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A lover of all things romance, from Maldives.
by mvbookreviewer

Review: By the Book by Nancy Warren

Format: E-book
Opens with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Harlequin Blaze, #85
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Luke Lawson
Heroine: Shari Wilson
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: May 1, 2003
Started On: February 6, 2011
Finished On: February 9, 2011

I just had to get this book after reading its blurb on Amazon. Nancy Warren shot into the list of authors to be definitely checked out time and time again after I read and reviewed her book My Fake Fiancee which was my first Nancy Warren and an unforgettable one at that. So taken away by the blurb, I found myself with the book loaded onto my Kindle, ready to indulge in a story many have reviewed to be hot, hot, hot and then some more hot and this title definitely lived up to my expectations in that area.

28 year old Luke Lawson is a journalist who works from home and the only son from his parents 4 children. His father’s lifestyle isn’t one conducive of a committed man and he is about to get married for the 5th time when the story begins. The combination of Luke’s charming smile, tall, rangy body and the twinkle in his green eyes with a hint of devilry in them makes Luke a definite hit with the ladies and he is quite comfortable with his happy and carefree lifestyle as the cynic inside of him believes that he is just like his father and would never have the potential to be in a committed relationship of any sort.

Shari Lawson is an English teacher for high school kids and lives above her totally hot neighbor Luke Lawson whom she has been eying for quite some time now. A dyslexic postal worker who keeps mixing up their mails lends both Luke and Shari the opportunity to drop in and see the other and all the while the sexual zing between them is hard to ignore for both of them. The night Shari decides to take matters into her own hands so to speak, she encounters Luke with a how-to-guide on sex, i.e. Sex for Total Morons – A How to Guide written by a Lance Flagstaff which makes Shari do a total 180 degree turn on acting upon her attraction towards Luke.

Luke doesn’t know whether to fall at a heap at his feet in embarrassment about being caught with a book that he has authored and he has no clue as to why he doesn’t own up to the fact that when it comes to women and hitting the sheets, he is quite the ladies man. Luke who has been hankering for Shari for quite sometime decides to hit 2 birds with one stone and make use of the opportunity to test out whether his philosophy published in the book works in real life and get Shari into his bed, and thus strikes up a deal with Shari to help him along from Chapter 1 – 4 in the book in return for his presence at the wedding ceremony of her ex-best friend and ex-boyfriend; all the while never owning up to the fact that the how-to-guide was authored by Luke himself.

What follows is funny, endearing and so very hot that I couldn’t help but laugh out loud, sigh over every now and then and find myself unbearably flushed from one moment to the next as the story progressed. Both Shari and Luke who are reluctant to look for anything more with the other than just their attraction towards each other finds more than each of them bargained for as things heat up between them. Shari takes it upon herself to tutor the shy Luke in the art of pleasing a woman and finds herself totally overwhelmed when Luke hits all the right spots, in and out of bed. And the extremely commitment phobic Luke finds himself slowly and irrevocably falling in love with the wonderful woman he finds in Shari who changes his views about love, life and commitment once and for all.

I liked the gradual build in Shari and Luke’s relationship and the fact that they didn’t just straightaway jump into bed, but rather built up the sexual tension in a believable manner which does great things for the reader as well. I found myself totally caught up with Shari and her best friend Therese’s conversations – because they were so funny and I couldn’t help but laugh on Therese’s logic when it comes to men and their prowess in the bedroom. The side characters were wonderfully done for a novel such as this one and the sensuality just rocked at all levels and went  totally off the charts when both Luke and Shari try to seduce the other. Totally dig the love scenes in this one. And I won’t read a “Chapter 7” after this without getting a little hot around the collar after this one! *grin*

Though I loved so many things about this story, I found myself a bit disappointed in the abrupt manner it ended. Everyone knows that I am always a sucker for a good epilogue and I just know that an epilogue would have done wonders for this one. Would have loved to see Luke and Shari and their happily ever after sometime after the last chapter in the story ended.

I also didn’t get to see how Luke resolved his issues with being commitment phobic as a result of his father’s carefree nature when it comes to relationships, marriage and women. I would have loved to see Luke interact with his father and maybe see Luke’s father through his eyes, maybe at his father’s wedding so that I would have felt better about Luke’s total turnabout towards the end of the novel.

Recommended for fans of the Harlequin Blaze line stories, fans of Nancy Warren and anyone who loves a light contemporary romance that can make you tingle all in the right places!

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: In His Good Hands by Joan Kilby

Format: E-book
Opens with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Summerside Stories, Book 2
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Brett O’Connor
Heroine: Renita Thatcher
Sensuality: 2.9
Date of Publication: February 1, 2011
Started On: February 5, 2011
Finished On: February 6, 2011

Right after I was done with Sarah Mayberry’s The Last Goodbye, I was blindsided with a ton of recommendations from Amazon for readers who loved the aforementioned book, which I absolutely did, in spades. So against my better judgement, I found myself purchasing my first title from Joan Kilby, intrigued by the thought that the hero and heroine has a shared past which had not ended that well for the heroine which would make for a good angst-filled read. So all in all, my introduction to Joan Kilby was not a bad one though I won’t be in a hurry to buy the rest of the books in the Summerside series of which this is the 2nd book.

