Lucy’s Launderette is a Chick Lit novel that seems to wander around with no real sense of where it wants to go. As the book ambles idly along, it makes some interesting points, but doesn’t seem to come to any clear conclusions. Its plot is complex, yet somehow it manages not to touch the reader…
Since I often find the plots to be long and terribly slow-moving and the characterization to be both flat and unrealistically glamorous, the family saga is usually one of my least favorite forms of fiction. Sheltering Rain, a debut novel from the United Kingdom, is blessedly different. Joy, her daughter Kate, and her 16-year-old granddaughter…
After Running Scared, an underwhelming second entry in the Rarities series, Elizabeth Lowell returns with Die in Plain Sight, a more enjoyable book. Lacey Quinn, artist and co-owner of an antique shop, inherits some paintings from her grandfather. Convinced of her grandfather’s talent, Lacey takes the paintings to renowned artist Susa Donovan (fans of Lowell’s…
I feel cheated. Between Sisters started off boring, but I held out hope that there might be some meaty, emotional issues to make the boring stuff worth it. Nope, just a little emotional manipulation and a convenient miracle. I could read Catherine Anderson for that. Divorce attorney Meghan Dontess is the best at what she…
I think I’ve found something new in Shirley Kennedy: a guilty-pleasure Regency author. Three Wishes for Miss Winthrop is like Pride and Prejudice meets The Young and the Restless. One minute everyone is behaving in normal, Regency-like ways, and the next minute raging hormones are circling like a swarm of bees. I’ve never seen anything…
Laura Wolf debuted in the burgeoning chick-lit field last year with Diary of a Mad Bride. The heroine of that book, Amy Thomas Stewart, returns in Mad Mom-to-Be, again clutching a definitive guidebook in one hand and an endless to-do list in the other, her often-befuddled husband, relatives and friends trailing behind. Recovered from the…
Though All Men Are Rogues is captivating early on, more and more problems creep in as the story progresses. Even though the heroine is immensely winning and the hero reasonably likable, the mystery sub-plot, and questions about the villain’s indentity detract too much from the romance. Evelyn Amherst lost her beloved father in service to…
Although Wind of the Wolf is published by Leisure books, has a handsome long-haired hero on the cover, and the spine proclaims “Historical Romance,” I would not call this book a romance. It breaks many of the conventions expected by readers of romance novels, and its emphasis is not on a romance at all, but…
Instead of over-the-top goings-on, To Love A Scottish Lord, with its tortured characters, false accusations, and crumbling castle, presents a thoughtful story with mature characters. The love story is tender and enormously touching. This book was like a cool oasis for me after a few too many overheated historical romances. Once a ship captain, Hamish…
As a member of that group of romance readers who have grown tired of rehashed plot lines that were only marginally interesting the first time, archetypes as shorthand for “real” characters and happily-ever-afters that seem conjured from thin air, I’m an absolute pushover for a real love story between real characters whom I can actually…
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