Long ago, the cover for Gabriella turned up in Cover Snark. Everyone was hoping that the book was about a cat, and I Googled and discovered that the book is actually about a Regency woman who wants to be a veterinarian (which was a profession back then – I checked). Undaunted by the Photoshop, I read the book and it’s pretty good, although it falls apart near the end. Brie (short for Gabriella) and her … Continue reading Gabriella by Brenda Hiatt
If I Loved You Less takes on a tricky Austen story (Emma) and fails to hit the right tone in retelling it. In Emma, the heroine is clueless but well-meaning as she tries (and fails) to play matchmaker. She makes mistakes, but with the help of the love interest (her older neighbor, Mr. Knightley) she learns from those mistakes and grows as a person. Unfortunately, the heroine in If I Loved You Less is annoying … Continue reading If I Loved You Less by Tamsen Parker
CW/TW for mentions of violence, rape, and abuse both in the book and in this review. Phoenix Unbound is a brand new fantasy romance from Grace Draven and the start to a new series. While the world building is fantastic, the pacing greatly affected my reading experience. I also want to warn that I’m going to spoil some elements of this book because some things are integral in discussing my feelings. Also, please keep the … Continue reading Phoenix Unbound by Grace Draven
An Earl Like You by Caroline Linden is the second book in the Wagers of Sin series and features a plot where the hero is involved in deceiving the heroine in a significant way. I really struggled with this plot and with finding any empathy for the hero, and I spent a lot of the book cringing internally over the humiliation the heroine would ultimately face. This book gave me a lot of second-hand embarrassment. When … Continue reading An Earl Like You by Caroline Linden
I tend to have very girdy loins when it comes to dark and twisted fiction, so imagine my surprise when I discovered that The Forgotten Girls was a little too disturbing for me.TW/CW: discussions of sexual abuse and rape. The seventh book in the Louise Rick series can be read as a stand alone and centers around a Danish investigator (Louise Rick) who heads up a Missing Persons Deptartment. When the body of a woman is … Continue reading The Forgotten Girls by Sara Blaedel
Match Made in Manhattan is a novel that chronicles a twenty-something-year-old woman’s year of dating using Match.com. It’s not a romance, although obviously there’s a lot of romantic content. People looking for a fun book about modern dating might enjoy this book, but the characters are flat and the story doesn’t go anywhere. Alison restores old buildings under the eye of a disapproving boss. After a multi-year monogamous relationship that isn’t going anywhere, she and … Continue reading Match Made in Manhattan by Amanda Stauffer
I’ve been a rom-com mood lately, a void that Hollywood (despite their plethora of Chrises) refuses to fill, so I picked up I Flipping Love You by Helena Hunting. It was described to me as a romantic comedy with a case of mistaken identity and a lot of sexy fireworks. The problem was, I wouldn’t say this book is actually very funny and some of the devices used to try and make it humorous didn’t work … Continue reading I Flipping Love You by Helena Hunting
I read Beyond Scandal and Desire while I was on vacation, and while it may have worked really well for me five years ago, current Elyse is really frustrated with heroes who use the heroine as a device for their revenge. As much as I appreciated other aspects of the novel, my frustration with the overall plotline carried through the whole book. It did, however, teach me about the language of parasols. Lady Aslyn Hastings is … Continue reading Beyond Scandal and Desire by Lorraine Heath
I read Wild (the first book in the Aftershock series, not the book about hiking) because it involves a zookeeper at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. Since I have been to that park many, many times, I was curious. This was basically a good novella hiding in a crappy novel. Here are some Trigger Warnings and caveats: If plot lines about infidelity are a no-go for you, don’t go to this book. If you are … Continue reading Wild by Jill Sorenson
The Love Experiment by Ainslie Paton is a workplace romance with a plot that involves that 36 questions test which supposedly leads to love. I don’t know when the test was first created, but I do remember that it was everywhere a few years ago after The New York Times published the “test.” It’s an interesting concept for a romance, especially for a reader like me, who frequently takes online quizzes to see when I’ll … Continue reading The Love Experiment by Ainslie Paton
I really wanted to like My Once and Future Duke but despite a heroine I loved and a great depiction of female friendships, the hero ruined it for me. Sophie Campbell was orphaned at a young age and her aristocratic grandfather wanted nothing to do with her, so he paid only for her education until she was of age and then he cut her off. Sophie has (successfully) been working her way toward financial security by … Continue reading My Once and Future Duke by Caroline Linden
