Jayne
 Another long time reader who read romance novels in her teens, then took a long break then started back again about 10 years ago. She enjoys historical romance/fiction best, likes contemporaries, action- adventure and mysteries, will read suspense if there's no TSTL characters and is currently easing back into paranormals.
WARNING: spoilers for the first four books are impossible to avoid.
Dear Ms. Kenner,
 I’ve been addicted to this series since it first started four books ago. While some things have stayed the same, others, thank goodness, have changed and evolved as the series has progressed. And if there’s one thing I can count on, it’s a bang up finish with a “to be continued…” bombshell to make me frantic for the next installment.
Kate Connor, level five Demon Hunter, is once again faced with the powers of Darkness in her otherwise quiet CA beach town of San Diablo. But now her secret identity, which she struggled to hide during past books, is not so secret anymore. Her almost fifteen year old daughter knows, her best friend knows and now her second husband, Stuart, knows. Oh and her first husband, Eric, who was murdered five years ago then returned to her in the body of another man and who is now known in town only as a teacher at their daughter’s school, also knows. Yeah, it’s a lot to keep straight.
The book starts with the usual attack of a demon who utters cryptic threats …
Dear Ms. Michaels,
 If the purpose of the novella “How to Woo a Spinster” was to get me to buy this full length novel, it worked. But as I started to read How to Tempt a Duke, I wondered if I would get through it. Let’s see…Regency era, Duke hero, feisty younger sister, heroine with Dark Secret in her past who starts to bicker with the hero as soon as he shows his face at the old homestead. Hmmmmm, where have I read all this too many times to count?
Rafe Daughtry, son of the younger son, never expected to inherit the Dukedom. After all, his uncle was healthy and the heir and a spare were still up to their wicked, disgusting ways. That is until all three were drowned – along with some barques of frailty – in a yachting accident. Once word finally caught up with him in Paris, Rafe decided to stay and escort Bonaparte to Elba before heading home.
When he arrives in England, it’s to discover that his newly married aunt has left his two much younger sisters in the charge of his old neighborhood friend, Charlie. And hasn’t …
How did I miss this? Srsly, where was I? Dunno. I’ve heard about the “holding up the boom box” scene. I’ve seen it on so many “Gawd, these are the best films evah!” lists and heard from so many people that “you have to see this film, I mean it!” that I should have seen it before now. But it took doing these reviews and scanning Top Films lists for more film ideas to finally make me do it.
No one thinks Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack) and Diane Court (Ione Skye) will ever last. In fact, everyone’s surprised they ever got together in the first place. Including them. The first time Lloyd asks Diane out, she says yes then has to check their recent senior high school yearbook to even know who it is she just agreed to go to a party with. But as their relationship progresses, they find something special. She feels totally comfortable with him and he starts to trust in himself because of her.
Then things start to go wrong. Her father (John Mahoney) is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service and the time before she’s due to leave for a prestigious fellowship in England is …
Dear Mr. Nicolls,
 We get lots of arcs and finished copies of books offered to us at Dear Author. Some I am anticipating, others I recognize the author’s name and in a few cases, I’ve never heard of either book or author. Your debut novel, “The Good Mayor” falls into the latter category. I say this not to denigrate it but to point out that I had no idea what I would be getting myself into when I started it. The US cover of the book enchanted me. When Jane sent this in a box of other books, that is what made me pull it out and check the back blurb.
In a busy little city in a forgotten corner of the Baltic, in an office on the square, the beloved mayor of Dot lies on his office floor, peering beneath his door. Tibo Krovic has come to work from his house down at the end of a blue-tiled path. He’s taken, as usual, the tram seven stops, and walked the final two. He’s stopped for strong Viennese coffee. And now Tibo Krovic is looking at the perfectly beautiful feet of his voluptuous,
…
Dear Ladies,
 It’s taken me far too long to finally review this offering which I got in ::winces:: April. Bad moi. But here it is at last.
Once Burned by Emery Sanborne
Dear Ms Sanborne,
Hot firefighters, hot attraction, hot sex. “Once Burned” has all three. Plus lots of local Philadelphia color. Andreas Sullivan has tried to date a fellow firefighter before and all it got him was trouble and heartache. Will this time be any different?
Andreas and Bobby seem to have had some problems with being accepted as gay both by their families and by society. Andreas has been in more than one fight though he’s decided to try and shrug off antigay comments. One of his brothers wasn’t totally accepting of his lifestyle though now it appears that the brother is trying. Bobby’s father, a former Army man, only came to accept Bobby’s sexual orientation when faced with the greater disappointment of his son joining the Marines. Both are experienced and have had long and short relationships though there’s not as much about Bobby’s backstory and history as Andreas’s.
