TBR Challenge Review: Promises in the Dark by Stephanie Tyler

Format: Mass market paperback
Pub Date: 2010
Publisher: Dell (Random House)
Length: 388
FTC: Purchased myself [during the Borders shutdown clearance :( ]

This month's TBR Challenge theme is designed to whittle away at the long list of authors who elicit the  "You haven't read that author yet?!" incredulous cries from my friends. And also my 'I need to read that author someday' guilt-ridden TBR pile. It's  new-to-you author month at the Challenge, so I decided to do some serious digging into my boxed up TBR for an author I haven't read. (Go me!)

Since I began blogging back in 2009, I've heard nothing but good things about Stephanie Tyler's books. And yet, it took the closing of Borders in 2011 to force me to buy one of her books...which promptly got boxed up when we moved my office around. Sigh. So... *drum roll*

Review: Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn

Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pub Date: May 2011
Publisher: Avon (Harper Collins)
Length: 374 pages
FTC: Purchased myself

I haven't really loved a Julia Quinn book since somewhere in the middle of the Bridgerton series.  I detested Eloise, Francesca, and Gregory's stories, and was apathetic about most of those novels that came after the series' end. At best, they were fun but forgettable.

Then came Ten Things I Love About You. It is what I consider a turning point for Julia Quinn's writing. Where she gave up any pretense of writing with depth and just churned out cutesy, polished writing with superficial characters and superficial emotion. Deciding to give her one last try, I picked up Just Like Heaven after letting it linger in the TBR for a year. The lingering was on purpose, because I suspected I would be disappointed. Sadly, I was correct.

Quickie Review: In Pursuit of Eliza Cynster by Stephanie Laurens

Format: mass market, ebook
Pub Date: September 27, 2011
Publisher: Avon (Harper Collins)
FTC: Purchased myself

In preparation for the last in the Cynster sisters trilogy due out the end of this month, I picked up the 2nd book in the series to make sure I didn't miss anything important. I wish I hadn't bothered. If you've read Viscount Breckenridge to the Rescue , I can honestly say that there is no reason to read this book. It is a complete rehash of the first book, with a more delicate heroine, a scholarly hero, and villains who are worse than the original group in menace.

After finishing this book, I did what I usually do, and offered it to my mom who is another Stephanie Laurens fan. That same night, I got a text message from her: "Haven't I already read this?" Her confusion was understandable since it is the Exact. Same. Plot. There are some minor characters who are interesting and some Scottish elements I found intriguing. And the ending has some information that ties in with the last book, too.  But otherwise? This book was phoned in.

It's not horribly written, and if you haven't read the first in the series, the repetition will probably not make you grind your teeth as badly, but this is a watered down version of what Stephanie Laurens is capable of, and extremely disappointing. Buy it used, borrow it from a friend, or try to get it from the library. This one is not worth your money.

My Grade: D

The Blurb:

Three heros, three rescues, three weddings.

The pleasure of your company is requested
at the wedding of Miss Eliza Cynster

...but not until she's rescued from a daring abduction by the most unexpected of heros!

Brazenly kidnapped from her sister Heather's engagement ball, Eliza Cynster is spirited north to Edinburgh. Desperate and determined to escape, she seizes upon the first possible champion who happens along - gentleman scholar Jeremy Carling.

Villains and rescues are a far cry from Jeremy's expertise, yet he cannot abandon a damsel in distress. But danger lurks and hurdles abound in their race to escape the mysterious laird, until a final confrontation on a windswept cliff reveals what their future life could hold - if both are bold enough to seize and own the unexpected love they now share.

Review: The Guy Next Door by Lori Foster, Susan Donovan and Victoria Dahl

Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pub Date: February 15, 2011
Publisher: Harlequin
FTC: Digital review copy from Netgalley

I was a little skeptical about a Spring Break themed anthology. Turns out, I was right. Although this collection of novellas did tweak a few preconceptions of mine about how a Spring Break novella could work.

Ready, Set, Jett
Lori Foster's story is the least Spring-Breaky of the three. There's snow. Lots of it. Which is something I'm unfortunately quite accustomed to. As the leading story in the anthology, I found it odd that there is no hint of what most people would expect from a Spring Break story here.  But she does make up for it by setting the tone for the title of the antho. It was also the most evenly paced of the three stories.
My Grade: B

Quickie Review: Assassin's Honor by Monica Burns

Format: Trade Paperback
Pub Date: June 2010
ISBN: 9780425234167
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
FTC: Purchased myself

Most of the time, buzz on Twitter, Goodreads, and romance blogs is a good thing. And most of the time, I don't regret forking out money for a trade paperback I purchased based on overwhelming praise by my favorite sites. But...this is one of those times that I was very disappointed both in buying a new copy of a trade paperback and the highway robbery prices they charge for them and for wasting my time reading the book.

