This is my favorite novel, of all the Harlequins I have ever ...
345706
This is my favorite novel,of all the Harlequins I have ever read and I've read a few!  The hero and heroine met as children she is gifted and so is our hero. She is a fighter and never stops. he wants to help but first has to figure out who she is. The thing I love the most about this novel is how the author was able to see both sides of this story. She wrote from both perspectives, I find this thrilling. When you don't just here about the actions of the hero and heroine, but you feel their feelings and hear their thoughts. It is especially interesting for me as a female to get the male perspective in a romantic sort of way. Because let's face it the majority of men, do not speak their feelings ....Love, Love, Love this book.
4161199
I have read a lot of books in my lifetime, including all of the literary novels I had to read in college as an English major. Memoirs of a Geisha is my all-time favorite novel and I have read it many times because I always pick up something new each time I read it. It is wonderfully written and paints an exquisite picture of the life of a geisha in Japan during the 1930 and 1940s. This novel is the story of Chiyo, a young, intelligent girl who is sold into slavery. The book follows her life as she is torn apart from her family, thrown into a household as a maid and is, at times, treated very harshly. Fast forward several years. Sayuri, as she is now known, manages to overcome all odds and becomes a very well-known geisha. It is evident that this novel was thoroughly researched and Arthur Golden writes in such a beautiful, descriptive way that it is easy to picture the city of Kyoto and the other cities where this book takes place. I absolutely love this novel and will continue to read it every so often. I highly recommend Memoirs of a Geisha to anyone who wants to read a beautiful masterpiece that will open your eyes to the life of a geisha.
2067707
Am an avid reader -- and this novel is in my Top10 all-time favorites.
3338451
I fell in love with the Bridgerton's when I read "The Viscount Who Loved Me".  After that I read all the sequels, except for The Duke and I.  Now that I have read it, I feel like a void has been filled.  This is such a funny, endearing romance, that will steal your heart from the first sentence.  With subtle humor, and sometimes laugh out loud moments, and deep emotional scenes, Julia Quinn has penned an extraordinary novel.  A big round of applause for Julia Quinn, and The Duke and I.
882915
I honestly cannot begin to explain how much I loved this novel. I could start and tell you everything that I loved about this book, but I don't think I'd ever finish this review.

There are so many romance novels out there, and there are so many novels where the love interest is this really mysterious, hot and sexy dude that seems to be perfect in every way that normal guys aren't. But Josh isn't. He's got problems, and he's hurt and messed up from the things that he's experienced in combat. I love Josh with every fiber in my being, and it made me really think about what it is army recruits are signing up for when they join the force.

Don't get me wrong, I know I'm talking a lot about Josh in this review, but Sky is amazing, too. The way that she loves her mother and is willing to drop everything to stay in the town and make sure she's okay is so admirable. She's talented as hell, and she knows that she's talented as hell and can make something out of her life. It was a huge eye-awakening for her to realize that, even though she has all this talent and big city dreams, she might not be able to leave her hometown and make a name for herself as easily as she thought she could.

If you're looking for a book that will gut you in the heart and then stitch it back up again, then you've really stumbled upon the right one. Josh and Sky are two characters that I don't think will be leaving my heart any time soon, and I don't think I ever want them to.
1030693
I am so glad that I found this novel! It was breathtakingly beautiful. I laughed, cried, and almost felt my heart leap with joy throughout the entire book. I won't go into details, but this is one, if not the best, novels I have read in my entire life. It was just beautiful. I know I've said that, but I cannot find the words to express how deeply this book touched me. I will definitely share this with my friends and family!
2452779
I was lucky enough to get an Arc of this book and I'm so glad I did.

Oh boy where do I start with this book? Hands down one of my all time favorite novels! I adore Cassie and all of her books but this one really hit a cord in my heart, its got a place there now.

Doing it for Love is a sweet romance novel, about the parallels of getting married and starting the forever life together.
Enter Landon and Liz, easily my new favorite romance couple. On the night of their engagement things don't go ummm as wonderful as the could. This leads to Liz's idea of a no sex till wedding night pact. And the fun starts there.

I fell in love with Landon from the first shower moment on, he reminded me so much of my own husband that I'm pretty sure mine got tired of the extra kisses and of me going awww all the time. But hey this book is worth that. Lord Landon of course I love him, he not only steals the show but made me want Landon that much more. ;)
Liz is ditsy and so much fun, I found myself relating to her more than I ever though possible with a character. She was so much like me.

This book not only reminded me so many times of my own relationship but made me want to always keep mine spicy.
I have so many favorite lines from this book but hands down my favorite was from Liz's mother, "To paraphrase absence makes the clitoris grow fonder." I laughed so hard at this, I actually almost fell out of my computer chair, and I had my hubby looking at me like I was crazy.

