Review of Susanna Kearsley’s Mariana

Title: Mariana

Author: Susanna Kearsley

Publisher: Sourcebooks

Format: Trade Paperback & eBook

Source: NetGalley

Publication Date: April 1, 2012

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

This past summer there was a huge sale on ebooks at Amazon, and one of the books I downloaded to my Kindle was Susanna Kearsley’s The Winter Sea. It was outstanding, and ever since I’ve been a fan of her writing. I’m not sure that her books qualify as romances, although they have strong romantic elements in them, nor do they seem to fit in the category of women’s fiction. All three of Ms. Kearsley’s books that I’ve read (The Winter Sea, The Rose Garden, and Mariana) deal with either time travel or some type of reincarnation. I love how she incorporates history into her fiction without huge info dumps, because she brings the history alive for the reader through the characters’ experiences. Mariana was originally published in 1994 and is now being reissued by Sourcebooks. I’m delighted to say that it stands up to the test of time very, very well, and I highly recommend it.

Narrator Julia Beckett is an illustrator of children’s books, and years ago on a family vacation she spotted a house, Greywethers, that she just knew was “her” house. Many years later as an adult, she comes across it again, and armed with a recent inheritance, she impulsively purchases the home and moves from London to Wiltshire. But the longer she resides in Greywethers, the more unusual her experiences become. She starts to relive the life of Mariana Farr, a young woman who escaped the plague in London of the 1660s, and the more Julia relives Mariana’s life, the more she begins to see parallels in her present day existence.

The central romance in Mariana is not Julia’s – rather it is Mariana’s affair with local gentleman Sir Richard de Mornay. Mariana has fled London to stay with her uncle Jabez, a dour and cruel man who has ordered her not to speak to the stunningly beautiful Richard. Unfortunately Mariana’s parents taught her to think for herself, and the temptation of Richard proves too much to bear.

The intriguing part of Mariana is how Julia’s present day life intersects with that of Mariana. Julia never knows when she will be unexpectedly thrust into Mariana’s life and wonders if she is in fact Mariana reincarnated. As Julia learns more about Mariana’s relationships in the 1660s, she starts to look around to see if Richard or any of Mariana’s other friends are also taking this journey with her.

I can’t stress enough how much I enjoy the way Ms. Kearsley incorporates the history into her text. Mariana relives the history, which allows us to relive it along with her, making it easier to understand how different factions during the tempestuous period in England would have fared after the fall of Cromwell. The romance between Mariana and Richard sets up a similar one between Julia and another character, but we’re left uncertain about that character’s name until the very end, although I had guessed who it was fairly early on.

I did find Julia’s initial jumps into Mariana’s time to be a bit disconcerting, because they weren’t indicated by any sort of break in the text. However, this replicates Julia’s experience, and after a quick check back the first time, I was soon able to follow along without any difficulty. I do wish that we could have seen more of Julia’s romance develop, as we do in Ms. Kearsley’s later novels, but it certainly makes for an intriguing ending.

I absolutely loved this book, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. Fans of Diana Gabaldon and Lynn Kurland will definitely enjoy Susanna Kearsley’s books, and Mariana is no exception.

Review of Shana Galen's The Rogue Pirate's Bride

Title: The Rogue Pirate’s Bride (The Sons of the Revolution #3)
Author: Shana Galen
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Format: Mass Market Paperback & eBook
Source: NetGalley
Publication Date: February 1, 2012
Rating: 4 out of 5


For some reason I’ve been in a historical romance reading slump lately. Actually, if you look at my last review, you’ll notice that I haven’t written any reviews in nearly 2 weeks, so I think it would be more accurate to say that I’ve been in a reading AND writing slump. I started Rogue Pirate’s Bride weeks ago, but just couldn’t get into it (for reasons I’ll go into below), but I finally went back to the book and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I’d read both the previous books in the trilogy and liked them both, but for some reason I wasn’t able to get into Ms. Galen’s last release, Lord and Lady Spy, which was a DNF for me. However, Rogue Pirate’s Bride was a lot of fun once I got into it, so I think I might try giving Lord and Lady Spy a second chance!

