I spent a year and a half staring at the four installments of this story, sitting neatly on one of my shelves. Diana Gabaldon’s books are filled with plot devices I had always shied away from in romance novels. “They’re written in the first person, the heroine’s older than the hero, they’re huge,” I whined,…
If there’s a novelist whose hand with plot, character, dialogue, prose, sensuality, historical detail, humor, and emotion is very near perfect, I’d say without a qualm that it’s Diana Gabaldon. Several books after the incomparable Outlander – the one that started it all – she can still produce a 1,000-page tome without losing the sheer…
After a hellish marriage that ended three years earlier, Leone Weathers has come into her own as the owner of Soul to Soul, a successful jazz nightclub. Her teenage daughter, Raven, has weathered the divorce and is doing well despite her absentee father. Cole Fleming, Leone’s bandleader and club manager, has filled those shoes admirably…
Romeo & Julia is the antithesis of the “sweet savage romance,” which is why I enjoyed it as much as I did. There’s not a lot of ugly, melodramatic conflict. There’s no overwhelming “I hate you, but I lust after you anyway” passion. Instead, there’s a hero who’s quite a bit younger than the heroine,…
Fantasy and science fiction authors are familiar with a concept called “world building,” which is the process of creating a coherent “universe” for your characters. The rules may not necessarily be those of our world – time travel can work, or humans may have faster-than-light warpdrive technology – but they do have to be coherent…
I’m happy to report that the latest offering from Jane Feather was just as enjoyable for me as most everything else I’ve read by her. An unusual setting, a strong hero who has some room to grow, and an endearing but not bubble-headed heroine made reading The Accidental Bride a real pleasure. Cato, Marquis of…
A marriage of convenience is supposed to be beneficial to both parties. As a marriage in name only, it is supposed to provide not only security, but freedom not normally allowed within the confines of a conventional marriage. Both husband and wife are free to conduct their lives as they wish with no fear of…
The Randolph Legacy is a powerful early-American novel that started a little slowly, but quickly picked up steam until I became totally absorbed in the story and its wonderful characters. In 1803, a young boy from an American ship is impressed on a British ship. When he refuses to obey the captain’s orders, he is…
After I read Once in Paris by Diana Palmer, a book that treated an older man/younger woman romance in a way I found extremely distasteful, I picked up Rachel Lee’s Lost Warriors. This book is an excellent study of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in a Vietnam veteran. Lost Warriors also treats the love between a…
When Laurie first asked me to do a review of a Georgette Heyer book, I was a little reluctant. I adore Georgette Heyer, I think she’s one of the finest writers I’ve ever read, but I’m not comfortable doing reviews. Actually, I’ve never done one, but what can you say about Ms. Heyer except that…