Category / Contemporary

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Grace Under Pressure by Melissa Schroeder

Format: E-bookgraceunderpressure
Read with: Kindle for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Hero: Renaldo Morello
Heroine: Grace Beatrice Michael
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: February 1, 2007
Started On: June 19, 2011
Finished On: June 19, 2011

I am someone who always loves a good romance between a warm, sexy and accident prone heroine with a bit of an aloof and controlled hero who finds his hard earned control shattered all around him. As I read Grace Under Pressure, I couldn’t help but think to myself that I have read this earlier in my pre-review phase. Even if that were the case, I am really glad that I picked this up and enjoyed it, a story that left me wanting more of all the characters that cropped up as it unfolded.

33 year old Grace Michaels lives in the small town of Cannon, Texas and is a history professor at the local college. Accident-prone by nature, her first encounter with the town’s new and sexy as hell Chief of Police Ren Morello happens with her ass up in the air stirring up Ren’s amusement and his libido as well in the process.

Ren is a man who has closed and bolted the door on any sort of relationship with the opposite sex that requires his commitment ever since his divorce from the wife from hell. When Grace comes into the picture, even though his over-active libido begs him to bury himself deep within her, his emotions that are a bit more in control than his libido warn him to run the other way and never look back.

When Grace’s home is ransacked and it is clear that her life is in danger, all protective instincts that Ren harbors deep inside comes out demanding that he keep Grace safe at any cost. Being at such close proximity to a woman whose mere existence befuddles his thinking cells plays havoc with the rigid control that Ren exerts on his baser emotions until it all explodes in his face in the most sinfuly delicious ways possible.

Neatly tying in with the main story is the story of Julia, Grace’s best friend and that of her brother Gabriel that served as an equally interesting romantic interlude in this wickedly good romantic suspense of the erotic variety. Though the scenes of passion are erotic in nature, there is none of the overly kinky stuff taking place in the story. Grace Under Pressure is a hot little addition for your TBR pile if you love a steamy romantic suspense in a small town setting with all the antics that go along with small town life. Loved every single minute of this delectable story and I am definitely going to wade through Ms. Schroeder’s back list and see what I can come up with to keep me entertained in the future.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Samhain

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Secret Wife by Lynne Graham

thesecretwife

Format: E-book
Read with: Kindle for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Harlequin Presents
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Constantine Voulos
Heroine: Rosalie Waring
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: November 28, 1997
Started On: June 16, 2011
Finished On: June 17, 2011

The Secret Wife by Lynne Graham is a novel that I seemed to have missed out on previously. It tells the story of how Rosalie Waring’s world collides by a twist of fate with that of the ultra rich Greek tycoon Constantine Voulos brought about by the conditions set aside on the will of Anton Estrada, adoptive father of Constantine.

Rosie is stunned when after a period of blissful happiness of four months with Anton, he dies suddenly leaving her bereft and alone once again. When Constantine jumps to the worst of conclusions about her relationship with Anton, Rosie’s bitterness towards Constantine, who has had a lifetime of moments with her own father lets her keep the explanations under wraps until Anton’s will forces Constantine to ask for her hand in marriage.

It is a blazingly resentful Constantine who calls Rosie a gold digger and much worse that turns up for the wedding along with our prickly as a hedgehog heroine whose instinctive reactions of self protection is the tendency to lash out and give as good as she gets, an aftereffect of being in state ward care since the tender age of nine, that makes the joining of holy matrimony of these two a volatile one at best.

Though Rosie tries to come clean with who she is, Constantine is not one to believe a word that comes out of her mouth and this charade continues throughout the book, each of them insulting one another blinded by the fury at the inconvenient desire that they feel for each other.

For me, The Secret Wife didn’t make for such a great read. The premise of the story which promised to deliver an angsty read failed to do that when Constantine refused to listen to whatever Rosie had to say and Rosie refused to try and make Constantine see the light after his initial rejection. For me, I would gladly take Rosie’s side because Constantine just grated on my nerves with his inability to see beyond what he wants to see, and even when eventually the truth does come out, he is quick to lay the blame at Rosie’s feet rather than accept his own doing in complicating matters.

