The title of this one – A Rake’s Guide to Seduction – is a bit misleading since, instead of the racy historical romance the title proclaims, what you get is actually a classic Regency in Disguise. Still, while I enjoyed it well enough, the prose in particular, neither the story nor the characters ever really…
Conceptually, The Rossetti Letter is similar to Lauren Willig’s Pink Carnation series: Both tell the modern day stories of doctoral candidates in Europe, searching for a mystery lost in the crumbling papers and bound books of the past, and at the same time recounting the historical story about the people they are researching. However, this…
We first met Reno in Ice Blue, introduced as Takashi O’Brien’s punk Japanese cousin, complete with piercings, tattoos, and bright red, waist-length hair. While I was amused at the bits of comedic relief he provided in both that book and Ice Storm, I wasn’t sure how Ms. Stuart could transform him into a hero with…
Riley Jensen’s latest case is complicated from the start: a high profile politician has been murdered, and his socialite prostitute is also dead. It only gets more twisted when she is asked to look into a BDSM-related death that seems to be suicide, but turns out to be only one of many murders committed by…
The heroine of Gena Showalter’s The Darkest Kiss will probably win my nomination as the most annoying of the year. She’s not TSTL (actually she’s quite shrewd), but her actions and dialogue and the fact that I couldn’t identify with her at all made this otherwise good story and interesting hero nearly unbearable. As I…
As those who love historical romance know all too well, the landscape these days is littered with wallpaper. The Duke of Shadows, written by the winner of the Gather.com romance first chapter contest, aspires to be – is being promoted to be – something better than the usual fare. It’s on that scale that I…
At the Bride Hunt Ball turned out to be a difficult book to grade. I didn’t like it, that was plain enough, but I didn’t hate it either. In fact, the overall feeling I had while reading the book was, “eh…” A classic “C” reaction and I was all set to go with that. But…
The premise of The Fortune Hunter is simple: the de Lacys are a respectable family, but dreadfully poor. The eldest daughter is too plain to possibly attract any wealthy men, and the youngest is, well, too young. It is up to the beautiful middle daughter, Amy, to ensnare a rich husband to support her family…
The RITA-award winning Deirdre and Don Juan is a sweet read. When he was twenty years old, the Earl of Everdon – nicknamed “Don Juan” for his rakishness and his exotic looks – married for love. Shortly after, his beautiful wife left him for another man and shattered his dreams of true love and happiness….
I plunked down full price for this anthology simply to read Shannon McKenna’s novella. But it, along with the other two, didn’t engage me as many of the previous Bad Boys books I’ve read. Romantic suspense premises act as a catalyst to bring each of the three couples together and sets up strong cabin romance…
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