As an author, Carla Kelly shows belief in people’s innate goodness, even when her characters are being buffeted about by the unpleasantness of the world. This faith in humanity creates an undercurrent of true kindness in all of her works which I really enjoy and appreciate. Things may go wrong, and for the heroine of The Admiral’s Penniless Bride events have been truly soul-crushing, but there is always hope. The title does not mince words. Sally Paul is genuinely penniless when the book opens. Associated […]
Historical Romance with a Foxy Mary Poppins
“Foxy Mary Poppins!” is as far as I got in my review last October and it does really say it all about this entry in Jennifer Ashley’s frequently overwrought, yet personally strangely compelling and habit-forming, Mackenzie historical romance series. I read ALL of her Mackenzie stories and yet I don’t recommend any of them. I lovehate them. Why both? Because Ashley excels at moments of sincere romance while simultaneously over-plotting her novels, thus turning them into melodrama. They have gotten better in time, but Rules […]
A Contemporary Romance with Issues & Concerns
I have really enjoyed and recommend Penny Reid’s Knitting in the City Series and plan to try out other novels she writes, but this one confused me. It’s a bad sign when one is wondering if the contemporary romance one is reading is in some way meant to be the questionable elements of 50 Shades of Grey (which, admittedly, I haven’t read) done right. What a mess. I was making notes by the end of the first chapter and have included them at the end […]
Finally, a Romance Hero With a Beard
A HERO WITH A BEARD! My first lumbersexual after 3 years and 300 books. I may need a moment. Penny Reid’s great Knitting in the City series continues with Beauty and the Mustache, a book that also happens to introduce a family of brothers (Cletus, Beauford, Jethro, Billy, Duane, and Roscoe) set for their own stories. They all have beards, too! Huzzah! Ashley Winston is a nurse living in Chicago and she has just come home to rural Tennessee to learn why her mother is not […]
Contemporary Romance, But with Huh?
I was loaned J.L. Merrow’s contemporary romance Muscling Through by my friend Katie after reading her review of the book. She really liked the story and gave it a positive appraisal. Mine will be less so. It was a quick read, which is good, and I would be delighted to read a M/M romance novel well done, but Muscling Through is not that book. Al and Larry, bearers of the two least romance-novel-sounding names of all time, meet when Al helps a very drunk and […]
A New Novella for a Previously Reviewed Series
As it is part of the Beautiful Series, I simply added a new section for Beautiful Beloved to the end of my standing review.
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