Day / January 12, 2010

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Her Secret Fling by Sarah Mayberry

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Harlequin Blaze , Book 517
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Jake Stevens
Heroine: Poppy Birmingham
Date of Publication: January 1, 2010
Started On: January 12, 2010
Finished On: January 12, 2010

Aaah! Finally a book that has left me satisfied on all aspects after a long time. Sarah Mayberry is one of my favorite Harlequin Blaze line authors and it does help that her book titles do not make me cringe, and the fact that they contain believable stories of men and women who fall in love with each other.

Poppy Birmingham an ex-star swimmer who has gold medals  to her name, takes up a job offer on writing for the sports column of one of the most prestigious newspapers in Australia. There she comes face to face with Jake Stevens, someone whose style of writing Poppy has admired from the very start.

However, Poppy is left with the impression that Jake is hardly what she has pictured him to be. Callous to  the point of being rude, Jake lays it out that Poppy doesn’t deserve to just walk in and attain a job that takes journalists years of studying and experience to claim.

However, Jake is proven wrong when Poppy proves to be persistent in what she does, and a quirk twist of fate ends both of them together alone on a road trip back from Melbourne. Pitted together with nowhere else to go, Poppy and Jake reluctantly come to realize that rather than the initial dislike that they thought they felt for each other, both of them were coming to find qualities that they liked in each other immensely. Not to mention the scorching hot passion that flares between them when Jake offers to teach Poppy the wonders of sex.

Quirky dialogues between the two characters kept the pages turning and when Poppy finds herself inevitably in love with Jake, with no sign whatsoever from Jake to show that he might feel the same way, and Jake but all pushing away Poppy without really trusting her and letting her in makes Poppy realize that their no-named relationship had been doomed from the start.

Jake has his own reasons, with a failed marriage on his conscience, which has made him into someone who absolutely has nothing left to give. However, unknowingly, the time spent with Poppy slowly works its magic on Jake and ultimately Jake and Poppy get the happy ending which they both deserve.

I loved this book. Sarah Mayberry sure knows how to pen a fantastic story. Highly recommended to those who love Blaze line stories.

Purchase Links: Amazon | BooksOnBoard 

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: E-mail Order Bride by Kathy Lynn Emerson

Format: E-book
Read with: Adobe Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Belgrave House
Hero: Chase Forster
Heroine: Leslie Baynton
Date of Publication:  April 1, 1998
Started On: January 11, 2010
Finished On: January 12, 2010

Previously titled as Sight Unseen, this is a sweet romance coupled with an instant family and the problems that go along with such a family. Chase Forster, a probation officer in the local office of the department of corrections, meets Leslie Baynton in an online chat forum designed for mystery book lovers. Leslie a shy woman in her 30’s finds that she and Chase share a lot of stuff in common and their friendship continues to grow online. Exchange of e-mails daily gives glimpses and insight into the lives of each other and although both of them seems to be curious to meet one another face to face, none of them wants to voice their desire to do so.

Their friendship continues until during a moment of impulse, Chase asks Leslie to be his e-mail order bride. Chase has been handed over the responsibility of taking care of his niece Calico and Jeremy his nephew both in their teens,  of his deceased brother Jake. Jake and his various forays into criminal activities had finally ended up in killing himself, whilst his wife had ended up in jail for writing fraudulent checks. Leslie who has never had kids of her own but yearns for them with her only experience with kids being the relationship she has with her close to perfect niece and nephew, really has no idea what she is in for.

Leslie and Chase meet and find that they are comfortable with each other in real life as in the cyber world and both feel the immense attraction that crops up during the first meeting. Marriage which seemed to be a practical solution and one of mutual benefit to both Chase and Leslie turns out to be a journey of discovery of feelings that continue to grow between them as well as the relationship that starts to forge between a troubled Jeremy who wants to make things for Leslie as difficult as possible.

A book that portrays love, passion and real family problems, this book is a sweet and heartwarming read that would leave you feeling good on the inside afterwards.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble| BooksOnBoard

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