Tag: 2012 Reading Romance Challenge

Review: All I Want for Christmas is a Duke by Delilah Marvell and Maire Claremont

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> B Reviews> book reviews
Format read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: ebook
Genre: Historical Romance, Holiday Romance
Length: 209 pages
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Date Released: December 5, 2012
Purchasing Info:Delilah Marvelle’s Website, Maire Claremont’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble

Two ladies. Two dukes. One Christmas. And scandal galore.

A Christmas anthology by two hot names in historical romance fiction…

Merry Christmas, Mrs. Robinson by Delilah Marvelle

Lady Jane left her father, the Earl of Chadwick, and the ton behind to experience life on the stage. After a disastrous marriage, the widow is living on the edge of poverty, determined to guard her heart, when a secret admirer from her past demands a second chance.

Shy and retiring Martin Nicholas Pierce, the Sixth Duke of Somerset, has carried a torch for Lady Jane since her youth, but he is five years her junior. When she married another man, he left for Europe, determined to put her out of his mind. After returning to find Lady Jane free, he vows to replace the memories of her cursed Twelfth Night with a new beginning.

The Twelve Days of Seduction By Màire Claremont

Alexander Hunt, Eighth Duke of Berresford, is aware his ward’s governess isn’t quite what she seems. Although Miss Flint is beautiful and intelligent, she misrepresented herself to gain employment, and he threatens to give her the sack mere days before Christmas.

Desperate to convince the sexy duke not to tear her from the little girl she’s grown to adore, Adriana challenges him to seduce her before the Twelve Days of Christmas have come to an end, although she fears it may cost her heart. Alexander accepts the challenge, unconcerned that he has as much to lose, if not more, than the delectable Miss Flint.

Two Christmas romances, both featuring Dukes as the heroes. You’d think that these stories would be similar, but beyond that superficial detail, they’re not.

The Twelve Days of Seduction by Màire Claremont starts with one of the classic themes, the governess who falls for her employer. Of course, the author adds more layers onto that trope. The governess also falls for her charge, the Duke’s somewhat willful daughter. And she also falls for the whole gig. She wants to be part of a family, because she never was. Adriana Flint definitely bootstrapped herself up from the underclass.

When the Duke of Berresford discovers that she isn’t what she seems, he should give her the sack. What he wants is to finally take her to bed. Because all the things that were forbidden when she was his daughter’s prim and proper governess are not forbidden if he fires her.

Adriana wants to stay. She loves the child, she loves being part of a family. She might even love Alex, her Duke. But the trick is to get him to let her stay long enough to let him convince himself that she’s the right woman for him. Not as his mistress, but as his duchess.

I found this story to be quite entertaining, and very sensual, but it did break the willing suspension of disbelief quite a bit even though it had lots of Christmas spirit. Maybe it would take the Ghost of Christmas Present to make this one come true.

Escape Rating for The Twelve Days of Seduction by Màire Claremont: B–

The first story in this duology is Merry Christmas, Mrs. Robinson by Delilah Marvelle. The story gets off to a slightly rocky start, but turns out to be an absolute polished gem by the end.

Lady Jane takes to the stage, and leaves the life she should have had behind in favor of the glittering world of being a singing sensation. While it might not be the same as being Lady Gaga in our time, Lady Jane has a musical gift that carries her beyond singing in drawing rooms for a few friends, think of Irene Adler in Sherlock Holmes’ A Scandal in Bohemia. She has a major talent, and a need to share it.

But Ladies don’t sing on stage.

She has a secret admirer, a man who sends her beautiful letters, every night, letters that reveal his understanding of her true spirit. But she never knows his name. The man she marries claims to be the mysterious Mr. X turns out to have been stealing the letters to read in advance so he could pretend to be the man she loved but had never met.

When confronted with the truth, her husband has a stroke and dies instantly, leaving her a young widow, cut off from society.

Years later, she ekes out a living giving music lessons, unwilling to sing, unwilling to return to her family hat in hand, when a friend from her youth comes to her boarding house.

Martin Pierce has recently become the Duke of Somerset. He’s discovered that his great-aunt, cut off from his family long before he was born, is living out her remaining years in that boarding house.

And is surprised beyond all belief to find Lady Jane. Surprised, stunned, relieved. Gobsmacked, although that term hadn’t been invented yet.

Because when Lady Jane sang on the stage, she was in her early 20s, and Martin Pierce was a 17-year-old boy painfully in love with her. He was the real Mr.X. He loves her still.

Now that they are both adults, the five-year gap in their ages is immaterial, but the difference in their status suddenly looms very large. As does his secret.

Can they start over? Should they? Martin is no longer the shy boy he once was, and he knows that he has to try.

Merry Christmas, Mrs. Robinson turned out to be utterly marvelous. Lady Jane’s pride was painfully well drawn, as was the spritely character of Martin’s aunt, Lady Ernastine. She’s a gem. Watching Martin take charge of his life is beautiful and powerful to watch.

