Last week's national trash fire prompted me to seek out fluff reading in order to conquer stress, and ths Regency romance, due out next month, fits thLast week's national trash fire prompted me to seek out fluff reading in order to conquer stress, and ths Regency romance, due out next month, fits the bill very nicely.
Like many these days, it's set in a Heyerian spin-off world, decidedly more silver fork (that is, peopled with plenty of handsome and titled men, balls, carriage rides, and pretty clothes) than comedy-of-manners, as Issie and Bella, our young heroines, are poised between an attempt at period attitudes and very modern thoughts as well as speech.
The thing about comedies of manners is, unless the author has read a lot of period literature, though she might have done her due diligence (as did Suzanne Allain here) on the history of stethascopes, London's bridges, famous period bookstores, and a handful of authors, they often aren't aware of vital things that actual people of the period grew up knowing. Such as, at the very beginning, NO family, no matter how negligent, would have left two underage young women alone once they were orphaned. Especially a daughter of a noble and heiress to a fortune.
That and a lot of other small matters of usage and language can be blinked past in order to enjoy an otherwise lively, quick-paced story full of false identities, female friendships, handsome young men, and of course deserved happy endings all around. Occasional flashes of wit kept me reading, and hoping to see more by this author....more
I generally stop here on my rereads, or at most go on to the next (The Yelow Admiral) through sheer emotional velocity, though less because I like it.I generally stop here on my rereads, or at most go on to the next (The Yelow Admiral) through sheer emotional velocity, though less because I like it.
There's a scene in The Commodore in which Stephen realizes he's already told Jack a long, long anecdote about one of his favorite naturalists, and then--being Stephen--goes to apologize for being a crashing bore. Jack is civil and kind as usual, but it's one of those moments that resonate with real experience (if you're a social clod like me) and makes this series so very fine.
Around it we get a sharp sea battle or two, and an interesting look at period attitudes toward gay relationships. I forget if it's Jack or Stephen who observes that what can you expect when a lot of men are confined on a wooden ship for years on end?
Fine moments: Stephen being his remarkable self observing the course of a dangerous bout with yellow fever, and a moment on the coast of Ireland. We get a chance to spend time with Bridget, Stephen's little daughter, and at last we reunite with Diana. A perfect place to stop, for me....more
New readers could begin here, as we meet crucial characters one by one, and their situations and emotions aSeason three is off to a spectacular start.
New readers could begin here, as we meet crucial characters one by one, and their situations and emotions are delineated. But oh, to understand the duchess's complexity of response as she attends a dinner, one really needs to know how she got to where she is . . . and it's interesting to note how well drawn she is, for she is not yet the formidable duchess with impervious control we know from the books.
Micah is delightfully present, and herself, Kaab has a new goal orthoganal to the duchess's, and Rafe is back . . . and drawn to someone I really, really hate.
I want to see Shade and his partner DEAD, DEAD DEAD. (I don't think it's any spoiler for the first seasons to say that, as Shade is a scumbag from the moment he walks on stage.)
So will Kaab, once she finds out who he is. My money is on her, rather than the Council of Merchants and their posturing . . .
I can hardly wait for more.
Merged review:
Season three is off to a spectacular start.
New readers could begin here, as we meet crucial characters one by one, and their situations and emotions are delineated. But oh, to understand the duchess's complexity of response as she attends a dinner, one really needs to know how she got to where she is . . . and it's interesting to note how well drawn she is, for she is not yet the formidable duchess with impervious control we know from the books.
Micah is delightfully present, and herself, Kaab has a new goal orthoganal to the duchess's, and Rafe is back . . . and drawn to someone I really, really hate.
I want to see Shade and his partner DEAD, DEAD DEAD. (I don't think it's any spoiler for the first seasons to say that, as Shade is a scumbag from the moment he walks on stage.)
So will Kaab, once she finds out who he is. My money is on her, rather than the Council of Merchants and their posturing . . .
This is very much an interim chapter, but each segment does good work in character development, forwarding several threads with rising tension.
Not mucThis is very much an interim chapter, but each segment does good work in character development, forwarding several threads with rising tension.
Not much to say: if you don't know the storyline, you will be confused, and if you do know it, you will be spoiled. Therefore summation only: so far, this is proving to become my favorite season, so far.
