I don’t like oysters. No matter how well prepared a dish, if it contains oysters, I will not enjoy it. Vivian Arend’s High Passion contains an element that I dislike so completely, it tainted my opinion of the entire book. I admit it’s a personal thing that won’t apply to everyone – a lot of…
Is predictability the kiss of death for a novel? Is knowing what is going to happen comforting and familiar or fatally formulaic? With romance novels this can be an especially hard question to answer because we know what is going to happen at the end. For many of us the HEA defines the genre and…
I am a sucker for the childhood-friends-falling-in-love plotline. I like the grounding that it gives to a romantic relationship; you know the love found isn’t entirely based on a physical, hormonal reaction, but rather on a friendship, a relationship and a history that goes back years. And when that friendship changes because of a new…
The Runaway Duke is set in England at the end of the Regency period and features a tortured hero and the spunky heroine with whom he falls in love. “But I’ve read that story and seen these characters a hundred times this year!” the romance reader wails. “Can’t we have something new?” Well, don’t dismiss…
I love the theme of unrequited love, and Remember The Time is one of the best books utilizing that theme that I have ever read. There are three main characters involved in the storyline and we are introduced to them at the beginning of the book by way of an italicized flash back. Ms Reynolds…
Ooh-la-la, what a treat this book is! I have admired Barbara Samuel’s writing, and Night of Fire, the sequel to The Black Angel, merely cements my admiration. A lush setting, strong characters, an impossible love – if it weren’t for a slight falter at the end, this one would go in the box I’m taking…
If you’re tired of the same old westerns and regency-set historicals, you might find a respite in Tracy Sumner’s Tides of Love. Set in turn of the century North Carolina, this book has a strong sense of place, and it’s a place and time we don’t often see. Adding to the originality is the hero’s…
What’re the odds of finding two great stories under the covers of one book? Slim to none? Heck, some months I have difficulty locating just one entertaining story. So I was pleasantly surprised to discover that both stories in the latest Harlequin Duets were enjoyable and contained characters worth spending time with. Cathy Yardley’s The…
Romeo & Julia is the antithesis of the “sweet savage romance,” which is why I enjoyed it as much as I did. There’s not a lot of ugly, melodramatic conflict. There’s no overwhelming “I hate you, but I lust after you anyway” passion. Instead, there’s a hero who’s quite a bit younger than the heroine,…
Lord Ragsdale is an intelligent and witty man who is bored. He squanders his talents on careless amusements, and surrounds himself with people who have not one half of his insight and wit. His accounts are a mess. His estate is neglected. This fascinating man has no one with whom to hold a worthwhile conversation…