Elizabeth Hoyt; To Desire a Devil

To Desire a Devil: B-
Beatrice Corning & Reynaud St. Aubyn
Legend of Four Soldiers, book 4 (last)

NOTHING IS MORE INTOXICATING—

Reynaud St. Aubyn has spent the last seven years in hellish captivity. Now half mad with fever he bursts into his ancestral home and demands his due. Can this wild-looking man truly be the last earl’s heir, thought murdered by Indians years ago?

OR DANGEROUS—

Beatrice Corning, the niece of the present earl, is a proper English miss. But she has a secret: No real man has ever excited her more than the handsome youth in the portrait in her uncle’s home. Suddenly, that very man is here, in the flesh—and luring her into his bed.

THAN SURRENDERING TO A DEVIL.

Only Beatrice can see past Reynaud’s savagery to the noble man inside. For his part, Reynaud is drawn to this lovely lady, even as he is suspicious of her loyalty to her uncle. But can Beatrice’s love tame a man who will stop at nothing to regain his title—even if it means sacrificing her innocence? (author's website)

To Desire a Devil is the last of Ms. Hoyt's Legend of the Four Soldiers series. Appropriately, the mystery as to who betrayed the English soldiers is finally solved in an anti-climactic end. At the end of book 3 (To Beguile a Beast), the former soldiers (and the men who were betrayed) had a very telling clue to the identity of the traitor. *HIGHLIGHT FOR SPOILER* We discover that the traitor is a man with a French mother.

Fingers are pointed at Reynaud St. Aubyn, but that doesn't make much of a difference since Reynaud had died in the battle.

Much to everyone's surprise (and horror?), a wild, dangerous man bursts into Beatrice Corning and her Uncle Reggie's (now, the Earl of Blanchard) room. This man claims to be Reynaud and the true Earl of Blanchard.

Beatrice, who has admired Reynaud (from a painted picture of him) for years, is strangely attracted to him, knowing that if what "Reynaud" claims is true, then her Uncle would be stripped of his title and home. Uncle Reggie has cared for her since she was young and she cannot help but to be loyal to him, however, she cannot resist Reynaud...


Readers, I'm not going to lie: I was hoping for more from this book. I was a little annoyed at Beatrice and Reynaud, a little bored by the mystery (though I had started the book really wanting to know who the traitor was), and overall, a little unsatisfied.

Beatrice is a lovely, proper English lady with a romantic nature. The kind of English girl who wants a boy to love her - to really, passionately love her. She imagines Reynaud St. Aubyn is this type of a man. When she meets him, she's intrigued and vexed by his stubbornness and his change in ...everything. Reynaud is no longer the mischievous carefree boy; instead, he is war-torn, has been tortured, and has come to know one of the harsher realities of life.

The problem I had with Beatrice was her lack of conviction in what she wanted, or needed. Or maybe it was just the way Ms. Hoyt wrote about Beatrice and her actions.

Sexual tension has been leading up.... something bad happens and Beatrice is shattered. She is mourning, and right then!, Reynaud decides he wants her. You know, wanting in the bedroom-tango, hanky-panky type of way. (Jerk!)

Beatrice, while she is grieving, realizes life is short and she needs to grab it for all its worth... and even though she is saddened by the fact that Reynaud doesn't love her (she doesn't even know if he likes her much), she goes, YES! Sleep with me because I'm sad and lonely and emotionally overwhelmed. It doesn't matter that I've been wanting to do this with a really special person, one who loves me because Reynaud, I think you're smokin' hot!

...erm...

Okay, let's, for the sake of well... giving Beatrice a chance, let's say she really needed to feel alive that night and being with Reynaud was the only way she was going to feel this. Fine.

She does it again the next night.

Woman!
Have you no dignity?!

More than anything, it comes down to control. Beatrice couldn't control herself, couldn't say no to Reynaud (didn't want to say no to Reynaud even though she did. You know what I mean..) despite all else.

I hate that.
I hate it when men or women are portrayed to have no control over one's actions. You can control yourself, no matter how hot and Brad Pitty he is. It's a good thing Reynaud ended up loving her by the end of the book (LOL, though did we ever doubt it...?).

