Falling first in her L’Amour et Chocolat Series, this novella was breezy, romantic, and had some excellent smolder. I’m not sure which fairy tale All’s Fair in Love and Chocolate is supposed to be or if, indeed, all of Laura Florand’s works have allusive story lines, but I don’t care, although I kind of do, so I’m going see if I can figure it out. BRB. [muzak intermission] After a year of planning, Ellie has just moved herself and her art blog to Paris to […]
Historical Romance with a Great Title, Then Pfft
2014 Winner — Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award — Romance Intrigued by the title appearing as a background advertisement when I turned off my Kindle, but leery of losing another $3.99 to a disappointing book, The Bluestocking and the Rake was one of the novels I checked out when sampling KindleUnlimited. I’m glad I saved my money and so should you. Starting with a great title and some sparkling energy between her main characters, The Bluestocking and the Rake begins well, but slowly derails as the […]
Historical Romance with the Kindness of Strangers
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 […]