The Luxe - Anna Godbersen

At the Emerald City Writer's Conference I attended a panel discussion on YA (Young Adult - think "Twilight" and "Gossip Girl") novels. It had been mentioned several times over the weekend that YA was becoming a big genre and since I love historicals I wanted to know how I could possibly write to that market. To my surprise, the panel, all published YA authors, mentioned that YA historical is becoming huge. One of the series mentioned was "The Luxe" series touted as "Gossip Girl in late 19th Century New York"

I got The Luxe from the library and read it in 2 days (so that you'll be impressed with me it's 433 pages). The novel begins with the funeral of Miss Elizabeth Holland - the oldest of the two Holland daughters - one of the premier families of New York Society in 1899. The story then goes to the weeks before her death and you learn that her family is actually in dire straights - as the oldest girl at 18 it's up to her to marry well and save the family. The man she's to marry is not the one she's in love with. Will, the family's stable-hand, is her true love. Henry, who she's to marry, is the love of her best friend, Penelope. Elizabeth's sister, Diana, a dreamer of 16 thinks Harry is really in love with her and the girls' maid, Lina, is in love with Will. Was all of this the reason why Elizabeth might have thrown herself in the river? Ah, see if you want to know you'll either have to read or wait for my review of the next book "Rumors"

Usually, this isn't my kind of thing but I found I couldn't stop reading. I will admit if this had been written in contemporary times I'd hardly be interested, but the fact that someone had written a series taking place at the turn of the century in New York caught my curiosity. Plus it's a story of forbidden love not only for Elizabeth and Will but for the other characters as well. This kids are very young and yet are being counted on at this age to carry on the families they represent. It's a lot of pressure that they are hardly equipped to deal with.

I have to say the ending didn't really surprise me but I do want to see what happens next - I requested the next book from the library and I'm hoping to be just as intrigued. I have to say that this book has given me a few ideas for YA historicals of my own and inspiration is always a good thing.

The Conqueror's Lady - Terri Brisbin

Published by Harlequin (Historical - Medieval)

Last year Harlequin started a great new line of ebooks called 'Historical Undone' - shorter (and a bit spicier than their print historicals). The majority of the ones that have been released are Regency but a few months ago a medieval by Terri Brisbin was released called "A Night For Her Pleasure". It was a sweet (if not also hot) telling of the wedding night between a Knight and his new bride. It was also serving as a prequel for Ms. Brisbin's new series, "The Knights of Brittany". So when I saw the first print book in the series this summer I jumped on it.

Lady Fayth has no choice but to marry the man who has taken over her father's lands - Giles Fitzhenry. She's heard tales of the conquerors who are taking over lands and she fears for her father's people that she now feels responsible for. But this man is different - he seems just as concerned over his new people as she is. Gradually she begins to fall in love with him and wants to enjoy him as her husband. But she feels that she's betraying her father's memory (not to mention this could be the very man who killed her father) and her people with her feelings for this man. Soon another conqueror is determined to take, starting with Fayth and she has no choice but to trust her husband.

I don't know a lot about this period of history but it's clear that Ms. Brisbin does. She admits in her author's note that she takes some liberties but the weaving of the historical details, right down to "old English" spellings fills this book with a richness that even the most strict of history buffs should enjoy. Fayth is a strong woman who wants to be her father's daughter even as she's falling for the not so horrible knight that's taken over her people's lands. Her knight is actually a bastard son who feels he doesn't deserve any lady, let alone one like Fayth. I loved that they voice aloud their doubts to each other and you get to see their love build and grow despite their misgivings.

I really loved this book and plan on passing it on to a friend who is reading a medieval that she's not enjoying. I for one can't wait for the next "Knights of Brittany" novel to come out.

Angel Creek - Linda Howard

I got Angel Creek from the library after reading Ms. Howard's "A Lady of the West."

Like A Lady of the West, Angel Creek is a historical western but where A Lady of the West was a sweeping epic, Angel Creek was a very sweet, simple romance.

