reviews

  AS I WAS READING NORA ROBERTS’ NEW NOVEL, THE LIAR, the chorus of Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘Homeward bound’ was playing on a loop in my head, so much so that I had to put it on my turntable. And Homeward Bound would actually be an appropriate title for this book, since one of the … Continue readings →

  ‘We are one of three islands, off the coast of Virginia and just south of Maryland, trailing out into the Atlantic Ocean like someone’s dripped paint’, comments 13-year-old Chloe in the opening story of The Shore, Sara Taylor’s exquisite debut book. The isolated stretch of islands, which lie in Chesapeake Bay, provide a stark … Continue readings →

  RECENTLY, I HAVE BEEN THINKING A LOT about what makes a good Regency novel. Oh, a handsome aristocratic hero and a spirited heroine, of course – and historical accuracy, lovely locations and an authentic supporting cast of characters all help. Throw in good dialogue, lovely frocks, a villain and a scandal or two and … Continue readings →

Tags : Grace Burrowes, Mary Balogh, Regency, Regency romance, RITA 2015, Slighty series, Sourcebooks, Sourcebooks Casablanca, The Regency

  SEVERAL WEEKS AGO, while listening to BBC 6 Music early in the morning, I had one of those rare magical moments, when you hear a song and its lyrics and melody are so mesmerising that they touch something deep inside and make the world, even for a few seconds, a better place for hearing … Continue readings →

  IT FEELS LIKE GIVE A LITTLE has been a long time coming. The seventh and final book in Kate Perry’s ‘Summerhill’ series, dealing with a fractured family who come together after the death of the Earl of Amberlin, it focuses on protagonists Beatrice Summerhill and Italian racing driver Luca Fiorelli. Since the series began, … Continue readings →

Tags : Beatrice Summerhill, contemporary romance, Kate Perry, Luca Fiorelli, romantic fiction, Summerhill #7, Summerhill series, Summerhill women

  Is there any greater pleasure than reading a much-vaunted book? Yes, as it turns out: it’s reading a book that you really don’t want to read and finding out it’s a gem – in this case, Ava Miles‘ novel, Nora Roberts Land. When Miles’ book came out, I did everything possible to avoid reading … Continue readings →

  ‘Who’d kill for you?’ Peabody waited until Eve lowered her hands. ‘I mean who’d kill because somebody was rude to you, or, well, snotty?’ ‘Nobody leaps to mind. I tend to avoid relationships with the homicidal.’ ‘I don’t mean a specific name, Dallas. A type, a category even. Like someone you helped, someone you … Continue readings →

  ‘You need sex’, Beatrice proclaimed. ‘And maybe a new kitchen.’ ‘I need more than sex. I need a life.’ Viola looked at all the chrome surrounding them as she delivered a cup of coffee to her older sister. The kitchen was cold and impersonal, just like her ex-husband Charles, who’d picked it all out. … Continue readings →

  She sulked over her eggs. Even bacon lost some appeal with the prospect of wrangling with Summerset. ‘Isn’t it bad enough I have to face hours of swarming decorators, then end that small nightmare by having Trina pour gunk all over me? Now I have to face the smirking disapproval of our resident corpse?’ … Continue readings →

Tags : crime fiction, Eve Dallas, Eve–Roarke series, female crime-fiction detectives, Festive in Death, In Death series, JD Robb, Lieutenant Eve Dallas, Nora Roberts, NYPD homicide crime fiction, Piatkus, Putnum Adult, Roarke, women in crime fiction

  This year marks the one hundredth anniversary of the outbreak of the World War I (1914–18), a war that changed the landscape of the modern world and a catastrophic historical event that must be remembered. Among the very many good books, films and TV series being released this year is the anthology Only Remembered … Continue readings →

  ‘They were feeling somewhat maudlin, the seven of them, the members of the self-styled Survivors’ Club. Once they had all spent several years here at Penderris, recuperating from wounds sustained during the Napoleonic Wars. Although each had had to fight a lone battle toward recovery, they had also aided and supported one another and … Continue readings →

  ‘Oh,’ she brushed tears away. ‘I just killed off a sympathetic character. It had to be done, but I feel really bad about it. I’m going to miss him.’ ‘Human or werewolf.’” –The Collector, page 387     Nora Roberts’ new book The Collector, along with Concealed in Death (the latest JD Robb, her … Continue readings →

Tags : art theft, Carolina Moon, Concealed in Death, crime fiction, Faberge, In Death series, JD Robb, Nora Roberts, Northern Lights, romance, romantic-suspense, romantic-suspense novels, The Collector, Twentieth-Century Romance and Historical Writers

  The introduction of a risqué novel or pamphlet to link books in series is a well-used literary device and one that’s been employed to varying degrees of success. Caroline Linden utilises it to great effect in It takes a Scandal, her newest book and the second title in the ’50 ways to sin’ series, … Continue readings →

Tags : '50 ways to sin', Caroline Linden, historical romance, It Takes A Scandal, Love and Other Scandals, RITA

  The statement ‘grown men don’t cry’ is, for me, on a level with ‘real men don’t eat quiche’ – both beg the question ‘why?’ The same thought may possibly have crossed journalist Anthony Holden’s mind at some point. Together with his youngest son, Ben, Holden compiled this eclectic collection of moving poems, chosen by … Continue readings →

“‘Some girls marry because they want to, because they’ve found the man they want to go through life with, but most marry because they have no other choice. A single woman has very few options in this world, so for many women it’s a compromise. They marry for security, for wealth or position, and the … Continue readings →

Tags : Anne Gracie, Australian author, historical romance, Regency, RITA, The Autumn Bride, The Winter Bride