Donna Kauffman
Honey Pie
Brava / April 30, 2013 / $14.00 print, $7.19 digital

When Honey D’Amourvell inherits property on tiny Sugarberry Island, she’s prepared to start a whole new life. Her plan is simple—make a home, open a shop, and maybe, finally, find a place to belong. But the building she now owns is leased to none other than the owner of Babycakes, which means her spot is already occupied. Honey isn’t sure how to put down roots when she has nowhere to plant them. But sexy, softhearted mechanic Dylan Ross seems determined to help. He’s everything she never imagined she would find in a man, and each kiss is more persuasive than the last…

Soon enough, Honey is another important ingredient in the spicy mix of the Cupcake Club. But will Dylan convince her that what she craves most is his love?

I like heroines who are both eccentric and neurotic, and Honey D’Amourvell, the leading lady of Honey Pie by Donna Kauffman, is definitely different. From her thick glasses and piercing green eyes to her hand-embroidered underwear, nothing about Honey is usual. Her whole life she has struggled with what she considers a curse—the ability to know other people’s past and future, both good and bad, as a result of the slightest physical contact. The poor woman’s a veritable hermit. After a failed attempt to find some semblance of a normal life at art school, she spent ten years living alone in a barn on her family farm in Juniper Hollow, Oregon. She calls herself “the equivalent of Juniper Hollow’s Fifth Horse of the Apocalypse.”

[She sounds like a trip...]

A few themes dominate the New Adult stories currently topping the bestseller charts. First, there are the bad boys. Readers of all ages seem to love tattooed heroes with bad tempers and/or reputations for womanizing. A propensity to gamble goes hand-in-hand with a tarnished reputation, and several new adult novels this month feature heroes who inadvertently bet on love. And then there are the tortured heroines, fleeing an emotionally turbulent past. Their reputations might not be as tarnished as the bad boys, but you can bet they’ve got at least one skeleton in their closet—or they will, once they let a troubled hero steal their heart and ravage their bodies.

Music of the Heart by Katie Ashley features a sweet, virginal country singer from a family of missionaries who falls for a tattooed bad boy rocker with a few too many notches on his bed post. Twenty-one-year-old Abby Renard is all set to spend the summer touring with her brothers’ Christian band to assess whether or not she wants to become their lead singer. Instead, she accidentally ends up on Jake Slater’s tour bus for his popular rock band Runaway Train. Thinking that she’s just another groupie when he finds her in his bed, he attempts to put the moves on her before she lets him know, in no uncertain terms, that she’s not that kind of girl.

Despite Jake’s many personality flaws, his charm and seductive skills cause Abby to reevaluate her stance on premarital sex, while her sweetness and purity make him change his opinion of monogamous relationships and the possibility of happily ever after.

[What else is hot in New Adult?...]

In real life, being attracted to bad boys is usually a bad idea. The players end up cheating, the ex-cons end up back in jail, and the musicians end up with a drug problem. In fiction, however, the naughtiest heroes are often the most appealing. I mean, who cares if he’s a sociopath with a rap sheet as long as he’s good in bed, right? Happily, the best New Adult books in March feature swoon-worthy heroes with varying levels of badass-ness; flawed heroines who fall for them despite their better judgment; and the deliciously forbidden romance that ensues.

On Every Street by Karina Halle features a genuine anti-hero named Javier Bernal, the right hand man of a dangerous drug lord. Ellie Watt, a.k.a. Eden White, is a young con-artist who wants revenge against Javier’s boss, who hurt her when she was young. Eden tries to get close to the drug lord through Javier, but Javier can see through her ruse and decides to claim her as his own. This sexy new adult novella is set six years before the very adult, and very gritty novel, Sins and Needles, during which Ellie falls for another man while trying to elude her angry ex-boyfriend Javier.

There are few romances more forbidden than the one that develops between step-siblings. It’s almost—but isn’t quite—incestuous (especially when the lovers meet as young adults), yet the relationship often faces opposition from family, friends, and even society. Blaire fell for her sexy step-brother Rush in Fallen Too Far by Abbi Glines, but he betrayed her. In the equally sexy sequel Never Too Far, she’s pregnant and heartbroken. Blaire and Rush can’t keep their hands off of each other, but they can’t move past their issues, either, most of which stem from family drama. The story ends with a cliffhanger that left some readers dissatisfied, but a third book is planned in the Too Far series.

[Oh, the drama! (More, please!)...]

