Darling Beast Joint Review with Ana from Immersed in Books

Today I'm reviewing Elizabeth Hoyt's Darling Beast with Ana Coqui from Immersed in Books. This has become a regular series for us, though we're not on any specific schedule. Thus far we have reviewed Living in Sin by Anastasia Vitsky and Entreat Me and Radiance by Grace Draven. We hope you enjoy reading our chatter at each other as much as we've been enjoying writing it! And in case you missed it, my monthly column with Alexis Hall is up at All About Romance. We reviewed Ginn Hale's The Lord of White Hell and we were thrilled to be joined this month by Willaful.

Elizabeth Hoyt’s 7th Maiden Lane book, Darling Beast, features the previous heroine’s brother, Apollo Greaves, who was sprung from Bedlam by the hero of the previous book, Maximus Batten, Duke of Wakefield, and is now on the run from the law while assisting his friend in rebuilding Harte’s Folly, the pleasure garden that burned at the end of the 6th book. Lily Stump was once a sought after comedic actress employed by Harte who finds herself squatting in the ruined theater on the grounds, when she is blackballed at other theaters. When Lily’s son stumbles upon Apollo working in the garden, Apollo is unable to speak, the legacy of an attack by a guard during his incarceration. Before these two can find their happy ending, they must clear Apollo’s name and ensure Lily’s son’s safety.

Trigger warning for rape and spousal abuse. 

Elisabeth: Hoyt’s Maiden Lane series contains some really remarkable books in the early part of the series, but with Darling Beast, we seem to be starting a new story arc, so doesn’t seem like a bad place for newcomers to jump in.

Ana: I have read most of Hoyt’s Prince books but I had not kept up with the Maiden Lane series. I agree that this a great jump on point. While I missed some of the connections between the secondary characters, it was very easy to follow without having read the first 6 books.

Elisabeth: Well, you should remedy that! Thief of Shadows, the 4th book of the series is definitely one of my favorite historical romances of all time. Assuming you enjoyed this one, that is!

Ana:  I did enjoy it. It wasn’t perfect, I had some issues with a couple things, but I’m definitely planning on going back and filling in the gaps. And since I had the ARC to Dearest Rogue, book 8, I read that as soon as I finished Darling Beast.  

Elisabeth: Well, let’s start with issues then and move on to what we liked. What stood out for you as less than ideal?

Ana:  My biggest struggle with the book is that one of the major conflicts Apollo and Lily have is over his identity. First she doesn’t know who he is and that keeps them apart for a bit, but then the biggest issue is once she realizes who he is, she just can’t see them building a lasting relationship. She has a lot of reasons and evidence for that, and I felt that it was essentially set aside and glossed over in the end. Having read Dearest Rogue and having looked over some of the synopsis for the other stories, I now know cross-class romance is a recurring theme in the Maiden Lane books, but I wanted a better answer to her objections.

Elisabeth: Yes, I can see that. I guess I excused it because they both had life-altering experiences that came full circle at the end of the book. The resolution of Apollo’s inheritance issues and Lily’s concerns about the continued safety of her child were things that had been hanging over both of them for so long. I think it made sense for them to find solace in each other after going through that together. That sounds pretty thin, but I honestly didn’t think about it at the time.

Ana:  I know that I loved the Epilogue but I had been highlighting all passages where Lily worries that it surprised me when it was resolved by just saying...look my family accepts you. I had so many questions about Lily’s future and career. (Thankfully some of those were answered in Dearest Rogue).

Elisabeth: I didn’t highlight any of that stuff. I think I saw her objections as a rational reaction to trauma inflicted by a member of the aristocracy, but figured that once that trauma was resolved, her issues would be resolved. And Apollo is clearly nothing like that other aristocrat in any way.

Ana: You are totally right about that. That is a huge part of why it works. He is able to show her that he isn’t that man, and won’t behave that way.  I did love how both of them were so good at their jobs, and struggled with how limiting aristocratic views on work are. I thought that was a fantastic connection for them to have.

