There are historical romances that are actually historical and there are historical romances that say, “The hell with history, these people are gonna be unchaperoned ALL THE TIME and we’re throwing in a magical cat.” How To Manage a Marquess is one of the latter. It’s a fun book, and I enjoyed it, but if you like realism in your historical romance then stop right here and go read something else. Godspeed. I’m not sure I … Continue reading How to Manage a Marquess by Sally MacKenzie→
His Wicked Charm is a fun Regency Gothic romance. This is one of many books in the “Mad Moreland Series,” which is about an unconventional upper class family in England. In this book, one of the Moreland brothers, Con, teams up with his sister’s friend Lilah to solve mysteries and fight crime (basically). Con is the “bad” brother and Lilah is the “boring” friend. The story kicks off with a kidnapping and winds up full-in Gothic … Continue reading His Wicked Charm by Candace Camp→
If you are lucky in life, you will have a friend or two that you will ride or die for, and will ride or die for you. I highly recommend it. If you are unlucky, you may end up in a situation where you need to get a MacGuffin to Vienna after your roommate’s one night stand murdered your (Ex?) boyfriend who is also a spy. But, if you do end up in that place, … Continue reading Movie Review: The Spy Who Dumped Me→
Girl at the Grave is a YA gothic mystery with a love triangle. It’s not deep, and the solution to the mystery is utterly unbelievable. However, I read it on a rainy day with a cup of tea and enjoyed it for the most part, despite its flaws. If you are in the mood for a weird village and plots and rich snobs and an old decrepit mansion, then this may pass the time quite … Continue reading Girl at the Grave by Teri Bailey Black→
After putting down several books out of disinterest, I can proudly say that Mister Hockey was the one to break that pattern. It was funny and sexy and I really enjoyed both main characters. However, what kept the book from really knocking it out of the park was the narrative’s aversion to really getting down and dirty with the serious issues the hero and heroine were facing. Briana “Breezy” Angel is a children’s librarian and … Continue reading Mister Hockey by Lia Riley→
This book moves very quickly, and while a lot happens, the plot doesn’t venture too deeply in any one direction: not into the history, not into the setting, not into the characters’ motivations. I dove into this book because it was about a Dutch widow in 1654 who travels from her very small hometown to Delft and becomes a pottery painter. Obviously, that’s exactly like Regency England and every other historical I’ve read. (Ha. Not.) … Continue reading Midnight Blue by Simone van der Vlugt→
This is book 5 (possibly the last?) in Quinn’s Worthington series. I reviewed the first one, Three Weeks to Wed, and I have to say, this was an improvement on a lot of the issues that Three Weeks (…since you looked at me, cocked your head to the side and said…. Sorry.) had. Geoffrey, the Earl of Harrington has a diplomatic post waiting for him on the eve of the battle of Waterloo, buuuuuut he … Continue reading You Never Forget Your First Earl by Ella Quinn→
How the Cowboy Was Won very loosely retells Emma in a modern day Texan town. As a retelling of Emma, it wasn’t great, but as a “friends to lovers” romance I liked it a lot. Ember Alzate is a woman of Irish-Native American descent who makes a good living selling real estate. She also has a knack for matchmaking – so much so that people say she should consider it as a second career. Ember … Continue reading How the Cowboy Was Won by Lori Wilde→
Family Jewels is a mystery that features two best friends who own a landscaping/ plant nursery business and also solve mysteries. It’s the first in a new series, an offshoot of the Rose Gardner mystery series, but you don’t have to have read the previous series to enjoy this book. There’s also a strong romantic subplot and lots and lots of unresolved sexual tension. The violence takes place off screen so it’s a non-scary, non-gory … Continue reading Family Jewels by Denise Grover Swank→
Summer of Scandal is a romance that takes place in a made up town “located in a fictional island in the Spanish Caribbean.” It is set in 1911. The unusual setting, the Hispanic and Caribbean cultures, and the time period make for an appealing and refreshing romance with a couple of odd problems. Here’s the plot: Emilia Cruz is the secret author of a series of scandalous stories, including The True Accounts of a Former … Continue reading A Summer of Scandal by Lydia San Andres→
The Merman King is Book Six in the Lords of the Abyss series. Despite not having read Books 1-5, I had no problems keeping up with this story about a merman who falls in love with a human, although some of the plot points may have been more fully developed in earlier books. Long ago, King Lucius bragged that his land was better than the Gods’, which of course pissed them off. Poseidon cursed Lucius … Continue reading The Merman King by Michelle M. Pillow→
