Review: Private Practice by Samanthe Beck

Posted on April 15, 2013January 5, 2014 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | 3 1/2 Stars> book reviews> Originally published at Book Lovers, Inc.> The Rocket Lover

Private Practice by Samanthe Beck Format read: ebook provided by the publisher
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Erotic Romance
Release Date: Feb. 28, 2013
Number of pages: 263 pages
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Formats available: ebook
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website | Publisher’s Website | Amazon | B&N | Kobo

He’ll teach her how to bring a man to his knees…

Dr. Ellie Swan has a plan: open her practice in tiny Bluelick, Kentucky, so she can keep an eye on her diabetic father, and make hometown golden-boy Roger Reynolds fall in love with her. But Ellie has a problem. Roger seeks a skilled, sexually adventurous partner, and bookish Ellie doesn’t qualify.

Tyler Longfoot only cares about three things: shaking his bad boy image, qualifying for the loan his company needs to rehab a piece of Bluelick’s history, and convincing Ellie to keep quiet about the “incident” that lands him on her doorstep at two a.m. with a bullet in his behind.

The adorable Dr. Swan drives a mean bargain, though. If sex-on-a-stick Tyler will teach Ellie how to bring a man to his knees, she’ll forget about the bullet. Armed with The Wild Woman’s Guide to Sex and Tyler’s lessons, Ellie is confident she can become what Roger needs…if she doesn’t fall for Tyler first.

My Thoughts:

Dr. Ellie Swan comes home to her small town of Bluelick, Kentucky to open a private practice, finally reconcile with her neglectful, diabetic and alcoholic father and marry the man of her high-school dreams who just so happens to also be a lawyer.

This should be saccharine-sweet, and possibly also a contemporary Cinderella story–or a grown-up version of one of those “After School Specials” that used to run on TV. Except that Ellie Swan’s rose-colored glasses’ version of why she came home to Bluelick isn’t quite working out the way she planned.

Her high-school dreamboat has been freed from his ten-year engagement, supposedly because he’s interested in much kinkier sexcapades than his high-school sweetheart. That should have been a big clue for the romantically clueless Ellie but book-smart Ellie.

Instead, she tries to turn herself into a sexual adventuress by blackmailing the town bad boy into providing her with “no strings attached” sex lessons after he shows up at her house in the middle of the night with a buckshot wound in his very-nicely sculpted butt.

The ladies of Bluelick don’t call Tyler Longfoot “Tyler Footlong” without good reason. But that’s not all he’s good for. Ellie just turns out to be the first woman Tyler’s ever been with who makes him resent that it’s all that women think he ever might be good for.

Tyler should be thinking that a few weeks of “just great sex” with a beautiful woman is a terrific idea. Instead, the more time he spends with Ellie, the more he realizes that he finally wants more than just a good time.

Verdict:

My first thought was that I’d read this story before. The whole “sex lessons story” plot is very similar to Gina L. Maxwell’s recent Seducing Cinderella (see the BLI dual review for deets), except that in Maxwell’s story, it’s not the heroine who is the doctor, it’s the guy she thinks she wants. But still, there are a LOT of parallels.

I liked both Ellie and Tyler. He’s a genuinely nice guy, which is kind of a surprise considering the reputation he has as the town’s bad boy. He’s even a responsible business owner.

Even the side-characters in this one have some interesting moments, especially Melinda, the ex-fiancee of Ellie’s dream guy. In a fun twist, Melinda becomes Ellie’s office manager and best friend.

What makes this story work is the changing dynamic between Ellie and Tyler. He figures out that he wants more long before she does, but he continues with her bargain that he is giving her “sex lessons” because he knows that’s the only way she’ll let him stay close.

The added element of Ellie’s messed-up relationship with her father, his health crisis at the end and their overdue reconciliation was just too much to throw into a sex-into-lovers romance that didn’t need any more plot threads.

3-one-half-stars

I give Private Practice by Samanthe Beck 3 1/2 stars!

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Guest Post by Author Carol Van Atta + Giveaway

Posted on April 15, 2013April 14, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | ebook giveaway> Giveaways> Guest Posts

My guest today is Carol Van Atta, the author of a fun (see my review) new paranormal romance I Kissed a Dog. Her heroine just might be able to fill that upcoming Sookie-sized hole in your reading schedule.

Addicted to Love, Romance, and Relationships?
Remember Reality!
Carol Van Atta

Like most authors of paranormal romance, I like the idea of love and romance with a paranormal twist or two that spices things up for the couple. I’m also a fan of love that is intense, at times irrational, and often impulsive. It makes for great reading. However, because of the hot topics we write and/or read about, we might want to consider adding a warning label to our special brand of sexy, supernatural shenanigans.

