B Reviews / Book ReviewsEastern Europe / Hanukkah / Historical / Humor / Jewish characters / Jewish-faith / religion / Small-TownNo Comments
Whether you spell it Hanukkah or Chanukah, most books only have one story. This book goes to eleven! Funny, Silly, Heartwarming, Delicious! Izzy Abrahmson’s holiday stories have been enjoyed by readers and listeners around the world. This book collects eleven of his favorites, plus the novella, “Out of the Woods.” ... more >
B Reviews / B- Reviews / Book Reviewsfamily-reunion / Friends of the Westcotts / hero in pursuit / Historical / joint review / NetGalley / Regency / traumatic-past7 Comments
Janine: Kaetrin and I have been reviewing Mary Balogh since her Westcott series of historical romances began eight books ago and this review continues the tradition. Someone Perfect is Westcott-adjacent and the start of Balogh’s “Friends of the Westcotts” series; its heroine, Lady Estelle Lamarr, is Viola Westcott’s stepdaughter. Estelle ... more >
B+ Reviews / Book Reviews / Recommended ReadsAgent/Spies/Undercover / American historical / American Revolution / American Revolutionary War / Boston / British Navy / Historical / LGBTQIA+ / Loyalist9 Comments
1775, Boston Harbor. James Sparhawk, Master and Commander in the British Navy, knows trouble when he sees it. The ship he’s boarded is carrying ammunition and gold…into a country on the knife’s edge of war. Sparhawk’s duty is clear: confiscate the cargo, impound the vessel and seize the crew. But ... more >
B Reviews / Book ReviewsEssays / guilty pleasures / Handheld Classics / HistoricalNo Comments
Personal Pleasures is an anthology of 80 short essays (some of them very short) about the things the feminist critic and novelist Rose Macaulay enjoyed most in life. Review Ever since I read and loved “Business as Usual,” I’ve kept an eye open for other books that are being reissued ... more >
B Reviews / Book Reviewsfamily relationships / Historical / Regency5 Comments
Captain William Hawksmoor of the Royal Navy never expected to inherit Kingscastle and finds himself all at sea when he does so. Especially when he learns that he must marry within a year or be forever dealing with trustees. As the new Marquis of Athelney, the captain takes command of ... more >
Conversationsbirth control / Contemporary / health / Historical / Paranormal / pregnancy / protection / risk / SFR43 Comments
READERS PLEASE NOTE: When we discuss the risk of pregnancy here, we are referring to individuals who can become pregnant, but not necessarily to M/F cis couples alone. Janine: I’ve been pondering sex scenes in nineteenth-century historical romances and how it bothers me that birth control so frequently isn’t deployed ... more >