I got this for free in a bundle of feminist-friendly romances a couple years ago that the authors had given out as ARCs to readers. I'm only just now getting around to it and I'm sorry about that! (But better late than never, right?) After reading STAR DUST, I'm thinking to myself that maybe I don't read enough cute romances because this... was really, really cute. Cute with substance.
STAR DUST is set in the 1960s, during the days of the cold war and the space race. Anne-Marie Smith is newly divorced, an oddity in these times, and is dealing with a lot of the social stigma her new and unusual marital status brings. Kit Campbell is an astronaut and a playboy. They're new neighbors in their suburban development, and the attraction between them is as instant as it is unwanted. Kit is reluctant to change his ways and knows that anyone who dates him will be in the limelight. Anne-Marie has two kids to think of, and is still trying to find her identity as an individual - not as a partner.
I wasn't expecting much from STAR DUST but it proceeded to shatter each and every one of my expectations or lack thereof. Obviously in a period piece, it's important to get the setting right, but while reading this, I felt like I was smack-dab in the middle of the 1960s. It gave me Stepford vibes. I also love seeing the hero and the heroine at work in romances, because I think it's important to show the characters as individuals who exist outside of being in a couple, and Emma Barry and Genevieve Turner did that. There's scenes of Kit flying into space, of him training for the process, and even scenes of him dealing (with some ambivalence) with the fame and hero worship of his job. Likewise, we also get to see Anne-Marie as a mom who deals with her kids' hurts, bakes and cooks meals, and who also works as a travel agent and finds joy in being able to achieve success outside of the typical housewife role. Her satisfaction was really heart-warming, as is her later heart-to-heart with her boss, who originally judges Anne-Marie unfairly for divorcing her cheating husband.
That's another thing I liked about this book. It brought up a lot of deep and important (and sometimes unsavory) issues that period romances like these tend to brush under the carpet. Writing romances set in the 1960s without sexism and changing gender norms is like writing writing a romance set in the 1860s without slavery. Just because something makes you uncomfortable, that doesn't mean you shouldn't pretend it exists. Many of the feelings Anne-Marie feels about her divorce and the judgments about who she is as a woman from people who don't even know her are still relevant today, and I thought that the authors handled the subject matter extremely well. The emphasis on female friendships and female relationships in this book is also quite lovely.
The romance itself is also great. Kit is hot and the sex scenes between him and Anne-Marie are extremely steamy. Normally playboy characters get on my nerves because they're written like misogynistic jerks but Kit is actually very charming. It's endearing how Anne-Marie forces him to go off-script and makes him second-guess some of the choices he's made in his life and how they are impacting his happiness. I didn't really understand at first why Anne-Marie wanted an affair with him and not a relationship at first, but I guess I get it. Her divorced-status makes her a social pariah and excuses her from the rules that "good girls" are expected to follow, so I guess maybe she was choosing selfish indulgence and mindless pleasure over something more concrete both because it was something she felt denied before, and because it wouldn't have any ties that could become constraints later. After thinking it over, I felt more comfortable with the idea and how it fit in with her characterization, because at first it felt very strange. The resultant sex scenes were totally worth it, though!
If you're tired of sexist romances, I really think STAR DUST will be a breath of fresh air. I really enjoyed how light and cute it was, while still hitting upon all of these relevant issues. In that regard, it reminded me a lot of Courtney Milan's and Beverly Jenkins's works. They're the only other authors who write het romance who manage to touch upon these issues in a meaningful and succinct way without sounding either preachy or ignorant, and I love them for it. Looks like Emma Barry might be joining their ranks in my book. I'm rather desperate to get my hands on A MIDNIGHT CLEAR now, as it's Parsons's book (Kit's boss), and I'm a sucker for the gruff and grumpy tsundere types. :)
I received SLUT in a bundle of free books to review from Instafreebie a couple years ago and am only just now getting around to it. I think the romances in question were supposed to be empowering, a change from the typical alpha dude meets submissive chick and find love through sex-type storyline.
SLUT might make you do a double-take because of the title, but it's actually a surprisingly deep story. Rebecca ("Bex") used to be overweight. Her father is impersonal and her mother committed suicide, and after her mother's death, he decided to make Bex his special project so she wouldn't do the same. He forced her to have bariatric surgery (stomach staple) and then, while she was under anesthesia from the surgery, had the doctor sneak in a nose job.
