No man's mistress, By Mary Balogh
Published by Dell, May 2002
Grade: C
Back cover reads: Lord Ferdinand Dudley lives passionately, recklessly.
And he is accustomed to getting what he wants...that is, until he appears at the
door of Pinewood Manor, attempting to claim his rightful estate, and is met by
the bewitching fury of Viola Thornhill. She refuses to cede him the home she
calls her own. He refuses to leave. So the contest begins between these two foes
to force one to acknowledge the other's claim. Nor will they acknowledge the
passion brewing between them. But Viola knows it is a game she cannot afford to
lose. Marriage is out of the question and she will be no man's
mistress.
Viola has been living a good life for the last two years in the country at Pinewood Manor. She gets along well with everyone around her, she enjoys her country life and she is happy. Then one day at man comes to her and tells her that he is the rightful owner of Pinewood manor and that she must leave. Of course she doesn't want to leave. She loves her home, and it was given to her in good faith. She refuses to leave.
Lord Dudley believes that he is the owner after winning the house in a card game. He and Viola go back and forth "I'm staying, you leave" "This is my home" "Well, It's mine now". Talking about it just doesn't work.
Viola, along with the help of her friends and staff come up with some tricks to try and drive Dudley away. A rooster wakes him up before dawn, his food is cold and undercooked, the fireplaces don't work, etc. Dudley soon catches on that everyone is just trying to make his life unbearable, and because he love a challenge, he plays along. The more they throw at him, the more he likes it.
What we don't know about till a ways into the book is that Viola has a checkered past. For four years she worked at a courtesan in order to pay off her step father's debts after he died. She didn't enjoy the work, but she had to do it to keep her mother out of debtors prison. Viola was able to retire to the country at Pinewood manor after the man who willed her the estate payed off her debts for her.
After Dudley finds out about her former life he is taken aback, but kind about it. I read a review on this book at another site and the reviewer makes it sound like Dudley repeatedly called her a whore after he found out the truth. That is not true. He never once called her a whore or said an unkind word to her. In fact, he got angry at her when she called herself a whore.
Now that the cat is out of the bag, Viola decides to use her former self as a way of getting Dudley to leave. She makes a wager with him that she can seduce him within one week. If she does, then he must leave. If she can't then she will leave. Never backing down from a challenge, he agrees.
Like wagers have a habit of doing, this one back fired. Viola fell in love with Dudley. Even though she won the wager, she decided to leave. The biggest reason being that the man who made who into a courtesan in the first place wants her to go back to work. He has discovered more debts that she needs to pay off. If she doesn't work for him again, then he will get her younger sister to do it. Viola does not want her sister to be a whore, so she goes back home to try and save her family once again. Dudley follows her and wont stop until she agrees to be his wife.
This was not my favourite book and I probably wont ever read it again, but it is far from being the peice of crap that I was made to believe after reading that other review. It was OK. Not great. Definitely not bad.
What I liked: Dudley totally kicks the crap out of the man trying to force Viola back into prostitution.
What I did not like: Dudley..27 year old sexy looking brother of a Duke...was a virgin. Viola was his first lover. I rolled my eyes so hard I got a head ache. I don't ever want to read about virgin men again. Never, ever, ever.
The black angel, by Cordia Byers
Ballantine books, June 1993
Grade: DRavaged by sea and sun, Brianna McClure lay at death's
door when Roarke O'Connor, captain of the Black Angel, plucked her from a
shipwreck in the pirate-infested waters of the Caribbean.
For that, Brianna knew she owed the
privateer her life. But after one rapturous night together, Brianna felt the
debt paid in full. No one, especially Roarke, must ever learn the truth about
her flight from England -- for she had a man's blood on her hands.
As soon as I read this during one of the love scenes I started laughing so hard that my ribs hurt. Just thinking about it now is making me giggle. When I read something so corny I am usually embarrassed for the author, When I read this I was embarrassed for myself."A moan deep in Brianna's throat told him her pain was forgotten and it
was time to take her with him into the land where mystical fires burned the
flesh until it exploded in a burst of ecstasy, making mortal man feel
indomitable, a god of his own domain."
