savannah PD.  She's supposed to be enjoying St. Patrick's Day with her family.  Instead she's called downtown to talk down a jumper.  She arrives on the scene and immediately meets the jumper's former employer and current landlord, Duncan Swift.  Phoebe does her thing, the situation is defused, and Duncan is smitten.  Hook, line, sinker, head over heels, smitten.  Now all he has to do is convince Phoebe to give him a chance.  One measly lil' drink.  Surely she'll say yes to that?

Phoebe's life is complicated.  She's got a rambling mansion she inherited from a relative, a sour woman who is literally running Phoebe's life from behind the grave.  She's a single mother to a precocious seven-year-old daughter, and has an agoraphobic mother who has a panic attack just thinking about opening the front door.  Then there's the demands of her job, the pressures of being a woman in a male dominated field, the childhood trauma that still looms over her family, and oh yeah!  It seems there's a Psycho Bad Guy who's out to get her.  She's used to handling things by her self.  She's used to taking care of everybody and everything.  She does not have time to "date."  But Duncan - damn, Duncan with his charming banter and sexy eyes won't take no for an answer.

There is a lot I liked about this book.  The dialogue is fast and furious, the sparks immediately fly between the couple, Roberts does a great job with the secondary characters (the folks Phoebe encounters "on the job" especially), the hostage scenes are suitably exciting and tense, and the whole High Noon theme (Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly - it's a movie, you damn whippersnappers!) is genius.

So, what didn't work for me?  Well, it's a lot of little things.  Duncan and Phoebe are just so....perfect.  Phoebe is practically Wonder Woman and Duncan is so slick I started thinking of him as Teflon Man.  Do they have baggage?  Yeah.  But even with that baggage they still seem so put-together, even-keeled, like butter wouldn't melt in their mouths.  Phoebe is prickly at times, but she's so damn competent and good-at-her-job, that it's hard to even consider that a character "flaw."

There were also times the romance just didn't quite gel for me.  The declarations of true love seem to come out of left field, but this could very well be chalked up to my being engaged more in the suspense thread than the romance.  Also, as exciting as the climactic finish to this story was?  I have a hard time believing that Duncan would be allowed on the scene, allowed past the barricade, and would be able to talk Phoebe.  I don't care if she's running the negotiation - it just felt too Convenient Romance Suspense Novel Plot Device to me.

So where does that leave me?  I liked this.  I have an autographed copy, so I'll keep it - but I'm unlikely to ever reread it.  The suspense is good, and there's a moment during the third act that literally had me gasping out loud (seriously, it's gruesomely good and it shocked the hell out of me - Brava Nora!).  The romance?  Meh.  The suspense, delivering a good story and keeping me engaged?  Mission accomplished.

Final Grade = B-

Reminder: TBR Challenge For July

For those of you participating in the 2013 TBR Challenge, this is a reminder that your "commentary" is due on Wednesday, July 17.

The theme this month is The Classics.   This is a theme I'm running pretty fast and loose with - which means I'm open to all sorts of interpretations.  It could be a classic author (like Woodiwiss, Deveraux, Nora, JAKrentz....) to a book that's part of a classic series (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Dark Hunters, the Cynsters....), to a classic theme/trope (Beauty and the Beast, friends-to-lovers, road romance....).  However remember, the themes are totally and completely optional.  Maybe there's nothing in your TBR that fits, or maybe you're not in the mood to twist this theme around your head.  Hey, that's totally cool! The themes aren't important - it's the act of reading something, anything!, that has been lying neglected in your TBR pile.

Details about the challenge and a list of participants can be found here. 

A note that on July 17 I'll actually be in the middle of Librarians Day at the annual RWA conference (this year in Atlanta!).  I normally like to tweet out links so folks can follow along with the commentary that way, but alas?  That won't be happening on the 17th.  Maybe after the fact, during the following week, when I've had a chance to catch my breath and unpack.....

TBR Challenge 2013: Patrick Gallagher's Widow

The Book: Patrick Gallagher's Widow by Cheryl Reavis

The Particulars: Contemporary romance, Silhouette Special Edition #627, 1990, Out of Print, Not Available Digitally.

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?:  Reavis is one of those rare authors who has both historical and contemporary books in my keeper stash. This particular book won the RITA award in 1991 in the Best Long Contemporary Series Romance category, which besides the fact that I was glomming Reavis books in general, was another reason I added it to the ol' TBR.

