#CBR6 Book 66: "Skies of Gold" by Zoë Archer

Page count: 352 pages
Rating: 4 stars

Summary from Goodreads:

Two Lonely Hearts…

Kalindi MacNeil survived the devastating enemy airship attack that obliterated Liverpool, but even her engineering skills can’t seem to repair her broken heart. Seeking to put her life back together, Kali retreats to a desolate, deserted island – only to discover that she’s not alone. Captain Fletcher Adams, an elite man/machine hybrid, a Man O’War, crashed his battle-damaged airship into this deserted island after Liverpool, never expecting to survive the wreck. But survive he did.

One Desire…

Believing he is nothing but a living weapon, Fletcher is wary of his new-found companion – a pretty, damaged, but determined young woman. Together they are stranded on the deserted island, and it is only a matter of time until desire gets the best of both of them. Soon Kali and Fletcher find they may just be what the other needed. But danger from beyond the island puts them to the test. Will it rip them apart or bond their hearts forever?

I liked Kali a lot. She’s clearly been through a horrible trauma, making her retreat to the remote island where generations of her family once used to live. Now no one has lived there for more than thirty years, leaving only a ruined cottage for shelter. Everyone she cared for in Liverpool died in the airship attack, she herself barely survived, trapped under ruins for days. She lost her leg, but has used her remarkable engineering skills to fashion herself a prosthetic. Not wanting to be a burden to her parents, who live in India, while she’s physically recovering further, she’s taken what she was able to salvage of her many clever prototypes to settle on a tiny island in the Outer Hebrides.

She discovers quickly that she’s not as alone as she planned. On her first night there, she hears a strange hum in the distance, and when she goes to investigate, she discovers that there is a man living on the north side of the island. He is huge, and his hair and beard suggests he’s been there for some time. They slowly get to know one another, and develop a friendship while walking and exploring the island, both discovering that complete solitude was perhaps not what they wanted.

Fletcher is a Man O’War, a Steampunk sort of cyborg, who I suspect I would have known more about if I’d read any of the previous books in the Ether Chronicles. As far as I could tell, the various powerful nations of the world have airship fleets, and the most promising captains/pilots, if they have a high enough vitality rating of some sort, can be converted into Man O’Wars, who thanks to the machine parts and wiring operated into their bodies actually work as a sort of battery for their airship. The operation also makes them huge, imposing and very powerful, think Captain America in The First Avenger.

Kali discovers that Fletcher captained one of the British airships that drove the enemies out of Liverpool, but that the ship sustained so much damage that he crashed it in as remote a spot as he could (but not before making sure that as many of the crew members as possible survived. Now he’s pretty sure everyone believes him to be dead, as no one from the Navy has come looking for him or the ship. The girl he once courted reacted with disgust and fear once he returned to her after his “conversion”. He doesn’t trust that anyone else can see him as anything but close to a monster now, and is also far too aware that if it was revealed that he was alive, they’d only want him to continue powering warships. He’s sick of being a human weapon, used only for destruction.

Kali makes him realize that his actions in Liverpool were unbelievably heroic; she actually saw his ship from where she was lying trapped under most of a ruined building. Slowly, as they become closer and the trust between them grows, they reveal their back stories to one another and fight their mutual attraction, not wanting to complicate their friendship. The romance in Skies of Gold takes time to develop, which is always the way I prefer it. While their attraction to one another is pretty instantaneous, it’s certainly not surprising from Fletcher’s side. He’s been alone on the island for three months and wasn’t expecting to run into a beautiful and exotic woman. He finds it difficult to believe that Kali could return the attraction because of the rejection he’s suffered in the past.

