3 Erotic Novels Better Than 50 Shades

Comfort Food by Kitty Thomas

The first thing that I have to say about this book is that it is dark and very disturbing. It tells the story of Emily Vargas who has been taken captive and is being conditioned to respond to different stimuli in very different ways. This book is not a romance and deals with numerous acts performed without consent. Emily is a victim of a cruel and vindictive man who repeatedly rapes her. 

One of things that I 'like' about this book is the way in which Thomas never tries to portray it as a romance and makes the master/slave dynamic very prominent throughout the book. It is a fascinating look at the on the psychology of power and condition and uses a fictional scenario to demonstrate that normal is all relative. After months of torture Emily begins to associate chicken noodle soup with displease and punishment and a whipping as a comfort. 

I want to be clear in stating that there is nothing redeemable in the captor and abuser in this novel and I firmly believe that he should not be pitied. Emily's ordeal is deeply touching and emotionally highly charged which makes for an addictive read. The pacing of it is masterful and the plot immensely though-provoking. The ending of this novel tore me apart emotionally, but regardless I think it was a truly amazing read. 

 Consequences by Aleatha Romig

This book too is not what I would call a slushy romance. It is dark and violent and manipulates all of your emotions. er

This book is a revelation. I devoured the first instalment even though it moved me beyond any expectation. I initilally found this author on an adult fiction blog and was turned off immedieatly by the mention of dark material. Raoe and romance combined is not something that sat well with me. My mind was comepletely changed.

Tony and Claire's story is the honest look at darker romances. Every girl wants a bad boy right? Well, Anthony Rawlings is what that would really mean. He is not the typical womanising, motorbike driving loveable rogue. Tony is dark, sadistic, violent and yet in the second book I would argue he finds his redemption.

Claire is the inspiration that I have waited years to read. She has shattered every preconceived notion I had about domestic abuse victims. I used to believe that submission meant weakness and outright defiance was the only way. Now I understand that strength can be seen in acquiescence and I even think I learner the meaning of courage.

I was much more emotionally wrecked by the first book which I would without pause give 5 stars. The second is way more statisfying at the end than the first. Having said that, I haven't yet finisihed the third book because lots of other things got in the way and I now need to just sit down and read the whole trilogy. It is something I am look forward to.

 If I Were You by Lisa Renee Jones

This is not at all as dark as the previous two books that I have mentioned, but does have a dark element to it. The novel is based around the mystery of the disappearance of Rebecca who is an art dealer. Teacher Sara during her summer break stumbles across Rebecca's journals after her friend buys them as part of a storage sale. The journals are filled with details about a deeply erotic relationship that Rebecca was having which leads Sara to go on the hunt in order to give them back. During her search Sara finds herself doing Rebecca's job and receiving the attention of two very intense men, who may or may not be the man in the journals. 

This book is fun and interesting because it isn't just an erotic romance, but also has the mystery element to it making for an altogether more interesting read than 50 Shades. There is an element of a love triangle in the book, but thankfully Sara doesn't get too caught up in it and makes her decision clear early on. The love interests Chris and Mark (mostly Chris) are dark and brooding, just like Fifty. However, despite the inference of BDSM they are both much less manipulative and controlling. Mark abuses his authority over Sara and I would most definitely question his professionalism, but he isn't a stalker! Chris is too thankfully free of the worse of the Greyisms and his and Sara's relationship makes for a good, if a little messy romance. 

The book does have several sequals, but for me it really is just part of a duology as in the second book (Being Me) the Rebecca mystery is pretty much put to bed. I have read the blurb of the third book, Revealing Us and frankly it sounds far too angst-ridden for me, especially after Fifty Shades Darker. Overall, I would say that this is well worth a read and as the title would suggest, is much better than Fifty Shades of Grey. 

Breathless: An Anthology Pre-order!

Cover real for the upcoming
erotic romance anthology.

Last night I found out that one of my favourite series was going to be continued in the form of a short story. Aleatha Romig's Consequences series is one that I absolutely love, although I have not yet finished it. I know that half the reason that I was putting it off was because I didn't want it to end, but now I know that I will find what happens beyond the end of the final novel I am more than excited to finally complete the third book.

I am not a huge fan of romance series continuing on beyond a trilogy and usually they could just stop at the first book, but this series is so much more than just another romance and Romig's writing is so addictive that I think that this series transcends the trilogy trend. There will be more of me sharing my love of this series in a future post.

I'm not familiar with the other authors in this anthology or what they have written, but I might look into a little more before the ebook lands on my Kindle app. Yes, my Kindle app! The only problem with this book is that I could only get it from Amazon! I loved this series so much that I broke my boycott for it and that is something that I'm just going to have to deal with.

Breathless: An Anthology is released on 1st September. 

