Category / Contemporary

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Wed by Deception by Emilie Rose

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle & MS Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: The Payback Affairs, Book 3
Publisher: Silhouette
Hero: Lucas Daniel Stone
Heroine: Nadia Kincaid
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: September 9, 2008
Started On: May 20, 2010
Finished On: May 21, 2010

This is the third book in the payback affairs series by Ms. Rose and features Everett Kincaid’s third child and only daughter Nadia Kincaid and her believed to be dead husband for eleven years Lucas Daniel Stone.

Everett Kincaid is a man who has wronged all three of his children in one way or the other. And Everett has laid out his will in such a way that all three of his children had to fulfill certain “tests” that he had set aside before they all could be secure in the vast inheritance that Everett has left for them.

Nadia’s task was to live in Dallas on a limited budget, without holding a job and with none to look after her. Learning to survive on her own is supposed to be Nadia’s challenge and she is in for the shock of her life when her neighboring tenant returns home and Nadia finds him to be none other than Lucas, the husband she thought had died right along with her son in the accident that had left Nadia scarred for life.

Though nothing can bring back Nadia’s ability to have children, her life had resumed with some sort of normalcy until the shock of what Nadia’s dad had really done behind their backs to keep them apart comes to haunt her.

Lucas doesn’t want to feel small and helpless, the way he had felt eleven years ago when he  thought his wife had wanting nothing to do with him anymore. During his weakest moment he had grabbed what Nadia’s father had offered and built himself an empire that rivals the Kincaid’s. On a personal vendetta of his own to rub Kincaid’s face in his success by literally buying out every piece of business the Kincaid’s own, Lucas never thought what happened eleven years ago was by no means any fault of Nadia, the only woman who had ever made him succumb to love.

Nadia and Lucas both have to learn to trust one another amongst all the lies they have been made to believe for the past decade and give in to the intense passion that has always been within them before they are able to find ever lasting happiness with one another.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Touch of Surrender by Rhyannon Byrd

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle & Mobipocket Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Primal Instinct, Book 5
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Kierland Scott
Heroine: Morgan Cantrell
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: May 1, 2010
Started On: May 17, 2010
Finished On: May 19, 2010

Boy, was I glad to find out that this story had already been released when I finished reading the previous book in the series which I reviewed earlier. Towards the ending in the book “Touch of Seduction”, the sparks that fly between Morgan and Kierland were scorching enough as it is. And the shared history between the characters which were hinted at made my curiosity rise to levels that refused to be left unattended to.

This story continues the war that is going on between the Watchmen of which Kierland is the leader and the Casus, who are after the Dark Markers which are the only weapons capable of killing the Casus and sending them back to where they came from. To make things complicated Kellan, Kierland’s brother goes into the Casus territory deep in the wastelands where exiled supernatural forces live at to find the witch Chloe who was taken hostage by the Casus and willingly allows himself to be imprisoned.

Morgan and Kierland though they have been avoiding each other for the past ten or so years when things went awry as Kierland refused to give into the desire that Morgan as his student invoked in him, has no choice but team up in the quest to journey through the wastelands to get to Kellan. Though Kierland would like nothing better than to send Morgan off back to England where the Watcmen’s safe house was located at, Morgan’s presence becomes vital for the mission since she is the only one who is able to track Kellan’s whereabouts.

Whilst Ashe Granger a Deschanel who is an ex-lover of Morgan is the only one who can trek through the Wastelands safely joins the search, the intensity of the feelings that Kierland has to face forces him to come to the inevitable conclusion that he and Morgan have no choice but to try and get each other out of their systems. Kierland proposes this to Morgan who accepts the offer which starts off a spine tingling delicious affair where Ms. Byrd does an excellent job in scorching up the pages.

What makes these books remarkable is the fact that both the romance, intense page scorching passion and adventure both play an equal role which makes these books hard to put down. Though I tended to like the previous book a teensy weensy bit better, this book itself is great as well.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Touch of Seduction by Rhyannon Byrd

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Primal Instinct, Book 4
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Aiden Shrader
Heroine: Olivia Harcourt
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: April 1, 2010
Started On: May 14, 2010
Finished On: May 16, 2010

Though I am not much into paranormal romances, I picked this book up on a whim since I remembered reading Ms. Byrd’s Against the Wall and liking her writing style. And since I have hit a dry spell these days on the reading front I decided to give this book a go and came out with a satisfied grin on all fronts!