This story is told from Rosie’s viewpoint and I for the world of me cannot understand how it is that Constantine falls in love with Rosie. For someone who loves finding the hero’s feelings via his reactions towards the heroine; I just didn’t feel the love in this one.

Recommended for those who love the marriage of convenience theme and fans of Lynne Graham.

Final Verdict: Blazing sexual heat, jealousy, angst, and a motherlord of misunderstandings signifies this story making it memorable!

Favorite Quotes

‘Let go of me, you caveman!’ Rosie splintered breathlessly.
Constantine gazed down at her, blazing golden eyes intent, and splayed hard fingers to the curve of her hip and forced her up against him. That close to that lean, muscular male frame, Rosie froze, bright eyes bewildered as the heat and the scent of him washed over her in a heady, disorientatingly pleasurable tide. A tiny little muscle deep down in her stomach jerked, making her legs feel oddly weak and hollow. Her heart started slamming suffocatingly fast against her ribcage.
‘You were trying to flirt with me,’ Constantine murmured with a slight frown, his deep, dark drawl sending the most peculiar little shivers travelling down her taut spinal cord.

‘Your mouth is bigger than you are,’ Constantine growled, his deep voice thickening in a manner that sent Rosie’s self-preserving instincts shooting to full power. ‘Why not kiss me instead?’
‘Because I don’t want to kiss you!’
‘No?’
‘Do I look that dumb?’ Rosie spat.

‘It won’t work… I’m naturally argumentative’ Rosie asserted even more tautly.
Golden fire in his molten appraisal, Constantine swept her up into his arms to carry her into the bedroom. ‘Christos… of course it will work. And once we have made love, once you have lain in my arms and tasted the pleasure we can share, you will never mention the throwback again. I may not be perfect but I’m way beyond him in the reliability stakes.’

Constantine smiled. Rosie’s heart flipped. He withdrew his finger, dropped his dark head and traced the fullness of her lower lip with the teasing tip of his tongue. She wanted him to kiss her. It was an instantaneous need and she shifted beneath him, all of a quiver with helpless impatience, her body taut with sudden screaming tension. Her hands flew up of their own volition and her fingers sank into his black hair to try and drag him down to her by force.
With a husky laugh, Constantine resisted her urging and instead let his tongue dip between her readily parted lips. ‘Foreplay,’ he whispered provocatively.

‘You told Anton that you were pregnant,’ Constantine contended in a ragged, dark growl as he drew inexorably closer. ‘It was a cheap trick but that is why he demanded that I marry you.’
‘I don’t play cheap tricks,’ Rosie told him breathlessly, struggling to hang on to her wits as her skin heated and her breasts swelled into throbbing sensitivity. She pressed a betraying hand to the pulse flickering a crazy beat at her collarbone.
‘Christos … you play me like a witch casting a spell!’ Constantine countered with sudden glancing rawness. ‘I want you even more now than I wanted you last night—’
‘Tough,’ Rosie said with tremulous bite, a quiver of deep overpowering longing sheeting over her with the efficacy of a mind-blowing drug, leaving her more dizzy and disorientated than ever.

‘I don’t want to hurt you again.’
‘You don’t argue with me in my fantasies…you don’t stop…you don’t make me wait!’ Rosie sobbed in explosive frustration.
The silence thundered. She closed her eyes in horror. Oh, no, I didn’t say that … did I? she asked herself.
‘What do I do?’ he murmured.
‘What I want,’ Rosie mumbled.
Constantine vented a ragged laugh of appreciation. The velvet-hard thrust of him surged teasingly against her, gently probing the slick, damp welcome awaiting him.