3 Erotic Novels Worse Than 50 Shades

I know that 50 Shades of Grey gets a lot of flack from all angles and I think that some of the reasons for that are completely justified. There are most definitely issues with power relations and the books writing style and a plethora of other issues. However, I have read a number of books that fall into the 'erotic' genre and I have found some books that are even more deserving of being categorised as 'bad'. These books are, in my opinion, all much worse than 50 Shades for several different reasons which are explained below. The order that you see them in are how angry they made, the most rage-inducing coming last. 

1. Release Me by J. Kenner

I've read a lot of novels in the Erotic and New Adult genres and this is nothing special. Everything between the two characters happened too quickly and that is saying something for this genre! At the same, paradoxically, the story moved too slowly. It took five chapters just to pass one night. That was the first half of the book! 

The love interest in this novel is Damien Stark or should I say Gideon Grey or is it Christian Cross? As the names suggest this character was just a poor amalgamation of other popular love interests in other books and had very  little about him that was original. Putting that aside he's rich and handsome and arrogant, but there was just something missing for me besides the sexy shivers that you're supposed to get. I found myself not caring about Damien at all. 

The protagonist, Nikki, was also poor and not a character that I felt invested in at all. She's darker than Ana, but I didn't believe her back story. Nikki Fairchild has an overbearing mother and cuts herself to deal with her pain. In a review that I read when I was first looking into this book the reviewer described Nikki as an independent, strong female character. I have to disagree whole-heartedly. I'm not saying that people who self-harm are weak, but they are not healthy and I don't think it's what we should be interpreting strength and independence to be.

One other thing I would mention about this book is that it is supposed to be a BDSM romance. The sex scenes were not at all like that in my opinion and I think I'd just given up caring by that point anyway. Apparently there are sequels (that's right, more than one) but I just wouldn't waste my time or money.

2. Captive in the Dark by C.J. Roberts 

This is very much a dark romance and tells the story of 18-year-old Olivia Ruiz who is kidnapped by a man called Caleb, who demands to be called Master. Caleb's mission is to 'train' Olivia so that she can be sold as a sex slave at an upcoming human auction. During the time that she is held in captivity Olivia develops Stockholm syndrome (as I would contend) and her relationship with Caleb becomes a little bit more. 

On Goodreads it states at the bottom of synopsis that this book contains 'dubious consent'. As this book is about sex workers and human trafficking I would very much argue that the consent in the story is not dubious more non-existent. The apologist way that that is dealt with in this book, or even just the way that it marketed is one of the things that makes it so much worst than 50 Shades in my opinion. This is quite clearly a book about rape, but I felt as Roberts was trying to manipulate the readers emotions in order to make us believe that there is something more genuine going on there. 

Caleb is a character that I thought was excellent, although sadly not in any cheerful way. During the narrative there are a series of flashbacks that allow us a look into the past of Olivia's captive. Caleb too was once a sex-slave and is using Olivia in order to get close to the man who he believes was responsible for his ordeal. I can understand that revenge is so important to this character that he would live in a state of denial of what he is doing to his victim in order to reach his end goal. The complexity with which he is portrayed was perhaps the only highlight of the whole book. 

The truth is that this book could have been good. It would always have been darker than 50 Shades, but if the female protagonist had been more of a 3-dimensional character and the plot been accepted for the story of rape that it is then it would have been good. However, these two issues are far to big to overcome. The rape apologism that is contained in the story makes it impossible for me to even consider reading the second book and I would hope make others think twice too. 

3. This Man by Jodi Ellen Malpass

This book is the first of the This Man Trilogy and has to be one of the most sickening books that I have ever read. This homage to every myth about domestic violence does everything it's power to try and convince readers that this abusive relationship is in fact a romance. Romanticised? Yes absolutely. Romantic? Not unless romance became being stalked, tricked, emotionally manipulated, kidnapped and impregnated without your consent, whilst I wasn't looking. And in case you are wondering all of those things genuinely take place in this trilogy. 

The protagonist of this novel is Ava, an interior designer who has just broke up with her long-term boyfriend (read: emotionally vulnerable) and is sent to meet a potential client for a meeting one day. Ava makes her way to a secluded country house that she mistakes for a hotel and is confronted with the cocky and arrogant Jesse. 

Jesse embodies all of the characteristics that are that have come to define this genre. He is dark, dangerous, rich and arrogant. He is also an alcoholic, prone to sexual harassment and stalking. Sounding similar to Christian Grey? Absolutely, that character too is guilty of many of these things which are what make that novel so problematic. However, I feel that these books take that precedent to a whole new level. 

Ava is a lot stronger and more of a woman-of-the-world than Ana and where Ana welcomes Christian's behaviour, for the first half of the first book Ava wants nothing to do with Jesse. She is tricked into meeting him in a bedroom, he cuts up her dress when he disapproves of it, physicalyl removes her from places more times than I can count, he constantly badgers her to give up work and he hides her pills from her in an attempt to control her body. 

