The Undoing by Shelly Laurenston

Okay, so I just finished The Undoing by Shelly Laurenston, Book 2 of her Call of Crows series which was released today.

Let me first say that I love Shelly Laurenston and have ever since I discovered she and G.A. Aiken were the same person.  I own all of her books in print and many of them in audio format.  She is definitely on my "Buy" list.  One of the main reasons I find her so amazing is that none of her books have ever felt like repeats to me, each plot is unique and none of the characters feel recycled. 

But enough about the author, what I loved about this book was that Jace was so different from many heroines I have read recently.  She is an introvert and would rather hide in a cupboard than make small talk.  She says what's on her mind and the only person she even worries about making an impression on is the hero, Ski.  And that's after she has known him for a while and decides that he is someone she would like to pursue a relationship with.  As for Ski, his character was well developed, but I would have liked to know more of his backstory.  In fact more backstory on the Owls in general would have been welcome. 

However, the author spent a lot of time not only developing the relationship between Jace and Ski but the relationships between Jace and Ski's friends and Ski and Jace's friends which I appreciated.  It was nice to see how well they fit into each other's lives, how the respective groups made room for the relationship.  This is something I feel is often skimmed over in romance novels so it was a nice change of pace.  

My one con for this book is that I felt like the end was a bit rushed.  I won't say any more because of spoilers, but it did seem like there was a lot happening in a very short amount of time and I was only mildly satisfied with what happened to the prophet.

The Study of Seduction by Sabrina Jeffries

So I read Sabrina Jeffries newest novel the other day and thought I would share what I thought about it with you all.

The Study of Seduction was amazing!! I loved the relationship between Edwin and Clarissa, how it grew and matured as the book went along. I did feel that Edwin's personal growth seemed to be a bit rushed at the end, the whole realization that he was too proud/didn't trust easy, etc. But overall I felt the character growth was not overly abrupt.

But I think what I most loved about this book was the fact that it addressed the issue of rape and of the worry male relatives felt for their female family members. As a historian I feel that too often the past is romanticized. People say, "these things didn't happen 100 years ago" These sort of things did happen 100 years ago, people just had vastly different ways of dealing with them. For example, Nial kills the man who rapes his sister, flees to 'the continent' where England cannot extradite him because of how the political structure was during the 1800s. On the other hand, Clarissa would have been forced to marry her rapist had her family been the sort who was more concerned with the loss of her virginity that the fact that she was brutally assaulted. And no one outside of the two families knew what had happened. Life wasn't necessarily safer in 'the old days', and I think the author did a good job of putting something that we see as a modern issue in a regency romance and handling it in a historically correct fashion.

Great writing, relatable characters, and a solid plot. This is definitely a series I will be following.

For anyone who wants a bit more information about the book here is the Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Study-Seduction-Sinful-Suitors/dp/1476786070?ie=UTF8&ref_=cm_cr-mr-title