Bodice Ripper Readers Anonymous discussion

Who wants to join a June buddy read of Drusilla Campbell The Frost and the Flame?

FYI, Karla gave this book 5-stars! It should be verrry interesting!

Convent-bred and seductively beautiful, eighteen-year-old Katiana Donova was journeying across Russia when suddenly a band of murderous serfs attacked her traveling party. Soon she was rescued from her frozen hiding place by none other than the dashing Prince Oleg Romanov -- only to become the object of his insatiable lust.

Helpless to defend herself against this cruel aristocrat, Katiana had no choice by to become his frigid, taunting mistress -- despite the vindictive jealousy of Oleg's wife, Princess Elizabeth.

But Katia longed only for Alexei, the gentle handsome nobleman whose very soul seemed to burn with a quiet passion -- for his people and -- could she hope? -- for her.

Ravished and betrayed, Katia would eventually escape Oleg's clutches to a country half a world away. But would she ever be reunited with the man who could melt her frozen passion with the glorious flame of his love?

Reserved

Reserved

Hi Andrea,
Are there old Buddy Read folders that newbies can see to get a sense of when in their read people start commenting?

My print copy of this month’s book hasn’t arrived yet.
Doris

What is a Space Holder

Doris wrote: "Hi Andrea,
Are there old Buddy Read folders that newbies can see to get a sense of when in their read people start commenting?

My print copy of this month’s book hasn’t arrived yet.
Doris"

Hi Doris!
I’m really looking forward buddy reading with you and Melita!

I’ll as a mod in another group where I’m active, if it’s ok to post a little no to an old buddy read where I was a participant.

Melita wrote: "What is a Space Holder"

I just typed “space holder.”

Perhaps I should have call d it “reserved” instead.

Andrea,
Sorry but I'm not sure what you were saying about an old buddy read you were in.

Doris wrote: "Andrea,
Sorry but I'm not sure what you were saying about an old buddy read you were in."

Doris,

I’m going to post some info that explains about “communal” reading that includes a link to an old buddy read of which I was a part that you can look at.

Melita and Doris:

I posted some information in message #2 about buddy reading in general, how we will do this buddy read and a link to an old buddy read from another group so that you can see how it looks.

I apologize for posting that info later that I thought I intended. I'm playing team bingo with another group and I got a little bit behind.

Ughhhh I'd love to read that book. But I just checked in on amazon and it's 70€ used so ... T_T impossible for me.

I'd love to join Andrea..but it seems rather complicated with do's & don'ts and I never have figured out "spoiler" tags.
if your going to do it by chapters, III follow..and add a comment or two staying within the boundaries of that chapter...?
Or just read and follow your comments :)

Sandi *~The Pirate Wench~* wrote: "I'd love to join Andrea..but it seems rather complicated with do's & don'ts and I never have figured out "spoiler" tags.
if your going to do it by chapters, III follow..and add a comment or two sta..."

Ok,

The more the merrier!

Andrea (Catsos Person) is a Compulsive eBook Hoarder wrote: "Sandi *~The Pirate Wench~* wrote: "I'd love to join Andrea..but it seems rather complicated with do's & don'ts and I never have figured out "spoiler" tags.
if your going to do it by chapters, III f..."

III be careful what I say :) when is this starting? gotta dig it out

Sandi,

I’m going to begin reading today or tomorrow.

I need to read this book for a challenge.

Since I chose a bodice ripper, I thought I’d do a buddy read over here. Nobody in the group where I’m doing the challenge likes bodice rippers at all.

Good luck with your challenge! :)

Sandi *~The Pirate Wench~* wrote: "Good luck with your challenge! :)"

Thanks Sandi!

I am in and ready whenever everyone else is :)

Great Blondie.

I’m glad you’re in!

I’m going to begin reading Wednesday evening or a Thursday AM.

ok, all good

Melita wrote: "ok, all good"

😊

I'm in as well!

@Gurl

Good news!

@Everyone

I'll probably begin reading this evening or tomorrow AM.

Right now in the US east coast, it's a little after 3:30 pm.

I usually finish work at 7p on Wednesdays, but today i had to come in earlier for an AM training session, so, I want to start the book this evening to celebrate leaving work earlier than usual.

hi Andrea I apologize in advance for being a dummy but how far, i.e , how many chapters and when do we start posting predictions, WTF's, gripes. etc.?