Gah! My eyes, my eyes. That was worse than the cover (almost)Thankfully is was the first and last of that type of description that I came across while reading The black angel.
The book starts off during the funeral for Brianna's mother. Brianna is mourning her mother, and is also fearing for her safety because her step father has the hots for her, and now that her mother is dead, there is no one to protect her from his advances.
After stabbing her step father when he makes a move on her, Brianna and her maid board a ship and flee as fast as they can. They sail into a storm, the ship sinks and Brianna & her maid survive for 2 days alone at sea on a make shift raft.
Roarke and his crew rescue the women and Roarke is a big jerk at first. He makes comments about how ugly Brianna is. (Her face is all red and blistered because of the sun) He lets her stay in his room for a few weeks while they sail, and he sleeps in a hammock on the other side of the room. Brianna checks him out a lot and starts to have feelings for him, but he can't see past the sun damage on her face and pretty much ignores her.
Nick, the first mate, sees the pretty girl under the peeling skin, and sets out to make her his mistress. He giver her a drink that has herbs in it. In this day and age we call that the date rape drug. Nick orders a bath for Brianna, and she eagerly takes it. She washed her body clean after being at sea for week. She soaps her hair, wipes away all the dead skin on her face and then rises out of the bath water like some water Goddess. She is still under the effects of the drug and is eager to lose her virginity. Nick starts to kiss her and stuff, but then he gets turned off after she calls him Roarke. She has the hots for the captain you see. Just as Nick is deciding that this isn't such a good idea, Roarke bursts through the door. Having sex with a drugged women is no better than rape, and Roarke is very clear on this subject. As a young boy he saw his mother violated. So anyway, even though Roarke isn't interested in Brianna, he kicks Nick out of the room. Brianna throws herself at him, and he wants to leave, but he feels that he must stay and protect her from herself or else she will bed every man staying at the inn. Yep, the drug is that strong. After giving Nick shit for wanting to have sex with Brianna while she drugged and then trying to talk himself out of bedding her, he goes and has sex with her anyway.
Next comes the morning after. Brianna is ashamed and mad. Roarke is disgusted and mad. Brianna wants to leave, but Roarke wont let her. He feels that since he had sex with her while she drugged, and he took her virginity he owes her or something. He takes her to his house and expects her to stay there with him and his mistress. Mistress is a whore he rescued off the streets. I forget her name, but she hates Brianna. She wants to get rid of her, and when Brianna asks her for help in getting a job, the mistress/whore decides that it would be best to get rid of Brianna for good. SHe makes plans for Brianna to be sold onto the slave market. (big surprise there)
Roarke and Brianna have sex again, and thats when Brianne decides she is in love with Roarke. After they do it, Roarke tell her that while he goes back out to sea she can live in his house. SHe is offended by his offer and stalks off.
Meanwhile, mistress/whore tells Brianna that she might have a job as a governess, she just needs to meet the widowed father. They set out on this job interview late at night, and Brianna is such a stupid dimwit that she doesn't see that she is walking right into a trap. She is forced onto a ship with a cruel captain who plans to sell her to a brothel or something.
The next morning Roarke searches for Brianna and after drilling his mistress/whore he finds out what happens. Then the dummy sails on after her so that he can rescue her.
Oh gawd. So predictable.
He catches up with her, he saves her, they have sex some more, yada yada, blah blah.
SHe finally tells him that she loves him. He is thrilled to hear it, but he wont say it back to her. They dock for a while and he plans to leave her behind while he sets sail again. She sneaks back on the ship and after he finds out, he locks her away for 2 months. The ship is attacked, he almost dies, she nurses him back to life, he admits he loves her, then asks her to marry him.
Funny thing is that while reading it, I liked the book, but then when I started writing this review I had nothing but negative things to say. I hate it when that happens.
Double Play, by Penelope Neri
The friends Liz was talking to online is hottie police Detective, Jack. Jack is investigating the disappearance of a woman hiker and he has not idea that the woman is the same lady he had talked to online.
The book is 300+ pages, but I read it in under a day.
