I backed into reading mysteries through my love of romance novels, which grew to include romantic suspense and then evolved into a curiosity about “straight” mysteries. These days I enjoy mysteries and thrillers quite a bit, but I admit that I still appreciate a romantic angle and tend to prefer mysteries that include a romance…
About 25 pages into Over His Dead Body – subtitled “a novel of sweet revenge” – I realized it reminded me strongly of something. It took me another 25 pages to recognize that while the plot details are quite different, the ironic, somewhat farcical tone/style, and some of the novel’s themes are highly reminiscent of…
Themes in romance novels are like clothing – they are very trendy. For the past few months every European historical I’ve read involves an American heiress who is either rich, spoiled, or both. Fortunately for me the heroine in this book managed to redeem herself very well. It was the hero who ultimately ended up…
Keeper of the Light is a frustrating book, one that often shows glimmers that it could be more than it is. As published, it’s a modestly diverting tale. Its characters are likable, if not very deep. The story has its charms, but is very simple, which ultimately is the book’s main flaw. The final third,…
The first book by Sandy Hingston I read was The Lover’s Charm, and I really liked it. So I was looking forward to reading The Affair. While parts of it left me cold, it does have its moments, and I can offer a qualified recommendation. In the wake of a family tragedy, Gannon Finn, Lord…
As I was reading Lavender Blue, I couldn’t help thinking that a good novel was like a puppet show, with the author expertly maneuvering the strings behind the scenes. You know the puppets aren’t moving across the stage on their own, but the manipulation is so seamless you hardly know there’s a puppeteer. This book…
A long time ago, a co-worker snorted in derision as he tasted his Chinese take-out: “This soup is neither hot nor sour,” he proclaimed. I’d like to paraphrase him in reviewing this book because Pleasure For Pleasure is neither an interesting love story nor a good bit of erotic guilty pleasure. Instead, it is dull…
Heart of Fire is a paranormal romance about a fictitious country dealing with real historical events. Josie Litton did something similar (in concept, not in execution) with her Dream Island series. Heart of Fire, like Dream Island, owes much to Regency-set Historicals, even though its setting is imaginary. Lennox tossed aside the actual map of…
Reading Impostress was like taking a lukewarm bath: not particularly enjoyable, but not exactly painful, either. And like a lukewarm bath, it was hard to get too excited about it, or even really remember much about it afterward. This book is one of the most generic romances I’ve ever read, despite being set in both…
Let’s hear it for Kelly Ripa. When she chose The Boy Next Door for her “Reading with Ripa” book club, she picked a good one. In order to be selected by Ms. Ripa, a book must be “fun, frivolous, and fast.” Meg Cabot’s novel meets all those guidelines easily, especially the “fun” part. Melissa Fuller…
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