Unusual Historical Spotlight: Old School, WWI, Escaped Convict, Billiards And Outlaws

Remember when I used to do these?  Yeah, me too.  And then work started sucking out my brains.  Well you know what?  I miss doing these posts - and of late there seems to be more than few people bitching expressing opinions online that the historical romance is going the way of the dodo.  I personally don't think so - but to each his own.  Below are a few historicals I scrounged up, coming out in the next few months, that have, what I consider, unusual or unique attributes.  Happy browsing!

Band Of Gold by Zita Christian - Digital Only - Samhain - May 21, 2013

Originally published in 1993, this book is resurfacing as part of Samhain's totally kick-ass "Retro Romance" imprint.

Description:

Dreams of love, lost and found… 

When Aurelia Brighton leaves medical school for the Klondike, it isn’t to find fortune. It’s to find her little sister, who’s far too pampered and innocent to join the mob of desperate people looking for gold. Violet must have been abducted, enslaved by a peddler of the flesh. What other explanation could there be?  Stymied at the border by Canada’s strict entry requirements, she’s grateful when a kind, handsome gentleman steps forward to help.

Clay Guardian also has his sights set on the Klondike—and on tracking down Violet, the deceiving vixen who robbed his bank and ruined his reputation. He never expected to encounter his quarry’s sister at the Yukon border, but partnering with the beautiful, willful Aurelia will bring him that much closer to his goal: to see Violet hanged. 

It’s only when Aurelia agrees to share food and provisions for the long, dangerous journey, after the ship sails away, that she learns the truth. Yet the perils they encounter force them to trust each other with their lives—and an unexpected love.

What I think is "unusual" about it?:  A heroine in medical school, the Klondike, and a bank-robbin' sister.  This one has Old School Adventure written all over it!

Enticing the Spymaster by Julie Rowe - Digital Only - Carina - June 3, 2013

Book two in the "War Girls" series.

Description:

German-occupied Brussels, Belgium, April 1915 

Judith Goddard is hiding in plain sight. A dual citizen with family ties to Belgian royalty and the British military, she works as a Red Cross nurse in a German hospital, learning what she can, ever fearful her true allegiance will be discovered. 

British Expeditionary Force Captain Michael Lawrence is on a mission to rescue the daughter of his mentor. He doesn't expect to find a strong beautiful woman in place of the naïve girl whose love he rejected years earlier. 

Jude is shocked when Michael turns up in her hospital, wounded and in German uniform. Though he broke her heart, she agrees to flee Belgium with him—she has information about an imminent attack that she must deliver to the British War Office, before it's too late. 

Posing as a married couple, Jude and Michael journey to the border, in constant danger of discovery—and of giving in to their mutual passion…

What I think is "unusual" about it?:  You mean besides the whole World War I thing?  Isn't that enough?

Sweet Revenge by Zoe Archer - Print & Digital - St. Martin's - June 4, 2013

First book in new series.

Description:

When Jack Dalton escapes from Dunmoor Prison, he has only one thing in mind–finding the nobleman who murdered his sister and making him pay. But when he reaches the inn where the Lord Rockley is rumored to be staying, three well-dressed strangers are there to meet him instead. And the pretty blonde is aiming a pistol right at his head …  

Joining Nemesis, Unlimited has made Eva Warrick much more than the well-mannered lady she appears to be–one who can shoot, fight, and outsmart any man in the quest to right the injustices so often suffered by the innocent. She’s not afraid of the burly escaped convict, but she is startled by their shared attraction. She and her partners need Jack’s help to get to Rockley, but Eva finds she wants Jack for scandalous reasons all her own…

What I think is "unusual" about it?:  Escape convict as hero.  A crime-bustin' heroine.  Plus Archer tends to infuse a lot of action/adventure elements into her historicals - so this one should be great fun!

A Lady Risks All by Bronwyn Scott - Print & Digital - Harlequin Historical - June 18, 2013

Description:  

Seducing the Captain 

It would be unwise to mistake me for an innocent debutante—for years I have graced the smoky gloom of many a billiards club and honed my skills at my father's side. 

