I'm currently in the process of going through some of my book collection and seeing what I want to keep and what I want to get rid of. ALWAYS A TEMP came in a box of romance novels that a friend sent me a while ago and since I haven't actually read that many Harlequins, I'm always excited to give a new author a go and see if they click with me.
ALWAYS A TEMP is a contemporary romance set in a small Nevada mining town. The heroine, Callie, is forced to return to Wesley when her foster mother dies, thus requiring her to settle the estate and tidy up the property. She hasn't been in town since skipping out ten years ago, ditching her boyfriend at the time, Nathan, without even a goodbye.
Now Nathan works at a newspaper and has a leg injury from when he tried to go full investigative reporter. He takes a savage pleasure in denying Callie a job, forcing her to join with a temp agency instead. But the pleasure is bittersweet because he's still attracted to her despite himself and deep down, he craves closure he didn't get.
This is how you do a second chance romance. Idiots in love who broke up when they were too young to know what they had, and come together as full grown adults who are now emotionally equipped to discuss their trauma. The small town vibes were done super well, and the fact that everybody was in everybody else's business further cemented my conviction that I would absolutely lose my mind if I was forced to live in a town like this. I also liked how the author made Callie the one who couldn't admit, and how she did a lot of "annoying" things that were a result of unresolved childhood trauma. Even though what she experienced wasn't that bad, from a content warning perspective, it fucked her up in a believable way, and a lot of what she did and felt stemmed from that. It felt realistic.
In terms of spice, this is pretty low. There's one not-so-detailed sex scene with a couple more alluded to. Most of the focus of the book is on the emotional connection between them, and in the background of this is a series of arson-related crimes, small town politics, and sexual harassment. All of these subjects were handled well, and the end result was a really good romance with a surprising amount of depth. I'm definitely going to have to look for more books by this author. This was such a satisfying read.
This book broke my heart and then put it back together about fifty times over the course of my reading this book. LORD OF THE BEASTS is the sequel to THE FOREST LORD, and the hero of this book, Donal, is the son of the hero of the previous book. That doesn't always work, but here it's done magnificently. Donal is half-fae and has the ability to speak to animals. He's kind of like a faerie Dr. Dolittle, and indeed, tells people that he's a veterinarian.
When he meets the heroine, he saves her and her cousin from a rampaging elephant that's escaped from the zoo. Then she goes to his estate, which is basically a farm filled with animals, and realizes that he's also the guardian of the girl who almost robbed her loathsome fiance-to-be, Viscount Inglesham. And seeing his prowess with animals, she ends up having him come to her estate to examine the desolate animals in her menagerie, all of which have been rescued from poachers, in addition to offering a permanent home for his ward, Ivy.
I liked the first book in this series a lot, but it had some notable flaws: uneven pacing, an unbelievable villain, a wishy-washy hero, and a climax that felt a little too, well, pile-on. This book, by contrast, was EVERYTHING I wanted. Donal actually reminded me a lot of Julian Sinclair from DUKE OF SHADOWS: he's noble but so, so lonely, and feels like an outcast from society because of his mixed heritage. He's soft-spoken and soft-hearted, but man, you do not want to fuck with this man or anyone he cares about, because he will END you. That's the stuff of dreams, srsly.
And the heroine in this book, Cordelia Hardcastle, was wonderful. A lot of authors write heroines who are strong and independent, but I liked how Cordelia wouldn't let anyone in and was afraid to let herself feel dependent on anyone. She had such a sad backstory and I loved her so much. I also liked how some of her kindness was selfish, even though it was coming from a good place, and how the author talked about how sometimes we think we're doing good, even though we're really serving ourselves best. There was just so much nuance to her character and she was absolutely perfect for Donal.
There's so much I want to say about this book. Like, how Donal had a teenage ward who was crushing on him and it wasn't creepy at all (seriously the bar is on the floor at this point, but everything about their relationship was handled so deftly). Or how the love for animals in this book was just so wholesome and believable (although there are some animal deaths in here, and talks about animal cruelty). In terms of the environmental messages, there's an almost Ferngully feel to this book at times, but it's done so well that it doesn't feel heavy-handed at all. And sometimes secondary characters take up too much page-time but I loved Ivy and Tod's stories just as much as Donal's and Cordelia's.
