Category / Brooding Hero

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Cry No More by Linda Howard

Cry no More

Format: E-book
Read with: Stanza
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Piatkus
Hero: James Alejandro Xavier Diaz
Heroine: Milla Edge
Date of Publication: November 4, 2003
Started On: November 9, 2009
Finished On: November 12, 2009

This powerful story by Linda Howard is one of her most outstanding pieces of work. Both Milla and James are two wonderful characters and their story is one I guarantee that no one can really put down without seeing it through.

The story starts with Milla married to Dr. David Boone, a surgeon who with a group of other doctors opens up a free clinic in Mexico for a year. Milla gives birth to their son Justin whilst in Mexico, who is snatched away from Milla whilst she is left bleeding to death from the attack. In the midst of it all, Milla however manages to leave her mark on one of her attackers, finding the man with the scar becoming her life goal once she recovers enough to look for her son.

Ten years on, divorced from David, Milla runs an organization known as Finders that deploy volunteers who help in missing children/adult cases.Through all that time, Milla has never once given up hope that one day she would find her son and her resolve to do this finally leads her to James Diaz, whom at first Milla thinks to be involved with the kidnapping of Justin.

To Milla’s surprise, James turns out to be the only one who can find the answers to all the questions Milla has been asking all those years. What Milla doesn’t know is that it is those that she is closest to who have ulterior motives, who do not want her to find out the truth related to the disappearance of her son. And once Milla does find Justin, the sheer act of bravery that she performs would forever be etched onto my heart because I do not know of anyone who could have done what she did for her son.

Cry No More is a book that has found a permanent place on my favorites and keepers shelf. Whenever I need myself a Linda Howard fix, which is often, I find myself craving some James Diaz for some reason and I always end up either skimming through the delicious parts or just re-reading the whole thing all over again. Cry No More is a book that deals with a heartbreaking issue, the raw pain that Milla goes through towards the end just reaches something deep inside of you until you are ready to howl from the sheer agony of it all.

And through the stormy days that follows, James proves his unwavering love for a woman whom he considers his in every way. The way he completely takes care of Milla’s every single need makes you want to lay yourself down somewhere and offer yourself to James to do as he pleases. He is the strong, silent and lethal warrior type of hero who would have zero qualms about killing when it comes to protecting the ones he loves. His utter focus and the dangerous vibe that always surrounds him is what draws me to his character every.single.time. that I read this book. And I am sure I would keep coming back for more of him in the near & foreseeable future!

If I could give this book more than 5-stars, I definitely would. Because Cry No More is a jewel of a novel, that indeed deserves high praise for  the masterpiece that Linda Howard seems to have spun with this one. Very highly recommended!

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Mercenary by Cherry Adair

Format: E-bookmercer
Read with: Stanza
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: T-FLAC, Book 1
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Marc Savin
Heroine: Victoria Jones
Date of Publication: February 1, 2008
Started On:  November 2, 2009
Finished On: November 7, 2009

This was my favorite kind of romance novel. Throw in a strong alpha hero, a heroine who doesn’t get on the reader’s nerves and a bunch of bad guys who could just topple everything over for the blossoming romance between the hero and heroine, I would say that makes for a pretty good read.

Previously I have read other books in this author’s T-FLAC series and I would have to say this would have to be one of the best novels in the series. Victoria Jones leads a spinsterish life when her twin brother Alex, who is a T-FLAC agent goes missing during a mission and is declared dead by the T-FLAC organization.

Marc Savin, who brought Alex into the organization, trained him and was his partner for a couple of years, now lives a secluded life on a ranch looking after horses in Mexico. Betrayed by the woman he loved once who turned out to be working for one of the terrorist organizations that they were investigating, Marc doesn’t trust any woman to get close to him.

Victoria and Alex share a telepathic bond which allows her to know that her brother is not dead, but being held captive by one of the terrorist organizations that the T-FLAC was investigating, and seeks Marc’s help to bring her brother back to safety. Astounded at first to know that Alex even has a twin, and reluctant to believe anything Victoria was saying, Marc decides to drag Victoria along to find Alex and bring him back home.