The Review:  First, 1990 was 23 years ago.  Second, that depresses the hell out of me.  Third, going in I fully expected to find aspects of this story that hadn't aged well.  I mean, 23 years is a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.  So imagine my surprise to discover, outside of some fashion and music references, that this story holds up extremely well.  And it's pretty dang good even with all 23 years showing on that epic Old School cover.

Johnson Garth is the cop who caught the Patrick Gallagher case.  Gallagher, also a cop, died in the line of duty.  Garth caught the kid who shot him, and should be happy about that.  But he's not.  The whole thing was just too....tidy.  He also doesn't trust Hugh Gallagher, another cop, the grieving brother, whom Garth has a long, colorful history with.  Hugh doesn't want Garth bothering Patrick's widow, Jenna, and naturally Garth can't let that go.  So he starts sniffing around the widow Gallagher, hoping to ferret out the truth.  Instead, he ends up falling in love with her.

Really, that pretty well covers the basics.  It's a deceptively simple set-up for a story that is actually anything but.  Reavis has that ability that all really good category writers do - taking a simple enough sounding idea, acknowledging the word count restrictions in category, and yet having that ability to create rich, complex drama for her equally rich and well-drawn characters.  Not only did she outdo herself with Garth and Jenna, I'm pretty damn impressed that RWA (an organization folks like to throw stones at - a lot) awarded this book a RITA.  Reavis avoids the easy route, challenging her characters and her readers.  Yeah, this is 23 years old now, but it's still a remarkably fresh story in a lot of ways.

For one thing? Jenna loved her husband.  They were having some issues at the time of his death, but she loved him.  Garth grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, loved a girl from the neighborhood, and she died a violent death.  He loved her, and I loved that the author doesn't make excuses for that.  She acknowledges the fact that it is OK for her hero and heroine to have loved other people before.  That doesn't mean they'll be incapable of finding love again and the author knows her readers are smart enough to know this.  She doesn't tear down Patrick or Mary.  They were who they were, they were loved, they died tragically.  And it's OK that the two people most affected by their deaths would find each other and move on.

I loved that Jenna knows the realities of being a cop's wife and that she's bristling with the responsibilities of her widowhood and the perceptions that go with it.  Her husband died a hero, which means everyone from her in-laws to the general public wants a piece of her.  Everyone has expectations on how, as a widow, she should behave and what she should feel.  There have been countless widows in Romance Novel Land over the years, but very few books that address what it is to actually BE a widow.  Reavis addresses it here.  In a 23 year old book.

The romance is solid and heart-wrenching, and the mystery of Patrick Gallagher's death is suitably drawn and compelling.  However, that's not to say this book doesn't have issues.  It's set in New York City, but there were times that the city is portrayed in a vague sort of way.  Also, a few of the secondary characters (Garth's mother, a surrogate father figure, an old-beyond-his-years child at the Catholic school where Jenna is a substitute teacher....) are more caricatures than anything else.  Luckily they're mostly relegated to background noise, and the real meat-and-potatoes secondary characters (Garth's new partner for example) are better drawn.

I also wasn't entirely sure how it was that Jenna and Garth fell in love.  I got the lust part OK.  Jenna is lonely (and horny!), and despite loving her husband, isn't ready to commit herself to perpetual widowhood.  Garth is haunted and wounded, with a protective streak a mile wide.  I get that they're hot for each other, just not sure what makes them fall in love with each other outside of horny loneliness and protective instincts.  But you know what?  They say all the right things, and struggle with all the emotional baggage that people like this should be struggling with, and better still?  The author doesn't make the ending easy.  They don't blissfully fall into bed proclaiming their undying love once the Bad Guys are caught.  They struggle with what they want and how they feel for each other - and I appreciated that.

It's not my favorite of Reavis' work, and I don't think it will make my keeper shelf, but it's still a really good book - even with the added years.  Some contemporary stories aren't meant to stand the test of time.  This is one that does.  Only a few minor tweaks and this is a story that could have leapt from the author's computer keyboard just last week.  It looks like it's fairly easy to come by used, but here's hoping Harlequin and Reavis can get on the same page and make this one part of the digitized "Harlequin Treasury" program.  This is a book that deserves to see the light of day again.

Final Grade = B+

Reminder: TBR Challenge For June

For those of you participating in the 2013 TBR Challenge, this is a reminder that your "commentary" is due on Wednesday, June 19.

