Twice Shy
Midway through this book I had this sneaking sense of deja vu, like I’d been here before or seen this before–and no, it wasn’t that I’d read this book before but that I’ve read this author before–Sarah Hogle also wrote You Deserve Each Other which was a truly difficult book to get through, a la what I imagine the TV show You’re the Worst to be like but without the expectation that these two were the worst.
So, in any case, we’re midway through this book and I’ve suddenly realized that it reminds me of a book that I really disliked. Given that, I actually think that it’s impressive that this book is a 3* book for me!
Hogle is a gifted writer and has a knack for writing characters. I’ll say she’s better at writing women than she is at writing men, because in both of these books I never felt like I had a handle on why our male leads were so standoffish/quiet/uncommunicative other than some deep traumas in their past that seem a bit…pat. Wesley has pretty bad anxiety except for when he needs to be communicative to Maybell as to how much he likes her. Which, maybe? Seems suss.
And look, I understand that romance novels need to have some situations to bring our leads together but as someone who has spent a month cleaning out a 650 sq ft one bedroom apartment with issues, I absolutely refuse to believe that two sole people could clean out a legit HOUSE without some serious professional help. Maybell’s ridiculous if she thinks she can carefully weigh each knickknack before tossing, and Wesley is ridiculous for thinking he can set up an animal sanctuary without groundstaff? Who are these people and where is the invisible crew that made their plan a success?
It Happened One Summer
I’m not sure if everyone else picked up on the Alexis Rose vibes from this book, but I definitely did not! But when I read the author’s note and saw that Tessa Bailey was looking to give Alexis her own HEA I was like Ohhhhhhh because duh then it all made sense.
You can probably figure out the plot of this book from the cover: there is a large (so very large) surly looking dude with a beanie. That is our Grump. There is a petite-r looking blond one in a ruffle-y dress (which, honestly, as a style hasn’t been in for a while? maybe for an ironic 80s themed event?). That is our Sunshine. Grump must meet Sunshine, let their heart be softened, weather (ha) a tumultuous third act conflict that rocks the boat (HA) and then come back together and sail off (HAHA) into the glorious sunset of HEA.
At first Piper (this is the issue doing reviews posthaste, I remembered her name as Pepper) (although that is close) sort of irritated me–she was just a bit too twee, you know? She was so clueless. So Cher-in-Clueless-clueless, honestly, and the set up was just too pat. Of course she’s going to end up trying to prove that she can be better than what her stepfather thinks of her. And of course she’s going to succeed, such is life.
That being said, Piper does eventually settle down and become less grating as she fairy godmothers the entire town. My biggest issue is with the entire set up–Brendan is by his very being stuck being somewhere by the sea his entire life. He’s a fisherman, there’s nothing doing about that. He could give it up but then the balance would be entirely thrown off. The whole amazing arc of Alexis Rose is that she realizes that as much as she loves small town life she’s a city girl at heart. And there’s nothing wrong with that! I spent so much of this book cringing that Piper was going to have to decide that the city is evil and full of nothing but evil soulless monsters (spoiler alert: they are!) to have her HEA. And I wish that weren’t the case, because as a city girl who had to leave–it’s not all sunshine and daises in smaller, less urban areas if you’re not that sort of person.
One Thing Leads to a Lover
This is a very short book, where I think the cool cover was a bit more engaging than the eventual book! That is to say I…don’t remember very much of said book, but I did read it all in one night (starting before midnight and finished shortly afterwards) because Craig does write very snappy characters. If I have to remember, Langley is just a bit too in his head in a way that wasn’t reciprocated by Amanda. She’s had had a quiet life for sure, and claims to want adventure but I don’t remember thinking a) that she really did or b) that she was going about it at all in a sensible way!
Isn’t it Bromantic
I donut think I can be my friend and give this a five star rating. Does it make me want to read the other books in this series? Er, not quite? But it does make me think that more het men should be reading romance novels (they’re like instructional manuals for how any type of person wants to be wooed–just, figure out what sorts your partner enjoys and then see what the common threads are. It’s like English class, except you can get an A+ in orgasm at the end).
Back to the main point: the Bromance Book Club! Most het romance novels are written from the perspective of, or at least heavily from the view of the female lead. It’s a natural tendency, I assume, since most authors are also of the female persuasion. These books are…most definitely not. And it sort of shows? They are, most of the time, convenient mouthpieces for Adams’ thoughts on how (mostly) het men (I think there is also a gay man in this rainbow assortment of sports players in Nashville) should be with one another when away from the tempering influences of wimmenkind.
Do I find it somewhat distracting? Yes.
Do I love it? YES.
In any case, this story between Elena and Vlad the Russian is a classic tale of JUST F***ING TALK ALREADY. There is only so much mileage one can get out of said dynamic, especially when one of the two leading players is effectively bed bound, and the premise does wear thin pretty quickly. As a result (?) there’s an additional tacked on plot about Russian mafia or journalists or cheese or something I don’t remember we’re not reading these book for plot.
One True Loves
Reid really does a great job with writing “general fiction,” by which I mean fictional books that have plots, aren’t neatly genre (i.e., romance, thriller) and have lots of interesting twists and turns. While this wasn’t my favorite book of hers, I see why she’s a ‘will buy’ for many people and will continue my way through her backlist.
