Lady Scoundrels' review Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovich

Lady Scoundrels are back, and on Friday :) Today we review:

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovich

If you have to sum this novel up in no more than three words what would you say?

Ram: And don’t you dare to use “Harry” and “Potter.” (<- My contribution) i.e. Not Harry Potter.

Blod: Lol, I would never think it. This was nothing like that weird little kid

Ana: It was exactly like that weird little kid but slightly older and in a uniform ;p.

Blod: Behave ;)

Ana: Let me rephrase it: Little Adult Wizard. Satisfied?

Do you think it is a good idea to mix magic and contemporary technology/science?

Ram: Of course it is. I want to see authors trying to work out where the limits go. What was magic to people from a few centuries ago is technology for us, what’s magic to us...

Blod: Yes I do.

Ana: Magic is indeed like a more advanced technology. Just smarter ;p.

There are some Latin quotes in this novel and magicians’ spells are also spoken in that language. Did it disturb you? Why, in your opinion, literary magicians love Latin so much?

Blod: Nope, why would it?  But yes why use Latin. I mean come one, was there no magic before that?

Ana: It seems like Latin was magical per se whereas it is just another dead language. Why not Greek or Hebrew? It bothers me a bit and it makes me laugh sometimes too.

Ram: It didn’t bother me, but I sort of wish they didn’t use it either. I generally dislike all spells that are not spoken in the language that the characters use. I dislike all spells spoken out loud.

Rivers of London (the UK) vs Midnight Riot (the US)- why do you think  the US editor felt the need to change the original title?

Blod: Oh this bothered me, the US title is just so much more US. And the cover does not fit the feel at all.

Ana: Midnight Riot left me with one big ‘WTF’ in my head. It is rather condescending to think that the American readers can’t deal with the original title i.e. understand it properly.

Ram: I just think that when Americans start changing things they never change them for the better. 

Ana: Different not always means better, unfortunately.

Blod: Just think about when they tried to make a British show American, does not work

Who is your favourite character? What do you think of the dynamics between Peter, Lesley and Beverly?

Ram: I didn’t like the triangle set-up but I liked the characters individually. 

Blod: Yes what was up with the triangle that wasn’t a triangle. That felt a bit male. But anyway, I liked them all, but if I have to choose...Nightingale, I wanna know more

Ram: I fear the triangle will be picked up later again in the series, but I haven’t had time to find out. I’ve only read the first chapter of book two. Nightingale, I want to know more but not too much.

Ana: I skipped book two (bad Ana, I know, very very bad) and progressed to the third part but I don’t want to spoil anybody. I didn’t like Beverly, I tolerate Peter and I am fond of Lesley, especially after her little accident which made her...more interesting. The fact that the author didn’t jettison her after that appearance-changing accident is a huge advantage in my view.

Ram: I know...

Would you like to continue the series (there are two more books available and the third is being written)? Why/why not?

Blod: Oh ..must  I answer? Ok then, the answer is no. Sure it was good, just not good enough.

Ram: Yes I would and I am.

Ana: I understand ‘not good enough’ but I am curious and you know what curiosity makes me do...different strange things. So yes, I will read on. However I might skip the second part - I’ve already started the third :p

Which scenes unsettled you the most and why? 

Blod: Nothing unsettled me. Horrible really. But I have been watching the tv show Utopia, ‘nuff said.

Ram: Personally, I wasn’t disturbed but I noticed a couple of things I’d warn my friends about, things I’d put in my review for those who want to know to avoid. Like <spoiler>the baby incident and mutilated corpses.</spoiler>

Ana: I suppose the possession was the ugliest moment but no, it wasn’t ugly enough to make me uncomfortable. I’ve seen and read much worse. Babies...well, I am not a fan of them and the one in the book was just a prop, like that child from the Punch and Judy show. That’s why there are no specific warnings in my review.

Who would you recommend this book to and why?

Blod: I would recommend it, because it felt different, it was well written and there is just something about the Brits. To all UF fans who want more.

Ana: I would recommend it to Harry Dresden fans and people who like London because there’s plenty of London in this series.

Ram: To anyone who asks, really.

Ana: Look, she will be proposing soon ;p.

Note to discussioners: Don’t try to impose word limits. It won’t work.

Note to readers: Until we meet again.

Lady Scoundrels' Saturday: Song of Scarabaeus - Sara Creasy

March is well under way and Lady Scoundrel Saturday is back and this time with a review of a sci-fi book., and a new concept of presenting it. Let me present:

Song of Scarabaeus (Scarabaeus #1) by Sara Creasy

Blod: I did not finish, I am horrible, but I have reached the point where I just can’t read everything, I have to say no once and again. And for me this was a DNF. I was bored by page 1. They told me to go for 30, still bored, so I read (and skimmed) to 100 and said NO! 

Ram: And you chose the book! Thank you for that by the way. 

Ana: Yes, the choice was very nice, but not exactly fortunate for the chooser. I personally liked this novel and I was surprised Blodeuedd had so many problems with it. Life of a reader is never easy.

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think about this book?

B. Boooooooooooring! I did not give a rat’s ass about it.

Ram: Which I still can’t understand. For me, it’s the musical analogies. How what Edie does is like composing or playing music to her, which kind of makes sense if I start to think about coding and the mathematics of it. 

Ana: I immediately thought about the human race and the fact that too often we act as a major parasite - whenever we go we want to colonize, change and adapt and everything should submit. If it doesn’t work of if we are attacked by not-so defenceless locals we scream blue murder. 

Not what comes first to mind to me, but it’s true. We’re a horrible race.

Well, I liked the music references as well but after a moment they were kind of drowned by the purpose of Edie’s work.

B, why didn’t you like the book?

B: I got kind of confused at once, and the feeling never left me. I was bored, it felt heavy, I was lost and I just never felt a connection.

Ram: Did you just immediately lose interest and give up on it? The book never really had a chance to win you over after that bad start? Because I did think the beginning was difficult to get through but once I got on the other side it more than redeemed itself for me.

Ana: In my humble opinion there was too much nerdspeak at the very beginning. It was indeed difficult to swallow in one big gulp.

B. To answer Ram’s question, yes. Sometimes I feel at once that it will not work. Sometimes I can struggle, but at other times I need to give up. And the nerdspeak, I have read heavy nerdy books but at least they did not make me wanna tear my eyes out ;)

Ana: Ouch!

