Temporary Partner, the first book in a new series of romantic mysteries from Nicky James, features two rival detectives who team up to solve a missing persons case. It’s a thoroughly entertaining read and I raced through it in a couple of sittings; it’s fast-paced, tightly-plotted and the sexual tension between the two leads is…
Début novels can be a bit of a gamble, but I’m glad to report that Lily Chu’s The Stand-In is a risk worth taking. Gracie Reed is the biracial daughter of a white Canadian man and a Chinese mother now struggling with dementia. First, her boss sexually harasses and then fires her. Next, a paparazzo…
Out of the Ashes is the third and final book in Jenn Burke’s Ashes & Dust series of paranormal romances set in and around Toronto, featuring vampire investigator Evan Fournier, his lover Colin Zhang – a phoenix – and their extended family of werewolves, vampires, witches – and a god. The author does include information…
Kamila Knows Best is a gently funny, charming romcom that upends Jane Austen’s Emma and has a lot of fun with its energetic heroine and engaging premise. Kamila Hussain is a Toronto accountant with a warm, closely-knit friend circle and an Instagram-famous dog, Darcy. She’s popular, happy and successful, she adores her father and tries…
Actor Ryan Kwok is back in Toronto after the promotional tour for his latest film, a rom-com that is getting less-than-stellar reviews. After years of constant work and the sudden death of his mother, Ryan is taking some much-needed time off. But as he tries to be supportive to his family, he struggles with his loss…
Note: There are spoilers for previous books in this review. Jenn Burke’s Ashes & Dust – a sequel/spin off to the Not Dead Yet series – got off to a strong start earlier this year with All Fired Up, which finds Wes, Hudson and Evan running a successful PI business in Toronto five years after…
Anyone with a cable TV subscription has at least one channel that involves watching attractive and skilled characters do some kind of home renovation. That’s the theme behind Rosanna Leo’s Handymen series with a trio of brothers, Michael, Eli and Nick Zorn who have successfully parlayed their skills into a Toronto-based TV show with the…
Note: There are spoilers for the Not Dead Yet series in this review. I really enjoyed Jenn Burke’s Not Dead Yet series of paranormal romances and was delighted when I learned she was planning a follow-up series which would focus on ‘baby vamp’ Evan Fournier. Evan was a troubled young man living with depression (and…
Début author Eve Morton’s Holidays in Blue is billed by Carina Press as a “forced proximity Christmas romance” and the blurb goes on to say how the two principal characters find themselves stranded together for Christmas. Some of my favourite seasonal romances use that particular trope, so I decided to pick up this book for…
Did I buy this book because of the attractive East Asian man on the cover? Reader, I did. Was I disappointed? Reader, I was not. Amy Morrison has everything on track – a successful real estate career, a doctor fiancé named Mason, and the perfect three-bedroom house in a great Toronto neighborhood just waiting for…