Review: Seducing the Duchess - Ashley March

Genre: Historical romance

Pages: 320

Published: 2010
Publisher: Signet
Source: Gift from the author

Love and marriage don't have to be strangers...

Gambling. Carousing. Flirting. Charlotte, Duchess of Rutherford, will do anything to escape her painful marriage and force her husband to divorce her. But when Phillip, Duke of Rutherford, promises a divorce if Charlotte will help him become a better husband for another woman, she wonders if she really wants to lose him...

My Thoughts:

I liked this one because it was different from the usual HR books that I read. And that first chapter where she is kidnapped by her husband was just great. But their love story is a messy one, and a sad one.

Why is then their story such a mess? Well Phillip whispered words of love and got her to marry him. Everything was perfect, their wedding night was perfect, until next morning when he told her he had only used her for revenge and he packed up and left her to go to his mistress. Poor Charlotte was left with a broken heart and during the years that followed she has tried everything to get the cold Duke to divorce her.

What saves Phillip for me is how he is presented from now on. We meet a man who knows what he did was wrong, he knows that he ruined her life, and during these horrible years he has started to fall for her. They used to be friends when they were smaller, and that is what he remembers. If we would have met the coldhearted bastard that took her innocence and spit upon it, then yes I would not have forgiven him. Because I am not usually a forgiving reader, but sometimes it does happen.

Charlotte is the talk of London, she is rumored to have bed half the ton (and more), and she is quite the scandal. She just wants out, she is hurting and her family is not talking to her since she married him. Since I knew how much it must have hurt I did approve of her petty remarks, because she is changing too. That is what this whole book is about. Does she dare to trust him again? Because she does love him, and hate him.

Phillip tries to win her back, and he has a long way to go. And there will be misunderstandings, but come one, this is a HR, you know it will end with happy tears instead of sad ones. I am just saying that the road there is long. And sometimes you do forgive and forget.

Conclusion:

After having finished this book I did want to read more of her books. The writing was good and I liked the story of these two broken souls.

Rating:

Good

Cover:

Good

Review: The Commander and the Den Asaan Rautu - Michelle Franklin

Series: Haanta #1
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 185, ebook
Published: June 2011
Review by Lis

The Kingdom of Frewyn is being invaded  and at the forefront of the battle is Boudicca MacDaede, a First Captain in the Frewyn armed forces. Her regiment is charged with defending the borders between the two nations, but when Frewyn’s last line of defense falls, Captain MacDaede enlists the assistance of a Haanta, one of giants from the islands to the far north. Promising to free him from his imprisonment in exchange for his help, she gains his trust long enough for them to win the battle and save the Frewyn border from being breached. The giant’s freedom is granted, but Rautu cannot return home unless he redeems himself in the eyes of his people for his past transgressions. He is offered a place by the captain’s side, and together, they defeat the Galleisian forces and become the saviors of Frewyn.

One year later, King Alasdair Brennin takes the Frewyn throne, Boudicca is made commander, and Rautu is granted an invitation home. He is eager to return and see his brothers but finds it difficult to leave Frewyn without Boudicca at his side. Rautu invites the commander to the islands in hopes of finding a way for them to remain together, but when they arrive at the white shores of Sanhedhran, not everything goes as planned: one of the dangerous Haanta magi is freed, Rautu’s three brothers are strangely missing, and the neighboring nation of Thellis leads an attack on the islands.

Alrighty, remember my very first review here? Cattitude by Edie Ramer? Remember how I wrote that I would never have read this book if B. hadn’t ‘forced’ it on me? I just love to be proven wrong when it comes to books, covers and blurbs. It was vaguely similar with Michelle Franklin’s book Den Asaan. When I first read the title, I was: Oh hell! Now way no how! But I made myself read the blurb and I was strangely intrigued. So I said yes. And you guessed it, I was proved wrong. 

Despite the weird title, this is an exciting, intriguing romance story that starts when the borders of the Kingdom of Frewyn are attacked by the Galleisian army. Things don’t look good and First Captain Boudicca MacDaede knows she has to do something, so she enlists the help of captured giant – a Haanta – called Rautu, in exchange for his freedom. Things work out and invasion is averted. 

