It's Merry Gentry the way it SHOULD have been written: a book rec.

[octoroks.livejournal.com]

Newcomer here; sorry if it's off topic, but I thought Merry Gentry fans (if they can be called as such ;) ) might enjoy news of a saucy romance set in the fey world that won't make their eyes bleed from paragraph one.

Having faithfully endured the mental torture of Merry Gentry for about five years now, I decided to branch out and see what other horrors I could inflict on my brain between more serious (and competent) writing. My mom and sister have read romance novels for as long as I can remember. I grew up regarding them as soft core porn for the middle aged, and dismissed them as flowery and unrealistic. With this in mind, it was with great glee that I strolled through paperback isles of my local library and found a book entitled Dangerous Temptation by Kathleen Korbel. A paranormal romance that, according to the blurb on the back, involved a beautiful fairy princess who must choose between her duty to rule her people and the love she feels for Rugged Romance Lead #36125.

Oh yes, says I, with a wicked cackle. This will be HILARIOUS.

I was wrong. So wrong.



I fought it at first. I really, really tried. This was romance for God's sake, not real writing! And then, before I could help it, I was hooked. Not in the Merry Gentry, "this is like a thirty-car pileup, must stay and watch the carnage" kind of way, but in the way anyone feels for a book they're actually enjoying. Once I got over my stigma, I realized that Dangerous Temptation was actually the way Merry Gentry should have been written, at least stylistically. The plots are still very different, but the elements of MG are there.

The main character, Zeke Kendall, is an anthropologist cheerfully working at a dig until an accident drops him in the land of the Tuatha de Daanan, and into the arms of the princess Nuala who's loved him while she watched him from afar. The story is basically about Nuala trying to get Zeke home, for she knows that he can never stay in her world, and vice-versa. Her task is not helped by her crafty, seductive mother who wants Zeke as a consort (The queen in this story is how I imagine Andais to have been pre-crazy) and Nuala's equally ravishing sister, who wants to sabotage Nuala's chance at the throne in any way she can.

It's hard to go into more detail than that without spoiling the story. Craft-wise, though, Korbel writes beautifully. Few times have I read something where I heard the characters so clearly, or saw their world painted so spectacularly in my head. Her descriptions also don't involve a two page mini-story about the color of someone's wings, which is always a bonus.

So, yes. If you're looking for a series with that Merry Gentry feel, minus the taint it leaves behind, I'd say grab Dangerous Temptation. It's only on book one now, but according to the back it's going to be a trilogy. Now that I've overcome my disdain for romance novels (in this genre, at least) I can say that I'll definitely be grabbing the rest of the series when it comes out.

Comments

[mulder200.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the hookup. I will be sure to check this out.

[sarah-k-o-m.livejournal.com]

Dude, awesome. A book that actually pays honour to my native mythology. I'll go look it up at my library.
I'm sick of talentless bitches ruining Celtic myths just because they need a frame for their limp noodle 'plots'.

[quizzicalsphinx.livejournal.com]

Word the hell UP.

[sarah-k-o-m.livejournal.com]

It's a universal rules. Everything is 90% shit, and 10% gold.

Also, who is that in your icon? Inquiring minds want to know!

[supernaturalsue.livejournal.com]

Also, she can kill you with her brain.

I love the icon though

[sarah-k-o-m.livejournal.com]

Cool, I've heard of it.

[watersheerie.livejournal.com]

That does sound good. I'm wary of romance and books that rape Celtic mythology. But I need to remind myself that it's just a stigma carried over from reading bad writers. Romance and Celtic mytholgoy can be used well, and result in awesome books. I guess we all are carrying emotional scars from LKH...and others.

The title did kind of throw me off there. 'Dangerous Temptations'...yeah, that sounded like a standard bodice-ripper.

[parafan.livejournal.com]

The trilogy is actually done. The 2nd book Dark Seduction came out in Feb and the final book comes out in September. Kathleen Korbel is actually a pseudonym of romance writer Eileen Dreyer.

[octoroks.livejournal.com]

If only my library system had bothered to stock book #2; that's what I get for living in a podunk county, I guess.

[amamelina.livejournal.com]

Love your icon. that made me laugh.

[bludflower.livejournal.com]

LOL! Your icon cracks me up because I was actually dreaming about David Bowie last night. We were dancing while he performed "Modern Love" on a yacht... there were peguins and I was pregnant... Yeah. *sigh* Good times.

[rlg.livejournal.com]

had to look up who eileen dreyer was ... oh, yes, I can recommend her "normal" stuff too.

[bludflower.livejournal.com]

Ooo... Sounds like something I need to check out. Thanks for the recomendation. =)

[slayra.livejournal.com]

Gonna check it out, too! Sounds cool. Although I must admit that when you want some brain candy, historical romances are just the thing. :D