The worst of all this is far from painting Jesse as a monster and using this novel as a hard look at the way an abusive relationship works, Malpass tries passing this off as a romance! It is the romantacisation and even erotcisation of a controlling, abusive relationship and does a real disservice to survivors of domestic abuse.

Those are my picks for the three books worst than E.L. James' infamous creation. I am by no means excusing the faults that exist in James' book, but am merely pointing out the context that it is set in. The truth is that books like 50 Shades have been around for a while and it was just that that particular book brought it to the mainstream. It is my wish that these three books, particularly the last two are never glorified in the same way. 

Should you decide not to read the book based on the film?

Today I went to see The Fault In Our Stars with my friends. This film was originally my suggestion as even though I hadn't read the book I had heard a lot about it. I knew that I wouldn't get around to reading the book before I saw the film and reasoning that the book is always better I decided that it wasn't such a problem. That is until I saw the film.

I know that it's about cancer and two teenagers falling in love and I fully expected to cry. However, I was never once moved to tears or even close. I left the cinema feeling completely devoid of emotion and not in the way that a film can leave you feeling numb because it has had such an impact on you. I just never believed in the scenario, I was never invested in the characters or the love story. 

Augustus Waters I found to be cocky and arrogant, yes, but from the outset it seemed to me that he was in fact just a scared little boy who was frightened to die. Well of course he was! That would have been fine if I didn't think that the film worked so hard to deny that. When Gus' cancer comes back with a vengeance and he loses his smart-Alec attitude I believed it. That was the moment that I was the most invested in the story, but it didn't last for very long. 

Hazel's eulogy to Gus, her original one, left me completely cold. From the first moment it seemed that Gus was determined that Hazel was going to be his girlfriend and I didn't like that. For me, it made everything that happened afterwards forced or shallow and not very organic. I can believe that they were best friends and so the grief is believable enough. I thought the eulogy that Hazel read out at the funeral was dishonest. The voice-over clearly states that she didn't believe a word and I think that's the problem with a lot of the gestures and statements made in the film: they were empty. 

The smoking 'metaphor' is also something that I just didn't get and thought was very pretentious. This coupled with all of the reasons above meant that I just didn't enjoy the film very much and was quite unmoved by it. However, that was just the film and I am sure that many fans of the book will be disappointed with the film as well. So I ask you, do I still keep this book on my mental TBR? 

Fifty Shades of Grey Trailer Discussion

Mr Grey will see you now. Oooohh, chilling. If you live in the English-speaking world and are over the age of 18 then you have probably heard something about E.L James' Fifty Shades of Grey. You know, it's those books that are naughtier than your Nan's Mills and Boon stash. I read the Fifty Shades Trilogy (Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed) back in the summer of 2012 and I have to say I was hooked. They had an obsessive quality about them and they launched me into the genre now called New Adult. These books got me through some pretty tough spots in my final year at uni and so hold a special place in my heart. 

E.L James' books challenged me in ways that I had never been before. The deeply patriarchal nature of her books had me pacing around my room trying to figure out what my enjoyment of them meant for me and my feminism and I have to say it is a dilemma that I haven't quite worked through yet. Romance and feminism is one hard road to navigate, but BDSM romance and feminism is just a mind-f**k! At the time of reading the books, I liked them and somewhere on a memory stick I have some writing exploring what I think which I will have to dig out and upload here, but maybe I'll wait until the film comes out.

Now to the real reason for this post. The film adaptation global trailer was released yesterday and as you would expect has caused quite a buzz. I liked it. The way that it is shot just looks stunning and from what I can gather it seems a fairly faithful interpretation. I know that a lot of people have taken issue with the two actors cast as Ana and Christian, but all I have to say to that is they've been cast for ages. It's time to accept and move on. 

I'll admit there are some moments that are cringe worthy. Erm... "Look at me" "I am". Surely those who have read the books expected this? Those moments punctuate the original narrative and they are of course there to make all the women blush and giggle in the cinema and any male partners to be confronted with the ultimate mainstream female fantasy. I'm already rolling my eyes in anticipation of these moments.

That said, I am looking forward to seeing the film. It seems like the perfect girls night out movie. After the film we can all have a few glasses of wine and talk openly about sex because Fifty Shades made it possible. If there is one thing that I like about this franchise it's that. It is that thanks to these books women felt liberated to not only talk about sex, but talk about all manner of desires and fantasies without shame or censor. I really admire that and look forward to the explosion of comment that will undoubtedly take place once the film is officially released on 14th February next year. 

If you haven't seen it already. Here is the infamous trailer: 

P.s. I love this version of Beyonce's song. 

