The Lady Has a Past is a really strong romantic thriller with mild paranormal elements that delivers on both the thriller and the romantic aspects of the story. Unfortunately, while I thoroughly enjoyed this story while I was reading it, I found myself increasingly troubled by certain aspects of the narrative once I began to reflect on the story in order to write this review. The story begins when apprentice PI and former socialite Lyra … Continue reading The Lady Has A Past by Amanda Quick →
Triggers: Minerva is the survivor of an abusive relationship, and while there are no flashbacks, her trauma is well drawn. One character also witnessed/was complicit in a suicide and it’s fairly disturbing to read about. There is also attempted sexual assault of the heroine. Heiress for Hire is, on the face of it, a proper Regency romp. We have two lively and intelligent protagonists, a large quantity of plot, plenty of humour, Dark Secrets, and … Continue reading Heiress for Hire by Madeline Hunter →
If Present Day Elyse traveled back in time and told Past Elyse that someday Nora Roberts would write a romantic suspense novel that didn’t quite work for her, Past Elyse wouldn’t have believed her. Then Past Elyse would have squinted at Present Day Elyse and said, “Are we growing out our bangs again? You know we’re only going to last six weeks before we cut them.” I love Nora Roberts’ romantic suspense books. I schedule … Continue reading Under Currents by Nora Roberts →
CW/TW in this review: discussion of domestic abuse, domestic violence, gaslighting, suicide and murder. The Woman in the Dark by Vanessa Savage looked to be the kind of creepy psychological thriller that is normally right up my alley. It has a family moving into a place called the “Murder House,” for heaven’s sake. That’s some Elyse-nip right there. Unfortunately this book was much less a psychological thriller and more a story of a woman escaping … Continue reading The Woman in the Dark by Vanessa Savage →
NB: This guest review is from Reader Tara Scott. If you want to read her previous guest reviews (and we highly recommend that you do), you can see them all here. Tara reads a lot of lesbian romances. You can catch her regularly reviewing at The Lesbian Review and Curve Magazine and hear her talk about lesbian fiction (including romance) on her podcast Les Do Books. You can also hit her up for recommendations on Twitter (@taramdscott). … Trigger Warnings … Continue reading Guest Review: Her Hometown Girl by Lorelie Brown →
The world is a great big dumpster fire right now and it’s got me all depressed. So when I picked up Love and Protect by Lori Ryan I was just hoping for a decent romantic suspense read–what I got was a surprisingly comforting, healing book that brought tears to my eyes. I mean, it’s still a romantic suspense so there is some violence–this isn’t a comfort read the way a traditional Regency is. Also trigger warning for … Continue reading Love and Protect by Lori Ryan →
Catherine Heloise thought Shakespearean retellings mixed with rockstars sounded right up her alley, in the most cracktastic way possible. But…there are many things that sound great in theory, and sometimes you just need a good Book Rant to get it all out of your system. And not only did she share the rant with us, but I’m told she also complained at length to her spouse about this book, and now he’s ranting about it, … Continue reading Book Rant: Sometimes Shakespeare & Rockstars Don’t Mix →
My name is Elyse, and I’m a Nora Roberts virgin. Well, I was; I punched that v-card reading The Liar. I have to say losing my Nora virginity was more enjoyable and less awkward than losing my actual virginity. Also, like every old skool historical heroine, I feel like only Nora can give me what I want again. Witness my credit card bill, full of Nora one-click buys. The thing I loved about The Liar was that … Continue reading The Liar by Nora Roberts →
