I don’t know when the British term “bonkbuster” was coined, but as far as I’m concerned it was invented for Jilly Cooper. Her novels regularly run over 700 pages – that’s the “buster”. And the “bonk“ – goes without saying. At their worst, Ms. Cooper’s novels are cornucopiae of orgies and shagfests without a shred…
Andi Wokowicz is a desperate woman. She gave up a successful career to move back to Plainview, TX in order to help her dad with her developmentally disabled sister. She needs a job – preferably a good one – if she ever wants to rent her own place and be an asset rather than burden…
The Summer Hideaway is part of Susan Wiggs’ Lakeshore Chronicles series, set at a camp in upstate New York, but it works as a standalone. It combines a contemporary romance with the story of three children growing up during World War II. I enjoyed both stories, but would have liked a bit more of each….
One of my secret fantasies is to live on an island, so I was eager to read Moon Shell Beach set on Nantucket Island. While I enjoyed the descriptions of island life, I couldn’t warm to either heroine (yes, there are two), and can’t recommend the book. Clare and Lexie were best friends as little…
I love stories that turn gender roles and social expectations on their head, so a book about a forty-something, tattooed, bar-owning grandma with a younger boy-toy sounded like a lot of fun and right up my alley. It was fun and I thoroughly enjoyed it, but what I didn’t expect was a story that was…
You know a book is good when nearly 600 pages seem to fly by in the blink of an eye. This very accurately describes my experience with The Forgotten Garden. Beautiful and bittersweet, this family saga roams from the turn of the 20th century to the modern day as it tells an intricate story of…
There are conversations that you have so many times that they almost cease to have meaning. My husband can hold forth for some time on Why Colorado Drivers Don’t Know How To Merge. One of my counterparts is surely Why, For The Love Of God, Are So Many Romances Set In Small Towns? I’ve whined…
I went on a major glom of Kayla Perrin’s books several years ago and enjoyed many of them. I expected to like Single Mama’s Got More Drama. I hated it. This is a follow-up to an earlier book, featuring Vanessa Cain. It does not work as a stand-alone since the first few chapters left me…
It’s a shame to find a book by a new author that would be a real treat for you if it wasn’t for one huge problem. This is what happened to me while reading Lisa Dale’s debut novel, Simple Wishes. Adele Matin is returning to the Pennsylvania cabin that she and her mother visited throughout…
When an author who’s previously written some great books has a new release, I begin it feeling not only a strong sense of giddy-“oh, boy!”-ness, but also with a sense of trepidation. What if, this time around, the author fails me? That sense was pretty strong when I read the cover jacket for Mary Alice…
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