Looking Back: Wendy's Recap Of 2014 TBR Challenge

The TBR Challenge was recently called a "Romanceland institution," which tickled me no end.  It was originally started by Angela James (these days the Editorial Director at Carina Press) and was hosted for a number of years by Keishon, who has one of the best crime fiction blogs around.  As Keishon's interests and blogging evolved, I asked to take over hosting duties, which I did in 2011 (uh, I think). 

Per tradition, we have themes every month.  I tell participants that themes are "optional," but as the host, I try to adhere to them.  Which is usually more than easy to do since I have a TBR Pile that can be seen from space. 

Title links will take you to full reviews.

January - We Love Short Shorts! - Baring It All by Megan Frampton - Grade = B+

• I've known Megan a long time, and this was my first read by her.  This short, sexy novella hit the spot and I loved Frampton's "voice."  Looking forward to reading more of her work.

February - Series Catch-Up - His Best Friend's Baby by Molly O'Keefe - Grade = B-

• A compelling read by O'Keefe and OMG, great conflict.  Unfortunately said conflict tended to overshadow the romance.  But, still, I liked this quite a bit.

March - New-To-You Author - Natural Law by Joey W. Hill - Grade = B-

• Ground-breaking erotic romance (says me), even though it wasn't the book I wanted it to be.  Still, given it's 2004 publication date, color me impressed.  It also made me sad that BDSM in erotic romance is so frickin' "one note."  Hill did some things differently here, back in 2004.  Moar different!!1!1!!! says Wendy.

April - Contemporary - How to Misbehave by Ruthie Knox - Grade = B+

• A picture perfect novella.  A great romance that works with the word count.  And when was the last time you read a "meet cute" that involved a tornado?

May - More Than One - Badlands Bride by Cheryl St. John - Grade = B

• Classic St. John, a very nice romance.  All the more compelling because the blurb, on paper, should have annoyed the daylights out of me.  But the author totally makes it work.

June - Classic - Halfway to Heaven by Susan Wiggs - Grade = B

• A Pygmalion themed romance set against Gilded Age Washington D.C.  I really enjoyed this one a lot, notable since I normally stay away from political-themed fiction.

July - Lovely RITA - Always to Remember by Lorraine Heath - Grade = A

• The best book I read this year, not just for the Challenge.  Just....perfect.  Wonderful.  Amazing.  It's available in a digital version, go read it now.  Seriously.  It's amazing.

August - Luscious Love Scenes - Soloplay by Miranda Baker - Grade = B

• A romance about a repressed librarian who has never had The Big O.  Let me tell you how much this story should have annoyed me.  But it didn't!  I really liked it!  It was fun!  Oh  man, how I miss "fun" erotic romance.

September - Recommended Read - Baby Makes Three by Molly O'Keefe - Grade = B+

• Huh, I read two Molly O'Keefe books for the challenge.  Anyway, this is the first in the trilogy about a reunited, now divorced couple.  It's a real heartbreaker.  It's not perfect, but man - it blew the mercury out of the top of the Angst Meter.

October - Paranormal or Romantic suspense - She Walks the Line by Roz Denny Fox - Grade = D

• A Chinese heroine.  And that's the only thing memorable I can say about this story.  It's drowning in continuity series baggage and the hero's plot moppet twins were BEYOND pointless.  I should have DNF'ed this.

November - Historical - A Dream Defiant by Susanna Fraser - Grade = B

• I DNF'ed my original pick for this month, time was short, so had to go with a novella.  This was a short novella, in that I wish it had been longer, but it was a compelling read and I loved Fraser's "voice."  Will definitely read more by her.

December - Holiday - Mistletoe Marriage by Jessica Hart - Grade = B+

• Everything I love about a Jessica Hart category romance.  A great friends-to-lovers theme and a light touch by the author, even when angst does come into play.  Not my favorite by her, but definitely worth seeking out.

Sign-ups for the 2015 TBR Challenge are well underway!  You can learn more at the Information Page.  Please leave a comment on this post or over at the Information Page if you would like to participate.  It really is a lot of fun, and a good way to help cull down the piles of books.

TBR Challenge 2014: A Sunday Kind Of Love

The Book: Mistletoe Marriage by Jessica Hart

The Particulars: Contemporary romance, Harlequin Romance, 2005, Out of print, Available digitally

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?: It's 1) a Christmas book and 2) by Jessica Hart.  Of course it's in my TBR pile.

The Review: The romance genre, at this moment, is on a High-Angst Alert.  Heroes who are either Billionaire Alphaholes With Mommy Issues And Red Rooms of Pain or Emo Dudebros.  So it's easy to forget that sometimes romance novels can be nice.  About nice, normal people who find themselves in, sometimes, extraordinary circumstances.  Given my own current state of reading emo, I was past due for a Jessica Hart romance and lucky me, she published Mistletoe Marriage in 2005 (fitting nicely into this month's Holiday theme).

Sophie Beckwith thought she had met The One.  Nick is the stuff of fairy tales.  Exciting, passionate, she falls hook, line and sinker.  And then he meets her sister, Melissa.  Melissa who is amazingly beautiful and the sort of fragile creature that seems to kick up men's protective instincts.  Sophie sees the writing on the wall even as her heart is breaking.  She cuts Nick loose, he pursues her sister, and naturally Nick and Melissa get hitched.  Sophie is slow to get over the passionate connection she had with Nick and now that the happy couple has settled back in her hometown?  She only visits her parents when Nick and Melissa aren't around.  But now her mother has poured on the emotional guilt.  You will come home for your father's birthday.  You will be home for Christmas.  What Mom does not know?  That Nick once dated Sophie (their relationship was still new when he met her sister, hence he never met the parents as Sophie's beau).  Mom just thinks, "Oh Sophie broke up with that boy she was seeing who also happened to be named Nick."  I mean, Nick is a pretty common name.

