The Unit

     The Unit by Terry DeHart follows the Sharpe family as they walk from the grandmother's house in Oregon to their own home in California following a post nuclear war world. Shortly after the bombing of the US the Sharpes and their neighbors got along just fine, one family helping another et cetera, but not to long after that as food supplies and other resources came into high demand people began fighting for those precious items. The Sharpe family soon found themselves on their own and not able to trust anyone but each other. As they travel the family comes across all kinds of people from good samaritans to marauders and cults and they have to figure out how to navigate the various situations.
     The book begs the question of what moral ground to stand on if there aren't any laws or law enforcement to uphold a certain standard of decency. God plays a major role in the book simply because each character thinks about a higher power and what role God plays in this crazy time.
     The novel is divided up into six different parts with each chapter focusing on a different character. With this structure the reader is able to delve into the mind of each of the main characters and see their point of view. I thought this was interesting because each character had very different ways of thinking about their situations and very different beliefs about God.
     I very much enjoyed this book because I like reading about people in their survival mode. It had a good mix of drama and action. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes apocalyptic type books or post nuclear war world type books.

Dreaming of Mr. Darcy

Dreaming of Mr. Darcy by Victoria Connelly

The novel set in Lyme Regis, revolves around the character Kay and her love for all things Jane Austen. Kay has come to the quiet seaside town to start fresh and with opening a B&B. She finds herself back at square one when her first guests check in. These guests are set to star in a film adaptation of Persuasion. (Oli Wade Owen as the heart throb plays Captain Wentworth; Gemma Reilly as Anne Elliot, screen writer Adam Craig and director Theresa Hudson make up the most important characters of the novel.)Soon Kay finds herself caught up in the world of film making.

While Kay is blinded by what she believes is love for Oli, she fails to see the quiet Adam pining for her. The struggle between Adam and Kay’s relationship is the thread that holds the whole novel together. While the struggles of Gemma and her love interest, and the strange relationship between Oli and Theresa are interesting. That struggle between Kay and Adam is what keeps you around till the end. In the end the romantic tango between Kay and Adam is resolved, but only after Kay is left heart broken by Oli.

The love found between Oli and Kay is superficial. Oli is the dashing actor who is wanted by everyone. While Adam is the best friend, who loves Kay for whom she really is.  This love story is nothing new and Victoria Connelly’s take on this avenue leaves her channeling Austen to bring her into the 21^st century. 

 

Candice

Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels

"Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels"

By Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan
    
     This isn't a "romance novel" per se, but a very self-aware celebration and critique of everything that typifies your standard romance novel. (It's all very tongue-in-cheek, but be advised: the authors admit that they love romance novels, though they do call them "trashy.") In the process, they create what they call the "Smart Bitch Laws" regarding how lovers of romance novels should address what they love.

     Neither Wendell nor Tan pull and punches in their analysis of the genre; their delivery and writing style is blunt, conversational, and often profanity-laden-which is part of its appeal to the tongue-in-cheek, been-there-done-that reader. They detail overused tropes that romance readers know, love, and love-to-hate, including: "My reputation is ruined!", "Pirates!", "Heroine is suddenly unfrumpified and suddenly magically self-confident," "Vampires and werewolves everywhere," and of course "The Big Misunderstanding," including a board-game chart of character archetypes, plot twists, and corny dialogue - with, as they put it, "a lot of humpin'."

     They ultimately dedicate a large portion of the book to defending the genre, saying that romance books celebrate happiness (and as they say very clearly "happiness is good") while subverting social expectations. They also make a convincing argument that one of the reasons why the romance genre gets such a bad reputation may be because of the intended audience (again, they don't sugar-coat their arguments.). If you are a lover of the romance genre, read this book-they go through every single straw-man argument that lovers of romance novels deal with.

     Interestingly enough, they also tackle problematic issues in romance novels (for example: the relatively common trope of sexual assault, racist stereotypes in stories) and offer some thoughts on why they're so persistent. Of the issues people bring up with the romance genre, I find these two in particular to carry the most merit, and I'm glad that Wendell and tan are aware enough to face these issues head-on.

     There is very blunt discussion of sex and sexuality in this book-enough so that I won't mention anything explicitly in the review, but I will say that I would not recommend this book to anyone under the age of 18. However, if you're reading this book, the authors assume you have most likely read at least one romance novel and assume you're aware of what happens in them. Be prepared to have quite a few laughs at how they address the topic.

     Finally, and most interestingly (for me) was that the book included an entire section lambasting romance covers, as well as providing several mad libs for readers to "write their own romance." The scripts are remarkable accurate, and wonderfully ridiculous when you read them completed.

