June 30, 2007
5:35 PM |
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Driven to uncover the truth about the mysterious death of his ladylove, the Duke of Hawkscliffe will go to any lengths to unmask a murderer. Even if it means jeopardizing his reputation by engaging in a scandalous affair with London's most provocative courtesan-the desirable but aloof Belinda Hamilton.
Bel has used her intelligence and wit to charm the city's titled gentlemen, while struggling to put the pieces of her life back together. She needs a protector, so she accepts Hawk's invitation to become his mistress in name only. He asks nothing of her body, but seeks her help in snaring the same man who shattered her virtue. Together they tempt the unforgiving wrath of society-until their risky charade turns into a dangerous attraction, and Bel must make a devastating decision that could ruin her last chance at love. . . .
Sometimes you stumble upon a treasure when you’re least expecting it. And I really believe that’s the case for me with the Knight Miscellany series by Gaelen Foley.
After reading the blurb I was expecting a dime-a-dozen Regency and that’s why it sat on my bookshelf for quite a while before I picked it up to read. Well, colour me pleasantly surprised!
What a wonderful and very original plot, what a lovely and strong heroin, what a delicious and tormented hero, what great secondary characters! In short, what a great storyteller Ms Foley turns out to be.
The story building is superb. She really knows how to keep a reader pulled deep into a story you don’t want to put aside but you also don’t want it to end.
We have Bel(inda) Hamilton, a worldly courtesan, forced by appalling circumstances into the demimonde. Feminine, proud, bold and strong. Not compromising however painful it may turn out to be for herself.
And we have Robert Knigt, protector extraordinaire, the paragon duke on a vengance and ever so honorable, manly and kind.
They join forces to bring down the man responsible for both their sorrow and misery. But their joint-venture becomes a permanent love that eventually surpasses all difficulties.
Everything between Bel and Robert sizzles: their attraction, their interactions, their dialogues. The playful bantering between them was the thing I liked the most in the book. Both of them captured my heart!
Going on all the feelings going through me while reading it, from laughter to tears, from anger to excitement, this first installment of the Knight Miscellany is certainly a keeper. And I’m eagerly looking forward to the books of the other Knight-siblings. And needless to say that with this book Gaelen Foley has launched herself directly into my auto-buy list.
Quotes:
Robert: “I’ve been alone for so long but when I’m with you, oh, when I’m with you Bel, the earth sings and the stars dance and I don’t loathe myself so much for a bore.”
That night after Papa had left and the girls had gone to bed, he led her to the top of the keep and seduced her under the stars, coaxing tears of surrender from the deepest reaches of her heart with his whispers of eternal devotion.
June 29, 2007
5:35 PM |
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Come heck or high water, Gracie Snow is determined to track down the legendary ex-jock Bobby Tom Denton and drag him back home to Heaven, Texas, to begin shooting his first motion picture. But taming an egotistical cowboy in a '57 T-Bird might be more than this prim Ohio wallflower can handle. Despite his dazzling good looks and killer charm, Bobby Tom has reservations about being movie star--and no plans to cooperate with the bossy little virgins whom he can't get off his mind or out of his life. Instead, the hellraising playboy decides to make her over from plain Janet to Texas wildcat.
But nothing's more dangerous than a wildcat with an angel's heart in a town too small for a bad boy to hide. And all hell breaks loose when two unforgettable people discover love, laughter, passion--and a match that can be made only in Heaven.
This is the second book in the Chicago Stars series and I must say I loved it. Like the first (It Had to be You) it’s funny, touching and hot!
It grabs you right from the start and doesn’t let go until the last page..
Bobby does his best to come across as a womanizing charming playboy but underneath his boyish charm is a sensitive and vulnerable man who needs a woman who can see through his outward facade and love him despite for who he is and not what he is.
Gracie is this woman. Bossy, determined, and a real sweetheart always putting other people’s interests first. She may be a homely virgin but she’s s a tough cookie to dodge. And also the only woman who sees the real Bobby Tom.
