Category / Brooding Hero

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Midnight Rainbow by Linda Howard

Format: E-bookmidnightrainbow
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Kell Sabin, Book 1
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Hero: Grant Sullivan
Heroine: Priscilla Jane Hamilton Greer
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: February 1986
Started On: July 2, 2010
Finished On: July 3, 2010

Like the author Catherine Coulter says on the book cover “You can’t just read one Linda Howard”, I find myself returning to her books time & time again and they never fail to entertain me. Though I still haven’t given her latest works “Ice” and “Burn” a try, mainly because of the weak reviews both the books received, maybe I should rectify it asap and see whether I like them.

This book is one the earliest books by the author, and I should say one that I enjoyed immensely even reading the second time round. Linda Howard writes the best alpha heroes out there and Grant Sullivan is no exception to the rule. In his late thirties and burned out from a career of serving on covert missions for his country, Grant retires from his career, buys a farm in a deeply isolated area and tries to heal himself from what he has become.

But people seldom forget a man of his talents and caliber and one year on, Grant finds himself deep in the jungles of Costa Rica to rescue the pretty bum of socialite Priscilla Jane Hamilton Greer. Grant can’t believe how a social butterfly like Jane could end up in the middle of a conspiracy of international proportions, and it is up to Grant to rescue her from the clutches of the bad guys who have imprisoned her in the middle of nowhere.

Jane is not what she portrays herself to be. Though she is a beauty, she is far from being helpless and has been planning her own escape ever since she has been imprisoned and acting as dumb as she could to lull her captors into a false sense of security. Grant finds his rescue attempts thwarted not by her captors but by the enchanting captive herself. A mission Grant thought would be over before the next sunrise takes an unexpected turn and Grant finds himself trekking through the rough terrain to bring Jane to safety and on the way finds himself interested to know about Jane who is a mass of contradictions.

Before long, the attraction that Grant tries to hide from Jane becomes an impossibility when the feeling is mutual and though Jane knows that the strong warrior who stands beside her has captured her heart and spoiled her for any other man, nothing of permanence could come out of their relationship.

I always love an adventure where the hero and heroine are one with the nature and danger lurks with every step they take heightening the tension in the novel and the ultimate culmination of events seem all that much better. This book has got everything a gal could ask for in a romance. And in the end Jane’s plans to make Grant realize that he too cannot live without her seemed to make a satisfying ending for this great story.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Parting Gifts by Lorraine Heath

Format: E-bookpartinggifts
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Homespun, #30
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Hero: Jesse Lawson
Heroine: Maddie Sherwood
Sensuality: 2.5
Date of Publication: December 1994
Started On: June 29, 2010
Finished On: June 30, 2010

Even as I write this review, I still feel the remnants of the kaleidoscope of emotions that coursed through me as I finished this book. With a degree in psychology in hand, Lorraine Heath creates the most beautiful and realistic characters that have such depth that you can’t help but feel for them and relate with them. Though this is the first time I am reviewing a book by the author, I have previously read a lot of books by her and loved each story as it worked is magic over me.

This story is no different and right from the very start, Maddie Sherwood, who is at the very end of her wits as to what to do for survival finally succumbs to offering her body in return for shelter and food clutches at your heart. Rescue from the fate to which she had resigned herself to comes in the form of Charles Lawson who bids a hopping 1000 dollars to be the man who would initiate her & take her virginity.

However Maddie soon realizes that ravishing her is the furthest thing on Charles mind and before she knows it, she has agreed to marry him and care for his three children Taylor, Hannah and Aaron who settle deep within your heart from the very first encounter. And when Maddie first tumbles into the arms of Jesse Lawson, Charles’s older brother, Maddie realizes just how much she has agreed to sacrifice and forgo in the marriage of convenience to which she has entered with Charles.

