End Your Summer with 5 Great Romances
Looking for the love story of the century? You’re in luck, we’ve got five of them from our summer issue. There’s everything you could want in a romance; banter, struggle, a suitor who looks good in a kilt. With compelling characters and fun settings, each of these books has a fun adventure waiting. Fall in love with any of these five books—while the characters fall in love too.
Antonia Barclay and Her Scottish Claymore
A Rebellious Romantic Comedy
Jane Carter Barrett
River Grove Books
Softcover $16.95 (344pp)
978-1-63299-038-9
Buy: Local Bookstore (Bookshop), Amazon
Never taking itself too seriously, the narrative provides a refreshing take on a familiar tale.
Jane Carter Barrett tackles the historical romance genre with comedic verve and charm in Antonia Barclay and Her Scottish Claymore. Set in sixteenth-century Scotland, an unconventional heroine seeks out her birth mother, launching into motion a series of melodramatic events that entangle her lover, her family, and her enemies alike.
Despite having reached marriageable age, Antonia Barclay wants nothing to do with matrimony, much to the despair of her highborn family. But when she meets a dashing highlander, her opinion on the matter soon changes. Their newfound bliss proves short-lived, however, upon the discovery of her true parentage, which drives Antonia to arrange a meeting with her birth mother and results in other would-be suitors striving to win her hand.
Anachronisms and sly pop-culture references pepper Antonia’s romp through the Scottish countryside. Combined with the breezy tone, her irreverent adventures add a new dimension to a well-known tale of reconnecting with previously unknown family members and defending a beloved homeland from determined enemies desiring to usurp the crown. Throughout it all, Antonia retains her courageous heart, never succumbing to machinations that would make a less stalwart heroine falter.
Beyond the memorable encounters characterizing the narrative, Antonia Barclay and Her Scottish Claymore remains, most of all, a romance. It maintains the hope that there exists a perfect partner for each person in the world, one willing to face countless miles, royal relatives, murderous alchemists, and overprotective brothers for the sake of love. And to balance its portrayal of romantic love, Antonia’s unwavering love for the Barclays reminds us that not all familial bonds are forged in blood.
Against the tumultuous backdrop of Scotland’s political rivalry with England, Antonia Barclay and Her Scottish Claymore manages to avoid the heavy intrigue laden in its premise, opting to focus upon one feisty, determined heroine with no desire to rule. Never taking itself too seriously, the narrative provides a refreshing take on a familiar tale. And along the way, it proves that a person need not change to win another person’s heart.
VERNIEDA VERGARA (May 9, 2016)
Bygones
Lisa K. Nielsen
Camel Press
Softcover $15.95 (290pp)
978-1-60381-329-7
Buy: Local Bookstore (Bookshop), Amazon
Fans of contemporary romance mixed with a mystery subplot will be happily sated.
Bygones, by Lisa K. Nielsen, entices with sympathetic characters and a series of mysterious break-ins. Suspense and romance are braided together through the novel, doubling the compelling tension. Characters must face their own prejudices—class issues and the fear of stagnation in their hometown.
Hunky contractor Joe Manning becomes reacquainted with his high-school crush, Dr. Alexandra “Lexi” Hadley, at her father’s funeral. At the same time, her father’s home is broken into, robbed of nothing save the dead man’s laptop. So begins a novel full of sexy banter and menacing intrigue.
Lexi works as a researcher at the University of Chicago with her older, successful boyfriend. Her life seems set until her father’s death, and his bequest of half a practice and a childhood home call her back. Manning, too, made his way home to work as a contractor in his hometown, where he still has dinner with his parents on Sundays and plays basketball with high-school buddies. His entrenched position makes Lexi nervous, but she can’t deny the attraction.
