Hilcia's Weekly Reads & Minis

A weekly reads post two weeks in a row! What do you know? April continues to be a great reading month for me. I'm on a roll, and it's about time!

• I began the week by finishing off Maisie Dobbs, Book 1 by Jacqueline Winspear, a mystery set during World War I in London. This was a great way to begin my week as the atmosphere in this novel really caught my imagination. I have prepared a review for later on in the week. 

• Needing a break from mysteries, I decided to read a genre that I haven't read this whole year, M/M Erotic Romance. I picked up Twice the Cowboy by James Buchanan since I loved her book Cheating Chance. Unfortunately Twice the Cowboy did not live up to my expectations. This romance fell into the insta-luv category, and although Buchanan writes some hot and erotic interactions, the whole "love and commitment" part of it came a bit fast and furious for my taste. Of course these are cowboys and I love them so I enjoyed that aspect of the story, plus I also liked that the protagonists are from different cultures and Buchanan addresses some of the differences not only within the cultures, but how gay men can are treated. Unfortunately the Spanish language is butchered in this novella and the editing for it is non-existent. For me personally that was enough to pull me out of the most intimate moments, as the language is used liberally throughout the book and especially during sexual encounters. Grade C-

• I continued my week by picking up the latest historical romance release by Susanna Fraser, A Marriage of Inconvenience. This is a new-to-me author and the book was a pleasant surprise. I highly enjoyed some aspects of this story and yet other parts of it were not quite what I expected. I enjoyed her writing, though, and as you'll see later on in the week I picked up another book by this author. Upcoming Review.

• And because I needed another change of pace, I chose to read a book that had been on my TBB list for a couple of years, The Demon's Librarian by Lilith Saintcrow. I wrote a post when I was reading the book and as you can see I enjoyed some aspects of this book, particularly the fact that Chess is a rather protective head librarian and has a great sense of humor. This was the best part of the book for me and the best aspect of her personality. 

Unfortunately, there's a certain unevenness to this story that left me feeling disappointed in the end. Chess' characterization is quite contradictory. She's a tough librarian who goes out there to take care of demons on her own and has a wonderful way with words, but she's all talk and no action. Once she's out there, the "hero" (and he's a good hero) does all the killing and all the saving, until the very end. But for most of the book, she just... freezes? And for a smart woman shows some pretty bad judgment. I'm not quite sure what happened there. The book also feels like the beginning of an urban fantasy series, but it has an epilogue tacked up at the end that gives it a sort of "happily ever after/happily for now" feel to it. So, in the end this read was a mixed bag for me. Grade C

• I was so curious about the next story written by Susanna Fraser, that I couldn't wait to read The Sergeant's Lady. This book was actually written prior to A Marriage of Inconvenience, but chronologically it comes afterwards. This story I really enjoyed for the different setting, the plot and characterization. I read it in one sitting! Upcoming Review.

• Jacqueline Winspear was another author that was read twice this week. I decided that I needed to know what happened to Maisie Dobbs, and since I had A Lesson in Secrets (Maisie Dobbs #8) in my TBR already, picked it up and also read it in one sitting. It's interesting to note that although there are 6 books in between, I was able to pick up the threads of Maisie's life and continue on without a problem. I'm sure there are many details missing, but the core was there and I didn't seem to miss much. Upcoming Review.

• And last but not least, I picked up a western historical romance and Jodi Thomas' latest release, Texas Blue (Whispering Mountain #8). I finished this book on Saturday and posted my review on Sunday, so you know I enjoyed it. This was a solid read that left a smile on my face when I turned that last virtual page. I really do enjoy western historical romances and wish more of them were released during the year. 

• Of course right after Texas Blue I wanted more cowboys and picked up Rough, Raw and Ready (Rough Riders #5) by Lorelei James and re-read it! This is one of my favorite (if not my favorite) installments in that series. I've already posted a review, so I won't go over the details again. It was wonderful to revisit Chassie, Trevor and Edgard. This is one of my all time favorite M/M/F erotic romances and one that I'll re-read every so often, even if I don't mention it. Thanks to Mariana for posting those excerpts and reminding me of how much, and why, I enjoy this book.

