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

Dear Ms. Gleason,

I watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer religiously when it was still on the air. So when I heard your Gardella Chronicles described as Buffy in Regency England, I knew I had to read it. I think that’s one of this series’s strengths, as well as a weakness. If you loved Buffy, there’s a good chance you’ll like this book. But if you hated Buffy, there’s a good chance you won’t.

The other thing that works against it is the paranormal romance label on the spine. I know authors don’t control marketing, that it’s a publisher’s decision, but I can’t help but wonder how that’s worked out for the Gardella Chronicles. The first book, The Rest Falls Away, ended with a decidedly not-HEA and while I believe Victoria will find her HEA at the end of the fifth, and final, book, we’re not even getting HFNs at the end of each installment. I can see how that would annoy some romance readers. But I’ve said in the past that I take marketing labels with a grain of salt, and I do love …

Dear Ms. Frost:

The back of your book reads “If Buffy and Angel had a daughter, she’d be just like Cat Crawfield.” What wasn’t included was that Buffy’s daughter would then end up dating and falling in love with Spike, her mother’s boyfriend.

Cat Crawfield is a half vampire/half human woman. She was created violently when her mother went out on date with a vampire and was raped (this is actually not what I remember about the Buffy/Angel pairing but admittedly I have not watched many episodes). Spurred on by her mother’s hate, Cat hunts vampires. Because of her part vampire blood, she has a few special skills that enable her to have killed a good number of them by the time she turns 22.

Unfortunately, being a self trained vampire killer has its drawbacks and that is apparent when she runs into Bones, a master vampire, and he snuffs out right away that she isn’t the easy lay she pretends to be. He initially plans to kill her because he too is a vampire hunter. Instead, she convinces him that she’s not a danger to him and he …

Dear Ms. Roberts:

This is the second in your famed paranormal series called the Circle Trilogy. I’ve learned through reading Morrigan’s Cross and Dance of the Gods that you write actions scenes really well which is something I didn’t know you had in you. Apparently you can write anything. Let’s see you try your hand at some erotic romance, huh? Just kidding. As much as I wanted to love this book like Bookseller Jolie, I was, well, bored in the first half. The story ended with a bang and left me excited to read the next in the series but I wondered if this was another author whether I would have given up before the half way point. The story continues the group of 6’s fight against Lilith and her horde of vampires.

The second book focuses on Larkin, the shapeshifter, and Blair, the vampire hunter. Blair is classic Nora Roberts. She is smart of mouth, strong willed and savvy. Larkin is from an older, more chilvarous age and doesn’t quite know what to do with Blair. Blair is a loner who has spent her …