Ravishing in Red by Madeline Hunter (The Rarest Blooms, Book 1)

A sweet love story based on a marriage of convenience, Ravishing in Red is a strong start to Madeline Hunter’s new historical romance series.

Audrianna Kelmsleigh’s father was accused of treason, resulting in disastrous consequences. Her family shunned by society, she goes to live with her cousin in a boarding house of sorts called ‘The Rarest Blooms’. She sees an ad in a newspaper relating to information in her father’s case, and wishing to clear her name she rushes off to meet the would be informant. Instead of meeting him, however, she meets Lord Sebastian Summerhays, who is investigating the same issue. He is shot accidentally, leading to a scandal and eventually their marriage. Their marriage is further complicated by the fact that it was Sebastian who led the case against her father, leading her to distrust him.

The good, the bad and the rec

At first look, this appears to be another marriage of convenience story, but Madeline Hunter’s craftsmanship reveals the story beautifully, (more)

Moon Craving (Children of the Moon, Book 2)

A paranormal Scottish historical featuring a werewolf laird and a deaf English heroine that won’t leave you wanting to hit the characters on the head.

Talorc, laird of the Sinclair clan, is a Chrechte, part of an ancient tribe of werewolves that integrated itself into the clans of the Picts in Scotland to preserve their heritage. As the laird, he’s a subject of the King of Scotland, who orders him to marry an Englishwoman. Abigail became deaf through a childhood affliction. As a survival mechanism, she has learnt to speak clearly and to read lips. Her relationship with her family has led her to believe that she will be shunned because of this affliction, and as a result she has learnt to hide it well, and continues to do so with her new husband.

This is a beautiful love story of two people coming together. Talorc is tough and gruff, like the typical Highlander in most novels but he has a gentleness about him, despite his wolf nature that is well interpreted. Monroe also does a good job of showing Abigail’s vulnerability and how she holds herself together and tries to be strong. (more)

Too Good To Be True by Kristan Higgins

(Otherwise known as OMG, Wandergurl is reading a contemporary that is not also a paranormal and is not written by Susan Elizabeth Phillips.)

Grace Emerson is history teacher and civil war buff whose ex-fiancé is now dating her baby sister whom she loves and adores. Tired of the pitying looks and parental nagging, she invents a hot boyfriend to appease her family. In the meantime, Callahan O’Shea, a rugged bad boy with Irish heritage, moves in next door. Now … should she or shouldn’t she?

We all know what happens next, but Kristan Higgins does a good job of reinventing the (bad) boy next door and making the whole story appealing. Too Good To Be True is a hilarious mix of well thought out characters—including a cute West Highland terrier—in an easy to read page turner that kept me grinning.

The upside

Grace is a very relatable character. As a history nerd with an equally nagging family. (Mum asks me if I’ve met Anyone Interesting no matter where I go. (more)

On the Edge by Ilona Andrews (The Edge, Book 1)

There’s a reason we visit bricks and mortar bookshops, and at the top of the list is finding great books like this one.

Rose Drayton lives with her 2 much younger brothers in the ‘Edge’, a world between worlds: the ‘Broken’ or normal everyday earth; and the ‘Weird’, a supernatural kind of place not unlike faerie. She possesses a power normally reserved for bluebloods of the Weird, and that power has been both a blessing and a pain in the arse. Mostly a pain in the arse.

One day, this hot, kick-arse blueblood named Declan shows up at her doorstep, ostensibly to marry her so they can breed children who have her power. He also has a few secrets (of course), and he knows more than what he says (of course). Then the baddie shows up in town, trying to do away with Rose’s brothers. Rose now has to get together with Declan and save them and the whole town from whatever the baddie really wants.

At the risk of sounding like a male skateboarding preteen who reads Alex Rider novels (good books!) I have to say this is a really cool book. (more)

Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume edited by Jennifer O'Connell

Are You There God? It’s Me … Wandergurl

Growing up in the 80s and 90s, Judy Blume was a staple read for me. I had all her books (except, strangely, the Fudge series) and would read them over and over again. Just As Long As We’re Together was a particular favourite of mine, and it was next to my bed so that if I had a nightmare I could turn the light on and read it to feel better and get back to bed. While some of the books were a little bit dated even then (for example, sanitary pads no longer had belts…) the essential themes and relationships in the book endured. There were still bullies, fights with your best friend, growing up facing issues around race, body image, boys, parents, school work … these were the things that Judy Blume knew so well.

I grew up in a tiny country in Southeast Asia with a population the size of Australia. Back then we didn’t get a lot of young adult books or children’s books, and Judy Blume was one (more)

Desperate Duchesses by Eloisa James

Like the games of chess that run through this series, the romances are filled with strategy, intrigue and surprise moves.

