The Way Back on Wednesday: Alex Markov: Dreamboat or Douchebag?

By |2021-09-09T09:04:41-04:00September 8th, 2021|Categories: Anne AAR, Caroline AAR, Characters, Dabney AAR, Dreamboat or Douchebag, Haley AAR, Heroes, LinnieGayl AAR, Maggie AAR, Mary AAR|Tags: , , , |

(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. […]

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Amanda Bouchet’s A Promise of Fire: A Roundtable Discussion

By |2017-06-23T08:30:07-04:00August 5th, 2016|Categories: Books with Buzz, Mary AAR, Melanie AAR, Romance reading, Shannon AAR|Tags: , , , |

a promise of fire

Catalia “Cat” Fisa lives disguised as a soothsayer in a traveling circus. She is perfectly content avoiding the danger and destiny the Gods-and her homicidal mother-have saddled her with. That is, until Griffin, an ambitious warlord from the magic-deprived south, fixes her with his steely gaze and upsets her illusion of safety forever.

Griffin knows Cat is the Kingmaker, the woman who divines the truth through lies. He wants her as a powerful weapon for his newly conquered realm-until he realizes he wants her for much more than her magic. Cat fights him at every turn, but Griffin’s fairness, loyalty, and smoldering advances make him increasingly hard to resist and leave her wondering if life really does have to be short, and lived alone.

available at Amazon, iBooks, Kobo, Barnes and Noble

 

AAR staffers Melanie, Mary and Shannon read – and […]

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Midweek Minis

By |2017-06-23T08:30:07-04:00July 26th, 2016|Categories: Caroline AAR, Caz AAR, EmAAR, Maria Rose, Mary AAR, Mini reviews, Sara AAR|Tags: |

AAR staffers Anne, Caroline, E.B, Keira, Maria Rose, Mary and Sara share their thoughts on some of their recent reads in another of our occasional series of mini reviews.

Anne’s Read:

The Governess Comforts the Disconsolate Duke by Abigail Haversham (0.99 at Amazon)

I looked forward to reading this Regency novella about a hero recovering from the horrors of war. Unfortunately, it read more like a textbook for show versus tell and often reads like an outline rather than an actual story. The hero and heroine don’t have a real encounter until about 20% into the book which, for a novella, is way too late.

Not long before James went off to fight Napoleon, Claire was his governess for a brief time before he became an adult. This is odd because a boy in his late teens would usually have been […]

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Linda Howard's Troublemaker: A Pandora's Box

By |2017-06-23T08:30:10-04:00May 9th, 2016|Categories: Maggie AAR, Mary AAR, Pandora's Box|Tags: , , , , |

Today, AAR reviewers Maggie Boyd and Mary Skelton tackle Troublemaker, the latest book by New York Time’s bestseller Linda Howard.

Here is Maggie’s summary of the novel:

Isabeau “Bo” Maran is surprised – and displeased – when she receives a self-igniting birthday card from the ex-step-brother she loves to hate. She is even more displeased when she finds that the present alluded to in the card is actually a sick man in need of a very private place to recuperate. She is happy with the bribe she receives to play nursemaid – $150,000.00 will go a long way to alleviating the debt from a bad business decision and putting her back in financial solvency. Looks like she and her dog, Tricks, will be entertaining a house guest.

As the leader of a paramilitary group Morgan Yancy is […]

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Amanda Bouchet’s A PROMISE OF FIRE – a Roundtable Discussion

By |2017-06-23T08:30:11-04:00April 4th, 2016|Categories: AAR Shannon, Mary AAR, Melanie AAR, Romance|

a promise of fireAAR staffers Melanie, Shannon and Mary recently read Amanda Bouchet’s A Promise of Fire. They share their thoughts on what they’ve agree is a very strong début novel.

