This book started out so well. The exotic beauty of Egypt, dramatic events of life and death on the river Nile, the hint of a strong and likable heroine. And then it all went downhill. The exotic locale gave way to the comparably bland English countryside. The drama slipped into mind-numbingly bland and distasteful plotting….
Sue-Ellen Welfonder’s first novel, Devil In A Kilt, is one of the best literary surprises I’ve had all year. Despite a few relatively minor problems with language, anachronism, and consistency of thought, the author manages to present a highly entertaining and fun book that stirs the emotions from early on, and doesn’t let go until…
Halfway to Heaven is a book I’ll not soon forget, not only because it was a good book, but because of the circumstances under which I read it. I read it during a time of national tragedy, when I was stuck in another state, without my family. When I couldn’t watch the news anymore, I…
By the time this review is posted, many Robin Schone fans will already have read Gabriel’s Woman and decided how they feel about it. Before reading this book, I checked out reviews of this author’s previous efforts, including posts to various lists. Some readers have loved it, others have not. Some felt it was not…
Medieval romances aren’t usually my favorite sub-genre, but for one reason or another I have found myself reading more of them than usual this year. Secret Vows appealed to me because I found the conflict interesting: The heroine is forced by her evil brother-in-law to marry his sworn enemy. Not only does the heroine have…
Wounded hero, starved for love but refusing to recognize the fact; mysterious heroine with an undeserved reputation; Big Secret; coerced marriage that both parties agree will never be consummated; things that happen, not because of characterization, but For The Sake of The Plot. Ho-hum, been there, read that. The only things that set this book…
The Maiden and her Knight reminds me of a quote from the movie Clueless. “The plot is a full-out Monet,” Clueless heroine Cher might say. “From a distance, it looks OK. But up close it’s a real mess.” It’s a pretty accurate description of this somewhat overblown novel, which mistakes melodrama for romance and a…
When does a book cease to become an ambling, paced read and start to become a slow boat to nowhere? I’m not really sure when it happened here, all I know is that I began this book with interest, but rapidly lost all concentration and will to finish it after the first third. Excessive violence,…
When I first saw my copy of Heart of a Warrior, I was a little taken aback by the cover. It shows a burly looking warrior-type who is bare-chested and looking a trifle confused. But I’ve seen terrible covers on great books before, so I set aside my doubts and started reading. Unfortunately, the cover…
This book reminded me of the old days, and not in a good way. Remember the days when heroes and heroines in a romance novel met for the first time around page one-hundred? Remember how they barely spoke? Remember how they separated for what seemed like ages? Remember skimming the book to find out when…
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