Review - A Kingdom of Dreams

Title: A kingdom of Dreams
Author: Judith McNaught
Publishing Date: 1989
Genre: Medieval
Rating: A-
Sensuality: Warm

Headstrong, seventeen year old Jenny Merrick has been living in a convent for the last two years. After causing her father one to many headaches, he shipped her off in the hopes that she would learn some discipline. Meanwhile the Scots and English have been waging war against one another. Many fierce battles have been fought and won by Royce Westmoreland in the name of the English King, Henry. He has been ordered to take the Scottish Earl of Merrick's keep. Stephan, Royce's brother happens to be in the right place at the right time and utilizes the opportunity to kidnap Jenny and her sister Brenna.

Judith McNaught is well known for her sweeping sagas rich with angst and passion. A Kingdom of Dreams is no exception. It happens to be one of the most memorable medieval stories I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Jenny and Royce are extremely vivid characters with larger than life personalities. Jenny is prideful and headstrong, but loyal and clever. Royce is presumptuous and stubborn, but intelligent and compassionate too. These two personalities ignite passionately against one another - first in anger, then eventually with love. Oh, but the journey is fraught with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.

This is actually my second time reading A Kingdom of Dreams. I wondered if I would still enjoy it now, as much as I did a few years ago when I first started reading romance. I am very happy to say that it still holds the same magic it once did for me. As I was reading it again, there were some things that bothered me about the characters. I hated how Royce so quickly jumps to a conclusion about Jenny, when there wasn't any evidence. I could understand later on, once some things came to light, but not right away. Jenny annoyed me with how long she clung to her loyalty to her family even though they didn't deserve it. I will say that even though these things might bother a reader, McNaught does a beautiful job of getting the reader to empathize with her characters' plight. The dramatic ups and downs of the book are what make it so memorable and special. It is a true testimony to her talent that she can write flawed characters and still keep them lovable.

Review - True Love and Other Disasters

Title: True Love and Other Disasters
Author: Rachel Gibson
Publishing Date: May 2009
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: B-
Sensuality: Hot

Faith Duffy's husband and owner of the Seattle hockey team has recently died, leaving Faith as the owner. Faith is only 30 years old and has a stigma attached to her as a gold-digger since her former husband Virgil was 80 years old and a billionaire. With all the negative buzz surrounding her, the hockey team doesn't want to be caught in the middle of it, especially Captain of the team, Ty Savage. He wants to win the Stanley Cup and nothing is going to make him loose focus, not even a beautiful bimbo like Faith Duffy.

I had trouble relating to Faith. Faith being a former stripper and playboy bunny, I have very little in common with her. She is unashamedly a gold-digger. She totally owns up to the fact that she married her former husband because he was rich and would provide her with the security she has always longed for. I don't really agree with this kind of marriage and not knowing anything about her, I would probably be one of those people who would judge her. So I kept thinking there was going to be a catch as to why she married a man 50 years her senior, but there wasn't. Honestly, she was a gold-digger. Okay... so not exactly heroine material in my book.

Having said that however, there was an innate honesty and conviviality to Faith that does work. When interacting with Ty this playful side to her comes out. She rediscovers herself, because Virgil molded her into this polite, proper woman for the upper crust society she had to be around. That really wasn't who Faith is and so she is rediscovering herself. Occasionally, there were these odd references to Faith's wild side that she dubs "Layla". A few times the references bordered on creepy, like Faith has a multiple-personality disorder. I could have done without that part of it.

I did like Ty. He comes across as a man's man, but not overly so. I would say it's a good balance. He wants to focus on winning the Stanley Cup, but he keeps finding Faith distracting. Ty and Faith have some good interaction to build up the sexual tension. I love how the author shows the process of how he perceives Faith. She goes from being a hot body to have sex with, to a woman he cares about and enjoys spending time with. I felt that the pacing of Ty and Faith's relationship was appropriate and believable, but the ending came much to swiftly. I could have used a few more pages tacked onto the end of the book.

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Review - Cry for Passion

Title: Cry for Passsion
Author: Robin Schone
Publishing Date: March 2009
Genre: Historical (Erotic)
Rating: C
Sensuality: Burning

Cry for Passion is the second book in Robin Schone's Men and Women's Club Series. Rose Clarring seeks out Jack Lodoun to help her divorce her husband of twelve years. Jack refuses to aid her in a divorce, because the law does not support it. Jack and Rose begin an affair to ease their loneliness and grief and guilt. What began as passion quickly turns to love.

Cry for Passion was a most unusual book, in that it seemed like it had a split-personality disorder. The first half of the book was written in the most unusual prose. The writing was short and choppy and it flowed more like a poem, than a novel. It was jarring and unusual, which left me struggling to follow along with the story. The second disconcerting thing about this book, were the sexual metaphors constantly interspersed with normal everyday life. Common items were constantly described in sexual terms. It was as if everything was sexual; a hairbrush, a cup of tea, even a button on a coat. It was too much. That leads me to the next issue I had, which was the prose. I don't think I have ever read a book where the prose was so purple. Good Lord. I lost count of how many times a vagina or a cock was weeping in this book.