On the Island by Tracey Garvis Graves

This book tells the story of thirty-something-year-old Anna and almost seventeen-year-old T.J who after a freak accident are deserted on an uninhabited island. T.J is recovering from cancer and Anna is the person charged with tutoring him through the summer, but when they are forced together they become so much more than student and teacher. 

The premise for the story was promising and one of the most pleasing aspects of the book. The cover is stunning and really evocative of a desert island. It's interesting that the one thing that many people wish for in this story becomes Anna and T.J's nightmare. I really liked the way that the dangers of island life were represented. Throughout their time on the island the pair face thirst, malnutrition, sharks and even bats!

Not exactly a romantic setting, but they are exceptional circumstances and so draw the two characters closer to one another, developing a deep friendship and then eventually something more. The pace of this relationship is something that I felt was well done. All too often in romance novels characters become sexually involved very quickly. It took Anna and T.J two years to reach that that step, born out of genuine connection and not just insta-love. This was demonstrated further once the couple escaped from the island and settled back into life in the USA.

I particularly liked T.J and it was great to be able to get half the novel from his perspective. Perhaps it is because he is younger, but I found myself relating to him and his character more. The fast track growing up that he is forced to go through because of his cancer and then his experience on the island is portrayed well and sensitively. It is because of T.J's perspective that we really grasped the amount of time that has elapsed whilst they have been on the island as he is faced to accept that everyone else has moved on without him when he gets back. I love that he decides to reject what he is 'supposed' to do and instead follows his passion for construction and the outdoors.

On the other hand, Anna was a character that I found hard to connect with. I was never that invested in her story and found it even more difficult in the second half of the novel when she is back in Chicago. At the beginning of the book Anna is upset that her boyfriend doesn't want to get married and have children, the two things that she is desperate for. Towards the end of the book Anna is upset because she thinks her boyfriend is too young to get married and have children. At the very end of the novel Anna marries her boyfriend and has children. Anna's character changes very little of the course of the narrative and learns even less than that. I was frustrated by the constant talk about marriage and babies and found it to be far too in-your-face. Even after their rescue instead of being grateful for her rescue, her payout, her relationship with T.J and just generally being alive, Anna is consumed with thoughts of what she doesn't have. I found her character to be ungrateful, shallow and self-centred. Unfortunately, her perspective was half the book.

There were some great points to this novel and it does ask us to think about how we would react in a situation completely away from civilisation. Having said that the fact that the one half of this book was taken up by a character that caused nothing but frustration meant that I could never fully invest in it. It does, however, have a beautiful cover and is one that I spent a lot of time looking at.

Rating: ★★

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen | Lost in Austen

Sense and Sensibility was the first of Jane Austen's novels to be published and follows the Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marinne, after the death of their father. As is characteristic of Austen's novels, the girls are mediocre when it comes to upper class society and impoverished thanks to the lack of genorosity of their half-brother and his wife. Necessity sees them relocated from their childhood home to a cottage on the grounds of a wealthy relation of their mother's. From this point on there are a series of events that see the sisters drifiting on the outer edges of engagements before finally ending up happily married and financially comfortable.

One of the biggest problems I had with this novel was the character of Marianne. I found her transformation from spoiled, silly childishness to stoic maturity hard to accept. Of course this book is set in a different time and teenagehood didn't exist, but is a broken heart really a cure for being vapid? I felt her decision to marry Colonel Brandon at the end of the novel was unrealistic even within the context of the plot. I understand that Austen wanted to tie up all the lose ends in order to make for a happy ending, but I think that even if Marianne  and Brandon had met and courted others and married them I would have found it more believable. Their story is hardly what I would call a romance. 

Elinor too frustrated me, but for different reasons. I found her self-sacrificing nature not to be the heroism that I assume Austen intended, but instead weakness of character. For all the faults with Marianne, her character is still passionate. That is of course because Marianne is the sensibility to Elinor's sense, a dichotomy that did very little for me. As the narrative is told mostly from the perspective of Elinor, as readers, we are privy to most of Elinor's thoughts and feelings. As a sister, daughter and friend she cannot be faulted in her ability to please others but in her role as a lover she fails miserably. Even through the veil of Regency honour and propriety Austen makes the connection between Edward Ferrars and Elinor very clear and I am disappointed that Elinor never so much as confides in her mother or sister. However, this romance is one that I believed and one that I found myself rooting for throughout the novel. If the novel had focused upon this couple I would have been perfectly satisfied with it. 

The redemption of Willoughby was something that I also felt dubious about. Even having finished the novel I am not sure that Willoughby is given redemption, but I do feel as though at least at the very end Austen attempts to induce sympathy for him. Willoughby for all intents and purposes is a 19th century gold digger, but is also a victim of a society that tells him that money dictates his worth as a human being (as are all the others). This is an example of the overall impression that I got from the novel, namely as a platform for Austen to attack the same idle classes and their shallow snobbishness that she herself belonged to. How can the rich and idle criticise the rich and idle? Certainly not in any way that I could take seriously.

