Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

The Dark Heroine by Abigail Gibbs:  A Guest Review by CarrieS

The Dark Heroine reads exactly as though it was written by a very talented teenage Twilight fan.  That's because it was, in fact, written by a very talented teenaged Twilight fan.  As an adult, I found the content to be almost unbearably bad, but the technical quality of the writing was good and my fifteen-year-old self would have snarfed it down quicker than a pan of brownies.  Spoilers ahead, but not for anything, including every facet of the ending, that you won't be able to predict from the first page.

Violet is a seventeen-year-old London girl who witnesses a group of pale, fanged men kill a group of tanned, normal-teethed men at Trafalgar Square in the middle of the night.  The fanged people kidnap Violet because she is a witness to the attack.  Violet has a hard time grasping the concept that a bunch of pale, super-strong, super fast, fanged guys that bite people to death in the dead of night might be vampires, but eventually she manages to comprehend that they are.  The vampires are all gorgeous, very rich, and… read more »

Caught in Amber by Cathy Pegau: A Review by CarrieS

Caught In Amber takes on a challenging premise and does a great job with it.  The ending is a bit of a cop-out but overall I was pleased at how the author made this book enjoyable and romantic without sugar coating the serious issues it describes.

Caught in Amber is set in what appears to be a not very distant future, when an illegal and highly addictive drug called Amber has become popular.  Sasha James is a parolee and recovering Amber addict.  As part of her parole she has a chip in her neck that reports her movements to law enforcement and also controls her physical cravings for Amber. 

Sasha is approached by Nathan Sterling, a lawman whose sister has fallen under the charms of the same man (Guy Christiansen) who got Sasha hooked on Amber.  Nathan says that he can get Sasha's chip removed, an act that would make her more vulnerable to Amber but also give her freedom from her parole conditions and from being under Correction's watchful eye permanently.

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell - A Guest Review by RedHeadedGirl

Like many people, after seeing The Hobbit with it’s remarkably, disturbingly hot dwarves, I have found myself fascinated with the ouvre of one Richard Armitage, and Zoe Archer helped (as she always helps) with her constant, steady, delicious stream of “Hot Dude Pictures” she posts on Tumblr. 

And then there are are the North and South gifs.  And there’s the eyes, and the nose and the jaw line and the cheekbones and dude.  The voice.  THE VOICE.  So I watched North and South.  And I may (I’m not admitting to anything, mind) have watched it three times in two weeks and I MAY have been able to note when scenes were cut from the version posted on Netflix Instant that are on the DVDs.

Maybe.

I admit to NOTHING. 

But I wanted to read the book and review it for the fine feathered flock at the Bitchery. 

The Little Book of Heartbreak by Meghan Laslocky: A Guest by CarrieS

Smart Bitches is a safe haven for all of us who cherish our happy endings in fiction (and in real life, when we can get them).  But I often find that right around Valentine's Day all the romance is leached from my bones and nothing will do but some heavy cynicism.  If, like me, you are all HEA'ed out and you need a drastic change of pace, you might enjoy The Little Book of Heartbreak:  Love Gone Wrong Through the Ages, by Meghan Laslocky.

Little Book of Heartbreak is a light, anecdotal look at some of the many ways that love has gone terribly awry through history (mostly Western history).  It's cute (but not too cute, and occasionally quite dark) and vastly entertaining.  Usually I read non-fiction much more slowly than fiction, but I zipped right through this.  It's not laugh out loud funny but on the other hand it's more informative than I had expected.  

This is fairly educational stuff, but not hard scholarship.  Here's my personal favorite bit of trivia: medieval lovers sent… read more »

The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord:  A Guest Review by CarrieS

The Best of All Possible Worlds is a marvelous science fiction love story.  It's more science fiction than romance novel, but the strong love story at its core should keep any romance/science fiction fans more than happy.

This is the story of Grace (a Terran) and Dllenahkh (a Sadiri).  Grace is a native of the planet Cygnus Beta.  This planet has become a home to several groups of interplanetary refugees.  There are four different alien groups (Terrans and Sadiri included) in known existence.  They are distantly genetically related and have settled on several planets. 

Dllenahkh's people are the Sadiri.  When the Sadiri's home planet is destroyed, many of the survivors settle on Cygnus Beta.  While Grace has various complex scientific jobs, it's simplest to describe her role as one of cultural liaison between the refugee Sadiri and Terrans, who are the dominant group on Cygnus Beta.

Warm Bodies:  A Guest Movie Review by CarrieS

Warm Bodies is a delightful and moving film that succeeds because of its very engaging stars, despite a plot that, while sweet, does not make a ton of logical sense.

The movie is being marketed as a romantic comedy, and it is very funny, but only in a very dark, very understated way.  There were only a couple of moments where I laughed out loud, but there were plenty of things that I was still quietly chuckling over days later.  It's basically a variation on the Beauty and the Beast story, while also being quite overtly a variation on Romeo and Juliet. 

Upstairs and Downstairs:  A Guest Review by CarrieS

Upstairs and Downstairs is a lovely non-fiction coffee table book describing the lives of the rich and of their servants during the Edwardian Age.

The first thing you'll notice about the book is that it is gorgeous to look at.  It is packed with drawings, paintings, and photos.  It's organized by time of day, and in keeping with its focus on describing all the work that happens to keep a country estate running, the first time of day mentioned is Before Dawn. 

Each chapter includes a description of what the rich were doing, and what the servants were doing, and a profile of a famous personage of the time.  In general, there are more details regarding the activities of the servants than those of the wealthy.  This book gives a very detailed picture of what a day on an estate would be like.

