Self-published books can sometimes provide an interesting reading experience since the author herself is usually investing both her time and money into a book born simply out of her love for the story. It’s obvious in Calico Queen that her love of writing and fascination with the people and settings she creates motivate Elizabeth Butler….
The cover of Sunset Embrace (originally published in 1985) describes it as “a classic love story,” and really nothing describes it better. I adore this book for many reasons that I’ll get to later, but for now let me introduce the two main characters. Lydia Langston is a young woman on the run from the…
It took me over 10 years to read this book. Well, let me explain. It sat on my TBR shelf for 10 years before I finally decided to grab some of the oldest (and dustiest) books and read them. I wish I had read this book when I first bought it because I had cheated…
When I first started reading romances, they all featured young heroines with older heroes. My reading tastes have changed over the years, and I don’t enjoy young heroines as much anymore. They inevitably seem, well, immature and naïve. Although the heroine of this book isn’t terrible, she did set my teeth on edge at times….
Writing a trilogy can be a tricky proposition. Some authors seem to start very strongly and then lose steam – and, unfortunately, that seems to be the case with A Wedding Story, the conclusion to Susan Kay Law’s Marrying Miss Bright trilogy. While I enjoyed the thoroughly charming The Bad Man’s Bride very much, this…
A 5th Avenue Christmas didn’t work for me. At all. Though the premise is interesting, the actual execution falls short. Part of the problem is that the book itself is short, but it’s also crippled by characters who would be annoying in a book of any length. Meryl Carrington is the youngest daughter of a…
A Summer Affair suffers from slow pacing and a problematic beginning. Neither main character is easy to warm up to, and that the heroine’s last name is so odd it jerked me out of the story every time she appeared didn’t help. A widower with a soft heart – for most people – Dr. Blue…
If you like westerns and all the action that goes with them then you will surely enjoy the reissue of Joan Johnston’s second book, Colter’s Wife, originally published in 1986. Set in Wyoming territory in 1875, Johnston tells the story of a half-breed woman desperately trying to survive in the male-dominated world of ranching. Just…
Merline Lovelace has written more than 40 historical (in settings as varied as ancient Egypt, Rome, and Greece) and contemporary novels. When she’s at her best, as she was in His Lady’s Ransom, The Horse Soldier, and The Captain’s Woman, her characters are honorable and engaging and her research is impeccable. But when she’s not…
Johanna Lindsey’s newest, and her first for Simon & Schuster after a very lengthy association with Avon, is a witty western romance that made me smile as I turned the pages. The heroine is likable, and the pretending-to-be-plain premise fun, which makes up for a plot that isn’t particularly realistic. But after all these years,…