What's she reading this Wednesday?

In spite of the fact that it is Read an EBook Week, I'm not. I did recently read Kirsten Saell's third ebook, Bound by Steel, which I thoroughly enjoyed. If you like your fantasy hot and spicy, definitely check her out. This one follows Gil and Lianon from her first book, Crossing Swords, and the young woman, Kaela, whom they rescued from a particularly nasty situation. Seriously, if you haven't read her stuff, what in the world are you wating for?

What I am reading this Read an EBook Week, is Lauren Willig's The Deception of the Emerald Ring. It's her third in the world of historian and grad student Eloise Kelly as she researches florally themed British spies in 1803. While these books are all great fun, I'm a bit disappointed in the editing on this one. I'm really bad about repetitive word/phrase usage when I write, so it's one of those things that leaps out at me when I'm reading someone else's work. This book is loaded with them, I'm afraid. Thrice in three pages some one did something with "more vigor than strictly necessary" (or a close variation thereof); twice in two pages "certain parts of his anatomy" had their own ideas. Come on. Whoever is editing these needs to step it up and do the job right. I hate when editors/publishers get lazy just because an author is critically and/or financially successful. That doesn't mean the author doesn't still need a skilled support team. Anyway, I wouldn't tell you to skip this one just because of this problem. It's still a fun book--even if I did have to put it down and leave it for a couple of weeks in the beginning because I was so annoyed at the characters' behaviour. I got past that and have otherwise enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to reading the fourth one, The Tempation of the Night Jasmine, when it's released in paperback. I just hope someone bothered to edit it properly.

What am I reading this week?

The Masque of the Black Tulip by Lauren Willig. That's what I'm reading. It's the sequel to The Secret History of the Pink Carnation. I know. The titles alone are thoroughly delightful. Even more so when you get into the story and discover that the author's tongue is firmly in her cheek. The second book is no disappointment on that count. Willig's style flows easily whether she's writing the present-day, first-person story of Eloise - the historian researching these floral mysteries - or the third-person, 1803 characters of London and Napoleonic France.

First off, this is a part of history I dig. Not quite as much as I dig the French Revolution itself, but close. It's a fascinating segment of history, IMO. Willig takes the story of The Scarlet Pimpernel and moves beyond it to his student-cum-replacement the Purple Gentian, and then later the Pink Carnation. Okay, enough of the premise. These are romantic historic adventures with a healthy dose of modernity. I nearly sqwaked like one when the 1803 heroine of Black Tulip barked out "Albatross!" Willig made it fit perfectly sensibly into the scene while leaving no question as to just who and what the author was referring to. Hilarious!

I do like this heroine, Lady Henrietta, rather more than I like the heroine, Amy de Balcourt, in the first one. Amy has her charms, but she's a bit of a twit, IMO. Hen, on the other hand, I can relate to. She's sensible and logical while still falling prey to her emotions. You know, like normal people do. At least, the normal people I tend to know. Amy's great on the page, but like Grace Adler, I would have to beat her with a stick if she were real. Hen and her hero, Miles, are normal people in extraordinary circumstances. I like that. I'm looking forward to reading The Deception of the Emerald Ring.

And through it all, Eloise, who is living her own first-person life while researching the Pink Carnation, et al. Again, my type of heroine. The woman's a dork, and I love her for it. Go, Eloise!