Category / Contemporary

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Too Much Temptation by Lori Foster

Format: E-Booktoomuchtemptation
Read with: Adobe Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: The Brava Brothers, Book 1
Sensuality: 3.5
Publisher: Zebra Leads
Hero: Noah Harper
Heroine:  Grace Jenkins
Date of Publication: December 1, 2007
Started On: January 25, 2010
Finished On: January 25, 2010

I read this book a long time back and whilst browsing through a discussion forum on Amazon, I once again came across this title and had the itch to read it all over again. Lori Foster is an author who writes great stories with lots of humor injected into the romance which makes reading the book a more memorable one. And yes, the sensuality level of her novels are off the charts as well!

Noah is one of the bastard grand sons of Agatha, a woman who is as rich as she is aristocratic. With his father who had made no claims on any of his sons, Agatha searches Noah out when her son dies leaving her bereft and without a family to leave everything she has. Although Agatha puts her pride before everything else, she teaches Noah everything about doing business she knows. Noah has his life all mapped out and goes along with his grandmother’s plans of marrying Kara, his fiance of more than a year, whom he finds in bed with another man going at each other like crazy. Noah calls off the wedding but in consideration to Kara’s feelings and fears that her parents wouldn’t accept the person with whom she has fallen in love with, Noah takes the brunt of all accusations and criticism on putting a stop to a wedding that would have rocked the city.

Grace Jenkins, secretary of Noah’s grandmother for the past three years, who has loved Noah ever since she set her eyes on him, is outraged when she hears that all the blame has been placed at Noah’s feet. Knowing Noah, Grace knows that he wouldn’t have called off the wedding unless he had a very compelling reason to do so. Such trust and faith from someone whom Noah never even expected, Noah finds himself lured towards the gentle and loving nature behind the no nonsense facade Grace puts up. Its inevitable that Noah and Grace end up in bed with one another when Grace has been yearning for Noah ever since she met him.

With Agatha meddling all the way to get Noah and Kara back together, thinking she knows whats in the best interest of her grandson, and Grace fighting for Noah’s honor every step of the way, this story makes a highly entertaining read, one thats quite easy to read in one sitting. Recommended for those who love a feisty heroine who is not of the perfect dolled out variety usually found in romance novels, and a scorching hot hero who is guaranteed to make your toes curl.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Burning Up by Sarah Mayberry

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Harlequin Blaze, #380
Publisher: Harlequin
Sensuality: 3.5
Hero: Lucas Grant
Heroine:  Sophie Gallagher
Date of Publication: February 1, 2008
Started On: January 21, 2010
Finished On: January 23, 2010

Lucas Grant, famous movie star and notorious playboy needs to recuperate to recover from a torn ligament on his knee. One of his friends offers him their place up on the Blue Mountain and its just him and his personal chef Sophie Gallagher all alone for the next four weeks.

Sophie is the exact opposite of Lucas. Being dumped by her boyfriend of fourteen years which had propelled her to take the job in the first place, Sophie isn’t one who takes risks or rushes headlong into things without thinking them to death first. However things get interesting for Sophie when its lust at first sight for her with Lucas.

At first, Lucas thinks he might go stir crazy if he has to stay around the quiet place for four whole weeks. However, with Sophie around and the anticipation of working and wooing a woman into his bed for the very first time, Lucas rises up to the challenge to get more than what he bargained for.

Their relationship was supposed to be strictly about sex and nothing more. Until Sophie went ahead and confessed her love for Lucas which didn’t bode very well for Lucas as he was scared shit about love. A childhood tragedy which had landed up Lucas in the state ward care, and Lucas’s refusal to face his past demons eventually break these two apart until Lucas finds the strength to lay his past to rest and really and truly love and be loved by the only woman who means everything to him.