Ram: Ouch indeed.  I didn’t mind the nerdspeak, I minded the undefined abbreviations. But then again, I’d just finished reading another Scifi novel so it wasn’t a huge jump. 

What do you think of the main heroine, Edie? Could you relate to her easily?

B: Nope, I did not care really. I need to care when I read and she, well I felt nothing this time around. Yes I had issues with everything.

Ram: I liked that although she was the best of the best in one thing, she was basically innocent and ignorant in all others. Basic human interactions seemed like a difficult concept to her and her antisocial tendencies made it almost impossible for her to understand the larger implications of her actions. That’s why I felt like she and Finn made a good team. They balanced each other.

Ana: I found Edie difficult to like at first but learning more and more about her background made me more understanding. I appreciated her compassion and care, especially towards an alien planet she simply didn’t want to despoil. It was brave.

Ram: Brave and thoughtless. It turned out okay for her to a certain extent, but it could have gone horribly wrong for everyone. And it did.

There are certainly different kinds of bravery...

Ram: What do you mean? 

What did you think about the world building?

B: I am not the person to ask, but it seemed promising...some parts

Ana: I loved the descriptions of Scarabeus, the planet. The rest was so-so, especially the ship Hoi Polloi made me shrug more than one time. Less interesting than your average car ;p.

Ram: The ship and the space-bandits were quite a simplistic concept, but when I think to the beginning of the book and how Creasy mentioned something in passing only to expand on it later, and how it eventually became a pillar of a larger story, a guiding light to Edie’s purpose, I can’t but be awed. The relationship between Crib and the Fringers, the politics and the history that was only hinted at. I want to know more about it, and there is the second book, which hopefully will continue exploring concepts introduced here. A book I need to hunt down and read, soon.

What about Finn? A clever manipulator or a victim of politicians? 

B: Sadly I never got to know him cos you make him sound interesting

Ram: Can’t he be all those things? I think, in this book, he started out as a victim of his situation and a manipulator of the people directly around him..

Ana: Which is kind of awesome, taking into account the fact that he was a slave.

Ram: It is. He goes through a change, just like Edie, but different. He’s been enslaved and his voice had been taken from him. But his first word is a choice that costs a man his life and earns Finn his freedom. All his actions after that balance on a similar line. He’s protecting himself first and he’s willing to do anything including manipulating Edie to stay alive. I also think that towards the end, I saw the possibility of him becoming a skilled politician, but that’s Edie’s compassion having an influence on him.  

Did you like the title? Song of Scarabaeus? 

B: Sure, the title sounds cool.

Ana: Horrible and misleading ;p

Ram: It was the Scarabaeus I had trouble with. Made me think of a bad (wannabe) Egyptian erotica.

Ana: *dies laughing*

B: I have to put in a LOL here ;) It shows I did not read it

Ram: What can I say? Previous bad experiences are bad.

Would you recommend the book and to whom? B, we’re not trying to exclude you or anything...

B: Ha, guess my answer. It’s a no. No one should read this book.

Ana: I would recommend this one to people who liked Wall-e and Star Wars :)

Ram: I fail to see how you connect Wall-e to this. I’d recommend this to people who like rogue alien worlds and don’t mind giving a book fifty pages to win them over. Yes, I upped it from thirty because obviously it didn’t work on B. I’ve not read enough Scifi to say more.

Ana: My connections with Wall-e? What about music? Space ships? A planet which needs saving? Eh, ok, Sirantha Jax fans then or those who like Scott Orson Card. 

Until next month then. I hope you enjoyed our programme.

:D

Lady Scoundrels' Saturday: Dirty - Megan Hart

Lady Scoundrels are back and this time we review Dirty by Megan Hart. First up is Scorn.


Synopsis 
What I liked: 

What comes to your mind when you see erotica novels? Of course plenty of graphic sex scenes, a skeleton plot, a very superficial psychological make-up if any at all, characters often limited only to a description of an appearance. Small wonder plenty of readers shun these books considering them a waste of time and money. I am usually one of such readers. However Megan Hart managed to break that mould. 

I would compare ‘Dirty’ to ‘Bitter Moon’, an old movie by Roman Polanski which told a story of a romance in a very intelligent, funny and moving way. With the emphasis on ‘intelligent’ which always, entices me more than anything and makes me cave in even if, officially I am hardly a romance fan, let alone erotica reader. I found Elle a surprisingly complex heroine, taking into account what genre we are talking about. Her actions were fully justified by her sad experiences and reading about her I felt as if she was really alive, not one more sex-crazed cardboard character you can find galore in such novels. After a while you understand why she has acted they way she did but the full story is revealed at the end and the more you read the more you want to find out. You sympathize with her and with Dan who tries to lure her out of her shell and engage in a mature relationship. 

What I didn’t like: 

Although, up to a point, I could relate to Elle, I doubt such generous, understanding and patient men as Dan exist at all. He was like that fairy tale prince – a well-rounded lover, ready to be taken, without major commitments or vices. I can’t help thinking that in real life he would have a wife and at least several part-time bimbos hidden somewhere in the closet; that and a nasty habit or two ;p. 

Final verdict: 

If you feel like reading erotica go for something intelligent and read this one. The love scenes are really steamy hot and when you finish you won’t despise yourself for spending so much time with a ‘pink’ novel. 

Warning: 

It is an erotica romance novel - it contains a lot of graphic sex scenes which are highly inappropriate for underage public. Such issues as incest, suicide and sexual abuse of a minor are mentioned as well. Keep it in mind while deciding whether you want to read it or not.

 Sense says:

You don’t need to know who she is or who he is. All you need to know is that they meet by chance, they start fucking each other everywhere, he bosses her around, and she turns frigid after each fuck. And that it’s all boring.

As refreshing at it is to read about a successful—and surprisingly a total pushover—woman who fully embraces her sexuality, reading about said woman fucking a stranger in public places without preamble is not. When connecting with the characters is a problem, even the hottest sex scenes fall flat.

After all that it’s a bit too late to start fixing things. Although. If you’d take Dan and all the sex out I’d probably give this book four stars, because the only thing interesting in this book is Elle’s relationship with Gavin, the boy next door. Her secret might hit red on your squick scale but it’s quite obvious from the start. It was actually my first theory after reading couple of hints in the book. 

