15May2008

His Mistress by Arrangement by Natalie Anderson

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BLURB:

Jake Rendel is a successful millionaire who works and plays hard—unlike Emma Delaney, who’s stifled by her uninspiring job. So Jake makes Emma a proposition to shake off her prim-and-proper image: for a month, they’ll pretend to have a steamy affair!

Emma’s out of her depth—and things quickly get passionate in private as well as in public. Soon the girl-next-door is wishing the month of mistress make-believe will never end….

FORMAT: ebook

REVIEW:

Absolutely loved this!  Couldn’t put it down.  (Which wasn’t good for getting things done around here that needed to be done.  ;-)  )  I love Natalie’s voice and can’t wait for more of her books to be released over here. (grumble, grumble…wish they were now!)

Anyhow, I don’t have many authors that are on automatic purchase…I usually still like to decide after I’ve read the blurbs.  Natalie’s are an automatic though.  I highly recommend this book!

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15May2008

A Hero’s Redemption by Suzanne McMinn

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FORMAT: Paperback

REVIEW:

I specifically ordered this book without ever reading the back blurb because I’ve enjoyed other books by Suzanne.  I had fun reading this one and was truly curious how in the world things were all going to ever work out…especially as I got closer and closer to the end and there weren’t that many pages left!  But she did a faboulous job of it I thought and I’m looking forward to her next ones coming out.

Oh and small note–the cover in my opinion has nothing to do with the story! 

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15May2008

Her Warrior King by Michelle Willingham

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FORMAT: Paperback

REVIEW:

This is the first book in Michelle’s series timeline wise…but not the first which was published.  As with all of Michelle’s books I feel like I’m learning a bit about history while reading a lovely romance.  The gal in this story was strong willed and I really liked her choices.  On several occassions I know many author’s would have chosen to have her react in a different manner–because I’ve read those reactions time and time again–it was what I expected(not to say they are bad).  I really liked that Michelle had this gal’s ’strong will’ exerted in the manner it was.  I admired the character all the more and believed the story all the more as well for it.  This is a great read!

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15May2008

The Spanish Billionaire’s Mistress by Susan Stephens

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BLURB:

Zoe Chapman can’t stand arrogant men! She and Rico Cortes are destined to clash — though she can’t deny that he’s the ultimate Latin lover. But Rico thinks Zoe’s only being nice to gain access to his ancestral castle for her film about flamenco dancing. And yet each time she pushes him away, their mutual attraction just keeps dragging them back together. Could Rico be the man Zoe’s been waiting for…the man who’ll understand her secret needs and awaken her…?

FORMAT: Paperback

REVIEW:

*sigh*  I wanted to like this one.  I really did.  I love spanish stories, I love dancing…I wanted to like this one.  But I truly didn’t like how it was put together.  The plot is cool and I liked the way things were laid out.  I however had a really, really hard time with the pov switches and the reactions of both characters to things being said or done –especially in the beginning.  This was my first book by this author…as such I definitely plan on trying some more of hers out.  We’ll see.

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15May2008

Predatory Game by Christine Feehan

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BLURB:

Saber Wynter is running from her past when she meets Jess Calhoun, an ex-Navy SEAL who is physically and emotionally compromised by his own mysterious and violent history as a GhostWalker. What Jess senses in Saber is a kindred spirit, a lost soul desperate for sanctuary. He offers her a home, job, and a haven where she can safely reveal the secrets that shadow her. But danger follows her, too. Now, the riddles of both their pasts are about to collide, shattering the promise of their future with the ultimate betrayal.

FORMAT: Paperback

REVIEW:

Okay I have to start this out with — I have loved ALL of the GAME books.  ALL.  This is one set of books I’m buying as soon as they come out.  :-)  One of the big bonuses at least to me, in having a series long like this is you get to know the characters before they fall in love.  You, the reader, gets to fall in love with them long before their story is told.  There is just something special about that.  I know in particular, the second story on the twins really hit me hard that way…she had me bawling my eyes out by chapter 3!  I soooooo felt for that hero!  This book didn’t grab me quite in the same manner but it was fun to read.  I loved the hero in here and his quirky way of dealing with Saber.  All these books can stand by themselves but I think you’d enjoy the most if you read them in order.  The other thing I want to note…for me personally I believe Feehan does an awesome job of slipping in backstory.  You don’t feel like you need to skim if you’ve read the other books before it.  I love that.  Some authors/books can drive me nuts with their series backstory stuff.

