Calista York needs one more successful case as a Pinkerton operative to secure her job. When she’s assigned to find the kidnapped daughter of a mob boss, she’s sent to the rowdy mining town of Joplin, Missouri, despite having extended family in the area. Will their meddling expose her mission and keep Lila Seaton from being recovered?
When Matthew Cook decided to be a missionary, he never expected to be sent only a short train ride away. While fighting against corruption of all sorts, Matthew hears of a baby raffle being held to raise funds for a children’s home. He’ll do what he can to stop it, but he also wants to stop the reckless Miss York, whose bad judgment consistently seems to be putting her in harm’s way.
Calista doesn’t need the handsome pastor interfering with her investigation, and she can’t let her disguise slip. Her job and the life of a young lady depend on keeping Matthew in the dark.
Review
4 stars
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I had never read Regina Jennings before, but the premise of this book, following a female Pinkerton agent on a mission to save the daughter of a mob boss and finding herself at odds with the pastor out to keep her out of trouble and expose her intrigued me. And the story more or less lives up to expectations.
Calista is such a wonderful heroine, and I liked how resourceful she was in tackling what was thrown at her. She does have a tendency to find trouble, but it just makes her more charming.
While Matthew seems like an unlikely partner for her, I liked their dynamic and how it evolved from them being at odds to falling in love naturally.
The supporting cast was a lot of fun, especially Calista’s crazy family. And the fact that they are apparently featured in a prequel novella as well? I’m definitely intrigued!
The pacing was a bit slow at first, but I think it helped to establish the real sense of suspense. The mystery had a lot of twists and turns I was not expecting.
This was a great introduction to Regina Jennings, and I’m excited to try more from her. If you love Christian historical romance, I think you’ll enjoy this one.
Author Bio
Regina Jennings is a graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University with a degree in English and a history minor. She has worked at The Mustang News and First Baptist Church of Mustang, along with time at the Oklahoma National Stockyards and various livestock shows. She now lives outside Oklahoma City with her husband and four children.
A highly imaginative and original horror-comedy centered around a cursed New England boarding school for girls—a wickedly whimsical celebration of the art of storytelling, sapphic love, and the rebellious female spirit.
Our story begins in 1902, at The Brookhants School for Girls. Flo and Clara, two impressionable students, are obsessed with each other and with a daring young writer named Mary MacLane, the author of a scandalous bestselling memoir. To show their devotion to Mary, the girls establish their own private club and call it The Plain Bad Heroine Society. They meet in secret in a nearby apple orchard, the setting of their wildest happiness and, ultimately, of their macabre deaths. This is where their bodies are later discovered with a copy of Mary’s book splayed beside them, the victims of a swarm of stinging, angry yellow jackets. Less than five years later, The Brookhants School for Girls closes its doors forever—but not before three more people mysteriously die on the property, each in a most troubling way.
Over a century later, the now abandoned and crumbling Brookhants is back in the news when wunderkind writer, Merritt Emmons, publishes a breakout book celebrating the queer, feminist history surrounding the “haunted and cursed” Gilded-Age institution. Her bestselling book inspires a controversial horror film adaptation starring celebrity actor and lesbian it girl Harper Harper playing the ill-fated heroine Flo, opposite B-list actress and former child star Audrey Wells as Clara. But as Brookhants opens its gates once again, and our three modern heroines arrive on set to begin filming, past and present become grimly entangled—or perhaps just grimly exploited—and soon it’s impossible to tell where the curse leaves off and Hollywood begins.
A story within a story within a story and featuring black-and-white period illustrations, Plain Bad Heroines is a devilishly haunting, modern masterwork of metafiction that manages to combine the ghostly sensibility of Sarah Waters with the dark imagination of Marisha Pessl and the sharp humor and incisive social commentary of Curtis Sittenfeld into one laugh-out-loud funny, spellbinding, and wonderfully luxuriant read.
Review
4 stars
I don’t remember where I heard about Plain Bad Heroines (Twitter, probably), but the premise made me excited to take a chance on it, despite having no prior experience with the author. And I came out with this feeling of, “WTF did I just read?!” But in the very best way, of course.
Prose wise, it feels somewhat reminiscent of other genre-bending tales, such as Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and my favorite oddball find from last year, the Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club series by Theodora Goss. It evokes an older prose style, with an external narrator speaking to the reader, and making lots of inside jokes, often in footnote form, and while that could easily be distracting, it somehow fits together seamlessly with what Danforth is putting together. It’s delightfully self-aware, contrasting some of the bizarre events it describes with many chuckle-worthy quips.
