Jan 27 2012
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? [...]
Sep 20 2011
“A strategic marriage to a powerful Saracen lord with a penchant for virgins will enable wealthy Lady Jocelyn to keep her fortress home. But at what cost? Her only hope of escaping the depraved lord’s harem is to lose her virginity—and fast! Captured and tortured knight Simon de Rhys is in no position to refuse [...]
Nov 18 2010
The Carl Brandon Society is a literary organization that supports writers of color in the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres. They are holding a fundraiser for the Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship Fund. People can enter a drawing by donating a dollar and win an eReader — we’ve got Nooks, Kobo Readers, and an [...]
Jul 27 2010
Dear Mr. Swann, Books that are in medieval time settings haven’t been my thing; for me the 14th century generally conjures up images of the Plague, dank, miserable castles, and men and women who are happy to remain unwashed for as long as possible. That being the case, it took me quite a while to [...]
Apr 8 2010
Dear Ms. Franklin, I knew there’s a reason why I love doing this blog. It’s so I can get my hands on the copy of your latest book, “A Murderous Procession” before it hits market shelves. Even though it’s book 4 of the “Mistress of the Art of Death” series, Adelia and Co are in [...]
Dec 10 2009
Dear Ms. Mallory: I remember a number of people raving about your debut in the If You Like Debut books thread. I bought the debut book, Knight of Desire, but by the time I got around to reading it your second book, Knight of Pleasure, was out. So I read that one first. While I [...]
Nov 4 2009
Dear Ms. Townend, I’ve enjoyed several of your other books for Harlequin Historicals and was delighted when you contacted me offering a copy of your latest in the “Wessex Weddings” series for possible review. (Note: FTC discloser out of the way!) And the heroine is a Fallen Woman too. Even better. At first I didn’t [...]
Sep 15 2009
A short piece in Publisher’s Weekly notes that July booksales fell 0.5% and down 2.5% for the year. The good thing for bookstores is that the new Dan Brown book is out. Increased foot traffic in stores will hopefully lead to an increase in book sales over all. M.J. Rose jump started a twitter [...]
Aug 7 2009
In continuance of the If You Like series of reader recommendations, I bring you the Medieval. I love medievals but I wonder if that is because some of the first romances I had ever read were medievals. In my list of favorite medieval authors are Julie Garwood, Madeline Hunter, and Claudia Dain. The Holding by [...]
May 7 2009
Dear Ms. Kennedy: Your book came to my attention due to mentions by author Courtney Milan on Twitter. As Ms. Milan had recommended a previous book to me that I enjoyed quite a bit, I thought I would give your story a try. It helped, too, that SuperLibrarian blogged favorably about the book as well. [...]
Mar 19 2009
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 [...]
Dec 31 2008
Dear HRH Thermopolis*: I just finished reading your debut novel, Ransom My Heart. It’s a good novel but flawed, but what can you expect from your debut novel that you wrote while your heart was breaking over the loss of your boyfriend Michael when he went off to Japan to court the Asian honeys. I’ve [...]
Dec 11 2008
Dear Ms. Cashore, As usual, I’m late to the party. I meant to review your debut YA fantasy when it first came out but for various reasons, I fell behind. That said, one reason it took me a bit longer than expected is because I had a difficult time getting into the book. I’m ultimately [...]
Dec 2 2008
Dear Ms. Winstead Jones: First off, the cover on this book is a bit deceiving. The setting of the book is a fantasy historical world set in a made up kingdom (I always think of this kind of setting as middle earth but have also considered it to be medieval but does medieval imply some [...]
Dec 1 2008
Dear Mrs. Lofty, I love finding new authors but will admit to a dread of reading sophomore efforts. What if the first book I read is a fluke? What if it’s the only one by an author I’ll ever like? What if I anticipate a second story as good as the first and all I [...]
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