Hiding in a cave in an island controlled by terrorists, Marc finds that he is not immune at all to the lady by his side. The romance and the exciting adventure that unfolds makes for a great read. Of course, happy endings always makes a book worth reading especially when a hero has to grovel his way back into the heroine’s graces, which is hard to come across in novels these days.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to readers who love a good romance novel with a bit of adventure tossed right into it.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

outstandingread

 

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Guilty Needs by Shiloh Walker

Format: E-bookGuilty Needs
Read with: Mobipocket Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Series: Standalone
Hero: Colby
Heroine: Bree
Date of Publication: September 19, 2008
Started On: October 10, 2009
Finished On: October 10, 2009

Shiloh Walker is absolutely one of my most favourite authors. Her books have a fantastic mix of emotions that can make you really cry, and throw into this wonderful sexy characters who know what they want and aren’t afraid to go after what they want. This is the THIRD time that I have read this book and it wouldn’t be a lie to say that I will most probably read this book again in the near future cos I just can’t seem to get enough of this wonderful story.

Bree, Colby and Alyssa are the main characters in this story. Bree and Alyssa have been the best of friends since childhood rather like sisters to one another. Colby is the shy introvert who bloomed late in life. Alyssa and Bree both notices him in high school, but Alyssa is the one who ends up going after him and eventually marries him.

All the while Bree, silently loving Colby all her life, stands on the sidelines, envying what Alyssa and Colby have together, but determined not to lose what she has got with Alyssa, never acts on her feelings. That is until, Alyssa gets diagnosed with rapidly advanced cancer and dies leaving behind a devastated husband and a beloved friend in great turmoil with Alyssa’s dying wish which strikes a chord of longing deep within her heart.

Guilty Needs is a very appropriate title for a book that is steeped in unvoiced longings and desires that just creates the most wonderful sexual tension that I absolutely reveled in. Colby finds that he has an attraction, (which is putting it mildly), towards his wife’s best friend which fires up all the guilt inside of him which makes him leave everything behind until he gets himself sorted out. 

This is a really moving story and the passion between these two scorches ones hard disk drives whilst reading. I highly recommend this book for all romance lovers and especially for those who love books from Shiloh Walker. I tell you, you wouldn’t be disappointed.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | eBookMall | iTunes

outstandingread

 

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Wild Orchids By Karen Robards

Format: E-bookwild
Read with: MS Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Warner Books
Hero: John Roberts “Max” Maxwell
Heroine: Lora Harding
Published on: January 1, 1994
Started On: September 2, 2009
Finished On: September 2, 2009

For those who have read my last review (Island Flame by Karen Robards), I mentioned that the most favorite book of mine by this author is Wild Orchids which was the second book of this author that I tried. Writing the review for Island Flame and thinking about the book Wild Orchids, which I had previously read twice, made me stop the book Sea Fire in the middle (the second book  in the Pirates series) to read Wild Orchids once again, and sigh… I wasn’t disappointed! So here is my review for this special book, which most probably, I would end up reading AGAIN sometime in the near future.

This book starts when Lora, who is on vacation in Mexico, finds herself kidnapped at gun point by Max who is on the run for his life from the Mexican authorities. Max married previously, fought in the Vietnam war, and carries the emotional baggage of a war that turned pretty ugly. Lora, a teacher in a quiet town, engaged to a Mathematics teacher at her school, had been nursing her paralyzed mother for ten years or so, and was trying to enjoy a long awaited vacation after her mother dies of pneumonia leaving both her children with a bit of money, allowing Lora to splurge a bit on herself for a change.

Max, a strong alpha hero, from the moment he kidnaps Lora, who gives as good as she gets, has his hands full. Desperate attempts to escape which are thwarted at the last minute by Max, exasperates him endlessly, whilst Lora and Max start to feel the first stirrings of an attraction to one another that won’t be denied. The witty dialogue between Lora and Max never fails to amuse me.

Halfway through the novel, Max releases Lora to return back to wherever she came from, advising her not to go to the cops, when Lora just does the opposite and finds out that she really doesn’t want to turn Max over to  the authorities a moment too late and finds herself locked up. Max and his buddies rescue her from jail and in a harrowing chase, ends up on the plane which was to take them away from the hell hole. However, fate had different plans, when the plane crashes in the midst of the thick jungle, leaving one of Max’s buddies dead, and the other Tunafish (Theodre) with a broken ankle.  Max finds out that who loaned him the plane had double crossed him, and in fact the plane was full of millions of dollars worth of dope.