And Danforth also seems to avoid a lot of the issues many multi-timeline authors struggle with with her narrative choice. While I admit I wasn’t overly drawn to the sometimes vapid contemporary movie star characters, preferring the intrigue surrounding the historical ones, I liked the sometimes humorous transitions between time periods, like (paraphrasing here), “you didn’t think I forgot about our friends in 1902, let’s get back to them.” So while, one timeline is the stronger of the two in terms of piquing my interest, I like that the prose still kept it all fairly intriguing regardless, and it led to a very unique way of tying it all together.
There are times when it does feel a little bogged-down and clunky, but it picks up again, and of course, those little moments with the narrator’s self-awareness always lighten the mood.
This is a very odd book, and I have a hard time figuring out who would like this. It’s largely being marketed as a historical horror-comedy, so I guess if that mash-up of genres appeals to you and you don’t mind a different writing style, I think it’s worth trying.
Author Bio
emily m. danforth’s first novel–The Miseducation of Cameron Post– is a coming of GAYge story set largely in Miles City, Montana, the cattle ranching town where she was born and raised. It was made into a feature film of the same name in 2018.
emily’s second novel is a sapphic-gothic-comedy titled Plain Bad Heroines. Plain Bad Heroines is set largely in Rhode Island, the state where she’s lived for almost a decade with her wife Erica and two dogs, Kevin and Sally O’Malley.
emily has her MFA in Fiction from the University of Montana and a Ph.D in English-Creative Writing from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. For several years, she was an Assistant Professor of English at Rhode Island college. emily has also worked as a lifeguard, a swim instructor, a bartender, a waiter, an aquatics director at a YWCA, a door-to-door salesperson (for one summer in college), and a telemarketer (for about 2 weeks in college).
emily’ favorite slasher movie is April Fool’s Day (1986).
Her favorite drink is iced coffee with extra ice. (Followed closely by the Aperol Spritz.)
Set adrift on the tides of fate by the deaths of her parents and left wanting answers, Laura Callaway now lives with her uncle and his disapproving wife in North Cornwall. There she feels like a castaway, always viewed as an outsider even as she yearns to belong.
While wreckers search for valuables along the windswept Cornwall coast–known for its many shipwrecks but few survivors–Laura searches for clues to the lives lost so she can write letters to next of kin and return keepsakes to rightful owners. When a man is washed ashore after a wreck, Laura acts quickly to protect him from a local smuggler determined to destroy him.
As Laura and a neighbor care for the survivor, they discover he has curious wounds and, although he speaks in careful, educated English, his accent seems odd. Other clues wash ashore, and Laura soon realizes he is not who he seems to be. Despite the evidence against him, the mysterious man might provide her only chance to discover the truth about her parents’ fate. With danger pursuing them from every side, and an unexpected attraction growing between them, will Laura ever find the answers she seeks?
Review
4 stars
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
A Castaway in Cornwall is another immersive historical mystery/romance from Julie Klassen, and as usual, she does not disappoint. This one as a bit slower than I remember her books usually being, although that’s not to say she’s usually a very fast-paced writer either. However, the leisurely pace also worked so I could simultaneously soak in all the details and become engrossed in every twist and turn.
Klassen’s research remains top-notch, and she clearly knows the places she writes about, both from visiting many of them and doing supplementary research (something she notes she relied on a bit more this time around, due to COVID-19). However, she makes the Cornwall coast really come to life in her prose, and the addition of the photos she shared in a video on her YouTube channel only serve to amp up the immersion. And even beyond the visuals, it was cool to see the little bits of daily life in Cornwall, including the somewhat harrowing fact that most people back then couldn’t swim!
Klassen’s characters are also unique, standing out in the aristocracy-saturated Regency market (although less so when you compare her characters to many of her peers in Christian fiction, where only a handful of authors write Regency). Laura has been through a lot with the loss of her parents and being dependent on others for room and board, but is also involved in recording shipwrecks and keeping track of the casualties for her uncle, which I found really interesting
Alexander was a prisoner of war with loyalties to the Bourbons during the Napoleonic Wars. I found the broader discussion of the politics of the time moving, as well as the consequences for him sticking to his own convictions in the matter.