Much of the novel is just the two of them alone on the island, and while I thought that might get weird or boring, it didn’t. Unfortunately, then “the danger from beyond the island” shows up, and is a bit preposterous. The world-building crafted, with Ether-powered machinery, clearly some sort of complicated war going on and Man O’Wars as these government-sponsored cyborgs was interesting to me, but the villain who showed up in the final third of the book, and the break neck chase to stop him from carrying out his diabolical plan got a bit too silly for me. Having now read the blurbs of the previous books in the series, I can see that there are also call-backs to previous romantic couples from earlier books, which I’m sure is nice for long time readers. I liked this enough that I’m going to be checking out more of the Ether Chronicles, hoping that the others have more convincing antagonists and final acts.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR6 Book 65: "I Don't Know What You Know Me From: Confessions of a Co-Star" by Judy Greer

Page count: 256 pages
Rating: 3 stars

As a fan of romantic comedies, in many of which she has played a supporting character, not to mention my love of Arrested Development and Archer, I know exactly what I know Judy Greer from. I did have to look up her complete filmography on Wikipedia, though (not IMDB, no matter how many times they get shout-outs in Greer's book) and was surprised at how prolific she really is. I'm not at all surprised that she's been comfortably working since she finished college, she's delightful in a whole load of things.

In this book, separated into three sections: Early Life, Hollywood Life and Real Life, Judy Greer tells us about herself in a series of essays. We find out about her childhood, her school days, her family, the bright pink car her parents gave her when she graduated. She tells entertaining stories about going to the wrong bar during the Oscars and being panicked because she doesn't recognise anyone, choosing her acting name, being a bearded lady on My Name is Earl, the time Ashton Kutcher bought her dad a Harley. She explains how she met her husband and how she experiences being a step-mother, balancing work life and home life. I found the book entertaining and I came away with it liking Judy Greer even more, but this book wasn't really laugh out loud funny in the same way Bossypants by Tina Fey or Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling. As biographies go, for belly laughs or generally making me feel the feels, nothing beats Jenny Lawson, of course.

Still, this was a fun book and I do like how down to Earth Judy Greer seems to be. I doubt people portray themselves as horrible people in their own autobiographies, though, but I choose to trust that Judy Greer is a nice person, who I'd probably like to hang out with. She could tell me more about all the celebrities she's peed next to, or which words she's successfully managed to slip into her answers at press junkets, or tell me what she really feels about Cheryl Tunt on Archer and whether she'd like to own an Ocelot in real life. I wouldn't even ask her about what she thinks the chances of more Arrested Development are, because I can understand how annoying that might be for an actor.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR6 Book 64: "The Seduction of the Crimson Rose" by Lauren Willig

Page count: 400 pages
Rating: 4 stars

This is the fourth book in the series, and as such, not the best place to start reading. This review will also contain some spoilers for book 3, The Deception of the Emerald Ring, so skip this review if you're not up to date.

Despite being one of the acclaimed beauties of the ton, Miss Mary Alsworthy is facing her third season. The only actual marriage proposals she's received were from unsuitable candidates, and her attempt to secure a rich husband failed spectacularly when her intended accidentally compromised her younger sister instead and had to marry her. So now her former suitor is her brother-in-law and disgustingly happy with her little sister. Mary refuses to show them how much their domestic felicity bothers her, and she's certainly not happy with the idea that her next season will have to be sponsored by her new brother-in-law.

So when the cynical and wealthy Lord Sebastian Vaughn approaches her with an alternative, she doesn't hesitate for long. Lord Vaughn is working with the Pink Carnation (although Mary doesn't know that part) and trying to locate the elusive French spy, the Black Tulip. As the spy seems to only recruit tall, pale-skinned, dark-haired beauties as his agents, Lord Vaughn suggests that Mary help him tempt the Black Tulip out of hiding. Yup, Mary is described with raven locks and ivory skin, so I have NO idea who the lady on the cover of this book is. I keep wondering if the marketing department have any idea what's actually in the books when they design the covers? The woman on this cover doesn't fit the description of anyone in the book. Sigh. Anyway, back to the plot. In return for Mary basically acting as bait, Lord Vaughn will fund her new season and she won't have to take charity from her former admirer. As the two start working closely together, they are surprised to discover that they may have found a perfect match in each other. But there are a number of obstacles in their way, including the deadly Black Tulip.

