Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

The Scientific American Book of Love, Sex, and the Brain by Judith Horstman -Guest Review by CarrieS

It's time for...SCIENCE!  That's right, I finally got a copy of Scientific American:  Love Sex, and the Brain.  This non-fiction book summarizes the results of studies that were written up in Scientific American magazine regarding, well, love, sex, and the brain.

Although the book doesn't talk in detail about the methodologies of various studies, it does have references to all the original articles, which presumably contain more information.

Asher’s Invention

I thought I would love Asher's Invention.  It's a steampunk romance with an enigmatic scientist hero.  It has a great cover and a clockwork dog. 

But, alas, it suffers from boring characters and a lack of plot, and I have Things to Do, so this was a "did not finish" for me.

A Stolen Season by Tamara Gill

I can't remember why I bought this book. Was it recommended to me? Did I see it and think, "Oh, neat!" because the plot summary would make me say, "Oh, neat"? I don't recall why this book is on my schedule but I started reading it. 

This book has a few 5 star reviews at Amazon (which are not worth the paper they are printed on, I know) and many raving reviews at GoodReads (which I tend to give more weight). I started reading and immediately had that, "Hold up, did I buy the wrong book? Is there something wrong with me?" feeling because my reaction was a solid and unending 0_o? And yet all these reviews are glowing and over the moon twice with joy about this book.

Ordinarily I'd have stopped reading and thought, OK, this book doesn't work for me, moving on. It's not like I'm short things to read over here. But because the reviews are so distant from my own reading experience, I… read more »

Tempest in Time by Eugenia Riley

So after we tore apart Fabio’s Viking, I decided to see what his ghostwriter, Eugenia Riley, could do when not hampered by Fabio’s weird cholesterol fetish.  The result was… not pretty. 

But I couldn’t do this review on my own, so I called in some help.

Jeremy Renner.  BECAUSE HIS FACE.

You’re WELCOME, Bitchery.

In a Treacherous Court, by Michelle Diener: A Guest Review by Kyra Cornelius Kramer

Kyra Kramer and I were emailing about Tudor romances, specifically one she really enjoyed, as she's a student of the Tudor era. She sent me this review to share with y'all. I hope you like it.

My name is Kyra Cornelius Kramer and I like romance novels. I like them so much I write academic essays about them. I have also done academic work in history, particularly King Henry VIII, including a book about the medical reason he may have had reproductive problems and gone bonkers in midlife (no, not syphilis). These dual interests in romance and the Tudors caused me to become aware that there was a dearth of historical romances set in the Tudor era.

Why?

It isn’t like that wasn’t an eventful and fascinating time in history. If you got characters within 50 yards of London they would be up to their lips in intrigue and sweeping sagas. You cannot throw a metaphorical rock… read more »

All He Ever Desired by Shannon Stacey

I've been trying to figure out how to review this book since I finished it. It's going to be difficult to avoid spoilers or a frank discussion of the end of the book, which is the part I had the most problems with, so I'm going to divide this review into two parts. Part the first: spoiler free, and excitingly vague. Part the second, marked by a big ol' line, will be more frank and specific, and muchly whited out.

If you're reading this on an RSS reader, BE YE WARNED.

All He Ever Desired is the second book in a second trilogy about the Kowalski family. This branch of the family lives in Whitford, Maine, and three brothers and one sister are focused during the trilogy on repairing a family lodge to try to bring new customers to visit the lodge and the nearby town. Ryan, the brother who owns a custom building company in Brookline, MA,… read more »

A Notorious Countess Confesses by Julie Anne Long

I stayed up way too late reading this book. It isn't action packed with swashbuckling mayhem, but the tension and emotional power builds so slowly that I didn't want to stop reading. I wish the ending had been stronger, but this is still one of my favorite historical series. It's all the best things of historical romance with witty dialogue and interesting characters, with the charm of small town settings that are so popular in contemporary romance. As we said in the book club chat for What I Did for a Duke, Pennyroyal Green would make a fantastic television series. 

Evie is the notorious countess: a former actress and courtesan, she married an Earl who won her in a card game, and is now a widow after his sudden death. Evie is assumed to be cold, calculating, and ambitious, but she's really lonely, though unapologetic for her notorious past. She comes to Pennyroyal Green because she now owns a small estate there, and wants to start the next - very new and different - part of her… read more »

Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold: A Guest Review by CarrieS

Lois McMaster Bujold is one of my favorite authors, so I'm grateful to commenters who told me that a new book in the Vorkosigan Saga is out as of today (it's been available as an eARC for a while).

While Captain Vorpatril's Alliance lacks the emotional punch of some of Bujold's other works, it is a lovely science fiction romance featuring none other than Miles' cousin Ivan.  If you've read anything else by Bujold, you'll recall the gorgeous and clueless Ivan, and if you've yet to read Bujold, you'll get the picture soon enough.  I never thought Ivan would get his own book and I swear, every time I saw his name on a page, I did a little happy dance.

The School for Wives: Bell Shakespeare Production, Sydney, Australia

This was an English (rhyming!) translation of a Moliere play, performed by the Bell Shakespeare Company at the Sydney Opera House. I was feeling predisposed to like this play because I was in the Sydney Opera House (COOL) and it was a perfect night to go out near the harbor. By the end, and in the days after seeing the play, I recognized it's flaws, but was so pleased to have experienced it, because I'm still thinking about it.