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

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Indecent Deception by Lynne Graham

Format: E-bookindecentdeception
Read with: Kindle for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Harlequin Presents, #1740
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Blaze Kenyon
Heroine: Christabel Hamilton
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: April 1, 1995
Started On: June 14, 2011
Finished On: June 14, 2011

This I think must be the third time that I am reading Indecent Deception by Lynne Graham. And that alone should be enough to tell everyone who wants to know that this is a favorite re-read of mine from the Harlequin line.

Christable (Chrissy) Hamilton is just twenty years of age and shoulders the responsibility of caring singlelhandedly for her half sister Rosie who is about two and a half years old. Barely making ends meet, Chrissy is fired from her only job that is responsible for keeping a roof over her and Rosie’s head; all because she lets her pride and anger at Blaze Kenyon’s sheer arrogance take the best of her.

Blaze is a man who has no intention of ever settling down and one whose sensational life as the rich playboy keeps the tabloids in a tailspin. Surprisingly it is Blaze who offers Chrissy a job which she grabs with both hands never knowing the twisted web she would weave in the coming days.

When her sister Elaine turns up claiming that she wants to get back together with Blaze, Chrissy does the stupidest thing she has ever done in her life which ends up with Blaze and herself walking down the aisle. However, once the truth comes out, Chrissy has hell to pay, making her fear that her burgoening love for a man who has become so vibrantly important in her life would never be reciprocated by the man in question, who only feels loathing for her misleading lies.

I just flat-out adore this story which is proven by the number of times I have read it to-date. And I love Blaze Kenyon for everything he is from his sardonic humor to the blazingly sexual side of him that just makes my heart go predictably aflutter each and every single time. Chrissy was a tough one to like because of the deceiving role that she plays in the novel, no matter how martyr-like she wanted her actions to be. For me, its Blaze who makes this novel come alive, who makes this book worth a revisit time and time again.

Recommended for fans of Lynne Graham and fans of Harlequin romances.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble 

 

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Best Man to Wed? by Penny Jordan

Format: E-bookbestmantowed
Read with: Kindle for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: The Bride’s Bouquet, Book 2
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: James Carlton
Heroine: Poppy Carlton
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: May 1, 1997
Started On: June 13, 2011
Finished On: June 13, 2011

I can almost always count on a good old Harlequin novel to take me on an emotional roller coaster ride from which I wouldn’t want to get off. Penny Jordan is a favorite Harlequin author of mine and I am sure many fans of the Harlequin line are bound to feel the same. Though I have done most of my Harlequin crazed phase of reading prior to the start of my review site, this is one novel by Penny Jordan that I seemed to have missed, a fact I am glad that I have rectified when I started on this one on a whim today.

22 year old Poppy Carlton has had her dreams crushed when her cousin Chris Carlton who has been the man of her dreams since she had turned 12 years of age marries another. Forced to grow up and get her head out of the clouds, Poppy is horrified when her virginal body responds in an appalling manner to James Carlton’s caresses. James is her beloved Chris’s elder brother, the forbidding and formidable version to the sunny and easy going nature of Chris who occupies her thoughts night and day – or so Poppy tries telling herself.

8 years older than Poppy, James is a man who keeps his emotions close to himself apart from tearing into Poppy’s infatuation when it comes to his younger brother. When consequences of their nights of passion together forces Poppy to acknowledge her feelings towards the brother who is a match for her in every way, Poppy fears that she might be just a little bit too late in accepting that James is the one and only for her.

I love stories where the hero has always being in love with the heroine but somehow was overshadowed by the heroine’s infatuation with another man presumably a relative of the hero’s. James is a mouthwateringly alluring hero and Poppy though at first grated on my nerves with her self pitying nature made up for it beautifully when she freely expresses her need for James bringing the poor guy to his knees.

