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Post by chonies on Jan 6, 2020 8:02:14 GMT -4
I’m reading a Silhouette where the male hero was described with “simmering black eyes, that blade of an aristocratic nose” and I immediately thought of the Count from Sesame Street. I’m like 10 pages in and this book is pretty much over for me.
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Post by Ladybug on Jan 6, 2020 10:58:46 GMT -4
I finished Kate Clayborne's new one, Love Lettering. It was ok, but not as good as her Chance of a Lifetime series (I thought Best of Luck was the standout). The main character Meg is a calligrapher for hire in NYC. She places a coded message in a wedding program that the groom notices and the wedding is called off. Then she falls in love with the groom. In her Luck series, I really liked the alternating POV with the female and male characters, and Love Lettering was told from the female POV only, so that was one thing I didn't enjoy (although the reason why becomes clear in the last third of the book).
There is a female movie star character in the book who I'm 99% sure was based on Anne Hathaway. And I did enjoy the entirely on-trend job of professional calligrapher, although it is obviously a tip of the hat to Meghan Markle, who supported herself addressing wedding invitations while starting out as an actor in LA. At first it seemed a little ridiculous, how can you make a living creating custom bullet journals and writing inspirational quotes on the walls of their town homes for people? But then as the book goes on I was like, "of course rich people in New York would hire someone to do this." The main male character is adorably nerdy-hot.
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technicolor
Lady in Waiting
Posts: 337
Nov 22, 2010 9:41:42 GMT -4
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Post by technicolor on Jan 11, 2020 12:16:59 GMT -4
I’m reading a Silhouette where the male hero was described with “simmering black eyes, that blade of an aristocratic nose” and I immediately thought of the Count from Sesame Street. I’m like 10 pages in and this book is pretty much over for me. Yeah, I like my fluffy romances and I read them for fun and tolerate a lot of silliness. But sometimes there comes a point where either the writing or the plotting cross some sort of line and I'm like....nope. Too ridiculous.  Read a bunch of Lisa Kleypas lately, she's good fun. Liked both the Wallflower series and the Hathaway series. The Devil in Winter wasn't such a fave, though. Everyone's always raving about that and I liked it fine, but it seemed somehow too...Disney for the subject matter. Idek how to explain it. I actually like Secrets of a Summernight best because heroine and hero aren't flawless and there is some emotional complexity acknowledged. Looove all the Hathaway books, though. Even though there are plotting issues and nonsense in those as well, but IMO they really work as a unit. And I think Cam Rohan is a really cool romance hero, really unusual. He's like the chillest dude ever LOL, and it's great. It's so refreshing to encounter a hero who is calm and mature and emotionally nurturing towards the heroine. And this is portrayed as super manly and awesome. One of my other faves is What I Did for a Duke by Julie Anne Long. Perversely, I kinda like the concept that the heroine could have been perfectly happy with her childhood sweetheart and she genuinely loves him. But he makes a mistake and is dishonest towards her at a crucial point and hurts her very badly, then through coincidence she meets the hero at that exact moment and the trajectories of all their lives change. It's not that the childhood sweetheart is evil, they might have worked things out in time and been perfectly happy together. But life is messy and complicated and I found it kinda neat that such a quiet book could explore that even within the confines of the romance genre. |
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Deleted
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Nov 28, 2024 14:45:20 GMT -4
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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2020 0:25:28 GMT -4
I haven't read anything that made me go 'Wow' in a while so it's been a bunch of re-reads, and today a book with a Roberta Gellis-esque plot but it didn't work out that well.
Lynne Graham had a Harlequin I found pretty funny, which hasn't happened in a while. Her heroines swing betweens downtrodden and more downtrodden, with the occasional spunky heroine who isn't afraid of the brooding billionaire who wants to make her his mistress and leave her pregnant to birth their Secret Baby(ies) alone in poverty. Shut up.
The Bromance Book Club was good enough that I hope the author writes more about the team.
Over on AO3 there's a Mandalorian fic by LadyIrina that has spawned about 20 other 'inspired by'fics. If you're interested in all the ways a Mandalorian and a runaway Stormtrooper named Corin can find love while raising a 50-year-old baby, that's the one for you! The original is very good and so are some of the inspirations.
