Turning Home is an introspective inspirational romance with the intriguing premise of a heroine who leaves behind the conveniences of the modern world when she falls in love with an Amish man. Unfortunately, the execution of this fascinating storyline leaves a lot to be desired. Julia Durant ostensibly came to Tompkin’s Mill, MO to visit…
Marsha Canham’s work is nothing if not painstakingly researched and beautifully actualized. The Mark of the Rose brings us back to the 1200s with ease, then flashes us forward to the present day, taking us into the lives of one special woman and her ancestor. But the two halves of its story don’t feel truly…
Readers of Sandhya Menon’s Dimple and Rishi series are likely familiar with funny, spunky Pinky Kumar, an activist who backs hundreds of causes and feistily fights for every one of them. She finally gets her own book in 10 Things I Hate About Pinky, which involves fake dating, summer vacations and a whole lot of…
Originally published in 1991, Connie Willis’ Bellwether is a book about patterns; how and why things come to pass in our lives. Dr. Sandra Foster is a statistician studying fads at a Boulder think-tank called Hi-Tek, but her lack of success is discouraging: she cannot come up with the cause of the hair bobbing craze….
Engagement and Espionage by Penny Reid is the start of a spin-off mystery series from her highly entertaining Winston Brothers series. In Beard Science, Jennifer Sylvester and Cletus Winston began their romance when Cletus helped Jenn attain her independence from her parents. It was my favorite of the Winston Brothers stories, but I’ll be honest,…
Elle Kennedy is one of my favorite authors for new adult college sports romances and The Dare is part of her Briar U spinoff of her Off Campus series. While other stories in the series have been quite fun and entertaining, this one left me somewhat disappointed, reasons for which I’ll outline below. Taylor is…
The Heir Affair is an unexpectedly tragic but affecting sequel to Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan’s The Royal We, which liberally reimagined Kate Middleton’s early years with Prince William. Rebecca and Nick, Duke and Duchess of Clarence and future monarchs of the United Kingdom, are, at the start of the book, in an “Airbnb, which…
Lately, I’ve been in a Carolina mood and picked up Carolina Breeze, a novel set in the fictional town of Bluebell surrounded by the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. Carolina Breeze is the second book of the author’s Bluebell Inn Romance trilogy and offers a gentle romance while following the love story first introduced in…
A solid step up from Bethany Turner’s previous novel, Hadley Beckett’s Next Dish is a fine contemporary romance about two chefs with clashing personalities who find love. The titular Hadley Beckett is a wiz in the kitchen. With two Michelin stars to her name, she’s sugar sweet and southern charm, inspiring waves of followers who…
Working Stiffs : An m/m vampire charity romance anthology is a collection of thirteen short stories and novellas, and proceeds from sales will go to the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. I generally find anthologies to be a mixed bag and that’s true of Working Stiffs; given there are thirteen stories, I’m going…