Nielsen uses the braided narrative to keep the romance moving and the mystery compelling. Her characters are likable and believable, whether they are swapping classic novels or bonding over take-out. The novel is well paced, moving quickly into the dual conflict of romance and suspense. Though the mystery is not as well realized as the romance, it nevertheless gives the couple a conflict over which to become closer. The third-person point of view allows insight into the thoughts of both characters, creating a dramatic tension wherein the audience feels the attraction growing between them. With a small ensemble of supporting characters, ranging from a relentlessly chipper real estate agent to a sketchy colleague, Nielsen creates a small-town vibe where the ghosts of high school still haunt, gossip, and interfere.
Fans of contemporary romance mixed with a mystery subplot will be happily sated with Bygones.
CAMILLE-YVETTE WELSCH (May 27, 2016)
Soul of a Crow
Abbie Williams
Central Avenue Publishing
Unknown $16.95 (384pp)
978-1-77168-036-3
Buy: Local Bookstore (Bookshop), Amazon
Williams populates her historical fiction with people nearly broken by their experiences.
Set in the aftermath of the American Civil War, Soul of a Crow, the second book in the award winning Dove series, traces the harrowing journey of a couple and their loved ones trying to start a new life in the West. Abbie Williams’s novel enlivens the Restoration years, showing the toll that the war took on both men and women, and the depravity and madness that sometimes arises from the chaos of war and violence.
Williams populates her historical fiction with people nearly broken by their experiences: ex-soldiers driven mad, women forced into prostitution, children growing up without parents. At the beginning of this novel, deeply wounded couple Lorie Blake and Sawyer Davis are in love, and have already been severely tested—she from being sold into prostitution, then kidnapped and nearly killed, he from the devastation and violence of war that took his loved ones and his stability.
Childhood friend Boyd Carter and his young brother Malcolm travel with the couple from a Tennessee that no longer feels like home—their houses and families burned, killed, or taken by sickness. The crew heads north to uncle in order to start a new life, but their old lives, the atrocities of war, and the acts committed to save each other and themselves trail them closely.
Williams spends a great deal of time setting the atmosphere and climate of the post-Civil War era, the difficulties Southerners faced at home and as they moved around the country. This makes the first hundred pages move a bit slowly as it takes time to establish the multiple levels of conflict. Though there is some steam between Sawyer and Lori, it is not the focus of the story. The plight of veterans so profoundly affects their experience as a couple that the love story is inseparable from the time in which it occurred, making the novel a good option not just for romance enthusiasts but for history buffs as well.
CAMILLE-YVETTE WELSCH (May 25, 2016)
The Eagle and the Heiress
Stephen Barnes
Nixon Barnes
Softcover $9.99 (258pp)
978-0-692-44588-4
Buy: Amazon
This fast-paced, exhilarating read combines international intrigue and romance in an exciting way.
Stephen Barnes’s The Eagle and the Heiress is a suspenseful tale in which Chile’s dark past serves as a backdrop to current events. An American geologist, struggling with the tragic death of his fiancée, is between jobs when he’s offered work in South America. He unexpectedly finds more than that in this work of historical fiction.
Nick Johnson is introduced into a world of secrets and deception when he saves Isabela Luksaval, the CEO of the country’s largest business enterprise, from an assassination attempt at their first meeting. He sustains injuries and ends up staying in her family villa while he recovers.
Isabela is serving at her father’s behest; he is semi-retired and living in England. Though not inexperienced in the business world, she’s facing backlash from some unexpected arenas. As Nick tries to determine his place in both Luksaval Enterprises and in his own world, the couple seem to make a connection.
The main characters and the intimate details of their personal backstories are first developed in their own individual alternating chapters, and in such disparate locales as California, Santiago, and London, until their paths ultimately collide. This method helps to clarify and strengthen character mindsets prior to their initial meetings.
The setting, nearly twenty years in the past, is established via subtle nods to cultural touchstones of the era, such as what was playing on television, or via an offhand comment about the cloning of Dolly the sheep. Chile’s recent political history is recalled as well, with the text filling in gaps and answering questions that the plot brings to the surface, so that even those who might be unfamiliar with the history will understand what has happened and how the past is affecting present day situations.
