Tag Archives: romance

Cordelia’s Honor (Part 1: Shards of Honor) by Lois McMaster Bujold

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Cordelia's Honor (Vorkosigan Saga Omnibus: Shards of Honor / Barrayar)
Cordelia’s Honor
(Vorkosigan Saga Omnibus:
Shards of Honor / Barrayar)
Lois McMaster Bujold

I’d never read any of Lois McMaster Bujold’s work before but was told that this is a science fiction author I’d probably like. Cordelia’s Honor is an omnibus with Shards of Honor and Barrayar in it. They were published in the late 80’s and are the prequels to Bujold’s longer Miles Vorkosigan series.

The Premise: Cordelia Naismith is on a survey mission on a previously unexplored planet when suddenly she and her companion realize that their base camp is on fire. They rush back to see their survey ship flying off without them and one of the other members of their team dead. Cordelia realizes they’ve been ambushed by the Barrayarans, but not all of the enemy race is in accordance. She’s stumbled into a mutiny in the ranks and soon is a well-treated hostage in the hands of Captain Aral Vorkosigan who has a stash of supplies hidden some distance away.

My Thoughts: I hadn’t realized that Bujold’s work had romantic elements although I was familiar with her name. This book reminded me a little of Linnea Sinclair’s Finder’s Keepers, because the two books feature a hero and heroine meet while stranded on a planet together and work as a team to survive. I like that situation — throwing two different people together and seeing what happens 🙂 . In this book, Naismith quickly realizes who Vorkosigan is — also known as The Butcher of Komarr, who is reviled amongst the galaxy, and her academically-inclined world of Beta Colony, so of course, her initial reaction is not favorable, but as they warm to each other she finds out the real story behind his name and a romance soon blossoms. But their time alone together is interrupted by military skirmishes between their two planets as the Barrayarans make a bid for another planet’s resources.

What I liked about this book was that the couple was a little bit older and neither Cordelia or Vorkosigan expected to find someone at that point in their lives. They had both been burned in some way by past relationships and had become accustomed to the idea of being alone for the rest of their lives when they happened to stumble on each other. I thought that their experiences and age meant the protagonists had a dignified air in their declarations and they were both aware of who they were and what others would think of their union. Cordelia is particularly practical about it, but at the same time, the depth of their feelings is not small and I really wanted them to have a happy ending.

I liked Cordelia’s character. She has a calmness in the face of calamity that I enjoyed reading. It’s Vorkosigan who first points it in the book, and afterwards I had to agree. Sometimes she surprised me with her quick thinking, and there is plenty of action going on in this book where she has to use it. Vorkosigan is likeable too but is less a focus. My impression is of an honorable military leader and member of the ruling class who is good at what he does and isn’t always popular with the politicians in his homeland.

There was plenty of quiet moments between the hero and heroine, but then there are also military skirmishes, space flights, chases and escapes. It is full of action and moves forward without me feeling either bored or too flooded by action; there was an excellent balance which made the plot engrossing.  There is also some interesting ideas about politics and war and some grey areas like how perception may be skewed by expectations and prior beliefs, then compounded by limited knowledge of the truth. The science fiction aspects are also there in terms of medical advances, transportation, weapons and transportation, but it doesn’t either overwhelm the reader. It’s part of the setting and used in daily life, and as in our lives, some places are more technologically advanced than others.

Overall: Recommended for SFR fans. If all Bujold’s books are like this, I think I’ve found another SFR author to glom onto. There’s a perfect balance between action and character development that I like, and I plan to make my way through the rest of this omnibus and then onto the Miles Vorkosigan saga.

Buy: Amazon | Powells

Other reviews:
Jo Walton @ Tor.com (positive. She has a series of posts on this saga)
Guest review at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books (B)
Guest review at Dear Author (A)

Links:
Interview with Lois McMaster Bujold about writing the Vorkosigan Saga @ Tor.com
Danger Gal Friday: Captain Cordelia Naismith @ Lisa Paitz Spindler’s blog
First sale story at Dear Author

Fire by Kristin Cashore

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Fire
Kristin Cashore

I was pretty sure I would like this book when Graceling got glowing reviews from the usual suspects (people who have tastes that tend to mesh with mine), which is why I got an ARC copy of Fire at BEA. The next day, when I saw that the author was signing the book, I got another copy. The first copy was contested off earlier this summer, but I hadn’t gotten around to reading Fire until now (what can I do, so many good books in my TBR, so little time).

