Tell us what you are reading, and give us a mini review of why you are enjoying the book, or not. So many books, so little time!

I’m reading the first book in the Hunger of the Heart Series, Hunger for Love by Shannon Farrell. I had read her awesome award-winning book Call Home the Heart, and thought I would try this new series.

Wow, this woman really knows her stuff. The details of the Famine are fascinating if grim reading, and the way she describes Ireland, I feel as if I am right there with her. The couple, Dalton and Emer, are so HOT together, it makes for a really fast read, and I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book.  They have so many obstacles to overcome, and it is wonderful to see characters who grow and develop.

Heart’s Desire

Sorcha MacMurrough

Nurse Sinead Thomas rescues the hospital’s handsome architect Austin Riordan from a life-threatening situation. Touched by the high-powered man’s sudden vulnerability, she agrees to his proposal to
become his private nurse over the Christmas holidays while he recovers his full health.

Sinead gets more than she bargained for as she gets drawn inextricably into the web of sensuality spun by her domineering new employer. The passionate relationship they forge is like nothing Sinead has never known, and she soon finds herself falling in love with her
enigmatic new boss.

But a cunning woman from Austin’s past soon sets herself up as a professional and very personal rival to Sinead at the hospital and in Austin’s life.

Is Austin really all he seems? Or has he been playing her all along to further his own hidden agenda? Has his power and passion blinded her all along?
Can Austin and Sinead fight their inner and outer demons to secure their hearts’ desire?

Heart’s Desire
Sorcha MacMurrough

67,000 words

Setting: Modern Ireland
Rating:
Sensual
Read more or order:

At HerStory Books  Retreat, our mission is to bring you news and reviews from our published authors, plus how tos, industry information, and more in the coming months.  We excel at historical fiction and romance, and our novels range from mildly explicit to romantic erotica, women’s erotica with strong heroines and heroes and slightly edgier love scenes (and more of them!). If you are eager to learn more about our authors and the publishing process, or even to become a writer and published author yourself, we hope HerStory Books Retreat will become an invaluable resource to help you get started, polish your manuscript, find an agent, or get published.

Star Attraction

Sorcha MacMurrough

College lecturer and secret romance novelist Zaira Darcy literally bumps
into the man of her dreams in an elevator. Dashing Brad Clarke, Hollywood’s
hottest new director, working alongside her in New York on the screenplay
of her hot new bestseller, is everything she could want in a man, and more.

But the secrets from her past threaten to destroy any chance of happiness
they might have. Zaira must learn to trust to love again. Just when Zaira
and Brad find true love, her joy is ripped from her by a series of shocking
revelations. Brad is forced to go on the run for a series of crimes he
didn’t commit. Can Zaira trust him? Or is someone behind this plot
to ruin him?

Zaira searches her heart for the truth, and must lock horns with her
ex-husband Jonathan one last time to save Brad’s life, even if it means
sacrificing her own…

Read more or order:

Biochemist Clarissa Vincent’s fiance Julian Simmons was killed in a
terrible explosion five years before.

Or was he? Taking a new job in Portland, Oregon, Clarissa sees a man
at the airport who could be Julian’s double.

Suddenly Clarissa is propelled into a nightmarish world of espionage
and intrigue. She must struggle to save all she holds most dear from the
ruthless plotters who will stop at nothing to achieve world domination
with the biological weapon she has unwittingly created.

The Historical Romance Forum here at HerStory Books is a forum where readers and writers of the historical romance genre can come together to discuss spotlighted books and great historical romance authors like Nicole Jordan, Gaelen Foley, Teresa Medeiros, Sorcha MacMurrough, Eloisa James, Cheryl Holt, Jacinta Carey, Stephanie Laurens, Liz Carlyle, Mary Balogh, Mary Jo Putney, and more.

What makes a great historical romance? The characters, of course. The unfolding of the love story. And the love scenes. The romance should be given pride of place, and if the book is intended as part of a series, it should be a standalone romance novel. There is nothing worse than a book totally crowded with secondary characters who get in the way of the love story.

A great historical romance should also capture the period of time, without being weighed down with too many historical details. The characters should also express at least some of the sensibilities of the time, rather than be too modern. There is nothing worse than a historical romance novel in which they are all just acting like modern people in Regency costume.

Regency novels in particular have had that problem, and of course have been spiced up to the point of reading like a trashy modern novel. Sorcha MacMurrough’s Regency novels are excellent because they capture the period with all its lusty exuberance, yet are historically accurate and intriguing too. The hints of mystery in all the Rakehell novels are excellent. To read more about them, visit http://www.herstorybooks.com/intro-rakehells.htm

So too are her Napoleonic war novels in the Scars of the Heart series, first-class historical romance on a par with the Sharpe series of historical novels, but with some really sizzling couples falling in love amid the backdrop of the most challenging times in Europe.

To read more about them, go to http://www.herstorybooks.com/napoleonic.htm

So if you love great historical romance, to read, write or review, this is the place for you.