Category / Emotions Wrencher

by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt

Format: E-booktheravenprince
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Princes Trilogy, Book 1
Publisher: Warner Forever
Hero: Edward De Raaf
Heroine: Anna Wren
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: November 1, 2006
Started On: December 30, 2011
Finished On: December 31, 2011

My very first Elizabeth Hoyt turned out to be a delightful introduction into her work. The Raven Prince which is the first book in the Princes trilogy certainly wets a reader’s appetite for more of Elizabeth Hoyt and that is exactly what happened throughout this wonderful story with its larger than life characters and the sizzling sexual tension that seemed to be so much a part of this whole story as it unfolded.

Anna Wren is a widow going on for 6 years and lives in Little Battleford with her mother-in-law and maid in a small cottage. Dire financial circumstances has Anna seeking employment with the reclusive 5th Earl of Swartingham, Edward De Raaf who is legendary for his ominous temper which had driven away the two previous secretaries in his employment. Scarred from smallpox from which he had been the sole survivor of his family, Edward prefers the seclusion the countryside offers and has every intention of filling up his childhood home with family and warmth once again, as soon as he manages to arrange for his marriage with a lady of suitable pedigree.

When Anna enters his life with her intelligence, quick wit and warmth, Edward sees beyond her prim and plain exterior into the woman at heart, a woman whose body tempts him unlike any other. The need to possess Anna in the most wickedest ways possible drives every sane thought from Edward’s mind until he is forced to come to the decision that a tumble in the most notorious whorehouse in London would cure him of his unwanted lust for his secretary.

When Anna finds out that Edward would rather seek the services of a whore than touch her, something deep inside of her that is already possessive of Edward and how his mere presence makes her feel makes her take matters into her own hands and thus she finds herself posing as a woman of the house, awaiting Edward to pleasure her in ways she has never even dreamed of.

Though the story was a bit slow in starting for me, I was well engrossed more than half way through, thoroughly enjoying the banter between Anna and Edward. Edward is a delicious hero, no two ways about it. I love heroes who are reclusive, those who are intent and focused on what they want and need and of course his brand of seduction when it comes to Anna, a side that he keeps hidden from the rest of the world was just sheer magic to revel in.

Anna was a wonderful heroine. She has that inner kindness deep inside of her that refuses to let society’s rule govern her actions. Anna is a woman who has been deeply hurt by her previous husband, a hurt that at first refuses to let her see just how much more she could have with Edward by her side.

Equally charming and maybe more so were the snippets from the fairy tale entitled “The Raven Prince” which I was racing through the chapters to reach its conclusion. I found the magic of the small snippets included enticing and beautiful at the same time, and for someone who to this day loves watching Disney cartoons, I cannot gush on enough about the short story included as part of Anna and Edward’s journey towards their happily ever after.

Recommended for fans of steamy historical romances.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Deadly Heat by Cynthia Eden

Format: E-book & Paperbackdeadlyheat
Read with: iBooks for iPad & Paperback
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: Deadly, Book 2
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Hero: Kenton Lake
Heroine: Lora Spade
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: February 1, 2011
Started On: December 26, 2011
Finished On: December 29, 2011

I have come to identify with the fact that Cynthia Eden writes romances of the no holds barred kind which I just absolutely love. My first taste of Cynthia Eden came with book 1 in the Deadly series which just rocked my world in all the ways that counts. Deadly Heat turned out to be just as intense, maybe more so with the heat literally and figuratively on from both the romance and suspense side of the story.

Kenton Lake, Special Agent from the FBI’s Serial Services Division (SSD) makes his way to Charlottesville where a serial arsonist is at work. From the first page itself, Cynthia lets the reader in on the mind of a vicious killer who starts out young, who has the ability to creep you out enough that you are practically sniffing around you just in case he turns up with a can of gasoline right next to you.

When Kenton collides with the fiery firefighter Lora Spade who just vibrates with an aura of energy that crackles whenever she is around, Kenton is as helplessly drawn towards her as she is to him. Lora who lost the one man she loved, the man who had been her best friend to the arsonist would love nothing more than to bring the villain to justice, which is the only reason why she agrees to help the sexier than sin agent from FBI; or so she tells herself.

From the first kiss itself that just heats up the pages, Kenton and Lora’s relationship and courting is an intense one, one that burns hotter and faster with each encounter. Lora might tell herself that sex is the only thing between herself and Kenton but deep in her heart she knows that the desire that burns between them is not just simply that but so very much more.

With the arsonist always one step ahead, taunting them with his ability to take lives and bring those whom he sees fit to “justice”, Cynthia Eden definitely delivers a punch with Deadly Heat, a book that is edgy, dark and scorching hot in all the ways that matter!

Recommended for fans of the series, fans of romantic suspense with a darker edge and of course fans of Cynthia Eden.

Favorite Quotes

“I’ve been dying to know,” he said again, “how you taste.”
Oh, hell. Her right hand grabbed the back of his head, and she yanked him down toward her.
Their mouths met. Open. Ready. Lips kissed. Tongues licked. And—damn!
Yes, she wanted.
The control she’d held so tightly began to crack. She jerked in her seat, struggling to press against him. He took her mouth. Tasted her. Tormented her. And she met him. No, she fought him, fought him for more.

