Review - - The Holiday Cottage

The Holiday Cottage

by Sarah Morgan

Publisher: Canary Street Press

Release Date: September 24, 2024

Reviewed by PJ

 

To the outside world, Imogen is a marketing dynamo. Her colleagues don’t know that while her high-achieving professional image is real, the happy childhood stories she spins are as fake as her pretend enthusiasm for Christmas. Working 24/7 has always been her solution to surviving the festive season—until burnout leads to a catastrophic blunder.

Suddenly, Imogen is handed a holiday gift she definitely doesn’t want: enforced time off work to recuperate. Then an invitation arrives from her favorite client, Dorothy, to stay at her guest cottage in the Cotswolds. From the thatched roof to the cozy open fireplace, Holly Cottage is a picture-perfect haven… Can it provide the fresh start Imogen so desperately needs?

For Dorothy, helping Imogen offers a longed-for chance to make reparations for her own past. But as her daughter Sara keeps reminding her, it brings risks, too. Yet Dorothy knows that only a leap of courage will allow her family to grow and heal. And perhaps this Christmas, with Dorothy’s help, the new life that Imogen is slowly piecing together could be better than anything either of them could imagine…

PJ's Thoughts:

I always look forward to Sarah Morgan’s Christmas books. I can count on an emotional journey in a vividly depicted winter setting with intriguing family dynamics and significant character growth. All of that holds true for The Holiday Cottage though this one, while good, falls a bit short of the 5-star read Morgan typically provides. At least it did for me.

I had a difficult time getting into the first half of the book or feeling a connection to Imogen. The pace dragged and I found myself putting the book aside several times. I just wasn’t being pulled in as I usually am with this author. I kept going however and eventually the pace picked up as did the interest. From the midpoint on the story takes off and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. I’m glad I stuck with it because the second half was everything I enjoy about Morgan’s writing, including a picturesque setting, Christmas tree farms, adorable children, romance, complicated relationships, and discovering the joy of the holiday season.

I enjoyed the different perspectives of Imogen, her favorite client Dorothy, and Dorothy’s daughter Sara. There are complex family dynamics that play out over the course of the book as well as significant individual growth for all three women. There is also a romance for Imogen that, while a bit quick, still left me feeling confident in the long-term stability of the relationship. There’s also a significant story thread for Imogen that’s left open-ended. I was really hoping to see on-the-page closure. Other than that, however, I was happy with the way the book concluded. Even if it’s not among my favorites of this author’s books, a Sarah Morgan novel is still a good read and well worth my time. 

Review - - A Fire in the Sky

A Fire in the Sky: A Novel

by Sophie Jordan

Publisher: Avon

Release Date: September 24, 2024

Reviewed by PJ

Dragons are extinct. Witches are outcast. Magic is dying.

But human lust for power is immortal.

Dragon fire no longer blisters the skies over Penterra, but inside the lavish palace, life is still perilous…especially for Tamsyn. Raised in the glittering court alongside the princesses, it's her duty to be punished for their misdeeds. Treated as part of the royal family but also as the lowliest servant, Tamsyn fits nowhere. Her only friend is Stig, Captain of the Guard...though sometimes she thinks he wants more than friendship.

When Fell, the Beast of the Borderlands, descends on her home, Tamsyn’s world becomes even more dangerous. To save the pampered princesses from a fate worse than death, she is commanded to don a veil and marry the brutal warrior. She agrees to the deception even though it means leaving Stig, and the only life she’s ever known, behind.

The wedding night begins with unexpected passion—and ends in near violence when her trickery is exposed. Rather than start a war, Fell accepts Tamsyn as his bride...but can he accept the dark secrets she harbors—secrets buried so deep even she doesn’t know they exist? For Tamsyn is more than a royal whipping girl, more than the false wife of a man who now sees her as his enemy. And when those secrets emerge, they will ignite a flame bright enough to burn the entire kingdom to the bone. 

Magic is not dead...it is only sleeping. And it will take one ordinary girl with an extraordinary destiny to awaken it.

