Mr. Cavendish, I Presume. by Julia Quinn

It has been almost 2 weeks since my last post. In my defense, none of the authors that I follow have released anything yummy and new in that time. So I read random books by new authors I've never heard of (more to come later...) but could grow to love and wrote the blogs on paper and avoided my computer. So in the next couple of days, get ready for a barrage of new books and blog posts.

Lets talk about Julia Quinn's new book Mr Cavendish, I Presume. Which seems to be a bastardization of the popular quote by H. M. Stanley on meeting the explorer David Livingstone, when he uttered "Dr. Livingstone, I presume." (And that, ladies and gentleman is an example of why I should be on Jeopardy!). I'm not sure of the reference because the esteemed explorer never shows up in the book and as far as I could tell those actual words weren't uttered either.

Julia Quinn's An Offer From a Gentleman introduced me to how amazing historical English romance novels could be. In fact, it was the first romance novel that I ever purchased.(Also the first that my mom found and threw away...twice) But despite my abiding infatuation with the Bridgerton brothers that were the mainstays of her previous 7 book long series, I have been quite let down by her more recent efforts including this book. That isn't to say that this wasn't quite an enjoyable read to pass the time (a little over 2 hours), but I had higher expectations.

Amelia (our heroine) is a pleasant girl, who has been engaged to the Duke of Wyndham, Thomas Cavendish since she was only months old. And Thomas, as most bachelors in these books do, has been avoiding setting a date for the wedding. Not because he doesn't want to get married, but it seems that he has all the time and doesn't see a pressing need to see the deed done. And Amelia, despite the ton's pity, seems fine with the arrangement. He is after all a duke, and a cute one too.(bonus!!) It has only recently seemed to bother her that he doesn't care what she thinks and has never asked her opinion. Not because he's mean. But seriously they've always known each other and it wasn't important before. And to be fair Amelia has been doing an exquisite imitation of a brainless, accommodating debutant when around him.

So if you read The Lost Duke of Wyndham then you know that his cousin Mr. Jack Cavendish-Audley shows up and becomes the Duke, being higher in the hereditary line. So circumstances almost destroys his new friendship/relationship with his fiancee, when it is realized that she was betrothed to the 7th Duke of Wyndham and not specifically Thomas. And Thomas makes things worse by stepping aside and thinking that he knows best for everyone.

The story is basically a rewrite from The Lost Duke of Wyndham except from 2 new points of view. The reader already knows how the suspense ends because you already read the conclusion in her previous book. And in the epilogue, Julia Quinn does some serious magic tricks that really don't make sense to give Mr. Cavendish a title back. It seemed unnecessary. Especially since she spent the last chapters convincing us it was ok that he didn't have a title.

One thing I do love about Julia Quinn's books, including this one, is her characters. They react like normal people when their lives are falling apart. (And since this is a Romance Novel, It's only a matter of time). Amelia reacts like a normal 21 year old, when she witnesses her father, Mr Audrey, and Mr Cavendish arguing over who has to marry her, preferably the other man. No hysterics. A great deal of pride and a quiet panic attack. That passage was beautiful to read.

Also as far as characters and their relationship with others are concerned, I was thrilled that Julia Quinn wrote a realistic representation of sisters. Amelia is the second of 5 daughters. And in contrast to most other romance novels they aren't the bestest of bestest friends, who tell each other everything, and can't be out of each other's sight. They like each other and are friends, but they all have lives outside each other. This struck me as particularly true in the book when Amelia clarifies that even though she has known her friend Grace since she was little, they aren't the best of friends. Grace, despite being a main character in this book, is the best friend of Amelia's sister Elizabeth. Because ,as she puts it, if you have sisters only one can be the particular friend of someone. I know that doesn't sound nice. But it is just what happens. And I am THRILLED that an author understands this.