Brett O’Connor is a retired pro Australian Rules football player who makes his way back to his hometown of Summerside years after he left it with his 13 year old daughter Tegan in tow. Just recently divorced from his wife Amber who has made Brett reluctant to try anything in the relationship department, Brett is a man who is determined to make it big and show that he is not just a sports jock without a brain. With all his savings tied up in the divorce settlement proceedings, it is up to Brett to convince the local bank to grant him a hefty sum in order for him to purchase and refurbish the only gym in Summerside and open it up as a successful venture.

32 year old Renita Thatcher works as the loans manager at the Community Bank in Summerside and is a bit overweight and always at battle with self-esteem issues which had not been helped much by the fact that she had once had the mother of all crushes on Brett only to be rudely brought back to Earth by his firm rejection of her obvious feelings for him. 13 years later, Renita thinks herself to be over her painful crush on Brett O’Connor only to have her theory disproved when he walks in sinfully handsome and hot as ever into her bank to ask her to grant him the loan to start up his business.

Though Renita tries to ignore Brett and his obvious effort to charm her, she can’t help but be aware of the effect he has on her senses. And before she knows it, she and her father are cornered by Brett into joining his gym and its not long before Renita finds herself losing weight and her heart in the process as she gets to know the complex man that Brett is inside and out.

I liked the fact that this story is about real people with difficult problems in their lives, trying their hardest to overcome them. And there were no instant or magical solutions to their problems and the fact that they made mistakes along the way and had to own up to the fact makes this story a uniquely different one based on that fact alone.

As someone who is always ordered/adviced by doctors and well-meaning family members to lose weight, I could totally understand and relate with what Renita goes through during the first half of the story and surprisingly I found myself a bit more motivated than usual to experience what she goes through during the story to come out a winner in the end. Kudos to Renita for seeing through what must have been a tough journey, especially with the man who makes her insides go aflutter being her instructor.

The relationship that forges between Brett and Renita doesn’t happen overnight which is alright in itself and though Renita still has feelings towards Brett, he takes a longer time to return them which was an irksome factor for me in this story. I want the hero to have some sort of awareness of the heroine even if she is not his “usual” type of woman, a fact that makes a romance worth reading. Brett is refreshingly honest with his feelings and though that’s a good thing in itself, I would have loved it more if he had been just a tad more aware of Renita throughout the story.

Recommended for readers who like their romance with a mix of family drama in an Australian setting.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Last Goodbye by Sarah Mayberry

Format: E-bookthelastgoodbye
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Going Back, #30
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Tyler Adamson
Heroine: Ally Bishop
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: February 8, 2011
Started On: February 4, 2011
Finished On: February 5, 2011

Sarah Mayberry delivers on all accounts once again with this Harlequin Super Romance letting faithful readers of her delightful stories know that she definitely is an author that should remain on your auto-buy list when it comes to a good dose of contemporary romance, which just happens to be my favorite genre of romance. I have been keeping a close eye on the release date of this book since Harlequin always tends to release its books much earlier than the designated release date and it was just by chance that I happened to stumble upon this book, ready for download on the Harlequin website yesterday. Needless to say, 7 pages in, I was hooked line and sinker and nearly snarled in frustration every time something or the other took me away from the magic that Sarah Mayberry has woven with this beautiful story.

37 year old Tyler Adamson, owner of the largely successful T. A. Furniture Designs is a man haunted and tortured by the unpleasant memories of his childhood at the hands of his emotionally and physically abusive father Robert Adamson (Bob). Tyler and his elder brother Jon had never had a happy moment to reflect back upon and Tyler had followed in Jon’s footsteps and left home when he had barely turned 17 years old. It had only been a sense of guilt and obligation that had made Tyler visit his home in Woodend, a small Victorian town when his mother was alive. The day she had died, Tyler had said goodbye to his father as well and never looked back, until Ally walks into his life, all rightful indignation forcing Tyler to face the demons of his past.

33 year old Ally Bishop is a nomad at heart. Commitment phobic to the extreme, Ally is the unwanted child of an artist who had always been free spirited and flitted from one place to the other. Ally’s mother had discovered the fact that she was pregnant with Ally when it had been too late to do anything about the unwanted pregnancy. Ally had grown up, never having known her father with a mother who had been really too selfish to stop and think about the needs of a child and it had been up to Ally to mold herself even as a child into her mother’s lifestyle which has left its own sort of emotional scars on Ally. The author of the Dear Gertude column in the Melbourne Herald, Ally is a house sitter who occupies one home after the other, looking after other people’s homes for them which gives her free accommodation all over the country which suites her needs pretty well. Haunted by the thought that she is just like her mother, Ally shies away from relationships that makes her feel too much and which requires a commitment from her part until silver-eyed Tyler Adamson changes how she views the world once and for all.