Escape Rating for Merry Christmas, Mrs. Robinson by Delilah Marvelle: A-

***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: Five Golden Rings: A Christmas Collection

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> B Reviews> book reviews
Format read: ebook provided by Edelweiss
Formats available: Mass Market Paperback, ebook
Genre: Historical Romance, Holiday Romance
Length: 100 pages
Publisher: Avon Impulse
Date Released: December 11, 2012
Purchasing Info:Sophie Barnes’ Website, Karen Erickson’s Website, Rena Gregory’s Website, Sandra Jones’ Website, Vivienne Lorret’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance

The holidays are a time for wishes, magic and, of course, love. Celebrate the season with this delightful collection of Christmas tales. What better way for Connor Talbot, Earl of Redfirn, to spend the holidays than convincing Leonora Compton that the only match she needs to make is with him!

The Duke of Ashton has had three years to plan for his perfect Christmas present—the Lady Eleanor Fitzsimmons as his wife. Now, all he has to do is convince the reluctant lady …

Phin Baldwin does not believe in Christmas magic … until the clever and beautiful Ginny Overton gets it into her head to show him how wonderful it can be when wishes come true.

Just returned from the Crusades, marriage is the last thing on Sir Caerwyn’s mind. But will he be able to resist Lady Nia, the thief of his boyhood heart, when she tempts him yet again?

Responsible Ethan Weatherstone is determined to save Penelope Rutledge—and her reputation—from her silly scheme, but can he save himself from the temptation of her lips?

There are five stories in this collection. And I read them all and definitely enjoyed them. But these are the two that stuck with me after I’d turned the last page.

Tempting Mr. Witherspoon by Vivienne Lorret takes the friends into lovers trope, dresses it up in Christmas wrapping paper, and does it proud.

Penelope Rutledge and Ethan Witherspoon have been close friends since childhood. Their families met when Penelope and her father moved in  to the estate next to Ethan and his mother, after both had been widowed. Ethan and Penelope shared the tragedy of losing a parent much too young.

Since then, they have both had a need to maintain order, but Ethan much more assertively so than Penelope. Now Penelope is in her 20s, and other needs are rising to the surface. She wants a family of her own. Her own children. A husband. And she loves Ethan. She always has. But Ethan is unwilling to risk their friendship. It would upset the order of things.

Penelope knows that she must leave if she is ever to get over Ethan and have any chance at happiness. Or even contentment. Ethan is certain that all of her plans for leaving represent a risk to her reputation, that they are all dangerous to the order of things. To the order of his well-ordered life.

But will he see the truth before it is too late?

This was a beautiful family story. And a sweet love story. Escape Rating for Tempting Mr. Witherspoon: B+

War of the Magi by Rena Gregory was simply terrific. This is also a story about a young woman with a widowed father. Ginny is also in her 20s, and also has just a bit of fancifulness in her very well-ordered life.

Ginny helps her father manage the shop in their village, but she does want a life of her own. It’s just that there hasn’t been a man who interested her, and her father does need her.

Her villlage has a tradition about the gifts of the Magi. Not the actual Bible story, but a statue. Each year, the right to keep the statue is won by lottery, and the keeper gets to put three wishes in the statue. Those wishes somehow manage to get granted. Not always, but fairly often.

This year’s winner is Phin Baldwin, a reporter at the local newspaper. Phin is from out of town, and he doesn’t believe in wishes. But he won’t give the statue to someone who does believe.

Phin also makes Ginny’s heart beat faster. Well he did. Now he’s making it beat faster out of sheer exasperation. So Ginny starts stealing the statue from Phin, and letting the villagers have it for a day at a time.

Sharing the wishes. Sparring with Phin. And, it turns out, making his heart beat faster.

Maybe wishes do come true.

The concept behind this story, the Magi, the wishes, and the town, and how Phin and Ginny get together, was more than terrific. Ginny finds a way to share the true meaning of Christmas with the whole village, have fun, and get her man. She makes him a true believer too!

Escape Rating  for War of the Magi: A

***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: That Night by Diane Dooley

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> book reviews
Format read: ebook provided by the author
Formats available: ebook
Genre: Holiday Romance, Contemporary Romance
Length: 42 pages
Publisher: Wild Rose Press
Date Released: December 12, 2012
Purchasing Info:Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance

Lindy Hopkins works early, works late, always gets the job done and never, ever has incredible one night stands with handsome coworkers. Until that night. But it’s okay. She’s just going to keep on pretending that it never happened.

Alex Anderson never imagined that buttoned-down workaholic Lindy had the ability to transform into a table-dancing, champagne-guzzling femme fatale. Until that night. And it’s not okay that she’s been giving him the coldest of shoulders ever since.

Neither are prepared to face the other, but they have no choice. They’ve each booked the company Catskill cabin for a few days before Christmas and are both too stubborn to budge. Over mulled wine and under a blanket of snow, it’s starting to look like that night might happen all over again. But this time Alex is playing for keeps, while Lindy is determined that no man will come before her career. Will they find that love is forever or will it be just another night to remember?

A cute, sweet holiday treat. A lot like the reindeer cupcake I had last night. I’m not sure it would work any other time of the year, but for right now, utterly yummy.