All in all Doing it for Love is a book you will pick up and never be able to put down, and when you finish it you will want to go right back and start it over. Landon and Liz are a beautiful couple and I loved every moment with them. This is defiantly on my to read again and again list. When I need a pick me up I will grab this book.
4714363
For so many reasons, I love, love, love All the Beautiful Girls! I am an old dance studio rat, and did dance professionally for a while. In a way, I know the people in this novel. So many of my friends danced every night in clubs in New York and worked on cruise ships. In essence, this book is a real keeper for me and I adored going back in time to visit it all again. Characterization and plot made it a page turner, and I plan on a second reading and searching out other novels by Elizabeth J. Church.
3493679
From the back cover: How could she have let him kiss her? Besides her husband, no one had ever kissed Jessica until Matthew Sinclair did. And after seven years of coldness in a desperately unhappy marriage she was shocked to find herself stirring in response to this stranger's lips, gravitating to the warmth of his arms. But she was a wife and mother, and Matthew was her husband's boss. There could be no future for them. Then her husband was killed and suddenly Jessica was torn - between wanting ot be loved and fearing another marriage as painful as her first.

Review: What can I say? The book was extremely sweet! Even though it was written in 1983, I still loved it. I figured I'd revisit all the Harlequin romance novels I missed during my "addicted to romance novels phase" when I was just 12 years old (26 now) So I actually searched Amazon for highly rated Harlequin novels and bought them ^_^ I have quite a bunch in my collection and will start reviewing them. I loved it that Matthew was waiting for love and thats why he never got married. Of course, the fact that he is gorgeous and rich doesn't hurt too. Jessica being gorgeous is cool too. I think they make a great match. I love it, love it love it!!
4449008
Alan Gurganus PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS is quite simply the best novel I have ever read about AIDS in America, and I must have read two dozen or more. I read it when it was published in 1997. It is one of those works of fiction that leaves such an indelible mark on you that you are unable to pick up another book right way.  I remember not being able to stop weeping in much of the final section After After. Since the book has so haunted me ever since, I recently reread it to see if it would be as powerful now as I remember. It is.

The narrator is Hartley Mims Jr., who with legions of others, arrives in New York in 1980or as his Republican father would say, the Sewerto make it as a writer and to escape the confines of North Carolina, that is, to be openly gay.  He becomes best friends with two people, Robert Gustafson, a composerbisexual on some days and gay on others and the most beautiful man Hartley has ever seenwho has fled from Sioux City, Iowa and a Lutheran family, and Alabama Byrnes, a straight escapee from Savannah, Georgia and an aspiring artist.

These three peoplethey are so alive that I am loath to call them characters-- for over three hundred wonderful pages once again became my friends. I can see them, smell them-- and to quote what has now become a clich because of President Bill Clinton who would love this novelfeel their pain.

Mr. Gurganus, a master storyteller, interposes perfect little asides in the stories of these three major characters, along with several minor characters, as they, in the section Before which is over two-thirds of this fantastic novel, are enjoying New York, having sex (Hartley meets Alabama in a VD clinic), making friends, creating art, going to openingsand later (After), getting sick and caring for the dying. Two immediately come to mind: there is a pitch perfect account of Hartleys parents visit to the Sewer up from North Carolina when Hartley and his friends meet them at their favorite hole-in-the-wall rather than take them to his apartment (sound familiar?) when his mother gripped, beneath the table, her pale patent leather purse, propping it on one bounding knee. She held it as if suddenly quite sure it would be grabbed. And I love the author for quoting verbatim William F. Buckleys (one of the few villains in what Mr. Gurganus has in an interview called his  praise song) proposal published in many newspapers that every person who is HIV-positive be tattooed on the wrist and one buttock and then sent to some compound in the far West. Shame. Shame on you forever. Amen.  And a word about Roberts Lutheran parents from Iowa (his father is a minister): they are kind, good, frightened and in awe of their precocious beautiful male child. I have met peopleIm glad to sayjust like them.

The novel is at once funny, serious, sad, dense, intense, beautiful, outrageous, restrainedin a word, everything you expect from a writer who gave the world the gift of OLDEST LIVING CONFEDERATE WIDOW TELLS ALL and his novellas set in the fictional town of Falls, North Carolina. And if much of the third and final section After After leaves you in tears, the infamous early chapter Thirty Dildoes will have you laughing.  (The hip Harpers magazine was not hip enough to publish this chapter unless Mr. Gurganus agreed to change the title of the chapter. To his ever-lasting credit, he refused. GQ published the chapter as written.)

