A Trio Most Romantic

The Last Reilly Standing by Maureen Child

The Back Cover Copy:

Thankfully, the longest three months of Aidan's life were coming to an end. Only three more weeks and he'd be the winner of the no-sex-for-ninety-days bet he made with his brothers. He could almost taste victory!
Then he'd met Terry Evans.

Her voice was soft and dreamy. Just the kind a man liked to hear coming from the pillow beside his. Aidan groaned from the absolute misery of having to look at this gorgeous woman and not be able to turn on his usual Reilly charm. Or work his magic until he had her right where he wanted her. In the dark. In his bed. No, it would not be an easy three weeks, not if he was going to be the last Reilly standing…and not on bended knee!

This was the first book I've read by Ms. Child and I really enjoyed it. One of the lovely things about category romance is that you can read them in one sitting, or preferably, the bath. Sometimes with a glass of wine. It's my own version of the Calgon moment. But I digress….This is apparently the last of the three in the Reilly Brothers Series, so I'm coming in late, but it didn't take a long time to figure things out. Aidan Reilly is the Marine who performs marine rescue and loves his family, too, and most of all, he is a wonderfully written male. I can see why Ms. Child is as popular as she is, because there is a talent to writing the male POV. Linda Howard does it, Suz Brockmann does it, Sherilyn Kenyon does it. They all capture the quintessential Y-chromosome, and somehow place it on the page. I enjoy reading these heroes, the Dennis Quaids of romance-land, although sometimes I worry that they'll all turn 50 and buy a red Corvette and then run off with the 20 year old blonde bar-maid from the tavern down the street, which is why I believe Nora Roberts actually writes better heroes, because you can see her heroes at age 60, middle-aged paunch, still hunkering down over the lawnmower, or griping about doing the dishes, but finding the time to swat the wife on the rear, or give her that special look that couples have after they've been married for 30+ years…

Ahem, I digress….. Back to Ms. Child's particular talents: The other bit that I noticed was the marvelous sense of place that I got from the South Carolina town. I've only driven through South Carolina, but suddenly I wanted to go and experience this charming southern locale. I could smell the sea, taste the beer, and I swear I've met some of the townsfolk. I don't know if she's ever been a travel writer, but I have to say, it takes an exceptional writer to go on about setting and keep me interested. Ms. Child succeeded. All that said, I do have one quibble. The heroine had one moment where she forgot to put on her thinking cap and I was rather perturbed. I'm not going to spoil anything, and in case any of you have read the back, and are thinking, "Well, I didn't have any trouble…," I feel I should keep my mouth shut. However, I don't want to be on a boat with YOU in event of emergency. That's all I'll say.

I'll be chasing down the other two in the series, because I have to love a family named Reilly, not spelled in that pansy-asped R-i-l-e-y way. You spell it out enough, and you learn to appreciate the folks who get it right on the first try.

It's In His Kiss by Julia Quinn

The Back Cover Copy:

Meet Our Hero ...
Gareth St. Clair is in a bind. His father, who detests him, is determined to beggar the St. Clair estates and ruin his inheritance. Gareth's sole bequest is an old family diary, which may or may not contain the secrets of his past .. and the key to his future. The problem is -- it's written in Italian, of which Gareth speaks not a word.
Meet Our Heroine ...
All the ton agreed: there was no one quite like Hyacinth Bridgerton. She's fiendishly smart, devilishly outspoken, and according to Gareth, probably best in small doses. But there's something about her -- something charming and vexing -- that grabs him and won't quite let go ...
Meet Poor Mr. Mozart ...
Or don't. But rest assured, he's spinning in his grave when Gareth and Hyacinth cross paths at the annual -- and annually discordant -- Smythe-Smith musicale. To Hyacinth, Gareth's every word seems a dare, and she offers to translate his diary, even though her Italian is slightly less than perfect. But as they delve into the mysterious text, they discover that the answers they seek lie not in the diary, but in each other ... and that there is nothing as simple -- or as complicated -- as a single, perfect kiss.

