Follow up to yesterday's rant

[ellid]

I downloaded a sample of one of the books that was recommended to me. The writing was good enough that I was actually tempted to buy it and read it...

But when the author commits no fewer than three separate errors about the heroine's clothing in the first few pages, what's the point? If she can't be arsed to spend ten minutes looking at a copy of Francois Boucher so she'd know that a respectable 14th century woman didn't go out in public bareheaded, or that the trim on her gown would have been a detachable band, not embroidery, or that the heroine could not possibly tuck her coins in her bodice because clothing in the 1320s didn't HAVE bodices, well, I can't be arsed to read her book.

And that was the best of the four samples I downloaded based on recommendations from DKos.

Somehow I don't think I'm going to make a romance reader.

Comments

[rufinia.livejournal.com]

My usual recomendations for straight historical are:

The Spymaster's Lady, by Joanna Bourne, French and British spies during the Napoleonic Wars. Bourne has a fantastic ear for language and dialogue. She has a few other books in her Spymasters series, but that's the first one and my favorite.

Lord of Scoundrels, by Loretta Chase. I've heard good things about all her books, but this is the only one I've read and it's fantastic. I think it is also Regency or early Victorian.

I also very much enjoyed Nine Rules to Break While Romancing a Rake, by Sarah McLean.

Sometimes the set up is implausible. It's all what the author does with it.

now, as far as paranormal- I adore Zoe Archer, and not just because we are twitter buds. Her Blades of the Rose series (Victorian/steampunk/paranormal) is great.

I've heard good things about The Iron Duke, but I haven't read it yet.

[ellid.livejournal.com]

I'll look at some of these. The steampunk one sounds like the most interesting. Thanks!