Please Don't Hold Me To It

I try to keep my promises.  Really, I do.  Except I'm terrible at keeping the promises I make to myself.  Like, "I'm going to keep up with posting on my blog" and, of course, New Year's resolutions.  Yea, remember those things?  Those wonderful grand promises we make to ourselves when we see a whole year spread out in front of us, full of endless possibilities.  Well, this year is coming to a close soon, and I am determined to keep at least one of my New Year's resolutions before I create a whole new set.

To quote one of my resolutions:

Participate in the DIK Reading Challenge. I joined up because hopefully this will help me with resolution number one. [Resolution #1 was to start posting regularly... sorry guys!] It's my first reading challenge, and I have always wanted to try one out.

Ok, for me the DIK Reading Challenge is shot, but there is no reason I can't finish the essence of the resolution, which was to participate in my first reading challenge.  In addition to the DIK Reading Challenge, I also posted on the Goodreads groups Romance Readers Reading Challenges section 2010 A-Z Book Challenge, which is exactly what it sounds like: during this calendar year read at least one book starting with each letter of the alphabet.  I think there is some leniency with the letter X though.

Here is how I've done so far:
A-
B- Blue-Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas (3/19)
C- The Courtship Dance by Candace Camp (1/4)
D- Don't Bargain with the Devil by Sabrina Jeffries (1/6)
E-
F-
G- Gone With the Nerd by Vicki Lewis Thompson (2/1)
H- Her Secret Fling by Sarah Mayberry (3/7)
I-
J- Just the Sexiest Man Alive by Julie James (3/17)
K- The Kiss by Sophia Nash (In Progress)
L- Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase (1/24)
M- The Marriage Wager by Candace Camp (1/15
N- Never Seduce a Scoundrel by Sabrina Jeffries (2/8)
O- Open Season by Linda Howard (8/1)
P- Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles (2/25)
Q-
R-
S- Sinful Surrender by Beverly Kendall (11/19)
T- To Taste Temptation by Elizabeth Hoyt (1/14)
U-
V- The Villa by Nora Roberts (In Progress)
W- The Wedding Challenge by Candace Camp (1/3)
X-
Y-
Z-

And ya know, with my Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks coming up, I think I might just be able to finish up the remaining letters!  Going through the books I own, here's what I know I'm going to read:
A- An Unexpected Pleasure by Candace Camp
E- Every Frat Boy Wants It by Todd Gregory
F- False Colors by Alex Beecroft or Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale
R- The Return of the Earl by Edith Layton
Z- Zoya by Danielle Steel

As for the remaining letters (I,Q,U,X, and Y) I welcome any and all suggestions before I buy or check out any books.  Wish me luck :)

DIK Reading Challenge: Perfect Chemistry

Title: Perfect Chemistry
Author: Simone Elkeles
Genre: YA-Romance
Series: Series Unknown, but a sequel is coming out
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Summary:
At Fairfield High, everyone knows that south siders and north siders aren’t exactly compatible elements. So when cheerleader Brittany Ellis and gang member Alex Fuentes are forced to be lab partners, the results are bound to be explosive.

Neither teen is prepared for the most surprising chemical reaction of all – love. Can they break through the stereotypes and misconceptions that threaten to keep them apart?

Review:
*Beware. Minor spoilers ahoy.

Every now and then a book comes along that exceeds your expectations and makes you go, “Wow, I really enjoyed that.” For me, Perfect Chemistry was one of those books. I picked it up only intending to read a chapter or two, and finished the whole book in one sitting. I love the characters, the plot, and the writing. Perfect Chemistry was not what I expected. From the reviews and book trailer, I thought this was going to be a romantic comedy. Was it romantic? Yes. Funny? Yes. But Perfect Chemistry is more than just a humorous piece of YA fiction. It had some unexpected depth.

Both Brittany and Alex have some big issues in their lives. Brittany lives in a glass house. Her anxiety-prone, obsessive mother is determined to show the world a good face, no matter what happens. Her emotionally absent dad is no better, spending as much time as possible at work and away from the family. Her older sister has cerebral palsy, another one of the family’s secrets. Most of the tension in Brittany’s family comes from her parents wanting to send the sister to an institution while Brittany feels pressure to become the family’s perfect daughter.

Brittany was a bit of a stereotype. Rich. Beautiful. Head of the poms squad and dating the quarterback. Guys want to bang her and girls want to be her. Despite her sister and the problems with her parents, it was hard to feel too sorry for her. In terms of her social life, she’s the school’s princess. Her character does evolve as she stops keeping everyone at arm’s length and stops worrying about fitting the social mold.

In many ways Brittany’s character is easier for the average teen to relate to than Alex. Parents, siblings, social anxiety and pressure to have sex are universal teen issues. Alex’s problems go beyond that, and I think that also made him a more fleshed out character than Brittany.

I love Alex’s character. He’s poor, Latino, and in a gang. Perfect Chemistry doesn't skirt around the issues the way a lot of books do. When it says Alex is in a gang, Alex is in a gang. I don’t want to get too much into Alex’s gang life as it’s such a major part of the plot, but I like that the issue wasn’t made light of. He may not run major drug deals or shoot people, but he carries a loaded gun most of the time and leads a violent lifestyle. It didn’t feel fake. He may have a heart of gold somewhere deep down, but that doesn’t make him warm and cuddly.

For a YA romance, I found it fairly steamy. Things never get graphic, but a lot of scenes are emotionally charged. Elkeles really brought out the thrills of young love. Everything is in first-person, so readers get a good sense of a character’s thoughts and emotions. I don’t usually like romances in first person since I want to know what both characters are thinking, but the chapters alternate between Brittany and Alex’s point of view, taking care of that problem.

