May 17 2013
the “Cliff Notes” version of my review Dear Ms. Morgan: I did not like this book. For starters the heroine, Whitney Vidra, is a nasty piece of work: self-absorbed, manipulative, bitchy, and oh so superior to all the lesser beings around her. I endured page after page of her being a she-dick, waiting in vain for her(…)
May 14 2013
Dear Ms.Cowan, Your historical romance debut, Untamed, centers on Kit Sutherland, child of a fortune hunter and an earl’s daughter. Brought up in a shabby country manor, Kit lacks the manners of a well-born young lady. By contrast, Lydia, Kit’s younger sister, is poised, beautiful, and has made a successful entry into society thanks in(…)
May 8 2013
Dear Ms. Burrowes: I chose this book because the titular hero is a man ho. I read and enjoyed Claire Kent’s Escorted, a contemporary whose hero is a gigolo, and thought it would be fun to read a historical with the same premise. It wasn’t. Darius is well-written and has sympathetic leads. But the storyline never pulled(…)
May 1 2013
Dear Ms. Dryden: The Seduction Hypothesis is the sweetest book I’ve ever read involving stainless steel butt plugs and a spreader bar with a set of neoprene ankle cuffs. The hero Ben is just adorable. A few months ago he stupidly broke up with his now ex-girlfriend Lindsay because he’d panicked, an act he’s regretted since(…)
Apr 27 2013
Dear Ms. Dare, I may have had it with Spindle Cove, your Regency-era haven for unusual young women and the men who love them.* The place has become nettlesomely toothsome, rather like Gwyeth Paltrow gushing over adorable organic baby blankets. This novella, Beauty and the Blacksmith, is a quick, easy read, the equivalent of a(…)
Apr 20 2013
Dear Ms. Phillips: Your novels, when they work well, are like excellent banana pudding. I idolize banana pudding. It’s the ideal comfort/pleasure food. Good banana pudding is softly hued, has just enough variety in its makeup to keep it from being boring, is sweet without being cloying, and, after I’ve inhaled it, I’m unchanged but(…)
Apr 18 2013
I was curious how the authors of this anthology came up with the idea for it so I queried Ruthie Knox. Here’s her answer: Strangers on a Train started on Twitter, of all places. I ran across a Tumblr called “Hot Guys on the Train,” which consists entirely of Instagram-style cell phone pictures taken (presumably)(…)
Apr 11 2013
Dear Ms. Darby: Reading Entry Level Mistress was like going out on a date with a fun guy, the sort you start thinking, “Hmmm… He seems pretty cool. I think I’d like to see him again.” And then, blam, over dessert, he says, “Let me pay for dinner. I wanna get lucky.” I would have(…)
Apr 10 2013
I’m not addressing this review to Mr. Coben because the guy’s one of the world’s top-selling suspense writers–he was the first to win all of three of that genre’s top awards: the Edgar, the Shamus, and the Anthony. It seems unlikely he’ll see this review. I like Mr. Coben’s books especially his stand-alones. This is(…)
Apr 6 2013
Dear Ms. McKenna: After Hours is a gritty romance. It’s set in the economic wreck that is much of the state of Michigan. The protagonists work a “high security ward designed specifically for men who suffered from persistent, disruptive psychotic episodes.” The story contains poverty, violence, and people who just barely make it through each day. The(…)
Mar 31 2013
Dear Ms. London, I have read all the books in your The Secrets of Hadley Green series. (OK, I didn’t read the Christmas novella.) I seem to enjoy every other one. The first, The Year of Living Scandalously, failed to grab my attention. I liked the second, The Revenge of Lord Eberlin (my review is(…)
Mar 28 2013
Dear Ms. Grey: Wow, do I like this book. Which surprises me because, prior to reading Take What You Want, your New Adult romance, I’d yet to encounter a NA that did much for me. I had thought I was either too old and cranky and/or too surrounded by actual New Adults to enjoy tales(…)
Mar 20 2013
Dear Ms. Knox: Along Came Trouble is the second entry and first full novel in your Camelot series. The series is built around the Clark siblings who live in the small midwestern town of Camelot. I’ve read that your original story idea was about an LA rock star and the pregnant woman in Camelot he falls in(…)
Mar 16 2013
Dear Ms. Wildes: You are an author whose prose I’ve enjoyed in the past. Your 2009 novel, An Indecent Proposition (reviewed here by Jane), was a sexy fun read and I found the first book in the Whispers of Scandal series, Ruined by Moonlight, entertaining (My review is here.) Your latest, A Most Improper Rumor, however, left(…)
Mar 8 2013
The bitch had done her work well the day she’d convinced Baron Townsend that Quentin was the father of her bastard child. It had set Townsend off in a wild frenzy to avenge his youngest daughter’s so-called honor. Almost overnight, the man had set out to take from Quentin as much of the Devlyn fortune(…)
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