It is when Ally house sits for her friend Wendy that she comes across Bob and rescues him when he collapses from stomach pain to be rushed into surgery for doctors to discover that Bob has cancer and that its a stage where they can do nothing more for him than keep him comfortable till his time comes. It is the fact that Bob is to face his death all alone that propels Ally to seek out Tyler, never really comprehending the can of worms that she was about to open with her good intentions.

It is a Tyler who is torn between doing what is right and seething with anger and unresolved issues that reluctantly goes to visit his father to say his goodbyes and give him a piece of his mind for what he and Jon went through at his hands. But what happens is the farthest thing from Tyler’s mind when he finds himself the caretaker of his father, who wants to go home to die. The only good thing Tyler finds amidst all the pain, grief and anger is the presence of Ally and her warm brown eyes that soothes his tortured soul unlike any other and her touch that starts a trail of fire deep within and comforts him at the same time.

This story encompasses complex relationships combined with the red hot passion that flares between two people who are as tortured and emotionally scarred as they come. The relationship if it can be called that between Tyler and his father played with all my emotions, making me want to rage at his father for the hell that he put his children through and at the same time made me watery eyed to think of what the cancer would be doing to his body, making him just a scared little man who must have had many a regret when he let out his last breath. It also made me want to be the fierce protector of Tyler and Jon, who makes an appearance very late in the book and just begs for his story to be told because I have a feeling he would make a great, drool worthy hero for a romance.

I loved a lot of things about this story. The way it reeled me in from page 1 and refused to let go the hold it had on all my emotions was what I loved best about this story. It makes you root for every single person in the story, makes you want  to get to know them, and even makes you shed a reluctant tear or two for the abusive father towards the end. It brings home a lot of hard truths, to do good unto others during the short life that you live because you never know how much time you really have left to walk this Earth.

I loved both Tyler and Ally and deem them just perfect for each other. Ally the nomad who craves stability and a home of her own without even knowing about it and Tyler the man who is ready to provide all of this for her and is understanding to the max without crowding her, who finds his own home & ultimate happiness in Ally’s welcoming arms just made this story a wonderful one all around.

If you want a contemporary romance  that grabs you right from the very start, a romance that delivers on all fronts and makes you cry towards the end, this one’s for you!

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Two-Step Temptation By Emma Jay

Format: E-booktwosteptemptation
Opens with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novella
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Samhain Publishing Ltd.
Hero: Eric Viera
Heroine: Haven Reynolds
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: December 8, 2010
Started On: February 2, 2011
Finished On: February 2, 2011

Yeap, you guys guessed it right. This novella from Samhain Publishing caught my eye solely due to its uber-beautiful cover. Reading the blurb I was sold and have been on the look-out for its release date since then. February is definitely going to have a huge impact on my book budget with several great romances which I am keeping an eye on coming out within this month.

My first Emma Jay definitely started out with a bang and finished in a riot of beautiful colors leaving a huge smile on my face. Mr. Sex-on-legs aka Eric Viera might have had a thing or two to do with that fact as he strode into the story in his long, lean form, close-cropped brown hair and his sexy little goatee and deep blue eyes that just begs a girl to get into trouble of the right kind with him. Being an anthropologist means that Eric rarely stays around in one place for long unless it is to study behavior of some forgotten tribe of people.

Elementary school principal Haven Reynolds finds herself definitely in trouble of the right variety when she meets the sexy Eric Viera at their friends Jared and Christine’s engagement party 8 months back. A two week affair had left Haven certainly begging for more and eventually her heart had gotten involved and it had killed her to see Eric go on his anthropology trip to the Costa Rica afterwards. Though she would rather die than admit to the fact Haven knows that Eric owed her nothing when both of them had gone into the purely sexual affair with their eyes open.

Eight months later, Eric again walks into Haven’s life, this time for the wedding of the couple whose engagement brought these two together in the first place. Haven with her shields strongly in place face an even more appealing and a sexier version of Eric who has no intention of letting the best thing that has ever happened to him walk away from him as he is looking for something a bit more permanent with the woman who rocked his world 8 months back and the woman who has occupied all his thoughts since after. It is a highly enjoyable and a sensual journey done very well by Ms. Jay I must add that these two take and I loved every minute of it!

Things that made this book rock:

1- Eric Viera. No two ways about it. Mr. Sex-on-legs is definitely what he is! His at times gentle and other times no-holds-barred methods of seduction just makes me want an Eric of my very own! ^_^

2- Haven Reynolds. Though she is wary of getting her heart trampled upon, that doesn’t stop her from having a little fun with the only man who rocks her world. That makes her my kind of heroine and getting her happily ever after at the end was just icing on the cake for me.

3- The sizzle factor. Awesome hawtness throughout the story. Dancing has never sounded as good as it did in this story!

4- The beaaaaaaaautiful cover! Love it!!

