The Princess Bride

In The Princess Bride we are told: “Since the invention of the kiss, there have only been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind.” I can’t vouch for that but the scene is certainly beautiful.

Pride and Prejudice

The impossible happened when my favorite romance novel of all time was turned into my favorite television mini-series of all time. This outstanding production of Pride and Prejudice starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle ended with my personal favorite romantic kiss.

Lady and the Tramp

This is an iconic screen kiss which hundreds have tried to copy. None have come close to the original.

The Quiet Man
This is an absolutely beautiful kiss. Stunning cinematography, handsome leads and a well enacted execution set it apart from your average screen kiss. I thought it brilliant when Stephen Spielberg revived it in E.T. The full effect of this one requires not a picture but a clip from the movie.

Titanic

In this moment breathtaking scenery and handsome leads are aided by a fabulous musical score.

Love Actually

Proving that a kiss doesn’t have to be intense to be meaningful are Sam and Natalie from Love Actually. Sam starts his romantic tale by asking if there is anything “ Worse than the total agony of being in love?” The tale has its peak with this kiss.

Spiderman

This gets points for being one of the most acrobatic kisses I have ever seen. It is also a very sweet one.

Casablanca

No kiss list can be complete without this couple. What a love story!

From Here to Eternity

Perhaps the most copied kiss of any movie kiss in history; even in pictures the smoldering sexual chemistry of the two participants just explodes.

An Officer and a Gentleman

This is the closing scene of the film, a moment when a man finally grows up and realizes that he is about to leave behind the greatest thing that ever happened to him. Wisely he decides that would be a big mistake.

So there they are, my top ten favorite screen kisses. I am sure your list would be a little different. Which ones would your list include that I didn’t cover? Which ones do you completely agree with?

– Maggie Boyd

What made Samantha and McCord so enjoyable? I love office romance/off-limits attraction plot devices because they put up plausible barriers to the couple’s courtship. As the senior police officer, McCord can’t express any feelings towards Samantha without running afoul of every procedure and regulation in the book. Consequently, he’s so self-contained that Samantha can’t even tell if he likes her. As former AAR reviewer Nora Armstrong wrote in her review: “Watching McCord’s increasingly desperate struggle against his attraction to Sam[antha] was vastly more riveting and engaging for me than witnessing the other fellow’s relentless, if tender, seduction of [the heroine].”

My all-time favorite author for secondary romance is Susan Elizabeth Phillips. In Heaven, Texas, the secondary heroine Suzy Denton is the fifty-two year old mother of the hero Bobby Tom, widowed and reconnecting with Way Sawyer, the now-affluent bad boy from her youth. In Match Me If You Can, cutthroat rival matchmaker Portia Powers steals the show from the “adorably” incompetent Annabelle Granger. Portia’s fall for the rough-edged Bodie Gray is swoon-worthy, as Bodie teaches her how to be unafraid of, and even revel in, the human flaws she fights so hard to eliminate.

And of course, there’s what may be the most legendary secondary couple in Romancelandia: Sam Starrett and Alyssa Locke, from numerous Suzanne Brockmann Troubleshooter books. I’ll admit to not having read every book bringing Sam and Alyssa up to the present, but the ones I have are epic. Sam and Alyssa don’t have sparks; they have fireballs. They don’t have dialogue; they have verbal Ultimate Fighter matches. And once you remember the bland, conventional scenes the phrase is often applied to, you’ll have to agree with me that they don’t have sex either. I’m not sure what to call what they have, but it’s sure as heck not the same thing that many heroes and heroines are having.

Are there any interesting patterns here? In the SEP and Brockmann books, the secondary characters might have been controversial as leads in years past – for age reasons with SEP, and for the interracial romance in Brockmann. I always found it interesting how when Sam and Alyssa became the protagonists of their own book, Brockmann invented an entire African-American family for Sam for which there was no prior evidence. There was no prior counterevidence, either, but the whole thing did come out of nowhere. Maybe Brockmann felt that it was true to Sam’s character; maybe she just felt that it would erase the racial element of Sam and Alyssa’s relationship. I found that a bit contrived, and it was one of the reasons I preferred Sam and Alyssa in their earlier secondary books.

SEP and Brockmann let their secondary leads have much more adventurous sex lives. Suzy and Way have a creative good time in a Jacuzzi, for instance, while Brodie dominates Portia in a wordless encounter outdoors on her darkened balcony. Sam and Alyssa play with handcuffs and coat a bed and each other in chocolate sauce. These books are high “Warm” if rated for the hero and heroine, but the secondary leads jump to “Hot” if not “Burning.”

Does this imply that secondary romances are places where authors let their imaginations wander, with fewer limitations based on what people are expected to buy? Possibly. But it’s worth considering that Samantha and McCord from the McNaught, who got me starting thinking about this in the first place, are relatively conventional characters, and they don’t even have a sex scene. But does this speak to secondary characters in general or to McNaught personally?

Who are your favorite secondary characters? Have you ever DIK’d a book just for the secondary characters? Have you noticed more “risk-taking” in secondary romances, or do you think it just depends on the author and what she feels like writing?

– Caroline Russomanno

My philosophy in choosing favorites is two-fold. One, my Top Ten should be more than a fleeting “books I’m enjoying now,” and therefore aren’t recent reads, or ones that I’ve read only once. Two, they should have something in them that would appeal beyond the romance. I think there is a subtle distinction between “books that a romance reader would enjoy” and “books non-romance readers would enjoy.” There are definitely some stories that I would recommend to fellow romance readers, but not anyone else. The best books are the ones that I think, “I could give this to a friend, and they would understand why I love romance novels.”

So, here we go: my top ten.

1. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. This book is pretty much it for me. If I could only pick one book to read and reread for the rest of my life, it would probably be this one. I was hesitant to start it, for a couple reasons. One, it’s really, really long, and each of the sequels is really, really long. Two, I generally don’t like time-travel stories. But it came so highly recommended, I delved in. Outlander literally has everything: adventure, intelligence, strong writing, and, of course, a love story like no other.

2. Unveiled by Courtney Milan. I reread this book the other day, and I’m still reveling in how good it is. The characterization, relationship development, and weaving of the plot are flawless. There are so many complex and dynamic relationships in this novel – not just between the hero and heroine, but between their families as well. In a genre where authors must meld modern feminist sensibilities with the historical period’s gender roles, the most seductive part of Ash (and this book) is the essential message, you matter. You are important. That theme inspires one of the most understated romantic lines I’ve ever read: “The great benefit I see to marrying you is that I would be married to you.” Swoon.

3. Naked in Death by J. D. Robb. This gets on the list not because that book individually is one of my top ten books, but as a representative of the whole In Death series. As stand-alones, I don’t know that any of them would make it on to my list, but what appeals to me – and what has me still reading the books, 30-plus into the series – is also what appeals to me about the Outlander series: longevity. J. D. Robb didn’t stop once Eve and Roarke walked down the aisle and tell us they lived happily ever after. She stuck with them, and in doing so, has made theirs one of the most dynamic, realistic, and best relationships in romance. Apart from that, I’m continuously fascinated by the not-so-distant future that Ms. Robb created and I find myself thinking about it often, even when I’m not currently reading one of the books.

4. A Lady’s Lesson in Scandal by Meredith Duran. Meredith Duran is such an intelligent, skilled, and beautiful writer, and I’ve loved every book of hers that I’ve read – which is pretty much all of them. The reason I chose this one to represent in the Top 10 is because by taking a familiar plot – the Cinderella or My Fair Lady story – and doing it very, very well, Ms. Duran shows what a good romance writer can do. The criticism of the genre is often that it’s predictable, or that it’s always the same story. In this book, it is a familiar story but told with depth, rich characterizations, and honesty.

5. Three Nights with a Scoundrel by Tessa Dare. Who can resist a story about unrequited love? In this third book in a trilogy, our hero has been in love with the heroine for years, and she has no idea. The characters are interesting, flawed, and admirable, and as I noted in my DIK review, they have an intimacy and chemistry that goes beyond the sexual. No author will convince me of a HEA with sex, no matter how great it is. It’s the quiet scenes that make me believe, and this book has several very good ones.

6. Something About You by Julie James. Ms. James is one of my favorite contemporary writers. Her books are modern without being self-conscious about it. Something About You is one of my favorites, though, because it strikes a wonderful balance between suspense, romance, and humor. To top it off, the characters are both strong people with integrity who manage to get over the fact that they pissed each other off.

7. Sugar Daddy by Lisa Kleypas. Lisa Kleypas was one of my favorite historical writers when I first started reading romance, and I know a lot of her fans were nervous when she announced she was going to write contemporary. Once I read Sugar Daddy, though, I knew I should have trusted her. Despite its sordid name and neon cover, this book has so much heart and depth. It has a strong element of Women’s Fiction, but the romance is as strong as Liberty’s personal development.

 
8. Forever a Lady by Delilah Marvelle. This book makes my list for many of the reasons that Three Nights with a Scoundrel did, even though they’re quite different books. Like Tessa Dare’s novel, I loved the small intimacies between Matthew and Bernadette, and thought his development as a character was wonderfully done. Ms. Marvelle also has elements of Meredith Duran in this book, with her dedication to the historical accuracy and acknowledgement of the poor. It’s easy to get swept away by the balls and gowns and elegant homes in historical romance, but there’s a lot more to history than the stories of the wealthy.

9. The Ashford Affair by Lauren Willig. This is the only book on my list that I’ve only read once – and that’s because as soon as I read it, I needed to share it with someone and I lent it to a friend (who has yet to return it, grr). I’ve read Ms. Willig since her debut with The Secret History of the Pink Carnation. I love her Pink Carnation series, and while the early ones hold a dear place in my heart, I’ve also enjoyed watching her writing evolve and sharpen from “historical chick lit” (albeit very, very good historical chick lit) to something like The Ashford Affair, which maintains her trademark wittiness and quick, layered dialogue, while delving into some darker subject matter and adding some bitter to the sweetness of a romance.

10. Shadowland by Meg Cabot. While not her most famous Young Adult series, The Mediator is by far my favorite (and this coming from someone who was a Meg Cabot fan-girl in high school). The Mediator series tells the story of a 16-year-old girl who moves to California and falls in love with the hot 1850s-era Spanish cowboy who haunts her bedroom. It is the later books (Haunted, the fifth, and Twilight, the sixth and last) that stand out in my head, but Shadowland is where it all started. Suze and Jesse remain the pinnacle of YA romance for me.

- Jane Granville

The Prince of Midnight – Laura Kinsale

Narrated by Nicholas Boulton

Review written by Lea Hensley

It’s finally here. Romance listeners have eagerly awaited The Prince of Midnight, the first audio release from Laura Kinsale’s fascinating backlist. Earlier this year, Ms. Kinsale announced that her entire backlist (twelve titles) would be released in audio during 2013 and into 2014 and now we have a taste of Kinsale’s skillful writing combined with Nicholas Boulton’s talented performance. It’s sheer audio perfection.

Once a famous highwayman, S.T. Maitland is now a recluse hiding in the ruins of a castle, a painter with stacks of half-finished canvases. He’s lost his hearing in one ear and can no longer swing a sword or ride a horse without losing his balance. He’s not an unhappy man – just one dealing with life the best way he can with a wolf as his only companion.