The light from the hallway spilled inside her bedroom. She’d barely stepped over the threshold when he caught her. Kenton spun her around and yanked her up in his arms. Two steps, and they were on the bed. Crashing down. Falling hard into the soft mattress.
He caged her arms over her head, holding them with one hand even as he took her mouth.
That other hand—yes!—drifted down her stomach and pushed between her legs. He’d find her wet, she knew it. One kiss, and she’d been wet for him. Creamy, hot. Ready.

His fingers snaked between them and found her clit. His thumb pushed against her even as his cock shoved inside in a thrust that had her gasping.
“Come for me.” His whisper.
Her eyes opened. When had she closed them? Lora met his stare. “Make me.” A taunt. One she’d never given a man before. What the hell was her problem? What was she—
He pulled on her clit. Thumb and forefinger, tugging, then pressing, pushing down with just the right force as his cock thrust into her, again and again.
His hips bucked. Then his eyes went wild, and he came.
So did she. 

Then his hands were around her waist as he lifted her up. The muscles in his arms flexed as he held her.
Wow, didn’t realize the man was so strong, didn’t know—
She licked his throat.
Screw it.
Lora wrapped her legs around his waist. His cock pushed against her, pressing right at the wet entrance to her sex.
She arched toward him just as Kenton slammed deep.
So deep.
She bit her lip to hold back the scream.
Skin to skin. Hot. Slick. So full.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard | Diesel Ebooks

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by mvbookreviewer

Requested Review: Secretly More by Lux Zakari

Format: E-booksecretlymore
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Etopia Press
Hero: Jay Navarrete
Heroine: Kimber York
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: November 8, 2011
Started On: December 23, 2011
Finished On: December 24, 2011

Secretly More by Lux Zakari is a novel of one of my favorite tropes in romance. Yes, a friends to lovers story, a trope that I haven’t visited of late. My first Lux Zakari turned out to be a novel that ended on a bittersweet note, the difference in Lux Zakari’s prose and style in presenting her novel what made me an instant fan of hers. So I was expecting more of the same I suspect when I delved into this novel, but boy am I glad that I was proven wrong and was delivered with a happily ever after that had me humming all the while in satisfaction.

Jay Navarrete and Kimber York have been best of friends for almost 10 years through which Jay had been head over heels in love with Kimber. Kimber has no clue as to how Jay feels about her. Kimber’s relationship with her guitarist boyfriend Dane which sees its share of downs more than a relationship should sets Jay’s teeth on edge and though he would like nothing better than to come out clean and tell Kimber of his less than friend like feelings he has for her, the thought that Kimber would never ever feel the same way about him stops him cold.

When the opportunity presents itself in the form of a blind folded Kimber who is looking for a sexual escapade that would show her what she has been missing out on in her relationship with Dane is one that Jay cannot turn his back on. And before he knows it, he and Kimber lights up the sheets, each so hot for the other that reality comes crashing down only afterwards. Kimber who is blissfully unaware of the person who rocks her world in ways she has never felt before wants more of the person, her instinctive trust when it comes to her mystery man a surprising one in itself.

Through a lot of misunderstandings, feelings of betrayal and utter hopelessness on both sides, Lux Zakari weaves a tale of friends turning to lovers that makes for a great read, delivering the reader with scorching scenes of passion between a determined Jay and a willing Kimber which just makes the scenes that much more headier. I flat-out loved Jay’s character. He is a bit of an introvert and a nerd, and a cute one at that, someone who is always there for Kimber through thick and thin, someone who would rather cut off a part of his body than inflict hurt or pain on the woman he loves.

It took me sometime to warm up to Kimber. Surprisingly, it was seeing Kimber through Jay’s eyes that I felt myself warm up towards her, the way Jay sums up Kimber’s character that had me seeing her in a whole new light. The ending which was a fitting one for the two of them with a future that looms in front with endless possibilities was a heartwarming one. Recommended for those who love the friends to lovers trope of the erotic variety. Plenty of emotion to go along with scorching sex; what more can a fan ask for?

Favorite Quotes

“Still feel like talking?” she murmured against his mouth.
In response, he tore her panties down with a speed and finesse that left her speechless. She heard him rummage in his pocket and a foil wrapper rip, then he tugged her back in his lap, her knees on either side of him. He kissed her while she felt between them, fumbling for his c#ck and finding it already sheathed in latex. The knowledge that it was in preparation to fuck her made her dizzy with want.

 

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | All Romance Ebooks

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Cullen’s Bride by Fiona Brand

Format: E-bookcullensbride
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Silhouette Intimate Moments, #914
Publisher: Silhouette
Hero: Cullen Logan
Heroine: Rachel Sinclair
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: February 1, 1999
Started On: December 20, 2011
Finished On: December 21, 2011

Fiona Brand is an author whose name gets associated with that of Linda Howard. I have always heard that she has a similar writing style to that of one of my favorite authors of the romance genre and that is one reason why I picked up Cullen’s Bride to sample her writing. And of course a lot of raving reviews of the book by my Goodreads friends had me buying my very first Fiona Brand and indulging in it as soon as I could.

27 year old Rachel Sinclair returns back to the small town of Riverbend after a divorce that had completely shattered with plans to turn her life around. Now the owner of a hair salon, Rachel doesn’t expect much trouble from her sleepy hometown until she experiences otherwise. To her rescue comes 33 year old Cullen Logan, Riverbend’s one time bad boy and outlaw turned military man and still an outcast in his hometown.

