Book review- Married by Morning by Lisa Kleypas

I read this book a long time ago but didn't have time to review it.

This book is a part of Lisa Keypas' Hathaway series which centres around five Hathaway siblings who come into limelight after Leo, the eldest sibling inherits the title of a Viscount. It follows the love life of each of the siblings. Leo's book is the fourth one although he is the eldest.
Lisa Kleypas' books have some of the nicest trailers. You should go and watch them on youtube if you have the time.

Married by Morning centres around Leo, the eldest Hathaway sibling with the title of a Viscount who has just recovered from the death of his love after indulging in self destruction for a long time. Catharine Marks is a governess who tutors his sisters Poppy and Beatrix. She is unusually sharp tongued for one- she is always cutting Leo's statements, arguing and critisizing him. She is sick of Leo's rakish ways and hates him. However, this unlikely couple begins to fall in love.

Out of all the books in the series, this is clearly my favourite. Every romance writer has an obligatory governess novel in his/her list of novels. This one was quite interesting. Catharine Marks is a strong heroine who is determined not to fall for Leo. Leo is persistent and has a good sense of humour.

The heroine's character shows inconsistency after she falls on love but Leo's character is consistent. He is a classic alpha male however, Catharine Marks' strong character balances his. The plotting is good although it could've been cut short by avoiding some scenes. Catharine has some secrets which slowly reveal themselves through the course of the story. There is a lot of humour and wit in their arguments.

Overall, an entertaining romance novel. The pacing is good, characters are interesting and the plot is strong.

Pros
Characters
Pacing
Plot

Cons
Predictable

Book Review- Arabella by Georgette Heyer

I went on a romance novel rampage and ended up reading more than twenty five romance novels in a month. Now, I am trying to remember all of them and review them. I'll start with the latest.

Arabella is a historical romance novel by Georgette Heyer, a popular romance novelist noted for her precise historical details and clean romances. I tried reading April Lady by her long time ago and fell asleep before I could get to the second chapter. After someone recommended her to me, I decided to try another book of hers. Arabella had glowing reviews on amazon.com so I decided to read this one.

Arabella is the daughter of a clerk who gets the chance of a lifetime to go to London for her debut. Her godmother sends a letter to her saying she is willing to house her and help her make her debut. On the way to London, her carriage meets with an accident and she lands in Mr. Beaumaris' house who thinks she is a fortune hunter staging an accident to get him to marry her. Arabella lies that she is a very wealthy heiress who is sick of being courted for fortune and therefore, has come to London where people do not know her. In time, Mr. Beaumaris falls for her unique charm and compassionate nature.

Her style is pretty much like authors of that time eg: Barbara Cartland but contains more detail. I am used to reading old novels like these with more description than dialogue so, I found it good. One of the good things that should be noted is her historical detail. Most writers these days just write contemporary romances in historical settings but in her novel you can truly see how English society was at that time. Her dialogues when compared to dialogues of recent historical romances are much more genuine. At that time, people spend more time in formalities than actual talk.

The characters are quite typical of the victorian era but contain some uniqueness. The hero is an alpha hero but more realistic. The supporting characters are not very interesting (except the dog). The hero shows some sense of humour in the form of monologues with the dog. The name of the novel and the protagonist is exotic. The ending appeared a bit rushed though (especially the last two pages).

Overall, a good read. The story is more or less consistent with genuine victorian feel. The initial part can however, be boring or too long but if you endure it, the rest of the story is good.

Plot- 3.5/5
Characters-4/5
Development- 4.3/5
Dialogue- 4.2/5
Style- 4/5

Pros
Genuine historical feel
Characters
Romantic development
Well researched

Cons
Too much description
Slow in the beginning

Book Review- Perfect Scandal by Delilah Marvelle

I interviewed Delilah Marvelle a few days ago (or weeks). Today, I am reviewing a book by her. It is a part of her Scandal series and is called 'The perfect scandal'.

It is the story of the fourth Marquis of Moreland and author of 'How to avoid a scandal', a prim and proper gentleman who finds himself falling for his mysterious neighbour Countess Zosia who daringly proposes marriage when she finds him staring at her window one night. He later discovers that Zosia has a secret past which could change their lives.

The book can easily be categorised as historical romance. Delilah has a unique style of writing. All of her chapters begin with an amusing extract from 'How to avoid a scandal' a book written by the hero of the story. I have seen this pattern being followed in her debut novel 'Mistress of Scandal' too. This gives her writing style a unique twist. The plot was okay for a romance novel.

