This edition of lightning reviews covers three very different books! There’s the much-awaited Marrying Winterborne, a Titanic-esque retelling in a science fiction setting, and a contemporary renovation romance.
Marrying Winterborne
author: Lisa Kleypas
Marrying Winterborne was a little bit of a disappointment because I expect SO MUCH from a Kleypas novel, but somehow also compulsively readable. It’s the direct sequel to Cold-Hearted Rake and best read after that book in order to provide context.
The general summary is that Helen Ravenel is a genteel, painfully shy lady who is in love with Rhys Winterborne, a low-born, brash, Welsh department-store magnate. In Cold-Hearted Rake, they fell in love then had a falling out. In Marrying Winterborne they are determined to marry despite Helen’s family and society disapproving (he’s new money, she’s a member of the aristocracy).
Two things bugged me about this book: 1. the big conflict comes out of nowhere and could be resolved by talking and 2. Helen is described as being some sort of ethereal anime princess and Rhys is worried his brutish smexing will kill her or something.
Whenever I read conflict about a how a heroine cannot handle the hero’s mighty wang, I roll my eyes. Women routinely bleed from their lady parts while enduring menstrual migraines, cramping that feels like two badgers in a death battle in their womb, and period related bowel issues. They also push human beings out of their vaginas. Your penis better watch out sir; my lady parts are bad ass. Look upon my vagina, ye mighty, and despair!
That said, I still couldn’t put this book down. It’s that Kleypas Magic-Crack-Writing. And the descriptions of Winterborne’s department store are fascinating. Oh, and he has a badass lady secretary (think Chief Operations Officer in reality) and a badass lady doctor working for him. I didn’t hate this book–I just wanted more.
– Elyse
Historical: European, Romance
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Wreck of the Nebula Dream
author: Veronica Scott
Wreck of the Nebula Dream is a fun science fiction adventure romance. While it’s inspired by the Titanic disaster, it reminded me more of Indiana Jones crossed with The Poseidon Adventure– lots of action and derring do. Also space pirates!
The Nebula Dream is a giant luxury liner that is being touted as the best, the most luxurious, and the fastest of its kind. When disaster strikes, Nick, a Special Forces Officer, discovers that there is no evacuation plan, there aren’t enough lifeboats, the ship’s officers have all either abandoned ship or been killed, and the ship is off course and in enemy territory. With the help of Mara Lyrae, a levelheaded businesswoman, Nick has to figure out how to save a small band of survivors.
This story has an old-fashioned feeling, with Mara being one of those spunky sidekick heroines who lacks the combat skills of the hero but is competent and daring enough to be an able assistant. Because of all the action, the sexy times are kept to a minimum (there are a couple of kisses) but Nick and Mara make a solid if not especially memorable couple. There’s a real sense of excitement and a solid sense of place to this story. The slow opening, in which Nick gets a tour and wanders, bored, through the ship, helps ground the rest of the narrative so you feel like you know where the survivors are at any given time.
There’s nothing groundbreaking about this story, and it’s not going to stick in your head long after you read it (hence the C+ grade). The characters are pretty stock (military guy with trauma, wise older woman, flaky socialite, two plot moppets, love interest, mysterious alien dude). However the characters are also likable, the plotting is clever, and the adventure is a heck of a lot of fun. It’s a good, quick, entertaining read for when you need a pulpy space adventure fix.
– Carrie S
Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
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Only You
author: Denise Grover Swank
Only You had the potential to be a sexy romantic comedy in the same vein as Jill Shalvis but I had a huge issue with one of the characters.
Holly Greenwood is a wedding planner with a lot of talent and a boss-from-hell, Nicole. She’s also dealing with putting the grandma who raised her in a nursing home due to dementia. So when a sexy new neighbor moves in across the street, she doesn’t think she has the bandwith for romance. Kevin Vandemeer just let his sister talk him into buying a run down house that he can then flip and sell for an investment. At first he’s regretting his decision (or rather the amount of work it’ll take to fix the house) until he meets Holly. Kevin has sworn off relationships (a plot device that makes me go “meh”) but he’s intrigued by her and they genuinely enjoy spending time together.
Then Holly finds out that Kevin is her boss’s son, and since Nicole is already shitty and disapproving of Holly, it adds a level of complication to everything. Holly is an event planner and one of their upscale clients wants her, not Nicole, to plan the wedding (which is going to be featured in a big wedding magazine) and Nicole is already butt-hurt about that. Nicole was the huge issue I had with the book, mostly because I couldn’t understand why any of the characters put up with her. She’s a bad boss. She’s a bad mom who doesn’t respect her adult children’s boundaries. She asks Kevin to meet her for dinner only to ambush him with a date. She doesn’t respect her daughter’s wishes to keep her baby’s gender a secret rather than do a big reveal at the shower. Basically she swans around being irritated that everything isn’t about her or getting her way. Her kids adopt a “well, you know mom,” kind of attitude, but I couldn’t figure out why they would put up with her unreasonable behavior. BOUNDARIES PEOPLE.
That said, there’s a lot of reasons why readers will like this book. The romance is hot and funny, there’s a ton of home renovation/ HGTV pr0n, and Kevin adopts a tiny kitten he finds. Plus the relationship between Holly and her grandma, and the subject of dealing with dementia, was genuine and well-done.
If Nicole hadn’t been in this book I would have given it a B+, as it was, whenever she was on the page I wanted to punch her.