Romance novels don't feature enough neurotic heroines. Actually, they don't feature enough flawed heroines in general. The same can't be said for heroes' there are plenty of stories featuring mentally and physically damaged heroes and the women who love them. But finding quirky heroines isn't so easy.

Why are quirky heroines a tough sell? Maybe writers are afraid a heroine's emotional struggles will endanger her happily ever after. Maybe they're afraid the readers—or the hero—won't find her lovable. But some of literature's most damaged heroines are also the most sympathetic and endearing. For fellow readers who share my predilections, I've compiled a brief sampling of romance novels featuring quirky, emotionally imbalanced heroines.

Mr. Darcy Forever by Victoria Connelly is the third book in the Austen Addicts trilogy. Sisters Sarah and Mia Castle, both fans of Austen’s work, used to be close until they fell for the same Willoughby-like heartbreaker during a summer holiday. Three years later, both sisters attend the Jane Austen Festival in Bath. Older sister Sarah, a divorcee struggling with O.C.D., meets Lloyd, a photographer and fellow germaphobe who doesn’t find her quirks strange at all. Meanwhile, younger sister Mia meets an older architect named Gabe whose kindness and friendliness make her re-evaluate her usual romantic type. Drawn together by the new men in their lives, both sisters are forced to confront each other and their past hurts. There’s hope for reconciliation until the old flame who tore them apart makes a reappearance.

[Those pesky old flames, always causing trouble...]

Sally MacKenzie
Surprising Lord Jack
Zebra / March 5, 2013 / $7.99 print, $5.79 digital

Frances Hadley has managed her family’s estate for years. So why can’t she request her own dowry? She’ll have to go to London herself and knock some sense into the men interfering in her life. With the nonsense she’s dealt with lately, though, there’s no way she’s going as a woman. A pair of breeches and a quick chop of her red curls, and she’ll have much less to worry about…

Jack Valentine, third son of the famous Duchess of Love, is through being pursued by pushy young ladies. One particularly determined miss has run him out of his own house party. Luckily the inn has one bed left—Jack just has to share with a rather entertaining red-headed youth. Perhaps the two of them should ride to London together. It will make a pleasant escape from his mother’s matchmaking melodrama!

Surprising Lord Jack by Sally MacKenzie includes one of my favorite tropes in any genre—a female masquerading as a male (often called the Chick-in-Pants trope). After her aunt tries to trick her into marrying a stranger, Frances Hadley dons her brother's clothes and flees to London in order to demand her dowry from the family lawyer and gain her independence. Dangerous weather conditions force her to stop at an inn, the Crowing Cock, where she inadvertently shares a bed with Lord Jack Valentine, a notorious rake. He mistakes her for a young boy named Francis (with an “i”) and insists on escorting her to London, not realizing the scandal he's creating.

[Oh, what a tangled web she's weaved...]

Contemporary New Adult novels are topping the romance bestseller lists right now—for good reasons. They're hot and steamy, filled to the brim with emotional angst, and still delivering on the happily ever after romance readers expect. Some of the best ones in February feature good girl heroines attracted to bad boy heroes with tattoos, piercings, and even drug addictions. Emotionally torturous love triangles and smoldering sex scenes also seem to have captured readers' hearts.

In If You Stay by Courtney Cole, bad-boy hero Pax Tate numbs his emotional pain from his troubled past with drugs and women until he meets good-girl heroine Mila Hill, a talented painter who is still reeling from the tragic death of her parents. She's drawn to Pax despite—or perhaps because of—his flaws, and they begin to fall in love. Unfortunately, Pax knows his personal demons will destroy their relationship if he doesn't change. While both Pax and Mila struggle with serious psychological issues, their chemistry is undeniable, and Cole provides readers with a satisfying, happily-ever-after ending.

[A happy ending makes up for so much...]

Samantha Young is a 26-year-old Scottish writer whose self-published contemporary romance On Dublin Street recently became a bestseller, with the announcement of the follow-up, Down London Road, generating a ton of reader excitement.

But before her adult novel catapulted her to fame, she self-published nearly a dozen young adult fantasy novels, many of which were inspired by mythologies she studied as an ancient and medieval history major at the University of Edinburgh. Her young adult novels veer toward new adult, since her heroines are generally older teens facing more mature situations. Some of her stories have been described by readers as “dark” or “edgy,” and they often include mild sex scenes.

