Up ’til 2am: Katrakis’s Last Mistress by Caitlin Crews
So, last night I was browsing through the Mills & Boon site, looking for new Moderns to buy (the equivalent of the Harlequin Presents) and put Katrakis’s Last Mistress by Caitlin Crews in my shopping bag, because 1) I like to give new HP authors a shot, hoping for someone new to feed my addiction, and 2) I love a revenge plot.
And, wheeeee! I hearted it. Yes, Nikos was emotionally stunted all the way through, and the desire for revenge lasted maybe a little too long (though it made for some great tension for me and emotional conflict for him, complete with character arc. Would he go through with his plan? WOULD HE? I couldn’t tell! and it’s so lovely to be uncertain when reading one of these books, even if I’m a little frustrated by the thing causing the uncertainty) — but the heroine! I loved her. She’s that awesome mix of practicality and vulnerability, and she has some great lines (actually, they both have some great exchanges, but it’s Tristanne’s* unwillingness to back down that won me over.) And although I shouldn’t have liked some of the end, the buildup of fairy-tale references throughout the book lent a weight to the sheer belief that the story itself seemed to have in romance and a happy ever after.
Anyway. I’m not sure when this comes out in the U.S. as a Presents (the only Crews book showing up on eHarlequin is her February release, which I am buying as soon as I post this — but, oooh, her site says it will be in March 2011) but I recommend it if you like angst and revenge plots, and non-doormat heroines.
I also kind of hope that the “last mistress” part of a title is a wink, re: the upcoming title changes for M&B. No more mistresses and billionaires? We’ll see.
(As an aside, it occurs to me that low-cost, universal health care would completely derail a bunch of heroines’ motivations. Really, what reason could they possibly have to become someone’s mistress if they didn’t have to worry about their parent’s/kid’s/sibling’s bills? Maybe that could be a new campaign: Free Health Care, and Free the Mistresses!)
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*Okay, I did have a hard time with the heroine’s name. I can’t count how many times I read it, then had to remind myself it was the woman’s.






Today (Friday!) I’ve got a post up at Odd Shots, 

