What I Did for a Duke by Julie Anne Long

I was recently looking longingly at the book list of Ms. Long (because I lurv her books, well, Pennyroyal Green anyway, there were some others I didn't totally linger over).  And since I'm all caught up with the series but I couldn't for the life of me remember if I had read What I Did for a Duke, I bought it and started reading it (again, it turned out).

I am not typically a re-reader but like many other of Ms. Long's books, even though I recognized the story once I started it, it was so funny and lovingly written (I can imagine some might call Ms. Long's prose a bit purple, but I think she walks the line pretty much perfectly) I just kept reading and reading until I had finished it in a single weekend day.  Have I mentioned my daughter who is a grammar stickler says I am a comma hater and that I write run on sentences.  What!  Never say it!

Anyway, this isn't really a review cause I love this book, but it is a recommendation.  Really, if you have liked any of Julie Anne Long's Pennyroyal Green books, read this one.  Its fabulous (despite the lame cover.)

Historical Romance 2011: 5 of 5 "horses" not whores.

Julie Anne Long "I Kissed An Earl"

Hmm. I was just reading a review for The Native Star where the reviewer said quite elegantly: "It is one of the paradoxes of reviewing books that it is actually harder to do well and fairly when there is nothing conspicuously wrong with a novel you’ve just read." Now you probably know that I'm a Julie Anne Long fan-girl, but I haven't loved every one of her books. This is Violet Redmond's book. She is Miles' little sister. She actually stows away on a ship with a hunky captain who is hunting her brother, Lyon.

And so we combine both my ridiculous love for heroines stowing away on ships and hunky captains and crews who fall in love with her because she's so darn nice and plucky with an author whose hyperbole continues to enthrall me. She writes: "He was unnervingly gentlemanly about turning his back and allowing her to slip into her night rail. He was then unnervingly matter-of-fact about stripping down to nothing as per usual and climbing into bed as though that first eyeful of his nude rugged beauty didn't club the breath from her entirely and prevent her from moving for a few solid seconds."

I was very concerned that Ms. Long would not be able to reconcile Violet's love for her brother and her love for our hero. I should not have worried.

Historical Romance 2010: 5 of 5 slave trading bastards.

Julie Anne Long "Since the Surrender"

If you've been following along you'll know that I am a Julie Anne Long fangirl. I have to admit it's probably revealing that I almost sent this latest book away on Paper Back Swap without remembering to review it. Ouch.

Chase Eversea and Rosalind March met during the Napoleonic War when she was the wife of his Colonel. They shared a kiss practically by accident and almost couldn't live with themselves because it was such a betrayal of their friend. Rosalind wasn't in love with her husband but she loved him as friend and father figure. The Colonel died in Waterloo, Chase did not. Now, years later, her younger sister has disappeared so she appeals to Chase for help in tracking her down. So far so good.

But two things (in my opinion) go wrong. The plot surrounding the sister seems to go nowhere for a long time, then when it does finally get revealed, it's, well, completely preposterous. Maybe if the pacing had been better I wouldn't have cared as much.

Then the other problem; the sex. Again, I think it's a pacing problem. Longing, longing, longing and they never give in. Finally in what seems the most inappropriate time and place, they get it on. Why now? If they didn't need an emotional breakthrough, or a 'safe' place and time, then why have they been waiting! It felt as if this could be made into two books, one with the sex and one without, to be sold in two different genres without any real impact on the character arch or storyline. Don't get me wrong, the scenes are fun but to have them feel so extraneous to the arch of the relationship in the end undermines their effectiveness within the book.

Is it horrible? No. The characters have the intent, intelligent, humorously self effacing internal voices that I so love about Ms. Long's characters. This story continues to flesh out the world of the Everseas so if you're committed to the series, you should read it, but overall with my high expectations it was a disappointment.

Historical Romance 2009: 2.5 of 5 bawdy angel paintings.

Julie Anne Long "The Perils of Pleasure" & A Book GIVEAWAY

Is it possible I could love this book more than Like No Other Lover (which I forced my entire, non-romance-reading book club to read.) The only bittersweet part of reading this book was knowing that I had used up some of my best superlatives on her other book. Well, that and the back cover, WTH?

Madeleine Greenway is hired to orchestrate Colin Eversea's escape from the gallows. He was to be hung by the neck until dead for murdering someone in a pub who insulted his sister. He is innocent, of course, and once he's free the person who hired her tries to kill her instead of paying her, giving her an incentive to help him prove his innocence and try to recover her fee.

Julie Anne Long can write herself some damn fine characters. Her prose is slightly more restrained in this book than in Like No Other Lover and I would dare to say this plot is just a hint leaner than the other as well. Making this one of the finest books I've ever read.

And since you've probably either read about or guessed my penchant for well recounted infatuation, I'll point out that she is the master in this department as well.

Historical Romance 2008: 5 of 5 'masculine problems.'

