First-Person

REVIEW: The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson

REVIEW: The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson

Dear Ms. Lawrenson, I happened to read a review of this, your debut novel, in People a month or so ago. I was intrigued by the description of the novel as an homage to Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca. Imagine my surprise when, the very next day, while sifting through my big drawer o’ books Jane has sent me, I(…)

REVIEW: Hooking Up by Jessica L. Degarmo

REVIEW: Hooking Up by Jessica L. Degarmo

Dear Ms. LeGarmo: I bought this book based its placement on the Romance Kindle bestseller list, the sample and the 25 reviews, most of which were positive. It’s told in the first person but that has never deterred me before. The best part of Hooking Up is the sample which was entertaining enough for me(…)

REVIEW: And One Last Thing… by Molly Harper

REVIEW: And One Last Thing… by Molly Harper

Dear Ms. Harper, While I know that being a woman scorned would suck, Lacey Terwilliger, nee Vernon, makes it seem survivable. Nay, not only survivable but rise above-able. Lacey does what I suspect most women in her place would want to do – she gets her revenge on her cheating spouse. But she also ends(…)

REVIEW: My One and Only by Kristan Higgins

REVIEW: My One and Only by Kristan Higgins

Dear Ms. Higgins: Let me try to articulate in the beginning what I liked about this book because most of the review is going to be what I didn’t like. After I finished the book, I emailed a friend of mine and said that this book really disappointed me.   It’s like everything I love about(…)

REVIEW: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

REVIEW: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Note: This review contains spoilers. I would also expect any potential comments to contain spoilers as well. Readers wishing to avoid spoilers will want to skip this. But for the people who’ve already read the book, as well as the spoiler-loving seekers, come on in. Let’s discuss.

REVIEW: Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

REVIEW: Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Dear Ms. Stiefvater, When Shiver came out last year, it was touted as Blood and Chocolate meets The Time Traveler’s Wife. Since Blood and Chocolate is one of my favorite books, I eagerly picked your first foray into the werewolf YA arena. In the end, I decided it was more accurate to describe Shiver as(…)

REVIEW: Right Before Your Eyes by Ellen Shanman

REVIEW: Right Before Your Eyes by Ellen Shanman

Dear Ms. Shanman, You seem to enjoy writing tough, smart mouthed heroines who don’t seem to know when the right man is just under their noses. I actually read your next book, “Everything Nice” first and backtracked to this one. Liza is not as masculine acting as Mike but she also has her moments of(…)

REVIEW: Improper Relations by Janet Mullany

REVIEW: Improper Relations by Janet Mullany

Dear Ms. Mullany, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked up this book; humorous romances and regency romances aren’t my two favorite sub-genres. That’s not to say I dislike them; I just tend to favor dark and angsty full-length historicals if given my druthers. I did read your erotic historical Forbidden Shores (written(…)

REVIEW:  Truly, Madly by Heather Weber

REVIEW: Truly, Madly by Heather Weber

Dear Ms. Weber: This is a cute mystery which I think readers of the “old” chick lit mysteries would enjoy. Like the chick lit books of old, this is told in the first person and features a heroine who is learning to be more sure of herself. Lucy Valentine is the last in a long(…)

REVIEW: Steamed by Katie MacAlister

REVIEW: Steamed by Katie MacAlister

Dear Ms. MacAlister, I was excited to read Steamed, mostly because I haven’t found a lot of romance authors making a foray into the subgenre of steampunk and I’m always curious to see how worlds develop. It’s also nice to take a break from vampires, weres and futuristic worlds that have a general tendency to(…)

REVIEW: Shine, Coconut Moon by Neesha Meminger

Dear Ms. Meminger, On Saturday, September 15, 2001, seventeen-year-old Samar “Sam” Ahluwahlia encounters a man she doesn’t know at the door to the house she and her mother share. The man is wearing a turban, and his presence on her doorstep disturbs Samar. But he turns out to be not a menacing terrorist, but a(…)

REVIEW: The Birthday Present by Alison Richardson

REVIEW: The Birthday Present by Alison Richardson

Dear Ms. Richardson, I had a blast reading The Birthday Present, the third and final story in your Countess Trilogy. To readers who have not read the earlier stories, but would like to read this one, I have to suggest reading this series in order. Like The Countess’s Client and An Impolite Seduction, The Birthday(…)

REVIEW: An Impolite Seduction by Alison Richardson

REVIEW: An Impolite Seduction by Alison Richardson

Dear Ms. Richardson, Recently I reviewed The Countess’s Client, the first Spice Brief in your Countess Trilogy. I enjoyed the story, and especially its haughty narrator, Anna, Countess von Esslin, a young widow with a taste for good sex on her own terms. To read more about her, I purchased An Impolite Seduction, the second(…)

REVIEW: The Countess’s Client by Alison Richardson

REVIEW: The Countess’s Client by Alison Richardson

Dear Ms. Richardson, When your Countess Trilogy was recently recommended to me by no less than three friends, I sat up and took notice. I quickly purchased the first of the three stories, downloaded it to my Sony reader, and devoured it. The practice of genuine virtue leads to a life of odious boredom–of that(…)

REVIEW: Memoirs of a Hoyden by Joan Smith

REVIEW: Memoirs of a Hoyden by Joan Smith

Dear Ms. Smith, Your comedic trad Regencies are always a delight for me. There are some that have had me cackling with glee as I read them since I love it when an author can turn the standard Regency conventions upside down – or at least twist ‘em a little. Miss Marion Mathieson takes no(…)