Lord of Scoundrels LOVEFEST

Great Moments from last night's reading
Book: Lord of Scoundrels
Author: Loretta Chase
Spoiler level: HIGH (Sarai and Lone C: beware!)

Oh, wow, can I be any more in love with this novel? Hardly.

Everything is so unexpected here. I richly enjoyed the engagement scene with the lawyer. And the non-starter wedding night. And how the seduction worked!

Later Jess says, “But getting you into bed—you, the greatest whoremonger in Christendom—gad it was worse than the time I had to drag Bertie to the tooth-drawer.” And they have this laugh, and Dain sees how it’s been for her, how he’s been. (Like his father!)

Anyway, last night I hit the part where she gives him the icon as a late birthday present. So lovely. To be honest, I had been worried Dain’s friends might do something to screw up their nascent relationship, more bets and things. Who knows, maybe they still will, but this is more a novel of emotions and weighty internal obstacles, not externally generated misunderstandings, and that icon, all I can say is OMG.

I didn’t expect it to come back. When it first appeared in the story I thought it was more a metaphor for a larger tale of disguised and discovered value. Dain admired it, I thought because the woman looked like his mother, and then Jess had an instinct about it and bought it and had it cleaned and it turned out to be beautiful and valuable, just as Dain would later.

But then that scene at the breakfast table where she gives it to him, and it turns out that Dain is the baby! And the little icon, at least to me, stands in for Dain’s heart, or more, a time where it was last whole, before it was destroyed. Oh, I just loved that. And his description, not realizing what he’s revealing:

'"She’s half-frowning, yes. Mildly irritated, perhaps, because the boy’s being troublesome. Yet she wears a glimmer of a smile, as though to reassure or forgive him. Because she understands that he doesn’t know any better. Innocent brat, he takes it all for granted: her smiles, reassurances, her patience…forgiveness. He doesn’t know what he has, let alone how to be grateful for it. And so he frets and scowls…in blissful infant ignorance."

Dain paused, for the room seemed to have grown too quiet suddenly, and the woman beside him too still.'

And he tries to cover, but without meaning to, she looks at him with pity, because she realizes.

And there’s the new obstacle. It’s not his stupid friends screwing them up, it’s something raw and emotional that scares real people - the exposure of your deepest wounds, and that somebody might view you not with love and admiration, but pity. Reading this, I literally thought to myself, Sheeeesh, this fucking story just gets better and better.

Maybe Loretta Chase consciously selected this icon to carry all this baggage, but really, the play of the icon feels like something the subconscious delivers up to an author, like a gift. This whole book is so wonderful for the way the obstacles are largely internal, but they’re mirrored and echoed externally.

Even the shooting scene, which is so wonderful, feels like that. His defenses are so thick, she just has to shoot him. And it looks like this blundery thing, but in fact she is an expert markswoman and very strong and smart, with a strong and smart heart.

Oh, Lord of Scoundrels!

Great Moments from last night's reading
Book: Lord of Scoundrels
Author: Loretta Chase
Spoiler level: pretty HIGH

I have a friend who is holding off on reading specific books until she is elderly, so she has things to look forward to. I suppose it might have been smart to do that with this book, but actually I'm glad I didn't, because I am SO into it. It is delightful at every turn. A feast! Still, I’m trying to savor it, though I may yet gobble it all up in one sitting. Or maybe ravish it. Maybe even tonight!

At present, however, I am just a third of the way through. There is just one enchanting scene after another.

Sigh. The glove scene in the coffee shop. What do I even say about it?

He had relieved whores beyond counting of frocks, stays, chemises, garters, and stockings. He’d never before in his life unbuttoned a gently bred maiden’s glove. He had committed salacious acts beyond number. He’d never once felt so depraved as he did now, as the last pearl came free and he drew the soft kid down, baring her wrist, and his dark fingers grazed the delicate skin he’d exposed.

He was too busy searching Dain’s Dictionary for a definition of his state—and too confused by what he read there—to realize that Miss Jessica Trent’s grey eyes had taken on the drunkenly bewildered expression of a respectable spinster being seduced in spite of herself.

Chase is exploiting the hell out of the rotating 3rd person point of view and I’m loving every minute of it. For example, with the two steamy kiss scenes that come after the glove, you’ll have Dain’s feverish POV in the moment, then Jessica’s, and then Dain’s again, but later, reflecting back in a heartbreakingly emotional way. One of my favorite examples of this so far is the way he reflects, hours later, on the kiss outside the ball:

…a firestorm of images, feelings, and one sweet, anguished moment…when she had kissed his big, loathsome nose…and cut his heart to pieces and put it back together again and made him believe he was not a monster to her. She had made him believe he was beautiful.