From the very first moment Jesse looks into Maddie’s whiskey brown eyes he is a goner. Though he tries to fight the immense awareness he feels for someone he should not, you truly understand the meaning of the term “the heart wants what it wants regardless of the consequences” when you feel the cascading emotions that passes between Jesse and Maddie as the story progresses. While Maddie too yearns for the strength of Jesse’s embrace, she knows that deep within her heart she could never be disloyal to the man who had given her his family and affection.

What Maddie has no inkling of is the fact that Charles is a man who is near death, and the fact that he wanted his motherless children to know the warm and loving embrace of a mother was the reason why he had married Maddie in the first place. And Maddie holds close to her heart a secret which could destroy what she has come to love and hold dear to her heart.

Its hard to put into words how reading this story made me feel. Jesse’s loyalty towards his brother and towards doing what’s right made me admire him and fall in love with him along with Maddie. And Maddie’s courage in resisting the temptation of embracing the man she loved with every fiber of her being and being faithful to her husband made me realize the strength in her which Charles saw the night he rescued her from a life of prostitution. And Charles, the man who was insightful enough to know what his brother wanted and needed more than anything in the world and being man enough to leave Maddie to him made my throat tighten with emotion.

This is a book that packs an intense wallop of emotion and a page turner at that. I would advice to keep a box of tissues ready because towards the ending, its all you can do to keep from crying at turns with sadness, hope, happiness and ultimate joy.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Spanish Groom by Lynne Graham

Format: E-book
Read with: Mobipocket Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Harlequin Presents, #2037
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Cesar Valverde
Heroine: Dixie Robinson
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: March 5, 1999
Started On: June 30, 2010
Finished On: June 30, 2010

This book is a testament to why Lynne Graham remains a favorite Harlequin romance author of mine though her recent works leave me with a bad taste in my mouth. After starting off with the book I realized that I had actually read this book sometime back and reading it the second time round didn’t diminish the effects of the roller coaster ride this book seemed to take me on.

My interest was piqued enough to read this book while I was browsing through a discussion thread on Amazon about Harlequin romances that readers actually liked. One reader had pretty much summed up the story which portrays Cesar, a man who keeps a tight rein on his emotions, but who dotes on his god father Jasper, the only person in his life who had ever shown him unconditional love. Dixie is the total opposite of Cesar in every way. Emotional where he is not, talkative and friendly to a fault, Dixie doesn’t know why the Jasper’s godson had taken such an intense dislike to her and seemed to be finding fault in everything she did around the office. It certainly doesn’t help matters when the routine financial checks done on employees turn up the information that Dixie is knee deep in debt, a condition her step sister Petra has left her in and run off to New York to find work as an actress.

Cesar doesn’t want to believe a word that comes out of Dixie’s mouth. Forever suspicious of people and their intentions, Cesar can’t fathom why Jasper seemed to like Dixie so intensely. The financial check that reveals Dixie’s spending habits give Cesar the chance he has been waiting for. But because of the news that his godfather has not been feeling well because of problems with his heart, Cesar decides that the one thing he could do for the single ray of sunshine in his life was to make his last days on Earth happy ones and decides to do that by entering into a charade where he would present Dixie as his fiance’ to Jasper.

It is Cesar’s intention to transform Dixie into a woman of polished veneer. It was quite amusing to see Dixie forced into a diet and rigorous workout sessions because Cesar thinks Dixie is overweight from over indulgence in food. It was riveting to read how Cesar realizes that beneath all the frumpy layer of clothes Dixie hides a body to die for, and unwillingly Cesar becomes slave to the undeniable fizz between the two.

Before long, Cesar and Dixie are on their way to Spain, and Jasper walks in on them in moments of heated passion which turns the tables around so fast that it leaves Dixie’s head whirling. Dixie finds herself married to Cesar in just a week’s time and finally admits to herself that she has fallen in love with the cold and aloof man that her husband portrays himself to be. It was heartwarming, endearing and at moments heart thumping when Cesar and Dixie try to make a relationship out of their circumstances and in the end find true love with one another.

I loved every bit of this novel and would highly recommend this to lovers of Harlequin romances and fans of Lynne Graham.