Things that could have  made this book more awesome? I would change not a single thing about this book!

Recommended for fans of awesomely hot novellas. This one is just sinfully delicious!

Have definitely added Emma Jay’s list of published books to my wishlist!

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

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by mvbookreviewer

My 2 Favorite Things in the World – Music and Books!

Anyone who knows me well enough knows that I am a huge fan of music. In a country where Indian movies and Hindhi songs used to take the lead when I was growing up, I opted to listen to English songs, maybe because of my love for a language as beautiful as the English language proves to be. Though scholars of the language may cringe and roll over in their graves at the content of some of the songs that I listen to, nevertheless they provide an escape without which I don’t think my life would be complete.

That being said, as you all know very well, books or rather books of the romance genre come hand in hand with my method of escapism from the real world. All those who stumble across my review site would know that I tend to read all sorts of romances if it delivers a hotter than sin alpha hero & a story worth my while which would stay with me for a long time.

And so it happens that my favorite two things converge a lot as in I happen to listen to music a lot as I read. Sometimes the music that I listen to whilst reading tends to make a huge impact on the way that I feel about a book.

For instance whilst I was reading Sing My Name by Ellen O’Connell, her latest American-Western historical romance, Ijust was listening to Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars and for me the song just perfectly described how the hero Matthew Slade feels about the heroine Sarah Hammond. Even now as I listen to the song on and off, I am reminded of the novel and the impact Matthew Slade made on my senses. *Sigh*

Moving on, I come to Breaking Benjamin, my utmost favorite rock band in the world. Benjamin Burnley’s voice coupled with their awesome music and lyrics that make a deep impact on the listener goes a long way in making Breaking Benjamin my favorite music to listen to whenever I feel in the mood for rock or whenever I need an uplifting from some funk I find myself in at that moment. That being said, I was listening to Dear Agony their latest album when I raced through the Ice series by Anne Stuart with her ruthless heroes who ALWAYS manage to make my heart go thud-thud at the merest thought of them. Into the Nothing featured in this album is a song I relate a lot with Black Ice, the first novel in the series. It somehow manages to capture the reluctant hero that the story makes out of Bastien and my love for him an everlasting one! It was only much later that I found out that Anne Stuart herself listened to a lot of Japanese rock music & whatnot when she was writing the series and I guess I hit it spot on when I was reading this great series.

Last but not the least comes my eternal love for Crispin Phillip Arthur Russel III (Bones) from the Night Huntress series and anything to do with him. As it happens, this is also one series that I holed myself up in my room to race through as I practically gobbled book 1 – 4 in the series because simply put, I just couldn’t get enough of Bones! Now there’s something we all didn’t know huh? Anyhow I for the world of me don’t even know why, but this crazy tune Good Life by Leslie Millis featured in the movie What a Girl Wants was a song that I was practically hooked on when I was reading the Night Huntress series. And even now when I listen to that tune I can practically envision Bones striding towards Cat with all his lethal charm focused on me, errrm I meant to say Cat, with the sides of his leather jacket flapping in the wind, with his collar pulled up to graze his fantabulous cheekbones, mmmm.. shall I go on? So its practically a given that I am dying for the 22nd of this month to get here to get my hands on This Side of the Grave, the 5th book in the series!

I don’t think that it’s only I as a reader that feels the same way about books and music. I for one know of authors who have their own play-lists while writing their novels. For instance Pamela Clare very recently published on her blog the track list which she was listening to whilst writing the latest book in the I-Team series; Breaking Point which is to come out this May. I got some cool tracks off of her list and would definitely be listening to them whilst I read the book when it comes out.

So here’s to good music that works as a soothing balm on your soul or lets you pound out your anger and frustrations in life in a more productive manner and to great books that offer you a world to get lost into – as far away from reality as possible!

by mvbookreviewer

Review: A Not-So-Perfect Past by Beth Andrews

Format: E-booknot so perfect.JPG
Opens with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Serenity Springs Series
Hero: Dillon Ward
Heroine: Nina Carlson
Sensuality: 3.5
First Published on: April 2009
Started On: 31st January 2011
Finished On: 1st February 2011

I can see why this book received the 2009 RITA award for the Series Contemporary category. As I delved into my first Beth Andrews story, delighted was I to find such a well crafted one, a hero that I needless to say salivated over and a heroine who was real enough with genuine problems and fears that she needed to overcome to find everlasting happiness and love with the man who even though is not perfect, is the one for her.

Ex-convict Dillon Ward has spent 5 years in prison for killing his stepfather. Dillon moves back to Serenity Springs after he is released and 2 years on, people still avoid him like the plague and he goes out of his way to isolate himself because being in prison, continuously having to look after your own hide changes a man for better or worse. Dillon is a man who has never had it easy in life. Dillon’s father had died when he was 4 years old from a drug overdose and his mother had turned to vodka to drown all her sorrows leaving Dillon to look after his younger sister Kelsey who gets her own happily ever after in book 1 of the series which I have yet to read.