The chemistry between Bobby Tom and Gracie is defenitely there but because of them being so different they keep fighting it. Their dialogues are outright funny, I had many laugh-out-loud moments reading this book.
It was a great story with funny characters, humorous dialogue and some sexy love-scenes that were real hot without them even going all the way.
Secondary to the romance between Gracie and Bobby Tom there’s also a storyline of the romance between Bobby Tom’s mother and the town’s bad boy who had been in love with her since highschool. Where normally a secondary romance tends to distract you from the main story, it didn’t in this book. It blended into it perfectly and seamlessly and I loved reading it and now I’m looking forward for the next Chicago Stars book!
June 28, 2007
5:33 PM |
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It would have been the wedding of the year-had the groom, Sir Nigel Boscastle, bothered to put in an appearance. To the shock of her distinguished guests, the respectable Lady Jane Welsham is left humiliated at the altar. Yet truth be told, although outwardly ruined she is elated to have escaped marriage to a man she does not love.
Enter Grayson Boscastle, the irresistible Marquess of Sedgecroft (and cousin to Nigel). Grayson's duty is clear: salvage the young lady's pride and reestablish the family's good name, while repairing his own tarnished reputation as one of London's most notorious scoundrels. Their whirlwind affair is the talk of the ton. Yet nothing is as it seems between the bewitching Lady Jane, who knows that her wedding was cleverly sabotaged, and her charming rogue, as they are drawn into an amusing game of seduction and secrets.
This book was funny as well as very romantic.
I loved everything: the story, the characters, the romance, the writingstyle.
This is a series I’m really going to enjoy reading.
Grayson is a hero to die for, Jane is a heroin you can really relate to.
Their interactions are romantic and fun, their chemistry is hot.
Grayson is endearing and in the way he wants to do the right thing by Jane, by his family and by the memory of his late father and brother.
Jane is endearing in the way she doesn’t stand in the way of Nigel’s true happiness in spite of it causing trouble for herself.
The siblings, both Boscastle and Welsham are a delight to read about.
I loved the way Jane and Grayson tried to trick and seduce eachother at every opportunity without knowing they each know of each other’s schemes.
Jillian Hunter had a way of writing that enthralls you despite of it being simple and straight forward. The dialogues and interactions are simply great.
I can only say that I want more of this and luckily for me there are at least 5 more books in this series to come.
June 19, 2007
5:31 PM |
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Meredith Sinclair is everything a lady of society should be. She sparkles at every party, men fall at her feet and every woman longs to be like her. But beneath that popular exterior lurks a serious spy. And her newest assignment is very personal.
She is sent to investigate Tristan Archer's involvement in the robbery of a painting that may have hidden secret information about the British Army's movements in France. Meredith knows she shouldn't grow to close to a potential traitor, but many years ago Tristan saved her life. And it's harder and harder to believe he could be so wrong when his kisses are so right.
Will the evidence break her heart... or will her heart set them both free?
Man oh man, Jenna Petersen sure knows how to write books that make you go through every emotion.
I felt everything the hero and heroin were going through just because of her writing-style.
It's intense and very vivid...it just sizzles of the pages.
After reading Scandalous I had high expectations for the Lady Spies-trilogy and I must say those expectations were certainly met.
It was a little less in playing havoc with my emotions than Scandalous but that didn’t make it a less wonderful read.
And also a great concept for a regency-trilogy: Take three widows of the ton and train them to become the best spies of the country. No one will suspect the popular ladies to be the ones who solve cases of theft, murder and treason. Of course comparison with the hit-series from the seventies is inevitable when you have three lady-spies and there boss is called Charlie, but I thought it still was a nice concept. While reading I pictured myself in a beautiful gown roaming the ballrooms and at the same time decoding letters, picking locks, dodging bullets and bringing traitors to justice.
This is the first book in the trilogy and tells the story of Meredith Sinclair and Tristan Archer.