Well, that was my reading week. I noticed that I'm reading and enjoying more historical romances this year, so that's good for me. Last year, I seemed to hit the wall with them. I'm also keeping pace with reading a few more mysteries and am enjoying those as well. And how was your reading week?

Review: Texas Blue (Whispering Mountain, #5) by Jodi Thomas

Gambling man Lewton Paterson wants to marry into a respectable family. After fleecing a train ticket, Lewt makes his way to Whispering Mountain. But seducing a well-bred woman is hard, and Lewt realizes that to entice a McMurray sister, he'll need to learn a thing or two about ranching-and love.

Texas Blue by Jodi Thomas is the fifth installment in her Whispering Mountain western historical romance series, however I'll preface my review by saying that for those who have not read the previous books, this can easily be read as a stand alone.

Ranger Duncan McMurray's uncle Teague placed him in charge of making sure three eligible men from respectable families would arrive safely at Whispering Mountain in the hopes that his three daughters would marry. Unfortunately at the last minute Duncan rushes to Mexico with the Texas Rangers on a mission, and the prospective grooms must make their way to Whispering Mountain by train on their own.

After seeing his friend Duncan off and joking about courting at Whispering Mountain himself, gambler Lewton Paterson knows that he's not the type of man who would be welcomed there. Lewt, however, has impossible, personal dreams of having a wife, a real home and a family... a normal life that he's never experienced. He decides to take a gamble and with little hope and a lot of dreaming takes the place of one of the chosen men on the train.

Emily McMurray is in charge of the ranch while her parents are away and resents having strangers thrust upon her and her sisters. She's too busy to entertain men and since she won't ever marry anyway, why bother? Em and her sisters, Rose and Beth, hire a friend to take her place so she can to run the ranch in peace. However, she doesn't get away cleanly. Thinking she's a hired hand, Lewt asks Em to help him understand ranch life so he can court one of the McMurray sisters with more ease. She does! Oh... she's relentless and tough as she puts this greenhorn through the paces of ranch life. It was fun to read how he struggles, and yes... I did feel for him too. Poor Lewt!

I must say that this part of the book is my favorite. Em and Lewt become reluctant friends through this time. He's not really attracted to her as a woman, as she's really a plain woman who dresses like a man, and Em is afraid of men due to childhood trauma. However, Em can't help but admire Lewt's persistence, kindness and understanding and in the end he wins her trust, and in comparing Em to the other women, Lewt can't help but admire her personally, period. My favorite scenes are Lewt and Em's conversations on the porch swing, Lewt teaching Em how to kiss so she'll know how it feels, and Lewt holding Em's hand. How sweet are those scenes?

Unfortunately the whole story doesn't take place on the ranch. There's a rush to rescue Duncan in Mexico, and the story alternates at some points between Duncan's dire situation and Em and Lewt's developing romance. As much as I enjoyed Lewt and Em's part in the rescue and the important part that played in the outcome of their romance, I'm afraid that for me Duncan's personal situation was distracting as a set-up for his story. I didn't enjoy his part of the story at all.

Texas Blue was a heartwarming romance. I loved Lewt Paterson. He broke my heart with his longing for a family and most of all for the way he loved his Em. And I loved that Em was a tough woman through and through who allowed herself to trust and be vulnerable for this one man. It's interesting and quite appropriate that there's really no graphic sex in this novel, yet it's not really necessary at all to feel the passion or the love between the two protagonists. I loved the way Jodi Thomas conveyed that part of the story.

Category: Historical Romance/Western
Series: Whispering Mountain, #5
Publisher/Released: Berkley-Penguin, April 5, 2011- Kindle Edition
Grade: B

Visit Jodi Thomas here.

Series:
Texas Rain, #1
Texas Princess, #2
Tall, Dark, and Texan, #3
The Lone Texan, #4
Texas Blue, #5

Review: My Lord Scandal (Notorious Bachelors, Book 1) by Emma Wildes

I've been meaning to read this series for quite a while. An old friend from the now defunct Phade highly recommended Emma Wildes a while back and I meant to read her works then. Nath assured me that this is a wonderful historical romance series by this author. Well, finally!

