Reviews by Liz Donatelli

A
A Study in Murder

Bestselling historical romance author Callie Hutton makes a memorable cozy mystery debut with A Study in Murder (book one in the Victorian Book Club Mysteries). Hutton succeeds in crafting a compelling murder mystery featuring a captivating, fabulous woman detective that hooks readers with clever hu ...

C+
Virginia and the Vagabond

Début author Skyler Frey’s Virginia and the Vagabond (Time Traveler’s Network #1) misses the mark as a believable romance, but it fares decently well as captivating time travel fiction. The novel offers a unique premise, vivid historical details, and exciting plot twists that should satisfy rea ...

B-
Temper

The alpha president of a motorcycle club (MC) and a bartender-turned-badass heroine fall in love and raise a little hell in the newest installment of Chantal Fernando’s Knights of Fury series. A moderately affecting romance with thrilling action, Temper tells an entertaining, at times soap-operati ...

B-
Queen of Barrakesch

Is it possible for a couple to get married and then fall in love with each other? Delaney Diamond sets out to answer this question in her contemporary romance Queen of Barrakesch, book three in her Royal Brides series. Set in the fictional Middle Eastern country of Barrakesch, the novel transports t ...

B-
The Last Place You Look

I used to think love was all about losing yourself in another person. But you make me feel seen, loved, as a whole person, exactly as I am. #awwwThis snippet of dialogue is one of several touching lines that Aurora Rey crafts in her queer romance, The Last Place You Look. Reading Rey’s eloque ...

A
The Professor's Green Card Marriage

Beware of judging a book by its title. Had I listened to my inner book snob, I would not have read Heidi Cullinan’s beautiful romance The Professor’s Green Card Marriage. I had passed over the novel a few times because I believed the clunky title to be too literal and uninspired for my tastes. B ...

B+
Love Hard

Sexy ‘enemies-to-lovers’ romance Love Hard is book three in Nalini Singh’s Hard Play series. This tender love story is thoroughly satisfying from its amusing chapter titles down to the hero’s amply-filled boxer briefs.When Jacob ‘Jake’ Esera’s high school sweetheart died, he lost h ...

A-
Hard Ride

‘Tis a good day to be a romance book reviewer; A.M. Arthur hath stole my heart. (Post-reading afterglows bring out the poet in me.) I’m not sure how Arthur’s Clean Slate Ranch series has escaped my notice, but now that I’ve found her, I shan’t let her go.Sweet ‘n’ steamy gay interr ...

C-
House Rules

It’s too bad that the couple in Ruby Lang’s House Rules hadn’t stayed together in the first place because their second-chance romance is a dull love story. This third standalone installment in the Uptown series features mildly sympathetic protagonists whose largely uncomplicated reunion unfold ...

A-
No Bad Deed

I so enjoy when a book seeps into my psyche and elicits a strong emotional response. Début author Heather Chavez’s bingeable thriller, No Bad Deed, gave me a jump scare to end all jump scares. While engrossed in reading an especially creepy chapter of No Bad Deed, I was instantly terrified when s ...