Book Reviews

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: Please Don’t Stop the Music by Jane Lovering

REVIEW: Please Don’t Stop the Music by Jane Lovering

This book won the RNA Romance Novel of the Year Award for 2011. The RNA Award is unique because it involves readers, authors and other industry professionals working together to award one book. I thought it would be fun to repost the review. “How much can you hide? Jemima Hutton is determined to build a [...]

REVIEW:  The Fireman Who Loved Me by Jennifer Bernard

REVIEW: The Fireman Who Loved Me by Jennifer Bernard

Dear Ms. Bernard: The romance of this story was enjoyable but the sweet and sometimes serious nature of the romance was offset by over the top descriptions of the “villains” of the story creating a cacophonous tone mismatch. A late conflict arose in the book and while it could have provided a challenging and very real [...]

REVIEW:  Feyland: The Dark Realm by Anthea Sharp

REVIEW: Feyland: The Dark Realm by Anthea Sharp

Dear Ms. Sharp, There is a strong stigma surrounding self-published YA novels that suggests that they are all badly written and derivative. Even with authors like Amanda Hocking becoming successes in both print and digital publishing, there is an inherent idea that self-published YA is bad and a constant stream of riffs on the latest [...]

MINI REVIEW: Rock Chick Revenge, Rock Chick Reckoning, Rock Chick Regret

MINI REVIEW: Rock Chick Revenge, Rock Chick Reckoning, Rock Chick Regret

Rock Chick Revenge by Kristen Ashley This is a friends to lovers story and generally speaking I love those. Luke moved next door to Ava when she was eight and she promptly fell in love. Luke stoked those feelings unintentionally by championing Ava. When Luke’s dad dies, Ava and Luke promise to go out for [...]

REVIEW:  Shadows on the Moon by Zoe Marriott

REVIEW: Shadows on the Moon by Zoe Marriott

Dear Ms. Marriott, I’m always on the lookout for books featuring nonwhite characters so when I stumbled across your new novel on NetGalley, I had to request it. I know my previous encounter with your work was so-so but the experience certainly wasn’t enough to turn me off to the possibility of giving you another [...]

MINI REVIEW: Rock Chick Rescue, Rock Chick Redemption, Rock Chick Renegade series by Kristen Ashley

MINI REVIEW: Rock Chick Rescue, Rock Chick Redemption, Rock Chick Renegade series by Kristen Ashley

The following are mini reviews of books 2, 3, and 4 in the Rock Chick series by Kristen Ashley.  I read these in lieu of my category books even though they are each about twice as long as an HP.  All the books feature a woman in jeopardy, girl parties with the Rock Chicks that [...]

REVIEW:  Princess Furball by Charlotte Huck

REVIEW: Princess Furball by Charlotte Huck

Dear Ms. Huck, Your book “Princess Furball” was recommended to me by etv13, one of our readers here, after I posted a review of the movie “Donkey Skin.” I instantly fell in love with the name since I have two little Princess Furballs at home. Well, I finally got my own copy of the book [...]

REVIEW:  Rock Chick by Kristen Ashley

REVIEW: Rock Chick by Kristen Ashley

Dear Ms. Ashley: After Kati D reviewed Knight for Dear Author, I had to read it myself. It was rough but Ruthie Knox, in the comments, suggested I give Sweet Dreams a try and I did. Sweet Dreams is an interesting story and one that I am going to review later but I actually went [...]

REVIEW:  A Different Kind of Forever by Dee Ernst

REVIEW: A Different Kind of Forever by Dee Ernst

Dear Ms. Ernst, Once upon a time, in a seedy bar, many years ago, I met a man, fell for him on the spot, married him, and decades later count myself lucky to have and hold him as my own. And yet, as I read your book, the wonderful A Different Kind of Forever, I found [...]

REVIEW:  Embrace of the Damned by Anya Bast

REVIEW: Embrace of the Damned by Anya Bast

Dear Ms. Bast, I have long been a fan of your books, particularly your Elemental Witches series. I find that your voice lends itself well to building paranormal worlds, and I’ve always appreciated your ability to build a fascinating mythology while never losing sight of the main couple’s romance. Which is why I was disconcerted [...]

Featuring The BookSmugglers

Featuring The BookSmugglers

  I don’t know that you’ll find a better voice in the blogosphere for YA books and SFF books that Thea and Ana from The Booksmugglers.  I’m not the only one who believes this.  The Booksmugglers are one of the most trafficked book blogs on the internet.  They are bloggers at Tor.com and are now [...]

REVIEW:  Gaijin by Remittance Girl

REVIEW: Gaijin by Remittance Girl

Dear Remittance Girl, Your novella, Gaijin, caught me by surprise. A friend recommended it to me on Twitter and then loaned it to me through my Kindle. I had heard about it and investigated purchasing it once before, but shied away from making an actual purchase. Somehow, I wasn’t expecting as much thoughtfulness as I [...]

GAME REVIEW: Matches and Matrimony: A Pride and Prejudice Tale

GAME REVIEW: Matches and Matrimony: A Pride and Prejudice Tale

I was pruning my hard drive when I stumbled across a game labelled Matches and Matrimony: A Pride and Prejudice Tale. I somehow forgot I bought this game last year. Since I was in the mood for a game set in Jane Austen’s fictional universe, I was all for it. Even when I discovered it’s not an [...]

REVIEW:  The Saturnalia Effect by Heidi Belleau,Violetta Vane

REVIEW: The Saturnalia Effect by Heidi Belleau,Violetta Vane

Dear Ms. Belleau and Ms. Vane. I found this story by clickingclickingclicking through the various posted responses to our post about M/M romance and Fan Fiction. Heidi gives good blog and then I was intrigued, as I always am with prison stories, by the short she wrote with Violetta Vane. This story is fabulous, I’m [...]