Recent Reads

The Serpent Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt

Why this one: I adored her first two

Level of Heat: Ohhhhhhhhhh yeeeaaaaaaa

Amazon blurb: Lucy Craddock-Hayes thought the man lying in the ditch was dead, but he survived the assault. With the help of her servant, Lucy brings the gentleman home, and learns that he is Viscount Simon Iddesleigh. As Simon slowly recuperates, he finds himself falling in love with sharp-witted and surprisingly sharp-tongued Lucy, but he also knows that the longer he stays, the more likely it is that his quest for vengeance will endanger Lucy and her family. Delectably clever writing, deliciously complex characters, and a delightfully sexy romance between two perfectly matched protagonists are the key ingredients in the third book in Hoyt's superbly crafted, loosely connected Georgian-era Princes trilogy.

My thoughts: The first time I met Elizabeth Hoyt, was in the elevator. I gushed, I followed her way past my floor in full gushing mode. I made an idiot of myself and gave my roomies lots of laughs. If I had read The Serpent Prince before I ran into her in Dallas I probably would have followed her off the elevator, down the hall, into her room and just sat on the bed and not wanted to leave, I loved this book that much.

Simon is just not that nice a guy in some ways. He is bent on revenge for the murder of his brother and nothing is going to stop him. He makes a great anti-hero. There is something you don’t like about him, yet he is so compelling, so riveting, you just have this attraction to his character. You don’t see this kind of character all that often so when you do – Wowzers – he makes an impression. And what really sold me on Simon and on this book, was how he was completely wrecked for the heroine. I’ve mentioned before how I love this in a romance book; when the hero is so gone for the heroine. Simon says that Lucy is his salvation and you really get the feeling that she is. This otherwise urbane, dissolute, revenge seeking anti-hero really needs the heroine to keep going.

And Lucy is also a great heroine. Not quite as memorable as Simon, but I think she was a great match for him. Although somewhat innocent, she still has a lot of sense to her. And I love how Ms. Hoyt captures the atmosphere of the time. I love a good Georgian setting and this is a Very Good One.

I know this is going to be a book I read over and over. I’ve already placed it on my Top 100 of all time Romance books

Grade: 5 out of 5

Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas

Why this one: heh, heh – I don’t think this needs any splainin’ It’s Lisa Kleypas.

Level of Heat: She’s had hotter, but this one is just fine

Amazon Blurb: When an unexpected inheritance elevates her family to the ranks of the aristocracy, Amelia Hathaway discovers that tending to her younger sisters and wayward brother was easy compared to navigating the intricacies of the ton. Even more challenging: the attraction she feels for the tall, dark, and dangerously handsome Cam Rohan.

Wealthy beyond most men’s dreams, Cam has tired of society’s petty restrictions and longs to return to his “uncivilized” Gypsy roots. When the delectable Amelia appeals to him for help, he intends to offer only friendship—but intentions are no match for the desire that blindsides them both. But can a man who spurns tradition be tempted into that most time-honored arrangement: marriage? Life in London society is about to get a whole lot hotter….

My Thoughts: Cam Rohan blazed onto the scene in The Devil in Winter. It didn’t take much for him to captivate all of us and I think many of us were counting the time until this one came out. I had an ARC but I didn’t want to read it too far ahead of everyone else. But with it’s eminent release I decided the time was right. Now I’m not even nearly the first to post their thoughts on this book.

First up – it didn’t knock Dreaming of You off it’s pedestal but then it would take an EXTREMELY rare book to do that. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this one.

I think Amelia made a fine heroine for Cam after we all thought that he was going to end up with Daisy. I much prefer Amelia. I enjoyed how she was the spine in her family and took care of all of them after the death of her family.

And Cam – oh he was delish! I’ve read a number of books with heroes of Gypsy heritage and he is right up there now on the top of the list – well, he shares it with Nicolas from MJP’s Thunder and Roses. I loved how he so quickly became so protective of Amelia and her family.

To me this seemed a bit different than Lisa Kleypas’ other series. I’m not sure how to put it, but it seemed more like a first chapter of a continuing story and I almost expected the words “To Be Continued” to be on the final page. I found that very intriguing and smart.

I can’t say a whole lot more other than I love, just love her books, her writing and her personally and this book only adds to the love.

Grade: 4.5 out of 5

'til later

Recent Read

The Leopard Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt

Release Date: April, 2007

Type: Historical

Hotness Level: Hot

Chapters Outline:

Wealthy Lady Georgina Maitland doesn't want a husband, though she could use a good steward to run her estates. One look at Harry Pye, and Georgina knows she's not just dealing with a servant, but a man. Harry has known many aristocrats-including one particular nobleman who is his sworn enemy. But Harry has never met a beautiful lady so independent, uninhibited, and eager to be in his arms. Still, it's impossible to conduct a discreet liaison when poisoned sheep, murdered villagers, and an enraged magistrate have the county in an uproar.