Sadly my reading of this novel was coloured by many things that the book did just not overcome. It was coloured by my outrage at Austen's hypocrisy, my idea of what a romance is or should be and high expectations of a 'Jane Austen novel'. I was entirely underwhelmed and am happy to take at least some responsibility for that. Thankfully, my experience of this novel has not put me off Austen or any re-imaginings of Sense and Sensibility.

Rating: ★★

I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

When Poppy loses her engagement ring and her phone all in the same day you could be mistaken for thinking that this is one of the worst days of her life. On the surface it is, but these events trigger changes in Poppy's life that will be irrevocable and ultimately for the best. Whilst waiting desperately for any news of her engagement ring in a hotel lobby Poppy spots a mobile phone in the bin. Needing to have something to be contacted on so that her fiancé doesn't find out she snatches it up and is soon confronted with the voice of the phone's owner, Sam. From here there are a series of hilarious incidents leading to Sam and Poppy becoming closer. Who knew that mobile phones could lead to true love? 

The romance in this book was exactly what I expected. It was cute and funny with only a little touch of smooshiness. Of course Sam and Poppy only really know each other for just over a week so there is an aspect of insta-love. This wasn't really an issue though as so much happens that it feels much longer than a week. That was perhaps the most 'unrealistic' part of the romance because the rest of it felt genuine and even plausible. Sam and Poppy's relationship grew throughout their texting and in the end I found myself rooting for them. 

Generally, I enjoyed the book on the whole, but there one or two things that I found frustrating. The biggest issue that I had with this book is the portrayal of Poppy's future mother-in-law,Wanda. From the very beginning of the novel we are aware that Poppy is intimidated by her in-laws intelligence and academic achievements. That I understand to be a character flaw in Poppy. She is insecure because she isn't being true to herself and doesn't fit in with the family. However, I  am disappointed that Wanda had to be represented as a straw feminist. Poppy on several occasions moans about Wanda asking her about feminism automatically portraying it in a negative light and not something that 'normal' women are interested in. There was also a subtle attach on Wanda's difference in priorities from Poppy's namely that she doesn't cook well and doesn't fuss over the cleanliness of her home. This in itself isn't terrible but when it is mirrored by Poppy's comments about how she always cooks when she's there and the in-laws aren't or her taking it upon her self to tidy around the family, the idea of Wanda's poor housekeeping becomes less of just a characteristic and more Kinsella's comment on the 'feminist' archetype. 

I do also feel a little frustration with the character of Poppy herself at times and in general the female protagonists in this genre of novel. I suppose it is a story of 'finding yourself', but really why are people so lost in the first place? It frustrates me immensely to see yet another Kinsella novel where a twenty-something woman is so lost that she pretends constantly to be something that she isn't. I am not sure that this ever really gets addressed in the novel, but then it is only supposed to be a light read. In life I am sure that many twenty-something women and in fact men and people of all over ages suffer from feeling lost and make poor choices as a result of it and so maybe it is that that I find grating and should cut Kinsella and other romantic comedy authors some slack. I know what I am getting when I pick these books up, but is this really the price I have to pay for the wit? Perhaps I should just be thankful that I am so aware that the characters are not being true to themselves and so there is less chance of this happening in my own life. Perhaps. 

Rating: ★★★

Longbourn by Jo Baker | Lost in Austen

This is the first book that I bought new in a very long time and a purchase that I made reluctantly. I had my biography of Mary Wollstonecraft in my bag ready for a coach journey when disaster struck and my water bottle leaked making it unreadable for days! I was in the mood where I really wanted to read and so I caved and went to the little WHSmith in the station. It is a very little shop and so only had the top ten best sellers that week. I read through all of the books and there was nothing that really caught my attention. The book that I really wanted to read was very much still soggy in my bag and I didn't want to buy a book just for the sake of it. Luckily I was saved from a bookless journey and a wasted purchase by Longbourn. 

The thing that eventually made me plump for this novel was that I realised it was set around the same time that Mary Wollstonecraft lived. At first glance I thought that it would be a re-imagination of Downton Abbey. I'm sure that all Austen enthusiasts are completely lost as to how I could have looked so much at this book and not realised that 'Longbourn' is the name of the house that the Bennets live in in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Well, I didn't. It's been only three years since I read Pride and Prejudice and yet it wasn't until I sat down to actually read the book that I figured out that Longbourn is in fact a re-imagining of Austen's from the perspective of the servants.