Tristan is suspected of treason and Meredith is the spy assigned to bring him to justice because they have a prior connection.
The attraction and sensuality between Meredith and Tristan is sparkling and intense. Both of them have their understandable reasons for not giving into it but of course ultimately it’s unavoidable that they do.
I really liked the secondary characters, especially Meredith’s fellow-spies Ana and Emily. Each of them have their own specialty and together they form a practically invincible team.
Another intriguing character in the book was Tristan's friend Phillip. I wonder if he gets his own story in the future...
Another thing I liked was the plot. You know it from the start but because Tristan's motivations are not clarified until the very end it keeps you on the edge. Although in various earlier parts in the book I really wanted Tristan to tell Meredith his reasons for doing what he was doing, this way was much better for the book!
I'm really looking forward to the next two books in the series since these are about the two fellow-spies who are secondary characters in this book.
Quote:
There was his name again, coming from her lips to arouse him. Just that whisper made him forget his position both in society and his current situation.
June 16, 2007
5:31 PM |
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He comes to her more dead than alive, a towering black-clad stranger riddled with bullets and rapidly losing blood. As she struggles to save him, veterinarian Tess Culver is unaware that the man calling himself Dante is no man at all, but one of the Breed, vampire warriors engaged in a desperate battle. In a single erotically charged moment Tess is plunged into his world--a shifting, shadowed place where bands of Rogue vampires stalk the night, cutting a swath of terror.
Haunted by visions of a dark future, Dante lives and fights like there is no tomorrow. Tess is a complication he does not need--but now, with his brethren under attack, he must shield Tess from a growing threat that includes Dante himself. For with one reckless, irresistible kiss, she has become an inextricable part of his underworld realm . . . and his touch awakens her to hidden gifts, desires, and hungers she never knew she possessed. Bonded by blood, Dante and Tess must work together to thwart deadly enemies, even as they discover a passion that transcends the boundaries of life itself . . .
One word: WOW!
This is the story of Dante and Tess. Dante, warrior at the core with a curse passed on to him by his mother, he has premonitions of death. As said Dante is a hardcore warrior, until he meets his Breedmate Tess. Meeting her shows him there’s more in life than just fighting, feeding and living to serve the Order.
Tess, fitting the Breedmates, feels different, isolated, left out from the rest of the world. As a Breedmate she also has a gift, that of healing. A gift she sees as a terrible curse and keeps hidden from everyone in her life. She is drawn to Dante but doesn’t understand why she is so attracted to him.
If you read my review of Kiss of Midnight (book 1) you know I had trouble getting into the book at first but that was seriously taken care of by the end of the book.
And Lara Adrian has continued her excellent work in Kiss of Crimson.
I was drawn further into this amazing world of Breed, the Order, the Rogues and the Breedmates.
In this book there’s all the more character building and a lot less of the endless descriptions Kiss of Midnight started with.
It was fast-paced, more intense from the very opening scene right through to the exerpt of the next book (Tegan’s!) at the end.
The war between the Order and the Rogues continues in this book in which the Warriors also have to fight against the distribution of a drug that turns normal Breed into Rogues.
The secondary characters were fabulous! There was the introduction of some characters of whom I’m certain will play a bigger role in books to come. I will not disclose too much about them for fear of spoilers but when you read the book, you’ll know who I mean.
I was hesitant after Kiss of Midnight, but with Kiss of Crimson Lara Adrian has really won me over and gotten me hooked on the Warriors of the Midnight Breed.
Tegan’s book is next in December 2007 and I’m truly looking forward to it, most definitely after reading the excerpt in Kiss of Crimson!
Quotes:
This close, the scent of her was inebriating and lush. He breathed in through his mouth, letting the spicy sweetness of her sift through his teeth, relishing the way it played across his tongue.
After Nico asks Dante if he would quit the Order for Tess, Dante answers: “I would quite breathing for her, if she asked it of me.”