The Premise: Fire is a 17 year old girl who lives in the kingdom of the Dells. This is a land where monsters live. Monsters are just like their normal counterparts, except they are gorgeous, with amazing colored skin and hair and fur, and they use their beauty to compel their victims to do what they want. Fire is the only human monster alive. The strong minded want to kill her, the weak throw themselves at her feet, and other monsters just want to eat her. This is the least of Fire’s problems because the country is gearing for war. The young King Nash’s position is threatened by a couple of power-hungry lords and although his brother and war commander, Brigan, doesn’t trust Fire, she soon becomes embroiled in their fight to keep the kingdom together.

Read a 40 page excerpt of Fire

My Thoughts: I haven’t read Graceling, and I had no problems because of this, so I will happily say that there is no need to read Graceling first. This is supposed to be an earlier companion novel set in the same world but a different geographical location, with ONE (I think) common character, and the rest are new characters. I didn’t even know who this common character was until I saw reviews by people who had read Graceling before reading Fire.

This book started off with a prologue which doesn’t come into play until much later on in the book. I spent some time wondering what the prologue was about because it didn’t seem to affect the story for a long time. But it does finally come into play, so you do have to read it. When the book really starts, we’re introduced to Fire who has just been shot by an arrow, but accidentally, which is a surprise to Fire. Fire believes at any time she could die, either from a monster attacking her and her not being fast enough to avoid it, or from someone going insane in her presence, killing her.  At first I didn’t really grasp the monster concept and what it really meant for Fire to be one, but over and over again, everyone’s reactions to Fire, and I do mean everyone’s, is to first see her as that beautiful monster. By the time I was done, I was right there with Fire in being completely sick of people who couldn’t control themselves absolutely hating her or throwing themselves at her on sight, but it was realistic and a huge part of what she is. It was really a burden, especially because she was a woman.

I loved Cashore”s writing style. Fire is written in the third person, but the focus is mostly on Fire, and I think the author makes a deliberate choice to have the reader experience what Fire experiences. So there’s a lot of showing, not telling, especially when it comes to emotions that belong to people other than Fire. We can see their faces, but we’re left to interpret what emotions propel their facial expressions and body language. I love that I don’t always know whether my guess is correct, and the author doesn’t lay it all out there clearly. It also makes Fire the focus of all my emotional empathy, and boy, does this girl go through things. Because of Fire’s father, another human monster, a selfish man who was adviser to the previous king, Fire is the target of hatred because of his sins. There’s only her neighbors, Lord Brocker and his son Archer who seem to care for her, but as the book continues, Fire’s strength earns her more friends. It’s not easy. There are some scenes of very realistic grief, the kind where you are so sad and depressed, all you know is feeling, not logic. I wanted to cry with her. Don’t worry though, this is not, for the most part, a sad book because Cashore writes things in a way where I could accept the sad parts and move on. There is more hope and happiness, and a big part of that is the romance.

The relationships between characters in this book were just amazing. Even the minor characters had individual personalities and impacted the major characters, but my favorite relationship was of course the romantic one! I think it was quite obvious from quite early on who Fire was going to end up with, but the journey to get there was gradual and lovely. It was a mental process, although Fire and other characters are not shy about sex. Actually, despite their young age, and although Fire is categorized as young adult, most characters had adult responsibilities and were mature people. The writing has a simple, no frills feel of a young adult book, but there are a lot of themes which makes this book have an adult appeal.

Overall: I thought I would like it, but Fire really bowled me over: I loved it! Superb writing, fantasy with a really sweet romance, and amazing character development. It’s a young adult book that has adult appeal. I highly recommend it, especially if you are a fan of Robin McKinley or Sharon Shinn or Maria Snyder. I closed the book with a sigh, and then I hugged it.

Other reviews:
Angieville – she loved it
The Book Smugglers gave it a 9, Damn near perfection
Steph Su Reads – 5 out of 5

Other links:
Kristin Cashore’s blog
Fire Blog Tour

Doubleblind by Ann Aguirre

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I’ve been dying to read Doubleblind since, oh last year when I finished Wanderlust. So when I was lucky enough to get a early copy of the book (it comes out Sept 29th), it vaulted past everything else on my TBR (past some other books I’ve really wanted to read) and I started reading that night.

Doubleblind is the third book in the Sirantha Jax series:
Book 1: Grimspace (review: LJ | wordpress)
Book 2: Wanderlust (review: LJ | wordpress)

The Premise: Sirantha Jax is finally on Ithiss-Tor, feeling way over her head as an ambassador for the Conglomerate. The Conglomerate needs her to bring the bug-like aliens, the Ithtorians to their side because they need an ally against increased attacks by the Morgut (a species of violent, frenzied eaters that see everyone as food). The Ithtorians are the only species the Morgut have ever respected. A “jumper” and former party-girl, Jax doesn’t feel in her element as someone responsible for such an important task, and March, who has always been at her side isn’t himself to help her.