Lies, he told himself. They were all lies and tricks to trap him.

Reading this book, I feel like SUCH a girl. I love that Dain is not handsome, and emotionally wounded, and that Jessica wears all these silly hats and baubles that Dain hates, but then he keeps and treasures that one crushed hat from the rain scene. I love how clever she is. This book feels so well put together. The characters’ histories and goals make sense, and the way the peer groups work in - each with their own sorts of reputations to worry about - all dovetail so wonderfully.

I just got to the part where she shoots him (Katiebabs, I thought you were joking!) and I’m thinking both of them are about to have nothing to lose, which is a great place for characters to be, I suppose, unless you are SO worried about both of them like I am.

Some previous commenters seem to be on Dain’s side and some on Jess’. Do I have to pick sides? I want to love them both.

About that Lord Frederick...

Great Moments from last night's reading
Book: Private Arrangements
Author: Sherry Thomas
Spoiler level: medium

Okay, I’m almost halfway through Private Arrangements now. I think everybody knows the plot of this: husband Camden and wife Gigi reside on different continents. Ten years later she wants a divorce to marry another. Camden returns with his outrageous demand.

In novels, you have two sorts of character fun: characters that are known up front and go around doing what they’ll do through the novel, and characters that are revealed through the novel.

This is a novel of revealed character—and deliciously so. The slow build of these two characters sheds light on the events that caused these two to fly apart, as well as the ways they belong together, the ways they might come together, the ways they might soften in their standoff. It’s very pleasurable, really; the more fully you get to know these characters, the more tension is created.

So, my great moment of last night’s reading was the highly enjoyable meeting between Camden and Lord Frederick, the man Gigi has chosen to marry. Lord Frederick is an unexpected choice: while Gigi is something of a shark, or at least has that in her, her beloved Lord Frederick is this innocent, pure-hearted artist who is quite younger than her and not at all like Camden.

Upon this first meeting, Lord Frederick doesn’t know Camden knows about him:

Camden had expected to see a prime specimen of a man. Lord Frederick was not that man. Next to Lord Wrenworth, he seemed all too ordinary, his looks pleasant but unremarkable, his attire a year or two behind the forefront of fashion, his demeanor unsophisticated.

Then Camden invites Lord Frederick to come see his art collection if Lord Frederick is ever in NYC:

The poor boy clearly struggled, wondering whether he was being played for a fool, but he chose to answer Camden’s invitation as if it had been issued in good faith. "I shall be honored, sir."

In that moment, Camden saw what Gigi must have seen in the boy: his goodness, his sincerity, his willingness to think the best of everyone he met, a willingness that arose less from naivete than from an inborn sweetness.
As a reader, I find it enjoyable musing over what it means about Gigi and how she’s changed or deepened as a person that she’d pick this guy. Though not as fun as discovering what it means through the eyes of Camden. I don’t know if this angle will be exploited or not, but I’m fixated on this Lord Frederick—and also the way art works in here. And the dog, actually. We'll see what happens. Perhaps I will read some more of this book in front of the fire tonight!

Shine on, crazy diamond

Great Moments from last night's reading
Book: The Hell You Say
Author: Josh Lanyon
Spoiler level: low

I have just started THE HELL YOU SAY by Josh Lanyon and it is so goddamn delightful. In fact, by page 3 the book had moved from the category of “book I’ll read and enjoy and eventually sell or give away” to “book I’ll keep around for a while.” And then by page 5, and people, this is a feat, it had progressed to “book I put pen marks in,” which means I think I’ll never sell or give it away. It was a fast commitment. A couple random ones from that page 5:

“You have no idea what he is, Adrien.” Jake, a ten-year veteran of LAPD, used that cop tone when I exhibited signs of civilian naiveté.

While we waited for our meal I watched him put away two baskets of tortilla strips. He munched steadily, as though he were being paid by the chip, gaze fastened on a wall planter bristling with plastic bougainvillea.

This is such great description - it sets a scene, it builds character, and it's highly entertaining. I love funny, clever writing. So anyway, I've been marking lines and pages in this book. Sort of a writerly OCD thing to do. Mainly, I will return to re-enjoy those passages long after I’ve finished the book, sort of the way I imagine a pirate might enjoy the coins and gems he’s collected, taking each one out of the chest, holding it up to the light. Yarrr, Mister Josh Lanyon!