PJ's Thoughts:

I’m not typically a romantasy reader but this book...wow…I could not put it down. From the opening pages to the final sentence, I was fully immersed in this world, in these characters. I had to know what would happen next. 

Jordan’s world building gave me a clear and vivid vision and understanding of this land where dragons once filled the skies before being annihilated by humans. The war against the dragons was necessary. It was kill or be killed. The only way for the humans to survive was to rid their world of the dragons. Only then would they be safe. But, was that really what happened or was there a deeper, more sinister plot at play among those humans who incited the masses? Why are some citizens living in the lap of luxury while those who protect their borders balance on the brink of starvation? And what will happen when a woman raised in that luxury is married off to a warrior from those borders who thinks he’s marrying a Royal Princess, who counts on that marriage to give him a seat at the table where decisions are made but, instead, finds himself saddled for life with the royal whipping girl? (And yes, that is exactly as horrible as it sounds)

Stakes are high for both Tamsyn and Fell from the get-go and it didn’t take long for me to be fully invested in both, especially Tamsyn. Jordan does an outstanding job of slowly unveiling the layers of these characters as they face off against danger, treachery, unimaginable circumstances, unexpected feelings, and each other. I enjoyed watching Tamsyn grow in confidence, finding her self worth and identity as her journey progresses while Fell deals with unfamiliar feelings as well as life-altering revelations. Tamsyn and Fell have the opportunity to change their lives, their world, if they are willing to embrace the unthinkable. Please embrace the unthinkable! 

A Fire in the Sky is one of my favorite books this year. The story held me in thrall, never once lagging, and keeping me eagerly reading late into the night. I’m fully invested in Tamsyn’s and Fell’s plight, emotionally attached to both characters, and already begging to know when book two will be released because….whoa…that ending! I have to know what happens next!

   

Winner - - Kate McMurray

 

The randomly chosen winner of

Kate McMurray’s Coastal Magic Spotlight Giveaway is

Emily W

Congratulations!

Please send your full name and mailing address to:

theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) com

Please include your choice of one of the books listed below:

Like Cats and Dogs

What the Cat Dragged In

Chasing Your Tail

Review - - The Worst Duke in London

The Worst Duke in London

by Amalie Howard

Taming of the Dukes - Book 3

Publisher: Forever

Release Date: September 24, 2024

Reviewed by PJ

 

Lady Evangeline Raine prefers animals to people and has no interest in marriage­--much to the dismay of her flirty younger sister, Viola. Because their father has one rule: Viola may be courted, only if Effie has a suitor as well.

Saddled with debt, Gage Croft, Duke of Vale, is determined to rebuild his estates. When the owner of his vowels offers him a fortune to charm the impervious Lady Evangeline for the season so Lady Viola can be courted, the game is on, even if it means pretending to seduce an unconventional wallflower.

But Gage gets much more than he bargains for in an adversary who wants to make her own scandalous arrangement. Effie will go to London for the season, but only if Gage agrees to be her lover. Yet when their fake courtship leads to passionate feelings, will their indecent proposal end with the season or be the start of something real?

PJ's Thoughts:

If you enjoy spicy historical romance with a modern feel, Amalie Howard’s The Worst Duke in London may be a good book for you. It’s the third book in Howard’s Taming of the Dukes series and while it features cameos by other couples in the series, it can be enjoyed as a standalone (though I enjoyed reading them order). 

Evangeline (Effie) is a woman who knows what she wants. She’s fiercely independent, well read (erotic novels, anyone?), devoted to her animal rescue efforts, and ready for a man…if not marriage. I like the way she goes after what she wants if, at times, I took issue with her attitude with Gage. Howard gives her a good growth arc though that satisfyingly develops her character as well as her relationships. I love how her friends support her, challenge her, and also hold her accountable. 

Gage is a total sweetheart. He’s big, muscular, an underground boxer, and a handsome but insolvent duke with a delicious Scottish brogue. Yes, he takes a wager that involves seducing Evangeline but he does so for honorable reasons…before he meets her. I like that his plans change once he gets to know her (alas, she has her own plans) and, also, as he begins to unveil his adversary’s true character. I like that he struggles with the ethics of what he’s doing - even though the physical relationship between him and Evangeline is consensual on both parts - especially as unexpected feelings begin to develop and then deepen (he falls first and hard). 

