So, another book list
From least liked to most.
Liz Carlyle, Never Lie to a Lady - I honestly don't feel like bothering to recap the plot. I've really liked the other two Carlyle books I read but this was just a boring slog, since I cared for neither Xanthia nor Nash (neither of whom was in the least loveable or convinced me they were in love instead of in lust) and the smuggling plot was blaaaaaaaah. If you want to read a book from that particular Carlyle series, read Never Deceive a Duke instead.
Suzanne Enoch, Stolen Kisses - I've come to the conclusion that I like later Enochs better than her earlier ones. This is a fun read but it didn't particularly involve me and was a bit precious. Hero is a rake who is annoyed heroine (who is an 'Ice Queen' hunting for a proper husband) snubs him and sets out to teach her a lesson but of course they fall in love. There are murders, bad guys, and verbal duels. This being an Enoch book, both leads are actually quite likeable, but I can't say I was very involved.
Suzanne Enoch, Before the Scandal - ah, here is an Enoch book I liked very much! Colonel Phin Bromley takes leave from the military and returns to visit his family because his younger sister lies to him his older brother is on his deathbed. But while that may be a lie, someone is targeting his family, and Phin is determined to find out who. And then there is Alyse, his childhood love, with whom he rekindles a romance. This was fun and entertaining and, while more plotty than romantic, very satisfying (minus the initial sex scene which occurs in wildly improbable circumstances).
Lisa Kleypas, Again the Magic - ahhh, reverse slumming, how I love thee! Heroine was an Earl's daughter and hero a lowly stableboy, but they loved each other. But she had to lie to him to save him and he left hating her. Now a dozen years have passed and he is back from America as a super rich industrialist and wanting revenge. I LOVED IT!!!!! Hero and heroine were both pretty awesome and also decent people, and the secondary romance (heroine's younger sister, tarnished by scandal, and an American blue blood with a drinking problem) appealed to me even more than the main one.
Courtney Milan, A Kiss for Midwinter and Unlocked - I normally don't mention novellas or short stories in this but I loved these (and Mina's story below) too much not to. The former follows two minor characters from The Duchess War and the latter a minor character from the Turner series and her OTP, and as per usual Milan, gives us a hard-working, smart hero, a complex heroine, and emotional beauty.
Meljean Brook, Mina Wentworth and the Invisible City - !!!! EEEEE!!!! And other incoherent exclamations. To say I adored The Iron Duke would be a huge understatement - part romance, part steampunk adventure, this book is in my Top 10 romances of all time, and a very rare romance I'd rec to non-romance lovers. So the chance to see Mina and Rhys again = heaven. There is a murder investigation and other good things but I confess I read to see glimpses into Mina and Rhys' married life and it's every bit as interesting and intense and complicated as I expected. Though I could pretty much read about them eating lunch and reading mail and be happy with that so I am a biased biased fan.
Liz Carlyle, Never Lie to a Lady - I honestly don't feel like bothering to recap the plot. I've really liked the other two Carlyle books I read but this was just a boring slog, since I cared for neither Xanthia nor Nash (neither of whom was in the least loveable or convinced me they were in love instead of in lust) and the smuggling plot was blaaaaaaaah. If you want to read a book from that particular Carlyle series, read Never Deceive a Duke instead.
Suzanne Enoch, Stolen Kisses - I've come to the conclusion that I like later Enochs better than her earlier ones. This is a fun read but it didn't particularly involve me and was a bit precious. Hero is a rake who is annoyed heroine (who is an 'Ice Queen' hunting for a proper husband) snubs him and sets out to teach her a lesson but of course they fall in love. There are murders, bad guys, and verbal duels. This being an Enoch book, both leads are actually quite likeable, but I can't say I was very involved.
Suzanne Enoch, Before the Scandal - ah, here is an Enoch book I liked very much! Colonel Phin Bromley takes leave from the military and returns to visit his family because his younger sister lies to him his older brother is on his deathbed. But while that may be a lie, someone is targeting his family, and Phin is determined to find out who. And then there is Alyse, his childhood love, with whom he rekindles a romance. This was fun and entertaining and, while more plotty than romantic, very satisfying (minus the initial sex scene which occurs in wildly improbable circumstances).
Lisa Kleypas, Again the Magic - ahhh, reverse slumming, how I love thee! Heroine was an Earl's daughter and hero a lowly stableboy, but they loved each other. But she had to lie to him to save him and he left hating her. Now a dozen years have passed and he is back from America as a super rich industrialist and wanting revenge. I LOVED IT!!!!! Hero and heroine were both pretty awesome and also decent people, and the secondary romance (heroine's younger sister, tarnished by scandal, and an American blue blood with a drinking problem) appealed to me even more than the main one.
Courtney Milan, A Kiss for Midwinter and Unlocked - I normally don't mention novellas or short stories in this but I loved these (and Mina's story below) too much not to. The former follows two minor characters from The Duchess War and the latter a minor character from the Turner series and her OTP, and as per usual Milan, gives us a hard-working, smart hero, a complex heroine, and emotional beauty.
Meljean Brook, Mina Wentworth and the Invisible City - !!!! EEEEE!!!! And other incoherent exclamations. To say I adored The Iron Duke would be a huge understatement - part romance, part steampunk adventure, this book is in my Top 10 romances of all time, and a very rare romance I'd rec to non-romance lovers. So the chance to see Mina and Rhys again = heaven. There is a murder investigation and other good things but I confess I read to see glimpses into Mina and Rhys' married life and it's every bit as interesting and intense and complicated as I expected. Though I could pretty much read about them eating lunch and reading mail and be happy with that so I am a biased biased fan.