This right here is a contemporary comic Gothic romance novel. Equal parts Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Northanger Abbey, and likely other nineteenth century novels, mostly British, that I should have read while at university, Heroes Are My Weakness features a tortured hero, an innocent in over her head, schemes, machinations, a forbidding landscape, and a surprisingly unannoying plot moppet. Unemployed, impoverished, sick, and freezing, Annie has arrived on an island off the coast of Maine in January to take up temporary residence in a small […]
“Who the hell is that?! Some call her Satan. Others, Beelzebub. She goes by many names.”
Natural Born Charmer is a book that I ended up reading based on reviews I saw here at the Cannonball (Malin? Mrs. Julien? Emmalita? ???). I don’t remember exactly what about the review caught my eye, but I added it to my to-read list and requested it from the library. The story hangs around Dean Robillard, quarterback of the fictitious Chicago Stars (this is the 7th book in a series tied around this organization). He’s on his way to his new property in Tennessee (where […]
A Contemporary Mr. Rochester–with puppets!
I’m sure I’ve mentioned before that Susan Elizabeth Phillips is one of my favorite contemporary romance authors. Although I’ve been a little disappointed in some of her more recent books, I’m still far from giving up on her. So when her latest book, Heroes Are My Weakness, came out in August of this year, I was waiting for it. And months and months later, I finally got off the library’s waitlist and downloaded the book. And I read it in a day. Annie is virtually […]
A contemporary romance with a quarterback and a girl in a beaver suit
Dean Robillard seemingly has it all. He’s one of the top quarterbacks of the NFL, a profitable modelling contract for men’s underwear, good looks, scores of admirers, good friends – yet something is missing. He’s driving cross country to the ranch he bought on a whim, when he spots an angry young woman in a beaver costume on the side of the road. Curious and entertained, he gives her a ride, and quickly discovers that Blue Bailey has quite the temper on her. She’s also […]
A contemporary romance with matchmaking
Annabelle has taken over her dead grandmother’s matchmaking service, and is determined that this is the business she will actually manage to make successful. Her mother wants her to become an accountant (her successful older brother could get her a job in his firm), but Annabelle is having none of it. Of course, making a living as a successful matchmaker is difficult when most of her current clients are her grandmother’s old clients, mainly pensioners, who insist on getting the same prices as they did […]
Pretty sure this is the worst book I’ll read all year
Warning! This review will contain spoilers for the book, because it’s impossible for me to convey all my vitriol without going into plot specifics. Molly Sommerville (who we first met as a frankly horrid teenager in It Had to Be You) is now all grown up and making a living as a children’s book author, writing illustrated books about Daphne the Bunny, a rabbit who appears to wear designer clothes and going on adventures based on events in Molly’s own life. While Molly inherited a multi-million […]