A Sinful Quicky

Here’s a quicky review of a quicky book I read for the challenge. Quickies are good every now again. Sometimes you just need a little light-hearted, no pressure release. This book delivered.

A Midsummer Night’s Sin by Kasey Michaels; page count 384

The book is actually the second in a trilogy, Blackthorn Brothers, which I did not realize until I began reading it. It is by no means required to read the first book before proceeding, but I did get a bit tired of the characters referring unneccesarily to events from the previous book.

This second book focuses on the third and youngest Blackthorn brother, Robin “Puck” Goodfellow Blackthorn, as well as, Regina Hackett, daughter of a wealthy merchant. They meet at a scandelous masqurade from which Regina’s best friend and cousin is kidnapped. As with most romance stories, Puck is so taken with Regina that he agrees to put himself in danger in order to help find the snatched lady.

Overall the book is not bad. The plot was well-paced, the steamier scenes were not too chaste, (although, I could have had a little more oomph) and I enjoyed the characters. If I do happen across the other two books and it’s not too much trouble, I might read them, as well. All points to the positive, I probably would not outright recommend this book for its own sake. If someone aksed me very specifically, “What do you have in regency fiction romance that’s good?” then I would suggest this Michaels trilogy. However if someone just wanted a “good book,” I probably wouldn’t mention it.

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Not Your Boyfriend’s Spy Series…

On Friday night Sapphire and I trekked to Cambridge to hear Lauren Willig read from her latest installment of The Pink Carnation series, The Orchid Affair. Willig was just as charming and friendly as you would hope, coming from the creator of Eloise Kelly—modern day Harvard Grad student and lover of swashbuckling men in knee breeches.  After meeting Willig (and getting my book signed) I decided I had to write about my love affair with The Pink Carnation series (with a small review of Orchid).

I bought The Secret History of the Pink Carnation in August of 2007.  I needed a few books to entertain me on my flight to London for my semester abroad and the pretty pink cover and the tag line “Pride and Prejudice Lives On” caught my attention.  Normally I avoid P&P, or any Austen variations for that matter, but this one didn’t recreate my favorite characters or continue their story.  I’m not sure what I was expecting, since clearly Pride and Prejudice does not involve spies, but it was enough for me to make an impulse purchase.  And I’m so glad I did!

The mix of modern characters and historic ones is refreshing.  Both sets of characters are well-rounded, likable and humorous.  Eloise’s escapades in London remind me of my time in England and I can now also relate to her flashbacks to Cambridge, MA.  I love that Eloise isn’t perfect.  She makes mistakes, cops to them and does it with a flair for fashion.  The heroines of the historical part are very different from one another, but are still appealing, strong and bring history to life (with a healthy dose of romance and espionage).  Granted, I’m pretty sure women in the Napoleonic era did not always act like Amy or Henrietta or Mary or Penelope.  But, I love them anyway.

I was a little hesitant about the latest book.  Firstly, Laura, the female protagonist, is a completely new character (maybe she was mentioned in passing in a previous book, but I don’t remember) and the male protagonist is unfamiliar to the reader as well.  Previous books follow characters well established in the Pink World.  The first book is about Lord Richard Selwick, the second about his sister (Henrietta) and friend (Miles).  The third about his other friend (Geoff), the fourth about Geoff’s previous infatuation (Mary) and the fifth and sixth books are about Henrietta’s two best friends (Charlotte and Penelope, respectively).  Finally, the seventh book features a character mentioned in every Pink Carnation book (Mr. Reginald “Turnip” Fitzhugh).  So in this close-knit world, where do Laura and Andre fit in?  Sure, there are some connections—Laura is an agent of the Pink Carnation and Lord Richard trained her in espionage, but the association isn’t as strong.

Anyway… Laura Grey is a governess by day, spy by night, cunningly deposited into the household of Fouche’s cousin and official in the French government, Andre Jaouen.  Laura longs to break free of her monotonous existence as a governess and puts all her effort into the subterfuge, hoping that success in this mission will make her a permanent part of the Pink Carnation’s league.  However, as she worms her way into the Jaouen family, she discovers that Andre may not be all that he claims.

The Orchid Affair captures all the fun and romance of the first few books, while still maintaining its hold on history.  Andre Jaouen isn’t as dashing or romantic or rugged as Lord Richard, Geoff or Alex, but he is swoonworthy in his own way.  I never thought I’d be attracted to a character with children, but his relationship with them is so sweetly and realistically written that I couldn’t help myself.  At one point I wanted to enter the book and become Laura just so I could become a part of that family, and adopt cute little Pierre-Andre. (I was pleasantly surprised with Willig’s ability to write children, especially given some of the previous books steamy, yet tasteful,  sex scenes.  BTW, bring those back Lauren!)

