Fire & Ice

- Julie Garwood -

Very, very mixed feelings on this one... the mystery was beyond lame and I mostly skipped over the boring diary bits interspersed throughout because I just did not care. The resolution ended up being similarly ridiculous.

I did like the characters of Jack and Sophie though - despite Sophie's occasional too stupid to live moments. Really, girl who is getting death threats? You are going to open the curtain and stand in the window because a stranger on the phone tells you too? WTF? - and Jack remaining a fairly enigmatic character throughout. We don't really get to know him all that well.

I think what I liked about them was that they were upfront about their attraction to each other, acknowledged it was a bad idea for whatever reason, but also acknowledged that it was pretty much going to happen anyway.

Definitely glad I did not pay for this one though. Thank you, library.

True Love & Other Disasters

- Rachel Gibson -

This actually way exceeded my expectations for some reason, even though Rachel Gibson is generally a fairly reliable, fun read.

I think it was because the last hockey themed book of hers I read (See Jane Score) had a couple of elements I didn't like, but that wasn't the case here so it was just a really fun read.

The plot is very similar to Susan Elizabeth Phillip's "It Had to Be You" (woman inherits sports team and takes over running over team despite lack of sports knowledge, clashes then sparks with Alpha Male involved with team, etc) but both Faith and Ty were such fun characters and the relationship between them flowed so well, that it was just fun to read, despite similarities.

I really liked the fact that Faith was honest and comfortable with her reasons for marrying and staying with a man fifty years her senior and felt no need to apologize for it. Similarly, I loved that Ty had the perfect blend of Alpha Male, "big strong man" syndrome, and common sense, ie: he didn't hold onto preconceptions of who Faith was once he got to know her and so on. They ended up coming across as a very well matched, sexy couple.

Am really looking forward to Rachel Gibson's next book (spring 2010, sob!) which is the story of Mark Bressler, a former hockey captain who suffered devastating, career ending injuries in a car accident. Looks like his physiotherapist will be the female love interest - and I do love an injured alpha male storyline!

Mr Darcy's Diary

- Maya Slater -

Recommended by Mum!

Retells the events of Pride and Prejudice from Mr Darcy's perspective in the form of a diary that he has kept since the death of his mother.

Was certainly well written in the sense that it wasn't gratuitously over the top or unrecognisable as the character from the original, and I was enjoying it as I read along for the most part, but after finishing and the more that I think about, the more I think:meh.

It went a bit far for me in terms of making excuses for Mr. Darcy, ie: he was just distracted worrying about his sister (who was raped by Wickham which I certainly could have lived without) hence his initial rudeness to Elizabeth et al. Subsequently, he describes himself as so overcome by her beauty and wit that he is speechless and so on.

The inclusion of Lord Byron as an old school friend and corrupter of both Darcy and Bingley just did not work for me either. Over the top and unnecessary, I thought, and makes Darcy's disapproval of Wickham (who is now a repeat rapist instead of just a serial eloper to make him seem measurably worse) seem hypocritical given that Darcy is also portrayed as having flings with various servants and visiting bordellos.

Not that those things would not have occured, I suppose, but reading about Darcy taking a housemaid for a tumble at Netherfield or getting unintentionally drunk with Byron just does not ring true for me. What of his legendary pride and self control?

Marriage By Design

- Lynn Michaels -

Totally random find at the thrift store bookshelf turned out to be such a fun read!

Entertaining characters, engaging mystery and completely adorable romance. I really love that Mia and Joe had a very natural arc (despite the ridiculously short time period, I completely bought their relationship) and while there was natural conflict, in the form of Joe's investigation at Mia's family's business, there was no artificial issues thrown between them just for the sake of stringing out the happy ending.

I could have done with the last bit, featuring Mia's rabid desperation for a proposal from Joe, but given the wedding dress design business the family runs, I guess it was to be expected.

Divorced, Desperate & Dating

- Christie Craig -

I really kind of hate the titles of these books (previous one is "Divorced, Desperate & Delicious") and I think they do the stories themselves a disservice, because if the books hadn't been recommended to me, I would absolutely have been put off by the title and missed out on a really fun story.

Light as a feather plot wise, but in a good way - the action and the mystery fill out the edges while the developing relationships between Sue and Jason is the gooey center, and it's exactly as sweet as you would hope.

Not much else to say really - this book totally falls into the category of books that I really enjoy as I read them but will remember very little of a few weeks from now.

The Harder They Fall

- Jill Shalvis -

Jill Shalvis is rapidly becoming one of my favorite contemporary romance authors.

Despite a few quibbles, ie I never quite understood why Hunter was so adamantly against the idea of being in love - his control issues aside I felt like that was never quite understood - and I would have liked a little bit more of an explanation of how Trisha had moved past her traumatic childhood because she seemed to veer between confidence and sassiness and traumatic reactions to change fairly inexplicably, but overall they were both such likeable characters and their interactions, chemistry and developing relationship was so enjoyable, that I could totally overlook minor issues I had.

Heaven, Texas

- Susan Elizabeth Phillips -

Instead of reviewing, I am just going to write a list of the tropes, characteristics and plot elements that I hate with a fiery passion in romance stories, all of which appears in the first twenty pages:

- Over the top alpha male who is a "character", as evidenced by descriptions of colorful, outrageous outfits and insistence on wearing cowboy boots and stetson at all times, even when at a hot tub.

- Socially awkward female who has reached the age of thirty without learning even basic life skills, as evidenced by inability to dress, fix her fair, interact with people normally. Being shy and not caring about your appearance is one thing - Gracie, as presented in the first few chapters, is completely over the top. Equally as over the top in one direction as Bobby Tom is in the other, I suppose, but they do not cancel and/or balance each other out.

- Misogynistic male characters who treat women like disposable morons (ie: dude not letting Gracie get a word in edgewise to say she is not a stripper, Bobby Tom and his football quizzes.)

- Women, however shy they may be, apparently completely incapable of standing up for themselves in even the most basic way or in the most ludicrous circumstances (ie when one has been mistaken for a stripper and is being forcibly undressed).

- The implication that a man can tell a woman how to dress, think, talk etc and boom! True love. Ugh.


So basically in the first pages Gracie was socially awkward, spineless and desperate for a man to find her attractive, Bobby Tom was condescending, rude and misogynistic. Reviews on Amazon would have me believe that they both go through a journey/reveal layers in the course of the book, but I was honestly so put off by the setup and the awful, awful themes that seemed to be playing out, that I have zero interest in finding out.

This instinct feels fairly justified given that I flipped to the end and found Bobby Tom administering his future wife football quiz to Gracie and gamely going along with her wrong answers as a sign of his TWU WUV (you know, instead of realizing that such arbitrary and useless tests should probably not be applied to anyone, let alone one's future wife).

I say again: UGH.

I really enjoyed other books by SEP - "Lady Be Good" particularly - and also 'It Had To Be You' which is the first in a series of which "Heaven, Texas" is second. Now that I am thinking about those books, they featured similar themes, ie: ugly ducklings/overtly alpha men, but I think the characters felt more real instead of cariactures, and the were more discernible motivations and reasons for the power imbalances (ie: Phoebe in "It Had to Be You" was sexually assaulted as a teenager, hence her lack of subsequent sexual experiences, Molly in "Lady Be Good" was inexperienced. but had back bone to spare and no problem expressing and standing up for herself).

The complete lack of realism and subtlety in the first few chapters just irritated me too much to keep reading.