And this one certainly managed to be an emotion wrenching read and I loved the effect the story had on my emotions as I read along. Though this might not be a feminist’s idea of how a romance should be, this is romance in its most old-fashioned form, the reason why I fell in love with the world of romance in the first place. Recommended for fans of the Harlequin genre and fans of Penny Jordan.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Midnight Man by Lisa Marie Rice

Format: E-bookmidnightman
Read with: Kindle for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: Midnight, Book 1
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Hero: John Hunnington
Heroine: Suzanne Barron
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: November 12, 2004
Started On: June 11, 2011
Finished On: June 12, 2011

Midnight Man by Lisa Marie Rice is book one in her Midnight series. I have previously read and loved the third and final book in the series entitled Midnight Angel. This is my third attempt at reading Midnight Man, my previous two attempts halted somewhere in the midst of the first chapter due to one reason or the other.

Midnight Man tells the story of John Hunnington who is forced into early retirement from his career as a tough Navy SEAL. Known as the Midnight Man to his fellow comrades, John is a man well versed in the art of killing and now owns his own top notch security company known as Alpha Security International. It is his expanding business that makes him seek out Suzanne Baronn who is leasing out part of her building as office space, perfect for what he wants and in the process finds himself blindsided with the need to possess the classy and elegant beauty who stands in front of him.

Suzanne with her interior decorating business is the exact opposite of John. And the way John commands all of her senses right from the very first meet itself has Suzanne ready to flee from the intensity of her response to a man that she barely knows from Adam. However, from the moment John possesses her up against the wall during their very first date means that there is no turning back for Suzanne who has envisioned a very different process by which she would fall in love with the man she would share the rest of her life with. And when danger of the life threatening variety comes calling out of nowhere, it is to John that Suzanne turns towards who pulls no punches in ensuring that the woman who rocks his world in more ways than one would remain safe as long as he is capable of breathing.

The Midnight series tells stories of uber alpha males and the dainty yet strong heroines who are actually damsels in distress the said alphas race to rescue. With mind numbing passion of the explosive variety which is very well done, Midnight Man delivers on all counts and I loved reading every little bit of how two very different people find their soul mates in each other in the most unusual of circumstances.

I fell in love with John when I read the following part of the book where his burgoening feelings towards Suzanne is vocalized for the very first time in the story.

And I definitely loved the ending of the story though there was no epilogue in this one which somehow doesn’t end up feeling lacking.

Recommended for fans of Lisa Marie Rice/Elizabeth Jennings.

Favorite Quotes

The tree was pretty, she thought with satisfaction. It reached almost to the ceiling and the branches, thick and glossy, contrasted cheerily with the ribbons and apples and strands of fluffy white popcorn. The tree glowed with color. There were no store-bought ornaments on the tree, but that only made it charming, like something out of a Normal Rockwell painting.
“Pity we don’t have an angel,” she sighed. Her mother had a wonderful hand-made papier-mache white-and-gold angel picked up in Naples, which would have looked perfect on top of the tree.
John squeezed her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. His deep voice was quiet as he said, “You wouldn’t fit on top.”

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Woman on the Run by Lisa Marie Rice

Format: E-bookwomanontherun
Read with: Kindle for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Hero: Sam Cooper
Heroine: Julia Devaux
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: October 1, 2005
Started On: June 10, 2011
Finished On: June 11, 2011

Julia Devaux finds herself in the mother of all fixes when she witnesses a mob hit and becomes a valuable witness who could put away the dangerous Joey Capruzzo behind bars for a good long time. However that also means that one seriously rich and pissed off Capruzo is after her pretty little head served on a platter which would mean another failed attempt by the US government  to indict him.

A book worm and film buff at the core, though Julia has lived a life of moving from one place to the other with her parents always on the move, she is not at all prepared to change into a Sally Anderson, a second grade school teacher in the middle of nowhere in Simpson, Idaho. With her life turned completely upside down, Julia is one step away from just simply sitting down and wailing at the winds when things take an interesting turn and she starts having an unholy fascination for anything to do with the tall, strong and silent Sam Cooper who turns up on her doorstep most unexpectedly.