Oh, and the VILLAINS. The villains in this book were so good. Especially since the author made them just human enough that you can sort of see where they're coming from (terrifying).
I could ramble on and on but I won't. Just know that this is now a Susan Krinard fan account and I'm probably going to be reading a whole bunch of her other books in the very near future.
Bluebeard is one of my favorite fairytales, so obviously when I found out that one of my favorite Harlequin authors wrote a retelling of my favorite fairytale, I was all over that like white on rice. Set in Italy, this is the story of Angelina and Benedetto. Angelina comes from a rich line of hotel moguls that is now very much down on their luck, mostly thanks to her father. Benedetto, on the other hand, can trace his family back to the fall of the Roman Empire, and is known as the Butcher of Castello Nero because of his sinister appearance and six missing wives.
Angelina's dad is more interested in money than he is for his daughters' safety, so he basically accepts a huge dowry in exchange for one of his three daughters. Petronella and Dorotea are both flighty and flirty and self-absorbed with superficial things, but Angelina is convent-raised and just wants to play piano. I think we know who Benedetto is gonna pick.
Anyway, they have a pretty spicy courtship for a Harlequin novel, and an even spicier wedding night. But then he gives her a key and is like this is the key to the door you must not open. And we all know what's going to happen. She's absolutely going to open that door.
This reminded me a lot of the author's other book, UNDONE BY THE BILLIONAIRE DUKE. It is cheekily anachronistic. In UNDONE, the heroine's first encounter with the hero is while he's on horseback. In this book, he lives in a freaking castle and they dine by candlelight. Not because he doesn't have power, the heroine deliberately points out, but just for the mood. This hero is so extra that his bed sheets are blood-red and have actual rubies sewn on them. He is SO dramatic and over the top that you just know he's gotta be a theater kid. Do we stan? I think we do.
I was 50% there for the spicy scenes I knew were forthcoming and 50% there because I wanted to find out what happened when the heroine opened the door. The reveal was... a little silly. But I wasn't mad. By making the hero so EXTRA, she left herself a lot of wiggle-room. Every time he did something that I would find ridiculous in another hero, I could just nod and be like, "Yeah, that's just a Benedetto thing. He's so extra." If you like gothic romances, you'll love this. When I reached out to this author to rave about her work, and how much I enjoyed the gothic undertones, she said something like how this was the one where she went completely over-the-top. She was not wrong, and I enjoyed it. Gothic overtones, and all.
Despite the ridiculous-sounding title, this book is great. Our players are Olivier and Bella, two people from two families that dislike each other because of the doomed liaison between his father and her grandmother. Because of it, Olivier is determined to get his sexy revenge on the family for the same and ruination they caused his own: banging. Also, he basically became rich just to spite her fam, so there's a little bit of The Great Gatsby about TAKEN FOR REVENGE, BEDDED FOR PLEASURE, too.
I liked a lot about this book. The author's writing style reminded me a lot of Caitlin Crews's because of the gothic elements and the multiple sex scenes. Normandy countryside and forbidden boathouse trysts? YAS. I liked that the heroine wasn't a virgin and had a truly traumatic relationship history that led to some psychological issues (including attempted suicide). When she talks about it, on her terms, it felt like it was handled very sympathetically, and it wasn't lingered on.
I also thought that the family history element was really well done and I could see why Olivier hated her family. I also loved that the heroine wasn't a virgin, and that neither the narrative nor the hero shamed her for it. The focus on art was also wonderful. Also, the sex scenes? *chef's kiss* He cuts up his back while having sex with her on the floor where some glass broke, because stopping would have hurt more than the glass.
That's determination.
That said, this wasn't a perfect book. The villain came out of nowhere and so did the OW drama. I also really wished that Bella's grandmother had gotten her own HEA. It kind of felt like she was left behind in the narrative just as soon as she wasn't useful to the plot anymore. There should have been more foreshadowing; I think this would have made the third-act drama feel less spontaneous, especially if it had been tied up with Genevieve getting together with her old flame. Also, the dated technology references (Blackberries) were hilarious, and so is the scene when the hero massages the heroine's lips on their museum date, like blppblppblpp, to make it look like she's wearing lipstick. I actually had to stop reading when I got to that part because I was giggling so hard.