Lady Leigh Strachan has traveled to France looking for the highwayman she is sure can help her learn to fight and take vengeance on those who have wronged her family. Finding S.T., she is both appalled and greatly disappointed when she realizes the ruined man before her is incapable of teaching her anything – or so she believes. All S.T. sees in her is another damsel in distress seeking help like a thousand others.

A longtime audiobook enthusiast, Ms. Kinsale spent a great deal of time choosing Nicholas Boulton as narrator of all her titles, and what a fine choice she made! With his consistent delivery of her characters, he keeps the listener totally engaged. His understanding of those characters’ motivations and the storyline provides listeners with the full depth of Kinsale’s writing that has her books still making readers’ favorites lists decades after their original release.

In print, S.T. seemed foolish at times, and it was difficult to sympathize with Leigh and her hateful treatment of him. In audio format, those challenges disappeared when Boulton fleshed out their characters and made me care more about them. I realized I had missed significant cues in print that affected my reading enjoyment, cues that his narration made clear. It’s what we audio enthusiasts love to see – an average print read turned into an outstanding audio experience.

Flowers from the Storm and Midsummer Moon are slated for audio release in late June/early July. A whole new generation is about to discover the wonder that is Laura Kinsale’s writing. Romance listeners, old and new, are in for such a treat.

Editor’s note: As of the writing of this column, The Prince of Midnight had yet to be released at Audible.com. It is expected any day.
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Simply Irresistible – Rachel Gibson

Narrated by Kathleen Early

Review written by LinnieGayl

Simply Irresistible is far and away one of my favorite contemporary romances and will appear near the top of my AAR Top 100 Romance ballot this coming October. Ellen gave this 1998 release a B at AAR when it first came out, but it’s a DIK for me. It’s been on my list of “wished for” audiobooks for years so I was ecstatic when it was released in audio and begged Lea to let me review it. Unfortunately, my feelings about the audio version are mixed, perhaps flavored by my love of this book in print and some unrealistic expectations for the audio.

I was okay with the narration for the introductory chapters in which Georgeanne ditches her wealthy fiancé at the altar and meets up with star hockey player John “The Wall” Kowalsky. While Ms. Early doesn’t differentiate too much between characters, I was never confused as to which character was speaking. Her voices aren’t in any way over-the-top which could have been a problem as well. Native southerner Georgie has just a touch of a southern accent. And most of the men sound just slightly different than the women, enough to distinguish between characters, but not remotely masculine.

But once I reached my favorite part, in which Georgie’s marvelously funny six-year-old daughter Lexie first appears, I was crushed. This was what I had been waiting for. I wanted to laugh out loud at the scene in which John plays Barbies with Lexie. I wanted to giggle hysterically when John caves in and buys Lexi the puppy she names Little Pongo. Neither of

these happened. Instead of sounding like the adorable six-year-old of my imagination, Lexie frequently sounds more like a pouty teenager. No! This is my favorite part of the book and it simply did not live up to my wishes.

Perhaps my expectations were too high. I’ve waited so very long to hear this book in audio and the narration simply isn’t what I expected or wanted. Ms. Early isn’t awful. Her voice is pleasant enough and her pacing is good. I just wanted so much more from this.
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Love Irresistibly – Julie James

Narrated by Karen White

Review written by Kaetrin

As the Assistant US Attorney in charge of prosecuting Twitter terrorist Kyle Rhodes, (hero of About That Night), Cade Morgan could have been a somewhat unsympathetic hero. But, Ms. James cleverly redeemed Cade by the end of the previous book, paving the way for readers to get all swoony over Mr. Morgan’s 6’4” of muscular yum without any conflict of interest (a little legal pun for you [insert groan here]). Cade was a rising football star, who sustained a career ending injury after throwing the winning pass in the Rose Bowl. So if he’s not being remembered for his involvement in the Twitter terrorist case, he’s being remembered for his football fame – a bittersweet (mostly bitter) memory for Cade.

When Cade needs a little help getting evidence on a dirty state senator, he approaches Brooke Parker, General Counsel for Sterling, a restaurant/food services company. Sterling’s flagship restaurant is the site of a meeting between the dirty senator and a hospital CEO and the FBI/US Attorney’s office wants to bug the table to listen in on their incriminating conversation.

This puts Brooke squarely in Cade’s sights. There are instant sparks – mostly traded in the form of sarcastic quips, but it’s not long before Brooke and Cade are trading more than that. The pair have both had a poor run with relationships – apparently Brooke is not a “big picture girl”, too devoted to her career to give enough time to a partner, and Cade is “emotionally unavailable.” They joke that they could go their entire relationship without saying anything meaningful at all. Nevertheless, what starts as a casual deal gradually deepens until they are both blindsided by the strength of their feelings.

I found myself entertained but not wowed by Love Irresistibly, although I must say I feel I’m very much the outlier on this. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that I don’t, in any way, share Brooke’s career drive – I’ve never been an “all work and no play” girl. As much as I do work hard and am successful in my career, I’ve always been big on work/life balance so I found relating to Brooke a little hard. Brooke doesn’t have very many female friends unfortunately and the book felt a little light on female characters overall.

That said, the banter between Cade and Brooke is fun and Karen White delivers the zing of their attraction. This is also possibly the most sensual of Ms. James’ books and this gives Ms. White extra opportunities to break out the sexy. The voice given to Zach, a teenager who is in Cade’s life, is authentic and many of the other male voices are well differentiated, even if they’re not terribly deep. I have been critical in the past of some extra pauses I thought Ms. White added to her narrations at times but I’m pleased to say I didn’t notice it so much with this performance.

