I suspect that if I had read this in print, it might have come across as a bit same old/same old, but a really excellent narration kept it fresh and e...moreI suspect that if I had read this in print, it might have come across as a bit same old/same old, but a really excellent narration kept it fresh and exciting. Terrific accents, very sensual sex scenes. The hero is somewhat less dark than usual for this series; as Diana said, he wants to be bad, but he can't quite make it.(less)
The young Queen Elena of Thallia, whose position in the throne is a precarious one, has made a very deli...more (reviewed from an e-arc provided by NetGalley)
The young Queen Elena of Thallia, whose position in the throne is a precarious one, has made a very deliberate engagement with Sheikh Aziz of Kadar. Both desperately need the added stability that a judicious marriage will bring to their rule. But that's exactly what Aziz's half-brother Khalil doesn't want; instead of being taken to her fiancé, Elena finds herself a prisoner in the desert. And though she dutifully tries to escape, as time goes on, she finds herself wanting to less and less.
This has a quieter tone than you might expect from a "kidnapped by the sheikh romance," although not in a bad way. Elena and Khalil have a lot in common: along with the shared burden of responsibility towards their people, they've both had lonely lives and suffered major betrayals from people they loved. The bond between them grows naturally from their shared experiences and makes them sympathetic -- especially Elena, who is valiant in her efforts to be a good queen.
Tears pricked under her lids and she blinked them back furiously. She wasn't a little girl, to cry over a cut knee. She was a woman, a woman who'd had to prove she possessed the power and strength of a man for four endless, stormy years. It couldn't end now like this...
I enjoyed the first half of this book, which has action and danger in Elena's escape efforts, and then a bittersweet quality as the attraction between Elena and Khalil grows. I didn't like the second half quite as much; I was exasperated by how long it took the two of them to see the obvious answer to their mutual problem, and then found Khalil's shilly-shallying about his feelings to be kind of tiresome. But the end goes in an interesting direction, nicely setting up Aziz's story.(less)
In her second memoir, romance and mystery writer Theresa Weir writes the antithesis of a romance: the story o...moreReviewed from e-arc provided by NetGalley
In her second memoir, romance and mystery writer Theresa Weir writes the antithesis of a romance: the story of a man who deserted his true love, and their children, for the sake of a wealthy lifestyle with a much older woman. It's also a mystery that will never be solved.
The first person narrative alternates between young Theresa's past, a harrowing story of children left at the mercy of an insane and abusive mother, and present day Theresa's attempts to connect with the father she had seen "fewer than twenty times since he and my mother divorced fifty years ago," who has Alzheimer's disease. The story of her relationship with her father, what there was of it, is a history of neglect and slights: a rare visit to his wealthy home, where she finds her Christmas presents to him still unopened months later; a desperate letter that got no response. Yet somehow she can't quite let the connection go, despite how much he deserves it, despite how pointless it is:
Alzheimer's has removed the chance of my being able to find closure and possibly forgive him. I always thought someday we would discuss what happened, and maybe I would eventually come to understand why he did what he did. But now, even when he's right in front of me, I know I'll never have the answers I need. Everything is unfinished.
Yet it's not at all an unsatisfying book, though like The Orchard, it's certainly a painful one to read. Although Weir's questions may never be answered, her raw testimony is powerful and important.(less)