When a reader opens a history textbook, it is expected to be rather flat and unemotional. I expect more from a historical novel. This book was packed full of interesting historical facts and detail, but the delivery left much to be desired. I learned some new things, but did not enjoy myself along the way….
The Troubles in Northern Ireland have been documented in movies and books, in all the neverending grimness of the situation. But in Carole Bellacera’s Border Crossings, we see them through the eyes of a young American woman who gets drawn into the violence because she’s married to an Irishman. 1991 Ireland. We catch a glimpse…
I read and enjoyed Emma Jensen’s Best Laid Schemes last year, so when I picked up her newest novel, The Irish Rogue, I was expecting something similar – a nice little comedy of manners with some slapstick humor thrown in. I was in for a surprise, but not an unpleasant one. The Irish Rogue is…
Do you sometimes feel like you’re in a romance rut? Are you yearning for a story that steps away from that same old plot? Have I got a book for you! In Forbidden Garden, Tracy Fobes gives us the story of a young widow, Anne Sherwood, who works as a botanical illustrator for Kew Gardens…
My Wild Irish Rose suffers from an idiot plot. An idiot plot is one that is kept in motion solely because all the characters in it act like idiots. If the characters in this book ever asked a question, or talked to each other or acted instead of assuming, all would soon be cleared up…
The Emerald Isle is the fourth and last novel in The Heirs of Cahira O’Connor series, following The Silver Sword, The Golden Cross, and The Velvet Shadow. The format is familiar – one story interwoven with another from the distant past. Destiny is the theme, as an ancient prayer is fulfilled in the lives of…
Historical romances often seem to exist in a vacuum. Generally the writer seldom bothers with the social attitudes and problems of the society at large. After a reader has finished an historical novel, she does know a bit about the manners and mores of the ton, but what of the world outside that little closed-in…
Claire Delacroix built her Bride Quest trilogy around three brothers and their individual attempts to find brides. In the third of these books, The Heiress, Rowan, the last unmarried of the three, attempts to win his brothers’ dare and marry the wealthiest heiress in Ireland before the Yule. The fact that Rowan lives in France…
Uncertain Magic was first published in 1987 and is currently in its seventh printing. This was the first Laura Kinsale book I ever read so I didn’t know what to expect. I just pulled it off of Borders’ romance shelf because of its pretty cover. What a wonderful surprise to discover this author on a…
To work well, a time travel romance needs both a compelling fantasy story with a plausible reason and device for the time travel to occur, and a compelling romance, with all the usual ingredients that requires – likable hero and heroine, believable conflicts, and a reasonable expectation of a happy-ever-after ending. Janeen O’Kerry’s Mistress of…