Silliness and qualms aside, though, the banter game in TAKEN is on-point. If you like Millie Adams and Caitlin Crews, you'll love India Grey. I'm so glad I bought a ton of her books when they were on sale. If they are all like this one in terms of quality, I'm about to have a lot of fun, indeed.
Whoa. Was this the best thing I've ever read? No. But the story it told in under two hundred pages was *chef's kiss* brilliant. Finally, a contemporary enemies-to-lovers that actually sells the enmity and isn't just two petty under-caffeinated bitches whining about something trivial. Lexi gave testimony eleven years ago that sent the hero, Atlas, to jail. Now, freshly exonerated, he has come back to her and her family to seek his revenge. Which revolves, in a roundabout way, marriage. To her.
The sexual tension was great. The build-up was A+. The sex scenes were surprisingly kinky (I mean, for a Harlequin). I first got hooked on this author through her historical viking romance that had a master/slave relationship with semi-consensual sadomasochism and it was spicy. So you can imagine my surprise and delight when I found out that many of her other Harlequin offerings are rather loosely laced and feature about one or two more chili peppers than you can usually expect from this line.
What really made this book, though, was the back and forth between the h and the H. They both felt so betrayed and had tragic backstories that made them loath to trust one another. I thought that Lexi's worshipful childhood crush on the hero really shaped their relationship (in a good way), and I liked how even though the hero desperately wanted revenge, it didn't make him too cruel (I hate it when heroes are too mean to their ladies).
The only thing I would have changed is that the ending felt a little too anticlimactic. I was expecting a bigger showdown between the h/H and the villain. If he could have saved her, I felt like that would have really cemented himself as being the hero that Lexi always saw him as, as well as, you know, providing a redemption arc for his cruelty. But that didn't happen, and I was sad. Because this is a Harlequin and they do tend to be more bite-sized snacky than full course meal. Man, if this had been a full-length novel and just a little darker, it would have been a solid five-star. But this came really close.
This is a cheeky book that is entirely self-aware of its own ridiculousness which makes it feel almost like a loving homage and parody of gothic romances, which I actually love. What else to say about a book-- a modern-day book, mind-- where the governess heroine's first encounter with the billionaire duke is with him on horseback and at one point he's actually wearing a tophat for no good reason? Also, sexy library shenanigans and talk about ruin.
Oh, god, I burn, I pine, I perish.
Eleanor is basically a Jane Eyre stand-in. She's a virginal heroine at twenty-seven with no one in the world except for her slightly younger, social-climbing sister, Vivi. This job as ducal governess fell into her lap but doesn't come without strings: Hugo Govesmoor (that NAME) has a reputation for being an evil playboy who chews women up and spits them out like some sort of misogynistic woodchipper.
I will concede that parts of this book feel anachronistic. Especially the dialogue. I didn't mind that though because I felt like it was intentional, and even if it wasn't intentional, it fit the gothic vibe the author was trying to create. What I really liked about this book was the banter, the chemistry between the H and the h, the surprisingly graphic sex scenes, and the emotional depth to this book. The duke's backstory is surprisingly sad and empathetic. Poor man.
I do feel like there was insta-love and for a governess book there weren't that many governing scenes. The flow of time within this novel is also very hard to grasp and doesn't transition well, which can make it difficult to get a feel for how quickly things are progressing. I get that part of that is a limitation of how Harlequin romances are structured but it felt particularly noticeable here. Also, at one point the heroine tells the hero that she's asexual and he's like "no, you were just bored." And that didn't quite sit right with me. It felt like maybe the heroine was demisexual-- or just sheltered and confused? But that's quite a bomb to drop and not defuse, and it could be seen and construed as invalidating/erasure.
Overall, though, I liked this book a lot. I thought it was a fun and cheesy modern reinterpretation of a gothic novel and while I wouldn't stoop to call it a Jane Eyre retelling, it definitely had a lot of the vibes. The first thing I read from this author was a viking romance that was A+. So far, nothing I've read from her has quite matched that book in intensity but this had enough of what I loved about this author in it that I feel pretty sure that she's going to be a fave.
You know I think I might actually like Sara Craven more than I like Charlotte Lamb. She writes the sorts of heroes and stories that I totally would have written if I were around in the 70s and 80s. The WITCHING HOUR is set in Cornwall and deliciously gothic, set just around Halloween. The H and the h have a late-night encounter in the woods and after that he refers to her as little witch and Morgan Le Fay.