Anyway, Sophie is reeling and goes to her BFF since childhood, Bram.  Once upon a time (10 years ago), Bram and Melissa were engaged.  He now owns the family farm, making a go of it, and still reeling a bit from his mother's sudden death.  He's alone on the farm and knows he needs help.  He also cares for Sophie.  They're not getting any younger, they are fond of each other, why don't they get married?  Sophie is, naturally, reluctant to agree.  She doesn't want to ruin Bram's chances of finding The One.  She cares too much for him to marry him simply out of friendship.  But before you know it?  Stuff happens and Bram and Sophie are officially engaged with Mom gunning for a Christmas wedding.  All while Sophie has to navigate the waters of seeing Nick and Melissa again, drunk in love.  Blergh.

Sophie is a heroine without an anchor.  Her life in London is falling apart (she realizes the city isn't for her plus her employer is downsizing) and she wants to come back home to the country.  But Nick is in the country and Sophie cannot see spending her days as the lonely spinster pining for a man she cannot have.  She knows she can make a great farmer's wife, and she wants that life - but with Bram?  How is that fair to him?  Of course what neither of them realize is how much they really care for each other.  Yes, they are friends.  But the love is there as well - they just need to recognize it. 

This is a "quiet romance."  Yes, there's a bit of jealousy flying around and yes the angst quotient concerning Nick ramps things up a bit.  But Bram and Sophie together feels right from the first page to the last.  These two go together like peanut butter and jelly or Bogey and Bacall.  It's a classic friends-to-lovers set-up that hits all the right notes.

What is great here is that the author somehow manages to not make Melissa completely despicable.  She's clueless and careless, but not evil.  Nick is, well more of an ass.  It's easy to see how Sophie fell for him as he's charming and exciting on the surface.  Also, their affair didn't last very long before he locked eyes on Melissa.  Had the relationship run a natural course?  She probably would have kicked him to the curb.  Melissa, however, has not.  He's a raging egotist, but Melissa is a different bird from Sophie.  Maybe those kids can make it work?  I was kind of hoping Nick would end up getting the snot kicked out of him by the end - but alas.  Not to be.

On Wendy's Jessica Hart Scale - this isn't my favorite by her so far, but it's good.  It's pushes all my romance trope buttons in just the right way (I adore friends-to-lovers stories! Squee!).  These are nice people who quietly come to realize that they love each other more deeply than mere friendship.  I inhaled it in one day, which at this moment in time seems like my very own Christmas miracle.

Final Grade = B+

TBR Challenge 2014: Digital Review: A Dream Defiant

The Book: A Dream Defiant by Susanna Fraser

The Particulars: Historical romance novella, digital only, Carina Press, 2013

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?:  It's a Regency with an interracial couple.  Not something you see everyday.  Also I *know* Susanna online (she's participated in the TBR Challenge in the past) and I wanted to try one of her books.  I purchased this at an RWA Literacy Signing - pretty sure Atlanta 2013.

The Review: Let's get this out of the way up front: this is a novella.  Skimming through other reviews for this book, most of the quibbles arise from the fact that it's short.  I'm not necessarily going to say that these other readers are wrong.  It is short, and this story has the bones to have been a full-length novel.  I can see that side of the coin, but this story mostly worked for me in novella form.  It also helped tremendously that after DNF'ing my first choice for this month's challenge, and therefore picking up a novella out of desperation to meet my own deadline, that I fell right into this story.  That magical, indefinable something when a author's "voice" just clicks for you as a reader.

Elijah Cameron is the son of former slaves, his parents having been set free by British forces during the American Revolution.  Raised in London, Elijah joins the army working his way up to rank of corporal and stalling out.  Frankly it's amazing he made it that far.  Yes he's British, but he's still a black man.  He's now working his way through France, the British forces having Napoleon on the run.  They've just won a battle and now it's time for the looting to begin!  It's during this looting that one of the men has an altercation with a French soldier over a ruby necklace.  As Sam lays dying in Elijah's arms, he makes the man swear to take the ruby necklace to his wife, Rose.

Rose has been following Sam's unit since they were dispatched to the Continent.  Their son (plot moppet ahoy!) also travels with them.  It's a hard life, but Rose isn't one for whining.  Her dream is to somehow save enough money to buy the local inn back home.  Rose loves to cook.  If only this blasted war would be over!  Elijah is a friend, having shared dinner with Sam and Rose on many occasions.  And now here he is to tell her her husband is dead, and that he wanted her to have this opulent ruby necklace.  Oh if only it were that simple!  Rose is now effectively single.  A widow in a camp full of men.  Certainly it's expected that she will have to remarry quickly - if only for her own safety and protection.  But the ruby necklace complicates the issue.  She not only needs a man to protect her physical person, but her new found monetary assets as well.

We all know what happens next, right?  Before you can say "marriage of convenience" - Elijah and Rose are hitched.  The fly in the ointment?  It's the early 19th century and they're an interracial couple - isn't that enough?

This story moves very quickly, and I can see it giving some readers whiplash.  Rose literally goes from married, to widowed, to remarried within the span of 48 hours.  She cared about her husband, and probably even loved him, although there naturally wasn't the all-consuming passion with him that she now shares with our hero.  I was able to roll with this extremely quick turnaround, mostly because of the historical factor.  That said, it's still awful fast.  If this had been a novel, it probably wouldn't be an issue for most readers.  They could still be married within 48 hours, but consummation and declarations of true feelings could be strung out over a few hundred pages.  With a novella?  You've got, like, a chapter.  Maybe two.

The crux of the conflict, I thought, was handled well.  That said, this is a novella - so once again, it's fast.  Especially once the war is over and our happy couple has to settle back to life in England.  Elijah and Rose are literally living in an area where people have never seen a black man.  Like, ever.  As in never ever.  And when he does encounter prejudice it's resolved in quick heart-to-heart explained away by grief.  This was actually the one misstep in the story for me.  In a novel it would have been fleshed out more, but there is no such luxury with a novella and it does come off as a bit too pat.

