Friday, September 24, 2010

Good Girls Gone Bad!

by Anna Campbell

Hmm, perhaps I should start this review by admitting I've gone to Blazes.

Harlequin Blazes, that is!

I'm a fairly recent convert to this particular line in Harlequin. I read a few of the first ones out - hey, it's a hot, sensual line of romances, of COURSE I tried them! But sadly, they weren't really me.

Then a couple of years ago, I met wonderful Bandita Tawny Weber and fell in love with her writing. Then a good friend (Sharon Archer, an Aussie Medical Romance writer who's great!) recommended Sarah Mayberry's books to me. Add Kathleen O'Reilly to that mix (my Second Helping review of her wonderful LONG SUMMER NIGHTS is here) and you've basically got three of my favorite contemporary authors. And they all write for Blaze!

Recentlly I handed a book in and as my reward, I pulled Tawny and Sarah's latest off the tottering TBR pile. And found to my surprise that the two books shared a common theme, one I always love in a romance - the nerdy Plain Jane who discovers her inner siren under the influence of the passion she finds in the arms of a gorgeous stranger. Who almost always ends up being more than the sexy drifter he appears on the outside.

I think there's a couple of themes most of us find irresistible. One is the bad guy who falls for the 'good' girl and in the process finds redemption (think of all those Regency rake heroes!). Another is the 'good' girl who casts away her inhibitions and finds a completely new side of herself when she surrenders to the wild boy.

One of the lovely parts of the 'good girl' romance is that often it becomes clear that the guy she falls in loves with learns to love her in all her nerdy glory too. There's a deeper connection than suddenly wearing a skimpy bikini or drinking too much and dancing on the tables would immediately suggest.

In HOT ISLAND NIGHTS, Sarah Mayberry's latest, repressed upper-crust English girl (she's not a maiden but she may as well be!) Elizabeth Morgan suddenly discovers the existence of a father she never knew she had and she abandons her restricted life in search of him. This means cancelling her wedding to her boring fiance and flying across the world to Phillip Island in Australia. Actually I had to giggle here! HOT ISLAND NIGHTS conjures up the image of the Barrier Reef or somewhere equally tropical. Phillip Island is south of Melbourne and is so cold, penguins nest there!

However, in spite of this adverse weather report, Elizabeth's island nights become very hot indeed when she starts a reluctant flirtation with handsome drifter Nathan Jones while she waits for her father to get back from preparing for a major yacht race in Sydney. It's not long before she sees beneath Nathan's sham facade of casual, easygoing layabout who is interested in nothing but surfing. And then the real trouble starts!

This book lures you in with its tale of a woman learning to let herself go and you're enmeshed by the time it delves the depths of human emotion. I found myself laughing a few times but at other times, I found myself with tears in my eyes, especially as we discover more about Nathan's past. I'm in awe that Sarah manages to pack such a profound variety of human experience into 215 pages. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Tawny's book RIDING THE WAVES also starts with our nerdy heroine deciding to take a holiday, this time to Mexico. Where you guessed it, she meets a guy she assumes is a toyboy interested purely in sex and surfing (surfing seems to be the new black!). Believing that what happens in Mexico stays in Mexico, she embarks on a wild fling that she intends to leave behind when she returns to her real life.

But what happens when her fling follows her home and turns out to be her new colleague?

As you can imagine, sparks fly!

Drucilla is an astronomer (great career for a romance heroine!) who has submerged her sexuality in her career. Her relationships with nerdy fellow scientists never go anywhere and the only place she sees stars is when she's looking through a telescope. All that changes when she meets the gorgeous Alex in Mexico. Little does she know the man she's selected for an unforgettable week of passion followed by a final good-bye is A.A. Maddow, hotshot darling of the astronomy set.

When Alex and Dru meet up again in her lab, he's eager to pursue the relationship. He's glimpsed more than just physical passion in his interactions with Dru. So has she and she's terrified out of her brain! So we're set up for a delicious push-pull between these two smart-mouthed characters. In the process, both Alex and Dru will discover they each have much more to offer than they've ever believed possible.

Like Sarah's, Tawny's books have a surface glitter of wit and humor and sexy fun, but they deal with questions deeply important to all of us. How can we be our best? Can we let go of the past to trust love? How much fun can we have in bed? Yeah, I know, but honestly, they're Blazes after all!

Again, RIDING THE WAVES is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

So do you have a favorite good girl gone bad romance? Is it a theme you enjoy?