This is actually where the real story starts. Rautu doesn’t leave right away – as he needs to redeem himself first – and he sticks close to Boudicca, who is later promoted to commander. Rautu finds himself attracted to her and when he’s invited home, he finds he doesn’t want to leave her. So he invites her home with him. And that folks is where the story really starts, because all is not well at home and they find themselves in the midst of magic, adventure and mystery. 

There is quite some world building in this book. Combined with the author’s skill with words and language, make that she can pull this very ambitious story off. Not once does it fall short. I was very impressed with how this author wrote the world surrounding Rautu and Boudicca. There’s vivid imagery and at times I almost found myself walking beside them.  Quite a bit of thought went into this world, the people in it, culture, social behavior and the religion’s governing this world. 

The characters are awesome. Well worked out and strong, they have their own unique voice and quirks in this story. While a romance, they are their own persons. Lucky for me they didn’t fall of the typical cliché’s in romance either. 

I loved Rautu. He’s a giant, fierce and scares those he first meets. He very strongly believes in his own culture and that shows in his behavior to those he meets. In a way he reminded me of Conan the Barbarian a bit. Only more cultured! I loved his replies to Boudicca’s teasing! 

But I especially loved Boudicca. She is so not your typical lovely, well-shaped – with curves in all the right places – romance woman.  But she is a warrior and that earns her the respect of not only Rautu but also her peers. 

As you may have guessed, I liked reading Den Asaan. While I most likely never would have picked this book up for myself, I’m very glad I got to review it. It’s a book I can very much recommend to you! 

Review: Born of Tyranny: Port of Errors - Steve V.Cypert

Series: Born of Tyranny #1
Genre: Historical fiction/adventure
Pages: 249
Published: May 2011
Review by Lis

Black-Hearted is the most feared pirate on the Eastern Atlantic seas. Captain Daniel Stirvin is the most revered and courageous captain in the Queen's Royal Navy. As Black-Hearted and Captain Stirvin get closer to the inevitable battle that will leave only one man standing, a past is uncovered that will leave both men regretting the unseen outcome. With love, brotherhood, loyalty and betrayal, Port of Errors is an epic adventure that doesn't stop moving.

Ahoy, me mateys!! Set yourself down for a tale of friendship, betrayal, heroicy…and pirates. Yes, I said pirates! Don’t we love them all? When B. send this request over, I just couldn’t refuse. 

Port of Errors is the first book in the Born of Tyranny series. It’s the story of Davey and Joseph, two friends who are thicker than thieves and closer than brothers. They strike up a friendship when they meet as young boys in an orphanage. Tragedy soon strikes and they are separated. For Davey and Joseph, however, it’s not out of sight, out of mind. As they grow up, they never forgot about each other. They grow very different from each other, though, and face very different challenges. 

Joseph is adopted and renamed Daniel. He grows up to become a Captain in the Navey. Davey isn’t so lucky and he becomes the dreaded pirate Black hearted, feared by all. 

Can you guess where this is going? I bet you can, and it’s a very good read because of it. Even if it complex with the multitude of characters and flashbacks in the story. Especially so because when the orphans were sold off, many names were changed. So you have to keep your focus with this story. However, it didn’t bother me as it was nicely done. 

It did put in question as to the audience of this story. According to Smashwords its intended audience are young adult readers, but reading Port of Error I found it to be more for either advanced readers or adult readers. It could be both, but there is a lot of violence in the story as well that made me question it. Then again, I was 14 when I started reading adult Vietnam war fiction. Sometimes books will attract the right audience. 

Both Davey and Joseph are likable characters. They are well thought out and have a solid place in the story. Many of the other characters lacked this, depending on their role in the story. Some just made a short appearance while others were recurring. They are fillers as well as part of the story, but they aren’t rounded.

I enjoyed reading this pirate story, but there was one thing that bothered me immensely and that were the spelling and grammatical errors. There were quite a few and it made me doubt if this book was edited or spell proofed. In theory is story is an awesome read, but so many errors put a bit of strain on the story. It made it sloppy. 

All in all, I can really recommend Port of Errors and I look forward to the next book! 

