Leddies.

The Velenntyne Day is here, and louve is in the air.

(sniff) Can you smell it?

Annyway.

Let’s celebrate romance by taking a look at some of the more romantic literary characters to have tumbled out of ‘romance novels‘ (and similar works of propaganda that were almost certainly metaphors for the authors’ own failed love lives);

1. Edward Rochester of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre – (Alternately cold, imperious, and withholding; he proposes to Jane without disclosing the much-married madwoman imprisoned in his attic)

2. Richard Sharpe of Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe series – (“He’ll fall in love with anything in a petticoat”, according to Patrick Harper – Richard’s loyal friend)

3. Fitzwilliam Darcy of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice – (In 2010, a protein sex pheromone in male mouse urine, that is sexually attractive to female mice, was named Darcin in honour of the character)

4. Heathcliff of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights – (A man prone to domestic violence, kidnapping, murder and digging up dead lovers – a fact perhaps unknown to Gordon Brown when he compared himself to “an older Heathcliff, a wiser Heathcliff” in 2008.)

5. Rupert Campbell Black of Jilly Cooper’s The Rutshire Chronicles – (Cooper has acknowledged that Rupert’s character is based upon Andrew Parker Bowles, the ex-husband of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. Incidentally, she left him for Prince Charles – a man with a face for radio)

That’s just the beginning of my list. I could go on and on, but let me not kill all that love in one go. So more later….Till then

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!!

Cameron Dokey’s Wild Orchid is the retelling of the Ballad of Mulan, the story of a young Chinese girl who disguises herself as a boy and goes to battle to save her aged father from conscription. The original ballad is believed to have first been sung in the fourth century.  In Wild Orchid Dokey successfully fleshes out the original ballad and adds romance to Mulan’s story. This book is part of the Once upon a time series brought out by Simon and Schuster. The series itself is a very interesting idea wherein old fairy tales and fables from across the world are retold with a new spin. These books provide you with a rare opportunity to look at tales from your childhood from a new perspective.

But back to Wild Orchid. The novel is named after the main protagonist.  Mu-lan in Chinese means Wild Orchid, or so the author tells us. The daughter of China’s greatest general, Mulan does not meet her father till a little before her 14th birthday.  Her mother died giving birth to her and this broke her father’s heart. So while he was busy fighting the Huns for China, young Mulan grew up into China’s most unconventional girl. Yes, she could sew and embroider like all dutiful girls (though she hated the later),  but she could also climb trees, read, write, ride a horse, shoot with a bow and arrow and fence with a sword. In other words, she could do what most Chinese lads could – and in most cases much better than them – thanks to her childhood friend Li Po.  Mulan’s carefree life changes when her father returns home after a battle injury. Soon China is under attack from the Huns again and every Chinese family has to send a man to fight. To save her father, 14 year old Mulan steals his battle horse and rides into the war where she meets the youngest Chinese prince. Together they endeavor to save China.

Wild Orchid is Mulan’s story and Dokey brings out her character beautifully. Her writing is simple and her characters real. Through her pen the reader experiences the heart ache of a child craving her father’s love, the confusion of a young girl when a stepmom is thrust upon her, the rebellion of a spirited lass determined to learn all that a boy could and the yearning of an individual to just be herself and follow her heart. The friendship between Mulan and Li Po is depicted beautifully. Dokey spends considerable time taking the reader through Mulan’s childhood. Thus she ensures that the reader understands every action and nuance of this fiercely loyal and brave girl. This is not a war story though one cannot be blamed for thinking thus initially. After all, the story begins by saying that it is the story of the girl who saved China. Yes, there is a war, one in which Mulan proves her mettle but the battle only takes up a few pages as does Mulan’s love story. In fact at times, the reader can’t help but feel that the author should have spent a little more time in developing the love story. Also at times, Mulan’s constant awareness of her being different gets annoying.

Does the Wild Orchid do justice to the original ballad? That is difficult to say. However it is highly recommended for those looking for a simple, light hearted and warm story.

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A quick witted, hot tempered, “i-will-do-as-I-please-the-world-be-damned” heroine; a high handed, roguish and equally temperamental hero; Regency

England replete with its gossip, glitter and graces. The Bath Tangle has all the ingredients that have made Georgette Heyer’s romances instant best sellers. The main protagonists are  intelligent, and therefore in the language of regency romances, “unconventional”, hot headed and egoistic. Their battle of wits and egos leads to a series of misunderstandings, mistaken engagements and an interesting tangle. And the setting for all these misadventures is, of course, as the book name suggests, Bath.

When 25 year old Serena Carlow discovers that her eccentric father has entrusted the Marquis of Rotherham, the man she jilted and therefore publically shamed, as her guardian she is furious. As if that is not sufficient, the old Duke also willed that Serena would get all her entails if and only if, she married with the consent of the “infuriating” Marquis. To cope with her changed circumstances Serena escapes to Bath with her step mother, the soft hearted, albeit dim witted and very young, Fanny. Here she meets an old flame and promptly becomes engaged to him. What follows is a series of misadventures till all is set right in the end.

