More books I've read lately
Sep. 27th, 2004 01:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annathepiperDivided in Death, by J.D. Robb--the latest in the potato-chip romantic suspense series by J.D. Robb (a.k.a. Nora Roberts), about near-futuristic cop Eve Dallas and her ridiculously wealthy ex-thief husband Roarke. Absolute fluff, but engaging fluff. And this one actually got in a little more character development than usual. ;) It was a refreshing change of pace to actually see Eve and Roarke have a serious argument for once, and to get some more Very Interesting Background Details about both Eve's and Roarke's pasts. It's also rather cool to see Peabody promoted to detective now and working as Eve's full partner rather than her aide--and picking up on Eve's own "badassed bitch cop" routines. Snicker. And while the case to be solved was initially oddly simplistic, it did throw out a few interesting curveballs as it unfolded.
And one other thing that made me actually raise my eyebrows was to see current, modern-day events starting to have an impact on this series--because for the first time in the entire series, we are introduced to the "Homeland Security Organization". Gosh, this isn't inspired by anything in particular, now is it?
Jane and the Ghosts of Netley, by Stephanie Barron--the latest in the ongoing ridiculously-premised and yet nevertheless quite amusing series about Jane Austen being an amateur detective. Yeah, I know. Snickerworthy. However, it's good writing, and Stephanie Barron still does a good impersonation of Jane Austen's "voice" as she writes from her point of view. Most of the amusement factor for me in this series comes out of of the nicely captured flavor of the era, though Ms. Barron also tends to come up with interestingly layered mysteries to be solved.
This latest book, though, stands out for me mostly because she's dealt with the budding romance she'd been setting up for Jane all throughout the first five books--and dealt with it in a way that cannot be surprising for anyone who has even the slightest idea of what Jane Austen's actual life was like. Still, that it was not surprising did not make it any less sad a read. Sniffle. Which is all I'm going to say about that, lest spoilerage get too heavy here.
Heart of Vengeance, by Tracy Cooper-Posey--another of the freebie romance novels I got from the Writer's Weekend raffle basket. And with a name like "Tracy Cooper-Posey" on the cover, can this be anything BUT a romance novel? This one, at least, was the best of the lot by a long shot. Moderately interesting intrigue-laden backgrounds on the parts of both the hero and the heroine, nobody acting too much like an idiot, and an actual plot going on above and beyond the question of "when WILL Lord So-and-So actually shag Lady Such-and-Such?"
It only turned goofy when--get this--Robin Hood turned up later in the book. I kid you not. I didn't see it coming, but should have given that the book is set in the right time period, and given that a big deal is made about Richard the Lion-Hearted still being overseas and King John doing his damndest to hang onto the throne. And our hero and heroine wind up running off and sheltering with the outlaw Earl of Loxley. This actually does advance the plot in meaningful (using that term loosely, as this IS a romance novel) ways, but geez, did we REALLY have to have Robin Hood show up in this story?
The time frame also proved surreal to me for another reason--since names like "Eleanor of Aquitaine" are now emblazoned into my head with the association of the movie The Lion in Winter. I cannot think of Eleanor of Aquitaine without thinking of Katherine Hepburn.
All in all--goofy. But like I said, better than the other romance novels in the basket by a long shot.
Yours in Black Lace, by Mia Zachary--and now we have the last of the romance novels I got out of that basket. Whereas Heart of Vengeance was the best of the lot, this was definitely the goofiest, even given Robin Hood's appearance in the other book. This is a series romance book, out of the Harlequin Blaze line, and boy did it show. There were three, count 'em, three different in-depth sex scenes. And this was a short book, too.
There did appear to be a plot wedged in between the sex scenes, but it wasn't much. Sexy babe employed at a private investigation firm decides she's lusting after her boss and leaves him a whole slew of erotic anonymous notes. Conveniently, her boss is actually independently attracted to her--yet somehow doesn't manage to figure out that the erotic notes are coming from the same chick he's been ogling all this time. (At least up until Chapter 2, when he does in fact find out, and the rest of the book becomes a question of how they act out our heroine's little sex fantasies, up to and including tying her sexy boss to the bed.) There's something about the two of them being huge James Bond fans, and the heroine yammering constantly at the hero about how "you should let me be a big butch girl, I've taken all these classes!"
Oh yeah, and the hero is Cuban. You know he's Cuban because he has a Spanish-sounding name and peppers random Spanish phrases through his dialogue. Why a Cuban guy has hazel eyes I'm not entirely certain, but well hey. With a novel like this, you're clearly not supposed to think much.
And one other thing that made me actually raise my eyebrows was to see current, modern-day events starting to have an impact on this series--because for the first time in the entire series, we are introduced to the "Homeland Security Organization". Gosh, this isn't inspired by anything in particular, now is it?