As it turns out, the H, Lyall, is a distant bastard cousin and the true heir of the house. Which means that Morgan, the heroine, is about to be disinherited from the house she loves so much. But Lyall has a thing for her and drops salacious hints that he might keep her around if he can sleep with her. Which is so hot but obviously super offensive to her principles (*wink*), so she says no even though she wants the D.
Most of the appeal in this book is the banter between the H and the h, the love square between Morgan and this other rich guy, Rob, and his bitchy sister Elaine, who's after Lyall. The gothic backdrop is also great and the Halloween setting makes this the PERFECT autumn read. There's even a costume party, and y'all know that I'm a sucker for those.
Was this a perfect read? No. Would I recommend this to most people? Probably not. I think a lot of contemporary readers would take issue with the age gap and Lyall's forcefulness. There's also no explicit sex on page. The H and h get pretty close but then are rudely interrupted at the last minute. (Really, SO RUDE.) That said, I'm definitely feeling the urge to pick up the rest of Sara Craven's backlist. So far, I've loved everything I've read by her, without exception.
THE SHADOWED HEART is an underrated historical classic set in Venice in the 1700s. It's also almost everything I want out of a romance, with echos of tension and danger that at times make it feel like a dark romance. The two main characters are Chiara, a half-Romani girl with noble lineage, and Luca, a noble son from a patrician family.
Chiara wants to kill Luca because she thinks he's the man who assaulted her sister at their camp in Padua. But the man who did that had an aura of evil (btw, the heroine is psychic) and was also a coward (the author makes a point of telling us that he screamed girlishly when she tried to stab him lol). This man reminds her of a predatory Lucifer and as much as she hates him, she's strangely attracted to him too, and that, I think we can all agree, is the absolute best kind of hate in a romance novel.
I loved the Venetian setting and how in-depth the author went into all the history and politics for such a short novel. There was also tons of intrigue and action, and even though I'm not usually into psychic characters in books, like, at all, the author made me not mind it. Although I did personally think it was cheesy and made a lot of things way too neat that otherwise would have been difficult to resolve or explain.
This book fell a little short with me with regards to the ending. I felt like Luca fell into TSTL territory, and since we were let to believe he was actually quite calculating and scheming, this felt extremely out of character for him. So did his huge blindspot regarding his psychopath brother who he knew was a psychopath because he personally had him jailed for SA-ing and murdering the woman he loved. I also liked his character more as the suave and dangerous playboy, and felt like he had become too nice by the end of the book (and I love a nice hero, and all, but that's not the Luca I married in my head!).
Overall, though, THE SHADOWED HEART was absolutely wonderful and I will be reading other books from this author for sure because I am in love with her ability to weave a metaphor.
So many of Charlotte Lamb's old books are out of print now, so I had to make an effort to hunt this one down, but it was SO worth it. Sophie has an administrative position at a business office, working for a creep boss. One day, she almost gets run down in the street by a fancy car: surprise, surprise, it's the Greek mother of the CEO, Madame Lefka. Madame is charmed by Sophie's straightforward nature and dry humor, and offers Sophie a new role-- as her secretary-- which Sophie accepts.
One of Sophie's duties is keeping the son, Alex, out of his mother's affairs. Alex is a control freak in all things and is constantly trying to horn in on his mother's finances. The last two secretaries apparently fell prey to his charms and Madame is sick of it. So is Sophie, and the best part of the book is seeing her act as a professional obstruction to Alex, and seeing him clearly not know how to deal with her. When he tries to make her jealous with another woman, she's just like thank you, next. Sophie is honestly one of the best Harlequin heroines I've ever encountered, past or present, and I seriously adored this woman.
This would have been a five star read except for a few things. I was fine with the dub-con but I didn't like that the hero slapped the heroine afterwards. I was also fine with the heroine being in love with another man, but I hated the grooming element of it-- something which the hero, surprisingly, points out. The heroine was eighteen when the OM made a move on her-- and he was MARRIED! To her cousin! Also, the cousin, Elaine, is AWFUL. She said and did the most horrible things and I kept waiting for something awful to happen to her, but nothing did. Usually these Harlequins feel like a perfect bit-sized tidbit of story but with this one, I found myself wishing it was a little longer just so it could tie up some of these loose ends. I also didn't like that the heroine loses her fire towards the end and kind of just becomes a sad, beaten down shadow of her former self. He needed to grovel, bad.