Which makes it sound like I didn't enjoy this story.  No, I really did.  Like I said, there was something about the authorial voice here that just zinged me the right way.  I've been in a bit of a reading slump lately, with a few DNF's and more than a few "meh, it was OK" reads.  This novella hit me in all the sweet spots.  And now I'm off to snap up more books by Fraser.  Once again proving how counter-productive the TBR Challenge can sometimes be.

Final Grade = B

TBR Challenge 2014: She Walks The Line

The Book: She Walks the Line by Roz Denny Fox

The Particulars: Contemporary romance, Harlequin SuperRomance #1254, 2005, Out of print, Available digitally, Book 5 in 6-part continuity series.

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?:  Chinese heroine and it's a SuperRomance.  That was all it took.

The Review: Books like this one always depress me.  The sort of book where you can see in between the lines that it could have been a very good story if not for this, that and the other.  There are the seeds of a good story here.  Truly.  Unfortunately it's buried and lost under a mountain of other "stuff" that doesn't work at all.

For one thing, I must have been so excited about a Chinese heroine back in the mid-2000s that I was asleep at the wheel and didn't realize this was part of a 6-author continuity series.  Now I've enjoyed some of Harlequin's continuity stories in the past, and they can stand alone.  Unfortunately this one does not.  The plot never lost me.  No, it was the inclusion of a bunch of characters whose sole purpose was to be window-dressing for the "series stuff."  These characters are there because the continuity dictates it (the series follows six women who go through the police academy together and are trying to crack the Old Boys Club), but none of them serve any purpose to the story at hand.  They're filler.  They're taking up space.  Get them off the page already.

Anyway, that rant out of the way, the story follows Mei Lu Ling who investigates white collar crime for the Houston PD.  Her father is Chinese-American and runs an import business.  For a time Mei worked at the family's Hong Kong office before she decided to join the academy, disappointing her father and horrifying her mother (who immigrated from China).  Why did Mei chuck family duty behind?  What drove her to join the force?  I'm not really sure.  It's never really addressed here other than she wanted to be her own woman - but why police work and not, say, a chef, librarian, teacher, advertising exec....well you get the idea.

She's paired up with Cullen Archer who is an insurance investigator on the hunt for some stolen Chinese artifacts that are rumored to be in Houston, of all places.  And these are serious artifacts - the kind of stuff that belongs in a museum.  There are two dead couriers and notes written in Chinese that he needs translated - enter Mei, who has been assigned to work with Cullen.

So this sounds like it could be good right?  Chinese heroine straddling old and new worlds, who hungers for her own life, chaffing against her parents' ideals.  Then you have the mystery of the missing artifacts while her father works in the import business and she's paired up with Cullen, a white dude, that her parents would most definitely not approve of.  So why exactly was this so boring?  A slog to get through?  The kind of book where I was skimming big ol' chunks.

For one thing, the author spends way too much time on "other stuff" from the continuity - and delaying Cullen and Mei from getting on page together.  Then there's the minor detail that Cullen has twins (a boy and a girl) who are visiting him while his party girl ex is off globe-trotting.  I read a lot of category - so I'm obviously fine with kids in romances.  Really.  But these twins were totally pointless.  A time suck.  Annoying.  And they served no great purpose to the story other than to annoy me at great lengths.  They're the sort of tots that come barging into Daddy's home office while he's meeting with Mei.  You know, those ideal moments when the author should be laying out some actual ground-work to the suspense.  When our couple should be spending time together discussing the case.  Instead you get the plot moppets barging in, the daughter whining about something or other and the son glowering because there's a vagina in Dad's office.

I never thought I'd say this - but this needed to be a lot shorter.  Oh, like say, a Harlequin Intrigue.  Strip away the plot moppets, dump the secondary characters that have NOTHING to do with this story, and just get heroine, hero, suspense, on page together.  Period.

All this being said, I was willing to concede that a lot of this (OK all of it) is personal preference on my part.  A sure sign of a C read for Wendy.  Then I got the ending.  The big reveal.

The word preposterous comes to mind.  Also the phrase "out of left field."  I think I might have actually said, "you've got to be kidding me?" out loud.  And there definitely was eye-rolling involved.  It just flat-out didn't work for me.  The irony being that it probably could have worked had the author spent more time developing the suspense (instead of saturating the word count with plot moppets and secondary characters walking through the story).  As is however, it was liking blaming the whole thing on Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster.  Disappointing to say the least.  A Chinese heroine in a category romance deserved better.

Final Grade = D

TBR Challenge 2014: Baby Makes Three

The Book: Baby Makes Three by Molly O’Keefe 

The Particulars: Contemporary romance, Harlequin SuperRomance #1460, 2007, Book 1 in The Mitchells of Riverview Inn trilogy, Out of Print, Available digitally

Why Was It In Wendy’s TBR?: After discovering the awesomeness of O’Keefe’s Supers I glommed her entire category backlist. I picked this one for the Recommended Read TBR Challenge theme because it’s a favorite of Miss Bates.

The Review:

Suddenly, the reality of her life hammered home like a nail in her coffin. She worked shifts at a chain restaurant and was hungover at three on a Friday afternoon. 

If O’Keefe has a “formula,” I would say it’s in her highly damaged, a half-step away from rock-bottom characters. This story is no different. That cliché “you always hurt the ones you love?” Yeah, this book. I wouldn’t be surprised if the author had that written on a post-it note and stuck to her computer monitor during the writing process.