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Home for the Holidays by Sarah Mayberry

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Single Father, # 27
Sensuality: 3
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Joe Lawson
Heroine:  Hannah Napier
Date of Publication: November 1, 2009
Started On: January 21, 2010
Finished On: January 21, 2010

I don’t know how she does it, but Sarah Mayberry is one author who never disappoints. In this Harlequin Super Romance, Sarah Mayberry explores the story of a single father Joe with his two children Ben and Ruby and the second chance at love this family is given, with a few surprises thrown in at the end.

Joe’s wife Beth dies in a car accident. It has been two years since then and Joe moves their family to Melbourne to start over afresh. On his first night at their new place, Joe encounters his neighbor Hannah which leaves both of them with mistakenly bad impressions of one another.

Joe, still in love with his dead wife, who hasn’t even thought about a woman in ages and Hannah who was jilted by her fiance for her sister who has the dream of travelling all over Australia and fears giving away her heart to another when she is still reeling from the shock of the immense betrayal she faced, never thought for a moment that they both might find in each other what they have been missing.

However, with a family to consider, things do not go as smoothly as one might think. Although Ruby is delighted with the idea of Hannah and Joe dating, Ben doesn’t warm up to the idea and goes out of his way to make Hannah’s time together with the family a miserable one.

Sarah Mayberry has created such heartwarming characters in each of the lead roles in this novel. I absolutely fell in love with Joe’s daughter Ruby, she is such a delight teaching Hannah the highs and lows of the current fashions when she is just 8 years old.

In the end, working through a lot of hurdles fate throws their way, this family triumphs in all the ways that matter. A good read, recommended for those who love a good romance with a dose of family life and second chances thrown into the mix.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Just Friends? By Allison Leigh

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Men of the Double-C Ranch, Book 7
Publisher: Silhouette
Sensuality: 3
Hero: Evan Taggart
Heroine:  Leandra Clay
Date of Publication: February 1, 2007
Started On: January 19, 2010
Finished On: January 21, 2010

I guess I have been reading a bit too much within the last few days and sort of just hit a phase where reading anything didn’t appeal to me that much. So for a change from my usual reading activities I watched a little bit of TV and caught up on watching those television series I always collect but rarely sit down and watch. So anyhow, this was a book I found on one of my usual forays into finding books where best friends find love with one another.

It wasn’t surprising to say the least that this book is the 7th in a series when I kind of had that intuition all along when details of the main characters’ huge family kept cropping up now and again. Though it is confusing to make sense of who comes from where with such a large family and as close knit as they are portrayed to be, this book can be read as a standalone.

So to continue on with the review, Evan Taggart is the only veterinarian in town and has been in love with his childhood friend Leandra ever since he can remember. However, on one of his college breaks he had brought along Jake his best friend and Jake and Leandra had fallen in love and tied the knot and left to live elsewhere. And now, Leandra divorced from Jake for a couple of years, is back in their hometown and filming Evan for a series that she is developing for the television station she works in. Evan although hates the intrusion into his life can’t help but want Leandra all over again although he tries to convince himself that his best friend’s ex-wife should be off limits for him.

To complicate matters further, Leandra is hurting from the loss of her child, whose death had led to Leandra closing herself off from all those who love her. Blaming herself for the death of her child, Leandra doesn’t handle being around kids very well. However, Evan looks after his autistic niece Hannah, with whom Leandra’s first instinct is to flee and never look back.

This story is more about family life, getting over one’s past and moving on than focusing on the romance aspect of the two characters. I have mixed feelings about this novel. There were times when I felt like giving Leandra a big good shake just to make her see what was right in front of her if she gives her life half the chance. Anyhow, the read wasn’t half bad I suppose.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | AbeBooks

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Renaissance by Zannie Adams

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Sensuality: 4
Hero: Kent Landon
Heroine:  Cali Ross
Date of Publication:  March 21, 2007
Started On: January 18, 2010
Finished On: January 18, 2010

Having read the book Complicated by the same author, my interest in her writing style was piqued enough for me to try out the rest of her books released in e-book format. This story is longer and more intense than Complicated, but I loved pretty much every minute of Kent and Cali’s story.

