Best of 2001

I meant to do this post on Friday. I had really good intentions but I don't know what I was thinking. See, I was at a convention that day in Orlando. I sat in on workshops for food safety and met with people all day. I was very busy and didn't get home until late. Sometimes I think I am Superwoman and can do everything. Any hoo, better late than never - I always say!

 

On to 2001. Here are the top books for 2001 according to RWA and AAR.

 

***Bold means I read it - and () is my personal grade for that book. At the bottom will be my top picks for this year, based on what books I read.

 

RWA'S RITA AWARD WINNERS
The Border Bride by Elizabeth English (C)
True Confessions by Rachel Gibson
Beneath a Southern Sky by Deborah Raney
Coming Home To You by Fay Robinson
The Bridal Season by Connie Brockway (C)
Heart Mate by Robin D. Owens
Much Obliged by Jessica Benson
The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen
A Long Hot Christmas by Barbara Daly
Tempt Me Twice by Barbara Dawson Smith (B)
Quinn's Complete Seduction by Sandra Steffen

 

AAR's READER'S CHOICE AWARDS
Over the Edge by Suzanne Brockmann (A)
True Confessions by Rachel Gibson
Fast Women by Jennifer Crusie
This Heart of Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (B-)
One Good Turn by Carla Kelly
The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons
Gabriel's Woman by Robin Schone
Suddenly You by Lisa Kleypas (B)
Beyond Innocence by Emma Holly (B)
The Indiscretion by Judith Ivory
Danegeld by Susan Squires
The Protector by Madeline Hunter
Kiss of the Highlander by Karen Marie Moning (B+)
Ritual of Proof by Dara Joy

 

Romance Rookie's Top Picks
Over the Edge by Suzanne Brockman (A)
Darkling I listen by Katherine Sutcliffe (A)
The Defiant Hero by Suzanne Brockman (A)
Heartbreaker by Julie Garwood (B+)
The Swan Maiden by Susan King (B+)
Moving Target by Elizabeth Lowell (B+)
Kiss of the Highlander by Karen Marie Moning (B+)
An Offer from a Gentleman by Julia Quinn (B+)
Awaken, My Love by Robin Schone (B+)

 

A couple of things of note:

• I read a total of 27 books published in 2001.
• I wasn't crazy about the RITA books I managed to read as none made my top list. However, True Confessions and Heart Mate look promising.
• It looks like that my picks match better with AAR's than with the RITAs.
• Five of my top books for that year were romantic suspense.

Any books from this year that are your favorites that I should make a point to read? Agreements, disagreements with my list?

Review - The Search

Title: The Search
Author: Nora Roberts
Publishing Date: July 2010
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Rating: B
Sensuality: Warm
Book Disclosure: I borrowed a copy from the library

When Fiona Bristow was in college she was abducted by a serial killer while out for an early morning job. She was the one woman who managed to escape from Perry, the Red Scarf Killer and managed to put him behind bars for life. Years later Fiona has built up a successful dog training business on Orcas Island. One tough cookie, Fiona has put the past behind her or so she thought until the murders begin again. Fiona with the help of a sexy, grumpy carpenter Simon, struggles to build a relationship while trying to stop a copy-cat serial killer.

Fiona Bristow is a paragon of strength, patience and integrity. She was forced to live through a horrible experience at the hands of a madman and managed to put him away for life. She managed to fight every step of the way and to not allow fear to rule her life. The fact that she is targeted a second time only makes her fight that much harder to keep what she has built for herself. Simon Doyle a grumpy, blunt carpenter with an unruly puppy Jaws, can't help but find himself attracted to her and her strength. Fiona manages to worm her way under his skin no matter how hard he fights the attraction.

Simon was the best part of this book for me. He had some of the best lines in the book because he says what he is thinking without censoring it. Fiona is definitely able to hold her own with the overbearing man. She flings zingers right back at him. Fiona and Simon had great chemistry. However, I did think that these two characters had extremely good control over their emotions, almost too good of control that it seemed a little unrealistic. I would have liked to have seen Fiona or Simon lose that control at some point. It would have made them seem a little more human, imperfect.