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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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Never As It Seems by Shiloh Walker

Format: E-book
Read with: Kindle For PC
Length: Novella
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Hero: Leo Gray
Heroine: Chloe Parkins
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: June 23, 2010
Started On: June 24, 2010
Finished On: June 24, 2010

Never as it seems is the story of psychic Chloe Parkins and straitlaced Leo Gray who sees the world in terms of black and white with no shades of gray in it. Chloe and Leo had been involved in a heady affair/relationship when Chloe had dumped on Leo the news that she was psychic. Leo had been incensed at the thought that Chloe was stringing him along and lying to him and was a no good charlatan out for the reward offered for the case that Leo had been working on at that time.

Three years has passed on by since Leo had walked out on Chloe. Three heartbreaking lonely years for the both of them until Chloe’s life is in danger and Leo gets to be the one to protect Chloe. The intense awareness that leaps up right from the start is something that cannot be ignored and before long Chloe gives into the intense passion that Leo seemed to be able to rouse in her so effortlessly. Though Chloe knows that there is no future for them unless Leo learns to accept and respect her gift, it is harder than she ever thought to say no to what Leo offers her.

This story contains the trademark Shiloh Walker intensity, but I felt cheated out because this story is so short. This could have been a really great story with more depth into the case which had Chloe running for her life and more character development to give us glimpses of Chloe’s and Leo’s past together. Both are likable characters but I really wish Ms. Walker could have made this story just a little bit longer.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Sarah’s Child by Linda Howard

Format: E-booksarahschild
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Spencer-Nyle Company Series, Book 1
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Rome Matthews
Heroine: Sarah Harper
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: April 1985
Started On: June 22, 2010
Finished On: June 23, 2010

This is the third time that I read this story and I have to say that this is one story that doesn’t get old for me ever. People have mixed feelings about this novel. Some hate it because they don’t like Rome’s actions in the novel. But for me, this story is sweeter and more meaningful because of it and I wouldn’t want to change even one word of this  beautiful story.

Sarah has always loved Rome. But she has stood quietly on the sidelines when Rome married her best friend Diane, and had two beautiful boys Justin and Shane. She had never let Diane know of her feelings towards Rome and when a senseless accident takes away Rome’s family he is devastated beyond belief.

Two years on, Rome has finally healed enough to sell the house within which he had made a home with Diane and it is there in a moment of grief that he finds out that Sarah too feels the strong attraction that Rome has always felt towards her but never acted upon because he had always loved his wife and stayed faithful to her. At first Sarah thinks that all Rome wants with her is a tumble between the sheets, but she is more than surprised when Rome proposes that Sarah marry him on the condition that Rome would never provide her with children. Sarah agrees to the condition and marries the man that she has loved since forever and embarks upon a journey that no matter how many times I read, I always get a huge lump in my throat from all the emotions so well described.

Rome doesn’t want to give away his heart to another woman but gradually Sarah’s unwavering love and quite affection wins him over. Of course the immense white hot attraction that never ceases between the two certainly helps things along. Just when Rome professes that he has at last fallen for Sarah, she finds out that she is pregnant with Rome’s child.

Rome is at first furious and it nearly rips Sarah apart when Rome accuses her of deceiving him. Things come to a head when Rome requests Sarah to get rid of the baby and Sarah refuses. I admired Sarah’s character so much for working towards achieving what she believed in. Life wasn’t easy for her during pregnancy when there was practically no help from Rome since he doesn’t want anything to do with the child that they had created.

It was heart wrenching to feel Rome’s pain and it was a glorious moment when in the end when Rome finally heals and begins to appreciate the fact that God has given him a second chance to love and be loved.

I would most probably end up re-reading this book again sometime cos I so do love the story of how Rome falls for Sarah and gives himself the chance to grasp and hold onto love the second time round. Loved every single bit of this great story.

