Genre: Historical Romance

Setting: 758 AD China – Tang Dynasty

POV: 3rd Person

Sensuality: Hot

Violence: Mild

Format: Digital

Source: A digital ARC courtesy of Harlequin via NetGalley

My Grade: A-

Butterfly Swords is Jeannie Lin’s debut historical romance and it has already garnered some impressive buzz. I admit that I started this book with a certain amount of trepidation as my expectations were so high. I’m delighted to report that the book is amazing!

On the way to her arranged marriage to a neighbouring warlord, Ai Li discovers a plot against her family. Desperate to return home and warn her father, she arranges her escape disguised as a boy. Unfortunately, her plans go awry when her party is attacked by bandits. Ai Li is a trained warrior and puts up an excellent fight with the aid of her butterfly swords. However, she cannot defeat the bandits on her own, and is assisted at the last minute by a mysterious blue-eyed barbarian named Ryam.

Ryam belongs to a group of barbarian soldiers who are loyal to the dispossessed ruler of China and her Western husband. Ryam was injured in a battle and lost his way. His aim is to return to Gansu where his party is located. When he meets Ai Li, however, his plans change. He’s determined to escort her back to Changan and the safety of her family, even though this will bring him deeper into enemy territory.

Ai Li and Ryam’s journey is fraught with danger. Ai Li’s betrothed, Li Tao, sends his soldiers after them and they endure several narrow escapes before they finally reach Changan. As Ai Li soon discovers, the danger does not end there. She is shocked when her parents refuse to listen to her and insist she return to Li Tao and marry him. She realises that the values she was taught to uphold as a child no longer exist in this new Empire. With her grandmother’s help, she escapes Changan and follows Ryam in the direction of her childhood home and her youngest brother, the one member of her family she still trusts.

Butterfly Swords is a fast-paced romantic adventure set against the opulent background of Tang Dynasty China. The descriptions of the landscape are breathtaking, and the fight scenes are extremely well done.

Ai Li is a worthy heroine. She is a trained fighter, but she never forgets her inferior strength as a woman. She doesn’t rush into battle heedlessly. Ai Li struggles to reconcile her upbringing with what her family has become. She has been taught to obey her parents, but feels unable to do so in the circumstances in which she finds herself. This is not a decision she takes lightly.

Ryam is an unusual hero. As a white man in China, he is regarded as a barbarian. As a professional soldier, he feels unworthy of a woman like Ai Li, despite his strong attraction towards her. Nevertheless, they are destined to be together and Ryam is determined to do everything within his power to protect her.

When I finished Butterfly Swords, I immediately checked Jeannie Lin’s website to find out when her next book will be released. I was very pleased when I read the blurb of The Dragon and the Pearl and discovered who will be the hero and the heroine in the next book. However, I would recommend that readers who prefer to avoid spoilers don’t do so before they finish Butterfly Swords.

If you are a reader who longs for more variety in the settings of historical romances published today, Butterfly Swords is an excellent read.

Note: Butterfly Swords will be published by Harlequin Historical in October 2010. It is already available for purchase at the eHarlequin website. To tie in with the release of this book, Jeannie Lin wrote a novella for Harlequin Historical Undone called The Taming of Mei Lin. This novella can be purchased as an ebook.

I’m still trying to decide what books to read on my holidays. Thanks to the joys of digital reading, I’ve created a folder on my BeBook called Holiday Books. Me being me, I am paranoid enough to back them up on a USB stick to read on my laptop if my BeBook decides to give up the ghost while we’re away. I’m tempted to pack a print book, too, just in case.

Anyway, here’s what my Holiday Books folder contains so far:

1. Trick of the Dark by Val McDermid – This book is the most expensive ebook I’ve bought to date. However, Val McDermid is one of my favourite mystery authors and this book was just released today.
2. The Draining Lake by Arnaldur Indridason – An Icelandic mystery.
3. The Redeemer by Jo Nesbø – I meant to read his most recent thriller, The Snowman, on holiday, but I still haven’t gotten around to reading this one.
4. The Darkest Room by Johan Theorin - A Swedish mystery.
5. Some Danger Involved by Will Thomas – Historical Mystery.
6. What Remains of Heaven by C.S. Harris - Now that the sixth book in the Sebastian St. Cyr series finally has a release date (March 2011), I can allow myself to read this one.
7. Savour the Moment by Nora Roberts – The third book in her Bridal Quartet.
8. Hot Island Nights by Sarah Mayberry – I’ve been saving this one.
9. Warrior by Zoe Archer – It looks interesting and I’m in the mood for something a bit different.

I doubt I’ll manage to read all of these, but I like having a choice. Have you read any of the books on my list? If so, what did you think of them?

I read eleven books in August, plus one novella. I’ve provided links to those I’ve already reviewed.

