I am a big fan of this series, set in early 20th century America. Piper Huguley is a really gifted historical writer, and her detail and settings are I am a big fan of this series, set in early 20th century America. Piper Huguley is a really gifted historical writer, and her detail and settings are always fascinating. I loved Jay, the numbers man, running an illegal gambling game (view spoiler)[that serves as an unofficial bank for the black community, so he's not that bad (hide spoiler)]. I loved his superstition and resentment and his competence and hidden kindness, and his sharp angle to a rejecting, brutal world. I also loved that this sleazy no-good gets paired with an ultra-religious evangelist. /high fives author for perfect conflict set-up/
I also really liked the way the heroines and heroes of the first books become the antagonists here. We've seen Ruby and Mags through so much, we know what loving, caring people they are--but they are no more free of their cultural world view than anyone else (view spoiler)[ in thinking Nettie shouldn't marry because she can't have children (hide spoiler)]. It would have been very easy to put this antagonist role on another family member, and a lesser writer would have because we don't come out of this loving Ruby and Mags. But that's the point: that even the best people, even heroines, can hold blinkered, reductive, unchallenged, hurtful views that lessen other people. Like Ruby, like Mags, like you, like me.
This is an inspirational series, which may not be everyone's cuppa, and this is a particularly religion-heavy book. It's not usually my thing but it's a different and fascinating perspective for me.
I will say, this is a bit less well edited/proofed than I would expect from Samhain, with a fair few errors, and I hope they sort that out. The cover is glorious.
Merged review:
I am a big fan of this series, set in early 20th century America. Piper Huguley is a really gifted historical writer, and her detail and settings are always fascinating. I loved Jay, the numbers man, running an illegal gambling game (view spoiler)[that serves as an unofficial bank for the black community, so he's not that bad (hide spoiler)]. I loved his superstition and resentment and his competence and hidden kindness, and his sharp angle to a rejecting, brutal world. I also loved that this sleazy no-good gets paired with an ultra-religious evangelist. /high fives author for perfect conflict set-up/
I also really liked the way the heroines and heroes of the first books become the antagonists here. We've seen Ruby and Mags through so much, we know what loving, caring people they are--but they are no more free of their cultural world view than anyone else (view spoiler)[ in thinking Nettie shouldn't marry because she can't have children (hide spoiler)]. It would have been very easy to put this antagonist role on another family member, and a lesser writer would have because we don't come out of this loving Ruby and Mags. But that's the point: that even the best people, even heroines, can hold blinkered, reductive, unchallenged, hurtful views that lessen other people. Like Ruby, like Mags, like you, like me.
This is an inspirational series, which may not be everyone's cuppa, and this is a particularly religion-heavy book. It's not usually my thing but it's a different and fascinating perspective for me.
I will say, this is a bit less well edited/proofed than I would expect from Samhain, with a fair few errors, and I hope they sort that out. The cover is glorious....more
Interesting one. The structure is slightly odd, with a bit of a sense that a lot of things happen off page. I didn't quite feel the transition from TaInteresting one. The structure is slightly odd, with a bit of a sense that a lot of things happen off page. I didn't quite feel the transition from Tal and Rocky's genuinely vicious and hostile sparring to falling in love, though I loved the subtle slow burn of the secondary romance, which was beautifully touched in. The author's other romances I've read are multistrand too and I generally really like the way she tells a story. It's unusual, and we can always use that in romance.
This is a Secret Garden story--the Frances Hodgson Burnett version, not the Nancy Friday--with a character whose physical disability turns out to be primarily psychological. Author makes it clear this isn't a 'love heals disabilities' story, and Tal has to fix himself, which is probably the best use to be made of a potentially problematic trope. Rocky's a strong, determined character and I liked the setting a lot--for once I can honestly say I'd have liked more description--but I think the first of this series remains my fave.
