Jane Litte's Blog, page 111

JOINT REVIEW: Someone to Cherish by Mary Balogh

Janine and I are continuing our tradition of joint reviews for the Westcott series with the latest release – Someone to Cherish. – Kaetrin

When Harry Westcott lost the title Earl of Riverdale after the discovery of his father’s bigamy, he shipped off to fight in the Napoleonic Wars, where he was near-fatally wounded. After a harrowing recovery, the once cheery, light-hearted boy has become a reclusive, somber man. Though Harry insists he enjoys the solitude, he does wonder sometimes if he is lon...

REVIEW: The Orphan Pearl by Erin Satie

Dear Ms. Satie:

After recently reading (and loving) book two of your Sweetness and Light series, I turned my attention to remedying the mistake I’d made in not reading all of your No Better Angels series – by picking up this, book three. If memory serves, I read book one first, then book four, then book two. I don’t usually worry much about reading order, but I do think in this case I should have read in order (and read the books closer together). It didn’t affect my enjoyment of this book, but...

REVIEW: Grand Canal: Kaifeng Chronicles, Book Three by Robert Campbell

Li Bing travels from Hangzhou to Beijing along the Grand Canal, planning to stop at Kaifeng along the way. Meanwhile, developments in his new wife’s family take some interesting twists. Unforeseen circumstances have a way of derailing even the best plans.

Dear Mr. Campbell, 

Book three in the Kaifeng Chronicles leads us to young Li Bing beginning his journey to the capital to sit for yet more Imperial exams. He leaves behind his young and pregnant wife as well as a family investigating the sc...

REVIEW: The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison

Dear Katherine Addison,

I am a huge fan of your 2014 steampunk fantasy novel The Goblin Emperor. It was my favorite of all the books I read that year and I’ve read it three more times since. When the novel was nominated for a Hugo, I was thrilled; when it lost, I felt disappointed. So when I heard The Witness for the Dead, a second novel set in the Ethuvarez (the elven empire where The Goblin Emperor and The Witness for the Dead take place) was coming out, I jumped at the chance to review it, ev...

REVIEW: Jayne’s “Not All Books Will Work for Me” Reading List

History of Us by Stacey Agdern

Do they have a future together, or is their relationship ancient history?

Anna Cohen, perpetual assistant at the Manhattan Museum of Jewish History, lands a golden chance to curate her own exhibit when her boss sends her to Rockliffe Manor, New York. She’s to assist an influential Jewish family as they organize an exhibit of their own in time for the town’s Summer Days Festival. While she’s there, Anna just needs to convince them to part with some of their archiv...

EPIC JOINT REVIEW: The Road Trip by Beth O’Leary, Part II

REVIEW PART II

Note to readers: While spoilers are hidden in this review, there are big ones under the cuts so click on the view option at your own risk. -Janine

Jennie: Part I of the review can be found here.

Back to the discussion! There was also such a lack of balance in terms of each character’s issues. I think I’m more forgiving of that sort of thing in a historical romance – I can view one character “saving” the other with more detachment there. In contemporary romances I tend to have more...

REVIEW: Secret Enemy by Katie Reus

Dear Katie Reus,

I’ve read most of your Red Stone Security series and enjoyed them so I was happy to have the chance to read the latest installment. The books are generally about category length and can be read fairly quickly and have a good balance between the romance and the suspense aspects of the story.

The link to Red Stone Security in Secret Enemy is indirect; Mila has just started working there and Lyosha’s boss’s wife also works there but the firm has very little to do with the actual plo...

EPIC JOINT REVIEW: The Road Trip by Beth O’Leary, Part I

REVIEW PART I

Note to readers: While spoilers are hidden in this review, there are big ones under the cuts so click on the view option at your own risk. -Janine

Jennie: Be forewarned, readers – Janine and I had *a lot* to say about this book. This was a very long review discussion that has been split into two pretty long review discussions.

Janine and I reviewed this author’s second book, The Switch, together last year, after both reading and loving her debut, The Flatshare (which Janine turned...

REVIEW: About That Night (Matzah Ball Surprise Book 2) by Laura Brown

Izzy Fineberg can take on any challenge—and she’s had some big ones lately. After one fateful night with the hottest Deaf man she’d ever met, Izzy found she was pregnant with his child. And she never caught his name. She’s been doing the single mom thing for nine months now, and surely, nothing could be more challenging than that. But her first day at her new job, she meets her supervisor…and recognizes him immediately.

Nolan Holtzman never expected to see Izzy again, and now, she’s the new hi...

REVIEW: Book of Love by Erin Satie

Dear Erin Satie:

I’ve been meaning to finish your No Better Angels series – I realized I’ve read three of the four but have neglected to read The Orphan Pearl. I did read book one of the Sweetness and Light series, Bed of Flowers, and gave it an A- (A range grades are rare for me!). When a friend alerted me to this, the second book in the series, I snapped it up.

Book of Love features Cordelia Kelly, the best friend of the heroine Bonny in Bed of Flowers. Cordelia is now living in London, and e...