Supporting characters (including four-legged ones) add complexity and richness to the overall story. I especially appreciated the evolution of Evangeline’s sister, Viola as well as their sibling relationship. If you’re reading the series, we also get more information in this book about a couple of intriguing side characters whose stories I am eagerly anticipating. Will they - or won’t they - be a couple? And just who is running things at the Earl of Lushing’s club, Lethe? I can’t wait to find out. 

Review - - The Banned Books Club

The Banned Books Club

by Brenda Novak

Publisher: MIRA

Release Date: September 17, 2024

Reviewed by PJ

She left her hometown following a scandal—but family loyalty is dragging her back…

Despite their strained relationship, when Gia Rossi’s sister, Margot, begs her to come home to Wakefield, Iowa, to help with their ailing mother, Gia knows she has no choice. After her rebellious and at-times-tumultuous teen years, Gia left town with little reason to look back. But she knows Margot’s borne the brunt of their mother’s care and now it’s Gia’s turn to help, even if it means opening old wounds.

As expected, Gia’s homecoming is far from welcome. There’s the Banned Books Club she started after the PTA overzealously slashed the high school reading list, which is right where she left it. But there is also Mr. Hart, her former favorite teacher. The one who was fired after Gia publicly and painfully accused him of sexual misconduct. The one who prompted Gia to leave behind a very conflicted town the minute she turned eighteen. The one person she hoped never to see again.

When Margot leaves town without explanation, Gia sees the cracks in her sister’s “perfect” life for the first time and plans to offer support. But as the town, including members of the book club, takes sides between Gia and Mr. Hart, everything gets harder. Fortunately, she learns that there are people she can depend on. And by standing up for the truth, she finds love and a future in the town she thought had rejected her.

PJ's Thoughts:

I had to let this one percolate a bit before sitting down to write my review because...feelings. So many feelings. It might have a cutesy cover but there are some deeply emotional topics explored in The Banned Books Club. Topics like sexual assault, emotional (domestic) abuse, harassment, a dying parent, and physical violence. 

Novak doesn't pull any punches as she delves into the messiness of these characters' lives, within their families as well as the community as a whole. Her depiction of the division within Gia's hometown, those who support her and those who hold her responsible for the "ruination" of a beloved teacher, is a reflection of small-town dynamics that rings with authenticity. So too, do the divisions within Gia's family. The author does an excellent job of peeling back the layers and exposing unexpected realities. The fear, evolution, and healing of characters and relationships is substantial, realistic, and relatable. The downfall of one particular character, justified and certainly cheer-worthy, also exposes the alive and well underbelly of privilege and the "good ole boy" network within small towns.  

This book is primarily women's fiction but there is also danger, suspense, and a romance thread. Actually, two romance threads. I'm still waffling on how I feel about one of them. Let's just say, it's complicated. 

While the end of the book felt a bit rushed to me, overall, The Banned Books Club is an intense, emotional story of family, community, forgiveness, healing, and new beginnings that drew me in and kept me avidly turning pages from start to finish. 

Review - - Hockey Wife

Hockey Wife

by Kate Meader

Rookie Rebels - Book 10

Publisher: Kate Meader LLC

Release Date: September 16, 2024

Reviewed by PJ

"I need us to stay married, Big Guy."

Recently traded to the Chicago Rebels, hockey veteran Dylan “Banks” Bankowski is adjusting to what might be his last team and his final year in the NHL. That means taking care of his battered body while he strives for the one goal that’s managed to elude him: a championship ring. What he does not need is a visit from the woman to whom he gave a different kind of ring months ago.

His young, flighty, socialite wife.

Apparently, signing the annulment papers within a week of their quickie wedding in Vegas didn’t quite take, and now she’s back, right before the playoffs when he needs his focus most. Only this time she has a different request: let’s keep up the charade. He should say no, but he once said “I do” and surely that means something …

Georgia Goodwin has good reasons for wanting to keep her hockey player husband. Convincing the big lug to cooperate is the easy part. Not so easy? Ignoring the flutter in her chest when he grunts in jock, kisses her neck, or calls her wife. But it’s only for a few weeks, and as soon as the playoffs finish, so will they.

