Italy

Friday Film Review: The Flame and the Arrow

Friday Film Review: The Flame and the Arrow

The Flame and the Arrow (1950) Genre: Adventure/Romance Grade: Kinda depends My recent review of The Crimson Pirate made me curious about TFATA. It had been years since I saw either film and I remember not liking this one *quite* as much as TCP. I found that I still liked TCP but what about TFATA? [...]

REVIEW: The Second Duchess by Elizabeth Loupas

REVIEW: The Second Duchess by Elizabeth Loupas

Dear Ms. Loupas, After I finished reading a really depressing and disturbing book, I felt the need for a complete change in direction. Jane had sent me a copy of your debut novel a few months earlier. Seeing that it was a historical mystery, I figured that it was different enough to suit my purposes, [...]

REVIEW: The Man Who Could Never Love by Kate Hewitt

REVIEW: The Man Who Could Never Love by Kate Hewitt

Note: was released in the UK as “The Bride’s Awakening” Dear. Ms. Hewitt, Your post at DA about your hero who deliberately marries his plain heroine caught my attention. A dashing, powerful, dark Italian hero who isn’t going to bed/marry then spurn/reject/humiliate a delicate blonde flower of a heroine? Bring it! “Vittorio Ralfino, the Count [...]

REVIEW: A Room with a View by E.M. Forster

REVIEW: A Room with a View by E.M. Forster

Dear Readers, I don't know if it was Jayne's recent review of the Merchant-Ivory film adaptation of this novel, or a discussion of Forster's works that some of us on Twitter got into a while back. There's also the fact that every time I see Jennie do one of her classics reviews, I think to [...]

Friday Film Review: A Room with a View

Friday Film Review: A Room with a View

A Room with a View (1985) Genre: Romance/Drama/literary adaptation Grade: A This is one of those movies I knew immediately was destined to be among my favorites. I remember having my sister tape it for me then, after watching it for the first time, immediately rewinding the tape to watch it again. Now, over twenty [...]

REVIEW: Blameless by Gail Carriger

REVIEW: Blameless by Gail Carriger

Warning: this review contains spoilers from the last book, which are central to the plot of this one. Dear Ms. Carriger: The cliffhanger to your second Parasol Protectorate book, Changeless, definitely worked its storytelling magic on me, and by the time Blameless was released, I was still dying to find out what happened. It is, [...]

Friday Film Review: Pane et Tulipani (Bread and Tulips)

Friday Film Review: Pane et Tulipani (Bread and Tulips)

Pane et Tulipani (Bread and Tulips) 2000 Genre: Comedy/Romance/Drama Grade: Delightful In looking over my Friday film reviews, I realize I’ve been remise. Of all the ones I’ve done, most have been set and made in the US or are English language films. Don’t think I don’t watch foreign films with subtitles. I do. Let [...]

REVIEW: The Last Will of Moira Leahy by Therese Walsh

REVIEW: The Last Will of Moira Leahy by Therese Walsh

Dear Ms. Walsh, You don’t know me, but I sometimes lurk at your blog, Writer Unboxed, which is one of the best blogs for writers I know of. I’ve been following it since the days when you were writing this book, under the working title of Unbounded, so when Jane told me that we had [...]

REVIEW: A Rather Curious Engagement by C.A. Belmond (7/08)

REVIEW: A Rather Curious Engagement by C.A. Belmond (7/08)

Dear Mrs Belmond, When I finished reading “A Rather Curious Inheritance,” I knew there ought to be more about Penny Nichols (who is aware of the silliness of her name) and Jeremy Laidley (her sort of English cousin) after their show of interest in each other and in combining the actually rather lovely inheritance from [...]

REVIEW:  Sundial by Carrie Lofty

REVIEW: Sundial by Carrie Lofty

Dear Ms. Lofty, Wow, what a great way to start off my new year’s reading. Yes, I actually finished this novella in early January but took my sweet time actually writing a letter about it. Real life is a beotch, doncha know? I want to congratulate you on a wonderful, inventive plot. It’s one I’ve [...]

Harlequin Lightning Reviews

Mistress to the Tycoon by Nicola Marsh. Ariel Wallace is an artist struggling to fulfill her aunt’s dream of sponsoring young troubled locals into launching an art career. The dream is in jeopardy due to the plans of a rich real estate developer. The straight laced dude v. the free form spirit is a worn [...]

REVIEW: Rogue’s Lady by Julia Justiss

Dear Mrs. Justiss, I think if readers are looking for a nice, safe Regency that doesn’t rock any boats then “Rogue’s Lady” is a good bet. There’s the rake hero who’s trying to reform in order to land an heiress with money to resurrect his crumbling estate, there’s the “daughter of a misalliance” heroine who’s [...]

REVIEW: The Wedding Officer by Anthony Capella

Dear Mr. Capella, I’m so glad your editor persuaded you to write this book. And for the positive buzz at various other romance review sites that brought it to my attention. I’ve also heard that it’s already been optioned for a movie and after reading it, I can see why. The descriptions of Italy and [...]

REVIEW:  Christmas Revels by Mary Jo Putney

REVIEW: Christmas Revels by Mary Jo Putney

Dear Ms. Putney, This collection, published by Jove in 2002, includes one original contemporary Christmas novella and reprints of four of your older novellas from the early 1990s. All but one were new to me when I picked up this book. Here are my opinions of each of the stories: “A Holiday Fling” This is [...]

REVIEW:  The Devil in Music by Kate Ross

REVIEW: The Devil in Music by Kate Ross

Dear Readers, This was Ross’s last book before her untimely, early death and it’s one of her best. It really is too bad that the mystery world lost her and her creations, Julian Kestrel and his manservant, Dipper. 1821: Austrian controlled Italy seethes with revolt which threatens to break out in Lombardy as it has [...]