The Tale of Lunarmorte trilogy consists of Moonspell, River Cast, and Blood Solstice. It features a mixture of werewolves, witches, and other supernatural creatures with ties to the gods and goddesses of Greek Mythology. Seventeen-year-old Caia Ribeiro is a Lykan, or werewolf, whose parents were murdered by a group of witches called the Midnight Coven. She was raised separately from her pack for her own protection. When she returns to them, she has trouble fitting into the group, partly because the pack lost members over the years protecting her and partly because she has a special destiny of which she's unaware. She's set to play a key role in the war brewing between the Midnight coven and the Daylight coven. She also has a particularly conflicted relationship with Lucien, her sexy young Alpha.

[You know how we feel about Alphas!...]

Readers craving a combination of the coming-of-age angst of a young adult novel with the self-reliance and mature relationships that characterize adult fiction can now pick up books in the New Adult genre. These stories are characterized by heroes and heroines who are over eighteen, out of high school, and newly facing the difficulties of adult life, such as their college careers, first jobs, and first loves. January offers a tasty assortment of new releases for the discerning new adult palate.

New adults might be independent entities in the eyes of the law, but that doesn't mean they can completely escape their families of origin. For example, Just One Day by Gayle Forman describes the journey of self-discovery of an eighteen-year-old girl with an overbearing mother. Allyson “LuLu” Healey spends the summer before college traveling around Europe. In England, she meets bad boy Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter, and he inspires her to throw caution to the wind and travel to Paris with him. Even though he abandons her after “just one day,” he has planted a seed of rebellion in her that changes her life forever.

[In a good way, we hope...]

May old friends be forgot? We don't think so! We're celebrating our favorite reads with five days of the Best of 2012. We asked our bloggers for their favorite recommendations of 2012, with one stipulation, they had to be new to them and not necessarily new to 2012. We know we got a few recommendations to add to our to be read piles and it's a great way to feed those readers!

Don't miss out on the shopping list for these great recommendations once you finish reading, and check out the recommendations from Day One, Day Two, Day Three, and Day Five! Click here to view the Day Four shopping list.

Heather Waters:

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
Rowell’s young adult debut impressed me so much, I immediately purchased her adult novel, Attachments (another enjoyable read). Teenage outsiders Eleanor and Park, each dealing with wholly relatable problems, quickly win you over individually and only become more compelling together.Their story is funny, sweet, sad, and heart-melting—sometimes all at once.

[The best combination possible!]

Jennifer Estep
Crimson Frost
Kensington / $9.95 print, $8.99 digital / December 24, 2012

For a moment, a face flashed before my eyes—the most hideous face I'd ever seen. No matter how hard I tried to forget what had happened, I saw him everywhere I went. It was Loki—the evil god that I'd helped set free against my will.

I should have known that my first official date with Logan Quinn was destined to end in disaster. If we'd gotten into a swordfight, or been ambushed by Reapers, I'd have been more prepared. But getting arrested mid-sip at the local coffee hangout? I didn't see that one coming. I've been accused of purposely helping the Reapers free Loki from his prison—and the person leading the charge against me is Linus Quinn, Logan's dad. The worst part is that pretty much everyone at Mythos Academy thinks I'm guilty. If I'm going to get out of this mess alive, I'll have to do it myself...

Poor Gwen Frost might have been hand-picked by the Greek goddess Nike to be her champion, but her life is far from blessed. Ever since she arrived at Mythos Academy, she's been in love with the sexy Spartan Logan Quinn, but her gift of psychometry has been a serious impediment to their developing relationship. When she touches him, she can see all his deep, dark secrets. Given Logan's traumatic past, being vulnerable terrified him, but now, in Jennifer Estep's Crimson Frost, he has finally opened up to Gwen, and they're able to go on a real date to a coffee shop like two normal teenagers.

[Enjoy it while you can, guys...]

Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol is the best holiday story ever. Perhaps that's hyperbole. But according to some experts, Dickens' work is responsible for Christmas as we know it today—as a more secular holiday celebrated with family gatherings, Christmas trees, gift giving, and philanthropy. It has even affected the way we speak. We can thank Dickens for the phrases “Merry Christmas,” “Scrooge,” and “Bah! Humbug!”

A Christmas Carol is the tale of a miserly, mean-spirited English accountant named Ebenezer Scrooge who hoards his wealth and hates Christmas. On Christmas Eve, he's visited by the ghost of his dead business partner Jacob Marley and the spirits of past, present, and future Christmases. They convince him to do good works and love mankind.

