I read fast. And I read a lot. I’ve now read every book in my capacious library (and half the public library) at least twice. Some quite a bit more than twice *cough*Discworld*cough*. And I need some new books.

I don’t like heavy literary crap. I don’t want to read about someone else’s depressing life wherein their child was born handicapped/parent died/they were widowed young or other assorted tragedies. That’s nice if you like that stuff, but I want humor. I like humor. If it’s served with a side of Regency romance involving various invented aristocratic titles, even better.

I’ve been poking around on Smart Bitches, Trashy Books for some new authors. I think I’m going to have to branch out from Regency for a while. I did read a pair of books in Florida the other weekend that were quite cute, although not on par with my favorite Regency authors (Julia Quinn and Loretta Chase, I’m looking at you): “Just Perfect” and “Too Perfect” by Julia Ortolan, which I picked up in the library’s book trade area. The skiing one was definitely superior to the exotic-beach-island one.

I favor romance and lighter fantasy or mystery – the longer the series, the better. I’ve got every Amelia Peabody book in existence along with every Discworld book. Also everything Julia Quinn’s ever written, quite a bit of MaryJanice Davidson, all of Amanda Quick’s early stuff (I stopped liking her new stuff around 1997, but her books up to that point were excellent. “Ravished” continues to be one of my all-time favorites), quite a lot of Julie Garwood (another author who went downhill in the late 90s) and Loretta Chase.

There are two new additions to series I already have been reading which I need to pick up somehow – waiting for paperback to buy them, I think, but I might have to try to get them from the library to read straightaway – the latest in the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs (of which I own all previous books and spinoffs) and #16 in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich.

Maybe those two will keep me busy for a few days. Maybe even a week if I stretch it out. I really need a few new authors, though.

Eloisa James, “Duchess By Night” (Book 3 in the Desperate Duchesses series) – More of a stand-alone book than the first two DD, but not as good as book 2. You can comfortably skip this book if you’re just wanting to keep up with what’s happening with Villiers, Jemma, and Beaumont (there’s very little Jemma, and Villiers is still convalescing from his infected arm post-duel in Book 1, so he doesn’t do much). It was all right, but it didn’t particularly impress me.

Eloisa James, “When The Duke Returns” (Book 4 of Desperate Duchesses) – Much better than book 3. Quite delightful, really. There’s a bit more of Jemma and Beaumont in this one, as well, and Villiers, which I enjoyed. But the main story was excellent. Very fascinating characters, and very steamy. Well worth the read.

Eloisa James, “This Duchess of Mine” (Book 5) – Very sweet and poignant. Finally Jemma and Beaumont get to be really in love. It was satisfying to read after going through the rest of the series, seeing them spar and dance about their relationship. They’re a mess, but it’s a sweet mess. Quite a bit of Villiers in this one as well. I have book 6 next, when he finally gets his own duchess.

Eloisa James, “A Duke of Her Own” (Book 6) – Cute, funny, sexy, and sweet. Well worth reading. A vast improvement over books 3 and 4 in this series. Finally Villiers falls in love! And it was very satisfying to read. I really love his character. Nice to finally get a reveal, full circle, from the first book too, with the identity of the Earl of Gyffyn’s baby mama.

Elizabeth Boyle, “This Rake of Mine” – Not very good. Reads verrrry quickly though, I had this one done in a couple of hours. Not much to it, really. I was underwhelmed. Skip this one.

Elizabeth Peters, “A River in the Sky” – This is the latest in the Amelia Peabody series, which I have loved for a long time now, since I read the fifth in the series while I was in Jordan. Some previous member of the American Expedition to Petra had left it in a trunk of books, and I fell immediately in love with the series. This latest book, however, isn’t as entrancing as her earlier ones. The plot seemed less coherent, somehow. If you’re a fan of the series, it’s well worth reading, but try to get it from the library instead of paying the hardback price.

Elizabeth Boyle, “Confessions of a Little Black Dress” – Not very good. Skip this one, or get it from the library. Characterizations didn’t gel, plot was ridiculous at best, the romance lukewarm. I read it on the recommendation of a reading list, and was quite underwhelmed. I’m going to give Ms. Boyle one more chance, as I picked up “This Rake of Mine” at the library today, but I doubt I’ll be adding her to my Love This Author list.