As number 3 in a family with 5 girls myself, I found this a refreshing look at sister bonds. In my experience almost everyone in your family and outside of it is trying to lump you into a constricting box, where you are only defined by your family. So each of us had specific friends. And though my sisters knew my friends and I knew theirs, we each had our own particular girlfriend that we weren't really willing to share. It was a way for each of us to carve out a place of originality in a family, and to make people identify with you not as a part of a whole, but as an individual.

So if I was going by a scoring system (which I'm really trying to avoid, but shall make an exception here) I would give Mr. Cavendish, I Presume, a 7 out of 10 in character development. 4 out of 10 in originality.6 out of 10 in over all readability. And 4 out of 10 in how it rates against her other books.

It was a nice book to read, but really nothing special. And if you already read The Lost Duke of Wyndham, then you already met the characters and know most of their story.

Faefever by Karen Marie Moning

"OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!"
The only words that come into my head. And no I'm not shrieking them like a sorority girl sucking on helium balloons. I am moaning them in horrible fascination...Like the feeling you get when you hit a chipmunk with your car...now imagine that you just hit a unicorn. Got it? That's what this book did to me.

I sincerely can't express how shocked I am at finishing this book. It's so amazingly horrible. I want to tell you all about the book, but I can't because it would ruin the end. And this is an experience that NOONE deserves taken away from them. My telling you what happens wouldn't ruin the book...it would decimate, destroy, decapitate, demolish (and every other bad connotative word that begins with 'de') in the dictionary.

I started reading this book and was riveted - an unusual occurrence when you consider that I read and ENTIRE book every single night before I go to sleep - with what Ms. Marie Moning decided to put Mac (the main character-go read my previous post for a lil background) through. She is literally trying to save the world but she only just found out that it needed saving. She's trying to do the impossible without all the information and lacking any sort of tools to do the job. It's like driving a car at night without knowing what the headlights are and that your brakes have been disabled. AND SHE FAILS! SHE FAILS! SHE FAILS! OH MY GOD! Unbelievably - going against all the written and unwritten rules of Romance Novels or Science Fiction.

Rule number 1: Never at any time shall the main character whether they be male or female fail in the quest that the universe has bestowed upon them.

SHE FAILS! Doesn't Karen Marie Moning know the rules? I loath and love her at the same time for this maneuver. Kind of like when she killed Duncan ( the main character) in a previous book. Which broke,

Rule number 2: Thou shalt not kill the main hero or heroine in the book
Only much much much worse.

It was so bad that while sitting at Barnes and Noble drinking my yummy hot cinnamon sunset tea, I threw my hands up and moaned "NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!" in a desperate, wailing voice. There in a bookstore fully cognizant that I was being stared at, I began to cry and I didn't want to stop.

This book is like the ending of Saving Private Ryan. When you want Tom Hanks to live so bloody much that you torture yourself and watch the movie again on the slim yet nonexistent chance that THIS TIME the ending will be different. This time it won't end so badly. This time when Tom Hanks starts to shoot his pitiful little handgun at the advancing tank it will blow up because he hit it in just the right place. Then he will get carried home a hero and Private Ryan's mom will bake him a turkey pot pie for saving her youngest son. But every time you watch that awesomely miserable movie Matt Damon lives and everyone else dies.

I have never wanted a book to come out like soon like I am frantic for the sequel to Faefever. This book has done what no other book has EVER been able to do. It has surprised me - no shocked me - shaken me up and down and in one second made my whole body stop moving with unbelief. It has made me take all of my preconceived notions of what a book should be and how a plot should flow and made me throw them away in shame at my own arrogance.

V'lane, Barrons, Christian MacKelter, Rowena, and (most importantly) MAC are officially my new obsession. J. R. Ward will have to skootch over and share the podium entitled Abby's Favorite Authors (ever).

If you read No Other Romance novels for the rest of this year. Pick up the Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning. Read the first book and deal with Mac's whining as she matures. She grows up, I promise. Love the second book (Bloodfever) and become obsessed with the third (Faefever).