Okay, here’s another early passage I rather enjoyed, and it gives a sense of the plot. It’s the main character Adrien, a bookstore owner, talking to this Professor Snowden about Angus, Adrien’s employee. Adrien asks if he was aware Angus was being harassed:

Once again Snowden raised the most supercilious eyebrow this side of the royal family. “I was not,” he said finally.

“Apparently Angus and some other kids took a course with you called Practical Magic. Witchcraft in modern society. Anyway, the enterprising little tykes went off and started their very own coven—but I imagine you already know that.”

“Ridiculous,” he said sharply.

“What is ridiculous?”

“Why, the idea that a student—my students—would attempt to put into practice—” He stopped.

I shrugged. He smelled a bit like pipe tobacco, which I like and Masculine, which I wear myself on occasion. I found it just the least bit distracting.

“You think these…classmates are harassing Angus? Exactly what do you mean by harassing?”

“Curses—I don’t mean cussing, I mean threats—I’ve heard a few of the phone calls. Alexander Graham Bell would not be happy.”

The green eyes narrowed. I had to admit that expression was not quite as enjoyable as the way he’d originally looked at me.

When I failed to be razed to cinders, he asked, “What is it you think you can do about this?”

Sometimes the downfall of cleverly written books is that they can be light on plot and character, the way pretty girls can sometimes be light on personality, but that is not a problem with THE HELL, which totally has it going on in those areas. It is strong in every area so far.

In fact, it’s getting so good, it's in danger of moving to the category of “too exciting to read before bed.” I am awash in all these immensely entertaining books. I am on a streak!

I didn’t mark this one so I can’t reproduce it exactly, but there’s this one place where Adrien observes some girl is carrying a Lord of the Rings lunchbox, and he goes, “by the way, what is it with chicks and that elf?”

Oh, I don’t know Josh Lanyon, but I secret have a thing for that elf, too, and he’s so not my type. And that line was like this crazy little treasure.

Meljean’s magical game of trust

Great Moments from last night's reading
Book: Demon Moon (I know, everybody is already on Demon Night)
Author: Meljean Brook
Spoiler level: medium

One of the most enchanting things about a Meljean Brook book is how the story isn’t told so much as it accumulates weight. Events move chronologically across an increasingly rich terrain of emotional truths and past events.

It’s so pleasurable, and I think it shows that Meljean Brook trusts her reader. And the reader comes to trust her. You don’t always get the full sense of what’s happening or why, but you come to know you will.

A great example of this is “What happened in Caelum,” a central event in Demon Moon that happens offstage. The pieces come together in slowly.

Now, this isn’t your run-of-the-mill slow backstory reveal, which usually annoys the living daylights out of me, because it usually feels like an author is withholding facts to increase tension. I don’t like to be toyed with, particularly not with a dramatic device.

Meljean Brook is up to something entirely different. It’s as if the forward motion of the text washes up little bits of the submerged past events and emotional truths - washes them up onto the shore. The little bits might include, oh, Colin or Savi’s intense reaction to a painting, or here’s an echo of a feeling, or a haunting visual. Another bit may be the way Colin insults Savi, or an un-inspected motivation that Savi maybe sees too late. It’s like sunken realities drive and interact with the forward events, but they also form their own story.

And the wonderful thing is that even after you get the ‘story,’ in this example, the story of what happened in Caelum, the fragments continue to wash up, intensifying the forward motion.

Here I am analyzing it, but I don’t actually see it as a technique another author could adopt, because it seems to grow naturally out of MB's fantastically complex understanding of her own characters and scenarios. And I think, a little bit of magic is in there, too.

Villain recognition

Great Moments from last night's reading
Book: Gabriel's Ghost
Author: Linnea Sinclair
Spoiler level: low-medium

Wow, I am REALLY enjoying this book!! The characters are wonderful, the action is tight. I want to talk about one little plot aspect here that I really admired: the villain giveaway. 

I’m one of those people who pegs the villains fast. It’s a talent that impresses my husband to no end during TV shows and movies. Of course I don’t tell him who the villain is – that would ruin his fun, but being the smarty-pants show-off I am, I do coyly tell when I know.

Like any minorly awesome talent, this one can be a burden. Because it’s no fun to know the villain TOO soon. Especially in novels. Which comes down to the author’s ability to manage the readers’ perceptions.

