Category / Amazing Read

Rating of 4.5 Stars

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Lady Isabella’s Scandalous Marriage by Jennifer Ashley

Format: E-bookladyisabellasscandalaousmarriage.jpg
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Highland Pleasures, Book 2
Publisher: Berkley
Hero: Lord Roland Mac Mackenzie
Heroine: Isabella Mackenzie
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: July 6, 2010
Started On: October 4, 2010
Finished On: October 9, 2010

I have finally managed to finish the second book in the Highland Pleasures series which started off with a bang with The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie which I reviewed earlier this month. This is the story of Mac who is 3rd in line to receive dukedom. We get to see glimpses of Mac and his intriguing as well as extremely likable and separated wife Isabella Mackenzie who befriends Beth and reluctantly shows signs that she misses and loves her husband something fierce.

This story kicks off when Isabella comes calling at Mac’s home after she left him 3 years ago, a period during which although they had come across one another neither had resorted to exchange pleasantries with one another. After Ian’s marriage to Beth and his intuitive probing into Mac’s life sends Mac running back to London in the intention of wooing his wife back into his life, Mac didn’t anticipate that his wife would walk in on him painting a woman in all her naked glory.

Isabella comes calling on Mac because someone seems to be creating forgeries of Mac’s art work and selling it for profit, something which Isabella knew that Mac doesn’t do since he always donates his immensely good paintings to anyone of his friends who wants them. Though Mac treats the issue lightly, Isabella is outraged to think that someone was so blatantly going about impersonating Mac and creating extremely good forgeries of Mac’s paintings.

Although a lot of heartache and pain still lingers between Mac and Isabella, neither one of them has stopped wanting one another or loving each other. Each in their own ways had suffered during the 3 year period of separation and had stayed faithful to each other all throughout. Now Mac is more than ready to properly court and woo back his wife, something which he had failed to do when Mac had gatecrashed Isabella’s coming out ball on a wager placed by his friends that he wouldn’t dare go uninvited to Earl Scranton’s virginal daughter’s coming out party and steal a kiss from the lady in question. But from the first moment that Mac lays eyes on beautiful Isabella, his heart thuds something fierce and the wanting that takes control of his heart and body makes him seduce his way into innocent Isabella’s heart and before the night is through they are lawfully wedded wife and husband rocking London with scandal. Mac vows that this time round he would do proper by the woman he loves more than life itself and gently court her back into his life.

However all plans go awry when Mac’s home is set on fire and Mac moves into Isabella’s house in town stirring London with scandal once again. The threat on Mac’s life gets him serious about the very possible fact that someone intentionally wants to impersonate him and would go to any lengths in order to achieve what he wants. And when Isabella is nearly kidnapped by the mad man himself who manages to escape and elude the authorities once again makes Mac stick to Isabella like glue.

Amidst all this, Mac’s creative juices which he thought he had lost when Isabella had walked out on him starts stirring the minute Isabella lets him know that she would pose naked for him for a series of erotic paintings his wild and partying friends had wagered him into completing. Its not only the creative juices that start flowing when these rather wicked painting sessions start up. Isabella who had always managed to heat his blood in ways unimaginable stirs his pent up longings with one touch and sets both of them ablaze with a desire that would no longer be denied.

Slowly these two embark on a journey fraught somewhat with danger with a mad impersonator on the loose. However even that doesn’t stop these two from rediscovering each other, understanding what had driven them apart and healing over the much heartache each had gone through in the end. Though Isabella is reluctant to see the change in Mac and accept that he won’t revert back to his wild ways once again she is no match for the desire of her heart to accept Mac back into her life. But before these two can possibly ever hope for a happily ever after of their own they have to face a madman who is hellbent on removing Mac to achieve his ultimate destiny of claiming Isabella as his own and Mac has to face his own fear of opening himself up to his beloved wife and make himself finally face what loving someone is really all about.

My favorite part of this book as many who has read the first book in the series would agree with me was catching glimpses of Ian and Beth throughout the story. And yes, I loved those bits at the beginning of each chapter that somehow managed to let the readers know what marriage between Mac and Isabella had been like before via newspaper clippings rather than taking the reader through a boring narrative of what life had been like for both of them. Though Isabella and Mac are likable characters, there just was that elusive something missing that didn’t make Mac’s story as good as Ian’s. Though after reading through the sneak peak of the next book in the series The Many Sins of of Lord Cameron which is to come out during the summer of 2011, I am very much intrigued in learning more about Cameron. He sounds like someone who would make for a great story.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Hot Island Nights by Sarah Mayberry

Format: E-bookMSRCover
Read with: Amazon Kindle & Mobipocket Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Harlequin Blaze, #566
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Nathan Jones
Heroine: Elizabeth Jane Mason
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: September 1, 2010
Started On: September 7, 2010
Finished On: September 7, 2010

What I adore most about novels by Sarah Mayberry is the fact that her books offer more than just a fabulous roll in the bed which the Blaze line of books are famous for. Her books open up a world of possibilities with in depth character development and there is always a story begging to be told from start to finish. This book is no exception to that fact. When one reads the back cover of the book, he or she might be lulled into thinking that this is just your average good girl gone bad story. But it offers so much more and I loved every bit of reading Nathan and Elizabeth’s story maybe as much as or more than Ms. Mayberry must have loved writing their story.

