Tag Archives: 2017 Short Historical Nominee
RITA Reader Challenge Review

Taming the Highlander by May McGoldrick

Taming the Highlander

Taking place in a Highland setting a few years after the Rough Wooing, this is the middle story in a trilogy about young women possessed of mystical stone fragments and attendant powers. Innes Munro inherited one of these stones from her mother, and can, by the power of touch, though only with her hands, read the current thoughts and past of others. Innes accompanies her sister Ailein to the northern Highlands to attend Ailein’s wedding … Continue reading Taming the Highlander by May McGoldrick

RITA Reader Challenge Review

Taming the Highlander by May McGoldrick

Taming the Highlander

When I first read the synopsis for Taming The Highlander by May McGoldrick I was very excited because it had so much of the catnip I enjoy in a romance novel, including a learned heroine, mystical stones and a tortured hero. Seeing it was an award nominee only whetted my appetite all the more. Once I started reading however, it became harder and harder to push through it. So many more intriguing books came my … Continue reading Taming the Highlander by May McGoldrick

RITA Reader Challenge Review

A Duke to Remember by Kelly Bowen

A Duke to Remember

A plucky heroine that can shoot a rat from a bazillion yards away and a duke who disappeared from society at age ten. What is not to love about this book? I’m embarrassed to admit that this is my first book by Kelly Bowen. I pride myself on knowing what historical romance authors are out there, and somehow, until now, Ms. Bowen slipped by me. A Duke to Remember is a great reminder that Amazon reviews … Continue reading A Duke to Remember by Kelly Bowen

RITA Reader Challenge Review

A Duke to Remember by Kelly Bowen

A Duke to Remember

I love historical romance but I’m growing a little tired of the traditional Regency stories where an innocent-but-plucky heroine can be found waltzing indecently close to a ready-to-be-reformed rake. So I was happy to see that A Duke To Remember doesn’t start in a ballroom but in Bedlam where we meet our heroine, Elise DeVries. Elise is a part-time actress, part-time private investigator/problem solver/tracker, and has been hired to rescue the Duchess of Ashland who … Continue reading A Duke to Remember by Kelly Bowen

RITA Reader Challenge Review

Left at the Altar by Margaret Brownley

Left at the Altar

I did enjoy this, but I fear I will forget it quickly. I LOVED the aspect of Two-Time, Texas, being called that because there are two feuding jewelers/clockmakers who set their clocks differently. That the feud doesn’t just cause trouble inside the town, but causes the trains to not run on time, makes it more crucial that the feud be solved. No spoilers, but “What Time Is It?” used to be a bigger headache than … Continue reading Left at the Altar by Margaret Brownley

RITA Reader Challenge Review

Left at the Altar by Margaret Brownley

Left at the Altar

Texas: Yeehaw! I put on my cowboy boots, poured a nice margarita (rocks, of course), and played me some Lyle Lovett. I was all set for my RITA Reader Challenge: historical romance in a small Texas town so quirky it has TWO TIME ZONES! I settled in for a good read, but a third of the way in, I was mystified. The hero was described as distinguished looking, and tall, and distinguishably tall, but why … Continue reading Left at the Altar by Margaret Brownley

RITA Reader Challenge Review

Do You Want to Start a Scandal by Tessa Dare

Do You Want to Start a Scandal

Two years ago one of my favorite podcasts, NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour, dedicated an entire episode to romance novels. The host, Linda Holmes, was joined by two other NPR reporters and Smart Bitches’ own Sarah Wendell. The episode was 45 minutes of discussion of the romance genre and its many sub genres. I always enjoy the show, but what really impressed me in this installment was the uproariously good time the panel was having. … Continue reading Do You Want to Start a Scandal by Tessa Dare

RITA Reader Challenge Review

The Study of Seduction by Sabrina Jeffries

The Study of Seduction

Sabrina Jeffries is a flower-crown-wearing romance QUEEN! I shiteth you not, fangirls; when I say this book has all of the things, I do mean all of the things! Friends to lovers, bickering lifelong acquaintances, lessons in love, alpha heroine/beta hero, wagered love bets, opposites attract, an unrequited smitten hero, a marriage of convenience, and a dastardly stalker! That’s right. I said dastardly! The trope gods have bestowed blessings on blessings with this OTP. Our … Continue reading The Study of Seduction by Sabrina Jeffries

RITA Reader Challenge Review

The Study of Seduction by Sabrina Jeffries

The Study of Seduction

The Study of Seduction is set in the spring of 1830 and begins with the hero, Edwin Barlow, the Earl of Blakeborough, being asked to watch over Lady Clarissa Lindsey, who is related to his best (and very nearly only) friend, as the Season unfolds. The book is the second in a series but stands well on its own. Clarissa is being pursued by a French nobleman and diplomat who is accosting her in increasingly … Continue reading The Study of Seduction by Sabrina Jeffries

RITA Reader Challenge Review

Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt

Duke of Sin

Historicals, man. Like many a romance reader, historicals were my gateway drug. And like many a romance reader, the historicals of my youth are, in retrospect, very slightly wince-inducing. Violet eyes! Sixteen-year-old virgin heroines with improbably located hymens/no hymen due to an anachronistic fondness for riding astride! Masterful manly dudes with magic manly parts capable of bestowing multiple orgasms on said virgin heroines! Frequent use of the term “hoyden”! I wish I could say that, … Continue reading Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt