Miranda Phipps

As You Desire is one of my all-time favorite romances, and I’ve pretty much gobbled up every one of Connie Brockway’s historicals since that time.  (I read her first contemp, Hot Dish, and I liked that too, but it turns out I’m just not much of a contemporary reader.)

I’ve been looking forward to So Enchanting for a few months and it didn’t disappoint–I love her voice in which she manages to be just a little bit snarky without taking me out of the historical moment.

Here are my favorite lines, brimming with classic Brockway:

Grey stared broodingly at the ceiling while at his side Hayden and Amelie began yet another long-winded conversation wherein they yet again discovered they enjoyed absolutely everything the other enjoyed, including, but not limited to, Gilber and Sullivan, music, American penny dreadfuls, long walks on misty mornings, quince jelly, badminton and Jack Russell terriers.  The only interruptions to this inanity were the breathless silences during which, Grey imagined, the pair stood gazing raptly into each other’s eyes.  Rather like poleaxed beef.

Poleaxed beef!? Poleaxed beef!?  I couldn’t get enough of that line.

My complaint about the entire thing was that I ordered the book off of Fictionwise and read it on Stanza.  There’s some problem with the translation of quotation marks and accents such that I get a stream of symbols instead of the appropriate symbol.  Although I definitely got used to it, it did pull me out of the story some.  I’m trying to weigh the benefits of having the books on my phone against the being able to read the thing seamlessly, and I have to admit it’s a toss-up right now.

I knew that the total eBook lovefest would have to end sometime.

I wanted in on those free Harlequin eBooks, so I downloaded Stanza onto my iPhone and converted myself into an eBook dovotee. I read three books in two days. My reading time is FAST on the iPhone, I tell you.

I missed turning in my chapter last week, but I am aspiring to turn in two this week, so I can stay caught up. It feels good to be making progress and giving myself permission to write a bad first draft. My inner perfectionist remains relatively subdued. It’s amazing that despite being handcuffed, gagged and stuffed into the corner of my mental closet she still manages to show up at breakfast every once in a while. I ignore her and apply myself to my Greek yogurt with granola.

I’m excited about my new online writing class for using historical detail in novels–should be fun!