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rushthatspeaksI wanted to read a romance novel that did not cause me to wish to throw it across the room or beat my head against the wall.
And hey! That's exactly what I got!
This is not a great book, but it's better than it had to be. It's self-consciously a Cinderella story, a frothy bubbly confection of a thing in which the hero has literally been given the war-re-enacting uncle from Tristram Shandy as a cross to bear in life, along with an entire castle (yes, castle, I told you this was Cinderella, he's the Prince of-- consults book-- that part of Ruritania known as Warl-Marburg-Baalsfeld) full of Old Retainers of the eccentric sort, including of course illegitimate half-brother, elephant, and lion. And the heroine spends much of the book dressed up as her own stepsister and therefore has to bring her stepsister's three adored tiny dogs along with her everywhere, despite the fact that she is not at all a tiny dog person.
You know. That sort of book.
But it follows the time-honored rules of screwball; it is not a comedy of embarrassment, ever, it does not run out of plot halfway through and go digging around for a villain the way some romances like to, and the hero's original fiancée is a perfectly nice girl who does not get treated badly. For that matter, even the wicked stepmother is basically doing the best she can, although that does not make her a nice person.
And I have to like the hero, because his one goal in life is to run off to Tunisia and dig up Carthage in the correct academic manner so he knows it's done right. But he has to Marry For Money, of course, to feed his uncle and his lion...
If you're looking for correct period anything, this is not your book. This is a book which has kicked over the traces, admits cheerfully that it takes place in never-never-land, and grabbed anything from the entire eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it thought was shiny. Honestly I approve-- I think this is a sounder approach than trying to write a plausible historical while still using all the standard romance clichés, which happens a lot. It's not terrible on gender, though it is not spectacularly good. It is basically what it wants to be: a lot of fun.
I should try more of James now, though I freely admit I am running out of non-throwing-things romance novels. I have read all of Laura Kinsale and Lydia Joyce, the Jennifer Crusie I care about, the Julia Quinn that seemed survivable, and the Loretta Chase that does not make me want to scream. I need to track down the new Victoria Janssen. Does anyone have recommendations? Suzanne Brockmann maybe? Other ideas?
And hey! That's exactly what I got!
This is not a great book, but it's better than it had to be. It's self-consciously a Cinderella story, a frothy bubbly confection of a thing in which the hero has literally been given the war-re-enacting uncle from Tristram Shandy as a cross to bear in life, along with an entire castle (yes, castle, I told you this was Cinderella, he's the Prince of-- consults book-- that part of Ruritania known as Warl-Marburg-Baalsfeld) full of Old Retainers of the eccentric sort, including of course illegitimate half-brother, elephant, and lion. And the heroine spends much of the book dressed up as her own stepsister and therefore has to bring her stepsister's three adored tiny dogs along with her everywhere, despite the fact that she is not at all a tiny dog person.
You know. That sort of book.
But it follows the time-honored rules of screwball; it is not a comedy of embarrassment, ever, it does not run out of plot halfway through and go digging around for a villain the way some romances like to, and the hero's original fiancée is a perfectly nice girl who does not get treated badly. For that matter, even the wicked stepmother is basically doing the best she can, although that does not make her a nice person.
And I have to like the hero, because his one goal in life is to run off to Tunisia and dig up Carthage in the correct academic manner so he knows it's done right. But he has to Marry For Money, of course, to feed his uncle and his lion...
If you're looking for correct period anything, this is not your book. This is a book which has kicked over the traces, admits cheerfully that it takes place in never-never-land, and grabbed anything from the entire eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it thought was shiny. Honestly I approve-- I think this is a sounder approach than trying to write a plausible historical while still using all the standard romance clichés, which happens a lot. It's not terrible on gender, though it is not spectacularly good. It is basically what it wants to be: a lot of fun.
I should try more of James now, though I freely admit I am running out of non-throwing-things romance novels. I have read all of Laura Kinsale and Lydia Joyce, the Jennifer Crusie I care about, the Julia Quinn that seemed survivable, and the Loretta Chase that does not make me want to scream. I need to track down the new Victoria Janssen. Does anyone have recommendations? Suzanne Brockmann maybe? Other ideas?
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Date: 2011-05-06 11:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-06 01:53 pm (UTC)I have no idea if Brockmann would be to your taste. http://www.steelypips.org/weblog/tag/Suzanne%20Brockmann
A nice little book is Mary Balogh's _A Summer to Remember_: http://www.steelypips.org/weblog/2005/05/balogh_mary_sum.php
Otherwise, I dunno, I've been getting most of my romance fix from fanfic these days and that is not suitable to your current purposes. However, when you have time, I must recommend this series of Vorkosigan fic, http://archiveofourown.org/series/4569 , "In which a Countess renowned for her shopping discovers a gift she would like to give her husband and wonders how it may be arranged.", which is that rare thing, a poly fic, and instantly shot to the top of my comfort reading list. (Well, okay, rare by my definitions, which admittedly are suspect since I am not poly, but most OT3/4 fic I read doesn't _feel_ like it's got much to do with poly as I am aware of it.)
no subject
Date: 2011-05-06 01:51 pm (UTC)The only thing I know about Eloisa James is do not read When The Duke Returns. This one sounds fun, though!
Speaking of Ruritania...
Date: 2011-05-06 08:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-06 08:50 am (UTC)The plot is retold on the Wiki page of the movie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forty-First_%281956_film%29
And youtube has the movie. The ending here (I tries to imagine watching it when not understanding Russian, not knowing the plot. So weird): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPzLcDvdcm0
no subject
Date: 2011-05-06 11:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-07 09:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-06 03:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-06 05:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-07 01:54 am (UTC)I particularly enjoy the series which starts with Desperate Duchesses, which is 18th century, has people playing chess, and passes the Bechdel test with flying colours (James tends to write ensemble series, with groups of sisters or women friends who are important in each others' books).
Have you read Soulless (Gail Carriger) yet? It is steampunk with vampires and werewolves, which would normally annoy me beyond belief, except that the heroine is clearly related to Amelia Peabody, and is thus utterly delightful.
I'm also fond of Anne Gracie's books, and if you liked the earlier and funnier Julia Quinn, you might enjoy Victoria Alexander, who is a similar type and has a very good ear for comedy. I quite liked The Virgin's Secret.
Oh, and Tracy Grant is someone I think you would particularly enjoy; I'm not quite sure if she writes romance - Secrets of a Lady (formerly published as Daughter of the Game) starts off by unravelling the perfect marriage, and you have to see where it goes from there. It does grab your heart and twist it, though.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-07 03:56 am (UTC)