I was trying to use spoiler tags but did not work. How does one go about it again.

Which keys to press to hide text?

Here are spoiler tags:

<*spoiler> blah blah blah <*spoiler>

BUT

When you use them, DONOT include the asterisks (to make them inactive for the example above) as I have done in this example.

Here I use spoiler without the asterisks, so they are “active” and actually hide the text.

My comments. I’m up to page 10 in the first chapter:

(view spoiler)[ I’m up to page ten and I am really enjoying the description. The author employs vivid description of the marketplace in Moscow—rabbits frozen solid and stacked in a pyramid. Also description of the thin, cross-Eyed, bespectacled, thin chaperone! There seems to be a mystery as to the hs true identity, though the cross-Eyed chaperone says Katia is woman of quality. BTW, these observations didn’t really need to be hidden by spoiler tags, but I used them to have something to use as an example for use of spoiler tags (hide spoiler)]

Melita wrote: "I was trying to use spoiler tags but did not work. How does one go about it again.

Which keys to press to hide text?"

Melita,

The tags themselves hide text, not any specific symbol on the keyboard.

When you want to hide text, don’t include the asterisks!

Gurl wrote: "hi Andrea I apologize in advance for being a dummy but how far, i.e , how many chapters and when do we start posting predictions, WTF's, gripes. etc.?"

Gurl,

You can start as soon as you have something to say.

If something strikes you in the first page of the prologue or the first chapter, then it’s never to early.

In another group, if an h gets on my nerves on the first two pages of the book, I mention it.

Ch 1 up to page 10

(view spoiler)[
I predict this girl is going to have a lot of sex with different men! (view spoiler)[She was wayyyy into that couple having sex and decided from the evidence of her eyes that “it” was not a sin because (in her judgement, they loved each other!) <\spoiler>

It’s clear that the teachings of the convent made no impression on her and the author shared with us in advance, that the h is a “hedonist.” (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

The first chapter 1825, Katia’s departure from the convent possibly coincides with a period of transition in Russia. Tzar Alexander I died in December of that year:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexa...

He was Tzar when Napoleon Bonaparte thought it was a good idea to invade Russia at the outset of winter and very far from supply lines or even spiked shoes for the horses. He thought it would be an easy victory! The Russians retreated farther and farther into the enterior and left everything behind as a burnt ruin (villages and towns) depriving the Grand Armee of crops, livestock, fuel etc. The Russians even burnt Moscow when they left it!

Have any of you read War and Peace?

French invasion of Russia

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frenc...

Andrea (Catsos Person) is a Compulsive eBook Hoarder wrote: "The first chapter 1825, Katia’s departure from the convent possibly coincides with a period of transition in Russia. Tzar Alexander I died in December of that year:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki..."

very interesting ty for the additional information

I hate it when an author over uses the word had ie I had worked ... instead of, I worked. I understand using it for emphasis but over using negates that!

rant over!

Blondie wrote: "I hate it when an author over uses the word had ie I had worked ... instead of, I worked. I understand using it for emphasis but over using negates that!

rant over!"

I haven't noticed anything terrible with the author's word choices or grammar issues, but then I'll admit to not being a really good judge.

Mediocre writing sometimes goes over my head.

up to page 67

(view spoiler)[I would be just as frustrated as Katia if nobody told me anything(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

also I am confused

(view spoiler)[Why does it seem the aunty favors Oleg over Alexei even she believed his father evil (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

@Blondie,

I'll take a look at your comments when I reach that point.

Meanwhile, i'm at p41

(view spoiler)[
Prince Alexei comes off well to me. He seems more compassionate of the plight of the serfs than Oleg and more enlightened.

Also, Oleg has a fetish for virgins. He decided while Katia was still unconscious ( before he know anything about her) that he was going to have sex with her. Now, he is aware that she is the niece of the his mother's lady-in-waiting--in other words, Katia has a connection. He doesn't care. He still intends to pursue her.
(hide spoiler)]


The comment about our book that compares Stormfire. The hidden comment is a spoiler for Stormfire...

(view spoiler)[Since Prince Alexei made a good first impression and the hero, Prince Oleg a bad one, I wondering if we have a situation as with Stormfire, where the "nice" guy turned out to rotten! But I guess that from the blurb, Alexei is the hero, or is he? (hide spoiler)]

Uh Oh! P 42

insta-love!

