I love a good heist story: Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s 8, (we’re pretending the other Oceans in between don’t exist), The Italian Job, the TV show The Catch, all of them are my catnip. It’s no wonder I absolutely loved To Catch an Earl since it’s a love story about a thief and the man charged with catching her. It’s a heist story, and a game of cat and mouse all in one. It’s just wonderfully, … Continue reading To Catch an Earl by Kate Bateman
The Duke’s Stolen Bride by Sophie Jordan is about a young woman who wants to be a courtesan in order to support her siblings and needs a foxy duke to give her sex lessons. It’s not erotic, per say se, although I will say it’s hotter than a fair amount of historicals, and while I felt the hero and heroine had a ton of chemistry, I also thought the book relied too much on external … Continue reading The Duke’s Stolen Bride by Sophie Jordan
Sweet Agony by Charlotte Stein is an erotic romance with a Gothic twist, and it is pure unadulterated Elyse-bait. Please prepare for Squee. We have Squee inbound, so take cover and bring snacks. We might be here awhile. We have a recluse hero with an unbearably sexy voice and impressive lexicon, we have a Gothic mansion, and we have lots of sexy times that turn into something poignant. More than that, we have a Dom … Continue reading Sweet Agony by Charlotte Stein
Back in the early aughts I worked in a family-owned bookstore where, during slow periods, I would pretend to dust but really sneak-read chick lit (unless you’re reading this, Peggy, then I was totally dusting). My favorite authors were Sophie Kinsella, Jennifer Weiner and Helen Fielding. One in a Million by Lindsey Kelk made me nostalgic for those books while blending in enough romance that it certainly qualifies as a romance novel. Set in London, this novel … Continue reading One in a Million by Lindsey Kelk
Bed of Flowers is a historical that has a lot of things going for it: it’s got a loveably grumpy hero, it depicts female friendships, and it features secondary characters of color. I appreciated all of those elements, and I liked the vaguely gothic feel it had. I really, really enjoyed this book, but I have to admit the ending was a little weak. That said, I was willing to overlook it because my experience … Continue reading Bed of Flowers by Erin Satie
Bollywood and the Beast by Suleikha Snyder caused me to pull a Bad Decisions Book Club moment at RT…does that mean I leveled up? Is that the Bad-Ass Decisions Book Club? So many questions. As you may have guessed from the title, Bollywood and the Beast is a Beauty and the Beast story set in Bollywood–but it’s so much more than that. It’s a book about a bi-racial heroine not feeling accepted by any cultural … Continue reading Bollywood and the Beast by Suleikha Snyder
