love is as welcome as a sunny sunny day
Loretta Chase I found on my own, caught by the title and the unusually classy cover.
Anne Gracie was recommended to me by the Heyer fan at Dymocks. Lovely girl, that, and yes it's now gotten to the point where I'm reccing stuff to her. *lol* I told her I wanted strong women with good sex and she pointed me to The Perfect Rake.
What shocked me and kept me reading was just how dark it was. I was prolly more taken aback than actually traumatised, and oh yes very very admiring of Anne Gracie depicting this stuff because obviously it would have happened. You just don't see it depicted in the romances. And the heroine was every bit as determined as I could have hoped. But then the hero arrived and he was hysterically funny. I mean, I kinda prefer a plain Jane -- yeah, that's why --- heroine to a raving beauty, anyway. But then the way he saw her compared to her sisters just had me howling with laughter. Pure joy.
Right from then, I knew Anne Gracie'd be a keeper. And only after I finished the book did I discover she's an Aussie. Even more awesome.
The Perfect Waltz I didn't enjoy as much, mainly because the hero was so dark and humourless. I kept wanting to grab him and shake him up. The whole novel became far too dark for my liking, and as a result the sentimental bits came across as far too heavyhanded. The heroine was exactly as much of a raging romantic as I am and I really wanted to love the novel for that aspect but it just didn't work for me. Still, from the social perspective, getting to further explore the darker side of Regency England, it was a damned valuable book. And I did wonder if we'd ever get to read the stories of our hero's so damaged sisters. I'd like to see them get happy endings, the poor things.
The Perfect Stranger didn't satisfy me either and then I began to wonder if whether it was just the twins I didn't like. They were far too different from the heroine of the first book which I can appreciate as a writer but totally disappointed me as a reader. I did recognise the evolution of this particular heroine, it's just I didn't particularly want to read it or live it with her. Possibly too impatient for her.
Also, Anne Gracie pretty much committed the worst possible crime you could do in a romance, according to me anyway. She cut Away. I fucking HATE when scenes cut away just at the sex. And to do it in a romance novel makes me see red. Holy fuck, if I can't read sex in a romance novel in this day and age, where can I read it? And she Cut Away more than once. It got to the point of me grinding my teeth and utterly resenting the narrative. That's one of the reasons I adore Diana Gabaldon so much. She almost never cuts away. Possibly the only time I can recall is when we'd already had two scenes just before and then had more in the very next chapter, and that was in the very early days of their marriage so it was understandable. Here though? Unforgivable. Seriously. Cover it in one short paragraph if you have to but give me something. God! It's so unfair. And frankly, lazy.
Worst of all, I wanted the novel to end differently. I'm quite certain that was the writer part of me pushing for the realistic logical non-romantic ending set up by our hero's problem. But there was no way that could happen in a romance novel. And that was doubly frustrating because the reader me was insisting on the happy ending. After all, that's why --- one of the many whys --- we read romance novels, the guaranteed happy ending. And then when it did happen, it was far too miraculous and contrived for both the reader and writer mes. Quite a disgruntled experience, this book. For me.
But I had great hopes for The Perfect Kiss because I knew it featured the other sister most like our original heroine and I was quite keen to see how she had grown up and what sort of guy would suit her. And oh man oh man, Anne Gracie totally rose to the occasion. Cos not only was it this particular character, it was also the final book in the series. And she gave them a marvellous story, a deliciously gothic setting, adorable supporting characters, and best of all a cheeky rake with a childhood trauma and the most endearing befuddled reaction to people befriending him despite his reluctance. That was soooooo funny and so lovely to witness.
The only little quibble I had was the recurring 'hard kiss'. Once I can accept but repeatedly just begins to irritate me cos then I start to feel it and I want to slap him just as hard. There's no need for 'hard' kisses, you can be passionate and sensuous without that. The sex too did seem a little rushed but then they never had much time to themselves and that was suitably remedied towards the end of the novel.
Best of all? It was such a wonderful resolution to the series because our heroine had grown up reacting to the other stories, a contrast and wonderful evolution from them. As a result, she was entirely her own woman and I loved that. And right at the end was a scene that brought everybody together, wrapped the whole series with a pleased smile. Everything I could have hoped for.
I'm holding off on starting her next series because, well, I've gotten distracted by other authors. Plus I can't seem to find the first book which doesn't help. Also, it seems like it'll be a different sort of darkness and I'm not quite ready for that. When I am, I'm sure it will be all the more satisfying. Right time for the right book and all that.
