The best historical romances are those that draw you into another world and make you see, smell and touch what is going on, sharing the emotions and the mindset of characters who are thousands of miles and hundreds of years removed from your own experience. This is what happened to me when I read (in…
I’ve tried several previous Westerns by Jodi Thomas, but this was the first I truly enjoyed. While it isn’t perfect, it is a sweet and effective romance from start to finish. Travis McMurray is a half-Irish, half-Apache Texas Ranger. His father was killed when he was very young, and his mother died soon after giving…
Okay, so sexy (British, no less!) 33-year old billionaires are pretty scarce on the ground. Ditto a mid-twenties professional female thief who scales walls and enters lavish mansions through sun roofs and windows to steal rare objects of art. But, anybody willing to forget about reality and let themselves go with Ms. Enoch’s improbable, over-the-top,…
Initially this new-to-me author had my brain firing on all cylinders. The setting (though made up) is not England, the heroine is a thief with little background, and the hero is tortured for logical reasons. That’s all good – very good. What’s less successful is the amount of time spent rehashing these elements, which made…
Okay, unquestionably, the “heroine as thief” thing has been done before. Ditto the guilt-ridden nobleman determined to drown his troubles in sex and alcohol. But, despite their undeniable familiarity, these tried-and-true characters spring to new and entertaining life in The Devil to Pay, the newest release from an author I believe is one of the…
Alison Tyler’s latest book, Sticky Fingers, takes the reader into the world of a professional thief and sexual thrill seeker. This book is not for the faint at heart. Nor is it for anyone seeking even a smidgen of romance, even though the cover calls it “an erotic romance.” Nonsense; this is pure erotica. By…
Honest Illusions is, quite simply, Nora Roberts at her best. And since romance novels just don’t get any better than Nora at the top of her game, that’s saying something. When I first read this book as a novice romance reader in 1997, I was blown away. “Oh! Ding ding ding! So this is why…
Over the Edge is a book I left sitting in the TBR pile for a while after I bought it, having been burned by a few too many recent weak Harlequin Blazes. I wish I’d picked it up sooner. An excellent combination of strong character, plot, and sensuality, it’s definitely one of the best in…
The Colonial Period and the Revolutionary War are favorite settings of mine, but books set during these times are very hard to come by. I suspect this is because this time period is not really familiar to a lot of people; writing a book set in the 1700s requires some research. I’m pleased to report…
I’m sure you can think of any number of romances that are based on fairy tales – Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast are very popular candidates for transformation. But Jack and the Beanstalk? I was skeptical when I picked up Jackie and the Giant, but Linda Jones gives the old story a few new…