What We’ve Been Reading

The Collection

Explore our full library of honest reviews and literary recommendations.

One Night in London: The Truth about the Duke

Reading One Night in London was for me, rather like a date with a really great guy I just couldn’t muster up any enthusiasm for. There’s nothing wrong with the…

Read Review

Good Girls Don’t

Stephen King once wrote “Only enemies speak the truth; friends and lovers lie endlessly, caught in the web of duty.” Ms. Dahl’s latest heroine, Tessa Donovan, is a liar Mr….

Read Review

How to Seduce a Scoundrel

Ms. Dreiling’s latest novel How to Seduce a Scoundrel is only 396 pages long, but to me it seemed endless. By the time I reached the sappy sentence fragment that…

Read Review

Secrets of Bella Terra

Christina Dodd gets plenty right in her latest romantic suspense novel. Her hero is a bona fide hottie, the mystery underlying her tale is interesting, and her setting, Northern California’s…

Read Review

The Bed and the Bachelor

Ms. Warren’s latest Byrons of Braebourne historical romance is proof that an author’s competency with prose doesn’t inherently translate into a well-written book. Ms. Warren is a capable writer with…

Read Review

Wicked in Your Arms

I so disliked this book — the second in Ms. Jordan’s inexplicably named Forgotten Princesses series – that, after reading it, I put it down, waited several weeks, then picked…

Read Review

Waking up with the Duke

In Waking up with the Duke a married woman has an affair with her crippled husband’s best friend. Their story, beautifully written by Lorraine Heath, is a moving and lovely…

Read Review

Face of Danger

First impressions matter. Fortunately they don’t always presage what’s to come. My initial impression of Face of Danger was one of annoyed incredulity. The heroine, Vivi Angelino, said to “have…

Read Review

The Bride Wore Scarlet

Halfway through Liz Carlyle’s latest historical romance, The Bride Wore Scarlet, I put it down and went to reread the first book in The Fraternitas Trilogy, Ms. Carlyle’s latest slightly…

Read Review

This Perfect Kiss

As a reviewer, I aim to be fair. But true fairness implies a lack of context for each book and I doubt I am quite that impartial. I tend to…

Read Review

Scandal in Scotland

Scandal in Scotland is the second in a series of books by Karen Hawkins centered on an object called the Hurst Amulet. An amulet is a charm, usually worn about…

Read Review

Ripe for Pleasure

Isobel Carr’s debut romance has an unusual heroine in Viola Whedon. Viola, an extravagantly beautiful woman with tumbling red-gold curls, has been one of London’s most sought after courtesans for…

Read Review