However, I did find myself a bit perplexed by the inclusion of a discussion question at the end about relating Alexander’s political differences with his brother to what’s going on today, which struck me as a very poor comparison, given the drastically different circumstances at play today they weren’t back then in that particular issue, although I’m not surprised to see this comparison, all things considered, given the number of people who do believe in that way.
I did still enjoy it, despite the flaws, which in the grand scheme of things, were fairly minimal or to be expected. Julie Klassen is a favorite, and the issues I’ve pointed out have not (overly) impacted this view, although I have become a bit more cynical. I think if you loved her previous work, or love sweet and suspenseful historical romance, you’ll enjoy this one.
Author Bio
Julie Klassen loves all things Jane—Jane Eyre and Jane Austen. A graduate of the University of Illinois, Julie worked in publishing for sixteen years and now writes full time. Three of her books, The Silent Governess, The Girl in the Gatehouse, and The Maid of Fairbourne Hall, have won the Christy Award for Historical Romance. She has also won the Midwest Book Award, the Minnesota Book Award, and Christian Retailing’s BEST Award, and been a finalist in the Romance Writers of America’s RITA Awards and ACFW’s Carol Awards. She blogs at http://www.inspiredbylifeandfiction.com. Julie and her husband have two sons and live in a suburb of St. Paul, Mi
Dao, Julie C. Broken Wish. Los Angeles: Hyperion, 2020.
ISBN-13: 978-1368046381 | $18.99 USD | 311 pages | YA Historical Fantasy
Blurb
Sixteen-year-old Elva has a secret. She has visions and strange powers that she will do anything to hide. She knows the warnings about what happens to witches in their small village of Hanau. She’s heard the terrible things people say about the Witch of the North Woods, and the malicious hunts that follow.
But when Elva accidentally witnesses a devastating vision of the future, she decides she has to do everything she can to prevent it. Tapping into her powers for the first time, Elva discovers a magical mirror and its owner-none other than the Witch of the North Woods herself. As Elva learns more about her burgeoning magic, and the lines between hero and villain start to blur, she must find a way to right past wrongs before it’s too late.
The Mirror: Broken Wish marks the first book in an innovative four-book fairy-tale series written by Julie C. Dao, Dhonielle Clayton, Jennifer Cervantes, and L. L. McKinney, following one family over several generations, and the curse that plagues it.
Review
4 stars
I loved Julie C. Dao’s previous work, so when I heard she was writing Broken Wish, the first in the multi-author collaborative The Mirror series for Disney with some other up-and-coming authors in YA, I was so hyped, without even caring much about the premise, although hearing that the series would be a multi-generational fractured fairy tar further excited me. And while I went into without knowing entirely what to expect from an original book from Disney not closely affiliated with one of their already established properties beyond the Grimm allusions, I was pleasantly surprised how it straddles the line between Disneyfied fairy tale and the darker elements of the older tales while still being aware of its audience.
The message of acceptance of oneself bleeds throughout the narrative, from the way Matilda finds herself shunned by other townspeople and living in isolation in the North Woods, to Elva coping with trying to be “normal” and stick to the status quo as a typical daughter who grows into a typical wife, repressing her magical abilities. It was wonderful to see the two women find one another and help each other and their paths to self-acceptance.
And while I definitely did still enjoy it and think anyone can enjoy it, the characterizations aren’t particularly distinct in terms of establishing the age difference. Elva acts like a teenager, because…well, she is one. But Matilda also acts like a teenager, and while I think it does help in balancing out the relationship, Disney has shown there can be believable, compassionate, and even loving relationships between women with age gaps and even imbalances of power that lean into a more mother/daughter or wise woman mentor/student relationship, like Maleficent and Aurora in Maleficent, so it would have been nice to see that reflected here.
I did generally really enjoy this, and can’t wait to see what the other authors have in store in succeeding generations. If you’re a Disney fan and are looking to try something new, yet reminiscent of the stories you know and love, I think you’ll enjoy this one.
Author Bio
Julie C. Dao is the author of several acclaimed novels for teens and children, including FOREST OF A THOUSAND LANTERNS and BROKEN WISH, published by Disney Books. A proud Vietnamese-American who was born in upstate New York, she now lives in New England. Follow her on Twitter @jules_writes.
Julie is represented by Tamar Rydzinski of Context Literary Agency.
