Dear Ms. Matthews:
Marriage in trouble is a favorite theme of mine. I am always interested in seeing how an author can bring a couple back from the brink of disaster without irreparable harm. But marriage in crises require a delicate balance, particularly if one character is going to embark on an adulterous relationship. [...]

We’ve tallied up our choices and have gone with the following books and authors. Jayne picked about 10 of them until I reminded her that we were running this contest every month until August and maybe we should just hold some of those over until next month. So if your recommendation didn’t get [...]

Dear Dr. Shem,
I read your book, The House of God, years ago when I was still in college majoring in my health care field. Hmmm, make that years and years ago. Anyway, I laughed my ass off then and I just did it again while rereading the (probably only slightly) fictionalized account your internship [...]

Dear Ms. Krentz:
I keep buying your books even though I know that it’s the same story that I have read before in your previous publications. Oh, I know that it says “first time in print” but I am sure I have read the same characters, with the same conflicts, with the same resolution [...]

Dear Mrs. Marshall,
This is a nice pirate romance with a more capable heroine than most “chick in pants” stories. I think it works better than most because Christine is more a thinking pirate rather than a true swashbuckling one. She tries to outwit her victims thereby making herself and her crew richer than when they [...]

Dear Mrs Hart,
I’m finally getting back to Pot of Gold, your first story about Captain Robin Steele and his love, Nora as they search for a hidden leprechaun fortune beneath a Caribbean island. I like it just as much as the sequel, Emerald Isle. It’s fast and humorous and since it’s a fantasy, I [...]

Dear Ms. Snyder:
I came across this book when I was perusing ebook releases. It had a gorgeous cover and an interesting summary. I did minor research and found it received a starred review from PW. I figured it was worth the risk (it was not an inexpensive book). I am glad that I [...]

Dear Ms. Murphy,
I’ve had a copy of your first book “Urban Shaman” lying around the house for a while now but just never had gotten to it. Then I got my hands on a copy of your new Jo Walker series book “Thunderbird Falls” without realizing it was a sequel. Silly me. Well, I [...]

There was quite the dust up last week involving Laura Lee Guhrke and her opinions that Ellora’s Cave is a fringe publisher and the authors for Ellora’s Cave were not making “good money.” When confronted with Ellora’s Cave authors saying that they do make good money, Ms. Guhrke challenged these authors to prove it [...]

The comment thread for the False Advertising is now closed. Any further comments on this topic can be made here. Please remember that the comment section is for discussion of the review or topic. It is not a place to promote your books. We have specific contests for that. [...]

Dear Readers:
A couple of days ago, I blogged about Aphrodisia and its attempts to have its Erotica line pimped as romance despite the line editor’s statements in an interview which seems to suggest that no HEA is required for these stories. Kate Douglas came over concerned that we were spreading some misinformation about the [...]

Dear Ms. Chesney,
Historical mysteries are my favorite type and I’m looking forward to reading more of your Edwardian series featuring the unconventional Lady Rose Summer and Captain Harry Cathcart. Lady Rose’s suffragette sympathies, excellent education and concern for the lower classes is just enough to be considered odd by her social peers without seeming [...]

Dear Ms. Cabot:
I don’t know if you remember me. I met you at the RWA NY convention. You were very cute sitting in your chair but looked quite lonesome. You didn’t have much of a line in front of you. I suspect that it would be much different today and perhaps that [...]

No, no, no, Gentle Reader, not the Ellora’s Cave Threeway. I’m talking Love Triangles. Some readers love them. Lisa Kleypas gave a synposis of her contemporary due out in 2007 over at AAR. It features a Love Triangle between one woman and two alpha males.
And just as Liberty and [...]

Dear Ms. Pattillo,
I noticed the review for this book while I was watching DVDs of Dawn
French’s British comedy about a female vicar in the Church of England working in a small country village. Some of the obstacles that French faces are also ones that crop up in this book. The heroine, Betsy Blessing, faces opposition [...]

Dear Readers and Authors:
Edited to add: We often get offers of free books related to this contest but we decided in last month’s contest that we would buy all the books we chose so we could remain objective. We have no problem in receiving books from publishers but at this time feel uncomfortable receiving [...]