Even though the first half of the book was a train wreck, there were some redeeming qualities that were more prominent in the second half of the book. The prose was less choppy and purple and the focus was less on the sex and more on Jack and Rose's struggle with the law. The subject matter of women's rights at the turn of the century was very well researched. Robin Schone was meticulous in researching this era and was accurate down to the last rich detail. Cry for Passion was based on an actual court case that had happened and was one of the catalysts for changing the laws specific to married women. It really was eye opening to legally see just how little the law was on a woman's side. It is very sad to think what lengths had to be taken before the law could be changed.

Because of the extreme differences between the first and second part of the book, I had difficulty giving it a grade. Had I not finished this book I would have rated it a D-, and believe me it crossed my mind once or twice to put it down and not pick it back up. Yet, had I done that I would never have imagined that the second part would have been as strong as it was. Honestly, it was like two different books. I would have given the second part a B+. So that leaves me to rate it somewhere in the middle with a C.

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Lover Avenged Contest Winner!

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Review - Under Her Skin

Title: Under Her Skin
Author: Susan Mallery
Publishing Date: May 2009
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: B-
Sensuality: Warm

Under Her Skin is the first book in Susan Mallery's Titan Series. Lexi Titan owns her own day successful day spa. Unfortunately for her, the lender of her loan is calling it in and she has three weeks to come up with two million dollars. In walks Cruz Rodriguez with a proposition that will benefit both of them. They both agree to to a fake engagement for the next six months. He will give Lexi the two million she needs and she will introduce him to all her family connections that will give Cruz the 'in' he needs into high society. Cruz and Lexi have a past history and both are determined to guard their hearts, as this is only a business deal. Bet you can't guess where this leads!

Here is another classic case of me getting my hopes up for one thing and the book delivering something different. I was expecting more romance, and while it was there, sometimes Lexi and Cruz's relationship felt overshadowed by Lexi's problems with her family. Much of the plot of this book revolved more around Lexi's interaction with her sisters and her mysterious lender, than with Cruz.

Lexi quite clearly has daddy issues. Jed Titan is the type of man who is incapable of showing affection or love to anyone. Lexi all her life has been desperately trying to win his love, by being a successful business woman. When she starts falling in love with Cruz she panics. This is because she sees he shares similar qualities with her father. Knowing she has never had her fathers love, she believes she won't ever have Cruz's either. So there is a lot of denial between Cruz and Lexi, which brings a lot of angst to the table. However, I felt there was something missing. Maybe it was that the romance with Cruz felt more secondary in comparison Lexi's problems with her family and her spa.

The relationship between Lexi and her sisters Sky and Izzy is complex. Lexi and Skye are in direct competition for the inheritance, because Jed won't choose who will get it. He wants them to constantly be proving they deserve it. Really, Jed is a complete ass in this book. I liked the interaction between Lexi and her sisters. Despite their father, they do get along for the most part.

Susan Mallery has back to back books coming out from this series. In June Skye's story Lip Service will be released and then Izzy's story, Straight from the Hip in July.

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Access Romance - May Post

I am now a part of AccessRomance. They had an opening and I was asked if I would like to fill it. I said "Sure" and the rest is history. This is my first attempt at group blogging so we shall see how it goes, eh. I have decided to do a post about all the bru-ha-ha that was stirred up over the Avon interview conducted at AAR. Go forth and read, if you so dare!

AccessRomance

Review - Heir to the Shadows

Title: Heir to the Shadows
Author: Anne Bishop
Publishing Date: 1999
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: B+
Sensuality: nothing explicit

Heir to the Shadows is the second book in Anne Bishop's Black Jewel Trilogy. This book is all about the healing the characters need to do before the real political battle begins. Jaenelle has the most healing to do and fortunately she is surrounded by people who love and care dearly for her. With the help of her closest friends and her adopted father Saetan, she slowly comes back from Twisted Kingdom to the realm of Keeler.

The memories of the tragedy which sent Jaenelle spiraling into Twisted Kingdom remain elusive until Jaenelle is strong enough to remember them. In the meantime, Jaenelle continues to learn craft as she grows into womanhood. She reestablishes her childhood friendships. Karla in particular, another young witch, a black widow and healer was a hoot to read about. Her introduction to Saetan, in particular was a riot.

Another favorite character of mine is the High Lord, Saetan himself. Most people see him as one of the most powerful, ruthless men in all the realms, if not the most powerful. He is feared by all. All except Jaenelle that is. She treats him as an exasperating Papa who is tired and needs a nap. She even at one point, gifts him with a sweater because he is too formal and needs to slouch. The relationships between characters with the emotional currents between father and son, father and daughter, sister and brother, friend and friend are just beautifully written.

One of my favorite characters from the first book was noticeably absent from this book. It was a disappointment, but there were many alluring facets of Heir to the Shadows to keep my interest peaked. Queen of the Darkness is the next book in the trilogy.