There is a certain formula for a Sherry Thomas novel that involves one part exquisitely beautiful prose, one part heartwrenching emotion, and one part crazy Old Skool tropes revisited. I am not quite sure of the ratios involved, but, for me, this formula has always resulted in a profoundly beautiful romance that I absolutely adored….
The hero of Ms. Marvelle’s latest is in the very first chapter in the book, crashed into by an omnibus on a busy New York street. When he wakes, he’s an amnesiac, unable to remember anything about himself or his life. He can remember bits and pieces from what turns out to be his favorite…
After picking up and putting down this book more than a few times, I was a little surprised to find that when I finally got into it I thoroughly enjoyed it. The Amorous Education of Celia Seaton is a quirky mish-mash of plot devices, popular lord/scandalous commoner, kidnap/rescue, deceived amnesiac, and road romance, that somehow…
Maddy Woodford is the Regency version of the woman who does too much. She cares for her orphaned half-siblings as if they were her own children, she keeps her modest house spotlessly tidy, and she helps the needy in her community. But Maddy doesn’t dream of having it all—she’s given up on finding a husband….
This book marks another in a long line of firsts for me; it was my first Christine Feehan experience and one for which I had few expectations. Though linked to other Feehan novels, it marks the first in the new Sisters of the Heart series concerning six adoptive sisters. The characters alone made for a…
When I first received Open Country, I was filled with equal amounts of anticipation and trepidation. The genre – a Western, by golly! – and the author’s sophomore status account for the former; the synopsis, the latter. Happily, I can tell you my final pronouncement is firmly wedged on the positive side. The story proceeds…
Late last year I discovered Marjorie M. Liu’s Dirk and Steele series, and read all but one of the full-length books and her short story from the Dark Dreamers anthology. That short story introduced a family of gargoyle brothers into the author’s urban fantasy romance world, and added one to the ranks of the “detectives”…
Why haven’t I been reading Jo Goodman? That will be the question floating through many minds when they pick up If His Kiss is Wicked. I’m certainly pondering it. I’m going to turn dictator on this one occasion because you must, simply must read this. Restell Gardner is a man of many talents; a man…
I had not read a Kay Hooper novel in many years. I was not familiar with her Bishop/Special Crime Unit series. The suspense in Sleeping with Fear was written strongly and effectively, but the story wasn’t otherwise as well-rounded as I would have liked. The novel opens with a bang: Riley Crane awakes with a…
Cheryl St. John is most acclaimed as an author of western romances. I confess, I haven’t read any of them, but one of her contemporaries, A Husband By Any Other Name, is among my favorite series romances. Dan Beckett always loved Lorraine Loring, but he was forced to stand aside as his father pushed Dan’s…