I seem to be on a bit of a roll reading romances between noble dukes and heroines who are impoverished commoners. The Duke Undone took this trope to some clever (and unexpectedly gothic) places. I enjoyed it quite a bit until the last quarter of the book, when the tone shifted substantially. Lucy Coover is a talented and aspiring artist, but as a woman, she is forbidden access to life drawing classes. So when she … Continue reading The Duke Undone by Joanna Lowell →
Beautiful Burn by Jamie McGuire is an angsty New Adult romance that takes some of the tropes prevalent in the subgenre and flips them upside-down. Generally speaking, I’m still iffy on New Adult: to me it often feels artificially dark, with characters (generally the hero) who seem “broken” for no good reason. Beautiful Burn has that darkness, but provides a satisfying context for it. It also deals with substance abuse in a serious and thoughtful way. It’s a … Continue reading Beautiful Burn by Jamie McGuire →
If you can’t tell by the cover and the title, this is a contemporary sports romance. This isn’t in my wheelhouse. This is my wheelhouse. I also hadn’t read any of the previous Sante Fe Bobcats books (this is the third in the series), but I got along just fine. I’m sure references to past events would have had a bigger impact, though I didn’t get the sense that I was missing out on anything. … Continue reading Takes Two to Tackle by Jeanette Murray →
