I’m back with another Keeper Shelf squee! If you missed my first one, I talked about my deep love of Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen and how it tapped into my feelings about how people might view me in relation to both my own and my mother’s mental illness. While Garden Spells has magic, yummy descriptions of food, and small town gossip, we’re about to a one-eighty on this bad boy because my next … Continue reading Keeper Shelf: Feed by Mira Grant →
From This Moment, a historical romance set in Boston in 1897, has a great premise and setting. Alas, it suffers from the fact that all of the characters are incredibly self-centered and frequently cruel to each other. I loved the historical aspect, but as far as romance goes all I can say is that these people deserve each other and that is not a compliment. Stella West is an American artist who has had a … Continue reading From This Moment by Elizabeth Camden →
Fire on the Ice by Tamsen Park is an erotic romance novella featuring two female professional athletes competing in the Snow & Ice Games which is definitely not the same thing as the Winter Olympics. Nope. Definitely not. It also has the honor of tying with Tiffany Reisz’s Original Sinners series in the category: Most Sexually Explicit Scene Elyse Has Ever Read. So… If that makes you a little nervous (and that’s fair given I … Continue reading Fire on the Ice by Tamsen Parker →
Tempest by Beverly Jenkins is a mail order bride historical romance that’s light on internal conflict but heavy on awesome heroines and world-building. If you want a romance that doesn’t have a ton of emotional angst, but does have a heroine who accidentally (kind of) shoots her intended the first time she meets him, this is all your catnip. It’s also the third book in the Old West series, but can easily be read as a … Continue reading Tempest by Beverly Jenkins →
Some of your have been very interested in the Audible Romance Package and we have a wonderful and thoughtful guest review from Reader Aidee Campa. Aidee has previously made an appearance on the site with her guest review of Ilona Andrews’ Hidden Legacy series! … I have the basic Audible membership, which means I pay $15 a month for one credit. I have personal experience working on audio projects—I’ve used them instead of complex visual … Continue reading Guest Review: Audible’s Romance Package →
This is described in the cover copy as an “Elizabethan romp” which…is sort of true. It’s a little less rompy than the blurb implies, but it’s full of delightful research tidbits. It’s also a second chance romance (sort of) of two people who figure out that life together is better than life apart, and that sex can be fun. Frances and Henry have been married for ten years, and they have several children together, but … Continue reading Courtly Pleasures by Erin Kane Spock →
NB: Welcome to Flashback Friday! Since the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics are kicking off today, we want to revisit one our favorite winter sports-themed romances. That’s right, welcome to the world of figure skating romance! It’s also great for fans of the movie, The Cutting Edge. This review was originally published May 4, 2016. … If you follow me on Twitter, at the end of March/beginning of April you may have seen me live … Continue reading Pairing Off by Elizabeth Harmon →
Assassin’s Gambit is a gritty yet glamorous story of seduction, espionage, intrigue, and romance. It has a brainy heroine, a hero with a wooden leg, some amazing clothes, magic, and many rounds of Caturanga, a game similar to chess. It also has a lot of violence, including graphic sexual violence, so readers beware. Trigger warning for rape, blackmail, and violence during sex. Lucien is the Kjallan emperor. He lost a leg in battle and struggles … Continue reading Assassin’s Gambit by Amy Raby →
Starlight by Carrie Lofty, is full of CarrieS bait. The hero is an astronomy teacher. The heroine is a union leader in a mill. The novel is set in Glasgow in 1880, and it manages to present the possibility of a mill being run fairly without glamorizing what was grueling work under even ideal conditions. The biggest problem with the story is that the protagonists are so much at odds that it’s hard to believe in … Continue reading Starlight by Carrie Lofty →
How to Date Your Dragon by Molly Harper is an Audible original production. This means that it’s an audiobook written exclusively for Audible. The audiobook is performed by Amanda Ronconi and Jonathan Davis, and runs about six and a half hours at normal speed. I listen to most everything at 1.4-1.5x normal speed, so it took me less time. The plot is part paranormal romance and part mystery. Jillian Ramsay is an anthropologist who works for … Continue reading Audiobook: How to Date Your Dragon by Molly Harper →
The Trouble With True Love is a historical romance that combines the ‘rake meets wallflower’ plot device with the ‘pretend dating’ plot device and the ‘advice columnist gets characters into trouble’ plot device. There’s nothing new here but it’s all quite delightful due to excellent characterization and use of language. Clara is a newcomer to Society and is shy. All her life she’s been overshadowed by her older sister (they mutually adore each other – … Continue reading The Trouble With True Love by Laura Lee Guhrke →
