Romance Book Review Podcast

The Duke Undone by Joanna Lowell has a fantastic heroine that drives the novel and keeps you wanting more to see her get her happy ever after. She's a starving artist trying to make her mark in a school that won't let her paint from life. Why can't women in the 1800s have live, naked male models?  It's really stifling her creative process. So when she comes across a naked man in the alley, well, she takes a good look. Heidi definitely would have taken a good look too.

For the sake of art of course!

Since he's super hot, it gets burned in her brain and she paints him.  Her finest work. And since she needs the money, she has to sell it. As he's a duke (unknown to her), his face is recognized and hijinks ensue from there.

Heidi describes her reaction to this fun tale. She loved Lucy, the heroine and the initial beginning of the novel was fun and made her laugh. It didn't quite keep that same tone throughout, although Lucy was a delight and a treasure the entire book.  Come and find out why.

The Duke Undone by Joanna Lowell

Heidi uses a 1-10 system with 10 as the best. Each of the following categories can get a point: characters, romance, plot, climax, pacing, dialogue, world building, mechanics, overall impression, and authorial voice.

Christine Feehan is well known for her vampire  Carpathian Dark Series, but she also has a Shifter series with the first full book being Wild Rain.  Heidi explores the author and her lush rainforest world. She questions some decisions, discusses the books cover picture of the hero - spoiler alert, may be the worst one she's ever seen, and gives her overall Heidi rating on this 2004 foray into Shifter world.

The Ratings:
Heidi uses a 1-10 system with 10 as the best. Each of the following categories can get a point: characters, romance, plot, climax, pacing, dialogue, world building, mechanics, overall impression, and authorial voice.

Books Mentioned:

Dark Prince - Carpathian Series

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Rarely does Heidi review two books in the same series back to back but she enjoyed Prisoner (last weeks podcast) so much she moved on to the next book in the series. This series has excellent male POV and this book does not disappoint here!  The Hero is fantastic, full of angst, a real troubled soul who changes and grows in a way that will tug at your heart.

Heidi does have issues with the choices made with the Heroine and she describes the book as seeming like two different books. One when you are reading the Hero's POV, and one when you are reading the Heroine's POV.  It makes for a spicy podcast this week!

The Ratings:
Heidi uses a 1-10 system with 10 as the best. Each of the following categories can get a point: characters, romance, plot, climax, pacing, dialogue, world building, mechanics, overall impression, and authorial voice.

Yes the captive "prisoner" does make the hero and her "jailor" aroused while performing a heist in a library to steal some blueprints by talking about filing systems. 

Prisoner is a great read. A captive heroine trope, a revenge trope, it busts out of these genres by being really darn good and really well written.  The hero is really sexy, and Heidi's favorite part is the first ten chapters or so when the heroine is working in the prison getting the prisoners to share their memoirs and there is a lot of chemistry between the heroine and hero and it is all look but no touch.  Come find out why.

She discusses that this book does contain a dubious consent scene that in her opinion, doesn't really fit in this book and detracts from the overall surprising and strongly moving romance. 

This book surprised Heidi. Come find out why, and what rating she gave it.

Heidi talks about a book from 1984! Exit to Eden by Anne Rice. She starts the podcast talking about Anne Rice and Interview with a Vampire and The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty Trilogy and, unfortunately, a few things in this book that are content offensive and cannot be ignored. 

She then discusses that this book is in first person point of view and some of her thoughts on first person vs. third person.

At the thirty minute mark she summarizes the book and then goes into her review.  This is a pretty long and juicy podcast!  Come join!

Books mentioned by Anne Rice/ A.N Roquelaure

Interview with a Vampire
The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty

Whelp this podcast was quite a ride. Heidi finished the entire review, then realized that this series follows the same hero and heroine (Elena and Raphael) over multiple books! So she added some additional commentary into the podcast for you (and it answered some of her questions too!)

This series features a Guild Hunter - Elena, who hunts vampires, and Raphael an Archangel when he hires her for a job. Heidi discusses her initial impressions of this different and immersive world of Singh's, her thoughts on the romance, and what she thinks has to happen to have a satisfactory happy ever after.

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A nontraditional podcast where Heidi discusses a BDSM light series - the Zandian Masters (8 Book series total and Heidi discusses Books 1, 2, 5, and 6) by Renee Rose and a similar series (alien breeder, fated mate, no BDSM) The Commanders Captive. She does not do the 10 point system for these books as they are all short books and the Zandian series is erotica. She does give her Amazon star rating though and does a character/overall breakdown. It's a fun, if short, dive into the alien/human genre. Heidi has some pro/cons to discuss with you. 

Books Discussed:

Zandian Masters Series by Renee Rose

His Human Slave: An Alien Warrior Romance Book 1
His Human Prisoner: An Alien Warrior Romance Book 2
His Human Vessel: An Alien Warrior Romance Book 5
Her Mate and Master: An Alien Warrior Romance Book 6

The Commander's Captive: An Alien Breeder Romance The House of Kaimar Book 1 by Miranda Bridges

Heidi goes back to her favorite Nora Roberts book Face the Fire, the third book in The Three Sisters Island Trilogy from 1997. Was it as good as she remembered? How does Nora's writing back in 1997 compare to her writing today? (Continuing the analysis from Part 1 in the Nora Podcast series)?  Come find out! 

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In this Part 1 of a 2 Part Nora Roberts Review, Heidi returns to Nora Roberts exploring a recent Paranormal Trilogy - The Guardians Trilogy, reading Book 1 The Stars of Fortune, which came out in 2015. This book takes place in a stunning location, with some pretty cool characters (and one that Heidi hates and she probably takes more time than she ought explaining why) with a fast pace and excellent action. Heidi reviews the book and gives you her thoughts. Nora is a master for a reason. 

Heidi once read every book Nora wrote voraciously, then stopped for a long span of time, and she explains why. She was interested in returning to Nora's Paranormal series to see if she could reconnect to the things she loved about Nora.

In Part 2 - Heidi is going to explore an old favorite to see if she still loves it.

The Ratings:
Heidi uses a 1-10 system with 10 as the best. Each of the following categories can get a point: characters, romance, plot, climax, pacing, dialogue, world building, mechanics, overall impression, and authorial voice. She did give one book a 0.

Books mentioned in the podcast:
The Name of the Wind - by Patrick Rothfuss
The Dragon Heart Legacy - Books 1 and 2- The Awakening, and The Becoming by Nora Roberts
Face the Fire - Book 3 of the Three Sisters Island Trilogy by Nora Roberts (Featured in a future podcast)
 

Beverly Jenkins novel Rebel is Book One in the 'Women Who Dare' series, book two just came out in Feb 2021! This book features Valinda Lacey our heroine, and Drake LeVeq an AMAZING hero, in Reconstruction era New Orleans. 

Beverly Jenkins is a MASTER and you need to come and hear why. One hint, she does what she calls 'edutainment' which she describes as teaching while entertaining. You become immersed in the different cultures of New Orleans in this time period so vividly that you won't realize you are learning, you will just see the Quarter, the electric energy of the city, while watching the two characters fall in love. 

Drake is an incredible hero... romantic, a bit of a pirate, he speaks with a French accent... not much more needs to be said! 

Article mentioned in the podcast:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-14/bridgerton-series-netflix-diversity-in-historical-romance-novels/13116184

Heidi discovered the book Through the Storm is Raimond LeVeq's book (she mentioned that she thought he must have his own)