Just Like Heaven

Title:  Just Like Heaven
Author: Julia Quinn
Ideal Age Range:  Young Adult and Up
Mass Market Paperback: 374 Pages
Copyright Date: 2011
Blurb:  Honoria Smythe-Smith is: 
A) a really bad violinist  
B) still miffed at being nicknamed "Bug"  
C)  NOT in love with her older brother's best friend  
D) all of the above
Marcus Holroyd is:
A) the Earl of Chatteris
B) regrettably prone to sprained ankles
C) NOT in love with his best friend's younger sister
D) all of the above
Together they:
A) eat quite a bit of chocolate cake
B) survive a deadly fever AND the world's worse musical performance
C) fall quite desperately in love
It's Julia Quinn at her best, so you KNOW the answer is...
D) all of the above
My Rating:  (★★)
☆«·´`·.¸★☆★¸.·´`·»☆


I really normally love Julia Quinn's books.  Seriously, she is my absolutely favorite romance novelist (with Eloisa James nipping at her lovely heels), but her latest book just didn't do it for me.  I eat her books up.  Gobble them, if you will, but Just Like Heaven left a little bit of a hollow place in me as if I had eaten a sugar-free brownie instead of a delicious to die for German Chocolate Double Fudge Brownie sprinkled in wonder and powdered sugar.
Desserts aside, I am on a diet after all, Just Like Heaven was missing the Julia Glue that holds her novels together in witty perfection like a puzzle made out of words that coaxes laughter out of oneself as they read them.  I wasn't in love with Marcus Holroyd, and there wasn't much of a depth to Honoria.  As sad as I am that I didn't really like Just Like Heaven, and I understand that the Honoria has been a character in her books for quite sometime, so it's not as if Ms. Quinn would be able to change her name, I couldn't help thinking almost every single time that I read her name that it rhymes with Gonorrhea.  Or diarrhea. 
Maybe it's because I have an 8 month old baby boy and I deal with poop on a daily basis?  Who knows?  I just felt like some of the story was a bit... unbelievable.  The fever, and dealing with that just.. got in the way of the romance, I think.  Plus, Marcus was shy.  There was many instances that I remember reading that he didn't know how to flirt with Honoria, how on earth did he know how to bed her then?  There is no hint that Marcus was experienced, but it was obvious (ahem) that he must've been.
Overall, disappointing, but I still love her!  Hopefully her next novel with wash the taste of Just Like Heaven out of my mouth.  (Sorry, Ms. Quinn, gotta be honest even with my favorite author.  :) )

Desperate Duchesses - Review

Title:  Desperate Duchesses
Author: Eloisa James
Ideal Age Range:  Adult
Mass Market Paperback: 384 Pages
Copyright Date: June 2007
Blurb:  "Welcome to a world of reckless sensuality and glittering sophistication...of dangerously handsome gentlemen and young ladies longing to gain a title...of games played for high stakes, including-on occasion-a lady's virtue.
A marquess's sheltered only daughter, Lady Roberta St. Giles falls in love with a man she glimpses across a crowded ballroom:  a duke, a game player of consummate skill, a notorious rakehell who shows no interest in marriage-until he lays eyes on Roberta.
Yet the Earl of Gryffyn knows too well that the price required to gain a coronet is often too high.  Damon Reeve, the earl, is determined to protect the exquisite Roberta from chasing after the wrong destiny.
Can Damon entice her into a high-stakes game of his own, even if his heart is likely to be lost in the venture?"
My Rating:  (★★★)
☆«·´`·.¸★☆★¸.·´`·»☆


That was the short form of my review, I apologize if the last few reviews have been inconsistent with their layout.  I'm still trying to find the exact right way to really get my points across.  This I think might be the best yet, because I can get the short form out of the way and you can get the idea of if I liked it or not by using the star rating system and the guide in the sidebar without having to read the blundering that is my prose.
If you are still reading, Thank You!  You are the best reader a blogger could ask for.  Now, to get down to business, the business of actually talking about the book (writing really, but you know what I mean, I am sure).
To put the matter lightly, and within a single sentence structure, I will endorse Desperate Duchesses by Eloisa James as such:  I found the novel to be sweepingly romantic and full of witty repartee, not to mention the steamy scenes between the sensual Damon and beautiful Roberta to be fulfilling love scenes put to paper.
In other words, I loved the character of Damon, and the relationship that forms between him and Roberta.  Although, I must say that I was kind of off put by the fact that most of the beginning of the book is spent focusing on Roberta's chaperone, Jemma and her intricate designs between the Duke Villiers and her husband, the Duke of Beaumont.  There was one thing that I don't feel was tied up at the end, and that was the issue of Harriet.  I don't write spoilers, so I won't delve too deep into this point, but I have a feeling that some of these other story points might be visited upon in the other books in this quaint series.  
And, I am a little late to the game for the Desperate Duchesses series, being that I started off with Ms. James' A Kiss At Midnight, followed by her rendition of Beauty and the Beast, When Beauty Tamed the Beast.  Considering the fact that I stayed up past midnight the last two nights to finish Desperate Duchesses when I love my sleep so much, now that I have a small infant, you should know that I really enjoyed reading it!  I borrowed Desperate Duchesses from my mother, whom collects many romance novels and other books, I'll have to pick up her other books in the series to see what happens!