Single mother Nina Carlson is the new owner of Sweet Suggestions, a bakery in Serenity Springs which is Nina’s salvation. Blonde, curvy and full-figured, Nina has always been the good and golden girl of Serenity Springs. Nina had dropped out of college to marry her ex-husband Trey Carlson, the self important and arrogant psychologist of the town who not only abuses her emotionally and physically but leaves her to marry the tall, thin, sexy and successful Dr. Rachel Weber which puts a huge dent in Nina’s self esteem as a woman. Nina is a woman who continually wages an internal battle within herself with the need that arises in her to assert herself and become independent from the shackles that bind her and what she has always been till now.

It is because Nina bows down to pressure from her ex-husband Trey and her well meaning family members that she decides to remove Dillon from her building, the tenant which she acquired along with the purchase of Sweet Suggestions from her grandparents. Nina has never really come to know Dillon that well and with half the town afraid of him, Nina goes along with the flow until circumstances force Nina to look up and see Dillon for who he really is. Dillon who acknowledges that he has a strange fascination for the town’s good girl but refuses to do anything about it finds himself on the losing side of the battle when emotions and feelings he had thought long since buried rise to the surface making him hope and believe that he is indeed worthy of the good things in life if he could have just a little bit of courage to let go of his past and move on.

Stuff I liked:

1- Dillon Ward. I always love my heroes to be a little bit tortured and just a tad dangerous. Hell, the more dangerous the better. And Dillon proves to be as sexy as they come and brings to the story that elusive quality which makes a romance come alive in the little ways that matters so much in the end.

2- Nina Carlson. What I loved about her was the fact that I could see her struggle with very real problems that many a women go through in the real world and come out the winner in the end. Because she tries so hard to be a better woman, to be more independent and to rid herself of her dependent nature on others, its no small feat that she accomplishes within the story that unfolds.

3- I loved the sizzling variety of sexual tension in this book. From the many a Harlequin Super Romances that I have read, this one comes out on the top in delivering sensuality that knocked my socks off as I read along. I always love it when the tough hero loses control and that is exactly what happens in this delectable story towards the end!

4- Loved the character development. Harlequin Super Romances always deliver on that and this one’s no exception to the rule. Because of this very reason, this line from Harlequin is rapidly becoming a favorite of mine.

What could have made this better?

The lack of an epilogue rankled me in this one because I so wanted to see how Nina and my deliciously sinful Dillon with Nina’s two adorable kids fare in the end. Would have definitely made this novel a much more complete one in my opinion.

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Playing With Fire by Amy Knupp

Format: E-bookplayingwithfire
Opens with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: The Texas Firefighters, Book 1
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Derek Severson
Heroine: Macey Locke
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: July 13, 2010
Started On: January 29, 2011
Finished On: January 30, 2011

This is a book that has been sitting in my to-be-read pile for what feels like ages now. I have always been intrigued by storylines where the hero is so blinded with grief for the woman he previously loved, whether it be the woman was his wife, fiance’ or  girlfriend; that he is immune or cannot see the woman who is meant to share his life who is standing right in front of him. These make for heartwarming and at times gut wrenching reads as it is the heroine who has to take the brunt of the sorrow and grief that is whirling inside of the hero with no way out. Playing with Fire is a recommendation I received I think from Amazon forums and my first Amy Knupp proved to be a surprisingly feel good read and I certainly won’t say no to reading another title from hers.

28 year old Derek Severson is grieving the death of his girl friend Julie who died in a fire that Derek was working on. Giving up fire fighting, the profession that he loves, Derek moves to San Amaro Island where his uncle Gus has grown too old to manage his bar The Shell Shack. Pouring drinks day in and day out from mid day till the wee hours of morning is how Derek manages to keep the mind numbing grief at bay and 5 months on Derek still isn’t ready to let go, move on and has no inclination of returning to fire fighting.

Macey Locke, Derek’s childhood friend since Macey had been 5 years old and their mothers had got together to manage a restaurant, has always had feelings for Derek which she has pretty much given up hope of ever being returned. It had been during college that Macey had first realized of her feelings and had in turn turned down all opportunities to date that had come her way. It had been seeing Derek fall crazy in love with Julie that had propelled Macey to do something as drastic as join the Peace Corps and spend two years in Thailand; a time during which Macey had turned from the shy girl she had been into a take-charge woman who is no longer afraid of confrontations.

Macey returns from Thailand and makes her way to San Amaro Island with the sole intention of helping Derek find himself once again so that he may be at peace with what has happened and be able to move on with his life. The Derek she finds at The Shell Shack is a shell of the man he used to be, anti-social, grumpy and tortured looking as hell with desolation surrounding him like an invisible cloak. Mercy has her work cut out for her as she slowly turns Derek’s world upside down in more ways than one, and in the process both Derek and Macey find love of the everlasting kind with each other which is by no means easily achieved with Derek fighting Macey and the feelings he suddenly finds himself with every step of the way.

