Heroine Week: Ideas and an Invitation to Join

Image courtesy of Sura Nualpradid at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

For the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking about writing a couple of posts focused on Romance heroines. When it comes to characters, the conversation often revolves around the heroes, which is perfectly fine, but the heroines need love too.  Then I thought that one or two posts wouldn’t be enough, so why not make it a whole week dedicated to celebrating female characters? And because I’m just the best at naming things, I came up with the name Heroine Week*. I'm so clever I can't even stand it.

The thing is that I can’t do it alone, and having diverse input is way more fun than hearing the same person talking over and over. So if you like the sound of this idea, I would love for you to join Heroine Week by writing a guest post. It can be anything heroine-related, for example: a list of your favorite heroines; a recommendation of books that feature unique or remarkable heroines; one post dedicated to that one heroine that deeply resonated with you; a post about the way traditional gender roles have shaped the genre; the different, more subtle ways a heroine can be strong (besides the obvious kick-ass way); the appeal of unlikeable heroines; the top 10 heroines of 2013 (or of each sub-genre); etc. It can be fun, serious, light and/or complex; the goal is to talk about female characters, discover new books to read, and above all, to have fun.

This is an open invitation to everyone: readers, bloggers and authors. Email me your ideas, thoughts and recommendation to brie.clementineATgmail.com You’re all welcome to participate, and I look forward to hearing from you, so don’t be shy.

I’m still in the early stages of planning the event, and whether it happens or not, it will depend on how many people are willing to participate, so fingers crossed that you guys like the idea. I’ll keep you posted!

*I will also accept ideas for a different name.

Review: Down London Road by Samantha Young

A few months ago, everyone was talking about a self-published book titled On Dublin Street (or at least everyone on my little corner of the blogosphere). The book became a huge success and soon was acquired by Penguin. I thought it was a compelling story, but not a unique or innovative one.  The sequel was still on my radar, though, and it became a must-read when I realized that the heroine would be the sexually forward, gold-digging friend from On Dublin Street.

Jo is a bartender whose goal in life is to marry a rich guy. Her current boyfriend certainly fits the requirements, so she pampers him and does everything he wants, even if that means not being herself. But before you get excited thinking that we’re finally getting a heroine that completely breaks the mold, I should tell you that the reason why she acts that way is because she has to take care of her teenage brother and their abusive, alcoholic mother. So nope, she’s not materialistic or self-absorbed; she’s just damaged and filled with a bunch of secret pains. Of course she is.

Review: Fire & Frost by Meljean Brook, Carolyn Crane, and Jessica Sims

Source: A review copy was provided by the authors. 

Fire and Frost is the newest collaboration between authors Meljean Brook, Carolyn Crane and Jessica Sims. The novellas are unique and almost impossible to compare, but they do have two things in common: the charming, compelling characters and the way the “hot and cold” theme has been cleverly incorporated into each story.

In Speed Mating by Jessica Sims we meet Estrella, a mixed tiger and lion shifter (or liger) who is about to go into heat and asks her clan’s alpha to help her find a suitable male to have sex with. Hilarity ensues. Well, not hilarity exactly, but as the title suggests, this is a light, tongue-in-cheek story that’s all about having fun while still managing to sneak in an interesting and welcome take on the ubiquitous shifter romance.

Review: Never a Hero by Marie Sexton

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

Never a Hero is the fifth book in the Tucker Spring series, which is the M/M Romance version of a small-town Contemporary. I have only read one of the previous books in the series (coincidentally co-written by Sexton); an experience that wasn’t entirely successful. And much like that one other book, this one ended up being a bit of a mixed bag.

The main character is Owen, a reclusive, insecure man who has serious mommy issues. He is deeply self-conscious about his congenitally amputated arm, his stutter and his sexuality. But when charming, outgoing Nick moves downstairs, Owen’s life radically changes, not only because of the instant attraction that flares between them, but because Nick helps him become more comfortable in his own skin. The rest is way too spoilery to tell. But there is a painful secret and lots of issues. Lots!

Review: The Rebound Girl by Tamara Morgan

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

My relationship with this book is a bit complicated. On one hand, it gave me an early rush of book joy and left me with plenty of food for thought, but on the other hand, I hated most of it. And this review is hard to write, because I want to highlight the complex good, yet I’m afraid that the simple bad will ultimately outweigh it. But although I’m not sure if it’s a book worth reading, I do think it’s worth discussing. 

The story goes like this: Whitney is a plastic surgeon who just moved to a new town to establish her new practice and get over her cheating boyfriend. Matt is a kindergarten teacher trying to adjust to single life after the recent divorce from his cheating wife. They meet, she seduces him, shenanigans ensue, and they live happily ever after.

Sounds simple, right? It’s not.

Review: Imaginary by Jamie Sullivan

Guess what? The book world isn’t entirely made out of popular books! Surprising, right? That’s why today I’m reviewing this little Young Adult M/M novella that I accidentally discovered last week.

I can’t go into many details about the plot, because discovering what’s going on is part of the experience. All I can say is that Aaron is a five-year old orphan living with a set of foster parents who care about the money, but not about him. He’s lonely and sad until one day he meets James. They recognize a bit of themselves in each other and spend the day laughing and playing, but when Aaron goes back home and inquires about James and his family, his foster parents tell him that there’s no kid named James in town. He keeps seeing him, though, and the other boy insists that he’s real and that he remembers where he’s been and what he’s done while Aaron is at school.

Review: True by Erin McCarthy

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

New Adult has been a self-publishing phenomenon, so it’s interesting to see what the big publishers are going to do with it. In that regard, True is an interesting addition to the sub-genre (?), and it successfully portrays the themes and subjects of NA. Unfortunately, there were other aspects in which the story wasn't as successful.

Rory is a bit of a nerd, so of course she’s a virgin. Lucky for her—and inexplicably for us—her best friends (and I use the term loosely) and roommates are hot party girls who know exactly what Rory needs: to get laid. So they enlist the help of Tyler, a guy they know from, well, having sex with him.

While that happens, Tyler and Rory get to know each other and date a little. There is chemistry between them and they develop a friendship that’s framed by sexual attraction. They become a couple, get over a couple of obstacles, and overall make it work. And then life gets in the way. And by “life” I mean Tyler’s responsibilities and shitty mother.