Carolina Dreaming is the fifth book in the Dare Island series, and I did feel like there was some character backstory I was missing by not having read previous books. People are introduced by name and it felt like those names should mean something to me. Jane, our heroine, played a minor role in a previous book, but that story is summed up in this book since our hero, Gabe, is new to town. Both Jane … Continue reading Carolina Dreaming by Virginia Kantra →
Julianne MacLean’s The Color of a Promise begins with a promising first line: “It’s kind of embarrassing to come back from the dead and still not get it.” Having no idea about the story or its series, I was charmed by that first sentence. It was self-aware and suggested that our hero, Jack Peterson, was going to demonstrate personal growth and a sense of humor throughout the story, which is always compelling. Alas, while he … Continue reading The Color of a Promise by Julianne MacLean →
Lovers of Romantic Comedy movies would love this. For a broken, dead inside person like myself it was “eye roll city” and not my favorite but still a fun, quick read. This book’s setup was a doozy of a meet-cute. Hats off to Ms. Fenske. Meg, a caterer and unsuccessful cookbook writer, goes to the hospital to bury the hatchet with her philandering former fiance, Matt, who she had pulled a Runaway Bride on previously. … Continue reading Now That It’s You by Tawna Fenske →
The best adjective I have to describe this book is unmemorable. While I was reading it, I was enjoying it and found it difficult to put down; but now as I sit down to write a review, I am finding it difficult to remember what happened. In the acknowledgements at the end of the book, the author thanks her agent, “for selling this book before I even had a subject in mind, and then for … Continue reading Now That It’s You by Tawna Fenske →
I did enjoy this, but I fear I will forget it quickly. I LOVED the aspect of Two-Time, Texas, being called that because there are two feuding jewelers/clockmakers who set their clocks differently. That the feud doesn’t just cause trouble inside the town, but causes the trains to not run on time, makes it more crucial that the feud be solved. No spoilers, but “What Time Is It?” used to be a bigger headache than … Continue reading Left at the Altar by Margaret Brownley →
Texas: Yeehaw! I put on my cowboy boots, poured a nice margarita (rocks, of course), and played me some Lyle Lovett. I was all set for my RITA Reader Challenge: historical romance in a small Texas town so quirky it has TWO TIME ZONES! I settled in for a good read, but a third of the way in, I was mystified. The hero was described as distinguished looking, and tall, and distinguishably tall, but why … Continue reading Left at the Altar by Margaret Brownley →
One of the fun things about the RITA challenge is reading books from subgenres that I don’t normally dabble in. This is partly making a virtue of necessity – I live in Australia, and the historicals and YA books tend to be gone before I wake up and see the list. But I always secretly hope to find a book that I will love that I would never have picked up otherwise. This year, One … Continue reading One Minute to Midnight by Nico Rosso →
Katie Stone is back in Fairfield, the small Georgia town in which she grew up, after four years away to help her parents deal with her mother’s recent MS diagnosis. The problem is that Katie doesn’t want to be back home because she’s filled with all sorts of self-loathing and guilt over the wreckage she left behind when she hightailed it out of town in the middle of the night after doing the very horrible, … Continue reading My Hope Next Door by Tammy L. Gray →
When the RITA finalists were announced, I found I’d already read and reviewed three of the four finalists for my favourite genre, Romance with Religious or Spiritual Elements. And three worthy finalists they are. I will admit to a natural bias in favour of Close to You by Kara Isaac, because she’s a fellow Kiwi and the novel is set in New Zealand. Close to You also finaled in Best First Novel, so I’m not … Continue reading Keeper of the Stars by Robin Lee Hatcher →
Searching For Disaster had a premise that I was excited for, but then everything spiraled into a disappointing into a pile of WTF and alphahole nonsense. I will put a disclaimer here – Searching For Disaster is the seventh and final part of the “Searching For” series so I’m sure there’s things I’m missing. That said, I’m not exactly tempted to go back and catch myself up. Our Hero and Heroine are Officer Liam Devine, … Continue reading Searching for Disaster by Jennifer Probst →
Two years ago one of my favorite podcasts, NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour, dedicated an entire episode to romance novels. The host, Linda Holmes, was joined by two other NPR reporters and Smart Bitches’ own Sarah Wendell. The episode was 45 minutes of discussion of the romance genre and its many sub genres. I always enjoy the show, but what really impressed me in this installment was the uproariously good time the panel was having. … Continue reading Do You Want to Start a Scandal by Tessa Dare →