In the present, Eloise is finally going on a date with Colin Selwick and can barely contain her happiness. When researching the Vaughn archives, she also makes the acquaintance of another history buff who seems very interested in the identity of the Pink Carnation. Possibly because she's not quite so whiny in this book, the cuts back to Eloise's story line felt a lot less intrusive than in the previous two books and I didn't actually mind reading about her all that much.

Looking at various review sites, Goodreads in particular, it's clear that not all the fans of the series were too fond of this book because both the protagonists are much more unpleasant than the heroes and heroines in the previous three instalments. Mary's thoughts about the characters in previous books are none too pleasant, she's cynical, ambitious and all her plans came to nothing when her elopement plot failed. Now she's an object of either spiteful gossip or pity, and she doesn't like it. So of course, a lot of her thoughts are filled with bitterness and spite. Frankly, the couples in the previous three books were all such good, worthy and noble people. They do risk their lives to save England from the French, after all. Having a heroine who's bitter, cynical, quite mean on occasion and maybe a bit too conceited because she's been told about her great beauty and her good prospects all her life was actually rather refreshing.

Besides, the hero of the novel is Lord Vaughn, who in the previous two books stole pretty much every scene he was in. He's tall, dark, extremely wealthy, has an impeccable dress sense and doesn't suffer fools, even a little bit. There are all manner of rumours surrounding him, with suspicions that he may have murdered his wife. Some suspect he may be a French agent, and Mary certainly wonders if he himself might be the Black Tulip when he enlists her aid in finding the spy. Vaughn has experienced most things there are to experience, and he's frankly bored and jaded. He's entirely unconcerned about his reputation and the rumours that exist about him. He's not really swayed by Mary's beauty, but cannot help but be impressed with her ruthless ambition, her candidness and her determination to secure the best possible future for herself. He understands her bitterness and her cynicism and finds a kindred spirit in her.

I think the reason I like Vaughn so much is because he reminds me of one of my favourite romance heroes, the Duke of Falconbridge from Julie Anne Long's What I Did for a Duke. As this book came out several years before Julie Anne Long's romance, I would be very surprised if Falconbridge wasn't at a little bit inspired by Lord Vaughn. And he's a Sebastian! So many awesome romance heroes out there share that name, but I laughed out loud when his first name was revealed in this book.

Because the main couple were a lot more ruthless and cynical than those in the previous three books, which I found amusing, and the Eloise bits were actually rather sweet, instead of making me want to reach into the pages of the book and slap her silly, this is by far my favourite of the Pink Carnation books. Noble heroes are all well and good, but I understand why Mary and Vaughn might find them a bit exasperating too. The fact that Mary and Vaughn continue to be cynical and scathing, even after they succumb to their mutual attraction and admit their feelings for one another is one of the things I appreciate. It would have been awful if they suddenly went all gooey and sweet.

The reason I can't rate this a full five stars or even 4.5 is because of the way the story develops in the last half. Issues and individuals from Vaughn's dark past come back and complicate the plot in a way that had me rolling my eyes, and the true identity of the Black Tulip and resolution of that plot was frankly preposterous. I can only suspend my disbelief so much. I do hope Willig will allow me the occasional jaded rake as a hero in future books too, because this was such a fun book.

#CBR6 Book 63: "The Deception of the Emerald Ring" by Lauren Willig

Page count: 464 pages
Rating: 4 stars

When Letitia "Letty" Alsworthy discovers that her older sister, the stunning Mary, is about to elope with her admirer, Lord Geoffrey Pinchingdale-Snipe, she is determined to stop it. Their family is in dire financial straits as it is, the scandal of an elopement would be devastating for them. Unfortunately, Letty finds herself whisked away by the crabby coachman, and in the arms of the besotted Geoffrey before she's able to stop anything at all. Add to the fact that some of Geoff's friends conveniently happen to interrupt them in the middle of the passionate embrace, and the Alsworthy's suddenly have a very different scandal on their hands. Having been caught compromising his intended's younger sister, Geoffrey has no choice but to marry her, but he's not going to be gracious or understanding about it. Luckily, the Pink Carnation needs him to go to Ireland to help intercept a French plot, and he leaves Letty at the family estate after the ceremony, with no explanation.