Bloodfever By Karen Marie Moning

I don't think that Karen Marie Moning's Fever (DarkFever, Bloodfever, and I'm assuming Sept 16th's Faefever) should be classified as romance novels. They are thrillers, action, suspense. The books don't focus on a central male/female/ romantic relationship. It is however written toward a female audience in the language and story line.

Written in the first person perspective, the Bloodfever follows a Sidheseer (a female, who can see all the creatures that project illusion and glamour to trick human minds) named Mackayla Lane (Mac) who has moved to Dublin, Ireland to find out what happened to her sister who was found murdered in Dublin after a couple months of living there. When Mac showed up, she finds that the world is so much different than her small southern town upbringing had led her to believe. The world is full of shockingly beautiful Fae (fairies), Unseelie ( Magical creatures that are the opposite of the Fae by way of attractiveness and evil) that feed off of humans, Vampires, mob bosses, and just all around corrupt people. Completely unprepared for this world she almost dies a bunch of time and would have ended the series prematurely if not for the mysterious and sexy Barrons. We don't know that much about him other than he can se the Invisibles too and he owns a bookstore. He is collecting magical artifacts called the Seelie and Unseelie Hallows. Objects of great power. Barrons is using Mac as his own personal OOPS detector.

In Bloodfever, Mac is still running around and being chased by conflicting groups of people who want to use her and then discard her: A league of Sihdseers that originally rejected her, Barrons, and a death by sex fairy named V'lane. Through out the whole thing Mac is being haunted by her own personal grimm reaper that shows up at random times through out the book and ends up being more corporeal than she thought.

Mac is a strong character who I wish was real just so I could meet her. I was fascinated by her thought process that at times branched off into the absurd. She has the weird little foibles and quirks that make her relatible. All over an incredible girl that I will continue to follow as long as the series continues.

My fervent wish is that somehow this trilogy will become linked to her highlander series that is running along the same timeline as this one. In fact we have a Mr Christian MacKelter pop up in this book and try to draft Mac into an alliance. I hope they all show up in the 3rd book including yummy Mr Adam Black. I'm getting all jittery just thinking about the possibilities.

Karen Marie Moning

Look here to find most of her books. Including Faefever coming Sept 16, 2008!

His Captive Lady by Anne Gracie

His Captive Lady by Anne Gracie is a story that weaves a sense of romance and possibility. At the end of this book, I flipped the back cover, held the book in my hands and had the near irresistible urge to sigh out an "aaaaaaaaaaaw!" - one of those sounds usually reserved for looking at cute babies cuddling kittens.

This novel is everything a classic Romance novel should be. The story is completely involved and focused on the growing relationship and really no outside bad guys to throw wrenches into the works. There are no enemies to force them into a high stress and shaky relationship. At the risk of being trite; They just fall in love.

The title actually has nothing to do with story as far as I can tell. At no time is Lady Helen Freymore kidnapped or held against her will as the title suggests. In fact because she was raped by a bad bad man previously Harry Morant goes out of his way not to take away her choices.

The first half of the book is focused on Harry winning Nell's (Helen's..yeah I don't get the nickname either) heart through 3 marriage proposals in their first 4 meetings. Nell has had a reprobate father, who gambled away her money, horses, and house. Harry wants to protect and help her in her destitution-plus he thinks she's cute =-). But Nell says no, because she is searching for her illegitimate child who is the product of her rape. She loves this little girl with every part of her being and is ferociously dedicated to finding her again. I fell in love with her when she chewed out another lady for suggesting that her daughter was the child of a rapist. Nell loves her child for being part of her and never blames her for the circumstances behind her conception. She doesn't think that Harry will accept her because he was the rejected bastard child of an Earl and is bitterly estranged from 2 of his 3 brothers.

After convincing Helena to marry him, Harry and Nell start a desperate and tragic search for her 2 month old daughter that her gambling father stole and lost just hours before dying on the side of the road. Both have feelings of being unworthy of love because of their backgrounds. So watching them find each other was fascinatingly endearing.