The best part of Love Irresistibly was the repartee between the various characters. Brooke’s best friend is Ford and his guy posse consists of Charlie and Tucker. The way these dudes relate to one another is a lot of fun and Ms. White, again, delivers. Same too with FBI agents Roberts and Huxley (the “FBI Odd Couple”) and Cade. The genuine friendship, even disguised (as in the case of the latter group) as trash-talk, is evident in the performance and that’s not just the words on the page. It was also nice to have a brief catch up with Rylann (About That Night) and Cameron (Something About You). Jack Pallas – even when he’s not directly on the page, is still a scene-stealer.

With its satisfying ending, I think many listeners will love Love Irresistibly.
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Prince Charming – Julie Garwood

Narrated by Rosalyn Landor

Reviewed by Carrie

Prince Charming is a rather long, and at times rambling, story about a young English woman, Taylor, who agrees to a marriage of convenience to keep her and her sisters’ children safe from a wicked uncle. The marriage is to an American, Lucas, who in turn agrees to the deal so he can buy his younger half-brother from the oldest half-brother, who is also wicked. The older wicked half-brother turns out to be Taylor’s ex-fiancé. Taylor doesn’t tell Lucas about “the babies” she intends to pick up in Boston, and Lucas doesn’t tell Taylor about his past. They are off to a great start full of misunderstandings that are all too typical in romances.

Actually, Prince Charming begins quite well. Taylor is lively and entertaining while Lucas has a certain brooding charm. Their conversations are somewhat frustrating but often entertaining. By the time they hit the shores of the New World, however, Lucas and Taylor were having the same conversations over and over, and the plot, with the addition of pregnant Victoria and Lucas’ friend, Hunter, starts to get weighed down with too many side-stories. Garwood’s writing is wordy and overly dramatic, making me feel that with some strategic editing, the book could be an hour or two shorter and much improved.

While the growth of the romance is enjoyable on one level, the miscommunications are frequent and tedious. Any time Lucas or Taylor says they “need to talk,” it is a certainty that they will be sidetracked by sex, or at least foreplay, and the important conversations never happen. Unfortunately, communication isn’t any better in the secondary romance. Why couldn’t Victoria have just told Hunter she was pregnant and that’s why she felt sick all the time instead of letting him think she disliked him?

It’s helpful that Rosalyn Landor’s narration of the book is consistently good. Prince Charming has more than its quota of characters and Ms. Landor keeps them all straight. Her male voices are quite good, not gruff or rough or old-sounding except where warranted. She also did a fine job with the children, which is a challenge for any narrator.

Speaking of children, the plot-moppets are way too cutesy for me, but then I generally don’t enjoy children in my romances. It doesn’t help that the twins are constantly called “the babies” and “my babies” by Taylor both in her speech and when she thinks of them.

My personal opinions aside, there are many good reasons listeners may enjoy this book. For one, Ms. Landor is an excellent narrator, and she brings the characters to life. Plus Taylor has many fine qualities as a heroine and her naiveté about life in Montana makes for several funny scenes. Lastly, many listeners will enjoy the strong themes of love and loyalty, duty, honor, and self-sacrifice in Prince Charming. Listeners who enjoy historical romances, especially with an American backdrop, and who enjoy Garwood’s writing style will enjoy this one as well.
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Die for Me – Cynthia Eden

Narrated by Emily Beresford

Review written by Kaetrin

Katherine Cole fled Boston three years ago following the discovery that her then-fiancé, Michael O’Rourke, was the Valentine’s Killer. She walked in on him with the body of his latest victim. Michael, or Valentine as she thinks of him, disappeared. Now in New Orleans, she knows Valentine has found her when the body of a reporter is discovered with a distinctive number of knife wounds on her arms, stabbed in the heart, and clutching a red rose. She goes to the police to tell them what she knows and meets Detective Dane Black. We know Dane is our hero because a) his name is Dane and b) his is the only touch Katherine can bear in the three years since she discovered she was sleeping with a serial killer. Dane and Katherine fall almost instantly in love and they, together with various other members of the NOPD, try and track down Valentine and move into their HEA.

I had some concerns about the descriptions of some of the police procedures, which seemed to serve the plot but I’m not sure were grounded in reality. I’m finding, as I’m getting older, that the world building in romantic suspense is becoming more and more problematic for me. Because it is set in our world, it needs to conform to our rules and when it doesn’t, I don’t buy the argument. Perhaps it’s my (kind of) legal background and I may be more sensitive to these things than others. There were some plot holes too, which caused the occasional eye roll and, while I’m not an expert, I don’t think the Witness Protection Program is used in the manner the book suggests (at least, I hope not).

The narration was very strong. I have the feeling I’ve heard Emily Beresford narrate before under a different name, but I could be wrong on that. The male voices were (mostly) well done (occasionally, there was some gender-slippage) and the accents were, I felt, authentic (although, Dane did sound kind of slow). The female characterizations were also varied, which I always enjoy. The killer is certainly twisted and Ms. Beresford injects some chilling sociopathy into her depiction of him.

Ms. Beresford did a good job with average material. The story was only okay for me – a kind of run-of-the-mill and over the top romantic suspense, but it was elevated somewhat by the narration.
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Calculated in Death – J.D. Robb

Narrated by Susan Ericksen

Review written by LinnieGayl

I haven’t listened to all of the In Death books. I’ve discovered that the more gruesome, serial killer books with sections told from the killer’s POV just don’t work for me in audio. Fortunately this is more a police procedural, and I enjoyed the audio version a great deal. I’m in agreement with Maggie’s AAR review of this 36th entry in the series and with the grade of B. It’s not my favorite in the series, but I enjoyed visiting with Eve, Roarke, and the rest of the crew again. As Maggie noted, what makes the series a joy is, “the subtle continued character growth, excellent pacing, and revisiting of a world both familiar and loved.” I can make much the same comment about Ms. Ericksen’s narration. She has the characters down pat. We know that Eve, Roarke, Peabody, Mavis, and all the rest will sound the same from book to book. And thanks to Ms. Ericksen, how they sound is perfectly appropriate for their characters and emotions.

