Of Swords and Parasols

When she was 12, Zoe Lexham disappeared on a trip to the Mediterranean with her parents. Twelve years later, she escapes the harem she’s been in ever since and makes her way back to her family’s home in England. Her parents are thrilled. Her sisters are in danger of a stroke every time she opens her mouth and reveals her very-improper way of thinking. Lucien, the Duke of Marchmount and a childhood friend who is also a relative of some sort, is convinced she’s the latest in a long line of frauds until he actually meets her. Then he decides there can’t possibly be two people that stubborn in the world, and so he promises to help her reintegrate into Regency London society. Which could be the cure for his chronic boredom.

Did I mention that, having been married to an impotent man, Zoe emerged from the harem a virgin. If you’re like me, this will make you go “…” a lot. (it is, though, suitably explained.)

I have very mixed feelings about the book. On the one hand, the book is extremely entertaining, and both the leads and the supporting characters are a blast. On the other hand, Chase doesn’t really have a good track record with non-English cultures (it’s a large part of why I can’t really enjoy a couple of her earlier books, much as I like most of them) and even though Don’t Tempt Me takes place exclusively in England, I found her representation of the East rather offputting.

But still, it’s a Loretta Chase book, which means the dialogue is great, the leads have an entertaining relationship, the hero manages to be the rare unannoying womanizer, the heroine is independent, and genre tropes are played with.

  Hero and Heroine when Hero tries to win a sparring match:

"A Lady and a gentleman may not know each other unless they have been properly introduced," she said coolly.  "If they do not know each other, they cannot have met.  Since we were properly introduced only a moment ago, we cannot have met previously."

"What a madly contorted logic that is," he said.

"It is a rule of behavior," she said.  "It needn't be logical.  There may even be a rule that rules of behavior must be illogical."

Hero, internally, when he catches himself acting like a romance novel hero:

It was a sure way to find himself (a) standing at the altar hearing the marriage service or (b) at the wrong end of a horsewhip, or (c) facing a pistol at twenty paces.

Fights to the death over females were common enough and all very well among the birds and beasts.  Among reasoning beings, however, such behavior was absurd.  Especially when the last thing a reasoning being wanted was to offend her father. 

ETA(will just keep adding to this):

 Before I(rather briefly) get to the books I read over the weekend, magicnoirehas posted a great review of Loretta Chase's Lord of Scoundrels here.  Go read it.

Susan Grant's The Scarlet Empress wraps up the multi-author 2176 series with the story of Banzai's partner, Cam, and the crown prince and regent of Asia, Kyber.  Found and revived from stasis before Banzai was and hidden away in the boonies, Cam's recovery from the severe atrophy-ing(yeah, NO IDEA how to say that properly here..) from 150~ years of stasis was much rougher.  By the time Kyber, the prince Banzai dumped for trying to use her as a political weapon, finds her, she's only just managed to be able to walk properly.  Kyber, it seems, has a bad habit of falling for early 21st century fighter pilots who don't give him an inch, and even though he plans to avoid Cam so he won't make the same mistake twive, he keeps meeting her in disguise as a bounty hunter.  The actual romance between the two is very fun, and the book itself is good, but the romance and the book's ability to stand alone as well as others in the series do suffers.  2176 is Grant's brainchild, with the first and last books being written by Grant herself.  In addition to telling Cam and Kyber's story, Grant has to finish Banzai and Ty's strong, wrap up the entire storyline, resolve all dangling threads from the books in between, and tie it all together.  While she does so quite well, there's just not a lot of room left for the leads.

Dokebi Bride and Mushishi are two series that I love for their quieter feel, and the sense of whimsy and tradition they have.  Dokebi Bride is a book about tradition and the clash between tradition and the modern world as our heroine, sUbi, tries to recocile the two and live in both worlds.  In volume 3, Sunbi decides to strike a bargain with a dokebi for protection.  The dokebi she gets, though, Gwangsoo, is rough, crude, illkempt and apparently rather on the horny side.  Not exactly what she was hoping for.  Despite being set in modern Seoul, the book has a very historic, country tradirional feel, and I like that.  While I have no idea if Mushishi is based on any sort of tradition or folklore, it "Feels" like it is, and that's good enough for me.  The world of Mushishi looks and feels like medieval Japan in many way, but at the same time, it doesn't quite.  Only sardonic, smoking, overcoat-wearing Ginko doesn't look like he stepped out of medieval Japan, which is ironic, as he could have stepped right out of an Akira Kurosawa movie.  While Vol 2 didn't grab me as much as Vol 1, that's mostly because the world was more familiar to me, not because it wasn't as good.  I am very fond, though, of the second story in this book, with the Mushi bound to books.