The fourth book in the Primal Instincts series the first 3 books which I have never come across, this is the book of tiger shape shifter Aiden Shrader and small-town schoolteacher Olivia Harcourt. Aiden has been dispatched by the Watchmen, (a group mixed up of humans with a mix of something else having extraordinary abilities, to keep things on the down low and kill whenever necessary to protect their species) this time to protect Olivia and her niece Jamie whose mother Monica was killed by the Casus, a vile race of immortal creatures who’d been imprisoned over a thousand years ago for their crimes against humanity and the other clans. The Casus were after Jamie to have a taste of what its like to kill someone with witch’s blood running through them, no matter how young the child might be. With no one else to turn to, Olivia has no other options available but to trust this enigmatic man with glowing amber eyes, who kissed her senseless to the point of ultimate surrender during their first encounter.

Aiden, wary of trusting a human after what he went through when he was young, is skittish of the intense (and I say intense mildly) feelings that Olivia awakens inside him. Though Aiden tries hard not to succumb to the powerful connection between him and Olivia, he can’t help but answer the call of the inner beast within him to feel Olivia’s touch which goes a long way towards healing him.

Meanwhile the ongoing war between the Casus and the Watchmen continues, whilst a darker and a more sinister enemy arises that just may end life for the Watchmen as they know it.

Filled with continuous adventure vividly described by the author which made me feel as if I were watching a movie instead of reading a book made this a highly enjoyable read.

Am dying to read the next book in the series which is to hit the stands this month!

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Unfaithful Wife by Lynne Graham

Format: E-book
Read with: Microsoft Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Nik Andreakis
Heroine: Leah
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: November 1, 1995
Started On: May 6, 2010
Finished On: May 10, 2010

Lynne’s Graham older romances contributed a lot towards me becoming the avid romance book reader that I am today. Likewise, this book published more than a decade back has the element that is missing from most of the Harlequin novels that are published today, even by my most favorite authors such as Ms. Graham. Thus it was a rare treat to read this romance by Ms. Graham which I didn’t want to put down once I started.

Leah and Nik have been married for five years during which they have lived apart from one another. Leah doesn’t know the reason why Nik acts so coldly towards her once they are married. Nik has his own group of beautiful women with whom he spends his nights with and this propels Leah finally towards forming a relationship of her own, fed up with a life of utter loneliness and unhappiness.

The death of Leah’s father brings about the actual truth as to why Nik has been treating Leah so abhorrently. And it is this pivotal moment that brings these two together, Nik with his tendency to be distrustful of love and companionship that goes along with it and Leah afraid to hope for anything permanent with Nik with whom she fell in love with on the very first sight.

Filled with highly sensual moments which is trademark Graham, this novel stands to be the reason why I always look forward to reading a novel by the author, no matter how disappointing her recent novels have turned out to be.

Purchase Links: Amazon

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Second Best Wife by Rachel Lindsay

Format: E-book
Opens with: Microsoft Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Adam Lester
Heroine: Julia Gosford
Sensuality: 2
Date of Publication: September 24, 1982
Started On: May 2, 2010
Finished On: May 5, 2010

Its  been really long since I read a Harlequin romance from the 1980’s. And I have to say Harlequin romances have come a long way from back then when stories used to revolve around people you can relate to rather than billionaires and the sheiks that wheel and deal in the current stories. And oh, I should not forget the ridiculous changes to the titles of the Harlequin romances these days now ei?

This story focuses on successful international lawyer Adam Lester and how he proposes marriage to his ever efficient secretary Julia Gosford to show Adam’s lover Erica who chose to wait for all her dead husband’s money to lawfully belong to her rather than marry Adam and start a life with him that he didn’t care. Julia agrees to the marriage because she too has been jilted by her fiance who left to Canada promising he would send for her once he is settled in, but rather sends back message that he has found someone else with whom he is planning on getting married to.

Though both Adam and Julia enter their marriage with their eyes open and ready to treat their relationship as rational adults, love has a way of catching people unawares and of course along with love comes its little green eyed friend called jealousy. It is rare in a romance book to read about the hero’s infatuation with another woman whilst married to the heroine of the book though it made things more realistic than most romances. It showed that love just didn’t suddenly dawn on the hero but rather it took time for him to realize what his infatuation with Erica had been all about.

Its all the misunderstandings about Erica and Roy (Julia’s ex-fiance) that makes up the plot of this book. Everything is neatly resolved at the very end of the book giving Adam and Julia a happy ending.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: No Longer Mine by Shiloh Walker

Format: E-book
Opens with: Adobe Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Hero: Wade Lightfoot
Heroine: Nikki Kline
Sensuality: 3
First Published on: April 27, 2010
Started On: May 2, 2010
Finished On: May 2, 2010

Originally published in 2006, Shiloh Walker recently re-released this title, this time with revisions from its original release. I remember reading this book when I first learnt of and became a fan of Ms. Walker’s books and back then somehow this book didn’t settle that well with me mainly because I thought the hero was too callous towards the heroine when she lost so much in her life. However I think with the revisions this story has become a much better tale with the ability to touch the hearts of those who read it.

