A happy camper. Not.

I am not feeling too good. One of those stomach virus. Current reading is not helping.

I just read a book and its sequel which has one of those things that is guaranteed to depress me. Ever since I got mad when Wilfred chose the insipid Rowena over the gorgeous, brave Rebecca in Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe, I realized that Love Triangles are not for me. They almost never turn out the way I want them to which is vastly frustrating. Seventeen years later, I am still pissed that Margot picked that Duke of Slut over witty Robin in MJP’s The Controversial Countess (later revised as Petals in the Storm). Bloody *(^%$)*& ! I can feel my blood pressure rising just thinking about it. *Deep breaths*Deep breaths* (Yes, I know that witty Robin did get his own HEA later but he wanted Margot and he should have gotten Margot!!!!! They went through hell together.)

So in this latest book, we have this raging alpha arsehole who enters into a practical marriage. He treats his wife like a possession and when he sees his childhood true love, he leaves his wife without a second glance and starts shacking up with said true love in town. The arsehole and the wife gets a divorce and the wife gets engaged to this nice dude named Nathan. Nathan builts a dream house for her. Nathan plays the piano. Nathan is handsome. Nathan is nice. Nathan is obviously a beta. But. Because he doesnt light the flame in her girl oven, the wife goes back to that arsehole. The end. Grrr.

Okay, there is a spinoff. I immediately start it thinking that poor darling Nathan gets his HEA. Well, Nathan isnt even the hero of the book. It’s the arsehole’s big brother who is the “hero”. But since he is heading back to his hometown, I continue reading hoping for word of my precious darling Nathan *sobs*. Nathan does finally show up about 2/3 into the book. Is he married? Has he moved on? Noooooooo. He is STILL single *sobs* and still in love *sobs* with the wife from the first book *sob*. Six. *sobs* Years. Later. *sobs*

Would it have been a hardship for the author to just write a throw away line that Nathan gets a woman of his own? These books were written over 10 years ago and the author now writes in another genre so poor sweet Nathan remains a bachelor forever eating his heart out for that wife. Grrrrr. Sometimes, when I read authorspeak and they are trying to explain why certain characters are not hero material, I get the sense that they are saying “Beta = Loser”. My response to that is “Welcome to seton’s shit list.”

I have no idea what I am reading next. Maybe some Jean Ross Ewing (aka Julia Ross). A friend dropped off a new copy of Kathryn Caskie’s How to Propose to a Prince. After my first and only Caskie, I was reluctant but I cracked open the spine anyway just to take a peek and I did a double-take. Jebus! I had to check the cover that I wasn’t reading a large print book. The type was H-U-G-E! I took a shot of it with the JRE just to compare (click to enlarge if you wanna):

Doing some calculations based on words per page and number of pages, the Caskie is only about freakin’ 67,000 words (over 354 pages). The JRE (from 1999) is approximately 110,000 words (367 pages). I mentioned in my review of Caskie’s Rules of Engagement that she seemed to have trouble making the requisite 300 pages in that one. Looks like a trend. Years ago, this sucker would probably have come out as a 225 page traditional regency for $4.99 instead of a padded historical for $6.99. Sigh. *dumps it into the Swap Pile*