But the more time Georgia and Banks spend together, the more real their marriage feels. Less Vegas mistake, and more like the start of something amazing. They said goodbye once. Can they do it again … or will they figure out that a love this good is worth fighting for as much as that championship ring?

PJ's Thoughts:

Can this series just keep going on forever? We're at book nine of the Rookie Rebels and I'm nowhere near ready to say goodbye to this team of unforgettable characters and the women - and men - who capture their hearts. The romance. The bromance. The sizzling chemistry. The laugh-out-loud humor. And last, but never least, the incredible depth of emotion. These books have it all.

I fell hard for Georgia and Banks. There's so much more to both of them than what the surface would suggest. Meader excels at creating layered characters and I love watching those hidden layers slowly reveal themselves to me - and to the other characters - as the story progresses. Of course, teammates and their wives get involved along the way. It wouldn't be the Kate Meader story I love without meddling hockey players and their partners - I'm looking at you, Theo Kershaw. And you too, Tara Fitzpatrick - not to mention extended family dynamics which always takes things up a notch. It all comes together in a perfect blend of steam, emotion, humor, and happiness, everything I've come to expect from this author.  

While several characters from earlier books have appearances in Hockey Wife, the book stands well on its own if you prefer to jump into the series here.   

Coastal Magic Featured Author & Giveaway - - Kate McMurray

  

Our Coastal Magic Convention 2025 Featured Author this month is Kate McMurray. Kate writes romance novels. She likes creating stories that are brainy, funny, and of course sexy, with regular guy characters and urban sensibilities. She advocates for romance stories by and for everyone. When she’s not writing, she edits textbooks, watches baseball, plays violin, crafts things out of yarn, and wears a lot of cute dresses. She lives in Brooklyn, NY, with a bossy cat and too many books.
 

Welcome to The Romance Dish, Kate!  It’s a pleasure to have you visit with us today.

Thank you for having me.

For those who have yet to discover you, please share what readers should expect when they pick up one of the books in your Whitman Street Cat Café series and, in particular, book one, Like Cats and Dogs.    

The vibe I was going for was a small-town romance feel, just set in a big city. The center of the series is a cat café in Brooklyn. (Lauren, the heroine of Like Cats and Dogs is the manager. The café is adjacent to a veterinarian’s office, where Caleb, her love interest, works. Lauren’s friends are all regulars at the café—her friend Paige manages events—and they all play roles in each book.) In Like Cats and Dogs, Lauren and Caleb get off on the wrong foot and annoy each other at first, but in that enemies-to-lovers way in which they needle each other because they actually like each other. It was a pretty fun book to write.

A little trivia: Whitman Street is fictional—which gave me license to make up which businesses were on the street; I drew a map, even—but it’s loosely based on western part of Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. I’ve lived in Brooklyn since 2006, so a lot of setting is drawn from my own experience. I’m a city girl, for sure, but even within cities, people build their own communities, and that’s one of the running themes in the book—it’s a found family, small community story, just set in the country’s most populous city.

I’m an animal lover so, of course, I enjoyed the cats and dogs that were featured in Like Cats and Dogs. Are you a cat person or a dog person? Or both? Do you have any pets? (If you do, please feel free to share a photo)

I like dogs, but I am ultimately a cat person. I put my cats in the series, actually. Lauren has a cat named Molly, who is named for my own late cat (who passed in 2020 from cancer). Then there’s the “office manager,” Sadie, the cat café’s one permanent resident. (The café otherwise doubles as a cat shelter, an idea I stole from the real-life Brooklyn Cat Café, which rescues and helps find forever homes for cats.) The shelter where the real-life Sadie was adopted referred to her as their office manager, probably because she can be pretty bossy. (She orders me around pretty regularly, although she’s also a big ball of sweetness. The guy who cat-sits for me when I go out of town calls her a lovebug. One of the friendliest cats I’ve ever known.)