Nikki is the girl who comes from the wrong side of town with two brothers who are hoodlums, an alcoholic father and a mother who committed suicide rather than face life head on. However the friendship which turns to love between Wade and Nikki is stronger than all the elements put  together. Nikki working on her way towards becoming a full fledged writer is on the verge of tying the knot with Wade when she finds out that Wade has impregnated Jamie Sawyer, the girl who has been after Wade forever.

Jamie was a drunken mistake Wade couldn’t bring himself to forgive. When Wade marries Jamie and moves on with her, it nearly kills Nikki. However the news that she is three months pregnant with Wade’s child is the only light at the end of the tunnel that pulls her out of the darkness and into the world of living. Things don’t go well for Nikki even after her son Jason is born. A freak accident during a thunderstorm kills her beloved son Jason when he is barely a year old. This time the pit Nikki falls into is too deep to find her way out of it on her own.

Her writing and her family are the only things that keep the bare shell of a Nikki going. And when she meets Wade and his daughter Abby the pain and betrayal Nikki feels is so intense that its as if someone wrenches her heart out and stomps on it. Wade not knowing all the trauma that Nikki has gone through actively pursues her because though he married Jamie out of a sense of duty, he had never ever stopped loving Nikki.

There is no happy ending for these two until they are both able to let go of the past, forgive, forget and move on, though its easier said than done when the hurt runs too deep for us even to start empathizing with.

I loved reading the improved version of this story. I guess as Ms. Walker herself has pointed out, this wasn’t one of her best works, but when revised this book does make for a decent read, one that I couldn’t put down once I started.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: True Love & Other Disasters by Rachel Gibson

Format: E-book
Opens with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Chinooks Hockey Team, Book 4
Publisher: Avon
Hero: Ty Savage
Heroine: Faith Duffy
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: April 28, 2009
Started On: April 27, 2010
Finished On: April 28, 2010

True Love and Other Disasters is the first novel that I ever tried from the list of novels by Rachel Gibson. And this book has stayed with me for a long time afterwards as a book that should be read time and time again.

Although I am not much of a fan of ice  hockey and don’t know much about it, this book is based on an ice hockey team called Chinooks whose ownership is bequeathed to Faith Duffy upon the death of her quite old husband Virgil Duffy who owned the Chinooks Hockey team. Like everyone else, former stripper Faith is surprised by the turn of events and is on the verge of selling the team to Virgil’s son Landon when Landon insults her in front of everyone that matters in the Chinooks team.

Faith comes across Ty Savage, the Chinooks handsome as sin captain during Virgil’s funeral. A man with a larger than life presence, Faith distrusts Ty from the first moment onwards and it seems as  though the feeling is mutual until these two start to rub sparks off each other upon each and every encounter.

Ty can’t get the beautiful and sexy Faith out of his mind regardless of what he does. And suddenly the idea of him and Faith together doesn’t seem that bad when one hot encounter between the two leaves them both begging for more.

Meanwhile, Landon a man who doesn’t forget and forgive easily tries to drive them apart by hitting them where it hurts and nearly succeeds until Ty as the true alpha hero he is portrayed to be saves the day.

This book is a great read, the kind I love the best with a belligerent hero and a wonderfully sassy heroine who knows how to stir things up whenever and wherever they may meet. Highly recommended for all contemporary romance fans!

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Truly Madly Yours by Rachel Gibson

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Avon
Hero: Nick Allegrezza
Heroine: Delaney Shaw
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: January 31, 1999
Started On: April 27, 2010
Finished On: April 27, 2010

When pretty hairdresser Delaney Shaw returned home to Truly, Idaho for the funeral of her stepfather, she  never planned on staying around for long. But the ten year estrangement from her mother and stepfather might as well have never happened when her stepfather’s will stipulates that she stay in Truly for a period of one year if she were to receive the property bequeathed to her worth 3 million dollars.

And Delaney never expected Nick Allegrezza, her stepfather’s son whom he never acknowledged when they were growing up to be part of the will. Nick and his brother Louie were property developers and Nick was to be the owner of some hot property if he could refrain from having sex with Delaney.

Though Nick wouldn’t admit it, the night ten years back when he had held a warm and willing Delaney in his arms has been etched onto his mind for eternity. Though he tries to act nonchalant and unaffected by Delaney’s presence in Truly, he can’t help but find ways to be near her and to appease the hunger that she arouses in him.