Elisabeth: I’m actually kind of struggling with this discussion because Elizabeth Hoyt is one of those writers that I just don’t think about very much. I mean, I’ve read all her books and she does seem to gravitate toward certain themes (finding meaningful work is definitely one, non-traditional routes to parenting is another), but I just enjoy the world she creates and so...get kind of lost in that? I feel a little guilty about it honestly because I’m consuming this series in such a mindless way. But that I suppose is a gift in itself. It’s so rare that I take off my critical hat long enough to just enjoy a romance any more so I have to give Hoyt credit for being the first writer to do that for me in a LONG time.

Ana: I think when I was reading tons and tons of historicals I had a tendency to do that too. I read so few of them now, that I can’t help but look out for some those issues. I know that when I was consuming the Prince books, I didn’t think about the class imbalances in some of those.

So did you have any issues or did it just all work for you?

Elisabeth: I think it all worked for me. I wasn’t cognizant of any points that I objected to, though I was a bit taken aback by a fairly graphic description of spousal abuse near the end of the book. It’s definitely something that people with sensitivities in that area should be aware of because it’s hinted at throughout, but it does get fairly explicitly violent at one point in flashback.

Ana: Yes, you are right. Other potentially triggering moments were when Apollo talks about how he was assaulted and how others in Bedlam were treated.

Elisabeth: Oh, here’s a question. It seemed like perhaps at one point Hoyt was implying that Apollo had been raped? Or did you not pick up that? It’s not explicitly stated, I don’t think?

Ana: Oh, I picked up on that. I think I highlighted it because it is so rare to see that come up in a book. He really struggles thinking about or describing how he was treated. But he does describe one of the guards dropping the falls of his pants while he was being held down.

Elisabeth: Yes, I wasn’t sure, but you’re right. I think we are led to understand that that he has experienced sexual abuse in addition to being beaten. I do see rape backstories more often in m/m romance and with heroines, but yeah, more rare when it’s a hero in m/f romance, especially an adult hero.

So what worked for you about Darling Beast?

Ana:  The parallel story in the epigraphs.  Hoyt starts off each chapter with piece from “The Minotaur”. I usually tend to ignore those pieces of poetry and such at the start of chapters because I just want to rush back into the main story, but as the book went on I found myself slowing down and taking the time to read the snippets.

Elisabeth: Um. I skipped them. All of them. I’m a terrible reader! Why were these more interesting than usual?

Ana: I think I was annoyed at them at the beginning, I even posted on twitter asking if anyone bothered to read them.  But I think I read one by mistake and it started alerting me that while there is a Beauty and the Beast element to the story, it was really going to focus a lot more on the question of identity, inheritance and violence.  

Elisabeth: It sounds like I should go back and read them. Maybe I will be less annoyed by them if I read them all at once.

Ana: Some of them were really long!  So what else worked for you?

Elisabeth: I don’t have a lot of historical romance series that I follow. I never got sucked into the Cynsters or Spindle Cove, for example. So my pleasure in this was seeing some familiar faces like the Duke of Wakefield, who is a fascinating character, and then being introduced to a few new faces that I’m DEEPLY curious about and will, I’m assuming, get their own book at some point.

Ana:  Are you talking about Montgomery?

Elisabeth: *bounces up and down* YES YES YES! Gosh he’s odd. Just the kind of hero I like. His actions in this book are almost inexplicable. I can’t wait to find out what drives him.

Ana: I had the same reaction to him in this book. I was really attracted to his near malevolence and manipulative dandyness.  He reminded me a lot of the Duke of Darling in Anna Cowan’s Untamed. Dangerous and easy to underestimate.  You will see a lot more of him in the next book.  But I was surprised to discover that the book after that is not his book, but it is someone connected to him.  

Elisabeth: I’ve found this series to be like that a bit. I guess until I discussed this with you, I wasn’t as attuned to how up and down it has been. The 5th book was a little more of a throwaway for me too: kind of a bridge between Thief of Shadows and Duke of Midnight. None of them have been bad, I don’t think. It’s just that some of the characters are total stand-outs and other have been less so. I think this one may be one of those “less so” ones for me.

Ana: The romance in the next book worked a lot more for me.

Elisabeth: And I have been eagerly awaiting Trevillion’s book so I’m very much looking forward to starting that one. He’s a huge character in the previous three books and he has changed a lot.

