Second chance romances, while one of my favorite tropes, often require a deft hand. The reason the relationship didn’t work out in the first place has to be handled with care so that audiences are still rooting for the couple. I don’t love stories where someone cheated, for instance, but stories where life happened and…
Sally Malcolm’s Rebel is a novella/short story that acts as a prequel to the full-length novel King’s Man, out later this month. It’s short and sweet, but packs quite an emotional punch as it charts the development of the relationship between two young men from very different backgrounds whose lives will be forever changed by…
Jenn Bennett has become the creative vanguard of the YA genre. Chasing Lucky is another jewel in her crown; beautifully written, a touch heartbreaking, a lot beautiful, it’s a gorgeous piece of work Josie Saint-Martin, an amateur photographer with a free-spirited, irresponsible (and free loving – the town has nicknamed her ‘Wild’ for her endless…
Murder at Pirate’s Cove is the first book in a new series of cozy mysteries by Josh Lanyon – a kind of Adrien English meets Jessica Fletcher if you will! All the ingredients of the genre are there – a small village community, eccentric characters, dastardly doings and an intrepid hero; in this case one…
Breakwater Bay is the story of preservationist Mari Hollis. On the brink of turning thirty, Mari is sure her life is going to work out just the way she wants it to. She has a job she loves, restoring one of Rhode Island’s gilded age mansions to its former splendor. Her boyfriend is sure to…
A Hundred Summers is the second novel by Beatriz Williams (the hardcover, mainstream fiction alter ego of historical romance writer Juliana Gray). It’s a compelling novel, one that builds relationships and characters and suspense with great skill. Lily Dane was drawn to Nick Greenwald from the moment she first saw him. Her friend, Budgie Byrne,…
I’ve read and enjoyed several of Susan Wiggs’ historical romances; I’ve marveled at how she can bring periods and locations as diverse as Renaissance Venice and Gilded Age Chicago to life, and people them with vivid, believable characters. Passing Through Paradise is her second contemporary and the first I’ve read. While there was a lot…
Back in the Gilded Age, American Society gathered to meet, show off, and choose their mates at a place that was as exclusive and rule-bound as Almacks in the regency period. That place was Newport, Rhode Island. A Perfect Wife is set in Newport and several historical figures play roles in this fascinating novel. Anne…
I didn’t think You Again could possibly live up to the blurbs adorning its covers. “I loved it!” says the quote from Karen Robards. “. . . impossible to put down until the final, wonderfully satisfying page is turned,” said Kay Hooper. “Heh,” I thought. But what do you know? Robards et al were right….