I haven't been feeling well, so I've been watching trashy TV and reading trashy novels that having been lying around the house for a while because I tried and failed to read them when I originally bought them. I also reread three Susan Elizabeth Phillips (_Breathing Room_, _Nobody's Baby But Mine_, and _This Heart of Mine_). At least Phillips is funny, which I can't say for Hughes. Or at least, if Hughes is funny, I don't get it.

_Lord Sin_ is set in the late 18th century. The heroine is a young widow (26) who is essentially one of the guys: she smokes, she shoots (well), she rides aggressively, etc. Her home is treated as a men's club (and it has a name: the Top Heavy). At some point in her past, Ivo Dauntry, then the younger son of a younger son (but everyone died, so he's going to inherit the title after all) shot someone in a duel to protect her honor or something and he spent 6 years on the Continent to live the results down.

Well, he's back now, and makes a deal with George (Georgianna). He wants to be her lover, and doesn't want to be limited to one night. Antics ensue. Oh, and did I mention someone is trying to murder her?

It's well written and plausibly plotted. I just didn't find it humorous in any way; it seemed awfully angsty. This might be my fault, but there you are.

_The Duke and I_ IS funny. I failed to read it earlier because it's just so very much one of those I-have-an-attachment-disorder-and-must-be-saved-by-Twoo-Wuv books that it was unreadably annoying. Definitely a my-fault problem. First in a series, so if you enjoy this one, you'll have a lot to look forward to. I don't know that I'll bother with additional ones.

This is book 4. Kitty is a werewolf (har de har har) ex-DJ now talk show host who has outed herself as a werewolf, and outed the paranormal in general. At the beginning of the book, she's a pack of two with Ben. Then the bad news starts rolling in. Rick tries to recruit her to help overturn Arturo as Master of Denver. She swears she'll never ever ever ever go back to Denver. Her mom finds a lump and it turns out to be malignant. Rick's initial efforts fail miserably, but at this point, she can't leave town and is basically stuck fighting her former pack.

Fortunately, she consults with Cormac about strategy and tactics. As a result, she's well-armed. Even better, she manages to get Detective Hardin to (more or less) help out.

On the whole, one of the better paranormal novels I've read. Not because the clothes are flashier, the powers are powerier or anything like that. Nope. Because Kitty actually makes reasonable use of Real World resources in fighting a war with vampires, werewolves, etc.

The Long Game is introduced towards the end of the book. Clearly, we're going to find out in the next several books that there's More Going On than we know about. And the powers will probably get powerier. Which is okay.