It’s been said before but bears repeating: this is not the place to start the series. If you haven’t read the series, start with the first, Naked in Death. The storyline of this book has direct links to several in the past, as everyone prepares for the premier of the movie (Celebrity in Death) that tells the story of the Icove case (Origin in Death). More important than the plot connections is the character development that occurs over the 36 books. I particularly enjoyed the numerous conversations between Peabody and Eve in this book; their relationship has changed so much over time. Peabody is now free to be cranky and sarcastic with Eve, things she never would have been when her character was first introduced. And Ms. Ericksen brings these conversations to life, giving just the right tones of playfulness and sarcasm to Peabody’s voice.

In addition to getting reacquainted with the primary characters, I had a new experience this time. I’ve primarily read the series in print, and only recently began listening in audio. While I understand that Eve doesn’t like dressing up, and really doesn’t like having people fuss with her hair and makeup, I’ve never fully understood her fear of Trina, the makeup/hair specialist Eve’s friends frequently shanghai her into seeing. The minute Ms. Ericksen spoke as Trina, I understood. She gave Trina a low, gravely, somewhat scary voice; I would be afraid of Trina too.

Will I listen to the next installment in audio? That will depend on the story itself, and not the narrator. Ms. Ericksen is the voice of the In Death series for me. When I read the more gruesome entries in print, I instantly imagine Ms. Ericksen’s voice. She’s just that good.
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Twice Tempted – Jeaniene Frost

Narrated by Tavia Gilbert

Review written by Kaetrin

Warning: mild spoilers for Once Burned

I love Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress series and last year, I was very happy to listen to Once Burned (the first entry in the Night Prince trilogy) and get to know Vlad a little better. I liked Leila very much and enjoyed the dynamic of the couple together. When we left them at the end of that first book, Leila and Vlad were happy together but trouble was foreshadowed because Vlad had told Leila he was unable to love.

In Twice Tempted, Vlad’s emotional connection to Leila (or the lack thereof) is the main internal conflict. As is so often the case in the violent Night Huntress world, someone is trying to kill Leila, which creates the external conflict but also ramps up the emotional quotient.

After seeing the courtship in Once Burned, it was with some disappointment that I discovered that Leila and Vlad spend a fair bit of time in this book apart or at odds – I much prefer them fighting the “bad guys” and working out their relationship hiccups together. The best parts of Twice Tempted are those with Leila and Vlad together but that is generally my preference in any romance.

Since Twice Tempted is the second in the Night Prince trilogy, the HEA is not complete and the threat to Vlad and Leila not entirely dealt with either. But the book ends with positive progress toward both as well as some other big changes (my lips are sealed).

The narration is very good. Tavia Gilbert has been narrating Vlad for a long time and the part, in particular, when he says, “I am Vlad the Impaler… I am NOT that man!” (when he’s trying to get Leila to see she’s in love with a fantasy not the real man) was delivered so very powerfully. It feels a bit strange writing that, when I consider that it is a paranormal romance about the original Dracula, but within the confines of the book, the world is real and I felt Vlad’s anger and frustration as he tried to get through to Leila. Ms. Gilbert gives us those emotions as if the book’s world was real and that makes all the difference. As usual, the production quality of the audiobook was excellent and the character differentiation very good – from vampires Shrapnel and Maximus, to the cameo appearances of Cat and Mencheres, not to mention the main characters.

While I think Once Burned was a stronger book, Twice Tempted certainly had its highs, and there is even a chapter which rivals the infamous “chapter 32” featuring Cat and Bones – and when Vlad scorches the sheets, he’s not kidding around.
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Wedding Night – Sophie Kinsella

Narrated by Jayne Entwhistle, Fiona Hardingham, and Mark Bramhall

Review written by LinnieGayl

Sophie Kinsella is a hit-or-miss author for me and this story is a miss. I enjoyed her last book, I’ve Got Your Number, a great deal and wrote at the AAR news blog about my excitement at discovering that Jayne Entwhistle was the narrator. While Ms. Entwhistle narrates parts of The Wedding Night, she’s one of three narrators and I had problems with the tag-team narration.

The story is divided into sections told from the point-of-view of two sisters ,Lottie (narrated by Jayne Entwhistle) and Fliss (narrated by Fiona Hardingham). Lottie is the younger, flightier sister with a long history of making bad decisions after breaking up with men. The opening sequence is hysterical featuring a restaurant scene in which Lottie decides her current lover is going to propose. He doesn’t and within a matter of days of breaking up with her ex-lover, Lottie meets up with Ben, her lover from a teenage summer on a Greek island. Knowing nothing about each other as adults, Lottie and Ben decide to marry and honeymoon on the Greek island where they met. Ms. Entwhistle does a great job capturing Lottie’s spirit and flightiness in Lottie’s sections.

Fliss is Lottie’s older, controlling, supposedly more sensible sister. I say supposedly because Fliss does some truly incredible things over the course of the book. Fliss is opposed to Lottie’s marriage to Ben. Fliss meets up with Ben’s best friend, Lorcan, and they are both determined to stop the wedding. Fliss and Lorcan have sex the night they meet after drinking a lot of alcohol. While Ms. Hardingham’s voice is pleasant, the first chapter told from Fliss’ POV was disconcerting. When we’re in a Fliss chapter, Lottie’s voice sounds quite different than in Lottie’s chapters. While Lottie seems funny in her chapters, she comes across as completely flaky in Fliss’ chapters, and at times sounds whiny, weepy, and idiotic.