Elizabeth Jane Mason was on the verge of tying the knot with her fiance’ Martin St. Clair within 8 weeks, whom she had been with for the past 6 years. Amidst bouts of panic and  questioning herself on whether she was doing the right thing, Elizabeth was a mess which she attributed towards prewedding jitters. She had always felt that there was something missing in her relationship with Martin who worked for her grandfather at his prestigious law firm. Elizabeth had been brought up by her grandparents when her parents had been killed in a light plane accident 23 years back. Elizabeth had always been the good girl, never giving a reason for her grandparents to worry over, always giving up what she had wanted in life in favor of what her grandparents thought was what she wanted and needed.

All the tension and unease Elizabeth is feeling comes to head when she receives the shocking revelation that John Alexander Mason whom she had always known to be her father was in reality her stepfather. Her actual father was a man named Sam Blackwell of whom she had known nothing about, until she had requested for a copy of her birth certificate to be mailed over so that Martin could apply for their marriage license. The final straw is realizing that even Martin had known about it when her grandfather had taken him into his confidence right after Martin had proposed to Elizabeth. Feeling immensely betrayed by the fact that her family and her fiance had made choices for her that they had no right making, Elizabeth calls off the wedding and heads off to find her real father and to find herself whilst she is at it.

Four days later, Elizabeth arrives in Phillip Island in Victoria Australia, Sam Blackwell’s last known place of residence. When she knocks on the door, the man who opens up the door wearing nothing but a threadbare towel and looking like he had just got out of bed with bloodshot eyes, he literally takes Elizabeth’s breath away with his superb body on display.

Nathan Jones (Nate), is a man who is haunted by memories too painful even to contemplate. Drinking from noon to night till he achieves the perfect balance to embrace the oblivion offered by sleep until the next day, surfing and walking the beach around the island and hooking up with an available woman a night or two is how Nathan prefers to live at the moment. A horrible accident that had taken the life of Olivia his sister whom he had loved more than anything in his life had left him with scars on the inside rather than the outside. Giving up all management rights of Smartsell, the business he and his lifelong friend Jarvie Roberts had built from the ground up so that he could take each day as it arrives, Nathan doesn’t envision his life changing the pattern it had taken since the night that irrevocably changed his life 6 months ago.

When Nathan opens up his door to eye the beautiful woman who stands on his doorstep and finds out that she is looking for his buddy Sam, all Nathan offers Elizabeth (Lizzy as he calls her), is that he would let Sam know that she had come looking for him. Elizabeth is more than infuriated at the gall of the man and his disinclination to help her even when she professed to being the daughter that Sam had never even met. Resigned to the fact that she would have to wait around since Nathan had informed her that Sam was gone for the moment to participate in the Sydney to Hobart yatch race and would only return during new year which was nearly a month away, Elizabeth returns to her hotel and tries to make the best of her stay and loose her inhibitions a bit.

When the sleep that Elizabeth had been craving for after the long journey eludes her, with thoughts of Nathan and his beautiful body crowding into her mind unwittingly which annoys her to no end, Elizabeth decides to go downstairs and check out the beer bar which was full of people as night was settling in. It is there Elizabeth encounters Nate again, whom she can’t help but follow around with her eyes. The red hot attraction that blazes to surface seems to be mutual on both ends, and Elizabeth who has never done an improper thing in her life has wild mind blowing sex with Nathan on the beach before the night is through.

What starts out as an island fling with the only man who had the ability to rock her world slowly turns into something more as the days pass. Elizabeth’s first impression of Nate as a carefree beach bum slowly changes as she realizes the depth of intelligence that he keeps well hidden behind the facade that Nate puts up. Nate in turn faces the fact that Elizabeth and the time he spends in her company is more effective in keeping  those dark memories and dreams at bay than any alcoholic beverage. And though Nathan has nothing more to offer a woman than a fabulous time in bed, he finds himself seeking out Elizabeth and what her delectable body offers him. In true Blaze style Ms. Mayberry knocked my socks off with the sizzling steam these two generate.

