Passion; Lisa Valdez

As far as I can tell Passion is Ms. Valdez’ only romance, the sequel titled Patience is “coming soon” but Passion was published in July 2005. I can’t find information about the second title (as of the date I posted this review). Perplexingly, she lists an ISBN & an excerpt (for Patience) but Berkley’s parent, Penguin Group, has no information available on their site. It’s too bad because I like this book and might buy more if it does indeed get published.

I think I’d probably put Ms. Valdez in the same category as Robin Schone, erotic historical romance. My initial reaction to Passion was “they didn’t have sex like that back then!” After I got over myself though, I remembered that most people think their generation invented sex from the ground up. Much like my twelve year old son is totally grossed out by Cialis commercials. Old people simply don’t have sex, except to conceive children and then only in the missionary position, once per child, etc. etc. I laughed at myself. I mean I had to.

The plot that enfolds all of this hot sex? A young widow meets a man at the Crystal Palace in London and they become um..friends with benefits. I found the scenario wherein they become lovers farfetched, but I just went with it. They continue this relationship until complications involving blackmail, betrothal and the fact that the protagonists discover they’re caught within a ‘six degrees of separation’ situation. Unfortunately the author takes a well known Romanceland shortcut whereby the hero’s magical, prodigious love making skills and penis size impregnates the previously infertile heroine. It is certainly implied that because the hero can make her orgasm she became pregnant.

Ms. Valdez did an exemplary job sucking me in to her story. It wasn’t until afterwards that the problems started bubbling up. One, as mentioned above, the situation in which they initially have sex was farfetched for me. Two, the hero insists on “battering the door to her womb” (p.116) which considering his “ten and a half inches of hard flesh” (p. 112) sounds incredibly painful even taking into consideration Ms. Valdez’ use of the Aphrodite and Haephestus metaphor. Three, there’s the sudden resolution of Passion’s infertility via orgasms.

The list sounds bad, I know, but none of these things bothered me until after I read the book. Ms. Valdez wrote a fascinating, titillating story that sucked me in from the beginning. She got me to initially overlook a whole bunch of plot and story problems un favor of discovering what happens to Passion and Mark. I can’t wait for Patience’s story.

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A Lick of Frost; L.K. Hamilton

A Lick of Frost by Laurell K. Hamilton was published this fall by Ballantine Books. This is the sixth book in the Meredith Gentry series and cannot be read as a stand alone. ALOF is short, only 274 pages- although the previous book Mistral's Kiss has only 212 pages. There are lots of readers out there who can't or won't read either of Ms. Hamilton's series or who have given up reading them for many different reasons. I only read this one & while I have misgivings and there are elements that put me off I have continued with Merry and her band of lovers. Read my comments on the previous book HERE.

In this installment, three of Merry's guards have been charged with raping a member of her Uncle Taranis' court. We watch as the platoon of lawyers carefully parse their every word, playing out an intricate chess game of words and hidden motives. Another assassination attempt is made which one of her men barely escapes with his life and that only with the help of a human weapon. The goblin twins arrive in Los Angeles with the Red Caps, each of whom want something different. Odd and unusual events happen to the house and land where Merry and her men are living- but what does it all mean?

Quite a bit happens in this action packed 274 pages. I wonder about Merry's claim of loving Frost and yet being remarkably intolerant with what she perceives as his biggest shortcoming. To me love means accepting all of your partner's flaws and loving them anyway, but Merry constantly whines about Frost all the while claiming to love him. It rings as a dissonance with me, I suppose. There is a big plot event, actually one of several, toward the end that strikes me as odd and unbelievable and too far fetched even for fiction. I'm curious about how Ms. Hamilton will try to pull it off.

If you're new to Ms. Hamilton's Merry series or are a fence sitter you might want to wait for the paperback. I've bought all of these as hardbacks, and despite some doubts and disappointments I plan to continue reading the Merry books. Ms. Hamilton has managed to pique my curiosity and hold my attention over the course of this series. There is plot momentum a plenty in this title, hang on to your seat!

Reviews

I’ve managed to read four books over the last week or so. Three traditional Regencies and one paranormal erotica (aka the new Laurell K Hamilton).

Just Say Yes~

Written by Myretta Robens and published by Zebra in 2005,.this one has a cartoon cover which initially made me skip over it. Miss Caspar Hartwell, the vicar’s eighth daughter who was named after their only titled male relative, comes across one Geoffrey Dorton being licked to death by a large dog in a fallow field near her home. Being the eighth daughter means no dowry and Cassie isn’t afraid of hard work, so she likes Mr. Dorton and it’s ok since they’re sort of social equals. Except Mr. Dorton is actually Geoffrey Dorrington, Earl of Cheriton. Will she still love him when he reveals his true identity? Why is he playing at being a steward anyway? Will Cassie escape from the evil, slimy suitor her mother has chosen for her? Will Dorrington’s father permit his son to court a vicar’s daughter?

