Never Love a Cowboy is the kind of book that makes me wonder why I’m not more familiar with Lorraine Heath’s name. Why is everyone buying that latest glossy big-name hardback when they could be reading this little jewel? Between these inexpensive green paper covers is a book with more emotional depth than anything I’ve…
The Lover by Robin Schone brings us a very unusual romantic hero, Michel des Anges, a male prostitute. Michel is tragically scarred both externally and internally. The heroine, Anne Aimes, is a 36-year-old spinster who hires Michel to take her virginity and give her a lifetime of memories. Together they are plunged into a maelstrom…
Who says we at AAR don’t “get” Regencies? When one is done as well as Lord Stanhope’s Proposal, with delightful characters and a wonderfully written plot, what’s not to get? If you’re looking for a very pleasant way to pass a few hours, I highly recommend this book to you. Tristan, Earl of Stanhope, is…
Move over, Cassie Edwards. You’ve got competition. I know that Kathleen Woodiwiss is famous for a distinctive way of writing, so I’d better come clean now. It’s a style that I find nearly unreadable. This is my first Woodiwiss book. The unparalleled purple prose had me squirming like nothing else I’ve read. But, even Woodiwiss…
Certain books feature a writing style that seems distant. For the romance novel – a genre that is based on emotion – a distant style can be a difficult problem for an author to overcome. It’s possible, however, if the storyline in the book is exciting and the characters, if not reachable, are at least…
For a time, I could feel the mist on my face, smell the clean, cool air of Scotland, and hear the voice of the bard as he spun his tales. The sheer beauty of the legends, beliefs, and majesty of Scotland jump from the pages of this book. Very rarely does a book absorb me…
Maybe it was the build-up. I know all of Jo Beverley’s fans have been breathlessly waiting for Rothgar. I can’t think of another book in the last few years whose arrival has been so eagerly anticipated. But while I enjoyed many aspects of Devilish, I’ve got to confess that it left me just a little…
There’s nothing actually wrong with Bridget, the first novel in Linda Lael Miller’s new series, The Women of Primrose Creek. I can’t pinpoint any specific plot contrivance or writing flaw; it just seems unfinished. At just under one hundred and fifty pages, Bridget reads like the summary of an idea for a novel, one that…
“Psst. Can I talk to you for a minute?” Even though I’ve awarded a grade, Robin Schone’s latest book, The Lover’s, can’t really be explained so easily. This book is not for everybody and that includes some readers who enjoyed her previous, far more romantic book The Lady’s Tutor. While much of The Lover’s is…
This is an example of a book that I knew better than to finish. The writing left lots to be desired, the dialogue was stilted and clumsy, and my palms itched to slap some sense into the heroine. But the plot was just intriguing enough to keep me reading, long after those elements should have…
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