     Overall, it's a remarkable analysis of the genre from two intelligent women. I would highly recommend this to the adult, seasoned reader who loves "trashy" romance novels, especially anyone who feels they have to defend their interest in them.

Marisa
    

The Countess

The Countess  by Lynsay Sands

 

Deviating from her hilarious Ageneau vampire series, Lynsay Sands takes us on a fun, laugh-out-loud romp thru Regency England in the first of the Monroe Sisters Trilogy, The Countess.

Christina's husband is a jerk. Dickey (yes, that is his name) wooed her and said pretty things as he was courting her, but starting the night of the wedding, he turned into a mean, condescending stranger. He tells her she has bad taste in clothes, that she's unattractive (he doesn't even consummate the marriage), and he keeps all of her family and friends from visiting her. She begins to suspect that he only married her for her very large dowry.

Dickey is trying to send her sisters away when she comes downstairs and thwarts him, which only makes him angrier. After making her sisters wait a long time and forcing her to eat a revolting breakfast, Christina finally gets to talk with them and discovers their problem. Their father has gambled away the family fortune (again) and their middle sister needs to find a land rich, money poor husband in a hurry so she can gain access to her dowry to pay off their father's debts. Gathering her courage, Christina goes into her husband's study to demand that they be allowed to give her sisters a proper debut into society when she discovers that he's dead. Not wanting to have to go into a year's long mourning and deprive her sister from finding a husband, Christina allows her sisters to convince her to wrap Dickey up in a carpet, put him in bed packed with ice, and to tell the sevants that Dickey is unwell and to leave him alone at least until her middle sister finds a husband. Good plan, right? Unless Dickey's dead twin brother shows up at the ball and screws everything up. Which brother is the true heir? What does a strawberry have to do with anything? And who killed Dickey?

 

Elizabeth

Tastine Fear

"Tasting Fear"

by Shannon McKenna

 

Formulaic and predictable, Tasting Fear is great for the reader who doesn't like suprises. The one book contains three stories about three sisters, each slightly different. That is the sisters are slightly different, the stories are not.  The stories are almost exactly the same, but for a fan of the genre that might be a good thing.  Although billed as "Super-sexy Suspense!" it can be recommended without hesitation to most.  It does have it's explicit moments, but everyone who has sex then gets married and the author even spouts the de rigueur safe sex message with each sex scene so it is really difficut to be too shocked. Die hard horror fans will be disapointed so I would instead save it for those who only want a little shiver.  The plot is thin, with more than one hole that is hard to overlook, so I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who wanted more than casual escapism.  The writing does have a nice flow, the pace and patter make an entertaining read.  Good for followers of Eric Jerome Dicky.  Novelist also suggests Laurell K Hamilton, but I competely disagree.  Hamiltons characters are grittier, more real, and her writing has a sparce noir feel.  McKenna reads more like Phyilis Whitney, with a little bit of modern frankness.

 

 

 

 

J. Lorrie Gunde

Insatiable

Meg Cabot takes a break from her normal romantic comedy genre to break into something a little darker. In Insatiable, our lead character is Meena, who happens to know exactly how every person she meets will die, is herself saved by a tall, dark, stranger with an accent.  How could this man survive that vicious bat attack and be completely fine, not even a scratch on him? Why could she not tell when he would meet his demise?

Back at work, as a dialogue writer for a soap opera called Insatiable she is informed that they will be introducing a Vampire into the plotline. How could they sacrifice the integrity of this show just to keep up with the other networks ratings? She just can't believe it. Oh, and by the way; that promotion she had her eye on went to her completely lazy coworker who just happens to be related to the network owners, of course, how could her life get any worse? It can, find out what happens next :)

I would recommend this as a read alike for adults who enjoy vampire fiction like Twilight or the Sookie Stackhouse series. 

 

 Alysia Snyder

WHO YA WIT by BRENDA HAMPTON




Desa rae Jenkins has a three year old daughter named Chassidy with Roc. Roc was in the drug game and living the thug life with his uncle Ronnie and Roc took a charge for his uncle that got him incarcerated. after serving some time in jail Roc returns home trying to show desa Rae that his past life is well behind him. Roc 's uncle ronnie doesn't like desa rae and will do anything to keep them apart Roc uncle put a hit out on Desa rae and Roc found out about it and had his uncle killed that is how much he loved Desa rae and his daughter. Roc continued in the drug game and desa rae gave him a altimatum that he stop thuggin or they were done. Roc continued on that path of destruction so they broke up and never got back together. after the break up Roc got his life together and wanted Desa rae back, but it was to late for them she still loved him but she couldn't trust Roc any more with her heart.


summarized by Robin R. Bailey.