The Dreaded To Be Read(ed) Pile

To Be Read piles shouldn't be a dreadful thing. Quite the opposite actually, they should be a happy little pile sitting next to your bed just waiting for you to pick one up. Unfortunately my TBR pile is growing to monstrous proportions and I've added three more recently. I can't wait to get to them and yet they sit glumly at the bottom, knowing it will be MONTHS before I even crack the spine. Poor dears. 

A Season to be Sinful, however, is one I am reading, despite it's bottom of the pile status - a sweet fellow blogger sent it my way and I am so glad she did because it has me hooked. Sure, the heroine does faint, as all heroines do in Jo Goodman's books but if you come to expect such a thing, it hardly even bothers. Hardly. 

In other reading news, I'm afraid I've missed the Christmas rush. Each year I eagerly anticipate the release of numerous Christmas Romances but it seems this year the selection is wearing a little thin - or maybe its just me. So if you have any good recommendations - new or otherwise, I adore Christmas Westerns. Although I myself (insert shameless plug) wrote a regency Christmas romance, I find the Westerns to be my favorites. Its been awhile since I found a straight up holiday contemporary that I really enjoyed so send suggestions on those my way too! 

This Girl Recommends ~ If His Kiss Is Wicked (Jo Goodman)

(review can also be round at Reading Romance Books)

Shy by nature, Emma Hathaway usually leaves the drama to her rebellious cousin, Marisol. But when Emma agrees to meet with her cousin’s secret lover to end the affair, she is pulled into a dangerous game. Now Emma is convinced her involvement in the scandal has put her life in jeopardy. The trouble is none of Emma’s confidantes believe anyone is trying to harm her. As whisper of madness begin, Emma turns to the only person who might be able to help …

The very handsome, barely respectable Restell Gardner has gained a reputation for helping people out of compromising positions. Never one to turn away a lady in need, Restell agrees to help solve the intrigue. Sensing there is more to the green-eyed beauty than meets the eye, Restell feels himself falling for Emma. But he resists succumbing to his passion … at least until he learns the truth about the danger that is haunting her. For if he gives into temptation too soon, he could lose Emma forever …

In most cases I like to recap the plot in my reviews but this time around, I think I’ll keep that part to myself. Why? Because the plot is unbelievably grand and therefore I think readers should be able to savor the book page by page instead of having an idea of what happens. The back blurb should be enough to satisfy.

I admit, I have author crush on Jo Goodman. Why? Because her books cannot be considered your run of the mill Regencies. They are dark, they are brooding and they make you think – all things that occur in If His Kiss Is Wicked. I would never want to be Emma Hathaway, not after the horrors she endures but if in being so, I was delivered to the care of Restell Gardner, well, the lady does not end up with a bad deal.

Funny, charming, obtuse and dangerous, Restell Gardner is the perfect combination of an Alpha and Beta hero. Sure, he takes command and does what needs doing, but only after intense thought and deliberation. He never dives in head first and because Emma is a strong heroine, she is involved in most of his decisions.

As for Emma, like most of Goodman’s heroines, she is reserved and smart – able to think and do for herself even when the family she blindly loves condemns her for her actions. She doesn’t accept the fact that she may be mad, she goes out and tries to prove otherwise. This is the kind of heroine I love the most, the kind that really deserves the happy ending.

Things I Liked:

• The intrigue. I’m not a big fan of mystery and suspense in my romance novels – that is to say, I don’t intentionally seek it out unless I have previous experience with an author. For the most part I think it’s because in most cases, the villain is obvious. Goodman, however, kept me guessing until the very end. I thought I had it all figured out and then in the final pages, the truth hit me between the eyes. Perhaps it had been obvious throughout and I had been too caught up in the story, thinking I already knew the villain, to give it much thought. Bravo Ms. Goodman. 
• The art references. The characters are intelligent beings who are not undermined by under-researched material. The book is very well researched and the references are well woven into the story. I never felt as though information was being foisted upon me and when done reading, I rather felt like I knew more about art in Regency England than I had previously.
• As always, Ms. Goodman’s dialogue is superb. And her pacing to be marveled at.
• My favorite scene was the one in which Restell proposed marriage and Emma accepted with hardly a hesitance. It’s refreshing to read a romance in which love is the easy part. And Restell is at his best in this scene – it shows his respect for Emma as a person, not an object. He recognizes and comes to love her for her intelligence and opinions. Consider: 

“Your ability to put me out of patience is unnatural. What do you suppose would come of a marriage between us?”

