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

Dear Ms. Wong Keltner,

I suspect I’m not the proper audience for this book. I love young adult novels and I want to read more stories featuring non-Caucasian protagonists, but stories about young adults written for adults? I’m starting to think they’re not to my taste.

Fourteen-year-old Candace Ong is approaching the end of the eighth grade. While she works in her parents’ San Francisco Chinese restaurant frying eggrolls and making wontons, Candace dreams of Adam Ant and being the type of girl who’d grace the cover of a rock and roll album. She loves hanging out with her fellow Chinese-American friend, Ruby, who’s pretty, popular, and adored by boys. Candace wants a way out of her current life but there’s some truth to the old saying, Be careful what you wish for, because when she gets the chance, the price and the risks just might outweigh the reward.

My main problem with this book is that the characters are neither likable nor sympathetic. I don’t require those qualities all the time, but I need a compelling reason to root for the characters if they’re not present. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find one here either. …

Dear Ms. Greene,

Several of my friends count you among their favorite authors and have for years. Lately I’ve had good luck with the Harlequin Next line (which I understand is now defunct) and I jumped at the chance to try one of your books. Overall, it was a good experience but not the best.

Poppy and Bren are nodding acquaintances in their small Virginia town but they never expect what will end up bringing them together. A woman scorned by most of the town her whole life leaves them both an inheritance of jewelry. What everyone had thought was nothing but cheap, tacky dime store stuff turns out to be worth a cool $250,000 for each woman. Stunned at their luck, both have some choices to make. Poppy quickly decides to spend some of her money on plastic surgery. She’s always considered herself somewhat homely and now’s her chance to fix that.

Bren knows she should tell her minister husband and turn over the money for their struggling church but lately Charles has been criticizing everything she does. Bren loves being a minister’s wife, loves the church, and helping people. But Poppy can’t seem to get …