Every year, after we’ve run all our individual “Best of” lists, we ask each reviewer to choose their ONE favourite book of the year from their list. We’re an eclectic bunch when it comes to our reading habits, so this is an eclectic list – hopefully with something for everyone! […]
2021 was a rollercoaster of a year for me – and I would imagine for many others. Regardless of where on the political spectrum you fall, you were no doubt affected by the controversies surrounding the events at the U.S. Capitol in January, the vaccine debates that have raged the world over since the spring and the ongoing pandemic. Fortunately, romance is a diverse enough genre to have a little something for everyone and this year I found some angsty reads, some books that made me think, and some books that made me laugh. All of them reminded me that however hopeless things seem, love always finds a way.
Our Darkest Night by Jennifer Robson
It is the Autumn of 1943. To survive the Holocaust, Antonina Mazina, a young Jewish woman, poses as the wife of […]
(originally published on June 3, 2016)
In another of our occasional series in which we discuss the merits – or lack thereof – of fictional heroes and heroines, AAR staffers turn their attention to Alex Markov of Kiss an Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips.
Kiss An Angel taps into the classic “arranged marriage” trope. The two protagonists, Daisy and Alex, are blackmailed into marriage by a third party: Daisy’s dad. Daisy agrees in order to avert legal trouble and avoid prison. For Alex Markov, this was his year for paying off big debts, first with his deathbed promise to Owen Quest to take the circus out for its last season under the Quest name, and then by agreeing to marry Max’s daughter. In all these years Max had never asked anything of him as repayment for having saved Alex’s life, but when he’d finally gotten around to it, he’d asked for a doozy. […]
originally published on February 3, 2017
Women have a long history of standing up for their beliefs, and there are great romance novels starring heroines doing just that. American and British suffragettes (or suffragists), Civil Rights activists, lawyers, writers, organizers, and military rebels – you’ll find all of them here, and more. Let these ladies inspire you to fight for your beliefs, whatever they happen to be.
Caroline Russomanno:
Erica Johnson – Unfinished Business by Karyn Langhorne
Erica, a teacher, is tired of seeing funding diverted away from the neediest and most vulnerable. She protests at the hero’s (a Southern Republican senator’s) press conference and is dragged out by police. This book is set during the W. Bush administration and Erica is a strong reminder that black activists have been working continuously, even when out of the […]
My best book of 2020 was not a romance, though it did have a romantic subplot. The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James was perfection in book form and was the highlight of my reading year. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, which also had a sweet romance running through it, was a close second. If you like mystery, suspense and a touch of horror combined with your romance, these are the books for you.
If not, you’re in luck! I also found several absolutely fabulous romance reads and they are as follows: […]
To me, nothing is scarier than reality, especially 2020 reality. While I can blissfully disdain most tales of ghosts, ghouls and other things that go bump in the night, I find it much harder to be blasé about the terrifying things people do to each other. Which is why my perfect scary read is a good thriller, and the last few years have delivered a lot of those. And since we are all by virtue of the unique circumstance of a global pandemic, locked in our own homes, I thought the ideal Halloween read just might be a locked room mystery. Here are some recent releases I’ve loved: […]
It was with great sadness that we learned of the death, last week, of Mary Higgins Clark, the author of 51 suspense novels all of which were bestsellers. […]
We call this annual column The Best Romance Novels of a given year and it is, but with a caveat. Each reviewer picks a single book she thought was the best – defined as excelling all others. Thus this is a list of individual choices rather than a voted on list by the staff. […]
2019 was my year of the B romance novel. Book after book it was a case of “I love everything about this story except. . . .” or “This novel was almost a DIK but. . . .” Fortunately, there were just enough exceptions to that list that I could come up with ten truly fantastic romances that I think almost anyone will love. […]
Difficult to believe as it is, we’re heading into tbe back-end of the year now, as Autumn/Fall will shortly be upon us and we’ll be looking ahead to the books we want to curl up with on those long winter evenings! Before that, though, we’ve got the final days and weeks of summer to look forward to, and here are AAR staffers’ picks for the new releases we’re planning on spending that time with. […]