June 11, 2007
5:29 PM |
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“This is your lucky night. I just happen to be wearing black silk boxers”
That was exactly the kind of confirmation Lydia Carmichael was looking for. Proof positive that the drop-dead gorgeous date provided by Mr. Complete Escort Services was a gigolo. All she had to do was lure that bad boy into her bad and she’d put the slimeballs out of business.
But Lydia soon learned she wasn’t cut out for this kind of under-the-covers work. Luke was nog only Hot with a capital H, he was also a considerate, caring man.
As she discovered there was a lot more beneath the surface than his sexy underwear, she found herself wanting to leave her tidy white-cotton life behind.
If her secret wishes could come true, their bought-and-paid-for beginning would lead to a happilly-ever-after end that had nothing to do with money and everything to do with love.
When I read the blurb I thought it was going to be a raunchy, cheesy story on an escort-service and a woman trying to take them out of business.
But I was very pleasantly surprised!
The book was actually extremely funny, it had a good story going and the characters were fantastic. Not only Luke and Lydia as a perfect couple, Luke’s employees, Lydia’s aunt and Lydia’s friend and associate were witty and smart. Luke’s secretary, Mrs Scuttle was downright hilarious and the book wouldn’t have been as funny without her in it.
But next to the fun, there was also the sexual tension between Luke and Lydia, which Lydia tries to deny, but fails miserably at it. And deeper feelings that utterly confuse Luke, since he was only trying to teach Lydia a lesson.
There is also Luke’s evil foster brother trying to ruin him and in the end there’s love and marriage-proposals all over the place.
A delicious read and a definite page-turner and I can’t wait to read the other books in this series.
If this one’s an indication, I won’t be dissapointed.
If you're looking for a fun read to spent a few hours with, look no more. You've found it!
June 10, 2007
5:28 PM |
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THE SURPRISE OF HER LIFE
Sophisticated. Scandalous. In fact, Miss Sarah Hamilton, a proper Philadelphian, finds London society altogether shocking. How can it be that she has awakened from her innocent slumber to find herself in bed next to a handsome–and exceedingly naked–man? The laughing onlookers standing in the doorway are no help whatsoever and surely this amorous lunatic cannot be a duke, as he claims. She is compromised – though she most certainly will not marry him!
THE SWEETEST MOMENT OF HIS
James, the Duke of Alvord, is enchanted by his unexpected bedmate–and not at all afraid of her pink-cheeked fury. True, the circumstances and place of their meeting are most unusual, but the spirited American who’s pummeling him with a pillow is an imcomparable beauty. If Sarah will only listen to his perfectly reasonable explanation, James is sure that he dan capture her heart...forever.
It took some effort to obtain this book but it was well worth it.
I had so much fun reading it. It was easy to read and fast-paced. I couldn’t put it away as curious as I was to find out what would happen next to James and Sarah.
The characters are lovely and endearing. James is supposed to be a rake but the actually is far from it. But he’s no whimp either! He knows waht he wants and will not deter from his goal once he has his eye one something, or in this case: someone. He falls in love inmediately with Sarah and does everything to get her to marry him despite the threats on his and eventually her life too, by his evil cousin Richard.
Sarah is very innocent and pure. She can’t believe James really wants her but she proves she’s not immune to his charmes and in the end she does fall for him. She doesn’t agree with the way things are done in England but James shows her that not everyone acts in the scandalous ways some other English noblemen do.
The secondary characters are very nice as well. And you just know the story of Robbie and Lizzie is also going to be told in the future. And as it turns out it is, in “The Naked Earl” (book 3 in the series). Both friendly and hostile secondary characters are well-written and add a nice touch to the whole story.
The story was not intense or very exciting but it certainly was a nice and pleasant read if you want a good Regency. It’s the first book in a series and I’m looking forward to the next books.