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Post by chonies on Jan 13, 2020 7:12:01 GMT -4
I haven't read anything that made me go 'Wow' in a while so it's been a bunch of re-reads, and today a book with a Roberta Gellis-esque plot but it didn't work out that well. Lynne Graham had a Harlequin I found pretty funny, which hasn't happened in a while. Her heroines swing betweens downtrodden and more downtrodden, with the occasional spunky heroine who isn't afraid of the brooding billionaire who wants to make her his mistress and leave her pregnant to birth their Secret Baby(ies) alone in poverty. Shut up. The Bromance Book Club was good enough that I hope the author writes more about the team. Over on AO3 there's a Mandalorian fic by LadyIrina that has spawned about 20 other 'inspired by'fics. If you're interested in all the ways a Mandalorian and a runaway Stormtrooper named Corin can find love while raising a 50-year-old baby, that's the one for you! The original is very good and so are some of the inspirations. Which was the Lynne Graham? The book I mentioned a few posts of up was Caitlin Crews, whose heroines are usually interesting, or are at least spring from interesting circumstances (and more often than not have Mommy Issues) but her heroes often skew toward brooding asshole. I improved the book by recasting Brooding Spanish Duke with Count Von Count. |
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Deleted
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Nov 28, 2024 14:45:20 GMT -4
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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2020 13:58:41 GMT -4
FictionDb says The Greek's Surprise Christmas Bride is her most recent book so that must be it. I remember the heroine didn't take any BS from the hero.
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Post by Auroranorth on Jan 14, 2020 13:13:30 GMT -4
Lynne Graham is one of those authors I've quit reading more than the last thirty or so pages of. I get the happy ending without wanting to kill the male lead too much.
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Deleted
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Nov 28, 2024 14:45:20 GMT -4
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2020 19:02:52 GMT -4
I finished Kate Clayborne's new one, Love Lettering. It was ok, but not as good as her Chance of a Lifetime series (I thought Best of Luck was the standout). The main character Meg is a calligrapher for hire in NYC. She places a coded message in a wedding program that the groom notices and the wedding is called off. Then she falls in love with the groom. In her Luck series, I really liked the alternating POV with the female and male characters, and Love Lettering was told from the female POV only, so that was one thing I didn't enjoy (although the reason why becomes clear in the last third of the book). There is a female movie star character in the book who I'm 99% sure was based on Anne Hathaway. And I did enjoy the entirely on-trend job of professional calligrapher, although it is obviously a tip of the hat to Meghan Markle, who supported herself addressing wedding invitations while starting out as an actor in LA. At first it seemed a little ridiculous, how can you make a living creating custom bullet journals and writing inspirational quotes on the walls of their town homes for people? But then as the book goes on I was like, "of course rich people in New York would hire someone to do this." The main male character is adorably nerdy-hot. I had been looking forward to Love Lettering but did not enjoy it as much as I hoped. Creative premise but I think it was too...meandering? Or too much of the book was devoted to calligraphy which doesn't translate into an engrossing story? Or maybe the plot was just a bit thin for me. I am a big fan of romantic suspense -- does anyone have any suggestions? |
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Post by chonies on Jan 14, 2020 19:12:18 GMT -4
FictionDb says The Greek's Surprise Christmas Bride is her most recent book so that must be it. I remember the heroine didn't take any BS from the hero. Holy wow--I'm about halfway in and the inner monologues of the characters read like someone dared Lynne to write an anti-romance novel. It's rather meta-textual so far, and I love it. |
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Post by Ladybug on Jan 17, 2020 11:43:29 GMT -4
The Bromance Book Club was good enough that I hope the author writes more about the team. I've been thinking about picking this one up. It also looks like a quick read, so that's a plus. I had been looking forward to Love Lettering but did not enjoy it as much as I hoped. Creative premise but I think it was too...meandering? Meandering is a good word. And you are right about the calligraphy. It's hard to write about that and create a visual picture, I ended up skipping over the in-depth descriptions of signs in NYC. |
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