I have discovered that this author tends to write romances concerning heroes and heroines who are a bit older than the normal twosomes that you encounter in your romance novels. Likewise in this novel Cali is in her late 30’s and Kent in his early or mid 40’s.

Cali and Kent first meet during Cali’s teen years. Back then Cali had been as ambitious as anyone whose dream was to become a reporter. Living alone with her father since her mother deserted them, Cali had long since learnt to be independent and not to rely on anyone but herself to get things done. Her tendencies to write newspaper articles exposing local businesses and other such events lands her with a job at the local newspaper right after she finishes her high school. Kent, the son of Philip Landon, CEO of Landon Industries who starts hanging out with her best buddy Jason seems to evoke feelings of animosity from Cali at first. Judging Kent to be as slick as his father, about whom Cali was currently working on writing an expose on, Cali encounters Kent on her break-in into the Landon Enterprises to gather facts to back her article.

Rather than what Cali expected, Kent helps Cali on writing the article to expose the way his father handles business. Although Cali thinks that they both shared a lot more than just tidbits of information for the article, Kent blatantly ignores Cali after the article hits the press. Cali although hurt and bitter about being used so callously, goes away to earn her degree and stays away for 20 odd years, only coming back to meet her father twice a year or so.

However, things change when Cali realizes that she should be there for her father when he has to undergo surgery on both knees. Giving up her life in Chicago, Cali moves back home and takes up a job at a local newspaper. On her first night back, Cali encounters Kent again at a fund raising event and on the very first night both succumb to the attraction that had always been there between them. Where Kent has been aloof and laid back 20 years earlier, he was a completely closed book hiding behind an impeccable shield that doesn’t seem to crack even under the most unimaginable circumstances.

Cali tries to avoid getting into a purely sexual relationship with Kent, although her father seems to think that Kent is the one for her. And her best friend Alice who proves to be refreshing character in this novel, convinces Cali to at least give Kent a chance to prove that he could give Cali what she really wants out of a relationship.

The journey Kent and Cali take towards happiness is a slow and moving one that is sure to touch the reader’s heart. Its refreshing to read about two characters who just do not suddenly find themselves in love, but rather have to actually work and compromise to make their relationship work. Highly recommended for those who love a gritty love story with a high dose of sensuality thrown into the mix.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Complicated by Zannie Adams

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Sensuality: 4.5
Hero: Greg Stone
Heroine:  Victoria Ray
Date of Publication:  September 7, 2007
Started On: January 17, 2010
Finished On: January 18, 2010

Sigh!! Aah, nothing compares to that warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you have managed to grab hold of a great book and read it in one sitting. This  a new author for me and I found this book of hers recommended on a discussion forum on Amazon where one reader has requested for books where the hero is considerably older than the heroine, which is the case in this book.

Victoria is a librarian in her early 30’s and Greg is a businessman in his early 40’s whose brother was elected as the governor during the course of the novel, the campaign for his election through which Victoria and Greg first meet. They agree to a purely sexual affair, both of them not looking for the complications that go along with having a real relationship with someone.

After a very satisfying three month period of their affair, Greg’s daughter Carrie confronts Victoria at her workplace labeling her as the slut her father was infatuated with. Faced with a complication that Victoria never had an inkling of, and after a brutal confrontation takes place between father and daughter, Victoria decides to end things with Greg and try to move on, which is easier said than done.

The passion between Greg and Victoria is scorching hot and the story itself an engaging one which I recommend to all those who love stories of the Romantica genre. This is one author who has landed a very special place on my ‘to-look-out-for-authors’ list.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Demon Rumm by Sandra Brown

Format: Paperback
Read with: Paperback
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Loveswept, #197
Publisher: Bantam
Sensuality: 3
Hero: Rylan North
Heroine: Kirsten Rumm
Date of Publication:  May 1, 1987
Started On: January 17, 2010
Finished On: January 17, 2010

This is the only book of romance genre that I have read to date that tells the story solely from the hero’s point of view. Though this proved to be a refreshing change, this story didn’t hold its usual Sandra Brown charm to it.