Anne Gracie was recommended to me by the Heyer fan at Dymocks. Lovely girl, that, and yes it's now gotten to the point where I'm reccing stuff to her. *lol* I told her I wanted strong women with good sex and she pointed me to The Perfect Rake.
What shocked me and kept me reading was just how dark it was. I was prolly more taken aback than actually traumatised, and oh yes very very admiring of Anne Gracie depicting this stuff because obviously it would have happened. You just don't see it depicted in the romances. And the heroine was every bit as determined as I could have hoped. But then the hero arrived and he was hysterically funny. I mean, I kinda prefer a plain Jane -- yeah, that's why --- heroine to a raving beauty, anyway. But then the way he saw her compared to her sisters just had me howling with laughter. Pure joy.
Right from then, I knew Anne Gracie'd be a keeper. And only after I finished the book did I discover she's an Aussie. Even more awesome.
The Perfect Waltz I didn't enjoy as much, mainly because the hero was so dark and humourless. I kept wanting to grab him and shake him up. The whole novel became far too dark for my liking, and as a result the sentimental bits came across as far too heavyhanded. The heroine was exactly as much of a raging romantic as I am and I really wanted to love the novel for that aspect but it just didn't work for me. Still, from the social perspective, getting to further explore the darker side of Regency England, it was a damned valuable book. And I did wonder if we'd ever get to read the stories of our hero's so damaged sisters. I'd like to see them get happy endings, the poor things.
The Perfect Stranger didn't satisfy me either and then I began to wonder if whether it was just the twins I didn't like. They were far too different from the heroine of the first book which I can appreciate as a writer but totally disappointed me as a reader. I did recognise the evolution of this particular heroine, it's just I didn't particularly want to read it or live it with her. Possibly too impatient for her.
Also, Anne Gracie pretty much committed the worst possible crime you could do in a romance, according to me anyway. She cut Away. I fucking HATE when scenes cut away just at the sex. And to do it in a romance novel makes me see red. Holy fuck, if I can't read sex in a romance novel in this day and age, where can I read it? And she Cut Away more than once. It got to the point of me grinding my teeth and utterly resenting the narrative. That's one of the reasons I adore Diana Gabaldon so much. She almost never cuts away. Possibly the only time I can recall is when we'd already had two scenes just before and then had more in the very next chapter, and that was in the very early days of their marriage so it was understandable. Here though? Unforgivable. Seriously. Cover it in one short paragraph if you have to but give me something. God! It's so unfair. And frankly, lazy.
Worst of all, I wanted the novel to end differently. I'm quite certain that was the writer part of me pushing for the realistic logical non-romantic ending set up by our hero's problem. But there was no way that could happen in a romance novel. And that was doubly frustrating because the reader me was insisting on the happy ending. After all, that's why --- one of the many whys --- we read romance novels, the guaranteed happy ending. And then when it did happen, it was far too miraculous and contrived for both the reader and writer mes. Quite a disgruntled experience, this book. For me.
But I had great hopes for The Perfect Kiss because I knew it featured the other sister most like our original heroine and I was quite keen to see how she had grown up and what sort of guy would suit her. And oh man oh man, Anne Gracie totally rose to the occasion. Cos not only was it this particular character, it was also the final book in the series. And she gave them a marvellous story, a deliciously gothic setting, adorable supporting characters, and best of all a cheeky rake with a childhood trauma and the most endearing befuddled reaction to people befriending him despite his reluctance. That was soooooo funny and so lovely to witness.
The only little quibble I had was the recurring 'hard kiss'. Once I can accept but repeatedly just begins to irritate me cos then I start to feel it and I want to slap him just as hard. There's no need for 'hard' kisses, you can be passionate and sensuous without that. The sex too did seem a little rushed but then they never had much time to themselves and that was suitably remedied towards the end of the novel.
Best of all? It was such a wonderful resolution to the series because our heroine had grown up reacting to the other stories, a contrast and wonderful evolution from them. As a result, she was entirely her own woman and I loved that. And right at the end was a scene that brought everybody together, wrapped the whole series with a pleased smile. Everything I could have hoped for.
I'm holding off on starting her next series because, well, I've gotten distracted by other authors. Plus I can't seem to find the first book which doesn't help. Also, it seems like it'll be a different sort of darkness and I'm not quite ready for that. When I am, I'm sure it will be all the more satisfying. Right time for the right book and all that.