Letty is mortified that she ended up married to her sister's suitor, but also angry that she's not been able to explain herself properly. Mary, Geoffrey and quite a large part of polite society thinks that she's a scheming minx who plotted the whole thing to snare herself a rich and titled husband. Letty didn't even want to get married, but she's certainly not going to let her husband abandon her so soon after the wedding. If the gossips knew, the scandal would be all the greater. So she follows him there, pretending to her fellow travellers that she's a widow. When she arrives in Dublin, she discovers that her husband appears to be very publicly wooing a vacuous and flighty young blonde, with no care for the new wife he left behind in England. Little does she know that the bimbo is in fact an English spy and that she and Geoff are working together to ensnare the elusive French spy, the Black Tulip. Will Letty's appearance in the midst of their operation ruin everything? Will Geoffrey ever learn the truth about his bride, and forgive her for the terrible mix-up? Will Letty discover that perhaps she prefers Geoff's dashing cousin or perhaps the coldly elegant Lord Vaughn?

In modern day London, Eloise, who is diligently tracking Letty, Geoff and the Pink Carnation's movements in old letters, diaries and documents as part of her dissertation is constantly distracted from her work by her thoughts of Colin Selwick, who hasn't called her back, even though it's been weeks since they saw each other last. Did she completely misinterpret the signals between them?

The parts with Eloise were pretty much unbearable in this book, chick lit at its worst. Her internal monologue is constantly about Colin and bemoaning the fact that he's not contacted her. When she finally discovers why, it's quite obvious that while she thinks she's the centre of the universe and everything has to be about her, the reasons why he didn't call had a very good explanation and for reasons I completely fail to understand, he seems to still be interested in her and attracted to her. Completely baffling.

The historical sections with Letty, Geoffrey and the Pink Carnation are a hoot, however. If they hadn't been so good, the Eloise bits would probably have lost the book points. Such a fun romp and I was delighted when I discovered that the plot is partly inspired by Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer, one of my favourite of her romances. Apparently, Willig has other plans for the calculating and beautiful Mary Alsworthy and needed a good way of separating her from Geoffrey. It's been clear in the previous two books that he was completely besotted with her, but forcing him into marriage with the younger Alsworthy sister clearly ended up being a blessing in disguise. I refuse to believe that the Alsworthy parents are not at least a little inspired by Mr. and Mrs. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, their portrayal, characterisation and quite a bit of the dialogue felt like it could have been taken from deleted scenes from that book.

Poor Letty has always lived in her older sister's shadow. Mary is the tall, elegant, beautiful one, who everyone believes will make a very good match. Yet, after two seasons and only disappointing offers to show for it, Mary is ready to settle for Lord Pinchingdale-Snipe, who while she might find him dull and his poetry atrocious, is at least wealthy and titled. So it's quite a blow for Mary to discover that her ginger-haired, quiet, sensible and pragmatic sister appears to have stolen him away from under her nose. Letty really did only have the best of intentions in mind, but when she found herself passionately embraced and kissed in a dark coach, she responded before really thinking things through. She tries to talk both her father and Geoffrey out of the wedding, to no avail.

While she may be quiet and practical, she's clearly also secretly fierce and passionate and she refuses to be abandoned by her husband. It's clear that Geoffrey, one of the War Office's top spies because he is so anonymous, unobtrusive and extremely good at observing and reading those around him, is so worked up initially that he doesn't take the time to actually consider Letty's explanations. When he finds her in Ireland, with knowledge that could seriously jeopardise the mission were she to tell people the truth about their marriage, he recalls all his previous encounters with his beloved Mary's sister, and starts to consider that her vehement explanations of her own innocence may, in fact, not just be lies to cover up her dastardly deceit.

