NB: Welcome to Flashback Friday! Because of Carrie’s Four Weddings and a Sixpence anthology review, we wanted to run another anthology with a similar grade that we enjoyed. The Brightest Day has one of Sarah’s favorite novellas of 2015! This review was originally published June 17, 2015. Reviewing anthologies is always difficult for me. I’m never sure if I should give a grade for the collection as a whole, even if some of the stories didn’t grab … Continue reading The Brightest Day: A Juneteenth Anthology by Kianna Alexander, Lena Hart, Piper Huguley and Alyssa Cole →
Before reading “Nice Girls Don’t Ride,” I’d tried two Roni Loren books. The first was a DNF; I read more than 50 pages before giving up, and now, maybe three months later, I can’t remember any of it. The second was Off the Clock. The premise intrigued me, so I gave Loren another try, and I ended up loving it. The description of “Nice Girls Don’t Ride” sounded promising, and I figured there was a decent … Continue reading Nice Girls Don’t Ride by Roni Loren →
I picked up “Toward the Sunrise” fully expecting to enjoy it, but ended up wanting to hurl my Kindle into the ocean like a frisbee of rage. On its face, this is actually a well crafted novella with strong characters, emotional nuance, and a premise that seemed almost tailored to bring me joy. I genuinely believe that most people who read this will rate it highly—as the other SBTB reader who reviewed it did—but I … Continue reading Toward the Sunrise by Elizabeth Camden →
“Nice Girls Don’t Ride” starts with a scenario we’ve read before: it’s Natalie’s 21st birthday and she’s on her way to meet her boyfriend. Not only does her car break down, but she gets conflicting messages from the restaurant and her boyfriend which make her think he’s up to funny business. A handsome stranger passing by in his tow-truck gets her car to the garage and her to the restaurant where she finds her boyfriend dining … Continue reading Nice Girls Don’t Ride by Roni Loren →
“Toward the Sunrise” is a novella that I wished was a novel as then it would have had the space to show everything that was told. Ashton and Julia felt like a couple that would work due to a previous correspondence and shared dreams to travel. These letters were one of the many aspects of the story that was mentioned but not truly shown, as was the incident that prompted Julia’s being expelled. When Camden … Continue reading Toward the Sunrise by Elizabeth Camden →
I have to start this review by saying that I should not have read it in the same week that I read several feminist writings. The story is engaging and the hero and heroine (Zach and Nessa) are likeable. It’s part of a larger series so it suffers from having zero character development for anyone aside from the lead characters, but most people would think that’s a feature, not a bug in a novella-length story. … Continue reading Blue Streak by Jules Barnard →
I’ve enjoyed Ms. Linden’s Scandals series, but had fallen behind. Despite being a modest 176 pages, this short novel is a complete story and has inspired me to pick up the last volume in the series. This book is the third story in the series of five. For those who are just starting the series, the Scandal books whirl around the conceit of naughty pamphlets, “50 Ways to Sin,” which detail the sexcapades of certain … Continue reading All’s Fair in Love and Scandal by Caroline Linden →
So immediately after I read the glorious synopsis of this novella, I gleefully messaged every friend I thought would care about how I was currently reading a corpse-possession romance novel. Unfortunately, despite my initial delight, the “reaper trapped in her estranged husband’s body” element ended up being my main issue with what could have been a solid supernatural romance. First off, though, let the record reflect that I don’t consider reapers to be outside the … Continue reading The Resurrection of Sam Sloan by Erin Quinn →
This year is my year to review stuff that I am mostly unfamiliar with. I tried to choose titles that no one else had yet signed up for (all but one), and lest you think me puffing off my virtue, I’ll admit that just about every slot for historical anything was filled before I even saw the list. But—what the hey—I’m up for a challenge! “One Little Kiss” is a novella that takes place in … Continue reading One Little Kiss by Robin Covington →
I applaud the effort but “Desert Heat” didn’t work that well for me. Novellas can be a difficult format to write. Longer than a short story, not quite a novel. With a short story, you can do a tightly focused tale focused on a single incident or subject. A novel gives you a chance to explore a story – dig into the characters or plot, even add sub-characters and sub-plots. With a novella, it’s hard … Continue reading Desert Heat by Merline Lovelace →
Before reading this, I had only heard good things about this novella. Scratch that – amazing things. So I was prepared to be either blown away or severely disappointed. Thankfully, it was the former. This book induces Good Book Noise™ something fierce. It is both deeply harrowing and one of the sweetest books I have read in a long time – and both those aspects are melded seamlessly throughout the story. The story is set … Continue reading Let It Shine by Alyssa Cole →
