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

Dear Ms. Lackey,

When I was a young teenager, I devoured your Valdemar novels.  They were my favorite books and I was a very loyal reader.  I eventually outgrew them, as it sometimes happens, but I still look back on them fondly.  You write a special brand of animal companion fantasy about ostracized, misunderstood teens and the magical white horses that love and accept them that just speaks strongly to a certain audience.  As I’ve gotten older, I’ve gained a healthy amount of respect for that power.  There was a time when I couldn’t read a Valdemar book; when I outgrew them, I really outgrew them to the point of feeling elitist disdain.  (I think we all have those stupid moments of reading snobbery.)  But I like to think I’ve since moved past that, so I was cautiously optimistic when Jane mentioned she received a copy of your latest Valdemar novel for review.

I was pleasantly surprised.  This book was a return to early Valdemar books.  Part of the reason why I outgrew the Valdemar books was that later books took on a more epic, worldchanging tone, and if I’m honest, that wasn’t what …

Dear Ms. Wolf,

I had heard many good things about your book, A London Season. Despite having been published twenty-six years ago, it remains loved by many fans of traditional regencies, some of whom consider it a classic of that subgenre. So when a copy of the book came my way, I was eager to read it.

When Lady Jane Fitzmaurice is six years old, her parents' boat capsizes, leaving young Jane orphaned. Jane is sent to live with her uncle Edward in Newmarket, on an estate called Heathfield. Since Edward is only twenty-six years old, he is not ready to raise a child, but fortunately for him, Jane is no ordinary child. Independent, self-possessed, and direct, she has a maturity that few children her age share.

Edward gives Jane free reign to mostly do as she pleases, and Jane is more than pleased to discover that Edward has bought her two ponies and is the owner of a superb stable. More than anything else, Jane loves to ride.

Seven year old David Chance also loves riding. David lives in Newmarket with his aunt, a Frenchwoman who …

Dear Ms West,

I actually read this series a few years ago but with the Kentucky Derby coming up, I felt it was the perfect time to pull it out for a refresher. I’ve read tons of books set during the Civil War but precious few set during Reconstruction. This is about how the South began to rebuild after the war. It wasn’t easy or pretty. Lots of pride went into the war and just as much came out. Now people have to regroup and learn to move forward. Mix “Gone with the Wind,” “The Long Hot Summer” (the Woodward/Newman version, please) along with a little “Mississippi Burning” and you have “The Outcast.” Or parts of it.

The hero, Reeve Garrett, has always been on the outside looking in. He’s the bastard son of one of the county’s most powerful men and went against them all by enlisting in the Federal Army when the rest of the county pulled on Confederate Gray. Now he’s come back like a slap in the face and the county isn’t going to make it easy for him.

Especially Patrice Sinclair who’s loved him since …