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

Dear Ms. Kleypas:

After reading the first two lackluster books in your Hathaways series, I was thrilled to jump back into one my favorites with A Wallflower Christmas. I was a big fan of Secrets of a Summer Night (The Wallflowers, Book 1), an even bigger fan of It Happened One Autumn (The Wallflowers, Book 2) and a crazed-read-it-a-dozen-times-fan of The Devil in Winter (The Wallflowers, Book 3). Scandal in Spring (The Wallflowers, Book 4)? Ehhh . . . not so much. Although not as good as the first three, I found A Wallflower Christmas to be an enjoyable, albeit flawed, story.

A Wallflower Christmas introduces us to Hannah Appleton. Hannah is an intelligent girl of little money who has been acting as the chaperone for her spoiled and self-involved, but generally kind-hearted cousin, Lady Natalie Blandford. The book opens with our former wallflowers discussing the arrival of Lillian and Daisy Bowman’s older brother Rafe, and his prospective engagement to Lady Natalie. Reading this scene with its comfortable charm and easy wit had me reminiscing about the books I enjoyed so well, happy …

Dear Ms. Kleypas:

Some have told me that Seduce Me at Sunrise was as good as Kleypas’ penultimate book, Dreaming of You, featuring Derek Craven and Sara Fielding. The book had some similar underpinnings with the hero being of the lower class with a grotesque background who feels completely unworthy to be loved by the heroine, a gently bred young woman. What I thought was similar was the strong emotional connection between Merripen and Win, the leads in Seduce Me at Sunrise.

There’s a papable physical attraction, but even more than that is the fierce emotional ties that bind them.

Win says to Merripen:
I am running after you, and life, in desperate pursuit. My dream is that someday you will both turn and let me catch you. That dream carries me through every night I long to tell you so many things, but I am not free yet I hope to be well enough someday to shock you again, with far more pleasing results.
Merripen thinks of Win:
Because it wasn’t hers to give.

Your heart is mine, he thought savagely. It belongs to me.
Winnifred was struck by scarlet fever and while she …

The following guest review/letter comes from author Ann Christopher whose latest release, Sweeter Than Revenge, is due out on bookshelves soon. It’s a Kimani Imprint release and in some stores that means it will be shelved with the African American books and in others, it will be with the regular romances (where they should always be). Keep your eyes peeled for it, wherever you are.
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Dear Jane-

Let me start with my confession and get that out of the way right up front:

I was prepared to hate this book, and I hope you have enough space for me to list all the reasons why:

1. Lisa Kleypas is a HISTORICAL romance writer, one of the best writing today and one of my all-time favorites. Two of her historicals, Where Dreams Begin and The Devil in Winter, are dear old dog-earned friends of mine, to be brought out and savored when I’m feeling glum, or just as a special treat.

I look forward to Kleypas’ historical novels, which do not, IMHO, come out often enough. That being the case, I felt rather strongly that Kleypas had no business whatsoever splitting her …

Dear Ms. Kleypas:

This was a much anticipated book from Cam’s first appearance in the Wallflower series. While many readers believed Cam to be destined for a romance with Daisy, Daisy was paired off with someone else and Cam was left for his own book. While the story contains a romance, it is much more a story of Cam’s life and Amelia’s life and their intersections rather than a union of the two.

Cam Rohan is a gypsy who has forsaken his heritage to work as the majordomo of St. Vincent’s gambling clubs. He suffers a good luck curse. Every endeavor which he undertakes result in more good things happening to him. Conveniently, loaded with all the money that a man could possibly need, Cam feels smothered by his good fortune.

Cam’s character is set up as one that is feeling some kind of “life crisis.” His friends, what few he has, are married and starting families. Cam begins to think of his past and his lost “tribe” and finds the constraint of the society life almost more than a Rom should bear.

Amelia Hathaway is the figurative head …

I had the opportunity to meet Lisa Kleypas this summer at RWA due the kindness of herself and Sybil of The Good, The Bad, and the Unread. Sybil had arranged for myself and Kristie J to have lunch with Lisa. Lisa took us to the Adolphus Hotel where she had gotten married. During the luncheon and then throughout the conference, I had an opportunity to observe one of the most genuinely kind and un-assuming individuals I have ever had the good fortune to meet. Probably one of the most amazing things about Kleypas is that she really doesn’t realize the magic she has in her head that translates into her books. Her latest release, Mine Till Midnight, features a Rom hero in Regency England. There’s never been a hero quite like Cam.

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Dear Friends,

The occasion of my first sale was a huge relief, because I discovered early in my life that I was good for nothing except writing. Here are the signs that you are probably destined to become an author:

You are absent-minded because …

Ms. Kleypas, author of new release Sugar Daddy, has reached out and touched one of her biggest fans (and not the Misery kind of fan). Kristie J reported today that a very wonderful package arrived via Fed Ex from one NY Times Bestselling author, Lisa Kleypas. I wanted to report it because I thought it was very cool and we don’t spend enough time praising people for being thoughtful.

After seeing some really disappointing online author behavior, I was tempted to retract the whole “Reach Out and Touch a Reader” thing. In any event, way to go Kleypas. And Squuueeee for you, Kristie J.

Dear Ms. Kleypas:

After 20 plus historical novels, you’ve decided to change course and write a first person contemporary woman’s fiction novel. Sugar Daddy is billed as a big story featuring a plucky innocent heroine and her dilemma between two rich, alpha businessmen. The narrator, Liberty is a charming and sweet girl who would have made a great Young Adult heroine.

Unfortunately this is not a young adult book, but rather a woman’s fiction novel. I had a hard time buying into the idea that Liberty Jones had grown up by the age of 24 when the book ended. Had the story focused on the female protagonist, her struggle to cope as a mother figure for her 2 year old sister and her mixed race heritage, rather than the choice between two rich men, it would have had greater meaning. Or perhaps if it had explored, in depth, the real emotional issue of being in love with two men, it would have resonated more. Instead, it is just an accounting of Liberty’s short life, from age 13 to 24, her two loves, and ending with a contrived …