1. Death on Beacon Hill by P.B. Ryan – B+
2. Dangerous Allies (2010) by Renee Ryan – B
3. Killer Heat (2010) by Brenda Novak – B
4. Here There Be Monsters (2010) by Meljean Brook – B
5. Burning Up (2010) by Susan Andersen – B
6. Hot-Blooded (2010) by Karen Foley – B-
7. Breathless (2010) by Anne Stuart – B-
8. Hot Finish (2010) by Erin McCarthy – C+
9. Finding Perfect (2010) by Susan Mallery – C+
10. Reckless (2010) by Anne Stuart – C+
11. Private Relations (2005) by Nancy Warren – C+
12. The Soldier’s Secret Daughter (2009) by Cindy Dees – C

Did you read any good books in August?

Genre: Historical Romance

Setting: 1804 England

POV: 3rd Person

Sensuality: Hot

Violence: Mild

Format: Digital

Source: A digital ARC courtesy of Harlequin via NetGalley

My Grade: C+

Reckless is the second book in Anne Stuart’s House of Rohan trilogy.

Following the death of his older brother, Adrian Alistair Rohan lost himself in a life of debauchery. Encouraged by his cousin Etienne, he is now a dedicated member of the depraved Heavenly Host. His only interest lies in seducing and discarding beautiful women. He’s never failed in his conquests until he meets the straightlaced Charlotte Spenser.

Charlotte is a lonely spinster. She lives with her widowed cousin, Lady Whitmore, and dreams of the handsome but despicable Adrian Rohan. When her cousin suggests the attend a meeting of the Heavenly Host, Charlotte pretends to be scandalised but is secretly thrilled. Naturally, she meets Adrian at the party and they embark upon a passionate affair.

Charlotte and Adrian’s relationship takes an unexpected turn when they realise their lives are in danger. Suddenly, Adrian is faced with the realisation that he is falling in love and that Charlotte may be the woman who finally manages to tame him.

I have mixed feelings about Reckless. There is a nice subplot involving a romance between Charlotte’s cousin and a reformed bad boy turned cleric. I also enjoyed the matchmaking efforts of Monty, their dying friend, who is determined to see them all happily settled before he dies.

Less successful was the suspense element in this story. It was very similar to that in Ruthless, the first book in the House of Rohan series, and it failed to engage my interest. In addition, the development of Adrian and Charlotte’s romance reminded me too much of the first book.

While Reckless is a decent historical romance, the similarities to Ruthless were tedious at times. Adrian and Charlotte worked well as a couple, but I found the secondary romance more interesting than theirs.

For fans of dark romance, Anne Stuart’s new trilogy has much to recommend it. I’m just hoping that the third book follows a slightly different path to the first two in the series.

♦ The past week has been crazy. I was sick; my son was sick; we had several appointments and we were late to all of them (Note: I am NEVER late); I got us locked out and had to call C to come home from work and rescue us; I lost my keys – twice; my laptop, iPod and cell phone all died on the same day (thankfully, they now work again); my daughter dumped water all over my ticket for the parking garage and I had to plead with the security guy not to charge me for a full day’s parking as the ticket was unreadable. All in all, I’m looking forward to August ending. Hopefully, September will be a better month.

♦ This was another slow reading week for me. I read Brenda Novak’s Killer Heat and I’m halfway through Jeannie Lin’s Butterfly Swords.

♦ My second draft for my book is coming along. The first part of my revisions went quickly as the the first half of the book was already fairly polished. The second half is more challenging. I need to re-write quite a bit of it. My goal is to have my second draft finished by next weekend. Fingers crossed!

♦ I finally saw the finale for the second season of Sons of Anarchy. It ended on a cliffhanger and want the third season to be on now! We’re also addicted to The Shield. I got the complete series box set as an early birthday present. We’ve already seen the first season and we’ve started the second. For anyone who enjoys character-driven cop shows, this is really good.

♦ Now for something which has been irritating me for a while: Remember that whole Amazon Fail business last year, when we were all encouraged to boycott Amazon, Google bomb them, etc.? How many of the people baying for blood back then are now linking to Amazon again on their blogs and/or the proud owners of a reduced-price Kindle?  This is just one example of why I no longer engage with online “controversies”. The age of Twitter, blogs and 24-hour news makes information immediately available in a way that wasn’t possible in the past. However, instant information is not always accurate, and Twitter tweets and retweets are like a game of Chinese Whispers. Having been burned more than once by people jumping to conclusions and posting/tweeting stuff that later turned out to be inaccurate, or not representative of the whole story, I prefer to wait these days before getting irate about anything.

So how was your week?

I desperately need to catch up with my reviewing, so here are a few mini reviews to start with.

