Featuring reviews, author biographies, and special features, Romance Reviews is designed as a guide to romantic reading. While primarily covering romance novels, it also delves into mysteries and other types of fiction, but all works reviewed include some romance. Ratings of romance novels are designed to help you make a choice that is right for you. A new edition will appear the first of each month.
Best Ending to a Story
So many times a good story is damaged by a contrived, hurried ending. I salute the following books for having a clever and interesting finish.
1.) An Echo in the Bone, by Diana Gabaldon.
"She gave him an even look.
'Thee is a wolf, too, and I know it. But thee is my wolf, and best thee know that.'
He'd started to burn when she spoke, an ignition swift and fierce as the lighting of one of his cousin's matches. He put out his hand, palm forward, to her, still cautious lest, she, too, burst into flame.
'What I said to ye, before . . . that I kent ye loved me -'
She stepped forward and pressed her palm to his, her small, cool fingers linking tight.
'What I say to thee now is that I do love thee. And if thee hunts at night, thee will come home.'
Under the sycamore, the dog yawned and laid his muzzle on his paws.
'And sleep at thy feet,' Ian whispered, and gathered her in with his one good arm, both of them blazing bright as day."
2.) The Queen's Command, by Maggie Osborne.
"'The girl is a fool.' She stared at the snow dying down the windowpanes. Frost had begin to form at the corners.
She read and reread the last two letters before she fed them to the fire and watched the pages blacken and curl.
'Only a fool would exchange a kingdom for love.' Snowy light cast long chill shadows across her breast. 'Only a fool,' she whispered, watching as the last letter fell to ashes.
But there were tears un the old queen's eyes."
3. Sins of the Flesh, by Caridad Pineiro.
"Sickening, Morales thought, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. Itching to rush out and grab Shaw. Finish what he had started.
But not today, he thought as the clueless trio walked into the hospital together, believing themselves safe. Believing that the nightmare was over for them, only . . .
Morales started the engine, cranking up the air-conditioning and drove away, his smile as chilly as the air conditioning form the vents of the SUV as he thought, 'It's only just begin.'"
4. The French Mistress, by Susan Holloway Scott.
"I kissed him one last time, his lips already chill beneath mine, and retreated to my rooms. I'd no place as death finally claimed him; that belonged to his wife, his brother, his children. I was no more than his mistress and a French one at that.
But in the end, I'd gained all I could wish. I'd saved his soul for all eternity, and I'd won his heart for my own.
And how could ever I wish for more?"
