My Top 10!

by Anna Campbell

If any of you read my review of BLACK SHEEP and ARABELLA by Georgette Heyer last month, you'll know that I'm hanging up my ballet slippers here on Christmas Eve and going off to seek new pastures!

Before I go, I want to do a round-up of some favorites that I've reviewed over the last five years - although basically anything I've talked about here, I've loved. That was part of the column's raison d'etre.

So these are the really special books that stuck in my memory. By the way, the order doesn't indicate anything except that there are 10 books on this list! They're all winners in my opinion!

I thought I'd start with some mystery/romance combos. This genre has become my reading of choice over the last few years, partly because of recommendations from readers here. Thank you!

The first is the Amelia Peabody series from the late, great Elizabeth Peters. I've been eking out this wonderful series for the last few years - I've got three to go.

These books are funny and quirky and full of information about Ancient Egypt. They also feature a string of fabulous romances, starting with the opinionated Amelia and her beloved Emerson, "the greatest Egyptologist of this or any age." There's a long and very passionate relationship spread across several books, featuring Amelia's dashing and enigmatic son, Ramses, who makes a wonderful romantic hero.

Next I'd like to mention the charming Daisy Dalrymple  mysteries by Carola Dunn. These are set in the 1920s and they're absolutely delightful. You'll so enjoy the impetuous Daisy's adventures and especially her romance with police Inspector Alec Fletcher.

Whatever you do, try this next recommendation if you haven't already. I discovered Julia Spencer-Fleming's fabulous Claire Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne mysteries through this site, so thank you, thank you, thank you. I think they're just extraordinary. Romantic and suspenseful and atmospheric and beautifully written, I can't recommend these books featuring a vicar and the local police chief of a small town in upstate New York highly enough. Start with IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER, and I bet you're ordering the rest straightaway! I've recommended these to friends high and low and everybody turns into a convert!

If you're regulars, you'll know that I've been on a bit of a Nora Roberts kick lately. I particularly like her stand-alone romantic suspense books and of those, my favorite is THE WITNESS. This features a geeky and very appealing heroine who witnesses a Russian mafia murder as a teenager and spends the rest of her life trying to stay alive. What happens when she falls in love, much against her better instincts, with the local police chief of the town she's chosen as her latest bolthole? If she stays, she risks discovery. If she leaves, she'll break her heart. Wonderful characters and writing and a nail-biting situation. NORTHERN LIGHTS was another favorite!

One of the things I wanted to do when I started here was talk about category romance. Some of the best stories out there are series books and I was keen to share some of my favorite writers with you. I've read some wonderful category romances in the last five years, but I thought I'd pick out three particularly memorable stories from authors who never fail me.

The first is A WEDDING AT LEOPARD TREE LODGE by Liz Fielding. Liz Fielding is an absolutely exquisite writer whose books always make me laugh and cry and then sigh with joy at the end. A WEDDING AT LEOPARD TREE LODGE is about finding love where you least expect it and gathering the courage to risk everything to gain happiness. Highly recommended.

The next book on my top 10 is Aussie author Sarah Mayberry's HOT ISLAND NIGHTS. Another one to make you laugh and cry - and man, is it sexy! There's a fantastic sequel called HER BEST WORST MISTAKE that I think might be even hotter. Well worth checking out. Sarah has such a wonderful understanding of the human heart, and her characters are so real, you expect them to pop around for a cup of tea after you've finished reading the book!

My final category recommendation is Sarah Morgan's RITA-Award winning DOUKAKIS'S APPRENTICE. This one's such fun. It takes the tried and true Harlequin premise of the heroine falling in love with the guy who makes a hostile takeover of her father's ailing business, and then turns it on its head. Full of surprises and laughs and lovely emotion. All of Sarah's books are good, but this one really lingers in my memory as a classic.

My list wouldn't be complete without a couple of historical romances - you knew they were coming up, didn't you?

The first one is among my all time faves ever - Loretta Chase's MR. IMPOSSIBLE. People regularly pick her wonderful LORD OF SCOUNDRELS (also reviewed on this site) as one of the best romances ever written, but for me, there's just a tad extra goodness in MR. IMPOSSIBLE. It's funny, it's sweet, it's steamy, it's clever, and I lay good money that you'll fall in love with Rupert Carsington, the hero.

The next writer on my list is Liz Carlyle who I think would currently be my favorite historical writer. Picking a book of hers to recommend was really difficult, so I thought I'd go with the first one of hers I read, the one that started the addiction. THE DEVIL TO PAY is another book full of unexpected takes on a tried and true formula, a feisty heroine making a rake account for his myriad sins. One of the many things I love about Liz's books is that they create such a rich world. It's wonderful revisitng characters from earlier stories and seeing how the various strands of the series plots intersect and enrich the current book.And don't you love that cover?

