Category Archives: Romance

Carmen and Nancy have been best friends since childhood. Carmen is dealing with her own depression after losing her beloved husband only three years before but when Nancy’s marriage takes a bad turn, Carmen is there to help.

Nancy moves from her suburban house in Scotland to Carmen’s mansion in London to start her life over. With the move comes the shedding of her old life and she realizes it is more than time to move on. Carmen is going through a similar phase in life but has the extra baggage of being extremely rich. Whether she likes it or not, it is an issue and one that she tried to deal with in a variety of amusing ways.

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I’ve enjoyed a number of Scottish romances by Suzanne Enoch over the years. I enjoy the sense of humor that she imbues into her characters. This book is one that I enjoyed tremendously and one that sets a fairly high bar as the first in a new series (No Ordinary Hero.)

An unlikely English Duke, Gabriel, arrives shortly after discovering he has inherited title and various properties associated with it. He’s a solider who never thought to be anything but a solider so he doesn’t quite understand the intricacies involved with his rank. Because of this, he is plain-spoken and decisive in his actions.

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I have read most of Susan Elizabeth Phillips novels over the years but my favorites have always been the Chicago Stars series. It has been a long time coming but, finally, there is a new book in the series. I can only ask Ms. Phillips – please don’t make us wait so long again.

“First Star I See Tonight” has all the elements I expect in this series: a feisty, smart, witty and loyal woman to relate to, a gorgeous football player (in this case, retired football player), humorous situations, funny dialog, and a happy ending.

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While “A Girl’s Guide to Moving On” is listed as a stand-alone novel by Debbie Macomber, it is really the follow-on to last years “Last One Home.”

In the newest book, we are following the youngest of the three sisters whose life has fallen apart. Nicole’s husband has cheated on her and she walks out taking their toddler son with her. Her mother-in-law, Leanne, has lived with her own husband’s infidelities for many, many years and decides to courageously follow Nicole’s example and finally divorce him.

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“Some Like It Scot” is the final tale of the the siblings of the MacLawry clan. In the story, Munro “Bear” MacLawry finally meets his match is a feisty red-haired young woman who is on the run from her own clan.

Bear is the youngest of the family and his two brothers and sister have married and started their families. They think that he should, too, but he has other ideas. He likes the idea of love them and leave them until he meets Catriona MacColl. Cat is hiding out in an abandoned abbey on MacLawry land and is hiding her half-sister away from a horrible proposed marriage to a much older and reported sadistic man. Or that is what Cat is letting those in the know think. She has her own reasons for hiding out and Bear wants to find them out.

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“The Last Chance Christmas Ball” is a collection of short stories which are tied together by way of both the relationships of the various characters (brothers here, neighbors there, etc.) as well as by their invitations to an annual Christmas ball.

The eight authors are all stars in historical romance and each shines in their various stories in this book. It was really interesting to see that their style was so evident in a short story as well as a longer novel. If you are at all interested in one of these authors (Mary Jo Putney, Jo Beverley, Joanna Bourne, Patricia Rice, Nicola Cornick, Cara Elliott, Anne Gracie, Susan King), this book will give you a good foretaste of the type of book that they write. Some are quite serious and others have a little more fun with their writing.

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“Thrill Me” is the last of the latest Fool’s Gold trilogy by Susan Mallery. I am fairly late into the overall series by having read the last ten. Fool’s Gold is a fictional town set at the base of the mountains of California. It definitely seems that if you arrive single in Fool’s Gold, you won’t remain so for very long.

For me, “Thrill Me” suffered a little bit because it followed “Kiss Me”, which was one of my favorites in this series. In the latest book, Maya comes back to Fool’s Gold to try to sort her life out and find out what she really wants to do in the future. Her first love, Del, also ends up in town at the same time. He is also trying to sort out his life. Maya wants to settle down an Del wants to travel the world.

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It has been many years since I have read a book by Ms. MacKenzie. I was really pleased to discover that her writing had improved over the years and that issues the last book (rape scene) was not present in this story.

The book is purportedly a Regency Romance but it really is more of a comic romance. The Duke of Hart is under a curse that forces him back to his home for the first time in many years. The curse is that he won’t live to see his male heir born, so he is determined not to marry. He meets Miss Isabelle Catherine Hutting (Cat to her friends), the vicar’s daughter who has sworn herself to spinsterhood. The sparks begin to fly and the outcome is pretty predictable from that point on.

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“Not Always A Saint” is a love story involving the saintly Dr. Daniel Herbert and the beautiful widow, Jessie Kelham. They have both made their way to London to find a spouse who will fit well into their lifestyle, but without any expectation of finding someone they can love deeply.

There is an immediate attraction – and one that has a back story and history though Daniel does not recall it at the time. The two of them go back and forth trying to figure out if they want to wed the other or if there is a suitable spouse waiting for them who does not disturb their emotions.

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Grace Livingston Hill is beloved around the world for her beautifully written Christian love stories. I first read her books more than forty years ago as a fairly young girl. At the time, I didn’t realize when they had been written (as she passed away in 1947) but I knew that the stories meant a lot to me and gave a wonderful message as well as a lovely story.

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