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jaime
Joined: 23 Sep 2011
Posts: 359
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 Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 10:26 am Post subject: |
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| mirole wrote: | jaime wrote:
| Quote: | | Oh, I love BROKEN so much, cried through large parts of it. What did you think of Joe? |
Jaime, I will start a thread on Broken tonight as I have questions about some of Joe's behaviour and would love to hear what you say about it and maybe others will chime in. I will say what I think there.
Now back to work  |
Great, I look forward to your post.
Speaking of Anne Stuart - I am reading her "Shadow Dance" right now, so far a very interesting gender-bending romance. |
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Tee
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 4062
Location: Detroit Metro
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| Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 8:35 pm Post subject: |
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Redwood Bend - Robyn Carr
This is one of the best books of the Virgin River series. I really enjoyed the characters and the story itself. I don't know how she does it, but she's getting mileage out of this series. |
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Yulie
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 1053
Location: Elsewhere
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| Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 3:54 am Post subject: |
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At You Pleasure by Meredith Duran: really, really good. In the past I've admired her prose but the rest wasn't always all that memorable. This time, just about everything works. It's set in 1715, which is an underused but interesting time period, and I found the setting a much better fit for Duran's writing style. The characters were by no means 21st century transplants and the obstacles they faced reflected the time they lived in. I hope she'll stick with the early 18th century (or even Restoration England).
The Following Sea by Marsha Canham: I'm thrilled that Canham is writing again, but I must say this one wasn't sufficiently distinct from her past pirate romances, and having read several of them since she started self-pubbing, I felt like I was re-reading something I'd enjoyed before rather than getting a unique story.
Caught in the Act by Jill Sorenson: I love Sorenson's approach to RS - no superhero secret operative types for her - I like her use of southern California/border settings and appreciate that she always includes characters of diverse ethnic/cultural backgrounds. This isn't her best book, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Though I could have done with a bit more resolution to some of the storylines at the end. |
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LikesBadBoys
Joined: 11 Jun 2008
Posts: 126
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| Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 10:40 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | Caught in the Act by Jill Sorenson: I love Sorenson's approach to RS - no superhero secret operative types for her - I like her use of southern California/border settings and appreciate that she always includes characters of diverse ethnic/cultural backgrounds. This isn't her best book, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Though I could have done with a bit more resolution to some of the storylines at the end. |
Jill Sorenson is a recent find for me as well. Crash Into Me and The Edge of Night are excellent. Her secondary characters/pairings are just as engaging as the primary story.
I recently finished the Thoughtless series by S.C. Stephens. Years ago I don't think I would have been able to enjoy a heroine like this, but I loved both books and thought the author did pretty well with some tough material. The series is an "A" read for me, but I would recommend reading a sample and description to see if you think it's something you could enjoy. [/quote] |
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Yulie
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 1053
Location: Elsewhere
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| Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 11:05 am Post subject: |
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| LikesBadBoys wrote: | | Jill Sorenson is a recent find for me as well. Crash Into Me and The Edge of Night are excellent. Her secondary characters/pairings are just as engaging as the primary story. |
Crash Into Me is my favorite. And I agree about the secondary romances; the one in The Edge of Night was better than the main romance, IMO. |
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Eliza
Joined: 21 Aug 2011
Posts: 744
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| Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 11:10 am Post subject: |
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| Yulie wrote: | | At You Pleasure by Meredith Duran: really, really good. In the past I've admired her prose but the rest wasn't always all that memorable. This time, just about everything works. It's set in 1715, which is an underused but interesting time period, and I found the setting a much better fit for Duran's writing style. The characters were by no means 21st century transplants and the obstacles they faced reflected the time they lived in. I hope she'll stick with the early 18th century (or even Restoration England). |
Thanks so much for your post. I've truly admired her writing skills but felt some thing lacking for me, last book in particular. I decided it must be my taste or mood, and it would probably be my last Duran, for a while anyway. Now, maybe I'll give this one a go when I'm in the right mood, based on your take. Thanks. |
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ChrisReader
Joined: 05 Sep 2009
Posts: 687
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| Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 11:45 am Post subject: |
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Yulie said | Quote: | | At You Pleasure by Meredith Duran: really, really good. In the past I've admired her prose but the rest wasn't always all that memorable. This time, just about everything works. It's set in 1715, which is an underused but interesting time period, and I found the setting a much better fit for Duran's writing style. The characters were by no means 21st century transplants and the obstacles they faced reflected the time they lived in. I hope she'll stick with the early 18th century (or even Restoration England). |
While I enjoyed Meredith Duran's writing, and the hero, the heroine was such a horrible martyr and doormat to her family it greatly hampered my enjoyment of this book. The author never explained why the heroine felt she had to continually martyr herself for a family that did nothing but abuse her and a cause she did not support. I also found the conflict convoluted and ridiculous- her family beats and rejects the hero as a suitor for her because he is Catholic 5 or 6 years before, yet they are now the biggest supporters of Catholic Jacobite "pretender" to the English throne? The former recusant in 5 or 6 years goes from publicly reviled to one of the most influential pro-Georgian men in the kingdom? Silly.