Gabe Mitchell has built his dream on the Hudson River. An inn with breathtaking views, private cabins and a state-of-the-art kitchen. The problem is he cannot seem to find a chef and the few who have applied (and crashed and burned the interview process) have told him nobody would want to work in “the middle of nowhere” anyway. Gabe is desperate. He’s a few weeks from opening, has a society wedding booked at the last minute, and….no chef. Only a man this desperate would show up, hat in hand, on his ex-wife’s doorstep.

Alice is a great chef. A great chef working at a crappy chain restaurant after her marriage dies a slow, painful death and her own restaurant goes down in flames (figuratively, not literally). She’s living life at the bottom of the nearest bottle and is barely hanging on by her fingernails. Gabe showing up opens a lot of old wounds that haven’t even scabbed over yet. But he’s desperate and turns out so is she. So she agrees to bail him out, work at his inn for a couple of months, and then she’s gone. Or so she thinks.

What makes this story so incredibly gut-wrenching is that you’re reading about two people who still love each other but are in a serious pain. Gabe and Alice were passionately in love. Until reality hit. Reality that they both wanted family, wanted to build a life together, and two miscarriages (late ones) rocked their foundation. They’re both devastated, but instead of grieving together, they end up tearing each other apart. Now they’re back in close quarters out of desperation. Alice essentially a drunk. Gabe unable and unwilling to “deal” with anything. His idea of “dealing” is to sweep everything under the rug and pretend like it never happened.

It’s a hard, hard story. The kind of book that emotionally exhausts you while you’re reading it and the kind of book I tend to back-hand category naysayers with when they say “::sniff:: I don’t read escapist fantasy trash about sheikhs and princesses ::sniff::” 

Gah. Seriously. Shut-up.

If I have any quibbles about this story it’s that it’s so heavy that I’m not sure even a SuperRomance is enough to really flog out all the “issues.” Plus it reads very much as a trilogy. As a stand-alone it doesn’t entirely work. Yes, our couple ends up together, but there’s a development later in the story that leaves me with a worried pit at the bottom of my stomach (will it work out OK?). Also we have series baggage (Mommy Issues Ahoy!) that is blatantly left dangling at the end to feed the next two books in the trilogy.

Still, it’s a really good book. The sort of book that romance readers know exist in the genre, but naysayers don’t have a clue about since they’re too busy sneering at us about sheikhs, secret babies, Greek tycoons and/or Fifty Shades. There’s nothing in this story that I couldn’t see happening in “real life” – which made it all the more poignant.

Final Grade = B+

TBR Challenge 2014: Digital Review: Soloplay

The Book: Soloplay by Miranda Baker

The Particulars: Erotic romance, digital-only, book two in series, 2011, Samhain

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?:  When some authors "recommend" books I treat it like "white noise."  But then there are some authors who genuinely recommend books and I actually believe them.  Which is how this book landed in my digital TBR - it was recommended by Jill Sorenson.

The Review: Remember when erotic romance was fun?  Yeah, me too.  The last couple of steamy offerings I've read have featured protective, dominant possessive Alpha-hole "heroes."  Reading one story featuring such a character device is more than enough for me - try reading two in a row.  Yeah, I missed "fun" sex.  Seriously authors, sex is supposed to be fun.  And if it's not fun?  Your characters are doing it wrong.

Ahem.

Which brings me to this book.  Stay with me here folks, I'm well aware this plot description sounds like a hot mess rolled into a migraine from Hell, but trust me.

Alisa Mane is a frustrated librarian who has never had an orgasm.  Her latest disastrous attempt has the guy accusing her of being frigid and leaving in a huff.  Alisa is hurt, embarrassed and then gets really angry.  Why can't she "get there?"  So she decides to do what any good librarian would do - research.  There's an upscale, and discreet, sex toy shop not far from where she works.  She'll just go there, peruse the offerings, and see if she can solve her dilemma the old fashioned way - with something battery operated.

A gal who works at the shop, Crystal, helps Alisa start to find her groove thang.  Mores the pity that Crystal is a lesbian and Alisa likes men.  But never fear!  Crystal has an idea.  SoloPlay is looking to expand their line of quality toys and needs beta testers.  Alisa signs on and boy howdy!  She hasn't had this much fun in....well, ever.

Mark Winters owns SoloPlay and this new line of original products is his baby.  And SoloGirl (code name for Alisa) is the best product tester ever.  She picks nothing but winners.  Her critiques of the products are spot on.  Which means now that Mark wants to test his DoublePlay products?  He wants her to sign on.  But for that - he needs to find her and her partner.  The fly in the ointment being she's not all that happy to be found and she has no partner.  Well, until she propositions him....

What I enjoyed so much about this story is that Alisa doesn't behave like countless erotic romance heroines who have come (ha!) before her.  When her ex accuses her of being frigid, she doesn't take his word as gospel.  Oh sure, she knows something isn't right - but she doesn't automatically jump to the conclusion that she's "broken."  She goes about fixing herself and she has wonderful orgasms prior to meeting Mark in the flesh.

Can I get an amen!

The crux of the conflict is part ethics, part product testing.  Mark finding his best beta tester and then agreeing to test products with her should be all sorts of squirky, but somehow manages not to be.  Then there's the issue that as Mark and Alisa are falling for each other, they both think the other one is only there for SoloPlay, the money, the free sex toys, etc.  Once the testing is done they both have to take the risk, take a leap of faith, and really talk to each other.  To share parts of themselves that go beyond getting naked and kinky with all sorts of party favors.

This is a perfect example of when a story finds you at just the right time.  Yes, the plot sounds silly.  Yes, the sexually frustrated librarian heroine who has never had The Big O should get on my last hot nerve.  Yes, the ethical and business issues should have pushed me right over the edge.  And yet?  No, no, and no they didn't.  This was a quick, fun read that reminded me that not all erotic romance is over the top angst featuring idiot a-hole heroes who fancy themselves as Doms while looking to pull the wool over some silly 20-something-girl's eyes by selling her a You're-A-Sub bill of goods.