June 5, 2007
5:19 PM |
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A werewolf and bounty hunter, Lexi was badass to the bone. She had no problem protecting herself in the seedy underground vampire clubs of New York City. Until the Immortal she had tried to summon actually appeared. It wasn't the intricate tattoos around his well-defined muscles that intimidated her; it was the raw power she saw shimmering in his golden brown eyes, power mingled with lust. Though she longed to give in to the passion and pleasure he promised, they first had a curse to break, a brother to find, and a whole legion of vampires to prevent from joining...
Different vibe but definitely a great next installment of this wonderful series that’s becoming a sure keeper on my shelves.
If I wasn’t hooked after the Calling I would have been reeled in with the Darkening. Robin Popp continues the rollercoaster ride for me in an intense story that wrapped me in a blanket of magic, suspense, raw sexuality and a whirlwind of emotions. I’m still all tingly inside and goosebumped all over after reading last few chapters!!
The story of Darius the Immortal trapped by his mother in the realm of Ravenswood because of her fear of losing him to earth’s vile temptations like the other Immortals were. Therefore condemned to train endlessly for fighting evil in a fight that he would never engage in.
But then the Calling spell is used and it’s so powerful he’s briefly yanked away from his safe haven and his life has meaning once again.
On the earthly realm he teams up with Lexi Corvin, both fire-witch and werewolf, earning her living as a bounty hunter. A combination that’s so powerful she’s no woman you would want to mess with. She kicks ass!
If I thought The Calling was magical...that was nothing compared to this world inhabited by immortals, witches, vampires, shapeshifters, succubus, leprechauns and woodnymphs. And of course the big, bad, ancient demon and Tain also make there stunning appearances.
Tain’s motivations intrigue me and I can’t wait to see if he’s really the Immortal gone rogue these two books want me to believe. I think this one lifts a bit of the veil covering Tain’s true destiny for the reader able to read between the lines.
Of course another author means a different focus so The Darkening was not as witty, funny as The Calling was and this was not the beautifully written love-story but a darker, intenser story of how strong sexual atrraction turns into a love as beautiful and strong as Adrian and Amber’s.
The book entranced me and kept pulling me into this fascinating world of magic and Immortals. Rooting for life magic in their struggle against death magic personified by the ancient demon, Amadja.
The secondary characters weren’t as well developed and the love-scenes weren’t as steamy hot as in Ashley’s book (hey, she also writes erotica so she's an expert on steamy hot scenes!) but there was so much other enticing stuff going on that I enjoyed the read just as much, if not more because I got a deeper glimpse of this truly amazing world these authors have created and are creating. It leaves me wanting more and more and more.
So I say to Robin T. Popp: Thanks for keeping me on the rollercoaster and to Joy Nash I say: Bring.It.On! And hit me with some more of this good stuff!
June 3, 2007
5:17 PM |
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Grace Carlyle's world was about to change . . .
Searching for her missing brother, Grace Carlyle never dreamed she would discover a secret world populated by mythological monsters—or find herself facing a sword-wielding being whose looks put mortal men to shame. But there he was, Darius en Kragin, one of a race of shape-shifting warriors bound to guard the gates of Atlantis and kill al travelers who strayed within its borders.
Their forbidden love would either bring their worlds together—or tear them both apart…
Now Grace’s life was in his hands, and Darius had to choose between his centuries-old vow and the woman who had slipped beneath his defenses and stolen the heart of Atlantis’s fiercest dragon.
I’ve embarked on a for me new series by Showalter: Atlantis
And after a doubtful start I have to say I loved it.
The first three chapters weren’t what I’m used to by Showalter and I was really fearing that her Atlantis-series was going to be a disappointment after her terrific Imperia-series.
I missed the humour and sparkles I’ve grown to love in her books.
But after chapter four I began to have that familiar smile plastered on my face again as humour, sparkly retorts and sensuality emerged from the pages.
Grace is a lovely woman, missing excitement and pleasure in her life but making the best of it nonetheless.