Jane and the Ghosts of Netley, by Stephanie Barron--the latest in the ongoing ridiculously-premised and yet nevertheless quite amusing series about Jane Austen being an amateur detective. Yeah, I know. Snickerworthy. However, it's good writing, and Stephanie Barron still does a good impersonation of Jane Austen's "voice" as she writes from her point of view. Most of the amusement factor for me in this series comes out of of the nicely captured flavor of the era, though Ms. Barron also tends to come up with interestingly layered mysteries to be solved.
This latest book, though, stands out for me mostly because she's dealt with the budding romance she'd been setting up for Jane all throughout the first five books--and dealt with it in a way that cannot be surprising for anyone who has even the slightest idea of what Jane Austen's actual life was like. Still, that it was not surprising did not make it any less sad a read. Sniffle. Which is all I'm going to say about that, lest spoilerage get too heavy here.
Heart of Vengeance, by Tracy Cooper-Posey--another of the freebie romance novels I got from the Writer's Weekend raffle basket. And with a name like "Tracy Cooper-Posey" on the cover, can this be anything BUT a romance novel? This one, at least, was the best of the lot by a long shot. Moderately interesting intrigue-laden backgrounds on the parts of both the hero and the heroine, nobody acting too much like an idiot, and an actual plot going on above and beyond the question of "when WILL Lord So-and-So actually shag Lady Such-and-Such?"
It only turned goofy when--get this--Robin Hood turned up later in the book. I kid you not. I didn't see it coming, but should have given that the book is set in the right time period, and given that a big deal is made about Richard the Lion-Hearted still being overseas and King John doing his damndest to hang onto the throne. And our hero and heroine wind up running off and sheltering with the outlaw Earl of Loxley. This actually does advance the plot in meaningful (using that term loosely, as this IS a romance novel) ways, but geez, did we REALLY have to have Robin Hood show up in this story?
The time frame also proved surreal to me for another reason--since names like "Eleanor of Aquitaine" are now emblazoned into my head with the association of the movie The Lion in Winter. I cannot think of Eleanor of Aquitaine without thinking of Katherine Hepburn.
All in all--goofy. But like I said, better than the other romance novels in the basket by a long shot.
Yours in Black Lace, by Mia Zachary--and now we have the last of the romance novels I got out of that basket. Whereas Heart of Vengeance was the best of the lot, this was definitely the goofiest, even given Robin Hood's appearance in the other book. This is a series romance book, out of the Harlequin Blaze line, and boy did it show. There were three, count 'em, three different in-depth sex scenes. And this was a short book, too.
There did appear to be a plot wedged in between the sex scenes, but it wasn't much. Sexy babe employed at a private investigation firm decides she's lusting after her boss and leaves him a whole slew of erotic anonymous notes. Conveniently, her boss is actually independently attracted to her--yet somehow doesn't manage to figure out that the erotic notes are coming from the same chick he's been ogling all this time. (At least up until Chapter 2, when he does in fact find out, and the rest of the book becomes a question of how they act out our heroine's little sex fantasies, up to and including tying her sexy boss to the bed.) There's something about the two of them being huge James Bond fans, and the heroine yammering constantly at the hero about how "you should let me be a big butch girl, I've taken all these classes!"
Oh yeah, and the hero is Cuban. You know he's Cuban because he has a Spanish-sounding name and peppers random Spanish phrases through his dialogue. Why a Cuban guy has hazel eyes I'm not entirely certain, but well hey. With a novel like this, you're clearly not supposed to think much.
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no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 01:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 05:34 pm (UTC)I'd actually read some of her work she's written as Francine Matthews, too, but oddly enough I actually like her Jane Austen books better.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-28 12:45 am (UTC)Someone should have prepared you for reading your first category romance novel. Don't they have support groups set up somewhere????
But on the issue of Cubans with hazel eyes...many have them. There are lots of Cubans of european ancestry, so you get all colors of eyes.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-28 12:50 am (UTC)But duly noted about the Cubans with hazel eyes thing!
no subject
Date: 2004-09-28 01:25 am (UTC)oh, and PS, I enjoyed reading your post about Boston!
no subject
Date: 2004-09-28 01:29 am (UTC)Re: the Boston post, glad to hear it! A lot of what I post on this journal is writing geeking under filter, but every so often I do try to post other stuff too, like trips, and books I read. :)
J.D. Robb
Date: 2004-09-28 09:48 am (UTC)I'm glad to hear they have a big fight. It's been brewing for several novels now...about time it came out.
Re: J.D. Robb
Date: 2004-09-28 10:25 am (UTC)And yeah, it makes Eve and Roarke a little more human just to see that they can in fact have serious arguments. Doesn't mean they don't still have mind-blowing sex this book, but at least this time around they actually have an argument with some grit to it. ;)