Although Wind of the Wolf is published by Leisure books, has a handsome long-haired hero on the cover, and the spine proclaims “Historical Romance,” I would not call this book a romance. It breaks many of the conventions expected by readers of romance novels, and its emphasis is not on a romance at all, but…
A Stolen Time is a promising debut novel about love and redemption. It’s romantic and often enjoyable, but it doesn’t live up to its potential. Uneven characterization limits the effectiveness of the love story. Janet Garret is a member of the notorious Garret Gang, led by her father and brothers. Disguised as a man, she…
Like a kid in a candy store, author Victoria Bylin can’t stop herself from using every simile and metaphor she has ever encountered, and her story – a simple romance between a troubled man and a gentle, brave woman – gets bogged down in her narrative. Of Men And Angels has the kernel of a…
Johanna Lindsey’s newest, and her first for Simon & Schuster after a very lengthy association with Avon, is a witty western romance that made me smile as I turned the pages. The heroine is likable, and the pretending-to-be-plain premise fun, which makes up for a plot that isn’t particularly realistic. But after all these years,…
Knowing better than to judge a book by its title (or it’s cover art), I sheepishly admit to choosing this book to review knowing nothing at all about its plot. If that makes me shallow than so be it. But with a title like Donovan’s Bed I really didn’t need much more incentive to commit…
A Kiss to Die For is something of a rarity: it’s a historical romantic suspense novel set in post-Civil War Abilene, Kansas. It’s an intriguing combination, and the book had some aspects I really enjoyed. Unfortunately it was also quite a slow read, and I had trouble warming up to the heroine. Anne Ross has…
Cheryl Howe’s debut novel, After the Ashes, is a rare find in more ways than one. Aside from being a Western Romance, a category which is somewhat underrepresented in the current market, it showcases the kind of tightly woven storytelling and solid characterization that are at times equally elusive. Bounty hunter Christopher Braddock meets Lorelei…
If writing about music is like dancing about architecture, then writing about Carla Kelly’s writing is like trying to describe a breathtaking rainbow to a colorblind person: It can be done, but it definitely loses a lot in the translation. There is no one who does poignant as well as Kelly, no one who can…
Sometimes a book comes along that takes a standard formula and polishes it up well. Knight on the Texas Plains is like that: in spite of several flaws, it’s a nice, well-crafted marriage-of-convenience story. A man stakes his infant daughter at a poker game. Duel McClain is a world-weary drifter without much to live for,…
How far would a man go for honor? What if the last words to your husband were said in anger? How do you reveal a secret that will shatter a person’s life? In asking these questions this romance created more heart and soul than I found in any other romance this year. There were no…
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