Lady of Desire, By Gaelen Foley
Ballatine books, 2003
Grade: C+Impetuous Lady Jacinda Knight is the daughter of a scandalous
woman--and Society predicts she'll follow in her mother's footsteps. Then one
night, in flight from an arranged and loveless marriage, Jacinda finds herself
alone on a dangerous street face-to-face with Billy Blade, the notorious leader
of a band of thieves. His stolen kisses awaken in her a longing for a man she
can never possess. A handsome outlaw running from a secret past, Billy Blade has
never met a woman like Jacinda-her fiery innocence and blossoming sensuality set
his rebel's heart ablaze. Having turned his back on the privilege and power of
his tyrannical father's house years before, he vows to return to reclaim his
title, Earl of Rackford-to win the love of the ravishing beauty who has stolen
his heart.
Lady Jacinda runs away from home and ends up in the room of hunky tattooed gang leader, Billy Blade. After Billy (who is really a Lord who ran away from home himself) finds out who the beautiful girl in his bed really is, he forces her to return home. Jacinda has several older brothers who are known to Billy, and since he is good friends with one of them, he does not think it's a good idea to let their sister run off like she did.
After weeks of being apart from each other, they are seeing each other in the same circles. Billy wants to marry Jacinda, but Jacinda is annoying and can't/wont see that he loves her.
It was a good book. I'd like to read the others in this series. There is a book for each brother, as well as Jacinda's best friend who is like part of the family.
August Heat-Men of August, By Lora Leigh
Ellora's Cave
Grade: B+Join the August Family for Christmas.
It's been a little more
than a year since Cade, Brock and Sam wrestled their lives back from the woman
determined to destroy them. Join them in this first August family Christmas
celebration, August Heat, and see if their wives have been naughty or nice, or
if the brothers must show them once again how proper August wives should
act.
**Warning, this review contains major spoilers from all the books in the Men of August series**
This is the last book in the Men of August series. It's a short one. Less than a hundred pages, but it ends the series nicely.
At the end of the 3'rd book all the brothers and women get married. It's a triple wedding with a twist..Each man legally married the woman his loves, and then a less formal ceremony bound the hearts of the women to each of the other men, and vice versa.
Marly decided she wanted to have a baby and the men had fun trying to make that happen. No question to who the dad is though..Sam and Brock made sure that Cade is the only one who could have gotten her pregnant by pulling out, and then not being with her again till after she became pregnant.
Everything is going along just fine. The women are enjoying all the lovin'. They are happy, safe and secure.
Then in book 4, Marly has the baby and everything starts to change. All three men and women have strong desires for their own home and family. The men have already decided to stop sharing the women, and the women have decided they don't want to be shared. The problem is that no one is saying anything in fear of hurting the other.
The women make sure that they are never alone in a room with any of the brothers, and work so hard at avoiding them that they don't even notice that the only man coming on to them are their own husbands.
Eventually the men figure out why the women are annoyed and the men feel hurt and angry that their wives did not trust them enough to tell them how they feel. The men then punish their own wives in that sexy kinky style they are so famous for.
In the end the sharing ends, two more homes are build on the ranch for Sam&Heather and Sarah&Brock. Everyone has babies, and lives happily ever after :)
This is part of the authors note at the end of August Heat..
Be watching for more news of your favorite August family coming in the sequel series, The Men Of Madison, beginning with Tina’s Temptation. It’s the story of an August relative, and our tough-as-nails Madison County sheriff, Joshua Martinez. Hey, sheriffs have handcuffs. This could get interesting.
Yay! I can't wait!
P.s-The cover for this book is too damn embarrassing to post.
Heather's Gift, by Lora Leigh
Ellora's cave
Grade: B
Book 3 in the Men Of August seriesWill she bring the gift of acceptance, or will she break the bonds that have
been forged through the fires of hell?Heather's job was to guard Sam's body. As
part of the team assigned to the protection of the August family, she had taken
her job seriously. Until a madman learned she was Sam August's weakness. Until
the past rose with deadly intent and surprising secrets. Will Sam be able to
deny his passion for this woman, or will the dark nightmares and sensuous
desires that rage through them both be the cause of his destruction, and the
destruction of the woman he loves?
