So she pretends to like his friend, Liu Jinahi, and conspires to have Baozhen 'help' her get closer to Jinhai, all the while conspiring to win Baozhen. Lian has been in love with Baozhen since she was young, but she knows that he still sees her as a child and is so used to female affection that the only way to snag his attention is to make him jealous. 'Was it possible not to know how much you'd missed someone until you saw them again?' (13)ĭefinitely the best story in the collection. So if you've already read her short stories, take note: this book contains four previously published short stories you may have already read before.Īs with all short story collections I review, I'm going to break this book down story by story. Only the first title in this collection, The Touch of Moonlight, is new and previously unreleased. Also, of the five stories included in this book, four of them have already been published as standalone short stories. It's a collection of short stories set in the Tang Dynasty, some of which are loosely affiliated with the actual main books in the series, but they are not officially part of the series. This isn't actually a book in the Tang Dynasty series. I wasn't really a fan of her Pingkang Li mystery series, but this was a fantastic way to sample her Tang Dynasty series - or so I thought. When I saw this Harlequin title at the bookstore for 50¢, it was super easy to rationalize the purchase to myself despite my self-imposed book ban (which has been ongoing for about a year now, and clearly not working considering how often I buy books). Not only is she an #ownvoices author of historical romances featuring Chinese characters set in Tang Dynasty China (reason enough to buy her work in my opinion), but she also received an absolutely stellar review from my Goodreads friend Khanh, for her book MY FAIR CONCUBINE (a retelling of My Fair Lady). Jeannie Lin has been on my radar for a long time. For more info about what this is, click here. I read this book for the Unapologetic Romance Readers' New Years 2017 Reading Challenge. Instagram || Twitter || Facebook || Amazon || PinterestĪs of 10/06/17, this book is $1.99 for Kindle! Gunpowder Alchemy (Gunpowder Chronicles #1)įor updates, sign up for her newsletter at: įind out more about Jeannie Lin online at Her books have received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and Library Journal with The Dragon and the Pearl listed among Library Journal's Best Romances of 2011. After four years of trying to break into publishing with an Asian-set historical, her 2009 Golden Heart Award–winning manuscript, Butterfly Swords, sold to Harlequin Mills & Boon. Jeannie started writing her first romance while working as a high school science teacher in South Central Los Angeles. When her best friend introduced her to romance novels in middle school, the stage was set. USA TODAY Bestselling author Jeannie Lin grew up fascinated with stories of Western epic fantasy and Eastern martial arts adventures.

The Taming of Mei Lin by Jeannie Lin