The attraction that flares up between Rachel and Cullen is an immediate and a strong one at that, one that Fiona weaves so cleverly throughout the story. Rachel might have grown up with 4 overprotective half brothers who had tried to shield her from the reality that is life. But Rachel is a grown up woman, a woman who is determined in her efforts to live her own life on her own terms. Even when all her survival instincts tells her to flee in the opposite direction whenever she is around Cullen, her heart and other emotions that would like nothing better than to be claimed by the big, tough and a little bit rough around the edges former bad boy wants nothing more than to embrace him heart, body and soul.

Cullen is haunted by the very thought of sullying up the beautiful and dainty Rachel with his touch, his distrust for himself something he has lived with for a long time. But the need that takes a hold of him whenever he runs into Rachel is one that grows in its intensity from one encounter to the next until its very explosive against-the-wall culmination that changes both Cullen and Rachel’s lives forever.

I love it when a book is filled with sexual tension that just grows exponentially until I can barely remember to breathe while reading. And Cullen’s Bride turned out to be a book that delivered extremely well on that aspect from the very sexy Cullen Logan who just seems to fill up the pages with his mere presence. He is what you would call a tortured and tormented hero whose childhood had been nothing but disappointment and his rebellious attitude as a teenager that had stemmed from his frustration with just how meaningless his life had been. The military had been the one place where Cullen had fit in and it had molded him into a more dangerous version of the man he had been, one that is more alluring because even with that iron-clad control of his, nothing can change the fact that underneath all that civilized demeanor lies a man who is wild in his passions for the right woman.

I loved Rachel from the very start. From the way she pets and strokes the huge bear of a man who sends all her emotions into a tailspin to the way she stands up for what she wants and believes in and because Rachel knows when to advance and retreat in her mission to win the love of the one man who is reluctant to do just that made me fall for her big time! She matches Cullen in every way and is exactly what he wants and needs, even protecting him from the unjust voices in her hometown from making him feel unwelcome.

Tying up this story of need, red-hot desire with a reluctant hero and a determined heroine is a tad of suspense that just makes it a well rounded tale of romance very hard to put down. The one thing that the Kindle version of this book could have used though was a good editor; seriously some out of this world editing errors throughout the book that kept hindering with my enjoyment of the story.

If you love a hot, tortured hero who just makes your toes curl, Cullen’s Bride is the book for you. I seriously dare you not to dream that you are Rachel the minute the heat is on! 

Favorite Quotes

She pushed the hair away, then began uncoiling and recoiling the silky mass with an unconscious, natural grace. Against the crude background of the alley, she was startlingly feminine and delicate, and with every movement of her arms and hair, her scent wove around Cullen—flowers and freshness and the subtle earthy warmth of woman It sank into him and hardened him with a primitive fierceness he hadn’t experienced since his early teens.

“I’m no Prince Charming,” he admitted flatly. “I’m big and hard, and so hungry it feels like I haven’t had a woman in years. I wouldn’t court you, Rachel, I’d just take you.”

She’d braced herself for a hard, plundering, ravaging assault, but the sweetness of his caress was butterfly-soft, and so beguiling that she ached for him to deepen the pressure. Her hands lifted and settled on the incredible warmth of his chest as she parted her lips and tilted her head to grant him easier access. She was as guilty of misjudging Cullen as everyone else was—he looked every inch an outlaw, but he was kissing her like an angel. A fallen, dangerously beautiful angel.

The passionate fury in every line of her body made Cullen go still. The sudden vision of Rachel locked beneath him, her legs wrapped around his waist, that wild gaze linked passionately with his as he pushed himself inside her, flooded his loins with a throbbing, painful heat. A groan rolled through him, and he broke out in a sweat. Sweet hell
He wanted her. Here. Now.
And God help them both, but she wanted him, too.

Rachel arched, deliberately parting herself more widely over him, inviting him deeper into her body. She heard his intake of air, felt the raw tremor that shook him. Sweat sprang out on his skin, making him glow copper in the half-light. His lips drew back, baring his teeth as he fought for the control she was intent on denying him; then, with a rough sound somewhere between a groan and a purr, his hips jackhammered, and he thrust himself all the way in.
Time stopped. Rachel registered the wild dilation in Cullen’s eyes, her own sense of unreality. She was backed up against a wall, her arms and legs wrapped around Cullen, and he was so deep inside her that her muscles quivered in reaction to his alien heat and hardness.

Rachel’s kiss reached inside him and twined around what passed for his soul. and when she took her mouth from his, she had it all. He knew he loved her with everything he was. Everything that he could be. There would never be another woman for him.
And he could never tell her.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Moonrise by Anne Stuart

Format: E-bookmoonrise
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Signet
Hero: James McKinley
Heroine: Annie Sutherland
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: July 1, 1996
Started On: December 18, 2011
Finished On: December 20, 2011

Moonrise is going to end up being one of those novels that is going to be hard for me to rate. Not because it wasn’t engrossing enough but rather because I felt that a vital aspect of the story was missing in action even when the story ended. I wanted so much more for both James and Annie who seemed to go through so much in the span of just a couple of days. And although the mystery and suspense potion of the novel was superbly done as always, the romance aspect of the novel seemed to suffer making this novel not as enjoyable as it would have been otherwise.

27 year old Annie Sutherland is a woman who has led a sheltered life, a woman who has been manipulated endlessly by her father without even her being aware of the fact. With the sudden death of her father Annie withdraws into herself in grief until a missing picture from her father’s living room causes her to question how her father had actually died. Her quest to find the truth brings her to the doorstep of her father’s protégé James McKinley, a man whom she remembers as being part pf her life since Annie was 7 years old.

