This is a road romance where the magician hero, the self-reliant heroine, and their jinni companion travel from Baghdad to England in 1138. Given the setting and the characters, it could have been a spicy and intriguing read. I admit I may be a bit jaded, but throwing in every conceivable plot device, including staples…
Pagan Desires is a romance that sets out bravely, but keeps bogging itself down at every turn. This is a pity, because this is a book featuring a Byzantine heroine and which is set entirely in the Middle East, something which you don’t run across everyday. However, much I like unorthodox settings, I don’t take…
Are you looking for a historical romance novel with an unusual and original plot? Shelly Thacker’s Timeless is the book for you. This is a most enjoyable and intriguing tale about 22 year old Avril de Varennes and her 300-year-old Viking warrior, Hauk Valbrand. That’s right, three hundred years old! (No, this is not a…
Have you been having trouble sleeping? Do you adore heroes who wallow in self-pity? If you answered yes to either of these questions, Enchanted Christmas could be the book for you. If, on the other hand, you prefer books that keep you awake, with characters who don’t spend four hundred pages feeling sorry for themselves,…
What do you get when you mix a Celtic myth, feuding Scottish clans, and an English lord? A romance novel, Touch Not the Cat, by Tracy Fobes. Set in the Scottish Highlands during the 19th Century, this intriguing story brings to life the Celtic myth of the grimalkin, a wraith-like wildcat, supposedly the familiar of…
Touch Not the Cat has an intriguing premise. Centuries ago, the MacClelland clan murdered several members of the the McQuade clan. The McQuades put a curse on the MacClellands, which causes the MacClelland women to turn into grimalkins (giant cats) during the full moon, or whenever they are under the influence of strong emotions. The…
It was a dark and stormy book. That phrase kept running through my mind when I read The Bride Finder, Susan Carroll’s new paranormal romance. The Bride Finder comes with glowing recommendations from seven romance writers. Is it as good as the cover blurbs? No – it’s a fair book, but I was not bowled…
I’ve read every book, with the exception of one, that Anne Rice has written, including her S&M fantasies, and have thoroughly enjoyed most of them, even when they’ve “weirded me out”. At her best, the author creates entirely new worlds for readers to explore. At her worst, the author veers into self-indulgent pap. Luckily, she’s…
Whew. When I finally finished this book, I felt I could finally breathe. It is intense. It is magical. It is emotionally draining, and I feel that I am better for having read it. Diana is a modern day Wiccan living in Salem, Massachusetts. On Samhain (or Halloween) she gets sucked back to the England…
I first read Jill Barnett’s Bewitching when it came out a few years ago. I loved it then. When I reread it to do this review, I loved it even more. It is a historical romance with a twist – a supernatural twist woven so skillfully into the plot of the story that it actually…