Reading

I was on vacation in NY city last weekend--a girlfriend and I go every year. This year's theme was eating, which I took to with a vengeance. Ther other thing a long weekend in NY affords is two long plane trips in which to read. And read. And read. Something which never happens here at home, not matter how much I'd like it to.

I devoured Meredith Duran's new book, The Duke of Shadows. I loved the two part structure, and the characters were fantastic. Why is it again that historicals always have to be set in England? India was a great setting, and the historical context brims with ready-made tension and drama. Bravo! The only piece that I struggled with was the mystery plot in the second half of the book. I didn't perceive this to be a character violation--more that I longed for a different vehicle to serve as the means of reconciliation for the hero and heroine. This kind of reaction usually means that I'm so emotionally invested that I want the story to conform perfectly to my idea of how the story should go. Never a bad sign in my book.

Because I ate up The Duke of Shadows within about a day and a half, I stopped off at B&N to pick up another book. I remembered that Anne Stuart had written a new historical a couple of years ago, and they had it: The Devil's Waltz. I haven't read one of Anne Stuart's historicals in probably eight years or so, so I wasn't sure what to expect. For one, the tone seemed a lot lighter than I had remembered. The first half of this book was more like an Eloisa James or Julia Quinn book than the Anne Stuart I remembered. Still, I finished it. I think one thing I struggled with was that I didn't see the hero reach a point of being healed on the pages of the book. I had to rely on the epilogue for this. Also, I worried about the h/h's financial security. I don't actually care that much that the h/h are ridiculously wealthy, but I do want to know that they are going to be OK. Again, I had to rely on the epilogue for confirmation of this, rather than seeing the resolution unfold on the page. It was good to recognize my emotional needs this way for purposes of my own writing.