 So, I've been half pondering doing a rec. post of my favorite historical romance novels(result of the oft-stalled culling/sorting project).  Granted, usually when I read romance novels, it's as a distraction or mildentertainment...if it ends up more(as is more and more the case as I get more picky) that's just a bonus.  There are, however, a few that I love and adore beyond all words.

But...I'm going to be lazy.  Because for about half the ones I'd list, Mrs. Giggles has very good reviews of.  For those who don't know, Mrs. Giggles is a reviewer who, if I recall my days of paying close attention to the romance community, is reviled by most writers and hardcore fans because when a book doesn't work for her, she's absolutely scathing.  But when it works, she writes some of the best reviews I've read, and when it's one of my favorites, we love it for the same reason.  I read her website religiously before urban fantasy took over my life-not only did almost every book I picked up on her rec work out for me on some level, but lets face it, a lot of romance novels deserve scathing reviews(and even when she hated a book I liked, she usually had a point I could agree with.)  Plus, she's funny.

Back to the point:  Were I to do a rec list, well, Mrs. Giggles has excellent views for a chunk of them, so I'm going to be lazy and just link to 5 of my favorites:

All Through the Night by Connie Brockway:  Lovely catburglar, lethal secret agent sent to catch her.  Both so screwed up you're amazed they can still function.  It's one of those books where two irredeemably screwed up people somehow manage to "fix" each other.

As You Desire by Connie Brockway:  1890s Cairo, roguish adventurer, brainy girl who wants adventure, longtime friends and rivals, plenty of antics and adventures and some of the best banter ever.  Harry Braxton was the first Harry Is ever fell for(the second was Harry Dresden, the third was Remington "Harry" Steele)

Pale Moon Rider by Marsha Canham: Escapee of the French Revolution in a hopeless position turns to a highwayman who's a darker(and far cooler) version of Robin Hood and The Scarlett Pimpernel for help.  One of the ultimate(modern) swashbuckling romantic adventures.

Swept Away by Marsha Canham: Heroine seeking adventure finds an amnesiac, tortured spy washed up near her aunt's house.  By the queen of swashbuckling romantic adventures.  Need I say more?

Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase: Regarded by many as the ultimate regency historical.  I don't know if that's true(not having read every single one) but it's certainly one of the best.  Chase deliberately throws in every single genre stereotype and loving turns them on their heads and somehow makes it all work, amazingly, often hilariously, well.

Been on an anime/manga binge the last few days, and so, to make sure they don't get lost when half the f-list goes "hmph...anime/manga...next..." a couple of classics:

Arsenic and Old Lace:  This is one of those movies that relies 95% on over-the-top antics and comedy to carry the entire thing, as opposed to story.  It works though, primarily because it's actual humor, and most clever, as opposed to today's so-called "humor."  If this movie was made today, it'd be 2 hours of grossout, crass, and dirty jokes, as opposed to actually being, you know, funny.  Not a favorite, but worth the watching.
The Philadelphia Story:  Much better movie, though I'm not quite sure I would have chosen that ending(though I have no problems with it...it's just not quite the ending I would have chosen)  Very smart show, with humor that relies on wit and intelligence.  It seems odd to me, though, that Jimmy Stewart won a Best Actor award for it.  Don't get me wrong, he was great, I just didn't see what would make him stand out above all the others.

Books I've been reading:

Most of the books I've read the last six weeks or so, though four were in just the last two weeks...the temporary transfer to verifications leaves me lots of time to read...

"The Chocolate Mouse Trap" by JoAnna Carl(mystery)  A bit of a disappointment, sadly.  Carl is now trying to be "modern" and forcing technological Deus Ex Machina into my nice, cozy little small town mystery.  Grr...I read these things to AVOID technology in my mysteries...only mystery series I've seen where I didn't mind all the technology was Veronica Mars, and that's because it never provides more than the "shoeprint" type of clue...it's still 99% her brain that figures it out.  Sigh...Still a good book, though, and I have no plans to drop the series.

