I had a wonderful time reading Widow in Scarlet. The interaction between Lucy and Nicholas was marvelous. They discuss, they plan, they listen to each other. Even so, the plot requires too much suspension of belief for the time period to totally succeed; there’s a definite Cinderella air to the plot that is at times…
A 5th Avenue Christmas didn’t work for me. At all. Though the premise is interesting, the actual execution falls short. Part of the problem is that the book itself is short, but it’s also crippled by characters who would be annoying in a book of any length. Meryl Carrington is the youngest daughter of a…
If many European Historicals are set against a backdrop of wallpaper history – enough history to make the book of a certain time, but not so much as to overwhelm the reader – then Ever Yours is a flat, white latex paint model. Except for the date in the front, a few mentions of crinolines…
My aunt and I once made a cake without eggs. We were talking to each other and got distracted, but when we pulled the cake out of the oven and tried to cut it we knew what we’d done wrong. It had no cohesiveness to it, no structure binding it together. Amazingly enough, another one…
Don’t you love it when you pick up a book, and it turns out to be an unexpectedly delightful surprise? That was my experience with Taming the Scotsman. Eleanor (Nora) ingen Alexander is desperate. Betrothed to Ryan MacAren, a man she doesn’t love, she seeks out Ewan MacAllister, a man universally feared. When Nora finds…
Okay, what you’ve got here is a likable hero, an agreeably independent heroine, and a story that ultimately feels so familiar that there’s nothing – and I do quite literally mean nothing – that makes this book even slightly memorable. Olivia Moreland, daughter of a duke and proud member of a family far more interested…
A Summer Affair suffers from slow pacing and a problematic beginning. Neither main character is easy to warm up to, and that the heroine’s last name is so odd it jerked me out of the story every time she appeared didn’t help. A widower with a soft heart – for most people – Dr. Blue…
There is a staff review of this book as well Where’s My Hero is an anthology of stories by Lisa Kleypas, Kinley MacGregor, and Julia Quinn – all of which feature secondary characters from previous books. Against the Odds by Kleypas features Dr. Linley from Someone to Watch Over Me and Lydia Craven, daughter to…
Complete Abandon is one of the most interesting books I’ve read this year. Not necessarily one of the best, but definitely one of the most thought-provoking. Categorizing it is a slippery proposition as it manages to be naughty, funny, over-sexed, and light on the history. At the same time, it features a thoughtful analysis of…
If you like westerns and all the action that goes with them then you will surely enjoy the reissue of Joan Johnston’s second book, Colter’s Wife, originally published in 1986. Set in Wyoming territory in 1875, Johnston tells the story of a half-breed woman desperately trying to survive in the male-dominated world of ranching. Just…
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