Bitchin' Blog Posts
DocTurtle Returns to Finish Lord of Scoundrels
by SB Sarah | by SB Sarah | June 08, 2009 | Monday at 10:41 am | 89 CommentsOnce upon a time, a long, long time ago (ok, it was January, but online that’s, like, nine years ago or some shit), DocTurtle read and blogged about his romance exploration, a readerly tour of romance 101 directed by recommendations from the Bitchery. First he read Sex, Straight Up, because he dismissed the category genre in an offhand remark and I challenged him to put his reading where is snark is. He agreed, discovered the Power of Lurrrrrrve™, and went on to read Heyer’s An Infamous Army. Then, he picked up Lord of Scoundrels, the book that drags people into romance whether they like it or not.
And then, behold, there was a semester, and as a math professor, DocTurtle was a busy busy turtle. He comes bearing apologies and a new appreciation for romance.
Um…Remember me?
It’s been a long, long time since I last posted on this lovely blog. In the time that’s passed since my last contribution, I’ve had time to pop in and read the posts Sarah’s left, occasionally browse the comments, chuckle to myself, but do little else.
Shortly after I began reading and blogging about Loretta Chase’s wonderful Lord of Scoundrels, the spring semester, a heavy one filled to bursting with several time-consuming courses, came crashing down on my head. For the first time ever (and, I hope, the last time ever) I found myself teaching four different courses this past term. Add to that various conference and seminars, a few research projects, and a handful of committee commitments, and you’ve got one hell of a busy mathematician.
Bitch mewl moan gripe whine…I don’t mean it as an excuse so much as an explanation. I’ve offered my humble apologies to SB Sarah, and I hope she’s not given up on me. I’ve not given up on her, and I’ve not given up on my promise to work my way through a few more romance novels, starting with Chase’s LoS.
So here we are.
Three days ago, with every trace of the most hellacious semester in memory brushed back into my past, I picked up Lord of Scoundrels again (I was about 200 pages into it before), and just hours ago I finished rereading it.
As I know you’re all aware…It. Was. Marvelous.
I’d read the first several (eleven, I think?) chapters by January, and I blogged to y’all about my take on several of them. The journey through the last hundred and fifty pages was effortless. Pshaw.
Ms. Chase made it easy. The clever turns of phrase! the vivid metaphors! the sharp humor!
Lord Dain, on the pained look of virgin madonnas: “They look exceedingly ill-tempered. I suppose it’s on account of being virgins—of experiencing all the unpleasantness of breeding and birthing and none of the jolly parts.”
Jessica, on Dain’s taste in women: “When Bertie told me how much you paid, I thought it was their services which were so horrifically expensive. Now, however, I comprehend my error. Obviously you pay by volume.”
And the insults, oh, the insults! Henwit! Baconbrain! Ha’pennyworth of a chit! Thickheaded ox! Cocksure clodpole! Yeah, I always loves me some alliteration.
Leaving aside her knack for dialogue, there’s Chase’s exceptional eye for imagery, and for setting a scene. One can clearly see the lamppost against which Dain presses Jessica when they first kiss (a kiss lasting very nearly three pages). One can nearly feel the slightly salty water filling the air that hangs over the moors surrounding the Ballister family home. One can easily conjure up the candlelit tête-à-tête between the extortionists Charity Graves and Roland Vawtry.
None of this is to say that Chase’s work is all style and no substance. Every element of the carefully-crafted plot is subtly connected with every other, and every single thing that happens in furtherance of the plot, every conversation, every confrontation, every connivance, is believable. Dain and Jessica take turns in upping the ante on one another, calling each other’s bluffs with more bluffs, pulling aces from their sleeves until they’ve emptied out their shirts…but every move they make is the right move at the right time.
Jessica won’t give Dain the icon he desperately wants (though he can’t yet truly know why)?
Fine then, Dain will scandalize Jessica with a public disrobing.
Fine then, Jessica will have it known that the most roguish roué to ever stalk the Paris streets has fallen headlong for a well-bred spinster of thirty years.
Fine then, Dain will make love, in no uncertain terms, to said spinster in plain sight of several reliable witnesses.
Fine then, Jessica will shoot Dain, lest anyone think she’s bound to let her honor be besmirched.
Fine then, Dain will propose to marry Jessica in order to restore her honor for her.
Fine then, Jessica will accept his proposal, in order that she not be consigned to “a life of poverty and obscurity in a remote outpost of civilization.”
Fine then, neither of them will have to enjoy it.
Or will they?
The ensuing story of Dain’s redemption, and his son’s, is utterly engaging and told with perfect pace. Character? Check. Scene? Check. Plot? Check. And all of it is beautifully bundled together with various maternal metaphors: bits of Jessica, Lucia, Charity Graves, and the Virgin Mary herself are blended together to tell a story that’s ultimately one about these several mothers and their respective sons.
I’m sure it will shock no one to hear me agree with the bulk of the Bitchery that this isn’t simply a good romance novel, it’s one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. Brava, Ms. Chase! Brava!
