animals

GUEST REVIEW: Surprises According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney

GUEST REVIEW: Surprises According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney

Allow me to engage in some nepotism here.  Yesterday, tot came home and reported that she had started her own review blog pursuant to instruction from the teacher. Instead of the book reports that I used to write as a school child (or perhaps in addition to), tot and her class are learning to write(…)

Harlequin Treasury Guest Review:  Beauty & the Beasts by Janice Kay Johnson

Harlequin Treasury Guest Review: Beauty & the Beasts by Janice Kay Johnson

I don’t usually read category romances, but after enjoying several that were recommended on DearAuthor.com, I thought I’d give this one a try. I’m glad I did, because despite its publication in the nineties, it holds up remarkably well. Dr. Eric Bergstrom is a small town vet approached by the stunning Madeline Hunter for vet(…)

REVIEW: Animal Magnetism by Jill Shalvis

REVIEW: Animal Magnetism by Jill Shalvis

Dear Ms. Shalvis, I have a major problem with Animal Magnetism-’the heroine. At its heart, Animal Magnetism is a story about the hero's emotional evolution, with the heroine and his foster brothers acting as the catalysts that jump-start that evolution. Animal Magnetism opens with Lilah Young, animal rescuer, rear-ending the truck of Brady Miller, retired(…)

REVIEW:  All I Ever Wanted by Kristan Higgins

REVIEW: All I Ever Wanted by Kristan Higgins

Dear Ms. Higgins: I was fairly lukewarm on your last release. I never warmed up to your heroine and I thought your hero was a bit of a milquetoast. Your stories are all told in the first person, from the female protagonist’s point of view and if the reader doesn’t like the female protag, I(…)

REVIEW: Set the Dark on Fire by Jill Sorenson

Dear Ms. Sorenson: What I liked best about this book was the characters were unique. Often you find characters in romance books very recognizable:   the mousy girl, the bluestocking, the raging alpha male. Here we have the youngish heroine who is a little forward, who likes to party from time to time, and is struggling(…)

August Harlequin Presents Lightning Reviews

Naughty Nights in the Millionaire’s Mansion by Robyn Grady.   This book violated the number one HP principle. It was boring.   By chapter five (which is about the half way point in an HP), I noted that there was amost no conflict and that the biggest issue thus far was the heroine being coy about whether(…)

REVIEW: Black Hills by Nora Roberts

Dear Ms. Roberts: One thing that you never fail to do is make the setting come alive. The South Dakota Black Hills have never sounded so welcoming, so engaging than in your book, Black Hills. The story is in three parts and while I am never a fan of flashbacks, I did feel like the(…)

REVIEW:  The Rustler by Linda Lael Miller

REVIEW: The Rustler by Linda Lael Miller

Dear Ms. Miller: I confess that the last book I read of yours was Never Look Back published in 2004. I really liked that book (the heroine sounded like a real lawyer) but for some reason, I never read the two sequels. I think it had something to do with the fact that between 2004(…)