Favorite Quotes

He lifted his head, his eyes still damp, and the darkness of his pupils had become so total that there was no brown in them at all. He stared at her, then reached out and tenderly wiped the moisture from her cheeks with his thumb. “Sarah,” he said on a whispering sigh, and touched his mouth to hers.
She went still, all breath suspended in her body, as thousands of her prayers were answered in that light touch of his lips. Her hands moved to his shoulders, the nails digging into the layers of muscle that corded his frame. It was just a simple kiss of thanks, but the bottom dropped out of her stomach and the blood rushed from her head, so intense was the pleasure that assailed her. She sank against him, her soft body melding to his from shoulder to thigh, as they knelt there on the floor.

There was no sense of time or location, nothing but the spiraling physical need that had flamed between them, unexpected and out of control. She felt his hands on her body, touching her breasts, dipping down beneath her skirt to rub her thighs and stroke intimately between them, wringing a wordless cry of need from her lips. No word of protest surfaced in her mind. She let him do as he wanted, mindless of everything but the delight his knowledgeable hands were bringing to her. He knew women, and his expertise made her wild. She offered her slim body for his delectation with no conscious thought of anything except how sweetly, hotly satisfying it was to be in his arms, to know his kisses and his caresses.

“Good night.” But he didn’t leave. Instead he stood in the doorway, soberly regarding her. He lifted his hand and stroked her cheek with his forefinger, then slid his hand around to cup her chin in his palm. He leaned toward her, and Sarah went weak with anticipation, her eyes widening as fevered delight shot through her. He was going to kiss her again. Lightly his mouth touched hers, his lips moving with tender expertise over her parted, breathless mouth. His warm taste filled her, and Sarah’s lashes fluttered, then slowly closed. With a zephyr of a sigh she swayed into his arms; he needed no more encouragement than that. Locking his arms around her, he pulled her up against his chest and gradually deepened the kiss, as if he were wary of going too fast for her, giving her time to accept or reject each new move.

“Would you like coffee?” she invited, dropping her small purse on the sofa and moving away from him to the kitchen.
“No.” His refusal was flat.
“I think I’ll have something to eat, just to be on the safe side,” she called over her shoulder. “How about one of those chicken sandwi—”
Without warning, he seized her from behind, his hard hands locking on her waist and pulling her back against him. His head bent, and his hot breath blew over the curve of her neck, lightly touching her sensitive skin and awakening all her nerve endings. She shivered a little, but didn’t try to pull away; instead she pressed back against the virile contours of his body.
“I don’t want a sandwich,” he muttered, nipping at her neck with his teeth, then soothing the slight sting with butterfly strokes from the tip of his tongue. Sarah’s eyes closed in ecstasy, and she let her head fall back against his shoulder, baring the vulnerable curve of her throat to him.

“Rome…please!” But she didn’t know if she begged for mercy, or for more of the primal pleasure he was giving her. Her body was growing heavy and liquid, and a deep inner throbbing made her move restlessly against him.
“Yes,” he said against her throat, interpreting her plea as he chose. He bent her over his arm to give himself access to her tempting breasts, and she gave a thin cry when his hot mouth closed over her nipple, sucking it strongly into his mouth. Blackness swirled over her, a warm, velvet blackness that blocked out any reservations she might have had about belonging to him. She dissolved into a purely physical animal, instinctively seeking more of the pleasure he offered her. Her hands roamed his body as his had roamed hers, impatiently brushing away the layers of cloth that separated her from his hard muscled flesh. He trembled wildly at her intimate touch and pleaded with her for more.

He took advantage of her unselfishness, his greedy mouth plundering her flesh as he bared it. Sarah clenched her fingers in his hair, gasping as he pulled open her robe and dispensed with it, then rapidly slid down the straps of her nightgown until the silk fell away from her breasts. He bent his head and closed his hot mouth over one sensitive nipple, wringing a cry of pleasure from her.
“Do you like that?” he muttered fiercely against her, filling his hands and his mouth with velvet mounds and firm jutting nipples.
“Yes…yes.” Her answer was thin and faraway, and she tried to put her arms around him, but the strap of her night-gown prevented her from moving her arms. She struggled in mute frustration against the silk bindings, trying to draw her arms out, but he held her too tightly, and he was too close, the things he was doing to her too delightful to halt.