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Note from B:
Here it finally is, my flash fiction for this week! And to make up for not posting last week I did my best to be my dark sunny self ;) You will see

Review: Blood Drunk – Faded Blue by Angela Lovell

Genre: YA paranormal
Published: September 2011
Review by Anachronist

Synopsis:

Blue Knightly, a boy from a small Midwest town, has to fly to New York due to family emergency - his little sister, Lacy, disappeared without a trace six weeks ago. The NY police have found a corpse of a young girl very similar to her. Blue must go to the mortuary to recognize the body and he is fearing the worst; after seeing it, however, and displaying a flair for keen observation under stress, the boy is sure his sister is still alive. Indeed he is right but it doesn’t mean the end of the trouble.

He finds Lacy sleeping in a vampire lair and she is not alone in bed. She actually can’t return with him home at once, even though she learns their mom has cancer and won’t live long. The problem is that Lacy carries a vampire child so she must shun sunlight and eat very rare meat as if she was a vampire herself. What’s more, Blue is informed soon afterwards that there are actually two candidates for the father position. It seems that freshly unleashed Lacy has been a rather naughty girl…

Blue doesn’t know what to do with so much shocking news, especially that he kind of falls for a very nice female vampire, Kat, a proud owner of a pet alligator and the sister of one of Lacy’s fanged boyfriends. It happens that Blue and Lacy actually land right in the middle of a local war between two vampire gangs (as you can guess Lacy’s other boyfriend, Alex, is the leader of the other one). After some time spent among vampires they desperately want to return home. Will they be allowed to do so? Can vampires really love humans? What other mysteries have to be unveiled before Lacy and Blue will really understand their fate?

What I liked:

The book was well told – it was a breeze to read and the narration was well-paced. I didn’t have any problems with finishing it during two evenings.

If reading the synopsis you thought: “just another Twilight spin-off” – think again. This one I found to be more edgy and funnier. Firstly there are no shining vampires in there, just monsters who can kill and manipulate humans but cannot kill each other. You keep wondering how much humanity was left in them. I like such monsters.

Lacy is no maudlin Bella either but a  teenage girl who happened to got knocked up by a vampire but still likes her human side - parties, glad rags and gossip. Everybody can understand her easily, you hear such stories about teenage girls left on their own in a big city (minus the vampires of course) all the time. The fact that you discover the fantasy New York and the rest of the fictional world mostly through Blue Knightly’s eyes was also a bit refreshing. He is such a nice big brother and a really decent guy; I am sure every girl would like to have such an older sibling – helpful, chivalrous and caring; what’s more he can think on his own and overcome his weaknesses when there is such a need.

What I didn’t like:

Present tense narration made reading this book a bit like reading a shooting script. Well, small wonder – Ms Lovell has written for stage screen and TV. Personally I am rather fond of the third person narrative voice so it didn’t work for me as well as it could.

What’s more…this book is the first part of a series so it ends with a big fat cliffhanger – be prepared! It also features a kind of a love triangle and I hate them passionately; generally speaking Lacy seemed to lack integrity when dealing with vampires (but being so young and them being so experienced you can imagine they could manipulate her easily). Also Kat, Blue’s love interest, was rather a shady if not duplicitous character. I gather there are some revelations saved for future parts but when I finished this one I found out I couldn’t sympathize with either of the female leads. Not really.

One more thing. There is one scene in a restaurant when Lacy accidentally gets poisoned with garlic (her boyfriends forgot to inform her that garlic is as noxious for a vampire as sunlight, silver and wooden stakes) and has a very bad allergic reaction (to say the least of it and I really can’t describe it further because it would be a spoiler). I found it really sickening. I wondered what a scene straight from a bad horror movie was doing in an, after all, book aimed at older YA audience.

Final verdict:

This novel was neither very good nor very bad; I would place it somewhere in the middle. If you simply love teen vampire stories it might be something for you; if you hardly tolerate such literature you can skip this one without any remorse.

Aren't I a dilligent poltergeist? ;)

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Note from B:

Melissa is gonna have my head! Nope no flash, I just got home and it is getting late and the internet connection sucks, so perhaps tomorrow.