#CBR8. #ProlixityJulien – Cannonball Read 17

Tough Sledding in a Christmas Novella

Snow-Kissed by Laura Florand

November 23, 2016 by Mrs. Julien Leave a Comment

To sum up: All About Romance Annual Reader Poll Winner for Biggest Tearjerker (2014) Snow-Kissed is the story of a once happy couple whose fertility challenges have left them both heart-broken for their lost children and seemingly unable to reach each other. It’s not a light read, but it was one with a very real sense of grief and pain. Kai and Kurt have lost three pregnancies and each time the recovery became more difficult. Kurt did everything he could to support Kai but, as […]

Best Kissing Book of the Year and a Cannonball?!

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

November 10, 2016 by Mrs. Julien 18 Comments

Here in Kissing Book Corner there’s one book we’ve all been reading and (mostly) heaping praise on. Now it’s my turn to review The Hating Game and I am convinced it is going to be the one of the, if not the best romance I read all year – though I welcome competition – and I have already added it to the “Classics” section on my Romance Recommendations Quick List. The writing is fantastically witty and fresh, the love story sweet, and I have already […]

A Free Book Not Quite Worth It for the Title Alone

Manaconda by Taryn Elliott and Cari Quinn

August 12, 2016 by Mrs. Julien 11 Comments

I took great delight in telling people I had just bought/read a book called Manaconda. My husband very nearly injured himself with his frequent and violent eye rolling. Contemporary romance characters often have supposedly glamourous professions and this Taryn Elliott and Cari Quinn series features rock stars which, it should be noted, is not the same as being musicians. Other occupations standing in for all those dukes and earls from historical romance include: successful actors professional football players professional hockey players professional basketball players billionaire […]

Better Than the Last, I’ll Still Read the Next One

June 9, 2016 by Mrs. Julien 5 Comments

Marrying Winterbourne is the second book in the current Lisa Kleypas historical romance Ravenel series, and, while it is better than its predecessor, Cold-Hearted Rake, it still not up to the standard of her classics or even her stronger books. Spending insufficient time with the love story, though plenty with the smolder, it started with a wallflower and a rake, Kleypas’s forte, and swiftly landed in Big Misunderstanding territory – which experienced romance readers will tell you means the leads’ problems could be solved with one honest […]

Decentish New Adult Romance

May 24, 2016 by Mrs. Julien Leave a Comment

I found Tracy Ward’s new adult contemporary sports romance, Rookie Mistake, in the “multicultural and interracial romance” section on Amazon. Wanting more diversity in my favoured genre, I have been making a point of seeking it out. Please note that in this same “multicultural and interracial romance” section, Amazon also lists shape-shifter romances such as Alpha Rancher Bear: BWWM Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance which, correct me if I’m wrong, qualifies as neither multicultural nor interracial but may, depending on their retrospective corporeal forms during consummation, qualify […]

Ugh, Teenagers! (No, It’s Not Wuthering Heights)

May 20, 2016 by Mrs. Julien 3 Comments

To be clear, I am phoning it in so much with these two that I am putting two unrelated contemporary romances in one review, borrowing plot summaries from Amazon, and giving myself the personal challenge of reacting to both as succinctly as possible. I thought I had purchased new adult romances, but it turned out I had purchased young adult romances. It’s apparently a very fine line and I suspect down to tone as much as anything else. The Hazards of Skinny Dipping and Ransom […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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