Category Archives: Julie Anne Long

Good Book Day

The weather’s all over the place today – started off with bright sunshine and then gale-force winds (well, almost), then it snowed (!) and then became drizzly and now it’s sunny again.  I did venture out to go shopping (and wasn’t the only one with the same idea – the shops were packed) and came back with… Kelley Armstrong‘s “Personal Demon” and Lee Child‘s “Nothing to Lose”! 

Yes – all sorted for the long Easter weekend  ;-)

21q9whs2bv0l__aa_sl160_.jpgAlso, thoughts on a couple of books I read recently – Julie Anne Long‘s “The Perils of Pleasure” was a B- for me.  She has a lovely unique descriptive way of writing – here’s one passage that I really liked.  Madeleine and Colin are on the run, and finally find somewhere safe where they can sleep.  They have an argument over who should stay awake to keep watch, and Madeleine persuades Colin to try out the flour sacks that they plan on using as a bed first, knowing that he’s completely exhausted:

All she had to do now was wait.

And not for long, as it turned out.  For his eyes soon began to take on a faintly surprised, abstracted… inward sort of look.  His body, little by little, was registering the softness and give of those sacks.

She’d seen that very expression before: on a cat when it crossed into a sunbeam.  It was all about helpless, inevitable surrender.

How perfect is that analogy!  While the romance wasn’t 100% convincing, this was a much better read compared to the last JAL book I read (“Ways to be Wicked”) – am glad I gave her another go.

21j6ojd-bwl__aa_sl160_.jpgAlso on Richelle Mead‘s “Succubus on Top” – I really liked the first book, “Succubus Blues”, and so picked this up when it came out back in January (see, I’m making an effort to tackle my TBR pile).  I liked it – it’s a B for me, but it’s a hard one to categorise genre-wise. 

To me, it’s a romance because the main conflict is all about Georgina and Seth not being able to be together – because she’s a succubus and if they get it on, she uses his lifeforce and shortens his life.  But this book also breaks the “rules” of romance - because she’s a succubus and has to have sex with other men in order to live.  So it’s a hard one – romance or urban fantasy?  Who’s the audience for these books?  Will romance readers be squicked out at the thought of the heroine having sex with other men?  Will it be too romance-y for fantasy readers?  I’ve no idea.

The romance didn’t quite work for me – I think Seth is an incredibly sexy man, but he’s a bit too… passive in the relationship for me.  What does he see in Georgina?  Also, one of the subplots struck me as inconsistent – as a succubus (i.e. denizen of Hell), you would think Georgina and her fellow succubi / inccubi / whatever would be all about sowing unrest in the human world.  So why are they trying to bring down the leader of this ultra-conservative faction that’s promoting intolerance, etc?  Surely they would be supporting them.  There is a belated sort-of explanation towards the end, but this really struck me as not being well-thought through.  Perhaps the underlying problem is that Ms Mead has to make Georgina a sympathetic character especially since this is first-person (and succeeds in my view, btw), but then ends up having plot inconsistencies like this because well, she’s a succubus.

Having said that, I enjoy this series (love the bureaucratic version of Hell Ms Mead has created and the secondary characters) and this book has progressed the overall story arc.  I’ll continue reading and hope there is a HEA conclusion for Georgina and Seth (and without a deus ex machina type device being used).

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Filed under Julie Anne Long, Richelle Mead

I cave…

Remember my resolution not to buy a new book unless I finished one from my TBR?  Shot to pieces by the Fictionwise Leap Day sale.  I’m such a sucker.

I got a rather random selection of books:

“Innocent in Death” by JD Robb (futuristic romance/suspense) – The last In Death book I read was more than a year ago, so I’ve a few books to catch up.  I *think* this is where I left off – I can never remember the titles with this series.  I purposely took a break because I was finding each book just a bit too same-y – I think it worked because I’m actually looking very forward to this one!