I like a good spy story, with disguises and clever people and plots. I love witty dialogue and couples who fall in love despite initially fighting constantly. This book has all of that. It's quite obvious to the reader that Letty is a much more suitable wife for Geoffrey than Mary, but the entertaining part is watching him figure that out, while also helping England's top spy foil an Irish rebellion funded by the French. I think this is my favourite book in the series so far, at least if I just forget all about the annoying Eloise parts.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR6 Book 62: "What Happens in London" by Julia Quinn

Page count: 384 pages
Rating: 4.5 stars

When her friends tell Olivia Bevelstoke that her new neighbour is rumoured to have murdered his fiancee, she doesn't believe it for a second. But she can't help but be curious, and as is office window is clearly visible from her bedroom, she starts to spy on him from behind her curtains. She's convinced he can't see her, and becomes more and more puzzled at the things she observes.

Sir Harry Valentine works for the war office, but not with anything exciting like spying. Fluent in Russian and French, he mainly translates documents necessary for national security. He has, however, been trained to observe, and only a blind man would fail to notice the pretty young lady constantly spying on him from the house next door. It's quite clear that she's trying to hide her activities, but she's oh so very bad at it. Why in the world would Miss Olivia Bevelstoke be so interested in his day to day life? And how can he resist doing making the experience more entertaining for her by doing some truly baffling things now and then?

When Harry is told to keep a careful eye on Olivia because she is being courted by a Russian prince who may or may not be plotting against England, he's none too happy, as their first encounters have been less than promising. The more time he spends with his pretty neighbour, the more he discovers that he doesn't mind at all, and he'd rather she didn't accept the attentions of the handsome Russian prince, actually.

A lot of romance features convoluted plots, heroes and heroines with dark and complicated pasts, all manner of baggage, angst and emotional issues. Horrible parents, shady relatives, scandal, heartbreak and all manner of drama. There is very little of these things in What Happens in London. Harry's father is a drunk and his mother became emotionally withdrawn because of it, and now his younger brother is upset with him because he felt abandoned when Harry went off to join the army rather than go to University, but in the grand scheme of romance heroes, Sir Harry got off rather lightly. He has a charming cousin who endlessly teases him, but in general, he's fairly well-adjusted, without too many skeletons in his closet.

Olivia's biggest problems are 1) that her best friend married her older brother (see The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever, if you must, it's probably my LEAST favourite Julia Quinn book of all time) and has moved away to the countryside with him to have babies, and they only communicate through letters now and 2) that her twin brother enjoys embarrassing her in public. Because she's bored, she lets herself be persuaded that there is something mysterious and sinister about Harry Valentine. She couldn't be further from the truth, although he is extremely amused when he discovers why she started spying on him in the first place. There is no angst or family dysfunction in Olivia's life. She's stunningly beautiful, to the point where people underestimate her intelligence. It also means that she's received more than her fair share of marriage proposals, but Olivia wants to marry for love, and hasn't met that special someone yet.

The only thing I really don't like about this book, which is funny and charming and really remarkably low key, is some rather contrived drama towards the end of the book. Much of the plot takes place either in the Bevelstokes' drawing room or with Olivia and Harry having late night conversations through their windows, she from her bedroom, he from his office. It's as if Quinn didn't think her readers could possibly be satisfied with such a simple story, and therefore introduces possible Russian spies and a kidnapping episode, where central characters have to come to the rescue of other central characters. It feels out of place in this story and all a bit silly. That's the reason I can't give the book a full five stars. A couple who fall in love while discussing books, that I am fully in support of, though.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR6 Book 61: "A Company of Swans" by Eva Ibbotson

Page count: 384 pages
Rating: 4 stars

Eighteen year old Harriet Morton lives with her stuffy professor father and strict and joyless aunt in Cambridge. Her only chance to escape the drudgery of her life is through books or the weekly ballet lessons that her father inexplicably lets her take. When she is offered a position with a travelling ballet troupe going to perform Swan Lake in a remote city up the Amazon river, but denied permission by her father, she rebels and runs away.

When the troupe arrive in Manaus in South America, Harriet has become fully accepted among the dancers of the troupe, and even the prima ballerina, Madame Simonova is impressed with her self-effacing good nature and her work ethic. While she's neither particularly pretty or vivacious, she's loyal and kind and catches the eye of Rom Verney, probably the richest man in Manaus. She tries to persuade him to go home to England to take care of his family estate, Stavely Hall, and his young nephew, not realising the intricacies of the family drama that made Verney leave and go into exile in the Amazon in the first place.