Managing the reader's perceptions for maximum fun is something Linnea Sinclair does wonderfully well in Gabriel's Ghost. Which brings me to my great moment, which was a culmination of great moments of this book. Let me take a time-out here to stress here that Gabriel’s Ghost is NOT about a ghost, and our hero is not the dorky ghost looking figure on the cover, a worry of mine in a previous post, possibly a case of PTSD from LU.

Now about that villain! Okay I had an inkling about the identity of the villain early on but certainly not from the first or second time of “exposure” let’s say, to the character, but early enough. But then I wasn’t so sure. Then I re-suspected, but then not, due to a character I trusted not suspecting. And then it became quite plain, and then there was real evidence, but our heroine, Chaz, overlooked the evidence—understandable for the situation, though this ignorance naturally put Chaz and her hero in danger.

It’s fun knowing the villain when the hero and heroine don’t, but it’s not fun if it goes on too long. Here it went on just long enough, and then Chaz got it. It was a perfectly satisfying arc.

This book shows up on a lot of best of lists, and I can see why. It’s smart all the way through, there are larger themes treated interestingly, and the HEA has a realistic edge to it. I could see people arguing about the HEA and it would be a very enjoyable argument to have.

An exciting bit of news to the many fans of this book - a sequel, formerly entitled Chasidah's Choice, now called Shades of Dark, is coming out in July.

Protective bawdiness

Great Moments from last night's reading
Book: My Fair Captain
Author: J. L. Langley
Spoiler level: medium

Well! In honor of man-love Monday over at Lisabea’s and Sula’s blogs, and also being somewhat observed at Tumperkin’s blog, I would like to pay tribute to an outstanding moment from My Fair Captain, the gay outer space Regency romance that’s all the rage right now.

There are two - nay, three things I enjoyed in this highly scandalous and delicious scene. Imagine: young Aiden steals into the older and more experienced Captain Nate’s bedroom in order to catch a glimpse of the cock ring he was so shocked to discover during an earlier moment of mild impropriety. Aiden hides behind a chair as Nate comes out of the shower, but not before accidentally dropping a drawing pencil on the floor. Oops - does Nate see it? Aiden thinks not - phew! - but the fair reader suspects otherwise.

Nate then flops onto the bed, naked, and proceeds to masturbate rather wantonly, while imagining, out loud, a totally bawdy scene between him and Aiden. I won’t give things away, but it gave me some psychological insight into the practice of fisting that was heretofore missing from my pantheon of sexual knowledge. Of course the reader suspects Nate is purposely trying to steer young Aiden away from the roguish likes of him. It doesn’t really work, being that Aiden gets off on it rather heartily. After, Aiden runs away the first chance he gets.

Number one, I liked the scene itself - I’ve never seen anything like it. It was unexpected, creative and believable for this world. Two, I liked the way Nate’s motives aren’t confirmed right away - you suspect he knew Aiden was there, but you don’t get Nate’s side of the experience until a bit later. I found myself thinking, Well, maybe he really didn’t know Aiden was there. So then it was a highly entertaining surprise to find out how much Nate knew about what was happening. And thirdly, I rather enjoyed the characterization of Nate here.

Nate, I have to say, has wonderful intentions around not compromising the virtue of young Aiden, but in practice, he really doesn’t do a great job of keeping his boundaries. He wants to be good…yet not! It’s the perfect portrait of temptation - you edge a bit closer, often in the guise of resistance - and then closer and closer, always with a seemingly good reason, and then it’s too late! And you wouldn't have it any other way.

Welcome to my planet

Great moments from last night's reading
Book: My Fair Captain
Author: J. L. Langley
Page: 40
Spoiler level: low

I often think it would be so great to live in the olden days, and England's Regency period (early 1800's) is quite attractive. Then I think, But wait! Medieval dental procedures! Lack of women's rights!

In My Fair Captain, J. L. Langley has quite neatly gotten around this problem by creating an outer space society that's based on the Regency model. You have all the fun of Regency clothes and courtship rituals and castles and balls, plus all the high-tech conveniences you'd want. I would totally live there. And if you are a secretly gay and hunky spaceship captain on assignment to the planet Regelence, you are also quite pleased to note that this Regency society is quite different from traditional Regency societies in another key way.