Here's a recent photo of Sadie in her “draw me like one of your French girls” pose in her favorite spot on one of my couch cushions.

 

She's adorable! She also appears to be giving you that "why are you taking my picture" look I often receive from our family cat. 

Lauren’s and Caleb’s story is an enemies-to-lovers trope. What draws you to this trope and what makes it fun as an author to write? Do you enjoy reading it as much as writing it?

It’s a fun but difficult trope to write, because you have to get the balance right. The characters hate each other, except they actually don’t, and they fight and spar, but they enjoy the sparring, and ultimately they get invested in and care about each other. I think about love and loathing as being two sides of the same coin—they are both strong emotions. So it’s tricky, but I love that moment when the fighting flips over into kissing. The passion switches direction. It’s delicious. It’s a trope I really enjoy both reading and writing, but it’s hard to do well.

In addition to being a romance, Like Cats and Dogs also feels like a love letter to Brooklyn. By the end of the book, I was ready to book a flight. As a local, what is it about this area that makes it special?

I lived in Manhattan for a few years before I moved to Brooklyn, and one of the things I noticed when I moved here is that Brooklyn feels more, I guess, residential. There are definitely things for tourists to see—the Brooklyn Museum is wonderful, and the view from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade can’t be beat—but to me, Brooklyn is less touristy than Manhattan, and more just people living and going about their lives. It’s a little more raw, too; this is literally true in Prospect Park, which is similar to Central Park but less aggressively landscaped, but also true of the streets, where there isn’t really a grid the same way there is in Manhattan. It’s very walkable, which I like (as is true for many New Yorkers, I don’t own a car) and you can find all kinds of mom-and-pop shops and restaurants. I’d love it more if it were less expensive, but it’s a pretty great place to live.

What can readers expect from you next?  

I took a bit of a hiatus that I’m just now coming back from, so I don’t have anything specific coming out in the near future, but I’m currently working on a contemporary romance about two actors who fall in love while working on a movie together, and a couple of rom coms that are similar in tone to the Cat Café series (one is a childhood-friends-to-lovers, which is my absolute favorite trope, and the other is my attempt to write a love triangle). 

Let’s do a few rapid-fire questions.

What are your passions (aside from writing, of course)?

I have a lot of hobbies! I love crafts. I knit and crochet and recently started doing embroidery/cross stitch. I used to paint and draw, although haven’t done much of that recently. I love art; the Met is my favorite place in New York City and I go 2–3 times a year just to look at beautiful things.

I took violin lessons for many years but haven’t played in public in a while. (I think sometimes about finding an orchestra to play with again, but there are only so many hours in a day.)

(Basically, if it hadn’t been writing, I would have ended up in some other creative profession.)

The other thing I like about Brooklyn is that I have family nearby. My brother lives near me and has two boys, and I try to spend as much time with my nephews as I can. (They are 8 and 3, which are very funny ages.)

Also sports. I’m not athletic—I do cardio and yoga sometimes, but I’ve never really been a team sports type—but I love watching them. The Olympics just happened, and I watched as much of that as I could, but I also love baseball—don’t hate me, but I’m a Yankees fan—and I suspect this is not surprising if you look at my backlist.

What would readers be surprised to learn about you?

I have a degree in English lit and almost went to grad school for teaching; instead, I currently work in educational publishing and work on textbooks and educational materials for K-12 students. People seem surprised to learn that I frequently work on math books. I was always very good at math, but couldn’t figure out what to do with that, and it turns out that the group of people who can edit text and also understand math is pretty small, so it’s a good niche for my skillset.

What are you currently reading or looking forward to reading?

I just finished the new Casey McQuiston book The Pairing, which is about two exes that end up on a food and wine tour of Europe together. (After watching the Paris Olympics, I really want to go to Paris, so this hit the spot in that sense. The setting descriptions are delicious.) Next in the queue: Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer, which is the sequel to Assistant to the Villain, which I loved. (This series is funny and imaginative and also emotional and romantic.) 