The theme this month is Lovely RITA.  Reading a past winner or past nominee of RWA's RITA Award.  Past winners can be found on the RWA website.  Past nominees?  I haven't found a good source outside of Googling (example: "rita nominees 2007).  Or, you know, you can always go with one of this year's nominees.  However remember, the themes are totally and completely optional.  Maybe there's nothing in your TBR that fits, or maybe you think awards are the devil's playground.  Hey, that's totally cool! The themes aren't important - it's the act of reading something, anything!, that has been lying neglected in your TBR pile.

Hey, we're halfway through the year, which means halfway through the challenge!  Details and more information can be found here.  You'll also find a list of the current participants, should you wish to follow along.

TBR Challenge 2013: True Love At The End Of A Gun Barrel

The Book: The Drifter by Susan Wiggs

The Particulars:  American-set historical romance, 1998, Mira, currently out of print, but reprint scheduled for September 24, 2013.  Available digitally.

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?:  At one point I glommed all of Susan Wiggs' historical romances.  Given that her backlist was fairly healthy at that time (the early aughts), I've still got several of her books lying around in the TBR.

The Review:  Past reactions to the Wiggs' historicals that I have read have ranged from Meh, It Was OK to OMG I Want To Have This Books' Babies!  While I'm not ready to take the Gone Fishin' sign off my ovaries, The Drifter is one of the really good ones.  As evidence by the fact that I stayed up until 1:00AM (when I had to work the next day) to plow through the second half of this story.

Now that her father is dead, Dr. Leah Mundy is the only doctor on tiny Whidbey Island off the coast of Washington state.  She's a good doctor, intelligent, no-nonsense, firmly believing in the creed of first-do-no-harm.  And while some of the townsfolk like to remind her that she has boobs and shouldn't being meddling around in medicine (hardly women's work!), she doesn't have a shortage of patients.  She also takes in borders at the large home that also doubles as her medical practice.  It's a quiet life, a lonely life - for Leah has no idea how to relate to others, having spent a lifetime trying to please a father who could not be pleased.  Then into her world comes Jackson Underhill, a man on the run from the law and now standing in her bedroom holding a gun on her.

Jackson has to kidnap Leah because his "wife", Carrie is very ill.  However it's his bad luck that Leah is not the sort of female to go along quietly, or willingly.  She agrees to look after Carrie, but she's not about to sail off in Jackson's leaky, decrepit boat - so she does what any resourceful female would do - she sabotages it.  Now, while Carrie is lying ill in one of Leah's guestrooms, Jackson finds himself stuck on the island in the home of a pretty lady doctor who has a way of getting under his skin.

When she's firing on all cylinders Wiggs has a way with creating interesting, sympathetic characters with intriguing personal baggage.  As readers, and knowing this is a romance novel, it's not much of a stretch to deduce that Carrie and Jackson aren't really married.  But they are bound together thanks to being raised in the same squalid Chicago orphanage.  Carrie has the kind of ethereal, delicate beauty that captivates men, and Jackson, having no experience with love or such beauty, becomes her protector from a very early age.  It's all he knows.  Protect Carrie, she needs protecting.  Her life eventually takes a more sordid turn when she's "adopted" by a pimp - but Jackson does eventually find her, rescue her, which means hightailing it out of Texas thanks to a dead body in Carrie's place of employment.  I'm convinced Jackson does not love Carrie so much as she's a symbol of all he's never had in his life.  He might think he loves her, but really what our boy has is a White Knight Complex.

Leah is a classic workaholic with vulnerability issues.  Her father, besides being a distant, uncaring asshole - was also not a good doctor.  Essentially he was a quack, and as a child Leah found herself hopscotching from one town to the next until finally they permanently landed on the island.  She's smart and a good doctor, but she doesn't have the easiest time of soft-peddling around people.  She's brusque, efficient, and never quite mastered the technique of "catching more flies with honey."  I also loved the historical tidbits Wiggs included about Leah's profession, and that she had our heroine do research (most notably, on addiction) when she was stymied by a diagnosis she wasn't all that knowledgeable about.

This is a good, solid read, but not without issues.  Carrie is the biggest fly in the ointment, insomuch as how her existence effects Jackson.  I was fine with Carrie herself as a character, but Jackson, after years of protecting her and feeling obligated to her (for whatever reason) - seems to dump those notions fairly quickly and easily towards the climactic finish.  I also felt like some of the secondary characters could have been disregarded entirely (most of Leah's borders) and the story would have been better served if the author had instead focused more attention on the lawman chasing after Jackson and the young medical student back east that Leah corresponds with.

