I didn’t want to like this book. I wanted to love this book. Having never read Brockway before and owing to her reputation as a Stellar Writer of Fabulous Novels, I had high expectations. Which may be part of my problem – after all, how often does anything meet our high expectations? Don’t get me wrong. Don’t think I didn’t like this book. I did. I just wasn’t wowed, blown away and consumed with the need to rush off to Barnes & Noble and buy all of her backlist. Although I do intend to go there and buy some of her historicals – I’m just not going to rush, if you see what I mean.

It was all those dukes and marquesses and earls and Ton and, you guessed it, Regency overload. Some would solve the problem with a good dollop of Medieval, but it turns out that while I like a good knight errant, I spent too much time worrying about hygiene and too little time worrying about the story. Also, see above re: overload. Too much of a good thing can make you want anything but that good thing.

But I keep coming back to historicals – a fictionalized version of the olden days is often preferable to current times. I am happy to announce that some of the best romance reading I’ve encountered in the past year has come from the historical realm. I’ve even dipped back into the intrigues of Almack’s (slowly, my dears, very slowly). What has been good for me is a crop of authors doing unusual things: new twists on old stories and new time periods to explore.

For those wondering and waiting to hear if they won, the answers to the Holiday Contest go like this:

a. Which bestselling author recently donated all of her proceeds - royalties, advances and all future earnings - from her holiday novel to MassEquality? Name the author and the book. The author is Suzanne Brockmann and the book is All Through The Night. Kudos to Brockmann for putting her money where her heart is.

b. Which bestselling author, previously a category romance favorite and now a single title bestseller, wrote a Christmas story several years ago that features a bluebird statute? Name the author and the title of the book. Note: The book was released as a standalone title and as part of an omnibus holiday collection. The author is Linda Howard and the book is Bluebird Winter. This one is a heartwarming follow-up to her popular title, Sarah's Child.

And, the winners are...Laurie G. and Cathie Morton. Congratulations!!!! Email us at pbr@paperbackreader.net with your addresses so we can get those books out to you.

Is this story true? Who knows? It could very well be entirely false. But there is a grain of truth in it. Love and money have a tendency to turn people stupid. This is where the heroine in Jennifer Apodaca’s latest romance comes in.

So, yeah, a while back, the discussion turned to holiday books and possible holiday book reviews. While I didn't say it then, I'll say it now: I pretty much hate holiday themed romance novels. There's something about the forced conflict, the fake celebrations, and general shoving of square pegs into round holes that make these books feel contrived. Or, maybe to put it another way, rather than the holiday serving as an organic plot element, it sticks out like a certain reindeer.

Without the cute song and generally inspiring message.

I sort of decided to punt on the whole holiday book review thing, and, if I do say so myself, did a fairly good job. Until the niggle. It's always the niggle, you know? A few years ago (has it really been that long?), I reviewed two inspirational romances with Christmas themes. Both books, written by different authors, were distressingly similar -- and equally unsatisfying. To the point where the romantic and inspirational elements were paint-by-numbers interesting. In fact, if I recall correctly, I lamented the genuine lack of faith reflected in most so-called inspirational romances.**

Yeah, we thought so.

The rules are easy. They go like this...

As bored and burned-out romance readers cringe at the thought of yet another vampire story, authors, perhaps told that paranormal remains hot, hot, hot, try to find new myths, new legends, new ways to extend the fortunes of their foreauthors.

Entering the fray is L.L. Foster with a new paranormal series. First up is Servant: The Awakening. L.L. Foster is a not-so-secret pseudonym for Lori Foster, leading me to wonder about the efficacy of the whole rebranding exercise when the publisher goes all out to make sure that the reader knows who really wrote the book.

Today is Meredith's turn. This is her first review for a blog site. Huge thanks to Meredith for her hard work and honest review!

You need variety in your reading diet.

So yeah, more strong, kick-ass heroines, but maybe not so much on the “create an entire line around an idea” approach. Bombshell should have been a sub-imprint or whatever they’re called. I liked most of the Bombshells I read, but, as we are about to discover, there were some misses in the bunch.

When Cathy turned in her contest review for Devour by Melina Morel and expressed some reservations about the book, we felt like we put Cathy in a difficult position. Then we realized Cathy wasn't complaining. She read. She reviewed. She wrote what she really felt. She was not nasty or personal. The book just didn't work for her. Simple. We admire that.

So, thanks to Cathy for being part of the contest and checking out Devour. Bigger thanks to her for keeping with the philosophy at the site.

Thanks to all who entered and supplied such great titles. You have us wondering exactly which ones to review here at PBR over the next few months. In the meantime...Congrats to RandomRanter and Nathalie!!!! Both of you win a stack of paranormal titles. Email us at pbr@paperbackreader.net so we can get those prizes out to you.

For everyone else, we have more contests coming up before the end of the year. That means more books for you. Stay tuned...