Sugarbeat's Books

The Home of the Romance Novel

romance

One More Time by Celia May Hart

By

ISBN : 0758219229
Publisher : Aphrodisia/Kensington Books

This erotic time travel (and sort of paranormal novel) is the first novel by Celia May Hart – an author for Aphrodisia Kensington.  This book is mainly set in 1807 in Regency England.  Abby Dean flies her small plane to the hotel that she has recently been hired to manage, but when she attempts to land, the runway disappears and she makes an emergency landing in a field.  She meets Myles Hardy when she knocks on the door of what is supposed to be the hotel.  At this point, she discovers that she has gone back in time, she realizes that she will have to depend on Myles to help her in this unfamiliar century! Myles finds that idea of her coming from the future far fetched, but is intrigued by the selection of sex toys in her luggage. For some reason, Abby has the blueprints of the mansion/hotel and offers to work with Myles to discover a statue he is seeking that has supposedly been hidden somewhere in the mansion.

The cover of this book is what attracted me to read it!  Nothing like a mostly naked, well-buffed man to convince me that this book was worth reading.  Like many of the Aphrodisia books, this one has  a warning on the back about how sexually explicit it was.  There certainly was alot of sex in this book!  It isn’t for the faint of heart!  Abby and Myles have sex almost immediately and continue having sex at the drop of a hat throughout the book.  It was particularly steamy once the Greek Gods came alive and started getting busy with everyone!  This book is what I would classify as a Romantica – a cross between a romance novel and an erotic novel.  As a romance novel it was a bit thin in the story line.  As an erotic novel, it was extremely steamy.  It had paranormal aspects as the statue that Abby and Myles are looking for comes alive along with the associated Greek Gods and their bacchantes.  Group sex abounds once the various gods and their hangers-on come alive and join the group of interesting people now living at the mansion.  This book gets a super-hot rating from me for the erotic aspect but only average for the romance aspect.  It did, however, get 5 stars from Romance Times and was a nominee in Romance Times 2007 Reviewer’s Choice Award in the Erotic Romance Category.

Romance Times says: “This scorching roller-coaster of a read is an erotic page-turner. It has romance, intrigue, licentious nobility, a Greek god come to life and an unexpected ending. Feisty Abby and sensual Myles are the perfect couple to surmount the obstacles in their way. This may have been the first book I’ve read by Hart, but it certainly won’t be the last!”
http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=sugsboonoo-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0758219229&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr

The Duke & I by Julia Quinn

By

ISBN: 0380800829

Publisher: Avon Books

I am a fan, not only of series of books, but also of Regency Romances.  There is something beautiful about a romance written amongst the sparkle and glitter of balls, dashing gentlemen in formal dress and beautiful women in stunning gowns.  Add to that, the pleasure of following a group of characters through a number of books and my day is complete!

The Duke and I is our introduction the the Bridgerton family – a family of 8 children all named in alphabetical order from oldest to youngest.  The matriarch of the family is a widow who lost her husband relatively early to a bee sting – a subject the plays a role in many of the books.  Instead of starting this series with the eldest of the family (Anthony), Julia Quinn has started the series with Daphne who is the fourth born, but the eldest daughter of the family.  One common theme to this series of books is that Lady Bridgerton (the mother) seems to live to marry off her brood of children and deals with crisis after crisis with humor and good sense.  The other common theme to all these books are periodic excerpts from “Lady Whistledown’s Society Pages”.  As we find out in this book, Lady Whistledown publishes a news sheet that many members of the ton read regularly and it frequently features the activities of the Bridgertons.  At this point we don’t know who Lady Whistledown is, but much time is spent speculating who she is and commenting on the contents of her new sheet.

Our story begins with Daphne and Simon Bassett, the Duke of Hastings, forming an attachment – a tendre as it were – to protect Simon from all the match-making mothers and to make Daphne appear more attractive to to potential suitors.  The thought is that Daphne will appear more attractive to other men if she the consort of a Duke.  Soon their pretend tendre becomes all too real with both of them forming feelings for one another.  Simon has a history with his father and is determined not to marry and have his family line die with him.  Simon soon finds his heart warming up and finds himself jealous of the men surrounding Daphne.  Daphne discovers herself spending more and more time with Simon regardless of the flocks of other men around her.  While all of this is happening we are continually entertained with the shenanigans of Daphne’s siblings and mother as well as commentary by Lady Whistledown.  In true Regency romance fashion our story has a happy ending with a few tears shed along the way.