I have to offer my apologies to those of you who’ve delighted in my chapter-by-chapter posts from the planet Mars (read: the male half of the species) and find something lacking in this one-shot post, something…episodic and acerbic? Episodic: I found it hard to put this book down long enough to jot down a blow-by-blow account that would make much sense. Acerbic: there was far too little to snark in this book for me to make a meal out of what little silliness I could scrape together.
I guess the book was just too damned good.
If you’d like, I can repeat a few of the complaints I made while reading Kathleen O’Reilly’s Sex, Straight Up: I’m sorry, but “he smelled like Male” (italics not mine) and “he was a man-man” are still silly phrases.
If you’d like, perhaps the next title I tackle can be a lousier one?
My long, long absence notwithstanding, I truly am eager to continue my romantic journey, if y’all (and SB Sarah) will still have me. The summer lies before me, offering many more hours for reading and reflecting.
So, my friends, what will it be? Another regency? Another contemporary category? Paranormal? [Gulp] NASCAR? I’m all yours, I await your next request.
Thank you, Sir Turtle!
So: you interested in more hilarity from DocTurtle? If so, any books to suggest? Shall we hit him with McCarthy’s Flat Out Sexy since he gulped at the Nascar? Or perhaps a Harlequin NASCAR anthology? What’s your thought?
And dude, is there anything LoS can’t do? I wonder if it makes breakfast.
Filed: General Bitching, Guest Bitch Reviews, Dudes Reading Romance
Tagged: sex, romance, regency, paranormal, nascar, harlequin, docturtle, contemporary, bitch
Ros said on 06.08.09 at 11:42 AM • [link]
I should like him to read ‘Temporary Doctor, Surprise Father’.
Mainly because I can’t bring myself to do it and someone really should.
natasha said on 06.08.09 at 11:52 AM • [link]
I think he should read Sherry Thomas’s Not quite a husband. I finished it a few days ago and it was really wonderful, I can’t praise it enough.
wendy said on 06.08.09 at 12:47 PM • [link]
I want to say A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold, but the Vorkosigans should be read in sequence. Try Patricia Briggs.
Babs said on 06.08.09 at 01:36 PM • [link]
I like the “Flat Out Sexy” suggestion (since I just finished “Hard and Fast” which was even better.)
“Goddess of the Hunt” might be a good suggestion also - the humor made it very very entertaining!
Mads said on 06.08.09 at 01:58 PM • [link]
Aww what a great review. I loved the ‘Fine Then’ part. So true. That’s the charm of LoS. Now I want to go re-read!!
I think that if he’s reading the “classics” he really should continue with Jennifer Crusie’s Bet Me. Oh come on. That has to be about the best contemporary title around. Cal, Min, Elvis and the krispy kremes are legendary.
Lori S. said on 06.08.09 at 02:00 PM • [link]
For the phure snark factor ahlone, I’m vhoting for Dark Lover
Cassie said on 06.08.09 at 02:18 PM • [link]
I’m casting my vote for Bet Me. Excellent suggestion, Mads!
Rae said on 06.08.09 at 02:32 PM • [link]
I had the same reaction to the NASCAR line, and being in NC, it’s a little hard to avoid. I will throw out there, while maybe not the best example of the series, I was introduced to Speed Dating courtesy of the 60th Anniversary give away and was surprised how much I enjoyed it.
KristieJ said on 06.08.09 at 02:35 PM • [link]
I vote for Flat Out Sexy too. And what great thoughts on LOS from a male perspective!
Carin said on 06.08.09 at 02:43 PM • [link]
I also vote for Flat Out Sexy. Though he asked for a lousier one, pretty much anything is lousier than LoS. I remeber really enjoying Flat Out Sexy, but I also remember it having a lot of NASCAR metphors (or similies??? Oh, too long since high school!) Anyway, the NASCAR references made it fun and a bit cheesy.
Jenica said on 06.08.09 at 02:57 PM • [link]
The man’s already converted, and we’ve earned some serious snark from him waiting for 6 months (and I think he’s ready to give us some snort-worthy reviews if we can give him the right material)! I think Doc’s sense of humor could appreciate a Harlequin Presents followed by the Unfeasibly Tall Greek Billionaire’s Blackmailed Martyr-Complex Secretary Mistress-Bride. Speaking of, when is Tumperkin et al. going to craft another masterpiece?
Elizabeth Wadsworth said on 06.08.09 at 02:58 PM • [link]
Glad to have DocTurtle back!
I cast my vote for Laura Kinsale next, specifically For My Lady’s Heart, since it was one of the most entertaining things I’ve read in a long, long time (and has Middle English dialogue, Anglo-Saxon alliterative verse, and a kick-ass heroine, to boot.)
Forget snark-worthy, I say go for the good stuff.
