Need a warm blanket read

Have you read Five O'Clock Shadow by Genie Davis? It's one of the few new books to make my top 100 list. It a nice, comfortable, feel-good, fun book, angst free.

You don't ask much, do you? Those books are far few and in between for me. When I need to feel that way, I usually reread old favorites like Kinsale's The Shadow and the the Star, anything by Shinn that is set on Samaria except Angel-Seeker (I liked it, but it wasn't that comforting), Putney's Shattered Rainbows or One Perfect Rose. Some of Seidel's books would be great too.

I'm trying to think of anything that came out this year that would be a comfort read to me. Maybe Loretta Chase's Not Quite a Lady -- it has a heroine who gave up her son for adoption, so I think it would move you, but I don't know if it would be a comfort read.

Hmm, I just had a better idea! Have you ever tried Eva Ibbotson? A Countess Below Stairs or Magic Flutes are great warm blanket reads. And ACBS has just been reprinted, so it shouldn't be hard to find, though I think it's being marketed as YA rather than romance, so you might have to look in a different section of the bookstore.

Margaret - I've made a note of Five O'Clock Shadow and will check it out. Is that your review at Amazon?

Janine - I do have Countess Below Stairs TBR and will drag it out. It has a Russian heroine, so that's a point in its favor. :) I might have to check out the Loretta Chase too, for the adoption angle.

Thanks for the suggestions!

I hope you enjoy A Countess Below Stairs, but I would be interested to hear what you think of it regardless. And ditto Not Quite a Lady, if you do check it out.

Incidentally, just so you're prepared, I don't know if I would count on Shinn's General Winston's Daughter to be a comforting read. I enjoyed it very much, but I would not describe it that way.

Yep, that's my "review"... not exactly labor intensive for moi. :) Just a quick opinion. I would compare this book to a really good Gibson, Donovan or SEP.

That sounds very promising, Margaret. There's a copy in my local library coop. I just put a hold on it.