#RUDE
Bex comes from a family of wealth and privilege, but inside she always feels like the fat girl, and she compensates for her emotional issues with sex. What makes this story more interesting than the usual "promiscuous heroine" story is her attitude towards sex: she doesn't actually like it that much - it's the pursuit that gets her off, that feeling of being wanted. The act itself just makes her feel numb, because it's utterly impersonal: there's no affection in the act.
That's something else this story does well: it really highlights the difference between sex and intimacy. Ideally, you have both - together - but you can also have intimate relationships that are platonic, and sexual relationships that are unfeeling. This book covers pretty much every combination of that, all over the spectrum, and it gave SLUT a density that many other new adult books don't have.
SLUT also tackles other topics, like bisexuality, self-esteem, love, rape culture, abuse, and age gaps. There's a lot of conversation among the characters about important things - things actual couples would actually talk about before sex or before dating. Some of these things were really insightful and had me nodding along, because it felt pitch-perfect as opposed to like totally unrealistic fantasy.
I'm giving it three stars because it's really short and I feel that development would have been better in a full-length novel. It's also rather outrageously expensive for a book that's scarcely over 100 pages - $3.99 for such a small book feels like way too much money, she said, while purchasing a $3.99 small macaron ice cream sandwich from an overpriced San Francisco bakery. But seriously, I'd like to see this author write a longer book. The short format here doesn't really do her stories justice. Also, sometimes the messages could come across as a little heavy handed. SO SWEET, by Rebekah Weatherspoon, another book in this selection, had similar problems.
If you're tired of the usual NA tropes and want something besides "girl-with-first-world-problems solves self-induced conflict by licking hawt boyfriend's abs," you'll want to give this one a try.
🎃 Read for the Unapologetic Romance Readers Halloween 2017 Reading Challenge for the category of: a romance with a masquerade/costume party 🎃
This is a Nenia and Sarah BR brought to you by Kindle Clean Out Club Productions. Tired of hoarding ebooks and not reading them? Now, in 200-550 easy steps, you can! No, but seriously, if it weren't for this forum, I'd be way more behind on my to-read list. It is The Best. If your Kindle is also out of control, join our group and make us of this forum! I'm always looking for new partners in crime.
First, a disclaimer. I received a free copy of this book to review a while ago. I don't think it particularly biased me one way or the other, since I'm an assh*le and have no problem rating the books I receive - for free - one star, but just in case it did bias me, now you know. NOW YOU KNOW.
HOW THE DUKE WAS WON is kind of like a Regency era version of The Bachelor. James, Duke of Harland ("His Disgrace"), needs to get married for business. He decides the best way of going about this is inviting four ladies - and their mothers - to his estate for three days to choose which of them would make the best duchess. Which I guess would make this The Duchlerette?
Charlene - a totally accurate 1800s name that does not scream Dolly Parton-esque country music singer at all, no ma'am - is the daughter of a famous courtesan. The creepy dude the two of them are indebted to, Grant, is about to call her in for their debts, and just to prove that he's a total creep, he's tried to brand her with an iron to make her his. Charlene is also afraid for her younger sister Lulu (these names guys, omg) who she is trying to shield from their family's unsavory history.
As it turns out, Charlene is the half-sister of one of the women who's been invited to the Duchlerette, Dorothea. Her mother, a countess, proposes a My Fair Lady-esque transformation, lasting just long enough for Charlene to compromise the duke, thereby landing a proposal and allowing Dorothea to swoop in and claim her regal prize.
WHAT COULD GO WRONG?*
*everything
Most of my friends didn't like this book, which always has me worried. I can definitely see why HOW THE DUKE WAS WON could rub people the wrong way. It is not on the scale of Lisa Kleypas or Courtney Milan, and the dialogue is rather laughably modern with the characters all behaving in highly unconventional ways with no consequences. If you like historical accuracy, the names of the characters alone should have you tossing this down and fleeing the other way.
For a fluff piece, however, it's quite enjoyable. I liked Charlene as a character, with her penchant for martial arts as taught to her by her Japanese bodyguard, her devotion to her younger sister, and her very compelling reason for agreeing to this scam in the first place (Grant is a creep). James was a good character too. He was an alpha male without being brutish or creepy and I liked him a lot. The sex scenes in here are pretty steamy, too. Not too graphic, but definitely not fade-to-black either.
Overall, I enjoyed Lenora Bell's HOW THE DUKE WAS WON. I'd read more in this series for sure.
SO SWEET was part of a giveaway via Instafreebie a few weeks ago. Even though I'm so over billionaire romances, a few phrases leaped out at me while reading reviews: "sex positive," "woman of color," and "realistic." Words and phrases that, you'll agree, don't often appear in books of this genre. I decided to take a look.