Julia Quinn is described  as “A Consummate Storyteller” by Publishers Weekly.  Author Lisa Kleypas describes The Duke and I as “The most refreshing and radiant love story you’ll read this year.”  The Romance Reader says: “The Duke and I is a refreshingly witty tale with a hero and heroine whose emotions are fueled by intelligence rather than by ungovernable body parts, although there’s plenty of that, too. Add in an interesting array of meddlesome family members and The Duke and I definitely ranks as a keeper.”

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Duke and I.  Although it is an older book, it provides a strong start to a series that I love!  The Bridgerton series had me enjoying my reading time; frequently losing track of time and reading far into the night.  Although I come from a larger family, I don’t think that my siblings and I interact in quite so humorous and demonstrative a fashion.  I look forward to reading the next installment and seeing if I can guess who Lady Whistledown is!

An Arranged Marriage by Jo Beverley

By

An Arranged Marriage by Jo Beverley

ISBN: 0821764012

Publisher: Zebra

An Arranged Marriage – the first book in the “Company of Rogues” series – tells the story of the leader of this group of men, or “Company of Rogues”, as they are called.  Nicholas Delaney formed the “Rogues” while away at school.  He formed this group to fight against the bullying that was notorious at boarding school.  The Rogues were not bullies themselves, however they certainly got into their share of scrapes in their school days.  They span a wide variety of backgrounds and personalities.  Some were titled, some were not, some were outgoing some were shy and bookish.  Nicholas is seen throughout this series of books as the obvious leader.  He is intelligent, logical and the confidant of all – the keeper of secrets.

This story begins with Eleanor Chivenham being drugged by her brother who arranges her rape.  The rape is carried out by Lord Stanbridge who is trying to prove he is not a homosexual.  At the time Lord Stanbridge doesn’t realize that the young woman he is having sex with is a well-brought up young lady not a prostitute.  When he discovers her the next day and realizes the implications of his actions, he tries to rescue Eleanor by offering marriage to his brother, who we find out is Nicholas Delaney.

Nicholas accepts Eleanor as a wife and marries her but is then immediately embroiled in uncovering a plot to liberate Napoleon – a job that has him pretending to be the lover of a vindictive French brothel owner.  Nicholas and Eleanor approach their arranged marriage with a practical dignity; each having their own reasons for wanting this marriage, but both start having feelings for the other.  Eleanor sees the trouble and pain beneath Nicholas’s smooth facade and Nicholas stirs Eleanor’s senses despite her attempts to keep her heart protected.

As Nicholas has more and more difficulty performing his job serving his country (which requires him to play the role of lover to the evil brothel owner) as he grows more and more attached to his wife. He calls on members of the Company of Rogues to help him both with his job as a spy and to help maintain his fragile marriage.  As the tension increases the Rogues are tested but in true Regency romance fashion, love conquers in the end.

Although on first read, I didn’t really like this book.  I was used to the light and easy reads of other authors.  A Jo Beverley book is NOT an light and easy read!  There is substance; there are difficult topics discussed.  These books often are uncomfortable to read but always a rewarding read if you finish it!

I admit it….I’m a sucker for a series of romance books – especially a series of Regency Romances with the connecting theme being a group of rich and powerful men.   Jo Beverley attacks some of the most unpleasant topics of the time.  Many of her books explore the lack of rights of women of this time and many deal with the class differences.  Most of her books have very strong heroines.

Many of Jo Beverley’s book have won one or more awards.  An Arranged Marriage was a RITA Finalist, won a Reader’s Choice Award, won Romantic Times Best Regency Novel and was voted a Bookrak Bestseller.

Reviews of Jo Beverley sing her praises!
“…today’s most skillful writer of intelligent historical romance.” Publishers Weekly
“One of the great names of the genre.” Romantic Times.
“Sublime!” Booklist