Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

RITA Reader Challenge: Too Dangerous to Desire by Cara Elliott

This RITA® Reader Challenge 2013 review was written by Emily N. This story was nominated for the RITA® in the Historical Romance category.

The summary:     

Can a Flame from the Past be Rekindled?

Long ago, Sophie Lawrance chose prudence over passion, rejecting a rebellious young rogue for the sake of her family-no matter the ache it left in her heart. But after a specter from her father's past resurfaces, threatening to destroy all she holds dear, the desperate beauty knows there is only one man whose shadowy skills can save her.

Or Is It Too Dangerous to Play with Fire?

Cameron Daggett is a man of many secrets . . . and many sins. He's never forgotten the pain of losing Sophie. But now, with a chance to win her back, Cameron sets aside his anger and agrees to help Sophie save her father's honor. Together they embark on a perilous masquerade, leading them to a remote country estate near the sea. There, they must battle a cunning adversary-and their own burning desires.… read more »

RITA Reader Challenge: Last Man Standing by Cindy Gerard

This RITA® Reader Challenge 2013 review was written by Kelly. This story was nominated for the RITA® in the Romantic Suspense category.

The summary:     

Black Ops, Inc. operative Joe Green is determined to bring to justice the man responsible for former team member Bryan Tompkins’s death. He’s convinced the ambush that killed Bryan was no coincidence, but a setup. Unsure of the consequences of the battle he’s about to start, Joe distances himself from both his Black Ops, Inc. team members and the woman he loves, Bryan’s sister, Stephanie Tompkins. But Stephanie knows there must be some reason Joe broke it off, and when she hears Joe’s charged with a murder in Sierra Leone, she wastes no time in breaking him out of prison. Then they must unravel the mystery behind the ambush, and bring resolution to a long-ago betrayal…

And here is Kelly's review:

Beneath the Shadows by Sara Foster

Before I discovered romance novels, I cut my teeth on Gothics. My mother had a shelf of books by Victoria Holt and Phyllis Whitney in our basement, and one summer I devoured them all. Beneath the Shadows by Sara Foster is a modern Gothic with romantic elements, and it reminded me why I enjoyed the genre so much.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Gothic storyline, it features a young and often virginal heroine who finds herself in an unfamiliar and desolate setting (usually the North York moors or a crumbling Cornwall estate). She is often in jeopardy, beset by seemingly unseen forces, and surrounded by people she may not be able to trust.

There’s also the classic Gothic hero—dark, brooding and handsome; he is mysterious, and the heroine is simultaneously attracted to him and afraid of him. There is a strong element of the paranormal here, with a dash of romantic suspense.

Switched by Helenkay Dimon

I loves me some romantic suspense; it's probably my favorite sub-genre of romance. The problem is, a lot of it isn't done well. It's hard to balance the competing tensions of "Omigod I'm gonna die" and "Omigod I think I'm love." Helenkay Dimon nails it in Switched.

The book is a homage to the original Die Hard movie, which is just awesome. I've got a not-so-secret crush on John McClane, receding hairline and all. Switched opens up with Aaron McCain (McCain/McClane--I figured that out on my own!) working security for Lowell Craft, doucebag CEO extraordinaire. Lowell hired Aaron after receiving death threats, and I can't imagine why anyone would want to hurt him. I mean, he alienates his only child, invites his wife and his mistress to the same event, throws a shitty company Christmas party in lieu of bonuses or raises, and hosts the party in the middle of friggin nowhere because it's convenient for him. I'm assuming he also hangs out in… read more »

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 »

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. 

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.

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.

No Words Alone by Autumn Dawn - A Guest Review by Carrie S

I heard via word of mouth that No Words Alone is a very good science fiction romance, so of course I had to check it out.  I had some very ambivalent feelings about this book and yet I was completely swept away by the story and the atmosphere.

Xera is a translator.  She is human, and serves on a human spacecraft that crashes after engaging in a skirmish with an alien craft.  Both ships are stranded on a hostile planet and the humans and the aliens (Scorpios) have to make an alliance to survive.  Xera is the only woman in both crews and when her captain threatens to rape her, the Scorpio leader, Ryven, takes her under his protection.  Seeing as how the two races are at war, "under his protection" essentially means she is taken prisoner, brought to Ryven's home planet, and told that she will be marrying him.  Xera is drawn to the Scorpio culture and… read more »

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:

I Don’t: A Christmas Wish by Kari Gregg

I usually don't gravitate toward books that sound like they are more about an issue than a character, but the description of this book grabbed my brain in a "You wanna read this now" kind of way.

Seth and Owen have been together for a few years, and the story opens as they're driving through a horrible snowstorm to visit Seth's family in Brunswick, Maryland. (Brunswick is a real place. It's on the border between Maryland and Virginia, southwest of Frederick. I have no idea if the area was accurately represented, or anything, but I thought it was neat that it was a real small town.) From the first page, I knew their relationship was not in a good place:

I stared out the window at the layer of thickening white that blanketed rooftops and front yards stuffed with nativities, plastic snowmen and giant candy canes. At least the inches of accumulation hid the Save Marriage signs that still dotted the landscape like unexploded grenades.

Seth campaigned for Question Six, the Maryland ballot… read more »

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 »

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 »

Viking by Fabio - A Guest Review by RedHeadedGirl

The things I do for your entertainment.

So, to get back to the discussions of Old Skool WTFery, I went as WTF as I could.  I went Fabio.

You remember, right, that Fabio “wrote” a couple of romances back in The Day? I remember reading an article in Parade (I think) when his first one came out, and that he had put his foot down that his books would not portray smoking and would encourage safe sex. I remember a scene in Pirate where the Fabio character (because seriously?  It’s self-insert fic.  Let’s be honest, here) was about to commence fucking a whore, and she got all pouty when he pulled out a (accurate) sheepskin condom.

It’s sweet.

Anyway, here we have Viking.

How to Date a Henchman by Mari Fee: a Guest Review by CarrieS

How to Date a Henchman is short and blissfully fluffy, but it is also quite original.  Many, many points to author Mari Fee for finding an original take on telling a superhero story.

The book was funny as heck.  There's no sex and no major resolution to the romance - this is a book about a first date, not a full-scale romance.  But it does its job of telling a first date superhero story superbly and is fun and interesting and left me wanting to read about the further adventures of Burke and Gina.