B+ Reviews

REVIEW:  Romancing the Holiday anthology by Helen Kay Dimon, Christi Barth, & Jaci Burton

REVIEW: Romancing the Holiday anthology by Helen Kay Dimon, Christi Barth, & Jaci Burton

Dear Ms. Dimon, Ms. Barth, and Ms. Burton: Carina Press’s holiday anthologies are fast becoming autobuys for me. I was sorry there was no m/m anthology this year, but this entry in another favorite subgenre of mine, contemporary romance, made up for it. As is often the case, especially with two out of three new-to-me(…)

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:  Her Outback Rescuer by Marion Lennox

REVIEW: Her Outback Rescuer by Marion Lennox

Dear Ms. Lennox: Recently I haven’t read too many category romances. Some were taking on the quality of “been there, read that” and this worried me. “Gosh,” thought I, “time to pull out a tried and true author and get back in the swing of billionaires and their brides. But whom to read?” A quick(…)

JOINT REVIEW:  The Importance of Being Wicked by Miranda Neville

JOINT REVIEW: The Importance of Being Wicked by Miranda Neville

PLEASE NOTE: This joint review contains some SPOILERS. Also, I know the author a bit through Twitter. Jennie does not. –Janine Jennie: I’d only read one of Miranda Neville’s previous books (The Amorous Education of Celia Seaton, to which I gave a B-), and had put her in the category of “authors I need to(…)

REVIEW:  Lord’s Fall by Thea Harrison

REVIEW: Lord’s Fall by Thea Harrison

Dear Ms. Harrison: I am a huge fan of your Elder Races series. The fact that your fifth installment revisits Pia and Dragos, easily my favorite couple in the series (I’ve re-read Dragon Bound more than 10 times), made requesting the book a no brainer. Our visit with Pia and Dragos comes at a delicate(…)

REVIEW:  Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

REVIEW: Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

Dear Ms. Taylor, Your previous novel, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, was my favorite read of 2011. In it, readers met Karou, a blue-haired art student from Prague who also happened to be the human adopted daughter of monsters. The unfolding of Karou’s story, her history with the chimera, and her connection to the global(…)

REVIEW:  Tart by Lauren Dane

REVIEW: Tart by Lauren Dane

Dear Ms. Dane: Juliet Lamprey is the owner of Tart, an innovative bakery that makes scrumptious baked goods. When Jules decides that it’s time to start using locally grown goods as much as possible for her ingredients, she decides that she should start with Patrick Carter’s farm. Mr. Carter is a sweet older man, and(…)

MANGA REVIEW:  Strobe Edge volume 1 by Io Sakisaka

MANGA REVIEW: Strobe Edge volume 1 by Io Sakisaka

Story & Art: Io Sakisaka Publisher: Shueisha/Viz Rated: T for teen Volumes: 1/10 Dear readers, In my ongoing quest to reacquaint myself with the shoujo genre, I stumbled across this new title from Viz. The series completed its run in Japan in 2010 but was just officially published in English this month. While straight up(…)

JOINT REVIEW:  A Notorious Countess Confesses by Julie Anne Long

JOINT REVIEW: A Notorious Countess Confesses by Julie Anne Long

Dear Ms. Long, Dabney and I are both fans of your work and we both enjoyed your latest Pennyroyal Green novel, A Notorious Countess Confesses. I, however, liked it more than Dabney did and thought it would be interesting to discuss the book with her. A Notorious Countess Confesses continues the pattern of the last(…)

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: Midnight Scandals by Courtney Milan,Sherry Thomas,Carolyn Jewel

REVIEW: Midnight Scandals by Courtney Milan,Sherry Thomas,Carolyn Jewel

Dear Ms. Jewel, Ms. Milan, and Ms. Thomas, I’ve been waiting for this anthology since I first heard about it last spring. The authors are among the strongest writing historical romance today and the premise linking the three novellas is clever and unusual: each is set in the same location but in a different time(…)

REVIEW:  Tempting the Bride by Sherry Thomas

REVIEW: Tempting the Bride by Sherry Thomas

Dear Ms. Thomas – You have the terrible tendency of ruining me for other books. What I mean is, I read a Sherry Thomas book, and then nothing else I read really satisfies me. This was the case for me with Tempting the Bride because it has within its covers several romance tropes that I(…)

REVIEW:  Miss Buncle’s Book by D.E. Stevenson

REVIEW: Miss Buncle’s Book by D.E. Stevenson

“Barbara Buncle is in a bind. Times are harsh, and Barbara’s bank account has seen better days. Stumped for ideas, Barbara draws inspiration from fellow residents of her quaint English village, writing a revealing novel that features the townsfolk as characters. The smashing bestseller is published under the pseudonym John Smith, which is a good(…)

REVIEW and GIVEAWAY:  The Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley

REVIEW and GIVEAWAY: The Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley

“With its dark legends and passionate history, the windswept shores of Scotland are an archaeologist’s dream. Verity Grey is thrilled by the challenge of uncovering an ancient Roman campsite in a small village. But as soon as she arrives, she can sense danger in the air. Her eccentric boss is convinced he’s finally found the(…)

REVIEW:  The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg

REVIEW: The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg

Dear Readers: This book came to my attention because it was included in the goodie bag Random House handed out at the Power Reader breakfast at BEA. Ordinarily the only non fiction works I read are about the law and those can be dry works. The Power of Habit is not. I listened to the(…)