has been an avid if often frustrated romance reader for the past 15 years. In that time she's read a lot of good romances, a few great ones, and, unfortunately, a whole lot of dreck. Many of her favorite authors (Ivory, Kinsale, Gaffney, Williamson,
Ibbotson) have moved onto other genres or produce new books only rarely, so she's had to expand her horizons a bit. Newer authors she enjoys include Julie Ann Long, Megan Hart and J.R. Ward, and she eagerly anticipates each new Sookie Stackhouse novel. Strong prose and characterization go a long way with her, though if they are combined with an unusual plot or setting, all the better. When she's not reading romance she can usually be found reading historical non-fiction.Filed under: B- Reviews
Dear Ms. Haymore,
When I first picked up A Hint of Wicked, I did not have much in the way of expectations. I assumed that this was your first book, since I hadn’t heard your name before. I hadn’t really heard any buzz about the book, and I had to remind myself of the plot before I started by rereading the blurb. I rarely go into reading a romance with less of an idea of what to expect. It was a refreshing change, and one of the strengths of the novel turned out to be how difficult it was to guess what direction the story was going to go in.
The book opens with our heroine, Sophie, the Duchess of Calton, discovering that her beloved husband Garrett has fallen at Waterloo. With Sophie when she gets the news is Tristan, Garrett’s cousin and a dear friend to both Garrett and Sophie.
The story then shifts to eight years later; Tristan has succeeded his cousin as the Duke of Calton, and has now been married to Sophie for a year. Together they are raising her daughter Miranda (Sophie was pregnant with Garrett’s child when he left to fight Napoleon) …
I read 18 A-level romances in 2008, an unusually rich year for me. Two of those 18 books were your first two romances, Private Arrangements and Delicious. Needless to say, your books have vaulted to the top of my “most anticipated” list. So I settled down to read Not Quite a Husband with high hopes. I’m happy to say that I was not disappointed.
I really enjoyed your last book, Power Play, enough that I was looking forward to With a Twist. Unfortunately, this book never really got off the ground for me, owing to shallow characterizations and a heavy (and irritating) reliance on stereotyping over true character-building.
I was a relative latecomer to your Black Dagger Brotherhood Series, joining it in progress at, I believe, book three (or was it four?). Anyway, I remember reading online discussions about the series well before starting the first book, mostly related to the unusual names of the heroes (debate, IIRC, raged about whether the names were so silly as to be distracting, or not).
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. These stories combine romance with fantasy elements (a village in the heart of 18th century England whose residents can turn from human to smoke and from smoke to dragon) that I have never found to be too heavy-handed or overly detailed (I find the excessive world-building of some fantasy tiresome and confusing). I’ve also found your prose well above-average: lyrical without being purple or overblown.
Jennie: I was very happy when I discovered Megan Hart’s Harlequin Spice books a couple of years ago – I read Dirty and Broken in short order, and liked them both a lot. I was less enamored of Tempted, but figured that not every book is going to work for me, even if the author is one I enjoy. Unfortunately, I had some major problems with Stranger, as well, and I think I’ve identified some aspects of Hart’s writing that I dislike.
This is the first of your books that I’ve read, and when I began reading it last week, I couldn’t remember why I had been interested enough to pick it up, since I’m not hugely adventurous when it comes to new-to-me authors, and I haven’t had very good luck with the Harlequin Historical line. Likely it was the suggestion in the title of a mistress story; I’m always up for a good mistress story. Though the heroine never actually is a mistress, of the hero or anyone else in the course of the book, Kidnapped: His Innocent Mistress ended up being an unusual and worthwhile read.
So, I was the lucky recipient of a shiny new Sony PRS-505, in a very lovely shade of red. I’ve never owned an ebook reader, and in fact my experience in reading ebooks has been fairly recent and rather limited. I have tried both reading on the computer (which is convenient sometimes, but obviously not at others) and printing out ebooks (paper-wasting and cumbersome, but at least I can read them in bed). 
It’s been quite a while since I’ve read one of your books, though I was a fan of several back in the day, specifically the Dangerous books (Dangerous to Kiss, Dangerous to Hold, Dangerous to Love) and the Devereux trilogy (Cherished, Velvet is the Night, Tender the Storm). The latter particularly had a kind of old-romance feel that I sometimes like, with lots of sturm und drang and lush historical detail. I was looking forward to giving your work a try again, but unfortunately, I’m not sure that The Runaway McBride was the best place to start.
Though I remember hearing good things several years ago about your book Lord Ruin, I never got around to picking it up. I did read a subsequent book, The Spare, and though I thought it had some interesting Gothic elements, ultimately I found it uneven and graded it a C+. Still, I had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to try your work again and when then opportunity to read Scandal came along, I decided to give it a try. I’m glad I did.