Excerpt of Chapter 1

My Thoughts: I would have finished this much faster if it weren’t for those pesky things like parents coming to visit, going to work, eating, sleeping, blah blah. All I wanted to do was read this book. I love space opera and science fiction romance. This is one of my favorite series. I think I’ve been anticipating it so much that by the time I got it I was getting lightheaded with giddiness and enthusiasm and I had a feeling that perhaps I was talking too much about it. You know that feeling where – internally you’re saying to yourself, why are you still talking, you idiot, now they know you’re crazy and Ann Aguirre will run away from you?! Yes, that was me on twitter this week. Ahem. So instead of doing what I briefly considered (just writing “SQUEE” in big, bold, underlined letters as a review), I’m going to try to be rational.

The thing is, it is so hard to stay quiet while reading this book, because there’s these elements you just want to talk to *someone* about. For me it was character development and the twists in the plot. I think Ann Aguirre has an evil streak. First of all, she wrote Wanderlust and ended it the way she did (if you read Wanderlust, you know what I mean). What she puts her characters through has me looking around desperately for someone so I can discuss what I just read.

First of all, you would think that by now, the third book, March and Jax’s relationship would be stable.  But Aguirre did something that was the equivalent of pressing the “reset” button, and it is delicious. Neither March or Jax are the same people they were at the start of this series. In fact, I’d say that what they’ve been through has pretty much reversed their roles, although their old selves are in there somewhere. The first half of the book had me hanging on to every word or gesture between the two of them. I kept saying “intense”, because that was the word to describe it (besides “AHHH!!”). It was kind of torture, yet I was happy. It was well worth going through the wringer in Wanderlust and here to come out the other side. There was one particular scene early in the book where March and Jax talk that had me completely involved and.. well I just don’t have the words.

Aguirre seems to excel at character growth. Since we’re on Vel’s home planet and diplomacy is the reason for being there, Vel has the biggest role besides Jax, who is the narrator. I was really interested in finding out more about Vel in Wanderlust so I was pleased with learning more about him through Jax.  The others were around less often (they weren’t needed for all the negotiations that Jax attended), but everyone in Jax’s circle is multi-faceted, and you catch a glimpse of inner depth in Jael, Dina, Hit, and Doc. If you’re familiar with Ann Aguirre, you know these aren’t always happy people either. Jax has a past full of scandal and self-preservation, and March is a psychic and soldier who had to do horrible things.

One of my favorite tropes is a stranger in a strange land or a culture-clash story, which we have here as Jax navigates the Ithtorians, some of who don’t consider humans very smart. They remember an earlier delegation which had disastrous results. There are many Ithtorians who would like Jax to fail in her talks, even enough to kill her. That’s why Vel is so important, explaining to Jax subtle gestures such as meaning to a bow. The story also covers what foods to eat, what markings on caripaces mean, and Ithtorian politics. I loved this. I also liked the description of the lush, tropical world the Ithtorians’ surrounded themselves in, which is nicely illustrated on the cover by Scott M. Fischer.

Overall: The best installment yet. If you read Wanderlust, you really *need* to read Doubleblind. And if you haven’t read this series and you like space opera/science fiction romance, I think you should pick it up. Every successive book is better than the last.

Buy: Amazon | B&N

Other review:
Genrereviews gave it 4 1/2 pints of blood (I thought this review was spot on).

Originally posted on janicu.vox.com

The Stars Down Under by Sandra McDonald

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The Stars Down Under by Sandra McDonald
The Stars Down Under by Sandra McDonald

This is the second book in the trilogy (I think it’s a trilogy) by Sandra McDonald. Book 1, The Outback Stars I reviewed over here: LJ | wordpress . It’s got multicultural characters, military fiction, and indigenous Australian mythology all mixed up with space opera. I was pretty blown away by the first book – a lovely science fiction romance where the romance was slow moving, which is my type of thing. As soon as I saw that book 2 was in paperback in the store I bought it.

Also: I LOVE LOVE LOVE these covers. So pretty and convey that it is science fiction, and the portal in the pictures must represent an ouroboros. The artwork is by Donato Giancola.