An arranged marriage leads to unexpected desire, in the first book of Alyssa Cole’s
Runaway Royals series…
When Shanti Mohapi weds the king of Njaza, her dream of becoming a queen finally comes true. But it’s nothing like she imagined. Shanti and her husband may share an immediate and powerful attraction, but her subjects see her as an outsider, and everything she was taught about being the perfect wife goes disastrously wrong.
A king must rule with an iron fist, and newly crowned King Sanyu was born perfectly fitted for the gauntlet, even if he wishes he weren’t. He agrees to take a wife as is required of him, though he doesn’t expect to actually fall in love. Even more vexing? His beguiling new queen seems to have the answers to his country’s problems—except no one will listen to her.
By day, they lead separate lives. By night, she wears the crown, and he bows to her demands in matters of politics and passion. When turmoil erupts in their kingdom and their marriage, Shanti goes on the run, and Sanyu must learn whether he has what it takes both to lead his people and to catch his queen.
Review
3 stars
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
I’m not sure what it is about Alyssa Cole’s contemporaries, but I always finish them with the feeling of “that was nice, but there could’ve been more,” a feeling I never had with her historicals or her recent thriller. And unfortunately, How to Catch a Queen is another case of that.
Don’t get me wrong, this book does a lot well. This new Runaway Royals spinoff builds on the already fabulously diverse Reluctant Royals, with characters of different cultures, sexualities, and even gender identities represented with compassion. And in this book in particularly, the rep has expanded to include mental health, and once again, it’s A+.
With each new country Cole takes us into in the Reluctant/Runaway Royals world, she takes her time building the political power structures, and even if they are based on real life countries, it’s easy to feel immersed in the politics of countries like Thesolo or Njaza, while also not being bogged down by the politics either.
And the characters on their own are compelling. I could relate to Shanti feeling out of her depth in her new role as Queen, especially when she’s not close to her husband and an adviser he trusts actively tries to tear her down. I understood the pressure Sanyu was under as the new king. However, I was never fully sold on them together, and I think, like others, I did want more of the book to be about him “catching” her when she runs away, especially when it’s literally mentioned in the title and blurb. I kept waiting for it to happen, and then when it does, it’s not even until close to the end? Way to misrepresent the book, Avon.
And I couldn’t help feeling like everything was forgiven too quickly at the end? I wanted more from Sanyu when it came to proving his love for Shanti, and it was also super disappointing that, in spite of the adviser being toxic to her, everything is forgiven pretty easily.
So, I guess I liked the book with major caveats. I do think, given my track record with her contemporaries, I’m not surprised, yet I’m always optimistic that the next one could be better (How to Find a Princess sounds like everything I want in a book!) I think if you’ve enjoyed her contemporaries in the past, this one might work out a bit better for you, and even if not, there are plenty of positives to recommend it!
Author Bio
Alyssa Cole is an award-winning author of historical, contemporary, and sci-fi romance. Her Civil War-set espionage romance An Extraordinary Union was the RT Reviewers’ Choice Award’s Best Book of 2017 and the American Library Association’s RUSA Best Romance for 2018, and A Princess in Theory was one of the New York Times’ 100 Notable Books of 2018. She’s contributed to publications including Bustle, Shondaland, The Toast, Vulture, RT Book Reviews, and Heroes and Heartbreakers, and her books have received critical acclaim from The New York Times, Library Journal, BuzzFeed, Kirkus, Booklist, Jezebel, Vulture, Book Riot, Entertainment Weekly, and various other outlets. When she’s not working, she can usually be found watching anime or wrangling her pets.
Chokshi, Roshani. The Gilded Wolves. New York: Wednesday Books, 2020.
ISBN-13: 978-1250144546 | $18.99 USD | 388 pages | YA Historical Fantasy
Blurb
No one believes in them. But soon no one will forget them.
It’s 1889. The city is on the cusp of industry and power, and the Exposition Universelle has breathed new life into the streets and dredged up ancient secrets. Here, no one keeps tabs on dark truths better than treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier Séverin Montagnet-Alarie. When the elite, ever-powerful Order of Babel coerces him to help them on a mission, Séverin is offered a treasure that he never imagined: his true inheritance.
To hunt down the ancient artifact the Order seeks, Séverin calls upon a band of unlikely experts: An engineer with a debt to pay. A historian banished from his home. A dancer with a sinister past. And a brother in arms if not blood.
Together, they will join Séverin as he explores the dark, glittering heart of Paris. What they find might change the course of history–but only if they can stay alive.