But now he has a new protégé—Captain Greer Barrington—and while my father would see me attract the attentions of an eligible lord I, Mercedes Lockhart, have other ambitions.… Even if that means seducing the captain to earn back my father's favor! I know I must avoid falling for Greer's charming smile…but his sensual kisses could be worth the risk.…

What I think is "unusual" about it?:  A pool-playing heroine.

Paradise Valley by Rosanne Bittner - Print & Digital - Sourcebooks - July 2, 2013

Description: 

Maggie Tucker's life is forever changed when outlaws murder her husband, leaving her alone and lost in the wilds of the Wyoming Territory. She vows to find the men who killed him and who tried to destroy her spirit. 

Sage Lightfoot, owner of a ranch called Paradise Valley, is hunting for three men who murdered his best ranch hand. When he finds Maggie collapsed beside an open grave, they embark on a life-changing journey along the famed Outlaw Trail. But a secret Maggie carries and a woman from Sage's past could destroy their fragile love...

What I think is "unusual" about it?:  Well, first things first, this is Bittner's first new book in about 10 years - so that's pretty awesome.  It's a western.  You've got a heroine bent on revenge, a hero whose name sounds vaguely Native American, and the whole Outlaw Trail thing going on.  I'm really excited about this book and hope it lives up to my expectations.

What, if any, historical romances are you looking forward to over the next couple of months?

eBook Review: Collision Course

I have a strange relationship with science fiction romance.  It's not a sub genre I easily gravitate towards, but when I "force" myself to sit down and read one?  I usually end up enjoying the experience.  I wonder how many readers out there are like me - because I often hear from "publishing types" that scifi romance is almost as hard a sell as historical westerns (::sob::).  This is, I think, the ultimate appeal of digital publishers.  To fill the niches that are being unmet by traditional print.  Zoe Archer's latest for Carina Press, Collision Course, delivers a lot of the elements I've come to enjoy in science fiction romance.  Interesting characters, smoldering tension, and a rip-roaring space opera plot.

Mara Skiren is a black-market smuggler operating in some of the more unsavory corners of the galaxy.  Which is why the elite 8th Wing is practically blackmailing her into going on a mission for them.  One of their super-secret ships has gone missing, the pilot presumably a hostage.  If the ship were to fall into the wrong hands, it could spell disaster for the whole galaxy.  However, while they need Mara's help navigating the world of smugglers and black-market hoodlums, they're not going to send her on the mission alone.  They want her to take Commander Kell Frayne with her.  Naturally, as a lone wolf scavenger, Mara is less than thrilled with this arrangement - especially since one look at Kell sends her hormones into overdrive.  To make things even more complicated?  The lustful feelings are mutual.

Archer packs a lot of action into this category length (around 200 pages) story.  There's derring-do, action sequences, and a daring rescue to keep the plot churning along.  You also have two headstrong Alpha characters who butt heads immediately but aren't so stubborn to bend and give a bit when backed into a corner.  It's been a while since I've read about a couple that are so alike, and yet have the romance still "work."  Partly because their back-stories are so interesting, and heartbreaking, that the reader really begins to "understand" where they are coming from.  Even though they're both strong-willed, and a bit Alpha, I could see these two making their romance work in the long run.

That said, there is a wee bit of Insta-Lurve going on here.  The lust that's vibrating between Mara and Kell is apparent very early on, with a frankness one typically sees in erotic-romance corners.  The sexy-times are certainly sizzling, but it takes more than that to have me buying into a happy-ever-after  Luckily the author helps add to it later on, especially when the back-stories come spilling out.  Also, I liked the way these two worked together as a team, which is on full display during the final climactic chapters.

There's definitely more than enough wiggle room in Collision Course for the author to return to this world in future books.  The missing pilot seems particularly ripe for her own romance, and Archer has given readers enough world-building featuring Good Guys and Bad Guys to build an entire fleet of stories.  If you're a beleaguered science fiction romance fan, or you're just looking for a bit of a palate cleanser, this is a quick, sexy way to get some kicks.

