all book related reviews
Strangers at Dawn is one of those books that begins wonderfully, only to sag in the middle and never fully pick up speed again. The opening volleys are full of passion and intrigue, but after the initial conflict between the hero and heroine are past, the actions and attitudes of the heroine seem forced –…
Lately, in historicals, we’ve seen a lot of families headed by heroines. There was the desperate family in Jo Beverley’s Forbidden Magic, the needy family in Julia Quinn’s How To Marry A Marquis, the witty Shakespeare-quoting family in Jacquie D’Alessandro’s Red Roses Mean Love and the irresistibly multi-lingual, intellectual family in Liz Carlyle’s My False…
Dearest Max is an intriguing book that just misses the mark. Some of its elements seem fresh and creative, especially at first. Unfortunately, The book takes a rather dark turn about half-way through. It acquires a somber tone that permeates every aspect of the story, and the nastiness gets to be a bit too much…
Heaven on Earth is an antidote for people who are tired of reading romances full of distrust, arguments, smarmy villains, and the like. However, perhaps because of the lack of those elements, it drags at times. I’m usually glad to read a romance where the hero and heroine are able to talk, but sometimes it’s…
Do you adore heroes who make repeated assumptions about the heroine? Boy, have I got the book for you. Lord Maximillian Chartwell learns that his cousin, the Duke of Penrose, is about to be trapped into marrying a conniving American heiress, Virginia Blair. In truth, Virgie has no interest in marrying a duke. She wants…
Susan Grant makes a strong debut with her time travel romance Once a Pirate. Her background as an USAF pilot brings authenticity to heroine Carly Callahan, who ejects into the sea 1200 miles off the coast of Spain after her plane malfunctions. When Carly is rescued, it is the early 1800’s and she is aboard…
It can be hard to be original when writing a western. At times it really seems as if there are only so many stories, all of which have been told before. One Wish falls squarely in the middle of the western romance pack; it’s neither completely trite nor really innovative. The characters are intriguing, but…
Signet lists Eric Jerome Dickey’s book on its spine as fiction but I think that may be because the writer is an African American male and no one expects such a person to be writing romance novels. However, this novel meets every test for the romance genre ever concocted. Dickey writes about emotions, relationships, love,…
I’ve wondered for a while what the difference is between “women’s fiction” and romance because with a focus on relationships, they seemed fairly similar to me. Having now read two women’s fiction novels in a short time span, I’ve noticed some differences. I have to say that I prefer my romance. Laura Valiant and Claire…
Reading the back of Jake Walker’s Wife, you would assume it was a Western Romance. The hero is a wanted man from Texas, and the heroine’s father owns some kind of ranch. Actually, it’s set primarily in Maryland in 1850, but if you’re looking for historical authenticity, you won’t find it here. And although the…
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