Given it’s set in the multicultural city of Toronto, it’s no surprise that Farah Heron’s début, The Chai Factor, delves into some serious issues such as racism and cultural and gender equality. Yet even so the author maintains some nice comedic flair and tells a sweet opposites attract romance making this an enjoyable read from…
Jenn Burke’s Not Dead Yet earned a place on my keeper shelf earlier this year for many reasons, not least of which were the great storytelling, excellent worldbuilding, memorable characters, snappy dialogue and unusual premise. Wes Cooper was murdered in 1933 by his lover Michael, but was resurrected by Michael’s sister – a witch. Somehow,…
After her cousin’s wedding, dedicated singleton Iris Chin becomes the target of family matchmaking. She prefers one-night stands, like the incredibly hot one she had with Alex Kwong. But when Iris’s engineering job lands her on a site where Alex is the construction supervisor, love ‘em and leave ‘em isn’t possible. Despite an oversimplified heroine,…
When I picked up Loreth Anne White’s The Dark Bones for review, I wasn’t aware that it was linked to one of her earlier books, A Dark Lure, in which a young woman who was abducted and repeatedly assaulted is making a new life for herself in rural Canada only to have to face the…
Charlie Adhara’s Big Bad Wolf series has been something of a surprise hit for me. I’m not normally into stories about werewolves, but Em’s review of The Wolf at the Door convinced me to read it, and I’ve been hooked ever since. Although each of the three books features a self-contained mystery that’s solved by…
Watcher in the Woods is the fourth installment in Kelley Armstrong’s highly original Rockton series featuring police detective Casey Duncan and her boyfriend Sheriff Eric Dalton. The book could technically be read as a standalone, but I wouldn’t really recommend starting here since the previous entries in the series will supply readers with some much…
I was really looking forward to this book with its promise of cross-cultural highs and lows, an exploration of the immigrant experience, and a look at traditional arranged marriages in modern society. Unfortunately, it ultimately failed to live up to its pledge because the heroine quite sank the story. Raina is biracial, having a barely-there…
For some reason, I’ve been gravitating towards paranormal romances lately, most often ones featuring characters involved in law enforcement, which was the immediate appeal of Jenn Burke’s Not Dead Yet. It’s the first in a new series in which one of the protagonists is, as the title suggests, Not Dead. Although he’s Not Alive either,…
In this absolutely charming holiday novella from Jenny Holiday, Jay and Elise are looking forward to their first Christmas together as a married couple. The joy is paused, however, when Elise finds out she’s pregnant – against all of their plans and previously stated desires – and the turmoil is no small thing. I was…
Hockey romance authors will generally create a fictional NHL team as the backdrop for their series, so it’s rare to find an author who digs down into the farm teams that build up the players for their chance in the spotlight. That’s what Melanie Ting has done with her Vancouver Vice series. The Vice are…