"Wicked Angel" by Julia London

THERE ARE GOING TO BE SPOILERS IN THIS POST, SO DON'T READ THIS COMMENTARY POST IF YOU WANT TO READ THE STORY AND SPOILERS BOTHER YOU:
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I recently decided to try Julia London books.  Though I've been familiar with her name for years now, I don't think I ever tried to read any of her books in the past.  So far I've tried to read two titles and both have been the "skip-to-my-Lou" types of reads.  First of all, I do have to say I like this author's writing style quite a bit.  I find her style fluid and appealing.  Sadly, other equally important elements (characters, plot devices) were not my cup of tea.  Main reason I am not calling this post a review is because I did skip large chunks of the book I am going to talk about.  I did want to comment on it though precisely because I wanted so much to like this book.  I do like the author's writing style, as I said before.  Additionally, I actually did like the beginning 1/3 of the story.

 "Wicked Angel" sports what I call a TSTL heroine (think 1937 cartoon Snow White).  This is apparent from the beginning, and the heroine herself, early on in the story, does realize how stupid she really is... I should have taken that as the "red flag" it actually is.  The heroine is oblivious to her extraordinary beauty, makes incredibly idiotic decisions because she's oh so noble and good.  Frankly, however, no matter how much the author justifies the heroine's actions, it just doesn't work out.  It's the sort of thing that worked in the 1930s Disney movie "Snow White"... but in modern times, 21st Century... erm... NOPE.  You would have to have some sort of learning disability to be that naive and trusting.  Even the most naive individual, given her circumstances and her alleged priorities (she takes care of several orphans, but her home is pretty much bankrupt) wouldn't have made the sort of choice she made just off the bat ... yes, it is explained, and she realizes what she did was, in hindsight, a bad decision, but still, it comes across as weak ... and we are talking here about just the beginning to the story. 

The hero has to be one of the biggest selfish jerks I've ever had the misfortune of reading.  He had a fiancée , he allowed that fiancée to continue with wedding arrangements/planning, meanwhile, he was allowing himself to be seen drooling over the heroine in public, figuratively speaking, among other things... and yes, he does go all the way with the heroine despite STILL being engaged to marry...and the reader is supposed to be okay with that?  In short, he deserved a kick in the balls.

Despite the someone stupid heroine, I was okay for the first 1/3 of the book ... and then I just couldn't believe what was going on and so, the skipping started.... the last few chapters infuriated me even more.  The hero treated the heroine, in public, as if she was lower than a cockroach (yes, the author also "justified" it, and arguably, it is the sort of thing expected from someone of his position in that particular period of time, him being a duke and all).  The heroine is pretty much on her knees begging for him to forgive her. Reading all that I was on WTF mode by the end of the book, even when I skipped chunks of it.

I am going to try a more recent title of this author because the two I read are late 1990s. I so wanted to like her books, again, she has an appealing writing style, but the main elements (characters and plot devices) have been epic failures from my personal point of view.

"Beauty and the Beast of Thornleigh" by Kate Westwood

Disclaimer: I am a subscriber of Kindle Unlimited, where this ebook is available.

Setting: Regency England.

Synopsis: Capt. Asher Brandt has to find a wife.  His older brother died in battle leaving behind a young daughter.  The girl's maternal grandmother will take the girl away unless Capt. Asher marries.  He's desperate, as he was seriously burned in the same battle in which his brother died and his face is badly scarred as a result, his attempts to find someone to accept his suit have been unsuccessful so far due to his disfigurement.  As a last attempt, the grandmother suggests someone that might be amenable to marrying him because of the young lady's unique circumstances.

Characters: And this is where my issues with the book begin.  The book is mostly told from the heroine's perspective.  We are regaled to all her motivations, etc.  We are also regaled to a lot about her and her family and friends (many of whom are really unlikeable).  I would dare say 85% of the book is all about her.  Her name is Georgiana Hall... and I really didn't care about her and whatever emotional situation of her own doing, she is in.  The whole book was about her... and sadly, I could care less.

Then we have the character that is supposed to be the hero, Captain Asher Brandt.  He is introduced to us in the prologue as a hero who saved his ship and most of its crew in battle.  As a result of his heroism, he was severely burned, particularly on the face, and he's disfigured.  His main problem is that he has a very young niece who is going to be taken away from him unless he marries.  Though I did want to like him, fact is that the author made it impossible for the reader to get to know him.  Why?  Because she bothered very little in fleshing him out.

