Lord of Desire

Title: Lord of Desire (2005)
Author: Paula Quinn (Warner)
Period: Medieval-Norman Conquest (1065 England)
Grade: C

Lord of Desire is a romance rarity, an erotic bubblegum Medieval. Quinn has crafted two likeable enough leads but they are out of place in the setting. This isn't a wallpaper romance because it isn't that the setting is ignored. Instead, it is just misused to an almost comical level. The role of the match-making Fairy Godmother is played by William the Conqueror. For serious? The dialogue and idioms are so completely modern that it is laughable.

Brynna Dumont's (why does a Saxon girl have a Norman/French last name?) father was defeated in battle by a Norman, Brand Risande. King Edward and Duke William of Normandy orchestrate a marriage between the two that Brynna agrees to if only to ensure peace for her home and people. Brand, a close friend of William's, is much more reluctant to agree to the match. His former fiancé betrayed him with another and he refuses to ever love again. Brynna has the modern and cheerful attitude that she can not imagine a loveless marriage. She is certain she can make her husband love her. They are in lust from the start and she is almost instantly in love. The two build a good rapport and their chemistry is the highpoint of the book. Paula Quinn's books are billed as highly erotic romance novels, but here the sex scenes (while rampant) weren't that hot or risque by my standards.

The entire novel seems one where love and lust are easily confused. Brand is a funny and charming hero, but his entire being revolves around loving (or more likely lusting) after his former fiancé. I think it is always a bad sign when the hero's friends, such as William, despise his former love while he remain ignorant of her character flaws. It paints the hero as a fool. It bugs and overshadows his good quality. That it continues for so long and to Brynna's determent makes it intolerable.

Brynna, for her part, is an imperfect heroine. She does a lot of jumping to conclusions, storming away, and attempting to make Brand jealous. Luckily, she has the assistance of her friend William to patch up her marriage. Good thing he wasn't too busy with scheming to invade a nation and build an empire to fix the love life of a random Saxon girl. If the history and setting were not so completely abused, I'd rank this romance considerably higher because of Quinn's felicity with relationship development.

Where Dreams Begin

Title: Where Dreams Begin (2000)
Author: Lisa Kleypas (Avon)
Period: European Historical-Victorian (1830 England)
Grade: C

I'm not fair to Lisa Kleypas. I expect so much from her, what would be a good book by another author is only average by Kleypas standards. These are determents of being the Jane Austen of your generation. Sorry!

In Where Dreams Begin she returns to her wheelhouse with a respectable (often noble) heroine and wealthy lower-class upstart hero. The widowed Lady Holly is ending her three years of morning for her beloved husband when she encounters Zachary Bronson. After a clandestined kiss, Zachary is smitten. He concocts a plan to hire Lady Holly to teach himself, and his marriageable sister, the minutiae of the ton. If you’ve read better Kleypas their romance feels predictable from start to finish.

He is a likeable enough hero, but Holly is an enigma. Kleypas suggests that she accepts Zachary's offer because she has a hidden wild streak and secretly hopes to challenge convention, but the reader never sees that in action. If an author has to repeatedly tell you the character is brave or smart or unconventional, it is usually because she hasn't shown you the character to be so in the context of the plot. Rose, Holly's daughter, like all romance novel children is delightful and perfect in every way. Also, the subplot romance between the sister and Holly's cousin wasn't given enough room to grow. Where Dreams Begin wasn't a bad book, but certainly isn't one of Kleypas' better works.

The Perfect Lover

Title: The Perfect Lover (2003)
Author: Stephanie Laurens (Avon)
Period: European Historical-Victorian (1835 England)
Grade: C

My new historical romance pet peeve is author's who write suspense/mystery novels marketed as romance. To be fair, I'm sure the fault lies with Avon rather than Laurens.

The romance, minimal as it is, occurs between Simon (a Cynster) and his brother-in-law's sister, Portia Ashford. For Laurens, and one presumes her readers, being a Cynster is a personality trait in and of itself. The reader is to presume Simon is all things brave, virile, honorable, and wise. They both claim a long standing dislike. Laurens writes as if every reader has committed On a Wicked Dawn and its record of Simon and Portia's relationship to memory. One of the weaknesses with romance plot is the author continues to reference the conflict between the hero and heroine. Despite that as soon as we meet them in The Perfect Lover they are practically simpatico. They've conveniently both decided to embark on marriage hunts at the same time (and at the same house party) so one sees no real evidence they aren’t compatible.

The Perfect Lover is part of Laurens' Cynster series that like cockroaches and Rasputin just won't die. The success of this series in particular is, in my opinion, the cause of the explosion of familial romance series we see today. I'm not sure if that is an accolade or a rebuke. The book takes place at country house party with a lengthy and monotonous cast of Ton characters that would do the Illiad proud. The vast majority of these tertiarry characters are superfluous. Most have no role in the central plot whatsoever. There is a lot of tea drinking and escorting ladies to dinner, so only a handful of characters serve to advance the plot. Meanwhile, the eventual murder victim is so loathsome that one is left wishing all the guests conspired to do her in Murder on the Orient Express style. Laurens offer vagaries about the hero and heroine's shared sense of justice that leads them to solve the murder. I couldn't muster any interest in the victim, the investigation, or the romance.

Highland Velvet

Title: Highland Velvet (1982)

Author: Jude Deveraux (Pocket)

Period: Medieval (1501 Scotland)

Grade: C

The second book in Deveraux’s Velvet Series is, by her standards, average. It isn’t awful or campy or ridiculous. It’s just there. I’ve heard it is the weakest in the series and hope the third book returns to form. I’ve always been a fan of classic medieval romances. They offer more depth of character and place than your typical romance, which is to say, your typical Regency. Difficult settings and experiences make for richer romances than the standard ballroom fare.

There is nothing new about Highland Velvet. And that’s okay. I don’t need a romance author to reinvent the wheel. If the characters are smart and funny and the setting feels authentic I’m okay with rehashing a well worn plot. Instead Deveraux confuses physical attractiveness with character development when she crafts two pretty, but petty and boring leads.

The forced marriage by King’s decree is to medievals what goofy will inspired marriages are to European historicals. The English king has commanded a marriage between Stephen Montgomery and Scottish laird Bronwyn McArran to solidify English control in the Highlands. Stephen is late to his own wedding inspiring no degree of ill feelings in his prospective bride. The cultural conflicts between the newlyweds over ethnicity and gender aren’t given any depth. One almost feels they only fight to have something do in between sex. Bronwyn particularly hold onto her bitterness toward the English, and by extension Stephen, for far too long to make her likeable. The novel is chock full of medieval Scottish adventure from kidnappings to cattle raids for those who love that stuff.

Highland Velvet also suffers narrative from a Bronwyn-heavy point of view. This is particularly troublesome in the final chapters where Stephen’s prolonged absence is only viewed from her perspective. It makes the HEA ending ring false when the reader isn’t given more than a terse explanation for his departure and return.