If You Take The "Maul" Out Of The An-i-maul, All You Have Left Is Zzzzzz......

If you ask me what I think is the most boring thing in the world, I will answer without hesitation.

Politics.

(Also.......watching golf on TV).

I fall asleep reading about politics. I fall asleep watching news shows about politics. I fall asleep when people start talking about politics.

Zzzzzzz........

So, I can't think of a better way to crush a potentially exciting story than to smother it with politics.

In theory, paranormal romance about animal shape-shifters is a brilliant concept. Animals are primitive, loyal, brutal. These stories should be filled with excitement, sensuality, chemistry, passion, intensity and even violence. What could be more intense than animalistic sex? What could be more powerful than loyalty to a mate?

So what would be the #1 way to mess up a shifter story? Add politics. A lot of politics. Instead of focusing on the animal, focus on the most boring-ass part of "human" society. *Yawn*

If you take the animal out of the animal shifter story, all you have left is stupid-ass humans. Bor-ing.

Christine Feehan gets the appeal of animal shifters. She focuses on the animal in its habitat. She really gets into their heads. Think like one. Smell like one. Hunt like one. Kill like one. Love like one. The focus of her shifter stories is the characters, what motivates them, how they behave and how the animal part of their personalities dictates their lives. These books are totally satisfying reads. I love them!

I just finished reading Jennifer Ashley's Bodyguard and I was underwhelmed. Too much politics. Too much focus on the plot/storyline. Where was the animalistic, hot and heavy sex scenes? Missing in action. I find that Shelly Laurenston's shifter books, as well as Lora Leigh's breeder series, also do the same thing. By focusing too much on the human-side of things, including the political structure of these societies, they have squashed the animalistic excitement right out of the story.

If the hero of a story is a gigantic Kodiak bear, I'm jonesing for some gigantic, bear-sized sex scenes.

ROAR!

Thinking that a spanky elf could have helped out that story, too (which is worrisome),
Penelope

Sexy Cajun, Mackenzie Ragin', and Spanky Pagin': Three Super Quickie Reviews

The Red Hot Cajun by Sandra Hill

Genre: Contemporary Romance

The bad: The ending was a bit too fast, story slightly overstuffed.

The good: Sexy, delicious hero, hilarious Cajun family, loved the awesome romantic ending and epilogue. Made me feel like I was in the steamy bayou!

Grade: A-


The Many Sins of Lord Cameron by Jennifer Ashley

Genre: Historical Romance

The bad: No real plot, just ridiculous storyline involving a love letter from the queen.

The good: Fabulous characters, especially Cam, another kick-ass Mackenzie brother; a sexy and emotional story. Jennifer Ashley excels at not only creating wonderful heroes, but also strong, interesting heroines. I love that! Bravo!

Grade: A-


Operation: Spank Me by Christina James

Genre: Erotic Romance

The bad: Way too much sex! Book could have been easily 50% shorter. Terms like "drenched p*ssy" used repeatedly.

The good: Surprisingly engaging story. Loved the Vermonty stuff, loved the roses, the story was compelling and sweet. A nice happy ending, although a bit rushed.

Grade: B


All my best,
Penelope

Review of Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage by Jennifer Ashley

Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage by Jennifer Ashley

Following up The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie must have been a daunting task for Jennifer Ashley. That book was brilliant in every way. Creating a hero with Asperger's Syndrome was a gutsy, courageous, and wonderfully successful endeavor by Ashley. The book came alive because of the originality of Ian's character, the raw lust and emotion between the hero and heroine, and of course the incredible appeal of the eccentric Mackenzie brothers.

Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage has taken a very big chance as well, in quite a different way. There has been scandal, heart break, bitterness, neglect, debauchery, isolation and betrayal in Isabella's marriage. But we don't see these things. They have taken place in the past. That's a pretty big gamble for an author to take when writing a novel. The story picks up in the aftermath of these traumatic events, and we are witnesses to Mac attempting to win back his wife. In fact, I think Jennifer Ashley took a huge leap of faith writing this book. We don't get to see the fights, the anger, the hopelessness as the marriage crashes and burns. We get tiny glimpses of things that reflect their history....a cradle symbolic of a lost child, a letter from an estranged sister, failed paintings as an artist struggles to regain his talent.