But quibbles aside, I still really enjoyed this story and it's well worth a look (I think) for folks who like their historical romances with some American flavor.  It was a quick, delicious read I inhaled in two sittings.  Time well spent.

Final Grade = B

Reminder: TBR Challenge For May

For those of you participating in the 2013 TBR Challenge, this is a reminder that your "commentary" is due on Wednesday, May 15.

The theme this month is More Than One.  Picking up a book by an author who has more than one book in your TBR pile.  However remember, the themes are totally and completely optional.  Maybe you feel like reading a debut book by an author who hasn't published a second book yet?  Or maybe you're not insane like the rest of us and don't collect whole backlists.  Hey, that's totally cool!  The themes aren't important - it's the act of reading something, anything!, that has been lying neglected in your TBR pile.

And hey, look at that - it's only May!  And it's certainly never too late to sign up for the challenge.  Details and more information can be found here.  You'll also find a list of the current participants, should you wish to follow along.

TBR Challenge 2013: Seducing The Duchess

The Book: Seducing The Duchess by Ashley March (Author is now apparently writing under the name Elise Rome)

The Particulars: Historical Romance, Signet, 2010, In Print

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?: According to my records, I picked up this debut novel at RWA 2011 (New York City, AKA Wendy's Librarian Of The Year year).  I also seem to recall meeting this author at that conference.  Possibly hanging out in the hotel bar one night?

The Review:  I have been in a reading slump, partly because I've read some books I haven't enjoyed and partly because I've read books that have bored me.  Neither bad or good, but flat.  Lifeless.  Which honestly?  Those books are worse for me than ones I dislike.  At least dislike is an emotion.  Indifference is just....depressing.  So when picking up a book for this month's TBR Challenge, I wanted something with some fire in it.  So yeah, I went with a book that promised to give me two characters in an adversarial relationship.  Make no mistake, this book has it's issues - but do I care?  No.  No, I do not.  This book actually got a reaction out of me.  Several in fact.  Good, bad, gasping, swooning from the angst, and it damn near ripped my heart out in parts.

The slump is dead!  Long live the slump!

Philip Burgess, Duke of Rutherford, has just kidnapped his wife out of a notorious gambling den.  Their marriage has been a disaster since the morning after their wedding night - which was when Philip told his wife that he only married her to get revenge against her traitorous brother.  This news was a major blow for Charlotte.  Philip wooed her, romanced her, claimed his love for her, and in turn she fell in love with him.  To have him tell her that it was all a lie?  Immediately abandon her for his mistress?  And to essentially ignore her when they are living in the same house for three, long years?  Yeah, Charlotte gets pissed and grows a spine.  She may love Philip, but she hates him more, and she'll do anything to get her freedom.  Even though divorce means scandal, there is nothing more than cold fish, unemotional Philip loathes more than a scandal.  So she puts on the full court press to horrify him as much as humanly possible - which essentially means acting the faithless whore.

The joke is on them both though.  Because while Philip may have wed her for revenge?  He's fallen in love with her.  And while Charlotte may want nothing more than to be free of her husband?  She can't stop loving him that easily.

What I liked about this story, I really liked.  I liked that in other plots of this ilk, the heroine would run off to the country, live in seclusion, and become a martyr who fills her days with charity work.  Not Charlotte.  Philip's betrayal so deeply wounded her that where other women would shrink back?  She fights, and she fights dirty.  She may have been an innocent country mouse when Philip married her, but at twenty-two she plays the game as well as he does.  Never let them see you sweat, and choose your words carefully to inflict maximum damage.  It's those words, the dialogue, the back-and-forth, that made this book so compulsively readable for me.  I couldn't get enough:

"If you do no release me at once, I vow that at the first opportunity I shall incapacitate you, and any hope you have of ever reproducing will be lost."  

Philip carefully set her away from him.  "I had forgotten how charming and pleasant you can be." 

"Only with you, dear husband.  Only with you."  She thrust out her arms.  "You may untie my wrists as well." 

"I don't suppose you would say please." 

"I don't suppose you really care that much for a son."

It's blissful to read exchanges like this, all the while realizing that Philip's sole reason for kidnapping his wife is because he loves her and wants to be with her.

Which isn't to say this book is perfect.  It's a story with a legion of issues.  For one thing, both of these characters are manipulative as hell.  They're not nice people, and frankly I'm not sure I should care that they get a happy ending.  The nicest thing I can say about them?  That they deserve each other.

