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GUEST REVIEW: Celtic Storms by Delaney Rhodes

GUEST REVIEW: Celtic Storms by Delaney Rhodes

Dear Delaney Rhodes, Last weekend I picked up your new book, Celtic Storms, from Amazon because it was free, and the cover, designed by the talented Kim Killion, was slick and very pretty. The setting also intrigued me since it was set in late medieval Ireland. Granted, I can be picky about Irish-set novels, as(…)

GUEST REVIEW: Surprises According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney

GUEST REVIEW: Surprises According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney

Allow me to engage in some nepotism here.  Yesterday, tot came home and reported that she had started her own review blog pursuant to instruction from the teacher. Instead of the book reports that I used to write as a school child (or perhaps in addition to), tot and her class are learning to write(…)

GUEST FRIDAY FILM REVIEW: Starman

GUEST FRIDAY FILM REVIEW: Starman

Starman: 1984 Starring Jeff Bridges and Karen Allen Genre: Science Fiction/Romance Grade: B+ Jeff Bridges’ star turn in CRAZY HEART got me thinking about all his other movies I’d enjoyed. From my memory banks, I pulled a favorite I had seen but once, STARMAN. Would it be as sweet a romance on second viewing? But(…)

GUEST REVIEW: The Black Hawk by Joanna Bourne

GUEST REVIEW: The Black Hawk by Joanna Bourne

Reader Christine sent me this beautiful review of Joanna Bourne’s book, The Black Hawk, and I am honored to share it with the DA readership. ****** The novel “The Black Hawk” begins in 1818, six hundred yards from number saeven Meeks street where Justine, a former member of the French “Police Secrete,” long estranged from her(…)

GUEST POST:  An Essay on Working Heroines

GUEST POST: An Essay on Working Heroines

Like many romance fans, I recently read the newest book by Loretta Chase, Silk Is For Seduction.  Like many fans, I too loved it.  It is a great example of the qualities I look for in a romance: interesting characters, engaging storyline and witty, sometimes startlingly funny, dialogue.  It also seemed refreshingly different.  Now, I’ve(…)

Guest Opinion from Reader DM: The Defeated Heroine

Guest Opinion from Reader DM: The Defeated Heroine

Back in April, I had an exchange with poster Liza Lester in response to Janine’s review of Petals and Thorns. Liza wrote: But it occurred to me that if the forced seduction were presented as (rather mild, actually) BDSM erotica, if it were explicitly a game, or limited to a scene, I would have no(…)

GUEST REVIEW: Harlequin Treasury Marriage on the Rebound by Michelle Reid

GUEST REVIEW: Harlequin Treasury Marriage on the Rebound by Michelle Reid

I read Ried’s Gold Ring of Betrayal and The Bellini Bride after Dear Author’s recommendation several months ago and enjoyed them.  When I saw that some of Ried’s backlist was being republished I purchased Marriage on the Rebound.  I enjoyed the angst and the occasional humor in the story.  I even liked Rafe once some of the back-story was revealed.  What annoyed me was that the heroine in(…)

GUEST REVIEW: Harlequin Treasury Crime of Passion by Lynne Graham

GUEST REVIEW: Harlequin Treasury Crime of Passion by Lynne Graham

Fifteen years ago, I wasn’t reading category romances, so all the books that have recently been released in the Harlequin Treasury are new to me. I’m not reading with the rose-tinted spectacles of nostalgia. What I am doing is glomming backlists for some of my current favourite authors. Or, I thought I would be. But(…)

Guest Review: Northern Lights Trilogy by Cindy Gerard

Guest Review: Northern Lights Trilogy by Cindy Gerard

Book #1: The Bride Wore Blue The cheesy title refers to the epilogue, but I’m glad I took the time to dive into The Bride Wore Blue. JD “Blue” Hazzard fell in love with Maggie “Stretch” Adams when they were teenagers, and his unrequited love has remained for fifteen years. He followed her career (she(…)

Harlequin Treasury Guest Review: Fletcher’s Baby by Anne McAllister

Harlequin Treasury Guest Review: Fletcher’s Baby by Anne McAllister

I loved Fletcher’s baby. Sam Fletcher(the guy dumped in Finn’s Twins) comes home from Tokyo to find his mother telling him that his Aunt Hattie left him everything, her inn and Josie. Josie came into his aunt’s life at fifteen after roaming from foster home to foster home and is now the inn-keeper. Seven months(…)

Guest Backlist Review:  Secrets of Midnight by Miriam Minger

Guest Backlist Review: Secrets of Midnight by Miriam Minger

The title is kind of gothicky, and I’ve always enjoyed a good gothic, so I was comfortable with that.  And the first page tells me the story is set in Cornwall in 1813.  As a great fan of both Daphne duMaurier and Winston Graham, I looked forward to another Cornish tale.  Unfortunately, Secrets of Midnight didn’t stand(…)

Harlequin Treasury Guest Review: Mommy by Suprise by Paula Detmer Riggs

Harlequin Treasury Guest Review: Mommy by Suprise by Paula Detmer Riggs

Prudy & Case’s first marriage ended when Case couldn’t forgive Prue for her deception. She desperately wanted a child (while Case didn’t) that she tricked him into getting her pregnant. She not only lost her baby, but her husband as well. Eight years later Prudy and Case meet again. They let their attraction run loose(…)

Harlequin Treasury Guest Review: Cassidy’s Courtship by Sharon Mignerey

Harlequin Treasury Guest Review: Cassidy’s Courtship by Sharon Mignerey

Cassidy’s Courtship was a difficult one to rate since there were so many moments I just wanted to hug the heroine Brenna for all her suffering and applaud her next for carrying on. When Cole Cassidy meets Brenna they are at the opposite side. He is prosecuting her for a bad check for a friend(…)

Harlequin Treasury Guest Review: Daddy By Accident by Paula Detmer Riggs

Harlequin Treasury Guest Review: Daddy By Accident by Paula Detmer Riggs

Stacy’s life changed dramatically since her husband Len was attacked while on the job. He went crazy, burned her house and then while driving recklessly drove his car into a tree and managed to get himself killed. Now Stacy is in a hospital, pregnant & nearly broke. The one stroke of luck was the man(…)

Harlequin Treasury Guest Review:  Beauty & the Beasts by Janice Kay Johnson

Harlequin Treasury Guest Review: Beauty & the Beasts by Janice Kay Johnson

I don’t usually read category romances, but after enjoying several that were recommended on DearAuthor.com, I thought I’d give this one a try. I’m glad I did, because despite its publication in the nineties, it holds up remarkably well. Dr. Eric Bergstrom is a small town vet approached by the stunning Madeline Hunter for vet(…)