Lovely romance set in the Revolutionary War. Elijah is fighting for the Colonials and his promised freedom; Kate is siding with the British because shLovely romance set in the Revolutionary War. Elijah is fighting for the Colonials and his promised freedom; Kate is siding with the British because she doesn't think America will ever offer her anything. The backstory is sketched in with great skill: it's horrific but not dwelled on. Short but highly satisfying read.
Gulped this one down. I loved the heroine, an unashamed nerd who chatters and makes silly jokes and is pretty happy in her own skin, actually. The herGulped this one down. I loved the heroine, an unashamed nerd who chatters and makes silly jokes and is pretty happy in her own skin, actually. The hero is also fabulous, he's a lifestyle BDSM person who falls for someone who really isn't, and it's so cute see him ease into a relationship without the trappings. Which is not to say this book contains no kink, it has plenty, but it's more about her trying out her wild side and him focusing on the emotional core of the relationship than on the sexual side, and how they make that work for both. Warm fuzzies.
Also, like book 1, it's laugh out loud funny at points and had me snorting repeatedly. Really enjoyable trilogy, I heartily recommend the lot. ...more
I am totally glomming this trilogy, having read the first one yesterday.
I didn't love this with the same glee as the first book purely because it hadI am totally glomming this trilogy, having read the first one yesterday.
I didn't love this with the same glee as the first book purely because it had more, oh, 'conventional' BDSM and that isn't my thing (contract negotiations and dungeons etc). Those who like that will love this, because it was all very well written sexytimes. What shone, for me, was the delightfully rude, arsey, snappy, ill mannered heroine who didn't get 'taught a lesson' or any such crap. She's just not very good at people, and it's obvious that finding her feet with her family and having a fulfilling relationship with someone who does have more emotional intelligence is going to have an effect. In the meantime, she's hilarious to read, and extremely real and relatable. The scene where she sits glumly at a BDSM party, with people getting chained and beaten and shagged all around her, just wishing the guy who brought her would come over and talk. I mean, we've all been there, and doing that scene in that setting was just brilliant.
Enjoying this series hugely and I refuse to confirm or deny if I'm already 1/3 through the third book. ...more
I've had this on my Kindle for a while because I had it in my mind, with the chiselled abs on the cover, that it was going to be the kind of dark and I've had this on my Kindle for a while because I had it in my mind, with the chiselled abs on the cover, that it was going to be the kind of dark and serious regulated BDSM dungeon stuff I don't much go for. I was so wrong.
This book is delightful. The hero screws up his initial Dom type approach to the heroine in the most glorious fashion and her responses are so perfect that I was laughing aloud. Throughout he is kind and sensitive, and the kink is really just headgames and fun for two people to enjoy themselves. And the heroine! Tough, and vulnerable, and fat, properly fat, not the usual 'slightly over a size eight'. And it isn't the story of how she gets a size eight body either. She stays fat, just getting fitter and happier with it. You go, heroine.
It's a story about decent people being kind to other people and themselves, with plenty of tough underpinning about insecurity and loneliness to give if heft, and it was a joy to read. And there's two more in the series! /clicks/...more
Massively enjoyable May-December romance between a slightly shambolic maid and a valet with a serious work ethic. I adored all the detail of their worMassively enjoyable May-December romance between a slightly shambolic maid and a valet with a serious work ethic. I adored all the detail of their working lives and the difficulty of fitting a romance in, as well as the way the demands of class structure were shown to affect low as well as high. Hugely enjoyable. Give me more valets, more servants, more ordinary people in Regency! ...more
I love this series. The history seems to be really well researched (not my period but the author evidently knows her stuff) and it's just so atmospherI love this series. The history seems to be really well researched (not my period but the author evidently knows her stuff) and it's just so atmospheric. The series is very much informed by Christian faith, which isn't my cup of tea, but is absolutely essential to the characters and setting though, by its nature, it's not a conflict I bought into emotionally in quite the same way I did A Virtuous Ruby. A writer going places, and I am totally sticking with this series. A Treasure of Gold up in November!...more
a) I don't know much in depth about the slavery period of US history (I'm a white Brit) and I don't liThis is a remarkable collection. A few thoughts:
a) I don't know much in depth about the slavery period of US history (I'm a white Brit) and I don't like what I learned. The backstory of one freed slave in 'Drifting to You' was pretty nearly unbearable to read, to the point where it almost overwhelmed the story. Except, that is the point of this collection: the unbelievable, grotesque injustice done to people and the strength of those who not just survived it but actually made themselves good lives. It's genuinely astonishing to read, obviously well researched by all authors, and important.