Download SoloPlay now and tag it "break glass in case of emergency."

Final Grade = B

TBR Challenge 2014: Always To Remember

Original Jove Cover - Blah

The Book: Always to Remember by Lorraine Heath

The Particulars: Historical romance, Jove, 1996, Out of Print, Available Digitally (reissued by Harpercollins)

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?:  This used to be the Holy Grail for western historical romance fans and like all HG's, you had to cough up a kidney and/or sell an ovary to get your hands on a used copy.  I eventually did - I think scoring it via an online romance bud.  In 1997 this won the RITA for Best Short Historical.  My print copy clocks in at 323 pages while the Harpercollins digital edition claims to be only 100 pages (which makes no sense - but there you have it.)

The Review:  Hype is a dangerous thing.  The vast majority of the time when a book is hyped it's pretty much doomed to be a meh read for me.  But this book?  This book.  People, I just can't even! This is an instance where the hype sells the book short.  It's that good.  Drop everything, call in sick to work, tell the kids someone better be on fire before they bother you - this is squee'worthy awesome-sauce every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Cedar Grove, Texas gave it's young men to the Confederacy.  The only men left in town are old and bitter or young and bitter (having been too young to join the war and fight for the Glorious Cause).  Meg Warner gave up more than most.  Three brothers and her husband.  Gone.  Killed at Gettysburg.  Buried in a mass grave.  As a constant reminder to all that she and the town has lost?  The coward Clayton Holland.  He grew up with their sons and husbands but instead of standing by them, of going off to war with them, he refused to pick up a rifle.  He refused to serve.  While their loved ones marched off to die Clayton Holland the coward was hauled off by Confederate soldiers, condemned to die, but somehow weaseled out of even doing that.  Now he's back in town, working his parents' farm with his three younger brothers.  Meg cannot abide this man.  Her hatred bleeds off the page and she wants Clay to suffer - to suffer more than she has and does.  His father used to cut stone, having done most of the tombstones in town.  Clay learned at his knee.  What better way to make him suffer than to have him carve a monument to all of the town's fallen heroes.  As he works on that monument, as he toils on it, the weight of his cowardice will crush his very soul.  Revenge complete.

Except, of course, it doesn't work that way.  Meg may have grown up with Clay but that doesn't mean she knows him.  He readily agrees to create the monument, and to exact her revenge, to take joy in every ounce of his suffering, she spends most of her free time supervising his progress.  But as naturally happens in romance novels?  The more time she spends with him, the more she sees how amazingly wrong she and the rest of the town are about Clay.  Turns out they don't know the first thing about courage and what it means to be truly brave.

Awesome book, two awful covers.

A large reason why I love historical westerns is that the sub genre plays nicely into universal themes that I find particularly compelling.  Heath explores the ideas of courage and bravery throughout this story.  Clay doesn't fight, but that makes him far from a coward.  Of course the town, swallowed by their grief, cannot see or understand that.  Clay is the quintessential western hero.  The man who stands up for what he believes in.  The man who does what is right, always.  It may not be popular.  It damn well could get him killed.  But he's not a man who will turn tail and run even when running would be the easiest thing in the world to do.

Meg is spiteful and hateful and you totally understand why.  She's young.  She's pretty.  And the war took everything from her.  She loved her husband.  She sent him off to war with tears in her eyes and fervent prayers for his return.  He never did, and neither did her three brothers.  The war nearly killed her spirit.  Her desire, her hatred, for Clay feeds her.  Slowly but surely that veil is lifted from her eyes, and then that's when the test of real courage comes into play.  Because she has fallen in love with a man whose reputation will surely drag her down like a sinking ship.  Does she have the courage, faith in both Clay and their love for each other to make a stand?

Heath has written some very good books.  Of her westerns in particular I've read books ranging from "It was OK" to "Keeper! Keeper! Keeper!"  But this book?  I know she's still writing.  I know she's probably got a lot of stories left in her.  But this book?  This book is a masterpiece.  It's a triumph.  I know authors who would start sacrificing virgins if the outcome was creating a story like this one.  It's that good.  I'm ordering all of you to read it right now.  Right.  Now.

Final Grade = A

TBR Challenge 2014: The Senator's Other Daughter

The Book: Halfway to Heaven by Susan Wiggs

The Particulars: Historical romance, Mira Books, 2001, Book 3 in Calhoun series, out of print but available digitally

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?:  When it comes to her historicals, Wiggs is an autobuy for me.  Also this story features a Pygmalion theme and I tend to love those.

The Review: Let me cut to the chase: I've had this book in my TBR for an embarrassingly long time.  As in, over ten years.  The reason for this is that while I tend to enjoy Wiggs' historicals, I'm not wild about politics in my romance novels.  And this particular story is set in Washington DC during the Gilded Age.  So languish it did until finally it jumped up to bite me for this month's "classic" theme.  Now, of course, I'm kicking myself for letting it sit so long.

Abigail Cabot is the intellectual, and awkward, daughter of influential Senator Franklin Cabot.  Abigail's passion is astronomy, and she combs the night skies looking for an undiscovered comet to name after her dead mother.  As intelligent as she is, she's not much for social graces.  She's at a society wedding making a muck of things when finally the object of her secret affection, the Vice President's son, asks her to dance.  Too bad he quickly gets his head turned by Helena Cabot, Abigail's breathtaking beautiful younger sister.

Witnessing Abigail's social awkwardness at the wedding is Jamie Calhoun, a newly elected Senator from Virginia.  Jamie is the stuff of dreams for hero-centric romance readers.  He's suave, charming, and slick in a non-sleazy sort of way.  Naturally he also has a reputation as a bit of a ladies' man.  Abigail wants nothing to do with him, but thanks to sister Helena, Calhoun soon finds himself living next door to the Cabot's.  This is nice turn of events for him since Jamie is working to block a railroad bill and needs Senator Cabot's influence in order to do so.  When he learns of Abigail's crush on the Vice President's son?  He figures helping her win the poor schmuck's heart, in turn fulfilling the Senator's desire to see his daughters advantageously married off, will get him some sway with the man.

