There are times when good writing can lift the reader above plot weaknesses and discrepancies and there are times when the writing just isn’t enough. Candace Camp’s Secrets of The Heart has good writing throughout, and most of the time it is enough to ignore the other problems. Sometimes, however, it just doesn’t stand up…
I knew this book was in trouble when I found myself rooting for the man-eating tiger to finish off the hero and heroine during their hunt for the beast. White Tiger’s Fancy does win points for trying something different than the usual historical romance: the setting is mostly in India, and the descriptions are vibrant…
I’ve read more than my share of badly written, mundane historical romances featuring a handsome rake and a feisty, foot-stomping heroine. Most of the time, I sigh, toss the book and forget about it. St. Raven has a handsome rake for a hero and a heroine who is an adventuress at heart. But unlike wallpaper…
Lord Ruin by Carolyn Jewel is a far-from-perfect book, but it is so entertaining, satisfying, and sensuous that I simply must recommend it anyway. The Duke of Cynnsyr, Ruan No-last-name (Or perhaps Ruan is his last name? I’ll get to that in a minute), is an unrepentant, spoiled, egotistical rake. Along with his best friend…
A Place Called Rainwater is the second in the Jones family series that began with The Edge of Town and tells the story of Jill, youngest of the Jones clan from Fertile, Missouri. Jill has come to Rainwater to help her widowed aunt Justine, whose “creeping paralysis” is gradually eroding her ability to manage the…
If I’m reading a book that says “Romance” on the spine and has a clinch on the cover, but halfway through I have to skip ahead to the end just to make sure everything turns out all right, then I figure I’m reading a pretty darn good book. While Sara Bennett’s sophomore effort, The Rose…
This was the first book by former AAR Reviewer Kathryn Smith that I’ve read, but it definitely will not be last. When I started the book I thought it was well done, but nothing spectacular or particularly new. Then I got a little further in and found myself charmed by truly likable characters which nowadays…
AARList Moderator Anne Marble has what she calls a “dog-ear” test: the more a reviewer folds over the pages of a book as she’s reading, the more disappointing the book is likely to turn out. The top edge of my copy of The Duchess Diaries is about a third thicker than the bottom edge, because…
Last year I discovered Lisa Kleypas after giving in to word-of-mouth recommendations and picking up Dreaming of You. I’ve been steadily working my way through her backlist ever since. So when the chance to review her latest arose, I jumped at it. It was definitely worth the opportunity to read early, as this book passed…
At some point in the future, Lady Jacinda Knight might well become a mature and interesting woman. But at 18, she’s just not there yet. And therein lies a very big problem. In Lady of Desire, Gaelen Foley has created a tortured, mature, and completely three-dimensional hero (and mega-sexy, to boot) and paired him with…
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