Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

Castles Ever After Series

This was such a fun read! I admit, I have a thing for Scots – at least Scots men in kilts – thank you, Diana Gabaldon. And I love Tessa Dare. So when I heard about this at ALA (the American Library Association annual conference) I knew I had to get my hands on it. And I was so glad I did.

The premise of the book was creative and original.  Madeline Gracechurch was supposed to be “coming out” but is so shy and awkward, not to mention smart in the science sort of way not heavily favored by the English gentry, she makes up a suitor, “Captain MacKenzie,”  sends him off to war, avoids English society and starts a correspondence with her imaginary lover.

Imagine her shock when years later Captain MacKenzie shows up at her door, ready to claim her for his wife. He’s been at sea, and all of her letters have landed in his lap. His lands have been taken by the British, and here is a convenient way to get something back for him and his men.

He convinces her to marry him or risk exposure and humiliation, and one thing leads to another and the oh so happy ending. But not before lots of angst, sex and a bit of history are thrown into the mix. I haven’t had this much fun reading a romance in a while, and I highly recommend it.

8/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

WHEN A SCOT TIES THE KNOT by Tessa Dare. Avon (August 25, 2015). ISBN 978-0062349026. 384p.

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This was the first book I’ve read by this author, and most probably the last.

I generally love Avon romances, but I wasn’t familiar with the “Impulse” line so after reading this I looked it up. It is a “digital first” imprint, meaning they publish books digitally before print. I’m guessing if it does well digitally then it may go to print. They accept manuscripts directly from writers instead of going through the agent process as almost all traditional publishers do. So basically a book that was rejected by HarperCollins or Avon can end up published by the Impulse line. (Bet you didn’t know you were going to get an education in HarperCollins publishing when you started reading this review!)

So, why am I rambling on about all this? I disliked this book so much that now I’ll be hesitant to read anything put out by the Avon Impulse line.

The story is simple; Lady Arabella is approached by a man at a ball, he mistakes her for a courtesan and almost ruins her. Her parents decide then and there to marry her off immediately so the next morning she skips out, determined to have one day of fun before the impending nuptials to someone she is sure is old and joyless.

She immediately runs into trouble, but is rescued by a gentleman passing by.  He is the man from the ball and turns out he is in a similar position; he is a Duke and his reputation as a rake has made his parents decide to marry him off. These two obedient children (and they are childish, one of the myriad of reasons for my dislike of the book) end up spending the day together and fall in love.

They both use nicknames, neither admitting to the other who they really are. Eventually they go home to find out they are to be married. I didn’t even bother with a “spoiler alert” here because it couldn’t be more obvious throughout the book what was going to happen. I know every romance has a happy ending, but I want to see the struggle on the way there, and there simply wasn’t one. I found the plot silly and mundane, and the characters were clichés.

The romance genre has fairly specific rules. In its simplest iteration it goes boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy wins girl back again. Happy ending, usually with a wedding, a marriage, a baby or all three. All of that was determined in the first few pages and the rest was just a waste of time.

I really hate writing negative reviews. But I even hated the cover – looking on Amazon, I don’t get it, it doesn’t look like a historical to me. Maybe in person it does, but I read an eGalley on my Kindle so I’m relying on pictures here.

In the interest of fairness, I will point out that this book has 4.5 stars on Amazon based on a lot of reviews, so this is definitely just my opinion. But I found it so off-putting that I didn’t want to read anything for a couple of days after finishing it.

8/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

MAD ABOUT THE MAJOR by Elizabeth Boyle. Avon Impulse (July 21, 2015). ISBN 978-0062322913. 224p.

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The Debutante Files, Book 1

For probably the first time ever, I have started a series at the beginning! Of course this book is a year old, and I heard about it because the second book in the series, All the Ways to Ruin a Rogue, just came out. I haven’t seen it yet but after reading book 1, I am anxiously awaiting its arrival.

Rosalie Hughes has been abandoned at school by her mother for more than two years past her graduation, and finally the headmistress drops her off at her stepbrother’s home. He is Declan, the Duke of Banbary and they haven’t seen each other in more than ten years. He is not happy to see her, and calls his aunt and cousin to come stay for propriety’s sake while he figures out the quickest way to get rid of her.

His aunt is quite meddlesome and is delighted with this new project. She suggests the Duke sponsor Rosalie for the Season and marry her off. He agrees, bestows an enormous dowry on her and off they go. The Duke is a rake and has no desire to marry, but something is happening between him and Rosalie. She has had a crush on him since she was a little girl and he would rescue her when she’d climb trees and be afraid to come down. Now that they are living together those feelings have resurfaced, but he has no interest – or so they both think.

The first marriage proposal comes in a week later from an old titled man who gives Rosalie the creeps, but the Duke accepts without even asking her and Rosalie is furious. She tells her suitor thanks but no thanks, but it makes her realize that this will be her lot in life, to be married off to some old man with money and a title.

Meanwhile, the Duke’s cousin, Aurelia, and Rosalie have become friends. Aurelia confides she wants to have an adventure before they are married off, and manages to convince Rosalie to come with her to what is basically a sex club. Needless to say, things really start heating up after that.

This is an entertaining, fast paced historical novel with great characters, a fun plot and lots of hot sex; just the kind of romance I love. I will be looking for more from this author.

8/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

A GOOD DEBUTANTE’S GUIDE TO RUIN by Sophie Jordan. Avon (July 29, 2014).  ISBN 978-0062222503. 384p.

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