Ana: Has Harte been in a lot of the previous books? Because he is the hero of book after Trevillion’s.

Elisabeth: Oh, yeah. He was a big character in the 6th book especially when the Folly burns down so that makes sense really. Still, I’m impatient for Montgomery now!

Ana: You will have to buzz me when you read the next book. Because I have thoughts.

Elisabeth: Definitely! So any final thoughts about Darling Beast?

Ana: I think it was charming and a very enjoyable read despite the hard topics it dealt with. I am glad to have read it and reconnected with Hoyt through it. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed her books.

Elisabeth: Yes, dealing with hard topics in a way that still allows the story to work is something that I think Hoyt excels at. And I love that it happens within a story that still works as a romance. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Lily and Apollo, but I enjoyed their love story.

A lifelong genre reader, Ana grew up reading fantasy, sci-fi & mystery novels in Puerto Rico. Ana discovered comics in college before finally wandering into the Romance section a few years ago after bawling through yet another YA dystopian series. A recovering English and History double major, Ana is now a school librarian, mother of two geeky girls and a pastor's wife in Rochester, NY. When she is not reading or writing reviews, she is knitting or planning her next trip. She writes about books at her blog: Immersed in Books and on Twitter as @anacoqui.

Sirocco, 1983 Harlequin Presents #2U5S

This morning I'm thrilled to bring you a guest post by Willaful, one of my very favorite romance bloggers and a long-time category romance reader. Her post is on 1983 Harlequin Presents SIROCCO by Anne Mather. We're skipping ahead a bit in time because this post builds on some of what we discussed last week: the prevalence in older Harlequins of heroines getting physical with men not the hero. And with that I leave you in Willa's capable hands. ~ Elisabeth

I've been fascinated by the sexual, political, and historical mores of Harlequin Presents since I started reading them again, after a 30 year hiatus, so Elisabeth's summer project is right up my alley. Sirocco is noteworthy for a very early mention of oral sex, although it's not the earliest. (That is generally thought to be the rather memorably named Antigua Kiss by Anne Weale.) But it's interesting in other ways as well.

Our heroine is Rachel, a young woman who works for her living, despite having a trust fund and a wealthy father. (Or is he?!) She's happily engaged to Roger, a name that only a man who will not be the hero would ever have in a Harlequin Presents. (To give you an idea of Roger, he tries to convince Rachel that her housemate and close friend is too fat to be a bridesmaid.)

Rachel discovers that no good deed goes unpunished when she tries to help a man she sees lying unconscious in a car. That man, Alex Roche, appears to become obsessed with Rachel, and begins to insinuate himself -- sometimes by force -- into every area of her life.

In her commentary on Charlotte Lamb's Possession, Elisabeth wrote:

"First, one place where I'm starting to notice a divergence in the way physical intimacy is portrayed in these older categories is in the characters' experiences with people not their potential partners. These days, it seems like neither hero nor heroine is permitted any kind of sexual contact with a different character, while in the older books, I'm not sure I've read one yet that didn't have some element of a love triangle involving at least kissing."

I've noticed this before in older Harlequins: Janet Dailey's Sweet Promise, from 1975, opens with the heroine genuinely in love with another man, and quite interested in being physical with him. In Sirocco, Rachel is a virgin, which is pretty much de rigueur for an unmarried heroine. (Although in a very early Anne Mather Presents, The Pleasure And The Pain, the hero and heroine had been lovers in the past.) However, her fiance has "taught her ways to please him without their going to bed together." This is made slightly more explicit later in the story:

"'Oh sweetheart, I've missed you,' he murmured, drawing her reluctant hands to his body. 'Hmm, that feels good. Go on, go on: make love to me...'"

Although this example of sex with a man not the hero (in the middle of the story, even) is historically fascinating in itself, it leads to something even more noteworthy: Rachel gets fed up with not having her own needs met.

"She couldn't dispel a linger sense of dissatisfaction that had no real foundation in their association, something that had not changed over the months they had been together. It concerned the -- from her point of view -- totally unsatisfactory sexual relationship they shared, and Roger's apparent indifference to her needs."