Ex-Navy SEAL, Sam is a man who finds himself in serious trouble when the delectable new teacher in Idaho leaves him with a raging hard-on for the first time in almost two years. Sam’s past and the famous Cooper curse makes him a wary man on all counts. On top of all that, Sam is not a man who has much inclination to talk which has him sweating buckets when it comes to wooing and seducing the one woman whom he wants more than his next breath.

With a whopping figure of two million on her head, Julia is far from safe even in a no name town such as Simpson when it brings out a killer most cunning who will do anything to find out and kill Julia, all for the luxury the money for the kill would bring.

Whe Sam finds out that Julia, the woman who has turned his life and that of his town around is a woman on the run, there is no stopping him from pulling out all the stops in protecting the one woman who means the world to him. Towards the end, the cunning killer almost wins in putting Julia six feet under until Sam arrives to the rescue with just seconds to spare.

I loved Woman on the Run by Lisa Marie Rice as this turned out to be refreshingly different from the rest of her novels I have read to date. I say different because of the take on humor this story has which had me laughing out loud in several places when Julia’s quirky sense of self-depreciating humor along with the small town life comes into play.

From the aspect of the hero and the trademark LMR sensuality, this book is another winner with Sam being the uber-alpha and the protective kind whose want and need for Julia goes beyond anything describable. Julia is an endearing heroine whom I loved from the start of the novel though she sounds a bit confused of what she wants and needs at the beginning of the story. The villain when brought to light turned out to be the biggest shocker rendering this as one of the most enjoyable romantic suspense by the author. For me the best part of the epilogue of the story which takes place 4 years later turned out to be how different a man Sam is towards the end. And I would love to point it out that the overly descriptive narrations that annoyed me in Hotter than Wildfire which I reviewed earlier were non-existent in this one, making it earn a whopping 5 stars from the sunny side of life!

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Hotter than Wildfire by Lisa Marie Rice

Format: E-bookhotterthanwildfire
Read with: Kindle for I-Phone
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: Protectors, Book 2
Publisher: Avon Red
Hero: Harry Bolt
Heroine: Ellen Palmer
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: April 5, 2011
Started On: June 7, 2011
Finished On: June 10, 2011

Book 2 in the Protector series didn’t wow me as much as its predecessor did. But nevertheless Lisa Marie Rice still managed to hold my undivided attention as I delved into the story of Harry Bolt, someone who has a very painful past from which he still has recurring nightmares.

34 year old Harry is one of the 3 “blood” brothers that own RBK Security. Having served in the army and with enough scars to last for a lifetime, Harry’s savior comes in the form of the sweet and sultry voice of the mystery singer only known as Eve. By a twist of fate it is Ellen Palmer i.e. Eve herself  who makes her way to seek the services of RBK Security who specializes in helping out beaten and battered up women fleeing for their lives with nowhere else to turn to.

For someone who believes that nothing in this world could surprise him anymore, that is exactly what Harry feels when he discovers that the scared red haired beauty in front of him who has awoken his dormant libido after two years is none other than the goddess whose voice it had been that had led him out of the shit hole his life had been in back then.

Once Harry claims Eve as his, there is no turning back for either of them as heady passion stronger than anything describable takes hold of them delivering sensuous scenes of love that is trademark Lisa Marie Rice.

As with most of her stories, the bad guys are vicious in their intent and actions and nothing short of Eve’s death would stop them. As the bad guys pull all the stops to find out where Eve is in hiding, Eve finds herself in a cocoon of love, warmth and friendship which she fears would shatter if she stays around too long. Its touch and go during the last showdown with the bad guys and once again Mike, Sam and Harry work together to save the one woman who lights up Harry in more ways than one.

As I said earlier, though I didn’t love this one as much as I did Sam and Nicole’s story, nevertheless I still loved Harry as a hero. Strong and uber protective, Harry is enough to melt any woman on the inside because of his caring nature. And I loved seeing glimpses of Sam and Nicole in this one and of course the two very beautiful epilogues at the end of the second one which takes place a year later hopefully signals the beginning of Mike’s story.