Assassin's Honor annoyed me right away by employing a spelling for archaeology that infuriates me. "Archeology" may be an "acceptable" alternate spelling, but it's not what people in the field use. Which means that if your main character is someone attached to Chicago's famed Oriental Institute, they wouldn't be using "archeology." So using it in the text and dialogue results in an immediate auto-fail with me.

So, already cranking about that spelling pet peeve, I start reading. Only to discover that what could be a fun, suspenseful story is...irritating. Our "hero" Ares likes to add little swear words to his thoughts and speech that just grated on my nerves. "Christus" this and "Deus" that. And let's not forget "Fotte" or "Merda" either. It felt hokey and unbelievable. Like a cheap ploy to add something exotic without expending any real effort. And, since they're in a different language, they are set off in italics. To make them even more irritating.

I guess my problem with this book is that it never felt real. The premise was fine, but I had serious problems with the execution. The characters felt phony and the plot seemed canned for something that was supposed to be fresh and different. Spelling pet peeves and style issues aside, I wish the author had taken a different approach with the plot. This felt too derivative and at times made absolutely no sense. Add in a TSTL heroine and my lack of enjoyment was sealed.

My Grade: D+

Review: McKettricks of Texas: Austin by Linda Lael Miller

FTC Disclaimer: Digital galley obtained from publisher via Netgalley

The final book in the McKettricks of Texas trilogy left me deciding that I'm pretty well done reading anything by Linda Lael Miller. Which is a shame. So, this'll be a short and not so sweet review.

As with the first book in the series, Tate, infidelity plays a large role in the plot of this book. It's one of the few tropes that I despise. With a passion. And this book had perhaps the lamest excuse I've ever heard for cheating. Ever.

Austin, our hero, broke his then-girlfriend, Paige's, heart because he was scared by what he was feeling and wanted her to break up with him. So, instead of saying "Hey let's break up," He cheats on her with her high school nemisis and makes sure she finds out about it--sadly by seeing them together.

I'm sorry, but that's a character trait time cannot fix. It's lame. It's weak. It's cruel. And, at least for me, it's unforgivable. Which makes me think the heroine is TSTL to forgive him. And kills the romance completely for me. I'm all for second chances, but sometimes the hero is irredeemable. Austin remains immature, reckless, and pretty well concerned only about himself. Which in my estimation makes him a poor choice for redemption.

As for the suspense part of the plot...it wasn't suspenseful. At all. And the resolution was horribly unsatisfying. 

My Grade: C-/D+

Review: Dangerous by Diana Palmer

FTC disclaimer: Digital review copy received from publisher through Netgalley

I don't think I've read a worse contemporary book in years. I'm stunned that publishers considered Dangerous worthy of a hardcover release. It's clear that Diana Palmer has zero familiarity with gaming. Equally clear that she's not all that familiar with law enforcement. In fact, based on her writing, I'm wondering if she's familiar with 21st century life at all.

Our hero, Kilraven, is a fed working undercover. He's still haunted by the murder of his wife and three year old daughter 7 years before. And while he's aware that Winnie, our young heroine, has a crush on him, he's content to ignore her in the hopes that her feelings will fade with time.

Winnie has watched and loved Kilraven from afar for a long time. She keeps a frail hope alive that he will one day return her feelings. Her work as a 9-1-1 dispatcher keeps her in at least peripheral contact with him--even resulting her saving his life once due to her somewhat supernatural intuition.

Review: Seducing the Heiress by Olivia Drake

I picked up a newer release, Seducing the Heiress by Olivia Drake, simply because I was in the mood for an historical romance. I was delighted to discover while peeking at the copyright page that Olivia Drake was actually a pseudonym for a well known and respected author: Barbara Dawson Smith. I certainly learned my lesson there, though.

I'm having trouble articulating just why I was so disappointed with this novel. Part of it is definitely the writing. Take, for instance, this scene:

"He bent his dark head to her privates."

Maybe it's just me, but that particular phrase doesn't strike me as very romantic. Or sensuous. Or erotic. I can't think of any woman I know ever using the word "privates". In fact, it comes across as un-romantic as the "c" word.