Review
3.5 stars
I held off on reading The Gilded Wolves for a long time, both due to my general ambivalence to Roshani Chokshi’s debut (great ideas, but I didn’t love the execution) and what I heard about this book not being so great. However, more recently, I decided I would give it a chance, as at its core, the premise did intrigue me, with a mix of heist story (although the comparison to Six of Crows remains lost on me, as I haven’t read it yet) and a code-solving treasure hunt in the vein The Da Vinci Code. And while this book didn’t rock my socks off, it is more enjoyable than I thought it would be.
Chokshi is great at world building, whether sticking more closely to history or creating her own world based on established mythology, and I found her depiction of Belle Époque Paris immersive and intriguing, and at times heartbreaking. Her descriptions of the World’s Fair, and how BIPOC were treated in its “human zoo” are tragic, and I can see how she was drawn to depicting this, especially when she mentions how Filipino people were among those exhibited.
The mythology and use of codes is the part that most appealed to me, and I loved seeing the incorporation of the myth of Babel Tower and the Eye of Horus, as well as concepts like phi.
The characters are also pretty intriguing, and while I did feel at times that it juggled a bit too many perspectives and felt at times that it kept me from really becoming close to any particular character, I appreciated how unapologetically diverse they were, and how all of them were linked through being outcasts in society. And while some of the romance stuff wasn’t for me (like making out with someone you hardly know), I did appreciate the focus on other relationships in addition to that.
I definitely don’t think it’s as bad as a lot of people were saying, although it is still flawed. I do have more confidence continuing on with this series now that I have a better idea of what to expect. And I feel if you were also put off by the polarized reaction, you should give it a try to see how it works for you.
Author Bio
Roshani Chokshi is the author of commercial and critically acclaimed books for middle grade and young adult readers that draws on world mythology and folklore. Her work has been nominated for the Locus and Nebula awards, and has frequently appeared on Best of The Year lists from Barnes and Noble, Forbes, Buzzfeed and more. Her New York Times bestselling series includes The Star-Touched Queen duology, The Gilded Wolves, and Aru Shah and The End of Time, which was recently optioned for film by Paramount Pictures.
Return to the drama and intrigue of New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Hoyt’s Greycourt series with a breathtaking enemies-to-lovers historical romance!
Ambitious, sly, and lethally intelligent, Gideon Hawthorne has spent his life clawing his way up from the gutter. For the last ten years, he’s acted as the Duke of Windemere’s fixer, performing the duke’s dirty work without question. Now Gideon’s ready to quit the duke’s service and work solely for himself. But Windermere tempts Gideon with an irresistible offer: one last task for Messalina Greycourt’s hand in marriage.
Witty, vivacious Messalina Greycourt has her pick of suitors, so when her uncle demands Messalina marry Mr. Hawthorne, she is appalled. But Gideon offers her a devil’s bargain of his own: protection and freedom in exchange for a true marriage. Messalina feigns agreement and plots to escape their deal. Only the more time she spends with Gideon, the more her fierce, loyal husband arouses her affections. However, Gideon’s final deed for Windermere may be more than Messalina can forgive.
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
When a Rogue Meets His Match is a slight improvement over the first installment. I generally found the romance more satisfying, and while other aspects still left something to be desired, I feel this book worked a bit better for me overall. However, I do feel, even with the first book’s weaknesses, it is necessary to read that one to understand some of the over-arching plot points of this one.
The hero and heroine are the standouts, and in this aspect at least, it feels like it’s a return to form. Messalina has strength and confidence that feels reminiscent of Hoyt’s previous heroines, and assassin and self-made man Gideon has both an air of danger and a softer side beneath the broody facade that endeared me to many other Hoyt heroes. And while there are some Hoyt books (*coughDukeofMidnightcough*) with some glaringly obvious and disturbing power imbalances, I liked that these two came to each other on even footing and can give back as good as they get, making their interactions all the more satisfying as they become accustomed to one another and things move from a marriage of convenience to mutual love.
However, as I noted, it is not a stand-alone, and in carrying on plot threads from the previous book, things do get a bit lost along the way. I was intrigued with the plotting between the Duke of Windermere and Gideon, and the counter-plotting of the Duke’s nephew and Messalina’s brother Julian, but it all started to feel a bit overwhelming, and some of these external plot threads remained hanging yet again.
