Romance Book Reviews
Page One of TwoHeart of a Warrior by Johanna Lindsey
William Morrow, April, 2001.Hardcover, 368 pages.
ISBN: 0380978547
Subgenre: Fantasy
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
Brittany Callaghan is not your average California girl.
Six feet tall with flaming red hair, she works two jobs
in order to finance the building of her dream home -- which
she intends on constructing herself. Brittany has never had
much luck in the romance department; between her height
and her job as a construction worker, somehow the men
never seem to warm up to her, although she's gorgeous.
But Britanny is in for a real surprise. Always drawn to tall
men, she spies a handsome blond giant in the mall, who
mysteriously disappears after she speaks to him. But he shows
up at her apartment the next day, and introduces himself as
Darden. He explains away his odd accent by saying he's from
another country, and leads her to believe that he's some kind of policeman
tracking down a dangerous criminal with advanced technology
which could be devastating to the United States and its political
structure. Brittany finds that easier to believe than the fact that Dalden and
his smart-mouthed computer Martha may not be from Earth at all.
The two team up to take down the criminal Jorran. But can a
cynical American really believe in true love with a barbarian from
a far-away galaxy?
Fans have had a long wait for the third book in Johanna Lindsey's popular Sha-Ka'ar series, after Warrior's Woman and Keeper of the Heart, which focused on Dalden's parents' romance and on his sister's, respectively. Johanna Lindsey deftly takes the backdrop of interstellar conflict, alien worlds and artificial intelligence, and uses it to explore themes such as the conflict between cultures and the women's movement (the backward Sha-Ka'ar has some particularly infuriating cultural rules for its women). Dalden and Brittany's romance is rife with cultural misunderstandings, but the bond between them is strong. With humor, wit and sensuality, Lindsey creates a story which is sure to captivate her legions of fans.
Jemina J by Jane Green
Random House, June, 2001.Trade Paperback, 373 pages.
ISBN: 0767905180
Subgenre: Women's Fiction
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
British reporter Jemima Jones is not happy with the way life is
passing her by. Always passed over for promotion, she is
stuck writing the household tips column for the Kilburn Herald,
a less than distinguished newspaper. Distressingly overweight,
she knows she looks terrible, and the cute news editor won't give
her the time of day. When the newspaper gets wired, Jemima
discovers the Internet and gets hooked on the fantasy role that
she's created for herself online. She finally decides that it's time to
turn from the ugly duckling that everyone ignores into a beautiful
swan and heads for the gym. Subsisting almost entirely on lettuce
and tomatoes, Jemima finally becomes the thin hipster she's always
wanted to be. So why isn't she happy yet?
Although the comparisons to Bridget Jones' Diary are inevitable, Jemima J is a unique and funny story about one woman's search for love and self-esteem in a shallow world, which values appearance over personality. Jemima's sometimes neurotic thought processes are quite funny. Author Jane Green has a good ear for dialogue and fine sense of the ridiculous, making this a wildly entertaining read.
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