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HelenKay: Buddha Baby is all about heroine Lindsey Owyang - her past, her future, her jobs, her heritage, her family, her loves and her insecurities. All of these issues overlap in a light and funny chick lit offering with serious undertones relating to racism and the pressure to integrate into white America at the expense of ethnicity.
Wendy: Had Jane Austen created Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the result might very well have been Teresa Medeiros’ After Midnight. Of course, Medeiros’ version of Buffy, Caroline Cabot, is much more a Suspecter of vampires than a slayer of one, as After Midnight is a Regency romance that steps ever-so-lightly into the paranormal.
HelenKay: According to the "Dear Reader" letter inside Saving Allegheny Green, Harlequin/Silhouette's new Spotlight Series goal is to: "single out outstanding stories, contemporary themes and oft-requested classics by some of your favorite series authors and present them to you in a variety of formats bound by truly striking covers." In this offering, Signature Select delivers on the cover and contemporary theme but the promise of an "outstanding story" falls short as the plot rises to the level of good but not great.
Wendy: Liza Palmer’s debut novel, Conversations with the Fat Girl, is plus-sized chicklit that takes a startlingly raw look at vulnerability and features a heroine readers won’t aspire to be, but just might see themselves in.
Continue reading "Conversations With The Fat Girl by Liza Palmer" »
HelenKay: The basic category romance idea of the virgin and the millionaire is at the heart of When the Lights Go Down. A shy woman looking only for a night of fun finds the man of her dreams. Here, the promised happily ever after is delivered with charm, but not much in the way of conflict or punch.
Some authors carry “Advance to Publication (Collect Royalties)” cards, allowing them to bypass the bothersome editorial process. It’s not like fans are going to notice the lack of quality. Except they do. I cannot imagine that Bertrice Small’s The Last Heiress will win her new fans, and if I were a longtime Small reader, I’d think twice before picking up another book by this author.
Wendy: A dash of humor, a hint of quirkiness, equal parts murder and mayhem, plus a pinch of romance aren’t the right mix to make Stephanie Bond’s In Deep Voodoo a spellbinding read. A few key ingredients are missing from this romantic suspense. Bond seasons the story with a smidgeon of the paranormal when a heaping tablespoon of the otherworldly is called for. The end product labors over casting suspicion on the large cast of characters, but not enough effort goes into making the Happily Ever After believable.
Lisa--the perfectionist--is a stunning, mysterious, and fearless sexual adventurer. She is founder and supreme mistress of The Club--an exclusive island resort where forbidden fantasy meets willing flesh. Elliott is a thrill-seeking photographer who has risked his life in war zones around the world and now seeks the ultimate rush--exploring his darkest sexual self. Join them on a journey to the limits of erotic pleasure and beyond.
This page contains all entries posted to Paperback Reader in October 2005. They are listed from oldest to newest.
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