Tag Archives: good characterization
DUAL REFLECTIONS, PART 2: Black Silk by Judith Ivory (Judy Cuevas)

DUAL REFLECTIONS, PART 2: Black Silk by Judith Ivory (Judy Cuevas)

Black Silk was one of the first two Romance novels I read, and to this day it remains one of my absolute favorites. Submit Channing-Downs, the woman who deeply mourns the husband who was almost three times her age, is so unlike most Romance heroines. Her hair has the quality of thick yarn, her teeth [...]

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DUAL REFLECTIONS, PART 1: Black Silk by Judith Ivory (Judy Cuevas)

DUAL REFLECTIONS, PART 1: Black Silk by Judith Ivory (Judy Cuevas)

On rare occasion, I come across a novel that seems so rich, so sumptuous, and so sublime, that I am afraid to reread it. The first reading experience is so close to perfect that I don’t think anything can equal it. Such was the case with Judith Ivory’s Black Silk.
When I first read the book [...]

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What Makes a Hero

Barbara Vey of Publishers’ Weekly asked those attending Lady Jane’s Salon in New York City for three words that describe a hero. Many of the respondents went for the superficial (tall, dark and handsome was one answer and yet another said “Sexy, handsome and luscious”): sexy and strong.
One author appeared to be stumped and [...]

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REVIEW: Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

REVIEW: Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Dear Ms. Marchetta,
I have a bone to pick with you. I’ve got a packed read-and-review schedule for the next month or so, and I need to be able to move from book to book. But you’ve made that impossible. Yes, I blame you. It’s your fault that your book, Jellicoe Road, left [...]

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REVIEW: Love the One You’re With by Emily Giffin

REVIEW: Love the One You’re With by Emily Giffin

Dear Ms. Giffin,
Exactly one hundred days to her marriage to her husband Andy, Ellen Graham literally crosses paths with her ex-boyfriend Leo. Ellen describes their encounter this way:
From the outside, say if you were a cabdriver watching frantic jaywalkers scramble to cross the street in the final seconds before the light changed, it [...]

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