As Rogue Pirate’s Bride begins, Raeven Russell is in a tavern, dressed as a boy and looking for the infamous pirate Captain Cutlass. Raeven’s father is a British Admiral, and she’s grown up on his ships. Unfortunately for the pirate, he’s responsible for the death of Raeven’s fiance, and Raeven has sworn to avenge his death. When she confronts Captain Cutlass in the bar, he easily routs her in swordplay, but he doesn’t realize that she’s a woman until after the fight. He has her taken to his ship, where he’ll make her work as his cabin “girl.” Raeven manages to escape, however, and the two meet up again purely by chance 6 months later.

What Raeven doesn’t realize is that Captain Cutlass is no other than Sebastien Harcourt, Marquis de Valere. As a child the pirate was forced from his home during the French Revolution, and he believes all his family to have died. Since this is a trilogy about three brothers, we’re lucky enough to realize that Sebastien, or Bastein, is not the sole survivor and that he is a member of the aristocracy. Raeven attempts to avenge her fiance once more, only to find herself swept away on Bastien’s ship, as he has his own plans for revenge against another pirate. The couple set off sparks, and Raeven’s resistance to the pirate’s charms proves illusory at best, but there seems to be little chance for a future for the two of them.

For a historical romance to have any pretensions to accuracy, the heroine usually must be a young woman, and Raeven is only 19 at the beginning of the novel. At the beginning of the novel, she’s your typical spirited, impetuous heroine who’s so stubborn that she quickly verges into TSTL territory. I think this aspect of Raeven’s character is what initially turned me off from the book. She’s so insistent upon seeking revenge when it’s clear from the start that the pirate is more than a match for her. Her repeated attempts to board his ship started to get on my nerves, and when she finds herself stuck, I thought it was a case of just desserts.

However, Raeven’s character quickly redeems herself, and I really liked her once she spent an extended period on board Bastien’s ship. She’s an intelligent young woman used to getting her own way, but when she stopped acting like an idiot, she was very well suited to the hero.
Bastien is clearly a man of honor, as he doesn’t force himself on Raeven (no old skool bodice ripper here!). He’s also less of a stickler than one might expect of an aristocrat of the period, because he proves willing to listen to Raeven’s excellent advice, and he isn’t put off by her wearing unusual attire. The sparks between the two fly, as it’s clearly a “I hate him! I love him!” type romance.

I’m glad I gave the book a second try, because Ms. Galen managed to work out an intriguing ending to a sticky problem - how can an Admiral’s daughter marry a pirate? It made for fun reading, and I think one can make the case that Raeven’s character matures over the 6 months between the first and second meeting she has with Bastien, which is highly believable and made her a more interesting character.  On a side note, I like that on the cover she's the one holding the sword, although I'm sure Freud would have a field day with that (it's a really LONG sword, lol!).

Review of Stephanie Rowe's Hold Me If You Can

Title: Hold Me If You Can (Soulfire Series #3)

Author: Stephanie Rowe

Publisher: Sourcebooks

Format: Mass Market Paperback & eBook

Source: NetGalley

Publication Date: January 1, 2012

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

The other day I posted on Twitter that Stephanie Rowe’s Hold Me If You Can is crazy goofy but lots of fun. That pretty much says it all! This was one hilarious paranormal romance, full of all kinds of silliness. I happen to love that sort of book, but if you’re more into gritty urban fantasy or less humorous paranormal romance, this book is not for you.

I have to admit that I haven’t read any of Ms. Rowe’s books before, and when I started reading this book, I didn’t realize that this was the third book in a series. In some series, you can dive right in at any point in the series with few problems. This is not one of those series. In fact, I was seriously annoyed and frustrated at the very beginning, because I had NO idea what was going on. References were made to certain creatures and magical terms, and I was completely lost. However, the zaniness soon drew me in, and I was able to catch up fairly easily once I’d read a little further. By the time I’d finished the book I’d definitely changed my initial opinion. For that reason, I’d recommend that you begin the series with the first book, Kiss At Your Own Risk, rather than starting with this one. If you do decide to begin with Hold Me If You Can, you might want to read a synopsis of the other two books or a review of this one to catch up on some of the terminology. I think you’ll have a more pleasant reading experience that way.