We all know where this is going, right?  Pretty soon Abigail finds herself striking a bargain with Jamie, toss in a twist of Cyrano de Bergerac, and Jamie ends up getting his head turned by Abigail even before the My Fair Lady makeover comes into play.  For her part, while Abigail thinks she's in love with Lieutenant Boyd Butler III, she soon finds that when she should be thinking about him, she cannot seem to get Jamie out of her mind.

Even with Jamie's motivation being tied directly into politics, I will say that the politics do not overwhelm this story.  Plus, it helps tremendously that Wiggs sets her tale in the Gilded Age, a terribly romantic time period in American history (well, at least I think so at any rate).  There's a nice contrast, yet warm, sisterly relationship between Abigail and Helena, and Senator Cabot is stern and seemingly disapproving without being stereotypical Evil Romancelandia Father.

My only real quibble with the story is that Abigail's "relationship" with Boyd Butler III carries on for the vast majority of the story and I would have liked more pivotal scenes between her and Jamie to further illustrate why they fall in love with each other.  I "get" that they fall in love, but I guess I just wanted more - especially since Boyd's presence lingers on the page for a while.

This book is directly related to The Horsemaster's Daughter, and I vaguely recall that story now having read it eons ago (for the record, it was a keeper for me).  Wiggs makes this story stand alone well, but part of me wished that the earlier book was more fresh in my memory bank.  Oh well.  This is your fault for letting books languish for so long Wendy, and having a TBR that can be seen from space - with the naked eye.

Final Grade = B

TBR Challenge 2014: Badlands Bride

The Book: Badlands Bride by Cheryl St. John

The Particulars: Historical romance, Harlequin Historical, 1996, Out of print, available digitally

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?:  St. John is an autobuy for me.  I still have a few of her older backlist titles buried in the TBR, and this was one of them.

The Review:  I haven't read a St. John yet that I didn't like.  That being said, the plot description of this particular story sounds like an aneurysm just waiting to happen.  Besides the sheer, insurmountable volume of my TBR, that's probably the main reason why this story languished for so long.  I should have never had any doubt however.  Why?  Because I had forgotten what St. John does so well - and that's write characters who aren't prone to dramatics.

Hallie Wainwright wants two things in life: 1) to be a newspaper reporter and 2) for her father to take her serious.  Her father runs one of the many papers in Boston and she's desperate for him to see her as a vital part of the family business, much like her two brothers.  However they think Hallie is just a pest and decide to give her an assignment to keep her out of their hair.  Like many newspapers, they run ads.  Some of these ads are from men out west looking for brides.  So Hallie is dispatched to interview some of these potential brides and write a puff piece.  Low and behold, she does.  Then Hallie overhears her brothers talking about how the whole thing was just a ruse, and kind of a surprise that the piece was so well-received.  Shortly thereafter she learns that one of the brides, her main contact for the story, is breaking off her "engagement."  Feelings already bruised, Hallie decides to travel with the remaining brides to North Dakota and write a follow-up story.  Since the first piece was a hit, this one will probably be even bigger and then, just maybe, Daddy will open his eyes.  Naturally things don't go smoothly.  Their stagecoach gets robbed and Hallie ends up shooting one of the bandits.

Cooper DeWitt is white, but was raised by the Sioux.  With the tribe forced on to reservations, Cooper comes up with a plan.  He grabs up some land (it pays to be white) and starts a freight company.  Hauling freight means he can get supplies to the tribe, plus business is good.  Money fixes a lot of problems.  He advertises for a wife because of his sister-in-law's son.  When his Sioux brother died, it is tasked to Cooper to look after his wife and child.  Cooper realizes that for Yellow Eagle to have a life and help his people, he's going to have to learn to read and write.  He's going to have to play on the same field as the white man.  And for that?  He needs someone to teach the boy.  What he didn't expect was Hallie.  Not only did she shoot a bandit but she claims to be a reporter (of all things!) and isn't his intended bride!  Plus having been robbed, she has no money and no way to get back to Boston.  Whatever shall they do now?

What they do, of course, is enter into an arrangement.  She'll teach Yellow Eagle, help Cooper set up accounting on his business and in exchange he'll pay for her ticket back to Boston once the stage rolls back their way.  It's a pretty desolate part of North Dakota, which means Hallie's going to be there for a while.  Which, of course, means that these two will eventually fall in love.

The conflict has all the potential to be a hot mess.  Reporter heroines have a bad reputation in the genre, mostly because they are easily prone to too-stupid-to-live shenanigans.  Hallie rashly deciding to head west all in the name of a follow-up story in the hopes of finally getting Daddy's approval sounds really, really unpleasant.  However, it totally works here.  Why?  Because St. John makes me understand Hallie.  Yes, she makes a rash decision.  But you know what?  You understand why she does it.  She does it because she's a woman ahead of her time who keeps getting figuratively backhanded by the very people who should be her biggest supporters.  Plus it helps tremendously that she's not a drama queen.  Hallie is not one prone to theatrics, praise the Lord.

Cooper is a very interesting character and I felt the author handled his back story well.  I especially appreciated that she didn't travel down the "he was kidnapped!" plot thread.  Cooper went to live with the Sioux under other circumstances, which I found refreshing.  The main conflict for him is that Hallie is a "city girl" and North Dakota is a very harsh reality in comparison.  When he starts developing feelings for her, he wrestles with what this will mean.  He would never be happy in Boston and she could never be happy in the Badlands, could she?