The firefighter stuff adds some color and shading to the story and serves as the …
Dear Ms. Minton,
 There is a lot of stuff you are trying to cover in this book. Some of it is done just right, some of it is skimmed too quickly for me and some of it just seems to be on an eternal repeating loop.
The small Kansas town of High Plains is still digging out from and attempting to recover from a horrific tornado. Buildings were demolished, possessions were scattered across the county, an unidentified little girl was discovered in the aftermath and town police chief Colt Ridgeway and town vet Lexi Harmon are unsure whether their decision to divorce two years ago was the right one. But have they dealt with the issues that drove them apart? Or is any attempt at reconciliation doomed?
The small town of High Plains seems like a wonderful community. It’s been hit by hardship, not everyone is getting back to normal at the same rate but neighbors are not only willing but eager to help each other. Sure, being known since birth by everyone and his brother has its drawbacks if you want to keep your business to yourself but the “we’re in it together” spirit …
Outlander (2008)
Genre: SF, Viking, horror, fantasy
Grade: B-/C+
No, this isn’t about Gabaldon’s opening to her epic – and then some – TT series. It’s, as many people have said, Beowulf crossed with outer space. But wait, there’s more for romance fans. It’s also got a Rothgar! I kept thinking of JB’s “waiting for Rothgar” and laughing as I watched the Viking edition. Moth recommended this film as one that “initially wouldn’t be thought of as a romance.” So true. It’s another mishmash genre film that at first doesn’t make too much sense – outer space alien crossed with Iron Age Vikings – but somehow it all works out in the end.
I’ll just present the notes I jotted down after I watched it.
I just finished this and – I’ll be honest – I’m still not sure exactly what I just watched. A cross between SF and some Iron age Viking saga. SF guy (Jim Caviezel) crash lands on Earth. SF guy crawls out of his wrecked space ship before it sinks in a lake then passes out and awakes to find his friend dead. SF guy heads off and discovers a ravaged village then gets captured and beaten up while being …
Dear Ms. Mullany,
 Two years ago I feel in love with “The Rules of Gentility.” Its first person spoofing of the Rules of Writing a Regency Romance had me in stitches. When Janine mentioned that you were going to have a sequel to it published this summer, I rubbed my hands with glee.
Deep in debt, widowed Lady Caroline Elmhurst and her maid Mary are decamping from their rented room literally one step ahead of the bailiff. Caroline’s two marriages – first to much older man who left her money and second to a young man who spent that money – plus her slight slip in social mores by allowing a man unrelated to her pay her rent, have left her with a soiled reputation among the ton. Luckily for her, she’s received an invitation to a country house party given by an amateur thespian with plans to stage Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” using his guests and servants as the actors. With luck, she’ll be able to find a wealthy man here to marry.
Mr. Nicholas Congrevance and his valet Barton, lately of the Continent, are also among the guests present. …
Dear Ms. McLeod,
 You’ve never let me down with any of the past novellas of yours I’ve read and you don’t do it this time either. I confess that I was slightly dismayed at the length of the story which formatted to 20 pages on my reader. She’s going to get two people together that quickly? Why, yes, you do.
Lady Genevra Haven is all set to make her debut at Almacks, that place where the cream of the ton dances, consumes mediocre refreshments and matches off. If only her not-to-be-disobeyed mother would let Genevra wear her spectacles. But to have her daughter be seen as a bluestocking sends shudders through the Countess of Raynham. So off go the spectacles into her mother’s reticule.
Things seem to be going well until Genevra is separated from her friends and finds herself, well, lost at Almacks. A series of missteps and false starts lead her through a maze of rooms and corridors, and through encounters with various “types” of London society until she finally meets a man who just might be perfect for her.
This is a delight of a short story. Tasty, easy to read …
Saving Face (2004)
Genre: GLBT, Asian Immigrant, Romance, Family
Grade: B
Yeah, you read the genre right. This one is truly a mixed bag but the magic is that first time director Alice Wu pulls it off so well. It’s got a great cast, wonderful location shots, a good score and best of all a top notch script for all to work with.
Surgical resident Wilhelmina ‘Wil’ Pang (Michelle Krusiec) heads off to Queens for yet another Friday night dance at what she calls “Planet China” during which she knows her widowed Ma (Joan Chen) will try and set her up with yet another Chinese son of one of her friends. Wil’s not interested in any of them except as friends but someone else catches her eye this particular night. Beautiful ballerina Vivian Shing (Lynn Chen) and Wil exchange glances but don’t get to talk until a few days later.
Vivian goes directly after what she wants but Wil still needs a little time to loosen up and accept the chance of a relationship. She’s also dealing with her mother moving in with her when her mother’s out of wedlock pregnancy is revealed causing Wil’s grandfather to throw his shameful daughter out of his …
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