Warning: Hot and Heavy Romance leading to heated hormones and hellacious heartbreak may result from attempting replicate the relationships in this book.

What I’m saying … we need to keep our feelings for steamy supernatural romances that have the potential to shred our hearts and maybe even our hope, in check.

So, let me ask you, have your friends ever pointed out your relationship failures? Ever heard the word co-dependent and cringed? Do you excuse and tolerate behaviors that are unacceptable and hurtful in your mate? For example: He makes me bleed because he can’t help himself. He is, after all, a vampire. Or … he only bosses me around when the moon is full; remember he’s a werewolf.

If you can answer “yes” to any of the above questions, you just might be in an unhealthy relationship and possibly addicted to love, romance, or the idea of participating in a relationship despite the painful consequences and high emotional price tag.

I know the scenario all too well. It’s easy to fall for those alpha males we inhale like a breath of fresh air while devouring our favorite romances, paranormal or otherwise. The stories make dysfunctional and dare I say, at times, borderline abusive men appear so tantalizing. They also tempt us with the notion that can’t live without a specific relationship/person … think Bella sitting in that darn chair following Edward’s departure in the Breaking Dawn, The Movie.

Why am I bringing up this depressing topic?

Because it’s important to remember the books we read, featuring men who ultimately bring danger and even disaster to our lives aren’t good for us in the real world. We don’t have super powers, (unless you’re hiding something) to combat the villains and vicious characters that seem to cling to these men like a pair of poured on leather pants. Nor are we equipped to handle all the chaos that accompanies them, roaring down the main street of our heart.

But the main reason, friends, is because I care. I know what it’s like to search for love in the darkness hoping it would light up my life. Unfortunately, I ended up with a blood thirsty vampire latched onto my neck unwilling to release his relentless and painful hold. What seemed so enticing and intoxicating in the beginning became poison to my heart and life. When a vampire is attached to your throat, it’s hard to live life, let alone experience love.

This special post is just a reminder for us to enjoy the lethal love in the books we read, without allowing our desire for love and romance to overpower our commonsense.

On the lighter side, this is what makes reading paranormal romances the safe and better option. I took this from my website.

Why write a series of books about wolfy-men, who according to legend, howl at the moon, shed fur, and shred their victims with their big teeth – oh my?

I think the explanation can’t ignore the psychology of women. Do I speak for all women? Of course, not! But I do know (right or wrong) a wide range of women (myself included) are, or have been at some point in the past, drawn to “bad boys,” men who for whatever reason live daringly adventurous lives, doing things that often cause them to stand apart from other less intense guys, the type of guys we might refer to as uber reliable or b-o-r-i-n-g. Bad boys are so refreshingly far from boring, they’re not even on the same map. They’re typically easy on the eyes, usually in a non-traditional way, and have strong, possibly overbearing personalities; they are decidedly masculine in every sense of the word. Dare we say they’re predatory? They take control, go after what they want, and are nowhere near tame. Feral. Wild. Sexy. Dangerous. Yep. They’re beastly. And what’s more beastly than a werewolf? See my point?

If you want tame, werewolves are not for you. Danger isn’t for everyone. Yet, I challenge you to take a long look at the desires of your heart. Do you crave adventure? Excitement? Passion? If you’re breathing, I suspect you’ve wished for those very things a time or two … or three hundred. Don’t worry. And don’t be ashamed. You’re so not alone.

Men with supernatural tendencies tend to live outside the box we call normal. Excitement, danger, and passion cling to them like peanut butter to jelly. Yummy! And we just can’t help but want a taste. Granted, we may live our safe, predictable lives, but opening a book that rockets us into a world of romance, intrigue, and danger, along with a good dose of humor, allows us to experience those bad boys without the not-always-positive side effects. In other words, we can safely enjoy danger and desire without breaking a nail or nursing a broken heart.

That final sentence says it all. We can enjoy our wolfy guys from the safety of our favorite arm chair, without putting ourselves in harm’s way.

However, if you’ve found yourself dealing with an unwanted and toxic relationship, I’d like to recommend a resource you might want to check out. The book Biting Back by Claudia Cunningham, is a no-nonsense, no garlic guide to facing the personal vampires in your life.

Be safe. Love. Live. And read.

About Carol Van AttaLike most authors, Carol Van Atta is no stranger to the written word. She penned a short novel at age 12 (somewhat frightening illustrations included, and lots of bunnies were involved), and had a creative writing piece published in her high school newspaper (about David Bowie’s Diamond Dogs LP). Yes, she’s an ex-80’s chick.

