| CONTEMPORARY & HISTORICAL book reviews |
strength, and is willing to pay well for it. Lisette may dance
roles in fairy tales and fantasies, but the real world is about to
intrude, bringing with it the harsh realities of life for a young girl
with dreams of rising above the demimonde.
REVIEW: Themes like illusion vs. reality and being a star on
the stage vs. being a pedestrian in the street are addressed in
Moore’s historical romance about a ballerina who falls in love
with an English lord. Lisette Devore strives to follow in her
deceased mother’s footsteps to become a prima ballerina and
make good on the debt she owes her Aunt Marie for taking
care of her. Lisette is tugged in various directions as three
men vie for her attention while her aunt, the consummate
slave driver, pushes her career on stage. Moore’s expressive
language gives readers a feel for Lisette’s conflict. As a star
on stage, she fosters the audiences illusions about her but as
a pedestrian, she feels like an unloved and unwanted orphan.
Undercurrents of deception and manipulation behind the
scenes of the performances personalize the characters and
move audiences to become enamored of Lisette.
emulates a cunning strategist. The dynamics of the characters
relationships are true to the Regency period but told in more
graphic language than what 19th century writers had used
and audiences had been accustomed to hear. Censorship is
eschewed in this romantic tale and modulated for contemporary
mindsets, though the lesson that home is what’s in the heart
remains the same one communicated in Bronte’s classic
works. The author’s use of descriptive settings is on par with
John Steinbeck, and the language employed in the dialogue
has period expressions accented by modern phrasing.
| Reviewer: Marie Haney |
Alex’s Destiny
Amy Gregory
Contemporary/New Adult
Heat Rating: 4
| Reviewer: Susan Frances |
Josette
Danielle Thorne
Historical Romance
Heat Rating: 4
Nothing would make Josette
happier than to see her sister and
herself settled within the palings of
Beddingfield. But dark, brooding
Captain Carter rides into their lives
with news that ruins everything: Brother George has been lost
at sea.
Only Captain Carter and his delightfully spinsterish relatives
can stop the Price girls from making a choice that would be the
greatest tragedy of all.
REVIEW: The story shares parallels with Charlotte Bronte’s
Villette, an independent heroine bound by honor and a noble
hero who means to dissuade her from making an irreparable
mistake. It’s not a rehashing of any story from the annals
of 19th century women’s fiction but rather has a modern
perspective with a malevolent antagonist whose character
28 | www.BTSeMag.com
Alex Sterling has devoted her life to
teaching the racers at her family’s
motocross racing school, and to the
one man she’s been in love with
since she was four. Alex is brains
and innocence wrapped up in one beautiful package every
man wants, but only one man can have.
Dallas Hunter is a pro-racer on the motocross circuit, following
in the footsteps of his father Eli. For Dallas it has always been
Alex, but he’s determined not to hurt his family, even if it means
letting her go.
Alex finds herself caught up in a disturbing game of cat
and mouse and is too terrified to tell anyone. Dallas knows
something is wrong and races back home, but what he finds
almost kills him. Fixing Alex’s pain is all he cares about and
suddenly he must decide if his love for her is greater than his
love for racing. Dallas knows he has to help his best friend,
the woman he loves, and do it without tearing his family apart.
REVIEW: Amy Gregory taps into the unconditional love
that first-time sweethearts have no fear of expressing. She
channels the voice of a young woman who knows what her
heart wants; and yet, nagging insecurities continue to block her
from the one man that her heart beckons her to pursue. The
author has a perceptive voice and a visceral understanding
of a young woman who is torn between allowing her desire
to lead the way and doubting the accuracy of her compass.