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

Dear Mrs Gabaldon,

I put pen to paper to tell you how much I have enjoyed the latest batch of short stories about Lord John Gray. I think he is, by far, my favorite character you’ve invented and I dare to hope that you have several more stories in mind for him beyond the one you’ve already promised us. As always your writing is filled with great period feel and historical details which are so nicely fitted into the storytelling that there’s no awkward “take note of this class” feel to them. The information flows and the story flows with it. I feel that I am in the house of a celebrated London hostess as dark undercurrents of the Hellfire Club ebb and swirl. Or in a dank German graveyard with a tipsy band of soldiers trying to discover in which grave a succubus is lying. And finally waiting in the Arsenal, trying to stifle my startled jumps as cannon are fired mere yards away.

Each story starts with Lord John being presented with a mystery to be solved, none of which he can ignore. Who killed a young man John met once …

Dear Mrs. Gabaldon,

A few years ago when the first Lord John book (Lord John and the Private Matter) was released I made a mental note to myself that I ought to try this one out. After all I had enjoyed Outlander (though got bogged down in the next one and never finished it). Alas, a mental note made was all I did and it wasn’t until Jane mentioned all the goodies she picked up at RWA and hadn’t I read the first book because she had an ARC of the second and did I want it? that I decided to get off my arse and give it a go. What followed was an intense four days of me fitting in snatches of reading time whenever I could despite having to work 10 hour days at work and sleep sometimes. I read. I devoured. I inhaled. I had to know what happened next. I cursed when it was the last second I could leave for work and not be late. In other words, I liked the book. …

Dear Ms Gaia,

I love books set during WWII. There’s so much scope for drama, heartbreak, courage and bravery. Your book appealed to me because of the setting and the fact that from the blurb, the heroine looked like she is more in charge of her own sexuality than in most historicals and that it would make sense in the context of the story.

Resting in London after his tour of duty in France, Richard Hart is called upon to investigate a stolen Picasso that has surfaced in New York. With Leslie Havens by his side, Richard boards a steamer to New York and becomes embroiled in identifying art smugglers who are selling confiscated artworks on the black market. To his chagrin, his mother, Nanette (Hart) Bishop, is involved, and Claire’s old flame is one of the prime suspects.

I’m sad to say that although there were parts of the story I liked, there was a lot that didn’t work quite so well for me. From looking at your website, I know you’ve done a lot of research and there is a lot of period detail in the story. But …