Dee Swann has held on to the area known as Angel Creek valley since her parents died suddenly years prior. A woman alone on the frontier of Colorado she has made a life for herself by herself. A carefully tended garden provides her with this independence thanks to her hard work and the creek that runs through her valley. Angel Creek could provide several ranches in the area with enough water so that droughts wouldn't be a problem but Dee won't sell to any man for any price. Even Lucas Cochran who wants the water for his ranch. Lucas respects Dee's spirit even as he worries for her safety. She impresses him with her frankness and hard work and soon both fall in love with the other. When Dee is seriously injured during an attempted takeover of her land by another rancher, Lucas takes drastic measures to insure she's never put in danger again.

I really liked this book - as with A Lady of the West there is a secondary storyline involving Dee's friend Olivia and a drifter who works on another ranch. Ms. Howard made both stories intertwine with each other without being distracting or making you feel like it was taking you from the "main" story. Dee is the perfect example of what it took for a woman to survive on this land and Lucas's respect for her made him the perfect hero for her.

I would look forward to any other historical novels that Ms. Howard came out with though it seems like she has been concentrating lately on mysteries. I do have one of her mysteries, Cover of Night, on my to be read shelf - next time I'm in a mystery mood I might have to pull that one down.

Cypress Nights - Stella Cameron

I picked up this book at the ECWC book fair a couple of weeks ago. I had a couple of hours time to kill that Saturday before dinner and started to read it. It was all I could do to not contact the people I was going to dinner with and tell them to go without me.

I love mysteries and I love romance and this book blended both of those genres perfectly. This is part of a series that Ms. Cameron writes, and having never read the others, I did feel at times like I should know things about these people that I didn't.

Bleu Labeau has come to Toussaint, Louisiana to consult on the building of a new school at the local parish. The old school had burned down decades before and the growing parish was now able to support the students. When a man who supported her efforts to build the school is killed in the church, it's clear Bleu's life is in danger. Roche Savage is the local psychaitrist who is trying to keep Bleu safe even as he's falling in love with her.

I really enjoyed the mystery aspect of this book - the town is small enough that indeed everyone was a suspect, though the motive for not wanting this new school was never made very clear - neither was the old school's fire which you're lead to believe was not accidental but I felt like no explanation for who did it or why is ever really given. The romance between Roche and Bleu is hot to say the least - he's a man who enjoys sex and she's a woman who was once married to a man who made it clear a woman who enjoyed sex was just this side of a whore. It made for great conflict and tender scenes when the pair came together.

I would really like to read more of Ms. Cameron's books in this series - she's brings this area of the country to life with a cast of characters I'd love to spend more time with.

Books from the ECWC

A couple of weeks ago I attended the Emerald City Writer's Conference sponsored by the Greater Seattle Romance Writers of America Chapter. As is tradition with this conference, it featured a book fair on Saturday afternoon with over 50 authors signing their books with a portion of the proceeds going to benefit DAWN of King County (Domestic Violence Women's Network). Additionally, several books were given as freebes both in the goody-bags for attendees and by one of the keynote speakers. Here's what I picked up:

Free:
Knight of Desire - Margaret Mallory
My Fair Temptress - Christina Dodd
Love, Suburban Style - Wendy Markham
Quinn's Woman - Susan Mallery
Kiss of Fire - Deborah Cooke (keynote speaker gift to attendees)

Purchased at the fair (Craft related):
Passionate Ink: A Guide to Writing Erotic Romance - Angela Knight
Writing Romance - The Ultimate Guide on Craft, Creation and Industry Connections - San Francisco Area RWA
Goal, Motivation & Conflict (aka The Bible for any writer) - Debra Dixon (hint: if you want this book and if you're a writer you do - get it directly from Gryphon Books as most other places are charging insane amounts for this book)
Writing The Breakout Novel Workbook - Donald Maass

