Warning: If you don’t like romance novels and/or aren’t interested in what I have to say about them, I suggest coming back tomorrow. 
Yesterday, I updated you on my
summer reading progress. To date, I’ve read 39 books and am in the process of reading
Dream Man by Linda Howard and listening to
It Had to Be You by Susan Elizabeth Phillips in the car. As I mentioned yesterday, the books are beginning to run together, so I thought, in a very (very) brief way, I would list which ones I liked, didn’t like, and which ones I’m neutral on.
Liked (the ones I loved are in bold):
Dreaming of You
Pride and Prejudice
Outlander
Devil in Winter
Welcome to Temptation
The Viscount Who Loved Me
Lover Awakened
Mr. Impossible
The Duke and I
Romancing Mr. Bridgerton
Naked in Death
Dark Lover
The Secret
Lover Eternal
Devil’s Bride
Sea Swept
When He Was Wicked
It Happened One Autumn
Born in Fire
Lady Sophia’s Lover
Worth Any Price
Rising Tides
Born in Ice
Ransom
Slave to Sensation
Didn’t Like (Didn’t finish are in bold):
Lord of Scoundrels (It’s been over a year since I read this and my feelings may have changed so I’m going to reread it)
Flowers From the Storm
The Serpent Prince
Morning Glory
Something Borrowed
Neutral:
Bet Me
Slightly Dangerous
Lord Perfect
The Bride
Mr. Perfect
Then Came You
Saving Grace
Dragon Fly in Amber
Voyager
I’m not going to go through each and every book because that would take forever. I will however, tell you why I didn’t like the ones I didn’t.
Lord of Scoundrels: Someone told me I should turn in my romance reader card for not liking this book. Admittedly, I didn’t finish it. In fact, I didn’t make it very far in. I couldn’t even skip through to find a better scene. This book is on everyone’s top ten list of favorite romances of all time, and frankly I don’t see why. However, I may have been in bad mood when I started this book or I may have been looking for something different, so I’m willing to give it another chance.
Flowers From the Storm: This book was just too much for me. Too long, too much emotion, too many plot lines, just too much. I can’t handle a Quaker herione, a hero whose had a stoke and now in a mental institution, and the angst (oh the angst) associated with the herione trying to heal him and keep him from being declared legally insane. Oh, and did I mention the math? Too too much. I got about a quarter of the way through this, then started skimming. I got the gist, but I just wasn’t caught up in the emotion as
AAR’s reviewer obviously was.
The Serpent Prince: Honestly I don’t remember what I didn’t like about this book. But I didn’t because I only read about half of it before I started skimming. I think I was bored. There really isn’t anything special about this book that sets it apart from other regencies. I like the hero, but if I want to read about a lavishly dressed nobleman, I think I’ll stick with the
Duke of Villiers and Eloisa James.
Morning Glory: I read this book years ago, but it’s stuck in my head of one of the few romances I truly didn’t like. LaVyrle Spencer is incredible popular, especially among women who started reading romance in the late 80s, but this is the only book I’ve ever read by her. I didn’t like it, therefore, I didn’t read her anymore. I can’t remember many of the details, but I remember being frustrated by the characters and found the story boring. I like some action in my plots, and I think that this one is more character-based. Unlike Nora Roberts, who can excel at this type of book, I found this one to be a disappointment.
Something Borrowed: This was recommended to me by several people and I was really looking forward to it. I’m not sure if a lot of my dislike came from listening to this book rather than reading it, but I thought that Rachel was one the wimpiest, wishy-washy, spineless characters to ever enter fiction. (I know that’s a little harsh). Towards the end of the book, I was mentally screaming from Rachel to put on her big girl panties and deal with it. I think at some point I may have actually yelled out loud at her while driving (it had been a long week). All that said, I didn’t turn the book off; I needed to know what happened. It’s why I’ll still read Something Blue because I really need to know if Darcy gets what’s coming (I doubt it). But overall, I didn’t like this one.
I’m afraid to ask if people agree with me or not. I’m sure I stepped a few toes with Lord of Scoundrels and Flowers from the Storm. But, I’m going to grin and bear it. Do you agree with my lists? What are your thoughts?
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I totally agree with your thoughts on Something Borrowed!!