Rameau's Review Archive: Something About You (FBI/US Attorney #1) by Julie James

Originally posted on Goodreads April 8th 2012.

Synopsis:

There's something about Julie James... 

Staying overnight in a luxury hotel, Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Lynde overhears a high-profile murder involving a U.S. Senator. Special Agent Jack Pallas is assigned to the investigation-the same Jack Pallas who still blames her for nearly ruining his career three years ago. Now the pair will have to put their rocky past behind them, focus on the case at hand-and smother the flame of their sizzling-hot sexual tension.

Something About You by Julie James

This is not a fair rating. I do try to rate evenly independent of genre and solely based on my enjoyment of a novel, but that doesn't always happen. Sometimes I come across writing of a quality that in itself raises my expectations for an author and I end up being much harsher on them than I would otherwise. Those authors–debut or not–must deliver in order to earn their stars. The last time I can remember having this particular problem was when I read and reviewed Proof of Seduction by Courtney Milan.

It looks like Julie James is going to be one of those authors.

Unlike Milan, James writes contemporary romance and about lawyers especially. The very first chapter of Something About You set my expectations high and for a while it looked like James would deliver. Her writing flows easily and the dialogue is witty. Her characters act like levelheaded adults would in real situations and there aren't any manufactured obstacles for their star-crossed romance. There is a misunderstanding, but it's years old and the reasons for it are understandable. There also appears to be a plot.

I admit I was a bit miffed for not getting to play the guessing game of a whodunnit mystery, but that didn't lower the rating from a solid four stars to a three. Several small beginner's mistakes did.

First of all, I didn't really think the killer's point of view added anything to the story. I think James might have been underestimating her skills as a mystery novelist, but I respect her for choosing not to go down that road. At least she decided to stick with third person limited instead of switching between a first person voice narrative and third limited. The horrors I've read.

I was also disappointed with the secondary culprit, the so called leak. This plot point lead to a little too neat bow being tied of those plot threads in the end.

The whiff of repetition. Occasionally James succumbed to writing scenes where a flavour of the month joke or plot point was beaten to death like the famous horse. In someone else's writing, I doubt I would have noticed these things, but as I mentioned before, Julie James has the questionable honour of my great expectations.

The floundering sex scenes. There are very few people who can write smut that I deem acceptable let alone good. I know I might be asking too much from a starting author, but if Courtney Milan can deliver so can Julie James, with a little practice.

If I made a habit of adding people on my favourite author's list having read only one of their books, Julie James would be there with Milan and Marchetta. Alas, she'll have to wait until I've caught up with the rest of her works.

Review: Stranger In My Arms by Lisa Kleypas

Book info: 
Form: pdf format

Genre: historical romance
Target audience: adults

Synopsis:

As a young man accustomed to privilege and filled with a sense of invulnerability, Hunter Hawksworth had once believed the world existed only to please him. Accordingly he enjoyed different pleasures in every possible way: he had a young wife and a temperamental lover, a lot of friends to hunt with and cavort around, a nice, profitable estate. He lacked just one thing – an heir – but being still a young man he could hope to acquire that commodity as well. However one day he decided to go to India and almost drowned in a shipwreck. He was badly injured – had his head almost cracked open – and for some time forgot his own identity. When he got better, though, he started to remind himself the important details and returned home where he had been officially declared dead for some months.

Larissa lady Hawksworth was never more relieved than when she became a young widow. Although noticeably poorer, she was finally free from the debasing, disgusting marital duties and a brute of a husband who was bored by her almost immediately after their wedding. She could focus on things she liked the most – helping the others, especially underprivileged orphans. She enjoyed her independence, limited only by the money at her disposal, until her allegedly-dead husband returned, claiming his title and his wife back. What a drag. Couldn’t the man do one decent thing in his life and stay dead?

However, soon enough Lara finds out that a quite different person returned from the land of dead - Hunter has changed into a man she can trust, rely on and even love. Will it last? Is this new, improved lord Hawksworth really the person he claims he is?

My impressions:

It is a story about an angel tempted by the devil who was able to change into...whatever he wanted to be. Quite an usual pair of romantic protagonists but it worked for me well enough; let me tell you why in my own way.

