May 20 2013
Dear Ms. Camden, I’m always on the hunt for new and different in romance, and when it comes in the form of an inspirational historical suspense story centering on the opium trade in late 19th-century Boston – with a gorgeous cover as a bonus – I am helpless to resist. As a child, Lydia Pallas(…)
Apr 30 2013
On the frontier of a new life… Tired and hungry after two days of traveling, Susanna Hopkins is just about at the end of her tether when her train finally arrives in Cheyenne. She’s bound for a new life in a Western garrison town. Then she discovers she doesn’t even have enough money to pay(…)
Feb 20 2013
Dear Ms. St. George, Years ago, after reading the DIK review for “A Century of American Romance” at AAR, I tracked down all twelve of the OOP books and read half of them. I can’t recall why I didn’t continue considering how good I thought those six were but, there you have it. Reading a(…)
Jan 2 2013
Dear Ms. Ashley: While I love the idea of this book, I felt that there were too many shortcuts taken to get us to the emotional hits you delivered. Elliot McBride went off to India to make his fortune. While he was there, Elliot became captive to a “tribal” band. During his captivity, he was(…)
Dec 27 2012
Dear Ms. Milan: When your books and novellas work for me, they are among my favorite historical romances. When they don’t, it’s not always clear to me why, and often I wonder if it’s my reading approach rather than the book itself. I wanted to read your latest novel for a couple of reasons: it(…)
Dec 24 2012
Most books that I finish get their own reviews but here are some that either I didn’t finish or I didn’t think warranted a separate review. The Terrorist – Caroline Cooney / Fabulous writing. Intense, page turning, I was 50 pages into it before I even realized it when I finally came up for air.(…)
Dec 6 2012
Dear Gwen Hayes: Ours Is Just a Little Sorrow may be the best title of the year, and the cover is way up there as well. The combination, as well as the blurb, made it hard for me to resist. You describe your novella as “neo-Victorian,” which turns out to be a mixture of steampunk,(…)
Dec 3 2012
Dear Ms. Raybourn: While waiting for the next “Lady Julia” mystery novel, I noticed that this little novella is on offer for the Christmas season. It’s not long, it’s not complicated and it’s not that different from any other Lady Julia story. If readers like this world and it’s people, it should be a nice(…)
Oct 11 2012
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(…)
Sep 21 2012
Dear Ms. Rowan: I admit passing this book over because lately historical romances have such a sameness to them, that I felt like I’ve read all the stories before. However, the review at JenniferRNN’s site intrigued me and I found the book on NetGalley, allowing me to try the book out for free. The heroine,(…)
Aug 31 2012
Dear Ms. Stone: I had high hopes for this book. It is set in the late Victorian era and features a yard man as the hero and an industrialist’s daughter as the heroine. Everything about the premise and story is fresh and different. Unfortunately this is more of an action flick than a mystery with(…)
Aug 11 2012
Dear Ms. Grey I was sent this book by Berkley with a note that they know I like unusual historical settings. The book takes place in Italy in 1890. The set up is a little strained. Three male friends – the impoverished Duke of Wallingford, his brother, of Lord Roland Penhallow, and their friend Phineas(…)
Jul 18 2012
Dear Ms. Kinsale, For a first time effort, this one isn’t bad. Not as good as your later books that I’ve read but enjoyable and worth the time. It also gives the love story of Tess and Gryf who appear again in the perennial favorite “The Shadow and The Star.” Lady Tess Collier’s widowed father(…)
May 11 2012
The Wrong Box (1966) Genre: Historical black comedy Grade: B I’ve been meaning to watch and review this one for ages but got the boost I needed when I saw it’s being shown today on TCM. Used to be it was impossible to find this one on DVD but recently both a region 1 and(…)
Apr 10 2012
(This one is addressed to readers, not the author) Dear Readers: As we all know, it’s impossible to be objective about a review. And this is fine, as long as we can be honest about the sources of our lack of objectivity, if we know them. This book has flaws, even major flaws that have(…)
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