themadpoker

Guys, I would like to talk about a book I am reading! It is called The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook. If you’ve been thinking about picking it up but don’t want spoilers then I will say right now that I would recommend it, the worldbuilding is well done and the heroine is likeable but you need to have some tolerance for sexually harassing heroes (along the lines of hey pretty lady, you are totally going to sleep with me soon! when she makes it clear she’d like it if you’d stop saying that already)

( I've got mixed feelings on the title character )

THE HELL.

Sex while sleeping? Sex while sleeping? Do you know what is absent while one is asleep? THE ABILITY TO CONSENT.

Taking a break from this book, suspect the rage will overwhelm any enjoyment I might get from reading it for awhile.

Today I bought Havemercy by Jaida Jones and Daniel Bennett (the one with the inappropriate subtext between brothers! And yeah that is what it's going to be called forever because what the hell, you can't have holding onto faces and gazing into eyes and be like later oh by the way they're brothers! Unless you're going to pull a Sarah Monette and make the incestuous longings canon in which case viva la subtext), Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow (Werewolves! Free verse poetry! A match made in heaven? Only time will tell), and Daughter of Hounds by Caitlin R. Kiernan (I have no idea but the cover is nice and I've heard she writes good horror/fantasy).

I had no intention of buying books today. BUT THEY WERE ON SALE AND I AM WEAK. T_T

I have also continued in my Romance Quest with Sherry Thomas' His At Night. The heroine is one of my favourite types! This is posing a wee bit of a problem since my reading is currently going like this.

HEROINE: My uncle is an Evil Abuser who conspires to keep me trapped within our house forever while forcing me to maintain the facade that we are a happy loving family. I smile and bear it but am desperately trying to find a way to escape his clutches. The unexpected arrival of some guests at our manor while he is out has provided me an opportunity! I shall do my best to wed one of these eligible bachelors so as to have protection for myself and my aunt as we escape my uncle.
HERO: I am an agent of the crown! We currently suspect heroine's uncle may be involved in EVIL doings involving illegal diamonds. My days as an international spy sometimes leave me heartsore and weary so I will often retreat into my fantasy of my dream woman greeting me with the most beautiful smile. Oh look then, plotting to be invited to heroine's house in order for some investigation business.

THEY MEET.

HEROINE: Oh please God let this work. -smiles charmingly-
HERO: Oh my God, it's my dream woman!
THINGS: Happen.
HERO: What what, the heroine is actually trying to get me to marry her, she is not the pure loving woman of my dreams, she is a gold digger, her smiles are TAINTED.
HEROINE: Time is running out, my uncle will return in a few days, I can't be trapped here forever, I just can't, I am having nightmares about never being able to leave. My conscious does prick me at the thought of entrapping a man but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.
HERO: -thwarts while angsting about how she does not match the woman of his ~dreams~-
HEROINE: -attempts to snag hero's brother-
ME: Oh my poor trapped morally ambiguous darling. COME AWAY WITH ME ELISSANDE, I WILL PROTECT YOU FROM YOUR UNCLE. I WOULD NEVER DREAM OF JUDGING YOU SIMPLY BECAUSE YOU ARE A REAL PERSON AND NOT THE EMBODIMENT OF A FANTASY I HAVE OF YOU. YOUR SMILE IS ALL THE BETTER FOR BEING A SURVIVAL TOOL YOU HAVE BUILT UP OVER THE YEARS.

There's still about 300 pages to go, hopefully our hero will get a clue and stop woe facing over the fact that her smiles are not a ~pure expression of love~ with no calculation behind them. You've known her for two days buddy, she didn't get the memo about your long standing fantasy relationship. :/

Here is a story. Once upon a time, a little lj blogger named themadpoker decided she wanted to explore some of this romance business she'd always heard so much about. She thought over what she would do very carefully and visited the Smart Bitches, Trashy Books website. Per their recommendations she picked up Loretta Chase's Lord of Scoundrels.

Then she ignored it for a few weeks because it was a romance novel and she had the entire first season of Heroes to watch. Priorities, people.

Eventually one night, she decided to read the prologue. As a bit of a bedtime story.

( And kept going. Much like the Energizer Bunny; she just couldn't STOP )

All of this and the romantic pet names. Of course I love this book.

"I love these pet names," she said, gazing soulfully up into his eyes. "Nitwit. Sapskull. Termagant. How they make my heart flutter!"