As some readers have pointed out, I too have problems with how Ms. Rice tends to go a tad overboard with her descriptions making it a bit tiresome to tread through the repetitive material to find the actual story beneath it. But, being a huge fan of Ms. Rice, I’m willing to look beyond that into the story and would rate this as a great read worth your time if you love Lisa Marie Rice or if you love romantic suspense with an all-out alpha who would literally make you swoon as you get to know him. And I have to warn you, this one’s got a pretty powerful prologue to it that may just require you keep a wad of tissues handy.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Backstage Pass by Olivia Cunning

Format: E-bookbackstagepass
Read with: Kindle for iPhone
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romance
Series: Sinners on Tour, Book 1
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Hero: Brian Sinclair
Heroine: Dr. Myrna Evans
Sensuality: 4.9
Date of Publication: October 1, 2010
Started On: June 5, 2011
Finished On: June 7, 2011

In the debut novel of this one of a kind erotic series entitled Sinners on Tour, author Olivia Cunning introduces us to the decadent world of rock, glory, lust and love that makes up the world of the rock n’ roll music group known as the Sinners.

With 5 members to their group, the series kicks off with the story of Brian Sinclair who carries the stage name ‘Master Sinclair’ and meets his match in human sexuality professor Dr. Myrna Evans.

35 year old Myrna has a painful past from which she still suffers. Marriage to an alcoholic and the preceding divorce which had turned ugly has left its mark on Myrna who wants nothing more than the mindless oblivion the passion between her and Brian provides.

7 years younger than Myra, Brian is a romantic to his very soul who finds his muse as well as the love of his life in Myra. However convincing her that they are meant to be together in every sense of the way might take just more out of Brian than he ever foresaw.

The one thing that struck me the most when it came to Backstage Pass is how Olivia Cunning brings the whole rock scene alive in her story. The stage performances, the lives that each member lives behind the scenes and the roadies that accompany them all together made me feel as if I were part of the story instead of being on the outside looking in.

I found each and every single character that made his or her entrance into the book fascinating in their own right. Though Myrna tended to get on my nerves a time or two I liked her well enough and flat-out adored Brian for his caring as well as dreamy nature. As most female readers would agree, Sed proves to be a character that I found myself drawn towards and thankfully his story has already come out which I will pursue as soon as I find some free time.

Olivia Cunning has definitely penned an erotic romance series well worth checking out, delivering on all sorts of kinky as well as good old fashioned sexual content highly sensual in nature. Though I admit to have skimmed through a couple of the sex scenes because some of them weren’t really for me, fans of erotica who like variety in their sexual content would definitely love this one.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: Yours To Keep by Shannon Stacey

Format: E-bookYourstokeep
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Kowalski Family, Book 3
Publisher: Carina Press
Hero: Sean Michael Kowalski
Heroine: Emma Shaw
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: June 6, 2011
Started On: May 28, 2011
Finished On: May 28, 2011

Yours to Keep is the 3rd book in the Kowalski Family series by the very talented Shannon Stacey. Though this is my very first book by Ms. Stacey, I had no trouble identifying with the fact that she can deliver a fantastic romance, and this one definitely makes it into the list of my favorite reads for 2011. This book is going to follow the I-Review format which I introduced earlier and would follow a question and answer format which will hopefully do justice to the wonderful romance this delivered – in spades.

You: What made you pick up Yours to Keep?

MBR: I have always heard good things about Shannon Stacey though I have never had the opportunity to try out her work prior to this. You can always blame it on the hundreds of new books that find their way into my TBR pile (sneaky things these books). And this time when I found Yours to Keep up for grabs on Netgalley I didn’t hesitate to procure a copy and here I am grinning from ear to ear and nearly purring in complete satisfaction at the end. And of course, fellow blogger Pearl’s fantastic 5-star rating of the book helped things along as well.