*** There may be mild spoilers for book 1 from this point ***

The Premise: It’s soon after the events of The Outback Stars and our hero and heroine Jodenny Scott and Terry Myell are settling into their new jobs. Terry had decided to not volunteer for chef’s initiation, which means he’s getting flack for that at work. The both of them decided not to get involved with the Wondjina Transport System, but they’ve recently been approached by people asking for their help – the system stopped working and a team of six who were using it are now missing.

My Thoughts: The writing is much the same as the last book, which means I had no problems with the pacing and could read quickly for stretches of 100 pages at a time without feeling like it was a chore. What is different though is that Terry and Jodenny are apart for a lot of this book. They each have their own separate story arcs, which I didn’t really like because I love them together, but it did keep me reading, wanting their stories to intersect again. Unfortunately we don’t get to see them very happy because of forces beyond their control.

There’s also more focus on the Wondjina Transport System and Terry’s strange mystic connection with it. This was there in the first book as well, but this time the theme is expanded. At times the book got really out there, especially in the second half of the book.  I couldn’t tell if I was reading some out of body experience or something that was really happening.

There’s hints about the ending of this book right in the prologue. It made my heart drop and so the closer to the end of the book I got, the slower I read. I was just afraid to get there. In my mind what we have is a cliffhanger. I’m hoping things turn out okay for Jodenny and Terry in the conclusion of this series, and I kind of think they will, but in the meantime I’m thankful I read this book when book three is also out. I also have a warning: DO NOT read the blurb for book three because it pretty much spoils this book!!! You can read it AFTER reading this book, but don’t do it before.

Overall: Still loving this series, but this one goes some places I didn’t really like, so I really have to read book three, The Stars Blue Yonder now.

Buy: Amazon | B&N

Links:

Dark Legacy by Anna DeStefano

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Dark Legacy by Anna DeStefano
Dark Legacy by Anna DeStefano

This book was sent to me by Dorchester as well (yes a string of books from them here lately). I had mentioned my interest in anything like the Shomi line, and this has some science fiction, paranormal and romance elements in it, which seemed to be in the same kind of vein.

The Premise: Maddie Temple is a promising young ER doctor who for the past three months has gone from being well-liked to unreliable and flagged for psychiatric screenings at work. The problem lies in Maddie’s past and a very troubled twin named Sarah. Sarah, who was put into long-term care for a vegetative coma after a car accident that killed their father has somehow invaded Maddie’s mind, slowly pushing Maddie into madness.  Psychiatrist Jarred Keith wants to help Maddie, but he doesn’t know what’s going on. Is Maddie losing touch with reality like her twin? Is that the family’s curse? Or is there some other conspiracy going on?

My Thoughts: This was mostly romantic suspense although the psychic aspects made also a paranormal. There’s a lot of action, much of it involving Maddie and Sarah’s mental instability and trying to stop them from hurting others because of it. Moments of clarity seem few and far between and the reader is propelled along a dark and disturbing ride with confusing images of a reoccurring nightmare involving the Raven, trees, a gun, and someone screaming. This nightmare is repeated throughout the story, sometimes interrupting other events and jarring the reader as much as it probably jars the characters.

There are a lot of disjointed sentences. In the dialogue there’s people interrupting each other, letting their sentences trail off and yelling. Even the third person narrative gets interrupted by the dialogue.  Other times, Maddie or Sarah are interrupted by each other’s mental link, so Maddie will suddenly undergo a transformation from herself into a hateful screaming banshee. It’s frustrating to read. You want to shake the characters so that they’ll listen to whoever is speaking! Unfortunately most of the characters are angry and confused about what’s going on so there are a lot of verbal fighting. It made me dislike them sometimes. All of these things added up to an emotionally draining reading experience. I think this was probably all deliberately done by the writer to make the drama the characters experience more realistic to the reader, but you do have to be in the right frame of mind for it, and I’m not sure all readers would be happy with the technique.

There is a romance that is going on at the same time as the suspense between the two doctors, but it seems that it’s an already mostly established one. Dr. Keith is already in love with Maddie, she just wants to push him away before he gets embroiled in her mental nightmare. Of course Dr. Keith won’t have any of this, and is pretty patient with Maddie, going beyond what I thought a normal guy would have accepted. His persistence pays off in saving Maddie, but because of where the story is, I had to just suspend disbelief and believe that Maddie was worthy of his loyalty. I understood that his patience and mental connection makes him the perfect partner to her and I hadn’t seen Maddie before she was close to a psychotic break, but there was so much angry emotions surrounding the story it was hard to concentrate on the romance. I also had to suspend belief when they were having sex, because it felt like inappropriate timing. There was a lot of feelings going on by then that I was not really connecting to, plus I didn’t like some of the phrasing during the act.