Kayla is living with her flaky roommate, Adler, and both of them are in trouble. Kayla is failing job search after job search, and Adler isn't really looking. Rent is due soon, and both of them are either going to a) become homeless or b) have to live with their parents again unless they can come up with some quick money.
Under the - ill-advised - suggestion of Adler, Kayla decides to make money in the tried-and-true way of new adult novels everywhere: sell sex for money. However, rather than looking for a tattooed rock musician, or an angsty artist who is secretly rich, she looks for a sugar daddy by going to Arrangements.com, which is kind of like the internet dating equivalent of an escort service. She will hook up with an older guy, basically trading sex for payment of student loans, apartment rent, and clothes.
At one of the mixers, Kayla doesn't really feel the scene, and ends up sitting down at a table with a guy who says he isn't feeling the scene either. They talk - and Kayla realizes (SURPRISE!) that this is Michael Bradbury, the founder of Arrangements, as well as several other endeavors. He's no Christian Grey, though. He has the nerdy hippie vibe of a tech-made billionaire, and I appreciated that. I also liked the portrayal of Kayla, and some of the issues she dealt with as a young black woman.
SO SWEET is short but, well, sweet. Clocking in at only about 100 pages, a good portion of the novelette is about sex. It's well-written sex, but doesn't leave much in the way of plot or character development, and while I liked Kayla and Michael, I didn't really get a feel for who they were as people until the very end, when Kayla starts having some friendship problems with Adler, and both Michael and Daniella give her very good advice on how to deal with it (which she follows!).
The sex, as I said, was well written and the vibe of the book is definitely sex positive. It was nice to read about a heroine who was familiar with her body, enjoyed and pursued sex, and masturbated. On the other hand, there were a few scenes that made me raise my eyebrows. At first, when she and Michael are about to engage in anal sex, she proposes training up to it with a plug and lube, which actually made me happy, because yay, realism. But then Michael is like, "No, it's okay, we'll go slow." And Kayla is like, "I had anal sex years ago, so this barely hurts at all, I'm totally feeling it."
And I was like >_>
And they didn't use a condom, so I was like <_<
>_<
Some people don't mind lack of condoms in their erotica, but for me this is a major pet peeve. MAJOR. PET PEEVE. Yes, they were fairly exclusive at this point, but it wasn't official, and there was no mention of STD tests or sexual history. And just for the record, anal sex is more likely to cause STDs because there is tearing and therefore direct exposure to blood, so condoms are even more important with anal even though you won't get pregnant. The more you know!
SO SWEET was a short, fun read, just what I needed after coming back from vacation. I'm not sure if I want to read the sequel - $2.99 seems like a lot for such a short book - but I do appreciate the author putting it up for free & it's always nice to read books written by and featuring PoCs. Diversity!
There really aren't a lot of popular historical romance books that deal with people of color. The only two authors who come to mind who do this consistently are Courtney Milan and Beverly Jenkins. So finding a book set amidst the backdrop of the Revolutionary War from the perspective of two African Americans was a pleasant surprise.
Elijah is a slave working for his Colonist master, who says he will free him and give him land if he fights in his stead. Kate, on the other hand, works for the Red Coats, because the Crown has said it will give runaway slaves freedom if they fight against the Colonists in the Revolution. The two end up crossing paths over a murder, of all things, and when Elijah is taken prisoner by the men in Kate's regiment, both try to resist their feelings for one another.
BE NOT AFRAID is a very short book. The horrors of slavery and war are alluded to, instead of being spelled out in explicit detail. The upside is that people who are sensitive to such material could probably read this book without being triggered. The downside is that because it's mentioned in passing, it feels overly casual. Kate got over her trust issues very quickly! And while I get that this was a necessity given the length of the book, it did not do the story line any favors.
60 pages really isn't much time to set a stage and develop characters. Kate and Elijah's attraction comes across as insta-lust more than anything else. I could feel for Kate and why she didn't trust men, and I could appreciate Elijah's unwavering loyalty to the country that enslaved him because he wanted something better for his countrymen and his fellow slaves, but I was told these things, and it would have been cool to see their characters grow and develop over the course of a full length novel instead of this fleeting introduction, hastily wrapped up conclusion, and neat epilogue.
I would read a full length novel by this author, but I'm not sure that I would try another one of her short stories.
Nenia ✨ I yeet my books back and forth ✨
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