She’s very funny and strong-willed and a perfect match for Darius, Guardian of the Mist of Atlantis. He lost his family to human travelers to Atlantis who slaughtered them and has since then learned to still his every emotion. Until he meets Grace who makes him feel and experience everything on the emotional scope, from anger and irritation to love and admiration. He in return proves to be the answer to everything Grace was missing in her life.
His feelings for Grace make him far more likeable for he turns into the kind of hero Showalter always reels me in with.
The book has the feel and touch of the Imperia-series but in a different setting: the world of Atlantis with all it’s mythical creatures and history.
With this first book in the series I was not as enthralled as with the Imperia-series or her contemporary but it certainly hasn’t disappointed me and Showalter stays on my auto-buy list and who knows maybe the next installments will have me raving and ranting again.
Quote:
He was a man of contradictions. With his swirling, ice-blue eyes, harsh, demanding tone and rocksolid muscles, he personified everything cold and callous, even incapable of offering warmth. And yet, when he touched her, she’d felt molten lava run through her veins.
June 1, 2007
5:16 PM |
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Highland warriors sworn to protect Innocence through the ages….
Malcolm of Dunroch has been chosen by the secret Brotherhood, a nameless society of pagan knights sworn to defend mankind. He is a novice to his extraordinary—and dangerous--powers. But he has already broken his vows--for an innocent woman’s death is on his hands. Malcolm is determined to fight his dark sexuality, denying himself all pleasure…until fate sends him another Innocent, the beautiful bookseller, Claire Camden.
Desire is the first weapon...
Since her mother's murder, Claire has done everything possible to make a safe, secure life for herself in a city where danger lurks on every street corner, especially in the dark of the night. But nothing can prepare her for the powerful and sexual medieval warrior who sweeps her back into his time—a treacherous, frightening world where the hunters and the hunted are one and the same. Claire needs Malcolm to survive, yet she must somehow keep the dangerously powerful Master at arm’s length. For she has no wish to die in his bed like the others—in the throes of dark, forbidden pleasure…
After having read Moning’s Highlanders I was craving for some Highlanders who could entice me the way they had….and I’ll be looking no further. Brenda Joyce has provided them with the Masters of Time-series.
This was Charmed meets Highlander in a sizzling paranormal debut of historical romance author Brenda Joyce.
I haven’t read any of Joyce’s historicals but if they are only half as good as this paranormal debut, they are definitely worth a try.
Dark Seduction was a brilliant mix of suspense, magic and sensuality. A combination of time-travel, medieval and paranormal with a great plot and a terrific beginning of a very promising series.
Joyce gave us a strong and special heroin, a scrumptious, fierce hero and some fine secondary characters, mainly other Masters who in the future will have their own books (I can’t wait!!).
The story was easy to read and fast-paced. A bit chaotic chronologically in the beginning but that feeling disappeared as soon as you get into the wonderful story of Malcolm and Clair.
Malcolm refuses to fall in love with Clair because as a Master anything can and will be used against you by evil. And Clair refuses to fall in with Malcolm because she knows she must eventually return to her own time. But of course nor evil neither time can stop true and genuine love.
But not only hero and heroin entice you, Royce, Aidan, MacNeill, Ironheart and even the evil of evilest Moray are powerfull secondary characters who give the book just that little bit extra to make it great.
Quotes:
If he could make her throb greedily in a near climax with his tongue down her throat, she knew she’d die and go to heaven when they made love.
The wave of pleasure threatened to crest, break. He stared, slowly sitting up. Aye, he cared for her, but it was too late.
For she stood there, shaking and panting, swollen and wet.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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Nice to meet you!
- Pearl
- Netherlands
- 39, married to my real life romance hero, addicted to TV shows, reading romance novels and Twitter. I'm a chronic (e)book hoarder and my absolute favorite genres within romance fiction are contemporary romance and romantic suspense, but I don't shy away from historical, paranormal or erotic romance either. Even the occasional (urban) fantasy romance, futuristic and sci fi romance may make it to my Mount TBR. This is my corner of the world wide web where I let you know what books I'm hoarding, reading and reviewing.
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