Lindy Hopkins books the company cabin in the Catskills for the holidays because she doesn’t want to spend Christmas with her family. They exhaust her. And that’s a telling part of this story. Lindy is from upstate New York, but from a dying small town. And from a family that expected her to stay close to home, marry early, and live a conventional small town life.

Because Lindy didn’t do what her family expects, she does nothing but disappoint them. She is terrific, but because they can’t understand anything about who and what she is, all she feels from them is hurt. She can’t get anything right, so she just keeps trying harder. And harder. She has no life. We all know people like that.

One night, she celebrated a bit too much, and spent a glorious night with Alex Anderson, another rising star at the company. She expected to face a “walk of shame” the next morning, but nothing happened. Alex never told.

Lindy never forgot a single thrilling moment of that night, but she acted like it never happened. Men can have affairs with co-workers and no one thinks a thing of it, but there is still a double-standard. Lindy doesn’t want her work denigrated because she slept with Alex. She needs respect.

Alex wants more from Lindy than a one-night stand. So he arranges to be at that cabin for Christmas. They need to talk about what happened. Whether there is the possibility of more, or whether that was all that there was. But they need to talk about it at least once!

He’s playing for keeps. Lindy is just plain afraid. But until they finally talk it through, neither knows a thing. A little wine, a little snow, and a whole lot of truth might turn Lindy’s lonely Christmas into the best one she ever had.

Who knew that cheesy romance novels like “Kidnapped by the Greek Billionaire” contained a kernel of truth after all?

Escape Rating B: That Night is delicious late night reading pleasure. It’s just a cute, and slightly steamy story about two people who need to be alone together and start communicating to finally figure out that they really are perfect together.

***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: Red Hot Holiday by Anne Calhoun, K.A. Mitchell and Leah Braemel

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> B Reviews> book reviews
Format read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: ebook, audiobook
Genre: Erotic Romance, Holiday Romance
Length: 262 pages
Publisher: Carina Press
Date Released: December 3, 2012
Purchasing Info:Anne Calhoun’s Website, K.A. Mitchell’s Website, Leah Braemel’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance

I’ll be home for Christmas…to fulfill all your dreams.

This holiday, a Mountie is determined to get her man. A widow finds a fireman who ignites her passions again. And two men unsure of their commitment discover a happily ever after—and a blindfold—under their tree. No matter your desires, this collection of three shorts is bound to treat you to all the joys of the season.

Edited by Angela James, this anthology includes:

I Need You for Christmas by Leah Braemel
Breath on Embers by Annie Calhoun
Wish List by K.A. Mitchell

All the stories in this holiday collection contain extra-spicy sex, but that wasn’t necessarily the point. Or at least it wasn’t for this reader.

I found it interesting that all three stories were about established relationships. There was no porn-without-plot here. Yes, there was a little kink, but it was really about love, and what worked for these relationships, these people.

Breath on Embers wasn’t merely my favorite story in this collection, it nearly broke my heart. This is a story about someone using noise, any kind of noise; music, work, sex, exercise, to distance herself from terrible, gnawing grief. Tess lost her husband two years ago this Christmas. For the past nine months, she’s been using FDNY Lieutenant Ronan O’Rourke as the sex part of that noise. He knows where she’s been. He lost a beloved uncle in one of the towers on 9/11. He’s lost comrades on the job. Tess makes him feel alive. He’s tired of her using him to help her deaden the pain. He knows they have more. This Christmas he’s going to prove to her that there is life on the other side of grief, if she’ll only take the first step across the yawning chasm.

This story is awesomely painful. And awesomely beautiful.

Escape Rating for Breath on Embers: A+

I Need You for Christmas is an updated version of O. Henry’s classic Christmas story, The Gift of the Magi, with a slightly kinky twist. In today’s society, what’s the biggest thing you can sacrifice for your lover? Your career? Your dreams. Ryan’s dreams were for his art. He’s a sculptor, and he’s finally starting to sell. Art is always a hit or miss proposition at best, and this is finally his “time”. Megan is a Mountie, and that’s her dream. The problem is that her dream meant 5 years being posted in Nunavut, while the death of Ryan’s parents meant that he had to stay in Toronto as guardian to his young step-siblings.  They’re going to college now. So he can leave Toronto, even if being out of civilization may cause difficulties for his career.

But Megan has had about enough of being away from Ryan. She’s been a Mountie, and she loves it, but she misses him. While she needs to serve and protect, outside of her job, she also needs the freedom of submitting to Ryan in the privacy of their bedroom.

And after the sudden death of Ryan’s parents, Ryan knows that no one’s tomorrows are guaranteed. Mounties get shot at in the Territories.

So they each plan a surprise for the other for Christmas, a surprise that should guarantee they can be together all the time. But there’s this little problem with surprises…

This story was sweet, and hot, and drives the reader crazy with wanting them to just TELL EACH OTHER already! But it’s oh so believable, that they want to be together and would do this. Terrific story.

Escape Rating for I Need You for Christmas: B+

Ryan and Megan in I Need You for Christmas were definitely into the D/s part of BDSM, but only to a certain extent, and they didn’t explicitly refer to it that way.

