Review: The Girl with the Cat Tattoo by Theresa Weir

This book is almost entirely told from a cat’s POV. If that didn't send you running the other way, you’re probably getting it now, just like I did when I first heard about it. It sounds a bit wacky, and it is, but it’s also funny and unique. 

Max’s human is Melody. He’s worried about her because she keeps bringing men to their home, men that just spend the night and leave. Thus Max does what any cat would do and pees on the men’s clothes so they know that they are not welcome. But he also knows that Melody hasn't been happy since her husband died two years ago. So he decides to take matters into his own hands --or paws-- and goes out in search of a mate for her. What follows is a bit of an oddball romance that includes a mystery, kitty shenanigans, Ellen DeGeneres and cupcakes.

Winner: The Waiting Room

The winner of our lightning giveaway was ClaudiaGC. Congratulations! I've already emailed you.

To everyone else who was part of the contest, thank you. And to those who celebrate it: Happy Thanksgiving!

See you next week.

New Adults and an Unrelated Giveaway

Hello, guys!

I have a new post on Heroes and Heartbreakers, this time about New Adult. Have you heard that term before? I bet you have. One of the reasons I wrote the post was because I've seen a lot of negativity and cynicism directed towards New Adult, and even though most of them are quite valid, I wanted to talk about it in a positive way, because I feel that it has a lot of good things to offer. It’s a very new label that’s been misused in order to exploit it, but there are a lot of great stories being told, and that’s what I was trying to convey in that post. 

Review: Rescue My Heart by Jill Shalvis

Source: A review copy was provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

I’ve been a fan of this series since the first book, and as usual, the most intriguing character always gets the last book. The anticipation was high, and unfortunately the book wasn't as good as I was hoping it would be. But it was entertaining, and the hint to a new couple brought me back to the place I was before reading the book: anticipating the next entry.  

Adam and Holly used to be lovers a long time ago, but he left her because they were too young, to save her from himself, etc. The being too young was reason enough to me, but we need more to justify so many years of not moving on. So as you probably can guess, especially if you have read the books, once he comes back he ignores her while she gives him the evil eye (which is Romance code for “I want to have dirty sex with you, but I totally don’t love you anymore so don’t get any ideas”). We know that they should just talk about their unresolved feelings, but Adam is suffering from PTSD and is trying to avoid any type of human contact.

Review: The Spymaster’s Lady by Joanna Bourne

My Historical Romance kick continues with a book I've been meaning to read for a while. Last year the final book in the series was published and blogland went crazy with love. It seemed like the hero was a favorite character of many, and he was finally getting his book. But I don’t like reading books out of order so I put it on hold. 

What finally convinced me to start the series was the lack of spoilers. Every single review mentioned how great the story was, and how giving away the details would mean ruining the book. For such a popular book, I’m surprised that I couldn't find spoilers anywhere. I had to know what happened, so I did the next best thing: I read the book.

Annique is a French spy charged with a very important secret. It’s so important that everyone wants it, and by everyone I mean the British, the good French and the bad French. When the book opens, she’s been captured by the bad French and about to be tortured. There she meets a set of British spies and helps them escape. But of course the spies know who she is and decide to keep her for themselves. These are good spies, though, so instead of torturing and raping her, they will fall in love with her. Or at least one of them does, our hero, Grey. What follows is a game of cat and mouse in which each character tries to one-up the other.

Review: All He Ever Desired by Shannon Stacey

Source: A review copy of the book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

The Kowalski books keep getting stronger. This new trilogy almost feels like a different series, maybe because it features a new set of brothers living in a different town. I’m very glad because it keeps the books fresh. This new installment also features a role reversal in the main couple, and a heroine that pushes some genre boundaries, or at least has a set of goals that are quite uncommon in Romance.

Ryan Kowalski left town and never looked back. But unlike the typical Romance hero, wanderlust had nothing to do with his decision. The real reason he never came back was because the woman he loved married his best friend, and it was too painful for him to live so close to them. He did make a last effort to lure her away, but she shut him down because she was truly in love with her husband. So right there you have the role reversal: the hero is the one suffering from unrequited love, and she never saw him as anything but a friend. He became successful in his profession, whereas her personal life imploded.

Can a Bad Romance Be a Good Romance? Room at the Inn by Ruthie Knox

Dysfunctional relationships are a dime a dozen in Romance. They make the journey entertaining and the emotional payoff sweeter. Damaged characters mean internal conflict, so the story can focus on its characters and their path to the happily ever after. It’s certainly not the only type of relationship portrayed in the genre, but it is one of the most common. We usually see these people falling in love and finding emotional stability in each other. Some of them have to redeem themselves, some have to grovel, but in the end we know they are going to be happy, and that they deserve it. 

But sometimes I find a romance that, regardless of how much I want to see the characters happy, is so dysfunctional that the idea of them together makes me uncomfortable. Books like that never work for me because bad romances make bad Romances. But is that always the case?  Can a damaged relationship with deeply flawed characters still be a good book and a good representative of the genre? Ruthie Knox’s newest story, Room at the Inn, is a perfect example of a bad romance that thoroughly worked for me as a reader. I’m sure I liked it, but I wonder why, and if liking it is enough to make it good.