34 comments:

  1. Great review, Anna! I love Tawny Weber's Blaze books too, and I'm particularly looking forward to this one. I love stories about intimacies that the persons involved think are over, then BAM! they're thrust back together in an untenable situation.

    I looked for Riding the Waves today in my local Borders, but alas they had no copies. This is me pouting! Now I'll have to wait for Amazon to deliver one.

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  2. Jo, I think you'll really take to this one! Our Tawny certainly is an amazing writer and this is one of my faves of hers. Hope that Amazon pigeon is fast! Thanks for swinging by.

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  3. Anna, I love Blazes, and I especially love Sarah and Tawny's--they have pretty different styles, but both of them hit that Blaze sweet spot SO well! I can't wait to read these two!

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  4. Fedora, they're both a treat, that's for sure! Sounds like I'm speaking to the converted here!

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  5. Great review! I haven't read many Blaze books, but your review really makes me want to make up for that. :D

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  6. Hi! I root for the good girl to go a bit wild (but not totally insane). It's too restricting to be overly respectable all the time.

    I'm currently reading "At Her Pleasure" by Cindi Myers and the good girl, Nicole, is getting empowered on a tropical island, too.

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  7. Hi there, Anna :-) thanks for the incredible review of Waves. And for the wonderful pats on the back. I love writing for Blaze, it's a fabulous line with so many amazing authors- as you've discovered yourself.

    Waves was such a fun book to write- the beach scenes are definitely my favorite, they were straight from my fantasy vacation. The setting, I mean. Not what happened there. Although...

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  8. Anna, I have to admit that "good girl gone bad" is not usually one of my faves. Except, that is, when handled by a master like Tawny! Tawny makes me believe these girls are ready to unpin their hair and let it all hang out. Believe me, Mexico is the place to do that! Those all-inclusive resorts keep you swimming in alcohol if you'll let them. *g*

    I enjoy going on that ride with an author I trust, like Tawny. Her heroines are always so mortified about it and the heroes always make her accept it's just a nautral part of her. Tawny makes it real every time!

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  9. Anna, glad you're having fun "going to Blazes!" I'll happily join you on the ride! :)

    Sarah and Tawny are two of my favorite authors as well. Anytime I pick up one of their books I'm guaranteed I'll spend the next few hours thoroughly enjoying myself!

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  10. Thanks for another great review, Anna! I have Tawny's book on my TBR stack, and I'm looking forward to a steamy read. *g*

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  11. Anna, I love those two themes too. Maybe it's because I've always been a good, nerdy girl. :)

    Congrats on your new releases, Tawny and Sarah.

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  12. Antonia, I love both these writers (and Kathleen O'Reilly!). All definitely worth exploring. The books are sexy, which is great, but I find it's the deep emotions and the compelling characters that really make me admire both Tawny and Sarah's work.

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  13. Sheree, must be something in the air (or the sand?). I then read another book (it was a Desire) that was basically good girl showing her wild side too. As I said, it's a theme I always enjoy!

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  14. Tawny, snickering at you and your...relationship with/on the beach. Seriously, congratulations, I think this is one of my faves of yours and you'd already set the bar so high when it comes to writing great books. And honestly, how cool to have an astrophysicist as your heroine! LOVE IT!!!!!

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  15. Caren, I had to laugh. Actually alcohol-fueled good girls gone wild never really work for me. There's a few scenes in romantic comedy films where the heroine has too much to drink and comes undone and I always cringe a bit. What I love is when the heroine is deliberately repressing the more passionate side of her nature and she meets that guy who just makes the wild woman break out (not in pimples, we hope!). I must say Tawny made Mexico seem like a great place for a holiday! Thanks so much for swinging by from the lair!

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  16. PJ, so glad you're already a fan! Tawny and Sarah are two authors I'm always talking up because they write such smart books. I agree with you about loving to have a new one from either of them to read and knowing you're guaranteed some fun for the next few hours (and as I said with both of these, a couple of tears too, which is great!).

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  17. Oh, Gannon, lucky you, having Riding the Waves ahead of you! You'll definitely enjoy it! Thanks for saying you enjoyed the review!

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  18. Snort, Trish! Perhaps there's something in that - we nerds love this story because we can relate so strongly, at least to the bookish side of our heroine's nature. I love that these books almost always feature a super-intelligent heroine (and the intelligence is nearly always something the hero picks up on and responds to). Love when the brain as well as the bod is engaged in a love affair!

