This book was nominated in two categories – Best First Book and Inspirational. I’ll admit that I signed up to review it in Best First Book before I realized it was an Inspirational. As I am not religious, and as I have had some unfortunate experiences with Inspirationals that were heavy-handed in force-feeding religion at every turn, I had my doubts. However, I decided that getting out of my comfort zone would be a good … Continue reading A Noble Masquerade by Kristi Ann Hunter →
I came close to DNFing this book many times, starting with the meet cute. Stephen shows up on Haley’s front porch. Haley, a firearms SAFETY INSTRUCTOR, pulls a gun on a non-threatening stranger. Stephen seems very understanding of her using a deadly weapon. Then he shows up to the gun-toting whacko’s house the next day, also unannounced. Negative points for being a numbskull on both sides. Still, I read on, because it can’t get any … Continue reading Somebody Like You by Beth Vogt →
The four initial facts you absolutely need to know about For Such a Time by Kate Breslin are as follows: 1) It is an inspirational romance. God, faith, and the Bible (actually, a ‘magic’ Bible** that seems to show up whenever the main character needs to see it most) make regular appearances. 2) It is set almost entirely in the Theresienstadt concentration camp during World War II, and deals extensively with the horrors of the … Continue reading For Such a Time by Kate Breslin →
Grave Danger is the second book in Katy Lee’s Stepping Stones Island series, set one an island off the coast of Maine. The hero is the island’s Sherriff, Wesley Grant, and the heroine is forensic anthropologist Lydia Muir who is sent to the island to evaluate a skeleton found buried on the beach. This books is billed as Inspirational Romantic Suspense. It works fairly well on the suspense level. There is a complex plot involving … Continue reading Grave Danger by Katy Lee →
This review contains spoilers. Some I have tried to hide, and others will be revealed. You have been warned. I haven’t read the previous books in this trilogy (this being the third of the Private Justice series), but I have read books by the author before. I really enjoyed the author’s Heroes of Quantico trilogy, to which there was a nice reference to the RITA-Winning Award third book of that trilogy: In Harm’s Way. I don’t … Continue reading Deceived by Irene Hannon →
The Widow’s Suitor is a quick and easy read, a sweet and simple inspirational romance with a straightforward plot, some drama and excitement, and easily recognizable character types and conflicts. Ultimately, though, it wasn’t for me. Our heroine, Cora Anderson, is a young (twenty-something) widow living on a South Dakota homestead with her mother in law Bertha. Cora’s husband Hank (Bertha’s son) has died some seven or eight months before, and the two women are … Continue reading The Widow’s Suitor by Rose Ross Zediker →
Some caveats before I begin with the actual review: I have never read an inspirational romance before, let alone an Amish inspirational romance, so it is without any doubt that I am completely unfamiliar with this subgenre’s tropes and conventions. Also, aside from that one time when I was seven my uncle took me to this place in Ohio where some nice Amish ladies made some delicious fruit cobblers, I lack the background to vouch … Continue reading Huckleberry Summer by Jennifer Beckstrand →
The fun thing about RITA review challenges is that you get to read books that you would never have considered picking up otherwise. So when I looked down the list last week and saw a whole collection of Inspirational Romances, I thought, well, why not? I mean, I’m Christian, I love romances – I am the target market! Sold! As this is the first Inspirational Romance I’ve read, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect … Continue reading Huckleberry Summer by Jennifer Beckstrand →
Hope at Dawn is the first book in Stacy Henrie’s “Of Love and War” series, set around the time of World War I. Since this is an underutilized period in the historical romance novel world, there’s a potential for freshness here. And the specific issue is one I’ve not seen addressed in a romance novel before, namely, the persecution of German Americans on the home front during WWI. It’s an interesting backdrop for the tale. … Continue reading Hope at Dawn by Stacy Henrie →
I’m really the wrong person to review this novella. First of all, I’m not a huge fan of novellas, because I like an author to have space to really expand on his or her characters and settings. I love showing rather than telling and strong sensory impressions of person and place, and the novella format requires a certain efficiency that can seem sparse. Furthermore, I am not a huge fan of inspirational romance. In fact, … Continue reading A Love Letter to the Editor by Robin Lee Hatcher →
