Middle East

REVIEW:  Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

REVIEW: Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

Dear Ms. Taylor, Your previous novel, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, was my favorite read of 2011. In it, readers met Karou, a blue-haired art student from Prague who also happened to be the human adopted daughter of monsters. The unfolding of Karou’s story, her history with the chimera, and her connection to the global(…)

REVIEW: Heart of Flame by Janine Ashbless

REVIEW: Heart of Flame by Janine Ashbless

And on the One-Thousand-and-Second night, Scheherazade told this story… By day, Taqla uses her forbidden sorcery to move freely about the city of Damascus in the guise of an old sage. Her true identity known only by her faithful servant woman, Taqla is content with the comfortable, if restrictive, life that keeps her safe from(…)

REVIEW: Crusader Captive by Merline Lovelace

REVIEW: Crusader Captive by Merline Lovelace

“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(…)

CONVERSATIONAL REVIEW: Indiscreet by Carolyn Jewel

PLEASE NOTE: this conversational review does contain some spoilers. Jennie: I was one of many readers mightily impressed with Carolyn Jewel’s previous historical romance Scandal, which I read in January and graded an A-. Janine: Totally with you on that. Scandal was one of the most impressive books I’ve read this year, and it’s stuck(…)

REVIEW: Indiscreet by Carolyn Jewel

REVIEW: Indiscreet by Carolyn Jewel

Dear Ms. Jewel: When I met you recently, I had to sheepishly admit that I had not yet read any of your books. So I volunteered to review your new release Indiscreet, relishing the added bonus that it was a Regency set in Turkey. Despite all of the stereotypical sheikh novels and the often fetishized(…)

REVIEW: The Falcons of Montabard by Elizabeth Chadwick (aka Susan Hicks)

Dear. Ms Chadwick/Hicks, Brava! Those who liked Seton’s Katherine need to check this one out. Like in Katherine, we get a wonderfully accurate picture of life in the Middle Ages. In this case, life amongst the crusaders in Palestine while it was still in the hands of Europeans. I enjoy how you’re not hesitant to(…)