Stuart, Anne - Moon Rise
I had been looking for this for nearly three years now, thanks to coffeeandink's romance conversion kit (see comments), and after finally finding it in a used bookstore a week ago, I've been a little scared to read it, just because of the weight of expectation.
When Mely said that the book took the danger/sex subtext of Gothics and turned it to text, I didn't quite expect it to be that literal. But it really is. It's great! I mean, I'm not quite sure if it works as a romance per se, since I seriously doubt the hero or the heroine will make each other happy, and I think they're both going to die in a week or so, but that's part of the Gothic goodness!
Annie Sutherland's father slipped down the stairs drunk one night and broke his neck. At least, that's what everyone says. But Annie thinks otherwise, and goes to find James McKinley, her father's right-hand-man, to see who killed her father, and gets in waaaaay over her head. Annie's a bit too sweet for me; Stuart makes attempts to make her smart and funny and brave, but Annie usually comes off as the dreaded spunky instead. James is completely messed up and spends pretty much all of the book trying to figure out if he should just kill Annie; he is the alpha bastard written correctly, without the soft, squishy inside. Well, James eventually succumbs to his soft, squishy inside, since this is a romance, but Stuart never fails to show that his alpha bastard spy killing assassin nature has not changed in the slightest.
I guessed the villain right off, but since I was mostly in it for the Gothic angst and dysfunction and got that by the boatload, I am not complaining at all.
Links:
- rachelmanija's review
- pocketgarden's review
When Mely said that the book took the danger/sex subtext of Gothics and turned it to text, I didn't quite expect it to be that literal. But it really is. It's great! I mean, I'm not quite sure if it works as a romance per se, since I seriously doubt the hero or the heroine will make each other happy, and I think they're both going to die in a week or so, but that's part of the Gothic goodness!
Annie Sutherland's father slipped down the stairs drunk one night and broke his neck. At least, that's what everyone says. But Annie thinks otherwise, and goes to find James McKinley, her father's right-hand-man, to see who killed her father, and gets in waaaaay over her head. Annie's a bit too sweet for me; Stuart makes attempts to make her smart and funny and brave, but Annie usually comes off as the dreaded spunky instead. James is completely messed up and spends pretty much all of the book trying to figure out if he should just kill Annie; he is the alpha bastard written correctly, without the soft, squishy inside. Well, James eventually succumbs to his soft, squishy inside, since this is a romance, but Stuart never fails to show that his alpha bastard spy killing assassin nature has not changed in the slightest.
I guessed the villain right off, but since I was mostly in it for the Gothic angst and dysfunction and got that by the boatload, I am not complaining at all.
Links:
- rachelmanija's review
- pocketgarden's review