The James that she encounters is such a different version from the man that haunts her memories. The James that she finds in a remote cabin in an island off of Mexico has an aura of dangerousness that makes her nervous, but not enough to make her back down from her quest to find what it is that had killed her father. Though James would rather kill Annie than tell her the truth, something deep inside of him stalls at the thought of putting his hands around her neck and squeezing the life out of her. And James knows deep inside that his reluctance to end her life is reason enough to send her packing.

With killers turning up every step of the way, James and Annie travel from Mexico to the US and then to Ireland to find the truth. In the process both Annie and James are forced to remember their shared past and a fragile connection that had gone beyond anything they have encountered before or ever since, a passion and attraction that still seems to linger on stronger than ever. And when the truth does come out at the very end, it is a surprising one that proves Anne Stuart’s mastery when it comes to weaving tales of mystery and suspense.

James turned out to be a yummy hero of the dangerous type. He is a lethal killing machine, someone whose soul cries out to wash away all the blood that he has shed in the name of justice and a country he believed in. His tormented soul is one that comes across vividly, his one weakness being the attraction that burns deep inside of him to possess Annie Sutherland, the one woman who had remained forbidden to him from such a long time back. James is well versed in the art of deception, as good as the man who taught and mentored him, the man whose daughter trusts him with her life; a mission that James knows is a foolhardy one even long before killers start turning up at his doorstep.

Annie proved to be a difficult heroine to place. She has been brought up all her life thinking her father to be totally someone else from the man he actually was, a man who had molded and mapped out her life for her from childhood until his death. The fact that her father turned out to be the total antithesis of what she believed him to be is what makes her change her attitude and outlook towards everything that happens afterwards, her courage and wits the only two things that keeps her going even when James makes no secret of what he wants to do to her.

Though there was this sweet bit of shared history and passion between James and Annie, I felt that they had both outgrown who they were back then and had turned into much harder versions of themselves to be really able to love and accept each other as they were. James tries his hardest to keep Annie at bay, he fights constantly with his feelings that should have made his capitulation that much sweeter. And though as mouth-wateringly sexy as James was, their encounters barely hinted at the deeper emotions between them, that just sort of left me feeling empty deep inside.

Somehow I kept up my hope and belief that towards the end, I would see one thing, no matter how insignificant from James that would signal that he feels a gut wrenching love for the woman for whom he kills and taints his hands with more blood even when his heart and soul yearns for sweeter and softer things in life that he knows aren’t meant for him. But alas, the story ends on an empty note, and though a shared happily ever after is an implied one, I just did not feel the love that should have been there between two characters who held me riveted throughout their story.

Recommended for hard-core fans of Anne Stuart. 

Favorite Quotes

She felt hot, strong, alive against him, and he found he had this crazy urge to move his mouth down to the side of her neck, to press it against her, to taste her skin. He wanted to feel her breasts, wanted to pull her T-shirt up and feel her hot skin against his. Damn, he wanted her.

She expected annoyance, tolerance, perhaps even a distant amusement. She hadn’t expected his reaction.
His arms closed around her like a vice, pulling her tightly up against him. And she didn’t have time to kiss him—the touch of her mouth against his seemed to ignite a firestorm. She could feel him through every inch of her body, the lean, deceptively strong body beneath the suit, the heat and lure of muscle and sinew, the sheer intensity of him. She felt as if she were being absorbed into a maelstrom, and all she could do was hold onto him as he kissed her, he kissed her, using his tongue, kissing her with a thoroughness she’d never experienced.

He kissed the salty tears from her cheeks, her jaw, her neck. And then he kissed her mouth, slowly at first, tasting her pain and despair. Tasting her desire.
He didn’t know whether he turned her in his arms, or whether she shifted herself. He only knew she was astride him, facing him, her long legs wrapped around his hips, and the kissing had gone long past comfort.

He slid his arm under her waist, hauled her up, and entered her that way, sliding in deep, so deep, and her guttural cry was a heartbreaking pleasure.
He couldn’t stop. She wouldn’t let him. She twisted her head around and kissed him, and he wanted to keep on and on, to fill her mouth, her body, her soul with him. To have her take everything and then want more.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Shadows At Sunset by Anne Stuart

Format: E-bookshadowsatsunset
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Series: Standalone
Publisher: MIRA
Hero: Zachariah Redemption Coltrane
Heroine: Jilly Meyer
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: November 12, 2008
Started On: December 17, 2011
Finished On: December 18, 2011

There is one thing you can always count on when you pick up an Anne Stuart. The fact that she draws you in to a web of deceit, lies, desire, explosive passion and an ending that would shake you to the very core when you are done is the very reason I keep coming back for her books even with a ton of reading material to choose from. And Shadows at Sunset proved to be just that sort of read, a story that I completely lost myself in as Anne Stuart wove her brand of magic with Coltrane and Jilly and the rich cast of side characters that makes up this whole story.

Zachariah Redemption Coltrane is a man who is steadfast in his belief and his mission to exact revenge on the man who killed his mother. His sketchy memories about his mother and the only happiness he had ever known while growing up which had been with her is reason enough for him to bring the man responsible down to his knees, stripping him of the very things that he holds near and dear in life.

