mini reviews Archives : All About Romance

Midweek Minis

By Caz Owens|2017-06-23T08:29:58-04:00June 14th, 2017|Categories: EmAAR, Heather AAR, Historicals, Lisa F, Maria Rose, Mary Dube, Mini reviews, Romance, Romance reading|Tags: Midweek Minis, mini reviews|

In our continuing quest to bring you the lowdown on even more books, here’s our latest batch of mini reviews. This time around, Em, Heather, Kristen, Lisa, Maria Rose and Mary share their thoughts on some of their recent reads.

Em:

Small Change by Roan Parrish

Ginger Holtzman owns and manages a tattoo shop in South Philly. As Small Change opens, the shop and an upcoming art show have left her overcommitted, overworked and understaffed. Fiercely independent, Ginger is prickly about accepting or asking for help – past relationships with men (she’s bi-sexual), and professional experience in the male dominated tattoo industry, have left her wary of appearing weak or vulnerable. Lonely and overwhelmed, she’s struggling to find balance when she meets Christopher Lucen, the handsome owner of the coffee and sandwich shop she sometimes frequents.

Christopher is […]

Candice Hern’s Traditional Regency Short Stories

By Keira Soleore|2017-06-23T17:17:41-04:00June 12th, 2017|Categories: Historicals, Keira Soleore, Romance, Romance reading|Tags: mini reviews, Regency romance|

Lately, I’ve become more and more fond of traditional regency romances, because I like their focus on developing a complex, romantic tale with sparkling dialogue in a compact form while keeping sensual details to a minimum. Back in the day, Candice Hern wrote some wonderful trads, so I was excited to find out that she has not only republished those books in e-format, but has also written new ones. Desperate Measures and Lady Ann’s Excellent Adventure are short stories in the same vein, although the heat level here is a little higher than the usual trads.

Set in 1810, Desperate Measures is a romance that takes place during one evening at a ball. Young Lydia Bettridge is suffering from the pangs of unrequited love. She’s desperate to have her brother’s friend, the Golden God, Geoffrey Danforth, notice […]

Midweek Minis

By Caz Owens|2017-06-23T16:58:21-04:00May 10th, 2017|Categories: BJ Jansen, EmAAR, Lisa F, Maggie AAR, Mini reviews, Romance reading, Sara AAR|Tags: Midweek Minis, mini reviews|

In another of our series of mini-reviews, AAR staffers BJ, Em, Lisa, Maggie and Sara share their thoughts on some of their recent reads.

BJ:

Oren’s Right by Blaine D’Arden

This is a beautifully gentle, caring story in the Tales of the Forest series. The world author Blaine D Arden has created is sublime – I could just wish the stories were longer, but this edition has an extra scene at the end, which completes this tale perfectly and is very sexy.

Scarification may not be to everyone’s taste, but the author writes about it so sensitively, you can see how this might be part of a BDSM Master/slave style of loving relationship.

Blaine D’Arden introduces Veld a dark elf from another tribe, and details the prejudice he first encounters on reaching the village around which these stories are […]

Midweek Minis

By Caz Owens|2017-06-23T08:30:00-04:00April 12th, 2017|Categories: Kristen D, Lisa F, Maria Rose, Mini reviews, Romance reading|Tags: Midweek Minis, mini reviews|

Here’s another in our occasional series of mini-reviews. This time round, Kristen, Lisa and Maria Rose share their thoughts – good and bad – on some of their recent reads.

Kristen:

Playing By Her Rules by Amy Andrews

Y’all, I love me some Amy Andrews books. I especially love her books that involve rugby. This one, the first in her Sydney Smoke series, is about Matilda and Tanner. Once high school sweethearts, the two suffered a traumatic break up when it was time for Matilda to head off to college. Now both back in Australia, Matilda’s been assigned to do a profile on Tanner for her magazine. She’d basically rather perform her own appendectomy with a rusty swiss army knife, but duty calls.

Tanner is a rising star on the Smoke and is a bit of a lad about town. The […]

Midweek Minis

By Caz Owens|2017-05-24T17:34:00-04:00March 22nd, 2017|Categories: Kristen D, Maggie AAR, Maria Rose, Melanie AAR, Mini reviews, Reading, Romance reading|Tags: mini reviews|

Here’s another in our occasional series of mini reviews in which AAR staffers talk about what they’ve read lately. Not all these books are romances (although most of them are), and some were obviously more well-received than others. Here’s what Kristen, Lisa, Maggie, Maria Rose, Melanie have to say about their recent reads.