Jonah and Evan in Wish List by K.A. Mitchell don’t start out the story being part of the BDSM scene either, but when Jonah discovers a pair of wedding rings hidden in his boyfriend Evan’s desk drawer, he starts thinking of all the things he might like to try before he finally takes himself permanantly off the market, and in the “wish list” he makes of things he’d really, really like to experiment with, his imagination conjures up a whole LOT of BDSM ideas, with himself starring in the submissive role.

The only problem is that he can’t imagine his relatively buttoned-down, neat-and-tidy lover Evan presiding over those fantasies as the Dom. No matter how much that concept turns him on. And how much he loves Evan and wants him to be the man in his life forever.

Little does Jonah know that Evan is a dominant who has been suppressing that side of his nature, because the sex no longer interests him without an emotional component. When he finds one of Jonah’s “wish lists” after it falls out of Jonah’s pocket, Evan’s need to dominate Jonah comes roaring back to life. Jonah can have everything he wants, and Evan too, if he can just figure out how to ASK for it.

This story drove me just a little crazy, because of the communication misunderstandammits that were required to keep it going. But it was still fun.

Escape Rating for Wish List: B

***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: Romancing the Holiday by Jaci Burton, HelenKay Dimon and Christi Barth

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> B Reviews> book reviews
Format read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: ebook, audiobook
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Holiday Romance
Length: 257 pages
Publisher: Carina Press
Date Released: December 3, 2012
Purchasing Info:Jaci Burton’s Website, HelenKay Dimon’s Website, Christi Barth’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance

We wish you a merry Christmas…and a happily ever after!

A memorable three-night stand gets rekindled in a cabin in West Virginia. An office romance is sparked by an impulsive holiday kiss. And two best friends scout locations for a marriage proposal and discover that they make a perfect match. ‘Tis the season for laughter, love and a lifetime of happiness.

Edited by Angela James this anthology includes:

We’ll Be Home for Christmas by HelenKay Dimon
The Best Thing by Jaci Burton
Ask Her at Christmas by Christi Barth

When I picked up Carina’s contemporary Christmas anthology last year, I didn’t know that two of the stories in Holiday Kisses were part of ongoing series. It didn’t matter at the time. In my review, I really enjoyed Jaci Burton’s A Rare Gift, and didn’t care much for HelenKay Dimon’s It’s Not Christmas Without You.

But both those families are back! Those were the middle stories. Part one must be in the first Carina Christmas collection, Naughty and Nice. Clearly I must complete the set.

First, there’s this year’s contemporary collection to review. (Future reviews will deal with the erotic collection Red Hot Holiday and the sci-fi romance collection A Galactic Holiday. I can’t resist collecting the set)

This collection was a lot stronger than the Holiday Kisses collection last year, which for me had one home run, two strong base hits, and one pretty big miss. This year, the stories were all very good.

So what does that mean, you might ask?

My favorite story in the collection is Jaci Burton’s The Best Thing. There are multiple layers to this story, because Tori and Brody have so much going on in their relationship. Brody Kent is the last single brother standing of the Kent brothers. They own Kent Construction. They also happen to all be Tori’s bosses. But Brody, well, she’s had a crush on him forever, since she first moved into town when she was 16. The thing is, she didn’t have much of a family, and Brody’s parents adopted her. So if she and Brody mix pleasure with business, and it goes pear-shaped, Tori will lose her heart, her job, and the only family she’s ever known.

No man is worth that, no matter what kind of skills he might have in the bedroom. And rumor has it that Brody has plenty of skills. But since Brody took their mad flirting to a searing kiss at last year’s Christmas party, neither of them has been able to recover. Is it worth losing the safety of a sure thing to find out if they can reach wonderful?

Escape Rating for The Best Thing: A-

I was surprised at how good HelenKay Dimon’s We’ll Be Home for Christmas turned out to be. It’s the same family as It’s Not Christmas Without You, a story where I did not care for the characters at all. But in We’ll Be Home for Christmas, the Thomas brother involved is big brother Spencer, and although he’s also being idiotic, he gets his head handed to him much quicker. Lila Payne gets good and mad and stands up for herself in a way I could respect and empathize with.

Spence goes out of town for a one-night stand to let off some steam, and meets Lila. She’s just gotten divorced, and also wants to forget about her troubles. This is all fine, except Spence tells Lila his name is Austin Thomas. When Lila comes to town to take over her Uncle’s broken-down resort, no one is happy about the name switch, especially embarrassed (and happily married) Austin. The fireworks never stop after that.

Both The Best Thing and We’ll Be Home for Christmas are terrific in the way that their respective groups of brothers tease and joke and kid around with each other. In spite of some tragedies in both backgrounds, these are great families to read about.

Escape Rating for We’ll Be Home for Christmas: B+

My least favorite story in this year’s bunch was Ask Her at Christmas by Christi Barth. It’s a story about a geek hero who has always felt like a disappointment to his hard-charging corporate father. Kyle is planning to finally please dear old dad by marrying a woman he doesn’t love, in order to further the merger between his father’s company, and her father’s company. The only problem is that the woman is a bitch.

