How Do I Love Thee by Nancy Moser
Source: la bibliothèque
I don't normally copy book cover summaries into my reviews, but I think I should here because it totally sold me on this book:
She dreams of love for others but never for herself....
Elizabeth Barrett is a published poet--and a virtual prisoner in her own home. Blind family loyalty ties her to a tyrannical father who forbids any of his children to marry. Bedridden by chronic illness, she has resigned herself to simply existing.
That is, until the letter arrives...
"Love your verses with all my heart," writes Robert Browning, an admiring fellow poet. As friendly correspondence gives way to something more, Elizabeth discovers that Robert's love is not for her poetry alone. Might God grant her more than mere existence? And will she risk defying her father in pursuit of true happiness?
That sounds fun, doesn't it? Well, it wasn't. I've never been a fan of EBB's poetry, and now I'm even less a fan of her personality. She's presented in this book as a selfish, lazy, spoiled brat, with a morbid streak a mile wide. Here's what Elizabeth thinks about and talks about for the first fifty pages of the book:
- People she's known who have died
- People she didn't know who died
- Letter from that Robert guy
- Family members she won't believe are dead
- How her family members are dealing with dead people
- Her own imminent (one can only hope) demise
UHG! I know the Victorians were morbid, but that doesn't mean I want to read a bor-ing book about it. This was a throw-at-the-wall DNF.
Passion Unleashed by Larissa Ione
Source: My mom loaned it to me
This is the third book in Ione's Demonica Series, which I didn't know when I started it. Apparently the series is about a group of brothers who are all different supernatural creatures, and they run a hospital for demons and fallen angels and whatnot. That's what I gleaned, anyway. I spent most of the book feeling pretty confused about what exactly was going on, and eventually decided to give up.
That being said, the writing in the book was really good, and it was a fun, fast-paced story. I wouldn't mind going back to the beginning of the series and re-reading this book after I've read its predecessors. Although I had trouble caring about the hospital and the romance between Gem and Kynan, which began in previous books, I did like the main romance between Serena and Wraith (even though it was a bit simplistic, and the lustful virgin thing made me lawl).
Ione is a wonderful writer, and I will definitely be reading more books from her in the future.
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