two very different recs
Two recs:
1. For Regency that is not Heyer, this was pretty enjoyable.
Knaves' Wager by Loretta Chase
Lilith Davenant, has ample reason to detest Julian Wyndhurst, Marquess of Brandon: he's exactly the kind of man who hastened the demise of her profligate husband, and the debt he owed to Julian has forced her to an engagement with a wealthy suitor for the sake of supporting her beloved nieces and nephews. Besides that, Lord Julian somehow manages to ignite disturbing...feelings...she's never felt before! Lord Julian used his considerable skills and cunning in the war against Napoleon. Now he's obliged to use the same talents to save his young cousin from a disastrous marriage to a scheming mistress - who makes him a wager: If Julian can seduce the famously icy Lady Lilith Davenant, the lady will release his cousin from the engagement. But very quickly, Julian discovers Lilith's hidden warmth, kindness and humor. Will he be able to prove his heart to her before she learns of his recklessly shameless wager?
A bit the traditional storyline of "older, prudish, never known true passion woman" and "devilish, good for nothing, seductive but never known true love rake" butting heads and eventually (inevitably) falling in love, but the story has some highlights. Lilith's niece, Cecily, is a treasure, and one of my favorite parts of the book. Reminded me a bit of a Heyer heroine. Women have a surprisingly diverse range in the book, from Lilith and Cecily to their companion Emma and the ~schemeing French mistress~. Cecily has great girl friends! The scheming mistress is actually portrayed fairly sympathetically -- in that she has her own reasons for what she does and you almost can't fault her for them. If anyone's held responsible for the circumstances (the wager, the manipulation), it's her fool of a lover and Julian's pride. Lord Julian has a (frankly surprising) attitude towards society's treatment of women, possibly enlightened due to his acquaintance with Lilith.
The backstory for the characters and current plot is a bit thin, but the present storyline was fairly enjoyable anyway. I sort of enjoyed Lilith's icy "all quiver before me" reputation...but of course it was emblematic of her repressing feelings and never having truly experienced love or passion so meh. And of course the first dark handsome sexy stranger she encounters in the book was destined to be the guy she ends up with, but at least her reactions toward Julian were written believably. Good tension, sexual and otherwise. No full on sexy escapades, which I actually appreciate in my regency romances. It throws me a bit, I have to admit.
Really the cast of characters made this more fun, and the occasional chapter/segment from other POVs. Lord Julian's dumb but well meaning cousin is really a treat. So dumb. So well meaning.
Not quite Heyer-esque in the tangle of plot and characters, but approaching that, and fairly enjoyable for something that is similar. All too often when it strives for similarity and falls short, I'm more disenchanted and disappointed than not, so this was an enjoyable deviation.
2. A unicorn in the wild: 52,000+ word pretend boyfriends TOP/GD fic?!
The Great Pretender by Ruinwyn
TOP/GD, NC-17, 52,257 words
Seunghyun pretends to be Jiyong’s boyfriend. At least, he thinks he’s pretending.
So first of all: I can't believe this exists! Kpop fic over 10k is so rare! GTOP is so rare! It has pretend boyfriends, which is one of my favorite tropes of all time and one which I will never tire of. Amazing. Please be good, I thought fervently.
It's not bad. It's quite readable. And, yep, I will never get tired of pretend dating/fake boyfriends as a plot device. There was reasonable characterization I would buy -- the GTOP interactions were good and I liked that they had club friends outside of Big Bang because, let's be honest, the Taeyang and Daesung don't really do that scene much, and Seungri has his own friends. I really liked the cute side of Jiyong -- it's the side you really see off-stage in variety shows where he's constantly enveloped in fits of giggles. I liked TOP being hot but lazy, prone to being late, both pleased and embarrassed when girls are constantly flocking to him confessing that he's their favorite.
That said, there were a few things I wished had been different: a little more of Jiyong's stage persona making an appearance, more of his interest in bizarre fashion and high price labels, better GDYB relations, more Daesung (does he have any speaking lines?), and the correction of a couple homophone typos. But what really gave me pause were all the Western references in the fic: the party games, the music, the movies. I get that Korea, and these dudes in particular, are probably pretty Westernized, but I just have a hard time imagining TOP listening to Pink Floyd while moping, given that is almost 100% not what he associates with brooding over relationships, growing up the way he did. Blockbuster movies from Hollywood? Yeah, totally buy it. Spin the Bottle, even forgiven as a plot device? Ehhh...
But if you can swallow a few misfired cultural references, overall it's a really enjoyable pretend boyfriends fic with pining and jealousy and gradual realizations, and highlights the great GTOP friendship. Also it's hot -- but I'll be honest with you, sometimes my eyes just glaze over extended sex scenes when it's meant to be the "payoff" to 10 chapters of pining rather than when it's integral to the character or plot development.
Overall: would read again! 52k GD/TOP pretend boyfriends fic? My life needed it.
