Good-Dialogue

REVIEW: Heartstrings and Diamond Rings by Jane Graves

REVIEW: Heartstrings and Diamond Rings by Jane Graves

Dear Ms. Graves, Lately I’ve been trying to read more new-to-me authors and when your latest book, “Heartstrings and Diamond Rings” landed in my arc pile, it was fate. I had heard you have a good reputation for humor and this story certainly backs that up. That plus good hero/heroine snappy dialogue are what makes(…)

REVIEW: The Name of the Wind: The Kingkiller Chronicle, Day One by Patrick Rothfuss

REVIEW: The Name of the Wind: The Kingkiller Chronicle, Day One by Patrick Rothfuss

Dear Mr. Rothfuss, By February I had heard enough people mention how eagerly they were awaiting the sequel to your first novel, 2007's The Name of the Wind, that I was intrigued and decided to pick up the first book in the series. The Name of the Wind begins this way: "It was night again.(…)

REVIEW: Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves

REVIEW: Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves

Dear Ms. Reeves, I was casually perusing the Book Smugglers' blog when I came across this midyear list of their favorite books of 2010 and saw that Ana had given your debut, Bleeding Violet a grade of perfect 10. Since the book's genre (YA with a paranormal flavor) is one I enjoy, I looked up(…)

DUAL REFLECTIONS, PART 2: Black Silk by Judith Ivory (Judy Cuevas)

DUAL REFLECTIONS, PART 2: Black Silk by Judith Ivory (Judy Cuevas)

Black Silk was one of the first two Romance novels I read, and to this day it remains one of my absolute favorites. Submit Channing-Downs, the woman who deeply mourns the husband who was almost three times her age, is so unlike most Romance heroines. Her hair has the quality of thick yarn, her teeth(…)

DUAL REFLECTIONS, PART 1: Black Silk by Judith Ivory (Judy Cuevas)

On rare occasion, I come across a novel that seems so rich, so sumptuous, and so sublime, that I am afraid to reread it. The first reading experience is so close to perfect that I don’t think anything can equal it. Such was the case with Judith Ivory’s Black Silk. When I first read the(…)

REVIEW: Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Dear Ms. Marchetta, I have a bone to pick with you. I’ve got a packed read-and-review schedule for the next month or so, and I need to be able to move from book to book. But you’ve made that impossible. Yes, I blame you. It’s your fault that your book, Jellicoe Road, left me so(…)

CONVERSATIONAL REVIEW: The Better to Hold You by Alisa Sheckley

CONVERSATIONAL REVIEW: The Better to Hold You by Alisa Sheckley

Janine and Jennie discuss Alisa Sheckley’s urban fantasy novel, The Better to Hold You: Janine: The Better to Hold You was one of my most anticipated books of 2009. I’m a big fan of Alisa Sheckley’s wry, satirical chick lit novels which were published under the name Alisa Kwitney. I remember picking up The Dominant(…)

REVIEW: The Spymaster’s Lady by Joanna Bourne

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(…)

REVIEW: Wicked Gentlemen by Ginn Hale

Dear Ms. Hale, I first heard of your book, Wicked Gentlemen, when it was nominated in the GLBT category of our DA BWAHA March Madness tournament. Wicked Gentlemen made it to the third round of the tournament, which means it was the runner-up in the GLBT category. At the time we were collecting votes, K.Z.(…)

REVIEW: Right Here, Right Now by HelenKay Dimon

Dear Ms. Dimon: I mentioned before that your trademark seemed to be really great dialogue, snappy flirtatious banter. This book was no different. The problem was that while it had your trademark dialogue, it just had too much of it. I guess there really is too much of a good thing. Gabrielle Pearson thought that(…)

DUELING REVIEW: Black Ice by Anne Stuart

DUELING REVIEW: Black Ice by Anne Stuart

Dear Ms. Stuart, Black Ice is my favorite of all your books — the ones I’ve read, that is. You have a huge backlist and I have not come anywhere near reading them all, but I’ve read several of your most popular titles, including A Rose at Midnight, To Love a Dark Lord, Moonrise, Nightfall,(…)

REVIEW:  Ice Storm by Anne Stuart

REVIEW: Ice Storm by Anne Stuart

Dear Ms. Stuart, The latest book in your Ice series, Ice Storm, opens with a bang. Literally. In a prologue set sometime in the past, we are introduced to nineteen-year-old the heroine this way: Mary Isobel Curwen had never shot a man before. She stood there, numb, unmoving. She’d never fired a gun before, and(…)

REVIEW: The Secret to Seduction by Julie Anne Long

Dear Ms. Long, For me, reading The Secret to Seduction, was like having a glass of champagne. First the effervescent joy of being introduced to your characters through the liquid clarity of your voice, then the warmth of being immersed in the sensations and emotions that those characters grow to feel, and finally the blissful(…)

REVIEW: Amagansett by Mark Mills

Dear Mr. Mills, Your first novel takes place in the summer of 1947 on Long Island, in and near the Hamptons, where the wealthy have summer homes. Not far from the Hamptons is Amagansett, a working class community. The two communities coexist side-by-side, but not without tension. Through political maneuverings in the state government, the(…)

REVIEW: Your Mouth Drives Me Crazy by HelenKay Dimon

Dear Ms. Dimon: When I read Viva Las Bad Boys!, I was struck by how great your voice was for smart, snappy dialogue. But writing a full length book wasn’t the same as writing three novellas and I admit to being a bit worried that smart, snappy dialogue couldn’t carry an entire story. I was(…)