There were a few things that the characters did and how they behaved that were a tad bit unrealistic. But I won't elaborate because this book falls in the category of a Feel-Good book. It's fluff. There is no more reason to read it than because it will leave you with and uplifting sense of happiness. But really I have absolutely no problems with fluff...It's like religiously listening to rock and roll and underground Indy bands. But when you are cleaning your apartment you throw on stilettos and blast Kelly Clarkson while dancing like a maniac and lipsynching all the words. It's OK to enjoy things for no reason.

So if you are in the mood for a book that makes you believe that romance can happen to anyone no matter your situation, I recommend this book. Get ready for the sighs and spontaneous AWWWWW!


Anne Gracie Website
Where to find His Captive Lady

Also my favorite book by her is The Gallant Waif. It was years ago. So it's like a scavenger hunt to find available copies. But the search is worth it. I love love love love love that book.

Dark Curse By Christine Feehan

I am sooooooo glad that Christine Feehan and her Carpathians are back. This was the FIRST paranormal romance series I ever picked up. I was 16 when I borrowed Dark Fire from the library and was forever changed. Isn't that a little young to be reading romance novels you ask? NO! For a sheltered petite christian baptist girl, who had no idea about sex and had never had a conversation about it with anyone, it was the perfect non judgemental learning media.

Well, In her Dark series Christine Feehan likes to write the same characters over and over and over. Almost every woman in this series has gone through some sort of abuse and/or childhood trauma. Out of 19 books and Happily Ever Afters (vampire style) I can only think of 3 of them off the top of my head that weren't irreversibly traumatized at some point previous to the books. All the women have the same problem: they have been damaged and can't accept the Carpathian men,who are by rule, dominating and dark. And all the men are domineering and seen to believe that women were made for bearing children to perpetuate their dying species. It was getting monotonous after a while. You knew what was coming in these books. The same woman and man with different names and a slightly different setting. But the complexities and issues in the relationships were the same and handled without really any change.

Lara and Nicolas De La Cruz fit the character type to a tee. Lara was kept prisoner as a child by her demented grandfather and her evil (or so we think) father in an ice cave for her powerful strain of Dragonseeker blood that allows them to live longer then they should. She is abused in almost every possible way. The only way she stays sane and eventually escapes is her two great aunts who are trapped in the form of dragons in an ice wall and used for experiments.

Nicolas de la Cruz followed the trend set by previous Carpathian hunters as well. He was choosing to meet the dawn aka die instead of becoming a vampire. When out of the blue!!! There she was!!! the light to his darkness!! The savior of his soul!!! Don't get me wrong I love this tried and true plot line but you kinda get tired after a while.

But what I am really excited about in the development of this series is that Christine Feehan has designed a diabolically genius bad guy for the books that has really only showed up in the past five or so gradually. His evil plot: to eradicate Carpathians. He has been developing parasites that are injected into the soil that infest the male Carpathians and through the sexy time with the females infests them as well causing infertility and if conception occurs then 95% of the time it is a little baby boy. So the species can't reproduce. He is a mage who is in league with the vampires, who up until this point we thought were the mostest evil creatures...but now...duh duh duh (say ominously in a deep creepy voice) someone worse is pulling their strings with and evil genius plan!

Oh did I mention that the bad guy just happens to be Lara's crazy Grandfather?
Well it is.

And because of this Lara has a connection to the crazy bastard that helps her realize what is going on and begin steps to saving everyone. True to form Nicolas needs to protect her from everything and so no one can hurt her any more...yada yada yada. We've seen this before
Wait?! What's this? He wants to but for the first time he doesn't force her to do things for her own good like the rest of the males of his race. He is the first one in all 19 books who DOESN"T convert his woman into a vampire. Why? Because she doesn't want to yet...yay for Nicolas!
Want to know what else? Lara has traumatic issues with drinking blood and being used for drinking...and once again Nicolas is the first Carpathian male, who abides by her decision. And guess what? He still maintains his badass vampireness.

