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

Dear Ms. Schwab:

I remember when The Lily Brand was release in 2005 and many were shocked by its dark tones. I had to read it because it sounded different and back a few years ago, we weren’t really getting the variety that we have today. Like many dark books, in The Lily Brand once the redemption of the heroine occurred, the story began to lose some forward motion but I still anxiously awaited the next book because your voice was so interesting.

Unfortunately nothing came out and I confess to having forgotten about you until I received an email wondering if I would read Castle of the Wolf. Castle of the Wolf was written in a completely different tone than your previous effort. It still had dark overtones, but those were more gothic than horror in nature.

Celia is a 27 year old spinster who lived with her father, brother and brother’s wife. When her father dies, Celia’s sister in law becomes lady of the manor. Dorinda quickly makes it clear she views Celia as an …

Dear Ms. Putney,

This collection, published by Jove in 2002, includes one original contemporary Christmas novella and reprints of four of your older novellas from the early 1990s. All but one were new to me when I picked up this book. Here are my opinions of each of the stories:

“A Holiday Fling”

This is the contemporary novella. It is set in England and featuring two side characters from your book The Spiral Path. Jenny Lyme is a British actress. Greg Marino is an American cinematographer. Many years earlier they worked on the same movie, and after Jenny’s then-boyfriend dumped her, she ended up in bed with Greg. Because she was still hurting from being dumped, it didn’t turn into a romantic relationship, but rather a long distance friendship.

Now, years later, Jenny needs Greg’s help. A video of a play she is directing and starring in needs a good cinematographer. The proceeds from the video will go toward saving the tithe barn that served as a community center for Jenny and her neighbors for many years. So she calls Greg and asks him to be her cinematographer during his Christmas holiday. Greg has …