Much of Wedding Night focuses on Fliss’ efforts to make certain that Ben and Lottie don’t have sex on their honeymoon so their marriage can be annulled. At first it was amusing, but eventually some of the things Fliss does seem dangerous and potentially criminal.

The third narrator is the voice of Arthur, a very minor character who owns the hotel on the Island where Ben and Lottie first met. Arthur starts the story and makes an appearance about 10 hours in. By that point he has so little time on page that the introduction of another narrator seems gimmicky. I continue to like Jayne Entwhistle as a narrator and also like Ms. Hardingham. But I truly didn’t like this story; ultimately I didn’t care for either sister.

Ending Notes

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- Lea Hensley

Because we also complain about hackneyed epilogues. You know what I mean. It’s a year later, and the heroine has just given birth to the adorable heir (because I swear it is usually a boy). Our hero and heroine look at each other with gooey eyes and perfect happiness. There’s no hint that the baby in question might get sick, or their financial fortunes will undergo an abrupt reversal, or even that the beloved family dog will pee on the priceless Aubusson carpet. In other words, there’s no inkling that the hero and heroine are about to experience life as we know it. If there’s any hint of discord in an epilogue, it tends to be in the form of angst for the couple’s friend/relative/old school chum who will be featured in the next sequel. 

What got me thinking about this in the first place? I read two with slipshod endings, both of which read as if the author got sick of writing and just ended the book with little thought or planning. One I have reviewed (and panned) already – Dusk with a Dangerous Duke. In this gem, the story ends with the hero and heroine professing their love as a house burns down around them (after bickering the book away), after which someone (no one ever says who) breaks down the door and presumably puts the fire out. The happy couple walks pout the door to live happily ever after (one assumes) without helping put the fire out, thanking the rescuer, or appearing in a happy epilogue with a dimpled baby in tow.

The second book is one I’m about to review (better than the first, but not by much), which leaves an ending with plot holes big enough to drive a semi through. My personal favorite was the way the hero’s brother had been grazed by a bullet and thought he was Russian. He stills thinks he’s Russian at the end of the book. Or was it the heroine’s brother, who was apparently kidnapped by Indians and renowned for his fiery red hair? Everyone knew about him (except the heroine apparently - she’d been trying to find him for five years). I’m pretty sure these loose ends will be addressed in the next book – which I will definitely not be sticking around to read.

Is there a happy medium somewhere? A non-gooey epilogue? A sunny – bot not completely unrealistic - ending? One where loose ends are tied up satisfactorily but not too neatly? One I can think of recently the struck all the right notes was Cecelia Grant’s A Gentleman Undone. The hero and heroine are happy, but their life is a modest one. Their immediate, pressing issues are resolved, but they aren’t exactly living in fabulous wealth  - or bouncing a baby on both arms.

What kind of ending strikes the right note for you? Do you like the ooey-gooey love and babies? Do you need everything tied up in a bow?

– Blythe Barnhill

This book comes second in the Turner Brothers trilogy, and while it can be read on different levels, it’s deeply satisying no matter how far you want to let your mind dig into it. On the surface, Milan tells an emotional story of two painfully misunderstood people who somehow manage to figure one another out enough to make the other whole. And underneath the surface? Well, Courtney Milan devotes more than a little bit of time to skewering the “keeping up appearances” school of morals. The musings on morality and hypocrisy that run through the story are thoughtfully done and lingered in my mind as long as the actual love story.

As readers of Unveiled may remember, the youngest Turner brother, Mark, has achieved some fame for himself by publishing a guide to male chastity. In early Victoria England, the popularity of his book gets him mobbed on the streets and noticed by the highest levels of government. As the story opens, we learn that Mark has been offered an appointment to sit on a powerful commission but he’s not sure if he will take it. Meanwhile, courtesan Jessica Farleigh is in dire need of funds and would like to obtain them without having to take on yet another protector. She learns that a former lover of hers wants to discredit Mark and that if she can seduce the virgin Mark Turner, then the prize money will be hers.

Weary of fame, Mark has retired to the village of Shepton Mallet. Jessica uses the last of her money to set herself up there as a widow in hopes of catching his eye. And catch his eye she does. Even as a respectable widow, the villagers mistrust the independent widow with the flashy wardrobe and inappropriate manners. Mark sees past the facade, though, and recognizes the wariness beneath Jessica’s brazen exterior. She fascinates him and he cannot help but deepen his acquaintance with her.

From her, the tension becomes obvious and the author does a fabulous job of building it slowly and steadily throughout the story. Mark may be a virgin but he’s no saint and he’s certainly not made of stone. Then again, the closer they come to a romantic and sexual relationship, the more Jessica starts to truly like and love Mark. Freedom is still a tantalizing prospect, but the ruin of Mark Turner starts to look like too high a price to pay. I won’t spoil the book by saying how it all winds up, but I will say that the author deserves major points for winding up the conflict in a way that both satisfies and goes outside what one might expect to happen.

And then there are the characters. I read Unveiled some time ago, and I’ll admit that I wasn’t sure how much I’d like Mark’s story. Focusing on the virgin hero who writes about chastity just seemed too gimmicky to me. The Mark Turner we meet in Unclaimed definitely doesn’t come off as a gimmick, though. Mark is a virgin but one very quickly figures out that this comes as a natural outgrowth of who he is. Far from lording his famous chastity over others, Mark has to exert intense self-control to maintain the life he leads and he clearly does so because of his regard for others rather than for himself. He’s one of the most generous, compassionate heroes I’ve encountered in ages and he’s the perfect match for the battle-hardened Jessica. Best of all, he’s proof that a good guy can have a lot of unexpected depth. A man who says things like, “You’ve always been your own knight,…riding to your rescue. I’m just the man who came along and saw how brightly your armor shone,” might seem a little too good to be true, but the author has a way of making one want to believe he exists out there somewhere.

