Meljean's Groaning Shelves Pt II

Thanks to the mighty power of random.org, we have the two winners for THE ROMANCE READERS’ BOOK CLUB:

Random Sequence Generator

Here is your sequence:

11 5

#11 – Paula
#5 – blodeuedd

Congratulations, and I hope you enjoy the book.

For the next one, I was going to do a different book, but in celebration of the news that Kinsale sold her book to SourceBooks, I’ve got SHADOWHEART, the sequel to FOR MY LADY’S HEART.

Here’s the PW review:

This long-awaited follow-up to Kinsale’s last book, For My Lady’s Heart (1993), takes place in 14th-century Europe, where Allegreto-assassin, pirate, brute and bastard son of the Navona family-attempts to reclaim his birthright in the Italian principality of Monteverde. To this end, he captures Elena, the princess of Monteverde, and makes her his wife in a particularly violent sex scene (“She met him with a fierce reply, opening her mouth against his shoulder, a willing she-cat to his leopard, biting him as viciously as if she could draw blood”). As Allegreto and Elena journey to Italy to face Franco Pietro, Elena’s former fiancé and a rival of Allegreto’s family, lust and affection spring between the two (in that order), but Elena’s disdain for Allegreto’s ability to murder without remorse gives rise to an abundance of romantic tension and some intense love scenes. Kinsale’s characters speak in stilted phrases resembling Middle English, and she loads the book with historical detail, making it both realistic and ponderous. Those who have waited 11 years for Kinsale’s return will lap up this romance, but others will be turned off by its length and its controlling, sometimes cruel, alpha male hero.

I loved SHADOWHEART, but I think this review is a fair representation of the reactions I’ve seen to the book. Some love it; others are turned off by some aspects of the novel. So, if you like your romance on the lighter side, be warned. (Also, if you haven’t read FOR MY LADY’S HEART … what are you waiting for?)

Same rules as before: comment, and you are entered. I’ll draw a winner at some random time at random.org.