"Isabella" and "The English Witch" by Loretta Chase(traditional Regency romance) note for the uninitiated: Trad. Regencies are of the Jane Austen variety, not the clench cover, corset ripping inside variety.  Anyway..."Isabella" was one of the first regencies I read.  I liked it then, but I think I liked it a whole lot more now that I'm more used to the style.  "The English Witch" I hadn't read because it was impossible to get ahold of(barring an absurd amount of money for a 15 yr old 200 page paperback) until this omnibnus was rereleased.  The hero in this one was the nominal villain of the first book.  While I got him, I couldn't understand the girl's motivation at all.

"The Rigante" series by David Gemmell: "Sword in the Storm" "Midnight Falcon" "Ravenheart" and "Stormrider"(fantasy):  Very good little set.  The first two books are pulled out of celtic legend and feature a father/son with a relationship that seems to be very loosely modeled after King Arthur and Mordred, only without the patricidal ending, and  simultaneously healthier and unhealthier.  Backdrop is primarily "Rome invading Ireland."  Kinda.  Because, while these two books seem to have Ireland as the basis for the Rigante lands, books 3-4 seem to be based more on Scotland.  Books 3-4 are set several hundred years later, and the two title characters(the Rigante have "soul names") come from two branches of their descendants.  Those two characters, I think, grow the most of any of Gemmell's characters that I've read, with the possible exception of Waylander.  As a result, I think Kaelin and Gaise(RH and SR respectively) are my favorite of his characters, though I'd put "Midnight Falcon" down as my favorite of his books.

"Deathstalker Coda" by Simon R. Green(sci-fi):  Dear Universe:  Do not piss off the Deathstalkers.  Thank you.  Dear Mr. Green: Please reconsider.  Thank you.  And so ends one of maybe 3 scifi series I've bothered to read more than one book of, and the only one to wear mostly scifi trappings, as opposed to "fantasy world with guns"(hello Mr. Stasheff, I'll get back to your books soon, I promise.  I really wasn't criticizing your books.  See how many of them I own?)  I will now go off to be sad, because it's over.  Oh, and shock at how few main characters died, seeing as it's a Deathstalker book.

"Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth" by Simon R. Green(urban fantasy): quick note:  my current avatar is from the cover.  If this is ALSO the last book in this series, I'll be extra sad.  I don't recall seeing anything from him announcing the end of the series, but this one seemed to firmly wrap things up, so we'll see.  Hopefully there's more, as this series seems to be Green's best outlet for his imaginantion.  As I've said before, his brain both fascinates and frightens me.  I think I want to be him(writingwise) when I grow up.  Still, whether it's the end of the series of the end of this leg of the series, it's a great book.

"The Vampire Earth" books 2-4 by E.E. Knight:  "Choice of the Cat" "Tale of the Thunderbolt" and "Valentine's Rising"(sci-fi):  This is one of those series I referred to earlier.  It's billed as sci-fi, but a more appropriate(and long winded) billing would be "futuristic postapocalyptic military dark fantasy."  Basic concept the the truth behind the vampires myth(they make vampires look like fluffy kitties) and the appearance of the swastika symbol in so many places.  Explaining it would take too long, so I'll just say the books are really good and you should all read them.

"Death at Blenheim Palace" by Robin Paige(historical mystery):  This series has changed a lot since it started.  It used to be about an American author who inherited her British aunt's estate and her neighbor and eventual husband, an English gentleman and would-be detective who's interested in the emerging science of forsenics.  Now it's about an English lord who's a noted investigator, and his slightly eccentric American wife, who writes novels.  The mystery aspect has also been pushed off to the side, in favor of focusing on particular social and historical events and people of the time, with the main characters imposed upon the existing landscape and a mystery threaded in.  So, not the series I originally started reading, but still more interesting than most of the other mysteries out there.  And, unlike some that changed a lot from their beginnings, it still holds my interest despite the changes(yes Ms. Evanovich, I'm talking to you.)

And...that's it.  Next update, I suspect, will have more mysteries and/or historical fiction.