The heroine, Natalie Fleming, is a sweet. She has magical powers and her blood attracts demons called deedubs. Natalie has just finished renovating her magical sweet shop, called Scrumptious, for an inspection by the Michelin-O (for otherworld) guide. Natalie makes chocolates that can help with sensual matters (ie – chocolate goodies that have a Viagra effect), but her magic seems to be failing her and her recent escape from death at the hands of a deedub has made her infamous, making her a target.

Nigel Aquarian is a warrior and healer who spent the last 150 years being tortured by Angelica, Satan’s grandmother, in a place called the Den of Womanly Pursuits. (Prepare for the zaniness!) In the Den, Angelica and her minions used beauty implements as weapons and torture devices (curling irons and bobby pins as weapons), to change warriors like Nigel into more sensitive men. Now that Nigel and the others have escaped Angelica’s clutches, they still eat sushi pizza and engage in more “sensitive” pursuits, even while they watch sports on their large screen tvs, which frankly had me busting a gut from laughter.

Nigel is drawn to Natalie and vows to protect her from the deedubs, but he and his fellow escapees are under attack by one of Angelica’s former minions. The two would-be lovers must find a way for Natalie to get back her former mojo so she can defend herself against the deedubs, while rescuing their friends from the Den of Womanly Pursuits.

The humor in this book is a big selling point. Ms. Rowe’s use of beauty implements as weapons is hysterically funny, and the lighthearted tone of the novel makes for easy reading. Nigel and Natalie are both afraid to let go and be themselves, but in the end they learn to accept who they are, granting them even more power. All of this is accomplished with lots of bad puns, and silly, over the top villains, but that just makes the book all that more fun to read.

My biggest criticism is that it’s very difficult to immerse yourself in the world without having read any of the earlier books. There were many times in the first 25% of the novel when I found myself lost at some of the terms (smut, Magicks, Mystics, deedubs?), which was discouraging. Fortunately, I kept reading and was able to follow along fairly easy once I was into the book, but I fear many new readers will give up before that point.

Also, if you’re not into silly, comic paranormal romance, you just won’t enjoy this book. I loved it and found the craziness to be a big selling point, but I know that not all readers would agree.

Overall, this was a lot of fun to read, and I’m planning on checking out the rest of the books in the series to catch up. Any author who considers beauty tools torture devices is a-okay in my book!

Review of Sidney Ayers's Demons Like It Hot

Title: Demons Like It Hot (Demons Unleashed #2)

Author: Sidney Ayers

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Format: Mass Market Paperback & eBook

Source: NetGalley

Publication Date: December 1, 2011

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

This is the first book by Sidney Ayers that I’ve read, and it was really cute! It’s a contemporary paranormal romance, which made for a nice break from the historical romances I’ve been reading lately. Demons Like It Hot is the second book in the Demons Unleashed series, and I suggest that you read the first book (Demons Prefer Blondes) before the second, because I was a little lost at times. Still, the humor and romance were fun, so I’ll be reading more of this author.

Serah SanGermano is a caterer who is deeply in denial about her growing paranormal abilities. She’s always been a bit clumsy, but suddenly she’s able to sense the presence of demons, and they keep appearing and causing serious mischief in her life. In the first book of the series, she and her best friend Lucy opened a chest, unleashing demons (Oops! Note to self: don’t open mysterious chests). Because Serah’s friends are worried about her, she’s assigned a demon bodyguard, Mattias Ambrose, hottie former demon mercenary. But Serah’s plans to drum up clients for her catering business by participating in the reality show American Chef complicates Mattias’s plans to keep her safe, as does the attraction he feels for her.

I love the sense of fun that pervades this novel. Ms. Ayers clearly enjoys her characters and employs humor throughout, which makes this a delight to read. There are lots of snarky jokes, and Serah’s cat, Mr. Whiskers, is a hoot.

