There will be plenty of people who tell you that Harlequin romances, especially those by Betty Neels, are fluff and complete nonsense and not worth the read. Sometimes they’re right. The Doctor’s Girl by Betty Neels is everything that makes people cringe about this genre. Loveday, whose name is literally…
At the time of the publishing of this Betty Neels book, I was not much older than the protagonist and was either working for the philanderer who impregnated three women in a few months, or I was working at the phone sex place. Either way, my experience of the early…
Betty Neels is a genre all her own, and her books are unmistakeably hers. This is one where she tries a little harder to break the mold, and it is adorable. It’s a little like watching your grandma trying to use modern tech or slang and fumbling it but looking…
For many years, I thought Betty Neels based her beloved Dutch doctor characters on her own husband. Am I the only one a little scandalized to discover that her husband was Dutch, but a sailor not a rich medical professional, and those dishy Dutch doctors were her coworkers. Betty, I’m…
A while back, I wrote a break-up letter with this author and told her we were done. I meant it, too. I had given her so many chances with the Paper Magician and all that series, and they were competent enough, just lacking in the emotional depth and connection I…
Right after I read this book, I heard about the trauma response many abused children carry into adulthood, the ability to read people in an instant. These are adults that had to learn vigilance to a ridiculous degree to avoid physical, mental, and emotional abuse from parents or other trusted…
What do you do when the one you’re in love with is incapable of loving you back. Not because you’re unlovable or they’re unloving, but because they’re just not wired that way? That’s the challenge Drew faces as he fills notebooks with all of the reasons he loves his favorite…
Camilla Evergreen writes really good fantasy romances. This isn’t one. To be fair, it’s not supposed to be, but it is more fantastic than the vampire cat novel. This book needed more grounding in reality and less fantasy. In this story, the main character, Juliette has been lying to her…
I just found out today that Camilla Evergreen is just the side gig for Anne Stryker. Heck of a side gig, because these little romance books she’s putting out on the side are worlds better than most romances I’ve read, and I’ve read a lot. A lot. Just in the…
I have friends who only read romances, and that’s great for them. My grandmom used to get a shipment of Harlequin romances by mail every month, and she read them a lot more than she did her scriptures. I knew it was fun for her, and I respected that. But…