There are complications when Harriet's would-be fiancee arrives, sent by her angry father, to take her back to England. Verney's recently widowed sister-in-law also arrives to woo him back to England, and is none to happy to see the man she intends to charm, captivated by a young nobody from a ballet company.

Which Witch was one of my favourite books as a child and I was delighted when I discovered that Ibbotson had written a number of romances for Young Adults. The romance in this book is fairly innocent as these things go, although I was very amused to see some reviewers on Goodreads appalled because there is pre-marital sex in the book (all of it between chapters), and that Harriet seems to suddenly alter her personality from a good, responsible and chaste young lady to someone who will willingly let herself be seduced, revelling in becoming a fallen woman. I felt that the development of Harriet's character was really well done, and while she's so good and kind and sweet that you almost want to hate her - she seems to make herself a favourite of everyone around her, with the notable exception of Verney's sister-in-law, you can't really dislike her, because she had such a sucky upbringing in such a joyless home. She's also a bit too naive for her own good, and has painfully low self-esteem. She should be much better at speaking up for herself. The fact that she's rather timid and quite plain, looks-wise also keeps her from falling into Mary Sue territory. I always like romances where the plain and quiet girl gets the hero.

Verney is wonderfully dramatic and it's no surprise that Harriet falls in love with him. I don't see how she couldn't. He's rich, handsome, extremely charming and showers her with attention. He tries to help her with when the horrible young man her father and aunt want her to marry comes to steal her back to England and once he realises that she's an innocent treats Harriet so honourably that she pretty much has to throw herself at him to get him into bed. Running away to realise her dreams and falling in love helps Harriet take proper control of her own life. She still has to be rescued towards the end, but it's so charmingly done, and her father and aunt are so horrible, that the whole thing felt a bit like a fairy tale, with Verney as the dashing prince, charging into the metaphorical tower to reclaim his princess.

The book was very sweet and an entertaining read. There's a few too many very happy coincidences of people ending up in the same place at the same time, as well as some rather convoluted misunderstandings to create obstacles for the happy couple of the "why don't you just actually TALK to one another?" variety, but it all works out well in the end. I will absolutely be looking for more of these.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR6 Book 60: "Veronica Mars: The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line" by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham

Page count: 338 pages
Rating: 4 stars

Spoiler warning! Avoid this book if you've not watched the Veronica Mars movie and want to avoid spoilers for the plot of said film, because this book follows on from the events there. Hence this review will probably spoil the movie too.

Veronica is back in Neptune, working as a P.I, running Mars Investigations while her father recuperates. She's struggling to make ends meet, not to mention paying Mac, who's working as her office assistant. During spring break, a girl disappears from high profile party, and as the media attention starts hurting the profit of Neptune's businesses, Veronica is hired to find her, as the Neptune police force has proven to be useless. It turns out that the house the girl disappeared from belongs to members of a Mexican mob family. Then a second girl disappears, from the same house, and this time, the missing girl's family have connections to Veronica's own past.

As with fellow Cannonballer Narfna, I'm not actually able to stay objective in the face of Veronica Mars. I loved the show, I donated money to the Kickstarter campaign to fund the movie. Getting more stories about my favourite petite, blond, sarcastic detective, even in book form is just a blessing for me. You can disagree with the choices Veronica made in the movie to end up where she is at the start of this book, but I'm just so glad to have her back and any time I get to spend with her and the other great characters that I love, like Keith, Mac, Wallace and Logan (even though he only appears sparingly in this book) is time well spent for me.

Apparently the mystery in this was the one they were planning to initially use in the movie. I think I like it more than the movie plot, but unless the rest of this review hasn't made that clear already, I probably would've enjoyed this book if Veronica, not unlike Sookie Stackhouse in the later Charlaine Harris books, just lay around, sunbathing, running errands, going to the library and generally bemoaned her romantic misfortunes. Because I adore Veronica Mars. If I can't have her on my TV or in more movies, I will happily take her in book form.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.