The characters seem to depart from the traditional style. The hero and heroine both have their weaknesses. He is a masochist while she is crippled. However, her handicap doesn't seem to be very important during the story. She wants to dedicate her life to feeing Poland from Russia, a dream her mother had too. Character development is evident in the story which is one of the good things about the story. However, the heroine is a little overbearing- she has a better title and is stronger (emotionally) than the hero. The supporting characters are strong and sometimes one seems to like the more than the protagonists.

Overall, a nice book. If you're looking for a historical romance with a unique twist or different characters (not the alpha hero and weak or seemingly strong heroine) this book is a very good read. I also loved the texture, colour and design of the cover. It is very well designed considering its target audience.

Pros
Writing Style
Cover and packaging
Characters

Cons
A little slow in the beginning

Manga review- Kaichou wa Maid-sama

Kaichou wa maid-sama is probably the first unfinished manga that I am reviewing on Review Carnival. Since a lot of mangas are just not ending, I have decided to review them in parts. This review is for all chapters upto Chapter 70.

Kaichou wa maid-sama (The President is a Maid!) is a shojo manga series by Fujiwara Hiro which tells the story of Ayuzawa Misaki- a hyper charged, 'perfect' girl and Usui Takumi- a mysterious and quiet guy who discovers Ayuzawa's biggest secret- that she is a maid in a maid cafe. He however, agrees to tell it to no one, without asking for anything in return. Even at this point, Maid-sama distinguishes itself from other mangas where mostly the discovery of such a secret leads to instant romance or a master-slave relationship which eventually develops into romance.

(Summary from Mangafox.com) Once an all boys school, Seika High, a renowned school full of reckless and filthy students, has recently become a co-ed school. However, with the female population still remaining a minority even after the change over the recent years, Ayuzawa Misaki takes it into her own hands to reform the school and allow a chance for the girls to feel safer in the rough environment.

Training, studying and even becoming the first female student council president of the school, Misaki has gained a reputation, among the male students body as an uptight boy-hating demon dictator and as a shining hope for the teachers and fellow female students. However, despite her tough-as-nails appearance, she secretly works part-time at a maid cafe in order to support her family. Unfortunately, her secret is soon revealed when the somewhat impassive Usui Takumi, a popular boy at school, nonchalantly discovers her in a maid uniform after school.

One of the best things about this manga was that it is the heroine who is 'perfect', not the hero. Ayuzawa is not your typical soft-spoken, eternally klutzy and awkward progtagonist. She is strong, always comes first in the school exams, knows martial arts, studies hard and also works part-time because her family is poor! The romance develops very, very slowly. Even when they kiss, they go back to being 'just classmates' in teh chapters after that, which was a bit disappointing.

But this slow development makes the romance more believable. Usui is a very quiet, mysterious, good-looking (a shojo manga wouldn't be complete without this!) guy, who always comes second to Ayuzawa in school. He id not competitive at all, though. He just observes things and doesn't talk much. His character is actually very interesting, changing multiple times througout the story. He goes from reserved, to bold, to knight-in-shining-armour to lover to rich boy from old family and much more throughout the course of the manga. He actually starts liking Ayuzawa much before she starts liking him.

Ayuzawa, on the other hand, doesn't really change significantly. The manga is very interesting and well-written, with wondeful visuals. Later in the series, Usui's mysterious past provides a much needed change of mood from school-life.

This manga is a must-read for those looking for something different in the shojo world. A word of caution- this starts out as a very stereotypical shojo manga but gradually you will find that it is a masterpiece in itself.

Fujiawara-san has been liberal in throwing in eye candy scenes and plot twists with equal ease. I am really looking foward to reading the rest of this manga!

Ratings

Characters-4.2
Illustrations-4.5
Story-4
Plot-4.3
Dialogue-4.3
Development-4.3

Pros- Strong female lead.
Good art
Interesting twists and sub-plots
Likeable characters
Good pacing

Cons- The male lead started out unusal but became 'perfect prince' by half of the series.
Boring initially/ too stereotypical initially

Book Review- Aron White- Shrouded Path

It has been a long time since I reviewed a book. I have a young adult wuxia novel today. It is called Shrouded Path by Aron White. It is the first of the 'The Doorway Cycle' series.

I have never heard of western writers experimenting with chinese wuxia novels earlier. I guess that gives the book unique twist.

The book follows the adventures of Jun who is seperated from his father in the beginning of the novel. The novel follows his life as he searches for his father. He gets together with his friend and seeks jutice from the corrupt governer of Kunming who is connected to his father's disappearance.

