When hubby's away...

...I don't play much but I do have more time to read.

Last month when he went on his annual ski trip with "the boys", I picked up two Harlequin Historicals. Sadly, both were disappointing. One was too period, which isn't a criticism; obviously it was simply not to my taste. I can't read Georgette Heyer either. Besides, the paternal streak many heroes feel towards their Regency belles in books of this fashion I find a real turn off. I actually skipped a few of the love scenes, a telltale sign that it's time to move on.

The other historical, which I was quite excited about after reading the back jacket cover, ended up driving me mad. From the blurb and first few chapters, I imagined the heroine to be tough, beautiful, a real fighter, but then, at every turn, the poor thing seemed to dissolve into a fit of tears. It's a wonder the delectable male (and he was quite something; the woman was daft not to fall into his arms) still pursued her.

This has happened to me before. I've trusted the publisher as opposed to the writer herself and gone awry. I shall continue to pick up the works of my favourite Harlequin Historical authors—such as Nicola Cornick, Michelle Styles, Diane Gaston (I did enjoy her recent Innocence and Impropriety), Gail Ranstrom, and Deborah Hale. Or perhaps turn to another line altogether. My recent introduction to the Presents line has piqued my interest to say the least. Thanks, India!

This time while hubby is away, I discovered that one of my all-time favourite authors has turned her hand to children's literature. I thoroughly enjoyed Jeanette Winterson's Tanglewreck—think orphaned girl charged with the task of healing the rent in time that has wrought havoc in not only her native England but the entire world. Next on the list is Libba Bray's A Great and Terrible Beauty. I'm much more comfortable in the Victorian period, anyway.

I can forgo romance for a week or two.

Hail the Roman hero

I just finished Michelle Styles's The Gladiator's Honor, published in North America by Harlequin Historical (thus the "or" as opposed to "our") and winner of the 2006 Cataromance Reviewers' Choice Award (for best Mills & Boon Historical Romance).

I can't recommend it highly enough. It is evocative, passionate, tells a heartwarming tale of forbidden love between a Thracian slave turned gladiator and a Roman noblewoman—both characters I loved from the get-go—and, best of all, it's not a Regency!

I know, I know, I myself have reviewed Regency romances here with equal enthusiasm, and I must admit I have a weakness for them. But I say it's high time Harlequin/Mills & Boon/Silhouette etc. started widening its scope. Personally I want to see on the shelves fewer Regencies and Medievals in favour of romances set during Roman times, the Restoration, the Renaissance – anything but the period dominated by Georgette Heyer and Jane Austen.

Readers and writers, let's unite and together bid farewell to Darcy, Knightley and the Duke of Wellington. Hail instead heroes such as Spartacus (picture Goran Visnjic rather than Kirk Douglas or Russell Crowe) or Johnny Depp in The Libertine, not to mention Ralph Fiennes as Heathcliff. (As we know, I have a weakness for all things Victorian.)

Hey, wait a second, how did I make the jump from romance novels to leading male actors? Please forgive me, Michelle, I promise to write a proper review next time.

P.S. Thanks, Amanda, for the book recommendation. And, yes, it's been sitting in my Wish List that long!