This third book in the Men of August series is about Sam and Heather. Heather is working at the August ranch as part of the security team. In the 2'nd book, Sara's Seduction, Heather was attacked by the stalker. She was hurt pretty badly and for that Sam feels horribly guilty. He knows the only reason the stalker went after Heather is because the two of them have strong feelings for each other.
Even though Heather does not want to be part of the August brother's family fun, she wants to be with Sam, but he pushes her away. Sam's anger and sexual frustration is bothering everyone in the family, and they all try to make Sam go to Heather, but he is too afraid for her safety.
In the end after seeing the brothers bond, and realising that it's not just lust that drives them to share their women, Heather goes to Marly and Sarah for help and advice before joining the brothers in the family room. I liked how it was the women who put the big seduction into motion this time. The other books it was the men who set it all up. The gals took control this time, yeah!
Most importantly, the stalker is captured. Finally! Everything about the abuse the brothers suffered in the past comes out. No more secrets.
I fregan love this series!
Sarah's seduction, By Lora Leigh
Ellora's cave
Grade: B-
Book 2 in the Men of August seriesOn a hot summer night six years before, Brock August showed
Sarah Tate a passion that would nearly destroy her. But fear and innocence drove
her from his arms and into a marriage she neither wanted nor found happiness in.
Now Sarah is free and she wants that night she lost. One night, a few stolen
hours to know the heat and passion of the man she never forgot. But Brock has
other plans in mind. A secret, a passion, a desire his brothers share. A desire
Sarah will be unable to deny. That is, if she can escape the dark designs of the
stalker intent on destroying the August men.
You can read about the first book in his sexy series here.
Brock has been in love with Sarah for six years. After spotting Brock's twin brother Sam, looking in on them just before they have sex, Sarah freaks out and runs away. Within days she marries a man who spends the next six years treating her like crap and cheating on her.
After the divorce, Brock make his move on Sarah and finds that the passion they almost shared 6 years ago is still there. As Brock and Sarah get closer to each other the stalker does much to tear them apart. Not only do they have to deal with that, but Marly is at first very upset about Brock falling in love Sarah. Marly does not want to let Cade touch another woman.
In this second August brothers book we learn much more about the abuse the brothers suffered. Brock has shared the past with Sarah to help her understand why they need to share the women they love. Marly, who is still in the dark about it begs Sarah to tell her, and when she does. Cade is not too happy about that. The truth has upset Marly, and if you read the first ook then you know that Cade beats up anyone who makes Marly cry. Cade would never lay a hurtful hand on Sarah, but she does get punished for telling Marly. Oh yah, she liked the punishment a lot.At the end of this book the stalker is still at large, and we also meet the woman who steals Sam's heart..Heather. One of the women who has been hired to guard them against the stalker.
The Dark Highlander, By Karen Marie Moning
Dell, October 2002
Grade: B
Journey to a world of ancient magic, breathtaking
sensuality, thrilling time-travel. Journey to the world of The Dark Highlander.
Crisscrossing the continents and the centuries, here is a novel as gripping as
it is sensual -- an electrifying adventure that will leave you
breathless.I am Dageus MacKeltar, a man with one good conscience
and thirteen bad ones, driven to sate my darkest desires.From his penthouse lair high above Manhattan, Dageus
looks out over a glittering city that calls to the darkness within him. A
sixteenth-century Scot trapped between worlds, he is fighting a losing battle
with the thirteen Druids who possess his soul, dooming him to an eternity of
sexual pursuit. When Chloe Zanders, student of antiquities, is drawn into his
world, she finds the insatiable alpha male an irresistible lure. Before long,
she is caught up in an ancient prophecy that will sweep her back into time to
medieval Scotland. Plunged into a world of timeless magic and dark seduction,
she will soon face the challenge of a lifetime: fighting thirteen evil spirits
for the heart of one irresistible man.
Unlike the last book I posted about, this one is not an erotic novel. It's a 'safe' romance for you Conservatives (Ahem, aunt Lucie.) The dark highlander really does bring you on a magical journey. I never had an interest in visiting Scotland, but if the scenery described in this novel has any truth to it, then I want to go now.
