It's so heartening to watch the romance genre become more and more diverse... and it's even better when you have an entertaining author like Jasmine Guillory writing a thoroughly enjoyable contemporary romance series. Guillory is a Black woman author writing about...
Welcome to my world of recently-published, recently-read books that made me feel that life is great when there's such talent in the world. The first two are both contemporary fiction, but the settings, characters, and themes are all very different. The first is a...
Sometimes, as a reader, there's an author's voice that is always a pleasure. Such is the case with me-the-reader and author Anna Quindlen. What is it about Anna Quindlen's writing? I like it that the central character is almost always a woman; and a woman who has been...
I requested Fleishman Is In Trouble before it came out, because of the reviews. When I picked it up and started reading, I felt a bit dubious. The opening scene stars Manhattanite Toby Fleishman, who, as a recently-single newly-separated middle-aged man, is...
What does it mean to start one's life over? What does it look like when you try to escape the past? Linda Holmes explores these questions in her intelligent, thoughtful debut novel, Evvie Drake Starts Over. Evvie Drake is packing up her car to leave an...
Let me just say this: I would be a terrible poker player. I can't bluff to save my life. This may be why I thought Maude Warner, the heroine of Jane Stanton Hitchcock's new noir mystery, was really, really cool. Because she can bluff, she is one terrific poker player,...
I enjoy contemporary romances that are breezy, light, and interspersed with both awkwardness and humor... and that's exactly what I found in a couple of new-this-year romance novels. Let's start with a series launch by Amanda Heger, Crazy Cupid Love (and does that...
Lyndsay Faye's latest novel, The Paragon Hotel, is as dark and immersive a read as you could hope to find. It is divided into sections labeled "Then," and "Now," and the "Now" sections take place in 1921, mostly in Portland, Oregon. This is, in fact, quite the...
Effective world-building? Check. Well-rounded, entertaining characters? Check. Entertaining space opera elements? Hot romance? Fast-paced adventure? Check, check, and check! If you love stories told in first person by a mouthy, tough, and bold heroine who rebels...
It is a truth universally acknowledged that there can never be too many retellings of Jane Austen's most popular novel, Pride and Prejudice (Yes, I had to do that. I apologize as humbly as Mr. Collins does.). Different settings, different viewpoints, different...