Anne Calhoun said on 06.08.09 at 02:59 PM • [link]
FWIW, I read LoS based on the comments on SBTB and feel that book could turn all but the hardest of hearts to the wonders of romance! What about Joanna Bourne? The Spymaster’s Lady is a really great, intricately plotted romance…
Darlene Marshall said on 06.08.09 at 03:02 PM • [link]
I’m tempted to throw an angsty Kinsale in his general direction, maybe Flowers from the Storm? Or one with a touch more humor (and hedgehogs), Midsummer Moon.
But if you want to alternate contemp/historical, it’s hard to beat Crusie.
GrowlyCub said on 06.08.09 at 03:17 PM • [link]
For historical, Mary Jo Putney’s ‘The Rake and the Reformer’, for contemporary I agree on McCarthy. I haven’t read the NASCAR ones yet, but I read some of her others and really enjoyed them.
Spam word: standard69… I wish, even standard kind of 69 would be nice right now… grin
Brenna said on 06.08.09 at 03:58 PM • [link]
I have been wondering lately what happened to the rest of DocTurtle’s review and finely we got to read it. I’m so glad he thinks it’s one of the best books he’s read in a long time. I think so too.
I’d second the J R Ward book recommendation. It is so ridiculously over the top that I’d like to read a male’s perspective on it. And the snark!
Lovecow2000 said on 06.08.09 at 04:16 PM • [link]
I vote for snark worthy! Please…. How about getting him to read about Spikenard and Bronwyn? Or what about Ravenous Romance? Okay… now that’s just mean.
Here’s a serious one: Joey Hill’s Natural Law. BDSM isn’t usually my cuppa tea, but this one is one fantastic book!
Spam Word:
near68… is that like almost69?
Kit said on 06.08.09 at 04:33 PM • [link]
Yay, Doc Turtle is back! Doc, I’m glad your semester of strife is over and you’re back with us!
I say it’s time to change up the genre with something other than a historical. I think it would be fine to read A Civil Campaign without reading the other Vorkosigan books first, since that’s how I did it. (I get them from the library, so I can never read them in order anyway.) But you can’t go wrong with Bet Me either.
feel75: I feel 75 kinds of glad that I am not a teacher anymore.
KatherineB said on 06.08.09 at 04:37 PM • [link]
Oh, oh, I never thought of ‘For my Lady’s Heart’! That’s be a twist, a nice medieval one! Tho a contemporary might offer more snark and snorts from us readers of his reviews. FMLH had quite good medieval word building.
darlynne said on 06.08.09 at 04:53 PM • [link]
You’ve already done Heyer, category and historical. I’d like to see something different and will third the Dark Lover recommendation. I am still a huge fan of the series and fully aware that Doc Turtle’s take on it would probably involve much snark and not a little stuff coming out my nose.
OTOH, if we’re wanting to offer a universally acclaimed best—are we still converting him or is that a done-deal now?—then I’ll suggest Kelley Armstrong’s Bitten or Patricia Briggs’ Moon Called.
RStewie said on 06.08.09 at 04:57 PM • [link]
For My Lady’s Heart FTW!! That’s such a great book, and I LOVE that it’s almost exclusively from the Hero’s POV. I’m thirding (fourthing) that one!!
Or a Paranormal, in which case I would say Meljean Brook’s series is Excellent, or the new one from Nalini Singh, Angel’s Blood, which I thought was great.
joykenn said on 06.08.09 at 05:05 PM • [link]
I vote for a paranormal but not a completely snarkworthy one. Maybe skip the elves and such. How about a man’s viewpoint of some of the better vampire/werwolf ones. I can’t bear to suggest any of Freehan’s since they are kind of a guilty pleasure for romance readers. And, does the Anita Blake series even count as romance since they seem more erotic fiction. How about Kitty and the Midnight Hour? Nice humor, lots of paranormal?
Louisa Edwards said on 06.08.09 at 05:18 PM • [link]
I’ve got to say The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley. SO GOOD. For contemporary, how about something more recent? Talk Me Down by Victoria Dahl, for example. Or a Nora book! Can any romance education be considered complete that misses out on La Nora?
Leslie said on 06.08.09 at 05:41 PM • [link]
How about some Susan Elizabeth Philips? She manages to blend a little purple prose with fun storylines and interesting characters - although “Kiss an Angel” is WAAAY over the top (and frequently re-read). I liked “Dream and Little Dream” and “Natural Born Charmer.”
shaunee said on 06.08.09 at 05:42 PM • [link]
“Decadent.” Just to see if he can outdo Candy’s epic review. Sorry for the unfortunate rhyme.
Silver James said on 06.08.09 at 05:46 PM • [link]
Snark-worthy paranormal, definitely Ward’s DARK LOVER. Or maybe Katie MacAlister’s Aisling Gray for humorous para. Or Moning’s KISS OF THE HIGHLANDER?
Strategerie said on 06.08.09 at 05:48 PM • [link]
Bet Me. It’s a classic. Plus, I can’t wait to hear Doc Turtle’s comments about the wonder that is Cal.
I loves me some Cal.
In the meantime, damn. Now I want to read LoS AGAIN.
