Discovering the Duke by Madeline Martin - Julia was so sweet and William was so adorable that I did not want to stop reading this story. I loved how he went out of his way to win his wife's love. Together, these two found that love conquers fear when with the right person.

Love Letters From a Duke by Gina Conkle - Charlotte and Nathaniel were such a wonderful, steamy couple. I kept turning pages as they tried to avoid what was in front of them. With his determination to have what he truly wanted, Nathaniel ignored convention and the age difference, and went for what he wanted most in life, Charlotte. His mother was an interesting touch to the story.

I have yet to finish all the stories and I look forward to adding to this review. If the others are like these two, this is a good collection. I received a copy as a gift, and this is my unsolicited review.

I read this years ago, long before my vow to write something about every book I read; likely just after joining GoodReads back in the halcyon days when the site was actually fun, but I was still too nervous to write anything.  I loved it, as is evident by the 5 star rating I gave it back then (and I'm keeping for posterity's sake).  Sunday I was feeling slumpy and needed something easy, and since I've always wanted to go back and write something about all the early books, a re-read of this accomplished two goals.

3 sisters with powerful magic, hiding from the Aunt that killed their parents while stealing their powers.  A fabulously evil Aunt determined to get the sisters to surrender their powers to her, who attempts to bribe them all by sending them their soul mates; or in one case, a reasonable facsimile thereof.  A showdown in a small town whose residents are obviously deaf, dumb and blind in the extreme.  Heaps of humor, sass, girl power and HEA's.  An absolutely awesome, awesome cat name Pywackt.  

I didn't expect it to stand up very well over time.  I love a few of Crusie's non-paranormal titles to death, but she's not a consistent writer, her paranormal stuff tends to be over the top, and I remembered this being more romance than chick-lit (fine line, I know).  But it did stand up rather well.  It's not one of Crusie's best by a long shot - although it's really one 1/3 hers anyway, as she co-wrote it with 2 other authors: Eileen Dreyer and Anne Stuart, neither of whom I know anything about - but it's fun without being flaky or formulaic.  The humor stands up, and there are a few sex scenes which I'd forgotten about that are far steamier than Crusie's other works (making me think that perhaps those scenes represent some of Dreyer and Stuart's contributions).

All in all still a great read when you're in the mood for a literary rom-com.

For me, this was a page turner. A good lawyer, Lauren, was pulled into a life she could not imagine, yet learned what more she was capable of. JP had been on his own in darkness for a long time, almost unable to see the light before him. These two learn about trust and love as danger dogs their steps. I enjoyed this story and look forward to reading the rest of this series.

This is my unsolicited review.

There are many witch stories out there, but many of them, I'm sorry to say, do not have happy endings. This is a book with a happy ending, suitable for fans of Charmed and Bewitched. This is also a book I gave myself for my birthday; I've decided to only buy books that make me feel good and/or laugh in delight.

These women can construct a romcom to make anyone proud.

personal copy