But Coltrane’s plans for vengeance starts to falter when he meets his enemy’s daughter Jilly Meyer, who lives in and guards the crumbling famous La Casa de Sombras – House of Shadows, one of the most interesting houses in Hollywood that is shrouded in scandal. Jilly is the only one who stands up to her father for the sake of her brother and adopted sister whom she loves with all her heart. Her one attempt at marriage had failed miserably, rendering her to be doubly wary of men who hides their true nature behind their good looks and veneer of charm.

When Coltrane pushes his way into her life, Jilly knows that in Coltrane lies a man who has his own agenda, a man who is ruthless enough to not care even if he leaves a wave of destruction behind him once his plan kicks into gear. But her fascination for all that is Coltrane and how he makes her feel, those tendrils of elemental desire that shocks her to her very core makes her distrust him more than anything else. But Coltrane is not a man to be denied, not when he has set his sights on claiming her, planning all the while to leave her behind, just a casualty of the war he plans to wage.

Shadows at Sunset is such an engrossing tale that is a mix of suspense, romance and  two ghostly beings whose love for one another even crosses on beyond their deaths, lingering on til eternity. The adopted daughter of the Meyer family who makes for such an endearing character on her own, the tender and heartwarming second chance at love that she finds was one of the best aspects of the story. Equally enticing was the game of cat and mouse that Coltrane and Jilly play with each other, their emotions and feelings towards each other as fierce as the need for vengeance and revenge that courses through Coltrane.

Highly intriguing and explosively good, Shadows at Sunset makes for an amazing read, highly recommended from the sunny side of life!

Favorite Quotes

He tightened his grip on her hand and pulled her toward him in the darkness. He knew exactly how she’d respond, her other hand coming up to push him away, her hand touching the bare, hot skin of his chest so that she drew back in surprise, long enough for him to wrap her tightly against his chest, trapping her hand between them. He knew she’d try to jerk her head away when he slid his hand into her hair and tilted her face back for his kiss. And he knew she’d open her mouth for him.
What he hadn’t guessed was what it would feel like. […]
He hadn’t known a mouth could feel like that. That a woman, an argumentative, reluctant woman could feel so hot in his arms, so incredibly right that his monumental self control could start to slip.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard | Book Depository

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Sweet Dreams by Kristen Ashley

Format: E-booksweetdreams
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Colorado Mountain, Book 2
Publisher: Self-Published
Hero: Tatum Jackson
Heroine: Lauren Grahame
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: April 23, 2011
Started On: December 21, 2011
Finished On: December 23, 2011

I have never been so grateful for a book being so lengthy. Almost 700+ pages of pure magic is what Sweet Dreams by Kristen Ashley is all about, and Kristen managed to satisfy all my cravings within these pages, delivering one of the best contemporary romances that I have read to-date.

42 year old Lauren Grahame is on a venture to find Nowheresville, the one place where she can fade away into the background, work at a job that she doesn’t hate and just settle in with the fact that her quest to find that something special in her life had failed miserably. Four and a half months on the road and Lauren ends up in Carnal, a small town in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Securing the job of a waitress at the biker bar known as Bubba’s, Lauren is all set on her quest when she runs into the too sexy for his own good, the tattooed biker and part owner of Bubba’s, Tatum Jackson.

44 year old Tate is a bounty hunter, one who has a pretty eventful past that leaps from one corner or the other as the story proceeds. He is larger than life, has got a ton of attitude, is taciturn, totally alpha, a bit of a jerk at times, possessive enough to make butter melt, and through all that Kristen cleverly draws out the man who made my heart go aflutter every.single.time. His attraction to Lauren is one that he doesn’t need and want, he has too much shit going on in his life to really have any time left over to pursue that possessive streak that hits him when he eyes Lauren at his bar.

Lauren and Tate’s attraction, their relationship and how it proceeds to the happily ever after is a heart-warming and emotion wrenching one at best. Lauren the woman who has been betrayed so badly by her ex-husband and the people she had considered to be her friends has certainly done a number on her self-confidence. But slowly and surely with Tate’s powerful brand of seduction which at times might be found crude by certain readers (which I disagree 100% and certainly had my juices flowing all the time) made for one of the most interesting aspects of the novel. The growth of both Lauren and Tate’s characters throughout the story, how their love for each other makes them better people all around, and how their love is an all encompassing one was just beautiful, no two ways about it.

I was a bit disappointed at first with the fact that the story is told from Lauren’s point of view in first person. I wanted to learn first hand what was going through the mind of  Mr. Hotness himself and I thought that Kristen would not be able to pull his character off as I wanted it to with the story being told in the first person. But boy, was I proved deliciously wrong time and yet again as Kristen pulls off Tate’s character so fabulously that I seriously could not have asked for more! And I seriously mean it!

Lauren’s character is a fantastic one. I fell in love with her right from the very start. The way she is ready to embrace what life has to offer, the way she puts her heart and emotions on the line, taking a chance with the one man who seems to be all sorts of wrong for someone like her, but proves to be the right man in ALL the ways, Lauren’s character is one that I wouldn’t be forgetting anytime soon.

The secondary cast of characters is what makes Sweet Dreams such a perfect story. The characters whose lives that Kristen brings so vividly to life through Lauren’s eyes, the way they all embrace Lauren and her special brand of charm is what makes this story just so very special. The bit on the serial killer and the mystery behind the gruesome killings just proved to be the icing on the cake, and as I said before, I cannot pin-point at even one teeny tiny bit of the story and say that I wish it had turned out differently.