Our young, green-eyed Lara is of course the said angel – sweet, unpleasantly experienced because married to a man who didn’t care about her at all. She is pretty but unaware of her assets and almost maudlin in her goody-goody attitude. Now returns Hunter, the very devil she feared and despised– he managed to survive a horrible accident and stayed in India long enough to pick up this and that (think Kamasutra, martial arts and yoga and you won’t be far off the mark).When I was reading about Hunter’s experiences I could hardly suppress a smile. He reminded me suspiciously of the generation of flower-children who considered a pilgrimage to India (yes, it was nothing less than a religious pilgrimage) to be a life-changing event, highly recommended to any troubled, world-weary soul. Hunter would fit in perfectly well; we are not told that but I suppose he was bored with his comfortable life and yearned for a change.

After he returns - thinner, fitter, more tanned and muscled-  he becomes really keen on his old-new wife. It is actually a classic trope: the charmed devil wants to seduce the angel but the angel doesn’t reciprocate, not at once anyway. Small wonder – Lara was so happy living alone and independent, unburdened by that oaf or a man, and all of a sudden she has a husband again, poor woman, and it seems it is really the same husband. Still she hasn’t expected what a spell in India could do to a man. The new Hunter is not only quite taken with her, he tries to win her heart back in a manner that would have tempted a saint or a saintly angel.

Accordingly Lara is tempted and after a while she cannot imagine her life without the new, tender, skilled Hunter who can teach her so many new things about practically everything (but mainly sex - hey, it is a romance, right?). Roughly after the first part of the novel the author makes us rethink the entire plot so far. The identity of Hunter is being questioned time and again (AND you might actually start to appreciate the DNA tests) but those most interested in proving he is an impostor are also the very people whose testimony can be instantly rejected or at least seriously doubted. For example his good-for-nothing, hypocritical uncle would love to fill in Hunter’s shoes again; also his former mistress bears a huge grudge after she was rejected and humiliated publicly by her former lover.

Can leopard change its spots? Can a devil turn into an angel to make another angel happy? I am pleased to say the author didn't take an easy way out but if you want to know more you'll have to read the book. No spoilers!

Final verdict:

It was one of better Kleypas romance novels I’ve read so far – more imaginative, with a logical, real-life  psychology and a plot with nice, interesting twists. Even if sometimes I hated Lara and her saintly-saint attitude I fully sympathized with her final choice. Let’s face it – who wouldn’t? I only wondered why it took her so long...

ETA: I really don't get the cover. Not even for a moment.

Review: Her Singapore Fling by Kelly Hunter

Synopsis:
In desperate need of protection, Jianne Xang-Bennett reluctantly turns to her estranged husband, martial arts expert Jacob Bennett, for help. But there are problems: they've been separated for twelve years and cannot be in the same room together without arguing or ripping each other's clothes off--often at the same time But Jacob will go to extremes for those he loves, and Jianne is the only woman who can bring this honorable warrior to his knees. Can they delve beneath their red-hot desire and blazing anger to find the love that has always been hiding?
 
Last night, after finishing this book, I made a few notes on what I wanted to write in my review. This morning, I looked at those notes and couldn’t think of anything meaningful to say. This book is forgettable. Entertaining but forgettable.

There were things I liked. I liked what Hunter did with the fragile Japanese bowls to show how Jianne could be both delicate and durable that she couldn’t be broken as easily as Jake thought. I liked that the twelve year separation had obviously changed both and that they weren’t as naive they’d been when they got married. I liked how Jake mostly got over his issues with money and how Jianne learned to talk about her own needs. Everything wasn’t solved but they made enough progress for the compulsory happy ever after to be believable. I liked how she took more and more control of the situation and their relationship as the story progressed, but that he wasn’t completely pushed aside either. It was the give and take kind of relationship.

I liked the brutal fight in the dojo. That’s what tipped the scales from a three star rating to four stars for me. Without that near death experience everything Jake thought about himself would have been lip service without anything backing up his characterisation. Hunter showed a very real flaw in this unbeatable fighter.

As for things I didn’t like, the writing. It wasn’t exactly four star calibre with the clichéd descriptions of clothes and characters, but I managed to push through thanks to the story itself. The sex scenes I ended up skipping or speed-reading, so I don’t have a list of bad smut words to attach here.

It was a nice brain holiday between more serious books.

