Mini Monday, the Carina Press Edition

After buying/borrowing quite a few books this month, I decided to spend the last weekend of February trying to make a dent in my TBR stockpile.  Thanks to my friends at Kobo and their generous use of coupons, I have a slightly frightening backlog of Carina Press titles, so I dove into those.  Here's what I read this weekend.

The Spurned Viscountess by Shelley Munro- This was pretty much a straight up Gothic romance.  (Not that I'm an expert on the Gothics, but Jenny Crusie describes them as "girl gets a house" and that's what this was.)  Rosalind goes off into the wilds to marry the amnesiac, and possibly insane, son of an Earl.  It's her last chance at having a home and family of her own, because she's got The Sight, and everyone at home knows it.

I got annoyed by the number of attacks and accidents she had to go through before Lucien acknowledged something was really going on.  And then his attempt to protect her was half-assed at best.  But mostly this was an enjoyable read.

Blinded By Our Eyes by Clare London- Gay gallery owner Charles comes home early from a trip to discover his prize sculptor dead and his ex-lover covered in blood and hysterical.

This was a dark read, with a fog of anger and violence throughout.  There was a happy ending of sorts, but the solution to the mystery was pretty disturbing.  And the relationship between the sculptor and the ex-lover was unnecessarily mysterious in the first few chapters, which was just annoying.

Not a bad read, but not to my taste.

Undeniably Yours by Shannon Stacey- This is the follow up to Ms Stacey's very popular Exclusively Yours.  Kevin Kowalski is the only one of his siblings still single, now that his brother Joe has tied the knot, and he's not thrilled about it.  He's sick of bar bunnies and ready to settle down.  Beth Hansen is a rolling stone, who's allergic to ties of any kind.  Too bad their one night stand leads to a baby.

This was a fun read.  The Kowalskis are a fun family, and it was great to revisit them. And Kevin is a great hero.  I was less enamored of Beth, though.  Her reason for not wanting to settle down was understandable, but it got old after a while.  By the end of the story it was long past time for her to get a grip and grow up.  But the ending was sweet, and I bought that they'd be happy together.

Fair Game by Josh Lanyon- Elliot Mills is a former FBI agent who had to leave field work behind when he was badly injured in the line of duty.  A year and a half later he's started a new life for himself as a history professor when he's asked to look into the disappearance of student.  The investigation brings him back into contact with the FBI and his ex-lover, Special Agent Tucker Lance.

The mystery was good and the romance between Elliot and Tucker is emotional and believable.  My only problem with the book wasn't with this story itself so much as the story within the context of the author's other work.  Everything else that I've read by Lanyon has been in 1st person.  This story was in third, although limited to Elliot's point of view.  I kept getting bounced out of the story when I was expecting 1st person and got 3rd person instead.  Not really a critique so much as an observation.

So that's what I read this weekend.  How about you?

Review: Mr. Maybe by Jane Green

Review by DivaBetty

I noticed in Barnes and Noble that Green's 90's chick lit books have new classy covers. I prefer the old one for Mr. Maybe...shredded male torso, clothesline of jokey boxers...because it is what it is.  A relic of the glory days of early chick lit, when Bridget Jones chronicled her calories and Good In Bed was shocking. This is one of the classics...juicy, frivolous, and rather well written to boot.
 
Libby is a twentysomething Londoner who loves her job in PR, burdens her charge card with funky designer finds, and feels like she's ready for a fling. Her bff, Jules (she of the Perfect Marriage to convenient accessory Jamie) insists that Libby can't handle a fling...she'll end up heartbroken. But Libby meets Nick, fun, hot, and unapologetically on the dole, he's an immature dreamboat built for delicious sex with no strings attached. 

The bathtub sex scene is STILL one of the best I've ever read. In case you're interested in that sort of thing. ;)
 
They have a terrific time together in and out of the bedroom but Libby can't handle his slovenly and unambitious lifestyle and horrid friends. They break up. She's crushed. A rich guy, Ed, comes into the picture and is everything she says she wants. 

Ed makes me gag.
 
There's a very realistic take on "storybook" romance here and the likelihood that you should be careful what you wish for. 
 
By the time Nick shows up again, I was singing Hallelujah to the heavens because at no point does it seem like Ed is anything but Mr. Hell No. Libby has some growing up to do, though, and it's rendered well. She learns to be true to herself and it feels authentic, not like a sitcom Learning a Lesson moment. 
 
I wish all chicklit was this good, this hilarious, this tasty.