Devouring books from numerous genres, Carol developed a deep thirst/hunger for more reading material, and could almost always be found with her nose in a book.

She has contributed to several popular inspirational anthologies and devotional books, and lives in the rainy wetland of Oregon with a terrifying teen (another in college) and a small zoo of animals. She is taking an undetermined hiatus away from inspirational writing to delve into her darker side. (Though you can check out her latest spiritual suspense novel, Soul Defenders). It is rumored that this genre-jumping occurred after Carol discovered too suspicious red marks on her neck, and experienced an unquenchable urge to howl at the moon.

To learn more about Carol, look for her on her website, on Facebook, and her blog.

TOURWIDE GIVEAWAY

Carol Van Atta, author of I Kissed a Dog, invites you to enter to win Ebooks and Promo Posters from her publisher.

I Kissed a Dog, book one of Werewolves of the West, Carol Van Atta, with one poster
Soul Defenders: The Black Orchids, Carol Van Atta, with one poster
Black Moon, Jessica McQuay, with one poster
Blood Betrayal, Alison Beightol, with one poster
Morningside, Ashley Madau, with one poster
Drama Queens, Kevin Klher, with one poster
The Dogman Cometh, Jonathan Womack, with one poster
Blood Destiny, Tessa Dawn, with one poster
ONE BOOK OF YOUR CHOOSING FROM THE CHARLES RIVER PRESS/CAMBRIDGE PRESS CATALOGUE (EBOOK)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: I Kissed A Dog by Carol Van Atta

Posted on April 15, 2013April 20, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | B Reviews> blog tours> book reviews

Format read: ebook provided by the author
Formats available: ebook, paperback
Genre: Paranormal romance
Series: Werewolves of the West, #1
Length: 446 pages
Publisher: Charles River Press / Cambridge Press US
Date Released: November 21, 2012
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

Chloe Carpenter isn’t like other women. She can communicate with animals, a gift she unwrapped following one of her frequent dances with death.

In her otherwise wacky life, she’s finally found a semblance of sanity working at the Plum Beach Wildlife Park, where her unique talents can make life or death differences for the animals in her care. That semblance is shattered when a new veterinarian roars into the park in his spiffed up sports car and sets his golden gaze on her. If she had her way, he’d roar right back out.
Problem: He’s her new coworker and he’s saved her life twice – in the past twenty-four hours.

Zane Marshall, Enforcer for the Pacific Pack of purebred werewolves, has a job to do – figure out who or what is mutilating the young men of Plum Beach.

With orders to find the woman who talks to animals, he accepts a position working alongside the fiery Chloe Carpenter, a female who ignites his interest far more than he ever expected.
Remarkably, she’s the one elusive female with potential to bring meaning and passion to his empty existence.
Problem: She despises him.

Together, they’re forced to unravel a mystery of supernatural proportions, a murderous mystery with eternal implications for everyone. In the process, they discover opposites really do attract.
Major Problem: Zane is pledged to another woman, and she’ll do anything to keep him from Chloe.

My Review:

If you are looking for a series to fill the Sookie-sized hole in your reading life, you might want to check out Carol Van Atta’s new Werewolves of the West series. Chloe Carpenter, at least in her first appearance in I Kissed a Dog, bears more than a passing resemblance to a certain telepathic waitress from Bon Temps, Louisiana.

Chloe’s not exactly telepathic, but she’s not exactly not, either. Chloe’s more like a female Doctor Doolittle. That’s right, Chloe talks to the animals, and they talk back. Only telepathically.

Chloe wasn’t born the animal psychic. There was a nearly tragic incident–with a fence, and a doberman, and a swimming pool. Instead of dying, Chloe ended up with this “gift”. Let’s call it a mixed blessing.

She’s great at helping animals. When they’re sick, they really can “tell her where it hurts”. Vets love her. On the other hand, finding out from her ex-boyfriend’s cat that he was a cheating hound was pretty traumatic.

Now she works for a wildlife park as a kind of animal whisperer. Her boss knows about her talent, but it’s somewhat of a mixed blessing for the park, too. Chloe’s not a vet, and they need to call one whenever she finds a sick animal.

That’s where Zane Marshall comes in. He is a vet. He’s also the pack enforcer for the Pacific Pack werewolves. He’s looking for Chloe, because his pack needs her animal telepathy services. He isn’t counting on her ability to read him!

Zane is the first “human” Chloe has ever been able to read, confusing her no end. The revelation that all too many of the mythical creatures she has read about are real knocks her world for a complete loop.