Rylan a hot shot movie star is the leading male star in the movie Demon Rumm. This movie is about the daring stunt pilot Charlie Rumm, nicknamed as Demon Rumm, who died during one of his stunts, whose death is shrouded in a cloud of  mystery as to whether he committed suicide or whether his death was an accident.

The story Demon Rumm was being authored by his widowed wife, Kirsten Rumm, who wants to exorcise all the ghosts of her marriage  to Charlie and start afresh away from the public eye and glory which she was continually subjected to during her marriage to Charlie.

Rylan, being the perfectionist he is, worms his way into staying at the Rumm’s residence to reenact the last few days of Charlie’s life, and to really get a feel of what family life was like for the handsome as the devil pilot who seemed to have everything in life.

Rylan finds himself intrigued with Kirsten and tries to woo her into  his life, although this proves to be easier said than done with all the hang ups and reservations that Kirsten seems to have about starting a new relationship and falling in love again.

An OK read, but a bit disappointing to those who love the usual style depicted in Sandra Brown’s novels.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Just Friends by Robyn Sisman

Format: E-bookjustfriends.jpg
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Hero: Jack Madison
Heroine: Freya Penrose
Sensuality: 2
Date of Publication:  July 30, 2002
Started On: January 12, 2010
Finished On: January 16, 2010

This is the type of book that should be made into a movie. I bet that all those who love a good romantic comedy would adore the story of Jack and Freya.

Freya is a British woman who works in New York at a trendy art dealer shop scouting new talent now and then. Jack Madison is an author who has hit the writer’s block ever since the release of his debut novel which hit the bestselling list. Its been 5 years since he has started on his second novel and he doesn’t seem to  be getting any constructive work done on the novel. Coming from a rich family from Texas, Jack lives on a monthly allowance set aside by his father together with the money he earns from teaching creative writing classes as well as writing reviews of books for newspapers.

Freya and Jack first met each other around the time that they both ventured into living in New York. Each had their own dreams to fulfill and Freya being older than Jack had stuck to being friends given the flambouyant and playboy lifestyle that Jack seems to prefer.

Now in her mid-thirties, Freya seems to be going on the right path with her career on the right course and her live-in boyfriend of five months about to propose to her. Life couldn’t get any better. That is until, instead of the proposal that Freya was both dreading and kind of hoping for with an inevitability, Freya’s boyfriend Micheal, a lawyer who is as serious as Freya is a ball of energy, breaks off their relationship.

Now with no place to live, Freya ends up crashing at Jack’s place regardless of the warnings Cat, her best friend who is a divorce lawyer who has sworn off men seems to dish out. Contrary to the warnings of Cat, proximity doesn’t make Jack and Freya tumble head over heels in love with each other or make Jack pounce on her as a cat would do for a good slab of meat but rather create a situation of animosity between the two friends.

Meanwhile, Cat meets Micheal and these two click from the moment they lay eyes on each other, a situation that Freya is totally unaware of. Freya is busy trying to find someone who would accompany her as her better half to the wedding of her step sister Tash, someone with whom Freya had always had a turbulent relationship with.

In the end, Jack is the one who saves the day and these two head off to Europe, to a place so different from the busy and heady life of New York, and find themselves confronting feelings that they have long since buried before. However, the age factor together with Jack’s betrayal with Tash breaks these two apart till Jack and Freya both do a lot of growing up on their own and finally accept the love they have for each other.