And he’s been trying to ignore his feelings for best friend Caitlin for too many years. Feelings that go way beyond friendship. Feelings that poor Kyle has no idea that Caitlin reciprocates.

The story is really cute, but I did wonder how oblivious these too could possibly be, considering how much time they spend together.

Escape Rating for Ask Her at Christmas: B-

***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: Chase Me by Tamara Hogan

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> book reviews
Format read: ebook provided by the publisher
Formats available: Mass Market Paperback, ebook
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance
Series: Underbelly Chronicles #2
Length: 352 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Date Released: June 5, 2012
Purchasing Info:Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository

THE SECRETS SHE’S UNCOVERiNG WILL BE HIS TO KEEP…

Centuries ago, when their ship crashed to Earth, paranormals of all types settled secretly into our world, quietly going about their business with humans none the wiser. Self-ruling and careful to stay below the radar, all is threatened when Valkyrie archaeologist Lorin Schlessinger and her werewolf geologist partner Gabe Lupinsky inadvertently draw evil attention to Earth and its treasured natural resources.

As the threat intensifies, Lorin and Gabe struggle to contain the chaos they’ve unleashed, and to resist their explosive mutual attraction …

Tamara Hogan’s Underbelly Chronicles are a wild blend of urban fantasy and paranormal romance with the teeniest, tiniest touch of science fiction. Well, the SF is there in the same way that Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern were SF. I’ll get back to that in a minute. Or a few paragraphs.

If you haven’t read the first book in the series, Taste Me (See yesterday’s review for details) and you like your urban fantasy mixed with paranormal romance, check it out. Pretty much every race of supernatural not only exists, but they’ve all banded together and are not just hiding in plain sight, they police themselves. In Minneapolis.

In Chase Me, the scene is admittedly a bit less urban. The supernaturals in Hogan’s Underbelly Chronicles are not indigenous to our world, they crashed here in a spaceship! Chase Me concerns the archeological dig to retrieve the “black box” from that crashed ship, over a millenia later, at least according to oral history.

However, the Valkyrie archeologist and the werewolf geologist have done nothing but butt heads since the first day they started working together, and that was when they were back in Minneapolis. Out on the dig site in Outer Nowhere Minnesota, fighting over who is in charge of what is going to wreak havoc with productivity.

Except that isn’t what they’re really fighting about. After all, werewolves and Valkyries are both species that use aggression as an outlet for other tensions. Like sex. The real issues are that werewolves mate for life, and that Valkyries usually screw ’em and forget ’em.

Then they discover that their site isn’t far enough in the wilds that it can’t be found by a strange vampire who kidnaps one of their student workers, who vanishes in front of their eyes as if she was whisked away by a Star Trek transporter.

And yes, they do find that “black box”. Only to discover that most of their oral traditions about their origins are not quite on the mark. For one thing, their people have been on Earth four millennia, not just one. And there is genetic material in the box that might still be viable.

Escape Rating A: The whole Underbelly Chronicles world is incredibly absorbing. I dove straight from the first book to this one without stopping. I’m just sorry that the next book, Tempt Me, isn’t out yet.

The relationship building between Lorin (the Valkyrie) and Gabe (the werewolf) was terrific. Lorin thinks she doesn’t want a relationship with Gabe because she thinks he’s going to be a pushover, then she’s very pleasantly surprised to discover that he is anything but! Gabe is also a geek hero, which is always cool.

One of the subplots is that the werewolves in general, and particular Gabe’s family, have a lot of genetic problems, because the Alpha won’t permit the weres to mate with other supernaturals. There is just too much inbreeding. Gabe is losing his vision because of genetic problems. His mother and sister were both born with a missing limb. His family are practically outcasts because of their genetics. Gabe feels unworthy because of his family’s status in the pack.

About the reference to McCaffrey’s Pern. At the very beginning of Dragonflight, there’s a prologue with all the clues to tell the reader that the story is science fiction. Pern is a lost colony. But it reads so much like fantasy, that everyone forgets until they find the ruins of the ship, several books later. The supernaturals are descendants of a crashed ship. They know it. That black box is a beacon. When it is recovered, it sends a signal. That signal gets answered.

The perspective of the person on board the ship answering that signal always seems slightly confused to me. There’s more going on at his end of the story than we see. I know it’s intended to keep things mysterious for the reader, but it just left me too much in the dark.

And that’s what keeps me from giving this a A+.

(This review was originally posted at Book Lovers Inc.)

***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: Taste Me by Tamara Hogan

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> book reviews
Format read: ebook purchased from Amazon
Formats available: Mass Market Paperback, ebook
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal romance
Series: Underbelly Chronicles #1
Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Date Released: March 1, 2011
Purchasing Info:Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository

He Wants Her So Badly He Can Taste It…

Ever since their tempestuous fling years ago, incubus Lukas Sebastiani has known that siren Scarlett Fontaine was meant to be his. But when you’re a sex demon with an insatiable desire, relationships are way more than complicated…

Her Siren Songs Bring Men to Their Knees…

Rock star Scarlett Fontaine desperately needs a break after a grueling tour. But with murder and mayhem surrounding her band, and the one man she never thought to see again put to the task of protecting her, life is going to be anything but peaceful…

Every encounter between them creates more turmoil—and heat—until Scarlett pushes Lukas to the boiling point, and unleashes forces that go way beyond anything she can hope to control.

