Dear Author: Romance Novel Reviews, Industry News, and Commentary

Dear Readers:
It has been five years since we’ve had a new Laura Kinsale book to read, and Lessons in French is quite a departure from her last book, Shadowheart.
Callie, or more properly, Lady Callista Taillefaire, is a 27-year old thrice-jilted heiress who wants nothing more than to live in relative peace – and raise her [...]

Horatio Hornblower (1998-2003)
Genre: Adventure, War, Drama
Grade: series as a whole, B+
After my review of “Captain Blood,” there was a call for more swashbuckling films. I do plan to eventually do more of these but I thought I’d detour slightly in this direction. It is swashbuckling, it is war, it is the Navy and it’s set [...]

Warning: may include spoilers
Dear Ms Novik,
After finishing “Empire of Ivory,” I wondered where you’d take me in the follow up book. Answer: through the wringer. “Victory of Eagles” sees Temeraire and his captain Will Laurence having to face the results of their actions – seen as treasonous by most of the military [...]

Dear Ms. Bourne,
It’s taken me a while to get around to reading your debut, The Spymaster’s Lady. Back in the winter, Robin asked me if I would review it in a conversational review with her before your next book came out, and I promised that I would. When I got to reading [...]

Dear Ms. Willig,
Oh, what I’ve been missing by not reading your books earlier. Now having devoured “Pink Carnation” and the newest in the series, “The Seduction of the Crimson Rose,” I’ve been sucked in by your witty style, your fun characters and the entire world of early 19th century flower spies. What I still wonder [...]

Dear Ms Willig,
Of course I’ve heard of your series of novels set during the Napoleanic Wars featuring dashing spies named after flowers. Why hadn’t I read one until now….honestly I don’t know. Perhaps I thought the modern bits featuring a English history major trying to track down the identities of the spies was just too [...]

Dear Ms Bourne,
My blogging partner Jane and I usually have similar tastes in historical novels. Usually, I say, because we’ve been known to disagree at times. And it’s those times that I almost hate to do a review and have to say, sorry but I think this one sucked. I’m glad to say that this [...]