And Micah is just so wonderful.
So is Kaab, in a totally different way.
Merged review:
This is very much an interim chapter, but each segment does good work in character development, forwarding several threads with rising tension.
Not much to say: if you don't know the storyline, you will be confused, and if you do know it, you will be spoiled. Therefore summation only: so far, this is proving to become my favorite season, so far.
This is a captivating and heartwarming gay-friendly story that blends hilarity, romance, and a strong personal growth arc with with brisk and breezy w This is a captivating and heartwarming gay-friendly story that blends hilarity, romance, and a strong personal growth arc with with brisk and breezy writing and a fast-paced story. Winters’ delightful characters and distinct plot come together to explore relationships, identity, and a lot of the big questions faced by young readers. I loved the representation, and the uplifting sense that it imparts....more
This gleefully ridiculous and sometimes raunchy satire shows up the monkey in us, despite the mansions and fancy country clubs etc. The narrative voicThis gleefully ridiculous and sometimes raunchy satire shows up the monkey in us, despite the mansions and fancy country clubs etc. The narrative voice reminds me a bit of a very contemporary Mark Twain--tongue firmly in cheek while telling a tall tale....more
When books have a strong narrative voice, I'll sometimes 'hear' the text, along with the dialogue. This book kept playing into my inner ear in a BrookWhen books have a strong narrative voice, I'll sometimes 'hear' the text, along with the dialogue. This book kept playing into my inner ear in a Brooklyn accent, so strong was the New York vibe.
It's marketed as romance, with stand-up comedy as an element. I nabbed it from NetGalley, saving it for a time when I really needed relaxing reading; I ought to have remembered that stand-up comedy always has more than a spicing of pain at the keelson.
There were times when this book veered more into women's fiction. Not a bad thing. The writing was tight, stylish, aware, and the characters varied, their pain real. But the romance between the leads pretty much took a back seat to the romance with the city. It's a love letter to the people of New York....more
I loved the first book, in spite of an ending that was less a cliff-hanger than driving right off a cliff. Now, with this second one, I'm wondering ifI loved the first book, in spite of an ending that was less a cliff-hanger than driving right off a cliff. Now, with this second one, I'm wondering if this author's ideas and mine will never agree on how to end a story with some emotional resolution and growth. I loved this book until roughly the ninety-percent mark, at which point it took a left turn off into stupid-for-the-sake-of-drama, then it kind of staggered all over the place before settling into a copout, given the niche.
But up until then, it was tense and vivid, with terrific, complicated characters, as Wren--after a summer of non-communication with the heir to the UK in this world-next-door--decides to drive north to Canada while Theo is on a goodwill tour, to snatch...her dog.
Things immediately get complicated, largely due to the press's avid lack of boundary respect, and as a result, the royal family's teens, plus Wren, her sister Brooke, and Wren's bestie Naomi, end up on a plane with some crown functionaries and guards...until the plane crashes on an island.
Then things get really tense, as they try to survive as the volcanic island begins to build toward an eruption. Also erupting are teenage emotions, many of them held back for a long time.
I thought the author did a great job with the tension of an unreal lifestyle which, yes, includes all the pomp and circumstance that readers come to this particular YA romantic niche for (handsome princes 4-Ev-ah!) plus a good dose of the horrific reality of the media being in your face 24/7--and then making up lies in order to sell content. Or...what happens when a lot of the lies don't in fact come from the heads of publicity hacks?
The adventure climaxes with great drama, with everyone communicating (though Brooke pretty much drops out of the story entirely), and Wren and Theo beginning to talk, finally. Then, once they're saved, it promptly dives off the deep end.
SPOILERS BEYOND
REALLY--TOTAL SPOILERS
Okay, the twist where it turns out that the second prince is illegitimate and not the heir was a nice one, EXCEPT the way it was handled. As if the crown's physicians hadn't known all along about the blood-type glitch that indicates one prince was conceived outside of marriage. Now, if that news had been known and suppressed from the birth of Henry, I could buy that. But having no one have a clue and a teenager figure it out was *totally* beyond belief. The entire royal medical team are idiots?