What if all the supernatural creatures that humanity has ever believed in all existed? All of them? What if they are all watching and waiting from the shadows, plannning for the right time to reveal themselves? Or worrying about the wrong time when our technology is going to force the issue?

Because they’ve been living amongst us ever since their spaceship crash-landed on Earth, a millenia ago. While they wait and watch, they police themselves. And that’s where this story begins.

Scarlett Fontaine is a siren. Really. She’s also the lead singer for Scarlett’s Web, a world-famous, band. When she sings, everyone in the audience feels her emotions. The only problem is that she doesn’t want to feel anything at all.

Lukas Sebastiani is in charge of security for the Underworld Council. He’s also an incubus, a sex demon. He feeds off of emotion. He feels what other people project. Unlike most incubi, Lukas feels their emotions as taste. Good emotions taste great, bad ones have him reaching for antacids.

There’s a serial killer on the loose that has him tasting ashes and drinking six-packs of Maalox.

But Scarlett comes home because she’s burned out. Lukas is the one man she can’t forget. When your first lover is a sex demon, it kind of ruins you for anyone else. And Lukas, he’s afraid that he was too rough for Scarlett’s first time.

Heaven forbid that he should have asked her what she thought. He’s too busy protecting her from himself. And denying what they both want. For years.

The serial killer changes all that when he starts targeting people close to them both–the daughters of the heads of the Underworld Council, making Scarlett, the daughter of the Siren leader, a prime target. Lukas can’t bear the thought of anyone else handling her security, forcing them into close long-term proximity–forcing them to deal with the issues that have been simmering between them for years.

Meanwhile, there is a killer out there targeting supernaturals, a killer who is much closer than anyone realizes. And his motives are out of this world.

Escape Rating A: I finished this and dove immediately into Chase Me, the second book in the series. I absolutely loved this book! If you like urban fantasies about sex, drugs and rock and roll, jump right in!

The tension between Scarlett and Lukas is what keeps you turning the pages on this story. He has created the situation between them by being overprotective and by not being willing to talk about what happened between them at the beginning. He left her feeling confused. It was her first time! He was an idiot. Several years later, extreme tension and anger still reigns. These two are a mess and need serious intervention. Too bad it took a serial killer.

What niggled me a teeny bit, just enough to keep this from being an A+ rating, was that I couldn’t quite figure out how the Underworld society worked. At All. A bit more explanation would have helped.

Who done it is not the mystery. Why he done it is the mystery. Which is intentionally not revealed by the end of the story.

But Lukas and Scarlett do manage to resolve their issues successfully. And steamily!

***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: Losing It by Cora Carmack

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> book reviews
Format read: ebook provided by the publisher
Formats available: ebook
Genre: Contemporary Romance, New Adult Romance
Series: Losing It #1
Length: 204 pages
Publisher: William Morrow
Date Released: December 5, 2012
Purchasing Info:Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble

Virginity.

Bliss Edwards is about to graduate from college and still has hers. Sick of being the only virgin among her friends, she decides the best way to deal with the problem is to lose it as quickly and simply as possible– a one-night stand. But her plan turns out to be anything but simple when she freaks out and leaves a gorgeous guy alone and naked in her bed with an excuse that no one with half-a-brain would ever believe. And as if if that weren’t embarrassing enough, when she arrives for her first class of her last college semester, she recognizes her new theatre professor. She’d left him naked in her bed about 8 hours earlier.

Meet cute turns into awkward morning after, compounded with a dose of “when I kissed the teacher” that manages to be sappy rather than squicky, which is difficult. Add in a dose of long-time friend wishing he could make this a triangle, but that just isn’t happening.

Then add in the heroine’s desire to finally get rid of her virginity, as if it’s an out-of-date pair of shoes. Or something like that. Except every time she screws up her courage (no pun intended), or girds her loins (pun definitely intended) she panics.

Bliss is 22, so she is an adult in this story. Awkward about it, but an adult. Also about to graduate college. It’s time for her to spread her wings. She just hasn’t found any guy she wants to spread them for. She overthinks everything. And she likes to be in control.

Sex is all about losing control, and Bliss doesn’t do that very well. At all.

Until she meets this cute guy with a British accent in a bar, and he’s reading Shakespeare. She finally discovers what all the love songs are about. Or at least the lust songs. She takes him home, intending to finally do the deed.

She can’t go through with it. She can’t stop thinking of all the things she might do wrong. All the ways it might become awkward. She runs away, leaving him naked in her bed. She pretends she has an emergency.

The next morning she finds out he’s her new theatre professor. He’s a temp for the final semester. He also lives in the next building over from her. They can’t escape each other. They also can’t escape how they feel about each other.

Because in spite of the really awkward start (epically awkward), they have pretty amazing chemistry together. Yes, on a physical level, but also in every other way. They like each other, they don’t just lust after each other.