This book is a highly enjoyable chic flick that all those who love a good romantic comedy would no doubt fall in love with.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Her Secret Fling by Sarah Mayberry

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Harlequin Blaze , Book 517
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Jake Stevens
Heroine: Poppy Birmingham
Date of Publication: January 1, 2010
Started On: January 12, 2010
Finished On: January 12, 2010

Aaah! Finally a book that has left me satisfied on all aspects after a long time. Sarah Mayberry is one of my favorite Harlequin Blaze line authors and it does help that her book titles do not make me cringe, and the fact that they contain believable stories of men and women who fall in love with each other.

Poppy Birmingham an ex-star swimmer who has gold medals  to her name, takes up a job offer on writing for the sports column of one of the most prestigious newspapers in Australia. There she comes face to face with Jake Stevens, someone whose style of writing Poppy has admired from the very start.

However, Poppy is left with the impression that Jake is hardly what she has pictured him to be. Callous to  the point of being rude, Jake lays it out that Poppy doesn’t deserve to just walk in and attain a job that takes journalists years of studying and experience to claim.

However, Jake is proven wrong when Poppy proves to be persistent in what she does, and a quirk twist of fate ends both of them together alone on a road trip back from Melbourne. Pitted together with nowhere else to go, Poppy and Jake reluctantly come to realize that rather than the initial dislike that they thought they felt for each other, both of them were coming to find qualities that they liked in each other immensely. Not to mention the scorching hot passion that flares between them when Jake offers to teach Poppy the wonders of sex.

Quirky dialogues between the two characters kept the pages turning and when Poppy finds herself inevitably in love with Jake, with no sign whatsoever from Jake to show that he might feel the same way, and Jake but all pushing away Poppy without really trusting her and letting her in makes Poppy realize that their no-named relationship had been doomed from the start.

Jake has his own reasons, with a failed marriage on his conscience, which has made him into someone who absolutely has nothing left to give. However, unknowingly, the time spent with Poppy slowly works its magic on Jake and ultimately Jake and Poppy get the happy ending which they both deserve.

I loved this book. Sarah Mayberry sure knows how to pen a fantastic story. Highly recommended to those who love Blaze line stories.

Purchase Links: Amazon | BooksOnBoard 

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: E-mail Order Bride by Kathy Lynn Emerson

Format: E-book
Read with: Adobe Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Belgrave House
Hero: Chase Forster
Heroine: Leslie Baynton
Date of Publication:  April 1, 1998
Started On: January 11, 2010
Finished On: January 12, 2010

Previously titled as Sight Unseen, this is a sweet romance coupled with an instant family and the problems that go along with such a family. Chase Forster, a probation officer in the local office of the department of corrections, meets Leslie Baynton in an online chat forum designed for mystery book lovers. Leslie a shy woman in her 30’s finds that she and Chase share a lot of stuff in common and their friendship continues to grow online. Exchange of e-mails daily gives glimpses and insight into the lives of each other and although both of them seems to be curious to meet one another face to face, none of them wants to voice their desire to do so.

Their friendship continues until during a moment of impulse, Chase asks Leslie to be his e-mail order bride. Chase has been handed over the responsibility of taking care of his niece Calico and Jeremy his nephew both in their teens,  of his deceased brother Jake. Jake and his various forays into criminal activities had finally ended up in killing himself, whilst his wife had ended up in jail for writing fraudulent checks. Leslie who has never had kids of her own but yearns for them with her only experience with kids being the relationship she has with her close to perfect niece and nephew, really has no idea what she is in for.

Leslie and Chase meet and find that they are comfortable with each other in real life as in the cyber world and both feel the immense attraction that crops up during the first meeting. Marriage which seemed to be a practical solution and one of mutual benefit to both Chase and Leslie turns out to be a journey of discovery of feelings that continue to grow between them as well as the relationship that starts to forge between a troubled Jeremy who wants to make things for Leslie as difficult as possible.

A book that portrays love, passion and real family problems, this book is a sweet and heartwarming read that would leave you feeling good on the inside afterwards.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble| BooksOnBoard

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