Quick Thoughts: The Dragon and the Pearl

The Dragon and the Pearl

by Jeannie Lin
Book 2 of Tang Dynasty

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  3.0 Stars

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL COURTESAN OF THEM ALL...

Former Emperor’s consort Ling Suyin is renowned for her beauty; the ultimate seductress.  Now she lives quietly alone—until the most ruthless warlord in the region comes and steals her away....

Li Tao lives life by the sword, and is trapped in the treacherous, lethal world of politics.  The alluring Ling Suyin is at the center of the web.  He must uncover her mystery without falling under her spell—yet her innocence calls out to him.  How cruel if she, of all women, can entrance the man behind the legend...

I want to say that I think this book suffers from pacing.  And maybe the romance was a little hard for me to root for at the beginning.  And also, the ending felt a bit rushed.

But otherwise, I DID find myself enjoying a good third of the story, specifically the middle third of it, after both Suyin and Li Tao kind of let their guards down around each other and become intimately involved.  The beginning had a fairly decent start up until the mind games between Suyin and Li Tao dragged on a bit longer than I would have liked.  Then the story picks up slightly when the romance starts... and then tapers off again as that part of the story dragged on for a while.  And then the last third of the book inserted a lot of action that felt slightly out of place and rushed, bringing about an ending that felt a little off kilter.

In a way, I kind of enjoyed the quiet, banal happenings during the beginning of the book that had been used to show the relationship between our main couple changing day by day.  But I also felt a bit squicky about how their sexual relationship starts off, and didn't really care for the fact that Suyin felt more like an accessory to Li Tao's story than actually being part of the story herself.  Especially considering the significance Suyin's flashbacks, contemplating her role throughout her life.  After all of that--the fact that she'd spent her life being used and owned by men--I would have liked to have seen more for Suyin.

If anything, I kind of wish we could have developed Suyin's character a bit more, instead of just having her be the "One True Love Cure All for Li Tao's Darkness and Problems."  Ling Suyin has a lot of history and complexity all on her own that I wished had been explored more.

My final complaint would be the loose ends and random tangential story lines that felt inconclusive.

Otherwise, the writing is just as beautiful as I remember Jeannie Lin's writing being.  And even in spite of Suyin's underdeveloped character, I really, really liked her a lot.  Given more substance, I think she would have been a wonderful character with a wonderful story to tell, not shadowed by the main male character in this book.

Very Brief Thoughts: The Liar's Dice

The Liar's Dice

by Jeannie Lin
The Pingkang Li Mysteries, #2.5 (novella)

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  4.0 Stars

Tang Dynasty China, 849 A.D.
Lady Bai, called Wei-wei by her aristocratic family, has always been the perfectly obedient daughter--but only on the outside.  Inwardly she dreams of freedom.  When she dares to pay a forbidden visit to a public tea garden in men's clothing, only Gao looks close enough to notice her borrowed robes.  Alas, looking closely at the enigmatic Gao tells Wei-wei only one thing: he's a scoundrel.

When the pair witness a fatal stabbing, Gao surprises her by staying at her side as she investigates the brutal crime.  Together they uncover more secrets, somehow tied to her brother and the seedy gambling dens he's been visiting on the sly.  Gao seems to know far too much about the brutal ways of the street, but Wei-wei is drawn to him and his habit of seeing through all her disguises.

Wei-wei revels in her newfound independence and her growing feelings for her mysterious companion, but all too soon she's faced with a cruel choice -- discover the truth and bring the killer to justice, or protect her family at all costs.

A lovely short read for a character I'd been interested in since the first book.  Wei-wei is wonderfully crafted to be smart, bold, and beyond her times; while at the same time she's unassuming enough to understand her own faults.  I wish the "disguised as a man" part of the story would have been a bit more fleshed out, since it is one of the classic romance tropes I love; but as a novella, I suppose it'll have to do.

The romance in this novella was understated, with the focus being more on Wei-wei's self-revelations about herself and her role in her family.  I would love to see more of Wei-wei and Gao, as their relationship is one that would definitely be disapproved of enough in the traditional, historical Chinese sense to be an interesting development if allowed to progress.

Thoughts: The Jade Temptress

The Jade Temptress

by Jeannie Lin
Book 2 of The Pingkang Li Mysteries

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  4.0 Stars

Welcome to the infamous Pingkang Li—home of the celebrated Lotus Palace courtesans, and a place of beauty and treachery...