When finally Sam makes contact with Nathan and Elizabeth gets to talk with her father, she knows from the unenthusiastic response that she receives that she is a complication that Sam wants to do without at  the moment. The hurt and dejection that settles on Elizabeth’s shoulders somehow reaches out to Nathan who doesn’t want to rescue any damsels in distress. Nathan offers to take Elizabeth sailing and in the end comforts her by conveying to her that Sam was a rather reclusive man who loved nothing more than sailing the vast oceans.

When Nathan starts to feel things are getting too serious betwee him and Elizabeth he decides to call things off, but in the end the powerful effect of the trauma that Nathan faces every day since the accident propels him to seek Elizabeth’s company. Elizabeth knows that even though they had spent just 5 days with one another give or take a few hours, she had found something she had craved all her life with Nathan and refuses to give up on him no matter how hard Nathan tries to push her away.

Slowly Nathan starts to heal though the guilt he stores deep inside him for surviving the accident and being unable to help his sister fills him with self loathing and anger. Ms. Mayberry doesn’t offer any quick solutions to Nathan’s problems which made this book a winner for me. When tragedy nearly rips the woman he loves from his arms, Nathan once again tries to close himself off of the possibility of being happy and loved and it is Elizabeth’s stubbornness that saves them in the end.

I definitely loved the epilogue which portrays their lives six months after, with Nathan slowly healing and mending with an unwavering Elizabeth by his side. The story ends off with the tale of Martin and Violet, Elizabeth’s best friend who had loathed each other and have got together begging to be told. But I guess it’s too much to hope for their own story even though I would love it if it were to be told. Kudos to Ms. Mayberry for weaving the magic she so effortlessly creates with her characters whom you can’t help but fall in love with before the story is through.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Hunter’s Moon by Karen Robards

Format: E-bookhunter
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Dell
Hero: Will Lyman
Heroine: Molly Ballard
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: September 1, 1996
Started On: September 4, 2010
Finished On: September 4, 2010

Hunter’s Moon was the first book ever that I read from Karen Robards which made me ultimately fall in love with her stories and writing style. Though certain titles from Ms. Robards leaves a lot to be desired, most of her stories continue to enchant me and leave me wishing that there were more authors like Ms. Robards out there.

Hunter’s Moon starts off during the year 1982, when 12 year old Libby Coleman disappears on the night of 15th November never to be seen again. The story then continues 13 years later with Will Lyman from the FBI from Chicago who had worked on big time cases is assigned to chase the pettiest criminals he had the misfortune to come across in his career over in Kentucky. City born and bred, Will felt suffocated with the fresh air that he had to breathe in. Will knew that he landed with the assignment because his boss Dave Hallum was pissed off at him him for the fact that the criminals that he had been chasing on a case had blown up his cabin cruiser. For that alone, he had landed in Kentucky with John Murphy as his partner, who is as laid back as they come. Will who was naturally a quick talking, quick thinking and quick acting kind of guy found himself gritting his teeth with Murphy’s attitude. Will who was 39 years old, has an 18 year old son Kevin, and had been married to Kevin’s mother Debbie who had been killed in car accident two days after their son had turned 3 years old.

Will had been assigned to find out what was happening in the horse racetracks in Kentucky where Senator Paxton who bets on race horses suspected that something fishy was going on when his usual bets had turned up losses recently. Senator Paxton had asked his friend and Hallum’s boss to investigate and in turn the assignment had landed in Will’s hands. Will had found out that in fact, Senator Paxton’s suspicions were true and was laying down a trap to lure in Dan Simpson, the horse trainer of the Wayland farm, one of those suspected in substituting the actual racehorse with others and betting on them to draw in huge amounts of money. A burlap feed bag with 5000 dollars in cash had been placed inside the barn and Will and Murphy were monitoring what was going on when a woman whom neither Will nor Murphy has any clue who she is, finds the bag of cash and leaves with it.

Molly Ballard had quit her job at the Wayland Farm four days ago in a fit of fiery temper when Thorton Wayland, the obnoxious grandson of the stable owner had grabbed her butt. Molly knew that her family could not afford the loss of her job and she was determined that Dan Simpson, her boss would pay her the two week’s pay that he owed her. Knowing Dan and his ego, Molly knew that he might refuse to pay what he owed her. Thus Molly had come in earlier than usual before Dan came in so that she would have no chance of missing him. It is inside the barn that Molly finds the bag of cash and without thinking takes it and goes home.

When Molly realized what she had done, the recriminations of her actions had slowly started to sink in. If she were to go to jail or if someone were to kill her for the money, Molly knows that there would be no one else to look out for her 4 younger siblings. Molly had been a baby when her father had walked out on them. Her mother being a manic depressive had born 4 more kids, each for a different man. Ashely who was 17, Mike 14 and Sam and Susan who were twins were 12 years old. With an unreliable mother, Molly and her siblings had all spent their early childhood in various foster homes until Molly had turned 18. Together with her mother, Molly had brought her siblings home and things had been good for a while until her mother had committed suicide in her newest boyfriend’s apartment. It was Molly who had found her with her slashed wrists and blood everywhere. Molly had never notified the authorities of the fact that her siblings were living with her and thus looked after the 4 of them and she wouldn’t have it any other way even though money was always tight and they barely got by.

