Month / April 2010

by mvbookreviewer

Short & Sweet Review: Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Hero: Calvin Morrisey
Heroine: Minerva Dobbs
Sensuality: 2.5
Date of Publication: April 1, 2007
Started On: April 7, 2010
Finished On: April 11, 2010

Storyline: Calvin (Cal) just got out of an intense relationship where the woman wanted more than he could give. What he just wants for now is some peace and quiet in his life. He doesn’t think its too much to ask for and one night he finds himself and his friends Roger and Tony in the company of David who just broke up with Minerva (Min) that very night at the bar. David knowing that Cal is a man who bets to win, bets Cal 10,000 dollars to get frumpy and overweight Min to sleep with him within a month’s time. Though Cal doesn’t agree to this bet, Min overhears David betting Cal and thinks Cal has agreed to the bet. Since Min desperately needs a date for her sister’s wedding in three weeks time, Min decides that she would play along so that Cal would be her date for the wedding.

The first meet: Cal and Min first meet at the bar that they all hang out after work. Cal the almost sinfully handsome hero and Min who needs a crash course in building self confidence and attitude due her mom constantly harping on about her being over weight, these two seems to be the opposites in every way.

Time period: No specific time line given in the story, just that the story takes place in the present day.

Awareness between the two characters: The zing of electricity between the two characters is built up right from the first. Though neither Min nor Cal wants a relationship at the moment, nor do they want to get involved in any other way with each other, they keep bumping into each other and through these chance and not so chance encounters, Miss Crusie keeps the sexual tension and awareness between the two at an all time high which makes the book quite enjoyable.

The turning point: The turning point in the relationship of Cal and Min comes gradually. Since they both do not want to be with each other, but do end up spending time with one another, they do find out that first impressions do not really tell the whole story about a person and that there were layers to each of them that inexorably drew them to one another. With their quirky group of friends and dysfunctional families they are a couple who have got all the odds against them, but somehow, fate tends to work in mysterious ways to bind these two together and before they know it, they are half way in love with one another.

How the relationship grows: Cal and Min’s relationship grows in no ordinary fashion. With David and Cal’s ex-girlfriend Cynthia (a relationship psychologist) who has an axe to grind and wants him back plotting against these two who are reluctant to be with one another in the first place, there doesn’t seem to be much room for their relationship to grow. However, a few well placed bets here and there and a few chance encounters and not so chance encounters somehow bind the lives of these two together and in the process both Cal and Min find stuff about one another that draws them closer to one another. The continuous heat and attraction between the two makes things interesting whilst this goes on.

Ending: Cal and Min’s happily ever after doesn’t come that easily. Both of them have issues to work out, and some grovelling to do and a bet to win or lose before they could both assume the roles of their happily ever after. Wonderful ending though! Loved the stories of all the side characters in the book who made this novel a much more fun and a wonderful read. Reading how their lives turned out in the end made the book a solid hit with me!

Likes: All the cast members in this book were wonderful. The whole time I was reading this book, I was imagining it as a movie which would generate some serious laughter from the audience. Ms Crusie never ever fails to amuse!

Dislikes: None for me with this book!

Recommended for: Those who love romantic comedies, those who would love a story where the chubby girl meets the hot hunk and they fall in love, and for those who love novels by Ms Crusie. You cannot go wrong with this one!

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard

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by mvbookreviewer

Short & Sweet Review: Blackwolf’s Redemption by Sandra Marton

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle & Microsoft Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Harlequin Presents, #2917
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Jesse Blackwolf
Heroine: Sienna Cummings
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: May 1, 2010
Started On: April 5, 2010
Finished On: April 7, 2010

Storyline: The story takes place in Montana US.  Sienna Cummings, an anthropologist on her way to earning her PHD visits the Blackwolf Canyon to watch the summer solstice and ends up traveling back in time to 1975, when Jesse Blackwolf was alive and owned the land. Jesse grew up to the tales of superstition that surrounds the Blackwolf Canyon though he doesn’t believe in such nonsense any longer. So he too is in time to view the summer solstice when with a round of green thunder, Sienna is hurtled into his life to forever change it.

The first meet: Sienna and Jesse first meet on top of the ledge of the Blackwolf Canyon when Sienna is hurtled back in time while watching the summer solstice.

Time period: The beginning and end of the story takes place in 2010 whilst the major part of the story takes place in the year 1975. Sienna a woman from the present where men and women have equal rights is hurtled into a time period when women were very much treated as the inferior sex, beings that aren’t able to think for themselves or capable of having any opinions for themselves. This irks Sienna more than anything and brings out the fiery spirit in her many a time in the novel.