You: Tell us a little bit about the hero Sean Kowalski.

MBR: Sean Michael Kowalski finally returns home for good after having served the army for the past 12 years. With blue eyes and a smile that can do serious damage to a woman’s insides, the one thing that Sean wants is to have the freedom for the first time in his life to do whatever he wants before even contemplating about settling down.

You: Now tell us a little bit about the heroine Emma Shaw.

MBR: The owner of Landscaping by Emma, Emma Shaw is an only child who was brought up her grandmother Catherine Shaw after the death of her parents at the age of 4. Emma has her roots tied down in New Hampshire, owns a business doing something that she loves and her only discontentment arises from the fact that her grandmother who finally managed to move to Florida still keeps on worrying about Emma. Whilst Emma doesn’t see the harm in conjuring up an imaginary live in boyfriend to keep her grandmother placated, what she doesn’t realize is the fact that it is indeed a tangled web one weaves when they intend to deceive.

You: How does Sean and Emma meet for the first time?

MBR: Sean and Emma’s first meeting is a memorable one in the story. Sean has just arrived at his cousin Kevin’s place where he would be crashing for the duration of his stay when Emma turns up on his doorstep claiming that she is his fiancée and tries enlisting his help in playing make-believe engaged couple with her for the duration of her grandmother’s upcoming visit. Though Sean thinks Emma to be tall, hot and batshit crazy in that very order, that doesn’t stop him wanting to say yes to Emma’s offer or prevent his body from hungering for hers in the worst way possible.

You: What was it that drew you into the story with Yours to Keep?

MBR: Even though I have never sampled Shannon Stacey’s work prior to this, I totally fell for her style of writing which drew me in right from the very beginning. I loved the concept of the story which was one of the reasons that had me saying Yes to Yours to Keep in the first place and it is the way that Ms. Stacey pulls the right emotions from the reader at every turn that had me reading this in one sitting, something that rarely happens these days.

You: What was it that you liked about Yours to Keep?

MBR: I am someone who ALWAYS loves a good contemporary romance. Throw in a hotter than sin ex-military hero whose vocabulary at the moment does not have any room for the word permanence in it, and a heroine who is his match in every way possible; call me fickle but I love the way two people who aren’t looking for love find it in the last place they are looking for.

I loved a lot of things about this delectable contemporary starting from Sean who is definitely hot enough to melt any woman to a puddle of goo in mere seconds. His whole character starting from his sinfully good looks to the way he tries so hard to keep his desire in check where Emma is concerned made him a hero I enjoyed in every way possible.

And then there is Emma, who has her heart set in the right place but doesn’t know what hits her when her “fake” fiancée turns out to be the real thing. Emma is loyal and intense to Sean’s laid-back attitude and the way that she is unafraid to grab whatever it is that is simmering between her and Sean made me root for her even more!

I loved all the side characters, some of whose stories of happily ever afters have already been told, lending Yours to Keep that extra edge which was why in the end it ended up in my list of favorite reads for 2011.

The sexual tension between Emma and Sean was sizzling hot at all times, the combustive culmination of their surrender that much more sweeter because of the fact. And I absolutely fell in love with Sean the moment he started leaving little bits of notes for Emma all around the house and the final scenes in the story just made me want to bawl my eyes out – with happy tears.

You: What if anything would you want to change in Yours to Keep?

MBR: For me, Yours to Keep is just damn perfect as it is!

You: Who would you recommend Yours to Keep to?

MBR: Fans of the Kowalski series should definitely read this one. Its a keeper!

And for fans of Shannon Stacey who haven’t yet delved into the Kowalski world, you definitely ought to, even if it is with this one. Yes, it is that good!

And for fans of contemporary romances, this one should definitely end up on your pile of books that MUST be read!

You: Any memorable scenes/quotes from Yours to Keep that you would like to share?

