An AAR Top 100 Romance review originally published on December 18, 2000 Blythe: Few people who knew me in high school would have guessed how much I loved Pride and Prejudice. The image I cultivated was more sarcastic and smart alecky than romantic, and I definitely preferred jeans to prom dresses. But deep inside I was…
It is a truth universally acknowledged that if you love romance novels, chances are good that you also love Jane Austen’s novels. Miss Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice is a masterpiece and universally beloved (and my own favorite) but her last book, Persuasion runs a very close second. Persuasion was written at a time when…
An AAR Top 100 Romance originally published on July 6, 2006 Quite honestly, romance simply doesn’t get any better than this. Though I always knew that Devil’s Cub was my favorite book by the inimitable (though, nevertheless, often imitated) Georgette Heyer, I don’t think I really understood until recently that it was this book that…
An AAR Top 100 Romance originally published on December 03, 2006 When you’re longing to read a book with memorable characters and dialogue that can be light without insulting the reader’s intelligence, Venetia is the perfect read. Of Heyer’s Regencies, this is definitely one of my favorites. Though the tale of the rake falling for…
An AAR Top 100 Romance originally published on July 10, 2000 We don’t title our reviews here at AAR, but if we did this one would be called Georgette Heyer: Impressions of a Neophyte. Many readers grew up reading Georgette Heyer and came to love romance and Regencies in particular because of their similarities to…
Nothing remained to assure us that the adventure had not been an illusion of a moment but the young lady, who just at that moment opened her eyes. Carmilla was actually first published in 1872 some twenty-six years before the publication of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and is a Victorian Gothic lesbian tale. Gothic novels have various devices…
As a fan of Japanese literature and history, Saikaku Ihara is an author I quite enjoy. That being said, these stories are very much 17th Century Japanese literature – a combination of morality tales, daily life, and the benefits (and consequences) of bucking against tradition to go after what, and who, you want. I’d definitely…
Audiobook narrated by Juliet Stevenson This review is somewhat of a triple threat. I read the book, listened to the audiobook, and watched the BBC miniseries all together and all contributed to my enjoyment in their own way. First of all, let me gush. I loved this book. I adored this book. I want to…
There are a lot of graphic novel adaptations out there for Jane Austen novels. This latest venture, done in the visual style of manga, is by far the most successful I’ve read. It captures Austen’s dry humor, making me laugh out loud several times. The hefty page count (triple the length of the Marvel adaptation)…
My copy of Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day was a Christmas gift from my best friend. I had never before heard of the author, Winifred Watson – no wonder, as she published six novels in the 1930s and stopped writing altogether in 1943, although she did live to see the reissuing of Miss Pettigrew…