The novel is rather short and reads more like a slice-of-life story than an action novel. The novel goes all the way from Jun's father's disappearance to his kung fu training and return to Kunming.
There are essential 'chinese' elements like village, dragon, kung fu and rice. However, this makes the novel rather stereotypical. There is more conversation than action and the novel doesn't 'take off' until the end by when it is too late. The action is more realistic than what we see in Hollywood films but not as exciting. One more thing that made the novel a little boring was the lack of 'high' stakes.

The climax (if there was one) didn't have the desired effect because the story didn't build up step by step. I am used to watching Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee kung fu action movies with high entertainment value and unrealistic stunts so I probably didn't like the realistic action without any 'wow' factor. Someone else could have a different opinion on this but since the novel is aimed at young adults who like quick and entertaining books, it could've used faster pacing. Also, action looks better on screen.

The book started well (initial chapter) and ended well (final chapter) but the rest of it was not so 'well'. The novel ends with a cliffhanger leaving the reader wanting more in the next book.

Overall, good for someone willing to try something new. However, be warned that the story progresses slowly.

Pros
Unique genre
Writing style

Cons
Pacing
Unconvincing action
Does not live upto expectations of non-native Chinese for whom Wuxia means Jackie Chan movies with unrealistic stunts
Cover

Note: Review copy was provided by the author.

You can purchase the book at amazon.com or Barnes&Noble bookstore.
Here's a link to the author's site: http://aron-white.blogspot.com/2011/02/shrouded-path-arons-whites-new-novel.html

Author Interview with Historical Romance writer Delilah Marvelle

It's been a long time since I interviewed someone on Review Carnival. To make up for the lost time, I have a really interesting guest this time- historical romance author Delilah Marvelle. Her Scandal series is fabulous and she's working on a new series. Be sure to check out her books on www.DelilahMarvelle.com

Here's the interview-
RC- Why did you decide to write Historical romance?


DM- I've been writing for a VERY VERY long time. Since I was about 8 years old. I was always that kid that wanted to rewrite every story that didn't end the way I wanted it to. I always wanted a happily ever after, which lent to the whole idea of fairy tales and romance. I totally rewrote stories like Peter Pan. In my version, he went home with Wendy and they grew up and had kids together, lol.


When I read Jane Eyre in high school, I fell in love with historicals and knew that was what I wanted to write. When I read Judith McNaught based off of a recommendation by some random woman in the library, that's when I devoured more and fell madly and lustfully in love with the sweeping romance and everything in between. That's what I've been writing ever since. For me, digging into the facets of history and creating a relationship between a man and a woman during a time when women had very few rights and men held all the power lent to stories and conflict galore. I adore the challenge of writing about a relationship set in history and doubt if I'll ever write anything else.

RC- What traits do you think make a good/strong romance novel hero/heroine?

DM- What I think makes for a good/strong hero and heroine would have to be honesty, passion, and the willingness for the characters to go against the world around them in the name of everything they believe in. Because the world isn't always right and the heart is what ends up beating for those who are true to it.


RC- Historical romance must be a tough genre to write due to the amount of research involved. How do you research on the speech patterns (like the kind of words used, level of formality), clothes they wore, social views on things at that time?

DM- I more or less stick to one era and one era only when I write, because there is just SO much to learn about one given era, I couldn't even begin to veer off the path by learning anything beyond 1828-1831. It would be like wanting to learn six more languages. It's overwhelming. But it's a passion that arose from reading books of that era, collecting out of print books and constantly researching the era and finding anything and everything interesting. From the clothes to the furniture to the food they were eating, everything comes together to create a world that feels real to me. The more I research, the more I find that the people back then weren't any different from the people of today. Their environment is what made them different from us. Because people back then still ate, slept, drank, had sex, had fun, joked, worked, and did everything we did. They just carried it out in different manners and a mindset that was created by the mores of their time.

RC-Is the life of a writer what you imagined it to be like?

DM- Ha. No and no. It's a lot harder than I imagined it would ever be. And I'm not talking about the writing aspect of it. The writing comes easily and naturally enough to me. It's the time and all that is expected of me. From both my agent/editor/publisher and then my readers/fans and then from reviewers and bloggers and then keeping up with hundreds of emails that I get every day and then trying to blog, twitter and facebook on top of it, all while traveling and signing books and ensuring I don't let my family feel neglected. I really never expected it to involve this much time. I always thought, I write a book, I edit it the way my publisher wants and I'm done. Not so. The internet has definitely changed the interfacing between readers and authors in a BIG way. I think Hemingway would have shot himself much earlier in his career if he were writing today, lol.