"When Roger joined her at the breakfast table, he was looking decidedly pleased with himself, and Rachel couldn't help the uncharitable supposition that he wouldn't be feeling that way if he had had to be satisfied with her kisses."

Of course, this is at least partially attributed to Alex awakening her. Still, it's a far cry from the more modern Harlequin Presents heroine, who frequently has had no real sexual desires to speak of before meeting her hero. (And who will almost never have sex again -- especially not enjoyable sex -- if they've parted. This is just starting to change in the line, and many long-time readers absolutely hate that.)

Some of what goes on between Alex and Rachel is non-consensual, including some actual physical restraint. But by the time they have sex, she's mostly into it; consent is not crystal clear, but it's a very mild forced seduction. And even while she's being swept away by passion, Rachel is aware of her needs being considered for the first time:

"This was not at all like being with Roger, she thought hazily, as Alex's mouth beat a searing path across her breasts, then followed downward, over the quivering flatness of her diaphragm to the softness of her stomach. Roger had never given any thought to her pleasure, only his own, and while she told herself that Roger had had more respect for her, it rang a little hollowly in her ears.

Even so, she flinched in sudden panic when Alex's mouth sought a more intimate invasion, and he gave a soft laugh as he slid over her to find her mouth again. 'You have a lot to learn,' he breathed against her lips. 'But we will come to that later.'"

And the focus on Rachel's satisfaction continues:

"It was all over too soon. Rachel had scarcely begun to enjoy the pleasurable sensations Alex's thrusting body was evoking before she sensed his shuddering climax, and he slumped heavily on top of her. Not so different after all, she reflected bitterly, remembering Roger's groaning convulsions, and the artificial mood of bonhomie that always followed them."

This is unexpectedly realistic in a genre chock full of first time orgasms. But don't worry -- he makes it up to her.

The emphasis on domineering men who don't take no for an answer in older category romance is generally taken to be an expression of the shame women felt around their sexuality. It's interesting to see that in at least some respects, older category heroines may actually have been allowed a less restricted sexuality, one that isn't dependent on one specific man to awaken and fulfill it.

I should warn readers that Sirocco is a slightly disguised "Sheikh" story and sometimes gets uncomfortably racist. I'd say it was a product of its times, in which anti-Arab sentiment was prevalent -- but then lots of things haven't changed all that much in 40 years, have they?

Guest Post: Food & Romance at Read a Romance Month

I'm guest posting over at Read a Romance Month's blog today, sharing some thoughts on food and romance, plus trying out a recipe from Brenda Novak's new cookbook to raise funds for the American Diabetes Association. I made the crepes from the book and they turned out great. I also got a sneak peek at the rest of the cookbook and all the recipes look really good. Plus, it's for a good cause and there's a giveaway of a couple of my favorite foodie romances, including Sweet Disorder by Rose Lerner and Alexis Hall's latest, For Real. 

And just to entice you to go read the post, I'm including a bonus recipe here. Brenda suggested filling the crepes with fruit or goat cheese and blackberry jam. But I happened to have some whipping cream left over from another recipe so I decided to see if I could make goat cheese whipped cream. Doesn't that sound good? Turns out...it is good. Really good. Good enough that I pretty much think that breakfast should always include honeyed goat cheese whipped cream. And fresh farmer's market strawberries.

Pretty please?

Honeyed Goat Cheese Whipped Cream
Makes: 6 servings
Difficulty: Intermediate

4 ounces soft goat cheese, room temperature (very important--goat cheese cannot be too cold or the whipped cream will separate)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
2 teaspoons honey

1. In a medium bowl, combine goat cheese, powdered sugar, honey and 1/4 cup of the whipping cream. Using a hand mixer, mix on low speed until smooth. Add the remaining whipping cream and beat on medium speed until fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.

2. Serve with crepes or french toast for breakfast or with crepes and fresh berries for a light spring dessert.

Joint Review of Grace Draven's Radiance & Entreat Me at The Immersed Reader + Giveaway Winner!

A quickie post to say that I'm visiting with Ana Coqui at Immersed in Books today. We read Entreat Me and Radiance, both by Grace Draven and chatted about both books. I liked one better than the other. For what we thought about these fantasy romances, check out Ana's blog.