When Will shows up on her doorstep, Molly fears that everything in her life is about to come crashing down. Mortified more than anything that she had indeed stolen the money and with Will having videotaped evidence of the fact, she is more than relieved when Will believes her version of what happened. But when the informant that Will and Murphy had been relying upon commits suicide, Will needs to work out another plan to make his case work. Thus Will approaches Molly again, this time offering her the 5000 dollars if she would help him nab those he was after. With Will holding all the cards, Molly knows that she has no choice but to do as Will has asked and she agrees to pose as Will’s girlfriend for the duration of the assignment.

Unwittingly, Will who has always maintained perfect control on his emotions and had never mixed his professional life with his personal one suddenly finds himself yearning to do just that with the delectable Molly. At first, Will had felt sorry for the hand life had dealt Molly and her family, but then the stirrings of attraction and awareness begins unlike any he has ever felt before. Will knows he is too old for a 24 year old woman who looks like a teenager at the best of times. Molly who has never had a lack of male companions and had always had the upper hand with the men she dated finds herself out of her depth with the intense emotions she feels for Will. Molly knows that if she is not careful, she would end up falling for a man who would leave them all when the case was over. Nevertheless, the careful control Will yields on his emotions breaks apart and both Molly and Will decide to give in to what they feel for each other.

When Molly falls in love with Will though she tries so hard to deny it and walk away from it, in the end it is Will who walks away when unknowingly Molly stumbles upon the evidence that supports Will’s case. After a final showdown in which both Will and Molly say things that they regret to each other, Will goes back to Chicago and life continues though the pain Molly feels is unlike anything she has ever known. And then 3 weeks later, on the 15th of November, tragedy strikes when a bunch of violent horse mutilations on various nights throughout October culminate in Susan being kidnapped whilst in bed asleep and it is this turn of events that brings Will running back to Molly. Will has to face the fact that what he feels for Molly and her package deal is the forever kind of emotions before its too late for all of them as the maniac killer who had laid dormant for the past 13 years is back with a vengeance and in a frenzy to kill.

Will is an intense hero who makes me melt all over and Molly and her family bring a heartwarming glow to this wonderful romantic suspense novel. The witty banter between Will and Molly always brought a smile to my face and the intense attraction that simmers between the two is always something to be savored. My favorite scene from the book is when Will loses his legendary control with Molly because he is so infuriated with her and they have sex on top of his car, right before he walks out of Molly’s life. That scene was HOT!

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: One Summer by Karen Robards

Format: E-bookone summer
Read with: Amazon Kindle & Adobe Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Dell
Hero: Johnny Wayne Harris
Heroine: Rachel Grant
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: June 1, 1993
Started On: September 2, 2010
Finished On: September 2, 2010

This was a title I read sometime back when I first discovered Karen Robards as an author. I have always remembered this book to be one that I had immensely liked and thus I decided to revisit this story and see what had intrigued me so much back then.

Rachel Grant lives in the sleepy town of Tylerville. Coming from a rich affluent family Rachel now past thirty years of age was resigned to the fact that she would most probably spend her life in Tylerville as a high school English teacher. With her sister Becky married to Michael Hennessey, the one man who had managed to fire up her dreams and living elsewhere with her husband and three girls, Rachel knew that she would not be able to leave her mother Elisabeth and her father Stan Grant behind when her beloved father was suffering from Alzheimer disease and taking its toll on all those who loved him.

Johnny Wayne Harris is the boy from the wrong side of town. Rachel had been Johnny’s English teacher and it was only she that had seen beneath the tough as nails exterior that Johnny puts up in front of everyone else. The Harris family was considered to be white trash within Tylerville and everyone always figured that Johnny would in the end turn out to be just like his father, when in fact he had turned out to be worse when he was convicted of the vicious murder of Marybeth Edwards who had been seeing Johnny back then on the sly. Though Rachel believed that Johnny hadn’t committed the murder, the state decided that he in fact did and had sent him to jail.

Now Johnny was back, having to work off his parole and Rachel wanting to give him a second chance though she knew Tylerville would be in an uproar for the fact, offers him a job at her family’s hardware store. From the moment that Johnny steps off the bus Rachel knows that he is not the boy that she had envisioned in mind. The sullen even then handsome boy had filled up and in front of her stood a lean, hard and tough man who had matured into a dangerous looking man.