Zane and his friends need Chloe to help them investigate a threat to their pack, but there is also a serial killer on the loose who is murdering men in Chloe’s small town, and the two cases just might be connected.

Oh, and Zane’s intended mate thinks that Chloe is in her way, and plans to eliminate her any way she can. The messier, the better. Ouch!

Escape Rating B: There is definitely a resemblance between the early Sookie and Chloe, particularly if you wanted Sookie to pick Alcide.

Chloe starts out as an innocent. Very innocent, she’s a virgin! Her parents were extremely protective. I’ll say over-protective, and a lot of those lessons stuck. Also, like Sookie, her telepathy causes her some relationship problems. There are other similarities between Sookie and Chloe, but revealing more goes deeply into spoiler territory.

However, Chloe’s ability to talk to animals is not just different, it’s cool. The animals do talk back. And they generally love her for paying attention and taking care of them.

Zane and Chloe’s relationship starts out with a huge misunderstandammit and continues through one right after another. These two never seem to be straight with each other. And there is a giant insta-lust thing going on, although I hesitate to call it insta-love, combined with the werewolf fated-mating-bond trope. The amount that these two kept secrets from each other means that their love story needs some more fleshing out, or more trials and tribulations, before I’ll totally buy into it.

I did get fooled by who the villain was, and I stayed up way too late on a work night to finish the book.

One of Chloe’s biggest secrets leads to a potential love-triangle that caused the book to end on a jaw-dropping cliffhanger. This story absolutely requires a sequel, so it’s a good thing that it is book one of a series. I can’t wait to find out what happens next!

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

The Sunday Post AKA What’s On My (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 4-14-13

Posted on April 14, 2013April 14, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Blog Hops> Giveaways> Magic Touch Blog Hop> The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

I wonder how many people in the U.S. are spending this weekend frantically doing their taxes? Not a pretty picture, is it? We did ours early this year, but last year we filed an extension, so I’m in the position of one of those people in the glass house not being able to throw stones.

And isn’t e-filing a wonderful thing?

Speaking of wonderful things, the winners of all the giveaways from last weekend are in the process of being notified. I haven’t heard back from everyone yet, so the announcements will be in next Sunday’s Post.

There is still plenty of time to enter Sheila Roberts’ tourwide giveaway of a $25 eHarlequin Giftcard and along with print copies of the latest book in her Icicle Falls series, What She Wants.

This weeks’ complete recap:

B+ Review: Lucky Like Us by Jennifer Ryan
A Review: Big Boy by Ruthie Knox
B Review: What She Wants by Sheila Roberts
Guest Post by Author Sheila Roberts + Giveaway
B+ Review: The Trouble With Sin by Victoria Vane
C+ Guest Review: Star Trek The Next Generation: The Stuff of Dreams by James Swallow
Stacking the Shelves (41)

What’s coming up this week?

First, I have to kiss a dog.

Tomorrow my guest will be Carol Van Atta, the author of I Kissed a Dog, the start of a new paranormal romance/urban fantasy series about werewolves and other creatures. I’ll also have a review of this rather fun start to a series that just might fill the Sookie-sized hole in your reading schedule.

Thursday my guest will be Jenny Davidson, talking about her rather spooky book about immersion in real-life gaming, The Magic Circle. That story was one to read with the lights on.

And the week ends with The Magic Touch Blog Hop. But there’s magic all week long!

Stacking the Shelves (41)

Posted on April 13, 2013April 10, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

This is two-weeks’ worth of shelf-stacking. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Again.

However, a quite possibly germane post appeared this week at All About Romance titled Hoarders: The TBR Episode? While I can cheerfully say that I do not have 600 print books in my house labelled “TBR”, I have to confess that I do have about 200. And the low number isn’t because I’ve restrained myself, it’s because I switched to ebooks over two years ago, so I have lots of TBR ebooks, they just don’t take up nearly as much space!