-S
Tina C. said on 06.08.09 at 06:07 PM • [link]
I’d say contemporary or paranormal would be good—or one of those Special Forces type books. I’d suggest:
Contemporary (good): Crusie (Bet Me or Agnes and the Hitman) or Roberts (Angels Fall or Northern Lights)
Contemporary (snark-worthy): Oh so many to choose from and yet I can’t think of one right now.
Paranormal (good): Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series
Paranormal (snark-worthy): Any of the latest LKH Anita Blake books (anything after #8 or #9, maybe)
Special Forces and/or thrillers (good): Brockman’s recent Seals series or Howard (I really liked Mr Perfect) and To Die For)
Special Forces and/or thrillers (snark-worthy): I enjoy Cherry Adair’s T-Flac series, but I have no illusions that it’s not snark-worthy. I contend that it is Teh Crak snark-worthy, though!
Suze said on 06.08.09 at 07:00 PM • [link]
I would LOVE to see Doc Turtle’s reaction to the Bhrotherhhoohd. I wonder if it will prove as crack-like to the male reader as it has been for so many of us females. I wonder if the WTFery of it all will burn out the snark synapses, rendering him useless as a source of snarkerrific amusement thereafter. I wonder if doing such a thing to him would be ethical.
Laura Kinsale said on 06.08.09 at 07:05 PM • [link]
Please please do not give a snarky mathematics prof Flowers From the Storm/i]. I beg you.
I can neither add nor subtract. The math is all faked. I admit it. Can I go home now?
FD said on 06.08.09 at 07:17 PM • [link]
It depends, do we like Doc Turtle for the fact that he’s being converted, or do we like the snark?
I think LoS is a hard act to follow, so maybe something more cracktastic? The Bhrotherhhood would indeed be funny - I mean the source material… would rather like to see the reaction to ‘freshies’ and all. Although possibly that would be cruel.
Bujold is not really fair competition IMO. Seriously, it’s hard to find anyone who’d denigrate her.
Crusie now has romance style covers and they are unabashedly romance - Bet Me, or Welcome To Temptation. Seems Doc Turtle has a yen for the funny.
Or given that maybe we should do angst? Who’s your favourite sturm und drang hero? An Anne Stuart maybe? A Laura Kinsale?
my spamverification word was small56… not very brotherhood appropriate… unless we’re talking braincells.
Anony Miss said on 06.08.09 at 07:23 PM • [link]
I second (third? Enfifthen?) the recommendation of one of the Alpha Viking Descendant Tycoon of Mung Bean Curd & His Coerced But Not Raped Secretary’s Veterinary Manicurist type tomes (well, lots are more like pamphlets).
We had to wait for SBIT Patrick (weren’t we calling him Patrick, not DocTurtle anymore?), we gets some serious snark. Me snark hungry, grunt.
Leslie H said on 06.08.09 at 07:31 PM • [link]
My votes goes for Serial Killers, ass kicking and Roarke. NAKED IN DEATH the first of the JD Robb books. Of course then he will have to read the whole series. Can’t get too much Peabody and McNabb.
Futuristic, sizzling, fun.
JoanneF said on 06.08.09 at 07:36 PM • [link]
I must concur with those recommending that DocTurtle continue his romantic adventures with the Black Dagger Brotherhood. He’s done a contemporary and two historicals. Time for PNR. What couhld have a more delicious combo of crahck and snarkhability than over-sexed, overly musclebhound vhamphires?
My spamword is position79. I wonder if that’s one that Nick and Lottie used in “Worth Any Price?”
MS Jones said on 06.08.09 at 07:57 PM • [link]
I’ll cast a vote for Bet Me, if the goal is to continue Doc Turtle’s education on the merits of romance.
But if snarkworthy paranormal is to be read, then you can’t do worse than Twilight.
MS Jones said on 06.08.09 at 07:58 PM • [link]
seeing if I can close the italics…
MS Jones said on 06.08.09 at 08:03 PM • [link]
And, in the way of good romance, I would also have argued for Flowers From the Storm, but if Ms. Kinsale thinks the math would not bear up well under scrutiny, then how about The Shadow and the Star?
Laura Kinsale said on 06.08.09 at 08:24 PM • [link]
oops sorry for the italics, thanks for the close MS Jones!
ghn said on 06.08.09 at 08:42 PM • [link]
I would like to point him towards Lois McMaster Bujold’s _A Civil Campaign_, though to really appreciate the fun in that book, he really ought to have read at least _some_ of the earlier books in the series. So I suppose that is out. Damn!! Lois is definitely my favorite author, and if I manage to hook someone on her books I am likely to walk around with a wide smile for at least a week!
many39 - no, 39 new fans is too few!!
militaryspouse said on 06.08.09 at 08:55 PM • [link]
I gotta agree, Decadence (haven’t been able to find the book up here) but I keep rereading your review OR any SEAL epic just for the male take on the genre.
How about giving him one of Sandra Hill’s timetraveling Viking Seal books????
Bc said on 06.08.09 at 09:13 PM • [link]
Welcome back Doc!
