Are books read on vacation just better? While I wouldn’t say an awful book would suddenly become riveting when read in the shade of a palm tree, I do have some particularly fond memories of vacation reads. I read Courting Carrie on a cruise ship, on my honeymoon. So, you know, it’s kind of hard…
My experience with books set in China has not been stellar – I’ve read too many authors who seem only interested in transplanting characters with western attitudes to a more exotic setting. Janie Chang’s Dragon Springs Road, I am happy to say, does not fall in this category. If anything, by adhering so strictly to…
The combination of cheap and “sounds intriguing” has lured me into buying many a book. And since I’m fairly dangerous in used bookstores, I have a massive TBR pile. So, when prompted to pick out a book by a new-to-me author, my dilemma was something along the lines of which new-to-me author to liberate from…
I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out where The Secret Life of Anna Blanc fits into the genres. And the thing is, it doesn’t. Not really. It’s one part historical mystery, one part historical fiction, one part chick-lit (kinda), and all dusted with just a dash of romance. It’s a coming…
The plot of In the Arms of the Heiress can be summed up fairly succinctly, thus: Young heiress engages complete stranger to act as faux husband for one month to help deceive her overprotective and disapproving family. Romance and hi-jinx ensue. Put like that, the book might not sound like all that promising, but I…
Uniqueness is a highly valued trait amongst some romance readers. With so many historicals taking place in the same 10 year span of history in the same parts of England among the same social class, it is a breath of fresh air when I come across a good story in a different era and setting….
It’s easy to forget that just a scant hundred years ago people all over this country lived under rough, primitive conditions. That in 1910, the West was still being won. And it is painful to be reminded that for many centuries people of all kinds faced prejudices in this great melting pot of ours. Some…
In Deadly Kisses Brenda Joyce continues the saga of the investigating career of socialite Francesca Cahill. Francesca is engaged to Calder Hart at the beginning of the book, but they are both immediately plunged into a murder involving his former mistress which threatens their lives and love. Calder had agreed to let his ex-mistress, Daisy…
Brenda Joyce’s latest novel is a strangely compelling blend of mystery and melodrama. This is the kind of book where analyzing its pros and cons wouldn’t really describe the overall effect of reading it. For all its flaws – and there are plenty of them – it remains a compulsively readable story. Deadly Promise is…
New-to-me authors and series are always fun to try, so I looked forward to Deadly Caress, which had the added attraction of being set in New York in 1902, a different and interesting setting. Brenda Joyce creates a world that’s easy to get sucked into, but my enthusiasm waned considerably because of problems with the…
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