This may be a controversial statement, but I hate pets in romance novels. Not all the time, but whenever they’re used as a cutesy plot point or overblown metaphor, I cringe. When I saw that Homecoming was going to involve not only six reunited siblings but six puppies and a small town, I knew things…
The Admiral’s Heart is a short but surprisingly thought-provoking novella by now-back-on-the-scene author Danelle Harmon. I read it in a flash, questioned the premise – and then found myself thinking about it long into the next day. On the surface, the story is short and simple. When Lady Philippa (Pippa) Hatfield was young, she was…
I don’t always believe lists, especially lists of the best books of the year, which sometimes leave me wondering “What were they thinking?” However, after reading Publishers Weekly’s list of best romances of 2012, I was intrigued by Dog Days. I downloaded and read the first chapter, and thought oh, another over-hyped book and decided…
Sometimes an author takes a risk, and has me hooked. This happened with Bonnie Dee’s new romance New Life, which features a hero with a mental disability. When I discovered that the first pages of the book were actually told from said hero’s point-of-view, my surprise doubled. Would it work? It did: The book proved…
In Forever and a Day, Jill Shalvis brings us back to Lucky Harbor, a small town on Washington’s Pacific coast. It’s a small-town romance of the first order, 21st-century style; as in her previous Lucky Harbor novels, Facebook is the primary spreader of gossip. Grace Brooks is the adopted child of rocket scientists who has…
Jill Shalvis has a reputation for writing light, funny, sexy romances. Her latest, Animal Attraction, blows that reputation to smithereens. Make no mistake, Animal Attraction is funny and hot as hell. But it’s not light… it’s moving, empowering, and engaging. I’ve read it twice in the past month and both times it’s made me smile,…
I am not much for murder and mayhem. One reason is that I can’t stand to be in the mind of the killer. However, I find that after a steady dose of reading romance, I need a break. Luckily I discovered David Rosenfelt’s books with their perfect balance of mystery, comedic dialogue, hint of romance,…
One of the highest compliments that you can pay an writer upon finishing her book is to search for her backlist. That is exactly what I did upon finishing Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts. Lucky readers in Great Britain have had access to this book since November 2009, but it is just now being released…
This is a follow-up to an earlier book and features the best friend of the author’s previous heroine. I didn’t catch the first book, but this one had me laughing from the start, filled with some funny dialog and hilarious situations. Despite that, I never felt the humor was over-the-top, nor did it take away…
For the most part, this one works. But be prepared for major clichés, a high degree of wackiness, and painfully obvious series set ups along the way. San Francisco newspaper writer Josie Sheehan is 35 and a veteran of a string of failed relationships. In a miraculous three paragraphs, she loses 10 pounds, buys a…