The Last Daughter is an unusual, intriguing novel featuring time travel, magical artifacts and an interesting defense of Anne Lovell. It’s well-written, well-researched, engrossing and incredibly original – but the magical world-building is somewhat weak. The plot is split between two different storylines which eventually intertwine in the last half of the novel. The first…
Normally, I find a wide range of quality in an anthology. Tudor Christmas Tidings, however, is consistent from start to finish. That’s great for the strengths – every novella in this anthology has a wonderful sense of setting, with well-integrated historical figures. However, the main weakness of inadequately-developed romances is present in every story as…
Everyone who reads historical romance has a favorite period that they love time-warping back to again and again. Mine happens to be the medieval period. I have a good handful of keepers that I always go back to when I want to revisit the era. Some are well-worn (the entirety of the Rosalynde Chronicles; Julie…
As a long-time reader of historical fiction, I didn’t think a book which explored an “alternative” historical time-line would be my cup of tea. So I approached the first book in Laura Andersen’s Boleyn Trilogy a little apprehensively, but determined to keep an open mind. I was very quickly sucked into the story, became invested…
You might need to suspend some logic when it comes to enjoying The Treasures of Venice by Loucinda McGary. But if you do, enjoy it you will. Sam Lewis was supposed to be on her honeymoon, and when her fiancé broke things off at the last minute, she decided to go to Italy anyway. While…
I am easily bored by politics. It doesn’t seem to matter if it’s present-day Congressional wrangling or the more direct and often brutal politics of other eras – at a certain point I just begin to lose interest. This, unfortunately, is exactly what happened when I read Lady Robyn, the second book in a…
I began to read The Sword Maiden hoping to find a book that rose above the usual Scottish-set historical. If you’re also looking for a fresh take on this oft-used setting, I urge you to give Susan King’s latest a try. Although this is the third in the Maiden trilogy, the books seem to be…
When I first saw my copy of Heart of a Warrior, I was a little taken aback by the cover. It shows a burly looking warrior-type who is bare-chested and looking a trifle confused. But I’ve seen terrible covers on great books before, so I set aside my doubts and started reading. Unfortunately, the cover…
Many historical romance novels are the literary equivalent of a Renaissance festival – diverting, but bearing little relationship to actual history. With good reason: most people are not interested in seeing or reading about the dark and gritty side of life when they are seeking entertainment and escape, and there’s a lot of darkness and…