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Romantic Times Rewind: October 1988 Reviews

By / / Books & Literature / 4 minutes of reading


In this week’s podcast episode, we’re looking at the book reviews for the October 1988 issue of RT Magazine.

Thank you to Amy M. 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:

This cover is VERY unique compared to the other covers we’ve looked at, and I mean it is UNIQUE.

Romantic Times for October 1988 with a picture of a cruise ship, author Sylvia Sommerfield and a man dressed like Napoleon, and then three book covers - Cactus Flower by Shirl Henke, Defy the Sun by Mallory Dorn Hart, and Myra Rowe's A Splendid Yearning

LOOK AT ALL THE FUCHSIA.

It’s a crying shame that much of the magazine is black and white newsprint, because it took me a long, long time to get through reading this issue. I kept googling all the covers and They Did Not Disappoint.

Note the top left corner: Over 100 new romances reviewed!

Y’all, there’s like one genre.

Also, get a load of this grading rubric:

Rating Key: four hearts - excellent three hearts - good two hearts - fair one heart - poor

I did not spot any one-heart reviews. As with the rest of the magazine for the following thirty years of its publication, most of the reviews are 3 to 4 stars. Hearts. Whatever.

As I mention in the episode itself, this was a time period in which writers were engaging with other time periods, and not always well. Mostly not well. So CW/TW for references to enslavement, assault, colonialism, assorted slurs for marginalized groups, and extremely appropriative plots and language.

Also mustaches.

As an example, this is a line from a review for Shared Passions that we discuss in the episode:

CW/TW: YIKES

“John Randolph is rumored to be a pirate, slave runner, and bounty hunter. Despite this, Sydney is attracted to him.”

NO.

So that’s what we’re dealing with here. Let’s get started.

Historical

I selected Mistress of the Seas by Ruth Langan. ( A | BN | K | AB )

Look at this badass!

Mistress of the seas - a woman in a red blouse and black leather corset against an orange sky with a smaller image of this woman about to kiss a shirtless man who has one hand on a ships wheel in the bottom

Apparently her name is Anne Courtney Elizabeth? ACE?

Mistress of the Sea Ruth Langan Harlequin PREVIOUS TITLES: Passage West, Destiny's Daughter In an act of calculated revenge the bloodthirsty pirate Thornhill captures his enemy's innocent four-year-old daughter, Anne Courtney Elizabeth. He raises her and trains her to be an expert fencer, master sailor as well as a useful pawn in his treacherous games. Thornhill sends her to England as lady-in-waiting to Henrietta Maria(King Charles I's bride) and as a spy for Cardinal Richelieu. At court she meets Rory MacLaren, a bold Scotsman who was once her father's prisoner. Even as a slave, Rory had been the only man daring enough to touch Courtney and kiss her sweet lips before escaping. Now her attraction to him threatens her mission. When Courtney is caught as a spy she valiantly defies her captors, dares to expose the real traitor and uncover the secrets of her past. Broad in scope, sweeping in action, seething with sensuality, revenge, intrigue and adventure. MISTRESS OF THE SEA is one of the best swashbucklers of the year. Ms. Langan's sensitive portrait of Henrietta Maria and Charles as both monarchs and a loving couple adds a fascinating dimension to Courtney and Rory's exciting romance. SENSUAL (Nov., 400 pp., $3.25)

Remember when historical romance characters would be bopping alongside historical figures? That was an era.

Oh, and remember when the plots were all “daughter of my enemy,” revenge visited upon a young lady who had nothing to do with the original crime? There’s a lot of that.

Also – 400 pages, $3.25. WHOO DAMN.

Amanda selected Fortune’s Choice by Michalann Perry ( A ):

Fortune's Choice by Michalann Perry, featuring an orange and yellow sky, giant purple flowers like the biggest goddam hydrangeas you've ever seen, a cowboy dud with a mullet and buckskin vest, a red headed lady with PURPLE eyeshadow that matches her skirt and an off the shoulder blouse and a VERY phallic horse.

WE LOVE A WILD HORSE.

We especially love a phallic wild horse.