The end reveal was rushed and disappointing in all its telling—as opposed to showing. 

And last Sensitivity

I will give you that, it was dirty and hot...really dirty and hot. But as I am a known sex scene skimmer I do want more than that. And here it just did not work.

Elle was, well yes I know the whole point was that she was cold and needed to find the way to love and be loved again. But I never connected to her. As for Dan, him I never knew at all. I did not understand why he was with her, I did not feel a thing.

So I am stuck with 2 people I do not care about. Which leaves me with dirty sex scene (that I end up skimmin anyway cos I get bored by too much sex). I did like the whole plot though. Why she was so fucked up.

But I was bored, a lot. And while reading I actually fell sleep. There was still something good over the book, the emotional drama, the hot scene, the writing. But in the end not the book for me. No connection, no deal.

Lady Scoundrels' Saturday: A night Like this - Julia Quinn

Over the next 3 Saturdays we will be taking on A night like this by Julia Quinn.

Lady Scoundrels Review A Night like this

Part 1 Scorn:

The revenge will be bloody

Once upon a time an English aristocrat called Daniel returned home from three years of wandering abroad. You see, he was hiding from another aristocrat who wanted to kill him. Ok, never mind.  As soon as he returned he saw a beautiful girl. "She was petite, small in that way that made a man want to slay dragons". I don't doubt she looked like this:

Oh no, sorry, wrong picture. She was of course looking like this:

Nononono, wrong picture again. Ok, I am pretty sure she looked more like this:

Here you go. She was playing the piano and, as soon as he saw her and she saw him they fell in complete insta-lust. It was as if his inner self kept whispering into his ear:

WRhawwwrrrr....Of course, being a young man and an English aristocrat to boot he had to check whether that claim was more or less true. His beloved was called Anne Wynter and she was employed as a governess in the house of his female cousins who, being unbearably shallow and sweet, all looked the same :

They tittered and quarrelled and giggled...Well, they had every right to be similar and stupid, it's not their story, right? Anyway Daniel started to visit them very often just to be in the blissful presence of their governess and...er...touch her hand from time to time.

Still the governess had her own secrets and, being very sadly experienced when it comes to the close contacts with the so-called gentlemen she wasn't that willing to let him touch her...er... anything. Daniel also had a bunch of problems on his own. 

No, dear ladies, there is nothing to laugh about. English aristocrats do have serious problems and English governesses always have a secret or two hidden in a drawer right next to their underwear. Do you want proof? Here you go, a direct quote:

"He wanted her. He wanted her completely. But his family was waiting for him at supper, and his ancestors were staring down at him from their portrait frames, and she—the woman in question—was watching him with a wariness that broke his heart.."

You see? A real problem. 

Then they go to the country together and our sweet Anne found herself falling deeper and deeper in lust because Daniel was so sweet and so pretty and SO incredibly rich...and here the problems of our governess started to emerge from her overflowing drawer:

But really, it didn’t matter who she was. Anne Wynter . . . Annelise Shawcross . . . Neither one of them was a suitable match for Daniel Smythe-Smith, Earl of Winstead, Viscount Streathermore, and Baron Touchton of Stoke. He had more names than she did. It was almost funny.

Yes, dear sir, you heard it right. It was said 'funny'.

Then there is a lot of talk about food and food preferences, kissing or not kissing, strolling or not strolling and different trivial hobbies of young brainless ladies. You see, Daniel wanted to know his beloved better, to see her soul and her heart, not only her luscious body. Do guys necessarily need a woman's background history to spontaneously want to bang her or play epic-kiss-face? Yes they do. But only just a little bit. A real masterpiece of romance literature, with great, well-rounded, interesting characters don't you think, dear reader? 

After a while my eyebrows get stuck up high and I couldn't believe I was reading such a depressingly shallow book. Still a challege is a challege, right? After page number 65 I started SKIMMING.

It didn't help much. You see I kept encountering such fragments:

"Could you imagine? Telling Lady Pleinsworth the truth about her background? Well, the thing is, I’m not a virgin. And my name is not really Anne Wynter. Oh, and I stabbed a man and now he’s madly hunting me until I’m dead. A desperate, horrified giggle popped out of Anne’s throat. What a resumé that was."

I was just waiting for the main villain to appear and save the day. Silly, silly me. Instead of a villain I got a papercut bloke.

"George just shrugged, and in that moment he confirmed all of Anne’s darkest suspicions. He was mad. He was utterly, completely, loonlike mad. There could be no other explanation. No sane individual would risk killing a peer of the realm in order to get to her."

Irrefutable logic, my lady.

The ending was in perfect accordance with the rest of the book: senseless, stupid, shallow, not really resolving anything so completely redundant. But it was the end of my suffering. 

Final verdict:

After reading such a book I feel like this:

I do not recommend it to anybody. Unless you are a masochist.

Bridget/anachronist

Discussion: The Duchess War - Courtney Milan

Blodeuedd:
Rameau and Anachronist love Courtney Milan so today I am giving the floor over to them both. Go crazy girls ;)

Spoiler alert

This discussion contains several more or less significant spoilers. If you are spoiler-sensitive and you haven’t read The Duchess War yet (honestly, what are you waiting for?) you might want to avert your eyes. Still we also talk about sex so perhaps averting your eyes is not such a clever thing to do. Oh well. Anyway the choice is entirely yours -  you have been warned.

Ana: An aristocrat and a mouse - it seems a very cliche pairing, don’t you think? 

Ram: Well, if you were to tell me only that and not the author’s name I’d probably move on and look for something else to read first instead. I’d probably grab an M/M book.

Ana: Ok, so let’s imagine I did mention the author and the fact that the mouse in question can play chess and has to hide her identity...what would your reaction be then?

Ram: With gushing or sans gushing?

Ana: LOL gush if you want.

Ram: I so rarely get the opportunity. It’d probably be like this: OMG OMG I can’t wait to see how Milan turns this cliché on its head and shows the world how it should be done. I can’t wait to read it!!!!11!!

Ana: I agree that a Milan romance novel contains always something surprising. What was the biggest surprise here for you personally?

Ram: Hey, didn’t we skip a part? Where you tell me how you’d react to such a premise before hearing who has written it and then after you know it’s a Milan book. And go:

Ana: LOL ok, backpedalling a bit. I would like to read it of course. Sans OMG. It is still a romance book, nothing to write home about ;p I admit that if you mentioned ‘awkward sex’ as well I would be a tad more interested. Strategy of course works even better.

