Dear Author: Romance Book Reviews, Author Interviews, and Commentary

Dear Ms. Alexander:

One thing that continually frustrates me in romance is the idea that readers will only find one type of male heroic. To wit, that only the alpha male, stern and unyielding, can make the loins aquiver and her heart to pitter pat. This is why the Duke is such a popular role as is the spy or the soldier because these men are not known for their smiling countenances, nor does he require great wit, a friendly mien or modulated voice.

From the romance novel stock shelves, the alpha male is tall, broad shouldered, generally dark haired, of grim coutenance. Surly demeanor optional for an extra $9.99. It is actually a bright spot to open a book and find a hero of a different caliber and that is what I thought I was getting after the introduction to Seduction of a Proper Gentleman. Oliver, you tell us, is a romantic. In the tontine created by his friends to see who would be the last of man standing, Oliver was sure it would not be him. He was ready to marry and to start a family. …

Dear Ms. Carey,

I loved the original Kushiel trilogy. I found the heroine Phèdre nó Delaunay, her story as a premier courtesan and the only anguisette in generations, and the Terre D’Ange setting fascinating and compelling. All those things were enough to keep me reading the second trilogy about her adopted son, Imriel, despite the fact I never found him quite as interesting.

Imriel de la Courcel nó Montrève has spent his entire life burdened by the past. He’s the son of the traitorous, Melisande Shahrizai, whose manipulative plots sent Terre D’Ange into a war that nearly destroyed it. As a child, he was sold into slavery to a man who elevated perversion and abuse to an artform. And finally, he was saved from that bondage and raised to adulthood by Phèdre and her consort, Joscelin, who are considered heroes of the realm. In short, he has a lot of baggage and his narrative makes sure you know this again and again.

That’s more than enough issues for him to work through but in the previous two books of the trilogy, Kushiel’s Scion and Kushiel’s Justice, Imriel found himself with another burden — one that was as …

Drop Dead Gorgeous by Kimberly Raye. The premise was that geek girl saw her geek boy bestfriend get super hot, super confident, and super sexy and she wanted that too. Except the reason that the geek boy bestfriend got super everything was because he got bit by a vampire and now he too was a vampire. As a vampire, he could make a woman want him. His nerd body transformed into a hard body that everyone in town wanted. I was disappointed that there was no emotional makeover other than that incited by his paranormal makeover. In other words, this guy would have never broken out of his shell if not for his supernatural power.

Geek girl, Meg Sweeney, has been making herself over since high school to turn from jock into girly girl, but she hasn’t been successful enough to make it onto the hot bachelorette list, “Tilly Townsend’s infamous Hot Chicks.” This bothers Sweeney so much that she attends humiliating classes with other members of her small town to discuss her orgasms and lack thereof. This book is over the top in …