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

edited to correct city name

Dear Ms Haney,

After a weekend spent watching “The Mummy” and “The Mummy Returns,” I was in the mood for ancient Egypt. When I saw your books listed at Fictionwise and they were offering Buywise discounts, well it was a good deal. I’m slightly confused about the order in which the series should be read but from what I can gather, you went back and wrote this book as an intro to the already established series. Correct me if I’m wrong.

I love the historical detail and agree that it’s a fine line between a) including enough - especially for a time period that’s not used often enough for readers to be familiar and comfortable with it - b) not having enough or c) going overboard. I could feel the baking heat, see the blinding sun, smell the sweat. Thank you for including reminders about the importance of religion in the lives of the characters. But lots of these characters seem fairly naive. Bak wonders that anyone could attack a woman, he marvels that anyone would be willing to risk punishment to commit murder or other serious crimes. Really? …

Dear Ms Mueller,

One thing I know is that I’ll always get something new and different when I begin one of your stories. I realize I mention the unusual settings you utilize in almost every review but I appreciate it so darn much that it just has to be said. And this is one of the most interesting ways of doing TT though one that’s hard to read at times. But thanks for not pulling any punches here. Sorry, no joke intended as spousal abuse is no laughing matter.

Time travel novels can irk me. Will the time traveler wander about babbling “this just can’t be happening?” or will he/she act too modern? Will the person in the correct time freak out or accept things too easily? TT novels have ‘issues’ but you’ve dealt with them in ways that worked for me.

Victoria is puzzled at first when she wakes in the body of Mayati and still thinks she’s in modern times. The two weeks of dreams / images / thoughts she gets after collapsing in fear that her husband will find her are enough to convince her …

Dear Mrs. French,

This is a series I’ve always meant to read but just never quite got around to. When I saw book three, “The Warrior” in the store, I decided to jump in and start there. The first thing I noticed is that it’s got an older style. Romance isn’t the main focus of story and it’s more historical fiction with romantic elements. The second thing is that from what I can tell by a cursery cruise through the internet, you’ve made this story up wholesale.

In ancient Times, tales were told of fierce warriors and the brave women who risked everything to love them. Alexander was one such man, and well he knew it. The only son of Alexander the Great, he had a destiny to fulfill. He intended to marry a princess and carry on his noble lineage. But in the heat of the Egyptian desert, a beautiful slave girl named Kiara called to his deepest desires. Her emerald green eyes beckoned him to put down his sword and open up his heart. And for once, Alexander wanted nothing more than to defy expectation and follow this willful …

Dear Mr Silverberg,

The idea of time travel fascinates me. Imagine being able to go back and see not only the great events in history but the little, ordinary day to day lives of the Average Joe/Jayne. We could clear up some of the Great Historical Mysteries, find out things that had been forgotten in the mists of time, enjoy spending a day (or 30) living among our ancestors. And in the end, head back home to better medical care, air conditioning / central heating and the internet. What’s not to like?

Edward Davis of the Time Service is on a rescue mission. Eighteen months ago, two Service personnel going to Tiberius’s Rome were lost when their Jump Field missed and put them in Thebes around 1390 B.C. Now that the Service has finally calculated their location, Edward, with his background in Egyptology, is to go back 35 and a half C’s to bring them home … if they’re still alive.

I’ve mentioned in reviews of other novellas that I expect an author to make use every word when working in such a short format. You do and yet manage …