But the fiction TBR is giant right now because I’ve been buying books faster than I can read them. I’m looking forward to The Paris Affair by Maureen Marshall, The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer, The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center, You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian and many, many others.

I’m also a history buff and read a lot of heavy nonfiction. I’m currently working on The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson, about Fort Sumter and the beginning of the American Civil War. (It’s very good, reads like a thriller.) I’ve also been reading The King’s Assassin, which is a book about George Villiers, a favorite of King James I of England (the recent series Mary & George with Julianne Moore and Nichols Galitzine is based on this book, which is quite dishy).

Where can readers find you online?

On social media, I’m most active on Threads and Instagram. You can find me in both places @katemcmurraygram. If you want a full list of my books, it’s on my website, www.katemcmurray.com. (Fair warning: the website is a bit anemic because I accidentally deleted it last year—long story—and have been slow to get it back up, but you can find a complete list of my books there.) I also just relaunched my newsletter, which you can sign up for here: https://eko-km-newsletter.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Thank you for visiting with us today, Kate. Before we wrap this up, would you like to add anything or ask a question of The Romance Dish readers?  

One of the best things about doing publicity for the Cat Café series was that readers showed me photos of their pets and I absolutely loved all the photos of cats and dogs (and sometimes hamsters and lizards and goldfish and things), so if you've got pets, tell me about them! Or, if you've got a book about animals that you love, tell me about that too! 

Okay, readers, now's the time to put your pets in the spotlight. Let's hear about them! Or give us your favorite book recs that feature animals. You know I'm always happy to add to my book buy list. And yours too!

One randomly chosen person who posts a comment before 11:00 PM, September 15 will receive their choice of one print book from Kate's Whitman Street Cat Café series. 

*U.S. only

*Must be 18

 

 

Review - - Cross the Line

Cross the Line

by Simone Soltani

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: July 28, 2024

Reviewed by Nancy

 

Her brother’s best friend sends her heart racing in this sparkling Formula 1 romance.

 
Formula 1 driver Dev Anderson’s career is on the line. After a social media disaster leaves him with an angry team and sponsors threatening to jump ship, he needs someone to help save his image. At a party in Monaco, he bumps into the woman who can fix it all. There’s just one problem: she’s his best friend’s little sister. And, okay, maybe there’s another problem—he kissed her last year and hasn’t been able to stop thinking about it since.
 
Recent college grad Willow Williams needs a job. She may have a talent for seeing the bright side of any bad situation, but it’s hard to stay positive when she’s struggling to get hired. So when Dev offers her a temporary solution, she can’t help but say yes. Even if it means ignoring the crush she’s had on him since childhood.
 
Willow and Dev are determined to keep things strictly professional, regardless of old feelings and the blazing chemistry between them. But in the glittering and high-stakes world of Formula 1, some lines are meant to be crossed…

 

Nancy’s Thoughts: 

This delightful friends-to-lovers romance skillfully blends the hero’s and heroine’s families, their mutual friends, and the world of Formula 1 racing. Even though I knew nothing about this sport when I started reading, the story includes just enough of what I needed to know to let me keep reading without stumbling over things I didn’t understand. I enjoyed this new-to-me setting and the way events in Dev’s career push him and Willow closer. 

From the moment she starts her job as his social media manager, their mutual attraction flares. Resisting it becomes increasingly difficult. But the presence on his team of two of his longtime friends provides a constant reminder of the risks of crossing the line. 

These friends, along with Dev, are very close to Willow’s brother, Oakley, who has made it plain that he doesn’t want them to become involved. He’s mainly concerned about protecting her, but Willow and Dev worry about what their involvement could do to him. Her last boyfriend, who was part Oakley’s friend group, treated her horribly, and the resulting breakup fractured Oakley’s group’s friendship. Neither she nor Dev wants to risk a similar problem or to make Oakley feel pulled between them if a relationship doesn’t work out. 

Others in their lives, like Dev’s family and Willow’s friends, are urging them to go for it, but neither wants to cause pain or strife among those they love. Soltani handles the conflict skillfully and believably. Everyone involved is credibly acting out of concern for others. 

