Many books feature characters who remind us of ourselves or of people we know. They think like us (even if they are, in fact, wearing the garb of another era) and they act much like us. Every now and again, though, an author does a truly excellent job of creating a different world and filling…
Undead and Unwed is a riot of a book that, like its heroine, never takes itself seriously and pokes fun at romance, vampire and chick lit clichés. The language is rough, the sex and “almost” sex is a perfect blend of edgy meets funny (and fits the tone of the book), and I haven’t laughed…
Maggy Forrest’s husband Lyle is a rich but ultra-nasty publishing tycoon. For most of their marriage, he has controlled her through threats to turn their son against her, monitors her movements and possessions, and is frequently physically and mentally cruel to her. They have an 11-year-old son David, who appears to idolize his father and…
No matter how many Regency-set historical novels you’ve read, you haven’t yet met two characters exactly like the protagonists in this story. So refreshing are Scott military hero Liam Lockhart and young mother Ellen Farnsworth that the breath of invigorating air they bring with them is more than enough to overcome their occasionally (okay, more…
The cover of They Wear What Under Their Kilts? has to be one of the cutest I¹ve ever seen. Better yet, its perfectly manicured hand mischievously lifting up the edge of a male’s kilt fits the light-hearted, outrageous tone of the story. Emily is the teen narrator and her story is told entirely via witty…
Jenna Ryan’s The Arms of the Law has a bland title and a boring cover, neither of which give a hint to the wonderfully dark suspense novel lurking inside. Kind of like Christie by way of Hitchcock, it has the spooky, menacing feel of a good scary movie. If the love story becomes secondary to…
Asian-American heroes and heroines aren’t exactly commonplace in romance novels, so the story of Annabel “Poe” Lee was one entry in Alison Kent’s gIRL-gEAR series I was looking forward to. Sadly, Annabel turns out to be a disappointingly average heroine in her own story, especially next to the much more interesting hero. As the book…
A word of advice: if you’re writing a romance and are desperately trying to find a way to keep your characters from consummating their relationship, try to make the reason seem remotely plausible. Unless that reason stems logically from the plot or the characters themselves, it’s just a gimmick. And Pillow Talk by Kathleen O’Reilly…
Surrender is the tale of Victoria Huntington, a 24-year-old spinster determined to fend off fortune hunters. Lucas Colebrook, Earl of Stonevale, is one such fortune hunter, and he wastes no time in doing everything he can to ensure that Victoria and her fortune become his so that the crumbling estate of Stonevale in Yorkshire can…
Gwen Hunter’s Rhea Lynch series has given me much enjoyment in the past. The first book in the series, Delayed Diagnosis, is a great, suspenseful read and the two books following it (Prescribed Danger and Deadly Remedy) are also quite good. Because the author has worked in the medical field, her use of medical terminology…
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