February 8th, 2010 — 3.5 Stars, Book Review, Comedy of Manners, Counts, Marquis, Viscounts, Friends, Georgette Heyer, Great Britain, Regency, Runaway, Spinster, Virgin Heroine
Charity Girl by Georgette Heyer is one scrumptious romp of trouble after the next. It all begins when Miss Charity Steane was found wandering the hillside, luggage in one hand and very sore feet. She is picked up by Viscount Ashley Desford and whisked away in his curricle as blasé as anything you please. He knows he can’t convince her to return to her miserably wretched aunt and so must take it upon himself to see that she is taken care of.
Cherry (Charity) is of course pleased beyond measure that he is not putting her through a lecture and more than willing enough to carry her the rest of the way to London. She has high hopes of running down her grandfather and begging him to take her up. Even if she has to resort to another menial position like the one she held at her aunt’s inside his home.
But the pickle of it becomes when Cherry and Desford find out that her grandfather is not in town. The neighbors do not know his direction, and the sole man inside the home refuses to speak about his master. Desford immediately sets about getting Cherry off his hands and into some more respectable ones. He doesn’t want to damage her reputation and as a single bachelor he can’t feasible continue to keep her in his care. So he settles her at Lady and Miss Silverdale’s home.
Miss Henrietta Silverdale and Desford were once a long time ago thought by their fathers to be an excellent match. They of course both knew better. Now Henrietta is entertaining new suitors and Desford seems to have his eye on Cherry. He is certainly gong well above and beyond the call of duty to locate her grandfather and find her a respectable situation.
What will happen when Desford confronts her grandfather with the charge of his granddaughter? Will Cherry remain in the good graces of Lady Silverdale? Will Henrietta’s brother, Charles, whisk Cherry off to call his own? What will Henrietta’s suitor think of the whole affair? Full of messes as well as larks, Charity Girl will have you alternately tutting like an old hen and giggling like a schoolgirl over all the crazy shenanigans.
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Buy: Charity Girl
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Originally posted 2008-12-05 09:04:24. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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August 15th, 2009 — About, Alien, Demon, Dragon, Fey / Fae, Ghost, Lycanthrope, Magic Users, Merman/Mermaid, Necromancer, Paranormal, Succubus, Super Hero, Supernatural, Vampire, Werewolf
This post is in response to a little nugget that I read in Heather’s article at the Galaxy Express entitled Does Science Fiction Romance Need More Alpha Heroes? The specific section that caught my eye was this:
In response to the My Paranormal Malaise post at Dear Author, Lisa Paitz Spindler asked:
"Why is it the paranormal character is so often the hero and not the heroine?"
Yeah, what's up with that?
I can tell you exactly what is up with that as I am a fan of paranormal romance and fiction. So here it goes… six reasons why the paranormal character is always the hero!
- We like our heroes mysterious. What is more mysterious than a mythological creature, be he vampire or lycanthrope or other?
- Strong powerful hero + average heroine = swoon. When an extraordinary specimen of the male gender sits up and takes notice of a rather ordinary female it is easier to place ourselves in the heroine’s shoes. That’s not because we think of ourselves as unworthy, this formula just makes it more accessible for readers. This scenario also tends to fill the tenderness and protectiveness side of the fantasy.
- Strong powerful hero + kickass heroine = hell yeah. When number two’s formula just doesn’t cut it there are the novels about strong heroes and stronger heroines. In this scenario the reader and heroine tend to dominate over the situation. The hero must work around the heroine to get in her good graces and who hasn’t imagine upon at least one occasion a strong sexy male groveling at your feet?
- Angel, Spike, Jean-Claude, Asher, Edward Cullen, Jasper Cullen, Eric Northman, and Bill Compton. Do I really need to go on with this point? I think this pretty much brings it home. Otherworldly men are downright sexy! Especially vampires!
- The desires of the paranormal fit better on a hero. The act of drinking blood is considered highly sexual in vampire romances. It’s become part of the erotic fantasy. Sometimes the heroine likes to pretend to be helpless and the hero’s act of feeding gives her a thrilling rush. Besides, I think I pretty much covered how icky it can be to read a heroine drinking blood.
- Redemption always looks better on a man. Many paranormal stories involve the preternatural lead repenting his past acts dictated by his nature, circumstances, and misinformed beliefs due to change. This makes him now a brooding hero and occasionally puts the heroine in the middle of the path toward his salvation or as his savior.
So there you go—six reasons paranormal stories always feature preternatural heroes.
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August 10th, 2009 — 2.5 Stars, 3 Stars, Book Review, Gentry, Great Britain, Jane Austen, P-R, Regency, Virgin Heroine, Working with Land
I love the title of this book. It rolls off the tongue because of the alliteration and reminds me of Sense & Sensibility
by Jane Austen.
This Austen variation however is not about the lovely Misses Dashwoods, it is about Mr. Darcy and Miss Bennet from Pride and Prejudice.
As is the tradition of Reynold’s Pemberley Variations, Impulse and Initiative is seeded from one major difference between Austen’s original and this new telling. For Impulse and Initiative this difference is Mr. Darcy and his decision not to take Elizabeth’s rejection lying down.
He reveals early to Charles Bingley his mistakes regarding Jane Bennet and together they head off to Hertfordshire to win back the affections of their respective Misses Bennets. As is expected, Charles lands immediately back into the good graces of the Bennet family.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth battles her feelings throughout Darcy’s renewed and more obvious courtship. She constantly wavers between falling in love with him and worrying that she’s allowing his attentions for all the wrong reasons: gratitude, pleasure in being desired, and the vanity of winning such a man do not make for a good relationship (to which I agree with completely).
I confess her constant waffling during the first half of the novel grated on my nerves. Abigail Reynolds carefully brings the two together ensuring its relative believability, though I and my grinding teeth would have preferred one or two or ten different tactics throughout the course of the telling.
Truly I must be a glutton for agony because frankly I missed the pain of their separation and surety that both were lost to the other. It was another something that I&I lacked in my opinion. Of course they argued and had mini ‘Big Misunderstandings’ and fretted about and over each but it wasn’t the same.
I end with saying that I closed the book fairly satisfied despite my misgivings and that I&I filled my Jane Austen craving.
Rating: 2.5-3 Stars
Buy: Impulse & Initiative
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