The Bath Tangle is above all Serena’s story. The male protagonist is present but more in Serena’s  thoughts and reflections than in actual scenes. In Serena we once again find the almost “stereotypical” Regency heroine – daring, intelligent, unconventional, proud and loyal to those that she loves. Yet Heyer’s writing ensures that there is not a dull moment in the book. The characters of the hero and the heroine may seem somewhat familiar, but their exchanges and indeed their interactions with others are so lively that nothing in the book seems repetitive. The Bath Tangle is full of Heyer’s trademarks- vivid descriptions of life in Regency England, strong characters and brilliant characterization, charming if somewhat obsolete Regency vernacular and lots of sarcasm and witticisms. Of course some times the reference to the politics of the era leave the modern reader a bit bewildered but then these are minor distractions.

An interesting read for those who enjoy well written historical romances.

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Reviewed by Ruth Zothanpuii

After Stephenie Meyer’s remarkable novel Twilight, reading  New Moon (a sequel to Twilight) was another delightful experience.

Although many think that New Moon works well enough as a stand alone, I still think that the only way to have a better understanding of the story and to get maximum enjoyment is from reading Twilight first.

But if you think that New Moon is essentially the same as Twilight, it may prove to be a big disappointment because, here, we feel the absence of the Vampires ( much to the dismay of many vampire fans,I am sure).

The book begins with the celebration of Bella’s eighteenth birthday. The thought of getting older than Edward who turned a vampire when he was just 17 troubles Bella who, even if she joins him in immortality, will always be physically older than him. Bella desperately wants to be like Edward but he is afraid that she will lose her soul if he makes her like the rest of his family. An appalling incident at Bella’s birthday party makes Edward realize Bella’s fragility when among his family. He is convinced that the only way to keep Bella safe is for her to lead a normal life and for him to leave her. This changes everything. For Bella, Edward was her whole world and his abandonment was something that cannot be repaired easily. Her whole world falls apart and she withdraws from everything else, becoming even more isolated and lonely. But this is also the situation that makes us see Bella more clearly and she is definitely worth a thousand credits. No doubt she is a fighter. While pushing through the agony, and not having enough strength to live for herself, she lives for others – Charlie in this case – this has always been her style.

The next thing I love the most about this novel is the development of Jacob Black’s character. That a minor character in Twilight has developed into such a fantastic character is the great strength of this novel. I love Meyer’s idea of blending the actual Quileute’s legend into this.

A must read if you haven’t already.

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David Malcolm Storey

This English award winning novelist is a former professional Rugby League player besides also being a playwright and screenwriter. Storey wrote the screenplay for This Sporting Life (1963), which was adapted from his first novel of the same name, which won the 1960 Macmillan Fiction Award. He was also presented the Booker Prize 1976 for his novel Saville.

Some of his famous works are:

This Sporting Life (1960)

Flight into Camden (1961)

Saville (1976)

As it Happened (2002)

Bren Yarbrough Bruhn

American author of historical romance novels, Bruhn was heavily influenced as a teenager by the work of Kathleen Woodiwiss and Margaret Mitchel. Besides being a writer, Bruhn has also been actively involved with art. Her first novel took shape after she was urged by her clients to write a book on the lines of the short stories that accompanied each of the handmade dolls that she sold on ebay.

Some of her works include:

Far From Paradise (2006)

The Price of Eden (2009)

Delilah’s Pirate (2009)

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A sequel to the bestselling Bridget Jones Diary by the same author, this book definitely provides laugh-out-loud moments that Fielding gave to readers in the first installment. Although there are more humorous incidents with Edge of Reason than Diary, the reader is required to suspend his or her disbelief on occasions. But this book is provided for the purpose of pure escapism, so it’s not necessarily a bad thing.

The continuation of Bridget’s story-her search for love as a symbol of her post-feminist, post-modern search for herself in ‘The Edge of Reason’ is actually more poignant than before.  While most great romance novels end off with ‘and they lived happily ever after,’ this book deals with ‘what happened afterwards?’ In the first novel, Bridget finally does find her man. But is their relationship all smooth sailing? In the second novel, Fielding shows us that it is not. There are plenty of misunderstandings that create conflict and leave space for insecurity and doubt to creep in and, possibly, cripple a relationship. All’s well that ends well, of course, since this is a romantic comedy, but along the way the reader receives enough depth and tenderness to charter the way with Bridget herself.

Bridget is still Bridget, weighing herself daily and smoking too many cigarettes; but this time instead of obsessing about finding a boyfriend, she is consumed with doubts and insecurities about the relationship she is already in. The narrative is once again provided in an amusing diary format. However, there can also be such thing as having too many oddballs as characters. Almost every character, save maybe Mark Darcy, comes across as extremely eccentric and borders on being slightly insane.  After having been together for a full four weeks Bridget and Mark are driven apart by a series of misunderstandings, which include  the vicious schemes of Rebecca  and the bad advice that Bridget has gleaned from the self-help books that comprise her library. While Bridget struggles with the idyllic images she had regarding her perfect relationship, her friends offer her support with some words of ‘wisdom’ and intoxicating substances. The great thing about this book is that even with all these twists in the storyline, it completely preserves the tone, voice, characterizations, and humor of the first Bridget Jones book.

