The Best:
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| Tempting The Bride- Sherry Thomas |
This is the third book in the Fitzhugh Trilogy which follows the romantic entanglements of a trio of siblings in Victorian England. I enjoyed the first one, Beguiling The Beauty, which had an odd revenge/hidden identity plot and I loved the second one, Ravishing The Heiress, even though every page made me want to crawl into a fetal position and just cry my eyes out.
Helena Fitzhugh and David Hillsborough have way too much baggage between them. She's fixated upon an old love who is now an unhappily married man. He's been in unrequited love with her for half of his life but has spent so many years purposefully antagonizing her to hide his feelings from scrutiny that he's finding it impossible to break the pattern no matter how badly he wants to. Luckily for them, Helena's poor decisions and a not-really-all-that-selfless white knight move on David's part throw the two together and a carriage accident and case of amnesia gives them the chance to wipe the slate clean just long enough to start building something real.
I did not anticipating loving this book. Helena came off really brittle and rather selfish in her sibling's books, David came off a bit too smarmy and pervy, and amnesia is such a cheesy plot device. What hooked me initally is the depth of David's unrequited love. He's not screwing around, he's a goner for this woman but he's also a hopeless mess. He had me rooting for him almost right off the bat and never disappointed.
Gosh, Sherry Thomas is a great writer. She sucks you in and then digs her claws in deep. I've now read all of her books. Guess it's time to make second passes now. (Incidentally, the number of times Sherry Thomas has made me cry while on vacation: 2. It's time to stop taking her books on vacation, obviously.)
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G.A. Aiken's witty and irreverent Dragon Kin books are super fun. They're humorous medieval paranormal romances that revolve around the lives and loves of a family of dragon-shifters. I read the first one, Dragon Actually, a few months ago while on a blogging hiatus but enjoyed it thoroughly. It has a heroine named "Annwyl the Bloody" whose nickname comes from her propensity to lose her temper and decapitate her enemies. She's awesome. She figures largely in both of the sequels reviewed below and I could not have been more delighted with that fact.
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| About A Dragon [Dragon Kin #2] - G.A. Aiken |
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| What A Dragon Should Know [Dragon Kin #3] - G.A. Aiken |
Gwenvael the Handsome (or Gwaenvale the Vain depending on who you're asking) unexpectedly meets his match in barbarian politician Dagmar Reinhold whose spectacles and diminutive stature belie her viciously calculating mind. She ain't known as "The Beast" for nothing. I spent the first half of this book declaring "I love Dagmar!" continuously and the second half declaring "I love this whole damn crazy family!" in its place. This one gets darker than previous entries to the point where I may have gotten misty-eyed at a couple of points. Also, Gods hadn't been portrayed in the best light previously in this series but hot damn did one of them act like a pissy asshole in the one. Boy do I hope he gets what's coming to him one day.
This series is very very entertaining. Also, I love the prequels featuring the parents and grandparents of the current dragon generation. They are made of win.
Note: There are many different digital versions of these books. Book 3, in particular, can be bought stand-alone, in a "super edition" with a prequel novella, or in a very cheaply priced bundle with books 4 and 5. I bought the super edition because I wanted the prequel and didn't want to deal with the stories in the bundle being out of order.
The Rest:
Truth And Roses: A contemporary romance between a spinster librarian and a prematurely retired football player. I just couldn't connect with it at all. Turns out, this was orginally an early 90's Harlequin category romance that's since been repackaged. No wonder it felt a bit old-fashioned and stale to me. (Amazon|Goodreads)
Master Of The Mountain [Mountain Masters #1] by Cherise Sinclair: A woman tries to be enthusiastic about accompanying the boyfriend she's not all that into on a long-weekend swingers retreat in the mounatins. She fails. Turns out she not at all comfortable with swinging. Now, trying out some kinky BDSM with the super sexy retreat owner? Well, that's another beast entirely. Bonus points for: Some ridiculously creative outdoors bondage equipment set up in the woods. (Amazon|Goodreads)
My Liege Of Dark Haven [Mountain Masters #3] by Cherise Sinclair: The heroine in this one gets involved with a BDSM club so that she can write an academic paper on the sociological aspects of the culture in a bid for a tenure position. If this entire premise made you roll your eyes like whoa, then rest assured that you are not alone. Surprisingly, I thought her research was interesting and thoughtful and luckily not the cliched expose that I was anticipating. Bonus points for: Foster Puppies! OMG. Puppies! Also, the hero has a super sexy ponytail (check out that cover). (Amazon|Goodreads)
Next Up: I go on a Karina Bliss backlist binge! Also, I'm much closer to catching up that it appears. I swear.
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