My last choice is one of the all-time great romances, historical or otherwise. Laura Kinsale's immortal FLOWERS FROM THE STORM. This is unlike any other book I've ever read and its intensity is amazing. Absolutely unforgettable! If anyone ever tries to tell you that romance is trivial and brainless, steer them in the direction of this book. Actually, don't - it's too good for the naysayers! It's a story of redemption and risk and forbidden love triumphing against impossible odds. A masterpiece.

So that's my top 10 of the books I've reviewed here on The Romance Dish. All are VERY highly recommended.

So what would your top 10 romance novels be? I'd love to see your lists!

Lessons in French Cooking at the Romance Dish!

by Anna Campbell

The Romance World has been abuzz with the release of the latest Laura Kinsale LESSONS IN FRENCH.

This is a delicious concoction wih the frothy lightness of a perfect soufflee and the rich, heady depths of the finest cognac. Yeah, I know, more cooking imagery - but this blog IS the Romance Dish! Where else do I get to make jokes about the villain in a book being a crepe?

Laura is one of the most beloved writers in the genre so it's my great privilege today to talk to her about LESSONS IN FRENCH. And make sure you comment - we have TWO signed copies of this mouthwatering book to serve up to people today.

For more information on Laura and her books, please check out her website: www.laurakinsale.com

For a great discussion of one of Laura's older books (and a classic!), please check out the review I did here last week for THE PRINCE OF MIDNIGHT. Some great to and fro in the comments!

Laura, huge congratulations on your latest release LESSONS IN FRENCH which I devoured in one sitting. Can you tell us about this story and the inspiration behind it?

What if the hottest, sweetest, wildest boy in school was your personal tutor for French class? That's how Callie and Trev first met, but instead of high school it was the English countryside; Callie was the wealthy daughter of the local earl, and Trev--in spite of his aristocratic lineage--was from a penniless French family that had barely escaped the guillotine. But Trev and Callie shared more than just language lessons, and when her father caught them together in a carriage...well, that was the last Callie ever saw of Trevelyan d'Augustin. Until nine years later. Callie has been left standing at the altar three different times. She's resigned herself to spinsterhood, and her greatest desire is to win the silver cup with her prize bull, Hubert. When Trev reappears, her quiet spinster life turns upside down. The enormous Hubert vanishes into thin air, one of her former jilts comes back to woo her in a most determined manner—and her bull takes the town by storm! In the midst of these misadventures, Callie finds herself falling in love again with the worst possible man for her.

I've been saying that this book was written in tribute to all the enjoyment I've had reading Georgette Heyer's Regencies over the years. That's true, but as people have begun talking about LESSONS IN FRENCH, I've realized that it has some other roots too. I'm thinking of all those wonderful romantic movies, such as SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE where there is romping comedy but also a deep emotional undercurrent.

You’re famous and much beloved for writing complex, heart-wrenching romance yet LESSONS IN FRENCH, while it definitely has a huge emotional punch, is much lighter in tone than your earlier work. I found myself laughing out loud at the antics of the various characters and the witty banter. Is this an area you’ve wanted to explore for a while and will we see more comedy from you?

Even though most of the books I've written have been very intense, and some quite dark, there is usually some humor in there. I think perhaps the older I get, the more amusement I get out of life. Which is a nice trend, isn't it? I think the best romantic comedy has some heart-tugging in it. I don't plan far ahead (tomorrow is a long time for me), so I can't say what I'll do in the future. I still enjoy torturing characters!

Definitely a nice trend! Your books are regularly mentioned among the greatest romances ever written (you certainly feature on my personal list!). How has this affected you? Do you feel that weight of expectation when you sit down to write a book?

Writing really only works for me when it's divorced from the "real world." I love it when people enjoy my books--who wouldn't? But when I am writing, the less I think about that sort of thing, the better. It's just me and the characters.

You have an astonishingly individual voice that is completely inimitable. For all that, I’d love to know what writers have influenced you.

The writers that have influenced me are John Fowles (THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT'S WOMAN), C.J. Cherryh, James Joyce and Charles Dickens. As you can tell, all of them are word and character junkies. Unlike, say, my least favorite writer, Hemingway. I'm not a big fan of the "he said, she said," stripped down version of literature.

Thanks, Laura, for a great interview and for being our guest today on the Romance Dish. Do you have anything you'd like to ask our readers?

Thank you for having me on the Romance Dish. I'd love to hear which books and movies both tugged at your readers' heartstrings and made them laugh. I'm ready to go out and buy some!

So, guys, get commenting! TWO lucky people will win signed copies of LESSONS IN FRENCH! Good luck!

The Prince of Romances!

by Anna Campbell

If you're a denizen of Romancelandia, you would know that one of the most beloved authors in the genre, Laura Kinsale, releases a new book in February 2010 called LESSONS IN FRENCH.

If you don't know, clearly you're trapped under a rock with a brutish shapeshifter who won't let you check your favorite blogs on the Internet until you admit your destiny is to help him save the world from Satan's flesh-eating incubi!