The story that unfolds is fast paced, filled with action, humor and moments of glorious passion between these two strong willed characters which you can’t put down till you have read the last line. My only peeve with this book is even the first time that I read this book, I thought that Lora didn’t make Max suffer enough before succumbing, which is a problem with most of the romance books. Maybe my ultra feminine side doesn’t like the fact that the heroine suffers so much throughout the novel, and in the end the hero just has to crook his finger in the “come to me” motion and the heroine just forgets every little thing that the hero puts her through and swoons on the confession of ultimate love, desire and marriage. However, even though the ending may not satisfy me 100%, I still love this great book and would continue to re-read it from time to time.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | eBookMall

outstandingread

 

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Not Quite A Husband by Sherry Thomas

Format: E-book
Read with: MS Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Publisher: Bantam Books
Series: Standalone
Hero: Leo Marsden
Heroine: Bryony Asquith
Published on: May 19, 2009
Started On: August 23, 2009
Finished On: August 28, 2009

I have never before read a story by Sherry Thomas and this one proved to be a delightful find with the sensations that coursed through all of me when I lost myself in Leo and Bryony’s story. I decided to give this delectable read a try, or rather grabbed the chance to read this book upon reading a thread on Amazon’s Romance Discussion forum which helps me to separate out my books into the “must-read, read-if-you’ve-got-nothing-else & do-not-read” piles.

This book proved to be worth my while and then some and I was instantly hooked to Sherry Thomas’ style of writing and her vivid characterization which you can’t help but fall head over heels in love with.

One of the most interesting factors in this story is the fact that Leo is younger than Bryony. This story is told from the viewpoints of both Leo and Bryony and is gut and heart wrenching tale with obviously a happy ending that put a smile to my face when I went to sleep tonight.

This story begins where others usually end with the story of how Leo and Bryony gets married up to the point of annulment of their marriage. Bryony, a surgeon by profession which was hardly in fashion during the Victorian era for a woman, leaves England and goes traveling halfway around the world to soothe her broken spirit and to get away from all the gossip that surrounds her in London. Thinking that Leo never did love her when in fact the truth is from the beginning of his life Leo had in fact being fascinated with Bryony and loved her and never had a clue why his Bryony remains so cold and aloof towards him during their short-lived marriage, ends up in a remote little village in India where Leo finds her to inform her that her father with whom Bryony has always had a strained relationship with, is on the deathbed and needs her back home.

The journey that these two take across the tiny villages scattered across India wrought with danger, and the ultimate realizations and truths about their marriage and enlightening insights into both Bryony and Leos past weaves a breathtaking tale of romance, love and passion that is guaranteed to keep any true romantic hooked from the beginning to end. I have to warn all the ladies though — Leo is lethal, he will stake and claim your heart from the very beginning of the story and never let go!

Highly recommended for all historical romance lovers out there. This is a MUST read!

Looking forward to many more great tales by Sherry Thomas.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble 

outstandingread

 

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Stranger in My Arms by Lisa Kleypas

Format: Paperback
Read with: Paperback
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Hero: Hunter Hawksworth
Heroine: Lara Hawksworth
First Published on: July 1, 1998
Started On: July 2009
Finished On: August 16, 2009

Historical romances aren’t my favorite kind of romance. The elaborate descriptions of the amount of clothing a ‘lady’ has to put on to feel suffocated (enough to make the reader stop reading and come up for air) and the so called ‘ton’ which every historical author raves about in their books just doesn’t do it for me most of the times. However, as there are exceptions to every rule man-made or otherwise, I do enjoy historical romances by certain authors such as Judith McNaught, Julie Garwood and Lisa Kleypas.

Stranger in my arms starts off when Lara Hawksworth gets the news that her husband who was believed to  have been killed on a shipwreck almost a year ago was back from the dead. Unable to believe that her husband (Hunter), with whom she had never enjoyed being married to is back, but duty bound to check out whether the news could be true finds Lara with a man who has an uncanny resemblance to Hunter. But this version of her husband seems to be kinder, more attentive, more loving and oh so deliciously sensual that Lara cannot truly believe that this man could be her husband. However, slowly ‘Hunter’ seduces his ‘miss goody-two-shoes’ wife which seduces the reader along on this wicked ride. In the end, this new ‘Hunter’ turns out to be the half-brother of the actual Hunter Hawksworth, whom Lara finally saves from being sent to the gallows for deceiving the entire family about his identity.

I loved reading every bit about this new Hunter. He was deliciously sinful, the kind of hero that you can really dream about (yeah that’s the whole reason why we ladies tend to read romance  novels). I sometimes found myself irritated with Lara though for being such a goody-two-shoes at times that she just tended to get on my nerves during the first half of the novel.

I recommend this for all Lisa Kleypas book lovers.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Half.com | Abebooks

greatread