Overall: A fast-paced suspense, but very dark and emotionally draining. It’s one of those books where you have to be in the right frame of mind to read it because there’s mental mind games and turmoil and really angry (and at times unlikeable) characters. The anger is done realistically, which means things are messy, and that could be a difficult read for some. It looks like there may be a sequel to this one, but I probably won’t pick it up.

Dark Legacy came out today (08/25). Buy: Amazon | B&N

The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker by Leanna Renee Heiber

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The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker
The Strangely Beautiful Tale
of Miss Percy Parker

I’ve been eying this book ever since I saw the title; it just WINS. And after seeing the cover (which I really like – simple and atmospheric) and learning that the story was a little steampunk, my little book-I-must-get radar was beeping like mad. If you look around, this book is getting a lot of buzz, so I wasn’t the only one. I asked for this book right away when Dorchester asked me if there was anything I was interested in reading. I mean, really. This review is for the ARC copy that Dorchester sent me.

The Premise: The heroine, Miss Percy Parker, is an albino who can talk to ghosts. Proficient in many languages, and aware that she’s very strange looking to others, timid Percy has just enrolled in Athens Academy in London. Meanwhile, her Headmistress Rebecca Thompson and mathematics teacher Professor Alexi Rychman belong to a group of six who have been battling supernatural creatures in the streets of Victorian London. They’ve long awaited for the seventh, a woman that Professor Rychman believes is destined to be his true love, but Prophecy urges them to be cautious. Could Miss Percy be the seventh?

My Thoughts: When I first started reading this book, I was struck by the Gothic atmosphere. The worldbuilding seemed interwoven with the way the book was written. There’s an old fashioned formality to the language and dialogue which goes with the tale of ghosts and demons in Victorian London. I could see things taking place in dark, somber colors like blues and blacks, with Percy as a pale exception. Against this backdrop, the supernatural aspects – the ghosts, the frightening Ripper, and the Guard battling creatures on the cobblestone streets, had a perfect home. The way Greek myth was also added to the story was cherry on top of a lovely pie.

The first people that we meet are the Guard. The six people, three men, three women, who were each chosen by otherworldly spirits to defend the world against Hell. Their first meeting is as young teens, when they are each summoned together. Besides Rebecca and Alexi who become faculty as Athens Academy, there’s Michael, Elijah,Josephine, and Jane. Each has their own set of skills, which Alexi as their leader.
Because this is primarily a romance, the focus was mostly on Percy and Professor Rychman. The characters of each of the Guard are quickly, but deftly sketched. While there is a lot of good natured camaraderie in the group, there are tensions such as unrequited love and differences in interpreting the Prophecy that add depth to the relationships.

Of the main two characters, Percy is the timid schoolgirl, a nineteen year old who haunts the halls of Athena Academy, unsure of herself because of people’s reactions to her looks. In contrast the dark, tall (and somewhat cranky) Professor Rychman is an imposing and confident figure. I loved Professor Rychman’s character, but then I’ve always been fond of slightly acerbic people. I’ve read that the author modeled him on Alan Rickman, and I could see the similarities. It was easy for me to see Percy’s attraction to her Professor, less easy for me to see what the Professor saw in Percy – she was so meek, and in comparison to the Professor, her feelings made her seem very young. In that regard, the romance felt off for me, but otherwise I did enjoy the way it slowly unfolded and the problems it hit along the way.

The language is often very dramatic, which seems to go along with the Gothic aspect. At times the grand gestures made me aware I was reading fiction – I often could imagine certain scenes as if they were being played out in a theater, but it matched the Gothic Romance feel of the book.

Overall: Very good. The story is unique: a mix of historical, steampunk, paranormal and gothic romance. It’s the originality that really had me and made it a keeper, with clever twists on Greek mythology and Jack the Ripper. The only quibbles I had were with things in keeping with the sense of gothic romance and drama throughout the book.

