Candy: OK, first of all? This novella is marketed as historical erotica by its publisher, Amber Quill Press. The reality? I’ve read hotter, more detailed love scenes in short stories from mainstream anthologies. I was expecting nookie—oceans and rivers and fountains of it—and instead found one four-page love scene in 54 pages of story. It’s even a pretty standard in-out, in-out scene, though BONUS! A bodice (OK, chemise) does get ripped. Somewhat unfairly, this impacted … Continue reading Blackbird by Grace Draven →
All right, finished my first Eloisa James novel, and… well, it wasn’t painful. It was, in fact, mostly pleasant. Overall, though, I think the book was pretty damn lukewarm because—ah, hell, Sarah said it best when we were discussing it last week: “Early parts of the book were fab. And then it felt like the author had a big, “Uh, what do I do now?” moment and ended up driving the story while she applied … Continue reading Duchess in Love →
A brief warning: Yes, I will cram as many ways to say “naked duke” into this review as humanly possible. As with anything else disagreeable that involves cramming, the experience will be much more pleasant if you just lay back, relax and resign yourself to your fate, it will make things much easier on you if you do. Trust Dr. Candy, and though it might feel a little cold and sting at first, it’ll be … Continue reading The Naked Duke by Sally MacKenzie →
Mary Jo Putney is often hit or miss with me. Sometimes she sucks me in and I almost miss my stop because I’m so involved in the book. Sometimes I stay up all freaking night to read her novel because it is that good, despite the fact that I have to get up early and go somewhere by 8am. Sometimes, I am thoroughly “meh” about the entire plot and could stop in the middle and … Continue reading The Bartered Bride, by Mary Jo Putney →
Ah, Stephanie Laurens and the Cynsters. Either you love the series or you could chuck it on the pile of books easily read, easily forgotten. I’m usually of the latter party, but with this novel, I find myself a bit stuck, but not because I’ve enjoyed it so much. Mostly because I’m so confused by it. I suspect that authors who get themselves going on series end up with bloated family trees of various relatives … Continue reading On A Wicked Dawn by Stephanie Laurens →
I should’ve liked this book more than I did. It seems to be the highest-rated out of all the Highland Lords novels, which have thus far gotten variations of B grades from me. It has a lot of elements I normally enjoy: a hero’s who’s been literally tortured, a look into the wackiness of 18th-century medicine, and the promise of loads of hot hot hot monkey sex. But I think a combination of too much … Continue reading To Love A Scottish Lord by Karen Ranney →
Have I ever mentioned how happy I am that Loretta Chase is writing regularly again? You might’ve gotten an inkling since I actually dedicated three – three – entries on this website on my search for a copy of Mr. Impossible. And I’m as happy as Dieter getting his monkey touched to report that with her latest effort, Chase doesn’t disappoint. (She rarely does; the only time I’ve been less than impressed with her work … Continue reading Mr. Impossible by Loretta Chase →
I wrote this review back when the book was first released in 2000 and posted it on my old Tripod website. (No, I’m not about to tell you what it is. It’s a pretty embarrassing old site, complete with “LOL!“s and emoticons.) I re-read this review recently, and decided eh, what the hell, I’ll clean it up a little and post it here. Enjoy this Blast from the Past. As you can see, I was … Continue reading The China Bride by Mary Jo Putney →
Sarah and I recently had a discussion about romance novels that come in a series, and I bitched briefly about how I don’t like it when I’m reminded of how every member in the series met their soulmate through extremely melodramatic circumstances. The third book in Karen Ranney’s Highland Lords series, The Irresistible MacRae manages to avoid this particular pitfall, so big props to her for daring to write a sweet story about two genuinely … Continue reading The Irresistible MacRae by Karen Ranney →
It’s always nice to find that a sequel is as good as, if not better than, its predecessor. When the Laird Returns, the second book in Karen Ranney’s five-book series about the MacRaes, is pretty damn decent. There’s enough derring-do to keep you interested in the action, the characters fall in love and learn to compromise and grow with each other along the way, and there aren’t any annoying overused plot devices (like the “hero … Continue reading When the Laird Returns by Karen Ranney →
I started this novel immediately after finishing Dearly Beloved and Candy assured me it was much much better. It was, but I’ve still come away after finishing the novel with a let down, unsatisfied feeling. If you’re only reading the top paragraph of our reviews – and really, why would you do that? – I would have to sum up my feelings by saying, it was a good story, and I liked the characters well … Continue reading Angel Rogue by Mary Jo Putney →
