Review: The Last Boyfriend (Inn BoonsBoro #2) by Nora Roberts

Continuing with my blogiversary week, today I'm highlighting another author whose works I have reviewed repeatedly at Impressions throughout the last three years. Nora Roberts has been my "go to" contemporary romance author for years. Throughout the years some of her romance books have become my comfort reads, my chicken soup for the soul. Roberts has had two releases within the last month, The Witness, a book I highly recommend, and of course the latest release in her straight contemporary romance series:

The Last Boyfriend (Inn BoonsBoro, #2)

The Last Boyfriend is the second book in Nora Roberts' Inn BoonsBoro contemporary romance series. Avery McTavish, the owner of the popular pizzeria Vestra, caught my attention in the first book of the series and I've been looking forward to reading her romance with the manager and organizational genius in the Montgomery family, Owen.

What did I find in this novel by a favorite romance writer? In this book, Roberts most definitely uses a true form of the "friends to lovers" trope. Owen and Avery grew up together and have known each other since they were children. Avery even chose Owen as her first boyfriend when she was five years old, but since then they have been the best of friends. However, the relationship between them changes after they exchange a passionate kiss at the inn.

In The Last Boyfriend, and unlike what I found in the first book, there is more of a focus on the romance between Owen and Avery. They spend more time together on the page getting to know each other as a couple figuring out their new feelings and if or how they should go forward with a new relationship. As characters they are both extremely likable. Owen is a dependable, sexy sweetheart with a heart of gold, and Avery is a strong and vulnerable firecracker. She's one of Nora Roberts' redhead characters.

Owen and Avery enter into an affair early in the story, and there are passionate moments between these two people during that time, however, after those initial moments sexual tension is lacking. Additionally, their friendship and knowledge of each other's foibles and strengths allows them to work out their differences easily, so that even when few conflicts arise between Owen and Avery they seem minimal.

Although Roberts makes more time for this couple, there is a definite family atmosphere to this story. Everyone is not only involved in what's going on between Owen and Avery, but Roberts also layers additional individual story lines to the mix. It's almost as if The Last Boyfriend is one romance with Avery and Owen at its center, but with a bigger romance being told: the one between the town of Boonsboro and the whole Montgomery clan.

Roberts knows how to convey that family atmosphere on the page, and there are some wonderful moments here between the Montgomery brothers, between Avery, Hope and Clare, and between Justine (mother Montgomery) and her boys. There's one particular scene between Justine and Owen that had me in stitches... poor Owen!

It is also true that Roberts is great when it comes to research and in these books it is particularly obvious that she knows her stuff. There's the design, construction, and decoration of the inn, and now there are also other structures being restored through Boonsboro, so there are details, details, details. Beautiful details, but again, at times way too many of them and everything just works out... perfectly. And then there's the friendly ghost at the inn who by now has made her wishes known and whose backstory will predictably tie in with Hope and Ryder's romance.

I found The Last Boyfriend to be  an entertaining, sweet, contemporary romance with minimal conflicts and predictable situations. It has likable characters and that wonderful family atmosphere I've come to expect from Ms. Roberts. So yes, although this story falls on the average side of the spectrum for me, there's some real tension between hot stuff Ryder and Hope in this book and I will definitely be reading the last book of the trilogy, The Perfect Hope.

Category: Contemporary Romance
Series: Inn BoonsBoro
Publisher/Release Date: Berkeley/May 1, 2012
Grade: C+

Visit Nora Roberts here.

Series:
The Next Always, #1
The Last Boyfriend, #2
The Perfect Hope, #3 (Releasing November 6, 2012)

Impressions: Range of Ghosts (Eternal Sky#1) by Elizabeth Bear

This is my blogiversary week. Yesterday, I featured a review for the latest release by one of my favorite historical romance writers, Mary Balogh. Today I'm featuring one of my favorite female fantasy writers and one whose works I have recommended repeatedly at Impressions throughout the last three years, Elizabeth Bear. Here are my impressions of her latest release:

Range of Ghosts (Eternal Sky #1)

Temur, grandson of the Great Khan, is walking away from a battlefield where he was left for dead. All around lie the fallen armies of his cousin and his brother, who made war to rule the Khaganate. Temur is now the legitimate heir by blood to his grandfather’s throne, but he is not the strongest. Going into exile is the only way to survive his ruthless cousin.