Dear Ms. Orloff:
Keishon blogged the other day about books that make you cry and whether they are to be avoided and embraced. We decided that it is all about expectations. The title tells the ultimate conclusion to properly prepare the reader but I definitely wished it turned out different. I was touched [...]

Commenter Alau had a much different take on the interview given by the editor from Aphrodisia. To wit:
I think the definition of a HEA is changing and that's what Aphrodisia is responding to: as long as the woman is happy, it doesn't matter if she ends up with the hero or not. As long [...]

From the desk of guest reviewer, Jaili.
Dear Ms. Leigh,
When I saw that Kiss of Heat is Book 3 in Feline Breeds series, I assumed that it would be a standalone, anyway, just enough for me to get into the story easily. I mean, how hard could it be to catch up? Pretty easy, I’d say, [...]

This one has been traveling around the net this week. The History of Dance.

The comment thread for this post is now closed. Any further comments on this topic can be made here. Please remember that the comment section is for discussion of the review or topic. It is not a place to promote your books. We have specific contests for that. [...]

Dear Ms. Weaver:
After I had purchased, read, and thoroughly enjoyed Let’s Pretend, I purchased your backlist. Thank goodness it was easy to do so and the prices were right. The second book I read was Incubus. This is a short story or novella length. I’ll try to keep the review commesurate with [...]

Warning: this entire book is a bit of a spoiler for Sex, Murder and a Double Latte. If you intend to read the story, you may want to skip the review. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya.
Dear Ms. Davis:
This is the HARDCOVER sequel to Sex, Murder and a Double Latte. Sophie [...]

Dear Ms. Mandel,
Applause, applause, standing applause. You’re gonna like what I hav to say about your book. Anna Bolles is smart, funny and in love with Joe. Joe Malone is smart, gorgeous, and in love with Anna. They know they have something special, something that everybody looks for. They know this by chapter 2. [...]

Dear Ms. Miles:
Update: The author, Ms. Bennett, was kind enough to send us a cover image for her book (Thanks Maili for the suggestion). And gave us an update on her writing endeavors.
I went on to be published in Australian mainstream as Lilly Sommers. I currently write historicals for Avon [...]

Thinking about these books:
Contemporary/Contemporary Romantic Suspense

Bevarly, Elizabeth - Express Male (HQN)
Bird, Sarah - The Flamenco Academy (hardcover–KNOPF) (reserved at library)
Brashares, Ann - The Girl of Lost Things (hardcover–RIVB) (reserved at library)
Civil-Brown, Sue - Hurricane Hannah (HAR)
Dunn, Carola - Styx and Stones (reissue–KENS)
Glass, Julia - The Whole World Over (hardcover–PAN) [...]

Ms. Davis:
I bought this book at Elibron.com. Elibron carries no cover images and no descriptions so my purchase was based solely on a) the name and b) the publisher. I was in the mood for something chick lit and I was buying something else at the time . . . [...]

Dear Authors and Readers,
Jane and I have finished our first monthy ebook reading contest. We’d like to thank everyone who posted their suggestions for books to read, especially authors. It takes guts to nominate yourself and maybe some of you are cursing your friends for nominating you. We know it’s not easy [...]

Dear Ms. Warren:
Your stories benefited from a 3 book release one month after the other. The series started with The Husband Trap which featured a twin swap. I don’t like Twin Swaps so I skipped it. The second book, The Wife Trap, featured the villian of The Husband Trap. The villian [...]

Ms. Kinsale has went on to clarify that her post was more about differentiating books from a service industry. To some degree I agree with her, but the whole discussion raise an interesting point for me as to what is art. Ms. Kinsale’s argues books should not be subject to the whims of [...]

Dear. Ms Carter,
After reading a review of your book I decided to take a chance on it. I’m not usually a category romance book fan (Some of the titles alone are enough to make me gag) but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It has two mature leads acting reasonably and a nice background story. [...]

Dear Mrs. Treanor,
As I started to read The Other Sea, I was all set to brave Triskelion and buy all your backlist at once. Despite the editing problems that I’m coming to associate with that publisher (smiles at Angie), I was prepared to glom. After finishing this book, I’m still willing to try your backlist, [...]

The SB’s have a letter from Laura Kinsale up at her website. Somehow I doubt she will ever write a letter to us but I felt compelled to respond (don’t I always).
Dear Authors:
If you (and by you, I mean the universal you) are writing in a certain genre, particularly within the romance genre, aren’t [...]

