I chose to read A Bride For His Convenience because I love the instant and forced intimate tension a marriage of convenience plot creates. Unfortunately, Layton consistently diffused this tension in her tale of two likeable, mature protagonists marrying for mutual benefit. Lord Ian Sutcombe, the Marquess Sutcombe, has come into his title only to…
The Borrowed Bride by Elizabeth Lane is a romance set in rural Colorado in 1899. While I liked the setting, and was not put off by the love triangle of a woman who has to choose between two brothers (a no-no for a number of readers), ultimately the romance failed to convince me. Quint Seavers,…
Ah, the Kinlock Secret – a legend closely guarded for generations complete with fairy footprints and the MacGregors’ unique gift of knowing where to collect the dew from where the fairy trod and therefore make magical fairy whiskey. As the hero of this tale learns these fairy secrets in the opening scene, I found myself…
I’ve been reading and reviewing romance novels for a long time now and there are times I think I’ve read it all, but then a book like Broken Wing comes along to make me sit up and take notice. I began reading it one night and stayed up till I finished it. It’s been quite…
In addition to showcasing many variations on the theme of scandal, Carolyn Jewel returns to historical romance with a deeply emotional story featuring two characters I liked very much. The Earl of Banallt and his beloved Sophie Evans have both lived through various scandals in their pasts and each carries the scars of their experiences….
There can be a real comfort in familiar premises skillfully executed and that sums up my reaction to The Courtship Dance, the final installment in Candace Camp’s Matchmaker series. Widowed Lady Francesca Haughston buries her loneliness by matchmaking for others. This time out, she plans to find a wife for her longtime friend and the…
Carla Kelly can do no wrong! It’s a rare treat to read a novel with the perfect blend of wit, charm, humility and intelligence. I could be referring to anything on Kelly’s backlist as they all fit the bill. But I am charged with reviewing Marrying the Captain. A sweeter job cannot be found. Like…
The setup of Kat Martin’s Heart series already made my eyes roll: A Viking civilization on an island north of the Orkneys was cut-off for several centuries, but somehow some of them wound up in Victorian London, full-blooded warriors and all. Heart of Courage, the third volume, tells the story of Thor Draugr, the younger…
Jacquie D’Alessandro’s last two books trod that precarious line between a B- and a C+ for me. Sadly, Seduced at Midnight crossed over that line. While there were a couple of things I was willing to overlook in the previous books in this series, there are just too many problems – among the admittedly good…
Has this happened to you? Rationally, you know all the reasons why you should dislike a novel, or at least consider it no more than average. Yet you find it a gripping read, root for the characters, and decide to order the other volumes in the series, minor and not so minor flaws notwithstanding. This…
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