I loved this book and was caught from the first moment. The story is set all of the servants but heavily focuses on the maid Sarah. Her life parallels the life of Elizabeth Bennet as she too is blinded by pride and prejudice when the mysterious James turns up at Longbourn as the new footman. Having said that Sarah is lively and hard-working and the first half of the novel focuses on her longing for adventure. Sarah was orphaned as a young girl, but never settles for her lot in life. She always feels that she needs, wants and deserves more than the monotonous life of a domestic servant. We see this when she moves to Pemberley after Lizzie is married to Mr Darcy and finds that their is very little to do. With all of her free time she almost becomes a lady of leisure which she rejects in the name of adventure and true love.

The portrayal of the war in France and Spain is interesting as it is far from glorified and wholly sympathetic to the deserter, James. It tells the story of starvation and hardship and in the end we are left with very little regard for the army and it's officers. Wickham's appearances in this novel hep to add to this idea and I find myself feeling just the slight hint of sympathy for Lydia. The barbarity of the army is wholly fitting with the general questioning of authority and one's place in life.

There were some interpretations of characters that showed them in a completely different light to how I saw them in Austen's original novel. The detached, yet jolly figure of Mr Bennet in Baker's novel becomes just another entitle rake. We find out out that James is in fact the illegitimate child of Mr Bennet and Mrs Hill and whose disappearance is from Longbourn is paralleled closely with the disappearance of Lydia from Brighton. It is quite clear by My Bennet's actions which remain focused on Lydia where his loyalties lie.

Lizzie is also shown in a different in a different light in this novel. I had always thought her to be a fiery character, someone who breaks the mould and I do still admire her, but only in the context of Pride and Prejudice. Lizzie in this novel is entitled. Sarah quite rightly remarks that Lizzie might not dirty her dresses so much if she had to wash them which is the reality of who she would have been were she real. There was one incident in the book that encapsulates this entirely and that is when after receiving Sarah's resignation at Pemberley she has her brought to Darcy who scolds Sarah for her choice whilst Lizzie sits in near silence. I struggled to really believe this interpretation of her as I still want to believe that she is kind and not selfish. Perhaps the romantacised version is still firmly stuck in my mind.

This mini-review does depend upon someone having read Pride and Prejudice but the novel itself does not. Some of the parallels and so the irony would be lost, but I believe the novel can still hold it's own. It is an unflinching look into the life of domestic servants of the late Georgian period and challenged the romantacised view of that time proselytized by Austen novels. Lovers and non-lovers of historical fiction will gain so much from this book and I look forward to reading more from Jo Baker in the future.

Rating: ★★★★★

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

This book is one that I had heard so many good things about and had been all over BookTube. Initually, when I had heard the premise I wasn't too impressed because it sound like another teen romance, albeit a really good one. When I saw it on a Kobo newsletter for just £1.49 I couldn't resist and just had to know what all the buzz was about.

Eleanor and Park is the story of first love. It follows the two main characters Eleanor who is a 16 year old woman from an abusive, deprived household who as a result suffers from low self-esteem and is ridiculed by the people at her school and more importantly the people on her school bus. Park is a half-Caucasian, half-Korean boy who suffers with identity issues and also happens to be next to the only spare seat on the school bus. During their travels too and from school Eleanor and Park develop a friendship that quickly blossoms into love. Whilst Eleanor is falling in love the situation at home also escalates and it is this that she is forced to battle with all time learning about who she is. 

The first thing that I thought about this book is that it was American. For some reason the cover art had given me the impression that this was a British romance. I was quite refreshed to find that Eleanor wasn't the normal 'ugly-pretty' girl that is often portrayed in these novels and in fact seems quite normal. Her body shape is described in a way that I can relate to. Her outlandish outfits which are unbeknownst to her classmates necessitated by the the family's lack of money and not a fashion statement, make her all the more loveable as the juxtaposition of her outward appearance to what's going on inside of her helps to emphasis that Eleanor is still struggling to understand who she is. 

Park was also refreshing as he wasn't the stereotypical love interest. His half-Asian ethnicity helps to steer him away from the all-American prototype as does the fact that he is a nice boy. Park is neither a rockstar nor a 'player' but just a normal teenage boy with hangups of his own. I also really admired his choice to wear eye-liner just because he wanted to. These two are a real gender-bending pair and I loved it. 

The treatment of domestic violence in this novel was surprisingly well dealt with. It was believable and seemed genuine to the plot and not just a device to make Eleanor vulnerable. Eleanor's step-dad Richie was deplorable as of course he is supposed to be, but was used sparingly the results being that when we did see him in the novel he was all the more frightening. 

Overall the book was very very good and is the perfect tale of what it is like to fall in love for the first time. My only issue with the book is that the ending is very unsatisfactory. It can be argued that that leaves room for us to imagine what might have happened and I like thinking about some scenarios, but all in all I feel as though there are too many unanswered questions. I suppose this is exactly the desired effect as I felt quite strongly that the end of the book was not in fact the end of Eleanor and Park. 