Fortune's Choice Michalanin Perry Zebra PREVIOUS TITLES: Untamed Sur-render, Captive Surrender, Defiant, Splendor The instant LaRaine Ashby sees her look-a-like staring out of a "Wanted: Dead or Alive" poster she knows that the other woman is her twin sister, the notorious outlaw Flame Rider. Flame makes Belle Starr look like Snow White. Every bounty hunter in the West is after her. LaRaine vows to make up for all the years they've been separated and to keep her sister from hanging. She just never counted on being abducted by train robbers and walking right into Pinkerton detective Brand Colter. Hot on the trail of the elusive Flame, Brand naturally mistakes La-Raine for her twin. All hell breaks loose until Flame shows up. Determined to save Flame from hanging,

LaRaine sidetracks Brand so she and Flame can escape. She sacrifices her happiness for Flame's chance at free-dom. They establish new, highly respectable identities. Then Brand rides into town determined to find the woman he loves. Will LaRaine be able to give him up again? Michalann Perry has the knack for taking some tried and true plot themes (twins separated at birth) and adding enough surprises, new twists, her unique brand of humor and sensuality to turn this story into something special. SPICY (Oct., 507 pp., $3.95)

  1. Surprise evil twin!
  2. FLAME RIDER.
  3. I went to college with someone named LaRaine. She was awesome and I hope she’s doing well.
  4. SPICY!
  5. Five hundred and seven pages at $3.95

I also wanted to share this truly incredible Hero Name.

The only way Prudence Varney can escape her vengeful guardian's henchman is to disguise herself as a lad and hide on a ship bound for the American colonies. For added safety she indentures herself to the mysterious, masked Flint Birket. Everything goes just as she plans until Flint uncovers her charade and begins to woo her with tender kisses and caresses.

“For added safety she indentures herself to the mysterious, masked Flint Birket.”

FLINT BIRKET.

Flame Rider and Flint Birket probably hung out. I hope so.

Series

Most of the books were four stars in this section. Sorry, hearts. Four hearts.

Amanda selected Always Amy by Billie Green ( A )  – there’s a lot of heroine odd jobs here, and in this book!

Always Amy by Billie Green - an illustration of a couple embracing. She's got red hair and fair skin and an off the shoulder drapey violet gown. He's got a mullet, his face is kinda red though that could be the scan, and is wearing a VERY PUFFY white shirt.

Crown/Pageant Pageant brings out the big guns in November, introducing the Now and Forever line, a series of books by some of the genre's top authors. Billie Green starts the ball rolling with a charming and offbeat love story of a wealthy heiress who decides to find out what life is like on

her own. ALWAYS AMY (4) is full of "Green" magic, a blend of wry humor, tender yearning and deep, abiding passion.

Did we stumble over the idea of “Green” magic thinking it was a reference to witchcraft? Yes, yes we did. It’s the writer’s last name. LOL US.

I selected Water Witch Jan Hudson ( A | BN | K ):

A mostly pink background with a big white swirl in the middle, and a couple embracing. She has a strapless teal gown on and is curled up mostly on the ground. Behind her is a guy with a 90s floppy hair cut and a burgundy shirt. Her hand is resting on his cheek and he's got one hand on her hip.

LOOK AT THAT DRESS. WOW. I wonder if that was based on a real dress? I bet it was. I would pass out entirely if I spotted that dress on Poshmark.

The review is right below a review for Janet Evanovich’s Thanksgiving! ( A | BN | K | AB | Au )

Loveswept - Thanksgiving by Janet Evanovich. A blonde white woman in a pink dress is dancing? With a white guy with dark hair and a blue jacket and chinos

Janet Evanovich, a.k.a. Steffie Hall, makes good use of Colonial Wil-liambsurg in THANKSGIVING (4-). A young pediatrician seeks help from a lovely new acquaintance when a distraught patient leaves her baby on his doorstep. Ms. Evanovich laces her charming romance with lashings of humor as the two would-be lovers struggle with their doubts and fears. WATER WITCH (4-) marks the pleasing Loveswept debut of Jan Hudson, whose delightful first book was published by Dell Supreme under the pseudonym of Jan Oliver. An unemployed geologist uses unorthodox means to determine the right place to drill a water well, in spite of the doubts of her handsome neighbor. Ms. Hudson writes with an engaging charm that will win her many fans.

Speaking of cool careers: Water Witch is about dowsing, and we took a side trip as to whether dowsing was legit. Farmer’s Almanac is undecided.