Dageus in a Druid from the 16'th century living in our time. After he used a portal to go back in time to prevent the death of his twin brother, he was cursed. He now has 13 evil druids who have taken over his soul. Dageus finds Chloe snooping under his bed and after holding her hostage for a few days she agrees to help him decipher some ancient books, not knowing that he is really looking for a way to banish the curse. She goes to Scotland with him, she travels back in time with him, and of course, she falls in love with. Heck, I almost fell in love with him.
Once you get past the confusing boring prologues (yep, two of them) and get on to chapter one it's very hard to put the book down. I have to admit that I didn't really connect with Chloe, but Dageus sure had my attention.
Only one thing bothered me about this book, and normally these types of things don't matter to me and I tend to forget all about it as I read on. This time I just could not forget the fact that she find three condoms and a black lace thong under his bed (Magnum, for the extra large man. Ha-Ha) then a few pages later it's said that he has never 'tooped' a woman in his bed. Why would condoms be under the bed if he always has sex with his women on the couch?
Anyway, totally cool book. I for sure want to read more from the highlander series.
Ellora's Cave Romantica Publishing
Grade:B-
Book 1 in the series Men of AugustMarly's love for Cade has spanned her teenage years, and survived strong and
intact into womanhood. Her fantasies and daydreams have sustained her, but she's
no longer content with merely imagining the touch of his hands, the taste of his
kiss. It's time to seduce the tough, sexy cowboy.
She's heard the rumors for years, the tales of his sexual
preferences. She's prepared herself to accept his desires. Prepared her body for
his touch. But she wasn't prepared for the choice to come...
Cade's dark desires, his sexual excesses are based in
the past. In a time when pain, shame, and blood stains his very soul. He carries
a secret shared only with his brothers. A secret that has scarred the bond, the
ability to be a brother or to accept the love of the men he was raised with. He
knows the only way to prove his loyalty, his love for those brothers and Marly
will be the key. She has a choice. She can surrender to Cade's needs, his soul
deep desires, or she can walk away. A choice only Marly can make. A choice that
will change her life forever.
I first heard about this book after the gals over at The sanctuary talked about it.
My oh my! Where do I start? Hmmm, OK. Well, Marly is in love with Cade and Cade is in love with Marly. Marly sets out to seduce him, but he resists her because he helped raise her since she was 12. She pushes him to his limits with her seduction because she knew from talking to his past lovers the type of things that turn him on, and she did everything she could to make him want her. It eventually worked, and they become lovers.
Let me tell you..very erotic! Marly also knows that the brothers share the women they love. They are not gay, and they don't do anything with each other, they just sexually please her together. It only happened twice in the book though. Once with just Cade and Sam, and then with Cade, Sam and Brock. The rest of the time it was always Cade and Marly alone though.
Meanwhile, someone is stalking Marly. He sneaks into her room while she sleeps, takes pictures of her, and even shoots one of the brothers after he sees Marly and Cade going at on the kitchen counter. At the end of the book, the stalker is caught and it is someone from Marley's past, but we learn that he is just the middle man, so to speak. The Epilogue lets us know that the real stalker is still out there. Obliviously he hates the August brothers, and plans to hurt them, by going after their women.
Lone Eagle, By Cassie Edwards
Penguin books, December 1998
Grade:C
In the wilds of 1856 Wyoming, the daughter of a white landowner and a slave woman escapes the harsh existence forced on her by her father, who treats her as a slave despite her fair skin. When her horse goes lame, she steals one from a nearby Crow Indian village, only to be caught by its owner, the proud Lone Eagle. But the warrior's anger quickly turns to passion for this willful woman, and her own desire for escape and freedom turns into something else entirely.
This was just like every other Indian Lore Cassie Edwards book. Hunky chief falls in love with beautiful white girl 15 minutes after laying eye on her(In this case the heroine is half black, but has snow white skin) As soon as heroine declares her love for sexy chief she is kidnapped, attacked, put in danger somehow, so her man has to go save her. They then have babies and live happily ever after. The end.
It's almost like reading the same book over and over again, but I don't mind. I'm a bit addicted to the Savage series, and even though the single titled books are very similar in plot they are still entertaining reads.