Also, the time period of this book is rather hazy.  It's 19th century England, uh in some year.  Clues are short in coming, but my guess would be early-to-mid Victorian.  Also, I could have used some more background when it came to the romance.  It's easy to understand how Charlotte would fall in love with Philip, a charming Duke putting on the full-court-press with a young woman in her late teens.  But Philip falling in love with Charlotte?  That I'm not so sure about.  Why?  How?  How does he go from marrying her for revenge, living in the same house with her for three years, basically ignoring her, to realizing it's love?  And speaking of that revenge thing?  That needed help.  Mostly because Ethan betrays Philip by attempting to elope with the woman Philip was supposed to marry.  Yet the elopement never happens, the woman marries someone else, and Ethan is disowned.  None of this is delved into in any depth, and dagnabit, it's a major tease!  I wanted more!  More angst!  More anguish!  More, more, more!  Given that this book only clocks in at 300 pages?  Yeah, why not give readers 50 more pages and delve into some of this back-story a bit?  It certainly would have made for a more well-rounded story.

And yet?  I still loved this book.  All these issues keep me from giving it an A, but dang, the angst!  The anguish!  It damn near ripped my heart out in places (I defy anyone to read Chapter 10 and not get choked up.  Seriously).  Was it perfect?  No.  Was it the best romance novel I've ever read?  No.  But it found me at the right time.  It reminded me of why I like to read this genre.  It made me feel.  It triggered an actual, viable emotional response in me.  Thank you sweet baby Jesus, I wasn't bored!  No, it's not perfect and yes, I can totally see how other readers would strongly dislike this book and think I've finally gone off my nut.  But again, ask me if I care.  The answer?  Yeah, I don't.

Final Grade = B+

TBR Challenge 2013: Reunited And It Feels So Complicated

The Book:  A Marriage-Minded Man by Karen Templeton

The Particulars:  Contemporary romance, Book three in series, Silhouette Special Edition #1994, 2009, Out of print, Available digitally

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?:  Templeton is an autobuy for me, plus I enjoyed the first two books in this series.

The Review:  I like fairy tale escapism as much as the next girl, but what really flips my switch are romances about "normal" people.  This is the type of romance that Karen Templeton excels in writing.  She gives readers characters who feel authentic, who feel like they really could exist in our real lives.  Dukes, Princes, Billionaire Tycoons - all well and good.  But I like the idea of a carpenter/contractor and a local Realtor falling in love.  Especially when they're reunited high school sweethearts and they both have a host of believable "real life" baggage blocking their path to happy-ever-after.

Tess Montoya's marriage went down in flames.  While her husband was serving in Iraq, she was keeping the home fires burning - although it turns out not hot enough.  He cheated, she kicked him to the curb, and now she's a single mother with two small children.  The problem arises from the fact that she's bottled up her emotions, not wanting to "dump" her troubles on her friends....which is how she ends up in Eli Garrett's bed.  He tries to resist, but hell - a grown man who hasn't gotten laid in a while can only resist so much.  And Tess Montoya?  The girl who tied him up in knots when they dated in high school?  Eli knows he's traipsing right through the middle of a mine field - but he just can't say no.

There's a lot of things standing in the way of our reunited couple making an honest go at it.  Tess doesn't trust easily, and Eli broke her heart once before.  Couple this with a distant, indifferent mother, a father who abandoned them both, and oh yeah - her husband cheating on her.  This is a woman who has had zero luck in the twu wuv department.  For his part, Eli has a reputation (some of it earned, most of it not) that he has to live down and he's got a Deep Dark Secret Past Hurt he's nursing.  But he looks at Tess, looks at her kids, and.....oh man, he's sunk.

This is a nice, pleasant story about nice, pleasant people.  Tess does have her heels dug in pretty hard, but it's easy to understand why.  Eli is a nice guy who is struggling to find a why to reach out to Tess after he's made past mistakes where she is concerned.  The author does a nice job of creating a interesting, vibrant, New Mexico small town, filled with the required series secondary characters who add just enough to this story without being annoying intrusions.

My quibbles with this story are mostly of my own marking.  I've read the first two books in this series, back when they were first released.  So I'm not only behind, but my memory was a little hazy on some series details.  I mean, this is the first book in the series I haven't read yet - and it came out almost four years ago!  The author does get around to giving us the back-story on Tess and Eli, but she takes a few chapters to get around to it.  It takes a while for the author to get all the baggage "out there" - and I think if I had read this book back in 2009 (when I should have!) - I would have been more patient for her to get to the meat and potatoes of the angst portion of the story.