Final Grade = B-

You can buy this book at Carina Press and other fine e-retailers.

Stranger In A Strange Land

I'm closing out 2010 with Stranger, the fourth and final book in Zoe Archer's inventive Blades Of The Rose series.  I feel like it's the perfect book to wrap up this year before moving on to the new.  After four books, released in consecutive months, and me reading them as such, I feel a bit like I've run the gauntlet.

Those who have read the previous books are, by now, familiar with our hero, Catullus Graves.  He's a snappy dressy, a highly intelligent man, has a quick mind, and invents all manners of useful devices to be used in the Blades' quest to thwart the evil Heirs of Albion.  This book, his romance, picks up immediately after Rebel, as he, Astrid and Nathan are making their way back to England.  It's on board the ship that they realize determined American reporter, Gemma Murphy is following them.  Her eavesdropping skills picked up just enough information back in the Canadian wilderness to realize that these three people were the key to one massive story.  And Gemma, bless her heart, can't say no to a big story.

Naturally, what follows, is Gemma joining forces with the Blades, working directly with Catullus.  Our evil-doers, the Heirs, still have control of the magical Primal Source, and this is the book where that small matter has to be dealt with.  So we, once again, have quite a bit of derring-do, battles of good vs. evil, plus some settling of old scores.

From various chatter I've seen online, I know several readers were half in love with Catullus before this book even hit the shelves.  Me?  Yeah, not so much.  Not that I didn't think he was a likable fellow, but he didn't make my fangirl heart go squee right out of the gate.  I was more interested in him as his own character, than in any potential romance he was going to have.  He's quite unique among romance hero types.  He knows how to dress and he's intelligent.  Ok, nothing unique there.  But he's also the sort of fellow who easily gets distracted by his work.  He's logical.  He's determined.  And on top of all this?  He can fight.  He's brave.  He knows how to throw a punch.  Oh, and he's a hottie.  He's actually the embodiment of every "good" quality you could possibly ever want in a hero.  Tall, dark and handsome is always nice, and Catullus is that, but also more.

Gemma is the kind of heroine I tend to like, despite the fact that she's a reporter.  I know I'm not the only one who cringed a bit when that tidbit came out, am I right?  Why?  Because reporter heroines are a minefield in Romance Novel Land.  It's so easy for them to slip into Too Stupid To Live territory.  Blessedly, that's not Gemma.  As intelligent as Catullus is?  So is she.  She's just as logical.  She's just as capable of thinking things through.  And bless her heart, she's a straight shooter.

"What is it with you Heirs?  Seems any woman who has a mind of her own suddenly becomes a slut?"

All this being said, the romance does take a long while to start cooking.  The first half of this novel has our romantic couple traveling with others, namely Astrid and Nathan.  Then they're thrust into confrontations with the Heirs.  This book clocks in at almost 500 pages, which are needed to wrap up all the series goo-ga, but it does mean the reader has to wait around for the "relationship stuff."  It should also be of note that while you probably could get away with reading this book out of order - I wouldn't recommend it.  The author does do a good job of bringing the reader up to speed, but this book literally opens up where Rebel ended.  They are very much tied together, especially during the first half.

So where does this leave me at the end of the day, and 2010?  I think the author has done a very nice job wrapping up, what I consider, a high-concept series.  All my questions were answered.  The ending was just right, and nicely believable.  Fans of the series got to see the returning couples in vital rolls to this book, and the series in general, without riding in on a wave of saccharine.  I liked Catullus.  I liked Gemma.  And I liked them together.  This was a solid final installment to what has been a good solid series.  Victorian historical, paranormal, adventure, saga and romance all rolled into one.  Impressive indeed.