Free Today Only- The Sevenfold Spell by Tia Nevitt

It's the last Wednesday in February, and that means we've come to the last of the Carina Press freebies.  This week it's The Sevenfold Spell by Tia Nevitt.  To get your copy, go here, and don't forget to use the code SEVENFOLDFREE at checkout.

Here's the blurb:


Have you ever wondered what happens to the other people in the fairy tale?


Things look grim for Talia and her mother. By royal proclamation, the constables and those annoying "good" fairies have taken away their livelihood by confiscating their spinning wheel. Something to do with a curse on the princess, they said.


Not every young lady has a fairy godmother rushing to her rescue.


Without the promise of an income from spinning, Talia's prospects for marriage disappear, and she and her mother face destitution. Past caring about breaking an arbitrary and cruel law, rebellious Talia determines to build a new spinning wheel, the only one in the nation—which plays right into the evil fairy's diabolical plan. Talia discovers that finding a happy ending requires sacrifice. But is it a sacrifice she's willing to make?


This novella generated quite a bit of buzz last fall when it was released, and deservedly so.  It's an unusual take on the Sleeping Beauty tale.  For one thing, Talia isn't the princess.  And she doesn't wait around for someone else to give her what she wants, she goes out and gets it herself.  She also takes a very un-fairytale like attitude toward sex.  There is a romantic interest for Talia, but it's really not about the guy.  This is her story all the way.


Also, did you see that gorgeous cover?


This one is definitely worth a read, and bonus!  It's free!  Happy Wednesday, everyBetty.

Review: Lessons in Love: A Cambridge Fellows Mystery by Charlie Cochrane

 Review by Chronic Betty

St. Bride’s College, Cambridge, England, 1905.

Jonty Stewart is handsome and outgoing, with blood as blue as his eyes. When he takes up a teaching post at the college where he studied, his dynamic style acts as an agent for change within the archaic institution. He also has a catalytic effect on Orlando Coppersmith.

Orlando is a brilliant, introverted mathematician with very little experience of life outside the university walls. He strikes up an alliance with Jonty and soon finds himself heart-deep in feelings he’s never experienced. Before long their friendship blossoms into more than either man had hoped.

Then a student is murdered within St. Bride’s. Then another…and another. All the victims have one thing in common: a penchant for men. Asked by the police to serve as their eyes and ears within the college, Jonty and Orlando risk exposing a love affair that could make them the killer’s next target.

This book has been previously published and has been revised and expanded from its original release.

---

Product Warnings

Contains sensual m/m lovemaking and men in punts.

I love Samhain's product warnings, don't you?  I think I've read more of their books based on the warning than the blurb.

Jonty Stewart and Orlando Coppersmith meet when Jonty sits in Orlando's chair.  They soon become inseparable, first as friends, and then slowly as something more.  During this time a murderer starts targeting homosexual students at St. Bride's.  Suddenly their relationship is dangerous on three fronts:  Jonty knows he's homosexual, but Orlando has been basically asexual until this point in his life.  Is this what he wants?  People are dying on campus for being homosexual, do they want to risk catching the murderer's attention?  And, homosexual acts were illegal in England in 1905.  Do they want to risk hard labor if they're caught?

I'd heard good things about this book, and I was eager to give it a try.  But I had a very hard time connecting, mostly because of the POV.  It was written in 3rd person omniscient, which I generally don't like.  And in a book where a large part of the focus is the romance, that distance doesn't serve the story well.

I did get more involved as the mystery plot drove to its conclusion.  But I also think that the last third or so of the book was more interesting because we were spending more time with Orlando's thoughts than Jonty's.  This was really Orlando's book.  He grows the most, changing from a complete loner to a man with a dear friend and lover.  He also has to shift his thinking away from his very prudish upbringing to accept any sexual feelings at all, let alone feelings for another man.  And yet it seems like we spend a lot more time in the early part of the book in Jonty's head, as he dances around trying to slowly seduce Orlando, while at the same time trying to preserve his "precious innocence."  (Jonty's interest in Orlando's complete innocence and unworldliness was a bit squicky to me.)


In the end we finally get to see Orlando understand what he really wants and be the hero by rescuing Jonty.  And I think that's as much of the reason why I liked the end of the book as all the action in catching the killer. We're finally getting to experience the important stuff through the right pair of eyes.


I struggled with this one, but don't take my opinion for gospel.  There are eight books in this series now, so apparently many others liked it.  I caught a spoiler by accident for book 8, and now I'm trying to decide if I want to push through all the books in between, hoping they get better, or if I should break a cherished reading law and just jump to the good bit.  That spoiler sounded wowza.