“Demon Night” by Meljean Brook (paranormal romance) – Errmmm… I’m going to read “Demon Moon” this month.  I promise.  Then I can read this.

“The Perils of Pleasure” by Julie Anne Long (historical romance) - While the reviews haven’t been glowing, they’ve generally been good.  I’m keen to find out if this one has the sparkle that characterised her first two novels.

“Virgin River” by Robyn Carr (contemporary romance) – I’ve been wondering about this one – I know a lot of peeps have rated it.  So while I’m not a huge contemp fan, I’m giving it a go.

“Grimspace” by Ann Aguirre (SF romance) – After all the blogland buzz, I was incredibly curious.  It’s a toss-up whether I’ll read this or the JD Robb one first, methinks.

“Silent in the Grave” by Deanna Raybourn (historical mystery) – Inspired by the review of the second book in this series over at Dear Author.  I’m starting to read a lot more mysteries, and I like historical settings, so why not?

Gosh, when I break a resolution, I don’t just break it, I smash it…

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Filed under Ann Aguirre, Deanna Raybourn, Julie Anne Long, Meljean Brook, Nora Roberts, TBR

Upcoming Historical Romances…

I tend to post a lot about fantasy and mystery books, so here are some historicals for a change.

0345476913_01__aa_scmzzzzzzz_.jpgMary Jo Putney has a third Guardian novel “A Distant Magic” coming out in August.   Oh err… wait, that’s a fantasy, isn’t it?  But it’s set in Regency times (probably), and so counts as a historical in my book!  I loved Ms Putney’s Fallen Angels series, but I’m not entirely convinced by her fantasy books.  I’ll still get this though.  I’m also slightly confused as I thought I read somewhere she was writing fantasy as MJ Putney, and romance as Mary Jo Putney, but this cover has her full name – hmm… maybe I just made that up!  It’s a beautiful cover anyway.

Julie Anne Long‘s final book in her Three Sisters trilogy “The Secret to Seduction” is out in May.  I like her writing and think that it’s faintly reminiscent of Julia Quinn.  I remember loving her first couple of stand-alone books, “To Love a Thief” and “The Runaway Duke”, but not so much the books in this trilogy.  I’m keen to find out the resolution to the overall story though, so this is on my Buy list.

0451221494_01__aa_scmzzzzzzz_v46673742_.jpgJo Beverley has “Lady Beware” coming out in  June – the blurb:

Lady Thea Debenham thinks her only problem is a stained ball gown, but in the deserted corridors of her home she meets Vile Viscount Darien. Her life will never be the same.

This is part of her Regency-set Company of Rogues world.  I’m definitely getting this – her books have such rich detail and bring the historical background to life.  Her Malloren series, set in Georgian times, is just as good.  I really like stories set in the Georgian period (incredibly masculine men dressed to the nines in lace and jewels – what’s not to love?), but for some reason, it seems to be much less popular than the Regency era.

And Jayne Ann Krentz aka Amanda Quick has “The River Knows” coming out in April.  It’s hardcover, so I’m probably not getting this – I’ve stopped buying her hardcovers now, as unfortunately it can be a bit hit-and-miss sometimes.  However, I’m hopeful as it doesn’t sound like one of her Arcane Society novels, which I just don’t get on with!  I loved her Amanda Quick books way back when, so maybe this will be similar to her early writing style.

0515143553_01__aa_scmzzzzzzz_v44905602_.jpgAnd okay, let’s sneak this in – she (under her Jayne Castle pseudonym) is also releasing a fourth Ghost Hunter book “Silver Master”.   Yes, I know – coff-tea and all (this is the series that uses “coff-tea”, isn’t it?) but I like them!  I’m definitely getting this one.  On a side note, did you know Ms Krentz was apparently one of the pioneers of paranormal romance – “Sweet Starfire” (1986) was the first futuristic romance…

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Filed under Coming soon, Jayne Ann Krentz, Jo Beverley, Julie Anne Long, Mary Jo Putney