For Review: (ebooks unless noted)
Antiagon Fire (Imager Portfolio #7) by L.E. Modesitt Jr.
The Brazen Amazon (Alliance of the Amazons #3) by Sandy James
Frat Boy & Toppy (Theta Alpha Gamma #1) by Anne Tenino
Hair of the Dog by Kelli Scott
Hers for the Holidays (The Berringers #2) by Samantha Hunter (print)
How Beauty Loved the Beast (Tales of the Underlight #3) by Jax Garren
Living Dangerously (Adrenaline Highs #4) by Dee J. Adams
Long Simmering Spring (Star Harbor #3) by Elisabeth Barrett
Lover Undercover by Samanthe Beck
The Original 1982 by Lori Carson
Outcast Prince (Court of Annwyn #1) by Shona Husk
The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro
Private Practice by Samanthe Beck
Real Men Don’t Quit (Real Men #2) by Coleen Kwan
Rules of Entanglement (Fighting for Love #2) by Gina L. Maxwell
SEAL of Honor (HORNET #1) by Tonya Burrows
Shadow People (Peter Warlock #2) by James Swain
Wounded Angel (Earth Angels #3) by Stacy Gail

Picked up at Norwescon: (all print)
Eight Million Gods by Wen Spencer
Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

Purchased: (all print and all graphic novels)
Dragon Age by Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston
Dragon Age: The Silent Grove by David Gaider, Alexander Freed and Chad Hardin
Dragon Age: Those Who Speak by David Gaider, Alexander Freed and Chad Hardin

Borrowed from the Library: (print)
The Devil’s Armor (A Novel of the Bronze Knight #2) by John Marco

Guest Review: Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Stuff of Dreams by James Swallow

Posted on April 12, 2013April 5, 2013 by Galen Charlton | Author : Galen Charlton | book reviews> C Reviews> Guest Review

Format read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: ebook
Genre: space opera
Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Length: 94 pages
Publisher: Pocket Books
Date Released: March 25, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo

The Enterprise-E arrives in unclaimed space for a rendezvous with the Starfleet science vessel Newton. Jean-Luc Picard and his crew have been ordered to assist the Newton with the final phase of its current mission—a mission that brings Picard face to face with something he never thought he would see again: the phenomenon known as the Nexus. Less than twelve years after it left the Alpha Quadrant, the Nexus ribbon has now returned. Tasked to track and study the phenomenon as it re-entered the galaxy, the specialist science team on the Newton discovered that the orbital path of the Nexus has been radically altered by the actions of the rogue El-Aurian Tolian Soren—taking it deep into the territory of The Holy Order of the Kinshaya, one of the key members of the Typhon Pact. Starfleet Command is unwilling to allow the Kinshaya—and by extension, the Typhon Pact—free access to what is essentially a gateway to anywhere and anywhen, as a single operative could use the Nexus to change the course of galactic history….

Guest Review by Galen

Sometimes the name of the game is keep-away. The Nexus, which was at the heart of the movie Star Trek: Generations, has wandered close to the territory of a rival to the Federation. The Nexus is tempting on many levels. Somebody who figures out how to control it would have possession of a powerful time machine, and that prospect is of course rather concerning. The Nexus is also tempting as an object of scientific curiosity. One of the things that Captain Picard is quickly faced with in The Stuff of Dreams is navigating between those two temptations.

The Nexus also offers a very personal temptation: someone who enters it can have a perfect life, or at least a good facsimile thereof. Or perhaps, just the life they desire. Therein lies the deeper story.

Escape Rating C+: The Stuff of Dreams is a competent addition to the TNG series, but works best as a palate cleanser between novels. Readers who are new to the recent TNG book series may find themselves a bit lost. To best appreciate Swallow’s entry, I recommend first reading the Destiny trilogy by David Mack and at least dipping into one or two of the Typhon Pact stories.

One of the (guilty?) pleasures of reading media tie-ins is getting the chance to see loose ends tied up. It can also be nice to see connections being drawn between apparently separate stories in the fictional universe. However, stories that aim to invoke that apophenia risk overshooting. The fallout from the events of the Destiny trilogy are going to provide a deep well for TNG reboot authors to dip into for a long time. However, by touching on that and Generations and the Typhon Pact and time travel (including a throw-away reference to the Department of Temporal Investigations), The Stuff of Dreams crossed the line into being too much of a name-checklist of recent Trek. In particular, I think that dropping either the Kinshaya or the Newton would have made for a tighter story.

As an exploration of survivor guilt, The Stuff of Dreams has a place on the shelf for folks who have enjoyed the TNG reboot novels, but does not otherwise stand alone or stand out.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: The Spinster’s Secret by Emily Larkin

Posted on April 11, 2013December 1, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | 3 1/2 Stars> book reviews> Originally published at Book Lovers, Inc.> The Rocket Lover

The Spinster's Secret by Emily Larkin Format read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Genre: Historical Romance
Release Date: Feb. 17, 2013
Number of pages: 218 pages
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Formats available: ebook
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website | Publisher’s Website | Amazon | B&N | Kobo

Penniless spinster, Matilda Chapple, lives at isolated Creed Hall, dependent on the austere charity of unloving relatives and under pressure to marry a man twice her age. In an attempt to earn enough money to escape this miserable existence, she writes a series of titillating ‘confessions’. Her secret is safe — until battle-scarred Waterloo veteran, Edward Kane, reluctantly accepts the commission to uncover the anonymous author’s identity.