Loretta Chase, “Miss Wonderful” – All right. Library or used bookshop, not a pay-full-price kind of a book. The hero is quite interesting – his history of Episodes of Stupidity was very funny – and the heroine is refreshingly my age (rare in a Regency!), and while it was interesting and relatively absorbing, it didn’t sparkle the way Loretta Chases’s “Lord of Scoundrels” did. Since I loved that book so much, I picked up “Lord Perfect” from the library today to give Ms. Chase’s backlist a further whirl.

Eloisa James, “Desperate Duchesses” – Moderately interesting. Get from the library or a used bookshop, not worth full price. Definitely read it, though, as it sets up a series that looks to be quite good. Heroine is boring, though cute, but the hero is quite interesting, and the side characters even more so. I think I want to be the Duchess of Beaumont when I grow up. She sets up as a centerpiece for a party: a naked woman, painted gold with pearls glued on, and a full peacock’s tail. Now that is just awesome.

Eloisa James, “An Affair Before Christmas” – Book 2 in the Desperate Duchesses series, and very good. Get this one any which way you can. Steamy and romantic, really enjoyed this one. It continues the side character stories from the first book, and I am on the hunt for book 3 in the series. Picked up books 4 and 5 from the library today and will be reading them this week, after I find book 3.

Eloisa James, while not on par with Julia Quinn, is definitely on my list now for reading more of her work. I want to finish the Desperate Duchesses series. I normally stick with Regency-era novels most of the time, but these are in the slightly earlier, much raunchier, and less-written-about Georgian era, and are well-researched to the time period but not overwhelmingly “period” feeling in the dialogue and settings (sometimes too much of a good thing – historical accuracy – makes a romance novel fall flat).

Sadly, there was another one on my list that I read on Thursday, but it was so forgettable that after trading it back in to Zeno’s (the local used book store) on Friday, I can no longer remember the title or author. Clearly, it wasn’t worth sharing.

Loretta Chase, “Lord of Scoundrels”

The cover is blah, yes, but the book is dynamite. Seriously. It’s freakin’ fantastic. It may be the best romance novel I’ve ever read. It’s like an amplified version of Amanda Quick’s “Ravished” (longtime favorite, I’ve practically memorized it, I’ve read it so many times). It’s funny, it’s sexy, it’s got just enough drama to keep it going without the mutual main character emotional carnage that some authors *cough*Elizabeth Lowell’s early stuff *cough* like to wreak but is tediously tiresome for the reader. Really, by halfway through a Judith McNaught novel, I want to take the heroine aside for a drinky-poo and tell her, “Honey, you need to leave that bastard, and take everything in the divorce. Stop taking his shit.” This is why I only read three McNaughts and then stopped – even at 16, I found it annoying. There are no painful misunderstandings in this book, which is a huge relief.

Jessica, the heroine of “Lord of Scoundrels”, is delightfully emotionally mature. She recognizes her own bullshit, is up-front about whatever she’s thinking and feeling, and informs her man – the Marquess of Dain – what his baggage is and how he ought to deal with it. It’s great. I can’t even tell you how much I love her.

I checked this book out from the library, but I’ll definitely be hitting Barnes & Noble to pick up a copy to keep, and no doubt re-read many times. Extremely well done, Ms. Chase. Brava! For the first time ever, I’m inspired to actually write to an author and tell her how amazing I think she is. Normally I am too lazy, but I’ll be damned if I don’t shoot her an email to tell her how great this book is. SMTB rated her other works with high praise, so I’ll be picking up a few more when I buy my copy of this one. It’s such a relief to find a new author I love. Now she needs to write more, so I can eagerly await their publications, as I used to do with Julie Garwood (before she started writing the romantic suspense set in present day things she’s doing now – the first two were good, and the third all right, but they went swiftly downhill. Nothing can top “Ransom” or “The Wedding”, I think, though. I crack up every time Brenna harangues Jamie about her tapestry of William the Conqueror, even after reading the book a dozen times).