In the opening scene, the lead, Arnold, announces he's getting married to Agnes, a girl he's had educated in a convent to be the perfect wife: completely innocent and naive, without any worldly knowledge of anything. He says in the opening he fell in love with her when she was 4 (EW DUDE) and bought her from the poor woman who was raising her (DOUBLE EW) and had her installed in a convent for her education, and has only recently brought her to his home (TRIPLE EW DUDE SERIOUSLY).

What's amazing is the level of… read more »

Libriomancer by Jim C. Hines: A Guest Review by CarrieS

Some of you recall the incredible awesomeness of Jim C. Hines, who attempted to re-create poses from science fiction, fantasy, and romance covers.  In doing so he taught us all a little something about gender politics and the limits of human anatomy and permanently won the adoration of the Internet.  Jim has a relatively new book out, Libriomancer (it was released in August as an eBook and in hardcover).  This book has gotten all kinds of raves from the geek community and it has just enough romance in it to justify my reviewing it here.

Lady X’s Cowboy by Zoe Archer

I enjoy Zoe Archer's writing, so when she said she'd published one of her early novels, Lady X's Cowboy, I grabbed it and started reading nearly immediately. While it does have some innovative elements to the plot, the unevenness of the characterization and conflict undermines the overall effect of the story.

First, contrast the re-release cover on the left with the original Dorchester cover here:

Quite a difference, huh? I confess to liking the re-release cover a LOT more than the original, which could take place at any location or time period. Also, why is she resting her head in the shrubbery?

Anyway. Lady X is Lady Xavier, a widow whose late husband left her the family brewery. Her husband was a more recent addition to high society, and his title was not inherited. After his death, Lady X learned everything she could about the brewery, and is now running it, determined to… read more »

Tai Chi Zero: A Guest Movie Review by CarrieS

Tai Chi Zero is a movie so gloriously, epically insane that it merits a review even on a site that almost only reviews books.  Seriously, this was the most WTF crazy fun EVER.

You could assume (I did) that once you are dealing with a synopsis that involves a "tai chi, kung fu, steampunk romantic comedy with self-aware comedic elements of videogame and comic book imagery" you are really beyond categories like "good movie" and "bad movie".  Certainly if that plot description doesn't make you pee your pants with joy and excitement then I'm not sure you're going to get much out of Tai Chi Zero. 

On the other hand, I really think this is a genuinely good movie - it reveled in its craziness, it was funny as hell, the one on one fights were great to watch, and I cared about the characters.  Everyone had motivations and everyone had an actual personality.  This wasn't an "it's so bad it's good" movie; this was just good, in a crazy, over the top, cost one dollar to make, meta kind of… read more »

Moonlight and Mechanicals by Cindy Spencer Pape:  a Guest Review by CarrieS

Some of you might remember that when Kilts and Kraken came out my review was basically one long squee of delight (Clockwork Dog!).  I was excited about reading the sequel, Moonlight and Mechanicals (henceforth referred to as M&M).

M&M had all kinds of problems and I didn't enjoy it as much as I enjoyed Kilts and Kraken, but I admired it for its ambition.  In this book, the author takes a lot on, but she can't carry it off smoothly.  However, die-hard fans of steampunk will find a lot to admire and enjoy about this ambitious book, which takes on the ramifications of steampunk on political, social, and environmental levels while also dealing with a complicated romance.  The book earns itself a terrible grade and yet the author remains on my auto-buy list because I want to see if, with more practice, she can pull off this kind of scope better in the future.

Dangerously Close by Dee J. Adams

This is it for romantic suspense for me, and not merely because I don't enjoy it. I can't tell if I dislike this book more because I'm not enjoying the romantic suspense parts, or more because of the other flaws I found with the characters and the plot. I'm pretty much opening this entire review with, "Take this with a grain of salt because Romantic Suspense and I are breaking up for good, that's it, no more. We are never ever ever getting back together."

Grain of salt out of the way, this story required me to make huge leaps of faith when it came to believing the characters, and once I reconciled myself to accepting the characters and their assorted superpowers, the book introduced a villain who was terribly clumsy and inept. Asking me to be afraid of the villain was just too much.

Dangerously Close by Dee J. Adams: A Guest Review by Sassy Outwater

(SB Sarah: I tweeted Sassy Outwater while I was reading this book because I had questions about the portrayal of the blind character, the heroine, Ashley. She started reading the book (and is a MUCH faster reader than I am) and wrote her own review. My review will be posted later today). 

Sarah tweeted this book at me and then upped the ante with a speed read challenge: blind chick with screen reader Vs. a smartbitch with eyeballs. I so got that! Three hour read, and a lasting impression later, here’s my review.

A good book is like a good song. Scenes or lines stick in your head and won’t get the hell out of there. Cliché but true. This was one of those for me.  Dangerously Close by Dee J. Adams is the third book in the Adrenaline Highs series from Carina Press. I wouldn’t call this book an adrenaline high, but I would call it accurate, treacherous, and an overall wonderful read. Adams… read more »