Final Grade = B-

Cause He's Not Just One Of The Crowd

I've found Zoe Archer's Blades Of The Rose series to be marvelously consistent, but this third book, Rebel, may just be my favorite so far. Longtime readers of this blog might speculate that it's because with a Vancouver setting, that the frontier western-ish setting is what flipped my switch. And certainly, that's part of it. However the bulk of the credit goes to the heroine, who is by far and away the star of this series (so far!) for me.

While on a mission for the Blades, Astrid Bramfield's husband was killed by the treacherous Heirs of Albion. Holding him as he dies in her arms, something breaks inside Astrid. She returns to England, only to turn around and leave again. Living a life in exile in frontier Vancouver, she's completely shut herself off from the world - to the point where she doesn't correspond with fellow Blade, and friend, Catullus Graves, or her own father.

Nathan Lesperance is Native, having been taken from his home as a child and dumped in a white run Indian school. Nathan took his rage and despair, channeled it, and is now an attorney. Which makes him the ultimate outsider. Not welcome in the white world, or his tribe. It's while at a remote outpost on business that he meets Astrid, and sparks immediately fly. It also unleashes something in Nathan. A power he did not know he possessed. And when the Heirs come a callin' in Vancouver, it doesn't take them long to set their sights on Nathan.

What follows is Nathan coming to terms with his magical abilities, and Astrid rejoining the land of the living, along with the Blades. It's classic road romance with a heavy dollop of adventure mixed in on the side, as the couple tries to find answers, and the Sources, before the Heirs do.

The author changes things up a bit with this third book by giving one of her main characters (in this case, the hero) some magical abilities. It adds some punch to the story, especially given that Nathan must wrestle with what he truly is, and come to terms with his past. Astrid is where this book really works for me though. I have a weakness for damaged and wounded heroines, and Astrid is pitch perfect. She's damaged in a believable way. It's not 1970s historical romance melodrama where the author makes her heroine run the gauntlet. And while Astrid's choices can be construed as selfish, one understands her motivations and her pain. I also deeply appreciated that she truly loved her husband, and the author allows this to be OK. No backhanded shots taken at his character later on in order to make her falling for Nathan "acceptable."

All this being said, I do strongly feel that this book is where the series stops standing alone. The first two books (in my opinion) can easily be read out of order, but this story really relies somewhat on the reader's knowledge of the world-building. I've also found that the final climatic fight scenes between the Heirs and Blades are beginning to run their course. They're starting to bleed together for me. That said, the final chapters here do agreeably set up the final book of the series, which will be Catullus' story, and it would seem that readers haven't seen the last of Astrid and Nathan.

While Rebel delivers more of what readers have come to expect from this series, the author veers off the track ever so slightly to infuse some "different" in this particular tale. I do think this has been the strongest installment so far, and the edition of a supernaturally gifted hero was a nice touch. If you've enjoyed the first two books in this series, this one is a must to hunt down.

Final Grade = B

He's A Tramp, He's A Scoundrel

Romance readers love their charming rogues, and Zoe Archer delivers one with the aptly titled, Scoundrel - the second book in her Victorian adventure paranormal Blades of the Rose series. And like all romantic scoundrels who have come before him, Bennett Day finally meets his match.

London Harcourt has led the life of a pampered Victorian lady because her father subscribes to the school of thought that women are delicate, hothouse flowers who must be sheltered or else their pretty little heads will explode. However what Daddy doesn't realize is that London, as a way to starve off total boredom, has developed a love of ancient languages. In fact, she's quite a skilled linguist. Which is how she ends up in Greece. Daddy eventually realizes his daughter has a few brain cells, and being a high-up muckity-muck in the evil Heirs Of Albion, needs his daughter to help him find a magical Source. A Source that will bring the rest of the world to it's knees, and England to ultimate glory. Of course, London doesn't know any of these messy details. All she knows is that finally, after years of mourning her late, but not lamented, husband, she's finally having an adventure!

Enter stage left, Bennett Day, the Blades of the Rose member who is in Greece to thwart the Heirs from getting their hands on another magical Source. He has a chance encounter with London in the marketplace, not realizing who she is. However, when he finally does? He sets about trying to sway her to the side of good. Although convincing her that his cause is the right one could be tricky. I mean, first he's competing against her own father, and then there's the small matter that Bennett killed her husband. Yeah, minor detail that.

