The plot of In Search of a Prince is a twist on the classic story of Cinderella. In this case, a young woman discovers she is heiress to a royal throne in a faraway country, travels there to explore her options, and falls in love. The country is a West African island nation, and In…
Seoulmates is the conclusion to the story begun in Heart and Seoul. I strongly recommend reading the books in order, since events in this volume build upon what happened in the first novel. When Hara travelled to Seoul, it was with the sole intent of finding her birth mother. As a Korean adoptee, she had…
Caridad Piñeiro’s multigenerational saga about the Cuban experience is a lovely and well-told slice of women’s fiction that gives us the life stories of three wholly different women who each experience what it’s like to be biracial in the modern world. It struck a deep chord with me, a personal one, but had some flaws…
There is a single off plot point in Ramón and Julieta, but you’ll be darned to notice it while you’re nose-deep in the thick of reading it. It’s fun, light-hearted, and without the heavy sturm und drang of your usual Romeo and Juliet retelling; it’s got a lot of spirit and enough spice to make…
Has anyone ever chronicled (and added magic to) the lives of women with such grace and beauty as Isabel Allende? If you’ve read one of the author’s books you don’t need me to tell you what you’ll find between the beautiful covers of Violeta. Magical realism. And the story of one woman’s life and loves….
Mona Shroff’s The Five Day Reunion is about a divorced couple pretending to be married for the duration of the hero’s sister’s wedding so as not to shock his recently-ill grandfather or provide fodder for his Indian aunts to criticize his mother. I didn’t see enough reason for the couple to go along with it,…
I reviewed Jayci Lee’s Harlequin debut Temporary Wife Temptation, and while it didn’t quite meet my expectations, Lee has released a lot of books in the meantime, so I thought perhaps practice had made perfect. In th case of her latest book, A Song of Secrets, the answer is, sadly, no. Angie Han and her…
Playing House, a novella by Ruby Lang, is first in a trilogy I’ve been meaning to read. The best parts of this story definitely live up to the rave reviews I’ve seen on Twitter, though I found myself wishing that there was a bit more to this one. Fay Liu has quite the meet-cute with…
Mimi Matthews tops herself with the first novel in what appears to be a fresh and brilliant new series with The Siren of Sussex, the tale of an independent horsewoman and the tailor who vows to make her the most talked about equestrienne in all of England – both of whom suddenly discover love in…
One True Loves is sweet, honest and touching in its portrayal of that space between being a teenager and becoming an independent college student. The delightful Lenore Bennett is brilliant, talented and no romantic – though she wants to be in love, has tried to be in love, and has lost repeatedly along the way. …