Initially this new-to-me author had my brain firing on all cylinders. The setting (though made up) is not England, the heroine is a thief with little background, and the hero is tortured for logical reasons. That’s all good – very good. What’s less successful is the amount of time spent rehashing these elements, which made…
The buzz on Rules of Engagement is that it’s a story full of laughs and, since I haven’t read an enjoyable humorous novel in a long while, that’s the main reason why I decided to review the book. Unfortunately, the comedy was completely lost on me. Yet, even with the lack of chuckles, the book…
This Chick-in-Pants novel by newcomer Shirley Karr was a Romance Writers of America Golden Heart winner in 2001. Benjamin, the Earl Sinclair, has had quite a run of bad luck lately. His father committed suicide several years ago, creating a great scandal and throwing his mother into seclusion and mourning from which she has not…
The premise of Call Home the Heart, centering on a young widow and her estate manager as they try to rebuild an impoverished estate in 19th Century Ireland is an interesting one. While this book has its strengths, it also has far too many rough spots to garner a recommendation. The novel opens dramatically as…
Okay, unquestionably, the “heroine as thief” thing has been done before. Ditto the guilt-ridden nobleman determined to drown his troubles in sex and alcohol. But, despite their undeniable familiarity, these tried-and-true characters spring to new and entertaining life in The Devil to Pay, the newest release from an author I believe is one of the…
Leslie LaFoy wraps up her Perfect trilogy in winning style, pairing the slightly reckless, danger-seeking private investigator Barrett with his “perfect” feminine counterpart. The result is a thoroughly engrossing relationship between two equally strong and self-sufficient characters. Barrett Stanbridge awakes one morning to find himself the chief suspect in the murder of Mignon Richard, who…
Anyone longing for old-style big, sweeping historicals will probably enjoy Cheryl Sawyer’s latest novel, a story rich with historical detail. Sawyer, an Australian author being published for the first time in the United States, delivers a large-scale historical drama in a fashion reminiscent of historical fiction and historical romances from many years ago. However, instead…
The Chase is a hard book to describe. The heroine was single-minded until about halfway, at which point she started showing depth. And while “heat” isn’t necessary for me to enjoy a book, this one certainly improved, also about halfway through, when it got nice and steamy. Both of these changes were to the better,…
They say that good things come in small packages and, in the case of Loving Mercy, this came so very close to being true. While this rather charming debut novel is still somewhat better than average, it did have its flaws. The author manages to pack an impressive amount of plot and emotional wrangling into…
Time was, I’d enjoy a long satisfying wallow in Nicole Jordan’s overwrought prose. But, sadly, as Bob Dylan said so long ago, the times they are a-changing and, as I struggled to get through the 445 pages of this novel, it’s more than clear that the author decidedly hasn’t. Maybe it was Ms. Jordan’s trademarked…
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