“Children, I suspect.” He glanced at her lap and saw her hands were bunched into fists again. It seemed prudent to elaborate. “We would have mutual respect and admiration, tolerance of each other’s foibles and vanities, and a partner for the waltz and whist. We should share a home, the newspaper, a box at the theatre, perhaps a piece of fruit from time to time – I am fond of oranges – and naturally enough, a bed.”

(pg. 190-191)

Things I Didn’t Like:

• Marisol ~ she seemed to be a two-dimensional character is a sea of well-rounded others. But then, there is always more than meets the eye.
• Ms. Goodman began a character trait here in her heroine that she later repeated in The Price of Desire. I found the trait (Emma physically attacks Restell without seeming to know what she is doing) a distraction for it smacked too closely of Olivia and Griffin.
• Emma’s willingness to believe the best in everyone, even after the vicious attack she sustained.

Additional Info:

• Published ~ September 2007
• Price ~ $6.99
• Favorite Jo Goodman ~ This one takes the top spot: If His Kiss Is Wicked
• Author Website ~ www.jogoodman.com

This Girl Recommends ~ The Price of Desire (Jo Goodman)

The Price of Desire by Jo Goodman

I've read Jo Goodman before and love the 3 or 4 books I devoured in a matter of days but then, somehow, she dropped off my radar until If His Kiss Is Wicked came along. I was rambling through the shelves at Borders, bored with romanceland in general when the book popped out at me. So I picked it up and went on my happy way, a little disgruntled because I only found one book to read. But lo and behold, by chapter 2 I was saying to myself "I must go out and buy every single Jo Goodman book I can get my hands on." This didn't happen, of course, but I did snap up The Price of Desire as soon as it went on sale. And let me say, I was not disappointed.

The Price of Desire has an interesting premise. To save himself from the merciless hands of Griffin ~ Viscount Breckenridge, owner of one of London's gaming hells, Alistair Cole offers up a marker in exchange for the money he owes (which he plans to retrieve from his father). The catch? The marker is his sister, Olivia. When I read the back cover I was a little put off. I mean, really, what else does the marker mean but that Olivia is going to "belong" to Griffin and come on now, what do you think he is going to do with her? It's a book with a strong alpha male. Except ... Olivia is strong too. Amazingly so. With bits of believable vulnerability built in. She is more than a match for Griffin and I found myself delighted each and every time she managed to knock him down a notch. And let's just say, Olivia didn't become a sex slave (thank you Jo!). She did eventually become his mistress but it was her choice and her's alone. Her strength and Griffin's unexpected gentleness surprised me and kept me turning page after page. Their love was real, you could feel it seeping from the pages. But so, of course, was their conflict. I had a little trouble with the external conflict (the villain's motives were a bit far-fetched) but Goodman's writing put those little annoyances straight out of my mind.

Goodman has a distinct voice, quite unlike those I have read before. She manages point of view beautifully, switching between character's thoughts seamlessly and without jarring the reader from the story. I think this is mostly accomplished because we know the characters' thoughts through dialogue. The dialogue is written so skillfully, that each revelation is a surprise. A surprise that is wholly unexpected but satisfyingly sensible to the story. There are periods of internal reflection but the characters are more honest with each other than they are with themselves (even if they don't mean to be). Olivia and Griffin never lie to the readers nor do they make discovery easy.

