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Fantasy Romance

Book Review

Book Review: The Fairy Tale Bride

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FairyTaleBride
Pretty cover!

Okay, so a pretty cover, a good title, and an enticing blurb lured me into buying the book.

I almost stopped reading it and put it aside no fewer than three times. I convinced myself to finish reading it, not because I cared what happened to the characters (hint: I didn’t), but to make myself at least think about why this didn’t work for me.

I mean, it had *so* much catnip in it for me.

  • The Duke of Watterly is jeeringly referred to as “Saint Simon”. You all know my love of white knights.
  • A heroine who loves literature and fairy tales
  • A chance meeting that leads to a marriage of convenience
  • The ticking clock of the duke going to “die” in six months

Except, the author gives me none of it.

Simon is a saint only because the author tells me he is. He lies to the heroine repeatedly, treats her poorly, and is really just a whiny cabbage. I have no idea why she feels anything for him, and while I get his attraction to her, I am never really sold on it. I need my white knights to show me their shiny armor, not just have an author tell me it’s there. Especially when what they show me is something else entirely.

Yes, the heroine likes literature and fairy tales. Sold.

The chance meeting is…lackluster. This is usually totally catnip for me where I am turning the pages as they spend the night together, even if nothing actually happens. But the anticipation that it could…except it gets interrupted by a small child. And the villain.

Wait, what?

And the villain is so bad, not only does he literally have a handlebar mustache, but he attempts to rape the heroine more than once and is revealed, without laying any prior groundwork, to be insane in the last few chapters. *eye roll*

This is a low heat novel. Not much more than a few kisses and pets. Closed door romance can still have intensity. It didn’t.

This ticking clock is completely contrived and could be made to untick all at the duke’s whim. I get why he is all upset at not being the “legitimate” duke, but for a man so bent on that, he certainly doesn’t seem to care about the people on his lands, his duty, or those that rely on him. There should have been *WAY* more angst over this for a “saint”. Or maybe even some. And, of course, his saintly ways didn’t include denying himself the woman he loved even though he knew having her would break her heart. Yeah, real saint, this one.

The ending was so anticlimactic, I actually played some video games before finally getting around to finishing the book.

All in, it felt like the author took some of my favorite tropes, mixed them together, and forgot to turn on the oven.

 

 

Book Review: Dual Image

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ATouchofSun
Dual Image was one of two books in this.

As I mentioned in my previous post, my daughter bought me this paperback for mother’s day this past year. It was prominently displayed at Target, and she saw that it was in the romance section. Also as I mentioned before, it turns out that the book is actually two books in one, both written in the 1980s.

Interestingly, this story was timeless enough there were only a few give-aways to the decade. Lack of cell phones/smart phones has definitely had a huge impact on the stories.

This one was better than the first of the two novels. It was an enjoyable afternoon read as long as I didn’t think too much. Certain plot holes were rather obvious after I put the book down, particularly relating to the custody battle over the heroine’s brother’s son.

Other than that, there was some decent chemistry with the characters. The heroine was far more fleshed out than the hero, and as such, I liked her a lot better. The steamy scenes were okay, but they aren’t the type I will reread to help my own writing.

The worst part was the sheer amount of head-hopping. Any character you come across you have the chance of seeing the story through their eyes. Even small incidental ones. This is a lot of head-hopping. In older, more established romance writers, you expected to see the scene through both the hero and heroine’s perspective. This was way beyond that.

All in, I don’t regret reading it, but I won’t read it again.

It did teach me a few things.

First, an external plot is really helpful. Having so much internal, “I am getting over my ex” going on, not augmented by something more, can make it difficult to relate to a character. It can also make it difficult to believe they have gotten over their ex.

Second, my favorite character in this was not the the usual serious and duty-driven one. All of the character building that went into the heroine who was driven more by emotion and living for the moment actually made me like her better. Unusual, but some key character driven elements, such as her compassion for her nephew, drew me to her.

Reminds me how important character development is, and it’s something Nora Roberts does very well in all of her work.