In Lone Eagle, our heroine Zondra, is a slave born to a rich white man, and a poor black slave. Her parents love each other but because it's the 1800's, they can never be together. Zondra and her mother live with the other slaves in her fathers plantation, and even though her father takes her for horse rides and is kind to her, he has never publicly acknowledged her.
After Zondra's half brother tries to rape her, she decides that she should run away. She doesn't want to be a slave anymore, and she doesnt like the way the men of the plantation at her..with lust in their eyes.
Having met the hero, Lone Eagle, once before, she sneaks into his tepee and he allows her to spend the night. She sneaks away from him as he sleeps, and then a few days later she steals his horse. Once he catches up with her he takes her as his captive. They fall in love, she gets kidnapped by her half brother, she gets away. Zondra and Lone Eagle are reunited, they get married and then have a couple kids.
The widow's kiss, By Jane Feather
Bantam mass market, Feb 2002
Grade: B
Dear Reader,
When I first saw her, I realized that the miniature portrait I had shown to the king did not do her justice. Lady Guinevere Mallory’s beauty transcended even a portrait painter’s skill. It was nearly impossible to believe that this woman, who had buried four husbands before her thirtieth birthday, could have used murder and the dark arts of witchcraft to achieve her great wealth.
I carried the king’s writ to investigate Lady Guinevere’s oft-repeated widowhood. Was it mere coincidence that each death had left her wealthier than the last? The fact that I believed she also held lands that rightfully belonged to my family made my investigations all the more personal and all the more thorough.
Surely, I thought, such a woman would bear some obvious mark of treachery on her countenance, in her manner. But when we met I saw only the beauty of her pale blond hair and her deep violet eyes that seemed to me to offer a glimpse into the intriguing world of her brilliant mind and spirit. I began to wonder how the gentle hands of such an elegant woman, whose cool composure belied her dubious past, could have committed cold-blooded murder.
Now as I learn more about the mysterious widow, I find myself growing more curious about the secrets of her heart–and more determined to reveal those secrets. Guinevere is the most captivating and intriguing woman I have ever met. I have but one question: Will my interest in her prove to be a fatal one?
Hugh of Beaucaire
Time for a confession. I bought this book based solely on the cover. When I got home and read the back of the book I was pretty disappointed. It didn't interest me because it looked as if it was written in the first person from the hero's POV. Thats why I put off reading it for long.
Anyway, I finally got around to sticking my nose in it, and I have to say that it was pretty good.
Guinevere is a mother of 2 who has been widowed 4 times. She is beautiful, smart and convinced all her husbands to will her everything upon their deaths. When her 4'th husband dies, the King sends Lord Hugh of Beaucaire to investigate the deaths, and then bring her back to London for a trial. Hugh has interest in Guinevere because he thinks that he is owed land that was gifted to her by one of her husbands. He wants the land for his own son.
He goes to her with his son and they spend 2 months with Guinevere, her daughters and Guinevere's staff who have been with her since she was an infant.
At first Hugh doesn't like her because he thinks she is a killer and land stealer. Guinevere does not like him because she thinks he is just out to bully her.
After spending so much time together, they are attracted to each other. They have sex a few times, after her trail in front of the Privy Seal and the King, Hugh says that he wants to marry her. Guinevere is upset because she knows that Hugh wont let her keep all of her land and fortune, but unless she wants to anger the king and have her head chopped off, leaving her daughters with nothing, she has no choice but to marry him. Hugh insists that he loves her, so she should just be happy about that, because she is still wealthy, except her riches are in his name now.
Privy Seal is upset that Guinevere was not convicted, so he hires some thugs to kill Hugh and Hugh's son, making it look like Guinevere did it. When attacks, accidents and other ad things start to happen, Hugh is convinced that she is trying to kill him and his son (because even though he knows she did not kill her first 3 husbands, he is not sure that she did not kill the 4'th)
When confronting her, he treated her really bad. He said very mean things and threw her out on her ass.
He does find out the truth about who the real bad guy is and sets out to win his wife back. Compared to how badly he treated her, I don't think he did enough to earn her forgiveness. I almost started crying when he was going off on her about trying to kill his son. I wish that the author had made up for that, because I didn't buy it for a minute. I needed groveling or something. Guinevere who is supposed to be this smart, educated woman fell back into his arms like a love sick virgin. Thats the only thing that annoyed me.