MBR: I loved the notes that Sean kept leaving for Emma to find. One of my favorites comes from the list he gives her during the final moments in the story:

You don’t take any crap from me.
You make me laugh.
Missionary is my favorite position now because I can see your face.

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by mvbookreviewer

Requested Review: One Night in Bangkok by Rhian Cahill

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novella
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Passport to Passion Collection, Book 1
Publisher: Noble Romance Publishing
Hero: Tom Windham
Heroine: Beth Martin
Sensuality: 4.5
Date of Publication: April 1, 2010
Started On: May 22, 2011
Finished On: May 22, 2011

One Night In Bangkok is book 1 in the Passport to Passion Collection. I have read and absolutely loved the 2nd book in the series, Singapore Fling which was my first Rhian Cahill that signaled the start of my adoration when it comes to what she can deliver in terms of very well done and very, very hot erotica. Likewise, One Night in Bangkok is no exception to the rule and packed into this very short novella lies passion with a depth of intensity that is hard to compete with.

Since this story is quite short, I have decided to kick-start my Interview Review aka I-Review with this novel. I-Review follows a question and answer format for the review which hopefully will do justice to this delectable addition to my collection of favorite contemporary erotica of all time!

You: What made you pick up One Night in Bangkok?

MBR: I received this book from the fabulous Rhian Cahill for reviewing purposes. Even prior to that, I had been eyeing this one since its successor did such a huge number on me. This has been in my review pile for quite a long time and in fact right now I am kicking myself for keeping such a hot little edition without any action whatsoever for so long! Ah, but better late than never eh?

You: Tell us a little bit about the hero!

MBR: Well, to tell you the truth apart from his name being Tom Windham and that he just about seriously depleted the oxygen levels in my room (from hyperventilating throughout the story), there is not much I can tell you. All you need to know is, he is ultra hot, breathtakingly handsome and can about make the heroine scream in pleasure just by looking at her the right way.

You: Now, tell us a little bit about the heroine.

MBR: Beth Martin has just survived the end of a bad relationship, namely her engagement to Alexander Hollister whom she had finally exposed to the world for the lying and cheating character he is. Beth had lost so much of herself during her relationship to Alexander that its her attempt to start over and in the process find herself once again that she flies to Bangkok to begin her new job in Phuket the next day.

You: How does the hero and heroine meet for the first time?

MBR: Sweltering from the heat of Bangkok, Beth makes her way into the bar of her hotel to be offered a drink by the man who has the power to bring her to her knees with just one look, an intense mutual reaction that seems to be shared by both Beth and Tom.

You: What was it that drew you into this story?

MBR: Rhian Cahill has a way of spinning an erotic tale unlike any other. And that is what drew me into One Night in Bangkok as well. I love the way the sizzling sexual tension that escalates to unbearable levels just explodes in Rhian’s novels and this one did that to me in a similar fashion, rendering me speechless a time or two whilst Tom and Beth were heating things up!

You: What was it that you liked about this novella?

MBR: The intense passion between Beth and Tom of course! I just reveled in all that out-of-control, I-would-die-if-I-can’t-have-you-right-now scenes that makes up  this book.

You: If given the chance, would you change anything at all in this novella?

MBR: I would have loved to know just a little bit more about Tom. I know he is hot and if he were to turn up on my doorstep I would definitely haul him in and never let him go. But, I would definitely have loved to know more about his personality and what sort of a guy he is all around.

You: Who would you recommend this to?

MBR: Fans of Rhian Cahill. If you, like me have been keeping this around, gathering computer bugs and what not in your TBR folder somewhere, take an hour or so and READ it! And for those who love erotic contemporary romance, this novella is for you!

You: Any memorable scenes/quotes in the story?

MBR: I loved the moment that Tom’s control snapped, rendering him as much a slave to the intense, heady and explosive attraction between him and Beth. Just flat-out loved it!

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Kobo | Diesel E-Books

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