I’m not a fan of time-travels, mostly because they rarely work, are often confusing, and the method and purpose of the time-travel is either unclear or badly done. Angie Ray’s A Knight to Cherish is a pleasant exception that I enjoyed very much. Shy and pretty Francine Peabody has a good job as an accountant,…
Some readers avoid Virginia Henley because they believe she uses too much purple prose. I’ve read all of her books and this one does not have that problem. In fact, this book has an exuberance about it, a sense of humor even, unlike any other Henley I’ve ever read. Seduced has a cross-dressing based plot…
Snowdrops and Scandalbroth is a very clever Regency that explores, in the lightest and funniest of ways, the double standard that we sometimes apply to the behavior of heroes and heroines. An underlying assumption of romance is that heroes are enslaved to lustful urges. So if a healthy, virile man does control himself, is it…
Heaven, Texas is the second book in Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ football series, all of which can be read independently from one another. The first book in her football series is It Had To Be You, continues with Nobody’s Baby But Mine, and finishes with Dream a Little Dream. Personally, I do not like football. I…
I first opened my copy of Isn’t It Romantic? while riding the subway in Washington, DC . It was a unique experience. One minute I was a quiet passenger, the next I was whooping with laugher. I’m sure there are people in our nation’s capital still wondering about that hysterical woman on the Red Line…
We romance readers have certain perceptions of Jennifer Crusie – she’s witty and she’s a great story-teller to name only two. When I first read the excerpt of Tell Me Lies on her web page, I could barely wait for the book to come out. I finally found it on the book rack at Wal-Mart…
Leave it to Jennifer Crusie to take betrayal, murder, steamy romance, and small town secrets and somehow make it funny. Tell Me Lies, a 1998 release now available in paperback, defines the meaning of “having a bad day.” This is Crusie’s break-out novel, moving from series romance to hardcover, and it combines a complex plot,…
Jennifer Crusie writes books that I urge on other people. “Yes, yes, I know you don’t read romance novels, or if you do, you don’t read series romance. Read this!” And about ninety percent of the time, my victim loves every word of it and comes back asking for more. Unfortunately, Crusie’s category romances are…
I’m hard to please. There I’ve said it, and there you have it. Reviewers are occasionally taken to task for not “giving out” A-ratings more often, and it’s true, grading is as subjective as anything else; personal opinion is all it boils down to. But, as far as I’m concerned, to earn a Keeper rating,…
To most romance readers, Jennifer Crusie is a goddess. I sometimes feel that I am in a minority of one in not worshipping at her feet. Yes, she is a wonderful storyteller and has an excellent sense of humor, especially if you like girl talk, but her women characters seem to bond so closely with…