Besides from that major beef, I'd say that the ending was a little lackluster. Not that the book was really read for the mystery, but since the mystery spanned four books, it should have ended with a bigger pizzazz...

Bottom line: read but don't be expecting to experience the greatest love story.

Lisa Kleypas: Smooth Talking Stranger

Smooth Talking Stranger: B-
Ella Varner & Jack Travis

Ella Varner grew up with a troublesome mother and an insecure sister, but she has managed to come out of it reasonably sane, with a good (if vegan) boyfriend, Dane, and a job as an advice columnist. All of this gets turned upside down when her sister disappears and sticks Ella with her newborn, Luke. Determined to find Luke's father, Ella tracks down a likely suspect—millionaire playboy Jack Travis. The encounter results in Travis and Ella unexpectedly engaged in an irrepressible attraction. Meanwhile, Ella grows fond of baby Luke and fears what will happen when Tara returns. As Ella grapples with conflicting desires, she learns some important lessons about love and trust... (amazon)


Here is another installment of a Travis man, Jack Travis, and though the book had great potential, as do all the Travis men, it fell short of the greatness I was expecting.

I normally love love Lisa Kleypas' books because she is able to develop the characters and really portray the growth of the hero and heroine's relationship. The journey is as wonderful as the end, since we all know endings to romance novels are happy. Even knowing that the hero and heroine will end up together, LK makes it exciting.

This one, however, was a combination of unpleasantness, on several different levels.

1, the hero and heroine have chemistry (as Jack is hot hot!) but they don't really develop their relationship because...

2, Ella is taking care of the damned baby. I have nothing against babies, however, the fact that LK is sticking babies into romance stories left and right is starting to irritate me. Taking care of a child is a HUGE responsibiilty and needs to be of the utmost priority. But in this story, Ella is thrown into her new role as a mother around the same time she meets Jack. Things are crazy, no doubt about it, but with duties as a new mother, where is the time for romance? For love? I'm sure it happens in reality, but not in the way LK portrayed it. There needed to be more details, more development, especially because the story is not only handling a love story, it's handling a story about a mother and child. She did neither story justice.

3, Um, the ending? What was that? It was rushed and lame. And rushed.
Kind of like: "Ohhh, we have twenty pages left, so I love you Jack!"
"Oh yea, I forgot to tell you that I love you, too."
"Yay!"

4, Lack of development of Ella. She obviously grows up in a very dysfunctional family. So... I can kind of assume how she became the woman she is, but I don't want to assume. I want you write your beautiful prose, LK, and tell me, dang it!

5, Excess sex scenes. ...which, for me, without relationship development, is like too much icing. Unsatisfying and uncool to swallow.

It was decently fun to read and Jack is hot hot, but don't expect a stunner out of this one.

Lisa Kleypas: Mine Till Midnight

Mine Till Midnight: B-
Amelia Hathaway & Cam Rohan


A little spin-off of the Wallflower series, Lisa Kleypas takes us into the world of chaos and of the Roma.

The Hathaways are a family of misfits, with four sisters (Amelia, Poppy, Beatrix, and Winnifred), one brother (Leo), and a gypsie (Kev Merripen). They are truly a strange bunch, with Leo cynical and bitter from losing his first love to the scarlet fever, Beatrix's problem of stealing things - albeit accidentally and her curious collection of animals, including her pet ferret, Dodger; Win's weakness as a result from contracting scarlet fever; and Kev - the wordless and almost menacing gypsie.

In charge is Amelia, practical and steadfast Amelia, spinster but too busy worrying about the state of the family to truly think about herself. Besides, she had given her heart away before, only to have it be smashed into a thousand pieces.

She meets Cam when she searches through brothels for her brother, Leo, who is a complete mess after the death of his first love. He saves her from drunken fools, fighting for her, because he is attracted to her, for some strange reason. She is unlike the other women he's had, perhaps the reason why Amelia is so intriguing to him.

He then shows up on the Hathaway estate - the estate that had not been taken care of for years - and offers to help Amelia out.

She is attracted by his different, part Roma looks and his suave way of handling difficult situations.