Ram: It’s like I have a whole another set of expectations for a Milan book than I have for any other. The awkward sex was magnificent and surprisingly arousing for reader, but it’s something I’d definitely forget to mention because I expect certain level of realism from the author that I don’t expect from others. You mentioned the strategy and I agree, it’s fun to see a character, a young woman in a historical fiction, to plan ahead, but as you said in your review, I don’t think it was fully realised here. I didn’t get the sense that Minnie was planning her life three or six steps ahead and it just made me want to read about a heroine who does. Remember that rant of mine how I want to see Milan write a book about heroine who intentionally traps a man into marriage and falls for him anyway? Well, that just evolves and now I want to see a series about such women. I should probably take a breath and let you say something.

Ana: Something. Is it enough? ;D

Your ideas are so interesting that I don’t intend to break your train of thought.

Ram: As I was saying... The biggest surprise for me was that I didn’t think Milan did everything she could have with this book and the character. I read on her website that Brothers Sinister series heroines have one thing in common and that’s the fact they’ve been ruined. In theory it sounds wonderful as it voids the expectations—fears more likely—of a romance heroine ingenue that’s too good to be anything but boring to read about. Ruined heroines are more interesting. 

Ana: My biggest surprise came when Minnie realized (a bit too late I should add) that marrying that son of a miller wouldn’t bring her the much-wanted stabilization and security. I mean it was TOO LATE for such an intelligent girl. Almost too late. She should have done her strategic thinking right after he showed any interest. It was out of her character.

Ram: That’s part of what I meant. The part that she wasn’t thinking ahead far enough, but at the same time I bought it because of her identity crisis. 

Ana: Identity crisis? Right... I am not sure I was aware of it at first - not before she started to change under the influence of the Duke and his outlandish ideas. 

Ram: I guess I have an advantage over you in this because I did read Milan’s novella What Happened At Midnight, the one she wrote for the Midnight Scandals anthology. 

Ana: I haven’t read it, that’s true.

Ram: In it, there’s another version of a girl being ruined by her father, hiding away, hiding her secret and changing herself to avoid detection. I can’t remember the exact moment, but very early on in the book I realised there were some similarities, so I was able to anticipate some of the turmoil Minnie would be going through and why it would happen. I expected Milan to explore that side of her character further.

Ana: I see. There is another moment, then. Minnie has changed. She is safely married to her Duke. He receives a letter about the imprisonment of Olivier Marshall, his half brother. And what do they do? They board a train and have sex like a pair of bunnies. Where is that strategic thinking I ask?

Ram: I think her strategy was in distracting her husband from worrying about things he couldn’t change while they were on the train. And after that the book kind of shifted to deal with his problematic past. That could also explain part of the pacing problems I saw. Milan couldn’t quite find a balance between giving both Minnie and Robert time to fall in love, to start to trust each other, and to play together as they must have learned to do during those four skipped years before the epilogue. Maybe the book had been better if they’d started to play together against a common enemy from the start while still distrusting each other. What do you think?

Ana: I definitely agree with you on that one. Which leads straight to their very rushed marriage and their first night together. They even didn’t have enough time to find out each other’s preferences and dislikes in advance. It was well...awkward.

Ram: Why must there always be a special licence in these things? That’s another thing I’d like to see them get rid of. Milan didn’t need to hurry to get to the sex because she’d already written good masturbation scenes, so it really didn’t make sense. And just think how it would have been had they got married after the trial. 

Ana: Yes, that ‘special license marriage’ is starting to be one of my minor pet peeves. Ok, let not disappoint our dear hostess, Blodeuedd, and tackle that scene when two virgins go to bed and try to make it worthwhile ;p 

Ram: I KNEW IT! was my reaction to it. Unclaimed was my first Milan novel and it too had a virgin hero and I loved it. Here, she chose a more subtle approach and it really paid off in that wedding night scene. Don’t you think?

Ana: It was funny and it was right. What bothered me was once again how FAST they managed to make it right. Correct me if I am mistaken but I suppose it takes more than just one attempt, no matter how enthusiastic, to attune to each other and here...oh, the wonderful world of fiction where miracles are the order of the day!!!

Ram: I did mention the masturbation scenes, didn’t I? It’s infinitely easier to become attuned to someone else’s desires when they themselves know what they like. Speaking as someone who had her first time with another virgin and neither of us knew what we were doing I can only say that if I could have done it again, I’d begged Mum to tell me more about the importance of masturbation. As if she didn’t talk about sex enough while I was growing up.

Ana: Have you noticed that there was no hymenal laceration?

Ram: I noticed, but though because she wasn’t a teenager and had learned to ride at some point of her life that it was choice on the author’s part to avoid the gore.

Ana: Hmm...I think I missed that part when she speaks about riding a horse regularly but I did read pretty quickly so it is entirely possible. Yes, I would rather say it was deliberate - not to make Minnie too sore in order to let them continue day in day out.

Ram: She did ride to the town in pouring rain to show Lydia’s father the damning evidence against Robert.

Ana: It takes more than that. It should be a habit and believe me I speak about my own experiences.

Ram: Or it could just be another aspect of the pacing issues.

Ana: Overall how would you assess this novel, when comparing it to other Milan books, published so far?

Ram: We’re almost making it sound like we didn’t like it. But overall, you say. It’s not her best. I think she’s evolving as a storyteller and I’m pretty sure I will love this Brothers Sinister series more than I love the Un-series, but on a technical side it’s definitely not her best. Unclaimed and Unraveled were better on the pacing front.

Ana: I quite agree with you again. I hope, as the first novel in a new series it has the right to be the weakest and the rest would be far better. Unraveled has been my favourite so far, Unclaimed is, in my view, the second best.

Review: Sleight of Hand - Mark Henwick

genre: urban fantasy, criminal mystery, paranormal fiction

Synopsis:

Amber Farrell is not your ordinary PI. She has been very well trained in one of the US Army super secret units. Unfortunately now the Army don’t want to have anything to do with her although they watch her carefully. She was a cop. Now most cops distrust her. All because of a bloody incident in the South American jungle. She was bitten by something strange and she survived against all odds; now she doesn’t know what to do with her life which is simply slipping out of her hands.