Garrett may be her professor, but his days in college aren’t that far behind him. He just finished his MFA, so he’s probably four or at the most five years older than Bliss. But the gap between student and teacher is huge in other ways. Relationships are often forbidden because the teacher has power over the student. Power to give grades, to give easy, or difficult assignments, etc.

So when Garrett and Bliss can’t keep away from each other, they have to keep it a secret. For a whole semester. Which brings an entire roller coaster full of emotions into play.

And in the meantime, Bliss is still a virgin, and has an incredibly difficult time telling Garrett. I did mention she was a theatre student, right? Dramatics all around. Dramatic misunderstandings abound.

And in the middle of it all, the senior class puts on a play. And they all get mono. The course of true love definitely does not run smooth, but it absolutely does manage to run on.

Escape Rating B: Bliss is an endearing heroine in her awkwardness. The opening scene where she runs out on a naked Garrick is hilarious, but also sad.  You want her to be happy, and you’re not too sure at that point whether she’s going to make it past her own insecurities.

Garrick has the patience of a saint. He’s a little, maybe a lot, too perfect. I’m not sure how many real men would have the patience that he does. Not just to wait through the long sexual drought, but to do it without knowing why Bliss wants to go so slow, and to put up with her jumping to so many wrong conclusions in so many different directions. They don’t talk about where their relationship is going, Bliss always assumes the worst. And Garrick patiently puts up with it.

Then there’s poor Cade, Bliss’ best friend at the beginning of the story. Cade is a stock character in so many stories, the best friend who loves the oblivious main character, only to lose out when the main character finds true love. Cade’s purpose in Losing It is to lose his best friend, so that he can be the main character of a future book.

 

***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 Virgin and the Playboy and The Virgin and the Best Man by Kate Richards

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> book reviews
Format read: ebook purchased from Amazon
Formats available: ebook
Genre: Erotic Romance
Series: 1Night Stand
Length: 27 pages
Publisher: Decadent Publishing
Date Released: March 16, 2011
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble

Julie, accidental virgin, has waited longer than she ever planned to lose her virginity and join everyone else she knows in dating reality. Embarrassed at her plight, she has made arrangements with 1NightStand.com to meet with a handsome stranger for one night of no commitment required sexuality, without having to admit she’d never made love before.

Mark is the one single guy left in his group of friends. As such, he is known for the bevy of lovelies he dates, and his stories of wild exploits between the sheets. His participation in 1NightStand.com is on a dare, and he has no idea that his date is…less experienced than he is used to. And so much more…

When they enter the penthouse suite in Las Vegas, they enter a chamber designed for luxury and booked for a 1NightStand.

Format read: ebook purchased from Amazon
Formats available: ebook
Genre: Erotic romance
Series: 1Night Stand
Length: 75 pages
Publisher: Decadent Publishing
Date Released: November 7, 2012
Purchasing Info:Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble

Mark and Julia from The Virgin and the Playboy have set the date! They are to be married at The Castillo Las Vegas, where they met on their 1Night Stand. All their family and friends are invited and they have planned a special surprise for their maid of honor and best man.

Karin, Julia’s cousin, a small town librarian, chose family obligations over her dreams of the stars. She loves them all, but wonders when it will be her turn to live as she wishes…if it isn’t too late.

Ray, commercial pilot, is every bit as much a playboy as his brother Mark used to be. He isn’t opposed to finding The One, but fears his brother has collected the only perfect jewel.

What more appropriate gift for these two than a 1Night Stand with a date personally selected for them by Madame Evangeline.

Did the heroines have to be virgins? Really? I ask you?

It’s like this. I found a promo email from Decadent Publishing about the latest 1Night Stand titles while I was in the airport last week, and The Virgin the Best Man looked irresistible. Well, my resistance was down. Waking up at 5 am to catch a plane will do that to me.

The 1Night Stand series is a not-so-secret vice, and the heroine is a librarian. (But still, virgin? Never mind.) As the sequel to The Virgin and the Playboy, I let the Best Man and the Playboy twist my arm into buying the first book. Quick download in airport (I love my iPad with 3G).

Hauling my train of thought back onto the track…

In The Virgin and the Playboy, Julia Hooper signs up with Madame Evangelista’s 1Night Stand service to get rid of an “inconvenient accessory,” as she terms her virginity. She’s out of college and has reached the point where not having already “given it up”, the questions she faces from any man she dates about why she hasn’t have reached beyond inconvenient. So she signs herself for a one-night stand with an experienced man who will show her the ropes. She wants a playboy who will know what to do, and who she assumes she won’t like.

Mark turns out to be a sweet guy who has reached the point in his life where an endless line of nipped, tucked and fashionably chic (also model-thin) women, all alike has become boring. Julia is refreshing and natural and above all, real.

Together they discover an old truism, that it is difficult to make love without feeling at least a little love. They both feel a lot. They discover what they’ve both been missing. The story is short and surprisingly sweet for what it is.

One year later, Mark and Julia are ready to get married, and they invite their best friends. Did Julia’s best friend have to be a virgin too? And a librarian? Stereotype much? (I digress.)

