Category: Romance

51miBYV+mkL

Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe by Melissa de la Cruz

Posted on by Michelle Huss
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1 Stars (1 / 5)

This was quite a disappointment for me. As a huge fan of Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, the idea of a gender-swapped modern day christmas story retelling sounded right up my alley. But, unfortunately, it read like a bad hallmark christmas special! And that might be forgivable if the main character was likeable, but Darcy’s not likeable. The story basically follows a string of terrible and immature decisions made by a woman, who, given that she is a self-made millionaire and supposedly mature adult, shouldn’t be acting like a whiny teenager.

The story was quick paced, but lacked a lot of substance. The writing style was too juvenile for the audience, and the tone felt a bit disjointed from scene to scene. I almost felt like the author was trying to do too literal a retelling of pride and prejudice, throwing in contrived conflict that didn’t really make sense, instead of just keeping with the overall theme of the original.

But if you are a fan of hallmark originals, and can get past the juvenile writing and immature heroine, you will find a marginally cute “pride and prejudice”-esque romance. There were just too many issues with this book for me to really recommend it.

51miBYV+mkL

Romancing the Werewolf by Gail Carriger

Posted on by Michelle Huss
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4 Stars (4 / 5)

Supernatural Society #2 (Parasolverse)
I always have a hard time reviewing Novellas. The stories always feel too short and leave me generally unsatisfied. While I wish Romancing the Werewolf were longer, it did exactly what I wanted it to do: brought us the reunion of Lyall and Biffy from the Parasol Protectorate Series, something that fans have been waiting for for a long time. If you haven’t already read the Parasol Protectorate, this story will not hold the same meaning to you as it does to the rest of us. It was great to finally see these character’s get there happy ending. It was sweet and endearing and I loved every moment of it. I just wish there could have been more!

Carriger’s trademark wit and humor abounded in Romancing the Werewolf. I particularly enjoyed getting to look at werewolf dynamics through the eyes of an Alpha, if a new and somewhat odd one. Set at christmastime, it was a great quick read for the holidays.

51miBYV+mkL

The Summage Solution by G. L. Carriger

Posted on by Michelle Huss
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4 Stars (4 / 5)

San Andreas Shifters #1
I’m not quite sure where to start with this book. What starts off as a pretty sexy romance that’s flirty and fun (without seeming to be much else), morphs into a heartwarming and deep story about learning to love yourself and finding comfort in the love of others. Having read Carriger’s other work (published as Gail Carriger), I was a little surprised at how plot light the beginning of the novel seemed. I had resigned myself that this would be a cute and fun romance with little substance, but was surprised to see my expectations suddenly shattered about two-thirds of the way through the book. Suddenly, I started to see the world building that was meticulously threaded throughout the novel and how it was coming together. I was amazed (and a little horrified) at the plot line that threaded this series with her previous works (they initially seem essentially unconnected).

I really enjoyed the new mythology created for this series. Its new and interesting, and I love the way that it all came together. The dialogue was witty and crass, and I loved that! With most of Carriger’s work set historically, it was a nice change to have a more modern attitude and language (cursing abounds). I don’t think you will be hit with the full impact of the world building unless you have read her other work, but you’ll enjoy it just the same.

It should be noted that The Summage Solution is not for everyone. At its heart, this book is a paranormal gay romance, and quite a sexually explicit one at that. But if you’re okay with that, you’ll find a story that’s beautiful and heartwarming. A story of love and acceptance; growth and change.