Impressions: First, the pace of this book is very slow.  I am okay with that if there is a good story and the characters reel me in.  Additionally, the pacing in a Regency romance is usually slow to begin with, even if the story is engaging.  I am perfectly fine with that.  Sadly, this book didn't accomplish catching this reader's interest.  The story could have been good, but the lack of balance between the hero and heroine's development, what motivates them, etc. really did a disservice to what otherwise would have been a good story.  

The whole Beauty and the Beast trope is nominal.  Yes, the hero is referred to as the beast of Thornleigh early on and his face is disfigured, but that is pretty much it.  He wasn't cruel to the heroine.  I actually felt bad for him because of her.  

Georgiana Hall...I don't even know what to say about her.  I wanted to slap her a few times over.  Initially her reaction to the proposal is understandable, but once that initial reaction goes on and on and on and on and on... I got to the point in which I just wanted her to go AWAY already.  Given the fact that there is so little interaction between her and the hero, I also couldn't understand how in a matter of a few days she suddenly falls in love with him.  Yes, this is something that happens in other books...but in many of those it hasn't bothered me because it was handled well... in this one after being regaled with endless narrative about the heroine agonizing, I just don't buy it.  

In short, it really bothers me when a book I am reading involves less than 30% interaction between the characters that are supposed to be the main characters; gives more attention to one of those two characters (in the case I am talking about, the heroine gets about 85% of "air" time); the heroine is a Mary Sue; and the reader only gets to know about the hero almost as an afterthought by the author.  The story seemed promising, until I started wishing that the heroine would just go away. It is a Regency HR (meaning an attempt at following Austen's style), I don't think I'd dare call it a "romance" as we define a romance in modern times, though. I liked the description/blurb, but ended up quite disappointed.

As a final note, this book has no heat (not even a bit of physical attraction) to speak of.

Bottomline? The author is promising, but she definitely needs to work on her characterizations.  I will not be picking another one of her stories unless it is also available in Kindle Unlimited, as this one is.

"Rakes and Radishes" by Susanna Ives

Disclaimer: The review version I read was an ARC obtained via NetGalley.

Contrary to what some may believe, writing a review is not an easy task.  It entails much more than just saying "I hated this book" or "I loved this book".  Writing a review is further complicated if the person writing the review does not exactly know what to make of her reading experience of a particular book.  I am facing such a quandary as it pertains to "Rakes and Radishes".  You see, the book is well written, it definitely is historical romance in the classic sense of the word.  However, when I started reading the book I had a certain expectation.  I thought that the book was going to be, if not an outright comedy, that at least, it would have strong elements of, at the very least, light humor.  Frankly, what little I found of humor in it (and please bear in mind humor is an extraordinarily subjective element), disappointed me, because the conflict and the angst I found through at least one third of the book pretty much annulled any attempt at levity I may have found.  Frankly, at this point, I am having a hard time remembering if there was anything in the book that actually did make me smile (aside from the happy ending).

I do have to say that I finished the book rather upset, because I felt (and still feel) that the title is misguiding.  It has taken me over a month to write these words because I thought it would not be right to write a review that could turn out to be rather unfair to the author due to my own expectations about the story.  My review is going to be rather short for this reason.  The last thing I want is to end up being unfair, as I am fully aware that my own expectations colored my reading experience.

The story involves a young woman, Henrietta, who fancies herself in love with her cousin.  When her cousin gets engaged to another woman, she decides that she has to win him back.  To do so, she comes up with a scheme and convinces her childhood friend, the Earl of Kesseley (Kesseley) to help her.  Pretty much she wants Kesseley to seduce her cousin's fiance, so that she can then show her cousin that it is her whom he really loves.


Overall, the heroine, Henrietta, was not particularly appealing.  It was not until about two thirds into the story that she became a sympathetic character in my eyes.  She did suffer for her own selfish behavior.  Kesseley, on the other hand, started as a very sympathetic hero, but when he decided that he was fed up, he went to the the extreme opposite of the spectrum.  He turns into such a jerk that frankly, even when the heroine was not exactly perfect herself, I was wondering why in blazes did she take him when he came back to her.

I did have issues throughout the book.  I felt there was a bit too much angst and drama for my taste, particularly since, as I indicated above, I was expecting something entirely different to what I actually encountered.

Frankly, though I didn't think the book was bad and I was able to finish it, truth of the matter is that, well, I can't say I enjoyed it either, though I did read the whole story.

I will pay a bit more attention the next time I actually request a review copy of any book.