Reading Fanatic Reviews
Historical RomanceBallad of Discord by Tarah Scott and Summer Hanford
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Ballad of Discord*
Political Intrigue, Personal Tragedy, and Romance in the Scottish Highlands
Elizabeth, her sister, and her close-in-age aunt are living a peacefully idyllic life in the Scottish Highlands. A Frenchman upends their world when he convinces their father into a crazy scheme to fight for the crown of Great Britain as a Jacobite descendant. While this story has romance as a key element, much of the plot has to do with this political intrigue, and the hero and heroine staying one step ahead of those who would do them, and Scotland, harm. The book is quite unusual, actually, but it is quite a page-turner because of all that is going on. At times, I didn’t like how the hero and heroine mistrusted or treated each other, but in all, I did enjoy the book. The authors have created three intriguing heroines; the next two novels of the series will feature them, I imagine. The story is fascinating, and I’m looking forward to reading more about what happens to this intrepid family of Scottish women.
A Raging Madness by Jude Knight
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A Raging Madness*
Melodramatic Opening Hampers Enjoyment
Oh, goodness! What a melodramatic start for the heroine. I actually didn’t like this setup for her, and unfortunately, this colored my feelings about the rest of the book. I had just recently finished another novel about someone who suffered in an English asylum in the 1800s. The other book treated the subject very seriously, so in this novel it felt jarring to see it merely used as a plot device to set up the story and elicit empathy from the reader. I felt like the author’s writing was a bit stilted, which caused some distance between me and the work. I did like the character of the hero, though. I tend to have a soft spot for the wounded war hero, who believes that his physical issues make him less of a person. I felt like the book needed some editorial pruning. In the middle section especially, the author seemed to have scenes that didn’t serve a dramatic purpose.
The Realm of Silence by Jude Knight
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The Realm of Silence*
Enjoyable Chase and Romance
It might be silly, but I do love a historical romance book with a good chase! Much of this book is a journey through England and Scotland to first find missing children who deliberately left school in an attempt to track down a spy, and the story continues as the main characters try to figure out what the children have discovered. It was fun to track the story all over Britain. I particularly liked Gil, the hero. He and the heroine had been childhood friends, and as might be typical for youngsters, their relationship had aspects of love/hate. But Gil is a good man and wants to help his former friend in her hour of need. Along the journey, their relationship evolves in a way that is delightful to watch.
There are some issues with this book. While the author did better at maintaining conflict and suspense compared to some of her other books that I have read, I still felt like there were some unnecessary scenes that didn’t really have much of a dramatic impact, move the story forward, or show character. When she attempted to mimic a Scottish accent, it was practically unreadable. Here is an example: “But ’en he got aw radge, and up the twois ay them went tae the bed chamber.” I’m still not quite sure what all of that was supposed to mean. That is very distracting because I just want to know what the person said and keep moving! There were some other issues with grammar, punctuation, and usage. All in all, I enjoy the chase and the romance enough so that they outweighed these other issues.
Marry Me, My Lady by Allyson Jeleyne
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Marry Me, My Lady*
Sweet and Gentle Love Story
This sweet little Victorian romance is a pure delight. The book had me at the meet-cute between the hero and the heroine, Doug and Phoebe; this time, the term is genuinely warranted. We learn a little about Phoebe’s plight as an unwed mother of a daughter with a cleft palate; she has been banished to the country to give birth, and she expects that her parents will soon separate her from the baby. Phoebe is taking a few hours off from minding her child and finds a strawberry patch. As she lazes in the tall grass, Doug (a duke’s second son) believes he has spotted a trespasser and makes threats. This all ends with Phoebe firing a strawberry right between his brows. It is all done with a light touch and great humor; Doug is besotted by her beauty, her aim, and her arm! The romance is sweet and gentle. Both characters are decent, open-hearted people who are actually quite well matched. Doug is everything a swoon-worthy, protective, and loving hero ought to be. I could foresee some turns of the plot, but they were so beautifully rendered, with such love and affection between the couple, that I didn’t mind that there were few surprises in the story. I love the extended end, where we can see the full effects and changes that had been wrought during the course of the book. I wish we saw more of the fearsome foursome; I believe they will be a force to be reckoned with, and they are so good together. The characters are an absolute delight. Can I be a part of the Cherrill family?
The Revelstoke Legacy by Lynda Hurst
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The Revelstoke Legacy*
Interesting Plots & Characters; Writing Style Lacked
This box that is a collection of three novels that are connected by the Revelstoke Legacy, which is revealed in the first book. The legacy is mysterious and vast, so it adds interest to each book. I enjoyed the plots and the characters in these books, but I found the author’s writing style to be lacking on several fronts. I thought the language, both in dialogue and the narrative portions, sounded stilted, as if the author was trying to affect historical speech but missed the mark. There were often long passages of plain narration that seemed to slow down the forward motion of the stories. After all, each of these books has an element of suspense; romantic books with suspense plots and mystery should be faster paced than books that are just about romance. I did like the last book’s emphasis on herbology; I love it when little bits like that are included in a book. All in all, I found this box set to be a disappointment, which is too bad as I do enjoy historical romantic suspense.
