I've decided it's time to use this feature to focus on romance. It had to happen sometime. I love romance novels so much that I will focus this month's Variations on a Them to those that I have read and highly recommend.
Outlander
Diana Gabaldon
ineteen-year-old Emma Bau has been married only three weeks when Nazi
tanks thunder into her native Poland. Within days Emma's husband, Jacob,
is forced to disappear underground, leaving her imprisoned within the
city's decrepit, moldering Jewish ghetto. But then, in the dead of
night, the resistance smuggles her out. Taken to Krakow to live with
Jacob's Catholic cousin, Krysia, Emma takes on a new identity as Anna
Lipowski, a gentile. Emma's already precarious situation is
complicated by her introduction to Kommandant Richwalder, a high-ranking
Nazi official who hires her to work as his assistant. Urged by the
resistance to use her position to access details of the Nazi occupation,
Emma must compromise her safety—and her marriage vows—in order to help
Jacob's cause. As the atrocities of war intensify, so does Emma's
relationship with the Kommandant, building to a climax that will risk
not only her double life, but also the lives of those she loves. [My review]
Voices of the Night
Lydia Joyce
Desperate to escape the underworld's treacherous grasp, Maggie of King Street finds a patron in Charles Crossham, Lord Edgington, who must transform a street girl into a lady to win a high stakes wager. Charles has never met anyone like the fierce and ardent Maggie, and Maggie's defenses are useless against the seduction of the jaded lord.Their association quickly ignites into a consuming obsession. But both passion and the bet are threatened by a ruthless villain from Maggie's dark past, who has plans for her that imperil everything she's ever cared for-and her very life. [My review]
The Dangerous Gentleman
Julia London
It was strictly business as Adrian Spence claimed the woman his brother desired. A hasty wedding, and Lilliana Dashell was his—sweet revenge on the father who disinherited him and the brother who let it happen. Their wedding night is a revelation as passionate, innocent Lilliana ignites fires Adrian tries desperately to deny. By day he is a stranger. By night he is the lover of her dreams, and she a shameless wanton in his arms. But Adrian is determined that no woman will ever possess him. And Lilliana knows that her only hope of taming this very dangerous gentleman is to unlock his deepest mysteries and open his shuttered heart to love. [My review]
Ride the Fire
Pamela Clare
Where was only one rule on the frontier - survival. So when a wounded, buckskin-clad stranger appeared at the door of her isolated cabin, Elspeth Stewart felt no qualms about disarming him and then tying him to her bed. Newly widowed and expecting her first child, she had to protect herself at all costs. And Nicholas Kenleigh threatened not only her safety, but her piece of mind. The terrible scars on his body spoke of a tortured past, but his gentle touch and burning gaze awoke longings she had never expected to feel. Bethie had every reason in the world to distrust men; the cruelty she had suffered at their hands had marked her soul, though her blonde beauty showed no sign of it. But little by little she found herself believing in Nicholas, in his honor, his strength. As he brought her baby into the world, then took both mother and daughter into his care, she realized this scarred survivor could heal her wounded spirit, and together they would... Ride the Fire. [My review]
Other Recommended Romances
As a change, I've linked to my reviews instead of to the Barnes and Noble website.
A Visit From Sir Nicholas - Victoria Alexander
Let It Be Love - Victoria Alexander
Slightly Dangerous - Mary Balogh
What the Librarian Did - Karina Bliss
The Spymaster's Lady - Joanna Bourne
Surrender - Pamela Clare
Devil Takes a Bride - Gaelen Foley
Lady of Desire - Gaelen Foley
Lady of the Knight - Jackie Ivie
Highlander in Disguise - Julia London
Fire Me Up - Katie MacAlister
Diana Gabaldon
In 1945, Claire Randall, a former
combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a
second honeymoon—when she innocently touches a boulder in one of the
ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a
Sassenach—an "outlander"—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border
clans in the year of our Lord...1743. Hurled back in time by forces she
cannot understand, Claire's destiny in soon inextricably intertwined
with Clan MacKenzie and the forbidden Castle Leoch. She is catapulted
without warning into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten
her life ...and shatter her heart. For here, James Fraser, a gallant
young Scots warrior, shows her a passion so fierce and a love so
absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and
desire...and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable
lives. Her
husband is two centuries away, she is related to her lover's mortal
enemy, and her neighbors think she's a witch. In this unforgettable
novel of time travel, Diana Gabaldon fuses wry, modern sensibility with
the drama, passion, and violence of eighteenth century as she tells the
story of one daring woman and the man who loves her.
The Lady Lies (and the related books in the trilogy)
Samantha Saxon
Lady Celeste Rivenhall lives a double life, a British agent posing as a
French spy. Then Lord Aiden Duhearst is delivered into her hands as a
prisoner of war—and she will risk anything to save him. Anything but the
truth. [My review]
Pam Jenoff
Voices of the Night
Lydia Joyce
Desperate to escape the underworld's treacherous grasp, Maggie of King Street finds a patron in Charles Crossham, Lord Edgington, who must transform a street girl into a lady to win a high stakes wager. Charles has never met anyone like the fierce and ardent Maggie, and Maggie's defenses are useless against the seduction of the jaded lord.Their association quickly ignites into a consuming obsession. But both passion and the bet are threatened by a ruthless villain from Maggie's dark past, who has plans for her that imperil everything she's ever cared for-and her very life. [My review]
Julia London
It was strictly business as Adrian Spence claimed the woman his brother desired. A hasty wedding, and Lilliana Dashell was his—sweet revenge on the father who disinherited him and the brother who let it happen. Their wedding night is a revelation as passionate, innocent Lilliana ignites fires Adrian tries desperately to deny. By day he is a stranger. By night he is the lover of her dreams, and she a shameless wanton in his arms. But Adrian is determined that no woman will ever possess him. And Lilliana knows that her only hope of taming this very dangerous gentleman is to unlock his deepest mysteries and open his shuttered heart to love. [My review]
Ride the Fire
Pamela Clare
Where was only one rule on the frontier - survival. So when a wounded, buckskin-clad stranger appeared at the door of her isolated cabin, Elspeth Stewart felt no qualms about disarming him and then tying him to her bed. Newly widowed and expecting her first child, she had to protect herself at all costs. And Nicholas Kenleigh threatened not only her safety, but her piece of mind. The terrible scars on his body spoke of a tortured past, but his gentle touch and burning gaze awoke longings she had never expected to feel. Bethie had every reason in the world to distrust men; the cruelty she had suffered at their hands had marked her soul, though her blonde beauty showed no sign of it. But little by little she found herself believing in Nicholas, in his honor, his strength. As he brought her baby into the world, then took both mother and daughter into his care, she realized this scarred survivor could heal her wounded spirit, and together they would... Ride the Fire. [My review]
Other Recommended Romances
As a change, I've linked to my reviews instead of to the Barnes and Noble website.
A Visit From Sir Nicholas - Victoria Alexander
Let It Be Love - Victoria Alexander
Slightly Dangerous - Mary Balogh
What the Librarian Did - Karina Bliss
The Spymaster's Lady - Joanna Bourne
Surrender - Pamela Clare
Devil Takes a Bride - Gaelen Foley
Lady of Desire - Gaelen Foley
Lady of the Knight - Jackie Ivie
Highlander in Disguise - Julia London
Fire Me Up - Katie MacAlister
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