Still, if that's all I'm quibbling about - that ain't much.  Of Templeton's work I've read thus far this isn't a favorite, but it's still a good solid read and it has lit a fire under me to finish reading this dang series already.  Now I just need to find books four, five and six.  Damn, I know they're lying around here somewhere.....

Final Grade = B

Reminder: TBR Challenge for March

For those of you participating in the 2013 TBR Challenge, this is a reminder that your "commentary" is due on Wednesday, March 20.

The theme this month is Series Catch-Up.  A book from a series that you are currently behind on.  Wowzers, I think we all have something (or a lot of somethings!) like that lying around in our TBRs, but in case not?  Remember, that the themes are totally and completely optional.  The themes aren't important - it's the act of reading something, anything!, that has been lying neglected in your TBR pile.

And hey, look at that - it's only March!  And it's certainly never too late to sign up for the challenge.  Details and more information can be found here.  You'll also find a list of the current participants, should you wish to follow along.

TBR Challenge 2013: When Grown-Ups Fall In Love

The Book: Promoted: to Wife and Mother by Jessica Hart

The Particulars: Contemporary romance, Harlequin Romance, 2008, Out of Print, Available Digitally

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?:  After reading and enjoying some other Jessica Hart book I reviewed (We'll Always Have Paris?), Janet picked up this book as a follow-up read, really enjoyed it, and then sent it on to me to share the wealth.  Janet is officially my favorite person for the next few days.  The rest of y'all need to stand in line.

The Review:  OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG, this was such a good book.  SQUEEEEEEEEEEEE!  Such a good book!  I even got choked up at one point.  Seriously, SUCH a good book!

Ahem.  Where was I?  Oh yes.....

Perdita James is at one of those uselessly boring "leadership seminars" because the guy who just bought the company she works for thinks it will be "good" for the employees.  All she can think about it is how it's a massive waste of her time (girlfriend, I totally feel you).  Now she's sitting off in a corner by herself because after some stupidly pointless personality quiz she finds out she's a peacock.  A peacock!  Not a dolphin or an owl like everybody else.  No, a peacock!  But turns out she's not alone because up walks a fairly handsome man, although not in a classical sort of way.  No, he's not a peacock, he's the only panther in the room.  They get to talking, Perdita's mouth gets away from her, and before you can say insert foot - she finds out he's Edward Merrick.  Ed Merrick, her new boss.  Oopsie daisy!

What follows is an attraction that neither can explain but both try to deny because there are "complications" in their lives.  Ed is a widower with three teenage children and he has just uprooted his family from lively London to the staid country-like existence of Ellsborough - which you can imagine the teenagers are just thrilled about! /end sarcasm.  Perdita moved back to her hometown after her father passed away unexpectedly and her mother's health started taking a shocking turn toward dementia.  She also is just getting over a spectacularly failed relationship with a man she deeply loved - a man who was a single father and whose responsibilities to his family constantly left Perdita out in the cold.

There is so much I liked about this book, and so many subtle risks that the author takes, that I'm probably not going to do it justice in this review.  In most other books, Perdita would be a villain.  She's head-strong, driven, has "sharp-edges," organized and always stylishly put together.  In contrast, Ed's deceased wife (whom he loved deeply) was gentle, kind, and sacrificing, with a classic beauty that meant she didn't have to try too hard.  Perdita is nothing like his wife, and at first Ed isn't all that sure he likes her even if he is drawn to her.  It's hard to not be drawn to Perdita - she's the kind of woman that people notice when she walks into a bar.

Naturally, as self-assured as Perdita is, she has her hidden vulnerabilities.  Her last relationship really did a number on her, and then there is her mother, who was prickly at the best of times, and now with her health declining she's become a real challenge.  There's a moment in the latter half of the story, where Perdita is taking care of her mother, a small household crisis occurs, and she's so totally overwhelmed that I got choked up for her.  She's a 40-year-old woman who is overwhelmed and alone - with no one to help her share her burden.  She's also resigned herself to the fact that she's more than likely going to be alone for the rest of her life, because how many men in her age bracket have time for a relationship?  And if they do?  They're probably not great relationship material.

