Book Reviews / Top Ten Lists#ownvoices / angels / Best of 2021 / best of list / bonded-mates / class differences / enemies to lovers / f/f / Fantasy / Fantasy Romance / Forbidden Lovers / friends-to-lovers / historical romance / horror elements / India-based world / Indian characters / LGBTQIA+ / m/f / m/m / magical school / military hero / missing persons / noir mystery / Opera Singer / paranormal romance / POC / POC author / redemption / reframing / teens / Urban-Fantasy / village / werewolves / widow / YA21 Comments
It’s a cliché to comment on how quickly a year has passed and in the Covid era the months sometimes pass slowly. 2021 wasn’t an easy year so I’m glad I found some great books to make it feel a little lighter. There weren’t an entire ten but I’ve had ... more >
ConversationsContemporary / enemies to lovers / enemies with benefits / Fantasy / genre history / genre tropes / historical romance / mystery / Paranormal / recommendations / rivals to lovers22 Comments
Janine: In our conversation about our reading in 2021, the enemies-to-lovers trope came up. I loved some of what you said and thought we could have a wider and deeper conversation about it. Here are some questions to start us off: Do you enjoy the enemies-to-lovers trope? Why or why ... more >
Book Reviews / Reading ListsBiography / classic fiction / Essays / historical mystery / historical romance / psychological thriller / Reading lists / Regency Romance13 Comments
Romola by George Eliot This is one of the last George Eliot books I had unread. I’ll confess that early on I thought about dumping it, but I persevered. As a book written in the 19th century about the 15th century and centered quite a lot on philosophy and the ... more >
B Reviews / C Reviews1910s / 1920s / amputee / anxiety / boarding school / convalescent hospital / Cornwall / disability / England / English countryside / epistolary / historical romance / infidelity / m/m romance / Oxford / trauma / World War I12 Comments
Janine: The Larks Still Bravely Singing begins when Robert Montagu and David Callahan reunite after being invalided from the battlefields of World War I. Robert and David both attended the Abbey, an English boys’ boarding school. As members of the same natural history club, they rambled along the countryside and ... more >
Conversationsanticipated hero/heroine / Cliffhanger / Contemporary romance / Easter eggs / families / Friends / historical romance / m/m / mystery / paranormal romance / sequel / Series / series conclusion / SFR / shared world / standalones / Urban-Fantasy33 Comments
DISCLOSURE: In addition to reviewing for DA, I am a writer of romance manuscripts. I wrote a standalone in the past and my current project is part of a series. -Janine Janine: A while back Rose, who was once a reviewer here at DA, suggested that “series vs. standalones” might ... more >
B+ Reviews / Book Reviews / Recommended Readsfictional royalty / historical romance / medieval31 Comments
And we’ve come to it…the end of my five-year, twelve-book reread and review of Laura Kinsale’s oeuvre. This is Kinsale’s second-to-last published book – it originally came out in 2004. My trusty book log indicates that I gave it an A- but noted that it was a “bit disappointing.” To ... more >