I am so thankful at the moment to all my Goodreads friends and their reviews on this fabulous book, and especially to Kim for loaning a copy of the book to me. I was all apprehensive about starting a book so well received by all the readers, sometimes high expectations can make a story not work for you.

Sweet Dreams is an outstanding read, I would recommend for EVERY SINGLE ONE of you who loves romances. Tate’s character alone is reason enough to buy this book, the way he calls Lauren “Babe” rendering the term as my word of the month. I found myself drooling all over the book because Tate’s character demands nothing less, that beautiful male specimen that just made everything female inside of me rejoice in the fact that I adore romances! And you’ve got to love a hero who isn’t afraid to be ALL that he is with the woman he loves, his no holds barred passion that just lights up the pages throughout the story. I just want to say to Kristen Ashley, thank you for giving me Tate! He is a character that would live inside of me for the rest of my life.

If you are waiting around because Kristen is a new author, don’t. Just buy yourself a copy and indulge. This lengthy read will leave you completely satisfied, purring like a cat who got all her milk and then some; that is what a perfectly done romance does to you!

Favorite Quotes

Tate’s kiss…
There was no describing it.
It didn’t start slow, it started hard and wet and so demanding I had no choice but to give back what I got. And I did. Our tongues sparred then our teeth bit at each other’s lips and our heads twisted this way and that, all of it a mindless, sexy dance that was all-consuming. There was nothing but his mouth and my mouth, what they were doing and what they were making me feel. Nothing. Not in the whole universe.

We were both quiet a long time and I was about to fall back asleep in the curve of his arm with his warm body at my back when he called my name.
“Laurie?”
“Yes,” I muttered, my voice sleepy.
“I was pissed last night.”
“I know.”
“You look good.”
“Sorry?”
“No way you can look like all the rest.”
My eyes shot open.
His arm curled me deeper into his body and I felt his face burrow into my hair.
“You’d always shine through,” he muttered and now he sounded sleepy but I was again wide awake. “Somethin’ special,” he finished.

He grabbed my calves and yanked them apart, then pushed them up so my knees were bent. He put a knee to the bed and moved forward, releasing one of my calves, his hand wrapped around his cock and I felt his weight begin to hit me.
“You come with me inside you, Ace,” he gritted and then he was inside me, filling me, beautiful.
At the feel of him, so hard, making me so full, my back left the bed again. “Tate.”
He moved, driving deep, fast, hard. Our mouths attached, our tongues clashed. His hand went between us and he touched me and that was it. It hit me like a rocket and I combusted, my world exploding, taking me with it and I loved every nanosecond.

“The first time I met you, you told me you grew up here, I’d call you a liar,” Tate informed me.
I tipped my head to the side and asked, “Really?”
“Really.”
“Why?”
“High-class,” he replied.
“Sorry?”
“You looked high-class,” he semi-repeated.
“I’m not,” I stated.
“No, Ace, you’re not. You’re a different kind of class.”
“Farmer class.”
“Pure class.”

After more of his sweet torture, I called, “Tate, honey?”
“Yeah, baby,” he answered.
“Am I under your skin?” I whispered as my hips moved with his hand.
He replied instantly, “Oh yeah.” His thumb tweaked my clit harder, my hips jerked and a low mew slid out of my throat as the fingers of one of my hands slid into his hair and the other arm held on tighter. “Fuck yeah,” he growled and his lips left my ear, his mouth found mine and he kissed me, wet and deep.

I stopped looking around when I heard a soft “mew” and I looked toward Tate to see he was crouched. He straightened and turned to me.
I froze and stared.
Tatum Jackson, ex-pro football player, ex-cop, now bartender/bounty hunter, tall, beautiful and more man than I’d ever experienced in my life was standing on the edge of his kitchen holding a cat.
And it wasn’t just any cat and he wasn’t just holding it. He was cradling it. 

His forehead dropped to touch mine. “I’m gonna piss you off ‘cause I can be a dick. That’s who I am. And you’re gonna piss me off ‘cause, babe, you got attitude. That’s who you are. And that’s who we’re comin’ out to be together. And I’m all right with that because, with what I had before, even when you’re a bitch, I like it. But when you’re not, it’s a sweetness the like I’ve never tasted.”

His hand slid up my back and his fingers sifted into my hair to cup the back of my head.
“Kiss me, baby.”
I used the moonlight on the angles of his face to aim and found his mouth. The minute my lips hit his, he rolled partially into me, forcing me to my back in the bed, and my mouth opened as did his. My tongue slid inside, he growled against it and when I absorbed that in my mouth, a small moan escaped my throat. His head slanted one way, mine tilted the other and my kiss turned into a kiss.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Smashwords

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Tangled Lies by Anne Stuart

Format: E-booktangledlies
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Harlequin Intrigue, #5
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Ben O’Hanlon
Heroine: Rachel Chandler
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: March 15, 1994
Started On: December 11, 2011
Finished On: December 12, 2011

So my Anne Stuart reading binge continued, this time with a Harlequin Intrigue that was published in 1994. Tangled Lies though an earlier story by the author was nevertheless a great one that compelled me to keep on reading, to find out the truth behind the tangled web of lies and deceit that is spun throughout the story, something Anne Stuart is so very good at.