This book is a love story, pure and simple. Yes, the plot involving the doppelganger "Mac" is interesting and keeps the story moving along, but the true star of the show is the relationship between Isabella and Mac, and how two estranged lovers find their way back to each other. It is a timeless theme, which could be found in a contemporary novel just as easily as an historical. There is an incredible sweetness to this story. Ashley, as usual, has incorporated very lusty scenes into an emotional storyline. The HEA is magnificent and utterly satisfying, just as it should be.

This is why I read romance novels. The book isn't perfect. I wish there had been more interaction with the brothers, the motivation behind Mac's raging alcoholism was never adequately explained, the motivation behind the villain's actions was never adequately explained, and Mac's "baring his soul" at the end of the book didn't make a lot of sense to me. But frankly, I don't give a damn. I loved the book, I loved the characters, and I love romance novels that celebrate the purity of love like this.

Jennifer Ashley is a hugely talented writer, and her magic is totally apparent in this book. I am really looking forward to her tackling the rest of the family. Mackenzie Brothers Forever!

Grade: A-

Happy Reading,

Penelope

Review of A Christmas Ball by Jennifer Ashley, Emily Bryan and Alissa Johnson

A Christmas Ball by Jennifer Ashley, Emily Bryan, and Alissa Johnson

Right off the bat, let me just say....I have a thing about Christmas romantic fiction. As soon as the weather cools and the apples are ripe for picking, I rush to the nearest bookstore (or my handy Amazon website) to check out all of the new Christmas romance novels. I love long ones. I love short ones. I love paranormal, historical, contemporary, etc. etc. I LOVE Christmas anthologies. Among my favorites are Mary Balogh's Under the Mistletoe (I adore the story A Family Christmas) and Christine Feehan's Dark Celebration. In fact, I love Christmas romantic fiction so much, that I decided to write one myself, and it's being released December 2 (Sweet Inspiration). 

So, I was super excited to see that two of my favorite authors, Emily Bryan and Jennifer Ashley, were part of a Christmas anthology coming out in 2009. Yippee! And I was lucky enough to get ahold of an advanced copy for review. I did something with this book that I have not done in a long time. I read it totally fresh, without reading any blurbs, reviews, etc. I had no idea what the story was about. There is something wonderful about diving in with no preconceptions whatsoever. 

I started out with Emily Bryan's My Lady Below Stairs. I got hooked on this story immediately and was extremely curious about how it would play out. I really did not know if Jane and Ian would end up together. Would Lord Eddleton be cool or an ass? Maybe he was her true love? 

The best thing about this story is all of the unexpected surprises. Giovanni, the impassioned artist, is not who he seems. Sybil, the spoiled daughter, is not as shallow as we think. Ian, the head groom, is more clever, determined and madly in love than we could imagine. Bryan weaves a multitude of threads together in this story, and as the threads come together, you know that you're in for a wonderful surprise. I LOVE stories that weave together a bunch of different POVs. Usually, you can figure out what's about to happen far in advance. But Emily Bryan really surprised me at the end with all of the revelations about the characters. I adored the final scene in the library, written with all of the wit and humor that is characteristic of this author. It borders on a historical farce, which is one of my favorite things!

It is extremely difficult to write a novella. Some authors are able to "capture the magic" with 50,000 words or less, and some aren't. (Stephanie Laurens crashed and burned with one of her novellas--badly. Emma Holly wrote a brilliant novella in the anthology Hot Blooded, called The Night Owl, which is one of my favorite stories of all time!). Bryan totally nails it. This story has all the things I love about her longer historicals...it's beautifully written, has lusty love scenes, wonderful humor, and a very satisfying ending. 

This story is truly like an unexpected Christmas gift...I opened the package having no expectations, and I found a real treasure. Thank you, Emily, for this sweet Christmas story.

Next up was Jennifer Ashley's The Longest Night. Before I go any further, let me just say that I thought The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie was brilliant. Brilliant! It totally blew me out of the water. So, I had very high expectations about this story. Unfortunately, Ashley did something that really irritates me with novellas. She obviously was writing about characters introduced in another book. I have not read her other works, but I have heard great things about them. However, when I read an anthology, I want them to be stand-alone stories. There was clearly a large history going on with the families involved, and as a newcomer to this paranormal historical world, I was feeling a bit out to sea. Having said that, I still enjoyed The Longest Night, and was quite intrigued about the "logosh" concept--a demon/shapeshifter? Valentin is a great hero, with a lot of potential. I would like to see him in a longer novel.