The same cannot be said of Dev’s racing team, whose members try to support him but are often stymied by the owner. His son, Nathaniel, is the team’s second driver, and the owner doesn’t want Dev to show up Nathaniel. Dev’s frustration over being held back and his determination to do his best anyway earn Willow’s sympathy and support and lead to increasing emotional intimacy between them. In turn, this deepens their attraction, which plays out for most of the book in beautifully done sexual and emotional tension. 

Once Dev and Willow decide to cross that invisible line and become physically intimate, their concerns about Oakley and the reactions of their friends remain. They try to keep the relationship secret, but that proves harder than they expect. When Oakley does learn the truth, his reaction has a great twist on it. 

The one problem I had with the book occurs near the end. Everyone is preparing for Dev’s sister’s wedding. Because his family are Indian, they’re having an Indian wedding, which Soltani refers to as a Desi wedding. I don’t know what that is, and it stopped me. The stoppers became more numerous as the wedding approached. Apparently, such a wedding involves several nights of celebrations, each of which has a particular name and observes particular customs and requires particular clothing. The book explains none of them, except to say one outfit has a skirt and a top, and the meanings are not apparent from context—unlike the term jaanu, which Dev uses to address Willow and which context shows is an endearment. 

Readers shouldn’t have to look up one term, let alone several terms, to understand what’s happening in the story. A brief explanation would have sufficed. Without it, I kept stumbling over these unfamiliar terms. 

The characters are likeable, and the hero and heroine are also charming. The romance is sexy and hot without undermining the characters’ friendship, and the story moves at a good pace. The only reason I’m not giving this book a five is the problem I just mentioned. Despite that, I highly recommend it. 

4.5 stars. 

~Nancy

Review - - The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love

The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love

by India Holton

Love's Academic - Book 1

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: July 23, 2024

Reviewed by Hellie

Beth Pickering is on the verge of finally capturing the rare deathwhistler bird when Professor Devon Lockley swoops in, stealing both her bird and her imagination like a villain. Albeit a handsome and charming villain, but that's beside the point. As someone highly educated in the ruthless discipline of ornithology, Beth knows trouble when she sees it, and she is determined to keep her distance from Devon. 

For his part, Devon has never been more smitten than when he first set eyes on Professor Beth Pickering. She's so pretty, so polite, so capable of bringing down a fiery, deadly bird using only her wits. In other words, an angel. Devon understands he must not get close to her, however, since they're professional rivals. 

When a competition to become Birder of the Year by capturing an endangered caladrius bird is announced, Beth and Devon are forced to team up to have any chance of winning. Now keeping their distance becomes a question of one bed or two. But they must take the risk, because fowl play is afoot, and they can't trust anyone else—for all may be fair in love and war, but this is ornithology.

Hellie’s Heeds

Amazon has a quote from NPR, which summarizes what I thought much more elegantly: "So riotously clever it almost defies description...an alchemy of romantic elements held in perfect harmony." It is. On nearly every page, there is a tongue-in-cheek, riotously clever one-liner or several, which will have you in stitches as you marvel at India Holton’s writing style and obvious firsthand experience with all things academia. 

Some of the more notable gems I found particularly hysterical were:

“Don’t try that charm on me, if you please. I will not succumb like some–some–liberal arts undergraduate.” 

[Hellie aside: as a former liberal arts undergraduate–I can say I definitely fell for some charm in my time. And I fell for the charms of Devon Lockley in this romp.]

Gladstone’s summer residence…reflected his academic character–and the fact that he’d inherited a large income, since no science teacher could afford such an estate.

This morning he [Gladstone] was outdoors, endeavoring to capture a leechsparrow. Which is to say, he sat on a mahogany sofa in the meadow behind the house, gesturing with his rosewood pipe to several graduate students who traipsed through the grass, bedecked with protective goggles and earmuffs, wielding  heavy-duty nets, as they did the actual work of capturing a leechsparrow. 

