Within the space of a month, two chick lit novels appeared in which a modern young woman with Mr. Darcy as her romantic ideal goes on a trip to England inspired by Jane Austen’s novels and is made to test her ideals. Having enjoyed Austenland by Shannon Hale, I turned to Me and Mr. Darcy…
Sometimes silly, sometimes serious, Take Me Tonight is a fun book that is happily more hit than miss. Sage Valentine is an investigative reporter living in Boston. Her roommate Keisha was found dead, supposedly from suicide, but Sage doesn’t believe it, suspecting instead that her death was connected to her participation on a Web site…
When I first started reading romance ten years ago, I went through a lot of Kat Martin books. I haven’t read one in five years and couldn’t really remember why, so thought I’d try her again. Now I remember. Alpha Jerk Heroes and Feisty, Feisty Heroines. But thankfully, the leads of Heart of Honor weren’t…
I am always eager to get my hands on a good time travel book. Some of my all- time faves feature time travel. I will generally give anything in this genre a shot. Not being a big fan of the Roaring Twenties, I’m glad I pick this one despite the time period. Dora Duncan is…
Sharon Cullars spins a tale of passion, obsession and past lives in her debut novel, Again. A genre-bending book that defies easy categorization, it’s different from any other Brava release I’ve ever read. But while it is consistently intriguing, it’s also too uneven to be all that satisfying. By day, Tyne Jensen works at a…
It’s very challenging to write a category novel with serious depth to it since the rules of the format are strict and the page allotment low. Challenges notwithstanding, several authors, including Virginia Kantra, manage to do a wonderful job of bringing their series titles to life. While Kantra’s latest entry falls a touch flat, she…
I was very excited about The Dim Sum Of All Things. By reading the blurb I expected it to be witty and hilarious. But the problem with preconceived notions is that you generally expect too much and end up disappointed instead. My cousin, for example, once raved about a certain recipe, which I then tried…
For about a year, ex-reporter Benjamin Justice has been wallowing in the misery that is his life. Once a Pulitzer-Prize winning reporter, he was stripped of the award when it was discovered he fabricated the facts and details of the story. His personal life is in a shambles and he’s got a couple of dark…
I have to admit, I was thinking of giving up on Deborah Smith. Though I loved A Place to Call Home, I haven’t been wowed by a book of hers since, and I was losing my enthusiasm for her writing. But I had this old Loveswept, Hold on Tight, in my TBR, and I thought,…
OK, what’s the Number 1 Female Fantasy? Forget sex for now. Let’s concentrate on the more imaginative stuff. In my opinion, it’s got to be one of two things: it’s either Healing the Tortured Soul or Taming the Rake. Both are delicious fantasies, and I’d say they regularly tangle with each other for the top…