I liked this Harlequin Super Romance from its beautiful cover to the hunky hero Derek who is desperately in need of some TLC and then some. The Macey who emerges from her time spent at the Peace Corps is an admirable one, one who doesn’t back down even when the going gets tough. I loved Macey and rooted for her and her mission from the very beginning. I liked how the process within which Derek lets go of his grief for Julie unfolds right in front of the readers eyes. It wasn’t an overnight process and I applauded Macey’s guts in facing this challenge head on and coming out the winner in the end. I found myself intrigued with cook that Derek hires for The Shell Shack, a Harley driving, anti-social woman named Andie who seems to me would make for a great story of her own.

The only thing that irked me was the fact that even though Derek had been preparing to leave to go back to Macey, it was in fact Macey who had come back to confront Derek and to let him know that she won’t be scared off that easily from him. Though I liked the ending, I just wish it had been Derek who had had to do the grovelling a little bit more to win over the love of his life.

Recommended for fans of Harlequin Super Romances and those who love a hero wallowing in grief finding love once again.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Simply Irresistible by Jill Shalvis

Format: E-bookSimplyirresistible
Read  with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: A Lucky Harbor Novel, Book 1
Publisher: Forever
Hero: Jackson Cullen III (Jax Cullen)
Heroine: Madeline Annie Traeger (Maddie Moore)
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication:  October 1, 2010
Started On: January 26, 2011
Finished On: January 29, 2011

Ever since I read Shadow Hawk and didn’t like it as much as I expected to, I have been a little wary of picking up anything by Jill Shalvis and that’s the main reason why I have hesitated in getting a copy of her latest novel Simply Irresistible, the 1st book in the Lucky Harbor series. Now, I am so very glad that I let reviews from my friends on Goodreads who all loved this book to pieces convince me to give this title a go because I am slapping myself for being stupid enough to let such a yummylicious read go by for so long without an attempt to read it.

Simply Irresistible is a book that lives up to its title, yes, its simply irresistible and I found myself so engrossed in the world of Lucky Harbor, the small town life, the larger than life heroes, Jax Cullen who makes my knees go wobbly each and every time and the sisters who make this novel come vibrantly alive that I forgot to mark this book for quotes as I read along, something which I always do when I am reading a novel so that my review would be a complete one. That just goes to show how marvelous a tale Ms. Shalvis has spun with her new series and I can’t wait until the next one comes out in April of this year.

Jax Cullen is a hero who presents himself as a mass of contradictions and I so love myself a hero like him. At first he comes across as the bad boy hero who rides into the story on his bad-ass motorbike; but layer by layer his character unfolds to reveal the complex man he is behind the facade. Jax had grown up with his father when his parents marriage had failed and his father being a cutthroat lawyer by profession, their relationship had had no room for emotions. A grown up Jax had followed his father’s footsteps and had become a very expensive defense attorney for a huge law firm in Seattle, where winning cases at all costs had been the bottom line. His work there had earned him the name of Jackson Cullen III and it had taken Jax’s last case which had gone horribly wrong for him to quit his job and return to Lucky Harbor, the last place he remembers being happy. Now 5 years out of a profession that had sucked the very soul out of him, Jax is laid back, goes through life at his own pace and works doing what he loves; building and restoration. The mayor of Lucky Harbor for the second term Jax is not looking for a relationship after his fiance had walked out on him when he had walked out on his job; that is until beautiful and klutzy Maddie nearly runs him over in her car.

29 year old Maddie is broke and homeless when her late mother’s will brings her to Lucky Harbor. Maddie had been raised by her father who had been a movie-set designer ever since he had taken custody of her since Maddie had turned 5 years old. Having never had much contact with her flighty mother, Maddie is as surprised as her father and two half sisters Tara and Chloe to learn about her mother’s will which had bequeathed them Lucky Harbor Inn, in the hopes of bringing 3 of her children together even if she may not be around to see it. Maddie had earned the nickname of the Mouse from her mother and is a survivor of a physically and emotionally abusive relationship from her ex-boyfriend Alex, an angry, uptight and aggressive LA attorney who didn’t know how to control his temper. It had been Maddie’s retaliation towards Alex that had cost her her job and makes her swear off of men altogether until she runs into the very sexy and delectable Jax Cullen who makes her tingle in all the right places with his searing velvety gaze alone.

When their mother’s will brings them together, it is only Maddie who at first wants to make a go of things and work towards making the derelict Lucky Harbor Inn habitable once again. And that is how Jax Cullen and his tool belt comes into the scene, seducing Maddie of every good intention she has about swearing off of men until now. As Jax brings down the walls that surround Maddie’s heart, so develops a heartwarming relationship between 3 sisters who had not seen each other for the past 5 years. Amidst the small town life of Lucky Harbor, sexual awareness of the eyebrow singeing variety turns into a love so worth taking a chance on that I as a reader absolutely couldn’t have asked for more.

