December 2015 – This Adventurous Life Part 1
I’m the world’s most unadventurous soul. I get dizzy standing on the first step of a ladder. I fall over on a perfectly flat surface. I don’t know left from right (that’s actually not a joke – I DON’T know left from right unless I have to think about it and apparently most people know it just naturally, sigh). But over the last little while I’ve become addicted to books of real life adventure. Perhaps because I AM so unadventurous! I stand in awe of the people who put themselves at serious risk to discover things, whether about the physical world or about the inner world of their souls. Of course, inevitably, the best books in this intrepid genre illuminate both. Read more…
November 2015 – There Will Be Trouble Ahead
I’ve had a major reading craze during this last month. I love it when that happens! I’ve long been aware of the Blake Brothers series of contemporary romances by award-winning author Susan Sey (who happens to be an ex-Romance Bandit, I have no idea why it took me so long to read these books!). But a month ago, there was a special on the first book in the series, Taste of Trouble, so I bought it. Then a good couple of weeks after that, I started to read it – and I was completely hooked. Three full-length novels and a novella later, I’m a raving fan! Seriously, buy the first book – and I bet you’re there buying the next ones before you can say Jack Robinson! Read more…
October 2015 – It Would Be a Crime to Miss the Robert Carey Mysteries!
The Australian Romance Readers Association runs a loop where people talk about books they’ve been reading each month. I’m so glad I’m a member because someone mentioned a series of mysteries set in the Elizabethan era featuring a dashing hero called Robert Carey. As you can imagine, these sounded right up my alley so I picked up A Famine of Horses, the first book in this series by P.F. Chisholm (who also writes as Patricia Finney). Well, I was hooked! And I hope you’ll take my recommendation and give these a go – because I think you’ll be hooked too. Read More…
September 2015 – Absolute Vicky Bliss!
As many of you know, I’ve long (well, the last few years – nobody has ever accused me of being au courant, as they say in the best Regencies!) been a huge fan of Elizabeth Peters’s Amelia Peabody books, featuring a headstrong and managing Victorian woman and her curmudgeonly but lovable husband Emerson, as well as assorted eccentric (and in the case of Ramses, their son, extremely sexy!) family and friends. In fact, the Amelia Peabody books have already featured on My Favorite Things back in April last year. But until very recently, I hadn’t ventured further into EP territory. Read more…
August 2015 – Lady Is Excellent!
It’s really interesting to revisit the book that got you hooked on a beloved author, isn’t it? Pretty much every romance reader I know adores Susan Elizabeth Phillips and I’m no different. She does the perfect contemporary romance and combines laughter and tears into the perfect romantic cocktail. She has perfect emotional pitch! And she writes the most wonderful sexual tension. All up, she’s great! Read more…
July 2015 – Fresh as a Daisy!
Hello. My name is Anna Campbell And I’m a Daisy Dalrymple addict. Phew, glad to have got that off my chest! Read more…
June 2015 – We Seek Him Here, We Seek Him There
I must admit to a huge fondness for the Scarlet Pimpernel character. Sir Percy Blakeney for president, as far as I’m concerned. Sink me! There’s something breathtakingly appealing about a man who is willing to sacrifice everything, including the love of the wife he adores, to save innocents from death and torture. He’s clever and he’s witty and he’s suffering (because of said wife). Who can resist him? Read more…
May 2015 – What Regency Charmers!
Today I’m going to talk about some wonderfully charming trad Regencies by British writer M.C. Beaton. M.C. Beaton these days is mainly famous for her Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin cozy mysteries. Read more…
April 2015 – It’s for the Birds (Part 2) – The Other Guys
It’s time for part two of my stroll down Bird Memory Lane. This month I’m putting in the birds that are NOT just black and white. Read more…
March 2015 – It’s for the Birds (Part 1) – Black and White Beauties
As any of you who hang out on my Facebook page know, I love the native birds that live around my house on Queensland’s beautiful Sunshine Coast (about halfway up Australia’s east side). So I thought I’d devote a couple of My Favorite Things to some of my favorite things, the local bird life. Read more…
February 2015 – Romance, History, Ghosts Are My Favorite Things
I’ve recently come across a must-read author who I’m sure many of you have heard of. Canadian Susanna Kearsley writes intense, romantic, dramatic, emotional (yeah, I know, adjective overload, but bear with me) stories about how the past and the present intertwine. Read more…
January 2015 – There’s Got to be Heyer Love! (Part 2)
If you’re a Georgette Heyer fan and you missed the first part of this tribute to the great writer, just click on this article link for December 2014. Last month, I talked about my gradual re-reading of her work and in particular, six of her novels, Venetia, Devil’s Cub, The Unknown Ajax, Frederica, Sylvester and The Grand Sophy. Read more…