Romance Round-Up: Sept 26
Look at me sticking to my monthly romance-reading round-up vow! This will be a big one because it covers my summer holiday. Lots of historicals: who says it’s dead, I will fight you. Links go to Goodreads.
Marvellous. An extraordinary take on the vampire romance, in which a 38-yo doctor meets an apparently younger man and strange happenings result (along with bonking). Lush writing, with moral depth and nuance, and the book really digs into the premise, asking you to think about what really matters in a life. A terrific romance, strong recommend even if you never read vampire novels. I generally detest them but this is fabulous.
A Lady's Guide to Scandal by Sophie Irwin
A terrific Regency, with a downtrodden widowed countess finding her feet/spine. Eliza was married at 17 to a horrible older earl; now he's dead and has left her property worth £10K a year but--of course--with a morality clause that means she loses it if she disgraces the family name. This is a lovely story, with Eliza getting very much messed about by men, and learning what she really wants in life. Her choice of two suitors is excellently done and teeters for a good period in which we the reader actually aren't sure which would be the right decision (though there is no doubt in the end). Female friendships and solidarity, self-discovery, all sorts of good things. No sex, and we don't miss it; lots of lovely romance, and a woman who finally gets to tell a few people off. Immensely satisfying.
Mr. Milner Gets Divorced by Jane Hadley
Chronologically first in this 1950s duo. Joe Milner, closeted father of two, falls back in love with his long ago best friend/fling Stephen. Strong portrayal of his stifled life of compromise, hypocrisy, misery, and deception, and the pain it causes everyone. We are very aware that Joe’s pursuit of his own truth and happiness will come at the expense of the woman whose youth he’s wasted and the children he’s going to leave, just as his failure to pursue it in the first place has hurt himself, Stephen, and again Marion, and we also see the toll that open queerness takes on people, so the villain here is without question the shitty social constraints that put everyone in this mess in the first place. Complicated grown-up romance. The portrayal of the 1950s queer scene is excellent, defiant, flawed, and hopeful.
Mrs. Milner Gets A Kitchen by Jane Hadley
Marion, coping with life as a newly divorced mother in small town Minnesota in the 1950s, decides to kick start things with a new kitchen, only to fall for the installer. Great sense of place, vividly drawn, and a very powerful conveying of the stifling, spying, judgy milieu in which she and the kids live. As with the companion book, we see just how much toll has been and continues to be exacted on Marion and the kids; the real villain of course remains societal homophobia and judginess about divorce. A romance that is very realistic about human flaws and failings. For me, there was a fair bit of sex that didn't advance the story, but then Marion is a passionate woman who's been horribly stifled by both society and marriage to a closeted man, so she deserves to get it on, and Harry is a likeable, good-hearted hero.
Part 1 of a serial story, no HEA. A novel set in AJ Demas’ ancient world, with an exiled warlord who just wants a quiet life and the young assassin sent to kill him posing as a boy bride. Demas's alt-Mediterranean frequently features some slightly queasy stuff, reminding us that the distant past is very much another country, so e.g. we're told Vanu has raped enemy soldiers as a thing that was expected of him, and a lot of the customs relating to women and gender are disconcerting /weird. The book goes at a very relaxed pace, taking its time in the character- and world-building and with most of the action happening in flashbacks to both MCs' violent histories: the present is not hugely action-packed for the most part. As a plot driven reader, I am looking forward to the action picking up now we have our ducks in a row.
The Very Definition of Love by Sophia Benoit
A light Regency about an upper-class virgin wallflower writing a dictionary of slang and sexy words, which is to say it's definitely on the wallpaper side of Regencies, but told with panache and good nature that carries even the grumpy pedant reader along. The heroine is likeably earnest and the rake hero is absolutely charming. A few notably dangling plot threads, which may mean sequels to come.
How to Not Marry a Lord by Emma Orchard
Enjoyable Heyeresque Regency with more sex but a similar feel of enjoying its setting and characters. I felt it was a bit low on plot--could have done with making life a bit harder for the heroine and her sisters, and let the villain (a great Entitled Man) run a bit more--but very readable and likeable.
Scandal of the Summer by Alexandra Vasti
Fun Regency romp with bluestockings run wild, nonexistent European principalities (to one of which, as the author observed, we are all entitled) and con artists with hearts of gold. Energetic, cheerfully improbable, and a rollicking good time.
Likeable m/m romance with sensitive rock star and rich brown UK posh boy turned NYPD detective. Decent mystery, strong romance, the VP character is very well characterised though I felt it might have benefited from the MC2 getting a POV, as he feels less substantial. A highly enjoyable read told with heart and vigour.