Even with its shortcomings, this is still a decent effort from Elizabeth Hoyt. If you love historical romance with a dash of danger and intrigue, as well as strong heroes and heroines, I think you’ll like this one.
Author Bio
Elizabeth Hoyt is a New York Times bestselling author of historical romance. She also writes deliciously fun contemporary romance under the name Julia Harper. Elizabeth lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with three untrained dogs and one long-suffering husband.
In this first novel of the exhilarating Agents of the Crown series, a man who will become the original MI6 agent protects England and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I from Spain’s nefarious plan to crush the Age of the Enlightenment.
After centuries locked in an endless cycle of poverty, persecution, and barbarity, Europe has finally emerged into the Age of Enlightenment. Scientists, philosophers, scholars, and poets alike believe this to be a new era of reason and hope for all. But the forces of darkness haven’t completely dissipated, as Spain hunts and butchers any who dare to defy its ironclad Catholic orthodoxy.
Only one nation can fight the black shadow that threatens this new age, and that is Britain, now ruled by a brilliant young Queen Elizabeth I. But although she may be brave and headstrong, Elizabeth knows she cannot win this war simply by force of arms. After her armies have been slashed in half, her treasury is on its knees. Elizabeth needs a new kind of weapon forged to fight a new kind of war, in which stealth and secrecy, not bloodshed, are the means.
In this tense situation, Her Majesty’s Secret Service is born with the charismatic John Dee at its head. A scholar, a soldier, and an alchemist, Dee is loyal only to the truth and to his Queen. And for her, the woman he’s forbidden from loving, he is prepared to risk his life.
A visceral and heart-pumping historical thriller, The Eyes of the Queen is perfect for fans of Ken Follett and Dan Brown.
Review
3 stars
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The Eyes of the Queen intrigued me, as a fan of the Tudors, and I was particularly interested in how Sir Francis Walsingham’s spy ring, which I knew a little bit about, served as a predecessor to the modern MI6 in the UK today.
On the positive side, it’s absolutely gritty and atmospheric, capturing the dark and treacherous nature of the later Elizabethan age, with Elizabeth fearing attack from Spain and Mary, the former Queen of Scots being imprisoned, yet being still a threat as the most likely heir to the throne and one who the Catholics already view as the rightful Queen, with Elizabeth being the usurper. It was fascinating to see the trust Elizabeth put in Walsingham and John Dee in these times to take on these conflicts covertly.
Other aspects, however, was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I did more or less enjoy how some of the major characters were written, especially the charismatic John Dee. However, I object to the sexualized nature of Queen Mary’s portrayal, with nymphomania and sex toys and whatnot, as it just seems like a pathetic way to blacken the name of woman who was considered “the enemy,” when her mere blood connection and documented rash actions should have been enough.
It also felt more thrilling because the period itself had a lot of darkness and danger to it, not because the plot itself was particularly suspenseful. And when a lot of the historical record makes a lot of it a foregone conclusion, that doesn’t help. I did enjoy seeing the founding of Her Majesty’s Secret Service, however.
This series is a good idea, but I don’t know if it reached its full potential as a truly gripping spy thriller. I did love most of the historical bits, and I think fellow Tudor/Elizabethan aficionados will also enjoy this.
In this heartwarming second-chance romance, a woman returns home and discovers that, when it comes to finding love, there’s no place like home.
When a romance gone wrong lands reporter Dakota Jones in the pages of the tabloids, her rising star crashes and burns. Instead of getting the weekend anchor job she’d been promised, she’s promptly shown the door. Which leaves her one option: return home to lick her wounds, eat lemon meringue pie, and plot her comeback while actively avoiding the man who once broke her heart.
Dexter Roberts made a huge mistake when he walked away from Dakota, and he’s regretted it ever since. So when Dakota returns to Holly Grove Island to regroup and decide what’s next, Dex can’t pass up the opportunity to win back the love of his life. Now he just needs to convince Dakota to give him a second chance.
…includes a bonus story by Annie Rains!
Review
4 stars
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Having become familiar with Reese Ryan’s work with various Harlequin series, I was excited to see she was working with Forever/Grand Central for this new Holly Grove Island series. And the first installment, Second Chance on Cypress Lane, is a sweet and cozy small-town romance, but infused with Ryan’s own unique style.
I’ve never been to North Carolina, but I love how Ryan captures what it would be like to live in a small NC town. It’s sweet and cozy, and there are some secrets that come into play with the main couple’s shared past, but it’s nothing explosive, and there’s just a general air of sweetness that actually feels genuine.