Buy: Amazon | B&N

Other reviews:

Lurv a la Mode (four and a half scoops out of five)
Smexy Books (rating was a 9 )
Fantasy Dreamers Ramblings (positive review)
Tempting Persephone (positive review)

Interviews:
The Book Butterfly – I liked this one – talks about research and inspiration that went into the book, including bits about ghosts and Victorian London. (with contest ending Sept 10th)
Literary Escapism (with a contest ending Aug 25th)

Space Opera on TV: Defying Gravity

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I know this is a book blog, but I think it’s known by those who read it that I’m a fan of space operas and science fiction romance,  and thanks to calico_reaction, I found out about a new show on ABC which I’ve started watching and like so far. It has a few recognizable faces in it: Ron Livingston from the movie Office Space, Paula Garcés from the Harold and Kumar movies, and Christina Cox from TV’s Blood Ties.
Defying-gravity-ron-livingston
Defying-gravity-ron-livingston

Description from Hulu.com:

ABC’s Defying Gravity follows eight astronauts who were handpicked for an incredible six-year journey exploring Venus and other planets in the solar system. Adventures await the crew as they quickly discover their lives and destinies to be intertwined and carefully directed, not only by Mission Control officials on Earth, but also by an unseen force which is much closer and far more powerful.

So far only a few episodes have aired (there’s a 2 hour premiere which hulu calls pilot and episode 1), and you can watch them at hulu here and catch up. The show is on Sunday nights at 10 on ABC.

The show is a relationship drama – there are 8 astronauts on the ship, stuck together for 6 years, and a couple of them left spouses behind who are watching them from Mission Control. It’s being described as “Grey’s Anatomy in space”, but I hope it’s not QUITE like Grey’s Anatomy because I got sick of the partner-swapping there really quickly. Anyway, I want more people to watch it!

Jane Austen in Scarsdale Or Love, Death, and the SATs by Paula Marantz Cohen

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Jane Austen in Scarsdale: Or Love, Death, and the SATs
Jane Austen in Scarsdale:
Or Love, Death, and the SATs
Paula Marantz Cohen

This is part of my reading for the Everything Austen Challenge, hosted at Stephanie’s Written Word. I wanted to read this one because it’s set in Scarsdale, New York, which is very close to where I live, and I wanted to see how Westchester County would get portrayed. I also loved that Anne Elliot is now Anne Ehrlich and comes from a wealthy Jewish family!

The Premise: This is a modern day retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion. I’m going to be lazy and type out the inner jacket flap today. It really explains the story better than I could:

“Anne Ehrlich is a dedicated guidance counselor steering her high-school charges through the perils of college admission. Thirteen years ago, when she was graduating from Colombia University, her wealthy family-especially her dear grandmother Winnie- persuaded her to give up the love of her life, Ben Cutler, a penniless boy from Queens College. Anne has never married and hasn’t seen Ben since – until his nephew turns up in her high school and starts applying to college.

Now Ben is a successful writer, a world traveler, and a soon-to-be married man, and Winnie’s health is beginning to fail. These changes have Anne beginning to wonder…Can old love be rekindled, or are past mistakes too painful to forget?”

My Thoughts: At first when I read this book I thought “this is really different from the original Persuasion“.  Anne has a grandmother and only one sister, her family’s house is being sold (not leased), Ben’s sister has a son (and she’s not married to an admiral), Ben is engaged, the list went on. You see very loosely based versions of Lady Russell, Captain Benwick, Mrs. Clay, Mrs. Croft, and Louisa Musgrove, but a lot of other characters are missing, and a lot are added. On top of all of this, Anne’s job is a huge part of the book. Most of the time Anne is dealing with one crisis or another to do with college admission. I learned A LOT about what college’s may be looking for and the college application process, and I was reminded of all the fun (said sarcastically) of applying to college myself. It was interesting to see some of the impressions the author had certain schools, including the one I ended up going to, but at times I felt that all of this took up way too much of the book in comparison to the romance.

After thinking about it, I decided that the book had to be really different to translate to modern times. Nowadays Anne can have a job, and she would if her family is no longer wealthy. So she can’t be visiting people the way that Anne Elliot seems to do throughout the original book. Which means there’s no need for some of the characters in the original Persuasion. Anne’s character of quietly and steadily helping people with all their little dramas in Persuasion works very well with Anne’s job as a guidance counselor. It also wouldn’t make sense if Ben was still single. In Persuasion, Anne was considered too old to marry, but today, she wouldn’t be, but she has to feel like Ben is no longer available to her, thus the fiancee.

The writing itself is well done. Easily readable and full of amusing anecdotes about the college application process, I had no trouble getting into the book and enjoying it. The description of the over-achieving parents didn’t make me think of Westchester in particular, but as parents stressed out about college as a whole, it seemed to fit that bill. It was a bit over-the-top at times, but went with the lightness of the story.  Anne’s father Elihu, a man of leisure who just likes to spend money, and her sister Allegra, a poet, who does the same, also brought in some amusement with their self-indulgence and lack of common sense.

