Romancing the stone, er the bridge... er, the lake...

I confess that I am a latecomer to the fun of reading romance novels. I once looked down at them and don't remember what made me decide to give them a chance. (The post found here was instrumental in helping me find books I didn't despise, however.)

My current favorite writer in this genre is Tessa Dare - largely because her stories make me laugh! Maybe I need a dose of the ridiculous in my romances because I often feel so silly reading them...

The two books in my post are recent reads in this genre.

I picked up Bridges because I had read it years and years ago and for some reason the sensation reading it stayed with me. It was summer and my sister and I were staying the night at her grandma's house. We were sharing the waterbed and a storm rolled in off of the hill. I remember drowsing with flashes of lightning and bursts of rain brightening the window, and sometimes I woke up enough to read a little. At the time, I found the romance an enjoyable (though improbable) one. When I added the book to my goodreads list I found out that lots and lots of people hate it because it includes an affair. Well, I didn't enjoy it nearly as much this time around, but I didn't hate it, either, and there are some snatches of poetry throughout. Also, since I now live in a town with a covered bridge, it felt almost obligatory that I read a romance centered on covered bridges.

Sarah Addison Allen is one of those authors I never thought I'd read. I tend to stray away from books that make up those "best beach reading!" tables at the bookstore. I shelved Garden Spells many times when I worked at a bookstore and I'm sure I thought that it looked hokey at the time. Again, I'm not sure what prompted my change of heart -- maybe the 99 cent price tag? -- but I'm very glad something did! I got completely swept up in the magical realism that was Garden Spells; it was as though one of my favorite movies, You've Got Mail, turned up in book form. (N.B. I'm always up for "a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils!"). Having enjoyed Spells so much, I eagerly began devouring other Allen books.

In all honesty, Lost Lake wasn't my favorite of the bunch. It contained some interesting characters in the people that lived at the vacation spot and I loved the fashion sense of the little girl, but many things felt too predictable or too drawn out.

On the other hand, I was completely taken by the ghost alligator. If I get to come back as a ghost, I'm completely fine with being some kind of ghost animal (I'm thinking cat) that makes people fall in love (preferably reincarnations of Geddy and Alex). All in all, a fun little summer story - just not the best of her publications.