Once-Princess Samarkar is climbing the thousand steps of the Citadel of the Wizards of Tsarepheth. She was heir to the Rasan Empire until her father got a son on a new wife. Then she was sent to be the wife of a Prince in Song, but that marriage ended in battle and blood. Now she has renounced her worldly power to seek the magical power of the wizards. These two will come together to stand against the hidden cult that has so carefully brought all the empires of the Celadon Highway to strife and civil war through guile and deceit and sorcerous power.

Elizabeth Bear. How does this author manage to do this to me every time? What a magnificent fantasy read Range of Ghosts turned out to be for me! I read it slowly because I wanted to savor every single detail on the pages, and I didn't want to miss a single word, nor did I want to lose track of her world building.

What made it so absorbing? The way she weaves the story, of course, plus the world building which is based on both Middle Eastern and Asian cultures, and the characters that inhabit that world, from heroes to villains.

Bear takes the reader from the steppe plains on the land of the Eternal Sky where the Great Khan once ruled and where Qori Buqa waged a terrible war killing the rightful heir to the Khagnate and leaving young Temur to flee for his life, through the Range of Ghosts where blood ghosts raised by an evil wizard threaten his life. To the Rasan Empire and the Citadel of the Wizards of Tsarepheth where Temur meets the strong and beautiful Once-Princess and now wizard Samarkar. And to the great Ala-Din stone in the Uthman Caliphate, a land of veiled women where assassins, a djinn and an evil wizard's magic drive our heroes on to the White Sea.

There is war and love, life and death, evil and magic. There is a sense that fables come to life as our hero and heroine(s) race through danger. Magic takes a toll, debts must be paid, and while villains do damage, they don't win all the battles. The hero is young, uncertain and just beginning to find his strength and will, yet females are strong and powerful in this tale of wizards and warriors. Oh, and horses are magnificent!

I love the sense of wonder in our characters as they move from their own lands and witness the changing skies that Bear uses to define the different empires, and fully experience the differing cultures of this world. There's a contradictory sense to this story in that it can lull the reader with its beauty, yet the pace is quick with action. I chose to let it lull me this time instead of quickly gobbling up the action. Bear ends this first installment at just the right moment satisfying the reader, but leaving the road open with a big 'danger ahead' sign that promises further adventures.

Of all the books I've read by Bear to date, this is the one that gets closest to what I think of as a traditional fantasy story -- that's not a bad thing... just rather surprising. I also find it interesting that this is the second series I've read where Bear begins with her hero/heroine at the end of an epic battle and where a horse comes to his/her rescue. The other story is All The Windwracked Stars. On the minus side, the first few sentences in this book worried me as they are a bit overdone! Don't let that put you off because thankfully that only lasts for a few sentences and Bear's story telling abilities quickly take over.

Range of Ghosts by Elizabeth Bear is a beautiful fantasy read and a great beginning to the Eternal Sky series. If you love fantasy, I thoroughly recommend it.

Category: Fantasy
Series: Eternal Sky #1
Publisher/Released: Tor/March 27, 2012
Grade: A-

Visit Elizabeth Bear here.

Impressions is 3! Thank You!

Today Impressions of a Reader is 3! I've been doing this for three years already? Time flies when you're having fun. Thank you all for making my blogging experience throughout these past three years one that I'll always remember.

Hilcia

Review: The Proposal by Mary Balogh

Gwendoline, Lady Muir, has seen her share of tragedy, especially since a freak accident took her husband much too soon. Content in a quiet life with friends and family, the young widow has no desire to marry again. But when Hugo, Lord Trentham, scoops her up in his arms after a fall, she feels a sensation that both shocks and emboldens her.

