Liza Street's Blog: not your grandma's romantic fiction, page 19

Book Review: Truth or Beard by Penny Reid

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With Penny Reid’s books, I always know I’m gonna get a great laugh. And the opening of Truth or Beard, with the main character, Jessica James, dressed up like a sexy Gandalf–oh, I laughed so hard. I love Reid’s humor and there are tons more laugh-out-loud and giggle moments to this novel (for example, there’s a thing with sausages that I can’t even think about without laughing). Jessica and Winston are believable characters and perfect for each other, & I swooned at the HEA. I am once again impressed by Reid’s work! The rest of the series looks equally as promising, and I’m looking forward to reading it!

Book Review: Yours to Keep

[image error]Super cute, and with some laugh-out-loud moments. Those LOL moments are why I keep coming back to Stacey’s books–this family is hilarious and I’d totally hang out with them. Especially because it would mean I get to bag a Kowalski man (seriously, they’re everywhere. This is the biggest family I’ve ever read about). (Also, in this daydream, I’m a single woman. In real life I’m happily married!)

I wanted to shake both the hero and heroine at one point near the end because really JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER, but otherwise I really enjoyed the story and the characters. Funny, sexy books with ensemble casts really work for me.

Like in Exclusively Yours, there are zillions (rough estimate) of characters because it’s a big family packed with sequel bait, so I think it would be better to be familiar with the series, but I managed just fine with only having read Exclusively Yours, and I probably didn’t even need the background provided there.

Stacey’s got me hooked on this series, and I’ll be loading up my kindle!

Savage Heartache, Available Now!

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Seeking sanctuary amidst a ragtag clan of shifters has never been so dangerous…or so fun.

Famous in the book-blogging world for her honestly hilarious romance reviews, mountain lion shapeshifter Nina Vidal detests the irony of her life—she makes a living off of analyzing happily-ever-afters, but her own HEA is sadly out of reach. To escape the heartache of staying in her pride and watching all of her friends pair up, she seeks refuge in another clan of shifters, not caring that the grumpy alphahole, Jameson, doesn’t want her there.

Grizzly shifter Jameson Cooper has enough on his mind without worrying about the sexy lion girl who’s taking over his clan. He’s alpha of the Rock Creek Clan, and he’s still mourning the loss of his mate. But there’s something about Nina—she’s the one person who won’t tolerate his bossiness or his angst, and he finds himself drawn to her again and again. When it turns out that vampire trouble has followed her from the Corona Pride and Jameson’s clan wants to turn Nina away, Jameson must fight to keep her.

You can read Savage Heartache free with Kindle Unlimited! You can find it here on Amazon or AmazonSmile!

Film Review: Romantics Anonymous

[image error]Someone recommended Romantics Anonymous (original title: Les émotifs anonymes) to me ages ago–and then it sat in its Netflix envelope next to my television for weeks. Finally I opened the envelope again and read the description. I saw “chocolatier” and I was sold.

This isn’t my usual aliens-taking-over-the-world escapist kind of movie. Lately I haven’t had much patience for slow-paced anything. But this was funny and awkward and oh, so endearing. Characters’ social anxiety is always great fodder for funny, awkward moments, and sometimes I worry that social anxiety is being made light of. However, I didn’t feel that the film was taking advantage of people with anxiety–rather, showing how people overcome difficulties and still manage, however fumbling, to find each other.

I don’t want to spoil the ending, but there’s a point near the climax where she has an argument against their relationship that felt so real and true, but then there was a rebuttal that was equally real and true. I thought this was masterfully done!

Savage Loss Soundtrack

Here’s the soundtrack for Savage Loss! I’ve got some old and new favorites for this one. In case the video doesn’t work below, here’s the link to the YouTube playlist.

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Tim McGraw, Live Like You Were Dying
Broken Bells, The High Road
Hozier, The Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene
Ani DiFranco, Promised Land
Portishead, Glory Box
White Stripes, In the Cold, Cold Night

 

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Savage Loss, Available Now!

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Resisting desire is futile in the Corona Mountains.

