A Review Category

PRIDE WEEK Review & Giveaway: Sister Mischief by Laura Goode

PRIDE WEEK Review & Giveaway: Sister Mischief by Laura Goode

Dear Ms. Goode, I requested your book from NetGalley because it was labeled LGBT and YA. The pickings are slim for that kind of material there and I’ve been on the lookout for a gay teen romance. Sister Mischief isn’t a romance, but it’s a damned fine YA novel so I wasn’t disappointed. This is going to be a long review,(…)

REVIEW: The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen Woodiwiss

REVIEW: The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen Woodiwiss

Dear Romancelandia. This is the book. This one started…well, that’s up for debate. It certainly started a new type of romance. Yes, there were romances before TFATF. There were bestselling authors who unabashedly wrote romance, even in the same style as TFATF: The Sheik (1919), Gone With the Wind (1936), Rebecca (1938), Forever Amber (1944).(…)

REVIEW: Come Unto These Yellow Sands, by Josh Lanyon

REVIEW: Come Unto These Yellow Sands, by Josh Lanyon

Dear Mr. Lanyon, You are so well known for your series that some readers may be less familiar with your stand-alone books. I’ve done my part to avoid this possibility, and I was delighted to see that you were releasing a new stand-alone novel. Come Unto These Yellow Sands, like last year’s Fair Game, features an academic(…)

REVIEW: Camwolf by J.L. Merrow

REVIEW: Camwolf by J.L. Merrow

Dear Ms. Merrow. I have historically said I don’t read werewolf books, but when I saw your name, I said to hell with that rule (again). I love your short stories and was just thrilled to see a longer story by you. And wow, was it worth it. You are (obviously) English, you make no(…)

REVIEW: Honey Grove by Genell Dellin

REVIEW: Honey Grove by Genell Dellin

Dear Ms. Dellin, I had read some of your older historical novels when I first got back into reading romance lo these 15 years ago and, hate to say it but, though they were good, they didn’t set me on fire. The description of this book as the beginning of a “heartwarming new series” didn’t(…)

REVIEW: Yours to Keep by Shannon Stacey

REVIEW: Yours to Keep by Shannon Stacey

Dear Ms. Stacey: Robin read and reviewed your first two books. I agreed with Robin’s first book grade, but skimmed the second one. Hated the heroine, really. Sorry about that. When Angela James sent me Yours to Keep, I confess to being a bit leery of it. But Angie was very excited about it and(…)

REVIEW: Deconstruction by Kit Zheng

REVIEW: Deconstruction by Kit Zheng

Dear Ms. Zheng. Dianne Fox recommended this book on her LiveJournal and since she’s part of my “trust network” and I was intrigued by the description — “seriously fantastic” and “dark and gritty and wrenching” — I went out and bought it. And oh, am I glad I did. Tomas is a stripper and a(…)

REVIEW: The Music Box by Cheryl Reavis

REVIEW: The Music Box by Cheryl Reavis

Dear Ms. Reavis, When I checked your website and saw this book mentioned, I got all excited and checked the eHarlequin site for ages waiting for it. Then it appeared and I read the blurb and thought, this sounds familiar. And for good reason as it was previously published as “Tenderly,” the fourth book in(…)

REVIEW: Unlocked by Courtney Milan

REVIEW: Unlocked by Courtney Milan

Dear Ms. Milan: I’ve been chomping at the bit to talk about this book with other readers.  I’ve felt, in the past, that your works were smart and thoughtful but sometimes lacking in emotional engagement.  I particularly struggled to connect with Ned Carhart in Trial by Desire.  But Unlocked packs an emotional punch from the(…)

REVIEW: Sylvester by Georgette Heyer

REVIEW: Sylvester by Georgette Heyer

The third book in my class on Georgette Heyer is Sylvester. We’ve had the founding Regency romance, Regency Buck, and Cotillion, the book that makes fun of the tropes Regency Buck establishes. I chose Sylvester for our third book because I love it and because I love how Heyer again plays with the construction of(…)

REVIEW: Cotillion by Georgette Heyer

REVIEW: Cotillion by Georgette Heyer

The first book I assigned my continuing education class on Georgette Heyer at NC State was Regency Buck. The second was Cotillion, which I actually taught last week. As one of my students said, “It’s just delightful.” Cotillion shows up on “Favorite Heyer book” lists all the time, and I never really understood why. I(…)

REVIEW: Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison

REVIEW: Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison

Dear Ms. Harrison, I went back and forth with Jane as to whether to write a review of Dragon Bound. Jane had written a bit about it already for the contest and it is one of her May Recommended Reads, but I felt that the book deserved a second look, so here I am. Be(…)

REVIEW: Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke’s Heart by Sarah MacLean

REVIEW: Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke’s Heart by Sarah MacLean

Dear Ms. MacLean: I read this book back in February of 2011. I remember the date clearly because I started reading it the night I got to the Tools of Change convention. Angela James, Jenny Bullough (of Harlequin) and Sarah Wendell and I went shoe shopping the following day at what is seems to have(…)

JOINT REVIEW: Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh

JOINT REVIEW: Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh

Janine: I’ve been hankering for Nalini Singh’s Kiss of Snow ever since I realized Hawke would be paired with Sienna, and was so excited to receive the ARC that even though I was in the middle of two other books, I dropped them to read this one the day I got it. When I had(…)

REVIEW: Snowball in Hell, by Josh Lanyon

REVIEW: Snowball in Hell, by Josh Lanyon

Dear Mr. Lanyon, It’s no secret around here that you are one of my autobuy authors. Amazingly, however, I have not yet read every single one of your stories. Snowball in Hell was originally published in 2007; this edition is a slightly revised version. It is a standalone novel, shorter than Fair Game or the(…)