Cam Rohan is a hero unlike any other. He is ridiculously wealthy, but it is wealth that he has no desire for because of the bad stigma the Roma associate with money, especially a white man's money. He is in the strange limbo of not being accepted by the British and yet not being accepted by the Roma because of his mixed bloodlines. Trying to figure out his identity - who he really is - is an endeavor, and he finds himself at peace with the Hathaways, who are all far from being conventional.

I loved that Cam was the hero for Amelia; he was her knight in shining armor, even though she was fully capable of handling things on her own. Not to say that all women need men to save them or any foolish things like that (*grin*), but sometimes, it's nice to have someone take care of you, even if you can do it yourself. It's always nice to know that someone is watching out for you.

I wasn't as into the Hathaways as I'd hoped, but it was a good read, full of surprises and laughs. I'm especially excited for Win and Kev's book, which is next in the series - and also the next review for LK week!

Kresley Cole: Dark Needs at Night's Edge

Dark Needs at Night's Edge
B-
Neomi Laress & Conrad Wroth
the Immortals After Dark series 4


A New Orleans ballerina in the 1920s, Neomi Laress had her life cut short by a murderous fiancé. She has haunted her estate, Elancourt, for the past 80 years, desperately seeking contact. Conrad Wroth is a self-loathing vampire mercenary with serious bloodlust. His brothers bring him to Elancourt to try to make him sane again, but he soon gets drawn into Neomi's difficult world, and the two fall for each other. But since Neomi isn't embodied, they can't touch. And that's just one of their problems. The banter of secondary characters, particularly Mariketa the Witch, distinguishes this standard story of an unattainable woman who needs saving and a rageful man who needs taming. (amazon)

Dark Needs at Night's Edge was my very first Kresley Cole novel, which, now that I think about it, wasn’t a very wise decision.

I’m known to be somewhat of an anal book picker. I no longer randomly “pick” books out at the library; I deliberate on the title to ensure that the book isn’t in the middle of some impossibly long series. (I’m specifically thinking of Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series, Stephanie Lauren’s Cynster series, and of Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter series.). It is the most impossible thing when you come home with a book that you’re (somewhat) looking forward to read when, after reading a couple of pages, you realize you have no absolute clue as to what’s going on because of all the back-stories you’ve missed out on.

Such is the unfortunate case for DNANE.

I imagine this to be at least the third/ fourth book in the Immortals After Dark series since Conrad has three brothers.

Only the third book, you say?

While some authors do a great job integrating readers into the middle of a series, Ms. Cole does not. That and that her paranormal world is vastly complex; this isn’t the middle of a bunch of brothers finding their true love – it’s about werewolves, witches, demons (with horns!), trolls, gnomes, and [fill in random non-human thing here].

So, in comes Conrad who apparently is a vampire, but hates being one. In fact, he despises his eldest brother who turned him some-hundred years ago. Reason is revealed as one reads further, however, Conrad has a wicked reputation of being a very badass and very bloodthirsty soldier. His eyes are bloodshot, symbolic of him having drained others of their blood. He also has a wicked temper, to boot.

Troubled, his brothers lock him in an abandoned house – that unbeknownst to them, is haunted by a ghost. The very attractive ghost is Néomi Laress, former prima ballerina in the 1920/1930s. She was brutally murdered by her ex-fiance and stuck around for eighty-some years.

To Conrad’s dismay, he is the only one who can see her.

I know what you’re thinking. Ghost?!?! Who reads J.R. Ward here? (spoiler: I immediately thought of Vishous’s Jane, too.)

I’m not ruining anything when I say there is a happily ever after, though the process of Néomi and Conrad’s is painful requiring a lot of voodoo witchy-spell stuff. A little over my head (did that witch get her own book? I want to say yes, which means this is the fourth book – at least!)

The love story itself was decently powerful and poignant…enough. It was interesting.

I say, give it a try – but read from the beginning of the series!

Harper Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockinbird: B-
Scout Finch, Atticus Finch

"When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.... When enough years had gone by to enable us to look back on them, we sometimes discussed the events leading to his accident. I maintain that the Ewells started it all, but Jem, who was four years my senior, said it started long before that. He said it began the summer Dill came to us, when Dill first gave us the idea of making Boo Radley come out."

