The April Round-Up!

Yes, this is a little early for me to have my end-of-the-month round-up, but since I'm going touring with my choir on Friday and won't be back until May 10th, this will have to do for now. As it turns out, April was a bit of a slow month for me. I had a bit of a slump and didn't read as much as I usually do - I also had a whopper of a non-romance book to gnaw through that took some time to finish.

For Heroines, we got:

• 1 Popular Queen Bee
• 1 Blue-Haired Teen Rebel
• 1 Darkhorse Heir to the Throne
  
• 1 Pornographic Artist
• 1 Ghost Whisperer
• 1 Ghost Inpersonator

For Heroes, we got:

• 1 Hot Prof
• 1 Hot Cop
• 1 Hot Ghost
  
• 1 Sorta Spy
• 1 Sorta Pirate
• 1 Dirty Evil Sexy God

For Obstacles, we got:

• "I totally love her - but she wants to put herself in danger! No! I must protect her!"
• "I just can't win - everyone's trying to kill me! Even the sort-of good guys!"
• "I can't love her - she's a liar and I'm a pirate. Sort of."
  
• "I can't love him - he wants to stay in town and I'm on fire to leave!"
• "I can't love him - he's a jerkface who's most likely already dead!"
• "I can't love him - he's a nobody! And wears glasses!"

In Miscellaneous, we got:

• 1 Secret Underwear Money Stash
• 1 Accidental 69 In a Sarcophagus
• Several Instances of Ghost Sex
• Several Muuuuuuuurders
• 1 Prophesy
• Several Enslaved Gods and Goddesses
• 1 Red Cravat
• 1 Sexy Troubled Brother
• 1 Saintly Martyr Sister
  

*April Pick* Going Too Far, by Jennifer Echols. A+
Winner of the Baggage-Handler Hero Award
Pros: Well-realized setting. High emotional tension. Highly empathetic, vivid characters. Hot cop hero. Great plot.
Cons: Ending seemed a little short, but otherwise this book is flawless.

*April Pick* Revealed, by Kate Noble. A+
Winner of the "Better Make Mine Beta" Hero Award
Pros: Fabulous heroine. Dreamy sorta-spy hero. Great description. Excellent characterization and banter. Good period detail.
Cons: Wow, this is hard. Um - there's a Big Mis, but it's teeny-tiny. Heroine can also occasionally be a witch with a B, but is awesome even then.

*April Pick* The One Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, by N.K. Jemisin A+
Winner of the Spike Award in Sexy Villainy
Pros: Great worldbuilding. Awesome awesome AWESOME evil(ish) death/darkness/sex god. Strong heroine.
Cons: Actual settings aren't totally described, a little bland.

Surrender of a Siren, by Tessa Dare. B+
Winner of the Victoria Dahl Award in Sexually-Aware Historical Heroines
Pros: Original characters. Unconventional setting. Good character motivation.
Cons: Big misunderstandings that last for way too long. Heroine a wee bit on the selfish side.

The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker, by Leanna Renee Hieber. C+
Winner of the Pythagoras Love Triangle Award
Pros: Great secondary characters with angst and tangled romantic ambition. Good use of mythology. Heroine gains a backbone.
Cons: Heroine with backbone still has marshmellow centre. Hero is one-note. Writing tends towards overdescription. Ghost characters really annoying.

*April Dud* For The Earl's Pleasure, by Anne Mallory. C
Winner of the Heathcliff Lifetime Achievement Award in Asshat Heroism
Pros: Interesting paranormal element. Entertaining plot about alphhole hero forced into passivity.
Cons: Lame-ass ending. Doormat heroine. Dickwad hero. Plethora of useless characters and details.

The Other Novel I Read This Month:

The Duchess, by Amanda Foreman. A