Some people felt Perfect Chemistry was cliché. Yea, it is. The clichés were almost unavoidable. Star-crossed lovers are about as cliché as you can get without moving into archetypes. But the theme is played with enough to feel fresh. The only cliché that got under my skin was that Alex and Brittany’s sister connected after meeting. It just felt like shorthand for “Look! This guy is so much better than your current jack-ass boyfriend.” I didn’t like when the sister was used as a plot device. The ending was cliché too, but after everything they went through I was happy with a warm and fuzzy ending and care-bear epilogue.

Another small thing that did annoy me was the timing of events. Ninety percent of this book takes place between the beginning of the school year and Halloween. That’s maybe ten to twelve weeks for our two love birds to get over their mutual hate, become attracted to each other, decide to break the social mold, and fall in love. The short time span didn’t bother me. It’s a staple of the romance genre that once you've meet “the one” obstacles shall arise and be conquered in short order. However, the remaining ten percent of the book moved in five month spans. I found the change in pace jarring. I would have preferred if the timing of the book was more even, but by the end I was so eager to see what happens that it’s probably good I didn’t have to wait.

To sum up, if you like YA fiction, go read this book! This is one of the few books that has wowed me lately. I’m excited to see there is a sequel, which is about Alex’s younger brother, coming out in a few months. I’ll definitely be reviewing that some time later this year. 5 out of 5!

DIK Reading Challenge: Lord of Scoundrels

Title: Lord of Scoundrels

Author: Loretta Chase

Genre: Historical Romance

Series: Scoundrels (#3)

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary:

Tough minded Jessica Trent's sole intention is to free her nitwit brother from the destructive influence of Sebastian ballister, the notorious Marquess of Diain. She never expects to desire the arrogant, amoral cad. And When Daines reciprical passion places them in a scandously compromising, and public, position, Jessica is left with no choice but to seek satisfaction...

Dawn the minx for tempting him, kissing him...and then for forcing him to salvage reputation! Lord Dain can't wait to put the infuriating bluestocking in her place -- and in some amorous position. And if this means marriage, so be it -- though sebastian is less than certain he can continue to remian aloof...and stell his heart to the sensuous, head strong lady's considerable charms.

Review:

For the past few years I’ve heard a lot of hype about this book. I’ve only read one other work by Loretta Chase (Your Scandalous Ways) and loved it- 5 out of 5 stars. So, when I decided to take on the DIK Reading Challenge, Lord of Scoundrels seemed like a good book to kick off the year with. The book is excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was the kind of book I couldn’t set down, even when there were other things I needed to get done. Lord of Scoundrels has great characterization and depth and I can see why many people put it on their favorite.

I would love to add to Lord of Scoundrel’s praises, but as much as I enjoyed it, I didn’t find it memorable. This can be a major problem when trying to write a review, or even keeping track of the plot. For the life of me I couldn’t remember who was angry with Dain, who wanted revenge, who was manipulating who, and why anyone was doing any of those things to begin with. In the end, I’m writing this more based on impressions than memories.

Dain is the definition of the tortured hero. His mother abandoned him. His father didn’t love him and packed him off to school as soon as he could. The other boys beat him up, called him ugly, and said his mother was a whore. The traumatic childhood resulted in the belief that no one could ever love him, and that the best way of dealing with it was to engage in as much debauchery as is humanly possible. Normally I’m not a big fan of this plot as I don’t believe true rakes can be “reformed”. And Dain was a true rake. If his character had been any less well written I would not have been able to believe the HEA. His childhood explains his determination to revolt against anything “respectable”, but at the same time didn’t excuse his behavior. Even though you know the type of man he will become, it’s impossible not to feel sorry for him as he spends all of his childhood being looked down on and degraded. From his thoughts it’s clear how his lack of self-worth has been ingrained in him. A lot of time is spent in Dain’s head, which is consumed with the “no one could love me/I’m ugly/I’m evil” monologue. It could get repetitive- he’s pretty whiny and insecure. Essentially, Dain is stuck as a child for most of the book. He hasn’t grown emotionally, and whenever he doesn’t get his way he starts stomping around and yelling like a little boy. I think watching the emotional development made his groveling much more satisfying later on. Despite all of his brutishness and stupidities, Dain does some really good groveling in the end.

I know a lot of people had issues with how Dain treated his son. It was heart wrenching to see him do what his father did to him. All in all, the book has a plethora of bad parenting. However, Dain reacting to his son differently wouldn’t have been realistic, especially since he was still so emotionally immature. I did think it was resolved (Dain gained the ability to be a father as he began to sort out his own issues) and I like that once shoved into the situation, he managed to figure a bit of it out without Jessica’s help.

I think I had more problems with Jessica. I liked that she was intelligent and witty. Her ability to hold her ground in any situation was necessary considering how overwhelming Dain could be. But she was often just too perfect. She could walk into an antique store and in minutes find a priceless antique than no other collector had noticed. She was a spinster, but by choice. Despite her age and lack of fortune she still had no shortage of suitors. She was uncommonly beautiful and could reduce the average man to rubber by batting her eyes. She was infinitely patient with Dain. She managed to let not only him into her heart, but his bastard son who even he didn’t want to deal with. Just on principle. I think I would have liked her more if she showed some flaws. However, any less of a character could not have taken on Dain. Since she was neither a wet rag nor TSTL, I can forgive that at moments she felt like a Mary Sue.

I would recommend Lord of Scoundrels to any of my friends. It’s easy to get into, has complicated and realistic characters, and was a satisfying read. Even with the annoying blip in my memory I know it was an excellent book and I’m up for reading any of Loretta Chase’s other novels. 4 out of 5 stars.