Tag Archives: romance

The Rules of Enchantment

Book Review of The Rules of Enchantment, by Wendy Tardieu

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I accepted a copy of The Rules of Enchantment, by Wendy Tardieu, for review.

Description from Goodreads:

When a Sorcerer and a Scribe Team Up to Fulfill an Ancient Prophecy, The Fate of The World Lies in Their Hands

In the mythical kingdom of Salyndria, an exiled sorcerer named Leith plots to overthrow the restrictions placed on the use of magic by the Academy. Suspecting the worst, the Academy sends a beautiful young scribe, Kyler, to be his apprentice and act as an unwitting spy.

Leith tries to drive her away by proving his reputation as a vicious and unforgiving master, but he soon discovers his new pupil is far more useful than she appears. As her charms and magical abilities become all too tempting for him to resist, the two join forces to fulfill a hidden prophecy that will grant them incredible power.

Together, the sorcerer and the scribe will change Salyndria’s history forever.

Review:

I am utterly confounded by this book. Not because it’s bad, but because it goes to such lengths to declare itself something it’s not. At its core, it’s a student/teacher romance. So, if that’s your thing you’ll probably love it. But for me, my confusion started before even page one, with the cover.

For a book with “erotic fantasy adventure” on its cover, there is remarkably little eroticism in it. There isn’t even so much as a kiss until 60 pages into a 142-page book. And when it shows up, it’s totally abrupt and feels out of nowhere since there hadn’t even been any sexual tension up until that point. Nada-none. What’s more, it felt like he creepily lept on her the moment she showed weakness.

Then, there’s no more until 20 pages later. And though she’s the instigator, it’s again in a moment of weakness and felt like him taking advantage. Annnd the next time she’s asleep when he starts. She wakes up to him panting and “prying” under her robe. (There’s only one more sex scene after that, but I’m pleased to say it’s not creepy.) None of these scenes are explicit or frequent enough for me to consider the book erotic. It’s not even as titillating as a standard romance novel.

I don’t usually chronicle every episode. But I’m trying to make two points, that almost every single sexual encounter seems to be icky and problematic in a way that compromises its appeal for me, and that the book does not earn it’s “erotic” stripes.

And honestly, there isn’t really much adventure in this supposed “erotic fantasy adventure” either. And what very little there is, the heroine doesn’t much participate in. (The book is definitely a prime example of a book with a female main character that is overshadowed by the male characters.) So, considering the book doesn’t live up to either claim of erotica or adventure, I can’t begin to imagine why someone would put it on the cover. It leads the reader to false expectations and then disappointment. The book stands fine as what it is. So, why claim it’s something it’s not?

The book also is guilty of one of my biggest pet peeves, something I seriously consider DNFing books over. The heroine is 21-years-old. She’s basically whored out, though she isn’t told she’s being sent as a honeypot. And she is repeatedly referred to as a young girl. (Her personality is even described as child-like.) A woman being sent into a sexual situation in a (supposedly) erotic novel should never be referred to as a young girl. She isn’t 6-years-old. She especially shouldn’t be referred to as a girl in the sex scenes. She’s an adult.

What’s more and making it worse, it’s not like the hero is sooo old. He’s 30; not that much older than her. But he is presented as fully mature and adult. I don’t know what twist of modern toxic culture makes authors equate female childhood and sexy, but I hate it more than I can express. It’s not even that I’m particularly prudish. I just super hate seeing women infantilized, especially during sex. Let women BE women for god’s sake!

Outside of the cover giving me a false expectation and my one BIG pet peeve, the book is pretty good. The writing is sharp and well-edited. There’s an interesting world and it concludes nicely. I’d give Tardieu another shot.

misleading a duke

Book Review: Misleading a Duke, by A. S. Fenichel

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Through Goodreads, I won an early e-copy of Misleading a Duke, by A. S. Fenichel.

Description:

Betrothed to a man she has barely met, Lady Faith Landon calls upon her three best friends—the self-proclaimed Wallflowers of West Lane—to help uncover the secrets of her mysterious fiancé. Her suspicions are aroused when she learns that he has recently returned from France. Is he a traitor to his country? The truth is quite the opposite. Nicholas Ellsworth, Duke of Breckenridge, is a secret agent for the English Crown who has just completed a risky mission to infiltrate Napoleon’s spy network.

After his adventures, Nicholas craves the peace and quiet of the country and settling into domestic bliss with his bride. Until he discovers Faith’s deceptive investigation. How can he wed a woman who doesn’t trust him? But a powerful spark has ignited between Nicholas and Faith that could bring about a change of heart. Faith seizes her second chance to prove to Nicholas that they are a true love match but his past catches up with them when three French spies come to exact revenge. Surviving rather than wooing has become the order of the day.

Review:

First off, I should not have read this book without reading book one. I don’t think it stood well on its own. But what’s done is done and that’s not the book’s fault.

Outside of that issue, I simply didn’t care for the book. I think I liked what the author was attempting to do (create a group of sassy, self-reliant women going after control of their lives) but not what she actually wrote. I found the whole thing repetitive, contradictory, and overly sappy. I’ll break that down a little more.

I lost track of how many times the characters’ internal thoughts ran the same rail. Nicholas was especially bad about this, but certainly, Faith thought the same things over and over too. Tying into this was what Nicholas actually thought. I hated the way every other paragraph was interrupted for either thoughts of how badly he wanted Faith (how attracted he was to her, etc) or how much he disliked her (or both). I get that the author was trying to show that he was conflicted. But instead, it just felt like waffling. But it also made the first half of the book REALLY choppy. Similarly, as the book and relationship progressed the characters went from obviously wanting each other to thinking about how the other was about to leave them or not want them, etc. Over and over and back and forwards.

The sappiness is on an objective scale, but this tipped over into too sappy for me. There were just too many passages about how amazing one or the other was, how much they loved the other, too many declarations of adoration, etc. In my experience, this is a symptom of a particular sort of blunt romance that I just don’t enjoy very much.

I do love that cover though!

deal with the devil

Review of Deal with the Devil (Mercenary Librarians #1), by Kit Rocha

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I pre-ordered a copy of Kit Rocha‘s Deal with the Devil.

Description from Goodreads:

Nina is an information broker with a mission–she and her team of mercenary librarians use their knowledge to save the hopeless in a crumbling America.

Knox is the bitter, battle-weary captain of the Silver Devils. His squad of supersoldiers went AWOL to avoid slaughtering innocents, and now he’s fighting to survive.

They’re on a deadly collision course, and the passion that flares between them only makes it more dangerous. They could burn down the world, destroying each other in the process…

Or they could do the impossible: team up.

This is the first book in a near-future science fiction series with elements of romance.

Review:

I really quite enjoyed this. I liked the characters, the diversity, the world, the humor, and the plot (though the twists at the end were easily guessable). I liked that you get a little of everyone’s POV, without head-hopping and that, while there is one main couple, there are also hints of side couples to come. My only real complaint is that, for a series called Mercenary Librarians, books/libraries/librarians play essentially no role. Maybe they will in future books, but they don’t here and I was super disappointed by that. All in all, however, I can’t wait for more.