Kristen:

We Were On A Break by Lindsey Kelk

This one is perfect for fans of Sophie Kinsella – the humor and cultural settings are very similar. Liv and Adam’s Mexican holiday is sure to end in an engagement, or so Liv thinks. They’ve been dating for an age and surely, SURELY, he wouldn’t take her from England to Mexico without a real purpose, right? Well, imagine her shock when instead of giving her a ring, he asks for a pause. Dejected, confused, and heartbroken, they head back […]

Midweek Minis

By Caz Owens|2017-06-23T08:30:01-04:00February 8th, 2017|Categories: Caroline AAR, Dabney AAR, EmAAR, LinnieGayl AAR, Maria Rose, Mini reviews, Romance reading, Sara AAR|Tags: mini reviews|

AAR staffers are avid readers – Caroline, Dabney, Emily, LinnieGayl, Maria Rose and Sara are here to share their thoughts on some of their recent reads.

Caroline’s Read:

Almost a Scandal by Elizabeth Essex

Sally Kent’s brother Richard lets the family tradition down when instead of joining the Navy, he escapes to the clergy. So it’s Sally, who’s got the family saltwater blood, who dons midshipman’s blues and sets sail on the Audacious just before Trafalgar. She finds herself under the supervision of Lieutenant David Colyear, an outstanding officer and old friend of her brothers.

I adore competent, intelligent heroines, Sally’s natural bent for the sea is developed in a way that is completely convincing without seeming over the top. From her love of the wind and water to her ability to manage onboard rivalries, she’s a sailor to the tips of her […]

Midweek Minis

By Caz Owens|2017-06-23T08:30:06-04:00October 4th, 2016|Categories: Alexandra AAR, Caroline AAR, EmAAR, Janet AAR, Kristen D, Maria Rose, Mini reviews|Tags: Midweek Minis, mini reviews|

Our team of avid readers continues to work tirelessly to point you towards the good, the bad and the… indifferent… when it comes to romance! Here’s another group of mini reviews from Alex, Caroline, Emily, Janet, Kristen, Maria Rose and Ulysses to give you some ideas as to what you might want to read next!

Alex’s Read:

Night Study by Maria Snyder
I discovered Maria Snyder’s Study series about a year ago, and was instantly hooked. The mix of magic, political intrigue, and adventure found in these books was enticing enough that I read the first three back-to-back —an entire week of my life was abruptly taken over by Ms. Snyder’s work. When I found out there was going to be a second trilogy to follow the first Study books, I naturally jumped on them.

Night Study is the second book of […]

Midweek Minis

By Caz Owens|2017-06-23T08:30:07-04:00July 26th, 2016|Categories: Caroline AAR, Caz AAR, EmAAR, Maria Rose, Mary AAR, Mini reviews, Sara AAR|Tags: mini reviews|

AAR staffers Anne, Caroline, E.B, Keira, Maria Rose, Mary and Sara share their thoughts on some of their recent reads in another of our occasional series of mini reviews.

Anne’s Read:

The Governess Comforts the Disconsolate Duke by Abigail Haversham (0.99 at Amazon)

I looked forward to reading this Regency novella about a hero recovering from the horrors of war. Unfortunately, it read more like a textbook for show versus tell and often reads like an outline rather than an actual story. The hero and heroine don’t have a real encounter until about 20% into the book which, for a novella, is way too late.

Not long before James went off to fight Napoleon, Claire was his governess for a brief time before he became an adult. This is odd because a boy in his late teens would usually have been […]

Midweek Minis: RITA nominees Part Two

By Caz Owens|2017-06-23T08:30:08-04:00July 7th, 2016|Categories: BJ Jansen, Caz AAR, Maria Rose, Mini reviews, RWA, Sara AAR, Shannon AAR|Tags: mini reviews, RITA2016|

tmkcpfqv-600x323 In advance of RWA2016, AAR staffers have been taking a look at some of the books nominated for RITA awards. In our post yesterday, you’ll find a number of mini reviews of some of the titles featured in the various Contemporary Romance categories. Today, BJ, Caz, Maria Rose, Sara and Shannon review some of the other nominated books.

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Midweek Minis – RITA nominees Part One

By Caz Owens|2017-06-23T08:30:08-04:00July 6th, 2016|Categories: BJ Jansen, Caz AAR, Heather AAR, LinnieGayl AAR, Maria Rose, Mini reviews, RWA|Tags: mini reviews, RITA2016|

tmkcpfqv In advance of RWA 2016 next week and the announcement of the winners of the RITAs, the AAR team has taken a look at some of this year’s nominees. The full list of nominated titles can be found here. Have you read many on this year’s list? And if you’ve read the same listed books as we have, what did you think?

Our mini reviews cover titles listed in the contemporary, erotic, historical, paranormal and romantic suspense categories, and are spread across two posts. Today, Maria Rose, Sara, Heather, BJ and LinnieGayl take a look at the various contemporary romance nominees; the others will be covered in our second post tomorrow. […]