Review: The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook

Book Title/Author: The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook
Publisher/Year Published: October 2010 by Berkley Trade
Where I got it: Borders Blowout
Rating: 4/5 stars
Challenges: Reading Romances May Challenge: SciFi; TBR Pile Challenge
Summary:

After the Iron Duke freed England from Horde control, he instantly became a national hero. Now Rhys Trahaearn has built a merchant empire on the power-and fear-of his name. And when a dead body is dropped from an airship onto his doorstep, bringing Detective Inspector Mina Wentworth into his dangerous world, he intends to make her his next possession.

But when Mina uncovers the victim's identity, she stumbles upon a conspiracy that threatens the lives of everyone in England. To save them, Mina and Rhys must race across zombie-infested wastelands and treacherous oceans-and Mina discovers the danger is not only to her countrymen, as she finds herself tempted to give up everything to the Iron Duke.

I've been hearing rumblings about The Iron Duke around the internet for quite a while, especially when talking about steampunk books. I don't know what put me off reading it. Maybe there were a bit of mixed messages, but forever reason I didn't read it. I ended up reading it now because I randomly picked it up at one of Border's going out of business sales because I vaguely remembered good things. Well now I have an option. And overall that one is good.

The Story:
I don't even know how to start explaining the story. There is just so much intricacy built in with the way Brook constructed the book. The world-building was excellent. It really felt like the past mixed in with the alternate reality future. At first I was a little put off and confused by the terminology but she doesn't deluge you with facts and slowly awakens your knowledge of the world she has created. I was soon up on the lingo and the world.

The basic plot is there an inspector, Mina, who get's called out on a case at the Iron Duke's house. He is sort of a celebrity in London due to him freeing them from their former occupiers, the Horde. As the investigation grows into something bigger either thought, they are pushed together more often than not and drawn to each other.

I don't want to give too much away, but this story is WAY more than just a who done it. It turns into some crazy shiz. And yes, that is the technical term.

The plot was no too hard to follow, but some scenes I thought were a bit rushed or non-existent. Like one in particular time, she built us up for a sea battle and we saw very little of it. Boo. The ending was okay I guess. I can't put my finger on why it felt off for me (and I mean like the VERY ending).

The Characters:
This was by far my favorite part of this book. The leads were wicked dimentional. The secondaries were as well and I really hope to see more of them again with their own book.

Mina, the inspector, has some interesting issue to deal with and I thought they were handled well. I didn;t think they were too glossed over and instead took a bit to be worked out. Rhys, the Duke, though could be a hit or miss for people. Early on he seems like the biggest alphole to ever walk the pages of my brain, but slowly you see him grow and change. His growth and change however does not make him lose his alpha characteristics. That's why he could be hit or miss. Within the context of this book and because of this character growth, he was a hit for me. Well, I warmed up to him.

It's gotta be mentioned. Scarsdale made me laugh out loud at least once a time he was on the page. Between him and Lady Corsair they were probably the most well rounded secondary characters I have seen in a romance novel for a while.

The Romance:
This is a paranormal romance novel and thus there are a number of romantic-centric scenes. But I hesitate to say that is how I would define it. It is very much a well done interweaving of romance and paranormal. It's easy to get lost in either side.

There are some difficult romantic elements in this book dealing with the way sexuality was expressed during the Horde rule. They are not comfortable scenes. Were they necessary in the context of the book? I think so. I really do. It made the world more real to me.

Also, the sexy times are frequent, hot and like I mentioned sometimes tied to some heavy emotional moments that could be triggers for some of us, so if you are not into that, this may not be for you.

The Execution:
Overall I enjoyed it but my biggest qualm lay here. Some of the scenes, especially ones with lots of action seemed unbelievably confusing to me. I literally read a page 3 times very slowly to try and get what just happened and I still had trouble. The times I had to do this were not overwhelmingly high, but enough to bother me.

What did bother me though is there are two admirals each with a B name and one is a good guy and one is a not-so good guy (?) and I still get them confused. We didn't see them enough for me to remember the name and who was what. I wish that one of the other letters of the alphabet were used so I wasn't like "Wait, isn't he dead?"

The Overview:
Overall, I sure as hell enjoyed it enough to survive this hectic work week with only on average 5 hrs of sleep. That may even be a max of five hours each night. All because I wanted to go back into this world and be with these people. I am really excited to continue this series.

