Love is Blind by Lynsay Sands

I admit it. I'm usually a spoiled New Release girl. I like fresh-off-the-press books. I like reading things as they come out. But, occasionally, I like to reread a favorite author. It usually has to be a fabulous book for me to keep or pick up again. It definitely has to be light-hearted (I don't keep the sad books). Lynsay Sands is a favorite author, and Love is Blind is one of my all time favorite books.

Sands writes in numerous romance subgenres. She's probably best known for her Argeneau vampire/paranormal series, but she's equally at home in medieval, highland, or Regency historicals. Love is Blind is a solid Regency historical. It is also one of the few books to add a word to my romance vocabulary: piffle. As in 'burnt piffle.'

What makes this story terrific is that the humor is largely slapstick. It is laugh out loud outrageous. Who else would write an historical novel where the heroine--deprived of her MUCH needed spectacles by her evil stepmother--mistakes a suitor's lap for a table and spills scalding hot tea on his---well, piffle? In a subgenre where grace and elegance reign supreme, this clumsiness of the heroine is so endearing.

What also makes this book is the hero. A quasi-Beta hero, he brings a Beauty and the Beast quality to the story. A war veteran whose facial injuries caused polite society to shrink in horror, he's uncommonly understanding, thoughtful and kind. He's also decisive, passionate, and a touch arrogant (which is why he's only quasi-Beta).

It had been a few years (and several hundred books) since my last reading of this novel. I do believe I enjoyed this reading MORE than my initial one.

Bad Moon Rising by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Bad Moon Rising by Kenyon was so disappointing. The biggest flaw for me was the lack of continuity in the narrative and the immense amount of back story that wasn't explained.

Anyone new to the series would be completely lost. As it was, I struggled to remember what happened to which character when. And given that this book takes place concurrently with several other books in the series, it gets quite confusing.

Things I enjoyed:

I was very happy to see another were-hunter book. I'm not a fan of her Dream Hunter books, so this was a welcome change.

I was happy that a secondary character in so many other books was finally granted his own story.

I liked the inclusion of another level of hunting: Thorn, specifically.

The physical relationship between Aimee and Fang was terrific. They don't truly hook up until the very end--something that's unusual these days for most romances.

Things I hated:

The time jumps without any clue on the chapter pages that time was passing

The deep back story that was needed to understand the plot.

I didn't find Aimee's sudden penchant for Daimon hunting to be believable. Nor was the fact that no one seemed to notice?

Overall, it was tolerable (barely), but I couldn't help feeling that this one could have benefited from another hundred pages. It felt too choppy and too pared down.