Short Review: Don’t Tempt Me by Loretta Chase

• Title: Don’t Tempt Me
  
• Author: Loretta Chase
• Type: Romance
• Genre: Regency
• Sub-genre: Spunky girl overcomes odds marries duke
• My Grade: C+ (3.25*)
• Rating: PG-13
• Where Available: Amazon, Barnes and Noble

Dear Author did a superb summary of the thin plot of Don’t Tempt Me that can be read here.  Zoe and Lucien were interesting characters, but shallow compared with the bulk of Chase’s work.  Your Scandalous Ways was a far better book with more original characters and a great plot and wonderfully over-the-top villian.  It was a story with layers and depth and worthy of the A- that Dear Author gave it.  Having re-read Lord Perfect and Mr. Impossible in the last couple of months then Your Scandalous Ways, then Julia Quinn’s overrated fluff, What Happens in London, just 10 days before Don’t Tempt Me, really put this book in context for quality.  Zoe is ‘spunky’ and Lucian is ‘closed off emotionally’.  That’s it.  Oh, there is a moderately threatening fraudster.  There is more plot, character depth and wit than Quinn’s What Happens in London, but just barely.  Zoe’s harpy sister’s, Lucian’s feckless ways, the usual shallow ton – all standard issue. Like Quinn’s book, the villian was more eye-rollingly contrived than believable and frankly added nothing really except an excuse for Lucian to indulge in long overdue self-assassment of his chosen life style.  As epiphanies go, it was trite.  I love Loretta Chase and many of her books are on my keeper shelf,  but this book left me underwhelmed and goes to Paperback Swap.

Short Reviews – More Romance and Erotic Romance

Here we go with a bunch more reviews, mostly ebooks – novellas, short novels, and full novels.

• Title:  The Joy of Ex
• Author: Brit Ryan
• Type: Romantic Suspense
• Genre: Murder Mystery
• Sub-genre: First Book Lily MacInnes series
• My Grade: C- (2.8*)
• Rating: PG:17
• Where Available: Samhain

This romantic mystery by new author Brit Ryan had a terrific start and initially I liked Lily MacInnes.  Unfortunately, the story got choppy and nearly unintelligible at points and Lily behaved like an idiot in a ‘too-stupid-too-live’ chick-lit book.  The worst was when they suspected she’d been slipped a ‘roofie’ and her new police superintendent boyfriend, Paul Mascara, insisted on a blood test and she threw a tantrum that would have annoyed me in an eight year old.  On top of that, the moron who drugged her may end up partner in her

Short Reviews – Assorted Romance

I’ve read several shorter books or books that were reviewed elsewhere and I have little or nothing to add, so I’ve grouped them here in short reviews.

• Title: Make Me Yours
• Author: Betina Krahn
• Type: Romance
• Genre: Historical Romance
• Sub-genre: Harlequin Blaze
• My Grade: B
• Rating: PG-17

BOOK REVIEW: What Happens in London by Julia Quinn

• Title: What Happens in London
• Author: Julia Quinn
• Type: Historical romance
• Genre: Regency
• Sub-genre: Humorous
• My Grade: C (3*)
• Rating: PG-13

Somewhere between To Catch an Heiress and the about the middle of the seemingly endless Bridgerton series, Julia Quinn lost her mojo – for me at least. Her stories became so shallow and contrived – and repetitious – I just gave up. She was always an Amanda Quick style writer, favoring what became increasingly slim stories with wit and charm. I did read The Lost Duke of Wyndham and thought it OK, but having read the reviews of Mr. Cavendish, I Presume, I skipped the second book. What Happens in London generated enough buzz I bought it – and read it cover to cover in record time. Was it that good? Ummmmmmm NO. It was that slight and shallow, no brains required.

BOOK REVIEW: Mr. Impossible by Loretta Chase

Every so often I need the equivalent of a palate cleansing course in a meal when it comes to books. I keep a re-read pile for a good reason, it’s there that I find just the perfect ‘flavor’ to clean my taste buds and remind what really good writing is all about. Last month I re-read Lord Perfect. This month I chose another Carsington novel, Mr. Impossible. All I can say is thank heavens for Loretta Chase.

Rupert Carsington is the ne’er do well son of the Earl of Hargate. Charming, brawny, carefree, affable, a man with a strong sense of right and wrong, he’s never been the brains of the family, but he’s not dullard most think. He does have a talent for attracting trouble that borders on genius and has cost his father a small fortune. Hargate cuts Rupert’s allowance off and ships his hide off to Egypt to help the consul general to do something useful for a change. Mr. Salt feels like he’s been given a terrible burden, not help! He’d like nothing more than to ship Rupert back, but then he’d likely land somewhere at the end of the Earth for annoying Lord Hargate, so he’s stuck with paying yet another bribe to get Rupert out of the Pasha’s dungeon.

BOOK REVIEW: The Sins of Lord Easterbrook by Madeline Hunter

My threshold for stories that play out the history of characters in bits and pieces of backstory has reached critical mass.  If the damn backstory is important to current actions, just tell it to me and stop dribbling it out in teeny pieces like some bizarre trail of crumbs.  The other hot button is historical novels that use the ‘mystic abilities’ ploy as the rational for way too much.  I’m pretty sure Amanda Quick’s Vanza Society was lurking somewhere practicing their Leap Like a Spider Cry Like a Loon moves.  Jeeze.

Madeline Hunter’s The Sins of Lord Easterbrook just pushed me over the edge on both fronts, so forgive me in advance for taking out some of my pent up frustrations here.  Just let me say I started this book 3 times and for the life of me, I cannot get seriously involved with any story that opens with some gibberish that’s meant to be the 1800’s version of new age meditation.