Review: Like No Other Lover by Julie Anne Long

Book Title/Author: Like No Other Lover by Julie Anne Long
Publisher/Year Published: October 2008 by Avon
Where I got it: The library
Rating: 4/5 stars
Challenges: Reading Romances April Challenge: Borrowed Books

Summary:via Goodreads

It's the last chance for Cynthia Brightly, the ton's most bewitching belle. Driven out of London by a secret scandal, she must find a grand husband at the Redmonds' house party before word of her downfall spreads all over England. Unfortunately, someone at Pennyroyal Green is already privy to the whispers of broken engagements and dueling lovers: Miles Redmond, renowned explorer and—thanks to his brother's disappearance—heir to the family's enormous fortune.

Miles set his sights on Cynthia once, at a time when the ambitious beauty thought herself too good for a second son. But now he's heir apparent, relishing his control. He strikes a bargain with her: he'll keep Cynthia's steamy secrets and help her find a husband among the guests—in exchange for a single kiss.

What could be the harm in a simple kiss? Cynthia is about to discover that it's enough to unleash fierce passion—and that Miles Redmond is most certainly like no other lover in the world.

It's time to review another romance novel! This one is the second in the Pennyroyal Green series, the first of which was The Perils of Pleasure, which I liked well enough. This one however was quite good.

Like No Other Lover reminded me of the early Bridgerton novels by Julia Quinn: sweet scenes, hilarious scenes, and great characters. The plot, let's be honest here, is one that has been done before. Impoverished beauty needs to find a husband so she doesn't end up on the streets, thus she has to do it quickly. Enter house-party romance time.

Miles' family through the house party and she shows up. He of course knows (somewhat) of her plight and tries to help her find a man, all the while falling for her himself.

So let's clearly the plot is not what sets this book apart. It's the characters. I loved the leads. I thought they had the best chemistry I've read in a while. While both are mainly a romance novel stereotype, Miles the studious man in the glasses who people overlook and Cynthia the impoverished beauty, they have enough depth and dimension that this doesn't define them.

And not only the leads are well rounded, the secondary characters carry themselves as well. I hope we see more of those guys pop up in later books (there are six so far I believe). Without these characters, this novel really would have fallen flat.

This is a good stand alone, as well. One thing I have seen about this series is you really don't have to read it in any order (unless you are anal like me and HAVE to). This would be a good book for someone looking to read a "desperate times call for desperate measures" house party story.

As I mentioned earlier, some scenes really reminded me of Julia Quinn in their hilarity. The drinking game is one that stands out for me. There were quite a few times that I would laugh out loud in a crowded airplane. And to make people look at me like I am that crazy person, clearly this must have been good.

There was one thing that I couldn't get over though, and this has no fault with the actual story. The covers, particularly the back cover, is holy cow embarrassing. Remember how I said I was reading this on an airplane, well I didn't realize the horrid nature of the back cover until I saw down in the boarding area.

Here it is. The flash location is a happy coincidence.

So overall summary: Great book, wonderful characters, good chemistry, get it as an eBook :)

Review: Unveiled by Courtney Milan

Book Title/Author: Unveiled by Courtney Milan
Publisher/Year Published: Feb 2011 by Harlequin Books
Where I got it: The library's eBook collection
Rating: 3/5 stars
Challenges:Reading Romances Challenge - February Entry for "embracing couple cover"

Summary:via Goodreads

Ash Turner has waited a lifetime to seek revenge on the man who ruined his family--and now the time for justice has arrived. At Parford Manor, he intends to take his place as the rightful heir to the dukedom and settle an old score with the current duke once and for all. But instead he finds himself drawn to a tempting beauty who has the power to undo all his dreams of vengeance....

Lady Margaret knows she should despise the man who's stolen her fortune and her father's legacy--the man she's been ordered to spy on in the guise of a nurse. Yet the more she learns about the new duke, the less she can resist his smoldering appeal. Soon Margaret and Ash find themselves torn between old loyalties--and the tantalizing promise of passion....

Margaret is hiding out as a non-convincing nurse while trying to spy on the potential new heir, Ash. Ash knows from the start he is going to hit that. Margaret does a great job of saying "No" and Ash is okay with taking it slow.

The premise is really interesting to me. Brothers bastardized by their fathers deception by the cast-away distant relative. Distant relative and bastardized sister start to fall in love. Sister is torn between loyalties.