Rachel Chandler makes her way to a little island in Hawaii to meet her brother Emmett Chandler after being estranged from him for 15 long years. Emmette disappears in the late 1960’s when Rachel was just around 12 years old. The news that Emmette has surfaced again in the island propels Rachel to face her fear of flying to meet her brother, to ease that loneliness that has always been a part of her ever since he went missing.

When Rachel meets the man who is playing the role of the 40 year old Emmett Chandler, there is a spark of awareness that shoots right through her, though she quickly tamps it down as part of the joy of being with her brother once again. The Emmett that she discovers is unlike the gentle and kind brother that she knew, this man being an all around tougher and harder version that makes Rachel want to hug him close and ease and soothe his wounds.

Ben O’Hanlon has his own reasons for agreeing to the scheme of pretending to be Emmette Chandler, one he would never divulge to Rachel no matter how tempting she might be. From the first moment that Rachel invades his personal space, its a losing battle that Ben fights with his baser emotions and the possessiveness that takes a hold of him. Though he would like nothing better than to feel nothing towards the woman who shares the ramshackle cabin with him, there is no denying the fact that sparks fly whenever they are together and that the sexual tension could be cut through with a knife.

Rachel is torn apart at the very thought that she has “feelings” towards her older brother. She goes through so much emotional agony because of the fact and when the truth comes to light, all bets are off as Rachel is devastated with anger and the sting of betrayal that courses through her. But once again, the strength of her feelings towards Ben dictates that she give in, that they both give in to the heady desire that escalates out of control with each encounter.

I loved Tangled Lies though there was a bit of an icky factor with Rachel lusting after her “brother” even though the reader knows that he is not her brother in reality. The angst and the tension that is part of this novel was well done and I loved the explosive culmination of their desire for one another.

Ben is a man who is hellbent on vengeance not to be deterred by the pretty haunting eyes of Rachel who occupies every thought that races through his mind. That subtle jasmine scent that clings to the air whenever she is around practically drives him nuts, and even that bitter and cynical heart of his is no match when it comes to Rachel’s soothing touch that sets all his senses afire. Ben fights his feelings until the very last minute, once again Anne Stuart giving her readers a taste of the ruthless alpha heroes that she creates exceptionally well.

Rachel is a bit naive when the story starts, but she is in no means a pushover when it comes to those whom she loves. She is tenacious, loyal and stubborn when it comes to love, all required when you fall hopelessly in love with a man of Ben’s caliber.

Recommended for fans of Anne Stuart and fans of ruthless heroes!

Favorite Quotes

His head moved down, his mouth taking hers in a kiss that held the passion of a thousand years as his body molded against her trembling frame. His lips were hard and hungry as he fought against her resistance, and he pulled his head away for a moment, looking down into her desperate eyes with no pity at all. “Open your mouth, Rachel,” he said.
And closing her eyes, she did, sliding her helpless arms around his body, pulling him closer against her yearning form. Just once, she told herself. Just this once. And she gave herself up to the searching demand of his kiss.

Ben scooped her up in his arms, holding her high against his chest as he carried her back into the cottage, past the shrouded, familiar shapes of the furniture into the night-dark bedroom. They were alone now for the first time. There was no Emmett, no Harris, no lies or masquerade or motives or revenge. There was just Ben and Rachel, together in the darkness.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Abe Books

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by mvbookreviewer

Score Sheet Review: Separation Anxiety by Cynthia Justlin

Format: E-bookseparationanxiety
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novella
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: The Remnants
Publisher: Self-Published
Hero: Jack Martello
Heroine: Rebecca Cooper
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: September 13, 2011
Started On: December 13, 2011
Finished On: December 14, 2011

CATEGORY SCORE GRADE
The hero 90 A
The heroine 90 A
Story line 90 A
Emotional Intensity 90 A
Story’s ability to suck me in 90 A
Heat & Sensuality
 90 A
Conflicts within the story 90 A
Writing Style 100 A
Quotable Factor 50 C
The Ending 90 A
Overall Grade 87 A

Score Sheet Summary

Separation Anxiety was a novella that sucked me in right from the very beginning. Though I had to revisit my copy of Her Own Best Enemy to remember who Rebecca was, I was immediately drawn into the way Rebecca was struggling from her past to do even the most simple things like diving off into the swimming pool.

For a woman who suffers from agoraphobia, it is her worst nightmare come true when an escaped convict takes her hostage in her own home, the utter lack of control on how the next few hours or days might pan out being the worst thing someone like Rebecca has to confront. I loved how Cynthia portrays Rebecca’s fears, her struggles and her many attempts at overcoming them which I know wouldn’t be an easy one.

In comes burnt-out hostage negotiator Jack Martello whose shared past with Rebecca makes the mission he embarks upon a doubly risky one. But the woman he encounters with fear radiating from every pore is one that clutches at his heart, the attraction that he had always felt for the first woman he had fallen for a part of him even now.

Cynthia makes their relationship work amidst moments filled with terror and the unknown and makes the passion that bursts forth between them something that they both hold onto even when things go from bad to worse.

It shows an author’s remarkable talent when she can make a novella of this length work for a situation such as the one she explores in this book, a fact that would always keep me coming back for more of her books in the future!

For fans of Cynthia Justlin and for those who loved Her Own Best Enemy and thought that Becca deserves her own happily ever after; Cynthia created this story just for you!