It is not a big secret what she is becoming: a vampire. However even as your average vampire aspirant she is still unusual. The whole process is taking her longer for one thing and she doesn’t seem to need a mentor. She can also identify other vampires by their coppery smell.

As a self-employed PI Amber is doing not very well, but soon she is given a very profitable job. Her new client is Jenniffer Kingslund, a rich local businesswoman with a bunch of problems of her own: normal and paranormal. All of them seem to revolve around one undeveloped location of Jennifer called Silver Hills. Will Amber be able to help her? What will it take?

What I liked:

You might say it is just another paranormal fiction series with a mixture of everyday life in a big American city (Denver) and different fantasy creatures like vamps and werewolves but it was highly readable.

The world building was interesting, especially concerning the Athanate or vampires. The author tried to outline their existence in a fresh way (if it is possible at all with vampires swamping popular literature) and I appreciated his efforts. The criminal mystery actually was overshadowed by that thread, at least for me.

Amber is a highly-trained woman but her proficiency in martial arts and using  conventional weapons didn’t come from thin air. It is one of my pet peeves – a more or less ordinary chica is turned into a vampire and in the matter of seconds, practically as soon as she touches a sword, she becomes a warrior extraordinaire. Here at least the author gave his heroine a proper background, making her exploits far more believable.

Also I truly enjoyed the fact that this novel didn’t feature either insta-love between the main lead and, say, a devastatingly handsome vampire master (ugh!) or an ugly love triangle. Amber is a sensible girl who knows her priorities and keeps her desires in check, concerning both her male and female acquaintances. I hope the author will continue that course.

Finally some secondary characters like Bian, the Vietnamese vampiress who likes Goth girls, Tullah, Amber’s secretary and her mother were really nice to read about.

What I didn’t like:

The biggest problem I had concerned my relating or rather not relating to the main heroine, Amber Farrell.  Don’t get me wrong – I like kick-ass women who never pull their punches and make a career on their own, without needing a strong man by their side, vampire or otherwise. Still…whenever I felt I finally knew what made her tick I was led astray by her actions again and again. Let me be more precise: Amber is not a badly-constructed character but she is neither here nor there, a work in progress.

Sometimes she acts like a straight adult woman, sometimes – like a young gung ho man from a Bond movie. She kisses both men and women. For some period of time she is a kind of live-in girlfriend of Jen but without fully realizing the implications of her status. She publicly dances with her for heavens’ sake and still she never bothers to ask herself what others might think of it. When her sister is angry at her she is simply surprised. Although she is half way into becoming a vampire but she hates most of vampires and is afraid of her own future as one. Still she doesn’t look for the answers – not really, taking into account the fact that she is an investigator – and when it comes to werewolves she doesn’t have any trust issues or problems…

I understand that it is just the first part of a whole series. Perhaps with hindsight everything would have become perfectly reasonable but reading the first part I sometimes found myself wondering whether Amber is a she or a he or a person somewhere in between. I bet there might be several explanations of such a character construction. First: it was done deliberately by the author for reason or reasons unknown, to be revealed later. Second: male authors, even very good ones, sometimes have difficulties getting into a female mind and their heroines come across as tomboys at best, hermaphrodites in the middle, something misshapen a cat might drag in at worst. Creating a complex character is never easy. In my opinion the jury is out when it comes to Ms Farrell. Her background (a stint in special forces, another one as a cop) definitely would predestine her to be a bit less feminine than your ordinary vampire chick and it’s fine by  me but I wish she found her inner core, spoke with herself and took a mature, informed decision about her preferences – rather sooner than later.

Final verdict:

An interesting beginning of another urban fantasy series. I wish Amber and her author all the best!

Bridget/anachronist

Lady Scoundrel Saturday: The Raven Prince - Elizabeth Hoyt

Scorn, Sense and Sensitivity

reviews

The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt

The Lady Scoundrels are back and over the next 3 Saturdays we will bring you our reviews of The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt.

First up is Scorn (aka Anachronist)

Book info:

Genre: historical romance but I would drop the historical part

Target audience: adults

Form: e-book, pdf format

Synopsis: 

The Raven Prince takes place in eighteenth century England. 

Edward de Raaf, the temperamental Earl of Swartingham, nearly runs over Anna Wren, a relatively young widow returning from the market. Shortly after that, Edward finds himself in need of a new secretary. The last few secretaries have all fled the earl’s employ in the face of his appalling temper and since he doesn’t give his steward, Mr. Hopple, much time to come up with one, Hopple hires Anna. It is unconventional, to say the least, to have a female secretary but Anna has a fair hand and is not intimidated by Edward, so the job is hers. By the way she is desperate to keep her position - the investments that the late Peter Wren left to his wife and by extension, his mother, are not doing very well. 

It doesn’t take long for a sexual attraction to emerge between Edward and Anna as they spend time together. All of Edward’s family died of smallpox when he was a child, and he lost his first wife in childbirth, so starting a new family is important to him. Still Anna is infertile and she belongs to lower class, so he feels he can’t marry her, and he goes to London to propose marriage to a more appropriate young lady with a significant dowry. While in London, he also plans to visit Aphrodite’s Grotto, a luxury house of ill repute. 

A bit earlier Anna discovers a bill from Aphrodite’s Grotto, and she realizes Edward is a customer there. Soon afterwards she finds a sick prostitute lying in a ditch and takes her home to nurse. The girl, called Pearl, asks Anna to contact her demimondaine sister, Coral, who is living and working in London. Pearl and Coral help Anna to gain access to the said whorehouse wearing a mask and become secretly the lover of Edward. Still will it help solving other problems of Anna or will it make her situation even more complicated?

What I liked: 

Never judge a book by what is written on the insert or at the back of the cover. Frankly the blurb of this one reads like some idiotic erotic romance book that publishers seem to think are so popular and profitable nowadays – a virginal heroine turns all of a sudden a skanky ass prostitute in order to sate her newly discovered passions and get her man. 

It is a romance book with an actual plot and its characters are interested in something more than just going to bed together. Both Anna and Edward seem real and are grounded in the reality, as constructed by the author. What’s more their physical appearances are relatively ordinary – Anna’s only good feature is her luscious mouth and Edward is a blunt, unpretentious farmer, not afraid to get dirty, with pox scars all over his face and body – his appearance is actually closer to ugliness and he is pretty much aware of it. It was a nice surprise after reading about all these beauties who charm everybody around them and have just one big problem: what colour emphasizes their beauty the best. 