Awareness between the two characters: This book has one of the best sexual tension sizzling thing going on between the hero and heroine. Ms. Marton always knows how to stir up the reader by creating screaming tension between two characters which is proved by this latest novel by her. Jesse though a loner and would prefer to remain that way has no protection against the intense attraction that sizzles between him and Sienna from the first contact. Hardened by the Vietnam war, with an ex-wife who left him because he is too cold and withdrawn, Jesse is not looking for anything to make his life complicated. Sienna is bewildered by what has happened much less by the passion that catches her unawares every time Jesse touches her or merely looks at her with smoldering heat in his eyes. (sigh!!)

The turning point: The point of no return for these two come when Jesse is unable to let Sienna leave and find her way back to wherever she came from.

How the relationship grows: Though Sienna and Jesse are both reluctant to start any sort of relationship between the two, when Jesse offers Sienna a job as his secretary until Sienna can get back on her own two feet, these two travel to San Fransisco on a business trip and it is there that these two finally succumb to the intense & fiery passion between the two and learn to love one another in the process.

Ending: The ending of the story was a  bit abrupt for me which is the case why this story got a B+ instead of an A-. I felt sort of cheated out when the story ended so abruptly without an epilogue even which would have made the story a much much better one!

Likes: The yummy Jesse Blackwolf. Makes for a truly dreamy hero. Made me wish the story were lengthier than it is.

Dislikes: During the first part of the novel Sienna acts like a total wacko at times growing hot one moment and icy cold the next which irked me. And oh, yes the very abrupt ending. Otherwise no dislikes.

Recommended for: Those who love Ms. Marton’s fiery hot stories. And anyone who just loves a good dose of passionate romance!

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard | Kobo

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by mvbookreviewer

Short & Sweet Review: Dark Torment by Karen Robards

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Hero: Dominic Gallagher
Heroine: Sarah Markham
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: March 15, 2001
Started On: April 3, 2010
Finished On: April 5, 2010

I have been thinking about changing the format of my book reviews for quite sometime. So I think I will  give it a go with this review.

Storyline: This story takes place in Australia in the 1800’s, a time when convicts from Europe were shipped to Australia and made to work as slaves in the country. Dominic Gallagher is brought to Australia on such a ship to be sold to Sarah Markham’s father to work on his lands as a slave.

The first meet: Sarah and Dominic first meet on board the ship on which Dominic is brought to Australia. Sarah happens to walk onto the ship to fetch her father since her stepsister Liza was feeling poorly to hasten the journey back home and comes across Dominic been whipped within an inch of his life. Sarah puts a stop to this and pleads her father to buy him back onto their lands.

Time period: The time period in which the story takes place is such that convicts were treated as lepers and no association with them apart from them being put  to work was to take place. Due to the various ill treatments that these convicts suffer with different owners an uprising from the convicts take place during the time period of the story. One such convict who is on the run nearly manages to have his way with Sarah and its Dominic who rescues her from her fate, which makes them even in Dominic’s opinion.

Awareness between the two characters: Ms. Robards has done a splendid job in creating great vibes of attraction between the two. Dominic doesn’t understand why he is so attracted to bossy and prim Sarah who looks most of the time like a lad with her no nonsense looks and posture. And Sarah doesn’t understand why she suddenly feels the urge to look beautiful, wear pretty clothes and be in the vicinity of Dominic.

The turning point: The tremendous attraction between Sarah and Dominic comes to a conclusion on the night of Liza’s coming out party. Sarah gives her body and soul to Dominic that night. However as soon as the deed was done, the shame of having been with a convict returns with full force and Sarah rejects Dominic to the point that the air is fraught with tension whenever these two meet after wards. Then Dominic goes missing and Sarah thinks that he ran away but what actually happens make Dominic thinks that Sarah betrayed him.

How the relationship grows: Dominic kidnaps Sarah and it is during their journey in the hot wilderness that these two actually learn to love and trust one another, though none of it comes easy to either of them.

Ending: A happily ever after with an epilogue that shows life between Dominic and Sarah with a few good twists in the end. Loved the epilogue as I usually do.

Likes: The storyline is a bit different from your usual historical romances such that the hero doesn’t always have the upper hand by being filthy rich and being able to do whatever he pleases with his wealth and status.

Dislikes: None really. At the beginning I got a bit peeved at Sarah because she turns hot and cold with Dominic, but then thinking about the situation and the time period and how everything turns out in the end, it wasn’t much of a problem.

