Review: An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole

Format: ebook, paperback
Pub Date: March 28, 2017
Publisher: Kensington
Length: 320 pages
POV: 3rd, past
FTC: Borrowed from the library

I heard about this book all of last year. All. Year. Long. From everyone. And because everyone loved it, I steered clear. I just don't seem to do well with buzzy books.

I also don't do well with American-set romances, so the chances of me totally adoring it were pretty slim.

While I DIDN'T love this book, I did like it. It's an ambitious, well researched book that doesn't sugarcoat anything about the history it portrays, which can be jarring when you're writing/reading in a subgenre that's usually based on fantasy. This is not a light read by any means, but it is a believable and deeply moving story about two people who find each other in the middle of the worst possible circumstances.

Review: Mogul by Joanne Shupe

Format: mass market
Pub Date: February 2017
Publisher: Kensington
Length: 306 plus a novella of Tycoon
POV: 3rd, past
FTC: Received a copy for free at RT17

After lamenting that we have lost the wide variety of time periods and settings in romance, I did a happy dance when I picked this book up at the RT Convention this year. It's set in the US during the Gilded Age (last 30 years or so of the 1800s). I like my Regencies just fine, but I was happy to see something different.

I have never read Joanna Shupe before, but I enjoyed this one. It's not perfect, but I was glad to see a diverse NYC represented. And not just in the background. Much of the plot involves Chinatown (yes, I can hear the groans) but it's not a caricature.  We get the expected criminal element, but we also get a complex story about the Exclusion Acts, about a man trying to help his (Chinese) friend bring his wife to the US. It's thoughtful, and the characters here are not cardboard cutouts slapped on to satisfy some passing attempt at diversity. It feels organic and real.