Johnny had always had the “hots” for his then teacher Rachel and had always fantasized about her during his teen years. But even then Johnny had known that apart from the age barrier that had seemed vaster back then, they would never be of the same social standing within the society and any relationship that they could have would be doomed right from the start. But Johnny was tired of dreaming and never having and all of a sudden he craves Rachel with the burning desire of a grown man.

Rachel is appalled when she feels the first inklings of red hot desire when she sees what a superb specimen of the male species that Johnny is. And with him enticing her every step of the way and slowly seducing her into his arms, Rachel who had always cared about Johnny more than she had let on suddenly finds herself out of her depths in the strong feelings that Johnny invokes in her. Its not long before the flames of desire that keeps burning finally burst out of control and Johnny is a man who definitely knows how to keep his woman happy.

Meanwhile, the actual killer who committed the heinous crime twelve years back is still on the loose and swearing to finish what had been started all those years back. When Johnny’s close friend and on and off lover Glenda Watkins is also stabbed to death in the same manner as Marybeth was, the town is in an uproar over arresting Johnny and sending him to the electric chair. The only thing that saves him is Rachel and her testimony that Johnny couldn’t have killed Glenda.

Johnny deduces that the only thing that the killer wants is to kill women who were in his life as his lovers. And Johnny knows deep in his gut that Rachel with whom he had fallen in love with and would lay down his life for was in danger of being murdered by the maniac on the loose.

This story is a wonderful read. The total bad boy image that Ms. Robards has effectively created for Johnny would infuse any woman’s dreams. And the man that he grows into is one worth salivating over. Rachel is more than his match with her unwavering faith in him and the love that burns deep within her heart for the man whom the society deems as unacceptable. With glimpses into Rachel’s family life, the town that abhors Johnny’s existence and the ramblings of the mind of a killer vicious enough that gave me the creeps, I couldn’t put this book down once I started. Highly recommended for those who are fans of Ms. Robards as well as those who love romantic thrillers with a good dosage of sensuality in the mix.

Favorite Quotes

Sometimes, in prison, when he’d been lying awake at night staring at the bunk over his head, Johnny had thought that he missed Wolf most of all.
Wasn’t that a damned sad commentary on his life?
The dog whined again. Knowing he was being ridiculous, that he was liable to lose the hand at the wrist when the animal charged, Johnny nonetheless took a step forward,holding out his fingers for sniffing.
“Wolf? Come here, boy.”
Incredibly, the huge animal sank to its belly and slunk forward, behaving as if it wanted to believe but feared a cruel trick. Johnny dropped to his knees to greet it, his hands reaching out, burrowing in the coarse hide, stroking and scratching as the dog whined and licked and pawed him and butted him with its head.
“Ah, Wolf,” he said as he accepted the truth at last, that this one thing that he had loved had been spared in order to greet him. Then, as the big head snuggled into his lap, he wrapped his arms around the dog’s thick neck and buried his face against the animal’s side.
For the first time in eleven years, he wept.

Thoroughly ruffled, Rachel turned her back on the source of her annoyance and started for the door. She could feel his gaze on her, and the notion that he was watching her made her suddenly self-conscious. In her teetering heels, she could not help but sway.
Just as she reached the door, he made an odd sound that caused her to glance back at him, startled.
“Rachel,” he said in what was scarcely more than a husky whisper, while his eyes drilled into hers, “don’t sleep with him. Sleep with me instead.”
Her breath caught for a moment as the words coiled around her like a seductive snake. Only by forcing herself to keep walking was she able to escape.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Amazon Lily by Theresa Weir

Format: E-bookamazonlily
Read with: Amazon Kindle & Mobipocket Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Pocket Books
Hero: Asher Adams
Heroine: Corey McKinney
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication:  October 1, 1988
Started On: July 17, 2010
Finished On: July 19, 2010

This is another book that was recommended on the Amazon discussion forum having similar story lines to that of Wild Orchids by Karen Robards. Though the book lacked the adventure part that I was looking for, this book was a wonderful romance, one filled with heart pounding tension and enough love to clutch at your heartstrings.

Corey a girl from small town Pleasant Grove, Illinois,  makes her way to the Amazon jungle on a mission. The congregation of Corey’s church was considering funding a reserve called San Revs which was located deep in the Amazon jungle. But before the funding could be approved, the church elders had insisted upon sending a representative to South America to personally meet with the reserve’s owner, George Dupree, and bring back a thorough report. Corey had fast talked her way into the job at hand with her degree in social work and her year of practical nursing to back her credentials.

When the bush pilot Mike Jones, who is supposed to pick her up gets late, Corey finds herself with Asher Adams, a man so virile that from the first glance itself that Corey knows that he is not the type of man you mess around with. Asher makes no secret of the fact that he hates the damn do-gooders  who come looking for adventure or  to ogle at the “savages” that inhabit the deep recesses of the jungle. Asher is a man who has toughened up to life in more ways than one. Brought up in a foster home with his brother Luke, Asher had always been labeled as the bad seed, the one who always got into a shitload of trouble.