I always love a good "reveal" moment in a book where a character is really surprised by something the reader already knows and this one was fun. Nate's superior, Carl, informs Nate that he'll be the guest of King Steven and his consort, Raleigh while investigating a crime. Carl goes on to say,

"I doubt you will be recognized, but if you are it will not be a big deal. And while we are on the subject, Steven and Raleigh are the only ones who will know the true reason you’re there. Off the record, I know both of these men personally. They are good men and they aren’t involved. You can trust them fully. However, officially you report to me. You’ll be briefed fully when you—”

Nate blinked, totally losing track of what the admiral was saying. Did he say—surely not. “Wait. Did you say he? The king’s consort is a man?” Societies like the one they were discussing, like the one Nate grew up in, did not tolerate same-sex relationships.

The admiral laughed. “Did I forget to mention that Regelence is a very patriarchal society?"

Very patriarchal indeed! The entire ruling class is gay. There are lube faucets in every bedroom. This book also has a delightful "duel scene" opening. The text is written in a highly conversational way, and therefore sort of lax on language, but that's part of the personality of the tale here. I find myself thinking about this story a lot when I'm not reading it. I won this book on a contest at Lisabea's Nose in a Book blog, and it's tons of fun. Thanks! I'm at the part where fair captain Nate is about to attend a ball. Will he be able to retain his professional demeanor around enchanting young swain Adrian? I hope not!

Characters and taste

Great moments from last night's reading
Book: Demon Angel
Author: Meljean Brook
Page: 160
Spoiler level: medium

Okay, I’m almost halfway through Demon Angel and SO enjoying it - it rises well above most books I’ve read lately, in genre and ordinary literature. I see now why everybody loves it. The big fun is the interplay between characters, especially Lilith and Hugh, and Lilith and Colin. It just sizzles and crackles!

But the enjoyable moment I want to talk about from last night is sort of small. It was getting insight into Hugh’s character and current circumstances through his aesthetic sense, specifically his décor, shown here through Lilith’s eyes: dark wood, thick rug, “everything here was uncluttered, minimalist. She would have thought it sterile if not for the colors...” which are warm and rich and bright. And then, “apparently he abhorred white.” Hugh, with his heavenly heritage and pedigree stretching back to antiquity, goes for a contemporary and warm decoration scheme, which is quite at odds from what he is, or at least has been most of his life. In this way, the décor went beyond making sense for Hugh's personality, it actually went to the plot. It characterizes him, and at the same time, suggests his unease with aspects of himself, something that’s becoming evident elsewhere. And Lilith, of course, notices his preferences because she loves him. Oh, the pathos!

I love hearing about characters' artistic sensibilities. Laurel K. Hamilton was great at this, too. I’ll never forget Jean Claude’s decorating schemes, or the time he sent Anita Blake a bunch of roses after she was hurt, and they were all white except one red one. And then Richard, who’s way more a wildflower guy, sees them and could not be more full of derision. I don’t have this example on hand, but I recall Nalini Singh put a lot of thought into the décor Lucas chose for his werewolfy treehouse-like home.

A perfect little scene

Great moments from last night's reading
Book: Demon Angel
Author: Meljean Brook
Page: 79
Spoiler level: low

I love when angelic Guardian Hugh and demonic Lilith are standing on a London rooftop in 1666 as the city burns, and he presents her with a bound quarto of Marlowe's Doctor Faustus.

"Her heart thundered. 'You would give this to me?'" Of course, Hugh knows she has haunted various writers and poets, though she can't tell him why such things are so important to her, then,

They staggered as the roof buckled and caved; a hole opened yards from where they stood. Flames shot up, sparks showered down around them. Yes, it was much like Below. What would Lucifer do should she have such a gift in her possession? She wouldn't be able to hide it, or excuse it. It was not a theft--was not something she could cover with a lie.

She clenched her hands by her sides, tempered her shields, and forced the words through the tightness in her throat. "No. I want nothing so worthless."

His features hardened, and his gaze dropped to the book. He slid his palm reverently over the tooled leather cover.

Then he tossed it into the fiery pit beside them and walked away.

Oh, she so wanted the book! I loved this moment; it was so poignant, and so dramatically illustrative of their whole relationship. Also, I love how these two stand around conversing in the midst of lots of action. With a lot of books, if you think about them too hard, especially when it comes to plot and character motivation, they fall apart. While I'm still early on in the book, I have to say, the more I think about the plot and the people, the richer and more interconnected the text becomes, the more tightly it holds together, even grips, sort of like a Chinese finger trap. Well woven, Ms. Brook!