Starting on Sunday, June 21st, PBS will start airing Poldark, a BBC miniseries starring Aidan Turner (The Hobbit, Being Human) and Eleanor Tomlinson (Death Comes to Pemberley). We will be recapping and reviewing each episode, and wanted to let you know this was a thing! Poldark aired in the UK earlier this spring (with Tumblr being awash with gifs), and Masterpiece Classic is handling the US airing. (I swear, someday, they will succeed on getting me … Continue reading Poldark: Our Next TV Project→
Young Romance 2 is the second volume of an anthology of comics from the late 1940’s by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Why aren’t I reviewing Vol. 1? Because my library had Vol. 2 but not Vol.1. Either volume is a fun collection of a style of comic book that was once insanely popular and is now almost forgotten. The introduction to this anthology, while brief, is absolutely fascinating. Simon and Kirby are most famous … Continue reading Young Romance Vol. 2, by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby→
When people think of comic books today, they usually think of superheroes. But in the 1940’s through the 1970’s, romance comics were just as well known as superhero comics, if not more so. Most of the stories were told from the perspective of the heroine but were written and illustrated by men. The content of the stories fluctuated with social mores and with the rise of the Comics Code Authority, but the romances were always … Continue reading Fresh Romance, Ed. by Janelle Asselin→
Sarah and Jane interview Julie James about her newest book, Suddenly One Summer, and about the varying pressures on authors to publish a book more than once a year, or every 90 days. We discuss beats in storytelling, reader expectations, and make some book recommendations as well.
Confession time: As much as I love my romances (and I REALLY love my romances) my first love was (and probably always will be) fantasy. Combine fantasy with a strong romantic element and I’m in near heaven. So after reading that fantastic description you can imagine why I jumped at the chance to review Mind Sweeper. And, while it was a good book, unfortunately it didn’t quite live up to its description. Kyle is our … Continue reading Mind Sweeper by AE Jones→
Hearts and Swords by Robin D. Owens is $3.79 at Amazon and $3.99 elsewhere! This is a collection of short romances set in the Celta world from the rest of the Heartmates series, and it might be a good place to start! As Reader Vicki mentioned before, Celta has Wiccan influences with a good mix of scifi and fantasy. For the most part, readers enjoyed the collection, though some felt there was an odd one out.
It’s difficult to identify what’s more bothersome about the first chapters of Grey. I was really curious about it because the only parts of Fifty Shades that I liked were Christian’s email messages to Ana. The rest of it was miserable reading for me because I didn’t like being in Ana’s head any more than I liked being in Bella’s. But maybe Christian would be more interesting. Well, if “interesting” is a cousin to “terrifying,” “horrible,” … Continue reading Top 13 Terrible Lines from Chapters 1 & 2 of Grey by EL James→
Love, Again is a non-fiction book by Eve Pell that discusses what happens when people find love late in life. Pell herself fell in love at the age of 68 with a 78-year-old man. After writing about the romance for The New York Times, she got so many letters that she decided to interview other couples and make it a full-length book. Couples talk about the rewards and challenges of old-age romance with tenderness (“My … Continue reading Love, Again by Eve Pell→
I really wanted to love this book. I’ve enjoyed other books by Ashe but this one just didn’t work as well for me. By the time I finished it, I felt “meh” about it. I felt so “meh” about it that I considered not writing this review. But here we are! So let’s do this thing. 1. The set-up: While this book features more noble people from the Regency, the set-up is a little different … Continue reading My Lady, My Lord by Katharine Ashe→
RECOMMENDED: Secrets of a Summer Night by Lisa Kleypas is $1.99 – and check out the new cover! How pretty is that?
This is the first book in the Wallflower Quartet, and it’s wonderful. It has a 4+ star average – and Elyse reviewed this book recently, too. She gave it an A-, saying, “Most of the story takes place at a house party in the country where Annabelle is trying to score a titled husband (along with a feral pack of other unmarried women). Annabelle keeps running into Simon Hunt, the son of a butcher who is a self-made man and wealthy investor. Simon is all kinds of hot–he’s basically sex in riding boots. Simon and Annabelle are drawn to each other–well, their naughty bits are–but it’s a lot of “I hate you, I can’t stand you, kiss me you fool!”
This review is from Tam B, who is brave and bold and unabashed about reading rock star Darcy romances. Tam B: When I saw this book on the SBTB sales advice, my thoughts mirrored the comments from Dread Pirate Rachel. She wrote: Fitzwilliam Darcy. Rock Star. W. T. F. I don’t know whether to be horrified or to buy this immediately. Probably both. I decided to risk the $1.99. This book opened with a prologue that … Continue reading Guest Review: Fitzwilliam Darcy, Rock Star by Heather Rigaud→