Apart from that, I really enjoyed this book. The banter in the beginning, the development of the side characters, the personality of Madame, and Sophie's quick wit and no-nonsense personality were all great, and I could even see the appeal of Alex (except for the slap and murder threats). SAVAGE SURRENDER is definitely one of the better old skool Harlequins I've read and I loved the Greek setting and the way the heroine was given agency and allowed to stick up for herself. Even though it wasn't perfect, it's a keeper. I think I might have to read more Charlotte Lamb now!
You know, I think I might have to write a formal apology to Harlequin. I've made so many jokes at their expense, talking about how the romances feel so bland and dialed-in. But after reading over ten of them this month, from the 70s all the way to the 2010s, I have come to the rather strikingly embarrassing conclusion that maybe I was just reading the wrong ones, because almost all of them have been pure brain candy. So I'm sorry, Harlequin. You keep doing you.
Speaking of doing you, this book-- THE DUKE'S FORBIDDEN WARD-- was so good. Between Millie Adams and Caitlin Crews, I'm amazed that the editing department of HQN isn't constantly ablaze, because these authors know how to do SPICE. And despite the silly-ish sounding title, this is such a richly emotional story. Eleanor is the ward of Hugh, a duke. Her father was a merchant so this sudden rise in station is a huge boon that allows possibilities for her that she never would have had otherwise. And she knows this and is grateful for it, but it's still not enough, because what she wants above all else is Hugh.
Hugh is the eldest son of a libertine. His whole childhood was spent watching his sickly younger sister be ignored by his father, who also just as eagerly ran around on his mother. Because of this, he has vowed to never be like his father and kept his kinkier side closely under wraps, beneath multiple sheets of icy restraint. But Eleanor tests this restraint. Because she is beautiful, yes, but also because she sees him in a way that nobody else really has: not for his money or his title, but as the lonely, caring man he is, who locks himself away because he can't stand to be loved by the people he loves in return.
This is no Fifty Shades of Grey but there is definitely some mild BDSM. The author fits it into the story really well, and the sex is part of the characters' emotional development for one another. Eleanor is quite feminist, but in a way that feels realistic. She knows a lot about sex because her father's mistress confided in her out of kindness. Being so perilously close to ruin makes it feel easier for her to ruin herself with Hugh. All of her behaviors made sense within the context of the story. I also liked how the OW drama resolved (very mild). It was bittersweet and satisfying, and I loved that. The peek at the other relationships in this book, established in books one and two, were super fun and made me desperate to read the rest of this trilogy (spoiler: I already bought book one).
Thanks so much Heather for recommending this book to me! This was a *chef's kiss* read and provided the perfect balance of sexiness and romance.
Did you know that there are retro stepbrother romances? With the vast proliferation of such offerings in today's market, this obviously piqued my interest. What were the stepbrother romances of yesterday like? Would they be any good? Sara Craven is a particularly famous retro romance author, too, often mentioned in the same breath as Charlotte Lamb. And since I've read and enjoyed some of the manga adaptations of Craven's old Harlequin Presents titles, I was excited to see her take on the keeping-it-in-the-family trope.
Lisa is a famous model known as the "Amber Girl." She's pretty successful and has quite the devoted following, but she never lets anyone get too close. All that changes when she receives a wedding invitation from her flighty stepsister, Julie, asking for her immediate return; an invitation followed up by a surprise and unwanted visit from her older stepbrother, Dane. Once she's back in the gloomy mansion, she's overtaken by memoirs of her childhood crush on Dane and how it culminated in a betrayal that she's never been able to forget. And as she's torn between the simmering embers of that old passion and the sharp wounds of regret, she also has to navigate the drama of Julie's nuptials.
