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| (Ok, so this is the National Library of Austria, but I like to pretend my library looks like this...) |
I saw an article in the USA Today this morning (say what
you will, but they are great with dealing with the romance market), where
favorite authors discussed the books that are on their Keeper Shelves. And having recently re-organized my book shelves
(they were about to declare mutiny!), I got to wondering, not only what I had
on my Keeper Shelf (Shelves!), but what exactly constituted a Keeper….
I think that the books we really love call to a part of
ourselves, either as readers or as individuals, and become a part of us, as
well. Some Keepers call to the most fundamental parts of you—the liver or
the skin, for example—while some call to the more subjective parts of what
makes you an individual—your eyes, your brain, your fingerprints.
Here were some of the titles I was pondering, but I’d love to hear some of
yours, as well!
Master of Darkness, Susan Sizemore
This was the first book I ever read from the “romance”
section of the library—while I had always been drawn to love stories, this was
the first time where that story was the primary focus of the book. In
this quirky, engrossing book, Eden Faveau, the newest generation of a family of
vampire hunters, mistakes Laurent for her vampire contact in a plot to bring
down Justinian, the nastiest and most powerful of the evil vampires in her
world. Laurent isn’t about to argue, as he has recently stolen
Justinian’s laptop and desperately needs the time and protect Eden unwittingly
offers in order to decrypt the information he needs. The bond between
these two is instantaneous, and their loyalty to each other never waivers, even
when the course of true love isn’t running particularly smoothly. Since
reading it, I’ve realized this book was a big break from the first three books
in this series, giving the villain a chance to redeem himself and doing so with
a lot more snarky humor and sense of the ridiculous than seen in the rest of the series (the memory of sun-struck
vampires building abstract art out of outdoor café furniture still makes me
giggle). Most of all, though, Laurent’s transformation from self-serving
castaway to Eden’s hero was a fantastic transformation. I still have a battered
old copy of this book on my keeper shelf and visit it like the old friend it’s
become.
Kiss of Steel, Bec McMaster
A long standing love of steampunk led me to try this
book, and I ended up spending an entire day savoring every scene. Honoria
Todd is on the run, desperate to protect her siblings from the Duke of Vickers
and the ruling Echelon, and knows the Rookeries is the one place even he
wouldn’t dare pursue them. But safety means living under the constant
gaze of Blade, the shadowy master of Whitechapel, and the only creature to ever
stand up to the Echelon and live to tell the tale. As the two make a wary
alliance, Honoria realizes she may have at last found a person who won’t let
her down, while in this clever human, Blade may have found his own
salvation. While the love story in this book is one of overwhelming want
and passion and hunger, and my obvious love of tortured anti-heroes is
blatantly evident as usual, I think the most impressive thing is the world that
Bec McMasters created. The detail, imagination and history she gave to
her London made it a place I felt I knew as well as its storybook
inhabitants. This is a place of terrifying monsters and dark shadows,
where every choice has very real consequences, and in the midst of it, a hero
and heroine who will take any risk to save the one they love.
The Rhiannon’s Law Series, J.A. Saare
This is a bit more on the Urban Fantasy side of the
spectrum than some others, and, in my humble opinion, one of the most well-executed
series out there today. When I first
read Dead, Undead or Somewhere in Between,
I knew within a few pages that J.A. Saare was very well aware of all the conventions
and expectations for Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy, had given them a
respectful nod, and then tossed them out the window. Rhiannon is a heroine who is tough as nails
and deeply scarred, and can also see the dead—and never tries to hide any part
of herself for anyone. Her lover, Disco
(best nickname ever), is as broody and mysterious as any vampire you could hope
to find, but I love the fact that he never tries to “save” Rhiannon—because she
never needs it.
Most of all, however, every book in this series has
floored me with its intensity, and with its authors courage. J.A. Saare has taken her stories to some dark
places, and forced her characters to confront their darkest fears in a way that
very few writers do, and while it doesn’t lead to a comfortable, happy ending,
these are the choices that set a series apart.
For me, this isn’t just a fun, exciting or incredibly imaginative
series, which is definitely is; this is an example of beautiful, fearless
writing that pulls no punches and apologizes for nothing, which I love.
Lord of Fire, Gaelen Foley
I think I’ve mentioned this book before, but there’s no
getting around the fact that this book is my true love. After the first
few chapters, during which her sister-in-law does all she can to make Alice
Montague sound like the most 2-dimensional, virginal, naïve, goody-two-shoes
she possibly can, it was a wonderful surprise to see that Alice had strength,
determination and a drive to live a bigger, fuller life than the one she was
given. And it’s these characteristics draw our hero, Lucien, like a moth
to a flame. Having given his life and his honor to guarantee his twin
brother’s safety, Lucien had much of his confidence stolen from him when he was
captured and tortured by the French, and is slowly losing himself. Though
his scheming with Alice begins as a taunt and a challenge to her honor, it’s
obvious that they both desperately need each other, and that their love has a
chance to become the kind that comes rarely, even in novels. There’s
adventure and intrigue aplenty (and several surprising subplots with
wonderfully twisted villains), but when Lucien comes back to London, determined
to win Alice’s heart and ends up giving her his own instead, it simply doesn’t
get much better for me.
...So how about you? What are the books on your Keeper Shelf?