Book Review: Cold-Hearted Rake

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ColdHeartedRake.PNG
Heroine does not look how I imagined her, but the gardens and manor house do.

This was a book I bought for myself. I had picked up one of Lisa Kleypas’s audio books at my library for a long car trip, and I liked it so much I decided to try the first book in her Ravenels series.

The story is set during the Victorian era as much is changing in land ownership and its place in the social hierarchy. It definitely portrays how vulnerable women were, and our hero is not a man of his times, at least when it comes to respecting women and their wishes. This is par for the course for historical romance. Hard for a modern reader to root for a hero that treats his wife like cattle.

The plot was a combination of the romance between the hero and heroine, as well as a “scapegrace” coming to terms with the responsibilities of a crumbling earldom in a time where landownership no longer confers wealth.

The hero definitely has his work cut out for him, though I am not completely certain why he chose to accept the responsibility. But he did, and it changes him. The weight of so many people needing him, depending on him, helps make him a different man. One capable at the end of truly loving the heroine.

This is also a story where the hero is smitten with the heroine from almost the very beginning. I am not certain I believe it from a “cold-hearted rake”, but I was more than willing to suspend disbelief and enjoy.

It did have some head-hopping. We moved between different characters in the same page, and those characters included people beyond the hero and heroine. I only note this after how much push-back I received from editors for doing the same thing.

All in, it was a great read. Good enough that I plan to purchase the next book in the series.

It also taught me a few things.

First, having a hero you don’t especially like at the beginning is okay if you can make him likable enough and redeemable. The hero was ready to toss all the sisters and widow of the former earl out as the earl hadn’t provided for them in his will. He doesn’t, and that helps build his character and make him likable.

Second, this is clearly the first book of a series. I paid close attention to how she laid the foundation for the characters who will get their own book in this story.

Third, her steamy scenes are fantastic. I need to go back and study them more. I feel like I have learned a lot in my years of writing, but this is something I am always trying to do better.

I am looking forward to reading the next book.

Book Review: Don’t Tell a Duke You Love Him

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DontTellaDukeYouLoveHim
Pretty cover! Too bad the rest wasn’t as good.

I don’t leave book reviews on Amazon or Goodreads as I am an author myself and think I am sometimes too critical. But I will share my thoughts here. Partially because I feel it’s only fair to give an honest review, but more for myself. It really helps me focus on what I like and don’t like in a story.

I picked up this book as the author was new-to-me and a USA Today Bestselling author. I am actively looking for new authors that transport me new worlds. If they can do that, reading them will make my own work better.

There was so much promise in this book it broke my heart it didn’t fulfill it.

First, there were missing words and so many issues with commas it made my head hurt. I eventually forced myself to stop looking at punctuation. Not a great start.

The plot was weak but there. A snowstorm traps a duke with the lady that caught his eye and he’s trying to avoid. This is standard plot fare in some Regency, so okay.

What caused me so much pain were the characters. I wanted to love and adore the three sisters, yet, I struggled to tell the difference between the main character, Lily, and her sister, Camille. They seemed like all but the same person. The third sister, Adelaide, I liked her. A lot. She had the most personality of anyone in the story but was a bit character.

The hero was your standard brooding, unloved duke. He was literally a walking trope.

It also contained the standard love-at-first-sight trope with nothing really to back it up. The romance between the two characters is so superficial, and they are married in less than two days of knowing each other.

I wanted them to get together. I’m a romance reader. This is a given going into any book. But I never really felt anything for either character. I was never really pulling for them, but then it could be because they were all but together by page twenty.

The heroine’s mother comes off as horrible, but stupid, and makes a poor villain and no real impediment.

Despite the cover, there is really no heat at all. A few okay kisses, and one after-marriage scene at the end. Nothing for me to learn there.

The characters do get together. No, this isn’t a spoiler. It’s a romance novel. I expect it. But there is really no reason why they couldn’t be together at the half-way point in the book. I was actually surprised there were so many pages left when I hit this point. My guess is the remaining half is to round out page count as there is nothing at any point that really tests their love, and there is nothing to help them get over any emotional baggage they supposedly have.

