Category / Emotions Wrencher

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Chasin’ Eight by Lorelei James

Format: E-bookchasineight
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Rough Riders, Book 11
Publisher: Samhain Publishing Ltd.
Hero: Chase McKay
Heroine: Ava Cooper
Sensuality: 4.5
Date of Publication: June 28, 2011
Started On: June 28, 2011
Finished On: June 28, 2011

Chasin’ Eight by Lorelei James is the 11th book in her Rough Riders series. The Rough Riders series is one of my favorite western romances not only because sensual material is plentiful in the stories but because Ms. James creates characters whom with their faults and all you still manage to fall in love with at the end of the day.

Chasin’ Eight tells the story of the wild bull ridin’ Chase McKay. Like every single McKay that we have come across in the series, Chase too walks on the wild side too many a time until it all comes back to bite him where it hurts. Suddenly Chase finds himself on indefinite leave from the Professional Bull Rider’s World until he manages to get his act together. With a plan on how to get his life back, Chase heads home to Sundance, Wyoming where he comes face to face with Ava Cooper.

Heiress to the Cooper fortune, Ava is a Hollywood star who experiences the vicious side of the paparazzi when the man she has been going out with for the past couple of months professes to be gay on a public press conference. Humiliated that she hadn’t seen the signs sooner, Ava decides to take a break from Hollywood stardom and go lick her wounds in private where no one will recognize her. That leads her to Wyoming to crash in her friend Ginger’s husband Kane McKay’s trailer out in the middle of nowhere only to be roused from sleep by the most alluring specimen of man flesh she has ever seen.

Too bad that Chase has made a vow to stay off women for a month, otherwise he would have had the beautiful Ava beneath him before he drew his next breathe. But with sex out of the equation, Ava and Chase both strike a deal to try out being friends and keeping each other company in the journey Chase makes across the country to sharpen his riding skills. For the first time, Chase finds himself charmed by the company of a fully clothed woman though thoughts of getting down and dirty are never far from his or Ava’s minds.

For two people who come from totally different backgrounds and lead so different lives, Ava and Chase finds in each other a kindred soul who understands the other and between them an explosive passion that wouldn’t be bound by restrictions any longer. With red-hot passion comes strolling in feelings of the mushier kind, love that could last a lifetime if both Ava and Chase are willing to give it a shot.

Though Chasin’ Eight did not make my favorites list, nevertheless it was a great read which I enjoyed immensely. What I loved most about Chase’s story was how he slowly turned into someone better, climbing up from the rock bottom which he hits at the start of the story. The road trips that Ava and Chase makes across the country served to be where we get to learn more about both Ava and Chase, each of them growing up a little as the miles pass. Undeniably true to trademark Lorelei James style, scenes of passion are smokin’ hot and I loved each and every one of them.

Though this one doesn’t incorporate much of the rest of the McKay brood, this one certainly made me sit up and notice Ben, Chase’s brother who has certainly been hiding some of his very interesting qualities which hopefully will be brought to light in the next installment of the series. Raunchy hot lovin’ with emotional wrangling goodness is what you will find here and this one would definitely make a great summer read!

Recommended for fans of the Rough Rider series. And the good news for those who are new to the series, this one can be read as a standalone!

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

greatread

by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: Man Law by Adrienne Giordano

Format: E-bookmanlaw
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Series: Private Protectors, Book 1
Publisher: Carina Press
Hero: Vic Andrews
Heroine: Gina Delgado
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: July 4, 2011
Started On: June 27, 2011
Finished On: June 27, 2011

Man Law by Adrienne Giordano is the debut novel of the Private Protectors series set to be released on the 4th of July by Carina Press. Lately Carina Press has published some very great books which in turn has introduced voracious readers such as myself to a number of fabulous and really talented authors for which I am forever grateful to Carina Press.

Man Law tells the story of the sexy Vic Andrews with his distracting goatee and his unwanted attraction towards his best friend Mike’s younger sister Gina Delgado, a single mother with three kids, who has been a widow for the past four years. Vic is a man who lives by and follows only his Man laws and he screws that up royally when he has mind numbing sexual encounters with Gina in the basement of her house, at the beach and the next time in her kitchen. Though Vic and Gina both brush those off as brain farts, they both know that the underlying attraction that always ignites whenever they are together won’t be brushed aside just that easily.