I’m still loving P.B. Ryan’s Gilded Age mystery series featuring Nell Sweeney and Dr. Will Hewitt.

Blurb: Boston, 1869: As governess to the wealthy Hewitts, Irish immigrant Nell Sweeney belongs to no particular caste; hers is halfway between her brethren and the Brahmin. But now, a double murder involves both maid and mistress, and it will take cooperation by rich and poor alike to solve it.

All of Boston is talking about the murder of Virginia Kimball. Beautiful and sensuous, the actress had many prestigious men wrapped around her bejeweled little finger. Shot in her townhouse, Mrs. Kimball’s corpse is mere feet from the body of her maid, Fiona. When investigators find her mistress’s diamond necklaces in the girl’s fists, they can only guess Mrs. Kimball caught Fiona trying to steal the jewels and the two traded shots.

Fiona’s uncle, the Hewitts’ driver, begs the household governess, Nell Sweeney, to use her connections and clear his dear niece’s name. Nell knows there must be more to the story, especially when she learns about Mrs. Kimball’s “little red book.” Now petrified men all over Boston, once blackmailed by the actress herself, will do whatever it takes to keep this log of trysts shut. And as Nell embroils herself in high society scandal, she must remember her place…or end up like Fiona.

My Thoughts: This is another strong addition to the Nell Sweeney series. The story is interesting and I like the direction in which Nell and Will’s relationship is going. It’s hard to say more about this book without giving away series spoilers. Suffice it to say, it was a great read and I’m looking forward to the next book. My Grade: B+

Hot Finish by Erin McCarthy is the much-anticipated Suzanne and Ryder story. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to my high expectations.

Blurb: Suzanne Jefferson is broke, which is why she’s given up charity work for wedding planning. Fortunately, she has a high-profile client,and best of all, he’s paid in advance. There are just two teensy problems: The bride is a bona fide bridezilla, and Suzanne’s ex-husband is the best man. At least she thought he was her ex-husband!

Two years after their marriage fell apart, stock car race driver Ryder Jefferson still can’t stop thinking about Suzanne. Which is why he isn’t too upset that, due to a glitch, the two are still technically married. Now he’s imagining easing Suzanne’s woes by satisfying her needs in the bedroom. After all, that’s the one room they never argued in. Besides, with wedding bells ringing all around them, Ryder is wondering if,even though they’d quit the race a few laps too early,they can still come on strong with a big, romantic finish!

My Thoughts: Suzanne was fantastic in this book, but I felt like Ryder was a different character to the Ryder I’d come to know in the first two books of this series. Wasn’t he supposed to be a womanizer? Anyway, it was a cute story but it wasn’t the spectacular read I’d been hoping for. My Grade: C+

Blurb: Dashing spy Jagger Holtz lived in a world of danger. Not even a sweet brown-eyed siren alone on New Year’s Eve could be trusted, especially when he had to bring down her employer. Somehow Emily Grainger broke through his defenses – and set him up for two years of torturous captivity. Or so he thought.

Emily hadn’t expected a cryptic message to lead her to rescue the man who’d disappeared after their night of passion. Nor had she known that he’d been held prisoner all that time and believed that she was responsible. Despite the suspicion, they must work together to stop the threat against them and protect their precious daughter.

My Thought: If I were Jagger, I’d have strangled Emily at several points during this story. She takes ages to tell Jagger about their daughter, and endangers everyone through her idiotic behaviour. I am extremely picky when it comes to romantic suspense and I prefer stories which are dark, gritty, and more focused on the suspense than the romance. The Soldier’s Secret Daughter by Cindy Dees is the opposite and I’m sure it will appeal to readers who like their romantic suspense more romantic than suspenseful. My Grade: C

Genre: Inspirational Historical Romance

Setting: 1939, Germany

POV: 3rd Person

Sensuality: Kisses

Violence: N/A

Format: Digital

Why I Read It: Wendy the Super Librarian featured it on her blog recently & I was intrigued by the unusual setting.

My Grade: B

Dangerous Allies has one of the best opening scenes I’ve read in a long time. The heroine is an actress. In the first chapter, she’s playing Juliet on stage. Information about who and what she sees from the stage is given to the reader through introspection. It sounds strange, but it works.

Katarina Elensky is one of the most successful actresses of the Third Reich. She’s also one of Britain’s most accomplished spies. Her latest mission pairs her with the charismatic Friedrich Reiter, supposedly a wealthy businessman, but actually a double agent. They need to work together to find plans for a secret weapon which the Germans intend to use to destroy British ships.

Katia has a personal reason for wanting to fight the Nazis: her mother, Elena, is part Jewish. Katia is afraid for her safety, especially as Elena’s method of protecting herself and her daughter is to hide in plain sight. She hopes marriage to an influential Nazi will protect them should their lineage come to light.