SPOILER
It seemed like it was all set up so the hero could be wrongfully rejected in the beginning but still end up on the historical "winning" side so he and the heroine could have all the estates at the end. It didn't make sense and I found it clumsy. |
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Yulie
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 1053
Location: Elsewhere
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| Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 12:00 pm Post subject: |
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Did you read her historical note? Although it was brief, I thought it provided a good explanation as to how people's loyalties might have shifted in unexpected ways due to the political developments.
As for Nora, I found her behavior realistic; that's what I meant by a character who was true to the period. There weren't too many options and choices for a woman of her background at the time, but she tried to make the best of more than one difficult situation and to take control of her life in the ways she could. Obviously some of the things she chose to do did not turn out well. But I thought it was clear why she felt loyal to her brother despite her reservations about his actions and choices (not all of which were known to her). I don't believe that she thought of herself as being loyal to her father.
But of course, it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea. I hope Eliza will have a reaction more like mine, and won't be disappointed as you were.
| ChrisReader wrote: | | While I enjoyed Meredith Duran's writing, and the hero, the heroine was such a horrible martyr and doormat to her family it greatly hampered my enjoyment of this book. The author never explained why the heroine felt she had to continually martyr herself for a family that did nothing but abuse her and a cause she did not support. I also found the conflict convoluted and ridiculous- her family beats and rejects the hero as a suitor for her because he is Catholic 5 or 6 years before, yet they are now the biggest supporters of Catholic Jacobite "pretender" to the English throne? The former recusant in 5 or 6 years goes from publicly reviled to one of the most influential pro-Georgian men in the kingdom? Silly. |
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ChrisReader
Joined: 05 Sep 2009
Posts: 687
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| Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 1:31 pm Post subject: |
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Yulie said | Quote: | | As for Nora, I found her behavior realistic; that's what I meant by a character who was true to the period. There weren't too many options and choices for a woman of her background at the time, but she tried to make the best of more than one difficult situation and to take control of her life in the ways she could. Obviously some of the things she chose to do did not turn out well. But I thought it was clear why she felt loyal to her brother despite her reservations about his actions and choices (not all of which were known to her) |
My problem with Nora is that she didn't take any control of her life when it came to her brother or her family. It was frequently said how devoted she was to the estate and the people there yet she went along with the brother putting the equivalent of an unstable bomb in the basement of their home. She risked retaliation against her entire household by having the cook drug the food in order to help her brother's co-conspirators for a cause she didn't believe in. The only person she ever confronted was Adrian, even when he was on her side. The only positive thing said about the brother was that he slipped her bread when her family was basically torturing her. He had no qualms about using her for his own ends, endangering her life and had never stood up for her in any real way. He turned on his supposed "friend," stripped monies from his estate and finally blew it up. He should have been left in jail. If it were a modern heroine who basically used emotional blackmail to get her husband to rescue her arsonist brother from jail I don't think she would read as sympathetic. I don't find it historically accurate that a woman would be so slavish to her brother particularly a widowed woman. The prevailing idea would be that you joined your husband's family. As I said before, I think Duran is a very skilled author and I enjoyed her writing but Nora as a character seemed contradictory and foolish. |
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Eliza
Joined: 21 Aug 2011
Posts: 744
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| Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 1:32 pm Post subject: |
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| Yulie wrote: | Did you read her historical note? Although it was brief, I thought it provided a good explanation as to how people's loyalties might have shifted in unexpected ways due to the political developments....
| ChrisReader wrote: | | ... yet they are now the biggest supporters of Catholic Jacobite "pretender" to the English throne?.... |
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Jacobites? Now I think I get it. Is it too simple as saying that being Scots trumps all--or much--else? I haven't read this book yet obviously, but that's my take of much Scots history.