Favorite Quotes

“See how good it can be, Becs. I do this to you and you,” he reached up, captured her hand and drew it down to his erection, “you do this to me.”
She gasped and yanked her hand away. He chuckled. Scooping her hand back into his, he kissed her palm and placed it over his thudding heart.
“You do that to me too.”

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Smashwords

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: 10 Ways To Steal Your Lover by Dee Tenorio

Format: E-book10waystostealyourlover
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Short Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Love By Numbers, Book 1
Publisher: Self-Published
Hero: Kane Wilkensen
Heroine: Delilah Anne McGavin
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: December 14, 2011
Started On: December 16, 2011
Finished On: December 17, 2011

I am a sucker for Dee Tenorio’s books. Her books are filled to the brim with scorching heat, humor and a love that just sears right through you before you are done. So I found myself taking a little detour from my reading schedule as soon as Dee announced the availability of this book up on Amazon. And let me tell you, with that explosive Chapter 1 that just right about fried up half of my grey matter, 10 Ways to Steal Your Lover drew me in and refused to let its hold on me go, even long after I was done.

Kane Wilkensen has been lusting after and been in love with his best friend Craig’s fiance Delilah Anne McGavin for the past 3 years. Though Kane tries to distance himself from the temptation that is Delilah, their upcoming nuptials brings him back to Delilah, and by a twisted turn of events wakes up with Delilah in his arms, with his ring on her finger.

Though neither Delilah nor Kane remembers all the events that led both of them to wake up with Kane buried to the hilt depp inside of Delilah, both of them know that for the first time in their lives they have found the missing piece that just makes everything else around them fade away to insignificance. With more questions than answers and Kane’s undying resolve to show the woman he loves to distraction that he is the right husband for her, Kane and Delilah embark upon a mission to find the missing pieces and in the process finds that for both of them, there would never be any other.

If you are a fan of scorching sensuality and haven’t ever read a book by Dee Tenorio, you are seriously missing out on one of the best the genre has to offer. As I said earlier, from the eye opening and senses awakening first chapter itself, Dee had me glued to the pages to find out how Delilah and Kane would fare towards the end. Kane is such a delicious and devastating hero on the senses. He is the type of hero that I love, a bit broody with a quiet intensity that practically leaves me breathless. And when all that intensity is focused on bringing undying pleasure to the woman he loves – ladies, just be warned that you are going to need a long cold shower afterwards.

Delilah was such a lovely heroine. She grows up never finding where she fits in with a father whose whole life had been focused on serving the military with a rigid discipline to him that makes it hard for Delilah to measure up to his expectations. And with her fiance, Delilah had tried hard to fit into the mould that is expected of her, ignoring the messages that her body sends her whenever Kane is around, tempting her to just let go and embrace the one man who gets her as she is. I loved the way she blossomed under Kane’s love for her, and in the way she makes Kane see that he is wrong in trying to make the most important decision in her life for her, just because he loves her that much.

One of the most colorful characters in the novel turned out to be Delilah’s grandmother Rainbow, a character as colorful as her name, who kept reminding me of Mulan’s grandmother in the Disney cartoon. Now I am eagerly awaiting the release of the next set of books in the series, Craig’s book which is to come out in 2012.

For fans of contemporary romances with heat levels that is guaranteed to spike up your internal thermometer, Dee Tenorio’s 10 Ways To Steal Your Lover would be a treat for the senses. With a beautiful epilogue tucked in at the end, I loved everything about this novel and cannot recommend this highly enough!

Favorite Quotes

Delilah cried out, lifting her head. The only truth that mattered right now was how much she needed him. Powerful thighs flexed against her own as he began to move. He reached for her, pulling her up, against his chest, his hands clasping her breasts, mouth open on the back of her neck. He drew hard, pumping up into her relentlessly, meeting her rocking motion back to him. Her head fell back on his shoulder, her own hands latching over his. Their fingers wove together, their bodies moving as if they’d been lovers for years.
As if they’d been made for each other.

Usually, when he came in these dreams he woke up still thrusting into ruined sheets, his face pressed into a pillow.
This time, he was most assuredly still balls deep inside Delilah McGavin, his face pressed into the mass of silken black hair now that they’d fallen to their sides on a bed far too nice to be his. Like him, she was gasping, trying to catch her breath. She was also bonelessly limp, her sweat slick body slathered over his, their legs tangled, their sexes still throbbing against each other, fitted together like a lock and a key.
He finally moved, walking those few feet between them. Without hesitation, his hands slid around her waist, pulling her flush against him. Her hand slid up his arm all by itself, grasping the hard muscles there. The warmth that seemed a natural part of him spread into her. Smoothly, his mouth found hers, gently grazing her lips before settling more firmly. She moaned as he tasted her, coaxing her to open for him. When she did, her eyelids fluttered shut and the whole world utterly disappeared.

He finally pulled away, not letting her get further than a few inches, their hips still pressed tight, her gaze held willing captive by his. “It’s me,” he murmured. “And I’m telling you right now, Delilah Anne McGavin, if I have my way, it’s going to stay me for the rest of our lives. You’re mine now and I’m going to do everything in my power to prove it to you.”

“I’ve known since the first moment I saw you and every day after has only made me surer. I see who you are, right down to your soul. I know you’re the kind of woman who gives of herself, completely. I know the promises you make mean more to you than the cost. I know that family is the most important thing to you in the entire world. But most of all, I know that you feel exactly the same thing I do—we belong together, Del. You’re the piece of me that’s been missing all my life and I can tell just looking that I’m the same for you.”

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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