The Duke I Tempted

(3.5, rounding down.) This was quite a bit angrier/angstier than most of the historicals I read, and it was almost unpleasant at times - while I ended up enjoying it, the fights they had were intense and tough to read sometimes. I love a marriage of convenience and all that, but I wish it had been developed a little more why they actually like each other. Also, for a book about a duke who's a member of a secret BDSM club, this was surprisingly light on that aspect?

This is the first, honest-to-god romance novel I've ever read. Why I haven't I read romance before? Mostly because I'm a snob and I thought romance novels were stupid. Lately - and honestly because I got put in charge of our library's romance newsletter - I've been reading more ABOUT romance. About how maybe it's sexist to call it stupid; about how so much of romance is about a woman getting what she wants; about how it's woman-led industry and so forth. Basically, I realized I was being a huge jerk about something I didn't really know anything about.

So I read a review of this - in the NYTimes because I'm still a snob - and read this this weekend when I really needed a break from politics and men. I wanted to read a book where a man was NICE and I KNEW he was going to be nice.

It was cute and sexy and fun. Obviously I should have known all of this about romance before especially since I will defend genre sci-fi and fantasy to the end of my days, but here we are. Better late than never? Maybe romance is another genre I can enjoy!

I still don't wanna read cozy mysteries though.