Historical western romances used to make up a large part of my reading quota, but in recent years, I’ve found myself gravitating toward other types of romance. However, when I read the blurb for Wild Rain, book two in Beverly Jenkins’ Women Who Dare series, I knew I had to return to the subgenre, even…
You know you’re in the hands of a master when you part the covers of a Beverly Jenkins book. Wild Rain is no exception to that rule, providing us with a wonderful romance worth falling into impassioned love with. Spring Lee is a self-possessed woman who lives on her own terms on her own land,…
A sexy marriage-in-trouble story, Strong, Silent Type is a quick but satisfying read. Misunderstandings have pushed librarian Libby and rancher Quinn McKay apart, but grappling with infertility is the root cause of most of their issues. It was nice to read a marriage-in-trouble story that didn’t rest on ‘I’m totally convinced my partner had an…
Are books read on vacation just better? While I wouldn’t say an awful book would suddenly become riveting when read in the shade of a palm tree, I do have some particularly fond memories of vacation reads. I read Courting Carrie on a cruise ship, on my honeymoon. So, you know, it’s kind of hard…
If you like Jo Goodman, you’re probably wishing there were more Wild West stories in the same vein. Fortunately for you, back in 1996, Patricia Potter wrote Diablo. Kane O’Brien (known as ‘Diablo’) can best be described as ‘white-trash Confederate’: not a former slave owner, he joined up hoping to finally belong to something, but…
In any given month, there are scores of historical romance novels released that are set in England within a decade or two of the Napoleonic Wars. The number of American historical romance novels is dwarfed by those set in Europe, which is surprising considering the vast majority of popular romance writers hail from the good…
Rocky Mountain Devil is book number ten in the Six Pack Ranch series. Luckily, for those who haven’t yet discovered this Canadian Rocky Mountain set series, each book is easily read as a standalone without a broad continuing story arc (other than some weddings and babies for previously profiled couples). As a fellow Canadian, I…
This is the third book in Ms. Brownley’s Undercover Ladies series and like the other two it turns the Wild West into a fun, funny and romantic place to be. Of course, there’s plenty of danger and hard work as well as serious subjects such as homicide. However, the writing and main events of the…
Texas Destiny received an A at AAR a while back and was selected for the NPR Top 100 Romances list, which I’m reading my way through. I had high hopes for it, but ultimately, it let me down. The hero wallowed in bitter self-loathing, and the heroine’s mix of genteel martyrdom and ability to save…
Beautiful Criminal by Shady Grace is a short erotica story about a young man who crash lands his plane in the Canadian Rockies. I found myself wishing it had been longer as I would have enjoyed spending more time with these characters. Mima Etu lives a quiet life in the rugged Rockies. She hunts for…