Carla Kelly has long been a favorite among AAR staffers and readers, but a relatively hard to find one if you do your primary reading out of libraries and used book stores, as I do. I did manage to get my hands on the much acclaimed Beau Crusoe, which I enjoyed but which was a…
Narrated by Kirsten Potter Wow, another new-to-me narrator and another fantastic one as well. Kristen Potter nails the characters of The Spymaster’s Lady and one can easily differentiate the numerous male characters, even spymaster Grey with his numerous disguises. Ms. Potter performs the part of the young French spy, Annique, with a beautiful French accent….
What is special about historical romance is that in the hands of the right author it can transport you to love in another time, another place. Carla Kelly is exactly that type of writer, able to bring the Regency Era to life and people it with honorable, amazing characters that make you fall in love…
With this latest installment in the Pink Carnation series, Lauren Willig takes us beyond the front lines of the Napoleonic Wars, off to British India. Penelope Staines, nee Deveraux, has always been a flirt, but when word gets out that she was unsupervised in a bedroom alone with Lord Frederick, marriage is forced upon them….
I have been waiting, along with all the rest of Laura Kinsale’s fans, for Lessons in French for a very long time. Now, having received it and read it, I can say that it’s good, but it’s not what I was expecting and it’s not my favorite book in Kinsale’s oeuvre. Lady Callista Taillefaire is…
This is a very lucky year for Carla Kelly fans: two new books to enjoy, after years of more occasional publishing. If you’ve read Kelly before, you know her books stand out. In a veritable sea of Duke This and Earl That, she writes about ordinary people who fall in love. Her language is never…
Carla Kelly can do no wrong! It’s a rare treat to read a novel with the perfect blend of wit, charm, humility and intelligence. I could be referring to anything on Kelly’s backlist as they all fit the bill. But I am charged with reviewing Marrying the Captain. A sweeter job cannot be found. Like…
I hate to say this, but fond as I am of a nice long historical romance, Once A Rake would have been so much better had it been a lot shorter. The characters were very nice, very likable, and I always enjoy a Beauty and the Beast story, but it rambled on and on and…
I almost passed on reviewing The Spymaster’s Lady. The cheesy cover (open ruffle-shirted hunk – yawn) and even cheesier title (oh, no – not another spymaster!) led me to believe that it would be yet another boring, cookie-cutter, Regency super-spy romance. I could not have been more wrong. Joanna Bourne hasn’t had a book published…
As a long time romance reader, sometimes I find myself forgetting why I love this genre so much. At times titles, plots, and characters all blend together until all I can say is “love prevails in the end”. But at other times I read a book that refreshingly, uniquely, and unequivocally reminds me just why…