When I went looking for fat heroines in historical romance, I quickly learned to be skeptical of book covers. A main character might be plump, abundant, generously rounded, or my favorite, “a lady of healthy appetite,” but the model on the book cover will still be thin. A reader of fat histrom has to be a detective, examining each cover for clues: Is most of her body covered by a sheet? Is there a flower … Continue reading Fat Girls in History
I came close to crying more than once when reading A Delicate Deception. Sometimes I think of myself as a jaded reader; many books entertain me, but few impress me, and even fewer really move me. But then I read a book like this one and it turns me into a giant mush-ball and I think maybe my book-reading heart and brain are not so hardened as all that. A Delicate Deception is about Amelia … Continue reading A Delicate Deception by Cat Sebastian
This book was like a warm hug. The characters were people I would love to know in real life, the relationships (romantic and otherwise) were tender, and gentle emotional healing was a major theme. In other words, my crops are watered, my skin is clear, my checkbook is balanced, etc., etc., etc. Let us start with our protagonists, Verity and Ash, who felt very real and immediate. Verity is clever, ambitious, and practical, and these … Continue reading A Duke in Disguise by Cat Sebastian
I have mixed feelings about Ten Days in August. Set during a heat wave in New York in 1896, it’s a romance between a closeted gay policeman and a gay nightclub performer. I loved the idea of the 1896 setting, but in practice the setting made for depressing reading despite a happy ending for the lovers. The story begins when a male prostitute is found dead. Inspector Hank Brandt takes an interest in the case. … Continue reading Ten Days in August by Kate McMurray
