Apr 20 2012
Charade (1963) Genre: Romantic Suspense Grade: B+ Witty, sophisticated, and elegant – this falls under the category of “they don’t make them like this anymore.” The pairing of Hepburn and Grant isn’t my favorite – he does look a little long in the tooth for her – but … damn, he’s Cary Grant and he [...]
Jul 7 2011
Dear Ms. Chase: “He truly did love her. After all she’d told him. He truly believed she could do anything.” That’s an amazing showing of love. He believed she could do anything. The Duke of Clevedon falls so in love with Marcelline Noirot, shopkeeper, that he believed she could convince the entire world that they [...]
May 19 2011
Dear Ms. Sheene, When I received a review copy of this book, I was instantly intrigued – first by the evocative, lovely cover, and then by the back cover blurb, which begins,”May 1940: Fleeing a glamorous Manhattan life built on lies, Claire Harris arrives in Paris with a romantic vision of starting anew.” An interesting [...]
Mar 21 2011
Less than twenty-four hours after fleeing to Paris, Maya Sinclair is the prime suspect in a brutal murder-’and targeted by the real killer. When she’s viciously attacked in the gardens of Versailles, Maya barely escapes with her life thanks to sexy French journalist Simon Girard. Simon has been investigating the mysterious death of his brother, [...]
Mar 14 2011
Dear Ms. Rock, I enjoy a good historical mystery and with a cover quote from Ariana Franklin, I knew I had to try your novel “The Rhetoric of Death.” It also didn’t hurt that it has a most unusual setting of late 17th century France and a hero who is on the path to becoming [...]
Dec 13 2010
Dear Ms. Perkins, This was a book I just knew I would like. I often talk about the unexplainable pull I have to certain things. Movies, television shows, books. There are certain ones that just tug at the very fiber of my being and say, “You’ll love me!” Ms. Perkins, your book was not [...]
Dec 9 2010
Dear Ms. Brant, When you offered DA the chance to review some of your books, I got all excited. After all, I adore mid 18th century Georgian era set novels and that seems to be your specialty. Since I try to read series books in order, I decided to try “Noble Satyr” first. It also [...]
Apr 27 2010
A few years ago I bought a trade sized copy of Laura Florand’s first book, “Blame it on Paris.” In it, she describes her year long stay in the City of Light as she studied French Literature, met a handsome Frenchman and began to fall in love. Then comes the hilarious recounting of what they [...]
Mar 5 2010
Everyone Says I Love You (1996) Genre: Musical comedy Grade: B Is there a genre of movie that Woody Allen hasn’t tried? Since I’m not his biggest fan, I can’t say for sure but he certainly has turned his hand to most of them by this time. “Everyone Says I Love You” is another one [...]
Nov 23 2009
Dear Ms. Richardson, When your Countess Trilogy was recently recommended to me by no less than three friends, I sat up and took notice. I quickly purchased the first of the three stories, downloaded it to my Sony reader, and devoured it. The practice of genuine virtue leads to a life of odious boredom–of that [...]
Sep 25 2009
How to Steal a Million (1966) Genre: Romance, Comedy Grade: B+ I first saw this movie years ago and fell in love with it. In the many times I’ve watched it since, I’ve picked up on some details which make little sense or which are glossed over to carry the plot but it still amuses [...]
Aug 21 2009
Ninotchka (1939) Genre: Comedy, Romance Grade:B- I’ve now seen 4 Ernst Lubitsch films. I know there are plenty more I need to try but for now, I’m batting average with him. I did not care, at all, for “The Shop Around the Corner” while Ninotchka earns a somewhat lukewarm B-grade. It’s 1939 and the Soviet [...]
Mar 25 2009
Dear Ms. Abe, I’ve been a fan of your drakon series since the first book, The Smoke Thief. I was one of those readers who had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the paranormal romance revolution, but the drakon series are among the books that make me glad I finally (more ore less) succumbed. [...]
Mar 9 2009
Dear Ms. Dayton, Unlike some of my fellow reviewers here at Dear Author, I don’t try books by new-to-me authors as frequently as I probably should. A lot of that is simply due to the fact that I am a slow reader and it takes a lot of my reading time to keep up with [...]
Nov 15 2008
Sayuri commented in my Harlequin (not so) Lightning Reviews last week that she enjoyed Sarah Mayberry. I bought three of her books at Fictionwise: Amorous Liaisons, Island Heat, and Anything For You. The thing I like most about Mayberry’s characters is their self honesty and the sense that these individuals could be real people. They [...]
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