Alexander St. James may be a thief of hearts, but he is no burglar. Nevertheless, he must recover and item belonging to his family to avoid a scandal, and so he has stolen into the home of Lord Hathaway, only to come upon the beguiling and chaste Lady Amelia in her bedroom, wearing little but a look of surprise. Alexander leaves Amelia breathless-but is it from fear or excitement? Captivated by her beauty and charmed by her intellect, he ignores the scandalous whispers as he sets out to seduce the woman of his dreams...

My Lord Scandal is the first book in the Notorious Bachelors series by Emma Wildes. She begins by telling the story of Alexander St. James and Lady Amelia Hathaway, a well-known rake by reputation and a rather naive young lady with what was considered a "disability" in her time.

What did I like about this book? There's romance, intrigue, a mystery, well-developed characters and a plot line that kept me reading until the last page was turned. Alexander and Amelia are the type of characters that you like at first and the more you read about them, the more you love them.

There's a certain lack of conflict between Alexander and Amelia's romance that makes this an interesting read. There's no real angst there between them... instead they fall in love and fight others in order to have a relationship. I loved the way they both stood up for each other and their love. I liked that although Amelia was the "virginal" female protagonist, she was also honestly passionate and seductive without the coyness or over-the-top innocence found in similar characters.  Portraying Alex as the "reluctant" rake who inherited his older brother's reputation was also a rather unexpected twist to that type of character.

The intrigue and mystery in the story kept me reading, although the final resolution was a bit anticlimactic for me. However, not enough to dampen my enjoyment of the romance or characters. Of the secondary characters, Amelia's Aunt Silvie was my very favorite with Alex's two friends and future male protagonists coming a close second. I already have the second book, Our Wicked Mistake, and hope to read it soon.

Category: Historical Romance
Series: Notorious Bachelors, Book 1
Publisher/Released: Signet-Penguin, September 7, 2010 - Kindle Edition
Grade: B

Visit Emma Wildes here.

... On my current read: The Demon's Librarian by Lilith Saintcrow

I'm currently reading Lilith Saintcrow's The Demon's Librarian. I've had this book in my TBB list since 2009 and became interested in reading it again after reading her novella in the Dark and Stormy Knights anthology last year. Oh well... I do get to the books on my lists sooner or later.

Anyway, I couldn't help but come back here to share a couple of snippets with you all. Chess, the Jericho City Public Library's head librarian, had me in stitches throughout the beginning of the book with her personal ruminations about her joys and frustrations.

With libraries closing left and right around the country at this very moment, this first quote (from a book published in 2009) is the first one that caught my eye:

While the good citizens of Jericho City would pay
thousands yearly for plastic surgery and to pad the pockets of
the mayor's friends, they simply would not vote a couple of
measly bucks onto their property taxes to take care of her
library. Lovely. Remind me to spit in a city councilman's
coffee cup the first chance I get. Page 4

And after killing the demon, this one made me laugh because yeah... it just sounds so easy in the books, but imagine how tough it would be in reality. Plus, that last line! The bold lettering is from me:

She coughed and gagged again, trying not to lose
everything she'd ever thought of eating in the last week. The
books always make this stuff sound so goddamn easy. They
don't mention the smell. Or the way getting hit in the face
with a tentacle as big around as your thigh hurts. Her eye
was puffing closed, she could feel it throbbing and swelling to
almost the size of a baseball.

Wonderful.

Chess swallowed dryly, pleading with her stomach to stay
down. The smell of garbage coated the back of her throat,
and she probably had gotten some of the slimy water in her
mouth. I don't think it's good for my image to blow chunks all
over a ... what's this thing called again? Either a skornac or
just plain Demon-With-Many-Arms. Particularly allergic to a
fire-consecrated demon-hunter's knife. One more case where
an ounce of research is worth a pound of "oh fuck." Page 5

Later Chess has to deal with Mrs. Pembroke, an older lady who seems to think almost everything in the library contains "smut" and should be removed from the shelves. Here "the Indignant" comes in to demand that "Huckleberry Finn" be removed from the library's Young Adult section:

"Won't you sit down, Mrs. Pembroke?" Chess inquired
sweetly. "It's so good to see you. May I offer you a cup of
tea?" Or a face-to-face with a tentacled demon in the sewers?
I think that would be just up your alley, Pem.

