A book list...
No drama is catching my eye, and no drama until Gu Family Book is likely to, so I spend my time reading. Here is the latest (largely) romance novel tally.
Kresley Cole, Immortals After Dark series - call it the trainwreck syndrome. I want to murder most of the heroes and heroines of these, and the tropes drive me up the wall, but I can't stop. Out of all of them, there was only one book I genuinely liked (about which more below) but somehow I read every single one. The lowlights were two books which intimated that, respectively (1) rape/sexual assault BDSM (yes, I realize BDSM between consenting adults is nobody's business, but this isn't consenting adults - hence the 'rape' part of the phrase) is great and awesome as long as it's the guy who is the victim and (2) if a dude murders a bunch of innocent people in front of you and kidnaps you so as to kill you (more specifically to cast your soul out to use your body as a vessel for a serial killer Goddess), but then changes his mind and is hot, he is your true love. I'd think 'doesn't kill me, after all' is a really low standard for a significant other, but Ms. Cole seems to disagree. I am not sure I'd want to meet her in a dark alley. Or even a well-lit one.
The sole exception to the never-ending rage-making was Dark Deeds A Night's Edge, which I genuinely liked. I am not sure how she managed to write one book that hit my kinks, when the rest of them are repulsive, but I suppose even a broken clock is right twice a day. Ironically, the hero of this one is insane at the start and various characters discuss how he is a scourge that must be put down, yet he does not mistreat the heroine in any way and doesn't off anyone who hasn't had it coming. Hero is Conrad, who is a vampire bounty hunter (by that I mean he is a vampire who is a bounty hunter). The problem is that if vampires drain someone (which is Conrad's killing method, eventually they are going to go mad because the memories of victims will take over etc. Add in the fact that prior to his unwilling transformation (barely anybody in these books has heard of informed consent, apparently) he was a vampire hunter, and madness is tied in with self-loathing and you got good stuff. At the start of the book, Conrad's brothers corner mad Conrad and drag him off to a remote estate to try to get some sanity into him. That estate is the former home of Noemi, a famous ballerina, that was murdered by a jealous lover in the 1920s and has haunted the mansion ever since. And Conrad can see her. Yup, it's a vampire bounty hunter/ballerina ghost romance and it was utterly and completely awesome and angsty and shippy and they actually fell for each other independent of the 'fated mate' crap and treated each other well. Also, because I remember someone on my flist likes that trope - it's one of the really rare virgin hero/heroine with a ton of mileage romances.
Elizabeth Hoyt, The Leopard Prince - oh, this was just so so lovely! Not as good as Serpent Prince, because nothing is, but still going on the list of my favorites. It's a Georgian romance between Lady Georgina and her land steward, Harry Pye, who is not a secret aristocrat or anything, but just a hard-working, smart, complicated man. There isn't much driving plot and I know it doesn't sound exciting but it's such a gorgeous, romantic, passionate book, trust me.
Liz Carlyle, No True Gentleman - I loved it! It's by far my favorite of all of Carlyle's stuff I read so far. Set in the 1820s, it follows Max de Rohan and Lady Catherine - despite their social differences (he is a foreigner! a police inspector!), the intense, closed-off Max with a giant chip on his shoulder about the aristocracy and the pragmatic, straightforward Catherine are drawn to each other. I loved this in every way! The hero is a police inspector, which would have made me love it all by itself (a man who works! Imagine!), but both Max and Catherine are just such good, smart, intense people and - guuuuuuh. I like most of Caryle's heroes but think Max is the first of them that I wouldn't mind hooking up with in real life.
Veronica Roth, Divergent - this YA novel with its smart, tough heroine made such a great palate cleanser to all the 'I love my hot serial killer' novels I read lately. It's quite famous so I won't get into it, but I thought it was much better than (IMO) derivative Hunger Game. And Tris was someone I liked much more than I did Katniss.
Kresley Cole, Immortals After Dark series - call it the trainwreck syndrome. I want to murder most of the heroes and heroines of these, and the tropes drive me up the wall, but I can't stop. Out of all of them, there was only one book I genuinely liked (about which more below) but somehow I read every single one. The lowlights were two books which intimated that, respectively (1) rape/sexual assault BDSM (yes, I realize BDSM between consenting adults is nobody's business, but this isn't consenting adults - hence the 'rape' part of the phrase) is great and awesome as long as it's the guy who is the victim and (2) if a dude murders a bunch of innocent people in front of you and kidnaps you so as to kill you (more specifically to cast your soul out to use your body as a vessel for a serial killer Goddess), but then changes his mind and is hot, he is your true love. I'd think 'doesn't kill me, after all' is a really low standard for a significant other, but Ms. Cole seems to disagree. I am not sure I'd want to meet her in a dark alley. Or even a well-lit one.
The sole exception to the never-ending rage-making was Dark Deeds A Night's Edge, which I genuinely liked. I am not sure how she managed to write one book that hit my kinks, when the rest of them are repulsive, but I suppose even a broken clock is right twice a day. Ironically, the hero of this one is insane at the start and various characters discuss how he is a scourge that must be put down, yet he does not mistreat the heroine in any way and doesn't off anyone who hasn't had it coming. Hero is Conrad, who is a vampire bounty hunter (by that I mean he is a vampire who is a bounty hunter). The problem is that if vampires drain someone (which is Conrad's killing method, eventually they are going to go mad because the memories of victims will take over etc. Add in the fact that prior to his unwilling transformation (barely anybody in these books has heard of informed consent, apparently) he was a vampire hunter, and madness is tied in with self-loathing and you got good stuff. At the start of the book, Conrad's brothers corner mad Conrad and drag him off to a remote estate to try to get some sanity into him. That estate is the former home of Noemi, a famous ballerina, that was murdered by a jealous lover in the 1920s and has haunted the mansion ever since. And Conrad can see her. Yup, it's a vampire bounty hunter/ballerina ghost romance and it was utterly and completely awesome and angsty and shippy and they actually fell for each other independent of the 'fated mate' crap and treated each other well. Also, because I remember someone on my flist likes that trope - it's one of the really rare virgin hero/heroine with a ton of mileage romances.
Elizabeth Hoyt, The Leopard Prince - oh, this was just so so lovely! Not as good as Serpent Prince, because nothing is, but still going on the list of my favorites. It's a Georgian romance between Lady Georgina and her land steward, Harry Pye, who is not a secret aristocrat or anything, but just a hard-working, smart, complicated man. There isn't much driving plot and I know it doesn't sound exciting but it's such a gorgeous, romantic, passionate book, trust me.
Liz Carlyle, No True Gentleman - I loved it! It's by far my favorite of all of Carlyle's stuff I read so far. Set in the 1820s, it follows Max de Rohan and Lady Catherine - despite their social differences (he is a foreigner! a police inspector!), the intense, closed-off Max with a giant chip on his shoulder about the aristocracy and the pragmatic, straightforward Catherine are drawn to each other. I loved this in every way! The hero is a police inspector, which would have made me love it all by itself (a man who works! Imagine!), but both Max and Catherine are just such good, smart, intense people and - guuuuuuh. I like most of Caryle's heroes but think Max is the first of them that I wouldn't mind hooking up with in real life.
Veronica Roth, Divergent - this YA novel with its smart, tough heroine made such a great palate cleanser to all the 'I love my hot serial killer' novels I read lately. It's quite famous so I won't get into it, but I thought it was much better than (IMO) derivative Hunger Game. And Tris was someone I liked much more than I did Katniss.