The secondary characters add to the story and keep things rolling along.  This is a good solid western with believable conflict and no over-the-top shenanigans.  St. John writes about nice people who you want to live happily ever after.  They're good, solid folks.  Already in the mood for a western, I inhaled this in one day - making this a good, solid read.

Final Grade = B

TBR Challenge 2014: How To Misbehave

The Book: How To Misbehave by Ruthie Knox

The Particulars: Contemporary romance novella, 2013, Loveswept, Digital-only, Camelot series #1

What Was It In Wendy's TBR?:  I picked this up last year at the RWA Conference in Atlanta.  Mostly because I've never read Knox and everybody seems to lurve her books.

The Review: 

"Quit 'honeying' me.  I'm not your honey.  I'm a person, Tony, and I want to have sex with you.  Don't go thinking you're some kind of god just because you know I like you."

And that would be why I ended up liking this novella.  Certainly I had my quibbles (this is me we're talking about) but this was such an enjoyable story I want to drop everything and read ALL the Ruthie Knox I can get my hands on.  Which, I can't right now, but I'm still tempted.

Amber Clark has led a fairly sheltered life.  She grew up in a conservative, religious household in tiny Camelot, Ohio, attended a Christian college, and then came home to work as the director for the local community center.  That's how she comes into contact with Tony Mazzara, a building contractor who is doing some remodeling work at the center.  Tony, typically, leaves late which means Amber gets stuck waiting around for him to finish so she can lock up.  Which is how she finds herself at the center when the town's tornado sirens go off.  Now she and Tony are stuck in a dark basement together.  Gee, however will they pass the time?

Knox has essentially written a small-town contemporary that didn't set my teeth on edge, which I'm beginning to believe is no small feat.  I loved that Amber grew up in a religious household, and while having lost a hold of her faith, she's a good person who is somewhat innocent without being naive or brain-dead.  She's a girl who desperately wants a life, but has made a few missteps along the way.  Tony is the kind of guy who would inspire a saint to have naughty thoughts, and I loved how she flirted and bantered with him without coming off like some insipid ingenue I want to smack half to death.

Tony is all Alpha Male With A Tragic Past.  What I liked about him is that the author gives him some minor, realistic flaws.  I mean, just the goofy stuff that bothers us "normal" folks.  Things like, he doesn't like spiders and pitch-black-darkness tends to freak him out.  Certainly Amber's brand of sexy sweetness flips his switch (typical), and he does have an annoying tendency towards pet names ("bunny" and "honey" being the two favorites) - but he's Grade A Solid Blue Collar Hero, and really what's not to love about that?

There's plenty of angst to propel the emotional payoff forward, and while it would seem like these two characters have nothing in common, I'm left with the feeling that they're a good fit.  I did think there was a fair amount of Insta-Love going on here, but it's a minor quibble when I got sucked into the writing, enjoyed the characters so much, and got a bunch of delicious angst.

And now, once again, I'm off to get my hands on the rest of the series.  Another counterproductive TBR Challenge read.  Read one book, buy three more.  Which is a happy problem to have - although someone please tell me Knox gives me more brother Patrick Mazzara down the line.  Because....dayum.

Final Grade = B+

TBR Challenge 2014: Natural Law

The Book: Natural Law by Joey W. Hill

The Particulars: BDSM erotic romance, Ellora's Cave, 2004, In Print, Book two in a series but very easily stands-alone.

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?:  I've made no secret with how bored I am by BDSM erotic romance.  It's always the same thing over and over and over again.  Asshole "hero" who claims to be a Dom (but is just an asshole) schools an innocent ingenue-type who couldn't figure out why she was so dissatisfied with her boring little vanilla life until the Asshole told her she was a submissive.  Damn, it all makes so much sense now!  This book by Hill is often held out to people like me who want to read about a Domme heroine.  Not a Domme heroine who secretly wants to be a sub.  Not a Domme heroine who is a switch.  Not a Domme villain.  No, a Domme heroine.  So naturally when I got a gift card from my in-laws last Christmas, I bought this book.  Because, you know, what else would I buy with a gift card from my in-laws?

The Review:  Mackenzie "Mac" Nighthorse (seriously?) is a homicide detective.  He's also a submissive.  There's a killer on the loose in Tampa, who is trussing up her (yes, he's convinced it's a her) victims in various "humiliating" bondage scenarios.  Mac knows it's not humiliation though, and knows it's a Domme.  So he convinces his superior officer to send him undercover at The Zone, an exclusive BDSM club where Mac thinks his perp is trolling for victims.  A regular cop would get made in 2 seconds.  But Mac is a sub and knows the world.  He needs some help on the inside, someone who knows the scene, is friendly with a lot of members - and he lands on Violet Siemanski, a Mistress who has just completed her mentoring program and is stepping out on her own for the first time.  She scares the shit out of Mac, but not because she's a Domme.  Hardly.  No she scares the shit out of him because she wants all of him  - even all that messy emotional stuff he's been able to keep hidden from other Dommes, until her.  Until Violet.

I'm probably going to be too hard on the set-up here especially since a true Domme heroine is as rare as hen's teeth - but of course!  Of course Violet wouldn't be an "experienced" Domme.  Of course she's just stepping out on her own for the first time!  And of course Mac is a sub, but don't worry your pretty little heads romance readers - he's still a pit bull straining his lease.  He's only marginally housebroken.  He might be a sub, but it's OK!  He's still Alpha!  You know just like a "normal" romance hero!  You can like him even though he's a sub!  He's OK!  You're OK!  We're all OK!

/End Rant

So yeah, that kind of annoyed the crap out of me.  Yes Mac is a sub, but other than that?  He's like countless Alpha cop heroes that have come before him - and I'll be blunt - I found that a little disappointing.  OK, maybe a lot disappointing.....

