Romance

Lynn Morrison and Anne Radcliffe: The Missing Diamond

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Crown Jewels Regency #1

(Editor’s note: this is only available on Kindle Scribe & Audio).

The first in Lynn Morrison and Anne Radcliffe’s Crown Jewels series, The Missing Diamond is a regency delight. Starting at the beginning of the London season, the drama, at first, revolves around who will marry who. At first it seems obvious that the season’s most eligible bachelor, Roland, Lord Percy, will wed the season’s diamond, Lady Charity. Charity is determined to marry as well as she can and her best friend, Lady Grace, is happy to help her do so. read more

Kathleen Marple Kalb: A Fatal Reception

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Ella Shane #4

A Fatal Reception is the fourth book in Kathleen Marple Kalb’s series featuring Ella Shane, an opera singer in New York City in the early 1900s, and the first with its new publisher, Level Best Books.  This is an excellent series, so I was disappointed to hear that the original publisher had dropped it and very glad when it found a new home.  Ella, a mezzo soprano “trouser diva” who sings male roles and is an expert swordswoman, is a wonderful protagonist.  She’s an orphan, the daughter of a Jewish mother and an Irish Catholic father, who grew up in the tenements of the Lower East Side, and was rescued from a life of poverty when a famous singer discovered her voice and trained her for opera.  Ella observes both her parents’ faiths, lighting candles for the Jewish Sabbath on Friday nights and going to Mass on Sundays, and she has never forgotten her origins, and helps the poor people of the tenements whenever she can. read more

Amita Murray: Unladylike Lessons in Love

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Marleigh Sisters #1

Unladylike Lessons in Love is the first book in a new series of Regency mysteries by Amita Murray.  The protagonist, Lila Marleigh, is the daughter of a British earl and his Indian mistress.  She and her sisters lived in India until their parents’ death when Lila was seven.  Then they came to London to live with their cruel stepmother, Sarah Marleigh, who has died before the events of the novel, and their half-brother Jonathan, the new earl, who is one of the most loathsome characters I have encountered in a long time.  He has no redeeming characteristics whatsoever, except a certain charm he shows to people when he wants something, and even that is false. read more