The fairy tale of the raven prince, intertwined with the story, was lovely, and I enjoyed the way the bird theme was woven throughout the book, with Anna’s last name, the comparisons of Edward to a raven and the fact that the prostitutes were sometimes (but not in this book, pity) called ‘birds of paradise’ or ‘soiled doves’. Oh, and the sex scenes were hot – one of the best I’ve read so far. Indeed, I have no gripes at all with Anna and Edward’s erotic encounters, which were sensual and rich with sensory descriptions. 

I also liked the character of Coral, the successful demimondaine, and I regretted she didn’t play a more important role in the novel. Her cynicism really appealed to me and I hope that she makes further appearances in future books of this series – she clearly deserves that. 

What I didn’t like: 

The biggest issue for me was probably how wrong and anachronistic the book felt to me. It was supposed to be a historical romance but it is as far from any historical reality as it can only be. In fact it would be better if you forgot about the ‘historical’ adjective altogether, treating all these stays, tricorn hats, bustiers and wigs as merely theatrical props. First of all let me tell you that the characters, ALL the characters, speak and think using more or less modern language and 21st century way of thinking. When Anna finds out that Edward patronizes a brothel in London she is incensed by his hypocrisy – why should whores be anathema when the men who use them remain perfectly respectable? Very well, my lady, I agree with you on principle but it is definitely not a way of thinking for a respectable, church-attending 18th century female. 

Then, Hopple and Edward hired Anna as a secretary, at a time when only men were secretaries and woman’s place was only in the kitchen and in the nursery or cleaning rooms. I am pretty sure a lady in the 1760’s wouldn’t be able to take up such a post to a peer without causing huge ructions and a lot of condemning - I found this really difficult to swallow. 

I’m not saying that these words themselves are actually anachronistic. They may in fact have been in use in 1760. But the expressions comprised of those words sound contemporary to me, and that was enough to pull me out of the story. For example, Anna goes on about Edward’s attractiveness to her mother-in-law and I just couldn’t suspend disbelief that this conversation was taking place in 1760. There were other examples of speech that seemed contemporary to me. Edward says “Shit,–? in Anna’s presence. He also refers to another character as “that baboon”. There’s mention of a “crackpot theory”. Edward’s valet says to Anna, “Don’t have to be snotty”. I really wish the author did some research or change the settings of the novel. 

Finally the little London adventure of Anna…well, it was something few modern women would be brave enough to do; I really couldn’t believe she, a respectable widow, decided to play a prostitute just to get the attention of Edward. When he found out her ruse he was surprised but not outraged. Are we really talking about times when a single woman, widow or otherwise, couldn’t talk to a gentleman face to face without a companion because she risked tarnishing her reputation? Edward was really strangely unconcerned by the resourcefulness of his beloved although before he had expressed his worry that she took a whore to her house. 

Now the ending…it was as if a nasty witch sneaked inside the novel and changed it from a reasonably good story into something unbearably naïve and inane because otherwise it wouldn’t be a romance. Spoiler - highlight to read or skip: although Anna was pretty much sure she was barren, all of a sudden we find her with a son and pregnant again, her husband on cloud nine. It seems the moment you find the right man you get cured from whatever ails you and you can have children if you wish so, right? WRONG. 

Final verdict: 

As far as romance book goes this one wasn’t bad – I really appreciated some fresh ideas and the fact that its characters were closer to real people. You can enjoy it providing you treat the whole historical set in a very liberal way and you don’t mind those cloying HEA endings

Scoundrel Saturday: Lord of Scoundrels - Loretta Chase

Rameau, Anachronist and I was talking and an idea was born. The idea was already in play as Rameau and I both reviewed Season for Surrender. And  I am now proud to bring you  Scoundrel Saturdays! Yes we will all review the same book and see how it goes. It will be interesting to see how much our opinions differ and it's a fun thing to do. 3 views of the same book.

I bring you Scorn, Sensitivity and Sense!

 The Lady Scoundrels reviews Loretta Chase.

(Ana's idea and she is scorn and starts today ;)

Form: pdf file, e-book

Genre: regency historical romance

Target audience: adult women

Synopsis:

He is an inveterate rake with a lot of money. An ugly, dark beast with a big nose and big…everything else. Intimidating, admired and feared whenever he chooses to be.  She is a beauty and a proper lady but from an impoverished family. If he wants something he buys it immediately. She has a nose for business but she doesn’t necessarily want to get married. They fall in lust. He wants her but so far he’s been avoiding ladies like plague so he hardly knows what hit him. He ruins her reputation but not because he wanted to, as she thinks. She shots him. They marry. They fall in love. She learns about his by-blow. He is afraid he might lose her but it might be far more complicated than that. Will they stay together? Yes, they will. End of the story.

What I liked:

Overall I hate romances as a genre but I admit there are exceptions. Loretta Chase’s book is one of them. Why? First of all this author uses thorough characterization which always in my eyes constitutes a redeeming quality.You would think other romance writers should know it as well. Well, most of them don’t. Chase knows how to construct characters who break the standard romance novel stereotype which is another big advantage.

For example in this one you are presented the title Lord of Scoundrels not only as a ready-made, brutal rake extraordinaire but also as a lonely, rejected, ugly child who had to fight his way into other people’s hearts. A child who had to learn early how to mask his fear and weaknesses with brutality, laughter and disdain. Such a well-thought-out background, even if a bit simplistic and also a bit spurious, makes you warm even to a cold-blooded scoundrel, in other words a prime jackass material. You see, he’s been traumatized so you kind of understand Dain's sexist, obstinate view of women. Somebody has to be blamed.

Our heroine, Jessica Trent, is prepared very well to take control and tame the ‘Beast’ – she comes from a big family and has dealt with unruly boys all her life (once again the background presented by the author helps us understanding how come a proper miss knew such deft methods).