I give it a C-.  Not horrible, but not quite in the middle of the pack, either.  I was able to borrow this one, now that lending is available for the Kindle.  Unfortunately, I have yet to find a m/m romance available for download through the library.

Free Today Only- The Spurned Viscountess by Shelley Munro

Another Wednesday, another free ebook from Carina Press!  This time it's The Spurned Viscountess by Shelley Munro.  To get your free copy, go here, and don't forget to use the code SPURNEDFREE at checkout.

I can't tell you much about this one.  It's in my TBR file, but I haven't had a chance to read it yet.  If anyone has read it and would like to give us the scoop, please do!  In the meantime, here's the blurb:


Cursed with the sight and rumors of witchcraft, Rosalind's only chance at an ordinary life is marriage to Lucien, Viscount Hastings. She doesn't expect love, only security and children of her own. Determined to go through with the wedding, she allows nothing she encounters at the gloomy Castle St. Clare to dissuade her.


Recently returned from the Continent, Lucien has no time for the English mouse his family has arranged for him to marry—not when he's plotting to avenge the murder of his beloved Francesca. He has no intention of bedding Rosalind, not even to sire an heir.


Though spurned by her bridegroom, Rosalind turns to him for protection when she is plagued by a series of mysterious accidents and haunted by terrifying visions. Forced to keep Rosalind close—and tempted into passionate kisses—Lucien soon finds himself in grave danger of falling in love with his own wife...


Sounds pretty good.  Maybe I need to bump this one up the queue!

Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Review by Diva

I have to do a dual Diva review on this one. It is impossible to compute otherwise.
 
The STORY(Diva, 32)
 
Lonely teen Grace has no interests except her obsession with the wolves living in nearby Boundary Wood. They mauled her when she was eleven (and playing on a tire swing? at eleven? how bout piercing stuff and reading seventeen magazine? realism alert!) and she was rescued by "her" wolf, a yellow eyed beast who seemed to understand her very soul. The wolf watches her. She watches it. There's a connection.

Some jerk from her high school gets killed by the wolves and comes back as a shapeshifting werewolf.  Ecstatic, Grace tells her photog buddy Olivia "hey, i saw this wolf who looks like Jack I bet he's a werewolf now!" and Olivia is all "you are just stoked to jump yellow eyed dog and hope he's a dude." (Okay they don't talk like that at all. It only SEEMS like they do).

Sam is "her" wolf, he shows up in naked 18yo guy form bleeding on her back deck and she tends to him, hides him in her room for weeks, unbeknownst to the Stupidest Parents in the Entire Canon of Literature as We Know It. But, hell, they remained in their woodsy house AFTER she got mauled by wolves as a kid and assured her "wolves are peaceful creatures" then locked her in the damn hot car that summer for hours and she had to be rescued and revived cuz they FORGOT her. (PS an eleven yo couldn't get out of the damn car???)

Grace and Sam fall in love. They have to keep him warm so he doesn't morph back into wolf form. He didn't change in warm weather this year so it's his Last Year As a Real Live Boy. So he wants to see the people and the landscapes and ball the girl because he will never have another chance evah.

But there is the problem of his pack (as well as the fact that every time he gets cold in friggin Minnesota he changes back to a wolf so he has to sit in the warm car a lot). Raised by Beck, a sometime lawyer sometime wolf/highly fallible father figure, Sam has to deal with Shelby, a jealous, murderous she wolf. She tries to kill Grace. Sam finds out Beck has intentionally had kids bitten to perpetuate the pack with new members. He is sad and angry. He takes Grace on a date to SMELL CANDY. Because that is romantic. Then they shag. This does not satisfy my curiosity about whether or not sex will make him transform into a wolf (sex kept vampire Ian Thornheart from craving blood on Port Charles years ago. he was hawt.)

Then Isabel, rich bitch sis of newbie werewolf Jack, tells Grace she knows everything and demands help. Together they figure out that Grace's Dumbass Parents saved her from werewolfism by locking her in the hot car so the temp burned the werewolf out of her or some shit like that. They steal meningitis infected blood to infect and "save" Jack, Sam, and Olivia (who got bitten by pissed off Jack).  Spoilers:  Jack dies. Olivia opts out and frolics wolfily into the woods. Sam's form is unstable and he can't stay a human long enough to get injected fully. He disappears.