Concerto by Cora Aston
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Concerto*
Not a Good P&P Variation
I am a big Pride and Prejudice fanfiction fan. There was a certain point when I was in nursing school where it was just about the only thing I read that wasn’t a textbook. So I have pretty exacting standards of what I like and don’t like about modern variations. I enjoy many types of variations, including those that take place far after the original timeframe of the story, so I was intrigued by this book’s premise of them meeting 10 years after the original. Unfortunately, the premise was the best part of the book. It failed for me on several fronts. Neither Elizabeth nor Darcy seemed to be the characters we know and love from the original; they could be anybody. Elizabeth is far too independent-minded for a woman of those times, even if she did have to “work” for a living playing piano for the Beau Monde, and Darcy was more dour and dark than he typically is–actually being threatening and aggressive. Both Elizabeth and Darcy seem to have wild emotional shifts that don’t make sense for either the characters in this book or for the originals. I don’t mind sensual variations of Pride and Prejudice; some that I have read have been quite good. But this book didn’t make the right transition into the sensual part of the book. I didn’t get how it made sense for the characters at that point in the story, and the tipping point for Elizabeth was actually bizarre.
As another oddity, the first line of the blurb at Amazon is misleading; Elizabeth doesn’t refuse him. Rather, she wants time to think about it.
The language of the book was an odd mixture of a poor attempt at the heightened language that is required for a good historical novel and too modernistic speech. Most of the lines of dialogue I can’t imagine someone saying. I think the cover is wrong, too. This book is supposed to take place ten years after the original Pride and Prejudice. So, Darcy would be 38, and Elizabeth would be 30; the cover models look like they’re both in their twenties. If you enjoy Pride and Prejudice variations, you might do better looking elsewhere.
The Lieutenant’s Lady by Emilee Harris
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The Lieutenant's Lady*
Regency Fugitives… Is One a Spy?
The cover of this book makes you think it is your typical historical romance, but it is far from the regular Regency. In a good way! (Not that I don’t love a traditional Regency.) This book is not one of manners and courtship like most of the genre. Instead, it looks at a complicated relationship between enemies in the time of war. The hero is in the British Navy, and the French capture his ship right when the book starts. When delivered to land and the local gendarmerie, he is given quarter in a French widow’s home. She is not too pleased about this. Throughout the book, they become fugitives, on the run in France on the way to England. They do have an undeniable chemistry that neither understands nor is quite willing to admit to fully. So this is action Regency romance with a little bit of espionage and intrigue thrown in. A unique combination to be sure and very well done by this author.
Highlander’s Caress by Joanne Wadsworth
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Highlander's Caress*
Complex Tale, Good Romance
I have read several books in this series, and I quite enjoyed Duncan and Elle’s story. Much goes on in this book, but the author sets the scene well early on, which keeps it from becoming confusing. Duncan and Elle have chemistry that sizzles off the page. With their clans at war, things do not look good for them even though they have a fated, mated bond. I really enjoyed the unique solution to their problems that happened at the end of the book. If you read other books in the series, you know that there is no huge resolution to the bigger, overarching plot in each book–in fact, each book seems to add to the complexity of the threads that tie the stories together–but I think this is one of the better happy-for-now resolutions that I’ve seen in this series. I love these stories of the Fae and the Highlanders.
The Exile of the Glen by Michelle Deerwester-Dalrymple
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Thalia, Angus & Robertson, and Bol.de
The Exile of the Glen*
Grace and Redemption
I am a big fan of this author’s work, having read her previous book in this series, “The Lady of the Glen.” I enjoyed that book a lot, as I absolutely adored the heroine’s character (and the hero wasn’t bad either!). Knowing that story, I was curious to see what this author would do with Alastair because he is actually the villain of that book (The Lady of the Glen). What the author has achieved, though, is laudable and better than I had imagined. From the very first scene, where Alastair is in the boat heading to his exile on a remote Scottish island hoping to find succor with distant family, she sets up the story as one of redemption. The first scene is so well done. We can truly get a sense of both the setting, which is so harsh, as well as Alastair’s despair over what his life has become and will be. He doesn’t fully own all that he’s done at this point, but he is starting to see the error of his ways; in doing so, the author sets up what could be a potentially good character arc.
Much of this book is watching Alastair sink lower and lower in a variety of ways, making the book more focused on an individual’s story than usually happens in a romance (more typically about both in the couple even at the start). In fact, the romance aspect doesn’t pick up until well into the book, but it makes sense within the context of the story. Grace is only offered him by a woman who is in her own way an outcast from her society. These two wounded souls find comfort and understanding in each other that they don’t find anywhere else. I found the relationship between Alastair and Elle (short for a Scottish name that’s hard to pronounce or write) to be sweet and tender as it evolved, giving them both what they needed. They both become better people through their relationship with each other–better versions of themselves–and I love that in a romance; I think love does that to people in real life, so it is a delight to see that mirrored in fiction. While this book could be read as a standalone, you would have a much better context for it if you read “The Lady of the Glen” first. Another good book by an excellent author.
The Secret Life of Lords by Elf Ahearn
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The Secret Life of Lords*
Gothic Themes and Delectable Romance
If you enjoy Gothic-style romance, this book will most likely be right up your alley. The hero and heroine have a past with misunderstandings, but when they meet again, sparks fly. Their lives become joined when she helps his ward, who is physically ill but also mentally unstable. The hero wants the heroine back in his life but knows that everything in his world is topsy-turvy. He loves her and doesn’t want his burdens to diminish her sparkle. But can they deny their attraction? What will this mentally unstable ward do?
The author has an evocative way of describing items, settings, and emotions. She ramps up the drama in several places in perfect Gothic style. The hero isn’t as dark as most Gothic heroes, but the secrets he keeps and the circumstances that surround the entire novel are worthy of that genre. The hero and the heroine have chemistry. I liked that the heroine stood up for herself when she needed to; she wasn’t quite as strong in the beginning of the book, so it was lovely to see her grow into herself. I love personal character arcs in romances like that. The chaperone provided a dry, lovely comic relief. This is the first book I’ve read by this author, and I found the twists and the turns of the plot as well as the deftly defined characters to be fascinating to follow.
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