So I was kind of surprised that this still feels like something that could have been published today. It follows the same formula: stepsister attracts emotionally constipated stepbrother, stepbrother can't deal, stepbrother takes advantage of stepsister in fit of passion, regret and angst. Dane is SUCH a jerk. I bought this book because there were a lot of reviews saying this book was dark-- and while it wasn't quite as bad as what I was expecting, he definitely rapes her and he's not all that contrite. What made this a really tough read for me was how the heroine was such a doormat. She takes all of the blame for Julie's bad behavior and never stands up for herself, and apparently she still loves Dane after all this time and has sort of-- I don't know-- put his abuse of her on a sort of pedestal???
I liked DARK SUMMER DAWN because it was well written and I thought Sara Craven did a really good job serving up the drama. I also liked that Lisa did have a few good moments, like confronting the creepy (and possibly incestuous) neighbors who have been letting Julie go to their bad-girl parties, and the scene where she tries to seduce Dane and he's hanging on by a mere thread. But I wish the author had given her more backbone and agency; I kept thinking of the Charlotte Lamb romance I read, SAVAGE SURRENDER, and how so much of what made that book fun for me was the sharp-tongued heroine who (mostly) gave as good as she got.
Anyone who is a fan of dark romances, and especially dark stepbrother romances, will probably enjoy this one, even if they're just in it for the angst and the drama. I'm probably going to keep this one but it would have been a five if the heroine had been allowed to stand up for herself or if I got more from the hero other than the charming sentiments that "sluts don't get to choose" (paraphrasing) or that the heroine has "the face of an angel and the soul of a whore." Yeeeeeeesh.
Did somebody say JANE EYRE retelling set in Brazil? Actually, no, you probably didn't-- but now that you know that it exists, I bet you want it, right? As you should. Look, Harlequin Presents novels can be pretty insipid. The heroes are brutish and patriarchal and the heroines demean themselves on the fragmented altars of their dignity. The plots are thinner than a communion wafer. And oh yes, the ethnic stereotypes.
But once in a while you find a book that actually ends up breaking the mold. Jaine Dare, the heroine of this book, is the niece of an aging theater actress. Her spoiled cousin is a socialite who enjoys stringing men along and her latest conquest is a Portuguese duque. However, when Larraine, the cousin, finds out that his primary goal of marriage is to find a surrogate mother for his young disabled son, she's like nah, bye.
The aunt decides that the bearer of bad news should be Jaine, because Jaine is so naive and pathetic that just by being herself, she tends to diffuse uncomfortable situations. Also she doesn't want to. So Jaine goes to the duque and returns the engagement jewelry and is awed and fearful of the duque's intense masculine prowess.
The duque ends up impressed with Jaine-- not because of how she looks but because she is so staid and straitlaced and also because she jumps in front of a car to save a child. He decides that she should be a governess to Tristao, his son, and offers to pay her more than her aunt paid her for being her secretary. The backdrop is the gorgeous Brazilian jungle and the duque's two intimidating properties: Casa de Rochas, an intimidating fortress, and Goldenhawk, a beautiful gothic mansion in the jungle.
I loved the hero. Pedro was everything I love in a vintage romance: enigmatic, dangerous, mysterious, but not abusive. He doesn't hit or rape the heroine and his animal passions come through in a very restrained and compelling way. He and Jaine also have several long discussions that really showed the intellectual chemistry between them, which I loved. The writing in here is so quotable and if this were an ebook I probably would have highlighted half of the passages in here, I was so impressed.
The only weird thing is that the author kept talking about Mayans in Brazil and I'm pretty sure there were no Mayans in Brazil. In fact, I'm sure there weren't because I just looked it up and Google said no.
Whatever, I'm not going to harp on it because (1) Jane Eyre and (2) Sir Pedro.
Mad props to my friend Meredith for pointing me towards this book. I actually don't normally read Harlequin novels, so when she said this book really dived deep into the emotional and sexual connections between the two leads, without shirking the broader historical contexts that framed their respective cultures, my ears pricked. Especially when she said that it contained some pretty intense BDSM scenes.
Really, Harlequin? I'm SHOCKED. SHOCKED, I say!
I read THE VIKING'S RUNAWAY CONCUBINE in less than twenty-four hours. Despite the cheesy cover, it is one of the most beautiful, angsty love stories I've read in a while. Eithne is an Irish woman who lived in Dublin before it was taken by vikings (I'm suspecting this is set in, like, 800 CE). To spare himself, her brother sold her as a slave, and she was picked up from the block by a man named Ulfric.