I love, love, love Doc’s snarky take on these books so I agree with everyone that says he should read something a little less beloved next time…
OTOH we do want him to see how good romance can be so how about a great paranormal next? I suggest “Angel’s Blood” by Nalini Singh.
I must be one of the few people that thinks “Bet Me” is seriously mediocre. I suspect Doc will find more to snark on than fans may like or expect. Same with “For My Lady’s Heart.” A long, dull read IMO.
joanna bourne said on 06.08.09 at 09:48 PM • [link]
I’d go with the Crusie—Welcome to Temptation. Though it’d be interesting to see what he makes of J.R. Ward.
Jocelyn said on 06.08.09 at 09:48 PM • [link]
If we’re going for a good contemporary, I’d say “Agnes and the Hitman” because though I love “Bet Me” I think that book is best read by a woman on a diet. The NASAR series can wait.
Paranormals - I agree with the “Dahrk Lohvehr” recommendation - it’s snarkworthy as anything, but of those books, it’s the best one and it started out very strong. I’d love to hear a chapter-by-chapter account of anyone reading that thing. I think that a lot of the paranormals being named are fantastic, but aren’t really romance - if we’re going with the ParaRomance vs Urban Fantasy split Anne Sowards (I think? Or an editor named Heather something?) mentioned in her SmartBitch interview recently, where the focus is more on the relationship than the worldbuilding. I’d like to see him read a paranormal romance where the focus is firmly on the relationship. Maybe a Kresley Cole? She’s good, but not so good he couldn’t find things to snark about. And I’m sad she hasn’t been reviewed on this site, yet. She’s crazy fun, and the power dynamics in her worldbuilding are facinating.
I think that after Chase and Heyer we can lay off the historicals for a bit. Still, I’d love to see a man’s take on “The Duke and I” which I both love and hate. Love the angsty love story and the writing, hate that Daphe kind of forces fatherhood on Sir Angsty Duke. Sure, his reasons for resisting were terrible, but I wasn’t comfortable with that at all, and I think it says a lot about “baby as ethical failsafe/female motive justification” in romance novels (could we get Sarah and Candy to have a conversation about that one online, now that law school is out for the summer? I’d love to read their thoughts on that). I’ve always thought a man would have a lot to say about that book.
SonomaLass said on 06.08.09 at 10:18 PM • [link]
I think paranormal is the way for Doc to go next. J. R. Ward, Patricia Briggs, or Kresley Cole are all good suggestions. But definitely one that focuses on the relationship, not NWRE. And at some point he must read Naked In Death.
Contemporary should perhaps come after that, Crusie (but NOT one of the co-written books, at least not to start) and Erin McCarthy’s Flat Out Sexy.
Having had a rather hellacious spring semester myself, I welcome Doc to a summer of reading and having a life!
Suze said on 06.08.09 at 10:55 PM • [link]
How about some Emma Holly? I’m grinning just thinking about the response to Strange Attraction…
Or, you know, to leave the sciences out of it completely, Personal Assets. I’d be curious to hear a male reaction to that.
JoanneF said on 06.09.09 at 12:37 AM • [link]
How about Decadent by Shayla Black? LOL!
HaloKun said on 06.09.09 at 12:46 AM • [link]
I have to agree with some of the others above and go with Jennifer Crusie’s Bet Me. I think he needs more good stuff. And isn’t everyone sick of paranormal already?
however45- however He could ready Twilight and snark the heck out of it!
KatieG. said on 06.09.09 at 01:10 AM • [link]
I would love to see his take on Dark Lover! It seems almost cruel but it is so snarkerific and a male perspective has the potential to be endlessly entertaining. If you wanted to be cruel, you could give him any recent Sherrilyn Kenyon. Acheron is utterly crappy but that would be too mean.
I feel like I haven’t read any really good paranormals in a long time. I have fond memories of the first Anita Blake.
Bet Me is lovely and definitely a good representative of contemporaries. A snark worthy choice would be any of the Lora Leigh Nauti’s. They are all craptastic but for some reason I forced myself to read all four.
Estara said on 06.09.09 at 01:48 AM • [link]
Just chiming in to say that whatever he picks up next, I’m quite willing to read his male point-of-view on romance novels whenever he has the time. Real life always takes precedence.
DocTurtle said on 06.09.09 at 01:58 AM • [link]
Thank you all for your thoughtful comments on my review, and for welcoming me back. The summer promises to offer a fair share of free time, in between bouts of mathematical mayhem.
As for my next romantic read, I’m game for anything. Personally, I almost have more fun when doling out the snark, but as I’m still a relative noob to the romance genre, I’m also up for another “good” title from one of the subgenres you’ve not yet asked me to explore. Maybe one of each?
I promise I’ll be more prompt next time! You gotta believe me when I say that I felt a twinge of guilt every time I glanced at my copy of Lord of Scoundrels.
@ Rae: yeah, I’m in NC, too…and never have been a NASCAR kinda guy. Although there aren’t many mathematicians that are into NASCAR, there are a few.
