September Roundup

Books Finished: 15

Favorite September Book:

Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran

I adored Michelle Moran's Cleopatra's Daughter! I'm working on a review for it, so keep your eyes peeled.

What's so wonderful about Cleopatra's Daughter? Well, it's a story of power wielded (both the obvious and the more subtle) and succumbed to, the story of life in Rome - largely aristocratic but without ignoring the seedier sides of the Empire. I loved the way Selene worked hard to become useful and keep her wits sharp, and I enjoyed her love story a great deal. This was clearly a tale written with me in mind - a strong, intelligent young heroine in an intriguing historical setting - and I stayed up all night reading it! If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend it.

Intrigued? Buy at Amazon or IndieBound

Author Encounters:

Over at Seductive Musings one of my favorite authors, Anne Gracie asked what we would like to see more of in historicals. My answers?

What I'd like to see more of in historicals is humor. It doesn't have to be slapstick (although I find Katie MacAlister's screwball Regencies hilarious), but I'm just not a fan of brooding tortured heros. I want someone who will make me laugh - which is why I'm still madly in love with Gideon from A Perfect Rake :)

Anne replied:

Lana, thanks for loving my Gideon. You know, I was trying for a dark and dangerous hero, and he just strolled on the page, being funny and flippant and madly charming instead. I fought him for ages before i decided to go with him, rather than against him. I can't always control my characters. I suspect Nash is shaping up to be a bad boy character, a bit like Gideon. We'll see.

Another thought:

I'm back again, and I thought of something a little more specific that I would love to see in a historical!

Vienna! I've been looking everywhere for a historical set in Vienna. In a city known for waltzes, champagne, masquerades, music and trick riding horses... I thought it would be an ideal setting to shake things up a bit, but I can't seem to find any romances set there at all.

Anne's response:

Lana, Vienna is a beautiful city and I'd also love to set a book, or at least part of a book there. And in the regency, my preferred time period, Vienna had so many things happening.

Have you read Eva Ibbotson's books? They're only *just* historicals -- set around the 1920's-30's-- and some of them are set in pre-war Austria. Gorgeous books. Try a Song For Summer.

I'm such a fangirl! I definitely grabbed A Song for Summer - such a gorgeous cover, it can hardly be

Books Read:

1. The Tudor Rose - Margaret Campbell Barnes

2. A Pearl Among Princes - Coleen Murtagh Paratore

3. Shrinking Violet - Danielle Joseph

4. Once a Witch - Colleen MacCullough

5. A Marquis to Marry - Amelia Grey

6. Psych Major Syndrome - Alicia Thompson

7. Cleopatra's Daughter - Michelle Moran

8. Suffer the Little Children - Donna Leon

9. The Book of Lies - Brad Meltzer

10. The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown

11. Practice Makes Perfect - Julie James

12. Me, My Elf & I - Heather Swain

13. Give Me Liberty - L.M. Elliott

14. Love on Cue - Catherine Hapka

15. The Season - Sarah MacLean