Charming and seductive, Mingyu is the most sought-after hostess in the pleasure quarter.  She has all men wrapped around her finger—except Constable Wu Kaifeng, the one man she can't resist, the only man to have placed her in chains.

Wu Kaifeng's outwardly intimidating demeanor hides a reluctant, fierce attraction to beautiful Mingyu.  But the passionate temptation she presents threatens to destroy them both when a powerful official is murdered and they find themselves on a deadly trail.  Amid the chaos, a forbidden affair could change Mingyu's fate forever, for following her heart is bound to have consequences...

My first thoughts while reading The Jade Temptress were about how much development there has been for Mingyu since the events of the first book in this series.  She was cold, untouchable, and as high on a that Empress pedestal her Lotus Palace sisters accuse her of placing herself on.

But even as the book begins, and progresses, Mingyu shows a different side of herself that is different than her first introduction the Lotus Palace--she is the elder sister that Yue-ying loves, who wants nothing but to survive her life and see her sister happy and safe.  She's just a woman trying to make it in life, with what little opportunity being a woman allows her during these times in China; and she's a woman who begins to dream that maybe there could be more for her than eternal servitude to the foster mother who owns her, and the men who pay for her company.

I think I loved this book more than the first book, though, if only because of the complexities of both our main characters.  This is not to say that Yue-ying was not a complex character, because she was definitely so much more than the standard romance novel heroine.  And Bai Huang never truly showed his complexities until nearing the ending, but even then I was hard-pressed to truly appreciate them.

In contrast, Mingyu has so many layers to her that it was quite interesting to watch her progress through her few self-revelations.

And while Wu Kaifeng seems like he's only got one personality--upstanding, blunt, aloof--his layers are also quite interesting to witness as they peel away.

While the attraction between Mingyu and Kaifeng felt a little too fast to be credible, their subsequent interactions were sweet.  It was nice watching both of their exteriors chip away, a little at a time with each meeting or chance meeting between them.  And even while they knew that they both lived in two different worlds, and that their romance would be hard to attain, they didn't spend too much time languishing in the angst that could have come up in the beginning of their courtship.

The murder mystery of The Jade Temptress was quite well outlined, and certainly, for a moment in the book, I followed the wrong red herring, even as I had kind of touched upon the actual truth behind General Deng's death already.  Either I'm slipping, or the twists in this mystery had been clever enough to confuse me.

The Jade Temptress is a historical romance with intrigue and mystery, and is rather quiet and tame compared to the events and high drama of the previous book.  I don't know if it's because our couple are both rather settled, quiet individuals, while the previous book's couple were young and exuberant.  But somehow, this is probably one of the reasons why I enjoyed The Jade Temptress a bit more than The Lotus Palace.

Nonetheless, enjoyment was had.

Thoughts: The Lotus Palace

The Lotus Palace

by Jeannie Lin
Book 1 of The Pingkang Li Mysteries

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  4.0 Stars

It is a time of celebration in the Pingkang Li, where imperial scholars and bureaucrats mingle with beautiful courtesans.  At the center is the Lotus Palace, home of the most exquisite courtesans in China...

Maidservant Yue-ying is not one of those beauties.  Street-smart and practical, she's content to live in the shadow of her infamous mistress—until she meets the aristocratic playboy Bai Huang.

Bai Huang lives in a privileged world Yue-ying can barely imagine, yet alone share, but as they are thrown together in an attempt to solve a deadly mystery, they both start to dream of a different life.  Yet Bai Huang's position means that all she could ever be to him is his concubine—will she sacrifice her pride to follow her heart?

The first time I read a Jeannie Lin book, it brought back memories of when I used to watch historical Chinese television series all the time.  While I still watch the occasional Chinese historical, I don't marathon them like I used to.  Reading The Lotus Palace, I find that that feeling is still there--of course, the television series are a bit more chaste, while this book has a few steamy sex scenes, but that's still the feel.

And of course, because of this, it might make me a bit biased towards this book, with it's historical Tang Dynasty setting, the beautiful descriptions of clothing, the streets, the vendors, the residences... and a lovely sweet romance that makes your heart ache.  Because these are those same elements (once again, minus the sex) that had made my love for Chinese historical, Chinese wuxia series grow with every viewing.