Catalia “Cat” Fisa lives disguised as a soothsayer in a traveling circus. She is perfectly content avoiding the danger and destiny the Gods-and her homicidal mother-have saddled her with. That is, until Griffin, an ambitious warlord from the magic-deprived south, fixes her with his steely gaze and upsets her illusion of safety forever.

Griffin knows Cat is the Kingmaker, the woman who divines the truth through lies. He wants her as a powerful weapon for his newly conquered realm-until he realizes he wants her for much more than her magic. Cat fights him at every turn, but Griffin’s fairness, loyalty, and smoldering advances make him increasingly hard to resist and leave her wondering if life really does have to be short, […]

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A Roundtable Discussion on Lost Among the Living

By |2017-06-23T08:30:11-04:00April 1st, 2016|Categories: Best of 2015, Best of List, Best of Romance, Caz AAR, LinnieGayl AAR, Maggie AAR, Mary AAR, Melanie AAR|Tags: , , , , |

Today, AAR Reviewers Maggie, Caz, Mary, Linniegayl and Melanie have AAR’s first ever Round Table Discussion. The book chosen is Simone St. James Lost Among the Living. Ms. St. James is a popular author with AAR staff having made several Top Ten lists in 2015 as well as having two DIK reviews on our site. Lost Among the Living is her most recent release and one that has been eagerly anticipated by many. […]

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Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs: A Pandora’s Box

By |2017-06-23T08:30:12-04:00March 4th, 2016|Categories: Maggie AAR, Mary AAR, Pandora's Box|Tags: , |

Today, AAR reviewers Maggie Boyd and Mary Skelton tackle Fire Touched, the ninth book in the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs.

Here is Maggie’s summary of the novel:

Tensions between the fae, humans and the supernatural community at large are at an all-time high. Everyone now knows that magic is in the world, not everyone is thrilled it exists. It doesn’t help that just like with people in our world, the fae are comprised of good (well, almost good) and evil (well, really, monstrously evil). In this stress filled environment, the Columbia Basin pack led by Adam Hauptman, has become the public face of the werewolf community. When coyote shape-shifter Mercy and her mate, Adam, are called upon to stop a rampaging troll, they find themselves in a genuine mess. Escapees from the fae are seeking asylum with them. Two, Zee and his son Tad, are friends who have been […]

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The Ideal Romantic Hero

By |2017-06-23T08:30:23-04:00January 28th, 2015|Categories: Characters, Dabney AAR, Defining Romance, Heroes, Lee AAR, Maggie AAR, Mary AAR, Melanie AAR|

Jaime-Lannister-jaime-lannister-29020283-458-533Every once in a while I will fall in love with a hero. Kit from Mary Balogh’s A Summer to Remember comes to mind. I loved his laughing eyes. I loved his sunny nature. As I typed this half a dozen scenes from the book came to my mind and I found myself with a smile on my face. I love Kit, it’s that simple. I also love Francis from Balogh’s The Famous Heroine. It’s his sense of humor which drew me, his sense of chivalry, his amazingly cheerful personality. Francis is a happy person and I just can’t imagine anyone being miserable around him.

Those are romance heroes. Sometimes I will also fall in love with a hero in a book that is most definitely not a romance. Will Laurence from Naomi Novik’s His Majesty’s Dragon springs to mind. There is no romance in this […]

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Roses are red, violets are blue. Like love poems? Here a few.

By |2017-06-23T08:30:30-04:00February 28th, 2014|Categories: AAR Blythe, AAR Jenna, Dabney AAR, Lee AAR, Maggie AAR, Mary AAR, Melanie AAR, Pat Henshaw|Tags: |

love lineBefore romance novels there were love poems. Sometimes sweet, sometimes tender, sometimes raunchy but always intimate and direct. Most love poems are from the author to a specific lover, a genuine communication that wasn’t necessarily intended for commercial  consumption.  That authentic, sincere emotional communication can often capture the essence of love in far fewer lines than a romance novel. And it does so in such a way that it lingers on the mind and tongue in a way that a book often doesn’t. […]

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