Feb 10 2012
Blazing Saddles (1974) Genre: Comedy/Spoof Grade: A- “He rode a blazing saddle, he wore a shining star. His job to offer battle to bad men near and far. He conquered fear and he conquered hate. He turned dark night into day. He made his blazing saddle a torch to light the way.” It’s been a [...]
Feb 1 2012
Dear Ms. Kondazian: One of the reasons I was excited to read The Whip is that I lived for quite a while in Santa Cruz County, where some of the novel is set. I was also intrigued by the idea of a fact-based story about Charley Parkhurst, a woman who not only lived for most [...]
Feb 1 2012
Dear Ms. McCarty, In general, with the exception of Deadwood, I have never been a fan of the western. I’ve read good things about your Hell’s Eight series, however, so I thought I’d see if perhaps your book Shadow’s Stand might be the western that changed my mind. After finishing it, I am open to [...]
Jan 19 2012
Dear Ms. Warner, I am a big fan of Western romances and your books have been praised by many of my trusted reviewers. So when I was offered the opportunity to review your latest, the middle book in the Runaway Brides trilogy, I was happy to accept. Although I haven’t read the first book, I [...]
Nov 24 2011
Dear Ms. Arend: This is the first book in Six Pack Ranch series which, given that there are six boys in the Coleman family, means that each book will likely feature one of the Coleman brothers. The oldest brother is Blake and this story has a friends to lovers theme. While I liked the concept [...]
Nov 24 2011
Olivia Didn’t Believe in Second Chances She and Cal Devlin had been in love a lifetime ago, before she’d lost everything and been branded a “scarlet woman.” And though she longed for nothing more than to be back in Cal’s arms, their passion could only mean his ruin…! Caleb had learned that some Texans never [...]
Oct 7 2011
Dodge City (1939) Genre: Western Grade: B 1939 was apparently the year that the Western came into its own. “Stagecoach,” “Destry Rides Again” and “Dodge City” were all released then and elevated the genre from B grade status to vehicles for the studio stars of the day. “Dodge City” is slightly different in that the [...]
Aug 19 2011
Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970) Genre: Western/Action/Road Romance Grade: B It recently dawned on me that I haven’t reviewed all that many Westerns. They’re just not the first genre of films I think of when I’m looking for romance. So in an effort to remedy that I give you “Two Mules for Sister Sara” [...]
Jun 30 2011
Welcome to part two of Dear Author’s interview series with the debut authors who are up for Best First Book in the RITAs, the annual awards presented by the Romance Writers of America. Three historicals received nominations: Kaki Warner’s Western Pieces of Sky, Kieran Kramer’s Regency When Harry Met Molly, and Karen Witemeyer’s inspirational A [...]
Jun 9 2011
Dear Ms. O’Connell: When I saw that Kristie J. highly recommended your self-published Western, Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold, I admit I was excited but also trepidatious. I’m always a bit wary of Romance novels featuring Native American protagonists, because the stereotypes seem so entrenched in the genre. The opening scene of the book [...]
Apr 15 2011
Broken Trail (2006) Genre: Western Grade: B+ Ah, the beauty of the West, of a herd of wild horses, of a campfire crackling at night, of a group of young Chinese women being driven to a fate worse than death in a rough hewn mining camp – wait, back up, strike that. Let’s start again. [...]
Apr 11 2011
“San Francisco, 1870 Huiann arrives in America expecting to be wed to a wealthy businessman. She no sooner disembarks from the ship than she realizes Xie is not looking for a bride: Huiann is worth more to him as a high-end prostitute. Though her fate is better than that of other Chinese women forced into [...]
Nov 18 2010
Goodman is a very favorite author of mine. I know she’s not an author for every reader, but I look forward to each one of her books. Goodman is not much for self promotion and so she sent Robin (aka Janet) 8 ARCs and 8 cover flats for her December release, Marry Me, and asked [...]
Oct 14 2010
Dear Ms. Hobson, The first books that were ever read to me-’aside from children’s picture books that is-’were C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, thus establishing a long history of love for the fantasy genre. As a child, my favorite books were those that had any kind of magic, fairy tale or fantastic elements in them. [...]
Sep 17 2010
Thousand Pieces of Gold (1991) Genre: Historical Western/Romance Grade: B Early last month, Karenmc contacted me about a movie she thought might make a good Friday Film Review called “Thousand Pieces of Gold.” After tracking down a VHS copy, I have to agree with her. In 1880s China after years of drought, Lalu (Rosalind Chao) [...]
Recent Comments