Squee from the Keeper Shelf is a 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 keeping … Continue reading Keeper Shelf: The Dark Days Club by Allison Goodman →
Oh, Bitchery, I hang my head in shame and consternation. I promised to read and review No Mistress of Mine several months ago, and I embraced the task with enthusiasm. I read it and another book in one week and sat down and wrote an effusive review of the first book. And then I dallied. And dithered. I went on to read and listen to several other books, and every few days my glance would … Continue reading No Mistress of Mine by Laura Lee Guhrke →
Yay for another guest review! Let’s welcome Rachel Hope and her review of The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee. Rachel Hope Cleves is professor of history at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada. She specializes in the history of sexuality and is the author of Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America (2014). When not writing the serious stuff, she also likes to write fiction, and has … Continue reading Guest Review: The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee →
Book 2 of the Romance of the Turf series! I HAVE BEEN WAITING (mostly) patiently for this book for (checks calendar) FOR OVER A YEAR. The heroine of this book is Kate, a daughter of the Chandler family. We met them in the series intro novella, The Sport of Baronets . She’s been widowed for two years, and the marriage wasn’t great. Her husband, an Irish earl, spent money like there was no tomorrow, and also … Continue reading Scandalous Ever After by Theresa Romain →
In this second book of the Untamed Highlander series, Andrew Lochlannach gets sent by his brother to help protect the lands that Susana, Andrew’s brother’s sister-in-law, has been in charge of defending for her aging father. In a huge coincidence that can be easily forgiven in romance-land, Susana and Andrew fell in love in Perth six years ago, were broken up by a deceitful friend, and still haven’t gotten over each other. In an excellent … Continue reading Susana and the Scot by Sabrina York →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
