all book related reviews
Amanda Scott has clearly done her research. Unfortunately, though Scott knows her border law, Border Fire lacks heat. The story opens with the capture of the infamous Scottish raider known as Rabbie Redcloak. Hugh Graham, an English deputy, plans to hang Redcloak without a trial. Knowing this may bring dishonor to her family and trouble…
Reading One Summer’s Night is like watching a mediocre Disney movie. It’s chock full of fairies and magic, and so gosh darn cute I actually felt guilty for not liking it more. While I did appreciate its whimsical qualities, I just couldn’t connect with the characters. When Laurel Carrington turns twenty-one, her life is at…
In Amsterdam during the 1630s, fortunes were made and lost speculating on tulips. While comparisons are often made between the “tulip crash” of 1637 and the stock market’s plunge in 1929, reading a fictional account of the craze was quite informative. But while I loved the unique setting and enjoyed all the factoids I learned,…
The Duke’s Double is an expanded rewrite of one of Anita Mill’s Regencies. (Why the publisher does not say so on the cover or inside the book is beyond me.) Don’t expect a romp or lots of intrigue, however. This is a story about a hero who committed a nearly unpardonable act, hurting both his…
I love spy stories and I love Cinderella stories, so this one should have been a perfect read for me. However, the mix of romance and action wasn’t totally successful in Cinderella and the Spy. And yet, even though the blending of a love story and an action plot didn’t work as well here as…
East Of Peculiar is a likable book. I enjoyed it whenever I picked it up to read it, but I was able to lay it down easily and never had that go-away-I’m-reading!! spell that comes with the best books. Hannah Garvey is sick and tired of her fast-track corporate job, so one day she quits….
“Psst. Can I talk to you for a minute?” Even though I’ve awarded a grade, Robin Schone’s latest book, The Lover’s, can’t really be explained so easily. This book is not for everybody and that includes some readers who enjoyed her previous, far more romantic book The Lady’s Tutor. While much of The Lover’s is…
This is an example of a book that I knew better than to finish. The writing left lots to be desired, the dialogue was stilted and clumsy, and my palms itched to slap some sense into the heroine. But the plot was just intriguing enough to keep me reading, long after those elements should have…
My favorite book by Sharon Sala/Dinah McCall is definitely Jackson Rule. While The Return doesn’t match the poignancy of that story, it is nonetheless an intense and immensely satisfying read. In Camarune, Kentucky, the Blair and the Joslin families are bitter enemies. Many have died by now and there is only one Joslin left: nineteen-year-old…
Have you ever been at a play, maybe a high school performance, and it’s not working very well? All the props look fake, the rigging is showing, and the lead keeps missing his cues. The audience is left to try to indulge the performers and grit their teeth and get through it. That’s what reading…
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