Unfortunately, there is one part of A Christmas Carol that's always been a real downer, in my opinion. Scrooge could have had romantic love and a family of his own, but he alienated his fiancée Belle with his greediness. By the time he finds redemption, it's too late to reverse his past mistakes with her. That's why current romance novels that utilize the themes, characters, or plot of a Christmas Carol are such fun to read. Unlike poor Ebenezer, modern Scrooge-like heroes and heroines can find true love before it's too late.

[If they can reach out and grab it, that is...]

I am a fan of the Secret Baby trope; if the synopsis of a love story includes even a veiled reference to a secret baby, I feel compelled to read it. I love the forced intimacy caused by sharing a child. It's a tie that binds the hero and heroine together and forces them to overcome their personal difficulties for the sake of their offspring.

But I have to admit to occasionally being ashamed of my predilection because the idea of a woman keeping her baby a secret from her lover is, in my opinion, morally reprehensible under most circumstances. It's his child, too, and aside from situations in which he is abusive or dangerous, there are few excuses valid enough to prevent a woman from disclosing such life-changing information.

As a result, modern-day romance novelists have to be more creative with their secret baby plots to avoid offending readers and making them dislike the heroine. With so many potential pitfalls, how can an author make the well-loved trope work? It all depends on the reason for keeping the child a secret.

[Let us count the reasons...]

Brenda Novak
When Lightning Strikes
MIRA / August 28, 2012 / $7.99 print, $6.79 digital

Gail DeMarco left Whiskey Creek, California, to make a name for herself in Los Angeles. Her PR firm has accumulated a roster of A-list clients, including the biggest box office hit of all—sexy and unpredictable Simon O’Neal. But Simon, who’s just been through a turbulent divorce, is so busy self-destructing he won’t listen to anything she says. She drops him from her list—and he retaliates by taking the rest of her clients with him.

Desperate to save her company, Gail has to humble herself by making a deal with Simon. The one thing he wants is custody of his son, but that’s going to require a whole new image. He needs to marry some squeaky-clean girl who’ll drag him off to some small, obscure place like Whiskey Creek….

Gail’s the only one he can trust. She agrees to become his wife—reluctantly. But she isn’t reluctant because he’s too hard to like. It’s because he’s too hard not to love!

Brenda Novak’s When Lightning Strikes was the first book I’ve read in a long time that literally made my heart pound with excitement. I sped through each chapter, breathless with anticipation, until I finally reached the very satisfying conclusion. As a result, it’s tempting to write a review full of exclamation points that essentially says, “Oh my goodness! It was so wonderful! You have to read it!”

[You’ve hooked us, but now we need the scoop...]

Jillian Hart
Montana Dreams
Love Inspired / August 21, 2012 / $5.75 print/$4.24 digital

Bumping into her ex-fiancé shatters Millie Wilson all over again. Now that she’s back in Montana to care for her dying father, her real burden is the secret she’s never divulged to Hunter McKaslin.

Millie can’t blame Hunter for his anger upon learning he’s a father. He’s never gotten over opening his heart, only to have it broken. Yet Millie senses a new goodness in Hunter. Finding their lost dreams now seems possible—if forgiveness and trust can find a place in this fresh start.

Millie Wilson left her boyfriend Hunter ten years earlier because he told her that he’d never marry her and that he’d rather “jump off a cliff” than have kids. He didn’t know then that she was pregnant with his son, and Millie never told him.

[Awkward!...]

Adele’s 21 took the world by audible storm, the singer’s very real and poignant failed romance resonating with anyone who’s ever fallen in love, and had it fall apart. 21 is perhaps the most successful heartbreak recording of all time, but there is no shortage of broken heart songs—and romance novels—to make beautiful art out of heartbreak. H&H blogger Brittany Melson takes a look at revenge songs, below, and we’re also running a sweepstakes for a chance to win a copy of Marc Shapiro’s Adele: The Biography so you can read more of what inspired 21’s anguish.

Falling in love isn’t always hearts and flowers and moonlight serenades. Sometimes the experience is rife with anxiety and depression. Insecure partners wonder, “Will he cheat on me?” “Will she abandon me?” “Will he chop my heart into a thousand tiny pieces and feed the bloody mush to his pet hyena?” And sometimes the answer to all of those questions is “yes.”

That’s when jilted lovers must turn to angry breakup songs and revenge-themed romance novels for emotional catharsis. Because in life, it’s not always a good idea to set cheating partners’ clothes on fire, steal all their money, or vandalize their cars. But when it comes to art, anything goes.