Set in the small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the Depression, To Kill a Mockingbird follows three years in the life of 8-year-old Scout Finch, her brother, Jem, and their father, Atticus--three years punctuated by the arrest and eventual trial of a young black man accused of raping a white woman. Though her story explores big themes, Harper Lee chooses to tell it through the eyes of a child. The result is a tough and tender novel of race, class, justice, and the pain of growing up. (amazon)

I’m a little sad to say that I was disappointed with this read; it’s a classic – having sold millions and translated into ten different languages within its first year of being published (and this was in 1960). It’s one of the most recommended books – both in fiction and for young adults, and many schools require their students to read it in their English classes.

I’ve heard the title of this book tossed around in so many different instances, I surely thought that it would be a much more intriguing read. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

It took me a week and a half to two weeks to finish this book, and that’s only because I thoroughly forced myself to finish (…must…read…for…Herding…cats…challenge!!...). The first two hundred pages (up to page 190 in my copy) was about Scout Finch, the eight year old daughter of a middle aged lawyer, and her older brother Jem, and their backyard adventures. Their father, Atticus, is a lawyer, and an upright person, but really, the purpose of this book – the conflict of a black man being wrongfully accused of raping a white woman – doesn’t reveal itself until roughly half the book, and when it’s first mentioned, it’s vaguely implied. The reader waits for the ball to keep rolling, and for the plot to unravel after the first mention, but the story lulls until page 192 where Atticus is actively defending Tom Robinson in court.

What happens to Jem and Scout in the long and gloomy pages before the court scene? Nothing, really. They are young kids, with Scout first being six when she is introduced. They run around with their next-door neighbor’s nephew (?) when he comes visiting in the summer. They try to make their other next door neighbor, Boo Radley, come out from his house (they’ve never seen him and there are various myths as to why he won’t reveal himself, what he does in his house – tales that were most likely concocted by these creative children). They love their father Atticus and learn about social justice and rightness from him. Scout is a tomboy and hot-headed – she gets into fights with many kids at school.

All this time, I thought, ‘How cute that I get to read about all of these things and their many adventures, but what I really want to know is the big point of this read.’ And that came at a staggeringly slow pace.

The details surrounding the charges and the accusations are made known to the reader only in the court scene – before, one is quite clueless, which makes sense since the book is from an eight year old’s point of view – yet it required much patience and many flips of pages.

However, other than the pace of the book, the story was very profound in that it discussed issues that, at the time it was written, was something that was of utmost importance (and it can be discussed that it still is). Racism, the accusations made toward Tom Robinson are atrocious and appalling. The treatment of the blacks was equally saddening, and the hypocrisy of the whites of the small Alabama town makes one think about his treatment towards others today. (Do homosexuals feel the same discrimination? Do other minority races still feel the same racism? Immigrants?...)

It was also fascinating to see the lifestyles of the people of a small Southern town in the thirties. The education system, the teaching methods, the do’s and don’ts (Auntie insisted for Scout to act like a girl, to wear a dress, no matter how much she despised it.), and the ideals that dominated the town. (And that Scout Finch is one smart cookie.)

After the courtroom scene, the pace quickened, and the ending came as a surprise but was satisfying.

In all, I understand why the book would be so highly recommended; however, I would say that the book itself is overrated and disappointing for someone who was expecting shooting stars. Furthermore, the slow pace of the book was frustrating for me – I most likely wouldn’t have finished it if I didn’t need to read it for the challenge.

Recommended, but with hesitation.

Robin McKinley: Deerskin

Deerskin: B-
Lissla Lissar

Fiction

Heir to her late mother's legendary beauty, Princess Lissar becomes the victim of her grief-maddened father's desire. Fleeing her home, she seeks solace and solitude in a great forest--and discovers a magic that leads her toward healing and justice. Loosely based on "Donkeyskin," an obscure fairy tale by Charles Perrault, this story of a young woman's survival and recovery is both a classic hero's journey-tale and a parable for modern times. (amazon)

This is, by far, the most interesting read of the month and is essentially a story of a woman’s strength and the path of healing from one of the gravest hurt a woman can experience.

