The Good, The Bad and Just Don't Read: Reviews

dear readers,

I read a few romances lately and here is what I thought:

(I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review).

THE GOOD

BITE ME, YOUR GRACE
(Bite Me, Your Grace: Book 1)
Written by Brooklyn Ann 
genre: Historical Paranormal Romance 

4 STARS 

On the heels of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Dr. John Polidori's writes his own ghost story, The Vampyre. Written after a weekend spent writing ghost stories with Lord Byron. The novel hits the ton and begins a new craze and a new crazy.

Ian Ashton - lord of the Vampires in London - already has to dispel rumors of being a creature of the night by doing what vampires supposedly cannot do like standing in front of mirrors and eating garlic. Now with this new book that seems to know more than it should and some crazy loose on the ton - he has to deal with his neighbor Angelica Winthrope who wishes to be the next Mary Shelley.

Angelica wants to write, not marry a Lord. When her mysterious neighbor shows interest in marrying her she does everything to thwart him. Soon the aspiring horror writer and creature of the night marry and that is only the beginning...

I really really enjoyed this humorous paranormal gothic historical romance novel! It has the perfect blend of contemporary humor with Regency history. I myself love Mary Shelly and her novel, Frankenstein. The group she hung around with were great writers themselves and it was interesting to have them be an influence in this book. Lord Byron - can you write gothic without him? This is a great novel if you are not sure about historical romances or paranormal as it gives you a great taste of the genre.


THE BAD

WHERE MAGIC DWELLS
Written by Rexanne Becnel
genre: Historical Romance with Paranormal aspects 

3 STARS

Wynne is a seeress and guardian to 5 orphaned children in the Radnor Forest in Wales. The young children are results of English soldiers raping Welsh women and leaving them pregnant. Cleve, an English Soldier has come to Radnor Forest to search for one of those children who may be the heir to his kingdom. Wynne will do anything to protect the children as Cleve will do the same for his kingdom.

An okay historical romance that was a bit cliched and lacked the sparks between the hero and heroine.


AND JUST DON'T READ

EMMA: A LATTER-DAY TALE

by Rebecca H. Jamison 
genre: modern retelling of Jane Austen's Emma 

DNF (Did not finish)

This novel used too much of the original novel to be unique and was not interesting enough to keep reading.  Read about 45%.  Maybe the modern twist was in the half I did not read. I adore Jane Austen's Emma and Highly recommend you read that instead...or if you are looking for a modern-ish retelling try the movie Clueless.

love,
kris