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October 2012 HP and HPE Releases
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I've only read one of these- " The Sheikh's Last Gamble" and it was FANTASTIC! The heroine maintains a quiet dignity throughout the story and the hero is suffering from a specific type of guilt from the past. It's a really interesting story. Highly recommend .
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Is it me or are the HP selections lately really not very inspiring? I tried reading the Kelly Hunter book a while back but I couldn't get through it and she's one of my favorite HP authors.
I read Not Just the Greek's Wife and couldn't take the book seriously enough to actually have a proper opinion about it. Had a whole discussion about the writing style in a separate thread.
Hi Lululemon, no the heroine was not a spoilt brat at all. She was great, like I said with a quiet dignity. I'm not into spoilt brats either. I really liked The Sheikh's Last Gamble and so did a couple of other online friends I recommended it to but I don't know your taste so I can only say that it was a really good read for me. If you decide to try it let me know what you think.
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Lulu,I will wait till you read this book before i decide to pick this one up myself.I read the prior book in this series and DID NOT like the heroine AT ALL.I read the new Lucy Monroe and though it was better than some of her recent efforts,it was just meh to me.
I agree the latest selections have not been the best.
Hi Vashti, I didn't know this book ( The Sheikh's Last Gamble) was a second in a line of stories so I read it as its own book. I had a look at the first one later and saw the reviews weren't so good. But some of the people who read the first one and didn't like it much still enjoyed the second one. Again I guess it's a matter of taste and I havent read the first one but I enjoyed the second one very much.
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Thank you Jennie and Lulu.I agree ,everyone has a particular taste when it comes to their reading.What I may like,another may not.That is why I love spoilers.It saves me the angst of hating a book lol.Even some of my fav authors have dissapointed me recently it pains me to say.I am more of a traditionalist with the Hp's.
Hi Lululemon, don't know if you have ever read Olivia Gates who in my opinion writes the BEST sheikh stories. Like The Desert Lord's Baby and The Desert King. In the latter the hero is quite brittle but I found thd imagery and symbolism in this one fantastic! Also Desert Prince, Expectant Mother and The Sheikh Surgeon's Proposal. These were great!
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Thanks, Jennie. Olivia Gates has been recommended to me by several of my GR friends but I haven't tried her books yet. Will definitely have to check out her books as she comes highly recommended.
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Ummm . . . okey dokey, Vashti. Call me a narrow-minded, old-fashioned, judgmental prude from the last century. I started reading the Sheikh's Last Gamble and in the second chapter I discovered that (view spoiler). Call me narrow-minded, but I just can't like a heroine with "loose morals." I would never judge someone in real life through such harsh standards, but when it comes to my Harleys, I do prefer the "untouched" heroine, although they don't necessarily have to be virgins or anything.
That's a long-winded way of telling you I won't be reading this book any further, Vashti, so can't give you my input since I haven't read enough to form an informed opinion of the book.
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Hi Lululemon, the heroine doesn't actually have loose morals it just looks that way in the beginning but isn't actually the case. You find out later what has actually happened. But like I said everyone has different tastes.
Lululemon wrote: "Jennie wrote: "Hi Lululemon, don't know if you have ever read Olivia Gates who in my opinion writes the BEST sheikh stories. Like The Desert Lord's Baby and The Desert King. In the latter the hero ..."I like olivia gates myself.Her books are very intense reads,very lyrical and dare i say poetic in the flow of some of them.She does write a good story,there have only been a few that i did not care for,but again,that is me.
Lululemon wrote: "Vashti wrote: "Thank you Jennie and Lulu.I agree ,everyone has a particular taste when it comes to their reading.What I may like,another may not.That is why I love spoilers.It saves me the angst o..."Okay Lulu,that seals the deal for me,I will not be reading that book.Call me old fashioned,but I personally like the "virginal" type of heroine in my harleys.Just by looking at my harley books,you know what types of books that I enjoy.Thanks,glad I did not pick this one up........... as to the heroine,1 baby out of wedlock is fine WITH THE H!,but another ,with someone else in not for me.Thank you Jennie and Lulu for the mini spoiler.