This series begins with Jemma, the Duchess of Beaumont, who returns to England from France in the late 1700s (during the Georgian period) to be with her husband, Elijah, from whom she has been estranged for several years. Elijah had what seems like a heart attack while at parliament, and he has asked Jemma to return so they can begin the process of begetting an heir, while he still can. Jemma was a well known social butterfly in Paris and had somewhat a scandalous reputation. Her return to England allows her to renew her friendships with her contemporaries—most of the other duchesses in this series—and due to her love of chess, begin a friendship with the Duke of Villiers, her husband’s ex-best friend.

The series is interspersed with several chess matches as, like chess itself, a game of intrigue, coquettishness and desire is played out between the characters of each novel. Everyone gets their happy ending, of course, but not without several machinations of their own or of others’—just like a chess game. (more)

Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire (October Daye, Book 1)

An urban fantasy with a heroine who kicks arse without being a try-hard and morally ambiguous secondary characters. It’s a recipe for a series addiction.

October Daye is a half human, half faerie ex-detective trying to live a normal human existence after being terribly wronged by the faerie. When an old frenemy dies, she is bound by a curse to find out who killed her and why, and avenge her death. Toby’s investigations lead to her a renewal of ties with the people of faerie, and to revisit a past she’d rather forget.

October Daye is a fantastic heroine—flawed, stubborn, angry but determined to live her own life. She kicks arse without trying so hard to do it (unlike many an urban fantasy heroine). Toby has many regrets in her life, but she doesn’t dwell on them. It’s all about moving on and not using that chip on her shoulder as an excuse to be a bad arse. She’s not a superhero, and she doesn’t even try to be. (Ah, a well done anti-heroine. I like those.) Toby tries. And she tries hard, and I barracked for her all the way, every time she fell and got up again, even when I wanted to shake her for not asking for help when she needed it. (more)

The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker by Leanna Renee Hieber (Strangely Beautiful, Book 1)

An original paranormal Gothic romance for readers who love their alphas melting into a puddle and their melodrama dial set for ‘high’.

Percy Parker was raised in a convent, where she was left abandoned as a baby. At the age of 18, she is sent to the Athens Academy, a quiet, secluded place of learning in the centre of London where both men and women have the opportunity to learn and make something of themselves. (Not bad for the 19th century.) It is a tumultuous time, for the Ripper has come to the streets of London, striking fear into the hearts of everyone.

Unbeknownst to Percy and the rest of London, the Ripper is a manifestation of chaos, and the only thing that prevents him and other spirits from tormenting the city are the six guardians: Alexi, Rebecca, Michael, Elijah, Josephine and Jane, who were selected in childhood by the goddess to protect the city. Each of them has a special gift, and aside from defending London they commune on a regular basis in a chapel in Athens Academy, (more)

Twitterature by Alexander Aciman and Emmett Rensin

Twitterature: The World’s Greatest Books Retold Through Twitter is funny. Or, as the Internet might say, funneh.

Over the years the Internet has evolved—I refrain from saying “exploded”—into many things, many of which have developed their own language. For those of us who tweet and must use only 140 characters to express ourselves, this lingo comes in handy when we need to cut things down.

Alexander Aciman and Emmett Rensin have used this concept and produced the Web 2.0 version of  CliffsNotes, with each book condensed into around of 2 pages of tweets (some of the more dramatic books get 2.5). While tweeting might not be your thing, the one-liners presented do a great job of condensing the main points into a few interesting lines that pretty much sum up what the book needs to say, with a bit of modern banter and some LOL, WTF, OMG along the way. (more)

Soulless by Gail Carriger (Parasol Protectorate, Book 1)

Gail Carriger’s steampunk paranormal historical romance mixes Victorian manners, werewolves and hickeys in a book that’s a little different from the average paranormal fare.

Alexia Tarabotti is a souless (literally!) spinster with a fondness for parasols, living in a Victorian London populated by supernaturals who are well organised and fully integrated into society. One day she accidentally kills a vampire, and Lord Maccon, head of the Bureau of Unnatural Registry (BUR) is compelled to investigate. (Did I mention Lord Maccon is a hot werewolf?) Alexia’s propensity to get herself into trouble—though by no real fault of her own—means that she and Lord Maccon are constantly being thrown together, with expected and unexpected results.

Soulless is what I would call a steampunk romance. There’s enough technology and innovation to constitute an exploration of that theme, and there’s enough kissing and werewolf hickeys to make it a romance. It’s a good intro to steampunk for urban fantasy readers who are looking to try it (more)