That being said, even though that above scenario is littered with land mines, the author avoids taking this story down a path that would make Wendy Mad!  Wendy Smash!  Violet calls Mac on pretty much all of his bullshit.  She sees right through his charm.  She sees how he has used that charm to keep other Mistresses at arm's length.  And Violet knows that to make this relationship work the way she hopes it will?  Mac needs to be stripped down, dismantled, and put back together.  The trick will be getting him to let go.  To let go of everything.

I've been reading erotic romance for a lot of years and BDSM has never been a "favorite" trope for me.  Mostly because very (and I mean, very) few authors seem to get the dynamic right.  Yes, it's a fetish.  Yes, it's a lifestyle.  But you know what?  The BDSM relationship is built entirely around trust.  Hill is the first author I've read in a long time that really seemed to address that issue.  I felt like these characters were really "in" the scene - not just playing around in it like so many bored playboy billionaires and dissatisfied 20-year-old little girls.  Honestly, give the recent explosion of BDSM within the erotic romance market, it's stupefying to me that this book is now 10 years old.  I don't throw "ahead of its time" around all that much - but damn, this book was.  Hell, it's revolutionary now in 2014 - and Hill got this story published in 2004.  It's been a decade, so I think it's safe to lay down the gauntlet.  The next time someone asks my opinion on trailblazers in erotic romance?  Or perhaps they want a list of "classics?"  Yeah, this book.  Totally.  I have quibbles, make no mistake - but damn - 10 years ago!

As for those quibbles?  For one thing, the suspense angle could have been dispatched with entirely.  For 3/4 of the story the author isn't really addressing it - it's all about the relationship between Mac and Violet.  Hell, why not just write this like a traditional romantic story-arc?  Leave the serial killer at home?  There was more than enough on the page here, re: the romance, to make this story work.  As it was, it just felt a little too long.  And when we do get back to the serial killer?  None of that really worked for me, right down to the climactic finish where there are elements straight out of Cheesy Soap Opera 101.

But you know what?  Hill has written other books in this universe featuring characters that were mentioned in this story.  I'm positively intrigued by a few of them - which means once again the TBR Challenge is counterproductive.  I'm probably not going to read the entirety of the series, instead picking and choosing, but I will read more books by Hill.

Final Grade = B-

TBR Challenge 2014: His Best Friend's Baby

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Final Grade = B-

TBR Challenge 2014: Baring It All

Disclaimer: The author and I go way back.  Back before blogging became a "thing" and I was with The Romance Reader, she was a reviewer at All About Romance.  Over the years we've been friendly online, I'd see her at conferences etc.  So when she helped to concoct the idea that would eventually become Heroes & Heartbreakers (it was simply called "Project X" back in those development stages!), and she asked me to write a couple of columns for her to help pitch the concept?  I said, sure.  H&H took hold, I stayed on as a columnist, and Megan now edits the columns I submit.  So yes, we have a working relationship and I think she's the bee's knees.

The Book: Baring It All by Megan Frampton

The Particulars: Historical romance short story, 2013, Loveswept, digital only release

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?:  I picked it up at RWA 2013 in Atlanta.  Also, see above disclaimer.  I like Megan as a person, I thought maybe I should try reading some of her books.

The Review:

"Why did she have to fall in love with someone so smart?

Oh, that's right.  Because a stupid man just wouldn't do."

And that pretty well sums up what I liked about this story.  It's a quick, frothy concoction with some witty banter, equally witty internal monologues and some sexy shenanigans to spice up the proceedings. 

Lady Violet is betrothed to Lord Christian Jepstow, whom she has known since they were children.  She's, naturally, smitten as all get out - but the man doesn't seem to even notice she's a woman.  A troublesome bit of suspicion for Violet since they do plan to marry.  She'd prefer to have some passion in their marriage, instead of competing with his studies and various dead philosophers to gain his attention and affection.  What ever is a girl to do?  Well, take matters into her own hands of course!  Turns out her BFF and Christian's sister is unexpectedly called away and is unable to complete writing her newspaper column about women's fashion - the topic du jour being undergarments.  Violet proposes that they work on this endeavor together, and naturally the results = sexy times.

Enjoyment of this story hinges on a few things:

1) The reader has to be willing to go with the cotton candy, frothy tone of the tale the author lays out.  This, my friends, is about as far from angst as the Care Bears or My Little Pony.  I'm, generally speaking, an Angst Ho, but I loved the tone of this story and inhaled it in one sitting.

2) It's a short story, and by short story I mean short.  Similar in length to a Harlequin Historical Undone - so about 50 pages.  No sense in whining about it, it's a short story and it's not pretending to be anything else.  I think it works very well in this format and I didn't feel "cheated."  Hell, if anything, see #3....

3) This is, obvious from the first chapter, a short connected to the author's full-length release What Not To Bare, which just came out in October 2013.  I do think this short does what any decent short story connected to a series should do - which is stand alone, but also whet your appetite for other stories set in the same universe.  Mission accomplished!

I have the attention span of a fruit fly, and there are some days when Real Life is sucking out my very soul.  This is why I love reading shorts, because sometimes 50-100 pages is just about all my poor lil' wee brain can handle.  Yet I still want what feels like a complete story, and I want something that is going to entertain me while I'm on my lunch break at work, or trying to quickly unwind once I get home.  That's what Frampton accomplished for me with Baring It All.  One of the better short stories I've read in recent memory.

Final Grade = B+

Reminder: TBR Challenge for January

For those of you participating in the 2014 TBR Challenge, this is a reminder that your commentary is "due" on Wednesday, January 15.  This month's theme is We Love Short Shorts!  That means category romance, novellas or short stories.  It's a great way to start the new year, and the challenge, by reading something quick.  However, remember - the themes are totally optional and are not required.  Maybe you hate to read short?  Hey, that's OK!  It's not important what you read, just that you pull something (anything!) out of the TBR pile.

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