But when his brother Luke, who could compete for a position up amongst the angels for all his humanitarian work goes missing in the Amazon, Asher leaves everything behind and goes on the hunt for his brother who has been everything to him in his life. Three years on though he doesn’t give up on his search, Asher suffers from bouts of Malarial fever, a testament to just how much the living jungle can take from a human life.

Corey, having led a suitably staid and boring life and expected to get married to her best friend Todd has never encountered anyone like Asher in her life. His larger than life presence with the fascinating  tattoo on his shoulder that blatantly shouted out “Born to raise hell”, Asher never fails to invoke the most extreme emotions in Corey. The sizzling white hot attraction that takes Corey unawares and battles with every step of the way, whilst Asher who tries to label all that he feels for the delectable woman by his side as lust is something worth sinking into.

With time and understanding, Corey finds herself strangely drawn to the rough around the edges Asher who would rather act tough than own up to the fact that deep inside is a heart of gold, incapable of watching someone suffer. Though Asher would not admit to it, Corey knows that he is a humanitarian through and through and the analogy doesn’t sit well with Asher when Corey blurts it out.

The night that Corey gets drunk on an aphrodisiac potion and tries to seduce Asher is one of the best parts of the book. All in all, loved every minute of the book, especially how it ended with the Asher and Corey going their separate ways before finally coming together which made this book one of the best reads!

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: First Drop of Crimson by Jeaniene Frost

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Night Huntress World, Book 1
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Hero: Baron Charles DeMortimer (Spade)
Heroine: Denise MacGregor
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: February 9, 2010
Started On: July 10, 2010
Finished On: July 11, 2010

Fans of the Night Huntress series; all the books of which I have been rapidly going through for the past five days by being holed up in my room, seems to have mixed feelings about the books of the Night Huntress World Series. But you cannot read through the Night Huntress series without being intrigued by all the other characters such as Ian, Charles (Spade), Vlad (Dracula) & Mencheres. Hence I was glad when I realized that Spade’s story had already been published which pairs off Cat’s best friend Denise with Bones’ best friend Charles (Spade).

Spade is a centuries-old vampire who’d been a South Wales prisoner in the 1700’s along with Bones. The overseer used to call the former Baron Charles De Mortimer by his assigned tool, a spade. He’d kept the name so he wouldn’t forget his previous helplessness. Charles/Spade is as chivalrous as they come and you cannot help but be charmed by his character.

Denise first meets Cat when Cat worked for the federal government to train soldiers who would have the ability to deal swiftly with the rogue undead. During the 2nd book in the Night Huntress series (One Foot In the Grave), Denise gets married to her boyfriend Randy who gets killed in the 3rd book, At Grave’s End. Denise has never forgotten what spending new year’s eve at her best friend’s place with the undead had cost her and she has kept her distance from her best friend through all this time. Now a year later, Denise gets hunted down by a demon shape shifter named Raum who marks her with his essence forcing Denise to search out for Nathaniel, a relative of hers who used Raum’s powers and then sent Raum back to the depths of Hell for which Raum is hell-bent on seeking revenge.

Knowing that the only beings who could help her out would be Bones and Cat from whom Denise has been out of touch with for the past year, Denise tries to contact them to no avail and finally ends up calling Spade who agrees to come out and see whether what has got Denise so rattled is not a figment of her imagination. The strong stench of sulfur together with how Spade finds Denise unconscious in her home convinces him beyond any doubt that Denise would not be safe and that her life as well as that of her family’s depends on whether she finds Nathaniel as soon as possible, which is easier said than done.

Understanding that Nathaniel has been under the guardianship of a vampire narrows things down to the point of the search being one similar to that of searching for a needle in a haystack. But that doesn’t deter Spade’s decision to keep Denise safe and when he finds out that the mark Raum has left on Denise has altered her blood such that its like narcotics for the vampires, his resolve to keep her safe at any cost with his burgeoning desire to possess her as his makes this book a great source of romance and endless adventure.

Both Denise and Spade have their own issues to work around with on top of the fact that Denise is now a shape shifter who yet has no ability to control what she has become. And together with the team from the Night Huntress series this is a novel all die hard Jeaniene Frost fans must read!

My favorite scene from the book is when Denise and Spade have their first fight since they got together & Spade storms out, and when Denise hears that he has come back, wanting to talk with him Denise goes downstairs where the vampires feed from willing humans and mistakenly thinks that Spade is the one who is in the room with the woman who doesn’t cease moaning and screaming in ecstasy, goes and bangs on the door only to find a very naked and pissed off Ian on the other side. Priceless!