It's my great pleasure to interview Laura here on Thursday, 4th February, so I hope you'll all pop over and say hello.

In the meantime, I thought it might be interesting to look at one of Laura's older books in preparation for the Dishies talking about LESSONS IN FRENCH closer to its release date.

In the early 90s, I hadn't read historical romance for quite a while. The genre was quite hard to find in Australia after the boom and bust of the 80s romance market. I'd been reading Harlequins and sex and shopping books and mysteries lots of general fiction and nonfiction. My list of favorite books still included older historical romances, but I'd just lost interest in the genre because I'd been disappointed with the books I COULD buy here. Remember, this is well before the Internet was available to help me discover great books I otherwise wouldn't hear of. I wasn't even writing historical romance at the time - this was back when I was trying to get Harlequin to publish me as a Presents writer!

Then one fateful day I walked into a bookshop in Coolangatta, one of our seaside resorts, and discovered a wall of American historical romances by authors I'd never heard of. I still think the angels were guiding my hand that day. Because I bought two books to while away my holiday afternoon. One was by Loretta Chase and one was THE PRINCE OF MIDNIGHT by Laura Kinsale. Both authors still hit the list of my top three romances. (Just for interest's sake, the other book is A COUNTESS BELOW STAIRS by Eva Ibbotson.)

By the way, this is the cover of the Avon edition I bought (and still own - it's the one I read for this review). Doesn't that take you right back to the days of Fabio and his flowing hair and manly chest?

The moment I started THE PRINCE OF MIDNIGHT, I was hooked. I ended up ordering the rest of Laura's books from the U.S. - and remember, this meant actually writing to the publisher! I knew I'd entered a rich universe with a writer unlike any other.

It's always slightly frightening returning to a book you remember with such love, but the minute I picked up THE PRINCE OF MIDNIGHT this week, I immediately understood why I'd fallen so instantly in love with Laura Kinsale's writing.

Here's the first paragraph:

The lad had the deep, burning eyes of a zealot. S.T. Maitland shifted uncomfortably on his wooden bench and glanced again over his wine across the murky depths of the tavern. It was damnably disconcerting to find that measuring stare still fixed on him, as if he were up for admission to heaven and not particularly likely to get in.

Just in those few words, you get a taste of Laura Kinsale's extraordinary style. The concrete reality of her settings and her characters - you can picture those people and that tavern. The wonderful world-weary tone of the hero, ex-highwayman and would-be painter S.T. Maitland. The slightly ironic edge to the voice. The complexity of the vocabulary and sentence structure. Whenever people start banging on about how banal and pedestrian romance novels are, I always mention Kinsale. 'Banal' and 'pedestrian' are the last adjectives you apply to her work!

The 'lad' is actually Lady Leigh Strachan who seeks the help of the famous Seigneur du Minuit to avenge herself on the truly horrible villain who has killed her family and stolen her home. That's another quality of Kinsale's writing - the stakes are always breathtakingly high and when you talk tortured characters, she wrote the manual. More than that, she describes the consequences of what these people go through in heart-wrenching detail. Nobody gets off with easy, sentimental solutions in a Kinsale!

Leigh travels alone across Europe to find S.T., but when she does, he's not the dashing, invincible figure of legend. Instead, he's a man who's damaged, alone, betrayed, deaf in one ear and suffering from assorted other physical ailments that make him an unlikely avenger.

But S.T. finds salvation in his quest to help Leigh. It's a difficult, erratic salvation, but nonetheless, her refusal to let him get away with his usual charming tricks makes him confront his past and the man he is. Falling in love is no easy journey for him, nor is it for Leigh. It's magical to watch their gradual, rocky rapprochement as the book continues along far from predictable paths.

I dare you not to fall in love with S.T., like every woman he meets in the progress of the novel. Laura Kinsale does a great line in wounded romantics as heroes. Trev in LESSONS IN FRENCH falls into this category (although LIF is much more lighthearted than TPOM) or one of my favorites of hers, Sherry in the brilliant SEIZE THE FIRE. These men are usually gifted beyond normal, but they've learned to mistrust their gifts and even more, their essential charisma. Self-doubt and self-deprecation are strangely appealing qualities in a Laura Kinsale hero!

Not only the ladies find S.T. irresistible. S.T. has a pet wolf called Nemo who's an essential part of the story and some of the most compelling scenes in the book involve S.T. training horses everybody else has given up on. Of course, Leigh is in many ways a wounded creature too when she comes into his orbit. The same patience and kindness he shows his animals helps him to bring her back from a black hell of hatred and revenge.

And the ending? Honestly, the last 40 pages of so of this book are absolutely breathtaking. They break your heart, then leave you smiling at the end. I closed THE PRINCE OF MIDNIGHT with a great, misty sigh of happiness and the urge to re-read every other Laura Kinsale on the bookcase!