Reading Fanatic Reviews
Historical RomanceKing of Hearts by Eileen Putnam
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, 24 Symbols, Thalia, Smashwords, and Bol.de
King of Hearts*
Hard Time Getting Into Book; Didn’t Like the Hero
I had a hard time getting into this book. It starts off from the hero’s perspective, and I just didn’t like him. That didn’t really improve much through the entire book. I really enjoy historical romances, and one of the keys for me is to like the hero or else the book, to me, doesn’t have much point. The heroine was noble in her passion for her cause, but she never quite became a relatable character for me. This is just a personal pet peeve of mine, but I absolutely hate that the use of the word “chit” to describe a young woman in historical novels as it seems like a way of trivializing women. Every time I read it, it just rankles me. That word was used a lot in this book, so that might have been part of my problem with it.
King by Daya Daniels
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King*
Not What I Hoped It Would Be
I despise book blurbs that give you no idea what the book is about. The blurb of this book has to be one of the most generic that I’ve read. Yet, I do enjoy historical fiction, so I thought I would give it a try. I find myself disappointed on two counts. I find that the writing style is more like that of a contemporary romance than of historical fiction, with lots of short-phrase paragraphs and sentence fragments. While historical fiction doesn’t need to sound like Shakespeare, I do think it needs to be elevated beyond fragments and have fully formed paragraphs.
The other main issue I have with the book is that while the author did state at the bottom of the book blurb that it does have “strong sexual content,” she wasn’t explicit. As the book involves violent spanking and other forms of power and control during sex, she should have used terms that readers know–like “power exchange” or “marital discipline”–to tip off those who don’t want to read that kind of book. While I don’t mind “strong sexual scenes” or general erotica (which is how this book was categorized at the book review site where I downloaded it)–whether they’re told explicitly or in more vague terms–I do not like books with any form of sadism. If I had known that was a part of this book, I never would have chosen it. If authors are proud that their books have BDSM, name it and claim it in the description; if they wish to hide the gory details, they should use the euphemisms as I described above. Authors should not expect readers to infer anything that isn’t explicitly stated (and I don’t equate erotica with BDSM; erotica may contain elements of it or may not), or they leave themselves open to bad reviews by readers who do not appreciate that kind of writing.
Rise of the Shieldmaiden by Jaime Loughran
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Rise of the Shieldmaiden*
Vikings and a Strong Heroine… What’s Not to Like?
If you like stories with Vikings and the strong women (I’ll admit to loving the evocative term “shieldmaiden”), this book will be right up your alley. Thora, the heroine, is a young woman who has lost much but is determined to avenge her family. This book is full of intrigue, crosses and double crosses, unlikely alliances, and a bit of romance. Much is going on in this book. Just some of the themes touched on include second chances, courage, redemption, power, patriarchy, and survival. Thora is tough; she is strong both physically and mentally even though certain men in her world don’t want her to be either and take unfair advantage of her because they can. I enjoy the action sequences and the evolving relationship between Thora and her unlikely hero. The book ends on a happy-for-now cliffhanger that tantalizes about what might be in the next book. I’m curious to see what that is.
Portrait of a Lady by Victoria Vale
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Google Play, Kobo, 24 Symbols, Thalia, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, Indigo (Chapters), and Bol.de
Portrait of a Lady*
Excellent Start to New Steamy Historical Series
I love the historical romances written by Victoria Vale! I have read the entire Villain series and totally loved the last two books, writing some of my longest reviews–nearly a thousand words each–for those books. I will try not to go on so long in this one! What I like about Ms. Vale’s novels is that she is able to pull me right into the story with a great setup and complex characters, making me not want to put the book down.
This book starts with a scene of drunken debauchery of five down-and-out friends. One of them comes up with a brilliant idea that they should become male courtesans so that they could live a life of more ease, as some have debts, have been disowned by their family, or want nothing to do with their family. Gentlemen of the era, of course, didn’t work proper jobs! In this scene, the author sets up the entire series about the gentleman courtesans… and hinted that the ringleader might have some secrets that will probably only be revealed in his book.