[Free your mind...]

The Chosen by Chaim Potok is a novel about two young Jewish boys living in New York City during the Second World War. One is the son of an esteemed intellectual and Zionist, while the other is the son of a Rebbe—an ultra-Orthodox Hasidic leader. The story of their unlikely friendship and journey into manhood shouldn’t have resonated with me as fifteen-year-old high school freshman fresh out of Catholic school in a mid-sized, predominantly Christian community, but it did. Reading The Chosen changed the way I looked at the world. At a time when my personal spirituality was changing and diverging from my family of origin’s beliefs, Potok’s work deepened my respect for other religious traditions, and, I think, helped me become a more open and accepting adult.

But The Chosen is one of only a handful of young adult novels that seriously addresses the religious life of teenagers. Flip open the average YA novel, and you’ll find witches and vampires, dead parents and cheating boyfriends, but you’ll rarely find a discussion of God, spiritual beliefs, or a teenager’s religious background. Some people may wonder if teenagers aren’t religious. Or they may wonder if young adult authors aren’t religious and, therefore, don’t feel compelled to create religious characters. According to recent statistics, however, that’s just not true.

[So what’s the deal?...]

Cara Elliott
Too Tempting to Resist
Forever / April 24, 2012 / $7.99 print, $7.99 digital

Determined to stop her wayward brother from squandering their dwindling fortune, Lady Eliza Brentford decides to follow him to his favorite den of depravity. There, among the candlelight and raucous revelry, she encounters her brother’s role model in debauchery, the notorious Marquess of Haddan, Gryffin Dwight. Staring into his smoldering green eyes, Eliza can’t help but find the rakehell nobleman seductively charming-and sinfully attractive.

When Gryffin appears on Eliza’s estate as a guest of her brother, a stolen kiss among the garden’s blooms leads to a night of unbridled passion. Suddenly the lovely widow feels herself opening up, like the petals of a rose. Could this master of seduction possibly feel true emotion for Eliza? Or is he leading her down the garden path to an Eden of delights no woman can resist—and a fall no woman can escape?

Some of the best romance novels are not only sexy and sensual but also sensuous, providing stimulation for all of a reader’s senses. Nothing is more sensuous than a delicious meal, and Cara Elliott’s food-inspired sex scenes are, quite literally, Too Tempting to Resist.

[Dig in...]

We love to read of dashing men and women in different time periods, but what, exactly, are they wearing? Brittany Melson tells us how they got it on—and more importantly, off.

***

Time Period: Tudor (1485-1603)/Elizabethan (1558-1603)

A Tudor man had his work cut out for him if he wanted to succeed in getting his special lady in the buff. From her elaborately coiffed head with hats and shiny bodkins to her densely layered and complex gowns, a wealthy woman needed assistance (and lots of patience) getting dressed and undressed.

Undergarments:

A Tudor lady began her ensemble with a soft linen smock, or chemise, to protect the rest of her clothes from sweat and body oils. Beneath her chemise, she would wear thigh-high stockings, which were tied with garters above the knees. Most were woven, but wealthy women might be able to obtain a pair of coveted knit silk stockings.

On top of her chemise, a lady would wear her “pair of bodies”—funnel-shaped, corset-like (but the word “corset” wasn’t used until the Victorian period) stays with shoulder straps. It ended at the waist or just below the waist and was stiffened with whalebone, reeds, or cords. It was spiral-laced, rather than cross-laced, and not super tight. It was designed to flatten the front of the chest and lift the breasts.

[For love of fashion...]

In many traditional fairy tales, the young, beautiful heroine sits around and waits for the valiant hero to save her—to wake her with a kiss, or rescue her from the tower, or cut her out of the wolf’s belly. As a child, I didn’t see anything wrong with the princess being rescued by her prince.

As an adult woman, however, I have begun to realize that many fairytales could be considered misogynistic remnants of various patriarchal societies where women were objectified and oppressed.

Popular fantasy author Mercedes Lackey puts a new spin on all of these very “traditional” stories with her Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms. In her stories, “Tradition” becomes a magical force that subtly compels people into behaving in certain ways that correspond with tales told around campfires for hundreds of years. For example, a young girl whose father remarries a woman with two daughters will find herself being pushed into the role of Cinderella. Luckily, Lackey’s heroines are not women who wait for the hero to save them. They learn to manipulate the Tradition in order to take their fate into their own hands and find true love on their own terms.

[Sounds like my kinda heroines...]