Also, Blogiversary Week is over for the year and this morning I drew the winner of the $50 Amazon giftcard. Congratulations, Lorn L. You win! I'll be emailing soon to find out your ebook store preference.

And thank you again to everyone for reading and commenting and loving romance and food right along with me this past year. You're the best!

Living in Sin joint review with Ana from The Immersed Reader

I love chatting on Twitter with Ana from Immersed in Books, but there's only so much in-depth book discussion that can happen in 140 characters. When we both wanted to read Living in Sin by Anastasia Vitsky, part of a new collection of lesbian romances about Damsels in Distress from Less Than Three Press, I suggested we team up and do a joint review. This was the result. One warning: here there be spoilers. Hope you enjoy!

In Living in Sin, Ciara and Audra have been living together for about nine months, but Ciara still had not come out to her family. Ciara is torn between telling her family they’re not just roommates or losing Audra. A visit from her ailing grandmother in a dream gives her insights into what she should do, but it’s still not easy to choose between the family you love and the family you chose.

Elisabeth: So, Ana, what did you think about Living in Sin?

Ana: I had really mixed feelings. I usually enjoy relationship/marriage in trouble books, but there wasn’t enough focus on the relationship for me. I felt the focus of the story was off, enough for me to think of it less as romance and more as Women’s fiction. It is almost wholly centered on Ciara, her feelings and fears about coming out to her family, rather than on her love for Audra.

Elisabeth: It definitely felt like we were dropped into the middle of a story instead of a romance with a beginning, middle and end. They’ve already been through the courtship phase and the ending doesn’t offer total resolution either.

Ana: I thought that Vitsky did a great job portraying the awful relationship despair you can end up in when you have a ongoing conflict without resolution. Their tension, the initial fight, were really well done.

What did you think of the Dream Grandma interlude?

Elisabeth: That was an unexpected element. I had the idea that Ciara’s family was probably Christian, though it never stated that directly in the text, I don’t think? But it seemed like probably not the sort of white, Mainline Protestantism that I’m most familiar with. There are lots of different permutations of Christianity around the world though. So I found the dream grandma bit fascinating. There was almost this ancestor-worship element, which if the case, would make Ciara’s dilemma about how much to tell her family about Audra especially difficult. So the idea that Dream Grandma didn’t seem opposed to their relationship felt powerful.

Ana: We have a very brief reference to churchgoing during the first visit with the family. Aunt Marge chastises Ciara for missing church and mentions the pastor Janice speaking about homosexual marriage in her latest sermon. I thought there was an interesting disconnect between dream grandma and Ciara’s ideas about her grandmother. Dream grandma does seem to be open to Ciara pursuing her heart, but she has been Ciara’s excuses. Maybe not that grandma would oppose but that it would be the straw to break her mother’s already over loaded back.

Your mention of white Christianity is interesting. I didn't pick up or notice if Ciara or Audra were POC, but I do know that in PR I grew up with a greater acceptance that God or your family might speak to you through dreams. Dream Grandma was more problematic to me in that I wasn’t sure at point what her message really was.

Elisabeth: I see the ambiguity too. Though upon reflection, it seemed that maybe Dream Grandma was just saying that Ciara isn’t alone. That Dream Grandma had to make difficult choices for love too. Which also seems to jive with how the book ends--that she and Audra talk about going to see her family together.

Ana: I agree with that. I do think Ciara thought she was a special snowflake. She has this family she loves, that she doesn’t want to risk, and Audra should just deal with it. Dream Grandma saying, you aren’t the only one who has ever had to make hard choices, and that those choices are going to be different for every person was the kick in the pants she needed.

Elisabeth: Ciara’s special snowflake status was where the first person narration was most effective for me. I think however sympathetic we are to Ciara, it’s because we’re getting the whole of what she’s thinking. I think that with Audra’s perspective thrown into the mix, I would have had trouble siding with Ciara at all. But as it was, I felt bad for her. As much as I thought she should woman-up and tell her family, I also understood why she felt like she couldn’t.

