Reviews by Liz Donatelli
Romance author Cheris Hodges should consider moonlighting as a television writer. Her new African-American contemporary romance, Owner of a Broken Heart, which launches the Richardson Sisters series, reads like a primetime soap opera. The novel is one part sexy courtship and two parts melodrama. Had ...
In 2019, my romance reviews frequently ranked as either ‘hot’ or ‘burning’ on AAR’s sensuality scale. I’ve decided to shake things up in 2020 by reading more novels on the ‘closed-lip kisses’ end of the sexy spectrum. Book seven in Anna J. Stewart’s small-town romance series Butter ...
Skye Warren’s dark romance, The Bishop, is the newest standalone novella in the long-running 1001 Dark Nights series. It introduces readers to the wealthy alpha males of the Den, a social club in Tanglewood, Illinois that doubles as an “underground hub for illicit activity.” Even though Warr ...
B-
Erotic romance author Jodi Redford is Queen of Kink. I became a fan of the prolific novelist after reviewing Triple Knockout, the third book in her Make Mine A Ménage. Her titillating dirty talk and explicit details bring to life a reader’s deepest sexual fantasies, some of which one may never ha ...
Those of you who follow my reviews are probably aware that I don’t frequently assign ‘A’ ratings. (In fact, Tessa Bailey’s Fix Her Up was the last romance that I deemed deserving of DIK status, and that review was published six months ago.) Jaded by past disappointments, my most fervent hope ...
The disclaimer to S.A. Clayton’s, Wrapped in Red, states that her debut erotic romance is full of “…some sexy times that lead these characters to fall instantly… hard and fast.” In the case of ‘insta-love’ novellas, I allow for a fair amount of suspended disbelief given the brevity of ...
B
Hiding one’s true self hinders the intimacy from which love grows. Début author Sarah Smith finely illustrates this truth in her sexy enemies-to-lovers romance, Faker. Smith’s complex protagonists, heartwarming revelations, and steamy desire make for an enjoyable read. However, the saccharine l ...
It is much easier, and infinitely more enjoyable, to write a review of a book that I either love or hate. So, revisiting and critiquing Christina Lauren’s Twice in a Blue Moon has been a challenge. This ‘meh’ contemporary second-chance romance is entertaining, but unmemorable.While visitin ...
A super-hot football player with trust issues and his daughter’s super-hot nanny with secrets ‘tackle’ each other between the sheets in Melynda Price’s fumbling sports romance, The Nanny Rules.Single dad and star quarterback of the Browns, Brody Evans vows to never love again after his w ...
B+
Zoey Castile draws on literary and film inspirations of Beauty and the Beast (and a dash o’ Cinderella) to retell the ‘tale as old as time’ as a steamy contemporary romance. Flashed (Happy Endings, #3) combines sweet romance with hot sex to portray a deeply emotional connection between a beaut ...