After all this, I was still left a little wanting. Not because of the way the setting, time, and people changed, but because of the way the romance changed. We see very little interaction between Anne and Ben. We get most of her side of the story here (she remembers their past together, and tortures herself by googling him), with very little about Ben and what he’s going through. That is much like the original, but we don’t even get a letter from him in this version! I think they spoke to each other directly maybe two times, and yet of course they get back together. I’m not quite sure HOW if they hardly were in the same room. We don’t even have any situations where one overhears the other or where Ben realizes how Anne is the most capable and levelheaded in a crisis (or was it so subtle I missed it?). The only clues we have are one possible case of jealousy and secondhand information. The way things resolved conveniently with hardly any talking between the hero and heroine left me a bit irritated.

Overall: An innovative re-telling of Persuasion, and not bad if you’re looking for a fun read, but not without it’s flaws (too much about the college application process, too little interaction between hero and heroine). I still want to read this author’s other retelling, Jane Austen in Boca (which is Pride & Prejudice set in a retirement community).

Other reviews:
Austenblog – similar response to mine, maybe a bit more glowing

Buy: Amazon | B&N

Silent Blade by Ilona Andrews

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Silent Blade by Ilona Andrews
Silent Blade by Ilona Andrews

Despite the teetering TBR pile, I went ahead and bought Ilona Andrews’ latest (a short story from Samhain) as soon as I thought I’d made a wee dent in my reading. The price is $2.50 at the Samhain website but a helpful commenter (_ocelott_ from genrereviews) let me know it was cheaper at Books on Board. As of this review, the price there is $1.74, and its $2.00 at Amazon.

This is a short story in a world that isn’t the same as that of the Kate Daniels series or the upcoming On the Edge series. And.. its a science fiction romance!!  *happy dance*.The Premise: In a futuristic world in which powerful families control much of the world because of their biological and technological enhancements, Meli Galdes is an assassin who was excised from her family so that she could carry out killings without being connected to them. Meli has just gone into retirement when her kinsmen ask for one more kill: Celino Carvanna, the man responsible for ruining her life. It’s been twelve years since the event, and Celino doesn’t recognize her, but Meli hasn’t forgotten the pain he caused and plans to exact her revenge.

Read an excerpt from the Samhain site

My Thoughts: I like the way that the world building is related in this one. In the space of a few short pages I understood the concept of families with enhanced biological traits and financial power. A futuristic society is presented through DNA scanners, robot security, ereaders, plasti-paper, and other day-to-day objects. Meli and Celino are also conveyed in quick strokes. In 41 pages, their characters had more depth than I’ve seen in full length novels. Celino is a ruthless business genius who is impatient and powerful, and sometimes overlooks things because he moves too fast. Meli is just as smart, just as lethal, feminine, and much more observant. She’s aware of his deficiencies and knows how to counteract them. Of course, she knows a lot about Celino, and the back story of why is fascinating.

You know, after pondering about it, I realized that this is like a Harlequin Presents novel (my favorite Harlequin line by the way). It’s got a businessman mogul and rival companies and an engagement for the sake of business strategy. Of course, in this case the Billionaire businessman is a preternaturally fast knife expert. And the rival’s daughter is an assassin who wants revenge on him. I’m not sure if I’m reading too much into the story by coming up with this, but if it was a deliberate spin on a popular trope, I’m delighted.

Unlike the Kate Daniel’s books out so far, this story does contain sex. It’s done nicely and although I was surprised at first how quickly it happens, fits in with the revenge plot.  The romance is more than just physical attraction, there’s a mental connection as well (the discussion of books in particular, some titles I googled and now want to read, was a touch I loved). The couple also have a history, which means the romance really spanned a longer time period than what the short story focused on.  I wasn’t sure how the author was going to pull of this story with a satisfying HEA but they managed to do it!

Overall: I liked it a lot! I recommend it, but I will read anything and everything by this author so it’s probably not a shock to those who regularly read my blog. I spent a nice hour or so reading this story in bed. Well worth the money and my time, and if this ever comes out in print, I’d buy it all over again. In an Ilona Andrews short story collection perhaps? I’d die of happiness!

If you want an idea of how well Ilona Andrew’s short stories are written, I suggest reading her freebies on her website. I noticed that the idea of powerful, mafia like families is something the writer likes to play with; it also shows up in one of my other favorite short stories – Days of Swine and Roses.