Despite the somewhat mushy, Sound of Music feel, the spy action melded nicely.  The romance, character development and spy plot all complemented each other in a way reminiscent of the first few books.  For me, some of the other books relied too much on the action and made some scenes seem contrived or unrealistic.  Other times, like in The Betrayal of the Blood Lily, the action, more specifically the intertwining of various armies and their spies, was just too confusing.  I’ve even read Blood Lily two or three times and I’m still not entirely sure how the disagreements in India relate to the Pink Carnation and the French Revolution.

Overall, I found myself most pleasantly surprised.  While I knew I would enjoy The Orchid Affair, I had some concerns.  Previously the first three installments were my favorites of the series, but Orchid just might bump Emerald Ring out of the running for second place (the first book in a series is almost always my first favorite).  I was also excited to see Augustus Whittlesby, my favorite flighty poet, make an appearance or two.  And, lucky for me, I heard on Friday that Augustus will soon be getting his own book!  Next January, come faster!

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New Years Daydreams

I’ve never thought of myself as a romantic. Mushy, lovey-dovey things make me uncomfortable and I never understood the appeal of Romeo and Juliet or Wuthering Heights (besides the beautiful writing).  Instead, I want to reach inside the pages and shake some sense into these stupid people.  And don’t even get me started on Twilight. So, I was surprised when I started Georgette Heyer’s The Talisman Ring and found myself identifying with Eustacie, the most romantically inclined heroine since Anne Shirley.

Eustacie longs for adventure and romance and wishes she had gone to the guillotine in France wearing white.  She says to her cousin Sir Tristram, “But consider!  You would be very sorry for a young girl in a tumbril, dressed all in white, pale, but quite unafraid, and not attending to the canaille at all…” (Heyer).  See the similarities to Anne Shirley?  Fantasizing about her death and how much everyone will miss her?  Later Eustacie hatches a plan to run away and become a governess.  Of course, the eldest son of the family, will fall in love with her and they will be married—after much initial discouragement from the son’s family.  What’s romance without a little struggle?

Clearly the French Revolution is over and there aren’t any guillotines in the Boston area that I’m aware of.  Nor do I plan on running away (although running to Mexico given the job market has some appeal).  So why did I find myself relating to Eustacie?  Recently, I too, have been subject to dramatic romantic daydreams.

Before going home this Christmas I imagined myself and a certain nameless boy from home having one, if not more, romantic evenings.  I should probably back track here and fill you in on our history.  I was (and still kind of am, but that is arguable) a shy person.  In high school whenever I called said boy to invite him to group things (one-on-one dates were totally out of the question) I’d get super, super nervous.  One day he even asked me if I had just come back from a run I was so out of breath!  Well so continues our relationship, all through high school and college.  Eventually it got to the point where we could hang out and I could hold a decent conversation, even if it was just the two of us.  Then, last year on New Years a group of us all went out to a bar and towards the end of the night we started dancing and in my inebriated state telling him of my unrequited love seemed like the perfect next step.  He was surprised (which in itself is surprising because everyone else knew) and then he kissed me.

As you probably guessed, said nameless boy and I did not, in fact, have any romantic moments this year.  We were never alone together and last year was not mentioned.  I generally don’t believe in long distance relationships, and was not expecting anything of the sort.  Instead I wanted acknowledgement?  Reassurance that it wasn’t a pity kiss?  Some sort of understanding that he has similar feelings since he currently is, and probably always will be, one of the rulers to which I measure guys?

Well, just like Eustacie, when my current daydream crumbled I created a new one.  I would meet a nice, attractive guy at the big New Years party, we’d share a midnight kiss and he’d fall madly in love with me… or at least we’d date for a while.  I looked great, the party had a rockin’ theme—everything seemed to be in my favor.  But, instead of stealing glances and flirting with the man of my dreams that night I ended up dancing with a guy who got a little too excited… if you know what I mean… and then kissing his friend (in my defense, I didn’t know the two were friends until overly-excited guy pulled me away from his friend).

Trashy, no?  Not the picture perfect evening I had planned.  I place the blame entirely on my stupid daydream.  When I met each guy I knew neither was the one for me, but maybe, just maybe, it will work out with one of them.  Because after the first dream crumbled, this one had to come true.  Obviously, unlike Eustacie, my romantic fantasies did not come to fruition.  Instead I ended up with two phone numbers I didn’t want and feelings of regret.  Am I really that desperate?

Well no more!  I now resolve to be more like Miss Sarah Thane, the other heroine of The Talisman Ring. A romantic who seeks her adventures through travel and new experiences.  And hey, in her travels she found and fell in love with Sir Tristram.  Perhaps one day I’ll find my Sir Tristram and if not, well, I’ll have had a hell of a lot of experiences.

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