The Search is a very gripping tale and Nora Roberts is always good for a fun reading experience. I can easily recommend it to her legions of fans.

Review - Red Leopard

Title: Red Leopard
Author: Tracy Cooper-Posey
Publishing Date: 2003
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: C+
Sensuality: Hot
Book Disclosure: I recieved a free ebook from the author requesting a review.

Red Leopard is the first in Tracy Cooper-Posey's series Guns n Lovers. Calli Munro, an American has traveled to South America where her Uncle has asked for her help. She immediately books a flight to Valeria, even though the country is in the midst of a possible civil war. Rebel troops have been building in the mountains and the political upheaval is at dangerous levels. When Callie departs the plane her Uncle is supposed to be waiting for her at the airport, but he is not there. Callie is arrested after a few minutes and is at the mercy of the police who do not even speak English. After a while a well spoken man with political influence and a very forceful presence releases her from jail. Callie later learns that her savior was none other than the Red Leopard.

Red Leopard starts out strong with an intriguing beginning when Callie ends up in prison and Nicolas (Red Leopard) helps to gain her release. Ms. Cooper-Posey paints a very beautiful picture of the South American countryside. The descriptions of the lands and the Valerian culture are some of the highlights in the book for me. Callie is a wonderful heroine. She is strong, but she under values her strength. She doesn't realize how courageous she truly is until she is faced with the Valerian rebellion and the dangerous times they represent.

Nicolas Escobado is a very regal man with many responsibilities to his country and his people. Unfortunately, he was a little lackluster for my tastes because his duties came before his feelings for Callie. Because Callie is such a strong heroine, I felt like Callie deserved better. Nick should have been falling over himself to snag the likes of Callie. I also felt that the ending to the story was a little too neatly wrapped up in light of the heavy impending civil war. However, there are more books to the series and these issues might be address in the future. In summary, I found Ms. Cooper-Posey to have very fine writing yet the hero was just not to my taste. I have plans to read the next book in the series.

Best of 2000

Okay, I have decided to do a series of posts that will encompass the past ten years of my reading progress and what I deem the best romance books from those years. I have been wanting to compile my own "top list" for each year and a 100 list for a while now. I just haven't gotten around to it for various reasons. Most of those pertaining to the fact that I want everything to be perfect and have nice, little neat categories to fit everything into. Alas, it just doesn't work out that way so I am going to do the best that I can with what I currently have.

Each post will revolve around a year, for the past ten years starting with 2000. I will post what were the popular books that year using information from RT (Romantic Times Magazine), RWA (Romance Writers of America) and AAR (All About Romance). From there I will compare what books were top of the heap with them and how that compares to my own reading experience.

***Bold means I read it - and () is my personal grade for that book. At the bottom will be my top picks for this year, based on what books I read.

AAR'S READER'S CHOICE - TOP PICKS
Winter Garden, Adele Ashworth
Welcome to Temptation - Jennifer Crusie (B+)
The Viscount Who Loved Me - Julia Quinn (B+)
The Unsung Hero - Suzanne Brockmann (A-)
Where Dreams Begin - Lisa Kleypas
A Secret Love - Stephanie Laurens
By Arrangement - Madeline Hunter
I Do, I Do, I Do - Maggie Osborne
Never Love a Cowboy - Lorraine Heath
The Star King - Susan Grant
Dark Magic - Christine Feehan (C)
Dark Challenge - Christine Feehan (B)

RITA AWARDS - RWA
A Man Like Mac - Fay Robinson
First Lady - Susan Elizabeth Phillips
The Shepherd's Voice - Robin Lee Hatcher
Rogue's Reform - Marilyn Pappano
Devilish - Jo Beverley (B-)
The Highlander's Touch - Karen Marie Moning (C)
A Grand Design - Emma Jensen
Carolina Moon - Nora Roberts
It Takes A Rebel - Stephanie Bond
The Mistress - Susan Wiggs
The Best Man & The Bridesmaid - Liz Fielding

ROMANCE ROOKIE'S TOP PICKS
The Duke by Gaelen Foley (A)
The Unsung Hero by Suzanne Brockman (A-)
Mr. Perfect by Linda Howard (A-)
Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie (B+)
Dark Desire by Christine Feehan (B+)
All the Queen's Men by Linda Howard (B+)
The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn (B+)
Tears of the Moon by Nora Roberts (B+)

A couple of things of note:

• I read a total of 30 books published in 2000.  It's not a lot and my goal is to have read at least 50 books to make my list "mean something".
• The Star King is being offered as a free ebook by borders right now.
• I thought I had read everything by Lisa Kleypas, so how in the world did Where Dreams Begin drop off my radar?