You've got to hand it to the author, Bennett is a world-class scoundrel. This isn't a guy who plays at being a rogue, he is one. Oh sure, he's noble when it comes to his cause. And oh sure, he's charming as the very devil. But the guy gets around. A lot. He adores women, but it's more of a surface adoration. One doesn't have any doubt that when he's with a woman she feels like a queen, but ultimately, like all cads, he leaves. Even if his work for the Blades didn't dictate that he move along to the next mission, one would know that Bennett warming your bed would be a most temporary affair. Until he meets our fair heroine, of course.

London is a woman in desperate need of an awakening. Not so much sexual, although Bennett certainly makes her girly-bits tingle more so than Dead Hubby did, but more an awakening of life. She has a brain and wants to stop hiding it. She wants to be treated like a person, not a pretty Victorian glass bauble that does nothing other than collect dust. And once she wraps her mind around what her father has dragged her into? She quickly makes up her own mind on the entire matter, and chooses the right side.

As an adventure story, and as a heroine's journey, Scoundrel works very well. Archer continues to have an excellent eye for world-building, and doesn't water down her details or skimp on development. I hear a lot of complaints from historical fans about "thin" stories, and so far these first two books in the series have been the antithesis of that. However the reader does have to be willing to swing with the fantasy elements, which while painted with a light touch, are more prevalent in this second installment.

What I wasn't entirely sold on was the romance. I suspect mostly because of Bennett's reputation. The thing with scoundrels is that I want them convincing (which Bennett is) but I also need that "something" that convinces me that the leopard will change his spots. I get that Bennett is attracted to London, but I'm not entirely sure what makes her The One. Likewise, while I'm happy London uses her own brain to puzzle out the conundrum she's in between Daddy and Lover - once she makes up her mind, it's like she completely sheds the skin of her past. I mean, she stops thinking about it...at all. Yes, he's evil. Yes, he's wrong. But he's still your father. You just don't dump that sort of baggage overnight - I don't care how great the orgasms are.

But even with the romance not lighting my world on fire, I still liked these two characters an awful lot. The world-building continues to inspire, and the adventure elements continue to be top notch. The first two books have been swashbuckling fun, and lucky for readers hungry for these types of stories - we've got two more books to go.

Final Grade = B-

Street Fighting Man

Swashbuckling adventure, secret societies, plenty of bad guys, exotic locales, and a heated romance - Zoe Archer has really hit upon something with Warrior, the first book in her Blades Of The Rose quartet. This is the stuff of old-fashioned Saturday matinees, Errol Flynn movies and Indiana Jones.

Captain Gabriel Huntley has resigned his commission from Her Majesty's army with no concrete plans for the future. He's got a letter in his pocket from an old army buddy who says he can get him a nice, steady (read: boring) job and help hook him up with a nice, steady, proper English bride (read: boring). Gabriel doesn't have any better ideas, which is why he heads back to England even though he's not particularly anxious to "settle down." It's on his way to a pub to quench his thirst that he comes across a man getting the crap kicked out of him in a dark alley. Gabriel rides to the rescue, but the man is gravely injured. As he lays dying, he gets Gabriel to promise him that he'll deliver a message to Mongolia. Delivering a cryptic message he doesn't understand, from a dying man he didn't know from Adam, is enough to spur our hero into action. Plus an adventure in Mongolia sounds a bit more exciting then the quiet, staid (read: boring) life that awaits him in the English countryside.

It's in Mongolia that he delivers the message to Thalia Burgess' father. Gabriel might have no clue what the message means, but Thalia and her Daddy certainly do! The bad guys are headed their way to steal an ancient magical artifact. Before the bad guys can get their grubby mitts on it, Thalia needs to find it. What she wasn't planning on was the ever resourceful, Captain Huntley tagging along. They don't call them secret societies for nothing, and she's not entirely sure she can trust this Captain - no matter how sexy he is.