For an example of Goodman's writing style, see this post when I participated in Teaser Tuesday.

Things I Liked:

• The twists and turns. As soon as you have the story straight in your head, Goodman throws another obstacle in your path and you are forced to re-evaluate the characters.  
• Olivia and Griffin toss lines of dialogue back and forth, reversing the other's sentences and meanings to work in their favor. Usually I would find this device annoying but with Olivia and Griffin it just WORKS. They do this first in defense, then in learning and finally in teasing love. Their dialogue is beautiful. 
• The story. This book, although not without action, is primarily character based, my favorite kind of novel. The evolution of Olivia and Griffin is mapped out point by point. Goodman never misses a beat in exploring their developing emotions, and never leaves the reader wondering why they make the choices they do.

Things I Disliked:

• The lines of humor earlier in the story. Occasionally Olivia or Griffin would throw out a funny sentence and it would jar me because in the beginning they really didn't have a teasing relationship. Later, toward the end, the humor worked but in the beginning it was almost as though Goodman inserted those lines randomly.
• The Villains. I won't go into detail here about the external conflict because I don't want to spoil anything (really the whole story is a delight that I would feel as though I were cheating potential readers out of the fun of discovery). But in any case, the villain was not fully developed so his/her motives really didn't make much sense to me. I get that he/she (is it a he or is it a she? You'll know if you read) is crazy but I think Goodman needed to spend a bit more time exploring the psyche for the villain's motives to make sense. (That said, I much prefer that Goodman spent the majority of the book examining  her main characters).
• Olivia's relationship with her brother, Alastair. Again, to avoid spoiling the book I won't go into particulars but suffice to say there is forgiveness in the end. I get that he's young and I get that he's selfish but his actions clearly deserve more sternness from Olivia. Of course, she did end up the better side of the deal but ... she fell into the "I'm such a sweet, sweet, wonderful heroine" category that sometimes makes me gag.

Facts:

• Released ~ September 2008
  
• Price ~ $6.99
  
• Related books ~ I don't believe this is really a series but Restell Gardner from If His Kiss Is Wicked makes an appearance.
  
• Favorite Goodman ~ If His Kiss Is Wicked
  

Other Reviews:

Book Binge 

Genre Go Round

Dear Author

Reading Happy Hour - The Price of Desire (Jo Goodman)

Or Why I Adore Jo Goodman

Today from The Price of Desire (look for a review later on in the week).

Olivia Cole, in this scene, contemplates her captivity (although not physically threatening) and leaves me feeling as though, given the same circumstances, I would attempt to proceed with life in the same way.

It would be as it has been. She'd managed to live on her wits - and not much else - once before. There have been no expectation then that she would be rescued; indeed, she had never thought of her life in terms of captivity. It was as it was. She managed each day as she had each yesterday, and if she allowed herself to think that something might be different on the morrow, it was just in those moments before she slept and only  in the early days when she still believed she could order her dreams. (Chapter 5, pg 111-112)

Not only could I perhaps see myself acting the same as Olivia in these circumstances but I also see this passage in relation to someone in a sort of mental captivity. Depression, perhaps, caused by one's life not being quite what they had hoped and therefore surviving from day to day only out of necessity.

Here, Goodman describes Olivia slipping into shock after she discovers that despite her best attempts not to be hopeful, she had hoped for release and found that hope to be in vain:

Olivia stood and moved quickly to the window. Turning away from her brother, she hugged herself. A shiver when through her in spite of it. Her bones felt brittle, aching with cold. Splinters of ice embedded themselves in her chest, crystallized around her heart. If she exhaled deeply she thought she might see frost on her breath. The whole of her was frozen with fear. She could not think, could not act, could not move. (Chapter 7, pg. 174)

Notice how Goodman builds the reader up in just a few short sentences. The description of Olivia's emotions escalate sentence on top sentence until the climax of what she feels (or doesn't feel, in this case) is reached.

Oh to write like that!