I am really looking forward to the next novel Eternal Kiss of Darkness featuring the Mega Master vampire Mencheres which releases on the 27th of this month. Though I am more interested in reading Ian’s story which the author has not mentioned of for the near future, I am waiting avidly to read Mencheres’s story which I am sure would hold a lot of surprises in it as it did for Spade’s story. Never be it said that Jeanine Frost spins a predictable tale!

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: At Grave’s End by Jeaniene Frost

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Night Huntress, Book 3
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Hero: Crispin Phillip Arthur Russel III (Bones)
Heroine: Catherine Kathleen Crawford (Cat)
Sensuality: 2.9
Date of Publication: October 6, 2009
Started On: July 9, 2010
Finished On: July 9, 2010

Cat  still leads her unit and actively works in killing the rogue undead with her lover Bones by her side. Though Cat uses countless disguises, Cat has become something of a legend because she is the only one of her kind and she is a lethal force to be reckoned with, with her collection of silver knives strapped to her side.

When Cat’s vampire father Max literally finishes Cat’s life off until at the last minute Bones is able to save her finally makes Cat understand the real threats on her life and that she would not be able to operate as she has been doing before. And to add to the complications, a powerful female from Bone’s past is out for his head and Bones has a a real close call with death that kept me at the very edge of my seat.

The relationship between Cat and Bones sort of takes to the backstage in this novel as there are more important things happening, like saving their vampire clan from utter destruction. Bones joins forces with his grandsire Mencheres who is the only hope they have left in defeating an enemy that could be the end of Bones and Cat as we know them.

Filled with hair raising action, love gone wrong and new vampires in the making, this is a pretty fast page-turner as well though I would have loved it a bit more if the sizzling tension between Cat and Bones had been kept at a simmer. And you have got to love the rich cast of characters such as Ian, Spade, Tate etc. who contributes towards the witty banter that never fails to invoke laughter throughout the book.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Diamond Bay by Linda Howard

Format: E-bookdiamondbay
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Kell Sabin, Book 2
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Hero: Kell Sabin
Heroine: Rachel Jones
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: February 1987
Started On: July 3, 2010
Finished On: July 3, 2010

This is the second book in the Rescues series by Linda Howard. We get introduced to Kell Sabin in the first book as this frighteningly controlled agent in the highest ranks of intelligence gathering. Continuously putting himself on the line for his country is the only way of life that Kell knows and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

While Kell is on vacation aboard his cruiser Wanda, Kell gets attacked and nearly loses his life with two bullets driven into him, one into his shoulder and the other into his thigh. Being the highly trained and disciplined agent he is saves him when he summons all the reserves of strength he has to swim to shore and find help.

Rachel Jones is a widower living on a quiet private property near the beach with her less than friendly guard dog Joe and her geese to keep her company. Well educated and an investigative reporter before she had quit her old life, Rachel lets the peace that surrounds her present way of life heal her.

Rachel comes across a wounded and unconscious Kell on her beach and her old instincts kick in warning her not to report the man who was in dire need of medical attention to the local authorities. Her friend Honey, a veterinarian does all she can for Kell and it is Rachel who painstakingly take care of the enigmatic man who lies on her bed day in and day out. Though Rachel knows that the furthest thing she should be feeling for the man she rescued is white hot lust, she can’t deny her feelings anymore than she can deny herself the oxygen she needed to live.

Though Kell knows he owes his life to Rachel, habits ingrained in him for far too long prevents him from confiding in Rachel apart from telling her that he had been double crossed by his own agents and superiors. And danger comes calling when agents start coming around to Rachel’s place long before Kell regains consciousness in the hopes of confirming that Kell had indeed being killed from their efforts.

Grant and Jane from the book Midnight Rainbow comes to Kell’s rescue and although Kell professes that he loves Rachel, he doesn’t want to give them the chance to be together because of the dangers his way of life constantly puts  himself and his loved ones in.

I love novels where the hero and heroine getting together is not a forgone conclusion by the middle of the book and the ending is drawn out a bit to make the reader feel the pain both the hero and heroine undergoes during their separation from one another which makes their happily ever after more meaningful. Its rare to come across stories such as this one nowadays and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this marvellous story the second time round starring two characters you would root for right from the very beginning.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Surrender by Pamela Clare

Format: E-book
Read with:  Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: MacKinnon’s Rangers, Book 1
Publisher:
Hero: Iain MacKinnon
Heroine: Lady Anne Burness Campbell
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: February 28, 2006
Started On: June 26, 2010
Finished On: June 26, 2010

Reading Pamela Clare’s Ride the Fire had me interested in reading other novels by the author. Pamela Clare receives rave reviews on Amazon and the two books I have read of hers to date have convinced me that she is an author worthy of being included in the auto-buy list from now onwards.

