In this week’s podcast episode, we’re looking at the book reviews for the April 2005 issue of RT Book Reviews.
Thank you to Kay Layton Sisk for this issue!
You can also find all the RTRW content at our category page for Romantic Times Rewind.
And, most importantly, if you want to listen and follow along with this entry, we have more detail in the audio, but you can click play and listen and read and absorb all the visual goodness:
Ok, let’s get started!
We’ll discuss the cover in the next episode, and our feature author this month is Brenda Jackson!
That’s the original cover art, which has since been updated – we’ll talk about that a length in the next episode.
Historical Romance
Amanda started us off by talking about Almost a Bride by Jane Feather.
I wanted to talk about Alas, My Love by Edith Layton:
Also: Getting busy on some rocks!
Mainstream Fiction
Inside Mainstream fiction, we have…mainstream fiction, plus YA, PLUS Chick Lit? There’s a LOT, including, we discover, a YA by Joyce Carol Oates called…Sexy.
K!
Amanda picked When Angels Fall by Jamie Summers, which has some terrible victim blaming in the review:
“role in her own torture?” Egads.
I wanted to take a look closer at a book in the mainstream fiction section, The Bad Mother’s Handbook by Kate Long.
I have to say, that is a terrific title, though the book got three stars.
Regency
I put this link in the show notes, but I’ll share it here, too.
Amanda and I talked about what I mean when I say “Regency in Format,” which is my way of trying to describe a subgenre of books which are mostly found in used bookstores or in ebook format. They were a smaller trim size, similar to Sweet Valley High or Sweet Dreams paperbacks in size and paper style, and they had lush illustrated covers.
This post on r/HRRomanceDiscussion shows a bunch of them – a treasure trove found at a used bookstore. One reader found seven Mary Balogh Signet Regencies for $1 each!
I wanted to talk about The Captain by Lynn Collum because this description is a ride. Buckle up.
Would be assassins! Disguised as a teenage boy! Rescues an injured man how turns out to be her runaway fiance! Amazing.
Amanda wanted to talk to Ask Jane by Victoria Hinshaw.
If you too were curious about what a Corinthian is/was, RegRom.com has you covered!
Inspirational Romance
This section gave us SO MUCH CRINGE. Starting with this book, The Rain from God.
A first person narrative? And so much White savior narrative? Eeeesh.
Amanda also visited the Land of Cringe with her pick, Flee the Night which sounds like a romantic suspense novel with some JBV drizzled on top.
“Convinced that she’s wandered too far from God to receive his help, she turns to the last man she ever wanted to involve-her ex-boyfriend, who was also her husband’s best friend, Jim Micah.”
We have questions about the JBV of this book! A lot or just a smidge?
Also, the original cover looks a lot like an environmental sciences textbook:
OK, maybe that guy doesn’t look Baldwin-esque. He looks vaguely familiar. Is he an environmental sciences professor, maybe?
Sci-Fi and Fantasy
Amanda wanted to take a look at Down Time by Lynn Abbey, which sounds like a vacation straight out of hell.
“In an attempt to reconcile their differences and grow closer, Emma agrees to go on a Caribbean cruise with her mother.”
Her mother who looks younger than she is because she was trapped in a treacherous dream world. DEAR GOD.
We have two covers, too. Which do you prefer?
The covers give the impression of very different genres, don’t they?
I took a close look at The Carpet Makers by Andreas Eschbach, translated from the original German.
Is there a word in German for “enchanted cursed hair carpet?” I BET THERE IS.
Mystery, Suspense and Thriller
I looked up the series immediately after reading about Gasa Gasa Girl by Naomi Hirahara.
Important note: the review names the hero as “Mas Aria,” but it’s actually Mas Arai.
Amanda wanted to highlight this banger of a plot point in The Nature of Rare Things by Derek Wilson.
Imagine that dinner convo: “Honey, I have to go to Italy because a ghost told me to, and you can’t come. Bye!”
Wowser.
I’m wondering if a few vacations or cruises were declared on taxes as business expenses for these books?
Erotica
I was really excited to see the cover for Magnolia Summer by Jaci Burton – an early Burton book!
Amanda highlighted Hot Bytes by Lois Bonde.
Outstanding heroine name here:
Sarcasm and boning!
Contemporary
This section is a LOT: there’s contemporary, and “new reality,” which is really paranormal. So weird. A full page of books – so many books in this section.
I thought this book could be published right now, and I wouldn’t think it odd: The Future Widow’s Club by Rhonda Nelson. I don’t think “Harlequin Signature Select Spotlight” exists anymore.
And then, y’all, I read a Goodreads review and MY GOSH. There is some body horror in there! I’m quoting the review behind a spoiler tag.
TW my GOODNESS
Chris Marshall was shot through the chest, and HIS JOHNSON WAS CUT OFF. Later, the missing, frozen penis was found GLUED TO A STATUE in the center of town.
HOLY CRAP.
Amanda picked She Woke Up Married by Suzanne McPherson.
NOT THE PAIN OF TURNING THE BIG 3-0!! Not that!!!
*eyeroll*
Imagine waking up with an Elvis impersonator. Uu-uh-huh.
Series
I found an early Molly O’Keefe in this issue, too! Dishing it Out!
That is a VERY mid-2000s cover illustration, isn’t it? The whitespace around the colors not quite filling in the illutration borders? The angular hands? Yeah. Looks very specific.
Also: Scottish-Italian Pirate Chef?!
Way to bury the lede there!
Amanda found a ONE STAR REVIEW!
One star! EGADS. A rare thing indeed. This was for Reconcilable Differences by Ana Leigh.
The review mentions assault so it’s behind spoiler tags
TW/CW assault
Special ops just running around “Africa.” Sure. Ok.
I may not understand the reasoning behind some of the 3 star or even 2 star reviews, but when the reviewers go for 1 star, it’s pretty clear why that is!
But the book Amanda wanted to talk about is Born to be Bad by Crystal Green.
“He’s almost a truly bad man.” HOW SO? Tell us how?!
That’s the reviews for this month!
Our next episode will examine the advertisements and features in this issue, and that’ll air on April 19.
And remember, if you join the Patreon, you’ll get access to the entire issue as a PDF.
What do you think? Have you read any of these? Do you remember some of these titles? Which would you recommend?