Purchased at the fair (Novels - All but Ms. Cameron's signed by the author):
Cypress Nights - Stella Cameron (already read - report to follow soon)
The Conqueror - Kris Kennedy (This was really special - Kris is a fellow Hearts Through History RWA chapter member - I went up to say hi and check out her book and decided to get it - she told me that this was her first book, her first book signing and I was her first sale!)
Dark Warrior Unbroken - Alexis Morgan (2nd in the Talions series - the first is Dark Warrior Unleashed)
An Inconvenient Wife - Megan Chance
Sinjin - Julia Templeton
Outlaw in Petticoats - Paty Jager
Giving Up the "V" - Serena Robar

I'm excited to share my reports on these and all the others waiting on my to be read shelf -

Reading Now: Angel Creek by Linda Howard (from the library)

Comanche Moon and Comanche Heart by Catherine Anderson

Okay so I'm opening up this blog by posting a report on two library books I recently read:

You all know that I love historical western romance. It's not a genre that gets a lot of love although it's slowly growing. Part of this growth seems to be authors who wrote westerns back in the day (the early 90's) and are having them reprinted. Catherine Anderson is one such author. She had a 4 book series in the early 90's that went out of print (and if you go to any used book sites they price in the $30 range - for a used paperback). Her publisher is reissuing them and has already released the first two with the last two coming in the Spring of 2010.

I saw Comanche Heart on the "new and interesting" shelf at the library. I'm always leary of historical westerns that have a native american bent to them, because more often than not the authors who have a corner on that niche in the genre write very sterotypical stories that are everything people love to hate about romances. Having never seen Ms. Anderson's name before I picked it up only to discover from the author's note that it was the 2nd in a series.

The first is Comanche Moon and tells the story of Loretta Masters, a young woman whose family was killed several years prior by a band of Comanche while she hid. She was so traumatized by what she witnessed she stopped speaking. Loretta has lived with her aunt, uncle and their daughter, Amy. Hunter of the Wolf (or just Hunter) believes that Loretta is the white woman mentioned in a prophecy he's been told needs to be guarded and protected. According to the prophecy she will be instrumental in helping the white people and the Comanche live in harmony. Against his better judgment Hunter goes to her home and offers her uncle a "bride price" for her that her uncle accepts. Loretta feels as though she's being taken hostage but as she comes to live in the tribe she learns more about a people she'd condemned and falls in love with the man she swore was part of her family's killing.

In Comanche Heart, it's been several years since the end of Comanche Moon and Amy is now the teacher of a town that Hunter's helped to found in Oregon. Swift Antelope, a Comanche she'd loved as a young girl arrives and pledges to uphold the betrothal promise he and Amy made when they were children. But Amy has had something brutal happen in her past and she wants nothing more than to remain in the safe, secure life she's built herself. Swift has to show her that she can love him and have her independence.

One of the things that I adored about both of these books is the way Ms. Anderson didn't shy away from who and what the Comanche people were. They had their moments of violence against white settlers and she doesn't pretend that they didn't. In fact one of the biggest conflicts between Loretta and Hunter is her trying to come to terms with the man she's falling for with what she knows about what he's done to people like her family.

Ms. Anderson's amazing attention to detail brought this tribe to life for me. In both stories the heros and heroines have a lot keeping them apart and you get the sense it would just be easier for everyone if they all went their separate ways. But love isn't supposed to be easy. There are plenty of tender moments in both books but it was the moments between Amy and Swift in Comanche Heart that touched me on a personal level. Swift doesn't want Amy to give up who she is and convincing her of that is frustration both for him and the reader. For me, the best books are those that take me through a range of emotions and both of these did that. Even if you don't read romance or historical westerns I would highly recommend these two books.

As a writer of historical westerns I've had a desire to write a story with a Native American main character but have been hesitant in doing so. If I chose to undertake it, Ms. Anderson will be the standard to which I will hold myself, and that bar has been set very high indeed. Currently reading: Simply Love by Catherine Anderson (a stand alone historical western)