Again the Magic has all of the trademark Kleypas smolder and charm, but a plotting issue which I feel gets in the way of the novel’s success and frustrated me again on my recent re-read; however, I have returned to the secondary plot several times as it has one of my favourite heroes and is, with The Heiress Effect, the romance for which I really wished a separate novella, or novel, had existed for the heroine’s sister. Meeting as children, Lady Aline* Marsden and stable boy […]
Curiosity quelled; expectations exceeded
I’ve heard vague murmurs from various corners that Courtney Milan’s Carhart series, being Courtney Milan, is very good; however, being early Courtney Milan, they aren’t as good as the classics she later produced. That’s possibly true, but the two novels and novella that comprise the series do have a rough charm to them that actually really worked for me, and furthermore, I daresay that they’re a bit more brazen than her later works as well. Let’s get into it! This Wicked Gift (3 stars) is a prequel novella […]
Five historical romances with a family of huggable eccentrics
Lisa Kleypas strikes me as a somewhat traditional author of historical romance. Which isn’t to say that she’s boring or stuffy, because she can write great smolder and steamy love scenes. I’m not entirely sure that I can put my finger on what makes me think this way, but I have an impression of her as an author whose idea of rebellion against romance conventions is a wink rather than a thorough upending. None of that is to pass any kind of value judgement on […]
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 […]