I picked this book up on impulse after reading alwaysanswerb’s review. The idea of a romance novel that takes a very tropey premise and almost aggressively refuses to wallow in it intrigued me. It ended up being a really good read, even if the author’s refusal to give my id exactly what it wanted frustrated me. The part of me that appreciates good characterization and realistic plotting and development was very happy with this book. Our heroine is Martha Russell, a newly widowed woman who […]
Your brain, not your body, makes you worthy of great love.
4.5 stars In a genre built on, and sustained by, a set of established tropes that the reader instantly recognizes — and even selects for — it isn’t too often that I read a new romance where my main impression is, “Well, that was different!” Tropes work, and standards appear in every genre (though they’re disparaged much more often in romance,) and the skill of the author is revealed by his/her ability to work within their architecture and still craft a memorable, distinct, and competent […]
Another Historical Romance, Late Even for Epiphany
I really like Cecilia Grant’s Regency romances, so I snapped up this novella over Christmas. She is a very strong writer and I buy or borrow everything she writes. In particular, she has a facility for changing tone and style according to the story she is telling. In this case, that means a light and droll spirit for a Yuletide sliding awry. A Christmas Gone Perfectly Wrong is a prequel novella for Grant’s Blackshear Family series. I read the books out of order and would […]