The central part of the book starts two years later, discussing the life of one of these courtesans who is hoping for his last keeper (as they call the women) before he breaks into the art scene. I loved the hero and heroine. I felt sorry for the poor girl; she was so meek and timid that she could barely request the services to initiate the relationship, and even after she did, she vacillated between wanting to go forward with her scheme and wanting to back out. As always in this author’s books, the sensual scenes range from steamy to erotica. I thought the author did an excellent job showing the world as it would have been at the time. I felt I was in Vauxhall Gardens at the masquerade (where the first meeting between the hero and heroine took place) myself; I can picture it that vividly from the author’s words. A thoroughly enjoyable first book of what I believe will be another fantastic series by the author.
Falls Ende: Courser by Paul W. Feenstra
Available at Amazon, Kobo, Mondador, Angus & Robertson, and Indigo (Chapters)
Falls Ende: Courser*
Not Quite Sure What I Think About This Series Now
This is the second novella that I have read in this series, and I now find myself wondering if the author is making a mockery of medieval-inspired contemporary literature. Aspects of this book just didn’t ring wholly true for me as straight-up historical fiction. For one thing, in this book (and to a lesser extent the previous one) he has odd names for some characters. In this book, it was Master Mason Morel Mundy, and yes, he did always capitalize it like that. When referring to people by their job, he always capitalized it. The author also makes some odd word choices, causing me more than once to refer to my Kindle dictionary and the internet (which is kind of annoying in and of itself). Some words did not appear to be used correctly by definition or by culture; I wonder if the author is just using some of these words for effect.
Like the last book, there are some very long stretches of describing setting and other straight-up narrative prose, especially at the beginning of the book; you know an author has gone on too long if you’re tempted to just skip over large blocks of text. Some details were needed, but the author went overboard far too often. This slows down the action of the book. I thought there was too much head-hopping in the book; sometimes, the point-of-view character changed from paragraph to paragraph. Though really much isn’t said about it in the book blurb, much of this book is about Charlotte, Odo’s betrothed, and her plight; the book isn’t all about Odo, which seems to be implied by the book description. Her scenes alternated with the parts about Odo, who is showing himself to be much more than a simple herdsman. I actually quite enjoy historical fiction and so was looking forward to this series of novellas, especially as I had seen some good reviews, but I find myself disappointed because of the deficiencies above.
To Love a Duke by Diana DeHaven
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To Love a Duke*
Too Short Cinderella-type Romance
I wasn’t wild about this book. For one thing, I thought all of the characters sounded alike. I couldn’t distinguish their tones or word choice enough to make them individual. Some language choice seemed a bit over-the-top, even for a historical romance. For instance, the butler at one point actually uses the phrase “commence swimmingly” when referring to the progress on the duke’s birthday bash. This story is a spin on Cinderella, with a seamstress as the heroine. After a very haughty Lady Josephine, whom the dowager duchess wants the duke to marry, accidentally dropped her invitation to the ball in the seamstress shop, Emma and her friend decided that it would be fun if Emma pretended to be a lady and went to the ball. This is a novella, so there wasn’t much time for the romance between the duke and the pretend Lady Emma to develop. This story needed more room to breathe. Probably in just this little bit I’ve told you, you can imagine what was the big black moment in the book. So, it felt a little predictable.