b) I've had a lot of conversations about depicting unattractive historical attitudes in romance and how far that can go. Everyone always concludes, 'you could never have a US slave-owning hero'. Lena Hart knocks that one out of the park, brilliantly, because part of slavery's corrosive evil, as she shows, is the way people accepted it as normal. Lots of 'ordinary' people played their parts too.
c) I *love* the way Piper Hugeley's story is written: the speech, the vocabulary, the flavour. Intensely immersive.
d) The final story, with Freedom Riders and a Jewish boxer hero, is an absolute cracker, and I am off to scout out more from Alyssa Cole right now. It says there's a linked book coming, which if so, I am *on* that.
This is a really good set of romance stories, and a terrific vivid historical, but it's also seriously important and informative without being teachy or depressing (which is pretty damn impressive considering the horrendousness of the material). Everyone should read this collection. ...more
I hugely enjoyed this. Sophie is a genuinely unusual person, awkward, reserved, with memory problems bordering on disability, and a truly awful situatI hugely enjoyed this. Sophie is a genuinely unusual person, awkward, reserved, with memory problems bordering on disability, and a truly awful situation. The new duke of Clive is a lovely balance of charm and ruthlessness. I really enjoy the absolute awfulness of the supporting cast in this whole series: Satie writes horrible people, but ones who feel totally justified in their horribleness, and are thus dreadfully convincing. No moral absolutes or simple answers, but some wonderful comeuppances.
A terrific book and a lovely romance with a fascinating working heroine, well written. Strongly recommended.
(Not star rating b/c professional connection.)...more
Total romp. Kick-ass (within reason) sword-wielding Emperor's daughter and white barbarian mercenary on a cross-China flight from a warlord. Tangle poTotal romp. Kick-ass (within reason) sword-wielding Emperor's daughter and white barbarian mercenary on a cross-China flight from a warlord. Tangle politics, interesting culture clash, fabulous detail, sexy romance. Hugely enjoyable, highly recommended, and this was her first book as well. Looking forward to reading more. ...more
Disclaimer: Not star rating because professional connection.
I wanted to rec this as the start of a new series with a nicely dark tone to it. If you lDisclaimer: Not star rating because professional connection.
I wanted to rec this as the start of a new series with a nicely dark tone to it. If you like your historicals well researched and grounded, and your characters gnarly and difficult and awkward-edged till they find out how they fit together, this will float your boat, and it's the first of four linked titles....more
This was very interesting. A Regency set amid politics and the middle class, with a widow who finds herself in need of a husband, the grossly corrupt This was very interesting. A Regency set amid politics and the middle class, with a widow who finds herself in need of a husband, the grossly corrupt politics and vote buying of the time; a realistic attitude to how people had sex. The injured veteran is really, painfully injured; the heroine is actually fat, not the usual size 10 masquerading as fat, and the way the hero perceives her is wonderfully contrasted with the way other characters dismiss her. These are non-perfect people who are perfect for each other, which really is my crack.
I did feel it started slowly. The attraction is slow build, and we spend an awful lot of time with the characters apart, so from a romance perspective that is a little frustrating, but it's a very well developed world, and things accelerate brilliantly from half way towards a galloping ending with multiple strong and satisfying pay offs.
An unusual, strongly researched and well written story. Going to read a lot more from this author.
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