A new release, The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy is the fourth book in Julia Quinn’s Smythe-Smith Regency romance series. I feel like all of my reviews of her recent novels are repetitive, to wit: Julia Quinn is an excellent gateway author for people who want to try Regency romance. The writing is light and fun. Deft is the word I always come back to. Since her Bridgerton series, her quality has fallen off a bit. The Bridgerton series is really strong though. It has […]
Contemporary Romance Made of Roses and Deft Escapism
Welcome to my autobuy list, Laura Florand. With her newest contemporary romance, she has guaranteed that I will be making ready and willing contributions to her income for the foreseeable future, pages and reviews unseen. In the first novel in her new series, La Vie en Roses, Florand has again mixed lovely escapism with sincere romance and, for the first time, a wonderful dose of humour. Her books were not previously morose, but this one has a conviviality that just adds to the fun, Once […]
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 […]
Starting a New Cannonball Read with Another Historical Romance. Watch Dr. Strangelove First.
I am going to review Grace Burrows’ historical romance Douglas: Lord of Heartache by posting spoilers and complaints. One of them is informative, yet icky. You have been warned. What is with Grace Burrows and precious bodily fluids? She’s not the only one who mentions them, but she is the only one whom I ever read that actually uses the term “mop up”. Is it for verisimilitude? Is it just her thing? It’s not that she discusses them more than others, but there’s an extra layer […]