@ Ms. Kinsale, re your Flowers from the Storm: recently one of my best friends, a very non-mathy person and soon to be a published author of speculative fiction (hey, yo, Darin!), pumped my brain for mathematical lingo to include in a prospectus he’s writing for another novel, one of whose central characters is a mathematician. We had fun.
Shiloh Walker said on 06.09.09 at 01:59 AM • [link]
I want him to read some paranormals. Hey, I want him to read mine…of course, he is enjoying the romance genre at the moment, and I’d hate to make him regret that. Hmmmm….
Maria said on 06.09.09 at 03:30 AM • [link]
Didn’t he say he wanted a not-so-good one this time? Let him read a Lass Small TEXAS book. Blurg.
Blue Angel said on 06.09.09 at 04:29 AM • [link]
It HAS to be “Bet Me.” It’s modern, it’s funny, it’s charming, it’s got a GREAT theme (in fact, lots of them!) and it’s the BEST romance about a woman with a weight issue. The reader loves her AND Cal equally! It’s a classic, that I think will be in print fifty years from now (and as much as I love Ward, do you really think her brotherhood will be? It will not age well, IMO). Doc Turtle is not so steeped in romance that we can afford to risk losing him by giving him something that he might not like—yet. If you can read “Bet Me” and not laugh, you need to call the rescue.
Diane/Anonym2857 said on 06.09.09 at 04:29 AM • [link]
What a happy surprise to see DocTurtle back… and me, just re-reading LoS at the moment! Cool. WB, Patrick! :o)
I have never been a big fan of paranormals, so I don’t have any suggestions for those. I can, however, recommend lots of good and painful categories! LOL
In fact, Sarah, if you kept that box of books I sent you way back when, just pull out one of those Patti Salier books… can’t get much more painfully purple than those. LOL
There were also some seriously good ones—ones that are still available in e-books and reprints today, tho I think I gave you originals. Hmn… Korbel’s A Rose for Maggie is a good one. Won the Rita, as I recall.
Diane :o)
raj said on 06.09.09 at 04:30 AM • [link]
Well, there’s always V. C. Andrews and Flowers in the Attic. That could be the snark of the century – even beyond Cleolinda’s “review” of Breaking Dawn.
SusannaG said on 06.09.09 at 04:54 AM • [link]
How about the paranormal historical Royal Blood, by Rona Sharon.
I’d love to see some DocTurtle snark about vampires at the court of Henry VIII!
Liz said on 06.09.09 at 05:01 AM • [link]
i absolutely cringe when anybody brings up NASCAR. To paraphrase my favorite comic: I don’t understand what is exciting about people making left turn after left turn.
My vote is for Three Fates by Nora Roberts, which is my favorite book.
rayvyn2k said on 06.09.09 at 05:06 AM • [link]
So glad that Doc got waylaid by real life…because that meant I got to finish LoS before he posted his final review here! It was so hard earlier this year to avoid spoilers when he was posting chapter by chapter and it was on my TBR list. But now I was able to read his review and nod in agreement with everything…even the “smell of Male”.
And I’m furiously jotting down some of these recommendations…I have For My Lady’s Heart sitting there waiting for me to finish The Sevenwaters Trilogy first…so I hope he chooses something else for now.
joanna bourne said on 06.09.09 at 06:20 AM • [link]
Hmmm .... speaking of mathematicians ... how about Nobody’s Baby But Mine by the incomparable SEP?
StarOpal said on 06.09.09 at 06:54 AM • [link]
Welcome back to the turtle with a degree!
I both love and fear (for my wallet) these kinds of comment threads…
Dark Lover - Oh yes, that I’d like to see with snark!
Otherwise (keeping in mind I’m still just a wee young thing as far as romance goes):
I’ll [whatever number we’re up to]-th Naked in Death, by J.D. Robb.
Sea Swept, by Nora Roberts
Sexiest Man Alive, by Diana Holquist (I thought it was a really funny read)
Goddess of Spring, by P.C. Cast (I’m glad I was able to get one with the original cover, but, for the most part, if I want to collect the others I’ll have to go with the crappy new covers-GRR!)
Kaetrin said on 06.09.09 at 09:32 AM • [link]
Welcome back Doc Turtle! Yu haz bene misst.
I vote for Bet Me by Jenny Crusie, or
A Laura Kinsale - I’d vote for Flowers from the Storm, maths professor or not, or
Naked in Death by JD Robb.
aninsomniac said on 06.09.09 at 10:35 AM • [link]
Georgette Heyer’s The Grand Sophy is one of my Top Favourite romances. I re-read it constantly.
For recently written period romances, The Lost Duke of Wyndham and Mr. Cavendish I Presume by Julia Quin are GEMS.
Contemporary romance that I would recommend are Nora Roberts’ Carolina Moon (I never see much about this, don’t know why, especially as it is my favourite Nora book), Crusie’s Getting Rid of Bradley and Alisa Kwitney’s Flirting in Cars. The last one I think is an even better choice of ‘modern romance’ and I prefer it over Bet Me.