In fact the story begins when Jessica has to intervene in order to save her stupid brother, Bertie, from a complete ruin. That nitwit has got himself deep into debts trying to emulate the lifestyle of his idol, Sebastian Ballister the Marquess of Dain, the title scoundrel. If Bertie sinks, he will drag down his sister as well so our intrepid girl decides to confront the source of her brother’s idiocy. I was thoroughly enchanted by Jessica's refreshing and realistic acceptance of her attraction to Dain. These two quickly find a common tongue – their sparring is fun, with plenty of chemistry and sparks flying around. These two are more than a match for each other and their sense of humour suited me perfectly. Just not to sound groundless let me quote one excerpt here:

“With the world securely in order, Dain was able to devote the leisurely bath time to editing his mental dictionary. He removed his wife from the general category labeled "Females" and gave her a section of her own. He made a note that she didn't find him revolting, and proposed several explanations: (a) bad eyesight and faulty hearing, (b)a defect in a portion of her otherwise sound intellect, (c) an inherited Trent eccentricity, or (d) an act of God. Since the Almighty had not done him a single act of kindness in at least twenty-five years, Dain thought it was about bloody time, but he thanked his Heavenly Father all the same, and promised to be as good as he was capable of being.”

Jess also provides a very nice definition of romance which suited me very well:

"In my dictionary, romance is not maudlin, treacly sentiment," she said. "It is a curry, spiced with excitement and humor and a healthy dollop of cynicism." She lowered her lashes. "I think you will eventually make a fine curry, Dain―with a few minor seasoning adjustments."

To sum this section up the beauty of this story is that long after I've closed the book, I still could remember those small episodes and funny dialogues - describing them in more detail here would be spoiling the story - that just seem so real, a feature usually non-existent in other romance novels.

What I didn’t like:

I admit the plot, construction-wise, was so-so: predictable, artificially divided into two parts (before and after the marriage), with some unnecessary complications (the icon) and redundant characters like Charity Graves, the mother of Dain’s illegitimate son. However I grant it, there was one good twist: (spoiler, highlight to read or skip) the heroine shooting her love interest to get him cornered and force him to make the right decision was unexpected.

Some descriptions of sex scenes made me smirk or even laugh out loud and not for a good reason. I don’t know, maybe this book just aged badly (it was released in 1995) or maybe it’s just me but I found them inadvertently funny instead of steamy with sentences like these:

"He trailed his tongue over one sleek eyebrow" (oh goodness, you will get some furballs my dear tomcat!)  or "Yes, Kill me, Jess. Do it again."

 Correct me if I am mistaken but I suppose you can die only once, unless you are James Bond…

I also admit that the use of a dialect (Phelps, one of Dain’s servant is responsible) sometimes made me to question my sanity and my own comprehension of the English language. How would you understand such a beauty:

"Nuss give it to you when your ma run off, 'n you was sick some'at fierce from it"

There were also several annoying repetition in the text - for example after reading it you know, intimately, how both characters smell because the author took pains to tell you so every chapter or two using always the same set of words. Considering how relatively short the story is, it's not like I'd forget these details. A good edit could remove a lot of those repetitions or change them a bit so the narrative is more bearable.

Finally let me only register my profound surprise that such a whoring bastard like Sebastian Ballister the Marquess of Dain never caught any of these unpleasant diseases…

Final verdict:

It was a good read. Not earth shattering or steam-up-my-glasses but good. Still, all you, romance lovers be warned: this praise comes from an unromantic girl. Lord of Scoundrels is a strange romance. It might not fit in your perception of the genre. It is also hardly a faultless book but those are rarities indeed.

Bridget/anachronist

Review: Through an icon's eyes - Grace Conti

Synopsis:

 Benedict Paston, a guest in a Greek monastery, is painting an icon – it is a form of prayer and spiritual cleansing to him. He has to overcome some very nasty experiences. He was in love, he was betrayed, he had to look as his woman was burned at the stake as a witch. Painting an icon, he speaks with Mary Magdalene, a saint who is supposed to help him understand the meaning of his life and find a new purpose. A saint who once was allegedly a whore should understand a sinner best, provide some answers to most difficult questions.

The dialogue with Mary Magdalene let us discover what really happened to Benedict and his beloved Annie, why they had to run away from England and look for happiness in Italy. The times are turbulent, it is fifteenth century, everybody can be accused of being possessed by demons and some people hide under their monk habit murderous or sadistic inclinations.

What I liked:

We are presented two stories in one – there are two parts and two POVs, that of Benedict and of Annie. I really enjoyed such a division as the tale gained so many dimensions and the author managed to show the differences between their way of thinking . Both of these characters are very flawed but also rather likeable. Benedict made many mistakes but had to pay for them time and again. The story of Annie’s disastrous marriage was really heartrending and sometimes hard to swallow, she married such a sadistic, selfish but rich brute and neither her family nor her priest wanted to help her. The fact that Benedict rushed to her help was sweet and moving. Finally, yes, there is a happy ending waiting for you.

I appreciate the fact that the book was so well-researched – the details of the monastic life were rendered in a believable way especially that the author didn’t shun the problem of homosexuality among monks and priests.

What I didn’t like:

The present tense 3rd person limited narration is really not my thing so every paragraph written that way was a shock for my system at first. Also some dialogues between Annie and a nun were too long and almost made me bored. What’s more, the narration was linear only from time to time. All of this made me confused a bit. What purpose it was supposed to serve? In my view it was befuddling and distracting.

Final verdict:

A nice, readable novel but not without some faults. I still recommend it to historical fiction fans who don’t mind being led astray by the twists and turns of narration.

Review: Arctic Fire- Paul Byers

Synopsis:

Gabriel  Pike a hot shot fan of old airplanes, becomes an instantaneous hero when he attacks a band of ruthless robbers using his vintage machine, called Yankee Clipper. He risked his pilot license but apparently he also prevented a major disaster – the thieves, armed, aggressive and desperate, were running away after a successful bank heist right toward a group of teen students. Pike is being rewarded really fast – people treat him like their favourite royalty and girls swarm around him like flies around a fresh, bloody carcass. Now everybody wants a bit of Pike’s fame and glory, even one very rich and very ambitious tycoon, Nigel Cain. His new project, involving an iceberg full mostly of fresh, potable water, could do with a national hero, ‘a blast from the past’, defending innocent bystanders…because the project is not as benign and goody-goody as it seems at first glance. Nigel is a clever devil and it will take some time and at least one murder to open the eyes of poor, naive Gabe.  His fate and that of the whole city is in the hands of God with the little help of the United States Air Force - what will he do?

