A Kingdom of Dreams

 

A Kingdom of Dreams is a  delightful romance with a great female lead (I think they are the writer's strongest point). Of course it is a historical romance and I needed to tolerate some minor things but all in all, I highly recommend. Laughter is not first reaction to fiction (I'm a crier) but this novel made laugh out loud more than once in the beginning.

Goddess of The Hunt

Goddess of The Hunt  ok, I should not have liked this novel. It is normally a type I stay away from (the conflict does not make sense, the start of the romance does not make sense, the traumas of the hero do not make sense) but I liked it very much. I like the humour, the heroine and there is something in Ms. Dare's writing that makes me like the characters very much and root for them. So I guess this will depend on whether that "something" will appeal to you or not. If so then you are in for a good time. 

The intimate scenes were ok but kind of repetitive. 

Gentle Rouge

Gentle Rouge started really well and entertaining but GOD it was LONG. It dragged on and on and on.

Saving Grace

Saving Grace I chose because it was part of a buy one get one free deal. I didn't read it properly and thought it was a Judith McNaught novel. Well it was not but I like Highland romances and this was a decent one with feminist undertones. The weird thing was to listen the intimate scenes. I don't think I enjoyed that. Reading them is great but listening to them felt a bit uncomfortable at times. All in all I'm glad I got it for free and it was the perfect antidote to Perdido Street Station disaster (not the novel, my reaction to it) 

Temptation

Temptation ended up being entertaining with a heavy feminist message. No visual for this since I left it on the plane without taking a photo. 

Kiss Me Annabel

Kiss Me Annabel was not really to my taste. I didn't like either of the leads and couldn't understand the conflict (she is in love with him and he her but she thinks he is confusing lust with love) and all in all this ended up being boring.

The India Fan

The India Fan is I think the first time I'm introduced to Victoria Holt and nom de plume for a very prolific writer. I like it very much because maybe the heroine is smart, intelligent, sensible but ready for new experiences and adventure. She suffers some but the journey of her finding love was interesting to me. And she is not the heroine where she is very pretty but for some reason not so by a lot of people in the novel. She is not pretty at all, in fact plain looking but the writer stresses the point that beauty is only skin deep and one should not depend only on it in life. In fact an extremely beautiful but shallow character has a terrible end. Anyway I liked it a lot and happy that I chose it at the second hand book fair despite the bad condition (it kept on disintegrating as I'm reading it) 

A Lady's Secret

A Lady's Secret is a welcome surprise. For some reason and despite the lack of intimate scenes (there were only two of sorts and neither were descriptive), I loved this book.

Spoiler

I realised when I was immensely relieved that Petra's father accepted her whole heartedly without any hesitation. I must have been holding my breath :)

Highly recommended. 

Whitney, My Love

Whitney, My Love is just as good as the other two novels of Ms. McNaught I have read. Yes it is rather long and intimate scenes are kind of unintentionaly funny but the storytelling is so good that I didn't care. I liked Whitney and wanted her to be happy. Highly recommended.

The Bachelor List

The Bachelor List was a nice surprise. The heroine(s) all independent and hard working, the hero a bit obtuse in some things but kind hearted where it counts. I'll look forward from this author, despite the lack lustre intimate scenes. 

More Than A Mistress

More Than A Mistress well I like Mary Balogh's "Slightly" series (I have read three of them) and even though this book is not as good, at least it was entertaining despite the lack of intimate scenes, I mean they are there but described in such a manner that it is impossible for them to get erotic. All in all  it was not a waste but not as good as Slightly Married. 

It Happened One Autumn

It Happened One Autumn  OK Ms. Kleypas, I surrender. At first I didn't like you that much but now your novels really work for me. And I love it when that happens. I suddenly started to like Scarlett Johanson and now don't mind films starring Christian Bale. And Lisa Kleypas won my heart slowly with her wallflowers series. I have read Summer, Winter and now Autumn and looking forward to spring. I like her smart heroines and flawed heros although the hero of this novel is just to my taste. A man who is cold and logical towards everyone but melts towards the heroine. I just love it that the hero, though cold and logical, is not cruel or mean and redeemed by the heroine. It is like that Mary Balough novel with the Duke. Anyway there were salutes to Pride and Prejudice too. All in all I'm very happy with this one. 

A Dream From The Night

A Dream From The Night is a generic Barbara Cartland novel that gives you what you'll think you'll get. I like the grand mama of the romance writers and like her novels with sensible, level headed heroines. This one is short but sweet. 

The Velvet Promise

The Velvet Promise brought new things. The setting was middle ages, the hero first slaps and then rapes the heroine (but is a good and decent guy - ha ha), there a various types of villains the chief one being a female who is obsessed with the hero, the book is one misunderstanding another and despite the fact that I was not bored, I'll admit to smirking at various places. The writer loves to describe the clothing attire of the individuals and gave happy endings to everyone but the main villain (who went crazy and then burned her pretty face with hot oil -that she prepared to destroy our heroine's pretty face).

This one was not my thing.

Tender Rebel

Tender Rebel came to me just as I was wondering why there was not any Scottish women falling for English men. Yes ladies and gentlemen, in this one we have a Scottish woman who falls for an English man. The lady is extremely beautiful, smart and resourceful and the gentleman is extremely strong, an excellent boxer and an incurable rake. So why didn't I really enjoy it as much as I should have. I blame the romance novel fatigue. This was fourth in a row and by then I was midly sick of them. 

Lord of Ice

Lord of Ice is one of the romance novels I purchased from an on line second hand store for Ramadan. One tends to get distracted and will not really focus.

Anyway this one appealed to me better than the other two I have read. I liked the dynamics and the leads and their chemistry. The villain was suitably despicable and side characters were nice. 

The Marriage Contract

The Marriage Contract is yet another highland romance novel. This time our highland hero is half English and our heroine is married to him by proxy. Of course once she got used to his barbarian ways (wearing kilts and blue paint etc.) they fall for another and live happily ever after. This one was not to my taste. I didn't feel for the couple, the intimate scenes were very limited and completely chaste and there was not much of a prose to make me get over that.