Ana: I really missed Audra’s point of view. I responded quite negatively to Ciara initially, so I really wanted to see why Audra was sticking around for this. I think it was powerful to be Ciara’s head, and know her fears, but I would have a hard time staying with someone who would exclude me to the point Audra has been excluded.

What did you think about her relationship with her family? I felt that she wasn’t giving them enough credit. But at the same time, I understood her desire to avoid conflict.

Elisabeth: Gosh. I wasn’t sure what to think at first. That scene where the family relates the pastor’s sermon made it tough for me to be sure Ciara was making the wrong decision. But at the same time, they’re so close and seem to depend on one another so much that I hard a time believing they wouldn’t eventually come around. I guess though, in conflicts with my own family, I know that when you’re in the heat of the moment, you can’t always see that.

Ana: For me it was actually one of the later conversations which made me understand Ciara’s concerns. She mentions that her father would want to go after the man who turned her off boys, and since she is such a Daddy’s girl, I can see how she would want to avoid that at all costs. She doesn’t want to have to explain this to her dad. She sort of wants him to clue in on his own.

Elisabeth: And I didn’t even notice that dialogue at all. This is why reading with someone is fun. So, Ana, did anything else strike you about Living in Sin?

Ana: I think it had an interesting perspective. In the end I really appreciated that it wasn’t an “all or nothing” kind of message, and the ending was hopeful, but it really didn’t satisfy my romance expectations. It was bittersweet.

Elisabeth: It reminded me of some of the stories from last year’s RAINN anthologies that way. I would have really liked a more definitive ending too. It did seem to end on a positive note, but I wanted a bigger payoff in the form of true acknowledgment of their relationship from her family or a public kiss or something.

Ana: I agree with you, it did remind me particularly of Ruthie Knox’s story in the Summer Rain anthology, similar bittersweet tone. It really made me curious to read something else from Less than Three Press and see if this is typical of their Lesbian romantic fiction, or if the ambiguity was just in this story, because I do look for more.

Elisabeth: I grabbed a couple of lesbian romances from this publisher and have only read one other thus far, but that one has a much more traditional romantic arc. It’s a fairy tale and there’s a meet-cute, some action and a definitive happy ending.

Ana: I am curious to try one of their historicals. I think they are offering some set during WWII. I will be more willing to try it knowing that it might have the story trajectory I’m looking for. Elizabeth, thanks for inviting me to read this with you. I probably wouldn't have picked it up otherwise and I enjoyed talking about it.

Elisabeth: Thanks for agreeing to join me! We talk about books on Twitter all the time, but it was nice to have an extended conversation instead of being confined to 140 characters. We should do this again some time. Next time you get to pick the book though.

Ana: Challenge accepted!


A lifelong genre reader, Ana grew up reading fantasy, sci-fi & mystery novels in Puerto Rico. Ana discovered comics in college before finally wandering into the Romance section a few years ago after bawling through yet another YA dystopian series. A recovering English and History double major, Ana is now a school librarian, mother of two geeky girls and a pastor's wife in Rochester, NY. When she is not reading or writing reviews, she is knitting or planning her next trip. She writes about books at her blog: Immersed in Books http://winterfell.blogs.com/immersedreader/ and on Twitter as @anacoqui.

Guest Post at All About Romance

I'm at All About Romance today with Alexis Hall discussing Judith Ivory's 1997 historical romance Beast.

One fun romance-is-a-small-place intersection that occurred to me after Alexis and I chatted was that Laura Florand's new series starting with Once Upon a Rose, takes places in and around the same region of France as Beast and also features a hero who grows flowers for perfumes, about a hundred years apart. So now I really have to get to that book. I'm curious to see how the business changed!

And the next beauty and the beast trope book I'm really looking forward to is Erica Monroe's next historical, Beauty and the Rake, which comes out in April, but can be preordered now. It's a TOTALLY different take and since it's pretty much my favorite trope, I can't wait.
 
And stay tuned to AAR next month when Alexis and I will chat about Getting Dirty by Erin Nicholas. Everything is more fun with friends.

RT Book Reviews Guest Post

Planning your Valentine's Day menu? I have a guest post up at the Romantic Times Book Reviews blog today with some ideas for an elegant, romantic meal. Including a cocktail that has never appeared on the blog. Enjoy!