Review: Nekropolis by Maureen F. McHugh

Form: pdf e-book
Genre: sci-fi/dystopia/paranormal romance

Target audience: adults

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Fleeing an empty future in the Nekropolis, twenty-one-year-old Hariba has agreed to undergo "jessing," the technobiological process that will render her subservient to whomever has purchased her services. Indentured in the house of a wealthy merchant as a female manager, she encounters many wondrous things. Yet nothing there is as remarkable and disturbing to her as the "harni," Akhmim. A perfect replica of a man, this intelligent, machine-bred creature unsettles Hariba with its beauty, its naive, inappropriate tenderness . . . and with prying, unanswerable questions, like "Why are you sad?" Slowly, revulsion metamorphoses into acceptance, and then into something much more. But these outlaw emotions defy the strict edicts of God and Man -- feelings that must never be explored, since no master would tolerate them. And the "jessed" who defy their master's will  risk sickness, pain, imprisonment . . . and perhaps also death. Will Hariba manage to escape her prison?

What I liked:

Firstly let me tell you that I fully appreciated the original setting of this novel - how many books you've read take place in Morocco and combine the local culture with sci-fi elements? The concept of a chemically indentured woman in an ultraconservative future version of an Arab country, who, knowing fully well it is forbidden, falls in love with an artificially made 'harni' man, is intriguing.
Hariba met the humanoid flesh-and-blood construct (genetically engineered chimera, whatever you want to call it, with 98% of human DNA and some special additions) and ends up asking herself, "How we can escape and be happy?" What's better McHugh refuses easy answers and simple characterizations, showing her characters' ambivalent relationships with freedom, and the ways that they willingly give it up  for love and security.

McHugh's prose was solid and the pacing was fantastic - the story never once dragged unnecessarily or shot ahead; it was also very engaging, I had to finish it no matter what.  It's told in alternating first-person narration chapters, first by the main heroine, then by her harni not-quite-lover, then her mother, then her best friend, and then finally one last bit we know once again from the perspective of Hariba. I very much enjoyed the immediacy of the first person narration from three very different women within the same society (the jessed domestic worker without any future, the shamed widow, the 'successful' wife and mother), and I enjoyed seeing how their relationships played out, with all the resentments and pettiness and deep, unswerving loyalty, even over their anger and disgust. Still the best chapter in my humble opinion belongs to Akhmim - the best because it showed all the weirdness of him being a 'construct', a being nobody truly understands or wants to understand, not even his mistress or beloved Hariba. It made me question many things taken for granted while reading other chapters.

Finally let me say that I was satisfied with the ending - it felt very true. A new life, new opportunities, new choices - and everything going to shit anyway. I would have been disappointed if it all turned out rosy and sweet, but McHugh knows better. Even the way it all slowly disintegrated was appropriate; there was no explosion, no drama, just a gradual dissolution and detachment. I just wish the author also showed us Akhmim's assessment of the whole situation, especially the changes he'd undergone - I kind of missed his narration.

What I didn't like:

I admit I would want more sci-fi elements in this one. The chapter narrated by Akhmim was far too short and not especially revealing when it comes to the whole process of creating a 'harni'. I did want to know more and I wasn't given an opportunity to find out.

Finally the title...my main carping is that it doesn't reflect the content well. No, it is not a book about living in a cemetery. Most of it doesn't even take place in a cemetery or necropolis of any kind. Personally I found it a bit misleading. Not to mention the fact that the cover art is rather bland.

Final verdict:

One of more original sci-fi flavoured novels I've read this year. What a pity it wasn't continued by the author - with so many questions unanswered fully I really wouldn't say 'no' to a second or even a third part.

Rameau's Review Archive: Destiny's Embrace by Beverly Jenkins

Originally posted on Goodreads February 14th 2013.

Synopsis:
Gentleman Seeks Housekeeper. Must be willing to travel.

Desperate for another life away from Philadelphia, headstrong and beautiful Mariah Cooper answers an advertisement for a housekeeper at the other end of the continent. Waiting in California is the most breathtaking—and arrogant—man she has ever met . . . and he'd like nothing better than for Mariah to go back home!

Logan Yates has run Destiny, the family ranch,since he was a boy. He doesn't need this Eastern miss his stepmother hired, though his home's chaotic state suggests otherwise. Still, he's secretly pleased that Mariah gives as good as she gets—and he must fight the urge to take her in his arms and kiss her whenever she proudly stands her ground. But when he's in danger of losing her, Logan will have to choose between pride . . . and his heart's true desire.




Destiny's Embrace by Beverly Jenkins

Mariah Cooper wants a life for herself. She wants a husband and children, and she wants a career as a seamstress where she works for herself instead for her mother. None of these things she can get in Philadelphia, so with a little help from her aunt Mariah answers an advertisement for a housekeeper and travels across the continent to find a new life in California. Her reluctant employer, Logan Yates finds himself bewitched by the spirited widow. He ends up wanting to share his life and family with her and it only takes him a little over a week to decide this.