The Lotus Palace may be a mystery, but it is definitely first, and foremost, a romance.  And with that in mind, it's easy to appreciate the silly interactions between Yue-ying and Bai Huang as the two of them amateurishly investigate the death of a famous courtesan.  I'm not entirely certain I would actually describe their interactions, or even their entire relationship as sweet, really.  Between Yue-ying and Bai Huang, their love story hinges more on the young, first love variety, where everything is over-dramatic and angst-ridden and almost dream-like.

I'm not even entirely sure I cared much for their romance, really.  They certainly made a cute pair of friends, that's for sure.  But Bai Huang came off a bit too naive and idealistic for my liking.

And this is where I find I really liked the characters--yeah, I know I contradict myself.

Neither Bai Huang nor Yue-ying are your typical romance novel hero or heroine.  Bai Huang is a flamboyant, flirtatious scholar, who spends his days and nights making light of everything.  Yue-ying is a hardened girl, a maidservant who used to slave away in a low-end brothel as a prostitute, simply trying to survive each day of her life, trapped in a world where she has no freedoms or choices as a woman.  By fortune, she is taken in by the most famous courtesan of the Pingkang Li, Mingyu, and now works as her maidservant, never having to service men with her body as long as she stays with Mingyu.

It's a typical Cinderella romance between our couple where, of all the beautifully adorned and decorated women in the Pingkang Li, Bai Huang happens to notice the quiet maidservant, who all but tries to make herself blend into the wall at all times, whose face is marred by a red birthmark cover one cheek from eye to chin, and becomes intrigued enough by her to pursue her.

The Lotus Palace isn't an entirely memorable experience.  The romance has it's moments, of course, where it strays from the typical tropes.  For instance, I like that Yue-ying doesn't fall for Bai Huang immediately, and reacts in the appropriate fashion, slapping him when he tries to kiss her.  I like that Bai Huang's charms don't really work on Yue-ying, and in fact only serve to make her more annoyed with him.  I like that Yue-ying is always trying to be practical about whatever chemistry is brewing between herself and Bai Huang--tell him that he needs to back off, that they are from different worlds, that his interest in her can only cause trouble for the both of them.

But I also like that Bai Huang is so persistent, knowing that this is a girl he needs to work for in order to court; that she obviously won't just melt in his arms just because he's good-looking, or powerful, or pushes her for more.  However, on the other hand, I also love how flawed he is, and it takes him nearly half the book to realize how naive he is about real life, and it takes Yue-ying's harsh words to make him start looking at things in a more practical sense.

I like that the first sex scene wasn't mind-blowing, and in fact, even touches upon the hardships of Yue-ying's past, which is what makes that first sex with Bai Huang kind of depressing.  I like how it takes the two of them some time to work up to a more intimate relationship, and even after sleeping together, they still have to work on their relationship--sex doesn't fix everything, obviously.

What I wish could have been touched upon more, however, was the base mystery that brings our couple together as an investigative team.  It wasn't like the mystery was forgotten, because it was very much in the foreground of the book, brought up again and again as Yue-ying and Bai Huang continue to search for answers.  But for some strange reason, when thinking about my reading experience, I have to admit, I'm not entirely sure I recall a whole lot about the murder mystery that was really all that intriguing.

It was a fairly standard murder mystery; I had my thoughts on the events that took place surrounding both murders.  But that's about it.

Anyway...

I enjoyed The Lotus Palace a lot.  In fact, I practically devoured it, because it was so beautifully written and easy to follow.  Of course, as I'd already admitted, I have my biases.


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Halloween Bingo

This book could also count for:

• Murder Most Foul:  A murder takes place, and out main characters are out to solve it!
• Amateur Sleuth:  Yue-ying is a maidservant, and Bai Huang is a scholar.
• Romantic Suspense
• Terrifying Women

My TBR List -- May 2016 Voting

My TBR List is a monthly meme hosted by Michelle @ Because Reading.

The basic gist of this activity is to have others help decide on which book out of three I'm selecting from my TBR pile I should read for the month via votes.  The posts will be published on the first two Saturdays (voting and winning book announcement, respectively), and the winning book review will be posted on the last Saturday of the month.

Click on the above links for more information.