And I hope that last statement doesn’t bring the fury of SBTB readers upon me…
aninsomniac said on 06.09.09 at 10:41 AM • [link]
Ohhh, I forgot! Fantasy would be an awesome sub-genre to follow up and I’d rec the Black Jewels trilogy from Anne Bishop. Those books might just get some men’s balls rear up and roll back into their bodies. XD How much can Doc Turtle take?!
Ms Avery said on 06.09.09 at 11:10 AM • [link]
The Forbidden Enchantment by Nina Bruhns (Harlequin): it’s got a Cajun pirate reincarnated as a fireman! What’s not to like?
eaeaea said on 06.09.09 at 02:57 PM • [link]
I started to read LoS at the same as the Doc and it took him so long…I thought, this is bad, he hates it, damn, double-damn.
Don’t snark this wonderful book…
Glad to hear his positive review.
I can’t wait to hear his take on “that” dialogue we had such fun with - in ur ass, saving yr life. lol
Please. Pretty please. Assign him this one. Please. *grovel*
Michelle said on 06.09.09 at 03:41 PM • [link]
Naked in Death gets my vote. I love that series.
Reader2112 said on 06.09.09 at 07:05 PM • [link]
I would love to see what he has to say about Mr Perfect by Howard - this is one of my favourite reads.
Then again Joey Hills Natural Law would be great too.
However I would love to see what he has to say about the Brotherhood
Oh my verification word: boys69—should I have given out some m/m choices??
Magnolia said on 06.09.09 at 08:17 PM • [link]
I agree that he should read a contemporary next to shake things up . . . and Crusie would be the best choice imho.
I would vote for WELCOME TO TEMPTATION, but BET ME is good too. Either one is a nice introduction to Crusie.
Joey Hill’s Natural Law would be too much of a shock to the system imho. That book is not for the faint of heart and you have to walk before you can run.
cheryl c. said on 06.09.09 at 09:10 PM • [link]
I would vote for any of the following:
Historicals:
PRIVATE ARRANGEMENTS (Thomas)
RANSOM (Garwood)
DREAMING OF YOU (Kleypas)
Contemporaries:
WELCOME TO TEMPTATION or GETTING RID OF BRADLEY (Crusie)
IT HAD TO BE YOU (Phillips)
Laura (in PA) said on 06.09.09 at 11:29 PM • [link]
I’m new to the blog, so I just read all of Doc Turtle’s reviews yesterday - so I didn’t have to wait as long as the rest of you for the last installment, lol. I’ve enjoyed them immensely.Coincidentally, I stopped at a new book warehouse on the way home last night, and there was Lord of Scoundrels, which I’ve never read, right there in front. After seeing all the rave reviews, I picked it up so I could share in the joy.
I vote for Nora Roberts next. :)
CD said on 06.10.09 at 08:12 AM • [link]
Go for the snharhk - go for Ward’s Bhrotherhood. As countless of people have already mentioned, they are both highly crhackthastic and begging to be unmercifully mocked. And I imagine most of us have actually read at least the first book so all the better to enjoy the recaps!
As a contemporary, I would agree with Cruisie but would suggest WELCOME TO TEMPTATION. BET ME always struck me a being a more chick-lit than romance. And TEMPTATION does have THAT sex scene ;-). Whatever you can say about Cruisie, she gives good “fun sex”.
For more snark-worthiness but still classic, I would give our Doc SEP’s NOBODY’S BABY BUT MINE - here’s a book with such a ridiculous premise that STILL manages to win you over… I would give him IT HAD TO BE YOU but that would just be another LoS/Crusie situation of non-snarkiness.
dani said on 06.10.09 at 03:27 PM • [link]
does anybody else imagine hugh jackman as lord dain?
Randi said on 06.10.09 at 09:19 PM • [link]
I’m really torn…I think Decadent would be hilarious (even though I think I’m the only person who mildly liked the book) as would Dhark Lovher…For a contemp: Welcome to Temptation vs La Nora (my favorite is Northern Lights, but I’ll accept any Nora).
Oh, the anticipation..it burns!!!
m3t said on 06.11.09 at 04:04 AM • [link]
seconding all the nominations for: In Death Series, Jennifer Crusie and any Nora. And as timing is everything just finished Flat out Sexy so would add that to ‘good’ pile
hours79? Why yes, I think I read three Lisa Kleypas books in the last 79 hours. Thank goodness for three day weekends!
Terry Odell said on 06.11.09 at 03:56 PM • [link]
Geez, a couple of days away from the computer and Doc Turtle comes back. I bought this book based on his commentary and loved it.
I’m torn, because I’d really love his take on Naked in Death (and it’s at the other end of the spectrum from the historical), but I’ve already read it (and the series—more than once). I like finding new stuff here.
But yeah, I vote for Naked in Death. And being from Florida, I get lots of votes, right?
mintwitch said on 06.13.09 at 08:45 AM • [link]
Chase, via Smart Bitches, converted me to romance. Crusie, to contemporary romance. Bujold to SF romance. Has DT read Crusie or Bujold, yet?
heh: my code is answer93
cate said on 06.13.09 at 02:03 PM • [link]
I vote for Crusie, specifically, Getting Rid of Bradley.