Switching sides in some civil wars is not uncommon, like the American Revolution where Loyalists and Patriots lived cheek by jowl. My family from that time lived on one of the main battle roads that saw all too much activity from both sides. And as descendants today, we're still working on which side some of our family members were on, having already found some Patriots in the war records, and some likely Loyalists in the Quaker records.
In a similar vein, Diana Gabaldon does a decent job with conflicting and changing internal loyalties like this in the Regulator Rebellion in The Fiery Cross, which strangely enough my family was in the middle of too. My 6th g-grandfather signed regulator docs that still survive.
So...the notion of internal conflicts has become a fixture in my view of history on the local level, especially since it has been made so personal.
Edited to add: I also think that war conditions trump all "normal" or "what's expected" both back in history and now, depending on specific, individual circumstances, including women choosing which family they will go with or split her time between.
Last edited by Eliza on Mon Apr 02, 2012 1:52 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Yulie
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 1053
Location: Elsewhere
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| Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 1:50 pm Post subject: |
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| Eliza wrote: | | Jacobites? Now I think I get it. Is it too simple as saying that being Scots trumps all--or much--else? I haven't read this book yet obviously, but that's my take of much Scots history. |
Neither Adrian nor Nora are Scots, and the books take place in England (primarily Lancashire). I'm not too familiar with the politics of that era myself, but as you noted, switching sides in times of war and/or political upheaval based on one's own agenda isn't all that unusual.
| ChrisReader wrote: | | My problem with Nora is that she didn't take any control of her life when it came to her brother or her family... etc. |
I've cut out most of it because you have a lot of spoilers in there.
Nora is not a modern heroine; that is the point I have been trying to make. I believe it wouldn't have been that unusual for a widowed woman to return to her family, especially one with no children. There was certainly no compelling reason for her to remain with her mother in law beyond what social conventions dictated. Spoilers in white: her brother wouldn't have been left in jail, he would have been executed, probably in a brutal and painful way. It's not inconceivable that she would do what she could so that his life would be spared. |
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Eliza
Joined: 21 Aug 2011
Posts: 744
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| Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 2:22 pm Post subject: |
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| Yulie wrote: | | Neither Adrian nor Nora are Scots, and the books take place in England (primarily Lancashire). I'm not too familiar with the politics of that era myself, but as you noted, switching sides in times of war and/or political upheaval based on one's own agenda isn't all that unusual. |
Thanks. I did make it much too simple. Seeing "1715" made me jump to thoughts of "The Fifteen" and "Jacobites" as Stuart/Stewart supporters they are, forgetting battles did take place in Northern England as well as Scotland. Sigh...I'll stop now and just go read the dang book! Sorry.....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobitism |
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PWNN
Joined: 11 Apr 2010
Posts: 827
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| Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 4:53 pm Post subject: |
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GN Chevalier: Bonds of Earth. A marvelous debut. An mm romance that could easily fit on the literary fic shelf - dealing with the psychological and physical aftermath from WWI while being gay in the early 20th c. The historical detail is rich, evocative and seamlessly incorporated. The love story is very much one between men. Men who though they come from disparate socioeconomic backgrounds have shared the same horrors, fears, hopes and dreams.
Joan Smith: Perdita. her books are usually hit or miss for me - this one is a definitive hit and outrageous often bawdy fun (in a PG-13 manner) even if it begs credulity that reputations aren't ruined.
Jasper Fforde: One of Our Thursdays Is Missing: Not the best of the series (nor the least) but it's Fforde and so delightfully brilliant.
_________________
"My safe word is monkey" |
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bavarian
Joined: 16 Jul 2007
Posts: 160
Location: Germany
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| Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 10:51 am Post subject: |
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I've just finished two older series romances by Barbara Ankrum, I'll Remember You and This Perfect Stranger.
The first one is a romantic suspense title, the other has suspense in it but not as strong as the first. Both books are rereleased as ebooks and I liked them quite well (B-).
As it seems, the author doesn't write anymore. Or under an other name? Does anybody know? |
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