Elementary school principal Brigitte Mayfair has worked hard to keep herself cool, professional, and detached after the scandal she left behind in Michigan. But when she’s abducted from campus and released three days later with no memory of her captivity, she feels anything but cool and professional. Especially when a drop-dead gorgeous rescuer begins to rekindle her buried passions.

Mountain lion shapeshifter Rafe Corona hasn’t been serious about a woman…ever. He’s purposefully kept his distance from all potential mates, believing that he doesn’t deserve happiness. Something about Brigitte calls to him, though. He must overcome the danger that threatens to keep them apart and find the passion hidden within them both, or risk losing her forever.

Savage Loss is part of Kindle Unlimited, and you can find it here on Amazon and AmazonSmile!

Book Review: Prime Minister

[image error]Prime Minister, by Ainsley Booth and Sadie Haller, is a contemporary erotic romance.

Some readers complained that they got bored midway through, and it’s true that the pacing isn’t super tight–however, I was riveted by the characters! Ellie and Gavin had me cheering for them from the very beginning! Especially fun was the first third or so, when they were figuring each other out. Obviously the prime minister couldn’t come right out and tell her he was kinky.

There’s a LOT of sex in this one and it’s at turns hot and funny. It broke some of my preconceived notions about kink, and I always love a book that challenges my beliefs about sex and sexuality.

Gavin’s best friend makes for excellent sequel bait, so I’ll be reading the next book in the series, Doctor Bad Boy, soon!

Books for Pride and Prejudice Lovers

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Yes, I realize that so much has been said about Pride and Prejudice (in fact, I wrote about it just last week over at the Pocket Romance blog), it’s hardly a revelation that yet another person loves it. So rather than tell you how delicious Mr. Darcy is or how I revel in every interaction between him and Lizzie, I’ll instead point you to a few books that take their inspiration from P&P.

Elizabeth Aston’s Mr. Darcy’s Daughters (first in a series that I loved so much! Although my suspension of disbelief was tested by the idea that Elizabeth had five daughters when she came from a family of five daughters. I mean, what are the chances?)

P.D. James, Death Comes to Pemberley (popularized on the BBC, which has been on my Netflix queue for ages)

Linda Berdoll, Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife (honestly I felt it was too slow. It keeps the Austen feel, and I think I expected more contemporary language. But I might go back to it someday because I’ve heard good things!)

Seth Graham-Smith and Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (I admit, I was skeptical. It was…interesting, I’ll say that much. Probably not something I’d read again, and I’m too much of a chicken to watch the film)

Stacy King, Manga Classics: Pride and Prejudice (I didn’t read this one–my daughter stole it from me before I got the chance, and then it had to go back to the library. But the artwork and adaptation looked really good!)

There’s a list on Goodreads of over 300 Pride and Prejudice adaptations, sequels, and variations, so if you’re hungry for more, have at it!

Book Review: A Promise of Fire

[image error]Brilliant book! I loved the characters, and I loved the world–a place where Greek gods are very present.

The heroine sometimes used words or phrases that felt too contemporary for a fantasy world, with some silly idiom replacements “the olive doesn’t fall far from the tree” and “don’t beat around the harpy’s nest” (not exact quotes) which took me out of the story, but compared to how much I liked everything else, that’s such a minor thing.

The voice also had a YA feel to me, which is great because I love YA.

The romance was slow-burn at first, and it was scintillating. Usually I write insta-love, but I’m definitely seeing the appeal of the slow burn! Some of the scenes where Cat makes herself invisible for bathing, but she’s totally naked right there next to him–WHEW!

I also liked how lighthearted the book was. Yes, people died, and there’s some gore and violence, but the tone isn’t dark or gory at all.

This was fast-moving adventure, not a slow-paced epic fantasy, and really it’s the characters I fell in love with, and the characters I want to see more of.

Savage Yearning is Available Now!

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I’m so excited! Dristan and Laura were a really fun couple to write–their chemistry was amazing. It’s funny, because when I had them hook up in Fierce Informer (book 6 of the Sierra Pride series), I hadn’t planned on a spin-off at all. But once I started wondering what to write next, they demanded their own book. And here it is!

Also, I can’t stand cliffhangers so like all of my other books, Savage Yearning stands alone.