Friedrich Reiter is actually an American Navy officer named Jack Anderson. He supplies intelligence to the British by posing as an SS officer. It’s a dangerous game, but Jack plays it well. He’s not pleased to be partnered with Katia. He prefers to work alone and has no desire to protect a spoiled actress. But he soon realises that he’s underestimated Katia.

I enjoyed Dangerous Allies. The author creates a credible sense of place and the pervading fear under which many lived during the Third Reich. Katia and Jack are interesting characters and ideally matched. I found the ending of the book a bit abrupt, but I understand why the book had to end where it did. Note: there is an epilogue, so the reader does learn what happened to Katia and Jack in the future.

This is the first book I’ve read in Harlequin’s Love Inspired Historical line. As this is an inspirational romance, there are a few Bible quotations, and both Katia and Jack struggle to reconcile their faith in God with the horrors which surround them. Their beliefs are an integral part of the story, but I didn’t find the book overly preachy.

The author of Dangerous Allies, Renee Ryan, is writing a series of romances set during World War II. I definitely plan to read them.

♣ My reading was slow this week. I read two books: Reckless by Anne Stuart (my review is half-written and should be up late next week) and Dangerous Allies by Renee Ryan (my review is scheduled for tomorrow). I’m still behind on my reviews, but I hope to get caught up over the next few days.

♣ I’m about a third of the way through my revisions for my book. My goal is to get them done by the end of the month, then send it off to my beta readers. I then want to step away from it for a couple of weeks before starting my third – and hopefully final – draft.

♣ There were some interesting blog posts this week. Janet W has a great guest post at Read React Review on Twitter Dos and Don’ts.

♣ Sandy at All About Romance writes about Change is Good (Except When it Comes to our Favorite Authors).

♣ Keishon gives her take on Women and Violence in Crime Fiction Novels.

How was your week?

♦ Why do some category romance authors not bother to update their websites? It is seriously annoying. I looked up one author’s site recently and her “new” release was three books out of date! With Harlequin releasing all their books digitally, it’s more important than ever for their authors to update their websites regularly. Back in the days when category romances were only on the shelves for a month, it might not have been necessary, but now readers have access to the books for longer via online stores such as Amazon and the Harlequin ebook store.

♦ Why don’t ebooks have blurbs? I know everyone talks about covers being essential for ebooks as well as for print – and I agree with this point – but blurbs are even more important to me. I’ve had to resort to creating my own database of blurbs for the ebooks I buy.

♦ Why do people on Twitter ask for more followers? Isn’t that like an open invitation to the spam bots? I figure at least half of my followers are spammers. I used to go through my list regularly and block spammers, but it’s an exercise in futility. As soon as I get rid of a few, more follow me.

♦ Why do some authors restrict their Twitter contests to people who follow them? What’s to stop someone following them briefly in order to qualify for the contest, than unfollowing them?

♦ Why do some authors restrict excerpts of their upcoming books to people who become a member of their site? I get the whole newsletter thing, but these ‘Members Only’ sections are stupid.

♦ Why are Karen Rose’s ebooks not available for purchase by customers outside the US and the UK? I can’t even buy them from W.H. Smiths because they are restricted to residents of the United Kingdom. FFS! I can get them in print in my local bookstore!

Any Whys or WTFs you’d like to share?

I meant to post a weekly round-up post on Sunday, but real life intervened.

My reading has been very slow lately, and I still have a couple of reviews to write from books I finished two weeks ago.

Thankfully, I am making progress with my revisions. My current task is reading through my first draft and checking for continuity errors and typos, and figuring out which scenes need to be added or cut.

I’ve compiled a list of words and phrases which I used too often. My characters constantly wince, shrug, nod, grin, and look grimly determined. To my horror, I’ve caught them grimacing on a couple of occasions. I’m allergic to that word after I read an historical mystery in which the heroine grimaced on every page. It seemed to be her only expression.

The silliest mistake was having my characters eat desert instead of dessert. Unfortunately, this typo occurred in the pages I’ve already sent in to a contest and which I’d read over about a million times looking for such mistakes. Ouch!

The funniest error was the line in which one character describes another as a “supercilious scoundrel”. I was confused when I saw it as I have no memory of writing it. It doesn’t fit the character at all. I was wondering about this out loud when my son suddenly started acting out a scene from the Disney film The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh in which Gopher is complaining about Rabbit and says: “That supercilious scoundrel confiscated my honey.” I guess that DVD must have been on in the background when I wrote that line.

For a while, it seemed as if all romance heroes had to drawl sardonically at some point in the book. Fortunately, this practice has gone the way of the dodo. I’m almost tempted to squeeze it in at some point in my book, just for the laugh.

Which words or phrases do you overuse, either in speech or in writing? Which ones annoy you when you’re reading?