Mairi Sinclair, newspaper publisher, meets Lord Provost of Edinburgh Logan Harrison while attempting to crash a lecture at the men-only Edinburgh Press Club. The Press Club is a private institution, and as such denies Mairi entrance. For some reason, she decides that this is Logan’s fault, and publishes a scurrilous poem about him. For some…
There’s good news, and there’s so-so news. The good news is that The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences is a rollicking, kick-ass, funtastic series from a Kiwi and American duo, and I look forward to more adventures featuring Agents Books and Braun. The so-so news is that the second book, while a good read, suffers a…
Those of you who have been complaining of cookie cutter romances – run out and get Hope Tarr’s Vanquished. It may be set in England during the Victorian period, but it’s very far from the usual historical romance. This is a serious and sometimes gritty book with a most unusual hero and heroine. Harry Stone…
Lawrence of Arabia meets Sylvia Pankhurst? Though this is the Victorian rather than the Edwardian era, the idea of a be-robed English soldier and fiery suffragist falling in love in Egypt is undoubtedly an intriguing one, and one ably executed by Melody Thomas. Brianna Donally, a photographer, and her sister-in-law, Lady Alexandra, a renowned archeologist,…
The Bachelor List is the first in a trilogy focusing on three sisters living in early 1900’s England. In this installment Constance Duncan holds center stage, in a romance that pits her feminist sensibilities against those of Max Ensor, a politician who believes women should stay at home – barefoot and pregnant. While much of…
If you like those Indian romances – you know the ones, where the chieftan hero captures and falls for the beautiful blonde heroine who then proceeds to bring the light of progress to his backward tribe – then you’re sure to love this book, which is the exact same plot, transplanted on another continent and…
Take a little trip to a coastal Carolina town and meet a couple of engaging characters whose struggle against each other – and themselves – provides for a few hours of entertaining reading. A solid sense of time and place, and a good dose of humor, add to the enjoyment of reading Tides of Passion,…
It looks like I’m going to be in the minority when it comes to this installment of Susan Wiggs’ Chicago Fire trilogy. While the heroine is an interesting and different character, I had a hard time connecting with her or the love story. On the night of the terrible Chicago Fire, suffragist Lucy Hathaway has…
Nineteenth century New York was a place with as much decadence and grandeur as Regency London. It also had a host of recognizable settings and lots of famous characters to play walk-on roles. Betina Krahn’s Sweet Talking Man makes good use of this richness, taking readers everywhere from an upscale brothel, to a settlement house…
Despite promising sparks early in the book, The Brightest Flame fails to live up to its name, ending with more fizzle and smoke than fire. Lively but shallow characters with questionable ethics, writing that glows lavender, and an implausible plot filled with invented conflicts left me burned out long before the end. The year is…