While staying at bleak Creed Hall, Edward finds himself unaccountably drawn to his host’s lonely niece. Can Matilda conceal the secret of her scandalous writings, or will Edward discover that the spinster and the risqué authoress are one and the same person? And when Matilda feels the need to experience sex as her fictional courtesan does–will she lose her heart to Edward, along with her virginity?

My Thoughts:

The concept of this story is so incredibly intriguing that I had to pick it up, but it doesn’t quite live up to its expectations.

Or it does, but the setting is so dreary that the all-too-realistic description of the dreariness depresses the reader along with characters.

Let me explain.

Mattie Chapple is a penniless spinster. She is supposed to be grateful to her stingy, miserly, nasty uncle for the roof over her head, the food on her plate and the clothes on her back. The very cold roof over her head, the stringy and boiled food on her plate, and the always grey clothes on her back.

In other words, her uncle would make Ebenezer Scrooge seem like a generous and giving human being–before his visit from the spirits of Christmas. After all, Bob Cratchit was allowed to do whatever he wanted with his meager salary. Mattie doesn’t even have an allowance, because she’s female.

And she has to read sermons on female “meekness” after dinner. Every night. Even in the years just after Waterloo, Uncle would have been considered a bit much.

Mattie has a plan to escape her bleak life by writing salacious, and entirely fictitious, confessions of a courtesan. Mattie has no sexual experience whatsoever, so she is plagiarising the entire thing from a diary she found in a cupboard and a purloined copy of Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, much more famously known as Fanny Hill.

Mattie’s “confessions” are selling like hotcakes, or the time-appropriate equivalent.

Of course something happens so that she is in danger of discovery before she’s ready. Otherwise there wouldn’t be a story. And Uncle Skinflint (no that’s not his name but really, nothing comes close) can’t stand the thought of a prostitute in his domain.

Conveniently for the story, Edward Kane enters the picture to search for the supposed prostitute. The convenience is okay.

Kane is as fascinating a character as Mattie. He survived Waterloo. That’s not it. His descriptions of exactly what he survived are gut-wrenching. He was ready to die, and you know exactly why. He’s left with pretty horrible scars, and an even worse case of survivor’s guilt. He’s come to Creed Hall to do penance, and it’s a good place for it.

He decides that his penance is to find the courtesan. Instead, he finds a reason for living.

Verdict: I don’t have enough hands to do a proper “on the one hand/on the other hand”. Some things were terrific and others made me want to scream.

On the one hand, I loved that neither the hero NOR the heroine were pretty people. And it’s sad that it’s necessary to applaud this as a welcome development. Kane is physically scarred as well as emotionally. His scars are startling and even frightening. His right ear is mostly missing, as are some of his fingers. Mattie loves him as he is. And Kane worships her as she is. He prefers the fact that Mattie is a big woman, because he is referred to as a goliath. He’s happy to find a woman he doesn’t have to be careful of. He thinks Mattie is the incarnation of Venus!

They are friends first, and their friendship is cautious, as it should be, and it takes time to develop. We see them tentatively reaching toward each other, and how fragile that bond is. This story would break if there were even a hint of insta-love. But there isn’t.

The premise of the story, that a spinster with no experience whatsoever would be writing a salacious novel filled with sexual detail, and writing it by plagiarism at that, was just a bit too unrealistic. On the other hand, it did set up the reason for Mattie to proposition Kane, which in turn sets up the later misunderstandammit.

The story is actually a sweet love story about the power of redemption. I liked the story itself. But the extended descriptions of the utter, mind-numbing, soul-destroying dreariness of Creed Hall and Mattie’s life there sucked most of the joy out of the story. I would be giving this story a higher rating if there had been a couple of dozen pages less detail about the bleakness of living in Creed Hall.
3-one-half-stars

I give The Spinster’s Secret by Emily Larkin 3 and 1/2 slightly depressed stars

Review: The Trouble with Sin by Victoria Vane

Posted on April 11, 2013April 5, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | B Reviews> book reviews

Format read: ebook provided by the Author
Formats available: ebook
Genre: Georgian romance, Historical romance
Series: Devilish Vignette (The Devil DeVere), #2
Length: 79 pages
Publisher: Self-published
Date Released: March 9, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon

The Trouble with Sin … Is the devil within…

Aspiring poet Simon “Sin” Singleton, has lived his life only for larks, laughter, and ladies of easy virtue, eluding defying, and flouting all manner of authority until his impetuous misdeeds finally catch up with him. Having lost his muse, his allowance, and even his friends by edict from a tyrannical father and puritanical mother, Simon is ready to drown himself in drink, until receiving an ingenious proposition that could change everything.

