Sep 8 2009
Dear Ms. James: One of my favorite things about your new book, Highland Rebel, is the author’s note at the very end, in which you discuss the historical context of the novel and its fascinating protagonists. This may seem like a trivial thing to highlight, but the thoughtfulness of that note and the enthusiasm for [...]
Aug 31 2009
Dear Ms. Michaels, When I was checking out the new offerings from Harlequin, I saw your name and popped the book in my ecart without looking too closely at it. So, when I opened it up on my reader, I was dismayed to see that this is obviously a novella. Now, novellas can work for [...]
Aug 20 2009
Dear Ms. Thornton, I’m not quite sure how to classify this book. It has a romance in it but when a couple doesn’t meet face to face until two-thirds of the way through the story, and then only for a few hours, it makes me debate whether or not to call the book a romance. [...]
Jul 31 2009
Starter for 10 Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance Grade: C+/B- For all of you who were thinking “Jayne only likes old movies,” I decided to pick one that’s not 70 years old. Yes, it’s set in 1985 but it was just released in 2006! So that counts, right? Why did I pick this? 1) James McAvoy. 2) I [...]
Jul 14 2009
Dear Ms. Hardy, I have a complicated relationship to Harlequin Presents books. On the one hand I find the melodrama seemingly intrinsic to the line viscerally appealing, but on the other hand there has to be enough authenticity in the characters and the story to make me suspend my disbelief enough to let the melodrama [...]
Apr 11 2009
Dear Mrs. Cobb South, Of all your regencies I’ve read, and that’s most if not all of them, I don’t recall ever reading a bad one. They are well researched, well written, and feature strong characters. But best of all, they’re different. I realize this has made it harder for you to market them but [...]
Mar 31 2009
Dear Mrs. Sims, I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect of a Gay Victorian romance novel written by a mid-west cookie baking grandmother. But I guess it just goes to show that 1) readers should never prejudge a book and 2) any author can write about anything if the story is in them to be [...]
Dec 25 2008
Dear Ms. da Costa: You are one of SuperLibrarian’s favorite authors and I’ve always resolved to give your books a try. This Harlequin Spice Brief seemed like a good way for me to get an introduction to your writing. In the context of a short, short story, I learned a couple of things. You can [...]
Nov 6 2008
Dear Mr. Culpepper, Yours was a book lingering in my Fictionwise wish list (love, love, love that feature) for a few weeks after the title caught my eye during one browsing session. I’ve grown used to hearing less than positive adjectives attached to the word “American” so wasn’t surprised to see ‘clueless’ added to the [...]
Oct 17 2008
Dear Ms. Hepsen: Occasionally, a cover will do more to convince me to try a book than the summary on the back. A couple months ago, I came across this book online and halted in my tracks. The book’s description didn’t strike my "I need to read that immediately" chord, but I do tend to [...]
Oct 16 2008
I admit to not knowing the breadth of privacy laws in every country (I barely know them here) but I have to say I was completely surprised to read a report that Great Britain is laying out a plan that would allow its government to allow “state surveillance to cover every phone call, email, text [...]
Aug 21 2008
Dear Ms Hughes, It won’t take people long to realize that this book is something different. It’s not just that it isn’t a Regency or that it’s not about vampires and that it doesn’t have any Navy SEALS littering the narrative. It’s a Georgian English historical, and I don’t think there can be too many [...]
Jul 16 2008
Dear Ms Johnson, Since I love historical fiction, I checked out “The Tenth Gift” when I saw it listed at Fictionwise. The blurb intrigued me but not enough to immediately buy it. But I kept going back and looking at it. Something about it wouldn’t let me go and when Fictionwise offered a sale, I [...]
Jun 24 2008
Dear Ms. Bourne, I was enthralled with the first half of your recent book, The Spymaster’s Lady. A smart hero, a plucky (in a good way) heroine and beautiful prose had the book well on the road to being a solid A for me. Unfortunately, in the second half of the book the heroine underwent [...]
May 19 2008
Dear Ms. Bourne, It’s taken me a while to get around to reading your debut, The Spymaster’s Lady. Back in the winter, Robin asked me if I would review it in a conversational review with her before your next book came out, and I promised that I would. When I got to reading it last [...]
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