Going into this series with very low expectations this time, I was so very happy to be proven wrong. I was waiting for the same formula that Christine Feehan has spit out for the past 18 books. And I was ecstatic that I was wrong. I realize that the book isn't in paperback book yet and I really can't justify buying it for over 20 dollars, but if you wait a little bit and maybe beg those nice librarians to buy it, we should be able to borrow it from them soon.

Click To See the Sexy Book at ChristineFeehan.com
Buy from Amazon.com for a lot cheaper

Noah by Jacquelyn Frank

Let me first start out by saying that I love Jacquelyn Frank for sending out her books in a timely manner. I think that Damien came out about 3 months ago and now Noah. Who's excited? OOoooooh pick me! pick me! Because seriously for those of us who buy a book and read it in a couple of hours and immediately need something new, one book a year just hasn't been able to cut it. I've gone as far as to create a MASSIVE spreadsheet that records all the books I own, and when my favorite authors will have their next books out. So I'm all pins and needles until days like Aug 26 when 3 of my favorite authors simultaneously came out with a book on the same day. So not fair.

Oh and while I'm kinda ranting and/or rambling what is up with these romance authors releasing a new book in hard back and then the paper back 6 months to a year later. That's just mean. I realize that you are trying to make money and I fully support that idea. But it really stinks on the buyer's end. So I'm going to tell you what I do. If I walk into a bookstore, and an author (*cough *cough Christine Feehan) decides to have her new book cost over 20$. ( I know that was a fragment, Miss Shearer taught me right, I just don't have the patience to fix it now.) I take it off the shelf, order myself a coffee, sit down and read the whole thing in 2-3 hours, slide it back on the shelf, and calmly throw away my now empty cup while I walk out the door. And maybe if I'm not pissed off a year later I'll buy the paper back when it comes out.

Ok back to the book of the hour, Noah by Jacquelyn Frank. I really like this book. I've been following the series since Jacob a couple of years ago. She cleverly weaves a world of demons(good guys), Vampires, Shapeshifters, Mistrals, Druids, and Shadowdwellers. Each race had for hundreds of years been fighting each other. Each believed themselves to be a superior race. Subsequently they avoided each other at all costs, which is tragic because it turns out that the species' were destined to be intertwined and intermarried. In previous books Demons and Shapeshifters, Druids and Demons, Shapeshifters and Vampires were all marrying. Because of greedy people in each society their ancestors had created the stigma of inter species relationships. While saving the races at the time, it had doomed almost all of them to live without being Imprinted which is basically finding your soulmate.

Noah is the King of the Demons and as such kicks major Bootay. He is a Fire Demon of immense power who has always been in control until he finds out his lifemate has been killed and sees a vision of it happening. When this happens he breaks all of his rules and vows and kidnaps his niece and friend and make them turn back time so he can grab her out of the past to the present skipping her death. This pisses people off including her. The king tries to give her space and as the telepathic connection grows between them does a better job of keeping out of his mate's head than previous males in the books. So we like him...go Noah!!

We don't really know that much about the heroine, Kestra, in this book. All we know about her previous life is that she had a boyfriend who raped her and killed her family so she doesn't trust obsessive guys and she was mercenary who liked to blow things up. I actually like this approach, because many times authors spend waaaaaaaaay too much time on the character's previous lives. Jacquelyn Frank gave us enough to know that Kestra would have issues with intimacy and the strong unbreakable bond that happens with imprinting. She gets to fight vampires and other icky creatures. Which she does admirably well on her own, but Noah gets to come and save her a couple of times.

The only downside to this book was that I felt it was unnecessarily long ( kinda like this blog entry). The author, i felt, repetitively went into the logic behind each and every action and reaction made by the couple. The same things were said repeatedly with only slight variations. This was a problem I had with her previous books as well.

But all in all, it was an interesting book with fun characters, drama, and more than a little bit of action (wink)! It was a great new installment in the the Nightwalker series.

Nightwalker website
Buy from Amazon.com