Rhoda Baxter's Blog, page 28

Book Review: Not Your Cinderella by Kate Johnson

Not Your Cinderella: a Royal Wedding Romance by Kate Johnson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book. Prince Jamie is starting PhD at Cambridge. He’s awfully proper when he’s in public, but he’s a computer science geek in private. My kind of hero.
Clodagh is a mixed race barmaid, who is trying to get her A-levels and go to university to study history. She’s bright, but she’s only one or two shifts away from homelessness.

The pace gallops along and there’s so much to unpack about class and s...

I’m in the Bookseller … with a whole new name

I’ve got some news that I’ve been sitting on for a number of months now. I’m getting a whole new pen name – Jeevani Charika. The main difference between Rhoda and Jeevani is that Jeevani writes about Sri Lakan protagonists.

I wrote a Royal Wedding romance for Bonnier Zaffre.  It’s called A Royal Wedding and it’s coming out on the 10th of May … I should have cover(s) to show you really soon.

In the meantime, here’s my new website! I intend to keep blogging etc on this site rather than the new...

Book Review: Unveiled by Courtney Milan

Unveiled by Courtney Milan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I bought this as a box set after Red Headed Girl from Smart Bitches mentioned it (and I LOVED The Brothers Sinister series). I raced through the box set over the Easter weekend. I really liked the portrayal of a hero with dyslexia, partly because Ash worked around his dyslexia so well. His instincts and ability to work well with numbers gave him an advantage in business.

Ash Turner is ruthless, but everyone likes him. We meet him at the point...

Book review: Warwick’s Mermaid by Ellie Gray

Warwick’s Mermaid by Ellie Gray

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a sweet romance set in Whitby. Chloe is recovering after escaping an abusive relationship. Arguably, her relationship with her mother is also bordering on abusive, but in a very different way. She’s rented a cottage on one side of an isolated bay.
Luke has rented the cottage on the other side of the bay.
There’s a good amount of intrigue and angst and romance. It’s a gentle, sweet read.
[And I love the title!]

Buy Link UK: Warwic...

Book review: Emma Ever After by Brigid Coady

Emma Ever After by Brigid Coady

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a modern adaptation of Emma, not the easiest of stories to adapt because not a lot happens and Emma is so, well, Clueless.
In this version Emma works for a PR firm, coming up with faux-mances between celebrities for PR purposes. She lives with Gee Knightly, former boy band superstar.
Gee was a really interesting character. Emma was well meaning but a bit of an idiot. The supporting cast were interesting and varied.
I enjoyed the...

Book Review: Heath’s Hope by Alicia Hunter Pace

Heath’s Hope by Alicia Hunter Pace

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a novella set in the small town of Beauford Bend. I bought it was part of a box set of beta hero books by Crimson Romance.

Hope is back in town to help look after her father. She’s a banker. She left town after splitting up with Heath broke her heart and is surprised to see him there.
Heath is a specialist stained glass artist. He moved his business back to town after his first wife died.

Both the main characters are adorable...

Book Review: Acute Reactions by Ruby Lang

Acute Reactions by Ruby Lang

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I bought this book as part of a box set of beta hero books from Crimson Romance. There is so much about it that I loved.
First of all there’s Petra – she’s competent, smart and prone to overthinking things and tying herself in knots about it. Then there’s Ian who is hardworking and caring and generally lovely – also, allergic to cats.
It’s cute and romantic. There’s a fair bit of ethnic diversity (unobtrusively delivered). There’s a great c...

Book review: The Professor’s Secret by Peggy Bird

The Professor’s Secret by Peggy Bird

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I bought this book as a box set of beta hero books from Crimson Romance.

Claudia Manchester, English Lit professor, writes sizzling erotica under the pen name April Mayes. If her colleagues found out, she’ll never get tenure.
Brad Davis falls in love with Claudia, but she won’t tell him her real name. He knows her by yet another name – Claire Mason.

I really liked the characters in this book. Especially Claudia. Brad was a bit of a...

Book review: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was incredible. I put off reading it for ages because everyone was talking about it and I thought ‘it can’t possibly be as good as the hype’. Turned out I was wrong about that!

Firstly, it gave me a window into a world that I knew very little about.
Secondly, it was powerful. Sharp, to the point and clear in its description.

The most moving scene for me was the one where the family sit down to watch a game on TV. The thing that...

Guest post on SmartBitches about Dirk Gently

You may remember that I ADORED the first series of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency on Netflix. Season 2 came out at the end of last year and I raced through it. I’m having a good old squee about it on the Smart Bitches Trashy Books site. Go read.

If you want to see the trailer, here it is on YouTube. Welcome to Bergsberg.