1. For Regency that is not Heyer, this was pretty enjoyable.
Knaves' Wager by Loretta Chase
Lilith Davenant, has ample reason to detest Julian Wyndhurst, Marquess of Brandon: he's exactly the kind of man who hastened the demise of her profligate husband, and the debt he owed to Julian has forced her to an engagement with a wealthy suitor for the sake of supporting her beloved nieces and nephews. Besides that, Lord Julian somehow manages to ignite disturbing...feelings...she's never felt before! Lord Julian used his considerable skills and cunning in the war against Napoleon. Now he's obliged to use the same talents to save his young cousin from a disastrous marriage to a scheming mistress - who makes him a wager: If Julian can seduce the famously icy Lady Lilith Davenant, the lady will release his cousin from the engagement. But very quickly, Julian discovers Lilith's hidden warmth, kindness and humor. Will he be able to prove his heart to her before she learns of his recklessly shameless wager?
A bit the traditional storyline of "older, prudish, never known true passion woman" and "devilish, good for nothing, seductive but never known true love rake" butting heads and eventually (inevitably) falling in love, but the story has some highlights. Lilith's niece, Cecily, is a treasure, and one of my favorite parts of the book. Reminded me a bit of a Heyer heroine. Women have a surprisingly diverse range in the book, from Lilith and Cecily to their companion Emma and the ~schemeing French mistress~. Cecily has great girl friends! The scheming mistress is actually portrayed fairly sympathetically -- in that she has her own reasons for what she does and you almost can't fault her for them. If anyone's held responsible for the circumstances (the wager, the manipulation), it's her fool of a lover and Julian's pride. Lord Julian has a (frankly surprising) attitude towards society's treatment of women, possibly enlightened due to his acquaintance with Lilith.
The backstory for the characters and current plot is a bit thin, but the present storyline was fairly enjoyable anyway. I sort of enjoyed Lilith's icy "all quiver before me" reputation...but of course it was emblematic of her repressing feelings and never having truly experienced love or passion so meh. And of course the first dark handsome sexy stranger she encounters in the book was destined to be the guy she ends up with, but at least her reactions toward Julian were written believably. Good tension, sexual and otherwise. No full on sexy escapades, which I actually appreciate in my regency romances. It throws me a bit, I have to admit.
Really the cast of characters made this more fun, and the occasional chapter/segment from other POVs. Lord Julian's dumb but well meaning cousin is really a treat. So dumb. So well meaning.
Not quite Heyer-esque in the tangle of plot and characters, but approaching that, and fairly enjoyable for something that is similar. All too often when it strives for similarity and falls short, I'm more disenchanted and disappointed than not, so this was an enjoyable deviation.
2. A unicorn in the wild: 52,000+ word pretend boyfriends TOP/GD fic?!
The Great Pretender by Ruinwyn
TOP/GD, NC-17, 52,257 words
Seunghyun pretends to be Jiyong’s boyfriend. At least, he thinks he’s pretending.
So first of all: I can't believe this exists! Kpop fic over 10k is so rare! GTOP is so rare! It has pretend boyfriends, which is one of my favorite tropes of all time and one which I will never tire of. Amazing. Please be good, I thought fervently.
It's not bad. It's quite readable. And, yep, I will never get tired of pretend dating/fake boyfriends as a plot device. There was reasonable characterization I would buy -- the GTOP interactions were good and I liked that they had club friends outside of Big Bang because, let's be honest, the Taeyang and Daesung don't really do that scene much, and Seungri has his own friends. I really liked the cute side of Jiyong -- it's the side you really see off-stage in variety shows where he's constantly enveloped in fits of giggles. I liked TOP being hot but lazy, prone to being late, both pleased and embarrassed when girls are constantly flocking to him confessing that he's their favorite.
That said, there were a few things I wished had been different: a little more of Jiyong's stage persona making an appearance, more of his interest in bizarre fashion and high price labels, better GDYB relations, more Daesung (does he have any speaking lines?), and the correction of a couple homophone typos. But what really gave me pause were all the Western references in the fic: the party games, the music, the movies. I get that Korea, and these dudes in particular, are probably pretty Westernized, but I just have a hard time imagining TOP listening to Pink Floyd while moping, given that is almost 100% not what he associates with brooding over relationships, growing up the way he did. Blockbuster movies from Hollywood? Yeah, totally buy it. Spin the Bottle, even forgiven as a plot device? Ehhh...
But if you can swallow a few misfired cultural references, overall it's a really enjoyable pretend boyfriends fic with pining and jealousy and gradual realizations, and highlights the great GTOP friendship. Also it's hot -- but I'll be honest with you, sometimes my eyes just glaze over extended sex scenes when it's meant to be the "payoff" to 10 chapters of pining rather than when it's integral to the character or plot development.
Overall: would read again! 52k GD/TOP pretend boyfriends fic? My life needed it.