Join This Month's My TBR List -- May 2016

In a similar theme to last month, I would like to continue working on series I've started reading over the past couple of years and this year. This is the Let's Work On That Series edition #1, and it is basically a choice from three books in ongoing series that I'm still in the process of reading. In an ideal world, I would sit and keep reading these series, book after book, until I reach the very last one available. Then I would sit in anticipation until the next book in said ongoing series gets published.

These are also all books that I currently own on my shelf, so it's another win-win situation wherein I will be able to continue whittling down the books I own on my shelves.

Yay!

Thanks to everyone for stopping by and voting!

The Books

Fire and Ice by Julie Garwood
-- Book 7 of Buchanan-Renard series

Sophie Rose is a crime reporter at a major Chicago newspaper and the daughter of Bobby Rose, a charming gentleman and big-time thief.  When asked to write an exposé about her notorious father, Sophie quits and goes to work at a small newspaper, covering local personalities such as William Harrington, the 5K runner whose trademark is red socks.  Those socks--with Sophie's business card tucked inside--are practically all that's found after Harrington is killed near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, seemingly in a brutal polar bear attack.

Sophie heads north to investigate, but danger follows in her wake.  After one attempt on her life, she's assigned brash but sexy Jack MacAlister as a bodyguard.  But Sophie and Jack will soon be fighting more than their growing passion for each other.  Powerful forces will stop at nothing to prevent the exposure of the sinister conspiracy Sophie and Jack are about to uncover.

The Dragon and the Pearl by Jeannie Lin

-- Book 2 of Tang Dynasty series

Former Emperor's consort Ling Suyin is renowned for her beauty; the ultimate seductress. Now she lives quietly alone--until the most ruthless warlord in the region comes and steals her away....

Li Tao lives life by the sword, and is trapped in the treacherous, lethal world of politics. The alluring Ling Suyin is at the center of the web. He must uncover her mystery without falling under her spell--yet her innocence calls out to him. How cruel if she, of all women, can entrance the man behind the legend....

Lucky in Love by Jill Shalvis
-- Book 4 of Lucky Harbor series

Mallory Quinn has had enough of playing it safe. As a nurse and devoted daughter, she takes care of everyone but herself. And as the local good girl, she's expected to date Mr. Right. But for once she'd like to take a risk on Mr. Wrong. And who would be more wrong than Ty Garrison? The mysterious new guy in town has made it clear that he's only passing through, which suits Mallory just fine. Besides, his lean, hard body and sexy smile will give her plenty to remember once he's gone...

For the first time in his life, Ty can't bear to leave. Helping this sexy seductress-in-training walk on the wild side is making him desire things he shouldn't--including leaving the military for good. As their just-for-fun fling becomes something more, Mallory and Ty wonder if they could really be this lucky in love. After all... anything can happen in a town called Lucky Harbor.

Let's Vote!

**For BookLikes members reading this in the BookLikes dashboard view:  Click here to generate the voting box on another page if you would like to vote.  I don't know why the voting box doesn't show, though it appears in blog view just fine.

**For everyone else voting via BookLikes blog view or at the Book Abyss's Blogspot home:  You may ignore the above tangent.  The voting box shows just fine.

Again, thank you for stopping by and voting!

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Previous My TBR List months at Ani's Book Abyss can be found at the Bookish Memes page.

Thoughts: Butterfly Swords

Butterfly Swords

by Jeannie Lin
Book 1 of Tang Dynasty

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  4.0 Stars


This book was slow to start up, but once it got going, aside from a few hiccups here and there and some eye-roll-worthy moments, Butterfly Swords was entirely captivating up until the very end. The style is beautifully done and the characters quite readily likable, even if predictable. It DID bring to mind nostalgic FEELS of the days when I used to watch wuxia television series religiously, on repeat.

It was just also more romantic and quite a bit steamier, as well. Whew! **fans self**


The Story:
After learning that the powerful Li Tao had a hand in her brother's death as well as is planning treason on her father's throne, Shen Ai Li orchestrates a bandit attack on her wedding procession in order to escape her marriage to him. Even despite knowing the shame and disappointment that would befall her and her family because of this act, Ai Li is determined to get back to the capital to reveal this betrayal to her mother and father, the Emperor and Empress of the Tang Dynasty Empire.