I think that we reviewers are the HR department (killing the fun) and authors are Michael Scott (hating us for it).

HelenKay Dimon has posted an interesting article at Access Romance about the publishers that she likes. The ones she’s loyal to because they’ve delivered good books in the past and that she’ll take a second look at just because of who they are. An interesting concept raised by Ms. Dimon’s post is branding, both across [...]

Dear Ms. Counts,
I think I’m all Peninsulared out right now. I used to love books using this setting but alas, like aristocratic English spies, it’s been done to death. I had hopes that your book would be different but once past the novelty of how the hero and heroine get together, it sank into [...]

Dear Ms. Stuart:
It is with a heavy heart that I write this letter. I enjoy your blog. I enjoy your comments. Yours was a book that was recommended in the contest by several people so I know you can be reassured that that you have fans of your work. A book that [...]

Jane and I wanted to be sure that eveyone knows which reviews are for books that we’ve chosen in our ebook contests. So, from now on, we will add CB (contest book) at the beginning of reviews for contest books. I’ve also gone back and added this to all the ones we’ve already posted.
Jane’s [...]

Dear Ms. MaryJanice Davidson:
So I was at the Half Price Bookstore yesterday and was browsing through the $1.00 bin. There was a romance book there proclaiming to be by New York Times Bestselling Author so and so (see I can’t even remember her name today). I looked at the copyright date: 1980s. [...]

Dear Authors:
I love sports. Really love sports. I listen to ESPN at work everyday. We purchase the MLB Ticket, the NFL Ticket, the NBA Ticket. ESPN is on every night. This is itemized to tell you that one of you isn’t going to be real happy with my review because it [...]

Dear Mrs. Kwitney,
Your first book had more of a traditional “romance” style to it and since then, you’ve been moving in more a “chick lit” crossed with “women’s fiction” with some romance direction. I’m fine with that and have enjoyed all your books but it is something I thought I should mention in [...]

Dear Ms. Champagne,
For a first time effort, you didn’t do a bad job. Since this is a romantic suspense novel, I’m going to end up giving you two individual grades and then a combined final as I find that most books of this type are better in one area than the other.
Kat, your [...]

Dear Mr Wainwright,
Your debut novel The Adventures of Alianore Audley is a brilliantly funny, subversive spoof that shouldn’t be missed.
Elizabeth Chadwick recommended this book on another list and it was well worth the effort to track down. I try to tell people to imagine a female Blackadder intelligence spy during the War of the [...]

Dear Triskelion,
Earlier I wrote about the bad experience I had buying 2 ebooks from you. Now I’m sorry to say but the reading experience for one of them has been less than wonderful and it’s not due to the author’s voice or style. It’s due to your poor editing.
I was reading the first book on [...]

There aren’t many people happy with the Ashworth novel, Duke of Scandal. I didn’t much like Duke of Sin so I wasn’t shelling out $8.00 for Duke of Scandal particularly after I read Ashworth’s own description of it:
As his feelings for her grow, he's confounded by her honesty, her naiveté coupled with a glamour [...]

Dear. Mrs. Connolly,
I’ve been a Richard and Rose series fan for years now. I’m looking forward to seeing poor Richard suffer while Rose is in labor and I’m really looking forward to poor Rose ending her 2 year pregnancy. So, in the meantime, I thought I’d try Noblesse Oblige and see how you write [...]

When Jayne and Jane first started blogging, Jane had picked out a plain and ordinary theme. Since that time, it was mutually agreed that our site looked boring. We’ve made some changes and added some new code that should make your visit to the blog more fun.

Inline commenting. That allows [...]

Dear Ms. Jameson’s Editor:
I am writing this letter to you, the editor, because I think you failed at your job. Isn’t it your job to tell the author that she needs to cut out unnecessary scenes, make sure the characters sound consistent, and keep the pacing timely? Because all of those things seemed [...]

Dear Ms. Summers:
There is a reason why I don’t read alot of categories. It is bad for my health. Only a couple chapters in and my blood pressure is already rising. Your heroine, Dr. MacKenzie Lloyd, embodies all the my hot button issues with contemporary romances. She is young, 26 years [...]