Lissla unfortunately inherits her mother’s famed beauty and to her horror, her father goes mad after the death of her mother. When he transfers that insanity on Lissla, she and her dog flee. It is with time and the help of the magical Lady of the Moon, the moon goddess, that she is able to recuperate.

When she travels to another kingdom, she meets Prince Ossin who shares her love of dogs. He doesn’t realize it, but he is the one who provided Lissla with her beloved dog, Ash, years before. Lissla falls in love with him when she realizes he doesn’t care about rumors, gossip, and looks, and that he genuinely respects for who she is.

Problems arise when Lissla is unable to talk to Ossin about her past…

Ms. McKinley’s writing is melodic and very lyrical, but a little superfluous. She writes in metaphors and analogies, something that I had to get accustomed to. I wouldn’t say that her writing is fabulous or that the actual happenings of the book pulls readers in; more than anything, I would say that Lissla’s journey in overcoming her pain is what compels the reader to finish the story.

If I had been able to decode Ms. McKinley’s writing style a little easier, I would have enjoyed the read much more, but because the writing style and tone of the book wasn’t my cup of tea, I give this read a B-.

Jaclyn Reding: The Pretender

The Pretender: B-
Elizabeth Drayton & Douglas MacKinnon

Back cover: Angered by his daughter’s secret writings on female equality, and in need of an heir, the Duke of Sudeleigh has hit upon the perfect scheme. He’ll marry the feisty lass off to the man of his choosing. But Lady Elizabeth abhors arranged marriages, and she’ll do anything to avoid one – even wed a Scottish farmer.

Elizabeth does not realize, however, that the man she assumes is a poor crofter is an aristocrat every bit as prominent as the duke. Now her father and her chosen groom-to-be have hatched a plan to catch Elizabeth at her own game. But with one deception following another, heartbreak is inevitable…unless true love can save the day.

I feel that the back of the book is slightly misleading.

So, Lady Elizabeth is outgoing and feminist. She writes for a feminist publication which her father reads and is infuriated by the woman’s gall to write such nonsense. He soon finds out it’s her. He’s pissed off – major. So he chooses an old, almost-his-own-age husband for her, one whose lands borders theirs.

She finds out while she is making the trip to marry her husband and is pissed off- major. Their (her and her younger sister, Isabella) carriage breaks down as a Scottish farmer, Douglas MacKinnon, is walking on by. He offers to help. They accept.

Then Elizabeth is intrigued and thinks of a great plan – why not pretend to marry Douglas and watch her father blow up one of his main arteries?

They go to an inn. She gets drunk off of strong whiskey (while experimenting) and Douglas carries her into her room. She invites him to stay (she’s drunk!) and he turns her tempting offer down. But she reveals to him that she is afraid of the dark and he stays with her – intending to stay only until she falls asleep. Unfortunately, the fatigue of the physical exercise that day and the tipsiness from the whiskey combines and lulls into a sleep.

They are found the next morning in that inevitable “compromising situation” and ended up getting married – for real!

Return home. Everyone freaks out. Dad and Douglas talk. Dad finds out Douglas is the laird for his clan and he is fighting with the British King in order to get back the lands that the previous King confiscated.

Dad and Douglas plot together. Elizabeth and Douglas are to stay married for two more months – since Elizabeth is headstrong and spoiled. She got herself into this situation so she has to stick it out. BUT she isn’t to know that Douglas is a laird – she is to believe that he is a farmer. If after two months, they still are at odds with each other and they haven’t done the hanky panky, then the father will go and ask for an annulment.

So Elizabeth and Douglas return to Douglas’s home and she learns, first hand, what it feels like to be a farmer’s wife. Seeing that her father is a very highly regarded English gentleman, milking a cow and doing the laundry are new experiences for her.

Along with this humorous budding romance is the fact that Douglas’ clan, the MacKinnons, are fighting to protect their Scottish King – someone the English calls “The Pretender” since he isn’t the British king.