Jenkins takes the time to set up both Mariah’s life in Philadelphia and Logan’s life on his farm before bringing the characters together—with a clash or ten. Mariah’s decided to change her life and she won’t let anyone walk all over her ever again. This leads to repeated conflicts with Logan who is used to getting his way without having to invest too much of himself.

The banter between these two characters is wonderful as are the little titbits about Californian history the author sprinkles between the pages. I loved that all their troubles came from their characterisations instead of manufactured obstacles. Mariah wants to commit, Logan doesn’t, and neither is hiding the fact. There’s quite a lot of plain speaking and whatever lies or secrets are told, they don’t stay secret forever. Truths comes out and they have consequences. For example, Mariah admits she’s attracted to Logan but that doesn’t change her mind about wanting a commitment. For Logan, when he finally changes his inconstant ways, there are consequences for that too.

Even though the romance itself takes barely a week to develop, it doesn’t feel rushed. With the exception of the sex scenes. The initial kisses and seduction worked well for me, but their first actual sex scene and the events leading up to it felt more like a slapdash-afterthought method had been applied in writing them. It made me question whether or not the publisher had asked them to be added in later. This could also explain why I felt like the author missed the optimal notes for the emotional pay offs such as their I love yous and the umpteenth proposal. Luckily, Mariah’s confrontation with her mother saved a lot.

Destiny’s Embrace is the first book of a trilogy and there is the definite feeling that Jenkins is setting things up for a bigger story. She spends a lot of time on introducing secondary characters like Logan’s stepmother and half-brothers, and expanding their personal histories. For some reason the book also felt little anachronistic; it felt like a 1990’s kind of a book rather than a historical romance written in the 2010’s. I don’t have enough perspective to properly explain why this is.


My thanks to Sarah for gifting me this book when I had trouble buying a copy.

Review: The Ritual (Theft and Sorcery 01) by Erica Dakin

Book info: 

Form: pdf e-book 

Genre: paranormal romance, fantasy
Target audience: adults 

Synopsis:

It is a first person narration of Chiarin or Rin, a half-elf girl living in a world where cross-breeds are discriminated against, shunned and persecuted for what they are. She has a twin sister, Shaniel or Shani who is a sorceress. Magic is a rare gift but also a dangerous one, because coveted by elven aristocracy; once you get into their service they’ll never set you free. That’s why both girls have to hide and lead a hand-to-mouth existence.

One night Rin, a professional cutpurse, is robbed by another half-elf, a very handsome man called Zashter who has…an identical twin brother, Mior, and Mior happens to be…another sorcerer. Rin first avenges herself by causing the arrest of those two but soon her sister and her conscience make her regret that move so she breaks into the prison and set Zash and Mior free.

After carrying out her ambitious plan, all of a sudden, she offers to accompany those two complete strangers wherever they are going. Zash reluctantly agrees, apparently because he has a very dangerous and important mission to fulfill – obtaining  four powerful artifacts, one for every natural element, as required by his shadowy boss. He is a master thief, though; with the support of his brother’s magic he can manage without anybody’s help even the most ambitious endeavours. Being also very handsome, he can have a new lover in every town he visits. What does he really need both sisters for?

My impressions:

It is the first part of a paranormal romance series and I am not going to criticize it for that – it would be as stupid as complaining that lemons are yellow and sour. If you don’t feel like reading about pointy-eared hotties making out on every possible occasion don’t even look at the book, as simple as that. Still I am going to carp a bit because in my humble opinion it could have been a lot better.

I liked the idea – half-elves who live in a hostile world where they have only two possible career choices: either become slaves or criminals, sometimes both, but never independent adults with a normal life. Our characters chose what they chose and never looked back. Fine. Just why they had to be two pairs of identical twins with identical skills is beyond me. A bit of variety is always a nice thing but unfortunately variety is not this novel’s forte.

Then you have the world building which is so sketchy that almost borders a catastrophe. Rin more often than not focuses on her romantic feelings, rarely sparing some time for the surroundings or politics or anything at all. The easy way Zash agrees to take both sisters under his protection and provide some tutelage is fishy from the very start; however dear Rin remains in the dark for most of the novel, never even daring to confront her lover or ask him the simplest and most natural questions. She is so busy, kissing, stealing, dreaming and kissing again. It would be such a nice change to have an interesting, clever heroine who actually knows how to make use of those two gifts in practice, especially when confronted with a handsome stranger.