To Marry an English Lord by Gail MacColl and Carol McD. Wallace:  A Guest Review by CarrieS

Downton Abbey's season finale is Sunday 17 February here in the States, and the next season will not arrive until January 2014. Carrie S. is here for you though - with some reviews of nonfiction that should more than tide you over until then, provided you read slowly and practice what you've learned!

This non-fiction gem is a must-read for any fan of Regency, Victorian, or Edwardian romance.  It is juicy, wonderful, educational fun!

To Marry an English Lord is a riveting look at the world of American heiresses who married, or attempted to marry, into the English aristocracy.  It covers the middle and late Victorian Age through the Edwardian Age.  The book covers the stories of individual people and had inserts with details about historical processes. 

This means that you have the following (and much more) at your disposal:

Nightfire by Lisa Marie Rice

Susan's guest review made me wonder if maybe this book would work for me. The fact that I didn't like it and didn't finish it is entirely my fault. I should have known better. I was made more curious by the solid reviews on GoodReads, and the number of people who say that Rice is among their "crack" authors. Also, it was on sale very recently for $1.99.

But I should have known that despite all those things combining to tempt me, this was not a book I would enjoy. All the signs were there, and I ignored them. This DNF is my fault, but I also read enough to understand Rice's crack appeal. So while this is a DNF review, if you like romantic suspense with a lot of overt sexual tension, extreme alpha males, and some up and down over the top emotional tempo, you might really like this book.

For me, the over sexed alpha male… read more »

Be Mine: by Jennifer Crusie, Victoria Dahl, and Shannon Stacey:  A Guest Review by CarrieS

Be Mine is a Harlequin anthology containing three novellas.  The one by Jennifer Crusie (Sizzle) is a re-release and Too Fast to Fall (by Victoria Dahl) and Alone With You (by Shannon Stacey), are new.

Since the plots are lighter than air, I shall sum them up in just one run-on sentence each, followed by a mini-review of each story:

Sizzle:  Marketing Executive falls for the new guy who oversees her budget. Too Fast to Fall:  Chronic speeder falls for the cop who always pulls her over. Alone With You:  One night of sex plus lost phone number plus meeting again and working together in an isolated location equals true love.

Heart of Danger by Lisa Marie Rice - A Guest Review by Susan

Back in September, Susan contacted me about a Carla Kelly book she had reviewed. She emailed me again recently about her discovery that sometimes, paranormal elements in a contemporary romantic suspense novel can work. Here's her review of how and why that's true for her.

I discovered Lisa Marie Rice when I started to read hotter romances and she quickly became a favorite. I adore her earlier books, like the Midnight series, and her single titles. But her books have gotten a bit formulaic recently: super alpha ex-military heroes who have instalove for the less experienced and/or damaged heroines, heroes that protect the heroines at all costs, and hot sex with behavior and descriptions that are often repeated from book to book. However LMR remains my reading crack. The books are fast-paced and I look forward to the next one, always. I figured the first book in the new Ghost Ops series would be more of the same. When I realized that Heart of… read more »

The Devil’s Delilah by Loretta Chase

After reading a write-up of the awesomeness that is Jack Langdon written by @ActuallyAisha, I bought and read The Devil's Delilah, despite having a LOT on my reading list for this month and despite not having much time to get it all done. Y'all, I am so glad I made time for this book. It's wonderful.

The Devil's Delilah is a traditional Regency - have a look at the old cover on the right to get the full gist of what I mean. Originally published in 1989, the story revolves around a very intricate plots. Darryl Desmond, better known as "Devil Desmond," has written a memoir of his life and escapades as a somewhat infamous rakehell in London. This is something of a past life for him, because after he married an actress, they moved off to Scotland and lived happily, since they would not… read more »

Sealed with a Curse by Cecy Robson

This book has a plot like a Jack Russell Terrier on crack jellybeans. Bounce bounce bounce! It zooms from event to event, gory bloody scene to battle to a shower at home to more action. ZOOM! BOUNCE! It's kind of manic.

But it also has guffaw-moments of silly, goofy humor. The silly humor of the prose fits the story in a way that made me laugh hard at some scenes. It might give you whiplash, the way moments of drama are deflated with sarcasm, since it moves the tone of the story back and forth from Moment of Loss and Sadness to Moment of Wait, That Was Kinda Funny.

Also, before I move on to the plot summary, take a close look at the cover: notice her fingers are tapered into claws? That's kinda cool - and fits the story, both in… read more »

The Mammoth Book of Futuristic Romance:  A Guest Review by CarrieS

In futuristic fiction, it's often a challenge to create a believable situation.  The most unbelievable thing about The Mammoth Book of Futuristic Romance is that someone had the nerve to charge $13.95 for this lackluster short story collection.

The Mammoth Book of Futuristic Romance is a collection of nineteen short stories about romance set in the future or involving futuristic elements.  Probably the most famous author to contribute is Linnea Sinclair.  All the other authors were new to me.

Ghost Planet by Sharon Lynn Fisher: A Guest Review by Carrie S

Ghost Planet was depressingly terrible as only a promising book can be.

The premise was wonderfully intriguing and the author (Sharon Lynn Fisher) writes good descriptions and has an overall good use of language, with a few scenes that were genuinely harrowing.  The writing technique is polished and smooth.  This high level of potential made it almost insulting when the book became progressively lost in scientific bullshit and stock, annoying characters. 

Fair disclosure - Ghost Planet is getting great reviews elsewhere on the net, so if you loved Ghost Planet don't be shy about defending its honor in the comments - you are not alone.