Novellas under the Mistletoe: Santa, Baby

Perhaps I am pushing the boundaries of the season, reviewing a Christmas themed novella collection in January, but, as Calvin Coolidge reportedly said, Christmas is a state of mind. (He also said, "the words of a President have an enormous weight and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sigh. Okay, back to thoughts of romance …

Love and Lust: Welcome to Sea Port

Welcome to Sea Port is a series from Katrina Jackson. I read the first three: From Scratch, Inheritance, and Small Town Secrets. The series features mostly Black characters, and a variety of relationships: From Scratch is a threesome (MMF), Inheritance is male-female couple, and Secrets is two women. Sea Port is a small, remote, and …

More or Less Contemporary Reads

Now that I'm all caught up reviewing my historical reads, here's what else I've been reading. An assortment of contemporaries, with a little suspense, erotica, a sweet, and even a romantic threesome. Tell Me No Lies, Kathryn Shay, Harlequin Super Romance, 2006 Cease Fire, Janie Crouch, Harlequin Intrigue, 2018 Mystery Date, Crystal Green, Harlequin Blaze, …

Hot Stuff: Beautiful Player

Beautiful Player is a 2013 novel from Pocket Books, by Christina Lauren, a pseudonym for a pair of writers. The cover blurb promised a hilarious depiction of modern dating. Um, no. This is mostly a collection of steamy scenes that is fun sexual fantasy, wrapped in a deeply conservative plot. Hanna is a twenty-three-year-old sciences …

Harder to Love a Rich Man: Billionaire’s Forgiveness

Billionaire's Forgiveness is the rest of the story started in Billionaire’s Love, which I just reviewed. Yes, I'm reviewing another recently released book. The world is full of wonders. Brenda Pearson took a couple of years to put this together, but since I only just read her first one, I was spared waiting. The opening is …

Come Undone

I like the low cost and easy storage of eBooks, but unlike physical books I sometimes forget I've acquired them. When I discover them, sometimes I cannot remember when or why I got them, let alone what they are about. I can't just check the back cover for the blurb, and have no idea how …

Why I Respect E. L. James

I have not read Fifty Shades of Grey. I know something of the story (submissive relationship) and something of the writing (poor), and I've no desire to read it. It's no secret that the story and writing are widely mocked, which leaves me mystified as to why anyone thought a twitter Q & A with …

S.E.C.R.E.T.

S.E.C.R.E.T., by L. Marie Adeline, was published in 2013. It's erotica, and the author freely admits that she and her publisher were inspired by Fifty Shades of Grey. I find this a little odd. Erotic fiction featuring a female protagonist's sexual awakening at the hands (so to speak) of multiple men is hardly new. It …

Is it Hot in Here?

I rarely mention that I am working on a romance novel. Apart from not wanting to overdo the self-promotion, staying quiet about it keeps the writing pressure off. I abandoned the first draft a few years ago, and the much improved second draft outline is moving slowly. One of the challenges is the correct level …

The Cautious Amorist

Norman Lindsay's The Cautious Amorist was published in 1932, and released as a mass market paperback in 1947. It seems publishing cycles used to be much slower. The story begins with a shipwreck, and by the end of the first chapter, Miss Sadie Patch, Reverend Fletcher Gibble, journalist James Carrol, and stoker Patrick Plunket, all …