It’s a fabulous contemporary, & screamingly funny to boot !
A book that cry’s out for a sequel , but she parted company with Harlequin before that could happen
Madd said on 06.13.09 at 07:07 PM • [link]
I vote Dark Lover also. The names alone!
Flowers from the Storm had me all teary. I also really liked The Shadow and the Star.
Goddess of the Spring is another good one.
If I were going to vote for a non-Crusie contemporary, though I really like Agnes and the Hitman, I’d go for Lucy Monroe’s The Real Deal. I don’t know why, but I love that book. Maybe it’s something to do with hot smart guys. I seem to have a thing for hot smart guys, especially socially awkward ones.
Sandia said on 06.14.09 at 01:04 AM • [link]
I’m gonna hafta go with all the Decadent recommendations. We didn’t get any snark out of LoS….
Heidi said on 06.14.09 at 07:20 PM • [link]
I vote for some Crusie, Bet Me or else Agnes. Also, I love Susan Elizabeth Phillips, pretty much any of the football ones—Make Me a Match is good, but the older ones are as well. I also love love Linda Howard Mr. Perfect, Open Season, the Mackenzies…. is he really ready for Decadent or the Nautis? Why not just throw him right into the August brothers? ;)
Heike M. said on 06.16.09 at 03:03 PM • [link]
Am I the only one, who hates SEP’s It had to be you? (All this appalling alternating betwwen hilarity and depressing abuse history. Yuk!)
I would vote for Dhark Lhover, too - would love DocTurtle’s/SBiT snark here!
Heike M. said on 06.16.09 at 03:07 PM • [link]
I vote for Dhark Lhover, too - would love DocTurtle’s/SBiT Patrik’s snark about that one…
By the way: Am I the only one, who hates SEP’s It had to be you? (All this appalling alternation between hilarity and depressing abuse history. Yuk!)
Nita said on 06.17.09 at 12:20 AM • [link]
I’ve heard a lot of votes for Bet Me. I’m not a big Jennifer Crusie fan, but it might be interesting. I also vote for anything Nora, but I think the first 3 In Deaths might be a challenge.
Laura (in PA) said on 06.17.09 at 01:02 AM • [link]
I just want to say, I bought and read Lord of Scoundrels because of reading this, and I totally loved it.
Lorraine said on 06.17.09 at 03:37 AM • [link]
I also bought and read Lord of Scoundrels because of Doc Turtle’s review and all the squeeing it was getting here.
While it might not be the best book I’ve ever read, it was pretty damn fabulous. I can see that it’s one of those books that you fall more in love with at each reading. I’ve already re-read their first meeting scene again…it’s perfect. Ms. Chase did a phenomenal job writing it.
Unfortunately, it has one of my most hated Regency era story problems…the one wherein even as the hero has his mouth on her down THERE, she’s still calling him by his title name, ie, Dain, rather than his first name, Sebastian. I mean, when someone’s partaking of you in that most intimate of ways, shouldn’t you call him by his first name? Aren’t they friendly enough at that point?
She doesn’t actually call him Sebastian until like the last 10 pages of the book. I’ve recently read Scandal and The Sins of Lord Easterbrook...both books do the same thing. It’s silly and the one thing that’s kept me away from Regencies for years.
Even though I hate that aspect of the book, I look forward to re-reading the whole thing again and falling in love with it.
Thanks for the great recommendation!
*hm, verification code: southern89…perhaps 69 would have been better?*
Lorraine said on 06.17.09 at 03:41 AM • [link]
hm, I think I effed up the html codes….
Madd said on 06.20.09 at 11:39 PM • [link]
It’s probably natural to her to call him Dain, especially in certain moments, because that’s the name she’s used to using. She’d have to learn to use Sebastian instead of Dain. He was calling her Jess right off because that’s ho0w he thought of her. I think it was partly because her brother called her that in front of him and partly because of his aversion to her brother, whom he referred to as Trent, and not really wanting to associate the two in his head. No one ever called Dain Sebastian so, even though she knew his name, she didn’t really think of him as Sebastian. She thought of him as Dain and so she called him that until he told her to call hm Sebastian.
I don’t call my husband by his first name unless we’re around his co-workers or among strangers. When I met him he was going by another name and it’s what I’m used to calling him now. For me it’s just weird to call him by his name.
Laughing On The Inside said on 06.23.09 at 04:24 AM • [link]
“The Enchanted Chocolate Pot” by C.J. Stevemer & Patricia Wrede. Regency Romance, Sci-fi/Fantasy, and tons of Jane Austen-style snark.
Stamatia Chatzigrigoriou said on 06.28.09 at 01:22 PM • [link]
Oh pretty please, I would like DocTurtle’s take on Dark Lover!
Care to comment?
Comments are now closed for this post.
Subscribe to These Comments