What I'm Reading Wednesday
I didn't finish anything new this week. That's because I DNF'd two books.
DID NOT FINISH
1. I gave up almost halfway through The Wild Girl because the stereotypes just got too offensive. Plus, editorial issues starting getting more prevalent - tense switches from past to present within a single paragraph, wrong word usage, etc. I decided it wasn't worth it, even though I'd spent quite a bit of time on it.
2. Circle of Honor by Carol Umberger. This is a historical romance set in 14th century Scotland that won awards back when it was released in 2001 and got recommended to me. I really have to learn that I have to stay away from historicals that go this far back because heroines tend to be too young to make me comfortable and definitely damsel-ish. Add in how centered on religion and God the heroine was, and I was done.
WHAT I'M READING
1. Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul: I'm about halfway through with this, mostly because I tend to read in chapters and this has very short ones, so I keep putting it down. But it's still fascinating.
2. Gabriel's Ghost by Linnea Sinclair: I've been meaning to read this author for years, and I've been really pleasantly surprised by this sci-fi romance. The hero is a pirate, the heroine a former military captain who was sent to prison for something she didn't do, and together they're pretty intense. I find myself not willing to put it down.
3. Storm Warning by Toni Anderson: I read the first book in this series almost a decade ago when it was first released. In fact, that book was the reason I fell into this author in the first place. I didn't even know there was more until I went digging through her backlist to see if there was anything I'd missed. This one is about a Scottish girl who's gone back to the town where her dad died and the American DEA agent who thinks she's a drug runner involved in killing his partner. This suffers from some of the other issues I've been finding with her early work. It's not as intelligently plotted, and the heroine tends to fall on the damsel side. An added issue with this one is that it was paranormal overtones when it's billed as romantic suspense. None of her other books have had anything like this, so it's disconcerting every time it gets mentioned.
DID NOT FINISH
1. I gave up almost halfway through The Wild Girl because the stereotypes just got too offensive. Plus, editorial issues starting getting more prevalent - tense switches from past to present within a single paragraph, wrong word usage, etc. I decided it wasn't worth it, even though I'd spent quite a bit of time on it.
2. Circle of Honor by Carol Umberger. This is a historical romance set in 14th century Scotland that won awards back when it was released in 2001 and got recommended to me. I really have to learn that I have to stay away from historicals that go this far back because heroines tend to be too young to make me comfortable and definitely damsel-ish. Add in how centered on religion and God the heroine was, and I was done.
WHAT I'M READING
1. Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul: I'm about halfway through with this, mostly because I tend to read in chapters and this has very short ones, so I keep putting it down. But it's still fascinating.
2. Gabriel's Ghost by Linnea Sinclair: I've been meaning to read this author for years, and I've been really pleasantly surprised by this sci-fi romance. The hero is a pirate, the heroine a former military captain who was sent to prison for something she didn't do, and together they're pretty intense. I find myself not willing to put it down.
3. Storm Warning by Toni Anderson: I read the first book in this series almost a decade ago when it was first released. In fact, that book was the reason I fell into this author in the first place. I didn't even know there was more until I went digging through her backlist to see if there was anything I'd missed. This one is about a Scottish girl who's gone back to the town where her dad died and the American DEA agent who thinks she's a drug runner involved in killing his partner. This suffers from some of the other issues I've been finding with her early work. It's not as intelligently plotted, and the heroine tends to fall on the damsel side. An added issue with this one is that it was paranormal overtones when it's billed as romantic suspense. None of her other books have had anything like this, so it's disconcerting every time it gets mentioned.