This is the first Jane Feather book I have ever read. I'll keep an eye out for more.
As a rule I don't listen to negative book reviews. Reviews are all a matter of opinion, and what bothers one person wont mean a thing to another. Just look at The lovely bones. It got an abundance of excellent reviews. I hated it. Loathed it. I'm mad at myself for spending money one it.
I didn't read any reviews for To tame a renegade before I read it. I saw it on the shelf at the second hand store and scooped it up because I enjoy Connie Mason. Actually, I didn't even read the back to see what the book was about. I just saw her name and grabbed it.
I liked it. A lot. Other reviewers did not though.
I decide on if a book is good or not on a few different things. When it's over do I wish it would keep going? Was it hard to put down when I had tend to real life? Did I go back and re read scenes that I liked?
If I say yes to those, then I say it's a great book. To tame a renegade was good for me.
You've got male, by Elizabeth Bevarly
October 2005, HQN
Grade: C -
Back cover reads: Sometimes, when you least expect it, you become an ex-con. But like many things
in computer genius Avery Nesbitt's life, it just kind of happened. And since her
release from the pen eight years ago, life has been good, even though she never
leaves her house and communicates--and dates--solely through the Internet. Now
the feds, specifically one Federal Agent Dixon, are at her door again. But this
time they need her skills to capture a criminal mastermind. And in order to
catch him, Dixon needs to stay close to Avery. Very close to Avery. Which means
things are about to get a little sticky…
I don't know if I liked this book or not. I liked the plot- A lonely girl who lives on the Internet is forced to help a government agency stop a terrorist. Our heroine, Avery, is supposed to have the hots for our hero, but as a reader, I don't feel it. The sexual tension that makes a romance so good was non existent.
You've got male starts off really good. It was comical, interesting, and the first three chapters were excellent. Up to that point I could not put it down. Then it all went down hill. Dialogue went on and on and on and on...Bored to me tears. The only thing that kept me reading is that HQN books always has great love scenes, too bad this one took so darn long to happen. The love scene was good though, I'll give it that. It went on for 10 pages, and was very hot indeed. Too bad it took over 200 pages for even the first kiss to happen.
The book is part of a series, and in order to find out if/when the bad guy is caught you need to buy the next book. I do want to know what happens with the guy, but not enough to seek out the book and pay money for it. Maybe if I hadn't had to force myself to finish it, or was so annoyed with the lack of hero/heroine connection I would take a chance. I'm just not into it though.
Take Me, by Lucy Monroe
October 2006, Berkley Sensation.
Grade: A
Back cover reads: Jared, Viscount Ravenswood, has no choice but to honor the deathbed wish of his ailing servant. All she asks is that Jared introduce her soon-to-be orphaned daughter to the notorious and reclusive Calantha, Duchess of Clairborne. No ordinary request, for this is no ordinary child. She is, in fact, the key to the Duchess's most private secrets, and to Jared's own past-one that has branded him Lord Beast among the ton.
But when the Viscount meets the Duchess, he finds not the pitiless dowager he expected, but a lovely and wary angel-survivor of a brutal marriage left now with only her roses and the breathtaking mystery that is her life. For Jared, to solve it is to fall in love, to make her believe in the impossible, and to follow the promise that comes with the most intimate whisper of all... Take me...
This is the third book in the T-me trilogy. After meeting the hero in Tempt Me, I was super excited to learn more about him.
When Jared was a boy he was attacked by a wolf while trying to save his sister, Irisa, who was the heroine in Tempt Me. The wolf attack left a scar on his face. Along with the scar, his huge build and his love of swearing, he was nicknamed 'Lord Beast'. Women are afraid of him, and men intimidated by him.
Cali spent two years in a marriage with a man who humiliated and hit her. He made her feel worthless as a wife and person. When he was bad to her friends and staff she was afraid to stand up to him because she knew he would just hit her for it. Because she knew he would strike her, she considered herself a coward for not sticking up for others.
