Monday, February 6

Not Worth My Time...

You know that great scene in Rear Window when Grace Kelly gets pissed off with Jimmy Stewart and starts to walk out giving the impression she wont ever be back and then announces she'll be back tomorrow--that's the kind of relationship I have with Julie Garwood these days. I repeatedly swear I'll never read her books again and yet at some point I've gone on to read every single thing she's written.

Out of respect for the woman who wrote Honor's Splendor I've listed this book as OKAY, alas it really was NOT WORTH MY TIME. I'm relieved I picked this one up at the library even buying it at the UBS would have annoyed me. I'm not sure I can even read her historicals anymore, with the exception of Honor's Splendor, I've not read one of her historicals in years. At one time I enjoyed her fluffy, fun and entertaining historicals. Okay, so they weren't historically accurate and the heroines are all perfect and the heros all have a certain smirky acceptance of the cute little person now in their lives, like they're planning on patting the little lady on the head. This may have worked in historicals, but in a Contemporary Romantic Suspense it pisses me off. I do not like RS Lite, and yet I liked Rachel Gibson's Sex, Lies and Online Dating which has a RS Lite feeling to it. I'll have to think about it, hmm. Maybe it's just Julie Garwood's RS Lite I don't particularly like.

I don't want to actually write a review so go check RT if you're looking for a positive review, not that I've actually checked, but they seem to be JG fangirls over there, and there probably is a more honest review over on AAR.

After basking in the glow of the fabulous Anne Stuart anti-hero, Christian Montcalm, I discovered Candace Camp's So Wild A Heart...Devin Aincourt, Earl of Ravenscar, makes no apologies for who he is--a drinker, a womanizer, a gambler. Having been cast aside by his disapproving father years before, Dev is content to live out his cursed life in this hedonistic manner... yada yada yada, blah blah blah.

So dear old Dev isn't really an anti-hero and his heroine, Miranda, at first is a refreshing bit of American heiress fresh air, but turns out to be a pain the behind.

The sad part to this book, I was more interested in the untold stories of Dev's sister Rachel and her husband Michael and Dev's widowed brother-in-law Richard. So I'll probably look to see if they have stories, and that just leaves me wanting to bang my head on my desk.

Vicky Taylor's Flesh and Stone is supposed to be out, maybe I need a trip to B&N.

Have a good one, and happy reading.

Tara

6 comments:

Mad said...

They do have their stories. Richard's book is THE HIDDEN HEART and Rachel's and Michael's story is SECRETS OF THE HEART.

Rosario said...

I read Secrets of the Heart and it's pretty good.

Tara Marie said...

Mad, thank you very much for the info, now I don't have to go searching for it...

And, Rosario, a pretty good from you means I'll most likely pick it up.

Thanks, ladies.

Tara

CindyS said...

You are a better person than I. I had to leave her after her first contemporary. I bought the second in HC but when I realized I hadn't read it by the time her next release came out I knew I was done. She must have a following though because I don't see her offering to go back.

With her last few books I noticed she wasn't writing so much about two people falling in love as about a bunch of people just *shrug* hanging around. So she was already showing signs of not making it through the transition.

I re-read her historicals a year ago to write a column for AAR about her appeal. I was worried that after so long I wouldn't enjoy her historicals anymore. About half way through the Bride I realized I had a stupid grin on my face. So, I guess that's good. I can always re-visit her older books.

Right now, I am fumbling through my AS blues. I wish more authors wrote like her.

CindyS

Kristie (J) said...

Isn't it sad letting go of an author who you just adored in the past. You know you have to let go but you just don't want to.

And I give a pretty good to the other Camp stories too. It's been a while since I read them, but I know I liked them at the time. Not great but if you can find them at a UBS, they are worth the read.

Tara Marie said...

Well, I called the UBS and they have both books, so I'm picking them up today after school. Why do we let a few secondary characters peek our interest enough to read their books even though we didn't like the original??