It’s a light, easy read, but it didn’t grip me. Maybe because it is just a compilation of tropes without making any of them more. If I wouldn’t have been able to read it in one sitting, I would have put it down and never picked it back up again.

Book Review: Mind Over Matter

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ATouchofSun
Mind Over Matter was one of two books in this.

While I grew up reading Nora Roberts, and she was one of the authors that lured me into this genre, it has been many years since I have read one of her books.

My daughter bought me this paperback for mother’s day this past year. It was prominently displayed at Target, and she saw that it was in the romance section. While it might not be my usual fare, it was a thoughtful gift, and it delighted her to no end to see me reading it.

Honestly, though, that is about where the joy ended.

I kept waiting for the plot to come into focus. I am still not sure what it was other than the heroine being willing to accept who she was and that she could be loved. But even then, there was no real journey to that.

I don’t really have a lot to say about the story. The queen of romance wrote it, so I feel bad saying anything less than positive about it, but the story never gripped me. I never really understood why the characters were attracted to each other or what really kept them apart.

The steamy scenes didn’t make up for it either. And I’ll forgive almost anything for good steamy scenes.

There was also a lot of head-hopping. On one page, we saw the story through four different characters. This is even more head-hopping than you see in many older, more established romance writers where it was expected to see the scene through both the hero and heroine’s perspective.

All in, I don’t regret reading it, but I won’t read it again.

It did teach me a few things.

First, it is incredibly important to have real stakes for your characters. There has to be something keeping them apart. Yes, it can be internal, but a somewhat routine break-up from eight years ago needs a whole more to it.

Second, there has to be something in story that get the character over it. While this book has a happily-ever-after, I am not sure why I didn’t get in on page twenty rather than page two-hundred and seventy-four. Nothing all that much really seemed to happen to make the changes real.

A few things in the story made me pause, like the mention of phone booths and car phones. I checked the copyright date after I finished it. While the book A Touch of Sun was published in 2019, the story Mind Over Matter dates back to the 1980s.

Reminds me how much has changed in romance novels and technology over the last thirty-five years. I might stick to Nora Roberts’ more recent works.

Book Review: Romancing the Duke

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RomancingtheDuke
Romancing the Duke by Tessa Dare

As said by one of the greats, and quoted often:

“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”
― Stephen King

But as a writer, I need to do more than just consume fiction. Consuming it is easy. But much like watching great movies doesn’t make me a screenwriter, I also need to do more than read great books. I need think about what makes them great. To understand what I liked about them, and even what I dislikes about them. But more than that, I need to think about the how and why the author does what they do.

Tessa Dare is an amazing author, so I decided to really think through one of her books. I just finished this one, and it is was a nice read. I started it on Friday night and finished it on Saturday morning.

As a said, it’s a solid read, and I would recommend it.

As I think through it, here are a few things she did particularly well I can learn from:

  • She doesn’t reveal things too quickly. Why is the heroine afraid of the dark? You’ll find out, but not too quickly. And when you do, it moves the romance along. She does this repeatedly, seeding story points early and bringing them to fruition later.

 

  • Her characters are not perfect. The heroine isn’t insurmountably beautiful. The hero is scarred. Literally. And blind. She uses this to build tension naturally. There are very few external events, which is perfect.

 

  • She uses these flaws to create tension. The characters do talk to each other, and sometimes they say mean things. But this fits with the flaws. Never too much to make them irredeemable, but you can see them working through their pain and flaws to earn their happily-ever-after.

 

  • Her characters all have agency. Each one chooses their path. They act with self-interest as well. Sometimes blatantly, but never maliciously so you still love them.

 

  • Her steamy scenes are concise but impactful.

 

Reading the work of a master always helps with your own work. Building a world. Crafting a story. I am particularly mindful of how she builds those character flaws and allows them to guide the story.

Something more for me to ponder.