Mariana Zapata is very good writer who specializes in slow burn contemporary romance. She doesn’t necessarily drag out the timeline, but she takes her time building characters, especially the heroine, into well-rounded people. Her heroes then match up to these strong women really well. While the men in each of her novels may not be dreamy to the reader, they are clearly excellent partners for the women. The first book of hers I read, Kulti, is a classic and I also recommend Wait For It. […]
Penny Reid Is Now on Half Secret Probation
Buying all of Penny Reid’s Winston Brothers and Knitting in the City books means that I have ridden the roller coaster of her uneven stories. The writing is always fine, and often much better than that, but she hits more rough patches than smooth and doesn’t always manage her plot complications well. Those issues are dealt with, mostly, in Beard in Mind and along the way, the reader gets to see couples from previous books, including Quinn and (my favourite) Janie. One of Reid’s best […]
A Good Novella from the Ever Reliable Mary Balogh
“I don’t think anything inspired me except the necessity of coming up with a story so that I could fulfill my obligation to a contract I had agreed to! I had to dream up a story, and this one popped into my head.” Mary Balogh in the interview following A Matter of Class. Nonetheless, as an experienced, and clearly honest, professional writer, she delivered a sincerely charming historical romance novella. Reggie and Annabelle are lifelong neighbours divided by a waterway as well as the barriers […]
No, It’s Okay, He’s Really a Good Guy
Stay by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy
I swear that Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy are writing romances inspired by the hashtag notallmen, though I’m not sure even that’s correct since the men in this series, and a lot of Bowen’s solo work, often behave in a way that is unacceptable, but is supposedly meant to be forgivable because they are good guys. As my romance twin, Beth-Ellen, said, it’s as though they are defending men and, she added, who is the audience they are doing that for? Stay was a mostly […]
Make No Mistake, It’s Awful
Sometimes I just can’t resist finding out how bad awful sounding romances can be. Taken by Two did not let me down. It’s terrible and not (just) because of the ridiculous love scenes. It’s a Cinemax movie from the 1980s with more graphic sex. I’ll let Amazon fill you in: Taken by two enigmatic men, Penelope Sedgewick overcomes demons from the past to learn to thrive in a thrilling new dangerous world. When the missing billionaire Nathaniel Slater reappears from oblivion and kidnaps her, she’s […]
I’ve Read Every Book in This Guilty Pleasure Series
The last in a series of ten books and novellas, Beautiful serves as a standalone-ish contemporary romance from writing duo Christina Lauren, as well as providing visits with the five other couples in the group and wrapping all the threads up with a bow. Usually landing on the erotic end of the romance spectrum, Beautiful was pretty tame by Lauren standards, but still in keeping with the authors’ style. Pippa is visiting Boston to see her best friend, Ruby, and take a two-week road trip […]
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