Blondie wrote: "I hate it when an author over uses the word had ie I had worked ... instead of, I worked. I understand using it for emphasis but over using negates that!

rant over!"

I'm not as good at written communication as i would like, but I see something that bothers me...

p 47

"Though of course one would wish for pleasanter circumstances,."

I think "one would wish for ,more pleasant circumstances,." sounds better.

Blondie wrote: "up to page 67

[spoilers removed]"

Apparently,

Her openness about her curiosity is counter to (view spoiler)[behavior that is expected for a young woman of her age and education.

Aunt Nikki just shared some servants gossip to K about Prince Alexei, and the first thing K does is blurt out that she is going to ask A himself about what she has been told about him by N. Also, asking servants about a host or family when a guest in someone else's home is a no, no. She tried to ask Os servant about him.

This is a very, stupid girl. I don't see how she can be trusted with important information.
(hide spoiler)]

Blondie wrote: "also I am confused

[spoilers removed]"

Probably because she has ties to (view spoiler)[Os family via his mother. She is probably going on her feeling for her former Mistress, Os mother. Also, A has been out of the country for a long time and disapproves of his "liberal" views. I get the feeling that she doesn't know A very well, except for his politics and the feud between his father and Os father that has carried over to A and O. (hide spoiler)]

I am up to Chapter 4 page 64 and just met Alexei. Sounds like he is the good guy.

So far, it is very interesting and moves along. One feels the cold/ desolation/insecurity of the place.

I was not sure how long to read for.

Will keep going as it sounds like you are ahead of me.

Melita wrote: "Will keep going as it sounds like you are ahead of me."

I got up to about page 67/8 on a long break at work today.

Melita wrote: "I am up to Chapter 4 page 64 and just met Alexei. Sounds like he is the good guy.

So far, it is very interesting and moves along. One feels the cold/ desolation/insecurity of the place.

I was not..."

I am drawn to Alexei because he supports freedom for the serfs and has compassion for them.

He hasn't shown any hints (view spoiler)[ that that K might recognize, that he is attracted to her, but she thinks that she loves him after their first meeting. (hide spoiler)]

Just finished ch 8 which ended on p 76

I have some thoughts.

On Prince O:
(view spoiler)[
A sees O as almost insane where his mother, who disappeared is concerned. Sees his mother as a whore. I called Os obsession with purity as fetishization of virginity. O isn’t just obsessed with being the first or only to invade a female’s vagina, now I see ties to how he feels about his mother. O is totally irrational believing an old witch-woman claim that his mother is alive and will outlive himself and his father. O is crazy. He has all of the educational benefits of his wealth and status gives access. He has to be nuts to believe baseless claims by an un-creditable source that his mother is alive. (hide spoiler)]

Also, in an earlier chapter, it is revealed that O has been ordered by Tzar Nicholas I to return to government service. Nicholas Is regime was marked by extreme oppression and repression. It’s telling that the new Tzar want a man like O to serve in his government.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicho...

It’s interesting that ch 8 ended with a massacre of people asking for freedom on Nichols Is order. Something similar happened under Nicholas II, the last Tzar. Poor people tried to have a peaceful march to ask for reform. Soldiers fired on poor, hungry people carry posters of Nicholas II and religious images. They didn’t fire on Nicholas IIs order, but when something like this happens, the soldiers were his.

The Russian revolution was years in the making. It didn’t pop up all of a sudden.

The political backdrop is fascinating—ties to the Russian Revolution.

More thoughts on ch 8

On Os father Ivan:

(view spoiler)[
Strong indication that Ivan was a monster to his wife, Os mother, that Ivan was obsessed with finding her to the point that the Tzar indulged his mad search of her by search of convents and peasant huts. Nothing inflames an abusive man more than when the woman leaves him, this breaking his control of her.<\spoiler> (hide spoiler)]

Just finished Ch 8: thoughts on Katia’s parentage?

(view spoiler)[Is O Katia’s half-sibling? I wonder because Nikki was Princess Anna’s trusted Lady-in-waiting. If Anna knew she was dying, wouldn’t it be logical to leave Katia with Nikki and perhaps money to pay for the convent education and upbringing? It seems to me Katia is in danger from O who wants to rape her. Also if he finds out K is his mother’s child, he’d probably kill her (Katia) and perhaps Nikki. (hide spoiler)]