Dakota and Dex are both lovely characters, and I very much rooted for them to work things out this time around. While things in their dynamic did tend toward the overdramatic at times, I like how ultimately, Dex just wanted to see Dakota be happy and successful, and maybe their romance at the time would have prevented that.
I enjoyed this one, and I can’t wait to see what happens in the series next! If you love small town romance, romance that features Black protagonists, and/or “seasoned” romance, I think you’ll enjoy this one.
Author Bio
Reese Ryan is an award-winning author of romantic fiction with captivating family drama, surprising secrets, all the feels, and a posse of complex, flawed characters. A panelist at the 2017 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books and recipient of the 2018 Donna Hill Breakout Author Award, Reese is an advocate for the romance genre and diversity in fiction. A Midwesterner with deep Southern roots, Reese currently resides in semi-small-town North Carolina where she’s an avid reader, a music junkie, and a self-declared connoisseur of cheesy grits.
A Winter Romance, the latest HISTORICAL anthology of short stories for charity from the authors at The Romance Cafe is now available for PRE-ORDER!
True love and timeless romance. Journey through history with these sassy and spicy short romances.
Breast cancer affects one in four women. Here’s your chance to read a swoon-worthy book and help others at the same time.
Curl up in your comfy chair in front of the fire and know that every book purchased, and every page read raises money for breast cancer research.
This historical romance collection has it all:
– The Old West
– Regency aristocrats
– A female Samurai
– Chanukah in Scotland
– Breaking conventions
– The American civil war
– And sweet Victorian romance
Get A Winter Romance today for stories with all the feels.
*ALL proceeds go to fund research in the fight against breast cancer. *
Review
3 stars
I received an ARC to read in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Having enjoyed several of the Romance Cafe’s anthologies, I was dismayed to find my reaction to this one was much more mixed, with some stories working, some feeling really underwhelming, and one unfortunately really offending my sensibilities. As for the positives, I adored Angelina Jameson’s “A Cornish Christmas,” being a sweet friends to lovers where the two must confess their feelings to one another, in spite of some obstacles in the form of another woman. “Light a Flame by Riana Everly is another delight, and I adored seeing two people at odds bond when they find themselves snowed in together, which surprised me, since forced proximity isn’t always something I love. “A Gray and Blue Christmas” by Laura Sanatra surprised me in reassuring me about a Yankee/Confederate romance during the Civil War. While I still have a lot of problems with stories that brush the serious ideological differences they had under the rug, I liked that the story focused on Maggie choosing to help a soldier regardless of who he was, and that being the basis for romance, when she was obligated to turn him in.
As for the stories I felt underwhelmed by, I wasn’t surprised, given my track record with the authors. I’ve liked Liz Martinson’s contemporary contributions, but felt this historical piece, “Christmas Secrets,” felt awkward and lacking a real sense of place. I also struggled with Alexie Bolton’s contribution to the previous winter historical, so I feel this is a case of her writing style being a mismatch with me as a reader. Chele McCabe’s “Lizzie and David” was a similar case, and my being particular about Westerns did not help.
Now, for the one that really bothered me, Marci Baun’s “The Samurai’s Duke”:This story made me uncomfortable from the moment I saw the title. It not being historically accurate doesn’t bother me in and of itself, but given the colonialist practices of the time (India!), it felt insulting to be like, “let’s write an AU where Japan wasn’t closed off, so they could interact with colonizers!” I’m not saying it can’t be done; I mean Courtney Milan has shown the possibilities of what a good multicultural story set in 19th century England can look like, while still keeping both the politics of the period and the sensibilities of the modern audience in mind. But it feels disrespectful to try to write a story about race relations without at least subtly tackling the possible ramifications, and a short story just doesn’t provide the space to do that.
Aside from the first story, which I think was well intentioned but poorly executed, my mixed reaction is mostly subjective. And like most anthologies, this collection offers something for a wide variety of historical tastes. If you love historical romance, you’re bound to find something you like. And as a bonus, you’re supporting a great cause!
About The Romance Cafe
This anthology is brought to you by The Romance Café, a community of romance novel fans and writers, born out of the desire for a safe space to discuss our shared passion for romance, as well as empower and support authors of the genre. Join us every day for your dose of romance in the Café: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thenewromancecafe.
Courtney Reads Romance 