A- Reviews

REVIEW:  A Galactic Holiday Anthology by Stacy Gail, Sasha Summers, and Anna Hackett

REVIEW: A Galactic Holiday Anthology by Stacy Gail, Sasha Summers, and Anna Hackett

When looking around at the holiday offerings this year, I saw this anthology from Carina Press. It was a complete stab in the dark for me as I knew nothing about any of the authors and SF/futuristic usually isn’t my thing. Perhaps having no expectations allowed me to just read in the moment but I(…)

REVIEW:  Lean on Me by HelenKay Dimon

REVIEW: Lean on Me by HelenKay Dimon

Dear HelenKay Dimon: Your Harlequin Intrigue books are autobuys for me, so when I saw that you had a straight contemporary romance coming out I snagged it right away without paying attention to what it was about. When I discovered one of the main characters was a professional climber, I was even happier, especially when(…)

REVIEW:  Knaves’ Wager by Loretta Chase

REVIEW: Knaves’ Wager by Loretta Chase

Dear Ms. Chase, I’m sure you are familiar with Choderlos de Laclos’ 18th century epistolary novel, Les Liaisons dangereuses. It has been adapted to stage and screen, and the cinematic versions include Dangerous Liaisons, Valmont, and Cruel Intentions, among others. In Les Liaisons dangereuses, the corrupt Vicomte de Valmont wants to seduce the married Madame(…)

REVIEW:  Suddenly You by Sarah Mayberry

REVIEW: Suddenly You by Sarah Mayberry

Dear Ms. Mayberry: Immediately after reading your latest, Suddenly You, I knew exactly what my review of it should say: “Yet another well-done book by Ms. Mayberry with appealing characters and a sweet love story.” However, DA readers expect a bit more. And while their time would be better spent reading your prose than mine, here(…)

REVIEW:  Diverse Energies edited by Tobias Buckell and Joe Monti

REVIEW: Diverse Energies edited by Tobias Buckell and Joe Monti

Dear authors, When I first heard the premise of this anthology, I was thrilled. Science fiction and dystopia stories about multicultural characters and worlds written by diverse authors? Sign me up! I say science fiction and dystopia because I’m not entirely sure how this anthology is being marketed and to be fair, the lines are(…)

REVIEW:  His Very Own Girl by Carrie Lofty

REVIEW: His Very Own Girl by Carrie Lofty

Dear Ms. Lofty, I put off writing this review. Had I written it right after finishing His Very Own Girl, I’d have nattered on and about the importance of abandoning partisan politics and working together for a greater good. But, once I calmed down and stopped bawling–His Very Own Girl is a surpassingly affecting novel–I realized I don’t have to beseech anyone to do(…)

REVIEW:  Archangel’s Storm by Nalini Singh

REVIEW: Archangel’s Storm by Nalini Singh

Dear Ms. Singh, I’ll be honest, this is a book I’ve been waiting for since your Guild Hunters series began and we first met the Archangel Raphael’s spymaster, Jason. So I started Archangel’s Storm with a sense of great anticipation. What I found was a quieter than expected romance, but one that I found great(…)

REVIEW:  Riveted by Meljean Brook

REVIEW: Riveted by Meljean Brook

Dear Ms. Brook: “For two people who don’t fit anywhere, we get along well” sums up the romance between two outsiders, David and Annika.  This unusual romance between a the volcanic naturalist David and the airship engineer Annika might be my favorite entry in your Iron Seas series.  It is one of my favorite books(…)

REVIEW:  Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

REVIEW: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Dear Ms. Wein, I had not heard of your book before one of our posters mentioned it in glowing terms. In a way that managed to catch my attention yet not sound like fawning praise, she described it and urged people to try it. I bought it but then set it aside as I had(…)

REVIEW:  A Civil Contract by Georgette Heyer

REVIEW: A Civil Contract by Georgette Heyer

Dear Readers, Sourcebooks is having a sale on Georgette Heyer ebooks this week (August 14-20), so I thought it would be a good time for another Heyer review. I noticed that A Civil Contract is one of the books on sale, and I’ve been wanting to write about it. Heyer fans really split on this(…)

REVIEW:  Hearts of Darkness by Kira Brady

REVIEW: Hearts of Darkness by Kira Brady

Dear Ms. Brady: I picked this book up randomly from my pile of paper ARCs. I had no preconception of the story. The ARC had a plain blue paper cover and while it may have had a cover flat attached to it at one time, it was nowhere to be found when I began reading.(…)

REVIEW:  Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch

REVIEW: Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch

Please note: This review is for book three in a series, so it contains some spoilers for the previous two books. Readers who would like to hear more about the Peter Grant series but remain spoiler free are invited to check out the review of the first book, Midnight Riot (also known as Rivers of(…)

REVIEW:  Ravishing the Heiress by Sherry Thomas

REVIEW: Ravishing the Heiress by Sherry Thomas

Dear Ms. Thomas: I knew by the end of chapter one, that this book would be one I would remember for a long time. In just that first chapter a well of emotion swelled up and closed the passage of my throat such that each subsequent page read triggered feeling. “Come on baby, make it(…)

REVIEW:  Can’t Buy Me Love by Molly O’Keefe

REVIEW: Can’t Buy Me Love by Molly O’Keefe

Dear Ms. O’Keefe: When Jane told me I needed to read your first single-title contemporary, I didn’t hesitate in requesting it from Edelweiss. Jane knows my taste well enough that if she says I’m going to like a book, I am there. And what do you know – she was right again. Can’t Buy Me(…)

REVIEW:  The Church Mouse by Graham Oakley

REVIEW: The Church Mouse by Graham Oakley

Dear Mr. Oakley, “The Church Mouse” was recommended to me by Cate, one our readers here at Dear Author, a few years ago. I took note of the title, wrote down your name and had always meant to seek out the book. With the best intentions it took me a while to finally match “I(…)