Of Swords and Parasols

I read these books over a period of several months and typed up my comments roughly as I went along, so I’m sure there’s a lot of repetition and contradictions. While I liked all of McCabe’s Regency-set books that I read to some degree (and liked a few a lot) I much preferred her non-Regency set books, which were very much in the minority of what I read. In general, McCabe’s books took tropes I’m usually either leery of, or outright dislike, and made me like them, and usually got things cleared up quickly. What would usually be a Big Misunderstanding often got wrapped up quickly, when we’d usually get judgment and suspicion from the heroes, we got actual communication and understanding, and pretty much any time I thought “there had better be groveling after this,” the groveling started within a couple of pages. Also, while McCabe leans more towards virgin heroines than heroines with a sexual history, she has more experienced heroines than most authors whose books aren’t primarily risqué sexcapades, and the heroines typically actually enjoyed their previous sexual experiences (you’d be surprised how rare that is in romances novels) and there’s never any guilt or shame or judgement over it. OTOH, McCabe is one of those authors who's convinced that her fictional kids are the cutest and most adorable things ever. Real kids aren't that cute, much less fictional kids. (And I say that as someone who is very much a kid/baby person, and who doesn't hate fiction kids more often than not.

( clicky )