Rating: ★★★★

Free Books from Mills & Boon

Earlier this year I was very lucky to have felt a little nostalgia for the days that I volunteered in a local charity shop. This led me to think about all the older women who used to come in and donate and then buy M&B novels in bulk! With this in mind I wondered over to their website out of curiosity and stumbled across their book club. This has now been re-vamped into a subscription package where you sign up to receive a certain amount of books every month. When I was on their website they had an offer whereby you got two introductory books for free! They offer several categories in which you can pick from including, Modern, Cherish, Intrigue, Medical, Historical, Desire, Nocturne, MIRA, Modern Tempted and Heartwarming. It seemed that the collections had expanded since I was last familiar with M&B. However, most of them are self-explanatory, but there was one that caught my eye in particular. MIRA is explained as being 'relationship and romance to dramatic thrillers'. This is the collection that intrigued me the most and these are the two books that I received.

The Ambassador's Daughter by Pam Jenoff

This is a story set in 1919 during the aftermath of the First World War. I don't know much else about this book but I'm sure that I have read the blurb in the past. The protagonist is named Margot and she is very dissatisfied with her engagement and finds love elsewhere. That is really the extent of my knowledge when it comes to this novel, but I am looking forward to the 'thriller' aspect of it. 

The Forbidden Queen by Anne O'Brien

I have to admit that I was a little disappointed when I saw this one. It looks to me to be very similar to Phillipa Greggory novels and I have tried before to read her books and even gave the TV series White Queen a go, but found myself getting bored. Perhaps it's that I'm just too aware that these books are based on real events and I can't quite suspend my disbelief because of that. The truth is that I struggle with the idea of romantacised history. This particular novel is set around Katherine de Valois who is the wife of Henry V. I find it very difficult to believe that there could be some genuine love in this books as we all know that marriages between royals were more about politics than passion. I feel as though I should give this book a chance as I've enjoyed historical romances in the past. I can, however, say that this one is not at the top of my TBR list. 

When To Stop Reading Part I

When do you give up on a book? Do you ever put down a book you can't get into or do you just plough through until you're at the end? I have never been the kind to push myself to the end of a book if I just can't get into it for several reason. The first is that reading is supposed to be enjoyable and if it isn't then surely there can't be any point in doing it. Secondly, reading takes time and if you aren't concentrating then you're just reading for the sake of it. Why spend time killing hours when you could live them? Finally, reading is for you. No one can read a book for you or get the same out of it as you and so who are you trying to impress? Just like any form of art sometimes books, stories and characters just don't click with you and when that happens it's best just to accept it and move on. My stance remains that our TBR piles are towering over us most of the time and so lets move on to those instead of making ourselves miserable reading something that just isn't right.

In case you were wondering the book that prompted this post and just didn't work for me was Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson. I've been getting itchy feet recently and this seemed like the perfect antidote, but sadly it wasn't. The premise was promising, but the writing style was basic, the dialogue poor and the characters hollow. Amy's bereavement should of course have been deeply touching and I read in reviews that this book even qualified as a romance. I didn't feel invested in either Amy's loss because she just didn't seem to have any personality. As for the romance in the book, I barely felt a spark of personality from Roger either let alone them as a couple. I just generally did not enjoy this book and after 100 pages, approximately a third of the way through, I decided to read something else instead. I did take a few suggestions from the playlists though!

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris | The Southern Vampire Mysteries #1

I have to admit that this is technically a re-read as I read most of this novel about 5ish years ago just as the TV show was getting started. Now I'm the kind of person who can't read a series at the same as it being on TV or in the cinemas. There has to be, for me, some distance from getting the story from one medium and getting the story from another. I know that the TV show hasn't officially ended, but after how bad the last two seasons were for me, I am personally done with True Blood and so I can get on to reading the Sookie Stackhouse series! 

The plot begins with Sookie Stackhouse who is a waitress in a little American town called Bon Temps. Only Sookie isn't just a waitress because Sookie is telepathic. In this universe vampires are very real and have 'come out of the coffin' two years prior to the beginning of the story. I have to admit that I know very little about Black history in the American south, but this story does appear to be very reminiscent of the race prejudices and racial barriers that have existed in this part of the world and from what the text itself suggests, still do.  

The novel is interesting because it really does not fit into genre classifications. It is simultaneously a paranormal romance, murder mystery, fantasy, vampire novel. Moreover, whilst reading the novel I never felt as though any of those strands were out of place or jarring. You do get the sense as the story continues that there are bigger themes to come as the series continues, for instance the lore of vampires, Sookie's affliction and Sam's origins. Having said that, the primary issue in this story, the unveiling of Gran's murderer is resolved satisfactorily at the end of the book. 

