Meredith Duran

REVIEW:  That Scandalous Summer by Meredith Duran

REVIEW: That Scandalous Summer by Meredith Duran

Dear Meredith Duran: I’ve been a Meredith Duran fangirl since The Duke of Shadows was published in 2008; none of your books has received less than a B+ from me. So naturally each new book is eagerly anticipated. For perhaps the first time, reading That Scandalous Summer, I ended up feeling…disappointed. Further, I’m not sure(…)

Dabney’s Best of 2012 list

When Jane asked for lists of our “Best of 2012,” I got stuck on what best meant. Did it mean the best in terms of quality? The best in terms of most enjoyable? The best in terms of standouts? Did books I called best this year have to be as good as books I called(…)

If You Like…Romances Set in South Asia or featuring South Asian characters

If You Like…Romances Set in South Asia or featuring South Asian characters

Dear Author guest post by Kim T. A few years ago, I watched a Hindi language, historical epic film called Jodhaa Akbar, starring Bollywood superstars Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.  As a librarian with a graduate degree in European history, I was intrigued by the 16th century historical detail in the film.  And I(…)

REVIEW:  At Your Pleasure by Meredith Duran

REVIEW: At Your Pleasure by Meredith Duran

Dear Ms. Duran— As I read At Your Pleasure, I wondered if you will ever write a book I dislike. It seems unlikely. I love three of the books you’ve written and the two I don’t love—A Lady’s Lesson in Scandal and Wicked Becomes You—I like tremendously. I am enamored of your use of language, your deftness of(…)

REVIEW: A Lady’s Lesson in Scandal by Meredith Duran

REVIEW: A Lady’s Lesson in Scandal by Meredith Duran

Dear Ms. Duran, To my way of thinking, a new book by you is always a cause for celebration, given that your previous books have all earned A minuses or B pluses from me. So I sat down to read A Lady’s Lesson in Scandal with high hopes – hopes that were luckily not disappointed.(…)

REVIEW: Wicked Becomes You by Meredith Duran

REVIEW: Wicked Becomes You by Meredith Duran

Dear Ms. Duran, Since publishing your first romance in 2008, you have quickly become one of my favorite and most dependable authors; I have not given any of your first three books a grade lower than an A-. So I looked forward to Wicked Becomes You with a fair amount of anticipation. The book opens(…)

REVIEW: Written on Your Skin by Meredith Duran

Dear Ms. Duran, Since I’ve acquired my lovely Sony PRS-505, I’ve used the handy-dandy “bookmark” button to mark notable pages in a book that I may want to refer back to when I write a review. Depending on the book, the bookmarks may be noting something that worked for me or something that didn’t. When(…)

REVIEW: Bound by Your Touch by Meredith Duran

Dear Ms. Duran, I was a big fan of your debut The Duke of Shadows, published last year. I can’t say how excited I was to learn that you had not one but two books scheduled for release in 2009, one in June and the other in July. Having now read the first, I can(…)

REVIEW: Bound by Your Touch by Meredith Duran

Dear Ms. Duran: I was probably the only member of the Dear Author reviewing team that didn’t love your freshman debut, DUKE OF SHADOWS. For me, it read like a love story between you and India and not so much a love story between the characters. I admit that despite the urging of your critique(…)

REVIEW: The Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran

Dear Ms. Duran, One of my fellow reviewers knows you, but I went into this book without any preconceived notions. I didn’t read reviews (including those here), interviews, cover copy, even your posts here at DA. I knew nothing except Janine thought highly of your work. And while that’s usually a good recommendation for me,(…)

REVIEW: Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran

Dear Ms. Duran: Your path to publication is fairly well known to the readers of Dear Author. We posted updates about the Gather contest, had the opportunity to read your first two chapters online, and celebrated your victory in winning the first ever Gathers.com romance writing contest. A little while later, Janine shared with us(…)

REVIEW: The Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran

Dear Ms. Duran: This is a difficult review for me to write. Sometimes, after reading a book, I have so few thoughts that it takes me a long time to marshal enough feedback for a substantive review. Other times – as with The Duke of Shadows – I have so many thoughts and instinctive reactions(…)