Jane Litte's Blog, page 62

REVIEW: For Ever and Ever by Mary Burchell

A glittering holiday romance set in the 1950s!

Can Leonie reach the end of her voyage without losing her heart…?

England, 1956

As a hardworking secretary and former nurse, Leonie Creighton has had little opportunity for adventure. So when her employer pays her to watch over his daughter, Claire Elstone, on a luxurious sea voyage, Leonie jumps at the chance to see more of the world.

Having recently been ill — and forcibly separated from an inappropriate suitor — Claire is still in delicate heal...

REVIEW: The Enigma Affair by Charlie Lovett

In this propulsive historical thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Escaping Dreamland, a librarian and a professional assassin team up to solve a seventy-five-year-old Nazi mystery and stop a nefarious opponent from wreaking havoc on the world.

When small-town librarian Patton Harcourt comes under fire one morning while making profiteroles, she has no choice but to trust the mysterious assassin, Nemo, who shows up in her kitchen. Fleeing a pair of German thugs, the two form a...

Review: Agents of Winter (Agency #2) by Ada Maria Soto

Arthur and Martin have settled into a quiet life, orbiting each other both on the job and off. Still in recovery from his last devastating mission, Martin is adjusting to his new reality as a permanent desk jockey at the Agency while Arthur is adjusting to his deep feelings for Martin. He’s not even sure what to put on the Agency’s dreaded form B-837, the “relationship form”. Are they dating? “Involved”? In a committed “something”?

The winter holidays interrupt their routines with the annual t...

REVIEW: Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade

CW: Death of a parent, abandonment

Dear Olivia Dade,

Excuse me while I gush. I loved last year’s All The Feels – Ship Wrecked is even better. The book I read immediately prior took me more than two weeks to read. I read Ship Wrecked in two days. From the first page (which opens, quite literally, with a bang) all the way to the end, I was invested and completely hooked. I adore the humour you write with – I laughed out loud many times throughout the novel – and I love the characters you create. P...

REVIEW: The View was Exhausting by Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta

Dear Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta,

I wonder if your debut novel, The View was Exhausting, was published as romantic mainstream fiction. If so it’s a romance regardless. There’s a central love story with a happy ending and emotional justice. That’s a definition of romance that works for me. The book was recommended to me and I’m glad I read it.

Whitman (she was named after the poet) “Win” Tagore is a 27-year-old British Indian movie star involved in a seven-year on again, off again relatio...

REVIEW: The Lost Paratroopers of Normandy by Stephen G. Rabe

The fateful days surrounding June 6th, 1944 have been extensively documented in histories of the Second World War, but less attention has been paid to the tremendous impact of these events on the populations nearby. The Lost Paratroopers of Normandy tells the inspiring yet heartbreaking story of ordinary people who did extraordinary things in defense of liberty and freedom.

On D-Day, when transport planes dropped paratroopers from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions hopelessly off-target in...

REVIEW: Why Am I Taller? by Dave Williams and Elizabeth Howell

What happens in space that causes the body to change? Learn about life in space from astronauts

Is the human body built for Mars? NASA’s studies on the International Space Station show we need to fix a few things before sending people to the Red Planet. Astronauts go into space with good vision and come back needing eyeglasses. Cognition and DNA expression could be affected for years. And then there’s the discomfort of living in a tight space with crewmates, depression, and separation from the...

REVIEW: The Cockermouth Mail by Dinah Dean

Snowed-in for Christmas!

The penniless orphan of a disgraced Baronet, Miss Dorcas Minster catches the Mail coach north to work as a governess. Her traveling companions are very jolly, but on Christmas Eve the coach breaks down in thick snow and Dorcas finds herself walking back to the inn with kind and gruff Sir Richard Severall, a Colonel in the Dragoons.

She’s shocked when, caught in the freezing weather, Sir Richard kisses her! Rescue, safety, and warmth at the inn brings new perils: Sir R...

CONVERSATION: Holiday Romances

Janine: ‘Tis the season for books set during the winter holidays, and I’d love to know your thoughts on the holiday settings in romances and in other books. Generally speaking, do books set during the holidays draw you? What do you like least and/or best about them? Which holidays do you enjoy reading most or would like to see more of or (if you haven’t read any) just plain see? What are your favorite books and short stories set during the holidays and why?
 

Christmas
 
Layla: I love Christmas ...

REVIEW: Raven Unveiled by Grace Draven

Note: Some spoilers for Dragon Unleashed follow.

Dear Grace Draven,

Raven Unveiled is the third book in your Fallen Empire series. It features Siora, a shade-speaker (she can communicate with ghosts) who had a brief role in Phoenix Unbound and a bigger one in Dragon Unleashed, and Gharek of Cabast, the erstwhile “cats-paw” of evil Empress Dalvila. 

It was perhaps a brave choice to cast Gharek as the hero. He’s not a good man. In Dragon Unleashed readers learned that he did his dirty work for ...