RC- (Okay this one is out of sheer curiosity) Are the people on your book covers real people or painted?

DM- The people are in fact real. Either taken from stock photos or done with a photo shoot that is coordinated by the Cover Art Department of my publisher. I think it's AWESOME. Because I could actually go and technically meet my own characters!


RC-What are your hobbies other than writing?

DM- I love to run, hike, do Tae Kwon Do, read and above all...I love to cook. I'm actually a chef by trade and so it's my second love I dive into when I have extra time.

RC- Tell us something about your books.

DM- My books are what you call historical romance on crack. For many years readers have gotten used to reading a sterilized version of romance, due to what publishers would or would not allow due to taboo. Because of that, I think a lot of readers have gotten used to drinking the kool-aid they were being offered and when something other than kool-aid is being offered, they have a tendency to immediately dislike it. That's where I come in, lol. I like the idea of reintroducing a sliver of reality into not only romance but the historical aspect of romance that people think doesn't exist due to the books they have read or the movies they've watched. I love writing about characters that are not only set within a time that would never accept them for who and what they are, but that they are flawed and have to redeem themselves not only in eyes of the person they love but within their own eyes. It makes that redemption so much sweeter and so much lovelier and real. I'm not all doom and gloom, though, I'm all about twisted humor and twisted versions of fairy tales.

RC-What message would you like to give your fans?

DM- I would like to tell my fans THANK YOU. I wouldn't be where I'm at without them and I'm pouring my heart into the pages of every book I write just for them. They mean so much to me.

Thank you so much for the interview, Delilah. You can buy her books on Amazon.com. Please leave your comments for her.

Book review- Six Frames by Edward De Bono

Six thinking frames (I am going to refer to it as that. It's name is Six Frames:For thinking about information) is a non-fiction, self-help kind of book by Edward De Bono- a very famous writer in his niche. It is something along the lines of Six Thinking Hats (reviewed earlier) and Six Thinking Medals.

Six thinking frames aims to organize thoughts, which admittedly, is a difficult task. Edward urges people in organizations, homes etc. to think of a particular idea or thing in certain ways. What I could gather was, that the writer wants us to see everything in six different ways using the six different frames. They are- Square, Triangle, Circle, Diamond, Heart and Rectangle.

Each frame has certain qualities associated with it, which you must use when you think about something using that frame. The author probably things of frames like thinking caps of different shapes. 'Put on your triangle thinking cap/frame' is what he means.

The book aims to create efficiet thoughts and promote thinking differently among people, which is the major theme in many of his books.

While all the principles were nice, it is very difficult and time consuming to apply them to real life. It is best left as a theory of thinking.

Style-2.4

Pros- If used, the thinking frames can really help in thinking well

Cons- The writing style is too boring/dry.

Book review- Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas

These days, I'm really into books by Lisa Kleypas, and romances, in general.

Dreaming of You is a wonderful book by her about novelist Sara Fielding, who wants to research about casinos (or whatever they were called in historical England) for her new book. She has already written a controversial bestseller, which is the talk among the ton. During her vvisit to London, she saves a mysterious man- Derek Craven, who turns out to be the owner of the most fashionable club in London- Craven's. She manages to get his permission to research his club. Slowly, a relationship develops between them....

In Lisa's usual style, it is highly passionate with a tortured, troubled alpha hero (I'd really like to see some beta heroes in this genre) and the stereotypical strong-willed, high-class working woman.

The heroes, are much like many of the tortured alpha heroes/spunky heroines in many romance novels, especially Lisa Kleypas'.

It is a great read if you are the fan of this genre, or a good place to start reading historical romance. But for me, who has read so many of them, it was a repetitive book. That doesn't mean it wasn't good, though. The scenes were almost perfect, but I already knew what was going to happen before even getting to that part.

But I guess, that happens when you overread a genre so much. I am really going to try getting into contemporary romances from now on. Any good authors that you can suggest me?


Story- 4.1
Plot-3.2
Style-4.2
Characters-3

Pros- The hero is not a duke/marquis/earl/viscount, so you can get a glimpse into the life of someone who is not from the nobility in historical England.
Independent female lead

Cons- Despite having intriguing characters, it plays out exactly like Lisa's other novels with less engaging characters (Ex. Scandal in Spring)
Not groundbreaking, in fact is like a repetition of some of her other works. Now, I know that this novel was written before many of her other works, but I read them all before this, so this is my viewpoint.

I would recommend this book more to those starting to read this genre rather than experienced fans. But for Kleypas fans, it is as entertaining as any of her other books. It is by no means, a mediocre or bad book, though.