The Collection
Book Reviews
Explore our full library of honest reviews and literary recommendations.
A Sea of Unspoken Things
After 20 years away, James Golden returns to Hawthorne, a remote town nestled within Six Rivers National Forest, to settle the affairs of her twin brother, Johnny. His death has…
Read Review
It Takes a Thief
I have a soft spot for Anne Stuart’s books. When she’s at her best, her romances are a masterclass in dark, gripping romance, her heroes are morally iffy and complex…
Read Review
Elsewhere
In 2022, I was, in the best way, destroyed by Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. I thought it was my first experience with her fiction—until I came across…
Read Review
How To End a Love Story
How to End a Love Story is billed a romance shaped by grief and healing. It delivers a shallow, joyless hash instead. I’ve read it–you probably shouldn’t. This is a…
Read Review
Nothing But Trouble
I loathe football and you couldn’t pay me to watch a hockey game and yet two of my favorite romance series feature each: Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ Chicago Stars (football) and…
Read Review
One Forbidden Evening
Jo Goodman hasn’t published a historical romance in over five years and more’s the pity. Her work, often dark, always smart, and peopled with leads that feel vividly real, has…
Read Review
Eleanore of Avignon
As a child, I’d clasp the hand of another on the playground, skip in a circle, and sing Ring-a-ring-a-roses, A pocket full of posies, Ashes! Ashes! We all fall down….
Read Review
Untouched
There’s a certain satisfaction in finding a romance novel that’s fully aware of its contradictions. Maisey Yates’ Untouched is one of those books that pulls you in, even as you…
Read Review
Written on Your Skin
Meredith Duran, whose absence from the world of historical romance feels like a gaping wound in the genre, is one of the finest writers to ever pen a love story….
Read Review
The Woodsmoke Women’s Book of Spells
Rachel Greenlaw’s The Woodsmoke Women’s Book of Spells opens with intrigue but fizzles before it can fully cast its spell. I had high hopes—her previous novel, Compass and Blade, was…
Read Review
The Finest Print
Looking for a well-written historical romance that also delves into Victorian-era newspaper taxes? The Finest Print offers both. You’ll also learn about penny bloods—now called penny dreadfuls—the era’s available birth…
Read Review
Creation Lake
Rachel Kushner’s Creation Lake has been met with rapturous praise. It’s vital and profound, it consolidates Kushner’s status as one of finest novelists working in the English language, and daring,…
Read Review