I started No Better Man with high hopes. Chapter 1 was great. And that was it. Actually, I’d made it about 72% of the way through sometime back in April, then put the book aside when I couldn’t deal with it anymore. Besides, I had a lot of cereal boxes to read. With the RITA Reader Challenge deadline fast approaching, it became a point of pride to resume reading and do my duty. Unfortunately, doing … Continue reading No Better Man by Sara Richardson →
Barefoot with a Bodyguard by Roxanne St. Claire is made of my own personal catnip all over the place. Bodyguard crush? Check. Sweet hero with a dark and troubled past he’s trying to escape? Check. Damsel who refuses to stay distressed? Check. Two people who aren’t romantically involved going undercover as a couple? Check. The list goes on and every trope was extremely well written. The basic set-up is that Kate Kingston is fresh out … Continue reading Barefoot with a Bodyguard by Roxanne St. Claire →
I chose this book under ‘Best First Book’ rather than ‘Best Paranormal Romance,’ and that pretty well summarises some of the more technical problems I had with it. The pacing problems, jarring (often unnecessary) exposition, inconsistency of voice, and slightly clumsy ending sequence that I experienced here are, in my experience, pretty typical first-book problems. But this book also bugged me in several ways that I’m less sanguine about. First, though, let’s talk about the … Continue reading Viking Warrior Rising by Asa Maria Bradley →
London 1885 : A young woman stands apart watching her bleeding body on the ground and the thugs who cut her throat being beaten away by two lovely, properly dressed young women who appeared armed with sword and baton. Eliza had just docked in London hours ago from Boston, fleeing the ugly things she had done there to survive after her family had died, and with the fervent hope of finding her distant relatives in … Continue reading Soulbound by Kristen Callihan →
Trigger warning for violence and attempted rape. My friendly local bookstore clerk introduced me to Thea Harrison when I had just about despaired of finding any new authors of urban fantasy/paranormal romance that tickled my fancy. Harrison’s Elder Races books contained neither polite Canadian vampires nor humorous workarounds for vampire/shifter handicaps nor TSTL heroines who nevertheless triumph over all evil-doers. I totally fell in love with Pia and Dragos Cuelebre and gobbled up the rest … Continue reading Midnight’s Kiss by Thea Harrison →
Given how much I disliked Barefoot with a Bodyguard, one might be surprised to see that I am reviewing the next installment in the Barefoot Bay Undercover series. Why, do you ask? Because I liked all the other Barefoot Bay books except Barefoot with a Bodyguard and I thought I’d like this one more than I did. What attracted me to this book? I liked Francesca Rossi in the previous books. Malcolm Harris is a wounded … Continue reading Barefoot with a Stranger by Roxanne St. Claire →
(Trigger warning for rape that’s supposed to be romantic) Let’s rap a bit about rape! When is rape ever okay as a romantic fantasy? The way you answer this question will largely determine how you feel about Say My Name. You might guess by my grade how I feel about it. Old Skool romances in the 1970s and 80s were rife with sexual assault for a variety of reasons, as nicely summed up by Candy … Continue reading Say My Name by J. Kenner →
I just…I still…What the hell was this book? The trigger warnings alone…I had to take notes as I went so I wouldn’t miss any. Check out this list: child abuse (emotional and physical) drug addiction mental illness emotionally toxic parent child death mentions of child sexual abuse memories of marital rape attempted suicide/suicidal tendencies fat shaming slut shaming The thing is…only half of these were relevant to either the plot or the development of the … Continue reading The Secret Sister by Brenda Novak →
This book, like the one I reviewed previously, is part of another series, but boy howdy am I happy to say that it’s the first one. Some iffy points stand out, but overall I enjoyed this book so, so much. Scott blends coming-of-age, political intrigue, high fantasy, and romantic themes into a coherent and compelling story—I finished this book in two days, mostly because pesky things like work got in the way of tearing through … Continue reading The Shattered Court by M. J. Scott →
If I had not signed up to review this book, I would never have thought about it critically (or at all). Unfortunately, I did, and there are…problems. Let’s get this straight: I love this story. Love. I just want to acknowledge that it is liable to enrage some folks, so let’s wade right into trouble. But first, so as not to have spoilers ahead of the jump, and also because I cannot refrain from referencing … Continue reading Tremaine’s True Love by Grace Burrowes →
When I saw Grace Burrowes’ Tremaine’s True Love on the 2016 RITA review list, I grabbed it like a can of insect repellant in high bug season in the Northeast back-country. While I love a well written historical, until this review, I had never read anything by Burrowes. However, I had accidentally purchased a couple of her books a year ago when I was getting ready to write a 2015 RITA review of one of … Continue reading Tremaine’s True Love by Grace Burrowes →