I don’t want to be overly cruel and dwell too long on obvious plot flaws: like the fact that a certain monastery, full of stupid, kinky monks and some browbeaten sex slaves, contains a well which water heals every disease and can bring you back to life; seriously, the author wants me to believe nobody has ever considered taking it over and enjoying an everlasting and extremely profitable trade, not to mention an instantaneous and full recovery? Really, nobody was interested enough to gather an army of professional soldiers and punish those hideous monks for their depravity, keeping in mind that the reward might be worth more than a kingdom plus you would get those delicious women to play with? Nobody? How very improbable…

Let me finish my musings in a positive way – I appreciate the fact that the book ended the way it did, without any of those ugly cliffhangers. Funnily enough it made me curious about the second part – curious enough to buy it when it is available and the mood strikes again.

Final verdict: 

Good idea, not really great execution. Don’t think too much while reading this book – the effects might be disastrous. However if you want something steamy and lowbrow easy to read, with elves, half-elves, magic and thieves, this novel might fit the bill. 

Rameau's Review Archive: What the Librarian Did by Karina Bliss

Originally posted on Goodreads December 13th 2012.

Synopsis:

Is Rachel Robinson the only one on campus who doesn't know who Devin Freedman is? No big deal except that the bad-boy rock star gets a kick out of Rachel's refusal to worship at his feet. And that seems to have provoked his undivided attention. Devin, the guy who gave new meaning to the phrase "sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll." Devin, the guy who somehow becomes wedged between her and the past she's kept hidden for years. 

It's up to this librarian to find out firsthand just how "bad" he really is. Because her secret--and her growing feelings for a man who claims he's bent on redemption--depend on his turning out to be as good as he seems. Which is really, really good.

What the Librarian Did by Karina Bliss

This review can also be found on Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell-blog.

I may or may not have found my new favourite author.

There’s a reason Harlequin Superromances sell so well in Finland, better than Blaze or any other kinky ultra hot sex series or imprint. The impact of naked skin kind of evens out when you get used to seeing it regularly in the sauna. And we have those long winter nights and comfy blankets in our beds… anyway, it’s all about the story.

Here, two adults in their thirties meet at a point in their lives that isn’t particularly auspicious for romantic entanglements. One desperately wants a family but isn’t ready to commit to a man to have it, and another is trying to build a new start for his life. It’s a good thing then that they don’t know anything about each other and can discover together what the future holds for them. But as I said, the timing isn't the best possible and their past mistakes are about to catch up with them.

I made a list of all the things I loved about this book and it’s as disorganised as are my thoughts, still. I loved the wit and humour Bliss infuses her text with. Jokes are a delicate thing to write especially when the audience doesn’t necessarily share the cultural context with the author, but here:

”It wasn't that he had a five o'clock shadow at nine-thirty in the morning that screamed 'bad boy.' To Rachel's eyes, that simply made him scruffy.”

"Anyone could see she had a conscience. That must be painful for her."

”’I’m not offended. You're not my type, either.'
Perversely, he was piqued. 'Not a nerd, you mean?'
Her eyes narrowed. 'Not housebroken.’”

Look at that and tell me it’s not funny even without the context. I dare you.

I loved the fact that Rachel and Devin didn’t succumb to the insta-lust/love/attraction that’s a plague in modern romances. They were actually slightly antagonistic before building a tentative friendship with the option for more. Their romance was the slow burn kind with push and pull to keep them balanced. One gave the other took, and then they switched places. Truths were shared and actual smarts were displayed. I loved that both Rachel and Devin acted like adults. They weren’t perfect but they owned up to their mistakes and were determined to face the consequences.

One thing I absolutely hate in romance novels is the plot twist involving an artificial, prolonged misunderstanding. It was delightfully absent from this book and it all comes back to characters acting like real adults. Even in their most idiotic moments, they remained true to their characterisations instead of changing to fit the whims of the plot.

As for the reason why I now have a “can-I-has-a-Devin” shelf, let’s just say—without spoiling the book for everyone else—that the man knows the right things to say. (Yes, I’m aware that a woman wrote him.) He has brilliant scenes with Rachel and another character where he expresses his unwavering love, devotion, and trust in her. Once he’s in, he’s in. He’s made up his mind and he won’t let her insecurities drive him away, and he trusts her to figure it out eventually.

I’ll need to read that other book by Bliss I bought on the Harlequin Christmas sale. Then I’ll know if I’ll be adding another author on my list of favourites.