And Henry accepts the fact that he's illegitimate when all his life he's wanted the throne, in two quick paragraphs?
Then comes the sadly predictable Bad Moment, the Grand Reconciliation...and then, just when it ought to get interesting--as in Theo and Wren deciding together to make the whole thing work (which is what I think readers who want middle class girls falling in love with handsome princes come to this sub-genre for) instead, Theo gives it all up for a mundane life. Middle class morality for the win! It's sensible, but it's emotionally a total bait-and-switch.
I grabbed this from NetGalley because I thoroughly enjoyed the first two in the series.
This, the last of this small series, features Meddy again, withI grabbed this from NetGalley because I thoroughly enjoyed the first two in the series.
This, the last of this small series, features Meddy again, with her new husband going back to Indonesia for Lunar New Year Festival. When a bigger-than-life "uncle" comes over and all the red envelopes get mixed up, so that a present that ought not to be in the mix goes out to one of the horde of kids, the plot gets launched.
This book is like a comedy played mainly for laughs, and for moments of romance (mostly among the elder generation)--and though Meddy is our first person narrator, the story is really about the aunties. Their dialogue is hilarious, and in this one, we get a sense of their young lives that makes the story work, though it's as light as egg-whites....more
Deliciously snarky style and a wickedly fast paced story covers a tale that resonates with some hard looks at the double standard still in play even iDeliciously snarky style and a wickedly fast paced story covers a tale that resonates with some hard looks at the double standard still in play even in the twenty first century.
Brynn, who is building a rep for helping out her fellow high school students in the art of successful text courtship, finds herself totally cancelled when a video circulates depicting a sex act for which she gets blamed. She sets out to prove that it was not her in the vid, by discovering who the true culprit was--and on the search, she makes a lot of discoveries about herself as well as her fellow students.
It sounds like the setup for a seventies Problem Novel, but the snarky voice and the fast pace keep the story moving. It's entertaining rather than harrowing, and the way the girls come together to bring home the truth about the double standard had me mentally doing a fist pump. I really enjoyed this book a whole lot....more
Gay-friendly and queer-inclusive (except could be clearer on trans inclusivity), Riley Weaver is excited to finally be a high school junior, which mea Gay-friendly and queer-inclusive (except could be clearer on trans inclusivity), Riley Weaver is excited to finally be a high school junior, which means he can join his school's LGBTQ+ club and attend their Gaybutante Ball, which helps LGBTQ folk network for future jobs. And he wants to get out of his otherwise nurturing small down.
However, there's a local bully jock--a gay one, this time, who sneers at femme gays. Riley lays a wager he can find a date for the club's annual ball, and hijinks ensue.
I use the word "hijinks" deliberately here, as there is a kind of comic tone to the constant one-liners and to the somewhat superficial treatment of characters. Riley gets away with an awful lot, but as the book's protagonist, he has the plot armor you expect in a slightly comic story. That plus some unexamined assumptions that poked at me here and there relating to trans inclusivity raised a couple of eyebrows or three. Though all in all, let's Get More Gay out there for kids to read. They can discuss issues themselves, if they get enough books to compare them!...more
A fun, and sometimes funny, m/m romance that I ended up wanting to like more than I did.
I really enjoyed the characters, but the frenetic pacing with A fun, and sometimes funny, m/m romance that I ended up wanting to like more than I did.
I really enjoyed the characters, but the frenetic pacing with the constant one-liners stayed on the same emotional note a tad too long, making the story seem longer than it was. Splitting it up over many days helped, also, the utterly delightful Pax. Much as I liked their royal highnesses, I ended up wishing it was their (meaning Pax's) story, the focus on them....more
While the general definition of a romance still holds, the variations have been spreading over the past decades from the lockstep plots of the HarlequWhile the general definition of a romance still holds, the variations have been spreading over the past decades from the lockstep plots of the Harlequin years to the many types of romance now.
This one starts with a typical romance premise: Freya, our heroine, gets dumped by her fiancé of twelve years, the day before their gigantic wedding--complete with peacocks. (the peacocks show up, a grace note, through the shocker beginning.)
Freya, understandably, is devastated. And, to really rub her nose into her total failure as a bride, all her friends are getting married. So her tight-knit friends group come up with a list of things she has to do by the end of all the weddings. And there the fun begins.