Characters are authentic and very well drawn. One is never really certain where the allegiances of Colin, Nick’s so-called boss, lie, especially when Nick is asked to hide the fact that he is fluent in Spanish. While Ema is spoiled, self-absorbed, and aggravating to her older sister, she also cares for “Izzy” and her appearances usually serve as lighter moments. Their father, Marco, is portrayed as a man troubled by his past and under the spell of a woman who may or may not have his best interests at heart. There are numerous interesting characters—though not too many to cause confusion—and it’s not easy to discern what their actual motivations are, which keeps the reader guessing up until almost the very end.
The writing is crisp and tight; pertinent information is woven in subtly, as with “Much of Ema’s frivolous nature, Isabela rationalized, was owing to their nine-year age difference. Was I ever that way at nineteen? Isabela sometimes asked herself. The answer was always an emphatic no!” Differences between speakers are revealed not only in what they say in realistic dialogue, but in how it’s spoken. When long-time Luksaval family friend Alonso Carrasco talks to Nick, “the resonance of his baritone voice seemed to linger even after he had finished speaking.”
The Eagle and the Heiress is a fast-paced, exhilarating read, combining intrigue and romance. Those who enjoy international stories of human drama involving history and politics will find this book an excellent addition to their reading repertoire.
ROBIN FARRELL EDMUNDS (May 10, 2016)
BNY: Be Near You
Richard Alfaro
CreateSpace
Softcover $10.00 (164pp)
978-1-5119-7054-9
Buy: Local Bookstore (Bookshop), Amazon
This light, sweet, and wholesome romance encourages learning from the past.
Not everyone gets the opportunity to pursue an unfulfilled crush from years past, but the protagonist in Richard D. Alfaro’s BNY: Be Near You finds himself in that unlikely, yet welcome, situation. As this concise romance demonstrates, learning from the past proves a much stronger strategy than living in it when striving for a second chance at love.
On a business trip to New York, Kevin coincidentally encounters Melissa, an unforgettable crush from his college days, while helping his friend deal with a family medical crisis. Both Kevin and Melissa are successful doctors, and this similarity gives him an opening to speak with her more. Attraction blossoms between them as they get to know each other better. Unfortunately, secrets from Melissa’s past and a few of Kevin’s own bad habits present formidable obstacles on the path to love.
BNY depicts a sweet, wholesome romance. The novel focuses on emotions instead of physical sensation. Flashbacks reveal the origins of Kevin’s infatuation, and insights into his current thoughts reveal a man fixated on winning a woman’s heart instead of on getting into her bed.
Kevin spends copious amounts of time thinking of ways to confess his feelings and analyzing what Melissa’s actions might say regarding her feelings for him. By lacking steaminess, the romance underscores its heart—Kevin’s emotions stand out as obviously genuine partially due to the gentlemanly demeanor he demonstrates.
In the same vein, the book has limited drama. A minor disagreement pops up between Kevin and one of his friends in relation to his pursuit of Melissa, but this tiff receives very little attention and gets smoothed over within a few pages. Similarly, Melissa’s ex-boyfriend reappears briefly but does not leave a lasting mark on the development of her romance with Kevin. The prose keeps a tight focus on the primary conflict, which allows the novel to remain trim and easy to breeze through.
Some of the omitted detail does create a sense of incompletion, however. Most notable is the lack of follow-through after Melissa reveals her secret. Her pain comes from rather severe sources, but the novel does not elaborate any further on her recovery after the reveal. This lack of attention almost suggests that keeping the secret was more damaging than the truth behind it, which seems rather unlikely given the emotional barriers that truth causes her to put up throughout the novel.
Kevin learns from past mistakes—he occasionally reflects on how inactive he was during college and adjusts his behavior accordingly—and his love for Melissa matures as a result. Yet even though Kevin’s character develops while he chases after Melissa, Melissa’s character does not receive the same treatment since her story ends where his does.
The lack of heat and drama in BNY: Be Near You makes this book a notably wholesome romance. Fans of the genre interested in something light yet heartfelt might enjoy flipping through its pages.
CAITLYNN LOWE (May 6, 2016)
Hannah Hohman
