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…
Kinley MacGregor’s latest offering, Born In Sin, is a redemption story, and quite a good one, as it happens. If there were a little more to it, it could have made the jump to DIK without much effort, but as it stands, it’s still a truly enjoyable read. Lord Sin, with his improbable (but well-explained)…
Pity poor Evangeline Clemens. She was educated at a proper English academy where young ladies were taught “only to expect the conventional from life, and to be indignant when the extraordinary thrust itself upon them.” Evangeline is headed for Boston to become a governess. Along the way, however, the extraordinary abruptly thrusts itself upon her…
The Bliss is plagued by problems of both plot and of character. The author told far more than she showed, something guaranteed to stop a story dead in its tracks, and as for the characters, just call them Mr. Sullen ‘n Broody and Little Miss Perky ‘n Feisty. This is one I had to force…
Watch out, Susan Johnson and Robin Schone. Behold: another entry in the historical-erotic-romance sub-genre. Absolute Pleasure is a deeply flawed book, yet I can offer a qualified recommendation based on the hero at its center. Lady Elizabeth Harcourt has spent her life at her father’s beck and call. Despite the fact that she’s the only…
I’m probably one of the six people in America who will admit to liking junior high. Like anything, I thought it had its ups and downs, but most of the time I thought the melodrama and angst were kind of fun. That said, it’s not something I want to relive, and when I read a…
End of content
End of content