Mr. Gurganus, who lost over thirty friends to AIDS and has written twenty-two elegies for his friends who died from AIDS,  says that his address book is his most important book and what a privilege every second of life is. I could not agree more.
437946
I read Harlequin as a young teenager, and the books were cookie-cutter and uninspiring. This one, however, sounded intriguing, so I overlooked the publisher and bought it. Bravo, Harlequin. The "hero" of this book is about as dense as a man could possibly be (and that says a lot), but when his perfectly marvelous assistant leaves to find a real life, and maybe a husband, in London, he realizes he can't function without her. He thinks he wants the spinster back, but what happens next is so beautifully written I won't spoil it for you. Read it. NOW.
1344162
I usually don't read harlequins very often because i use to collect them but quickly realized that some are not that good. I read about one book every two days or sooner and this book remains to be one of my favorite books.

My other favorites:

Gentle Rogue by Johanna Lindsey  *****
Laird of The Mist by Paula Quin  *****
Hearts Aflame by Johanna Lindsey  *****
Dark Embrace by Brenda Joyce  *****
All the books in the dark series by Christine Feehan: The love is portrayed so wonderful in all these books!  *****

You have Jake, which is rich by working hard. Its hard to put into words but the connection, love, and tenderness between the characters is rare. Caterina is a young woman that has matured living in a convent. She is conservative, innocent, and oblivious to the real world. Jake rescues her (Caterina thinks he is a monster at first)and introduces her to finding love while searching for the right husband that will complete the will that is strict and air tight. You may read thousands of books but its rare that you will ever find a book that expresses and shows the love and tenderness that is portrayed between the characters and how they came to the spot where love won and everything else didn't matter! I will keep the details light because its more beautiful when you read the book.

The book is shorter than most books because its a Harlequin novel but please don't deny yourself the pleasure of reading this book. I read it once a month because its that good. Actually, I just read it again and had to express my love for this book. Thanks for taking the time to read my review and please read my other favorites if you love this one! They are to die for! lol

Stephanie
1450447
I have read a lot. A LOT. And I've read a lot of phanfic. Of course, Leroux is to thank for it all, but Susan Kay blends elements of Leroux, a little Webber, and a lot of imagination to create the most beautiful piece of fiction I've ever experienced. Though I haven't yet boughten it for myself, the last six or seven rentals of this book from the local library are all from me. The first time I read "Phantom," I had such trouble putting it down to eat and sleep that I finished it in less than a day and a half. Even approaching my eighth read-through in three or so years, I cry every time and discover something new on practically every page.

Kay has put so much detail into Erik's life and uses a creative, diary-like first person style to allow the reader to see directly in to the genius's mind and the minds of those whom he affected the most. Though the last chapter is rather predictable, it is still a beautiful conclusion to a fabulous novel. I would give it more than five stars if I could.
867703
This has become one of my all time favorite novels! Never have I read a book that had me feeling the sense of sound. The story plot pulled me in and made it very difficult to put the book down. My book is now being passed around to a book club (one that has been in existence for 100 years). Already, I am hearing from those  club members who have read it and they are passing it on to the next person. They feel the same way as I felt after reading this masterpiece! It has now become a favorite gift to order for my friends.
1288068
I used to read a lot of romance novels in the 80s as a teen and this is by far my favorite one ever. It's just a romp through international glamour, wealth, beauty, sex, deviousness...I love it. This author must have done a remarkable amount of research into so many different subjects and times and places. It comes off as if these characters all really existed in history and hob-nobbed with the rich and famous. Daisy is such a likable character that you can't hate her for being fabulously beautiful and having it all. All the characters just come alive, good, bad, and in-between. You can picture them exactly, and where they are, and the ambiance. Also, if you like this book, they made a pretty good miniseries out of it in the 80s with an awesome cast and beautiful settings.
1580538
Like the title suggests, this book by the talented Meagan McKinney is about two opposites, one dark and powerful, the other innocent and condemned by appearance, yet the two share a common ground, a deep dark  past; one that she cannot divulge, and one that he can never forget. Lions  and Lace has succeeded as being the one and only novel (as of yet) to move  me to the very core of my being, (and I've read this over 2 years ago).  I've found myself getting chills each and everytime I re-read the novel  (I've read it at least a dozen times). It is THAT good! Recommended w/ my  highest regards. Meagan McKinney has the talent to make you laugh and cry  like no other. Get this book and you'll have no regrets. Don't get this  book and you'll be missing out on the romance of a lifetime!
4638019
This is by far the best novel that I've read by Richard Russo. I love his characters, I love the way they relate (or fail to relate) to each other. There are so many interesting points to ponder: Is it better to love or to be loved? What exactly is "learning"? Are we truly creatures with the ability to make choices, or is choice an illusion? What is the artist's role? The story of (mainly) two families is absorbing, if perhaps a bit fragmented. If it weren't so long, I'd read Bridge of Sighs again. I may do so anyway.