But the fun takes a while. Birchall writes really well about the emotional fallout of being dumped. This aspect goes on for quite a while. I almost abandoned this book at a couple points, because I read these romances in the middle of the night during insomnia attacks, and I don't need depression and misery at 2:47 a.m. But two things kept me going: the list, and the writing.
The romance is actually a small part of the story. What we get is a wonderful look at friendship, and of self-discovery. It read more like a comedy of manners than a romance--no bad thing, imo. And there were some hilarious scenes. Just don't go in expecting focus on the twosome.
I finished this book a while back, then set it aside to reread as I wasn't sure how to evaluate it: I read about 60-70 percent of it in one go, then fI finished this book a while back, then set it aside to reread as I wasn't sure how to evaluate it: I read about 60-70 percent of it in one go, then found myself poking at it over a number of days.
On the second read I realized what was going on, at least with my perception. I don't know what gender Foz Meadows is, nor does it matter, but the book has all the tropes and language of an m/m novel written for a female audience, mixed with a fantasy mystery.
The worldbuilding, for the most part, was pretty convincing, though I really wanted to love it because of the diversity he finds in Tithenia, when he comes to complete an arranged marriage with another guy. The contrast with his homophobic home country injected the story with extra feels, when Velasin, one of our heroes (trigger warning: rape) comes emotionally as well as physically damaged to Tithenia. I also liked his husband Caethari, and though all the signs are there of what is going to happen, so there were few surprises, I enjoyed the progression to their happy ending.
But then the book wasn't done, though emotionally it felt complete. There was the murder mystery that had to be solved, when the culprit was obvious pretty much from the gitgo. Suspense can be tough to handle (when the audience knows and the characters don't) but here it dragged, especially as so much of the court intrigue felt tacked on after the fact, much of it off-stage.
That said, overall it was an engaging read, and I'll certainly be on the lookout for more by this author....more
This is the first of a series of novellas evoking the Georgette Heyer world of manners and romance--with magic.
I was actually sold on the idea as soonThis is the first of a series of novellas evoking the Georgette Heyer world of manners and romance--with magic.
I was actually sold on the idea as soon as I heard that the Patronesses of Almacks secretly have magic. This could be fun, thought I--and I was right. Our heroine is a widow with a couple of delightful boys. She married for duty. She has yet to feel romance, and shore nuff, when an immensely eligible and hot haut ton leader appears on the scene, she gets prickly.
We know where this is going--the fun is in getting there. Meanwhile, there is the mystery--a raft of decidedly untonnish folk show up with vouchers for Almacks. Quel horreur! But our patronesses are on the case.
Just the kind of frothy fun that really hits the spot these days full of alarums and more alarums....more
I've become very wary of Austen cash-ins, though I'm still sympathetic to the idea of novels in conversation with famous novels that still work after I've become very wary of Austen cash-ins, though I'm still sympathetic to the idea of novels in conversation with famous novels that still work after generations. Not sure why I grabbed this one--I read it months ago, when we were hibernating from the latest plague swarm, and now I've got to catch up on all that reading.
I swallowed this book right down. I loved the way Quain riffed off of P&P with recognizable names, places, and plot points, but took things in her own direction without remaining in an arid lockstep with Austen's novel--or distorting P&P beyond recognition.
Georgie Darcy is our main character, and she starts out in deep trouble. (A lot like Georgiana Darcy, though Austen skims lightly over what was nearly a scandal that would have ruined a girl in her mid teens for life.) In this novel, Wickham is hot, and daring, and morally despicable. Georgie's older brother Fitz is sour and dour and doesn't deal well with the world, though his new girlfriend Elizabeth (lightly and intriguingly introduced, rather the way Austen introduced Georgiana, in fact) is helping him become a bit more socially adept.
Georgie spends most of the book dealing with her ambivalent feeling about Wickham who had gaslighted her with his charisma. Like her namesake, she came close to forsaking her friends, family and her academic standing for him and for what she thought was love.
The novel is all about her working her way back to ground zero from the pits, painfully, slowly, and earning each new insight, while trying to rescue her academic standing in junior year of high school--which would be where our original Georgiana would have been, had there been high schools in the early nineteenth C.