– Elyse
Contemporary Romance, Romance
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Ooh, now I’m super keen to read MARRYING MR WINTERBOURNE (it’s in the post! Should get here soon!). The fragile fragility of fragile women usually annoys me as well, but in the preview at COLD-HEARTED RAKE I had the impression that it was more a self-esteem issue on Rhys’ part, where he has trouble seeing himself as anything other than rough and brutish (thus, by extension, making a woman he desires the opposite of that and rendering her unattainable). But I also see a lot of Win from the Hathaway series in Helen, and Win’s whole book was basically “I am not a delicate flower! Behold I am capable of all the things!”. Really I just hope that this is less of a disappointment than CHR wound up being.
I couldn’t put Marrying Winterborne down either. Yet, I agree. I wanted more. It felt as if the pacing were off, too.
I wish they had spent more time in the department store, I wanted to see more, and found the apothecary fascinating. I haven’t watched it yet , but just downloaded the first episode of The Paradise, because I want to see the department store.
I also, want to try the candy recipe, and hope the Dr.gets her own book.
Only You sounds fabulous to me — I know many a person with an overbearing boss or parent and sometimes, it feels easier to let it go than to fight those battles. Not saying it’s right, or that that’s what I’d do, just that it is a choice.
I suspect for a reader in the “give no f*cks” phase of life, it’s irritating for the characters to just roll over and take it, but I’m willing to give it a shot despite that. I’ll put up with a lot for a renovation romance…
I loved Marrying Winterborne, I would put it up amongst Kleypas’s best works. I do think it’s unfair to talk about Rhys’s worries about their personal life and now delicate Helen is as a big plot point, because without spoiling too much that issue isn’t a problem after the first chapter or so. It’s one of the first hurdles they get past so for the other 95% of the book I don’t recall it even coming up. A lot of Helen and Rhys’s problems are how they look at themselves and they help each other see the value in themselves through the course of the book.
The lack of big outside villain taking over the plot didn’t bother me at all. If you are someone who enjoys actually spending a lot of time with the main couple and watching them really get to know each other and fall in love then I think this will be a plus for you. I feel it’s totally a matter of taste. As this book is billed as straight historical romance, not romantic suspense or some other genre, I didn’t care that there wasn’t a big mystery to solve and that the conflict was handled without either of them doing something idiotic. I can’t blame Helen for not wanting to run and tell Rhys the secret immediately either after the set up and with everyone else telling her not to for her own good, but I am glad it all worked out the way it did.
I think this will be the book that is considered Kleypas’s big “Renaissance” after years of novels that just didn’t hit It out of the park for readers. I can honestly say I enjoyed every page of it and am really looking forward to seeing the fantastic supporting characters in their own books down the line.
I found this book utterly charming and my grade would be in the A range for Marrying Winterborne.
I enjoyed Wreck of the Nebula Dream as an action-adventure story, but felt the romance…wasn’t there that much. I was emotionally invested in seeing the group of people survive, and agree with Carrie S’s review and recommendation as a “good, quick, entertaining read for when you need a pulpy space adventure fix,” but I didn’t add it to my “romance” shelf on GR.
@ms bookjunkie …or should that be, I didn’t tag it as romance on GR?
Anyway, la la la la la, I’m no reading any Winterbourne reviews because someday this historical slump I’m in will be over, and I’ll be able to dive in with pleasure. *yearns for someday*
I was wondering when we were getting a Mr. Winterborne review. I was super excited for their romance until the very end of Cold-Hearted Rake because Helen’s reaction towards Rhys kiss and then her wondering why her family reacted the way they did (trying to not spoil). That seemed ridiculous. But I’m glad it’s just as readable as any other Kleypas novel. Her writing is so great.
I was very eh on Winterbourne. My main problem with it, and I’ve had this problem with many of Kleypas’ books, is that all the character development happens off camera. She set up a really interesting scenario in “Cold Hearted Rake,” but magically off camera between the two books, Helen developed a spine and Winterbourne became a big old softy and completely contrite.
“Look upon my vagina, ye mighty, and despair!” = my new bumper sticker
Adding my “meh” to the Winterborne meh column. Why Kleypas is being so lazy with this series makes me sad.
Also jaded: “Fool me once, Kleypas, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me for continuing to contribute to your royalty checks.”
I LOVED Marrying Winterborne. I thought that Kleypas did set up the big conflict regarding Helen in Cold Hearted Rake (let’s just say, it wasn’t a huge shock) and yes, it would have been better for both her and Rhys if they had actually talked about it earlier, but I thought their lack of communication made sense for their characters and what we learned about them over the course of the story. Honestly, I would put this as one of Kleypas’s top books ever, and liked it a lot more than Cold Hearted Rake.
I was so disappointed with Cold Hearted Rake, and I really don’t know if I want to bother with this one. And that makes me sad, because Lisa Kleypas was my go to author for so long. I think I’ll just go back and read Devil in Winter instead.
Winterborne was very disappointing. Poor character development and chemistry between the h&h. Rhys, our hero, was just a tepid distillation of Kleypas’s other self made men heros. I thought Helen was incoherent. It was the first time I skimmed a Kleypas’s book. This one and her two previous books – Brown Eyes Girl and Cold hearted Rake were all poorly done. Kleypas has written so many wonderful books but I think she’s lost her muse. very sad!
LMFAO @ Elyse’s review! Badass ladyparts FTMFW!