Victorian literature abounds with cautionary mutterings about those unfortunate girls who get ruined and come to a bad end on the streets. That’s the story of Jessica’s life. Many books romanticize the courtesan and her supposed sexual freedom. However, this story is set in the 1840s, a time when society didn’t allow women much by way of sexual freedom and the author recognizes this in her story. Instead of freedom, we see the toll that Jessica’s life takes on her in terms of social isolation and having to rely on the largesse of men she doesn’t love or even respect. She’s desperate to survive and hopefully leave this lifestyle, and because of what has happened to her, she’s had to harden herself against the world. She doesn’t start off inclined to find sympathy and common cause with Mark but in the face of his genuine decency, the cold cynicism starts to melt.

In terms of love scenes, this isn’t the steamiest romance in the world but the long dance leading up to that ultimate consummation ranks as one of the more engaging courtships in romance. Mark and Jessica engage one another’s minds and hearts long before things get even remotely physical, and it’s truly a fantastic dance. If you’re looking for a well-written, unforgettable romance, Unclaimed is one of those books that deserves to be liberated from the TBR pile right away.

– Lynn Spencer

Anyway, I figured the only way I can keep sane is a) recognize that I won’t hit them all, and b) acknowledge that if I am actually stuck on a desert island with only ten romance novels, I’d go crazy anyway, no matter what I chose. (Unless I chose, like, the Koran, Paradise Lost, and Journey to the West. Then maybe I’d not go all loopy.)

I decided that what I’d probably crave the most is variety, a little bit of every genre to suit every mood. It actually turned out to be relatively easy once I’d decided on this, looked at my Top 100 list, scanned my shelves, and sliced through the different categories. I’m happy with my choices – they’re all different in setting, subgenre, writing style, and character. I’ve also read each of them at least twice – I’m a serial re-reader, so I know when something works for me, when it doesn’t, and (most of important of all) when it stands up to the test of time. I don’t want to be stuck in the Pacific reading about, like, cell phones the size of bricks and silk printed dresses with palm trees adorning our benighted heroine. (Or something like that. That comes from the incomparable Judith McNaught, and I remember being completely horrified. Ghastly, truly ghastly.)

So without further ado and in no particular order, here are my Top Ten Romances to Prevent Jean from Standing Under a Coconut Tree and Kicking It.

Frederica, by Georgette Heyer (Regency)

For good old light hearted Regency fun. Honestly, if I have Georgette Heyer, I’m good to go in the Regency department.

The Spymaster’s Lady, by Joanna Bourne (European Historical)

For the French road trip and a heroine who can remind me to suck it up, cause you ain’t got it as bad as she does.

Angels Fall, by Nora Roberts (Romantic Suspense)

For a romantic suspense that is funny, sombre, atmospheric, and completely enjoyable.

Bet Me, by Jennifer Crusie (Contemporary)

For the funniest, most heartfelt straight contemporary I’ve ever read. Bonus: a couple that never has babies.

The Last Renegade, by Jo Goodman (American Historical)

For the moments when I need a slightly depressing read leavened by a hero’s kookiness.

Second Thyme Around, by Katie Fforde (Chick Lit)

For the modern kind-of ditz who finds herself, balance, and love, in that order.

Dragon Bound, by Thea Harrison (Paranormal)

For the times when I really need a mega alpha paranormal male who has been bored since time immemorial, only to fall at the feet of our snarky, spunky heroine.

Bound by Your Touch, by Meredith Duran (British Historical)

For the couple who end up in Canada! And, of course, for the angsty story preceding Canada.

The Windflower, by Sharon and Tom Curtis (Shipboard)

Come on. I’m stuck on a desert island. I have to have at least one shipboard romance to get me through this.

Nine Coaches Waiting, by Mary Stewart (Gothic)

Maybe if the heroine is running around France and wondering if her beloved is a murderer, it will make me feel better about my current situation.

That’s it for me. What do you think about variety versus quality in your top ten? What’s on your list?

- Jean Wan

Speaking as someone who reads Historicals almost exclusively within the genre, I found much to chew over in these discussions – including the perspectives of some authors who do write novels set in different time periods and locations, in which they explained how hard they find it to sell their work to a major publisher because it doesn’t fit what seem to be their preferred parameters – i.e 16th Century (for historical fiction) or 19th Century Britain.

I’ve worked in marketing and promotions (albeit in a different arm of the entertainment industry) so I know how much is about profit and how little (sometimes) is about craft or artistry. I know how strong the desire to jump on the “Oh – that was really successful; let’s do it again!” bandwagon is. And I know how stifling it can be. One only has to look at the proliferation of FSoG ‘clones’, with their stylish black-and-white covers, that are flooding the market. My local supermarket, while not having a huge selection of paperbacks, does have part of an aisle devoted to books, and it’s amazing how, over the last year or so, that aisle has turned incredibly monochromatic!

Now, I’m not knocking anyone’s reading preferences. I’ll happily put my hand up and admit to being addicted to Historical Romances and Historical Fiction, and that I don’t read very much outside those genres when it comes to fiction. That doesn’t mean I’ll put up with any old rubbish as long as it’s got a half-naked couple on the front surrounded by a sumptuous, never-ending dress; I like some history in my Historicals, too. I admit to liking 19th Century Britain as a setting, but I’d be delighted to see a surge in stories set in Medieval Ireland, or the 16th Century French Wars of Religion. There’s room for everything, surely, in a market as wide-ranging as it is today. When it comes down to it, the important thing is that the story is good and well-told, whether the hero is a Celtic Clan Chief or a Regency Duke. And as someone pointed out on one of those posts, the Dukes, Earls and Viscounts of HR are the precursors of the billionaires and hard-nosed businessmen one finds in some Contemporaries, so it seems there’s an appetite for stories about wealthy, powerful men regardless of time-period.

