As contrived as the set-up for Baby It’s Cold Outside is, the book is surprisingly good. I read it quickly, and I found it hard to put down. It’s like the winter equivalent of a beach read: Fun, romantic, and light without being totally brainless. Socialite Sloan McKinley is an old maid at 33, her…
Whenever I read of the hardships the gold miners went through to get to the fields in Alaska, I’m always amazed not only that they weathered the mountains and rivers amid the cold and unusually long or short days and nights, but also that so many stayed and built a life there. Beautiful scenery and…
This book has a plot pulled from quirky old TV shows with a bit of a Twilight-type love tossed in. The setting of Grundy, Alaska is a dead ringer for the town in Northern Exposure; the hero, hunky werewolf Cooper Graham, struggles with the same issues as did Oz in Buffy (“Am I a killer?”…
Every once in a while, I’ll encounter a book that has elements I normally avoid but, for one reason or another, it’s one I can’t put down. This is exactly how I felt about Ice. If you allow yourself to actually think in depth about what’s going on, it’s gruesome and traumatic. However, if you…
When I started Klondike Wedding, I thought I was in for a treat. I’ve enjoyed this author’s books before, and her tale of a marriage-by-proxy gone terribly wrong started off quite well. However, as unbelievable circumstances built up and an improbable suspense plot cluttered things up, I found myself unable to summon up much more…
As a long-time Nora Roberts reader, in my mind the author and her audience have an unspoken deal. Depending on the format (series, paperback original, hardback), the reader is guaranteed a certain “degree” of Nora with, not surprisingly, a higher price delivering a higher degree. Since this unspoken deal is one the author very rarely…
It’s not often that I come across a romance novel in which the hero and heroine don’t spend enough time together – alone – in the book. Regrettably, The Snow Bride is one of those books. Jenna Campbell is a practical woman who just so happens to be in love with her boss. After six…
If you’re looking for a book to jump-start your reading during these gray January days, look no further. She Went All the Way is a fast, funny, sexy, romantic ride. I’ll admit right off the bat that I’m a sucker for those Hollywood romances. And, even though I’ve polished off quite a few of them…
There is a Season has a little bit of everything. There are midwives, a questionable death, alcoholism, menopause, Vietnam flashbacks, and a family torn apart by bitterness. Then there are secrets about children given up for adoption, daring plane rescues, and dog sleds. And then there is the sixties music. Lots of sixties music. While…
Midnight Sun is a book of squandered possibilities. The Alaskan turn of the century setting isn’t made vivid, a mostly interesting cast of characters fails to engage the reader, and a plot-line full of promise falls flat. There’s an enervating lack of excitement in this romance between an idealistic woman doctor and the wealthy mine…