Mark and Julia sign their best friends, their best man and maid of honor, up for 1Night Stands. It worked for them, why not pass along the gift? So to speak.

Mark’s best man, Ray, is a pilot who really doesn’t think very much of himself. And Karin, poor Karin, is a small-town librarian who acts as if she signed a morals contract when she took her job. (Real-life librarianship isn’t like this. Honest!)

Where this story takes flight is when these two lost souls start to tell each other their hopes and dreams. Karin wanted to be an astronaut. She studied for it, she had a scholarship, but her parents guilted her into setting her dreams aside to take care of an aging relative. Her spirit has been grounded ever since.

This story is really about Karin finding another way to learn to fly.

Ray needs to take a chance on himself. He needs to believe that he’s good enough for someone to love. Both of these people are wounded, and they need to believe in each other.

The fun thing about this story is that you’re never 100% positive that either of them was the intended 1Night Stand for the other. They take matters into their own hands and make  things work the way they want them to.

And they fly off together into the wild blue yonder.

Escape Rating for The Virgin and the Playboy: B-

Escape Rating for The Virgin and the Best Man: B+

***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: Heart of Atlantis by Alyssa Day

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> book reviews
Format read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: Mass Market paperback, ebook, audiobook
Genre: Paranormal romance
Series: Warriors of Poseidon #8
Length: 336 pages
Publisher: Berkley
Date Released: December 4, 2012
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository

As a war wages between the immortals of Atlantis and those of the vampire realm, a Poseidon warrior fights to save his world—and the woman he loves. And no risk is too great.

The desires of a high priest.

Alaric, Poseidon’s High Priest, has made a vow to Quinn, the woman he loves and the leader of the Resistance: to save her friend Jack before his last bit of humanity has been drained. Should Alaric succeed, there’s one intimate danger: he may lose Quinn to the love of the man whose life he saved. But damn Atlantis to the nine hells, he’s willing to put Quinn’s wishes first, regardless of the consequences.

The warning of a threat reborn.

The final jewel of Poseidon’s trident has turned up in the hands of mysterious Ptolemy Reborn, who claims to be descended from Atlantean royalty. He’s about to reveal to the world that Atlantis is real, positioning himself as king. But this magical terrorist is bent on chaos. The only warrior who can stop him is following his own path, driven by the even more powerful force of love. Atlantean powers over the sea could prove just as cataclysmic—for Quinn’s love, Alaric might drown the entire world.

My Review:

Alaric has been Poseidon’s High Priest for over 500 years. It’s a very, very powerful job, with one tremendous drawback–the High Priest has to be celibate. As bad as that sounds, he managed to get used to it, well sort of used to it, by walling himself off from his emotions. (It turns out you really can channel all that energy into power, at least if you’re a Warrior of Poseidon!)

Then Prince Conlan brought home his human bride, Riley, and Alaric met Riley’s sister Quinn, the leader of the human resistance against the vampires. Quinn was his soulmate, but as the High Priest, Alaric couldn’t claim her.

Que up 7, count ’em 7 books of angst for Alaric and Quinn, while all the other Warriors found their soulmates. Even the one who was cursed not to feel any emotions at all! Talk about torture…

Heart of Atlantis is Alaric and Quinn’s chance at a happy ever after. But, since there is a very real fear that if Alaric gives in to the temptation that Quinn represents, he’ll lose his power, their HEA is wrapped up in the resolution of the series.

They need to find the final stone for Poseidon’s trident, and Atlantis must rise from the depths of the oceans to take its place among the nations of the world.

Of course, there are obstacles. Not just their old enemy Anubisa, queen of the vampires, but there’s a new guy on the block. He calls himself Ptolemy Reborn, and he outs the Atlanteans before they are ready, and exposes Quinn as the leader of the resistance. But the good guys don’t know who he is or even what he is. He’s not vampire, and he’s not demon. So where did he come from and why does he care about their squabbles and their gods?

Meanwhile, Quinn’s best friend, Jack, has retreated to his tiger form and refuses, or is unable, to turn human again.

Can this universe be saved? Before the dome over Atlantis cracks completely and everyone drowns?

Escape Rating B-: This wasn’t quite as much fun as I hoped it would be when I saw that Day was wrapping up the series. The individual stories have been tons of fun, but there were too many plot threads in the air for this last book, and the story felt scattered.

Ptolemy Reborn’s origins came out of nowhere. His obsession with Quinn, and with this world, was never fully explained. It would have made more sense plot-wise if Anubisa were the driving force again, or at least one of her kind. His cannon was a little too loose, in more ways than one.

Alaric and Quinn spend the whole story running all over the place and debating whether they should or shouldn’t. Then they get interrupted just as they’re about to make love. It’s funny the first time, maybe the second, then it gets annoying. Also, they’re adults and they never seem to have a rational discussion about the elephant (maybe that should be pod of whales) in the room.  And when they finally do manage to consummate their relationship, what should be the epic love scene of all time gets rather short shrift.

It was great to have all the Warriors come back to Atlantis for the final raising of the continent. That was cool. What was not cool was the way that Jack just walked off alone at the end, alone and lonely. I need to know that there’s someone for him in the future.

***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.