The romance between Bill and Sookie was an interesting comment on interracial relationships, but in other ways very typical of the romance genre, in that it was very intense and quite sudden. I don't know what it was about these two, but I just never found myself rooting for them in the way that I would expect myself to when reading a romance novel. I wasn't invested in their relationship at all and despite the explicit declarations Sookie makes about missing Bill I just don't believe that she ever did. (Though it never appeared to me that she missed her Gran either.) On top of this, Bill struck me as a very unconvincing romantic hero. I know that superficially he seems to tick all the boxes. Broody and enigmatic? Check. Worldly and protective? Check. Handsome and sexually talented? Check. He has the makings of a desirable hero, but I just didn't want him. I was even trying to picture Stephen Moyer for most of the book! It just didn't click for me.

Another problem I had with the plot is the way in which Sookie's abuse as a child was dealt with. I didn't understand the point in it being there. I am by no means suggesting that the sexual abuse of children has no place. I'm sure that it could have been a very worthy addition to Sookie's character and a worthwhile exploration of the impact upon it's survivors. It could have even added to the commentary that is going on discussing who are more monstrous: vampires or humans? It could have done all of those things and yet it didn't. It was quashed as suddenly as it was introduced. It may be that it gets brought up in later novels in the series and gets dealt with there, but I am a firm believer that if you can't do such an important topic justice then just don't do it.

One of the issues that I think Harris dealt with incredibly well was the violence against women theme. All of the murderer's victims were women, all of the murderer's intended victims were raped and chosen because of their consentual sexual relationships with vampires. This is the story line that kept my interest throughout this novel. The judgement that is bestowed upon these women by the people in their community was interesting because it mirrored to a lesser degree the feelings of Renee himself and meant that almost everyone was a suspect. Sookie, through her telepathic talent, encounters many of the people that she has grown up with thinking that the women deserved to be murdered because of their dealings with vampires, because of their 'blue collar', low-skilled jobs. It was interesting that a comment was being made on the value of women, both because they were women, but also because of their working-class status. This story line adds another layer to the exploration of prejudice that this novel seems focused on. I was very pleased that the murderer received his comeuppance at the end of the book and that the victims of his misogynistic hatred were given at least some justice. In the next book I would like to see more of what happens to Rene.

Overall, this book though the language was quite simple and easy-going surpassed my expectations with it's hard-hitting themes. I will definitely go on to read the next book in the series and am looking forward to seeing more differences between True Blood and the books that the TV show originated from. I have to say that I did miss the presence of Tara in the novel, who appeared in HBO's televised version of the stories. I also missed the more comedic side to Jason's character, but I hope that both these things will make an appearance in later Sookie novels.

Rating: ★★★

Next in series: Living Dead in Dallas

Twenty Times A Lady by Karyn Bosnak

I picked this novel off of my TBR pile because my friend had informed me that it was the book that the film What's your number? is based on. I had seen the film and loved it, but that had been some time ago and so it was the right moment for me to begin reading the novel. 

The protagonist, Delilah Darling was such an endearing character because I think that she represents something that I wish I could have more of in my own life. That thing is blind faith. Delilah Darling is the kind of woman that goes all out. She is fearless. Of course she also had absolutely no idea who she was or what she wanted, but somehow I managed to forgive this because she was quite frankly just hilarious! 

The story begins at a time when Delilah's life gets turned upside down. She loses her job, her beloved grandfather moves to the other side of the country, her younger sister is getting married and she has just read an article that says the national average of men that American women have slept with is ten and she's on... 19! After vowing off sex her self-control lapses yet again and after a drunken night with her ex-boss she bumps her number up to 20. Normally this would be exactly the kind of thing that I would throw across the room and dismiss as part of the slut-shaming culture. Luckily, having already seen the film I knew that in actual fact the novel's message is very different. With her life falling apart around her, Delilah decides to hire her neighbour to track down all of the men that she has slept with and goes on a road trip in order to see if she can find 'the one'. Instead through a series of hilarious encounters what Delilah discovers is who she is and what she wants and realises that trying to define yourself in terms of the 'average' is always futile.

I have only one criticism to make. At the end of the novel when she is enjoying her happily ever after, Delilah receives a phone call from one of the men on the list of people that she has slept with who informs her that they did not in fact sleep together. This of course means that Colin (the hunky Irish neighbour) is her number twenty. I know that this could be seen as a reinforcement of the idea that your 'number' is meaningless and I wish that I could have read it that way. However, for me it just feels as though that message is undermined a little by Delilah after all staying within the number boundaries. It suggests that she was in fact able to find love because she met the statistics, whether her own or published in a magazine (as in the film). 

Overall, this book is a romp with a surprisingly serious, important point to make and in true romcom fashion has a happy ending too. Delilah's journey, both geographical and personal, is exactly the kind that every twentysomething friend of mine has dreamed they could make, me included!

Rating: ★★★