Jan 3 2011
Dear Ms. Dee: One of the great things about NetGalley is that reviewers can browse, and while I was browsing through new Romance releases, I came across your novella, "Like Clockwork," which intrigued me because of the interesting cover, the steampunk aspect, and the female inventor heroine. Although some readers dislike novellas, I think they(…)
Jan 3 2011
Note: In order to combine comments for this one book, I’ve grouped two reviews together. The first review is by Jennie (and is the more negative review) and the second is by Jia (the more positive review). Dear Ms. Carr, The title of your debut novel jumped out from a list of new books for(…)
Dec 28 2010
Dear Ms. Dee and Ms. Devon: This was a December Recommended Read for me. I enjoyed the characters, I liked the plot, I liked the historical feel. Just in general this was a good solid historical romance. The year is 1866. Jonathan Reese is a spy, a former soldier who didn’t know how to re-enter(…)
Oct 13 2010
Dear Ms. Schama: I approached Wild Romance: A Victorian Story of A Marriage, A Trial, and A Self-Made Woman with appreciation and excitement at the possibility of an academic study of cultural history crossing over to popular contemporary readership. The volatile story of Theresa Longworth's secret marriage to an Irish peer and subsequent battle to(…)
Oct 7 2010
Dear Ms. March: I know when the review copy first came to my house, I pretty much passed it over. The title, I think, was a bit twee but a month or so ago, I came across the review copy again and learned that this was your debut book. I love debut books so I(…)
Oct 6 2010
Dear Ms. Archer: This review is testimony to the strength of the second half of Scoundrel. A strong beginning plus a strong ending almost eclipses a somewhat muddled middle of this romantic adventure. Still, the unique and well-described setting (Greece), likeable characters, enjoyable and fun adventure tale, and the interesting fantasy aspects of the book(…)
Oct 1 2010
Nate and Hayes (aka Savage Islands) (1983) Genre: Adventure/Swashbuckler Grade: B- Did I understand correctly that we like our swashbucklers here? I think I did and here’s another entry into the genre. I first saw it when it was broadcast on the Cinemax cable TV channel, oh quite a while ago, but honestly have no(…)
Sep 28 2010
Dear Ms. Raybourn, After my less than happy experience with your stand alone Gothic book, I was very pleased to see that there would be another Lady Julia Grey – or should we rename it now – book. And what an evocative title it has – “Dark Road to Darjeeling.” It conjures up all kinds(…)
Sep 24 2010
I read a lot of novellas or stories that are even shorter than that. Torquere, for instance, regularly puts out stories that are 10 pages, or 20, or 30, but I don’t bother requesting them because how could I justify a review? But I figure if I review 3-4 shorts in one post, then I(…)
Sep 10 2010
Warning: this review contains spoilers from the last book, which are central to the plot of this one. Dear Ms. Carriger: The cliffhanger to your second Parasol Protectorate book, Changeless, definitely worked its storytelling magic on me, and by the time Blameless was released, I was still dying to find out what happened. It is,(…)
Sep 6 2010
Dear Ms. Eagland, I came across your debut novel while perusing the selections at NetGalley. The cover caught my eye, and the description piqued my interest. A young adult Victorian novel? About a young woman falsely committed to an asylum? Sign me up! Louisa Cosgrove is on a journey to her new position. Her brother(…)
Sep 6 2010
Dear Ms. Eagland, I have not been a prolific reader of YA fiction since…probably since I was a pre-teen (by my teenage years I had developed a taste for Stephen King and similar horror books, and didn’t really read much age-appropriate fiction). But I’ve read the occasional YA book in the last few years, usually(…)
Jul 29 2010
Dear Ms. Ranney: Sometimes good prose can transcend a bad plot or trite circumstances but not always and not in the case of A Highland Duchess. While I’ve enjoyed Ranney writing in the past and have spent my wallet silly on the recently released backlist titles, the strained plot contrivances and the heavy handedness in(…)
Jul 23 2010
Disclosure: Back in the days when pterodactyls soared across the skies (about a dozen years ago or so) I took a couple of eight week novel writing classes with Patricia Ryan. She was a wonderful teacher, and I learned a lot from those classes. Aside from those two courses, and a one day writing workshop(…)
Jul 22 2010
Dear Ms. Kleypas: I’ve never fully understood the phrase “two sides of the same coin”, but my feelings toward Love in the Afternoon perhaps gives new meaning to the saying. This is two books in one which could be a boon except I liked the first book (the first half) far better than the second(…)
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