I liked:

  1. Jax Cullen. Every single time he walks in with his tool belt around him – needless to say I am a puddle of goo every time that happens and wouldn’t have it any other way. He has this way of seducing Maddie out of her noble intentions that left me breathless and wanting more of  where that came from. I loved him for his quiet intensity, his kindness, and the smoldering sensuality that leaps into the picture every time he walks in *fans self*. Jax can certainly master my ahem! baser emotions any day he chooses! ^_^
  2. Maddie. She is klutzy,  less than perfect and so down on herself when she comes to Lucky Harbor. But she has an inner strength that can definitely make her the Steel Magnolia, the title her mother has given to Tara the eldest of her 3 girls. Maddie’s determination to heal from the brutality of her relationship with Alex and how she is so irresistibly drawn towards Jax and his quiet determination and strength made me root for her big time!
  3. Loved the dialogues, each and every one of them whether it be between Jax and Maddie, or between Maddie, Tara and Chloe or Jax and his buddies. Several laugh-out moments in the conversations that makes this an excellent book to cure you from all your woes.
  4. Jax and his tool belt. There! Now I have said it. Can’t help but remember a guy on a show on Discovery Travel & Living who had a tool belt around him whilst he went about giving makeovers to people’s homes. Even then, my sole focus was on the tool belt. I guess that explains a bit on my fascination with the tool belt. ^_~
  5. I absolutely loved the relationship that develops between Maddie, Tara and Chloe. They are all so very different from one another but the affection and love they have towards each other is evident right from the very beginning. Though it is Tara’s story that will be coming out in April, I can’t help but want to read Chloe and Sawyer’s story. I have a mind that it’s going to be pretty darn explosive!! ^_^
  6. Loved the quotes from Phoebe Traeger at the beginning of each chapter. They were seriously thought provoking and at the same time gave me something to laugh out loud as I delved into each chapter.
  7. Jax’s lethal brand of seduction. I seriously, seriously could get used to it! *winks*

I disliked: None.

Favorite Quotes

Two, and even more unsettling, he smelled good – sexy and alluring. Closing her eyes, she felt her body tingle, brought to a hyper-awareness that felt almost foreign as something zinged through her.
Desire. Bone-melting desire.
When she opened her eyes again, he was even closer. His eyes weren’t the solid warm caramel she’d thought but had flecks of gold dancing in them, as well. She could have drowned in all that deliciousness.
Not a  bad way to go, she figured – death by lust.

Chloe stood there, a small smile on her lips as she peered past Maddie at the Jeep. “Who’s that?”
Maddie watched the brake lights of the Jeep as it vanished into the night. “Jax Cullen. And that’s all I know,” she said before Chloe could ask anything else.
Well, except that he had a voice that went down like smooth whiskey, a way of looking at her that tended to get her to say more than she should, and oh, yea, he kissed like heaven on earth.

With a sigh, she picked up her knitting instead of inhaling any more food and continued from where she’d left off last night. “In, wrap around,” she said to herself. “Pull out.”
“You know,” Chloe said licking some batter off her thumb. “The way you knit always sounds a little dirty. I bet if you knitted in earshot of a guy, you’d get laid for sure.”

The back door opened, and all three of them swiveled to look as Jax filled the doorway. He looked like sin on a stick in faded Levi’s, a long-sleeved graphic Henley, and – there went her pulse – that damn tool belt slung slow on his hips.

“Don’t take life too seriously. After all, none of us are getting out alive anyway.” – Phoebe Traeger

“Experience is something you get… after you need it.” – Phoebe Traeger

Recommended for anyone who loves a good contemporary romance that can play with all your emotions in a good way and leave you with a huge smile at the end should read this novel. A great beginning to a series which I am sure can only get better. A story that petted, stroked and fed each and every craving I have as a romance reader; I can’t recommend this novel highly enough!

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Simple Need by Lissa Matthews

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novella
Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romance
Series: Ellora’s Cave Exotika Series
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Hero: Vinter
Heroine: Elise
Sensuality: 4.5
Date of Publication: November 1, 2009
Started On: January 27, 2011
Finished On: January 27, 2011

I’ve been in a sort of reading funk lately and haven’t been in the mood to read anything. Simple Need by Lissa Matthews has always been a novella that has caught my eye mainly because of its delicious cover and also because of its high reader ratings on Goodreads. So I thought to myself when this title cropped up again, why not give this a chance and see whether it can pull me out of this deep hole I seem to have dug myself into? Though the story didn’t manage to do just that, it still entertained me with a hero that is to die for; a bad boy hero any girl would love.

Since this is a pretty short story, everything is pretty much fast-paced. Vinter is the owner of the bar where Elise decides to drown her sorrows after being dumped by her current boyfriend who had done the deed via SMS, letting her know in the process that he had been a married man all along. Average looking at most with a body that is a bit fuller than what’s the rage, Elise is on her way to becoming drunk when Vinter steps in making all  her hormones go on full red-alert to the delicious man-candy he presents.