But this debate has made me think about all those HRs – and I imagine they are predominantly Regency stories – that are now out of print. I wasn’t a great reader of romances back in the 80s and 90s, and it seems I’ve missed some good books as a result! There’s a Goodreads group devoted to Traditional Regencies which has turned up quite a few great reads that I’d otherwise have missed, but which I’ve had to buy second-hand and in some cases at ridiculous cost. Belgrave House’s Regency Reads arm has already published a large number of old Signet and Fawcett titles as ebooks and is continuing to do so each month; and Intermix (Penguin) is putting out a lot of Signet Regencies, too. Some great books by Carla Kelly, Elisabeth Fairchild, and Elizabeth Mansfield have reappeared courtesy of e-publishers and in some cases, authors themselves are self-publishing their backlists, (Diane Farr, Danielle Harmon, Stella Riley to name but a few) – and that’ s great for someone like me, who is addicted to my Kindle and is new to many of these books and authors. I hope there are a lot of younger readers or readers new to the genre who are discovering some of these truly delightful books for the first time, too.

That doesn’t mean that everything that publishing houses such as Signet, Fawcet and Zebra put out thirty years ago should be re-issued. I’m sure there is plenty of stuff there which shouldn’t have seen the light of day in the first place – just as there is today. But there are undoubtedly some real gems that are languishing out there just gathering dust that people like me who missed them the first time around – and possibly people (also like me!) who are bemoaning the poor writing and characterisation found in many of the HRs being put out today – would be only too eager to snap up. I’ve recently read some lovely books by Charlotte Louise Dolan, Donna Simpson, Nancy Butler, and Cindy Holbrook, to name but a few. Then there are names I see cropping up like Paula Allardyce, Melinda McRae and Dorothy Eden who all sound as though they’ve written books I’d enjoy. I’d love to get my hands on some of Patricia Veryan or Sylvia Thorpe’s Georgian novels without having to stump up £3-£8 postage for each book (depending on where I can get them from). Belgrave House and Signet price their ebooks at under £3, so it does gall that I have to pay as much for postage as for an actual book! (I should also add that there are very few works by these authors in UK libraries – I don’t know if that’s because titles were never published here or if books got so old they fell apart and couldn’t be replaced, but using the library to get hold of these titles is frequently not an option for me.)

So then I got to thinking about how to make authors/publishers aware that they might want to be more proactive in this area of the market. Having poked around the internet for half-an-hour or so, I see that some of those authors I’ve mentioned have websites or Facebook pages. In some cases, of course (Veryan, for instance) the author is no longer with us, so re-publishing would presumably rely on the willingness of the family or their estate.

AAR has a wide readership across the romance industry – readers, writers, publishers and other interested parties – so surely, between us all, we can make a case for dusting off some of these older titles and getting them back out there electronically for a new generation of readers to enjoy.

What titles / authors would you like to see back “in print” (figuratively speaking)? I know I’ve written specifically about HRs but please feel free to include books and authors from other genres, too. Who knows? Maybe someone reading this will be able to make some of our wishes come true.

– Caz Owens

Romance readers often complain about the excessive number of small town/rural romances, particularly in category romances. While I don’t hate small town romances, I can only handle so many romances featuring small town sheriffs, or visitors from the big city who discover the wonders of small towns. As a long-time Chicago resident, I often find myself longing for big city romances (and I’m not talking about European Historicals set in London). Several years ago Rike wrote here about reading romances set in places where we live. Many of us chimed in with complaints – or praise – for books set in the towns we live in. About the time Jean wrote about the joys of city reading, and asked what romances set in big cities gave a feel for the city.

I recently had the unusual experience of reading for review three romances set in Chicago. One – Jennifer Lohmann’s The First Move – was a DIK for me. Among my many favorite aspects of The First Move is the author’s depiction of a seldom-featured section of Chicago. The other two romances (not yet reviewed here at AAR) feature other parts of the City. In each of them, the city came to life for me. When I finished the third I found myself longing for other vibrant romances that in addition to featuring a wonderful love story with a great hero and heroine, also bring a city to life.

A prerogatives of being one of the current editors (along with Rike and Cindy) of the Special Titles Lists, is that in addition to revising existing lists, we get to add new lists. We recently added the Met as Children list and are working on a few others. I’d like to give a Big City Romances List a try.

The Big City Romances list would include romances from any time period (despite my preference for contemporary and category romances). But a key element will be that the city has to be vivid in the romance. It’s not enough to feature a hero and heroine who live in New York or Seattle or Los Angeles, they have to actually be out and about in the city. A romance in which the hero and heroine live in New York but spend the entire romance in the hero’s bedroom doesn’t really fit the category. I’m also not interested in a romance in which the hero and heroine live in the suburbs of a big city, and make one brief trip into the city. I want romances featuring big city residents in which the city shines.

If you’d be interested in a Big City Romances list, please let us know in the comments below. And better yet, do you have any suggestions for the list? Ideally I’d like to put up a “starter” list in a couple months and open it up for submissions at that time. To get us started, I’d add the following romances to the list:

* Jennifer Lohmann’s The first Move (Chicago, contemporary romance)

* Susan Elizabeth Phillip’s Match Me If You Can (Chicago, contemporary romance)

Any others?

– LinnieGayl Kimmel