Angry Eastern Reads

Whitney, My Love By  Judith McNaught   "Whitney My Love" by Judith McNaught is a historical romance novel that promises to take us on a journey of a young lady determined to win her childhood sweetheart's heart while being unknowingly betrothed to another.  If I did not know that the author was a woman, I would have strongly suspected it was some Incel troll from the shadiest depths of reddit. With the added disturbing element (pointed out to me by Ira Tate - thanks, Ira...) that the names of the main characters are actually the names of the author's children, the book romanticizes an abusive and dysfunctional relationship, and bounces from incredibly childish fairy-tale moments to very realistic and unsettling descriptions of feelings experienced by a woman who can only described as a victim of domestic abuse.  There is, of course, nothing wrong with writing about such issues, and this could have been, in fact, a very captivating read, but the author minimizes the ...

The Work of Art By Mimi Matthews Published: 2019 I am a self-professed historical romance novel junky. There, I confessed it! What does this have to do with the review? Nothing, other than the fact that I tend to be ‘particular’ (read anal) with the historicals I actually enjoy. Granted, historical romance stories,  unlike their contemporary counterparts,  require more work. Not just references to events, locations and technology of the time. No indeed, a good historical romance must be able to portray the time period with the social obligations and behaviours befitting of that particular time setting. As a result, I find that often authors, in trying to make their story relatable to the modern audiences, take modern day characters and transpose them into a time in which they simply couldn’t exist. Example, a willful heroine who could get away with anything that would normally compromise her and still secure the marriage proposal from the hero, who usually is a rich and powerf...