Good premise, but just not enough development. The book is a short paperback, a skimpy 305 pages and this story could have been developed so much more. The romance (falling-in-love part) was a little rushed in the end (she totally could have added an extra 100 pages…) and the whole “adventure” with the Pretend King wasn’t too interesting. I was tempted to skim over those parts.

However, Isabella’s story sounds, The Adventurer, sounds like a whole lot of fun from the excerpt. I’ll have to check it out!

Loretta Chase: Lord of Scoundrels

Lord of Scoundrels: B-


One determined lady... tough-minded Jessica Trent's sole intention is to free her nitwit brother from the destructive influence of Sebastian Ballister, the notorious Marquess of Dain. She never expects to desire the arrogant, amoral cad. And when Dain's reciprocal passion places them in a scandalously compromising and public position, Jessica is left with no choice but to seek satisfaction...


Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase was the #1 book of All About Romance's Top-100 poll, submitted by readers. Having yet to read the book that I've heard so much commotion and love for, I was intrigued and borrowed a copy.

The heroine, Jessica Trent, is a very intelligent, witty, and understanding woman who wants to save her brother from making a fool out of himself by acting like Lord Dain. To her surprise, she finds herself immensely attracted to Sebastian, a very wealthy but cynical and self-hating man.

The story is nothing new and original, however, Chase's writing style is a little more complicated than that of other authors'. She also finds a way for Dain to come to love and accept himself at the end of the story, which was also nice.

However, I didn't see what the particular fuss was all about. While there was nothing wrong with the book, there was nothing that was immensely grabbing or captivating therefore, it wouldn't be a keeper for me.

Lauren Willig: The Deception of the Emerald Ring

The Deception of the Emerald Ring: B-


Harvard Ph.D. candidate Eloise Kelly continues her research of early 19th-century spies in the smart third book of the Pink Carnation series, following the well-received The Secret History of the Pink Carnation and The Masque of the Black Tulip. This installment focuses on 19-year-old Letty Alsworthy, who, after a comedy of errors, quickly weds Lord Geoffrey Pinchingdale-Snipe, her older sister's intended. Geoffrey, an officer in the League of the Purple Gentian, flees to Ireland the night of his elopement. Unbeknownst to Letty, his plan isn't to abandon her; it's to quash the impending Irish Rebellion. When Letty tracks down her prodigal husband in Dublin, not only does she learn of his secret life as a spy, she's sucked into it with hilarious results. Willig—like Eloise, a Ph.D. candidate in history—draws on her knowledge of the period, filling the fast-paced narrative with mistaken identities, double agents and high stakes espionage. Every few chapters, the reader is brought back to contemporary London, where Eloise gets out of the archives long enough to nurse her continuing crush on Colin Selwick. The Eloise and Colin plot distracts from the main attraction, but the historic action is taut and twisting. Fans of the series will clamor for more. (From Publishers Weekly)



The third installment of Lauren Willig's Pink Carnation series, the reader is introduced to Letty Alsworthy and Geoff Pinchingdale-Snipe. I must admit, before I picked up the book, I couldn't even remember who Geoff was and I'd never even heard of Letty. All I knew about Geoff was that he: 1. worked with the Purple Gentian 2. was in love with a shallow girl named Mary.

The meeting of the hero and heroine was, however, vastly entertaining - much better than the second installment of the series, which proved to be a disappointment.

Letty, finding out her vapid older sister plans on sneaking off with Geoff, rushes to the getaway carriage in the dead of the night in order to convince Geoff of otherwise (since Mary is rather stubborn and somewhat irrational.) Through error made on everyone's part, she ends up as Geoff's unwanted but newly wed wife.

When she discovers Geoff is in Ireland, she runs after him, only to discover the Pink Carnation and the role her husband has as one of England's top spies.

It is good to meet Jane and the rest of the Pink Carnation league and to once again come across the Black Tulip, who we find after getting out of prison, escaped to Ireland.

The clueless Letty somehow pulls off being a part of her new husband's schemes and finds love in the process of doing so.

To say that they truly fell in love would be a stretch; by the time Geoff finds that he's madly in love with Letty, the reader is left in the dark. When did they fall in love? And how? And...what happened to the romance, exactly?

Nonetheless, the tale is entertaining and proves to be a fast read.