grade: A+
description: A wildly romantic tale of forbidden love set in the turbulent middle ages. A Jewish doctor, Solomon, and Catholic aristocrat, Rica, meet by chance at the herbalist's cottage and fall in love despite the divisions of religion, class, and expectations — but how can they possibly find a happy ending with so many things stacked against them?

( thoughts... )
grade: D
description: Trahern MacEgan—his body is honed for fighting, his soul is black and tortured. Women want to tame him, but he has loved once, and now is lost. Morren Ó Reilly—she has known pain and shame, but holds her head high, even though she shrinks from a man's touch. Can Morren be the light to Trahern's darkness, and can she be made whole again by her surrender?

( thoughts... )

She looked at him, finally.  "You think all women can be bought?"grade: D
description: Infamous for his wild, sensual needs, Lazarus Huntington, Lord Caire, is searching for a savage killer in St. Giles, London's most notorious slum. Widowed Temperance Dews knows St. Giles like the back of her hand-she's spent a lifetime caring for its inhabitants at the foundling home her family established. Now that home is at risk . . .

( thoughts... )
grade: A+
description: chronicles the connecting lives of a disparate clutch of Parisians, among them a snobbish author, a venal banker, a noble priest shepherding churlish orphans, a foppish aesthete and a loving lower-class couple, all fleeing city comforts for the chaotic countryside, mere hours ahead of the advancing Germans; as well as documents life in a small French town, during the German occupation.

( thoughts... )

Currently Reading
Title: Countess of Scandal, Laurel McKee
Description: an Irish countess and an English soldier, on opposites sides of a bloody civil war, find themselves falling in love in 18th century Ireland.
Why: need a happy ending.

Title: The Proud Tower, Barbara Tuchman
Description: a non-fictional overview of the twilight years of "la belle epqoue," the seemingly serene golden years that preceded World War I.
Why: need something substantial, not fluffy.

( month-by-month breakdown... )

Stats & Averages
Average Grade Score: C+ (2.9, rounded up to 3)
Most Prolific Reading Month: August

Best of 2010:
Wicked Becomes You, Meredith Duran ---- A+
Untie My Heart, Judith Ivory ---- A
Bound by Your Touch, Meredith Duran ---- A+
Mr. Impossible, Loretta Chase ---- A
Reckless, Anne Stuart ---- A
Fallen, Celeste Bradley ---- A
A Rake's Guide to Seduction, Caroline Linden ---- A
Skeletons at the Feast, Chris Bohjalian ---- A

Worst of 2010:
Body and Soul, Susan Krinard ---- D
The Perfect Rake, Anne Gracie ---- F
Slowness, Milan Kundera ---- D
Liberating Lacey, Anne Calhoun ---- D+
One Unashamed Night, Sophia James ---- DNF, F
The Dream Thief, Shana Abé ---- D+
Royal Seduction, Jennifer Blake ---- F
Forbidden Magic, Jo Beverley ---- F

Most Disappointing (books that I had high hopes for, ultimately dashed):
Secret Desires of a Gentleman, Laura Lee Guhrke ---- D
The Secret to Seduction, Julie Ann Long ---- D

( month by month breakdown... )

Sometimes, I just want to read a novel that makes me cry and cry hard, you know?  Tragic romances can be fun, once in a while, what with all the ANGST and DRAMA and DEATH that tends to crop up in these sorts of of stories; oh noes, will the hero and heroine end up together (probably, yes)?  So, with that in mind, here are my favorite bittersweet and downer romances.  Slight spoilers within the list. :)

Bittersweet Romances
Sometimes, winning is no fun at all.
— The Doctor, Doctor Who, "Vincent and the Doctor"

In the shadow of a happily ever after...lies the bittersweet romance.  The bittersweet romance happens, according to tvtropes.org: "...when victory came at a harsh price; when, for whatever reason, the heroes cannot fully enjoy the reward of their actions; when some irrevocable loss has happened during the course of the events, and nothing will ever be the same again. A Bittersweet Ending is still ending on a high note, but one that is mixed with sadness and nostalgia."  In a bittersweet romance, the main couple does end up together and happy, but they have made many sacrifices (and may continue to sacrifice) for their love.

( the list... )

Downer Romances
Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown.
— Chinatown
Downer romances are, this seems pretty obvious, romances that end on a sad note.  The main couple does NOT end up together in these romances, but is torn asunder by forces beyond their control.  Get your kleenex ready -- these books are angsty, tragic and depressing.

Because the HEA is often the hallmark of "traditional" romances, the romance novels below are often of a non-traditional bent: lit fic, historical fiction, classics with very strong elements of romance.

( the list... )