Born from a warrior family, Ai Li has only her learned fighting skills and her butterfly swords to defend herself with, until she chances upon a barbarian warrior with a handsome face and blue eyes. Ryam is a ladies' man with wanderlust and a fatalistic outlook after a battle gone bad with imperial soldiers. But Ai Li affects him in a way he had never expected and he finds himself agreeing to protect her on her journey, even as he fights to restrain himself from wanting her or worse yet, falling for her.


Some Thoughts:
I had forgotten that I'd yet to actually review this book fully... or at least as fully as I'd intended to do. This might mean that the book really wasn't all that memorable, but I know that that's not entirely true. Unfortunately, even as I write those words, I have to admit that there really wasn't anything outstanding about Butterfly Swords aside from the beauty of the writing and that nostalgic sense I already mentioned about my memories of watching wuxia series when I was younger.

In a nutshell, the story progressed well and was told well. The characters were created well. And historical China is a different kind of setting for a category romance that is also part romantic suspense. But in the end, the formula for the romance really isn't much different from other romances I've read before because the characters were standard stereotypes and the romance was also quite formulaic.

Ai Li is a great character, don't get me wrong. She's strong and idealistic and quite forward-thinking, especially for a woman born to a very traditional family in historical China. Because even as she talks about her duties and her role as a daughter in the royal family, she still dares to defy and go beyond the typical station of a woman in historical China.

And I'm not saying this as if I think it's a terrible thing for Ai Li to be so strong and forward thinking (even if she does still display the more historically accurate ideals of her time). I love a strong and idealistic, forward-thinking female heroine as much as the next feminist. But historical China is also one of my least favorite eras mainly because I can't stand that whole "women are merely property for their fathers, brothers, and husbands to use as trade" bullshit. Unfortunately, just because I don't like it doesn't mean that I can argue with it, nor does it mean that I would argue with it. That was just how historical China was and nothing can change those facts save for some clever suspension of disbelief in fictional stories here and there.

Historical China was just never a friendly place for women.

Goodness knows that Louis Cha took enough liberties in his own wonderfully created, uber popular, widely beloved and accepted wuxia novels to make them so truly awesome! There are so many strong, idealistic, extremely forward-thinking women in his stories that it makes you forget you're in historical China.

But I digress...

Back to Ai Li, as I was saying: She's a great character, and what I love about her is that she can hold her own in a physical battle even if she can't quite hold her own in a battle of hearts. Because even with all of her ideal traits, she unfortunately comes off as the typical romance novel Mary Sue. She's strong, she's independent, she's intelligent, she's innocent, she's a virgin (thus making her the epitome of sexual innocence), and she's also brave and righteous and endearingly naive. And she's the one woman, ever, who is different enough to "change" our broody, alpha male's life. Because she's special.

Our broody alpha, of course, is a bad boy with a heart of gold, sexually experienced with playboy tendencies, a warrior and a hero, and is mush when he's faced with our heroine. And then there are those underlying tragic reasons why he cannot commit to one woman no matter how in love with her he is.

There is nothing unique about this romance.

HOWEVER, what makes this story enjoyable and readily lovable is the presentation. Once again, the writing is exquisite, the imagery vivid, and the progression done very well. And even with the formulaic love story, I couldn't help but enjoy every moment between Ai Li and Ryam as they got to know each other, little by little, as they traveled together. Despite some of it being exposition or narrative, we still get to see the process of them having conversations, learning little things about each other, and just talking about anything and everything. So even though there's an undertone of lust thickening between the two in the background, their relationships truly is built on a pretty sweet and sincere foundation of caring and friendship.


Final Thoughts:
Some things were a little hard to overlook in the story, especially towards the end of the book when the conclusion required an HEA.

But ultimately, Butterfly Swords is a very enjoyable book and I find myself not quite bothered by the little quibbles here and there. As one of first few category romances in a historical Chinese setting, thus bringing about feelings of nostalgia, I have a feeling that Butterfly Swords may forever have a special place in my heart.

Jeannie Lin is an author I intend to continue following with the rest of this series as well as her other historical romances.


***

2016 Reading Challenges:
• Goodreads Reading Challenge
• BookLikes Reading Challenge
• Reading Assignment Challenge
• Mount TBR Challenge

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This review was originally posted at Ani's Book Abyss / BookLikes in February 2016.

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