The past may seem the safest place to be . . . but it is the most dangerous time to be alive. . . . Jamie Fraser and Claire Randall were torn apart by the Jacobite Rising in 1746, and it took them twenty years to find each other again. Now the American Revolution threatens…
Calling Outlander a time travel romance is like calling a Dove Bar ice cream on a stick. Mere labels can’t possibly prepare you for the totally engrossing and sensual experience of either one. If you are ready for 850 pages packed with action, sex, life and death, then take the plunge. But then be prepared…
I credit Diana Gabaldon with my return to romance reading after a nearly 30-year hiatus, and to the discovery of All About Romance as my go-to site for reading recommendations. I am a bit obsessive compulsive in my reading and back in 2006 was in the midst of a Pride and Prejudice sequel run when…
Truth be told, I mostly got my copy of Songs of Love and Death because it features a story by Linnea Sinclair, an auto-buy author for me. There are stories by a lot of other authors in it that I admire or have heard good things about, so that was an added inducement. All in…
Have you ever wondered how reviewers balance review-reading and books for fun? Everyone does it differently, but I’m fairly regimented; starting at the beginning of the month, I’ll read three books for review (that’s our standard reviewer commitment), then my book club book. If I have any month left over (often I don’t), I’ll read…
Such is Diana Gabaldon’s talent for characterization, that even when her plots meander, she still holds my interest. When I first started readingLord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade, I was completely caught up in the story and quickly rushed through almost half the book. Unfortunately, it was a few days before I managed…
Set a large chunk of time aside if you are planning to read A Breath of Snow and Ashes. Make that several large chunks of time, unless you are blessed with the ability to read at super speed, and have a cast iron behind. This book is 979 pages of small print and narrow margins….
Diana Gabaldon writes in her introduction to Lord John and the Private Matter that she referred to the book as a “short story” until her agents (quite correctly) informed her that at 301 pages, a Gabaldon short story is the length of most books. That observation, I think, might be the key to understanding this…
Voyager, the third installment in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series, is a sharp contrast to the previous book, Dragonfly in Amber. Whereas Dragonfly began and ended with Claire and Jamie separated for twenty years, Voyager, as the title indicates, is the story of Claire’s return to the past and to Jamie. After finding out that Jamie…
When The Fiery Cross arrived in the mail, I knew it already had a leg up on the competition. I can’t remember another time when I have been so excited just to open a package and hold a book. I had another book to finish the day it came, so I kept giving it fond,…