Jared and Cali are connected because his housekeeper gave birth to Hannah, a baby that Cali's husband fathered. Jared made a death bed promise to Hannah's mother that he would take Hannah to Cali. Knowing the type of monster that Cali was married to, Jared didn't want to give Hannah to her, but Mary-Hannah's mother, promised that she and Cali were once friends and that she is a kind person.
Having been married to an actual beast for 2 years, Cali was able to look past the scars on Jared's body and see the man underneath, A good kind man who loves Hannah like his own who wants the best for her. Jared does not want to give up Hannah so he convinces Cali to marry him so that they can raise the little girl together.
While Jared and Cali are falling in love someone else is trying to kill Hannah and frame Cali for it.
With the help of the couples from the other T-Me books they set out to find out who the real would be killer is.
I felt badly for Cali. Almost everyone in her new family accused her of trying to hurt Hannah, and Cali had to work hard to prove her innocence.
Jared, being the typical alpha male didn't do much to ease her hurt feelings until she flipped out on him. At one point she slapped him across the face, and I cheered her on. He was being such a jerk. Sure, he believed her, but he still let his sister and brothers in law accuse her. Sometimes they did it flat out and other times it was passive aggressive. Kudos to Irisa for sticking up for Cali. It should should been Jared though. The big jerk! I guess I'm being hard on him. I do like him, I really do! Cali doesn't like his swearing, so he tried really hard not to curse in front of her. It was so cute to see this big intimidating man stop mid-word and change what he is saying so as not to offend his wife.
I'd like to add that the the person trying to frame Cali was so not the person I thought it was. I like being fooled that way. It keeps things fresh.
I want a Jared of my own. I don't mind the potty mouth, and his scars turn me on. I love a man who looks dangerous.
I loved this book!!
Tempt Me, by Lucy Monroe
April 2006, Berkley Sensation.
Grade: A-
Humiliated by his family's indiscretions, Lucas, Lord Ashton-nicknamed "The Saint" - wants nothing more than to live a quiet life with the prim and proper bride of his choice. And if the innocent young lady in question gives him some decidedly devilish urges, he is determined to control himself-much to her dismay.
Lady Irisa Langley is at her wit's end. Much as she loves her exasperatingly perfect fiancé, she's starting to think it would be wrong of her to marry him. For Irisa has a secret that would shock even the world-weary denizens of the Ton, and someone-who doesn't want her anywhere near Lucas-knows it.
Lucas never knew that he could desire more in a bride than impeccable manners and an unblemished pedigree. But even as scandal looms, a loyal little spitfire with heated kisses and silken skin is making him forget every rule of etiquette he's ever known...
I picked up this book for a few reasons. First because I am trying to get a hold of all books written by Lucy Monroe, plus I had set out to buy Take Me. Tempt Me was sitting right there next to it, and since it's a series I jumped at the chance.
It starts off with the heroine, Irisa telling her parents that if they force her to marry a man old enough to be her grandfather, then she will let the ton know that she was born outside of marriage. Thats no big deal now a days, but back in the 1820 it black listed you.
Irisa ends up getting engaged to Lucas. He is a fierce protector who is looking for the perfect, proper wife. At first he thinks that Irisa is that perfect mate, but he learns pretty early on in the engagement that Irisa is far from perfect.
Together they deal with a blackmailer, Irisa getting kidnapped, gossip, and her hateful parents.
I love, love, love how overprotective Lucas is of her. He does not put up with anyone hitting, threatening or gossiping about the woman he loves. He deals with it swiftly and painfully. To bad so sad for the one who dares to harm her in anyway.
The thing I love the best about Temp Me is that the love they feel for each other is brought out in the open early on. There is no waiting till the last couple of pages in the book before things are straightened out. They are a loving team throughout the novel, and work on all the problems they face together.
I can't think of anything I didn't like. Irisa is a bit of a flake and so naive about sex that it makes me laugh. It's all just part of her personality though, and it doesnt take away from the book.
As soon as I can I am going to buy the first book from this series. I was meeting Thea and Drake for the first time when they made appearances in Tempt Me, and I am eager to find out how they fell in love in Touch Me.
Meeting Irisa's brother, Ravenswood intrigued me, and I can't wait to learn more about him when I start Take Me... which I am going to do right now!!!