Recommended for: Readers who love Ms. Robard’s novels as well as those who love a good historical.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: On the Steamy Side by Louisa Edwards

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Recipe for Love, Book 2
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Hero: Devon Sparks
Heroine: Lilah Jane Tunkle
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: March 2, 2010
Started On: April 2, 2010
Finished On: April 3, 2010

This was a read I picked up due to the fabulous reviews this book seems to be getting on Amazon and I would have to say that I wasn’t disappointed. Having never read a book by Louisa Edwards previously, I was glad that I loved her writing style from the beginning of the novel.

This is the second book in the series “Recipe for Love” and although I never read the first book in the series, the characters from the first book come up here and there in this second book of the series. Devon Sparks is a star through and through. With a father who never believed in his son’s ability to whip up extraordinary dishes and never understanding that Devon was different had made him work towards climbing the highest rungs of success a chef could ever hope to achieve. Devon has never looked back ever since he said goodbye to his old life and his family after high school. Now years later, Devon is the star of his own reality cooking show with a string of restaurants to his name with a playboy lifestyle any man would envy.

Lilah on the other hand is fresh out from country life and new in the big city of New York. Having lead a boring staid life for as long as she could remember, Lilah wants to spice up her life and bring excitement into it. Quite by chance she meets Devon at the local bar that Devon goes to chill out at and from the first moment these two lay their eyes on each other, its crash boom and bangs all the way. A bout of anonymous sex with one another was supposed to remain what it was, just a night of spectacular sex to be tucked away in the deep corners of their memories, never to be repeated.

However fate has other plans when on the next day Devon walks in to take over the restaurant from Adam (hero of the first book of the series “Can’t Stand the Heat“) for a period of two weeks whilst he and his girlfriend Miranda take a vacation and travel to Europe, and finds his anonymous sex partner, the woman who had rocked his world the night before in his kitchen.

Devon has so much to deal with on his hands and though the sight of Lilah warms his heart in ways it shouldn’t after a one night stand, Lilah is starting work at the restaurant that very same day. Though everyone sees Devon as the ultimate golden boy in the kitchen its been ages since Devon had really had to supervise and play his role as the head chef in a restaurant and the thought of all that has him in jitters all day long. And it doesn’t help matters much when his long estranged son of 10 years is suddenly at the doorstep with his mom in state mandatory rehab with nowhere else to go. Though Devon has had nothing to do with his son for so long and at first says that he can’t take his son in, its Lilah who steps up and lands them together.

Before Lilah knows it, she is fired from her job at the restaurant and hired on as Tucker’s nanny. Though Devon is the most stubborn headed man Lilah has ever met, Lilah knows and hopes that deep down inside Devon would do right by his son. And before long, Lilah is cooking up schemes to bring father and son together and let both of them bond with each other.

Whilst Devon makes a mess of things at the restaurant, he slowly comes to realize that fame and fortune aren’t the best things in life but it is love that makes living worthwhile. Before the story is through, Devon learns a thing or two about life, love and best of all cooking from Lilah the country pumpkin which makes this story all the more worthwhile.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Heiress For Hire by Eric McCarthy

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle & Microsoft Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Cutterville, Ohio, Book 2
Publisher: Penguin Group
Hero: Danny Tucker
Heroine: Amanda Delmar
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: January 3, 2006
Started On: March 30, 2010
Finished On: April 1, 2010

Heiress for hire is the perfect chic lit read. A wealthy heiress who is forced to find where she fits in when her multi-millionaire father cuts her off and leaves her to fend for herself in the small town of Cutterville. Amanda has never worked for anything in her life. Born and bred to lead the life of the rich socialite she never thought that there would come a day when she would have to work for anything. But Amanda is not your usual rich socialite. She would rather die than beg people for anything and though she knows next to nothing about working she rushes headlong into working at the only saloon in town.

Things don’t work out exactly as she planned and before long she is fired from her job. A source of income comes quite unexpectedly from Danny Tucker, a farmer in Cutterville who has always gone out of his way to avoid her. Danny is shocked out of everything he has to find out that one night of lusty fumbling when he lost his virginity had resulted in a child who is now 8 years old. Danny would do anything to give Piper a good, stable home and the love that has so evidently been lacking in her life for the past 8 years. And the only person Piper seems to have taken a liking to is Amanda and though Danny would rather crawl into a hole than let Amanda know how much he is affected by her, Danny would do right by his child no matter what.

Danny comes to realize with time that Amanda is not the rich spoiled girl that she protrudes to be, but rather a woman who has been as lonely as he has been or for far longer if her pathetic childhood is anything to compare with his. These two polar opposites come together, though not with a bang and makes for quite a good read all round. An author worth giving a try!

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Kobo

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