Surrender is the first book in the series of MacKinnon Rangers, a handpicked cadre of warriors, who had the fierce courage of their Scots forefathers, combined with the stealth and cunning of the Indians who lived beside them in the wilderness. Iain being the eldest with two younger brothers Morgan and Connor, Morgan’s story already published in December 2008.

Iain is a man who has been forced to serve the British crown in order to save his life and that of his brothers. The one thing which Iain craves for more than anything is his freedom, a man who has simple dreams of starting a family with a woman he loves and taking care of the farm which was his father’s legacy to his sons. However, Iain knows that until the bloody war that they are in the midst of is through there is no hope of him ever gaining his freedom.

It is during one of their intelligence gathering sessions that Iain comes across Anne on the brink of being attacked, raped and murdered by a group from the Abenaki tribe. Anne is a woman who has been wronged by her own family whom she has held dear until she was branded a thief and sold into servitude for a period of 14 years. With a hard and desolate life ahead of her, Anne knew that there is no hope for her dream of starting a family of her own ever being realized with her body bearing the mark of the false accusation which she had fallen under.

Iain rescues Anne at peril to his own soldiers and at the risk of being punished or tried in a martial court for disobeying orders. It is during the first couple of days that Iain treks through the forests with a fatigued and injured Anne towards the safe haven of Fort Elizabeth that the first stirrings of attraction towards each other takes hold.

Though Anne knows that the barbaric warrior who has rescued her is not what she has been brought up thinking a gentleman should be, she can’t help but admire and respect this man who has risked everything to help her in her time of need. Though his gentle touch that leaves her senses all jumbled up makes her wary, for the first time since she was falsely accused of thievery, Anne begins to feel safe.

Ms. Clare cleverly weaves a tale of war, political manipulations, breathless passion and love with characters that you root for right from the very beginning. Action packed with never a dull moment this book left me with humongous respect for those who fight the terrible wars waged in this world just so the rest of us could be safe and sound in our homes with our loved ones.

Though Ride the Fire is my favorite of the two novels that I have managed to read from the author so far, this novel itself is a page turner which you wouldn’t want to put down once you start reading.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Daniel’s Bride by Linda Lael Miller

Format: E-book
Read with:  Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Hero: Daniel Beckham
Heroine: Jolie McKibben
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: September 1, 1992
Started On: June 24, 2010
Finished On: June 25, 2010

I have been following and reading up stories on the theme where heroes were previously married or dote on someone else apart from the heroine with whom the hero has to enter into a marriage mostly for conveniences sake. Daniel’s Bride is one such novel, one when I started reading I had the inkling that I had previously read it and halfway through I knew with certainty it was so.

Jolie is about to be hanged for a crime which she didn’t commit when Daniel saves her from her fate by agreeing to marry her then and there. Jolie realizes that she would rather get married to a total stranger than die and pay for a crime she never even knew was happening until it was a trifle bit too late. Daniel marries her and whisks her off to his farm where Jolie discovers that her brand new husband is a man who has vowed never to love again.

Daniel has been grieving for his dead wife and two children, one who had died without even being born into the world. Daniel knows that he needs children to continue the family line and it was with this practicality in mind that he saved beautiful Jolie, who unnervingly had the power to skim right through his thoughts no matter how hard he tries.

Its a hard life for men and women back in the 1800’s and when you read through the book, you find yourself in awe of those who have lived under such hardships in the past. The preparation of a simple meal back then took hours and though the description makes one think Jolie embraces the hard life effortlessly, I felt twinges in my back from just reading about the backbreaking work she does on a daily basis.

Right from the start Jolie is drawn to the quiet enigmatic man that Daniel is. A man of few words, Daniel introduces her to the wonders of sensuality and before long she is in love with Daniel. Daniel doesn’t like the fact that he continues to be enchanted with his wife and decides to send her along to San Fransisco so that she may start a new life as a divorcee once the harvesting period is over.

But the best laid plans have a way of getting over one’s head as two children who have no where else to turn to end up living with Daniel and Jolie. Little by little, the rigid structure Daniel has built around his heart starts to crumble, but it is a battle that is hard won for Jolie. And to make matters worse, the outlaws who actually committed the crime for which Jolie was prosecuted for starts turning up around the farm when Daniel is not around, keeping Jolie at a loss as to how to get rid of them before they destroy the family that she has found for herself and holds so dear.

This story is one that moves slowly, like a cup of hot tea warms your insides on a cold day. Sometimes I got frustrated with Daniel because he rarely shows how he feels towards Jolie and the ending of the book too seemed a bit empty to me because maybe I was wishing that Daniel would profess his undying love to the woman who would walk to the ends of the earth for him. But anyhow, its a good story which makes me more appreciative of all those gadgets that eases the hardships that we too might have had to face if it weren’t for their invention.

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

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