The Edge of Reason is a delightful and amusing sequel. If you have seen the film, be prepared for the book to be nothing like it. This is another one of those stories where the book proves itself way better than the movie. And if you are in the mood for something easy to digest, then you will find that this book is close to perfect for just that.

Bridget Jones The Edge Of Reason is available for rent/purchase at the INDIAreads Online Library cum Bookstore. You can also browse from other chick-lit titles available online.

His books have been made into box office hits. He has 15 published novels, with themes that include faith, love, tragedy and fate. The American hero of romantic short stories, Nicholas Sparks has come a long way since his early days as a salesman for pharmaceuticals who wrote in his free time.

But had he been a writer more interested in the political, economic, and cultural movements which took place in our country, the titles for many of his books would have been inspired by events other than the tragic tales of love between his characters.

Here’s a look at some examples:

Sandra Marton

Bestselling American author of romance novels, she has been a writer of over 75 titles in Harlequin Enterprises Ltd since 1985. Having written her first story at the tender age of seven, her novels are now published in more than twenty languages all around the world.

Some of her famous books are:

Roman Spring Postcards from Europe (1994)

Eye of the Storm (1989)

The Sicilian Marriage (2005)

Merry Christmas Love (2009)

Winston Mawdsley Graham

English novelist, best known for the Poldark series of historical novels. The Poldark saga which was made into a television series during the 1970s, was so successful that some vicars rescheduled or cancelled church services rather than try to have them when Poldark was showing. Other than the Poldark series, Graham’s most successful work was Marnie, a thriller which was filmed by Alfred Hitchcock during 1964.

Some of his famous books are:

No Exit (1940)

Ross Poldark (1945)

Stephanie (1992)

Memoirs of a Private Man (2003)

Browse through more titles available from other bestselling authors at www.INDIAreads.com.

Everyone who has read Eclipse, the third book in The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer, knows the fate of Bree Tanner, a newborn vampire who is killed by the powerful Volturi. This is the tale recounting the last five days of her second life as a vampire.

In Eclipse, readers were introduced to Bree as a girl with negative character shades. She thirsts for Bella Swan’s blood, and is completely used to violence, death, and mass bloodshed. Besides the fact that she is a bloodthirsty newborn vampire named Bree, who does not want to die, readers do not know anything much about her. In this book, written from her perspective, readers will see how she lives, and find out why a Vampire Army is very difficult to sustain. This book takes a journey into her daily life to find out how she must have felt throughout the whole period of time.

Bree’s story is much different from Bella’s. Where Bella’s world always seemed muted because she was shielded from much of the violence throughout the series, Bree sees and experiences violence on a day-to-day basis. As far as the storytelling goes, the way the details of Bree’s conversion to the vampire life is revealed gradually throughout the first half of the story is both dramatic and engaging. Even the fact that Bree ended up trading her humanity for a cheeseburger, of all things provides a great sense of tragic irony to the story. A nice touch by Meyer is how the contemporary culture references in her books always act as a nice reality contrast to the more fantastical elements.

Meyer seems to finally get into her genre and fully explores her creation. We see that newborn vampires have absolutely no loyalty to each other, no self-control, and no qualms about sinking their teeth into their poor human food banks.  While it is difficult to give a more detailed review without adding a spoiler here and there, another nice touch is the inclusion of several new characters who add to the story quite interestingly. The characters of Fred and Diego in particular are sure to generate added interest for readers with their quirky abilities. Also seeing the Cullens from Bree’s point of view is quite fascinating.

However, a lot of possibilities seem to have been cut short, even though there are some memorable characters who seem to have the potential to take the story much further ahead as mentioned before. On the bright side, though short, the tale is somewhat bittersweet, and seems to  actually be a bit of a metaphor for how real life actually is. Bree’s life and even her roots are much more relatable than Bella’s ever were. Her circumstances are far from desirable, yet she works with the lot she was dealt . . .even until the bitter end.

Overall, this is a quick, yet very enjoyable read recommended to all Twilight fans. It will also change the way that readers view Newborn Vampires.

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Other related titles:

Catherine Cookson

English author who became the United Kingdom’s most widely read novelist with sales for her books topping 100 million. Though her novels were set in North East England and inspired by her life there as a deprived youth, she in remained a relatively low-profile figure in the world of celebrity writers.

Some of her renowned works are:

Tilly Trotter Wed (1989)

The Moth (1991)

The Rag Nymph (1995)

The Menagerie (2002)

Jay Blakeney

British newspaper reporter, well-known as  a romance writer under the pseudonyms Anne Weale and Andrea Blake. She wrote over 88 titles for Mills & Boon. At the time of her death she was writing her autobiography called “88 Heroes…1 Mr Right“.

Some of her famous books are:

Winter is Past (1955)

The Silver Dolphin (1963)

The First Officer (1980)

Sea Change (2002)

Check out more titles from other famous and award winning titles available  for rent and purchase  at the INDIAreads Online Library cum Bookstore.