The wages of Sin is……twenty-five percent of the net!

It seems a fantasy come true when Simon is offered an independent income by combining his two great passions– poetry and lewd women –by writing poetry about lewd women! Unfortunately, maintaining anonymity may be much harder than he thought…

My Review:

Simon Singleton, otherwise so appropriately known as “Sin” is the third of DeVere’s friends. We first get to know Sin in the infamous (and hilarious) Lion incident in Devil in the Making. Sin seems to be the only one of the rather infamous trio to have what we might consider normal parents. Well, more normal than DeVere’s anyway.

Although Sin’s mother does seem to be excessively devoted to religious pursuits! And Sin is so far from religiosity as to be positively pursuing anything in the opposite direction. What I meant was that his parents are both alive and do seem to care what happens to him, even if they sometimes have a peculiar way of showing it.

DeVere is definitely a bad influence. Not evil, definitely not that, but not precisely on the side of the angels, either.

And Sin Singleton is the picture of a sweet boy looking for nothing but good times. Wine, women and song, if by song you mean poetry. He seems somewhat of a lightweight, seeking the easiest ways to keep himself in pretty girls, decent drink and to continue writing that poetry.

So he ends up writing a guidebook to prostitutes. In verse. How else were they to advertise?

It’s a great way to supplement his allowance! Until his mama finds out. And then his papa buys him a commission in the Army. Sending him off to the wilds of North America, of all places.

The trouble with Sin is that he always tried to take the easy way out. In the end it turned out to be very, very difficult, indeed.

Escape Rating B+: The Trouble With Sin is a light and lovely romp that provides the perfect bridge between the main DeVere series, its prequel Devil in the Making, and the upcoming Jewel of the East. We haven’t seen much of Sin until now, so it was great to finally read his backstory.

He clearly had to have had a rough time in order for the boy he was in The Trouble with Sin, to turn into the broken man who appears in the midst of A Devil’s Touch. I can’t wait for Jewel of the East, because this story has completely whetted my appetite for another of Victoria Vane’s delightful Georgian bonbons!

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Guest Post by Author Sheila Roberts + Giveaway

Posted on April 10, 2013April 5, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | blog tours> Giveaways

Today I would like to welcome Sheila Roberts back to Reading Reality! In October I interviewed Sheila to celebrate the first book about Life in Icicle Falls, the totally yummy Better Than Chocolate. Although she’s here today on tour for What She Wants, which is a terrific book about men’s friendships, the third book in the series, Merry Ex-Mas, was all about women’s friendships. So, I asked her to write a bit about the theme of friendship that runs through her stories.

Love and Friendship

I seem to be drawn to these two topics when writing my books. Love is so important. We all need love in our lives! But we also need friendship.

I enjoy writing about women’s friendships because I think they’re hugely important. Our girlfriends are always there for us. A true friend is always there with tissue when we need a good cry and chocolate to make us feel better. A true friend is always there to celebrate when we find Mr. Right and to hug us when Mr. Right turned out to be Mr. Wrong. Maybe that’s why my stories usually feature a cast of friends as well as a romance.

I enjoyed writing about girlfriends helping each other sort out their man troubles in my previous novel, Merry Ex-mas. This time around though, I wound up putting together a different cast of characters. What She Wants is all about the men and how they deal with love and friendship. Guys may not be as touchy-feely as we are. And they’re not going to bare their souls to one another. But, in a pinch, a man can count on his friends.

My shy, geeky hero, Jonathan Templar, and his poker pals are a good example of this. These men are all different – in age, in lifestyle, in their levels of success. But one thing they share in common: they can’t figure women out. Solving the mystery of what women want needs to be a team effort. I’m hoping readers will enjoy watching as this group of men go from clueless to clued in.

So please join me in Icicle Falls for some laughter and good times, and let’s see if these guys can find true love.

About Sheila Roberts

Sheila Roberts lives on a lake in the Pacific Northwest. She’s happily married and has three children. She’s been writing since 1989, but she did lots of things before settling in to her writing career, including owning a singing telegram company and playing in a band. Her band days are over, but she still enjoys writing songs. When she’s not speaking to women’s groups or at conferences or hanging out with her girlfriends she can be found writing about those things near and dear to women’s hearts: family, friends, and chocolate.