And so many more that if I continue, I might as well just quote the entire book. Being I work in Academia with many faculty who are not that different than the ones described in this story, it was a marvel to enjoy and I wished I could sit with India and just exchange academia stories. [Note: I obviously don’t think this was taken from real life–there are no magical birds to my knowledge nor Oxford women professors in 1890, during a time when India did not yet exist–but it was very adjacent to life in academia, let me just say.]

The chemistry sizzled between the two characters; the pacing was fast and constantly moving–they were on the run for their lives a good majority of the time. I do hope they had a restful break after they found their happily ever after because the pacing did get occasionally exhausting. All the characters were larger than life; and OMG, the IOS “press” agents were a riot. I loved the writing style–as a liberal arts undergraduate, I majored in English, so it tracks–it’s colorful, witty, and very British in humor a la Oscar Wilde. 

I’m delighted that another character featured in this book looks to be the hero of the follow up book in this series: a grumpy geographer named Gabriel. I cannot wait. 

Chef’s kiss. 5 stars. (I recommend this book while eating a bag of chocolates. You don’t really need it to finish the book…but I recommend it just the same.)

Winner - - September Coming Attractions

 

The randomly chosen winner

of a print copy of

The Duke's All That by Christina Britton is:

Sharlene Wegner

Congratulations!

Please send your full name and mailing address to:

theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) com

Winner - - Tangled Up With The Highlander

 

The randomly chosen winner of

an e-book copy of

Tangled Up With The Highlander by Julie Johnstone is:

cheryl c

Congratulations!

Please send your email address to:

theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) com

Review - - The Cottage on Pelican Bay

The Cottage on Pelican Bay

by Brenda Jackson

Catalina Cove - Book 7

Publisher: Canary Street Press

Release Date: August 20, 2024

Reviewed by PJ

 

Sometimes one hot night simply isn’t enough.

Two years ago, Zara Miller found herself heartbroken and stranded in a New Orleans hotel bar with a sexy stranger named “Saint.” One thing led to another and to a night of unforgettable pleasure. Though contact info wasn’t exchanged—no strings attached—Zara hasn’t been able to stop thinking about him or that one scorching night ever since. Now she’s returned to her hometown of Catalina Cove only to discover that her brother’s new hire is Evans “Saint” Toussaint, the one-night man she can’t forget.

Though Saint, like Zara, grew up in Catalina Cove, they'd never crossed paths. Now all of a sudden they can’t seem to avoid each other. Despite an enduring attraction, Zara and Saint decide to keep their spicy secret in the past. Everybody knows everybody’s business in Catalina Cove, and they don’t need everybody knowing theirs—especially since they’ve both been burned in the past.

But when their intense desire becomes impossible to ignore, they escape to Zara’s secluded cottage on Pelican Bay, where they’re free to explore whether their casual connection might actually be the lasting love they’ve both been missing.

PJ's Thoughts:

I've been reading Brenda Jackson's Catalina Cove series since book one, Love in Catalina Cove. Though the books can be read as standalones, each new entry has felt like an enjoyable reunion with fictional friends where a few new people are added to the group. The sense of community is strong in this series and it's always fun to catch up with favorite characters while also taking a journey with the newest couple.

I was excited to learn the heroine of The Cottage on Pelican Bay would be Zara (sister of the hero of book 5, One Christmas Wish) and eager to discover what Jenkins had in store for her. I was not disappointed. The chemistry between Zara and Saint sizzles from the start but neither is looking for a relationship...for reasons. I appreciated the time Jenkins took with them, indulging their desires while allowing them to gradually grow emotions between them. It felt very realistic and gave me the confidence that their eventual relationship would stand the test of time. I really liked these two, individually and together, and was cheering for them the entire way while also cheering against certain family members (Saint's), a toxic ex (also Saint's), and a deluded husband hunter on the prowl. Happily, all of them are satisfactorily dealt with in the end. 

This book also contains a sweet secondary romance between mature characters who are both widowed. I enjoyed it but would not have missed it if the focus had remained solely on Zara and Saint. 

If you enjoy contemporary romance with Southern flavor, a strong sense of community, fully-developed characters, heartwarming romance, strong friendships, and happy endings, I recommend The Cottage on Pelican Bay...and the rest of the books in the Catalina Cove series too!