lawyer / law related

REVIEW:  Love Irresistibly by Julie James

REVIEW: Love Irresistibly by Julie James

  He’s used to getting what he wants A former football star and one of Chicago’s top prosecutors, Assistant U.S. Attorney Cade Morgan will do anything to nail a corrupt state senator, which means he needs Brooke Parker’s help. As general counsel for a restaurant company, she can get a bug to the senator’s table(…)

What Jayne’s Been Reading and Watching Recently

What Jayne’s Been Reading and Watching Recently

Most books that I finish get their own reviews but here are some that either I didn’t finish or I didn’t think warranted a separate review. The Terrorist – Caroline Cooney / Fabulous writing. Intense, page turning, I was 50 pages into it before I even realized it when I finally came up for air.(…)

REVIEW:  Merry Sexy Christmas Anthology by Beverly Jenkins, Kayla Perrin, Maureen Smith

REVIEW: Merry Sexy Christmas Anthology by Beverly Jenkins, Kayla Perrin, Maureen Smith

Dear Ms. Jenkins, Ms. Perrin, and Ms. Smith: I’m a sucker for Christmas stories, and anthologies are a great way to try out new authors, so a Christmas anthology can be a double winner for me. While I’ve read one of the contributors to this volume before, but the other two were new to me.(…)

REVIEW:  The Way to a Duke’s Heart by Caroline Linden

REVIEW: The Way to a Duke’s Heart by Caroline Linden

Dear Ms. Linden, I’ve read all three books in your The Truth about the Duke trilogy and never much cared about what happened to said peer, the (unchallenged) Duke of Durham. The guy seems like a heel. On his deathbed–and estranged from his eldest son, Charlie, the hero of The Way to a Duke’s Heart–he confesses(…)

REVIEW:  Rules of the Game by Sandy James

REVIEW: Rules of the Game by Sandy James

“Kathryn West has it all–she’s a confident, bestselling author living it up in New York City. Too bad she doesn’t actually exist, and is only timid Maddie Sawyer’s pseudonym. Determined to attend her high school reunion with a man right out of one of her racy romance novels, she plots to find a sexy bad(…)

REVIEW:  Blame it on Bath by Caroline  Linden

REVIEW: Blame it on Bath by Caroline Linden

Dear Ms. Linden: Before I get too far into this review, I want to say right up front that I found Blame it on Bath quite likeable. I do so because the series that includes this book – The Truth about the Duke – is based on a legal issue that, even to my limited(…)

REVIEW: Safeword: Matte by Candace Blevins

REVIEW: Safeword: Matte by Candace Blevins

Dear Ms. Blevins, I read this book because the concept intrigued me: a female fighter who is also submissive and wants her dominant to be able to fight her for her submission and win. I’m always looking for maledom BDSM romance I can stomach, and this seemed like it might work. I did indeed enjoy(…)

Friday Film Review: My Cousin Vinny

Friday Film Review: My Cousin Vinny

My Cousin Vinny (1992) Genre: Romance/Comedy Grade: A “We’re famous for our mud.” OMG I love this movie. From the opening credits to the ending ones, this is one of the funniest and best films I’ve seen. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen it but I laugh out loud each time, delight in(…)

REVIEW: Once a Marine by Cat Grant

REVIEW: Once a Marine by Cat Grant

Dear Ms. Grant. This book is one of Riptide Publishing’s initial releases as it opens its doors for business. I had high hopes for it: contemporary m/m about a member of our Armed Forces kicked out under Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and his hero, a writer of m/m romance. Unfortunately, this is one of the(…)

REVIEW: Face Off by Nancy Warren

REVIEW: Face Off by Nancy Warren

Dear Ms. Warren: In keeping with our unintentional sports week here at Dear Author (what with the reviews of Icebreaker and Huddle With Me Tonight and my Ode to Donald Driver), I thought I should go ahead and post a review of your latest Blaze release. In the past couple of years, I’ve really come(…)

REVIEW: Icebreaker by Deirdre Martin

REVIEW: Icebreaker by Deirdre Martin

Dear Ms. Martin: For many months, Jane had been talking about how wonderful your first New York Blades hockey Romance, Body Check, was. When I finally succumbed to reading it, I was elated with almost everything about it. I especially loved the set-up between the taciturn hero and the career-minded heroine. After reading Gina and(…)

REVIEW: Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James

Dear Ms. James: I was reluctant to read this book despite hearing accolades of support from other readers. Mostly I resisted because I just wasn’t sure if I wanted to read a romance about two lawyers, particularly two lawyers vying for a coveted partnership position at a BigLaw firm. I didn’t think I would be(…)

REVIEW: Grave Goods by Ariana Franklin

REVIEW: Grave Goods by Ariana Franklin

Note: Risk of spoilers for the series. Dear Ms. Franklin, Those who have fallen under the spell of Vesuvia Adelia Rachel Ortese Aguilar, the "Mistress of the Art of Death," will get all excited over book three of this historical mystery series. I know I squeed with glee when my copy arrived. God bless the(…)

REVIEW: Nightcap by Kathleen O’Reilly

Dear Mrs. O’Reilly, You came close to a trifecta. You really did but it’s with sadness that I’m going to have to grade this book down. Don’t worry, it’s not a D grade because so many things are still right about it that were right about the first two books in the series. But a(…)

REVIEW:  My Summer of Southern Discomfort by Stephanie Gayle

REVIEW: My Summer of Southern Discomfort by Stephanie Gayle

Dear Ms. Gayle, When Jane forwarded to me our copy of your first release My Summer of Southern Discomfort I wondered if she’d read it first and what she might have to say about the legal aspects of the book. And then I wondered if this was going to be a “trash the South” story.(…)