Dear Ms. Malone:
Thank you for submitting your debut Samhain Red Hot, “Lady Sings the Blues,” a short story featuring an interracial Romance between club owner Alina Gabriel and Blues musician Joshua Hanover. I am a big fan of short stories and novellas, because when they are done well, they are a perfect portion of [...]

Dear Ms. Ione,
I’m not exactly sure what I expected of new Demonica paranormal series, but a story sounded in a demon hospital sounded interesting so I decided to give it a shot. What I found was a read that, for the most part, I found lively and entertaining, even if I [...]

Dear Ms. Smith:
When I read the setup for this story, I had to read it. I love the reunited lover storyline. Olivia and her husband, Reign, have been separated for over thirty years–since their wedding night in fact. Reign, a vampire, bit Olivia and turned her against her will. She [...]

Dear Ms. Heath:
This is the first book of yours I’ve read in probably 4 years or so. I really liked your Western historicals and was disappointed when you moved to write Regency romances. It’s clear, though, that you aren’t going back West so I decided to give your books another try. [...]

Dear Ms. Dimon:
Hard as Nails is an anthology that takes place inside a house that is being rehabbed. The first story is an architect working on the project, the second is of the lawyer to the construction company and the third is the project manager of the rehabbing project. All three books [...]

I had the strangest reaction to this book. On the one hand, I really liked the voice and the interaction between the characters. On the other, I hated, loathed really, the setup and the silly situations in which the characters were placed to evoke conflict.
Gabriel Thurston Devine, the seventh duke of Wolverest, decides [...]

Dear Ms. Stuart,

I was one of many readers impressed with the first novel in your “Ice” series, Black Ice. I sometimes have problems with the power differential between your heroes and heroines, and though Black Ice was no different in that respect, the hero and heroine were nonetheless compelling, as was their relationship.
The [...]

Dear Ms. Brennan:
I bought this book because I’ve been wanting to read you for a long time but never got around to it. I actually have no reason because I think I even have received a few of your books for free. I think I believed that your books were [...]

Dear Ms. Wilton,
When I first read your excerpt for “Desperately Seeking Susie,” I had the idea it would be a modern Chick Lit in a more humorous vein. What it turned out to be is actually a much more serious first person exploration of Susie Levine discovering herself, finding love and dealing with life. [...]

Dear Ms. Hunter:
I know that you are a gifted writer and I certainly feel like I am supposed to understand the underlying dynamic of the characters’ motivations but I admit to being lost. I do think that you are challenging norms here and I appreciate that but somehow I could never [...]

Of the three books reviewed below, two have that distinct HP feel to them replete with the high powered arrogant hero and the less empowered female. The two with the distinctive HP evoked more emotional response than the first one, His Mistress by Arrangement, but I gave higher marks to HMbA because it focused [...]

Dear Ms. Shearin:
This may have been a case of mismatched expectations. The cover quotes and inside the book endorsements said that it was “fall out-of-your-chair funny” and that you had “mastered writing with humor.” I confess my reading experience was quite different. This is not to say that I didn’t find [...]

Hunting Love is a series of novellas offered by Samhain which feature shapeshifters of Felidae. Like all Samhain themed novellas, the books share a very similar look so that the reader can easily identify the connection. I read three of the four. * These books are related only by the [...]

Dear Ms. Mallory:
I’ve pledged to myself to try and be more diverse in my reading because I do have the luxury of choosing among a number of books without financial risk. This is my first book from you and while I had several issues, I like the voice and would try you again.
Marietta Winters [...]

Dear Ms. Holly,
A few years ago, I read your historical romance Beyond Innocence. While I didn’t love the book, I thought it was better than average and I especially liked your writing voice, so much so that I quoted from it in my opinion piece on style. Therefore, when Janet (Robin) recommended Catching [...]

Dear Ms. Napier:
I’ve slowly been converted to being an HP fan. Being an HP fan means that you are in for a lot of drama and a lot of bruising kisses. The real measure of success for me, in an HP, is how strong the heroine is. Because the men are fairly [...]

Dear Ms. Bauer:
I’ve had this in my TBR pile since Keishon’s review last year. I’ve dusted it off (metaphorically since it is an ebook) for Keishon’s monthly TBR challenge. While I agree with some of Keishon’s points (particularly on the extensive world building), I found the romance to be forced in many places.
Dr. [...]

Dear Ms. Leto:
I’ve been anxiously awaiting this new paranormal series of yours from Signet since you announced it over a year ago. I’m intrigued by the premise and I liked parts of the story but overall, I felt like I was missing something when I closed the story.
Alexa Chandler is an heiress in control [...]

Midnight Rising by Lara Adian
Dylan Alexander is a talented journalist who is overseas enjoying a vacation with friends of her mothers. During a walk, she wanders away from the group and encounters a cave with strange markings. She has photographed these and a homeless man she observed in the caves before said homeless [...]

Dear Ms. Kendall:
I can’t recall if I have ever read a book by you before so this might be my first of yours. It was a very uneven ride, but there were enough good aspects that I would definitely read you again.
Avy Hunt is an art recovery agent for ARTemis. She breaks the [...]

Dear Ms. Dunn,
As I go back to write this letter, I find myself torn about this book. On the one hand, the back blurb does state that it will be about the last years of Katherine Parr, after she was widowed by Henry VIII and married a fourth husband, this time for love. And it [...]

Mistress to the Tycoon by Nicola Marsh. Ariel Wallace is an artist struggling to fulfill her aunt’s dream of sponsoring young troubled locals into launching an art career. The dream is in jeopardy due to the plans of a rich real estate developer. The straight laced dude v. the free form spirit [...]

Dear Ms Arkins,
I adore finding romances set in unusual times or places which is why I jumped on “Don’t Fence Me In” when I saw it listed at Fictionwise. I’ve read some great short stories that managed to completely convince me of the couple’s HEA. And then I’ve read some that just didn’t quite [...]

Dear Ms. Frank,
Let me be honest. The first two books in your Nightwalker series didn’t impress me much. So when I received the third book, I honestly wasn’t expecting to like it. But to my surprise, I enjoyed the romance between Siena and Elijah. Unfortunately, their relationship wasn’t able to overcome the other flaws [...]

Dear Ms. Briggs,
I’ve been putting off writing this review for some time. As readers, we each have our own preferences and quirks in what we like to read. We also have our personal hot buttons with regards to what we don’t. While I liked the first two-thirds of Iron Kissed, the last third hit my [...]