Any books from this year that are your favorites that I should make a point to read?  Agreements, disagreements with my list?

Review - Veil of Night

Title: Veil of Night
Author: Linda Howard
Publishing Date: August 2010
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Rating: C+
Sensuality: Warm
Book Disclosure: I borrowed a copy from my library.

Jaclyn Wilde literally runs into Eric Wilder while dealing with a traffic violation at city hall. They end up later at a bar and have a night of very passionate sex. The next day Eric is called in to investigate the homicide of a young woman. It turns out Jaclyn is the main suspect, seeing as the victim was a young bride and Jaclyn her wedding planner. Jaclyn had been slapped in the face because the "bridezilla" was anything but pleased with Jaclyn's service. Eric has to clear Jaclyn's name and can't play favorites especially because of their former relationship.

Veil of Night starts off strong. It has a fast, interesting beginning. Unfortunately, things slowly deteriorate from there. First off, let me state for the record that I cannot be impartial when writing this review. I have been a long time fan of Linda Howard. She is one of my favorite all time authors, however I have been less than enthusiastic with her recent releases. This one included.

The problem for me is that I have come to expect a really superb romance, with a strong romantic thread between the hero and heroine. Veil of Night does not deliver in this aspect. While Jaclyn is a fine heroine and Eric a definite hero, the romance is left to the wayside as Howard allows the murder and the details to detract from the main relationship. I can't help but compare Howard's recent work with her former and it just can't compare.

I would say that if reading Howard for the first time, there is still something about her writing that can lend itself to intrigue. The characters invite confidence and an easy manner that will draw readers in. The mystery is somewhat ordinary and hard core mystery fans will most likely think that part of the story is weak. Overall, I am not impressed. I just can't help compare Veil of Night to her other work and it just doesn't stand up. It makes me so sad. I just don't want to give up on her books, but what can I do? I don't think I can hang in there any longer.


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Review - The Empress' New Clothes

Title: The Empress' New Clothes
Author: Jaid Black
Publishing Date: 2002
Genre: Sci-Fi Erotic
Rating: C+
Sensuality: Burning
Book Disclosure: I purchased a used copy at a bookstore that specializes in trades.

The Empress' New Clothes is the first book in Jaid Black's Trek Mi Q'an series. Kyra Summers is spending her vacation at a resort that specializes in stress relief and relaxation with her best friend Geris. She is completely clueless that meanwhile, in a galaxy far, far away, the Emperor of Trek Mi Q'an has learned that his queen shall be none other than Kyra Summers. Zor takes a trip to Earth to pick up his destined mate. He finds her outside the resort and whisks her away to his planet. There Kyra must learn the new customs of Zor's world and succumb to his passionate nature.

This book was a lot of fun. It's hokey and over-the-top, but it is also entertaining as all get out. So the theme is a fish out of water. Kyra is taken to another world, existing in another time. It's nothing at all what she is accustomed to and she must learn a whole new way of life. This is the part of the story that I was most interested in and found entertaining.

Since this is an erotic romance there is a lot of sex in this book. The customs on this particular world all seem to revolve around sex. I liked reading about the different customs, but after a while I was bored with the sex. It just seemed like the sex scenes became repetitive. Wash, rinse and repeat. Boooorrring. The entertainment for me came from Kyra finding out the hard way certain customs. That was always good for a laugh. Zor was completely clueless as to what Kyra would accept and not accept as a custom. I actually enjoyed reading this book, but it is no literary classic. If you like Sci-fi and enjoy a good laugh, then you might want to give this one a try.

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