It was a real pleasure seeing Quain come to grips with the emotional fallout and subsequent growth of a girl in her teens who has to learn the difference between love and lust. And trust. I really enjoyed it.
I'm tagging this comedy-of-manners as that comes closest to what is difficult to pinpoint, but then the author behind the Anders name is known for expI'm tagging this comedy-of-manners as that comes closest to what is difficult to pinpoint, but then the author behind the Anders name is known for experimenting within genre tropes. So it is here; this time it's tropes within manga and anime that she is working with. Specifically harem stories. And the focus is sex.
What you might need to know upfront is that there is a lot of sex in this story. LOTS. But I would not call it erotica, which, at least as far as I've read, tends toward sex being the point of various arcs within the story--the story focus is mostly sex. (Whereas porn is basically paper dolls doing mattress Olympics in highly stylized ways meant to evoke the most heat in readers, and actual story is as flimsy as the clothing.)
But in this story, though they get right to the sex fairly quickly, and there is plenty of it (result of a four way wager that you discover in the first chapter), the focus is on the characters. The author's skill demonstrates how sex scenes, which too often stop the story dead in the same way monster fights often do in other genres, serve to elucidate character. For that matter, the same as in sports novels of any kind, including gaming. I'm not into sports or games, unless it's gymnastics or fencing. I fall out of a book if the character development lurches to a stop when the games begin, though many readers are delighted and excited by the game descriptions, whether football or Go or mecha fights.
The character development here expertly walks that fine line between wish fulfillment (the guys are all hot) and enough real and complex emotion to draw me in, the sex never turns grimly realistic (for example, if it happens on sand, no one gets sand in places you really don't want it) and yet the focus stays on character. I was deeply involved in the characters and stayed that way to the very satisfying end.
I enjoyed the first book so much I bought this the day it came out. It's just taken me a while to get to it because reading time has been at a premiumI enjoyed the first book so much I bought this the day it came out. It's just taken me a while to get to it because reading time has been at a premium of late.
I should probably add a tag for fantasy of manners, though I haven't found that many fantasies falling under that heading--and in a way this one doesn't, either. In ways, it does. As it is, I tagged it comedy of manners, which I will probably have to fix if I ever reorganize the tags.
It does start out with some delightfully humorous moments, as we continue to explore the friendship of a prince and a female dragon while the latter establishes her diplomatic mission among humans. (I should add that these dragons do not turn into humans, and there is not a romance between the two, though romance is hinted at through this story. I think that's pretty spoiler-free.)
As the story progresses, the adventure part comes to the fore, but at the same time the book is exploring culture clash between two very different species, with an emphasis on religion. I really, really appreciate how the author manages to steer between the "Evil priests in red/all religious people are stupid and perverted" party line of so many fantasies of the past forty years, and thinly-veiled "If you don't commit wholly to my belief system you shall BUUUURRRNNN on the internal rotisserie!" of some religious fantasies.
The story manages to be fast paced, with plenty of character dilemmas, and governmental dilemmas, while giving equal time to believers and non-believers without the heavy authorial thumb pressing on any one approach. And yet here and there are glimpses of the numinous, which I personally adore.
Altogether a fun, fascinating read, if you like manners, mores, and layers to cultures. Including the Big Questions. Oh, and dragons. Lots of dragons, and promises of more to come....more
I tagged this comedy-of-manners as well as romance though it's really more of the first than the second.
The substrate of this often funny, colorful, iI tagged this comedy-of-manners as well as romance though it's really more of the first than the second.
The substrate of this often funny, colorful, insightful and easy read is female friendship. Willa is totally down on her luck, having a lonely pity party when she is accosted (there is no other word for it) by Maisie, and hired to be her bridesmaid.
Is this a thing? It seems to be a thing. This is the third fake bridesmaid story I've read this year.
Anyway, though Maisie and her sweetie Finn are one thread, and Willa meeting Finn's bestie Liam, and coming together with him (no, how can that be a spoiler, this is a romance), the real focus of the book is on Maisie and Willa's friendship, on their families, and the romance fits in around that.
I read this book straight through on an insomnia night, enjoying it mightily, especially the epic fail of Princess Sparkleheart.
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