I will admit that my first reaction to the book summary was, “Cutting Edge in Rio!” which…might have been jumping to some erroneous conclusions. This is a tricky one for me to review, because while “Wild in Rio” is a miss for me, the writing quality is good and I can see it being a hit for a lot of people. In the prologue set two years before the events of the novella, Padraig comes across … Continue reading “Wild in Rio” by Lyssa Kay Adams →
While sports romance isn’t my preferred subgenre, I jumped at the chance to read “Wild in Rio” by Lyssa Kay Adams. A romance set at the Olympics? I adore the Olympics! An aside: have you ever had a deep realization that arrived about 20 years later than it should have? Here’s one of mine. Growing up, the only sports I eagerly watched on television were tennis and the Olympics, and I still love them both. … Continue reading “Wild in Rio” by Lyssa Kay Adams →
I picked this book to review because I’ve seen my share of kidnapped brides in historicals, where the premise can be more or less convincing and usually involves feuding families, Scotland and/or fake highwaymen. These are all fun things, but they are a little harder to squeeze convincingly into a contemporary novel set in America. I wanted to know what excuse Ms Dunlop was going to come up with for this kidnapping, and whether she … Continue reading His Stolen Bride by Barbara Dunlop →
There’s a lot of tugging at heartstrings in Michelle Major’s Christmas on Crimson Mountain. I hadn’t read anything by Major before, let alone any other books in this series, and I found it enjoyable and readable as a standalone. There were a handful of previous protagonists who drifted in to dutifully display their successfully-paired-off status, but I didn’t find it flagrantly obtrusive or detracting from the central romance. Which is good, because April and Connor … Continue reading Christmas on Crimson Mountain by Michelle Major →
RITA time is the best time of the year. It’s like Oscar season, except better because instead of pretending like I’m going to sit through a black and white silent film, I get introduced to new awesome books. “The Husband Maneuver” is not really one of those awesome books, but nevertheless, I would never have picked it out by myself, and for that I am grateful. The plot is fairly straightforward: Marietta Hawkins has been … Continue reading “The Husband Maneuver” by Karen Witemeyer →
“A disgraced scholar running from her past and an entrepreneur chasing his future find themselves thrown together—and fall in love—on a Tolkien tour of New Zealand.” I jumped into this book with enthusiasm because I am a HUGE Lord of the Rings fan and when one of my coworkers went on a LOTR tour of New Zealand last year I thought it sounded amazing. My enthusiasm was dampened rather quickly, though, after the first chapter … Continue reading Close to You by Kara Isaac →
As I read Searching for Disaster, my thoughts about how the review would go changed dramatically. When I started, I thought that I would like the book a lot. The Prologue was well-written and set up the story well. Isabella (Izzy) MacKenzie is prowling a bar and she chooses the man she wants. She is confident, independent and strong. She picks up her chosen man, they go to her room and talk and then Do … Continue reading Searching for Disaster by Jennifer Probst →
Rachel Fizel is as surprised as anyone when, hearing Pari Sadashiv talk about the difficulty of staying in the US short of marrying someone, she blurts out “I’d marry you.” What prompts such a proposal to someone she barely knows? Just doing a favor (with financial benefits to herself), or an instinct that’s truer than she realizes? If the two women go through with this plan, they’ll have a lot of distrust and uncertainty to … Continue reading Far From Home by Lorelie Brown →
Squee from the Keeper Shelf is a new feature wherein we share why we love the books we love, specifically the stories which are permanent residents of our Keeper shelves. Despite flaws, despite changes in age and perspective, despite the passage of time, we love particular books beyond reason, and the only thing better than re-reading them is telling other people about them. At length. If you’d like to submit your reasons for loving and … Continue reading Keeper Shelf: Beauty by Robin McKinley →
NB: We have another guest review that will be right up the Bitchery’s alley, as it combines romance and historical research. Aw, yeah! This review is from Katherine M. Katherine M. is a postdoctoral researcher of Victorian literature. She researches plots about awkward adolescents and their friend groups (some of which lends itself to interesting romance). … Do you love the sexy stranger…or the boy next door? Thalia Schaffer’s Romance’s Rivals: Familiar Marriage in Victorian … Continue reading Guest Review: Romance’s Rivals by Talia Schaffer →
NB: Instead of a book squee, we have a full blown author squee from LindsayRae! Lindsay is a queer reader, writer, and news junkie living on the Florida Gulf Coast. She loves coffee, books, backpacking, cooking, circus arts, and winning at basically anything. You can follow her on Twitter (@lindsayraemyers). … My dear Bitchery, I don’t think I need to observe that we are living in tough times. Mayhap we all need a little extra steel … Continue reading Guest Squee: I Need A Hero – Pamela Clare is My Writer for Our Troubled Times →