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I see. (view spoiler)
okay,that explains it...so was the hero her one and only.
If I remember correctly I think he was.
Jennie,Jennie,thank you..so I guess I will have to get this one then....her story did intrigue me,but when I read that she had 2 children out of wedlock in the first book,well that really turned me off.What say you Lulu,are you going to finish it?
Look, it's not one of my favourites but I did enjoy it a lot. Like I said, no-one can match Olivia Gates ( for me)!
This whole discussion reminds me why you really can't judge a book after only the first chapter or two. I've come across reviews where they person rants about a book after reading only half of it because they didn't like a part of the back story, but if they'd only continued to read it, they would have discovered it was another character's assumption and not the truth. Those reviews have almost made me skip books that I ended up really liking because I like books that have a resolution of a complicated misunderstanding.As for virginal heroines, I'm kind of getting tired of them -- especially the "everyone thinks she's a slut but she's really a virgin" heroines. The only virginal-heroine books that I usually like are the ones where it's not a big plot point in the book.
Which is why I love spoilers,the more the merrier so at least I know something about a book that I intend to read,esp if it is a book that I feel questionable about.I read the reviews,but I make up my own mind about it.Everyone has their own tastes about a book ,that is what is so great about the harley brand,it caters to different tastes,mine run to the more traditional "virginal"type heroines and I usu tend to stick to authors who are more geared to my tastes.I always try to slog to the end of a book whether I like it or not.
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As for judging a book by its cover, I most certainly do. This is not to say I have not been pleasantly surprised when I have gone outside my comfort zone in reading Harleys because I certainly have. But I am very particular about my requirements for a Harley and have very little patience or tolerance for certain things in reading a Harley. That is because I read Harleys as my means of escape so I only want to read what I like in a Harley. If I want to "broaden my horizons," I turn to other kinds of reading. If I miss out on certain good books because of my restrictions, so be it. I certainly have read some bad books that met my initial requirements too. But again, that's just me and my opinions are just that- my opinions. I would hope that my personal opinion would not prevent someone from making his or her own judgment call as to what to read, especially because we all have our own likes and dislikes. And like Vashti said, it is also great to have buddies on GR who can test the waters and let me know if I have overlooked something good :).
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Danielle The Book Huntress , Harlequin Presents are my crack!
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I still like virgin heroines, always will. Why, because I think it's romantic when the heroine's first time is with the hero. I get sick of it being the major plot point, but it's nice to know I can find them when I want to read them. I don't like virginity being held up as the only thing of value a woman has to offer, and when that's done, it doesn't work for me. It depends on the execution, but I don't mind the surprise virginity angle when it's well done. Personally, I'd like to see more virginal/celibate/less experienced heroes. I don't find oversexed, promiscuous heroes a huge draw, and HP certainly has its share of those. I am not a fan of promiscuous sex in romance novels, even if the H/h aren't virgins. I don't like the presentation that everyone is having sex and you are weird if you're not, so I don't think we should go to the other extreme when you can't find any contemporaries with a heroine who is a virgin. It's not for me to judge anyone's lifestyles, but for my personal reading tastes, the whole "Sex and the City" storyline is a huge turnoff for me and can ruin a book faster than anything else when it comes to contemporary romance.
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I still like virgin heroines, always will. Why, because I think it's romanti..."
Very well said, Lady D. I agree with everything you said. I think most of the HP heroes I have really liked have been the ones who are not promiscuous. I never really stopped to think about it, but now that you mention it, those are the heroes I have found most appealing. That hasn't stopped me from enjoying Lynne Graham's books, for instance, whose heroes generally tend to be supermanwhores. So much for my convictions, heh :P.
Lulu and Danielle,very well said.I too at times am very guilty about judging a book,not by the covers,but by the authors.But,will say again ,and I do post it at the end of my reviews,just because I have enjoyed a book ,does not mean that another will enjoy it also.Everyone's taste is their own.
Hey Lady Danielle, pretty much agree with everything you wrote too. For me personally, it doesn't matter virgin or not. Since Vashti abd Lululemon, you are more into virginal storylines, , have you read A Royal World Apart by Maisey Yates? The hero is actually a virgin. As is ther heroine. I wasn't sure if I should write this but I guess it will be covered by the spoilers cap for those who don't want to know. As I am very new to the world of HP this was my first Maisey Yates book and I really enjoyed this one too.
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Danielle The Book Huntress , Harlequin Presents are my crack!
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Happy to have "outed" this book for you Lady Danielle!
I love Maisey Yates books with very few exceptions.
I just want to clarify my comment about judging a book after a couple of chapters. Yes, I've put down books that I couldn't get into after a chapter or two. I'm not going to continue reading something that I'm not liking when there are hundreds of other books waiting out there. My problem is with misleading reviews by readers who have only read a few chapters and therefore think one character's POV shared in the first chapter is truth. A book is about the whole journey, not the set up. Personally, if I don't finish a book, I mark it DNF and don't rate it or write a review
Ladies, I am enjoying this conversation. The writers are lucky that our reading tastes are so different. You have jogged my memory about a Harly that I read some time ago that the heroine had one baby out of wedlock and became pregant by the hero .who married her when he found out about the baby. Can't remember the title but a bit unusual for a Harly.We have double standards because I am guilty of tolerating a hero who has had many women but we do not want this in our heroines. Of course I don't like the hero having women when he is married but separated from the heroine and I like the heroine who does not sit on the shelf during the separation. I don't want her having sexual intimacy but she should have men and women friends. Go figure!I always finish a book, eventually once I start reading it but I read something I like as well.
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Hm, now that makes me question how many books I have DNF'd that I might have liked if I finished through the end. I still don't think there would be many because I usually DNF a book if the h is annoying and TSTL or the the book is just incredibly boring or I know the H is going to be an irredeemable asshat. Usually, for me, if there is something off about the tone or the writing in the beginning, it doesn't right itself even if I read through the end. But that's just me.
Ginny, you raise a good point about the double standard and I have to admit I am guilty as charged. It just seems that HarleyWood is so full of the promiscuous heroes that it is just what we have to come to expect or at least accept. It goes with the whole alpha male image, I suppose. I do prefer the heroes who are not manwhores though and I also wouldn't like a hero who fathered a child with two different women either.
Maddie's Love Child: From Here to Paternity by Miranda Lee was an interesting read. Maddie was a man-eater but her character was well executed so it was an interesting read.
Sometimes I wish the heroine of my Harlequin's after years sometimes 5 sometimes 13! - (in the case of Lynne Graham's Second Time Wife- the heroine didnt have sex at all throughout that period but only the hero revs up her sex drive in all that time.) would have some other sexual experience than the hero that pined for or after so many years than turning themselves into nuns....
I started reading Heidi Rice a couple days ago and was glad to see a more modern type of gal (not virginial and a total doormat to the HP hero) but I found after the 3rd book she is writing the same story over and over again. Literally.The hero and heroine falls in lust almost at first sight.
Hero has some emotional issues with his family - abandoned or abused... The heroine has some issues to a lesser extent.
Proceeds to have fling usually over the span of 2 weeks. Where the heroine thinks she can have said fling without falling for the guy
Heroine falls for him, proceeds to give him her back story and eventually lay her feelings at his feet to try to force him to admit he has love feelings for he as well.
She leaves him. He begs her to come back to him to continue said fling despite not willing to admit his feelings.
He leaves again. He realizes his feelings and admits everything and family issues are solved.
Somewhere along the line the heroine becomes preggers by accident and then they live HEA.
It was great reading it the first couple of times but come on she needs to switch it up a bit.
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