Jewel, Carolyn - historical romances

[oyceter]

So far, two hits, two misses, and one in the middle. Jewel so far tends to focus on the male POV and on male pleasure during sex, which is relatively different. As such, sometimes it has the man losing control during sex, but not always, and the focus on male pleasure while sometimes outright ignoring female pleasure takes away from why I like romances in the first place. Still, her later historicals focus on people who are not conventionally pretty and/or handsome, and there's a lot of character-driven romance without many Big Misunderstandings or other plot devices.

Alas, the one and half paranormals I've read by Jewel kind of suck.

Indiscreet - Sabine Godard was ruined years ago when a rake said he had seduced her. Edward, Marquess of Foye, feels guilty about this, as he was present during aforementioned rake's announcement. They meet again Turkey, sparks fly. Giant warning for Orientalism, harems, evil pashas, etc. Edward is paranoid he's beastly and ugly because he is 6'6", and Sabine is not particularly willing to be seduced again, given what happened the last time. This is much more interesting when it's Edward and Sabine talking and the romance is not nearly as good when there is a bunch of plot about escaping evil pashas. Of course, that may just be me and my hatred of the evil pasha/exotic Middle East thing. Sabine crossdresses and does brownface (!) at one point, and although her thoughts on being treated as a servant are interesting, they do not overcome my "Brownface O_o" reaction. Also, there is a very random plot twist in the end that really should have been taken out. Not bad for character and language, but meh on the plot and super BOO on the Orientalism.

Lord Ruin - A notorious rake compromises a spinster and is forced to marry her. This feels like the prototype for Scandal. The opening is extremely problematic, as Ruan, Duke of Cynssyr, finds Anne in his bed and assumes she's a widow or a prostitute and has sex with her while she's semi-conscious. She's basically just had laudanum because she sprained her ankle, and she was put in his room because people thought he wouldn't show. Extremely dubious in terms of consent! Interestingly, Jewel makes this more of a danger to Cynssyr's reputation than Anne's (I am not sure how believable this is, however). Still, I like that Ruan and Anne grow to like and respect each other a lot. There is a catch-a-murderer plot which bored me. Also, Jewel apparently planned this as a series, because several future heroines and heroes are introduced. I hope she does end up writing more from this book, as Anne's sister stole the show a little in the end, and I want her book. The emotional conclusion is much too rushed, and to make it work, Jewel has Anne go into a huge Big Misunderstanding.

Scandal - Probably the best of the bunch. Sophie Evans was married to a rake she loved deeply, and he broke her heart. His best friend, Gwilym, Earl of Banallt (it is never good when your name is only a few letters away from "banal"), is head over heels in love with her, but she doesn't believe him because he too was a notorious rake. I particularly loved Sophie, who is believably hurt and wary, and it's nice to have a romance with the man who is in love first, as opposed to only being stricken with lust. Also, I am greatly fond of women afraid of love. As with Lord Ruin, the emotional conclusion is too rushed, but at least it is not nearly as implausible.

The Spare - Captain Sebastian Alexander was the second son, so he never expected to inherit. Then his brother was murdered. Sebastian now wants to find the murderer, but the only witness, Olivia Willow, does not remember anything about that night. Also, there is an ancestral match-making ghost. This is not a good thing. The interactions between Sebastian and Olivia are nice, but the entire paranormal aspect did not work for me at all. Amazingly, having an ancestral ghost give your hero and heroine dreams of having sex with each other makes me think they are less in love and more being manipulated, which is a bit of a downer for the romance. Props for giving the heroine angst, but I roll my eyes at what the angst is actually for. Also, the final plot resolution is extremely random and not very foreshadowed at all.

Stolen Love - Elizabeth Willard has been writing to the older Nicholas Villines ever since she was a child, and now he's finally back in town. Unfortunately, he seems to only see her as a kid sister. Also, unbeknownst to her, he has become a jewel thief to fill his family's emptied coffers. Alas, the jewel thief plot and the romance plot don't intersect much at all until the very ending. The prose is also dull while attempting to be Regency-proper, Elizabeth is much too perfect, I have no idea why Nicholas keeps flirting with her cousin. An earlier work, and oh, it shows.

Worth reading: Scandal (probably best of the bunch), Indiscreet if you can stand the evil pashas and the Orientalism, Lord Ruin if you can get past the dubcon set up.

Comments

[oracne]

I read LORD RUIN and THE SPARE, I think far enough separated that I forgot I'd read another book by this author. I didn't love either enough to read more of her (except I apparently forgot that).

I don't even remember the ghost in THE SPARE, though I do remember the cover.

[oyceter]

I think Scandal is pretty interesting because it's so internal (I tend to like those), and you may like Indiscreet for the cross-dressing bits as well, as they cover not just gender but also class (Sabine has to crossdress as the hero's valet of sorts). As noted, she tends to have problems with the resolution of books (too fast!), but the prose definitely gets better, and her take on rakes in particular was nice.

[oracne]

Ooh, cross-class cross-dressing!