Hugo never intends to kiss Lady Muir, and frankly, he judges her to be a spoiled, frivolous—if beautiful—aristocrat. He is a gentleman in name only: a soldier whose bravery earned him a title; a merchant’s son who inherited his wealth. He is happiest when working the land, but duty and title now demand that he finds a wife. He doesn’t wish to court Lady Muir, nor have any role in the society games her kind thrives upon. Yet Hugo has never craved a woman more; Gwen’s guileless manner, infectious laugh, and lovely face have ruined him for any other woman. He wants her, but will she have him?

The hard, dour ex-military officer who so gently carried Gwen to safety is a man who needs a lesson in winning a woman’s heart. Despite her cautious nature, Gwen cannot ignore the attraction. As their two vastly different worlds come together, both will be challenged in unforeseen ways. But through courtship and seduction, Gwen soon finds that with each kiss, and with every caress, she cannot resist Hugo’s devotion, his desire, his love, and the promise of forever.

I am, unquestionably, a Mary Balogh fan. It should then be no surprise that as soon as The Proposal, the first book in her new historical romance series The Survivors' Club, was announced my excitement was great, and this book read as soon as it released.

The heroine in The Proposal is an old friend. If you've read A Summer to Remember, one of my very favorite novels by Mary Balogh, you will probably remember Gwen, Lady Muir. In that novel she was described as a beautiful widow with a limp who nevertheless seemed happy with her circumstances. I always wondered if she would find a happy ever after of her own.

In The Proposal, Balogh pairs our Lady Muir with a hero of the Napoleonic Wars. They both bear psychological scars, Hugo as a result of his actions during the war and Gwen as a result of long held guilt due to dark events that occurred during her marriage to the late Lord Muir. Neither really likes the other when they first meet as they are very different people. He is morose, stern, and holds a deep dislike of the aristocracy. She is personable and sociable. He comes from a family of businessmen and she comes from a well-known aristocratic family. On the surface they have nothing in common.

That doesn't stop Hugo and Gwen from being passionately attracted to each other or from acting on that passion. As two rational adults who think with their heads first, both agree that a relationship is not a possibility or even a consideration. The conflict, as superficially presented and argued extensively by Balogh's characters in this romance, becomes one that is seemingly about "a matter of class." However, there's always more to a Balogh novel, and as these characters are revealed in their true light through interactions and conversations, it is then understood that it is ultimately a matter of the heart.

Hugo gained his title through his heroic efforts in the war. However in his heart, he is a farmer and businessman and resents the aristocracy that made it tough for him to work his way up through the ranks in the military. Hugo is a strong man, a blunt, heroic, humble and capable man, yet he's also insecure when among the aristocracy except when in the company of fellow members of the Survivors' Club. He's convinced that he needs a wife of his own class to be happy, but finds himself passionately and physically attracted to Gwendoline. This is not necessarily a problem for him until he slowly becomes impossibly emotionally attached.

At first Gwendoline's attraction for Hugo is also physical, even as she doesn't necessarily understand her passion for such a man. However there's an affinity of spirit between Gwen and this blunt man that slowly and surely gains ground. She falls in love. But will love be enough for Gwen this time around? Can they put aside their differences and doubts?

In The Proposal there are no outside villains that become part of the conflict. The conflict that takes place is entirely between the two protagonists. As such this novel is character driven and entirely focused on the main characters, relying on dialogue and internal musings, doubts and personal realizations to move the romance along. There is physical passion, but there's also a subtle kind of passion that can be found in the characters' personal actions. This is a subtle romance.

It is because this is such a character driven novel that I found it to be uneven in sections. The emotions from one character or another are not always well-conveyed to the reader, and that surprised me. There's also a lack of flow and fine detail in some sections of this novel that were unexpected. This is Ms. Balogh and my expectations are always high. Regardless, I was able to lose myself in the story until the end.

The Proposal did not turn out to be my favorite story by this favorite writer. It is still a historical romance that I recommend if you like character driven novels with a subtle touch. I am most certainly looking forward to reading the upcoming stories about the members of the Survivors' Club. In this first novel, Balogh piqued my interest with her description of those characters and I can't wait for their happy ever afters.

