Tempting was my first Susan Johnson novel. I had heard differing opinions on her work, and I admit I was curious to see what all the fuss was about. Well, you know what they say about curiosity – it killed the cat. At least the cat didn’t have to read Tempting. Lucky cat. The plot,…
I like Rexanne Becnel. I’ve read a few of her books, and I liked them. So, when I was assigned The Matchmaker, I expected to like it as well. The dialogue between her hero and heroines has always been well done, something I appreciate in a love story. And though her books are far from…
Devil May Care by Melanie George is a romance between an angelic woman and a devilish man. I found myself unable to get into the Victorian setting, and it ended on an extremely sour note. Lady Eden Spencer is a convent-raised orphan planning to become a nun. But Mother Superior tells Eden to go live…
As Scandalous opens, Lady Gabriella Banning discovers that her half-brother has been murdered in Ceylon. To save her sisters from poverty she decides to keep his death to herself and go to London on her own. She hopes to get the oldest, Claire, married off before anyone finds out Marcus is dead. The family arrives…
The well-known tale of the arranged marriage between the Scottish laird and the gently bred Englishwoman gets a fine telling in The Marriage Contract. With a resourceful heroine and a tenderhearted hero at its core, it makes for a very pleasant read. It’s 1815 London, and Anne Burnett finds herself married by proxy to Aidan…
A good romance novel is like a beautiful tapestry in which colorful threads weave a rich, interesting pattern. Every patch of color, light or dark, has a reason for being in that exact place, and the complete picture in all its glory is revealed only when it’s finished. A mediocre romance novel is more like…
You really have to give Zebra credit for their willingness to publish books with unique settings. I’ve seen ones recently set in late nineteenth century South Carolina, the battlefields of the Crimean War, and the French Revolution. I picked up Loving Lily in particular because it set in Williamsburg right before the Revolutionary War –…
A Belated Bride had some wonderful comic moments. It featured likable characters and strong chemistry between them. That said, however, the serious side of the story didn’t quite mesh with its humorous elements, and one too many subplots detracted from the love relationship. Arabella Hadley encounters Lucien Devereaux, the Duke of Wexford, by accident –…
Devil’s Bride has a place of honor among my DIK books. It’s rare when a book not only lives up to its hype, but also when the delicious sensuality of the love scenes is more than matched by strong characterization. While Devil’s Bride is still my favorite Stephanie Laurens book, I have on the whole…
The Secret Swan by Shana Abé contains several elements frequently found in those old-fashioned bodice-ripper-style romances: an innocent child bride, a tormented alpha hero who wrongs her, an adversarial relationship, a couple of Big Secrets. Abé magically weaves these not-so-promising threads together to create a story that’s both original and lovely. We first meet Lady…
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