While the romance itself was pretty interesting, I really wanted to know how they were going to resolve this issue. So I guess a good plot line too me a little out of the romance.

But Ash and Margaret are very well rounded characters. Each has flaws, but not overwhelmingly so. Each has positives, but they aren't shoved down our throats. I extrememly liked, going back to that plot thing, that the main obstacle was not them falling in love. It was overcoming betrayal.

But, this book is a conundrum to me. I can't find anything about it that I particularly disliked, but I can't find anything about it that sent me over the moon. I think that it is the epitimy of a "just good" book. It wouldn't be the first I'd recommend, but I would recommend it.

It was solidly fine. I am definitely continuing on with this series.

Review: Heiress Without A Cause by Sara Ramsey

Book Title/Author:Heiress Without A Cause by Sara Ramsey
Publisher/Year Published: January 2012 by Spencerhill Associates Ltd
Where I got it: NetGalley in trade for an honest review
Rating: 3/5 stars
Challenges: Reading Romance January Challenge

Summary:via Goodreads

One title to change his life…

A disgraced son with a dark reputation, William “Ferguson” Avenel is content to live in exile – until his father dies in the scandal of the Season. With rumors of insanity swirling around them, his sisters desperately need a chaperone. Ferguson thinks he’s found the most proper woman in England – and he won’t ruin her, even if he secretly desires the passionate woman trapped beneath a spinster’s cap.

One chance to break the rules…

Lady Madeleine Vaillant can’t face her blighted future without making one glorious memory for herself. In disguise, on a London stage, she finds all the adoration she never felt from the ton. But when she’s nearly recognized, she will do anything to hide her identity – even setting up her actress persona as Ferguson’s mistress. She’ll take the pleasure he offers, but Madeleine won’t lose her heart in the bargain.

One season to fall in love…

Every stolen kiss could lead to discovery, and Ferguson’s old enemies are determined to ruin them both. But as their dangerous passion ignites their hearts and threatens their futures, how can an heiress who dreams of freedom deny the duke who demands her love?

Browsing through NetGalley one day, I stumbled upon a very pretty cover (as you can see) and an equally intriguing summary. And the story I have to say lives up to that summary.

Madeline is a spinster almost ready to live her life alone, but not until she has one last hurrah. In her case, it is acting in a stage play of Hamlet. Ferguson is a misunderstood rake who desires nothing to do with being a duke and longs to return to Scotland. Both of the leads have strong and weak qualities to them, which is great in developing well rounded characters. I didn't love either of them, but I didn't hate them either, and I particularly enjoyed certain aspects of each. That is probably one of the more vauge statements that I have written. Let me see if I can extrapolate.

Let's take Madeline. She is courageous enough to step out of her shell and take a risk, but also overly cautious about love due to some issues from her past. At the same time, some of those issues almost come across as a bit petty. So that is why I don't really hate her, but I can't love her either.

I think what I enjoyed about them the most was their passion for each other. The romance/steamy scenes between the two of them was awesome. I really enjoyed all of that. True story, I had to turn the little overhead air fan on while reading on the airplane I was so flushed from reading the love scenes.

The story was particularly engaging and unique with the whole acting/mistress aspect. That is really where to story focuses. The weak parts have to come in the beginning. The first chapter was extremely hard for me to read because I kept getting confused. There was a serious backstory dump at the introduction of each new character, and since chapter one is where you meet most of the new characters, I was lost despite my slower reading speed. But once I sorted it all out getting into the story came easier. My next issue came at the end though. It seemed a bit anti-climactic and the happily ever after was just ... there. I didn't feel like too much conflict resolution had happened and it was all of a sudden okay. I don't know, this may be a little nit-picky.

Overall, I enjoyed it and that is what matters. I definitely enjoyed it enough to pick up the next one when it comes out. Who would I recommend this to? If you are historical romance reader looking for something that is different than the norm, check it out. Once your through the first chapter, its a good read :)

Reading Romances Challenge 2012

It looks like I have found another challenge that I think will be really fun. I already read so many romance novels as it is, so this will give me some guidance to the mess that is my "to-read-rom-nov" shelf on Goodreads.

Reading Romances is hosting this with a new challenge every month. I can't wait to get started!

I think with this challenge for my romance novels, the TBR Pile Challenge to expand my comfort zone, and the Goodreads challenge ticker looming at me in the corner, I have a good balance. This is doable!