Themes in romance novels are like clothing – they are very trendy. For the past few months every European historical I’ve read involves an American heiress who is either rich, spoiled, or both. Fortunately for me the heroine in this book managed to redeem herself very well. It was the hero who ultimately ended up…
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…
Reading Impostress was like taking a lukewarm bath: not particularly enjoyable, but not exactly painful, either. And like a lukewarm bath, it was hard to get too excited about it, or even really remember much about it afterward. This book is one of the most generic romances I’ve ever read, despite being set in both…
Most European Historicals begin in medias res, with some dramatic moment playing out throughout the rest of the book. Dance of Seduction seemingly starts out with such a scene, but what is revealed there is ultimately of little importance to the rest of the book. It’s as if Jeffries’s characters ran away with the action,…
Remember the TV series Moonlighting? I loved it. All that witty banter and repartee between Dave and Maddie, and the the best sexual tension ever. But you can’t have a TV series on witty banter alone, so they’d add a bit of plot to move things along. Confessions Of A Scoundrel was like a book…
As a general rule, I’ve got nothing against connected books. In the hands of a skilled author, it’s often fun to follow a family or group of friends as they all find their path to love. But in the case of Liz Carlyle’s latest book, the whole connected craze has finally gone too far. Carlyle…
I have always read romance novels and the Medieval period of history has fascinated me for as long as I can remember. When I realized there was an entire sub-genre of romance novels set in this period, I was truly in heaven. I have followed the genre faithfully through the years, and have been pleased…
Of all the romance sub-genres, the one that instills in me both anticipation and dread is the historical Native American romance. Native American men are some of my favorite heroes, but if the story is to come across as realistic, then it most likely contains some gritty elements that make me uncomfortable, history and racial…
Judith O’Brien’s Enter the Hero requires the reader to suspend a good bit of disbelief but manages to be a pretty fun read anyway. Unfortunately, the story tries to cover too much territory; the end result is that what is best about it becomes diluted by what is only marginally entertaining. In 1814 Ireland, Emily…
The Charmer is a well crafted, solidly written book, but also an uneven one. That may be why, in the end, it’s an easier book to admire than to love. Adrian Burchard comes to Paris in search of reluctant duchess Sophia Raughley. After the recent death of her father, the Duke of Everdon, she inherited…
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