There were several other concerns about this story. One, the introduction of the paranormal aspect was rather jarring. I assumed that this story was also a regular historical, and the fact that there was a shape-shifter involved was totally unexpected. (Typically, anthologies have all of the novellas within the same sub-genre...historical, paranormal, etc. The fact that 2 of these stories are straight up historicals, and one is a paranormal historical, is a bit strange. But I digress.) Also, there is a disturbing background story about Valentin's sister that really bothered me. Christmas stories should be light-hearted, sweet, and well, Christmas-y. I don't want to hear about someone being brutalized. My take on Ashley's story is this...as a stand-alone Christmas-y novella, it fails. If she is trying to get new readers to try her other books, then it works. I was sufficiently intrigued about the logosh legend and the country of "Nvengaria" to check out her other titles.

After reading this story, it became apparent that the Christmas angle for this anthology is that the characters are attending the same ball. As far as gimmicks go, it's a cute idea. But I was expecting some overlap with the characters. More of a Christmas "theme" going on. Ashley's book mostly takes place at another location, and the ball seems pretty unnecessary. Both Bryan's and Ashley's novellas could have been set in the summertime at a ball, and it wouldn't have made much of a difference. 

Finally, I read the last story, Traditions by Alissa Johnson, a totally new author to me. Oh my goodness! Utterly delicious!! As delicious as a Buche de Noel. As delicious as creamy cup of hot chocolate. As delicious as a platter of rich, chewy gingerbread men. I adored this final story of A Christmas Ball! Johnson focuses on what is most important...the characters. They are wonderfully real and fully formed within this short novel, which is a very difficult thing to do. I love anal retentive heroes (like my own Nicholas in Sweet Inspiration!) who learn a life lesson about enjoying the spontaneity of life. I adore heroines with glasses with a few hidden quirks (like stuffing an entire piece of cake into her mouth! awesome!). Patience and William are an adorable couple, and this story really captures the essence of what a Christmas romance should be. The importance of family is a wonderful and touching Christmas theme, and Johnson does a marvelous job weaving a magical, sweet and satisfying tale with Traditions. Bravo!

I am very excited to be hosting Emily Bryan for an interview on Wednesday, Sept. 30. Please stop by and leave a comment for Emily, and you might win one of her back titles! (what a nice xmas gift!). 

Overall Grade: A- 

Happy Happy Holidays,

Penelope

Review of The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley

The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley

She had me at the first page. I LOVE Ian Mackenzie (that would make a really good bumper sticker!). How amazing is an author who has the cojones to write a hero with asperger syndrome, and make him a fascinating, sexy and heroic character? Pretty damned amazing. I inhaled this book from start to finish...Ian Mackenzie and his fabulous brothers are the most unique, outside-of-the-box characters I have ever read in a historical romance novel. With all sorts of fantastic flaws which have already made this family totally addictive. I cannot wait to read the next one of this series -- Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage will be released sometime in mid-2010. (Also, a holiday anthology, A Christmas Ball, with Jennifer Ashley, Emily Bryan--another one of my favorite historical authors-- et al, will be released in October of 2009. Yippee!!)

Ian Mackenzie suffers from mental illness and was committed to an asylum by his father after witnessing a murder. Doesn't sound so sexy, does it? Well, I am here to tell you that this book is very sexy, and Ian is the coolest hero I have read in a very long time. Ashley is a brilliant writer...all of Ian's quirks and eccentricities paint an amazing portrait of this man. His blunt dialogue, all-absorbing interest in Beth, intense sexuality and single-minded determination to marry this woman make him one hot tamale. 

The mystery is engaging, and the sex is off the charts hot! (I really love historicals that are very, very wicked!). My only criticism of this book is that sudden POV changes within a scene were at times confusing and popped me out of the narrative. 

As I have said before, what really makes a romance novel "sing" for me is the characters. And the characters in this book are unforgettable. After reading a somewhat disappointing mystery novel this week, this fantastic book perked me right up! I cannot recommend this book highly enough, especially for those of you looking for something a bit outside of the regular historical romance formula. I loveitloveitloveitloveitloveit....hee hee...you have to read this book to get that joke! Happy July to all! Grade: A

Looking forward to a jubilant Independence Day celebration, 

Penelope