I pictured Ulfric as looking like Henry Cavill or Charlie Hunnam, but the dynamic between him and Eithne is a lot like the one between Khal Drogo and Daenerys. He's a big warrior dude with braids who was attracted to the tranquility of the girl he saw as much as he was by the defiant fire in his eyes. And rather than ill-use her, he gradually acclimated her to his preferred style of love-making, which involves ropes and canes and other things. The author really goes into the psychology of why he and Eithne do what they do and it was both fascinating and sensual.
But then Eithne slashes his face with a knife to get away, and when the story begins, Eithne is enjoying her waning days of freedom before Ulfric reclaims her as his captive once more. The story moves forward from there, with her being forced to confront her feelings about being attracted to a man who holds total and complete power over her life, and Ulfric wondering how he can be so happy and furious with her, and still feel like something is missing. The past of their relationship is woven in between these present scenes in a really masterful way that never feels like an info dump, and by the end of the story, I was fully convinced that these two were truly perfect for each other.
It's a complaint of mine that in this age of marketing books by trope and buzzwordy concepts, that a lot of the more important things like emotional connection and character development are sometimes sacrificed to get the two characters together as fast as possible. But this story didn't do that at all. I found myself tearing up at several parts, especially towards the end, and despite the unequal power dynamics and the consensual non-consent, I felt like Eithne and Ulfric really were equals-- at least, when it came to one another. I can't wait to read her other viking book. It's about the hero's brother, Thorbrand. If it's half as good as this one, I will be well pleased.
f you are a fan of Nadine Crenshaw's EDIN'S EMBRACE, I think you'll love this, too.
I bought this on impulse because I liked the title and you just don't really see many romance novels set in the ancient world. As soon as I found out this was set in ancient Rome, I was like YAAAAAAS. Also, it doesn't hurt that this edition also has a gorgeous stepback featured in black and white on the inside cover.
THE WARLORD'S MISTRESS is about Dana/Dania, a Celtic woman living in what I believe is Wales. She is part of the Boar Hill tribe and a member of the Briganti, traditional folk who worship Brigid and other Celtic gods. She is a very young woman who has been in a marriage with her husband, Con, for a year. In that year, her husband has been a real tool and she hasn't born him any children. According to tradition, that means they can separate, but Con's father, the druid, thinks it would be real neat to sacrifice her to the gods. You know, for funsies.
Luckily, Dania's father is the chief and he intervenes. No, he says, let's sacrifice Con instead. After a panic, it's decided on a compromise. Dania will leave her clan and act as a spy for their tribe to observe the Romans several towns over in their outpost in Coria and gather intel. They brand her to prove her loyalty and keep her from fraternizing. At first, she is a weaver but she finds out it's more lucrative-- and empowering to other women-- to start and run her own brothel, where she also doles out medical treatments and advice, and has the ear of some of the most influential Roman soldiers in the area. Call it a win/win.
But that's until Fabian enters the scene. Fabian is a high-ranking tribune and he doesn't think that Dania is as innocent as she pretends. He's also attracted to her AF and won't take no for an answer. In this house, we stan an alpha hero who isn't rapey but knows how to be a Sexy McManlyman. I loved the intrigue elements and how strong Dania was. A lot of Harlequin romances can feel very dialed in and have a sort of "painting by the numbers" vibe to them, but this one was so fleshed out and I loved all of the action and side characters. You really feel for Dania and how she's pulled in both directions, both by her brother, the new chieftain who has become corrupted with power, and Fabian, who has a soft spot for her but is ultimately motivated by ambition and duty. It's a dangerous, delicious game.
Also, there's some pretty steamy scenes in here. Like, polish-your-glasses/it's-getting-hot-in-here steamy. I was not prepared for this level of spice. It's a damn shame too because none of my friends have read this author and I'd never even heard of her, but after thrifting this book and loving it, I'm probably going to get the rest of her works on Kindle. This was just pure, self-indulgent fun.
POV: You got this wereunicorn book to laugh at it and ended up loving it. Who had that on their 2023 bingo card? Because I didn't.
I found out about this book because my friend, karen, shelved it and I thought HAHA THAT'S SO RIDICULOUS. I MUST READ IT. I have a "weekly" challenge called What the Actual Fuck Wednesday that I've become fairly well-known for where I read and review weird romance and erotica books that people recommend to me. Most of them are just lolwut funny and I don't actually enjoy them, but some I end up loving.