Why this one: I just adored The Raven Prince, the story, her writing, and was eager to read her next one.

My thoughts: While this one didn't capture me quite as much as TRP, it was still a very good and enjoyable book. When I saw the premise of The Leopard Prince at the end of TRP, I thought the idea of a class struggle very intriguing, a bit different from your run of the mill historical. Purists (of which I'm certainly not one) might find this a bit hard to buy, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Georgina was a real treat. She didn't much care what society thought. She wanted Harry and she went for him. She is by turns innocent, charming, determined and sweet. Harry is - well - earthy. He truly is of a different class. No nice speeches from him. He made a wonderfully refreshing change from all the dukes and earls etc.
There is a bit of a mystery in this one - who is killing all the sheep. We know it's not Harry although he stand accused, but the real culprit I found a bit of a surprise. It wasn't who I thought it would be.
I also really enjoyed the second cast of characters. Ms. Hoyt has a way of making them quite vivid even though they don't play leading roles. She did this remarably well in The Raven Prince too.
Although maybe classified as second in a series, there is very little connection to The Raven Prince. The hero in that one only makes a very brief appearance at the end. So this one works quite well as a stand-alone.
And as for the title; this is a fairy tale Georgina tells Harry in bits throughout the book. And some of the telling is in very interesting stages!
I rated The Raven Prince a 5, but this one comes remarkably close

Grade: 4.5 out of 5

'til later

Keeper! - A Really Good Recent Read

The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt

A big thank you to Rosario for her most excellent review of this book. I had seen some buzz on it before and I read Jane’s review at Dear Author and was intrigued enough to pick it up when I first saw it on the shelves. But there it sat on the TBR pile and probably would have for a while until something in Rosario’s review made me decide not to wait to read this one.
I’ve become somewhat disenchanted with historicals lately. I’m still buying them, especially if it’s a favoured author, but many of them are languishing in the TBR pile. But this one blew all dissatisfaction away in a wonderfully fresh breeze. It’s no wonder that at Amazon there are 22 reviews and the average is 5 stars. If you read Rosario & Jane’s reviews you can pretty much pick up what the book is about so instead I’ll just say why this one worked so very well for me.

Edward-He is just so adorable! He reminds me of one of my favourite hero’s; Dain from Loretta Chase’s Lord of Scoundrels. He’s rude, he’s short tempered, he throws things. But underneath all his outward bluster, he’s just a very lonely, very scarred hero. I just adored him.

Anna – What a wonderful heroine she is. She’s a widow whose husband cheated on her thus making her very leery of trusting men. She’s lived by the rules all her life but when she meets Edward, she’s like a butterfly coming out of her cocoon. She enjoys talking back to him and isn’t intimidated by his bluster at all, in fact she likes it.
Both Edward and Anna are described as not very attractive. Edward is covered in pox scars and Anna apparently suits her last name Wren and isn’t very noticeable – except for her sexy lips. But as the story progresses, both Edward and Anna come to see the other as extremely attractive and with very good writing, so do we, the readers.

The secondary characters – from Anna’s understanding mother-in-law to Pearl and Coral, the two sisters who are both in the prostitution trade, to Felix Hopple, the steward with his flamboyant waistcoats to Davis the cantankerous old valet; they all come to life in a way secondary character seldom do. Ms. Hoyt has a way of breathing life into them and while they don’t take centre stage, they do all have their own distinct personalities.
The love scenes in this book also work very well. All too often I find myself skimming them just because they aren’t really that well-written, but with these ones I read every word.
Another thing I appreciated about this one is the setting. It takes place during the Georgian time frame rather than Regency or Victorian. Since I have this thing for tricorn hats and men with their hair tied back in queues, (goes back to my Paul Revere and the Raider days), this one was very fine to picture while reading.
I even read the sweet fairy tale that started each chapter. Usually I skip that kind of thing, but this kept my interest all the way through. And it was neat reading Ms. Hoyt’s reply to Jane on Rosario’s comments as to the significance of the tale.
My sons came over yesterday to watch football and rather than watch it with them, I kept picking up this book and reading it because I couldn’t bear to put it down. And horrible as it sounds – while not exactly glad when they left, it did give me the chance to really read it without the distraction of watching the Broncos go down to defeat. Even the very last page – what to expect in a romance hero from Edward’s perspective was a hoot.
This one has restored my faith in the historical once more. It’s a delightful, smile on your face, tender, sweet, sexy book and it gets a big thumbs up from me! As others have said, it’s amazing that this is her first book – it reads like it was written by a seasoned author. I know I’m parroting so many others but this book is enchanting, and after reading the excerpt, I along with many others will be eagerly looking forward to the next one – The Leopard Prince.

Grade: 5 out of 5

'til later