Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Summer Reads

Quick and Snappy one-liner reviews


Pride Prejudice and Cheese Grits by Mary Jane Hathaway is a compellingly sweet, ultra-fun, Southern-fried homage to Austen. I particularly enjoyed a romance set in the world of academia as that is something that the CBA doesn’t explore often.   The author’s snarky (yes, snarky) and sassy rhetoric just kept the pages flying

Lady of Eve:by Tamara Leigh and THIS is the “clean” version. But, friends it is still sizzling. The tension is …. Well…. Sorry… needed to fan myself ;)  I was really impressed with this well-layered and thoughtful medieval romance.  I read it on a bus trip two and from Stratford to see a few plays and it was just the perfect distraction.  A perfect summer read for you historical fans


Afton of Margate Castle: by Angela Hunt What a sumptuous ride!  I had no idea that Hunt was capable of this level of narrative bliss. I mean, I knew she was good… but Afton was an entirely different and brilliant experience.  I read it on a reading-vacation and just absolutely swooned and swayed by the romance, the heartbreak, the meaty melodrama, the historical verisimilitude and the penchant for character and detail

The Troubadour’s Quest: I was so very sad one night when I was too tired, my eyelids drooping, to keep reading it before bed. I wanted to keep going and sleep just got in the way. There are mistaken identities, unrequited love, chivalrous deeds and a glaring, glowing sacrifice.

Stealing Adda by Tamara Leigh is a cerebral and wily look at a romance set against the travails and triumphs of a popular romance writer who is being poached by a rival company. I really enjoyed Leigh’s first-hand look into the industry as a whole especially when pitted against the changes we have seen even since this book’s first arrival on shelves.

Match of Wits: by Jen Turano is another romantic comedy in the same vein as its predecessors, light, fluffy, predictable and the perfect choice for a summer’s afternoon.


Full Steam Ahead by Karen Witemeyer excels at presenting an interesting part of history: steamship engineering and has just a waft of Beauty and the Beast sensibility in the folds of its central romance. 

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