What drives this story forward is how is the author going to get these two people together when they both have so much already on their individual plates.  With Ed's kids and Perdita's mother, plus their full-time jobs - will they find a way to a happy ending?  Of course, this being a Harlequin Romance, we know they do.  That said, while I didn't find this ending abrupt, it's certainly not a Sunshine Happy Puppy Dogs Kitty Cats Rainbow sort of ending.  Oh, our couple gets together, but realistically we know that their relationship together is going to be a work in progress.  It just is.  There's too much "real life" stuff floating in their orbit.  So don't expect Happy Happy Skipping In A Meadow ending.  Expect a We Love Each Other Need To Be Together We'll Figure It All Out With Understanding And Compromise ending.  Which you know, is how life and relationships really are.  The best part?  I have no doubt that while Perdita will do her fair share of compromising, so will Ed.  One of those magical stories where I close the book, sigh deeply, and truly feel that these two people are on the very same page.  Together.

Final Grade = A

Reminder: TBR Challenge For February

For those of you participating in the 2013 TBR Challenge, this is a reminder that your "commentary" is due on Wednesday, February 20.

The theme this month is Recommended Read.  A book that landed in your TBR because it was recommended to you by somebody.  Wowzers, I think we all have something (or a lot of somethings!) like that lying around in our TBRs, but in case not?  Remember, that the themes are totally and completely optional.  The themes aren't important - it's the act of reading something, anything!, that has been lying neglected in your TBR pile.

And hey, look at that - it's only February!  And it's certainly never too late to sign up for the challenge.  Details and more information can be found here.  You'll also find a list of the current participants, should you wish to follow along.

TBR Challenge 2013: The Things That Make Me Give In

The Book: The Things That Make Me Give In by Charlotte Stein

The Particulars: Erotica single author anthology, Black Lace, 2010, In Print

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?: I was so blown away by Stein's short story in the multi-author anthology Obsessed: Erotic Romance For Women that I immediately went looking for more of her work.  This anthology was already on my wish list, so I bought it brand-spankin'-new.

The Review:  After reading and loving Restraint last November, I've been itching to go on a Stein binge - but alas, pesky review books waiting for me.  Luckily this anthology worked well with this month's TBR Challenge theme, so I could kill two birds as it were.  Read more Stein and complete my January challenge to read "short."  This anthology features 15 short stories that read like vignettes.  Yeah, if you're looking for deep character development, it just doesn't happen here.  Stein introduces her characters via their sexual identities, and given the short word count on all of these stories that's essentially as far as the reader gets to know them.  This sort of thing works for me as an erotica reader, although admittedly I can understand how it won't for others.  Here's a brief rundown of what's featured between the covers....

Because I Made You So features a female college student and a male professor who teaches a course on Romantic Literature.  She starts spinning fantasies, jotting down a purple-prose-bodice-ripper style story featuring herself and her professor as the "hero."  And naturally, she ends up turning it in to fulfill a class assignment.  Gee, wonder what will happen next?  A really sexy story that nicely tweaks old school romance conventions.

Spying is a voyeuristic story featuring a heroine who ends up spying on the hero in the building next door.  They enter into a "relationship" of sorts, putting on shows for one another.  A solid voyeuristic story, but albeit, kinda sad.  I felt sorry for these two people at the end.  They seemed incapable of moving forward.  Melancholy erotica.

Lessons is a role reversal story featuring a smarty-smart heroine tutoring two big dumb jocks.  I can see some readers having issues with the heroine "using" the two guys, and essentially not thinking very highly of them - but I liked it.  I like when erotica explores role reversals, and allows the heroines to be "just as bad" as the heroes.  On that score, this one works.

Yes/ is the first story in a duet featuring a married couple.  As per an agreement, the heroine gets a day where she's calling the shots.  Whatever she wants to do in bed?  Yeah, the hero does it.  Spicy, sexy, featuring a dominant heroine who is dominant without being tricked out in latex and leather.

Dirty Disgusting You features an unsatisfied married woman who enters into an affair with a friend of her hubby's.  Hubby ain't interested in her, BFF very much is - and the two men couldn't be more opposite from each other.  The woman screwing around with a guy who is "beneath" her is a theme Stein has explored before, and this story manages to be funny, sexy and sad all at the same time.  It also features this epic line, where the heroine describes her life while "dropping off files" to the BFF as a favor to hubby (which is how the affair begins): "I often drop things off.  This is my life - files, dry cleaning, my dignity."

Her Father Disapproves features a heroine hot for one of her father's associates, and now that they're all at Daddy's country house together?  Yeah, she's going to take the bull by the horns.  This is another story that is sexy and funny (she's pushing, he's resisting), although the ending strained a little for me.