The interaction between all the characters is a selling point for me as well. The romance between Mattias and Serah is sizzling, but I really like the strength of Serah’s friendships, especially Lucy. At first the host of American Chef seemed a bit off to me (he was so happy all the time I wondered if he was drinking the kool aid), but his character grew on me over the course of the book. And while Mattias was clearly a loner at first, part of Serah’s appeal for him is the sense of family and belonging he gets from her and her friends.

My one big complaint about the novel is that Serah is INCREDIBLY stubborn about admitting that she does have powers, and this gets annoying fast. She acknowledges to herself that something’s going on and that she’s never had these powers before opening the chest with Lucy, but she refuses to admit it to anyone else. This just drags out for too long, even after demons appear out of nowhere and attack her (at one point blowing up chocolate fondue – good times!). Her friends keep calling her on her stubbornness, but she keeps refusing to believe, which frankly drove me batty.

A minor point that bothered me was Mr. Whiskers’s accent. He’s an imp disguised as a cat to protect Serah, and his dialogue is all written in “Scottish” brogue. I usually have no problems reading accents, but this one was a bit of a struggle, which is a shame, since Mr. Whiskers is hilarious.

This was a cute paranormal with appealing characters and lots of humor. I like that there are good and bad demons, not just evil demons fighting the angels. The secrets in Mattias’s past kept me turning the pages, leading to a somewhat predictable revelation towards the end, but the path to the resolution was so enjoyable, it’s easy to forgive.

Review of Stephanie Julian's How to Worship a Goddess

Wow, I can’t believe it’s been a week since my last post! The end of the semester is one crazy whirlwind of grading and stress. Hopefully this week I can post a few more reviews, because there are lots of great books (and at least one not-so-great) that were released within the last week or so.

Title: How to Worship a Goddess (Forgotten Goddesses #2)

Author: Stephanie Julian

Publisher: Sourcebooks

Format: Mass Market Paperback & eBook

Source: NetGalley

Publication Date: December 1, 2011

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

This was a fun, sexy paranormal romance, and while it’s the second in the series, it reads as a standalone novel. I hadn’t read any of Stephanie Julian’s books before, but after checking out her webpage, I realized that this series is loosely connected to her Lucani Lovers series. You definitely don’t have to have read any of the other books to enjoy How to Worship a Goddess, but after finishing this book I’m looking forward to learning about some of the secondary characters’ backstory in her other series.

Lucy Aster was formerly the Etruscan Goddess of the Moon, Lusna, but as the number of her followers decreased over the years, she and the other goddesses of the Etruscan pantheon have lost much of their power. Centuries ago Lucy created the lucani, wolf shifters, and they still worship her and treat her as their mother, but she can feel her power slipping away. As a new threat to her and the other goddesses appears, it’s unclear if she retains enough power to protect herself.

Brandon Stevenson is a member of the local minor league hockey team, and he keeps noticing Lucy in the stands at all his games. He finally manages to introduce himself, and the two begin a hot and heavy affair. But Brand’s more than he appears – can a tough hockey player protect a former goddess from her enemies?

I enjoyed the mythology in this book. It was fun to see a pantheon other than the Greeks or Romans, and I like how Ms. Julian uses Brand’s introduction to Lucy and her world as a way to bring new readers up to speed on the series without a huge info dump. I think the lucani backstory adds a nice twist to the werewolf legend, and the interaction between Lucy and her various “children” is intriguing and sets up several possibilities for future books in the series.

Brand and Lucy’s sexual chemistry is off the charts, pushing this novel close to erotica, but I think it’s well done. I wish that the numerous sex scenes had been more balanced throughout the book, as many take place early in the narrative, which could put off potential readers. There is a well-developed narrative, and the characters are engaging so I suggest that you keep reading even if the sex scenes seem a bit much at first. I do like that the hero and heroine develop a strong relationship, even if it begins as a potential one-night stand.

I wish that we had more information about Brand’s background, which I can’t discuss too much without spoilers. Suffice it to say that he’s definitely more than human, and while this explains some quirks from early in the novel, I expected a bit more exposition about his new-found abilities and relationship with his parents.

Overall, this was a smoldering paranormal romance with appealing protagonists and an entertaining premise. I’m not sure how often I’ll be re-reading this one, but it was a fun ride while it lasted.