Although I can’t quite recommend The Holding, I look forward to checking back on Claudia Dain in a book or two – however long it takes for her to hit on a combination that plays to her considerable strengths as a writer while mitigating the few striking flaws that this book never quite overcame. For…
Gayle Wilson is a RITA winner for her contemporary romantic suspense novels for Harlequin’s Intrigue line, but if you really want to see her talent shine I recommend picking up one of her historicals. A good place to start is her most recent offering, Anne’s Perfect Husband, second in the Sinclair Brides trilogy. Major Ian…
It looks like I’m going to be in the minority when it comes to this installment of Susan Wiggs’ Chicago Fire trilogy. While the heroine is an interesting and different character, I had a hard time connecting with her or the love story. On the night of the terrible Chicago Fire, suffragist Lucy Hathaway has…
For a short time I thought My Lady Pirate was going to be an out of the ordinary pirate book. It opens with a scene where pirate captain Marques is complaining about newspaper articles that portray him and his men as nasty, dirty and stinking. After all, he does bathe. But when Marques boards the…
The Mermaid of Penperro is a fun story with a lot of humor – and a dash of whimsy thrown in for good measure. Although it’s not about an actual mermaid, you do have to suspend your disbelief for this one. Fortunately, it’s worth it. Konstanze Bugg is the child of an opera singer and…
The Star-Crossed Bride is melodramatic, illogical, and more than a little silly. On the other hand, it is somehow strangely compelling. For some reason the plot drew me in even though it made little sense, and I was curious about these characters, even though I didn’t particularly like them. Valentine Fenster and Emily Weatherley fell…
I don’t often have insomnia, but when I do, I look on it as an opportunity to read. Sometimes if the book is sufficiently dull, it puts me right back to sleep. This was not the case with Gallant Waif and I did something I haven’t done in a long time. I read it right…
While reading Susan King’s 2000 release, The Stone Maiden, I fell in love with her lyrical writing and her historical intricacy, and eagerly awaited The Swan Maiden, the next in the series. Fans won’t be disappointed – King’s trademark style and beautifully realized settings are back. However, most will find the heroine a bit difficult…
Silver Wind by Linda Cook sets a rather nice romance against the backdrop of political intrigue and danger in twelfth-century Wales. Although I liked the setting and both protagonists, the serpentine and confusing story ultimately left me a little cold. Adeline is the daughter of a Welsh chieftain, Caerdoc, who has been known to cause…
A Man of Steel is a medieval romance set in northern England in the fourteenth century. Camilla is a widow indebted to the sheriff Godric and she’s promised to marry Godric’s son Risby – sight unseen. Risby is expected to arrive any time, but before he arrives, Godric’s castle gets another visitor, Sir Stevyn Strongbow….
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