romance - No Apology Book Reviews

Lies Jane Austen Told Me by Julie Wright

October 9, 2018October 25, 2017

Title: Lies Jane Austen Told Me Author: Julie Wright Series: n/a Has its charms but is rather ridiculous I would like to thank Julie Wright, Shadow Mountain, and NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book had its moments but overall wasn’t impressive or unique. I did like that Blake wasn’t a superficial cookie-cutter villain. Well, not cookie-cutter, anyway. We didn’t get to know him much at all, so as a character …

The Christmas Room by Catherine Anderson

October 9, 2018October 17, 2017

Title: The Christmas Room Author: Catherine Anderson Series: n/a Heartwarming but boring Kirstin Conacher is sick and tired of being pinned under her father’s thumb. Ever since her mother died six years ago, her once loving, thoughtful father has become bitter, angry, mean, and extremely protective. She can’t go to town without him being suspicious; she can’t look twice at a man without him flying into a rage. She rebels, naturally, and one day she manages to meet Cam McLendon. …

Interview with Catherine Anderson (The Christmas Room)

October 10, 2018October 15, 2017

Article and Interview by Elise Cooper The Christmas Room by Catherine Anderson is one of these special stories. A word of warning, it is not a “sugar and spice and everything nice” holiday novel. Yet, it is very realistic, believable, and leaves the reader with a good feeling as the book ends, a feeling of hope. The two holiday generational romances touch on grief, healing and redemption. Readers will go through a range of emotions with the characters from joy, …

Interview with Christina Dodd (The Woman Who Couldn’t Scream)

October 10, 2018October 8, 2017

Article and Interview by Elise Cooper The Woman Who Couldn’t Scream is a classic Christina Dodd novel. The plot has Merry Byrd seriously injured in an explosion that meant to kill her. She had to undergo numerous facial surgeries that changed her appearance. To get the financing she had to make a pact with the devil, a possessive old geezer who wanted her for his trophy wife. Changing her name to Helen Brassard she endured nine long years of his …

A Christmas Affair by Jodi Thomas

October 9, 2018October 2, 2017

Title: A Christmas Affair Author: Jodi Thomas Series: Ransom Canyon #6.5 Rushed but well-meaning This was cute, if you don’t mind some cheese and purple prose. It’s so strange; I don’t remember associating Thomas with such fanciful dialogue before this year. Maybe my taste or perception has changed recently. I just couldn’t imagine real people saying some of those lines, and that sense of absurdity distances me from the story. Which might sound like an ironic paradox considering it’s fiction, …

Interview with Katharine Ashe (The Duke)

October 10, 2018September 28, 2017

Article and Interview by Elise Cooper The Duke, part of the “Devil’s Duke” series by Katharine Ashe is part mystery, part historical, and part romance. She is one of those writers who allow readers to get swept up in the social, cultural, and political events of the 1800s. Readers of her books can begin to understand how a woman can be feminine yet possess a feminist’s attitude. The plot has her heroine, Lady Amarantha Vale, journeying to Scotland in search …

The Trouble with Twelfth Grave by Darynda Jones

November 12, 2019September 23, 2017

Title: The Trouble with Twelfth Grave Author: Darynda Jones Series: Charley Davidson #12 supernatural Stephanie Plum at first, now so much more I would like to thank Darynda Jones, St. Martin’s Press/Macmillan, and NetGalley for enticing me to check out this series by offering a free copy of First Grave on the Right and allowing me to read an ARC of The Trouble with Twelfth Grave in exchange for an honest review. Here’s a spoiler alert, though I imagine most …

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James

November 16, 2019September 6, 2017

Title: The Broken Girls Author: Simone St. James Series: n/a A spooky, intelligent, character-driven thriller I would like to thank Simone St. James, Berkley/Penguin Random House, and NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Idlewild Hall is a girls’ boarding school where the illegitimate, the mentally ill, and the troublemakers are swept under the rug. In 1950, four girls band together to survive the cold, dreadful place—and the ghost that uses their darkest …

Interview with Julie James (The Thing About Love)

October 10, 2018September 3, 2017

Article and Interview by Elise Cooper FBI agents Jessica Harlow and John Shepherd have a past. The former lawyer and cocky Army Ranger clashed during their training at Quantico and gladly went their separate ways after graduating from the Academy. Six years later, the last thing either of them expects is to be assigned to work as partners in a high-profile undercover sting. For both of them, being paired with an old rival couldn’t come at a worse time. Recently …

Interview with Cynthia Eden (Before the Dawn)

October 10, 2018September 3, 2017

Article and Interview by Elise Cooper Before the Dawn by Cynthia Eden is the second book of the “Killer Instinct” series; a psychological thriller intermingled with some romance. The premise of these novels is very unique in that they involve someone in law enforcement knowing a serial killer. An experimental FBI unit recruits Agents who have a personal connection to serial killers, knowing the murderers because they were friends, lovers, family, and their tormenters. The intensity begins from page one, …