Have you ever read a book and been enthralled? I mean wrapped up to the point where you are lock-yourself-in-the-room-stay-up-all-night-I’ve-got-to-find-everything-this-woman-has-ever-written enthralled? A couple of years ago I picked up Heartless, the first book I had ever read by Mary Balogh and went into the lost-in-a book zone. I went to work the next day, spaced…
Scandalous Virtue is a romp of a historical romance set in the Regency which offers a twist on the old theme of the rake and the innocent. Here we have an incorrigible hero who needs to clean up his act and a respectable heroine who is determined to dirty hers. Jack Ashecroft is both a…
I haven’t read too many historical romances that take place in Australia. At first, I thought September Moon was going to be just like those American Historicals that take place on the frontier – lots of hardship, wildness and danger. It is. And yet, it is different. Ms. Proctor brings all the strangeness and wildness…
A few months ago, I had a brief online chat with author Karen Ranney after I had reviewed her last book, Upon a Wicked Time. She told me a bit about her upcoming release, My Beloved, and emphasized that she truly believed in the healing power of love to the point where her heroes always…
Despite promising sparks early in the book, The Brightest Flame fails to live up to its name, ending with more fizzle and smoke than fire. Lively but shallow characters with questionable ethics, writing that glows lavender, and an implausible plot filled with invented conflicts left me burned out long before the end. The year is…
Malia Martin’s second romance, The Duke’s Return, features a fresh premise and some interesting plot twists. While it does bog down on occasion, this is one of the more enjoyable historical romances I’ve read in a while. I may be making quite a leap here, but if you fell in love with Avery Thorne in…
Leslie LaFoy excels at writing that most rare of romantic heroines – truly self-sufficient and strong women. In her first two romances, LaFoy used time travel as the medium by which to transport a modern woman into a historical setting, thereby circumventing what would otherwise be the historically inaccurate vocabulary, attitude and expectations of her…
I enjoyed the last Cathy Maxwell book that I reviewed so much, I went on a major glom. What I found out was that Maxwell writes well, but she hits about 50/50 with me. This one, unfortunately, was one that didn’t work so well. Brenn Owen is a Welsh earl who desperately needs a rich…
Many historical romance novels are the literary equivalent of a Renaissance festival – diverting, but bearing little relationship to actual history. With good reason: most people are not interested in seeing or reading about the dark and gritty side of life when they are seeking entertainment and escape, and there’s a lot of darkness and…
In the opening scene of Red Roses Mean Love, Stephen Barrett, Marquis of Glenfield, is viciously attacked as he travels through a forest. Unconscious and badly injured, Stephen is rescued by 26-year-old gentlewoman Hayley Albright and her two servants. When Stephen wakes up in the Albright home, he realizes that someone is trying to kill…
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