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  19. I always enjoy your reviews, Anna. I finished Tyler O'Neill's Redemption by Molly O'Keefe (a SuperRomance rather than a Blaze) last night and am headed over to GoodReads today to post another five-star review for O'Keefe. Part of the appeal of the story is the good girl who becomes wild woman with the right hero, who in this case is sometimes far from heroic.

    It was Betina Krahn's Make Me Yours, one of my top ten reads last year, that made me reconsider the Blaze line. Before MMY, I thought I was just not part of the Blaze audience. Now I make that decision book by book.

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  20. I started reading Blazes a couple of years ago. You've mentioned some of my favorite authors. I always enjoy reading their books.

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  21. Great review, Anna! I downloaded
    Riding the Waves onto my kindle app for my phone. I started reading just a few pages and couldn't put it down. Great story!

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  22. Janga, would you believe Sarah recommended Molly O'Keefe to me? She's one of her favorites. I've got one on the TBR pile (can't remember the title). Love the sound of the one you read! It's interesting - both Sarah and Kathleen O'Reilly also write Supers (Sarah more frequently than Kathleen). I think that's a sign of how emotionally based their Blazes are. I heard great things about the Bettina Krahn - I must see if I can still get it. I read her BOOK OF TRUE DESIRES last year and really loved it. Lovely use of humor!

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  23. Woohoo! Great reviews, Anna! I looooove me some Blaze books. Jacquie D'Alessandro and Stephanie Bond have written some of my favorites. I have Tawny's newest, but need to pick up Sarah's. Thank you, thank you, Anna!!!

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  24. Andrea, how great you're already a fan of these two great writers! Thanks for swinging by.

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  25. Christie, thanks for swinging by. Yeah, I was up all night reading Tawny's too! I had very stern words with her about writing something so compelling it interfered with my sleep! ;-)

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  26. Hey, Andrea, I haven't read Stephanie Bond or Jacquie's Blazes. I'll have to check them out. I've read Stephanie's romantic suspenses and they're great fun and Jacquie is an absolute hoot! Have you see her wonderful alligator bag she brings to RWA. Thanks for saying you enjoyed the review.

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  27. Anna, a masterly review, as always! I haven't read the Sarah Mayberry yet (though I do love her books) but I read and loved Riding the Waves! There's something about the good girl letting out the wild child inside that really appeals to me. It's always empowering to see a character reach their full potential as a human being.

    I think what I love about all three Blaze writers you mentioned is the emotional intensity and truth you find in those books. They're sexy romps, yes, but there's a core of emotion that seems very real to me. I'm so glad you were able to showcase such talented authors today.

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  28. Hey, Christine, lovely to see you! I think you're right on both counts. The release of the inner wild child is part of that heroine reaching her full potential and we all love to see that in a character. And I also think you're right about the core of emotional truth at the heart of all these stories. I loved Sarah's latest - it's one of my faves of hers too, although I still giggle at Phillip Island being consider 'hot'. Tawny's book is great, isn't it? So glad you enjoyed it too!

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  29. Hey Anna!

    Your blog title had me wondering if you had some pictures of us from RWA that you were about to expose to the world!!! O_O

    I have to say that I really love Blazes book. In fact I read a great one earlier this month -- HER PRIVATE TREASURE by Wendy Etherington. And of course I have Tawny's book in my stack. I just need to the time to devour it :-)

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  30. Ooh, Buffie, I haven't read any of Wendy's. I'll take your recommendation and get that book. Thanks! Laughed at your guilty conscience awakening at the title! Hmm, perhaps I have a blackmail thing I could use here...

    Bwahahahahahahaha!

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  31. I have a copy of HOT ISLAND NIGHTS sitting here waiting for me to get to it. Hopefully soon. I'll have to keep my eye open for RIDING THE WAVES.
    This is a story line I enjoy.

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  32. I have read so many Books over the years it is hard to pick a favorite. But I do love the good girl that redeems a bad boy or maybe just a guy that is full of himself.
    You are right Anna I like the newer Blazes of the past few years the first ones out a ways back were a bit rawer or something.
    Tawny is also an author that I love to read. Great Review!

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  33. Pat, they're both great books! You'll definitely enjoy HOT ISLAND NIGHTS. I read a lot of it on a longish train trip and tearing up was rather embarrassing ;-)

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  34. Gigi, I'm glad I gave Blazes another try - as I said in the review, some of my current favorite writers write for Blaze. I like the real life, emotional tone of a lot of the stories. I mean, I love sheikhs and dukes and uber SAS agents like the next girl but sometimes, it's nice to touch base with a romance about someone you could actually imagine meeting (well, if you were lucky! LOL!).

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