“You… make… me… crazy!” he growled jerkily, tearing at his jeans until they opened and he could push them out of the way. Sarah moved her mouth back to his, holding the kiss as he eased inside her, his entry taking her breath.
She moaned his name, moving against him, her skin so hot that it felt like wildfire. She was wildfire, her slender body dancing, searing, taking him until the only sounds he could make were incoherent words of passion and need, of rising sexual desperation that held him taut in the chair, on the edge of madness.

In the gray light of dawn, she came slowly awake, stretching under slow, warm caresses that roamed over her body and touched her with familiar intimacy. There was a magnetic warmth beside her and she turned to it, her head finding the hard pillow of Rome’s chest, her arms wrapping around him without thought.
“Wake up,” he crooned softly in her ear, nipping at the lobe with his sharp teeth, then kissing his way along her jaw to find her mouth.
“I’m awake,” she murmured, sliding her palms up his naked back and feeling the hard ripple of muscle under his warm skin.
He took her immediately. She was warm and pliable from sleep, her body rosy, and she drew in a quick breath of pleasure as he moved with slow power into her. “I can’t wait; I have to have you,” he muttered.

He was a darker outline against the night. He pulled the covers back and bent over her, pulling the nightgown over her head and dropping it to the floor. Sarah felt his hands on her breasts and thighs; then his heavy weight came down on her and his mouth closed fiercely over hers. A shudder of relief shook her, and she put her arms around his neck, letting him part her legs and take her.
“All of me,” he demanded harshly, as she lifted her hips up to him. “Take all of me. More. More! Yes, like that. Just like that!”

“Is this to tide you over?” she murmured teasingly, her eyes bright.
“Something like that.” He unzipped his pants and shoved them down, then knelt on the bed, between her relaxed thighs. “You’re my credit card; I don’t leave home without this.”
She laughed, twining her arms around his neck as he lowered his weight to her. The laughter caught in her throat at the slow delicious shock of his entry, and he heard the little intake of breath she always gave when he took her. It was music to him, and he buried his face against her neck in sudden need, pulling her legs up around his waist. “I miss you like hell when I’m gone,” he said roughly, and with his confession he began thrusting deeply into her, reconfirming their partnership with the bond of their flesh.

Sarah was totally lost in the intensifying physical sensations as he fondled her breasts and sucked them in just the way she liked, as he stroked her and touched her in ways that made her cry out. His slow, steady thrusts were driving her mad, carrying her just to the brink of satisfaction but not putting her over.
She clutched at him with damp, frantic hands, begging for release. He held her hips, not letting her speed the pace, holding her to his rhythm. He kissed her deeply, then lifted his mouth just enough to command deeply, “Tell me you love me.”
Her response was automatic, plucked from a deep reservoir of primitive need that she couldn’t control. Without thinking about it, without even realizing the significance of what he asked and what she answered, she moaned, “Yes. I love you.”

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard | Harlequin
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Reviewer’s Note: The quotes were added to the review on 07.10.2017 after the author re-read the book for a third time.

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Dream Man by Linda Howard

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Thriller
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Hero: Dane Hollister
Heroine: Marlie Keen
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: November 24, 2009
Started On: June 15, 2010
Finished On: June 17, 2010

This book signifies romantic thrillers at their best. Linda Howard has done an awesome job in creating the story of a vicious serial killer who targets female victims, rapes them and butchers them up like nothing Detective Dane Hollister has seen throughout his career. With no forensic clues left behind by the killer, Dane and his partner Trammel are at a loss on how to proceed.

Help comes in the form of psychic Marlie Keen, who has had a troubled past with her gift. Six years has gone by since she has had a vision, and though she knows the drill of coming out to cops as a psychic, she can’t help herself but show up at the police station to describe the heinous crime committed which she sees through the eyes of the killer.