For You is a really interesting, brave story that as a nurse's daughter I found really captivating.  Heroine is a nurse.  Hero is a patient, essentially near death hoping his number is called for a transplant.  He starts telling her naughty stories, and while she knows she shouldn't - she can't help listening.  Another story that was sweet and sad at the same time.  Might be my favorite in the anthology.

Just Be Good features a porn plot but is still interesting in the aspect that the heroine is in the driver's seat.  Starla is probably late teens and likes to get caught smoking pot by the local law.  There's a new sheriff in town that she's really hoping will punish her - uh, repeatedly.  The fly in the ointment?  The sheriff is a wee bit Beta and needs some coaxing....

Phoned In features a couple who have a "phone friendship," until one day when the heroine starts reading the hero naughty stories she's writing for a magazine.  A bit like the earlier Spying story in the respect that this one is kind of sad.  It features two people who seem afraid or incapable of having a tangible "in person" relationship.  However, unlike Spying, this one ended on a more hopeful note for me.

/Yes finds our married couple back in action, this time with the hero calling the shots.  His plan is to get the heroine really, really worked up.  A nice bookend story that compliments the couples' earlier appearance.

Sometime Soon is another story that is borderline sad.  "Plain" heroine gets her rocks off with a "grease monkey" mechanic.  She likes the whole use-me-baby-dirty-girl thing, and he's more than happy to oblige.  Again we have a heroine really going after what she wants, and taking control of her fantasies and sexuality.  It's the ending here.....it gives me pause.  It makes me worry that maybe she has "issues."

Different On The Inside is about a heroine who hangs out with a yuppie sort of crowd but doesn't really fit in.  It's while she's away with "the group" for a weekend that she has encounter with the hero, a slightly awkward geeky sort who totally has her pegged.  Lucky for them that someone in the group suggests a rousing game of hide and seek. 

All Ways is by far the most romantic story in the bunch.  Former military hero comes home damaged goods and reunites with the heroine, who was a girl he messed around with slash dated in high school.  Sexy, yet tender.  Also, it's very sweet in parts.  Could easily see a story of this nature being developed into a full-length erotic romance.

Toby Hood Tastes Candy was the weirdest story in the bunch, and probably my least favorite.  Hero is going to his grandmother's house when his car breaks down.  He encounters the heroine in the woods, and then later....in grandma's bed.  I suspect the author was shooting for Twisted Fairy Tale, but it just was a little too odd for me.

The Things That Make Me Give In is a meditation on the part of the narrator, looking back at past lover's and recalling what it was about each of them that made her "give in."  That moment when she knew, "Yes, I'm going to have sex with you."  Very good writing, but yes - very much a meditation.  There's not a lot of meat and potatoes to this particular story, but it does an excellent job of exploring one woman's sexual past.

A lot of folks who don't read erotica often say (incorrectly) that it's nothing more than sex.  It's not a "real story" - it's smut on the page.  In this instance, yes all of Stein's stories are very heavy on the sex, but that's pretty much the point.  It's about exploring sexual identity and fantasy.  It's about women who, even if they might be playing a submissive role in some cases, are "in charge" of their sexuality.  Every woman in this anthology is calling the shots, in some form or another.  Which at the end of the day?  Is pretty much why I read erotica.  It flips a feminist switch for me.  I also loved that Stein managed to convey many different moods here - funny, sexy, sad, sweet, it's all over the map.  While my enjoyment level for each story varied anywhere from "OK" (C) to really, really good (B+) - as a whole this anthology was extremely well done, well thought out, interesting and challenging.  Damn, Stein is talented.

Final Grade = B

Reminder: TBR Challenge For January

For those of you participating in the 2013 TBR Challenge, this is a reminder that your "commentary" is due on Wednesday, January 16.

The theme this month is We Love Short Shorts! (Short stories, novellas, or category romance).  The idea is to ease ourselves into this yearly challenge by tackling a small, bite-size read.  However, remember, that the themes are totally and completely optional.  If you are one of those readers that loathes "reading short" and every book in your TBR is at least 300+ pages long?  Hey, no problem!  The themes aren't important - it's the act of reading something, anything!, that has been lying neglected in your TBR pile.

And hey, look at that - it's only January!  And it's certainly never too late to sign up for the challenge.  Details and more information can be found here.  You'll also find a list of the current participants, should you wish to follow along.

Come One, Come All: TBR Challenge 2013!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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