What we have here is your classic road romance, with plenty of adventure and derring-do tossed in on the side. Thalia, while English, has spent the majority of her years being raised by a single father and in Mongolia, of all places. She's hardly proper. She's slightly rebellious, smart, resourceful, and just the sort of woman that Gabriel finds himself extremely attracted to. He's been in the army so long, he has no clue how to act around a "proper lady." But Thalia? This is a girl after his own heart. The more time he spends with her, the further in love he falls.

This entire story takes place in the deserts of Mongolia, with the hero and heroine trying to outrun, outsmart, and out-maneuver the bad guys. The plot ebbs and flows, with moments of high action, and quieter moments where the pace slows a bit. It culminates in a final battle scene, and sets up the remaining three books in this series quite nicely.

A word about the fantasy elements in this story. The secret society that Thalia's father belongs to is charged with guarding the world's magical artifacts and protecting them from falling into the wrong hands. As someone who is beyond (as in, way way way beyond) burnt out on anything remotely otherworldly/paranormal, I can tell you these elements of the story are painted with a light brush. Certainly there are fantastical inventions, and magical feats, but honestly this story reads very much like a Victorian historical romance first, adventure novel second, fantasy novel third. For readers who think they're not all that wild about paranormal, but they love historicals? I encourage you to give this one a go.

Plenty of action, intriguing characters, a completely different-from-the-norm setting, and a good old fashioned adventure yarn made this a fun read. I'm looking forward to the next three books in the series.

Final Grade = B

Hot Zombie Lurve

I saw on Twitter yesterday, and also got an e-mail last night, that Half Past Dead, a two-novella anthology featuring stories by Zoe Archer and Bianca D'Arc is currently being offered as a free ebook over at the Sony eBook Store.

Archer's story is a prequel to her upcoming Blades Of The Rose series, which sounds like an intriguing mix of Victorian historical, fantasy/magical elements, and Indiana Jones-style derring-do.

D'Arc's story is also a prequel to her paranormal-zombies-running-amok book, Once Bitten, Twice Dead - which is out now in trade paperback.

I've done a very brief search, and it appears that Half Past Dead is only available as a free ebook at the Sony Store. Also, no idea how long this promotion is going to last, so if you're interested - strike while the iron is hot.

You can download it here.

And neither here nor there - I read a previous Zoe Archer book, Lady X's Cowboy, back in my TRR days and really liked it quite a bit.

Mission Accomplished!

I've just completed AngieW's February TBR Challenge.

Title: Lady X's Cowboy

Author: Zoe Archer

Year published: 2006

Why did you get this book? Well it was on my TBB list, but I ended up getting it in my latest shipment of review books for TRR.

Do you like the cover? This was published under Dorchester's Leisure imprint - a house that likes to slap crappy covers on books. Archer being a debut author, she sort of dodged a bullet here. This cover isn't too bad. I do think it looks a bit amateurish though - sort of like the art department just discovered how "neat" Photoshop could be.

Did you enjoy the book? Yes. The hero is an American cowboy who comes to London looking for his long lost family. The heroine is a widow who runs her own brewery. The hero saves her when thugs accost her on the street. The villain is the fourth son of an earl who wants the heroine's brewery for himself, and is going at great lengths to force her out of business. The heroine proposes to the hero that if he helps her with the villain, she'll help him find his family.

Was the author new to you and would you read something by this author again?
Well she's new to everybody, as she's a debut author. And yes, I would read something else by her.

Are you keeping it or passing it on? I'll be donating this one to my library's collection. It was a good read, but I have extremely high standards when it comes to keepers.

Anything else? I liked that for once it was the American hero who was the fish out of water in London. I also loved that the heroine was a grown-up, not a bumbling society miss with no clue. The hero does talk western a lot ("bushwhacked", "fandango" etc.), which might get old for some, but generally speaking didn't bother me. I also really appreciated how the author ended the "long lost family" sub plot. Quite refreshing.