Contemporary

There is ONE CONTEMPORARY. ONE. Aspen by Lorayne Ashton. ( A )

ONE.

The review for ASPEN First in a trilogy, ASPEN is a page-turning smorgasbord of Sex, Shopping and Schmaltz. It's perfect for those who love glitzy soap operas in print. At the outset, Samantha Mallory, a painter and connoisseur of Indian art, returns home to Aspen from New York where she had "struck out to conquer a world, and in tum had been struck down by it". As she struggles to refocus her life, two men appear each pulling her in different directions: Spanish/Indian Joe Ferris, her childhood friend with an unsavory past who harbors a gen-erations-old hatred for the rest of the Mallorys, and the other, Louis Bre-ton, one of the most influential and manipulative men in Aspen. As all this is transpiring, Samantha's brother Pat gets embroiled in a plot to buy up virgin land in Aspen for development and ends up angering the Conservationists. His wife, Liz, a brazen nympho is occupied with chalking up endless af-fairs, including one with Gianni Di Lucca, a notorious Italian Count. When Pat falls in love with a writer who is penning the history of the Fer-ris' grievances against the Mallorys, Pat's question-able business tactics threaten the happy outcome of their relationship. Under the pseudonym Lorayne Ashton, Rita Picker Stilton has written the first five books of the successful "Park Avenue" series. (Oct., 368 pgs, $4.95)

Sex, Shopping and Schmaltz!

AND THERE’S A BRAZEN NYMPHO.

A blonde woman with blue eyes close up with her head surrounded by a fur hood

Wow.

Regency

Amanda passed on this one, and I chose The Ungrateful Governess by Mary Balogh ( A | BN | K | AB ):

The Ungrateful Governess - a woman with brown hair in a hood with white fur lining is skating? And there's a dude in a top hat and regency garb and a giant scarf and caped great coat holding her hand

The Ungrateful Governess Mary Balogh Signet geores+ Once again the striking originality of Mary Balogh shines like a beacon in the night as she delivers another impressive novel of Regency ro- The earl of Rutherford was a most discriminating rake. Not for him the jaded charms of a flirtatious chamber-maid, not when he could find passions deeper by far beneath the unremarkable demeanor of a demure governess. So he did not hesitate to make a most dishonorable proposal to one Miss Jessica Moore when he discovered her perusing her employer's bookshelves most improperly in her night attire. Being a gentleman, however, he took her refusal with relatively good grace. But when Jessica found herself dismissed without references, he pressed his attentions once more - only to be rejected at a most inoppor-tune moment. So why, then, did this charming seducer escort a reluctant Jessica to his grandmother's house in London? And why was he so enraged when that social dragon took the young lady under her wing and introduced her to society as the granddaughter of an old friend? And why did this determined bachelor find himself proposing marriage? Not until the earl faces some hard truths about himself does their relationship finally have the opportunity to flourish. Ms. Balogh has really outdone herself with this fascinating mix of sizzling sensuality and tender sensi-tivity. (Oct., 224 pp., $2.95)

This was also a popular plot: terrible man is repeatedly terrible until he yanks his head out of his ass.

This review is the source of our subtitle. Leave her alone! Let her pick a book in peace!

Also, I do love a social dragon grandma who just tells everybody, “Look, this is my friend’s kid, you don’t know him, it’s fine.” It’s like the Regency version of having a boyfriend in Canada.

And that’s it! Can you believe it?

Those are all the reviews from October 1988! Our next episode will examine the advertisements and features in this issue, and that’ll air on October 18.

It’s 1988. The covers are going to be INCREDIBLE.

And remember, if you join the Patreon, you’ll get access to the entire issue as a PDF.

What do you think? Do you remember where you were in October 1988? WERE YOU BORN YET, LOL? 

Do you remember any of these books?



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About The Author

Avatar of Tracy Hill
Tracy Hill is the arts, automotive, travel, and fashion writer at Free Press Georgia. She's also a big fan of good food and fun times with friends. She grew up in Atlanta and attended college at Georgia State University. She started her career as an editorial assistant for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution before moving on to become an editor for a local news site. Since then she has worked for other publications as well as freelanced her own articles on topics she is passionate about.

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