Dane who is a pretty smart detective, a little bit rough around the edges bristles and scoffs at the mere idea of the psychic business. But chills run up and down his spine and a fierce unwanted longing for Marlie crops up within him right from the first moment he lays his eyes on her. Though Marlie is accustomed to hostility from the police force before she is able to prove her abilities to them, she can’t set aside the burst of anger within her at first the dismissive way Dane treats her and then as a suspect the next.

After searching up on Marlie and learning about the her violent past, Dane sets aside his doubts and starts believing in Marlie and decides to give into the intense feelings he feels for her. Though Marlie is resistant at the idea of starting a relationship with anyone, she is no match at resisting the fierce heat that is between the two.

Before long, Dane realizes the toll each psychic vision has on Marlie and though the second murder doesn’t yield any clues to who the monster might be, the third murder yields a sketch of the killer. Without Marlie knowing, Dane sets her up with the media to grab the attention of the killer, which Marlie attracts in spades. Devastated by the ultimate betrayal by the man she has come to love, Marlie refuses to move to a safe house but reluctantly agrees to move into Dane’s house where the killer comes into finally end Marlie’s life once and for all.

This book is intense, creeping me out at certain scenes where the thoughts of the vicious killer made chills run up and down my spine. The characters are well developed, the passion scorching HOT and the romance just the right level that it made me feel like I was actually reading a romantic thriller and not just a thriller.

Great read the second time round. Loved the epilogue! And loved the larger than life Dane Hollister! Sigh!!

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Open Season by Linda Howard

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Hero: Jack Russo
Heroine: Daisy Minor
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: July 17, 2001
Started On: June 13, 2010
Finished On: June 14, 2010

Daisy Minor, small-town librarian has just turned 34 years old. She is single, frumpy looking at best and well on her way to attaining spinsterhood when she realizes that she wants more out of life than living with her mom and aunt. So Daisy decides to change everything about her, from her appearance to moving out and getting her own place.

Chief of Police Jack Russo was a brusque, hard-nosed Yankee who had served in the SWAT in New York and Chicago when his great-aunt back in Hillsboro dies leaving him her place, a place where Jack had spent his summers as a child. Suddenly tired of all the pressures of working as a cop in the city, Jack moves to Hillsboro and finds himself smiling at the verbal sparring matches he has with the town’s frumpy librarian.

Once her make-over is complete, Daisy decides to hit the night clubs to scout for a husband, and is delighted by the appreciative attention she receives. However to Daisy’s  horror she becomes the source of the start of a brawl in the club and in a matter of seconds finds herself being escorted out of the club by Jack who continually seems to invade her personal space.

The second night Daisy decides to visit the club, she unknowingly witnesses the murder of a man and this puts her in grave danger to which Jack is alerted to when he receives a suspicious call from the mayor who is  involved in the business of smuggling young girls into the country to sell them at a high price to prostitution rings.

Explosive passion and romance are intrinsically woven together with a plot of danger with an interesting cast of characters that makes this book one you cannot put down. The witty banter between Daisy and Jack right from the beginning makes you smile and the ease with which they fall in love will remain with you for a long time.

Linda Howard can always spin a tale where her male characters are to die for and Jack Russo is no exception to the rule. Reading this book the second time round was as good as the first and readers who love romantic thrillers wouldn’t be disappointed in this tale.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Forbidden Passion by Emilie Rose

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Silhouette Desire
Hero: Sawyer Riggan
Heroine: Lynn
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: May 24, 2010
Started On: June 3, 2010
Finished On: June 3, 2010

Ever since I read the book Condition of Marriage by Emilie Rose and went through the list of published books by the author I have wanted to get my hands on this book as the synopsis seemed to hint at an intriguing story. And of course the raving reviews this book has received on numerous bookseller websites didn’t help. I have been scouting all over the Internet to find whether an e-version of the book had been released for quite sometime now. And to my delightful surprise last night I found that the book has been released on Kindle in April this year. (Woohoo!)