To learn more about Sheila, please visit her website or blog. You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter.

TOURWIDE GIVEAWAY

Sheila will be awarding a print copy of What She Wants (US/Canada only) to 10 randomly drawn commenters during the tour. A Grand Prize of a $25 eHarlequin coupon plus a finished copy of What She Wants (US/Canada only) will be awarded to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For more chances to win, check out the other stops on Sheila’s book tour!

Review: What She Wants by Sheila Roberts

Posted on April 10, 2013April 5, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | B Reviews> blog tours> book reviews

Format read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: ebook, mass market paperback, audiobook
Genre: contemporary romance
Series: Life in Icicle Falls, #4
Length: 400 pages
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Date Released: March 26, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository

What do women want?

Jonathan Templar and his poker buddies can’t figure it out. Take Jonathan, for instance. He’s been in love with Lissa Castle since they were kids but, geek that he is, she’s never seen him as her Mr. Perfect. He has one last shot—their high school reunion. Kyle Long is equally discouraged. The pretty receptionist at his office keeps passing him over for other guys who may be taller but are definitely not superior. And Adam Edwards might be the most successful of Jonathan’s friends, but he isn’t having any success on the home front. His wife’s kicked him out.

When Jonathan stumbles on a romance novel at the Icicle Falls library sale, he knows he’s found the love expert he’s been seeking—Vanessa Valentine, top-selling romance author. At first his buddies laugh at him for reading romance novels, but soon they, too, realize that these stories are the world’s best textbooks on love. Poker night becomes book club nightand when all is read and done, they’re going to be the kind of men women want!

My Review:

Any trip to Icicle Falls is a treat. It reads like an almost perfect small town, one of those places where everyone knows your business, and wants the best for you.

But like most places, under the surface, things aren’t always what they seem. Not all the marriages are perfect, and not everyone’s experience in high school was happy. Certainly everybody hasn’t figured life out by the time of their 15th high school reunion!

Reading about Jonathan Templar and his Friday-night poker buddies turning to romance novels to figure out what women really want definitely turned out to have its share of hilarious moments…but it also ended in some lessons learned for the men involved.

They did figure it out, even if their source of advice turned out to not exactly be the person they thought she was!

Five guys play poker: the town nerd, the successful businessman, and the cubicle dweller, along with one happily married man and one divorced middle-aged cynic. The happily married man knows that the secret is to treat his wife like she’s the most important person in his world, because she is.

Jonathan, Kyle and Adam need to learn that lesson, for various reasons of their own. It’s Jonathan, the computer guru of the group, who overhears women at the library book sale telling each other that if only men read romance novels they might have a chance at getting a woman and keeping her satisfied.

Jonathan is desperate enough to try, even if he is so embarrassed that he keeps it a secret. Along with his not-so-secret life-long crush on Lissa Castle. But Lissa (of course!) only ever saw him as a friend. Jonathan hopes that, armed with the advice from the books and a complete makeover, he’ll be able to sweep Lissa off her feet at their 15th high school reunion at the end of the summer.

His friends Kyle and Adam are equally desperate for reasons of their own. So they all dive headlong into the world of romance novels, hoping that they will be able to find their own happy ever afters with the women of their dreams.

Even if they have to get hit by a clue-by-four to get their dreams on the right track!

Escape Rating B: There are three love stories packed into this one book, but they are woven together by the constant of the Friday night poker get-together. It was neat to have a romance told pretty much from the point of view of the guys in the story. And it worked!

Adam needs a wake-up call, and he takes a long time to get one. He doesn’t want to grow up and realize he’s been selfish. Kyle’s problem is that he’s been lusting after a bimbo instead of paying attention to a woman who is pretty and terrific and good for him. He’s another boy who needs to man up.

Jonathan is the anchor, because he’s the one who most wants to change. His is kind of an “ugly duckling” story, although he isn’t really ugly–but he thinks of himself that way. He’s just geeky, but very successful at it. His problem is that life-time crush on the former girl-next-door. He needs to get her or get over her, so he decides to get her. And he uses the romance novels as a textbook for what women want. It’s really kind of sweet. He even gets to be a hero.

But because the story is told from Jonathan’s point of view, we really don’t get to see why he loves Lissa. We know that he does, but we don’t know what makes Lissa so special. Jonathan is a terrific guy, and a lot of women would be happy to find someone like him. He goes to a tremendous amount of effort to make himself over for someone who has never noticed him. I wish we had a chance to get to know her better.

I loved the scenes where the poker buddies meet the romance writer who was their inspiration. Those scenes were fantastic!

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

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Love and Friendship

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