Pembroke clutched her small purse to her solar plexus as if
strangling a small pet dog against her cardigan. "No ... no
tea." She sounded shocked. Relations between Chess and the
Indignant had been icily polite ever since the great Barbara
Cartland fiasco, with no détente in sight.

After dealing with an octopus-looking demon, Pembroke
the Indignant didn't rattle Chess nearly as much. Page 14

I've always been envious of librarians... working with all those books on a daily basis. *sigh* Of course, Chess is not your everyday librarian since she's out fighting demons, but I'm enjoying this aspect of her character.

Review: The Bargain by Mary Jo Putney

Mismatched lovers and unexpected attraction catch fire in this timeless novel by the New York Times bestselling author and legend in historical romance Mary Jo Putney. . .
Forced to wed to keep her inheritance, independent Lady Jocelyn Kendal finds an outrageous solution: she proposes marriage to Major David Lancaster, an officer dying from his Waterloo wounds. In return for making her his wife, she will provide for his governess sister. But after the bargain is struck and the marriage is made, the major makes a shocking, miraculous recovery. Though they agree to an annulment, such matters take time. . .time enough for David to realize he is irrevocably in love with his wife.

Haunted by her past, Jocelyn refuses to trust the desire David ignites in her. She never counted on a real husband, least of all one who would entice her to be a real wife. But some bargains are made to be broken--and his skilled courtship is impossible to resist. . .

The Bargain by Mary Jo Putney is the re-release of a book originally released in 1989 under the title The Would be Widow.

Jocelyn Kendal must marry immediately in order to keep her inheritance and independence. Major David Lancaster is slowly dying in a hospital ward from wounds received at Waterloo and is concerned about his young sister's future. Jocelyn makes a shocking proposal to David, if he marries her so she can keep her inheritance, she will endow his sister and take care of her after his imminent death. He accepts the bargain.  However after a miraculous recovery from his wounds the bargain becomes a problem for both of them. David finds himself falling in love with his wife and begins a courtship, while Jocelyn refuses to acknowledge there is more than just friendship between them.

There's more to this story though. From the beginning Jocelyn had her eye on the Duke of Canover as the man who would be her future husband and/or lover, but since time was running out and she could not bring him up to scratch, she settled for David instead. The Duke of Canover only makes a few appearances, but it is Jocelyn's musings and the decisions she makes involving him that affected this story for me. In many ways, her deepest thoughts are about him and not David. Jocelyn spent so much time avoiding her feelings for David that this reader never really made that emotional connection between them, at least from her side, until almost the end of the story. David's feelings for Jocelyn are quite palpable throughout.

Jocelyn also comes off as a cold and rather calculating woman toward the beginning of the book, and frankly it took a while before I even liked her as a character. However, Putney develops Jocelyn and as the real woman emerges there is warmth and character growth by the end of the story.

And what of the secondary characters? There's Sally, David's sister, who plays a major role in this romance and ends up having her own secondary romance in the story. I loved her personality, loyalty and inner strength, as well as her romance with the talented doctor Ian Kinlock.

Although The Bargain is not my favorite historical romance by Mary Jo Putney, there are still parts of it to admire. I liked the way Putney made me reconsider both Jocelyn and Sally's characters after an iffy beginning, and David is an admirable character from beginning to end. I love the secondary characters in this book, from the footman who gets to bring his brother home from the hospital to recover from war wounds, to Sally and Ian's romance. And after all that, I ended up rather intrigued by the Duke of Candover's character at the end.

Category: Historical Romance
Series: None
Publisher/Release Date: Zebra; Reprint edition April 5, 2011
Source: I won this book at Moonlight to Twilight Blog from MsM!
Grade: C+

Visit Mary Jo Putney here.