Now about the book give-away. Because, as I mentioned above, I forced my book club to read a romance novel, and because I was feeling guilty about it and because I therefore bought a few extra copies of Like No Other Lover since the library's were mostly out.....I'm hereby spreading the joy these books have brought me and offering two (used) copies of Like No Other Lover by Julie Anne Long to two randomly selected commenters on this post. Deadline is midnight, April 7th, a week from today. Go crazy.

And in case you're interested, an excerpt:

"Could anyone have been hurt today?" he faltered. "The explosions..."
"No," she said coolly. "Not from the explosions alone, anyhow. They were low explosives, meant for loud noise and smoke only. ....set off by very strategically placed boys , paid out of my pocket, ... and all for your benefit, Mr. Eversea. I don't suppose we can discount a turned ankle or a fit of apoplexy in the crowd ...but other than that..."
"Or a trampling," Colin added with dark irony. "Can't discount a trampling."
"Your concern for the thousands of people who came out to cheer as you died horribly is touching, Mr. Eversea."
"I don't think they all came to rejoice in the event."
"I wouldn't be too certain," she said tartly.

And this for some perverse reason made him smile. She wasn't any happier to be here with him than he was to be with her. And she was so very ready to volley, and good at it. He'd wanted a conflict; she'd given it to him and he felt as though he'd spent himself in a good tennis set.

"You really don't exert yourself to charm, do you, Mrs. Greenway?" he mused easily.
"Charm, Mr. Eversea, will cost your family an additional ten pounds if and when I return you alive and whole."
"I should like to see the menu of available services , then, if you please."
He turned back to her just in time to see her smile crack like lightning. It was dazzling, genuine, a thing of natural beauty. [sic] Seconds later it occurred to him both that he was gaping and that he should probably breathe again.

Julie Anne Long 'Ways to Be Wicked'

Finally! The long awaited, "Next To Be Reviewed" book that you've been on tenterhooks waiting for. (Did everyone know that word is tenterhooks and not tenderhooks? Am I the only one whose been hearing and saying that wrong for the last twenty years? Man.)

So Sylvie Lamoureux is a famous ballerina in Paris. But as a child she was separated from her sisters and when she gets a clue that one of them is in London, she puts her career and lover on hold to find her. Sylvie has some setbacks on her way and ends up having to ask for asylum from ne'er-do-well man-about-town Tom Shaughnessy. He agrees to hire her as a bawdy dancer, for which Sylvie is not entirely grateful. Tom is planning a new venture, has collected several wealthy backers and finds himself strangely attracted to Sylvie despite his vow to not touch the dancers who work for him. Sylvie is biding her time until her sister returns from her honeymoon abroad and of course, is strangely attracted to Tom as well.

I liked this book, the sex was a bit slim, but the conflict was believable, and the characters likable. But I did put this book down for almost three months without any difficulty. And so I really can't with concience say I loved it.

Historical Romance 2006: 3.5 out of 5 pas-de-deux.

Julie Anne Long 'The Runaway Duke'

I believe this was Ms. Long's first book, it's cute, spunky and ultimately forgettable.

Rebecca Tremaine is engaged to be married to a man she doesn't love, Connor Riordan is her friend and groom, and a Duke living in hiding in her stables. He agrees to whisk her away to his aunt while he travels on to America. They encounter highwaymen, gypsies and lots of mud.

There is an annoying use of the big misunderstanding to forward the plot and of course there is the duke as a stable hand ridiculousness. I will say, you can see some of this author's promise in the book, but unless you really are hard up, you can skip this one.

Historical Romance 2004: 2.5 out of 5 gypsy stews.

Best Book of 2008 - Better Late Than Never

I love this book. Love it, like I love chocolate Lindt balls. And I love chocolate Lindt balls almost more than I love my offspring. I'm not kidding around here people. True love is no laughing matter. It's what's between me and this book.

If I were to entertain the idea that this book had faults, I might be convinced to mention it's loquaciousness. But I prefer to think of it as a verve for life, not a slight habit of repeating itself. Oh, sure you might try to argue that the book could have been trimmed by a suitor or two, but you'd only be showing your true jealous colors.

Cynthia is on a suddenly desperate husband hunt. Miles had been transfixed then repulsed by Cynthia upon seeing her in London. It's never nice to overhear someone referring to you as the 'dour second son.' A few weeks later, his sister invites her to their estate for a country house party.

I will admit, on occasion, the author dances dangerously close to purple prose (I can not keep turgid images out of my mind when I read or use that phrase, yuk, yuk, yuk.) I loved Miles, his slow dissection of Cynthia, her motives, her strength, her inherent goodness underneath this shallow but real exterior. I loved that they give each other up, because the only thing better than reliving infatuation is empathizing with someone else's impossible love. While knowing of course that they get together in the end. Oh, sorry for the spoiler.

I love clever writing like this: "They both watched Lord Milthorpe cast the china cup a wistful glance, as if he knew he was bound to crush it eventually and was issuing a silent advance apology." And finally I loved Cynthia, she's smart, she's insiteful about people and she is transformed through the story into a better person, and not only because Miles loves her (although it helps, this is a romance novel after all).

Best Historical Romance 2008: 5.5 of 5 statuary penile projectiles.

Julie Anne Long Like No Other Lover