Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

Her Sky Cowboy by Beth Ciotta

All my life, I've felt something was missing, and now I know what it was.  Thanks to Her Sky Cowboy, I now realize that the void in my soul was caused by never having seen Janis Joplin perform "Piece Of My Heart" in a bar on a floating zeppelin in Victorian England.  The odds of my filling said void through direct personal experience seem to be low, but thanks to the book at least I got to read about it.

Her Sky Cowboy is a steampunk romance, which takes place in and above England, Paris, and Italy.  This is the first book in "The Glorious Victorious Darcys" trilogy.  It involves the adventures of Amelia Darcy, an inventor and pilot who is trying to restore her family's fortune and good name by winning a contest.  She must find an invention of historical importance in time for Queen Victoria's Jubilee.  When her kitecycle (!) is destroyed in a mid air collision with ex-Air Marshall Tucker… read more »

Ironskin by Tina Connolly

This year two novels with strong romantic elements were nominated for Nebula Awards.  One, Glamour in Glass, is a fantasy tribute to Jane Austen, and the other, Ironskin, is a fantasy version of Jane Eyre. (Note: Glamour in Glass review coming Thursday.) 

Glamour in Glass uses fantasy elements in a subtle, restrained manner, as befits a Jane Austen tribute, while Ironskin is gothic right down to the blighted gray moor and the heroine's hand-me-down clothes.

High Risk by Vivian Arend

High Risk by Vivian Arend is a romance that defies sub-genre. It’s like I’m trying to categorize it and the book is standing up yelling, “I’mma do what I want!” I found it while looking for romantic suspense, but it’s not that. It’s sort of erotic-contemporary-action romance with bondage and amnesia (words that could only otherwise be used to describe Lindsay Lohan’s weekend plans).

The book is the first in the Lifeline series, focusing on a group of elite search and rescue workers based out of Banff, Canada. These are the people who go into very dangerous places to find stranded climbers.

When I started reading High Risk, I thought, wasn’t there a mountain SAR movie with Stallone? Then I Googled Cliffhanger and remembered why I’d blocked that movie from my mind.

The Wanderer by Robyn Carr

You know how you can really like a book and enjoy it a LOT despite seeing all of the flaws? That's how I am with this book. I could explain the flaws for about an hour and fifty minutes, but I'd still end every sentence with - "...but I liked it." None of the flaws were OH HELL NO jerk-me-out-of-the-story problems, and while I bet they'd drive some readers bonkers, I was happy to accept they were there and move on.

This was comfort reading for me: no one was going to sneak up with a giant stuffed ostrich of angst and beat me over the head with it until I was weepy and covered with feathers. There were people with problems and people who were problems but I liked reading and visiting with all these people. There was some romance but mostly exploration of the people in the town, sort of a blend of what would be called "Women's fiction" (urgh) with a sidecar of romance.

Here are the things you need to know about this book -… read more »

Wolf Nip by Vivian Arend

I'm looking at the shifter genre like a swim-starved beachgoer who is pretty sure the ocean is too cold to go in, but dips a toe anyway. I kind of miss the paranormal genre, especially shifters. I don't love the insta-love and the fated pair mating with the twitching cocks, but I've read most paranormal romance from the perspective that it explores our relationship with rage, out of control anger, and fear, especially of the internal and external "other."

When we - especially women - lose our shit and get angry, it's not ok. Shame and chastisement follow. But if a shifter loses his or her shit, goes cat or wolf or bear or cougar or wombat, well, that's nature. Some of my favorite paranormal shifter romances explore without flinching the idea that there's this insatiable angry beast inside that has to be tamed or controlled or in some way balanced.

Since I was… read more »

Tin Cat by Misa Buckley

I really, really wanted to love Tin Cat, and I almost did - but it's one of those books that just can't quite pull all its components together.

Tin Cat is about Amber, a woman who owns and runs a comic book shop.  Allow me to pause and say - that is awesome, and what's even more awesome is that her shop has both male and female customers, and she has a female co-worker, and no one thinks that is weird or that the women are fake geek girls or that they exist only to be oogled.  THANK YOU. 

One year before the book begins, Amber was hit by a car and became paralyzed from the waist down.  She lives independently, drives, runs her shop, and is just basically awesome, but she has huge emotional issues due to the fact that she's only had a year to adjust to the paralysis, there was a trial in which she was viciously slut-shamed, and her boyfriend, who was already a jerk, dumped her when he discovered that the paralysis would be permanent.  So… read more »

Rush by Maya Banks

I was leery about reading Rush for two reasons. First, there’s a glut of less than stellar erotic romance being published due to the Fifty Shades of Grey buzz.

Second, WTF is going on with the cover? Seriously, can we talk about the cover for a second? What is that? It looks like the mysterious blue water from maxi pad and diaper ads.

Bizarre cover art aside, this was a great read. It was the sort of fun, ultra-sexy, modern romance that can eat up an entire Saturday. I have already ordered the next two books in the trilogy. Be advised, this isn’t Fifty Shades of Grey, largely because it doesn’t suck.

It’s erotica without the apology, navel gazing, or shame. If you liked Fifty, you should definitely like this book because it’s better.

Irresistible by Mary Balogh

I started reading this because when I posted the $1.99 sale alert, Samalamadingdong, a reader, said that this was one of her favorite Balogh novels. I love me some historicals so off I went to read it. I thought to myself, while I was reading the opening chapters, "Well, this isn't exactly my cup of tea, there's a lot of infodumpery and some of these characters talk in exposition and that's too bad. I'll give it one more chapter."

Then, in what seemed like a minute later but was actually two hours, I was 45% through the book and had to force myself to put it down and go to bed.

Balogh, it seems, is quiet sneaky crack reading for me. As I said on Twitter, "I'm reading and suddenly I CANNOT STOP READING. Even when I see the flaws, THERE IS NO STOPPING." There's a mellow addictive quality to the writing and I couldn't put the book down. Even though I see all the flaws like they're standing up and introducing themselves… 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.

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 »

Skyfall by Catherine Asaro: A Guest Review by CarrieS

Many readers of Smart Bitches have mentioned Catherine Asaro as science fiction romance author to check out.  She certainly seems like a nifty person - more accurately, she sounds like a very improbable romance heroine.

Among other things, she's a former professional dancer, has a Masters in Physics and a PhD in Chemical Physics from Harvard, she's won two Nebula Awards for her fiction, and she just composed a bunch of music for a CD that accompanies her latest book.  In her spare time, she knits intricately patterned fireproof scarves for firefighters from the wool she shears from her own herd of unicorns. 

I made that last part up.  If I sound bitter, don't worry, it's just the envy of her many accomplishments seeping from my pores as I type.

A Clockwork Christmas: A Steampunk Christmas Anthology - A Guest Review by CarrieS

Back in 2011, Carina Press released A Clockwork Christmas:  A Steampunk Christmas Anthology.  This anthology contains Crime Wave in a Corset by Stacy Gail, This Winter Heart by PG Forte, Wanted: One Scoundrel by Jenny Schwartz, and Far from Broken by JK Coi.

I was surprised that there isn't that much talk of Christmas (or any other holiday) in the novellas.  Crime Wave is the most Christmas-y book, with This Winter Heart coming in second.  The other two books keep Christmas strictly in the background.  I was also surprised at how little steampunk is actually in the books - generally the authors picked one steampunk element to focus on instead of creating a fully developed steampunk world.  All of these novellas are available for sale separately. 

I assigned an average grade of C to the collection as a whole, but the entries varied widely in quality.  Here's the breakdown by novella:

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.

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 »

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.