Review of The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley

On the surface, this seems to be your typical historical romance, with the arguably gimmicky catch of a hero who is "mad". In fact, Ian suffers from Asperger's, which can best be described as very high functioning autism. I'll be honest, that's what made me buy this book in the first place. For some reason it seems that mental disorders are fairly taboo in the romance with, with the obvious exceptions of PTSD and depression. You'll probably never find a hero or heroine with schizophrenia or bipolar or crippling OCD--hard to make those things both realistic and sexy, I guess. So yeah, even comparatively minor, increasingly common things like Asperger's are underrepresented in the romance world. How does this author pull it off? Well....

Ian seeks out Beth, a wealthy widow, because she's engaged to his rival and he wants to warn her off him. He quickly becomes obsessed with having her, and she is fascinated by him. Their growing relationship is soon threatened by a detective who hates the Mackenzie family, and is determined to pin murder on Ian.

There are some instances where I thought the author absolutely nailed Ian--his quirks, his personality, his intensity, and even the symptoms of his disorder make him come out of the page. He's unreasonably intelligent, but obsesses over inanimate objects (Ming bowls). He's an intense lover, but he has trouble connecting to anyone emotionally. He understands high finance without trying, but misses subtle nuance in conversation and doesn't get Beth's jokes. The author clearly has an understanding of what Ian's disorder means, and how he might reasonably be expected to adjust to the challenges of life (or not).

Here's the thing though: despite this excellent set-up, the execution is sloppy as hell. Beth and Ian connect with an ease that belies his carefully explained disorder. Ian, who is perhaps overly self aware, explains that he cannot love, he does not know how to connect with people, and so forth. But then he connects with Beth and starts to love her simply because she's there, being non-judgmental and having excellent sex with him.  For her part, Beth is just a bit too understanding for a person in a time period when no one had any understanding of Ian's disorder. She never once thinks that perhaps he's just cold, just anti-social, just doesn't like her. She shrugs it all off, and it's not long before he's confessing his love to her. The transition between point A (first meeting) and point B (we're in love!) just wasn't there for me.

As for the murder mystery, it just hampered my enjoyment all the more. I almost never get invested in murder mysteries, and this one is delivered in a sort of off-handed manner that did nothing to increase the tension.

On a positive note, I did genuinely like all the characters. Not only are Ian and Beth oddly charming, but Ian's entire family is intriguing. His brothers are a rugged alphas that don't give a fuck, and aren't too concerned with fitting into society. But they have a ton of money, and they each have their particular talents. If there's a question as to whether I'd read more of the series, the answer is yes, I believe I would.

While I wished this book had focused more on emotional development and logical transitions in a romantic relationships, and while I wholeheartedly wish the mystery had been left out altogether, I did enjoy many aspects of it. The author has a nice style, and the characters are appealingly quirky. 3.5 stars.

On Shiftertown: A Review of Pride Mates by Jennifer Ashley

Sometimes I get in the mood for a very particular kind of book, and I go to the TBR shelf, and I find that I don't have much that will hit the spot. So, when I felt I wanted a shlock filled paranormal romance with lot's of sex and maybe a lifemate type trope thrown in? I had this and Shelly Laurenston's The Mane Event, which was pretty disappointing...This one was a bit better though.

The basic plot is as follows: Shifters are considered second class citizens and are forced to live in isolated communities without reliable cable or internet access. They have to wear magic collars to stop them from becoming aggressive.When a shifter is accused of murdering his human girlfriend, Kim makes it her personal cause to clear his name--and also hopes to use the case to further her career as a lawyer. As a human, she needs special protection to enter and talk to the citizens of Shiftertown, which is where Liam comes in. When she's (predictably) threatened, Liam extends his protection to overnight stays and bed sharing. And so forth.

So, what does work in this book? Well, I really liked the world of the shifters and the rules of that world. I liked their origin story. I can see a lot of potential for this series, a lot of good stories to be told within the world. The shifters seem oppressed, but at the same time they have a lot of secrets and a lot of strength.

Indeed, this story in itself isn't bad, as we get to know the politics and variable social dynamics of the shifters. There's mystery, there's violence, and there's certainly romance. Liam is a good hero, if not great--he's a problem solver, a protector, and very predictably alpha-ish when it comes to his relationship with Kim. Kim is not all together unlikeable, either, since she genuinely just wanted to help the shifters.The relationship building is...okay. It's not magical or memorable or gripping, but it isn't overtly lacking either.

The problems within this book are really a lot of little things.

Example 1: Kim is "dating" this guy, who she really doesn't like, who constantly neglects her, out of convenience or whatever...they are still "dating" as of when she first sleeps with Liam. She only ends the pointless relationship when she knows she's got another guy in the bag. Really damaged my opinion of her as a strong, independent female lead.

Example 2: Liam has a slight temper tantrum about Kim taking birth control. At this point in the relationship development, they had just gotten together, and he instantly wants to flush her pills. Kim has a brief WTF? reaction to this, but then just lets it go.

...and so on, with many such semi-bothersome incidents interrupting what might otherwise have been an entertaining story. And that's what made this an okay book instead of a good book. 3 stars.

Happy December! (Better Late Than Never)

"Were you drinking coffee in the shower?" Husband asks as I emerge, towel swaddled and hair dripping, steamy mug in hand.

"Why yes, yes I was. I'm not even slightly ashamed of it."

"You have a problem."

I guess it's apparent that I am indeed suffering from a bit of end of year exhaustion, helped along by my decision to work a bazillion hours at my job(s) as a toy elf/picture lass. I think I'm also encountering a bit of ennui when it comes to my reviews and this blog in general. Again, this is partly based in physical exhaustion, but it also has to do with a need for changes that I know I need to make. So we're in the middle of a road block of sorts where I know I need to redesign, redefine, change what isn't working, and get back to what has worked in the past--and that is what December and January are going to be all about. Just as soon as I finish my goddamned coffee.

But you aren't here for all of that! Your here to find out which book from the November line up rocked my tiny little socks. And here it is:

Stacking the Shelves (8)

 
Hosted by Tynga's Reviews!