At the end (SPOILER) he shows up out of nowhere and they hug. We do not know if he has been human for like weeks since he was injected or how he survived the meningitis that killed Jack or if this is permanent or anything. The End.

PS. This girl has the self-esteem of Bella Swan (read: I must have my para hottie or I AM NOTHING) but Sam is a very cool character. His narration made it possible to finish the book. I fell asleep twice. Old Diva
 
THE STORY (Inner 15 yo Diva)
Grace feels a deep connection to the wolf who saved her life. Little does she know that he is secretly an attractive teen during the summer months. Despite the obstacles in their path, they come together one winter and hope the warmth of their love can protect Sam from leaving her forever to lead life as a wolf permanently.
 
Because she is part wolf herself, the result of the attack from which Sam saved her, Grace can understand him better than anyone. She is drawn to him and all the meaningless responsibilities with which she has filled her lonely life fall away until all that is left is Sam, fragile loving and hopeful. His wounded heart (his parents cut his wrists to kill him when he changed into a wolf as a kid) trusts her alone and they lead a full but narrow life together shutting out the cold and reality. 

A car accident sends a rush of cold air through the broken windshield and steals the last of his humanity, leaving Grace to go on alone. Fortunately her newfound friend Isabel, whose brother has been bitten, helps her discover the key to Grace's own resistance to becoming a wolf. They need to cause a high fever in the victims to save them from becoming wolves forever. Together, they execute a desperate plan that claims one life but saves another.
 
Sweepingly romantic, descriptive and atmospheric, dreamy. XOXO Teen DIVA

Mini Monday, Featuring Lunar Betty!

Hooray for Julie, Lunar Betty, who has graciously agreed to let me post a couple of her mini-reviews.  She asked that I remind everyone that these are just her emotional reactions and not "real" reviews.  We all know what that means, right?  Say it with me!  "Julie, YOU ARE A GREAT REVIEWER!!!1111!!!!111!!"


And now, on to the reviews!  

I finished a book yesterday that I did not love.  (This won’t be a review, I already told you that I can’t do those, I’m too emotional, can’t analyze with enough distance.  I am only capable of saying “yes I liked it, or “no I hated it.”  Not much gray area for me.)  I can tell when I am not adoring a story by the number of times I set it down.  If I carry the book around with me constantly, and finish it in a day or less, then I adore it.  If it takes me more than three days to get through, it is not a winner.  The latest from Laura Lippman was totally not a gem, to me.  I’d Know You Anywhere did not grab me, on any level.  The people in the book were flawed, that’s never the problem for me, I am flawed, we are all flawed.  These characters simply irritated me.  They had no spines, and the ones that almost did, were shallow, they were self-serving.  And not in an amusing way.  I simply did not give a rat’s ass about any of them.

And....

The Wilde Women by Paula Wall

           I liked this book very much, it had a very special "feel" that I really enjoyed. If this book was a photograph it would be one of those sepia-toned hand tinted antiques in a massively heavy frame.  It has the warmest brown hue to it.  I really enjoyed reading all of the separate-but-linked stories, the attitudes, and the emotions of each character.  They felt like real people you'd run across if you were transported back in time to this heavily burdened, but hard loving, fictional community.

          You can hear Wall's distinctive voice on every page, you could practically taste the dust of The Great Depression with every uniquely descriptive line.  Wall is a grand story teller and a true wordsmith. 

          The only thing that would have added more, I felt, would have been if she'd included family trees or some type of graphic to chart all the characters and their lineage.  Every once in a while I'd lose track of who was related to who(m?).  Overall I so loved reading how they interacted and crossed paths, in the current setting and in the past. 

          One or two folks were left a bit shallow in their backstory/history, and weren't quite as fleshed out as I would have liked.  But, I do understand the need for "minor" characters in every tale, and not every reader wants a tome that weighs more than a pudgy toddler  (could just be me this case).

          The twists and "just desserts" that rounded out the ending were very well done, tying up loose ends and giving the closing chapters a satisfying HEA (or just EA, but well deserved).

          There was, not exactly similarities, but a similar emotional sense, in this book as compared to her first one, The Rock Garden.  I think most readers would be happy with it if they enjoyed the other one.  For the familiarity of Wall's "voice" more than anything else.

So, those are our Monday mini-reviews!  Thanks, Julie!

Also, congratulations, merrymac12, you are the winner of the Adrien English Mysteries 1&2!  Shoot me an email at booksandbacon at yahoo dot com, and I'll get going on that.

Have a Happy Monday, and a Happy Valentine's Day everyBetty!