Vinter notices the buttoned-up Elise the moment she steps into his bar. Though his intention had only been to just converse with her and find out what was troubling her, the moment she flashes those emerald green eyes filled with longing at him, Vinter is a goner. The undeniable attraction that flares up between Elise and Vinter makes Vinter propose to Elise to let him make her forget every damn thing in her life apart from how Vinter is able to make her feel.

Thus starts out an all out sexual affair which leaves all of Elise’s senses reeling. Having always put aside her true nature and molding herself into what is the norm of the society has made her lose herself somewhere along the way. And it is under Vinter’s commanding fingers that she lets go and embrace her true sensual nature; a journey that leaves the reader tingling in all the right place. *wink*

The ending in this one is also a bit abrupt as it is the case with most of the novellas. Though I didn’t much care for the scene towards the end where Elise’s ex-boyfriend calls her up wanting to mend fences I suppose, I still liked this hot, hot and hot novella and would recommend it to those who love a good erotic contemporary novella with a hero who will just make your heart go aflutter and make all your good-girl genes cry out to claim him as your own.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard | Ellora’s Cave

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Loving Mercy by Teresa Bodwell

Format: Paperback
Read with: Paperback
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Book 1, Untitled Series
Publisher: Zebra Books
Hero: Thaddeus Buchanan
Heroine: Mercy Clarke
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: January 1, 2005
Started On: January 24, 2011
Finished On: January 25, 2011

Hanging out at bookstores is one of my favorite ways of passing the time. Take me to a mall, show me a huge bookstore with loads of books to salivate over and I promise you wouldn’t find anyone else happier than myself at that very moment. Since Maldives is such a drag for book lovers like myself, coming to India where bookstores are as frequent as their chai (tea) stalls, needless to say I am in book heaven at the moment. So when I stumbled across this book cover at a used bookstore, I picked it up on a whim, based on its cover alone and because the back synopsis promised this book to deliver a good American-Western romance.

27 year old Mercy Clarke is one of those determined heroines who love their independence, who has had a bad marriage with her now deceased husband Nate and wishes to remain single and shoulder all the responsibilities of her family’s cattle ranching business in Colorado. Six feet tall Mercy always feels as if she were a giraffe in a menagerie and refuses to open up her heart to the possibility of love. Mercy still sports her wedding ring two years on after her husband’s death and is still haunted by the memory of how things ended up with him before his death. With a father who has been disabled from the accident that killed her husband and a younger sister to take care of, Mercy is a woman who takes her responsibilities very seriously and is determined that she would keep the family ranch no matter how much it costs her to do so.

23 year old Thaddeus Buchanan (Thad) is an ex-veteran who served in the civil war, who had his whole family taken from him in a war that has made little sense to him always. His only living relative is his sister Clarisse who lives up in Colorado and Thad is determined to reach her and make a home for himself up in the Colorado mountains. Easy going and charming, Thad is more than 6 feel tall, broad shouldered, blond haired with azure eyes and has a killer dimple in his right cheek when he smiles.

It is Thad’s determination that he reach Colorado that ends him up in the company of the prickly as a thorn Mercy Clarke in the town of Albiene where Mercy travels to auction off her cattle to pay off the debt on her ranch. From the first encounter between Thad and Mercy, Thad is totally captivated by Mercy and her independent nature. Though Mercy would rather cut off an arm than admit that the handsome and charming Thad gets to her more than any man ever had in her life, Mercy is determined that nothing come out of her inconvenient attraction to a man who seems too easygoing to her. But things take a turn when Mercy realizes that Thad is in reality her best friend Clarisse’s younger brother and that alone makes her enter into an agreement to take Thad along for the ride.

It is during this journey that these two make to Colorado that feelings Mercy had thought that she would never ever feel again crop to the surface and makes her give in to the heady desire she feels for a man that she knows is totally not for her. Thad who wants marriage and a family of his own knows that Mercy doesn’t want that role in her life nevertheless finds himself at the mercy of his feelings for her. Amidst danger from men who are after the money that Mercy had made in the auction, these two discover within one another their better halves but a lot of internal battles are waged within themselves to finally conclude that their lives would not be complete without the other.

I am someone who always loves a good American-Western romance. However, I felt that this one didn’t deliver what I was looking for. Thad was a hero I could have liked, hell I could have loved him to bits if he were a bit more assertive and if he could have just stood up for what he felt half the time. I love an independent heroine as much as the next girl but Mercy tended to get on my nerves a bit during the first half of the story and later on redeemed herself by following up on what she felt for Thad. I loved the fact that this was a romance between an older heroine and a younger hero but that didn’t factor into much of the story. This could have been a really great story if it had hit all those spots which you crave to be petted and stroked as a reader. All in all not a bad read though I wouldn’t recommend anyone to sit and read through this book except if you like myself want to discover whether the underlying does justice to a drool-worthy cover.

Favorite Quotes

As sure as roses will have thorns, love will bring you pain.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Abe Books

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