Krissie’s new book, THE ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY WORST MAN IN ENGLAND, SCOTLAND AND WALES, is just out in e-book and print, and she has this to say about it:
“I love this book. Jenny and I went round and round about the hero’s motivation, and I reluctantly gave in because on rare occasions she’s right (but I wrote an epilogue and she’ll have to pry it from my cold, dead hands). It’s funny, sexy, and not nearly as dark as I usually write, because right now the world is dark enough. It’s not going to change your life but it can change your weekend, and there are times when that’s the greatest gift. It has Jenny’s seal of approval (particularly the supporting characters), SEP loved the title, and I love the book.”
What more do you need to know? Oh, right, the cover:
I am not at all convinced that this isn’t the worst book for me in England, Scotland and Wales… but then again, maybe I’ll like it. Anyway, I bought it and added it to the TBR stack, so we’ll see. I wonder what SBTB says about that cover?
I like the cover. What makes you think it’ll be the worst book for you?
What makes me think that?
1. The title is too cute.
2. The cover. The dude in repose, with an open shirt which has no buttons or ties, displaying his hairless chest and above it, his very clean shaven face. On a convenient table sit Checkhov’s wine glass and his gun – such a dainty gun. This is the “worst” guy around?
3. The blurb says he’s a kidnapper. That the kidnappee’s sister is hot for him. How sick is that?
Is it really kidnapping if the “victim” is all in? Is there such a thing as Stockholm syndrome in reverse, when the kidnapper succumbs?
Sort of a Ransom of Red Chief thing?
I loved that story. Must go back and read it again.
1. It’s a romantic comedy.
2. This may not be your genre. I don’t know what Chekhov is going to do with a wine glass; drink maybe? Dainty guns are easier to conceal.
3. The kidnapper doesn’t have a sister, as I remember from reading the earlier version. I don’t think anybody in this book has a sister, but then I read it before copy edits.
Nope, read the blurb again. No sister.
Also, the heroine is on board with being kidnapped to get away from her awful fiancé (as per the blurb again). I don’t think a kidnapped woman who looks around and thinks, “This could be good,” is much of a victim here.
“Everything would be fine if he hadn’t kidnapped her pretty young cousin as well.” Cousin. Not sister. My bad.
You’re cheating. You’ve read it already, at least in draft. You know it’s a romantic comedy (I love romantic comedy), and probably no bodices were ripped, much, except for comedic effect.
As for the gun (I assume a lot of wine will be consumed – the water wasn’t especially safe to drink), I’ve had the misfortune of being exposed to a lot of history of firearms. That sucker is a lady’s weapon. A dainty lady’s weapon.
Besides all that, I bought it. Krissie and Amazon have my money plus whatever pittance (I hope it’s a big pittance) you get since I used the link on your page. I will move it up the TBR list.
Y’all are pickin’ on me. (:
You’re safe, I don’t get any money from the link. I’m not that organized.
Of course we’re picking on you. You’re our guy. You signed up for this.
The gun looks like the pistols of the era to me. I actually needed a dainty gun for the heroine in one of my stories (so she could slip it into her garter). This would not be that gun :-).
Here’s what I wonder about gun placement. How tight should a garter be to hold a gun? I know that I would constantly be slapping my thigh to keep it in place, very noticeable when walking or running. Duct tape? Wrong era. As far as men on gun placement the same thing but the gun is placed in the back of jeans. How do they keep it from falling out? There always tackling a suspect. Also, after a gun is fired isn’t the barrel to hot to go to the back or front of jeans? I’m either too curious or overthinking.
I also love the title, love the cover and SBTB will have something to say about the shiny buttons.
VBG There are many, many daintier guns. Fire up Google and type garter gun. I was wondering, thanks to you and Mary. There are fancy garter gun holsters. A lot of the results are either tattoos or involve more modern weapons and elastic garters. I enjoyed the search, in any case.
That is not a woman’s gun. You can tell by the length. (Bwahaha,)
It looks like a dueling pistol to me, but I don’t really know much about guns, especially from that time frame.
After seeing a blow-up of the cover, I must retract all my opinions of the gun. It is not so much dainty as lower in caliber than most muzzle-loaders of the period. It is something under 40 caliber, where most pistols were between 50 and 60 caliber.
As for the length, it occupies the table from one corner to the opposite corner. The length makes it look smaller in proportion to the thickness, and at this point, all my entendres strain to double.
Ha! I like the way WORST MAN is capitalized on the cover. I can already hear the heroine putting the emphasis on those two words when she repeats the title. Congratulations, Krissie!
Bought it. It looks wonderful and the Amazon summary sounds good. I *love* the title and the cover. Those are actually the main reasons I bought it. 🙂
An Anne Stuart book! Dark, light, or in-between, I am THERE for it. Thank you for sharing!
Looks interesting, and a nice break from the series I’m currently reading. Bought it (which is entirely too easy to do with the Amazon one-click, by the way. I really need to figure out how to borrow e-books from my library.)
I’ve been borrowing ebooks from my library for years. I started to do so because I was living with friends and had no room for books and I had no money. Now I borrow and buy ebooks (not really more money, but what if my library doesn’t have a book I want to read? Horror!) Borrowing ebooks is really easy and your library probably uses Overdrive or Libby, which are both good programs. However, I have to use Overdrive to look for some books, mostly older ones, because Libby often can’t find them. I go through books like a bag of potato chips (I read really fast; luckily I don’t often buy chips), so being able to borrow books at any time of day or night is useful and gratifying.
I think the saying “Never judge a book by its cover” goes quadruple for romance novels.
The cover is a poster to sell the book. If it causes a prospect to buy the book, it’s done its job.
I can’t agree more. As much fun as I made of that cover (seriously, does Adderly the Hairless wax?), I bought the book and I’m reading it now.
Baen Books was famous as a science fiction/fantasy publisher that had horrible covers. Eric Flint, Baen editor and writer, is as famous for insisting on seeing the cover art before finalizing the book, and then adding a scene which resembles said cover – clever man.
I knew he was smart!
Ahhhh this looks so FUN. And it does totally make me think of The Ransom of Red Chief.
I would have bought it for the title alone. LOVE!
I don’t read many historical romances, but I love romantic comedy, the cover, and especially the title. Plus, a Krissie that isn’t too dark for me to read 🙂
Readers, I bought it.
Congrats, Krissie! Happy book birthday.
I really can’t do dark right now so this sounds ideal. The title is funny, the cover is witty (that sparkly button is definitely LOOK HERE) and basically it sounds like a caper. I can do caper.
I picture Xander saying to Buffy, “And did you see to ‘look-at-my-crotchiness’ of his buttons?” I wasn’t going to mention it (but I expect SBTB to) but you went there, so…
Very nice Xanderism.
😀
Congratulations, Krissy! And thank you because I need light and comic, anytime and anywhere.
I hadn’t read Anne Stuart before, but I bought this one as it’s not dark (which I don’t like) and it is a romantic comedy (which I do like).
If it turns out that I like it, I tend to start collecting all the other books by this author. As Krissy says she often writes “dark”, is there a way to work from light to dark through her oeuvre, so I don’t get put off my collecting if I pick up a too dark for me work too soon?
As for the cover, the often-used image of the guy with his shirt wide open always reminds me that shirts at the time had poloshirt style short neck-openings, either buttoned/tied closed only at the top and the single button or tie concealed by the neck-cloth, or just held closed by the cravat. From all the examples and patterns I’ve seen, they didn’t open up all the way down, and weren’t held closed by buttons all the way down. So the lack of buttons or ties on the shirt is correct, but it shouldn’t open any further down than maybe halfway down the breastbone…
Lots of historic romance covers get this wrong, and though looking at a nice chest isn’t bad, it always makes my seamstress’ eye stumble.
See this pattern: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=handsewn+shirt+18th+century&t=h_&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2Ffc%2F68%2F88%2Ffc68883f6cd903837df28d78c848ca8e.jpg
I used to read Anne Stuart back in the 1980s and 90s, when she was writing short historicals (especially) for Mills & Boon/Sillhouette. I bailed when she switched to longer, contemporary, more violent thrillers; her historicals also got darker. But that was a long time ago, so I’m not the best person to advise you; and I may have got the details wrong.
if you can get Catspaw, try that one next.
Does anyone else find that her clicked hearts on posts disappear immediately? This has been happening to me for weeks, at least.
I am really enjoying the responses on this post, especially the ones that give historical detail.
My immediate take on the cover is that it’s an m/m romance because of the guy’s lack of chest and facial hair. My taste being what it is, I wouldn’t have bought it based on the cover.
The hearts thing seems to be linked to not being able to post comments, which is still happening quite frequently for me. I get a stuck progress wheel on the heart, which eventually goes away without registering my like. My guess is it’s down to too much simultaneous traffic on the server – tho’ this is a guess, since I don’t know how these things work.
Yes, I find that, too, although sometimes it’s just the hearts that spin and spin and I can comment successfully.
And it took three tried to post this, after reloading the page twice.
Do m/m romances do away with body and facial hair? I don’t read them, not my thing. But I personally like the clean-cut and not hairy look, so this totally works for me. And I am sooo tired of the kinda scruffy close-cut beard (or not quite beard) and mustache look. I like my man smoooooth (but not manscaped). (Or I would if I had one.)
Skye — I wondered whether anyone else shared my suspicion that it was m/m. I know the cover artist wasn’t going for something true to life. And, yes, I’m tired of the scruffy shadow men’s look which must be itchy. I think the cover picture looks like a mashup of male and female sexual hints: smooth skin, hair long and softly curled under, open to sex stance, sensuous mouth, potentially dangerous wine and gun; the mix is probably what makes it look gay to me.
I haven’t read m/m books or examined their covers much either.
Okay, I’m feeling extremely thick. Who is SBTB? I know I’m going to slap my forehead when someone tells me, but I just can not think who it is.
Krissie, I am all in for romantic comedy. Love the title. I’m getting it.
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
Of course. Duh.
https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/
Thank you Kate, Mary Anne and Gary. I googled SBTB but was getting a headache trying to figure out how Saved by the Bell related to hairless chests and shiny crotch buttons.
Read it all in one go. Kindle because there was no audible. It’s fairly rare for me to actually read so I’d say it was a winner. Thanks, Krissie, for an enjoyable Saturday evening!