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Meant To Be Me, Wendy Hudson

This is Hudson's third novel, and in my opinion her most successful so far. While it's in the same (romantic suspense) genre as her first two, Meant To Be Me introduces a stalker, which results in an effective claustrophobic feel, far more than either Four Steps or Mine to Keep. It relies a little too much on coincidence, but I found it an engrossing read, and didn't put it down until I got to the end.


Marriage of Unconvenience, Chelsea M. Cameron

I have an enduring fondness for the marriage of convenience trope, and this was a classic example of the genre. Loren and her best friend Cara agree to marry in order to claim an inheritance from her grandmother, but of course it isn't as simple as that...

That's really all there is to it. I found the characterisation, particularly that of supporting characters, rather thin, and there was never any real doubt as to how things were going to end up, but this was a pleasant way to pass an hour or so.


Fire on the Ice, Tamsen Parker

An erotic romance, part of a series set at the 'Snow and Ice Games', a thinly disguised Winter Olympics. The main characters are a speed skater (Blaze) and a figure skater (Maisy) who rekindle a romance from the previous Games.

The pacing in this was a bit off, and I did find myself wondering whether there'd ever be any ice skating in among all this sex. (There was, eventually, but I would have enjoyed more!) Actually, I'd have liked more plot generally: Maisy's parents, who were the main antagonists, remained shadowy off-screen figures, and the narrative raised interesting questions of media influence which it then didn't answer.
el_staplador: Red fan, with text 'Apply to Aunty Clorinda for Enlightenment' (madame c)
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If I say that this is a f/f retelling of Emma set in Hawaii, you really know everything you need to know. Emma becomes Theo(dosia), who works in her father's surf shop; Mr Knightley becomes Kini, who owns a bakery; and so on.

I've read Emma within the last couple of years, and found myself nodding along as the beats came right on cue. Some of the adjustments worked better than others - I thought that Theo's father's obsession with kale and wheatberries and the like made a hilarious equivalent to Mr Woodhouse's enthusiasm for gruel, but was sceptical when Jane Fairfax's pianoforte was replaced by a mass spectrometer. At the same time, the updated setting allows for a significantly greater amount of racial diversity.

Of course, the fact that this is a f/f version means that I can now add the picnic scene to my collection of Terrible Awkward Parties In Queer Lit. (They play the 'Post-It Note On The Head' game. Enough said.)

I found this about the right length for what it was, and it was a quick and enjoyable read for a week in which I had a nasty cold.

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