Before long the small town is once again bursting at its seams with the delicious gossip on how Nick heats things up with Delaney. From the eccentric customers that trickle in to the saloon Delaney opens up to the many squabbles that take place within Nick and Delaney’s family, this book is a special treat with humor, red hot passion that makes your toes curl up and a great ending that is rare in most of the modern romance novels that come out.

Highly recommended for those who love romantic comedies as well as a good romance with a hot hunky hero that takes your breathe away.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Sweet Gum Tree by Katherine Allred

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Hero: Nick Anderson
Heroine: Alix French
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: May 12, 2005
Started On: April 24, 2010
Finished On: April 25, 2010

This is one of the best love stories I have come across. Though narrated in the first person which I dislike mostly, Ms. Katherine has done a wonderful job in creating characters that will stay with you for a long time once you are done with the story.

Once I started reading Alix and Nick’s story I couldn’t for the life of me put it down till I really had to go to sleep since I had work the next morning. I am glad now that I took the recommendation to heed and read this book which I would recommend for even non-romance readers to take a look at. Yes, its worth every second you spend reading the book!

Alix comes from old wealth and abundance of family love. Whilst her father was non-existent when Alix was growing up, she had never felt the lack of fatherly love since her grandpa known as Judge fulfilled that role quite adequately. Been on the receiving end of motherly love from her mother and two sisters who never got married and still lived with their father (Judge) this is as good as family life gets. Nick comes from the wrong side of town. With a drunken father who beats the crap out of him whenever he can, Nick is a defiant little boy of ten when eight year old Alix takes into her head to rescue him.

From then on these two are inseparable bound by ties that go beyond normal friendship. However Nick’s steadfast protection of Lindsay, a girl from the wrong side of town as well keeps these two from fulfilling the destiny of belonging to one another. Now fifteen years later, Alix is is finalizing her divorce from Hugh whom she married once Nick left town with a murder charge on his back and is a woman with a tough wall around her heart after her and Nick’s daughter Katie died from SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).

All of a sudden Nick is back in town with his son Daniel who looks so much like Katie that the armor that Alix has put up all these years starts to fall apart one by one. However the truth of what actually took place that fateful night 15 years back is what would make or break these two people who are destined to be together if they can both forgive, heal and move on.

Wonderfully moving story that clutches at your heart. Loved it from the beginning till end!

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: MacKenzie’s Mountain by Linda Howard

Format: E-bookmackenziesmountain
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Mackenzie Family, Book 1
Publisher: Silhouette
Hero: Wolf MacKenzie
Heroine: Mary Elizabeth Potter
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: April 1, 1989
Started On: April 23, 2010
Finished On: April 24, 2010

This is the first book of The MacKenzies series and the only book of the series that I liked. Though I didn’t try the 3rd and 4th book of the series, I did start to read the 2nd book in the series, i.e. Joe MacKenzie’s story & it never did make the impact this story made on me for the very first time which is why I ended up re-reading this story all over again after reading through a discussion thread on Amazon’s romance discussion forum.

Wolf MacKenzie is a half breed, half Comanche and half Indian. For that alone he had led a pretty solitary life in the small town Ruth where he and his son Joe resided. And add to that a rape charge for which he did time and later was found not guilty of when the real culprit was found, Wolf & Joe had been paying the price of that unjustness of it all ever since.

Mary moves to the small town as a teacher, and finds out to her dismay that Joe who was the highest scorer in all the classes had dropped out of school. Mary vows to right the matter and in fact makes the trip to where the twosome lived up on the MacKenzie mountain. On the way Mary’s car breaks down and comes face to face with larger than life Wolf MacKenzie who manages to kiss her senseless and sets her senses whirling like never before.

Wolf doesn’t need the added complication of Mary in his life. However, he can’t help but feel a need for her deep within him that cannot be ignored. Meanwhile, Mary starts giving Joe private lessons so that he could catch up with the other students and fulfill his dream of being a fighter jet pilot, a dream which Mary helps him fulfill within no time.

However, forces within the small town who do not want Wolf and Joe to become a part of the town work towards framing Wolf for rape again, a fact Mary is convinced of, which leave the women of the small town agitated and scared out of their wits.

This book is heartwarming in so many ways. The way that Mary sides with the black sheep in town and makes the townsfolk regret the way they had snubbed them for so long, the undeniable passion between Mary and Wolf which makes the book a continuous sensual delight and how in the end Mary draws out the rapist with her wit and courage and of course the lovely ending of the book which makes me want to read the book once more.

The person who suggested this book as her absolute favorite romance book of all time has surely hit a winner with this one. This is one book that any romance reader who loves contemporary romance should read!

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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