Category: Historical Romance
Series: The Survivors Club, #1
Publisher/Release Date: Random House/May 1, 2012 - Kindle Ed.
Grade: B-

Visit Mary Balogh here.

Review: Bear Like Me by Jonathan Cohen

Fired from his job at Phag magazine, Peter Mallory has to find a way to make a living...and get revenge When his best friend suggests writing a book about the bear community--and using his new ursine look to go undercover at Phag--Peter is soon letting his body hair grow and practising the fine art of flannel couture. When Peter's sabotage campaign works only too well, he starts to run the risk of discovery. With an envious fellow bear set to unmask Peter as a fraud, and a relationship with an intriguing bear on the line, things are about to get very hairy.

I'm a fan of bear erotica and bearish romances when I find them, so Bear Like Me by Jonathan Cohen, an amusing, light tale about a man who becomes part of the bear community, through let's say the back door, is right up my alley.

Cohen weaves this bearish story around Peter Mallory, a journalist and self-proclaimed twink who becomes obsessed with getting revenge after he's fired from his job at Phag magazine. In the meantime he needs to make a living and at his friend Mac's suggestion Peter decides to write a novel about the bear community. Unfortunately, he is clueless. Problem? He's part of the mainstream gay community and lives in what he refers to as the "gay ghetto," but Peter doesn't even know what a bear is!

Mac suggests Peter go undercover to research his novel. To blend in he grows a beard, stops waxing his body hair, and gains heft by eating like food is going out of style. And in some of the most amusing moments in the story, his wardrobe undergoes a dramatic change as Peter sheds his trendy suits and ties for flannel. Of course there's more to the experience than growing fur, changing wardrobe or gaining weight.

"Becoming a bear, just like coming out of the closet, requires a certain shift in perception. What you find attractive, what you find acceptable, what you deem important, all changes. In a way you become an outsider, but in a way you become part of a small, select private group. Usually this is a long process that accompanies repeated exposure to the bear community. I didn't, however, have the luxury of time." 

Peter's partner Danny is not necessarily over the moon about the lack of income, but all the physical and psychological changes that slowly turn Peter into his other self, Dan the bear, take a real toll on the relationship.

Peter/Dan is driven by his obsession to get that revenge against Phag, meanwhile that "shift in perception" slowly takes place within Peter. This takes time, however even as he clings to the belief that inside he is still a twink and that his foray into to bear community is temporary Peter falls for Ben, a big teddy bear of man who sees the bear and other qualities in him that Peter doesn't see in himself. Unfortunately Peter doesn't know when to stop lying and scheming, so that by the time he comes to his senses it might be too late to keep the friends who welcomed him with opened arms, or his man.

There are over-the-top moments (Peter loves and attracts drama like a magnet), and since this book was first published in 2003, a rather dated back story. But I like that through all the mayhem Cohen sneaks in slight critical views of both the mainstream gay and bear communities from an insider and an outsider's point of view. Additionally, the pace of the novel is quick as lightning and it makes this story not only entertaining, but a super fast read.

In Bear Like Me, Cohen presents an overview of the bear community with all its rules and bearish family atmosphere. Peter's second coming out story as a bear is entertaining with an intentionally campy style, outrageous moments, and a surprisingly sweet romance.

Category: Gay Fiction/Romance
Series: None
Publisher/Release Date: Bear Bones Books/June 9, 2011
Source: Lethe Press
Grade: B

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About the Author (Summarized): Jonathan Cohen was born to non-bear parents 40-some years ago in Toronto, Canada. The rise of the Internet in 1995 connected Jonathan to a community he'd never heard of before. "Bears" were hairy, bearded, large men, Jonathan found to his surprise --- and they liked men just like him! After coming out to himself and others as a bear, he decided to study their community, their rituals, and of course their sexual practices. The novel Bear Like Me was the result and was published in 2003. Jonathan now lives in Toronto. Brown hair is turning to gray, but Jonathan still remembers those halcyon bear days and gropes of yore.