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15May2008

The Count’s Blackmail Bargain by Sara Craven

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FORMAT: Paperback

REVIEW:

This was my first by this author and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It played out in a few ways I’d not expected yet was typical Presents.  The ending had a ‘monthly’ twist that was so cute…I liked it.  :-)  I’m definitely looking forward to reading more by this author.

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15May2008

After Glow by Jayne Castle

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BLURB:

No one on the net had the same blurb or picture as I did that I could find but I was too lazy to retype it.  ;-)  Figured this was close enough.

Para-archaeologist Lydia Smith has spent her entire adult life digging into the past, and building a career. But all that changes when she finds herself lost in the catacombs below the city, with no memory of how she came to be there. Now it’s her own past that is eluding her; and the secret of what happened to her will endanger everything she’s worked to rebuild, including her new marriage to Emmett London, who has a dangerous past of his own to overcome.
FORMAT: Paperback

REVIEW:

This is the second and ending of the set for this gal’s story.  I’m glad I had both to read one right after the other.  The other book didn’t feel like the story was done when it ended so this rounds things off.

As with the other book, I always love Jayne’s action slash mystery story telling.  It is a romance but as I personally so often feel with Jayne’s books…that is secondary.  The ‘passion’ always feels off to me as the story isn’t focused on what the characters are feeling so much as what they are doing.  I usually skim over the ‘passion’ parts almost frustrated she even adds them as they just feel like they were stuck in there to me.  BUT like I said, I LOVE her stories…the plots, everything else going on and that the couple always end up together.  I love that.  And will keep reading her books.

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15May2008

After Dark by Jayne Castle

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BLURB:

No one on the net had the same blurb or picture as I did that I could find but I was too lazy to retype it.  ;-)  Figured this was close enough.

This paranormal mystery-romance takes place several centuries in the future, on the planet Harmony, a colony of Earth. Heroine Lydia Smith is a down-on-her-luck archaeologist who specializes in extraterrestrial alien cultures. Lydia is forced to take on a consulting client named Emmett London, who needs her to help him find a valuable antiquity. Though Lydia realizes that Emmett might be a dangerous man, she finds herself attracted to him nevertheless.

FORMAT: Paperback

REVIEW:

This is the first book in a two part series - though I’d like to note there are several more books based out of this world.  As usual with Jayne’s books, I absolutely love the story telling.  And in particular I look forward to the reading books from this new world.  I however do not think of Jayne as a typical romance storyteller though all her books are intertwined around the couples and them having a happy ending.  I like that.  But I don’t find the ‘passion’ if you will ever truly fits in the story.  I feel she could almost ‘keep the door shut’ on that end of things because often we don’t hear what the characters are ‘feeling’…they just are.

For example, and I am trying to keep this vague on purpose so you don’t actually know the details of what happens in one of these two books—but the hero gets hurt.  Lydia rushes to his side and helps him and business is taken care of.  Now as far as the story goes…I like this.  It works and I have no complaints.  But then if two minutes later they are jumping in the sack I’m like…what???  I didn’t hear her mind once ‘think’… He’s the love of my life..I can’t live without him…or what was I thinking keeping distance between us, I could lose him at any second…life is too short... the list goes on of possibilities.

See what I mean?  There are a ton of ways to connect us on that plane but she doesn’t do it.  Obviously I love her writing for other reasons.  I love the stories she tells and I love that I’m guarenteed that the couple will end up together.  And I will continue to buy her books.

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15May2008

Short Story & 3 Mini’s

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1) Into the Dreaming by Karen Marie Moning

BLURB:

IT WASN’T ALL JUST A DREAM…

Aspiring romance novelist Jane Sillee was completely in love with her fantasy man–the hot and strapping dark-haired Highlander who’d been coming to her in her dreams for years and inspired her sensual flights of literary fantasy.

But it was more than her imagination that conjured up the brilliantly woven tapestry sporting the spitting image of her magnificently arrogant warrior. It was more than a dream that transported her to medieval Scotland to break an evil spell. And it was more than she could handle when she found herself wrapped in the muscular arms of Aedan MacKinnon, who had his own fantasies to fulfill…

FORMAT: Paperback

REVIEW:

This is about a 100 page book set in the Highlander world and is absolutely faboulous!  As Karen always does for me–blends a wonderful tale with several surprise turns.  I do hope someday she writes some more along this line.