What I liked:

• Original premise – there is an artificial iceberg, an u-boot, Titanic, a vintage plane and at least two casinos in this book!
• The vintage plane pic which starts every chapter – a good idea!
• Elizabeth Mallory, an intrepid assistant; I liked her a lot, finally I came across a female character who a) is happily married, b) doesn’t love/is not in love with the male lead, c) can defend herself and defend others. Yes, she was a bit evil. Yes, I still liked her.
• A scene with our hero facing three women, all interested in him personally, and then the fourth joins the jousting was splendid! Let me quote one fragment:

“I’m having dinner with a friend then K.D. shows up out of nowhere. I start feeling like an idiot, then Marilyn appears and throws

gasoline on the fire and then you stroll up.”

His head began to clear and he stopped Mallory at the elevator.

“Am I in trouble?”

Mallory laughed. “Let’s see here. You have three women interested

in you all at the same time, a coworker, the bosses’ wife and a

news reporter and they all show up at the same time. Gee, what

could possibly go wrong?”

• The theories about the Titanic were hilarious and really inventive. My favourite? The sinking of the Titanic was a direct plot by the Jesuits as a means to an end: the creation of the Federal Reserve Board. Really, kudos for finding such a delicious jewel of utter lunacy!
  

• Overall I must admit the author has a nice sense of humour and let me offer you, dear Reader , one piece of advice: if you start getting bald never wear those silly toupees, just shave the rest of your hair off . In this book one character is wearing a toupee. It doesn’t end well.

What I didn’t like:

• Mistakes in the copy – probably left after editing but still noticeable even though I wasn’t looking for them.
• The main hero suffers from white knight syndrome which is annoying after a while – does he really have to save every damsel in distress in his proximity? Fortunately the author broke that routine when his hero got into real troubles and had to save himself. Saving yourself is always the most tricky thing to do.
• Why oh why the biggest baddie has to be named Cain? Kind of makes the whole suspense thing to go  hang itself from the very beginning. What is wrong with the old, good Smith or Brown? Or even Johnson?
• The ending was too rushed, as if the author ran out of metaphorical steam.

Final verdict:

A nice, original thriller which in parts I really enjoyed but which also could have been better. 

Review: Almodis the peaceweaver - Tracey Warr

“I could work as a peasant in a field and live in a small hut built into the side of the mountain.  I could hunt my own food, write a book of my life, but I would never see my children or my sister again. I don’t care about clothes and jewels and castles but I would miss my books.”

Synopsis:

After generations of fighting amongst the ruling families of 11th century Occitania, the marriage of Almodis, daughter of the Count of La Marche, to Hugh of Lusignan is intended to bring peace and harmony to the region. Youg Almodis, raised by her grandfather among troubadours, trobairitz (female troubadours, imagine that, books and poetry, of course expects much more, especially that her betrothed is handsome, young an amiable. Unfortunately he is also overly religious, almost to the point of complete zealotry. He would be a great monk. Instead, he has to produce heirs with his inexperienced but far more practical bride. As you can imagine the union does’t work; that’s why, after the birth of twin boys and a daughter (don’t even ask me how it was possible at all, you must find out on your own), their marriage is repudiated. Almodis is still resolved to create her own dynasty. She marries for the second time, choosing a far more important and more powerful man, Pons the Count of Toulouse.

Pons is old, ugly and lascivious. His young wife suffers greatly from his attentions but, as an ambitious princess, she gives him several children. When that grisly task is over she doesn’t want to even look at Pons any longer. It makes the Count very angry. He wants to imprison Almodis in a covent ( or rather literally brick her in an anchorite cell there so she knows who rules the roost). She barely escapes and marries for the third time. Her third husband, Ramon of Barcelona, seems to have it all (finally you might add): he is handsome, he’s been in love with Almodis for ages and he has political ambitions well-suited for such a lady. However, his grandmother Dowager Countess of Barcelona is against that marriage as, in her opinion, a marriage of inclination is strongly condemned in Catalonia. Will Almodis finally find her place and happiness she deserves?

What I liked:

The story of Almodis was written with a detailed care concerning history and our knowledge of that era. The main heroine was a woman who would deserve more than one novel. She was the ‘peaceweaver’ but also a passionate, intelligent woman who had to fight for her right to be happy, a living proof that life of a princess could be as difficult (if not much more difficult) than a life of a simple peasant woman. I really appreciated the fact that the author didn’t condone that simple truth, showing even in the very first scene how ugly things could turn out if a princess had forgotten herself.

After all her life was full of interesting ups and downs; what’s more, she was the mother of Raymond of Toulouse, a famous crusader and a great lord. The author  informs us that both Martin Aurell (1995) and Jacques Le Goff (1980) have suggested that Almodis was the canvas for the Roman of Melusine, which was associated with the castle of Lusignan (check out that Melusine if you haven’t heard about her yet!) . 

What I didn’t like:

The narration is divided into several points of view and I found it a bit misleading, sometimes really awkward, especially that all the narrative voices of those different people  seemed to be very similar to the voice of Almodis herself…they were simply not distinguishable enough to add to the story. I would rather the whole novel was written in the first person.

My other reservation concerns the plot. It isn’t  one smooth continuum of a narration but it seems to consist of episodes. Things tend to be told, not shown and overall the whole pacing is rather surprising, with events running too quickly (or at least such was my impression) - in one chapter Almodis is married, in the second she already has three children with Hugh, then they annul their marriage, she is married to Pons, bear him children…a real whirlwind! It is closer to a chronicle than a novel.

I know basically she had five babies in three years, poor woman, with more to come, but it really sounded a bit like she just jumped from one marriage to the next, spouting children all along, without thinking or pondering over her situation.

Finally I found such an exchange in the text:

“‘We can’t push her to it, Dia, she’d only resist,’ I say, when she’s gone out riding. ‘You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.”

When I read it I gasped. Oh really? So it is, according to the author, a proverb which was known in the 11th century Occitania? Well, I found a different etymology of that one: according to this site http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/you-can-lead-a-horse-to-water.html

[This saying] was recorded as early as 1175 in Old English Homilies:

Hwa is thet mei thet hors wettrien the him self nule drinken 

[who can give water to the horse that will not drink of its own accord?] and is considered the oldest English proverb (emphasis mine).

Final verdict:

The narrative glitches spoiled this book for me a bit but if I find another novel about Almodis I will read it for sure! She was one hell of a princess!