The Magnificent Masquerade~

Written by Elizabeth Mansfield and published twice; once by Jove in 1994 and once by Charter in 1987. This one features several chestnuts often found in this genre: the incorrigable daughter who must be married off in all haste because the parents can’t cope; the identity switch with the maid of all work, who just happens to be an impoverished nobleman’s daughter and the second son who has been busy raising hell at school and in London. However, this one involves quite a few scenes ‘behind the green baize door’ as it were. Scenes belowstairs with the servants. Ms. Mansfield reveals the hierarchy of servants’ social classes- who does what, sits where and has permission to interact with whom. Their daily schedule, etc. Fascinating stuff not often seen in romance novels. I enjoyed this novel, but it has a few too many timeworn plot devices and the time frame it too short (a little over a week).

Miss Haycroft’s Suitors~

Written by Emily Hendrickson and published by Signet in 1999 Miss Haycroft’s Suitors showcases a little legal nicety in England called a suit of seduction. Not an idea I’d seen in a Regency before, but Ms. Hendrickson discusses it briefly in her note at the end of the novel. Miss Haycroft also takes a steamboat picnic, which my daughter and I had to google just to check dates. According to Daughter, steamboats were in use in the colonies back in the mid to late 1780's. I presume they’d made their way to England by the Regency, but we didn’t do any more research into the details of steamboat history.

Anyhow. Miss Haycroft is nearing her 21st birthday and her aunt and uncle, her legal guardians, are attempting to force her into a marriage with an older stalker-type wealthy man. Impulsive and desperate Anne trusts a complete stranger to help her. Ms. Hendrickson does Justin Fairfax justice, by implying he initially helped Anne because she is attractive rather than out of plain chivalry. Anne moves into Fairfax’s aunt’s home. There follows a gothic tinged tale of attempted abduction, legal maneuvers and stolen kisses.



Mistral’s Kiss~

Written by LKH and published by Ballantine. I had to reread the previous novel, A Stroke of Midnight, before I began this one. I know LKH’s readers seem to be very polarized. Love her or hate her. No one in between. I don’t read the Anita series, so all of the baggage attached to that series doesn’t apply to me. Smartbitches wrote a post about LKH recently and the commentary was very interesting. I don’t categorize this series as romance, but rather a unique hybrid of urban fantasy and erotica. Therefore, in my mind, none of the Romanceland cliches, rules or stereotypes apply.

Merry Gentry is the niece of the current Unseelie ruler, Andais. Andais is infertile. Only fertile couples can rule in faerie, so Merry and Andais’ son Cel are supposed to be trying to prove their fertility by either becoming pregnant or impregnating someone depending on which person you’re talking about. Andais is a sadist and Cel is insane. Merry isn’t fully faerie. Therefore few of the inhabitants of faerie are pleased with Andais’ plans.

Merry has been chosen by the Goddess to be her vessel. Merry is descended from fertility goddesses, so anyone or anything the Goddess chooses to be brought back to power via Merry must be brought back through sex. Merry consistently chooses sex magic over violence or blood letting- two other ancient ritual ways of Goddess worship. So between the Goddess’ plans for Merry and Andais’ plans for Merry- she’s a busy busy girl.

Merry has brought several of her guards back to some degree of their former powers. The sithen reawakens and power invested vessels suddenly appear in her care. The Goddess has kept Merry quite busy reawakening various powers and aspects of faerie. As mentioned above, the health and fertility of the ruler directly impacts the health and fertility of all faerie- since both courts are currently ruled by infertile power hungry people, faerie is dying.

I’m hopeful that since Merry restored the fertility of Faerie by bringing the gardens back, by restoring water sources, by renewing the soil, etc. Perhaps now that Mistral’s powers have returned a little the Storm God’s lightning strikes will energize and restore the soil. You know, make it ready for planting?? And therefore help the fey get pregnant faster? In other words, maybe Merry has more of a chance to get pregnant now that the land itself is more fertile?

Ms. Hamilton’s plot arc has been quite slow across this book and the last book. Yet, I’m invested in what happens. This title doesn't stand alone, do not begin this series with this title. I enjoy delving into ancient mythology and symbolism. So I’m reasonably happy following along. However, this book was only 212 pages and $20 was pretty steep for the equivalent length of a traditional Regency. Especially considering the lack of signifigant plot advancement. I’m not irritated enough to wait until the paperbacks- but, well, we’ll see.

Perking up~ or, better days ahead

Went book hunting today & bought four titles: Dreams of Stardust by Lynn Kurland, The Subtle Serpent by Peter Tremayne, Weeping on Wednesday by Ann Purser & A Stroke of Midnight by Laurell K Hamilton. As of tonight, all books are on hold until I finish the LKH. I've anxiously waited for this one & she rarely disappoints. Any opinions on any of these?

I finished Suffer Little Children. I got lost toward the end, but it wrapped up neatly. I really like the main character, so I've kept on with them although they can be a bit dry. I read a short story collection featuring this character (all by this author) whose stories had been published over a longer span of time. His writing becomes more animated & evolves in the newer works. Discovering this has helped me continue. I very much want to catch up & I'm woefully behind. Plus there's a beta hero in the works & I want to know *blushes* to they do the dirty in the end? Silly & juvenile of me I know, but there it is.