 
    © demureconnoisseur

Lady Whistledown Strikes Back

I had great plans to write my review of the anthology Lady Whistledown Strikes Back, featuring short stories by Julia Quinn, Suzanne Enoch, Karen Hawkins and Mia Ryan this afternoon, forgetting that I wouldn't be able to see the nose on my face, let alone type anything legible on my laptop because of a trip to the eye doctor to get my vision tested.  Instead I spent the afternoon holding books at arm length trying to decipher whether or not I wanted to buy them at my local Half-Price Books.
And while I did make it home with some great clearance finds after rummaging the shelves at the back of the store, including 3 titles by my favorite author (Tamora Pierce- Daja's Book, Briar's Book and Sandry's Book, all in hardcover for $2.00/piece), I wasn't able to work on this review until later in the evening.  But now that I am, all may rejoice!
The blurb on the back reads thusly, "Who Stole Lady Neeley's Bracelet?  Was it the fortune hunter, the gambler, the servant, or the rogue?  All of London is abuzz with speculation, but it is clear that one of four couples is connected to the crime.
Lady Whistledown's Society Papers, May 1816
Julia Quinn enchants: A dashing fortune hunter is captivated by the Season's most desired debutante . . . and must prove he is out to steal the lady's heart, not her dowry.
Suzanne Enoch tantalizes: An innocent miss who has spent her life scrupulously avoiding scandal is suddenly—and secretly—courted by London's most notorious rogue.
Karen Hawkins seduces: A roving viscount comes home to rekindle the passionate fires of his marriage . . . only to discover that his beautiful, headstrong bride will not be so easily won.
Mia Ryan delights: A lovely, free-spirited servant is dazzled by the romantic attentions of a charming earl . . . sparking a scandalous affair that could ruin them both.


Julia Quinn
You'll hear it first from Lady Whistledown."


Julia Quinn's The First Kiss, was surprisingly disappointing to me, as someone who usually adores her writing, I am still at a loss as to what the real reason was the I didn't really enjoy her short in Lady Whistledown Strikes Back.  It might have been the characters, or the reason behind their instant chemistry but The First Kiss was too sweet (sex wise), in my opinion, leaving The First Kiss ranked last in the series of four stories.
I have never read a book by Mia Ryan, but if her other books are anything like The Last Temptation, I believe that I simply must pick up a few of her books to try out.  I laughed out loud while reading The Last Temptation more than a few times, as her witty dialogue and situations were simmering with comedy.  And while I read romance novels mostly for the "romance", the next best reason is comedy relief, and The Last Temptation has it in spades.  Which leaves Mia Ryan's story as my favorite story in Lady Whistledown Strikes Back.
Out of the stories, Suzanne Enoch's Best of Both Worlds won for most annoying parents of a character.  Too worried about being scandalized to even realize that they are smothering  the main character, Charlotte, their own daughter, they made me sick.  And Charlotte was too kind and loving to even really give them a "what for".  I believe that for the romance part of these stories, that Best of Both Worlds was my favorite in that respect, followed closely by the next story in the anthology, The Only One For Me by Karen Hawkins.  Both were scintillating and I was almost sad when I reached the end of the pages.


Suzanne Enoch, Julia Quinn, Mia Ryan and Karen Hawkins
Overall, it was a fun and great addition to the Bridgerton Series' volumes, and I would definitely recommend it, along with each of the individual author's work.






Title:  Lady Whistledown Strikes Back
Author:  Julia Quinn, Suzanne Enoch, Mia Ryan, Karen Hawkins
Ideal Age Range:  Adult
Mass Market Paperback:  400 pages
Copyright Date:  April 2004
My Rating:(★★★★)   
☆«·´`·.¸★☆★¸.·´`·»☆
My Rating System:
★ = didn’t like it
★★ = it was ok
★★★ = liked it
★★★★ = really liked it
★★★★★ = it was amazing
© demureconnoisseur/ Stacy Grey