Like this book.
Maggie and Elizabeth are two sisters who are on the run from an evil cult that's been up to weird culty shenanigans that involve murder and other shit. When they're cornered, something saves them from being dragged into a van: a big white unicorn.
Enter Josh Thee Unicorn, the hero of our story. They're basically wereunicorns who live normal lives except when they all convene together every few years. However, if they don't mate with a virgin, they end up losing the ability to become human. Too bad Elizabeth, the older sister, isn't a virgin. Anyway, apart from this one incel-y tradition, Josh is a stand-up guy, a consent king, who is so comfortable with his masculinity that at one point he refers to himself as a "pretty pony." The Mustang community is matriarchal and Josh is a stan for the strong women he feels compelled to protect: in this case, Maggie and Elizabeth, his honorary herd.
I don't want to say too much more because spoilers, but this was such a great romance with the perfect amount of tension, and just enough weirdness to make it memorable rather than wtf. I loved Elizabeth and Josh and even Maggie, the kid sister, was a great character. It's not spicy and the couple doesn't even do it until the very end of the book, but I loved that the heroine wasn't a virgin and I thought the author tweaked her nose at the virgin/unicorn myth in a funny way.
P.S. Anna Leonard is apparently a pen name for the fantasy/pnr author Laura Anne Gilman, who I LOVE, and I didn't even know that before buying this book. So if you're a fan of her work and you ran out of books of hers to read, now you have a new backlist to explore.
THE FOREST LORD was fantastic. It was exactly the sort of book I wanted to read: a story of magic and revenge and love and second chances, wrapped up in a fairytale-like story about the fae and an enchanted wood. Basically, the heroine's dad is an earl and one of his holdings is a place called Hartsmere, which is steeped in legend and superstition: and one of the superstitions is that no one may hunt there. But guess what daddy does? HE HUNTS. BOO. And then Herne, Lord of the Forest, appears in all his terrible glory and demands an offspring off of Cyrus's daughter.
Anyway, shenanigans ensue, and Herne reveals himself to Eden after they've boinked in an inn on their way to their elopement, and as anyone does when their partner sprouts horns from their forehead, she freaks out and runs away. When she realizes she's pregnant, everyone is horrified, but the baby dies, and Herne is pissed, so he curses the land and goes off into the woods to rage-sleep in a tree (as one does). It's the faerie version of "screw you guys, I'm going home."
Eden marries another guy who's a total abusive asshole and HE tells the heroine that she's actually got a kid THIS WHOLE TIME. Her dad lied to her. So she goes to Hartsmere and her child is there, waiting for her: a cute little kid named Donal who also has a little touch of the fae about him. But she's not the only one who knows about his presence. Herne has spies everywhere, and one of them has just informed him that he's a dad, and that his traitorous wife-would-be is back in town.
All of this literally happens within the first couple chapters, btw. So these aren't even spoilers.
I loved this book so much. Most of it is five-star good. I mean, it made me like SECRET BABY. I literally cannot fucking stand that trope. But it worked here. This book also made me like second-chance and even the big misunderstanding trope (both of which I normally hate). Which I guess just goes to show that in the right hands, even the worst, most irritating, unreadable tropes can work. My favorite parts of the book were the beautiful descriptions of the woods and the changing of the seasons, and I loved all of the pagan holidays. As an Irish girl living in the U.S., I often feel disconnected from my culture, so reading this book filled me with the same wonderful feelings that I get while reading a particularly good fairy legend, or singing Dark Iniseoghain or Moorlough Shore.
The reason this isn't a five-star read is the ending. It was a little ridiculous and I felt like maybe the author did not know how to end her book after stretching it out for a little too long. It was just twist after twist after twist, and I felt like it also maybe jumped the shark (or should I say, the stag?). That said, Eden and Hartley's love story is one that's going to be rent-free in my head for a while, and I've already bought the second book in the series, which is about Donal, all grown up. I think it's hard to write a fantasy romance without coming across as too campy, especially if it also straddles part of the so-called "real world." But this one did such a beautiful job. I can't wait to read more from this author.
Nenia ✨ I yeet my books back and forth ✨
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