Once you get past the “he survived on a desolate rock for two years and then swam back to the mainland” of it all, Reid manages to set up a really decent “rock and a hard place” type of situation for Emma. On one hand is her one true love from high school. On the other is the man she fell in love with as an adult. Neither one is willing to let her go nor make her life easy.
One of the bigger issues I have with reading so much more these days is that I’ve started to pick up on the hints that authors drop along the way that give you a good sense of what’s to come. And that’s eventually what dropped this novel to three stars, because the end game seemed pretty obvious at a few points and then eventually just became an exercise in going through the paces. [OF COURSE the guy that sort of liked her in high school but then didn’t do anything about it will be the last man standing. And Jesse goes from being a viable other candidate to obviously not the right candidate right when the two of them are alone, when he refuses to admit that Emma has changed.] The latter third or so of the book lacks zest for that reason.
Fauna: there is a cow on the cover!
Catch a Falling Duke
There is a whole genre of historical romances that asks the question: what if we wanted to enjoy historical romances while also not needing to gloss over the sins of human enslavement, income inequality, women’s rights (and lack thereof), worker rights (and lack thereof), generalized misery involved with being a non-land owning, wealthy, man in the ye olde times? You’ve got all the League of Extraordinary Women books by Evie Dunmore, books by Cat Sebastian, the works of Courtney Milan or Alyssa Cole…
Pendle writes novels right in the middle of this target, without much deviation into easy escapes. In this outing, the Duke of Cumbria has run away from his ducal estate shortly after inherited its contents, which include a series of letters/wills/documents definitively proving that the wealth of the title derived from the profits of selling human beings into/deeper into slavery. He’s disgusted with the title and, by transference, himself, and so decides to try and escape the only way he knows how–by traveling incognito and running into a sexually forthright farmer who proposes a one night stand that turns into…more.
I think in all, this book would have benefitted from a longer run time and a bit more build up of the stakes. It becomes pretty clear what’s going to happen early-on-ish, and as a result there’s less tension that you need to make these novels really fly. In writing this (and a very similar blurb for another book, I feel), I think I might need to carefully vet my writing in the future to weed out non-slow-burns…
Battle Royale
Libations: They’re both bakers, so you bet they’re holding cupcakes on the cover 😀
More sunshine + grumpy except this time there’s also baking involved? Definitely a win all around.
I have literally -zero- idea of whether or not actual baking challenges work like this. Like, do chefs just sit there and taste things over and over until they pin down all the secret ingredients? I was always under the impression that cakes that are sculptural and fancy are less about the taste…
Lucy Parker writes some truly sparkly dialogue, and I think that there’s just enough flavor (ha) to spice things up
from your usual fare. The menu du jour for romance novels is Mental Health Issues, which is great but also can veer heavy handed. I enjoyed the balance here, along with the descriptions of cakes.
I suppose what I didn’t appreciate was the hoohah around the monarchy, who are an archaic institution who doesn’t deserve our awe…
A Duke in Disguise
A fun fact: I now imagine all historical dukes as Regé-Jean Page. This duke was him, and that made everything much better–not that it particularly needed to be!
I’ve only read two of Sebastian’s books, but I think I get one of the main points: the aristocracy is unjust, and there’s nothing quite as morally repulsive as being one of them. I can’t say I necessarily disagree…? But also, I read these books to get a bit lost in the genre and charm and escape my life…?
I actually think the pace with which the various denouements occur is more what dropped my review from 4* to 3*–things happen VERY quickly in this book, and maybe that’s realistic but it just made it seem like a lot of plot was crammed into relatively few pages. One can barely breath before Ash learns he’s a duke and Verity has to deal with sedition charges or what have you. There’s a lot of history in between the frippery and I don’t know it so it ends up feeling confusing as opposed to context setting.
That being said I loved that Verity never changed who she was, even after Ash became Duke of Froufrou. What’s to say that it’s anywhere near realistic, but that’s what happens when you go from hey you to My Lord!
Brining Down the Duke: The Wedding Story
This seems like a bit of a cop-out, but after reading A Rogue of One’s Own and Portrait of a Scotsman I find Anabelle a less engaging character than Lucie and Hattie. I say cop-out because at the end of the day freedom for women means freedom to pursue any number of life choices, but I’m still vaguely judging Anabelle for taking the road most oft travelled…
Enjoyed her being with her friends very much!
A Lot Like Adiós
Sigh unfortunately I didn’t like this one as much as I liked Daria’s prior outing, You Had Me at Hola. Which is a pity, because friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes (enemies to lovers is probably the only one that I love more).
I guess I need to caveat that as well, because it’s clear that one of the elements that makes those ftl or etl romances work for me is the slow lead up to the consummation (sexual and not, I am not entirely a one track mind). It’s not really a spoiler, but Gabriel and Michelle go from “we used to be friends and a little more when we were in high school” to “we should bang to get rid of this uncomfortable sexual tension” much too quickly for the rest of the novel to be able to maintain tension. Once characters have already had the best/most intense/most connected/most loving etc sex of their lives, it’s more of a foregone conclusion than ever that they won’t be able to stay apart.
Again, it’s not that I don’t think these books will end with a HEA. It’s just that I like to think that the path to getting there might take some turns that I won’t expect!
BUT–the run of absolutely terrific covers definitely continues with this novel. In a sea of identical looking romance covers, these absolutely are works of art.
