Contemporary

REVIEW:  Also Known As by Robin Benway

REVIEW: Also Known As by Robin Benway

Dear Ms. Benway, I’m very fond of novels about teenage spies and grifters. But while I get a steady grifter fix from series like Holly Black’s Curseworker trilogy or Ally Carter’s Heist Society series, there’s a definite lack of YA spies. So when your novel appeared on my radar, I snapped it up. Maggie Silver(…)

REVIEW:  Thrown By A Curve by Jaci Burton

REVIEW: Thrown By A Curve by Jaci Burton

Dear Ms. Burton: Just last baseball season, I finally became seduced by the sport after watching the Washington Nationals’ (Go Nats!) improbable run into the post season. The Nationals’ star pitcher had reconstructive elbow surgery almost two years ago now, so the set-up for Thrown by a Curve interested me. Garrett Scott is a star(…)

REVIEW:  The Summer He Came Home by Juliana Stone

REVIEW: The Summer He Came Home by Juliana Stone

Dear Ms. Stone: This is the first book in a series involving three childhood friends who reunite upon the death of one of their members. Cain Black is a former star high school quarterback turned down a full ride scholarship to Michigan State University to pursue his dream of music. He and his band are(…)

REVIEW:  Sugar Daddy by Nicole Andrews Moore

REVIEW: Sugar Daddy by Nicole Andrews Moore

Dear Ms. Andrews Moore: I’ll be honest — this book caught my eye because it shares a title with one of my favorite Lisa Kleypas books.  What I found was a mostly engaging if relatively bland contemporary novel with a heroine who is  a Mary Sue, and an uptight hero who unwound as he fell(…)

REVIEW:  A Shot of Sultry by Macy Beckett

REVIEW: A Shot of Sultry by Macy Beckett

Dear Ms. Beckett: This book had me smiling up until about Chapter Nine when I started feeling uncomfortable by some serious misogynistic overtones wrapped up in a “I’m so cute” package. It was insidious and likely unintentional but I ended up having rage face for much of the latter half of the book. The hero,(…)

REVIEW:  Raid by Kristen Ashley

REVIEW: Raid by Kristen Ashley

Dear Ms. Ashley: That I requested Raid for review comes to a surprise to no one. The fact that I gobbled it up in less than three hours probably also comes as no surprise either. Of all of your series, the Unfinished Hero series is the one that I’m most likely to have issues with.(…)

REVIEW:   Makeover Miracle by Charmaine Ross

REVIEW: Makeover Miracle by Charmaine Ross

Dear Ms. Ross: I thought the blurb of this book was effective because it conveyed that it wouldn’t be the run of the mill reality tv show but one that featured a woman who would undergo an internal transformation as well as an external one.  I love makeover shows because it is exciting to see(…)

REVIEW:  My Bluegrass Baby by Molly Harper

REVIEW: My Bluegrass Baby by Molly Harper

“Sadie Hutchins loves her job at the Kentucky Tourism Commission. She loves finding the unusual sites, hidden gems, and just-plain-odd tourist attractions of her home state. She’s a shoo-in for the director’s job when her boss retires at the end of the year…until hotshot Josh Vaughn shows up to challenge her for the position. Josh(…)

REVIEW:  Back to You by Robin Kaye

REVIEW: Back to You by Robin Kaye

Dear Ms. Kaye: I should have stopped reading when I realized that the two protagonists were named Storm and Breezy. Nothing good can come of this level of twee but instead of listening to my instincts, I read on. Breanna aka Breezy Collins has loved Storm Decker forever. He’s been off sailing his yacht, winning(…)

REVIEW:  Hero at Large by Robyn Amos

REVIEW: Hero at Large by Robyn Amos

THE AGENT: Tall, dark and devastatingly handsome Keshon Gray THE MISSION: To smoke out a deadly traitor–or die trying THE OBSTACLE: The sweet temptation of the only woman he’d ever loved! Keshon Gray had never regretted anything he’d had to do in the line of duty–until now. For entering the dangerous world of gang warfare(…)

REVIEW:  Confidence Tricks by Tamara Morgan

REVIEW: Confidence Tricks by Tamara Morgan

Dear Ms. Morgan: This book is a lot of fun with a great hero, more quotable lines than a compendium from John Bartlett, and a somewhat disappointing conclusion. My favorite lines in the book have to be this: “Spork! I cry spork!” She released some of the tension on his arm but didn’t back away.(…)

REVIEW:  Lakota Legacy Anthology by Madeline Baker, Kathleen Eagle and Ruth Wind

REVIEW: Lakota Legacy Anthology by Madeline Baker, Kathleen Eagle and Ruth Wind

Originally published in 2003, this anthology has now been reissued by Harlequin. I’ve read all three authors before, though it’s been awhile for two of them, so I went into the anthology with a little bit of preconception – both good and bad – but I was hoping and willing to be wowed all around.(…)

REVIEW:  Anatomy of a Single Girl by Daria Snadowsky

REVIEW: Anatomy of a Single Girl by Daria Snadowsky

Dear Ms. Snadowsky: I was intrigued by this book because the cover is clever, I’m a fan of the New Adult movement, and this book seemed to be right within those parameters.   The tagline reads “eighteen-year-old Dominique explores the relationship between love and lust, and the friendships that see us through.” To be fair,(…)

BOOK CLUB: The One That Got Away by Kelly Hunter

BOOK CLUB: The One That Got Away by Kelly Hunter

1) What was the genesis of your story? A bunch of romance author friends and I were comparing Presents alpha heroes to the likes of Christian Grey and Gideon Cross. Dominant behavioral traits defined them all, yet Presents heroes didn’t really dominate in the bedroom. Was this a line constraint? Given the success of books(…)

REVIEW:  The One That Got Away by Kelly Hunter

REVIEW: The One That Got Away by Kelly Hunter

The comments to this review are turned off because we are hosting a bookclub for this book today. Please lend your voice to our discussion there. Dear Ms. Hunter: There was a lot to like about this dark book about lost love, fear of self, and redemption.  The premise of the book is that Logan(…)