Lynn has been married to Sawyer’s adopted brother Brett for the past four years. A time during which Lynn has learnt that love is not what it seems to be and that a person could really whittle away and breakdown from the constant emotional roller coaster her marriage to Brett was. Lynn and Sawyer end up having mind blowing sex mere hours after Brett’s funeral, an act that puts Lynn in a bit of a predicament as she and Brett had tried to make their marriage work for one final time and started trying for a family just before Brett was killed.

Sawyer and Lynn has a shared history together, and Sawyer has no idea what kind of a monster Brett really was. Believing Brett to be the younger brother Sawyer had always worked his butt off to provide for and never understanding the reason why Lynn never waited for him and got married to Brett instead, Sawyer proposes marrying Lynn when he finds out that she is pregnant even though Lynn has no idea who the father could be.

Lynn never thought that a man could be understanding, loving, kind and attentive towards her needs and wants. Marriage to Sawyer opens up all the possibilities that were closed off to her before and it is not long before Lynn falls for Sawyer all over once again all the while thinking that all Sawyer wants is the temporary arrangement they agreed to before they got married.

Skillfully seductive, this book is a good read for a quick bout of romance with characters that you can relate to. Wish the story could have been longer!

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Silver Lining by Maggie Osborne

Format: E-book
Read with: Mobipocket Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Ivy Books
Hero: Max McCord
Heroine: Low Down (Louise Downe)
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: January 4, 2000
Started On: June 1, 2010
Finished On: June 2, 2010

I have to say its been a while since I read a romance that truly touched my heart. This book is that and so much more. I have always loved romances where the characters slowly find themselves falling in love with another by identifying qualities within one another deserving of their love and devotion to the other. This novel by Maggie Osborne offers all that and more in the story of how Louise Downe nicknamed Low Down for the luck she had had in life finds herself hitched to the blue eyed Max McCord who is in love with his fiance back home.

Max becomes honor bound to marry Louise when she nurses him and all the other men who were in Piney Creek to hunt for gold from smallpox taking all their lives. The men promise amongst themselves that Low Down would have anything that her heart desires for not turning her back on them in their hour of need. To their discomfiture and surprise, Low Down announces that her heart’s desire is to have a baby of her own to love and cherish. For someone who has never had a family of her own it has always been Low Down’s dream to one day have a loving a family of her own.

Its not surprising that none of the men present are too keen on the idea of bedding the bedraggled creature standing in front of them. Although Low Down has on her mind to just get the act over and done with which would plant the baby inside her, the priest present convinces the man who draws the marble with the scratched cross on it to marry Low Down. Though Low Down has got plenty to say against being united in marriage to a man, her protests go unheeded as the men are determined to do right by her.

Max McCord has never shied from responsibility in his life and he isn’t about to start now. Though his angelic bride-to-be Philadelphia is waiting for him back home and their marriage is to  take place within two weeks time, Max doesn’t want to be labeled as the guy who turned his back on repaying a debt he owed. And he can’t believe his bad luck when he is the one who ends up getting hitched to Low Down, when the mere thought of bedding her sends shivers up and down his spine.

Though neither Low Down nor Max wants to be married to one another they have no choice but to go on ahead with the marriage as Max takes his responsibilities to head and Low Down really wants that baby badly. Coming to an arrangement that they would stay married till Low Down became pregnant with a child, these two set off to make a temporary life for themselves in Max’s hometown where Max has to face the music of facing his jilted fiance and her all powerful father.

Max cannot believe his ears when Philadelphia professes to be pregnant with his child, and Wally Max’s brother has to step up and marry Philadelphia to save both families from being ruined by scandal. The story that ensues is one that would stay with me for a long time to come. How Low Down is slowly transformed into Louise Downe, a woman who doesn’t fully understand her self worth, a woman who hopelessly falls in love with her husband against her will and who slowly steals the hearts of all those that surround her.

Very highly recommended as a book that cannot be put down easily once started.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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