Sisters in the West by Janessa Suderman
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Mondadori, and Angus & Robertson
Sisters in the West*
Good Characterization; Flawed Delivery
The author successfully managed to create two very different sisters. She sets this up when the book opens. As one of five sisters myself, I quite enjoy the interaction between these two ladies. In fact, I think the author’s greatest strength is characterization in this novel. All The characters felt distinct. I wasn’t as enamored with the plot. The blurb seems to promise one thing, but the book delivers another. Also, the book is billed as a western romance, but it seems more heavy on the western revenge plot than the romance part. There were some problems with grammar, punctuation, and usage, especially with dialogue. The author didn’t seem to understand how to punctuate or capitalize dialogue, and that was a little distracting. She also likes to use some very emotive dialogue tags, which can be distracting as well; I’d like to think the sisters weren’t truly exclaiming or demanding as much as the author said they were! I rarely see westerns that are based in Canada, so that was an interesting variation from the typical western.
Kidnapping the Viscount by Ruth Ann Nordin
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, Scribd, Smashwords, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and Indigo (Chapters)
Kidnapping the Viscount*
More Silly than Funny, More Immature than Mature
I didn’t know quite what to make of this book. When I read the blurb, the premise sounded fun and different for a Regency. The way that it is actually executed comes across as silly rather than funny. The heroine got herself in the initial mess (which essentially is the entire book’s purpose to fix) by listening to the wrong person rather than her own heart and caring more about social climbing than love. The book just feels like a series of pointless and improbable events. There is definitely some drama and misunderstanding, but the interactions between the characters come across as not only unrealistic but actually rather childish for people of their age and social standing. At times, there was too much melodrama and giddiness. This book could have been written humorously but still maintain the proper adult level of interaction. The version of “love” that both the hero and heroine exhibit seems to be more along the lines of teenage crushes rather than mature, adult love.
The Secrets of the Sixth Night by Dayna Quince
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Mondadori, and Angus & Robertson
The Secrets of the Sixth Night*
Not as Good as Others in the Series
I have read several books in the Northumberland Nine series, and this one has darker themes than the other ones. The book even starts at night, when Luna is out attempting to gather herbs that are only easy to distinguish at night. She happens to see three men in conversation on the beach. Are they smugglers? Is their host involved? At least two are other members of the house party, two brothers. The two men are not pleased that she has seen them, and after some amount of time, figure out that she hasn’t seen or heard anything and swear her to silence. The brothers have been caught up in drama caused by the younger one, not smuggling, and the elder brother is wounded from stepping between his brother and the man he was dueling with. The hero’s brother is definitely an irresponsible young man who makes bad decisions and doesn’t seem to care how his actions affect his brother.
I didn’t care for this book as much as I did for the others in the series that I’ve read. The others felt relatively light and fun, but this one had a fair amount of troublesome issues, including that the hero could have died without the care of the heroine. I like my Regencies to be a bit more upbeat and more about the play of manners and decorum than things like duels and possible death. I am an RN, and some of the ways that healing practices were portrayed were highly inaccurate for the time. It makes sense to our modern understanding to sterilize equipment and think of not introducing more potential means for infection, but people back then wouldn’t have thought that way. The germ theory of infection was not a part of medical science until much later in the 1800s and even then acceptance was slow (20+ years). I did like the other books in the series, so I will continue with it, but I did find this book a disappointment compared to the rest.
A Tempting Wager by Karen Sommers and Emilee Harris
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A Tempting Wager*
Charming, Well-Written Regency
What a charmingly well-written Regency! Sometimes, it feels like it is so rare to find an author who knows how to create well-drawn, emotionally resonant, and sympathetic characters who are dealing with personal conflicts that makes sense for them and the times as well as evoke the scenes in such beautiful word pictures that a reader can immediately feel immersed in the world of the story. The couple’s meet-cute was perfect for Regency. Her carriage is mired in the mud, and even though he doesn’t want to, the hero’s gentlemanly conscience does not allow him to pass up a damsel in distress. The attraction was instant and mutual (though they both charmingly felt that they’d acted the buffoon and made a terrible impression), but the author made it feel realistic; it didn’t seem like the insta love that seems to happen too often in romances these days. The language of the text was how I like it to be in a good historical, elevated but accessible. I loved the hero’s interactions with his father; he was appropriately quite biting at times. If you like Regency, this is one you should add to your reading list.
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