2) Roped Into Romance by Alison Kent

BLURB:

Lauren Hollister goes after what she wants. And what she wants is sexy architect Anton Neville!

FORMAT: eBook

REVIEW:

Well I read the rest of this series and I really liked it over all.  This story though didn’t ‘work’ for me.  Their reactions always seemed off to me along with the assumptions(and I say this because I didn’t see what one would say as meaning what the other took it to mean) being made which in turn gave the couple their conflict.  I was kind of disappointed as I’d already read the rest of the full length books and was expecting…more.  Not in terms of words but the way things played out.

3) Outback Reunion by Bronwyn Jameson

BLURB:

Nic has agreed to keep an eye on the Carlisle family’s huge cattle station, but when he arrives, he’s shocked at what he finds!

FORMAT: eBook

REVIEW:

An alright read.  I wasn’t sure what to make of the gal’s reactions to many things.  For me they didn’t seem to add up.  I’d like to read some more of Jameson’s though–try out some full length.  This was my first for her and since I often don’t seem to ‘click’ with short stories would like to see what I think of her in a different format.

4) The Boss’s Bought Mistress by Sharon Kendrick

BLURB:

Giovanni Cerruti’s wealthy family is always in the spotlight… so when his step-sister is headed for a rehabilitation clinic, he decides to work the paparazzi to keep her image from being splashed across the tabloids. With the help of his spin doctor, Giovanni devises a plan to keep the press occupied with another story — a fake engagement to his housekeeper, Misty Carmichael! But will Giovanni fall victim to his own plan?

FORMAT: eBook

REVIEW: I liked this one.  I liked that the gal stuck to her guns yet knew when to not drag it out.

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15May2008

4 Mini’s

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1) The Rancher and the Rose by Carolyn Zane

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FORMAT: eBook - Round Robin

REVIEW:

This one was cute.  I enjoyed it for the most part.  I felt that the ‘reason’ for the conflict between them wasn’t handle quite right though.  For most of the story I felt it was a simple miscommunication issue…and that was kind of irritating.  I say this because it seemed as if the hero wasn’t saying that she couldn’t work but that he didn’t want her doing it twenty-four seven.  When we were in the gal’s head, it was that he didn’t want her to ever work.  But when we were in his head…he never actually thought that. It is a round robin though and things like that can get lost in the shuffle.

2) Bedfellows by Kristi Gold

BLURB:

Lainey Sims Kilgore has returned to her hometown to recover from a painful divorce. To take her mind off the past, she throws herself into opening her own lingerie and swimwear boutique, as well as managing her mother’s mayoral campaign. When she learns her high school crush, Dr. Grant Morgan, is managing the opposing campaign of her mother’s lifelong enemy, Cleatus Ringo, she convinces him to help her uncover the secret behind her mother’s bitter rivalry with Ringo.

FORMAT: eBook - Round Robin

REVIEW:

This was way not what I was expecting.  Over all I have a hard time with short stories which jump into the deep feelings/I love you/sex stuff.  For some reason if this happens in a long book, I think its alright..there is going to be time for them to truly ‘get there’ mentally.  So while the first kiss was cool…I thought it was off. (I feel this way for all these short stories–has nothing to do with the writing I guess but my own perception of things) But I thought the sneaking around stuff was kind of neat and unexpected.

3) Night Magic by Mia Zachary

BLURB:

Lauryn Meade is far too practical to believe in magic — until a gorgeous genie offers to take her to the heights of sensual pleasure!

FORMAT: eBook - Round Robin

REVIEW:

Different.  I enjoyed it for the most part and this was a way for me to ‘buy’ into them having sex right off the bat.  Had a bit of issue and actually went back to see if I’d missed something, a page, when she went from ready to call the police to changing her clothes like nothing–thought maybe I missed a line where he cast a spell or something but I didn’t see anything.

4) The Valentine Wedding Dress by Sherryl Woods

BLURB:

Drawn to an old trunk in the attic, Lara Calhoun is unable to resist finding out what treasure her late, beloved mother had kept hidden away for all these years. Her unexpected discovery soon turns her world upside down and makes her second-guess everything she’s ever believed about her mother and about love. Will it lead her straight into Dave Lafferty’s arms–or make her turn away from the love of a lifetime?

FORMAT: eBook

REVIEW:

Now this was one short story that I totally ‘bought’ if that makes sense.  Love at first sight…a bit of paranormal…I liked it.  It worked for me.

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