Endless Blue by Wen Spencer

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Endless Blue
Endless Blue
Wen Spencer

Wen Spencer is among the Authors I Stalk. Yes, she is on my list. Therefore I have been eagerly anticipating Endless Blue since I knew it was coming out. Unfortunately it came out in hardcover, and I’m a paperback girl, so I waited another few months for the paperback copy to be released. Finally I bought it last week and although it’s about 495 pages, I inhaled it. Ah, sweet space opera!

The Premise: Mikhail Volkov is a clone of Peter the Great and heir apparent to the great Novaya Rus Empire.  He’s captain of the warship the Svobada, and helping the United Colonies fight off the alien Nefarim when it’s requested that he investigate the sudden appearance of a warp drive from the long lost Fenrir. With the drive being covered in coral and sea life, it’s apparently come from some body of water, but according to it’s data, it’s last jump was a misjump to location zero. Mikhail accepts the mission, jumps to the same location and crashes. His adopted brother Turk becomes separated from him in a world where they are surrounded by aliens and humans in the same situation and who never escaped.

My Thoughts: Wen Spencer is one of those authors with sometimes really complex ideas. I find I have to read about 100 pages in before what the characters are talking about begin to make sense.  It’s always worth my patience, because once I get it, it’s smooth reading. In this case I had a hard time first understanding the world of the Sargasso Sea which Turk and Mikhail find themselves, and I had to understand what a Red was. To help others this is what I understood:

  • A Red: is an “adapted” human. Basically, human genes were manipulated to create a super soldier who is faster, stronger and better at surviving harsh conditions, but they were also taught to obey and treated as second class citizens, like animals. Usually they are grown in batches and raised in a creche where they all undergo some behavioral imprinting.
  • The Sargasso Sea: A world where spaceships disappear into when they misjump. Most of it is covered in water, gravity follows strange rules, and no one can figure out how to get out. To me it sounded like the inside of a very large egg, but don’t ask me where the sun is, I still don’t know.

After I got those two concepts, I felt comfortable enough with the world and what was going on, but there are still some complex ideas going on in here about communication and behavior and faith.  There’s also a LOT of ideas from japanese culture (Tinker also had this). In some ways it’s refreshing to be expected to be able to follow these ideas, but it meant I couldn’t read this book when I was really tired, my brain just wouldn’t work. Anyway, the world building was awesome – boats, floating islands, minotaurs, cannibals, the list goes on, I really can’t describe it. I think if you’ve read Tinker maybe you’d see what I mean, it can get very out there in a good way.

Wen Spencer writes well rounded, three dimensional characters too. Turk and Mikhail are leaders and quick thinkers but they have fears and problems. Mikhail suffers from depression, and Turk has issues with being a Red. Having a clone and a super-soldier as adopted brothers was an interesting twist on common science fiction tropes, plus we get to see the family dynamics, which seems to be a Wen Spencer trademark (see A Brother’s Price). There are Turk and Mikhail, and then there are the Baileys, who have a huge extended and remarkable family. Their familial bonds felt realistic – you know what the pecking order is, who is better than this than who, what they always fight over, how siblings could easily guess their siblings reactions and thoughts. It was very well done. Of course comparing the Baileys and the Volkovs, there are some big differences in upbringing which had a big part in the book. The big difference seems to be Turk’s status as a Red, and being treated like an animal in normal space. He can “fur up” and there’s a contingent of people who call themselves “cat fanciers” and get off on the idea of sex with Reds. This brings a whole level of effed up to his psyche.

There is a nice romance going on here between Turk and one of the Baileys. Near the beginning of the book when Turk was separated from his brother, the narrative would go back and forth between Turk and Mikhail. I just wanted to skip ahead to all the parts with Turk (and the romance), and ignore Mikhail. Thankfully the narrative stopped bouncing back and forth before I become really impatient, and by then I’d become equally interested in both their stories.

The romance had some interesting problems on the way to the couple’s HEA – race is one, having to choose between love or the world you came from is another. The way these problems were resolved were interesting, though one resolution felt a little implied and off screen. In some ways a lot of the romance is also off-screen, with very key scenes shown or mentioned to the reader. Which means it felt like I had missed something because the book would sometimes fast forward between the couple’s relationship milestones. This was OK, but I did crave for a little more.

Overall: I really liked this one. At almost 500 pages long, it’s a clunker, but it’s a standalone with well written characters, and I thought it was worth the read. Recommend this one to space opera fans and fans of science fiction romance (although I’d say the romance is a secondary plot), with the warning that there’s some complex plotting and ideas going on, but if you’re willing to deal with a little thinking, you’ll be rewarded.

Other reviews: I couldn’t find any reviews of this book amongst the book blogs I read. Go forth and read it! Amazon | B&N