Ah, ah, ah…. I love The Bridgerton's. Especially D-B-C… E not so much, which I suspect is Ms. Quinn's 9/11 book (the book worked on while the author is dealing with September 11th ) but I digress…This one…. H!!! I think I have a new favorite. It's In His Kiss is marvelous. Gareth St. Clair is pretty much my fav JQ hero. He is charming, because of course, a Julia Quinn character without charm, is like a day without sunshine. It must not be. BUT, he has a wounded edge to him, which is marvelously done. And Hyacinth is perfect for him. Smart, mouthy, caring, and slightly obtuse to the world. In my current reading binge, I've had an opportunity to sample different romances, and this one was a romance with a capital R. There were no huge mysteries to solve (one minor mystery that drove the plot, but it never overshadowed the romance), only a hero who didn't quite believe in himself, and the heroine who did. Redemption plots are hugely popular, some work, some don't, but when they do, you just want to say, "ah!" Any of you who have this one in your TBR, read it now!

Mr. Impossible by Loretta Chase

The Back Cover Copy:

IMPOSSIBLE...
Rupert Carsington, fourth son of the Earl of Hargate, is his aristocratic family's favorite disaster. He is irresistibly handsome, shockingly masculine, and irretrievably reckless, and wherever he goes, trouble follows. Still, Rupert's never met an entanglement--emotional or other--he couldn't escape. Until now.

OUTRAGEOUS...
Now he's in Egypt, stranded in the depths of Cairo's most infamous prison, and his only way out is accepting a beautiful widow's dangerous proposal. Scholar Daphne Pembroke wants him to rescue her brother, who's been kidnapped by a rival seeking a fabled treasure. Their partnership is strictly business: She'll provide the brains, he, the brawn. Simple enough in theory.

INEVITABLE...
Blame it on the sun or the blazing desert heat, but as tensions flare and inhibitions melt, the most disciplined of women and the most reckless of men are about to clash in the most impossibly irresistible way.

Because I don't get to read as much as I used to, I'm choosey about what I read. I don't auto-buy authors anymore; my auto-buy list got too long, and I refused to knock anyone off it, so I decided to cut off the practice and buy my books on a case-by-case basis only, which means that anything I read is something that I particularly want to read. And such was the case for Mr. Impossible. The inimitable Ms. Chase, of the Lord of the Scoundrels fame, who has more wit in her little finger, than I have in my head (at least according to my husband), makes me remember why I used to love Regencies. Her dialog, her turn of phrase, the bon mots, the marvelous British sensibility. This book lived up my Regency standard (which is very high, indeed), and it was set in Egypt.

I considered quoting some of my favorite lines from the book, but I realized I would be quoting pretty much the entire book. Daphe is the Regency blue-stocking and yet she wasn't cardboard, or brought in from casting central; she has an extra little something, a sense of realness that Ms. Chase seems to grace all her characters with. Rupert was a darling, although not as carefully drawn as Daphne. And I should note that if you don't like Egyptian things, don't read this book. I enjoy Egypt (any of you ever play Sphinx on PS2?), I loved the change of scenery, and I realized that I love Ms. Chase's narration: her authorial moments where the scene changes, or we're given a little aside. I skimmed over the Amazon reviews before I wrote my own, and I noticed some negatives because the book focused so much on the adventure, and less on the romance. That's probably true, especially since I read this one on the heels, of the wonderfully romancey romance, It's In His Kiss. However, I must defend her choice, since I believe the adventure was the only way to bring out Daphne's character without boring us with forty pages of psycho-therapy and tedious soliloquies. That's an author's prerogative to figure out the best way to show and develop character, and I'm with Ms. Chase on this one. And yes, the adventure was FUN!

I still have a few more books to be read, and I'll be putting up some more reviews when they're done, but I have to say, this has been a blast. I forget how much I love to read and how much I love reading romance. If anyone has more book recommendations, please send them my way. I've been reading some great books!