When one of Vics’s assignments come back to haunt him and the target this time is Gina and her kids, Vic knows that he won’t let anything happen to them as long as he is able to draw breathe from his body. To say that Vic has commitment issues and emotional garbage is to put things mildly. But Gina is determined that Vic decide once and for all whether what they have between them is worth exploring or walking away from. What Gina wouldn’t back down from is that she won’t say yes to a relationship with a man who puts his life constantly in danger, having once already gone through hell after the untimely death of her husband.

What made Man Law such an interesting story was because of the way the author brings in all the characters and let them do their thing. Lily, Gina’s youngest is so adorable that you can’t help but grin at her conversations with Vic who might think he is clueless when it comes to kids but does so very well in that department as well. Gina fights for what she wants and when it is Vic that she sets her sights on, she doesn’t let him that easily off the hook when the last thing he wants to do is talk about how he feels.

The twenty four hour surveillance that Taylor Security pulls off on Gina’s family certainly brings Vic that much closer for the first time in his life to saying yes to commitment, but for Vic that might not be what fate has in store for him when he leaves Gina to hunt down his enemy, knowing that without that final act of vengeance on his part, he would never  be able to look himself in the mirror ever again.

I just flat-out loved Vic’s sense of humor and the way his thoughts filter out to bring a smile to the reader’s face even during the most charged moments in the story. The thing that drew me in the most was that every part of the story felt real from the humor to the teenage crabby issues to the passion and love that flares between Gina and Vic. And if I hadn’t already been half in love with Vic by the end of the story, the last chapter would have convinced me to go all the way as I just simply adored the ending.

Filled to the brim with humor, sizzling sexual tension, romance with a love that grows on you, Man Law is a summer read not to be missed out on!

Recommended for those who love romantic suspense, adventure and romance in one setting.

Definitely looking forward to the rest of the novels in the series.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard | Carina Press

awesomeread

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Outlaw Bride by Jenna Kernan

Format: E-bookoutlawbride
Read with: Kindle for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Harlequin Historical Series
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Cole Ellis
Heroine: Bridget Rose Callahan
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: February 1, 2008
Started On: June 23, 2011
Finished On: June 23, 2011

This book caught my eye whilst searching for another book with the same title. The blurb sounded promising enough and within minutes I was engrossed in this tale that tells the story of how 2 people survive against all odds until rescue comes calling.22 year old Bridget Rose Callahan is a woman who is determined that she would brave the harsh conditions of the brutal winter weather up in the Cascades mountain to save the last of her family members, no matter what it is that she has to do to achieve it. At her wits end, Bridget seeks the help of 26 year old Cole Ellis who is on death row, awaiting the hangman’s noose almost as if in anticipation.

What Cole wants more than anything else is to forget his past, his failures and to say goodbye to a world that has dealt him nothing but one blow after the other until he is ready to kneel down and admit defeat. When Bridget seeks him out, Cole doesn’t have a clue as to just to what lenghs Bridget is ready to go through to rescue her family.

Breaking Cole out of prison seems to be the easy part of the rescue attempt as the authorities turn out a full fledged search for the only man who is capable helping Bridget out. There are a lot of hardships that these two go through and added to the story are the accounts of how those that are left behind in the mountains barely make it through. Added to this potent mix is the heady desire that both Cole and Bridget start to feel for each other, Cole a man who has sworn off women and Bridget a woman who swears that no man would get the better of her ever again.

The culmination of the horrific journey towards safety doesn’t mean a victory for everyone as Cole who suddenly very much wants to live again finds himself back in custody and it is Bridget’s bravery that yet again serves as the catalyst that brings them all the happily ever after which they so rightfully deserve.

For me, the best thing about this novel was Bridget whose unwavering faith and courage were what pulled everyone through the tight spots within the story. This is not your average boy meets girl and falls in love Harlequin but rather a story that tells the tale of immense courage with a mix of pretty emotion wrangling material that makes for a good read.

by mvbookreviewer

Requested Review: Provoke Me by Cari Quinn

Format: E-bookprovokeme
Read with: Kindle for I-Pad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Unveiled, Book 2
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Hero: Spencer Galvin
Heroine: Kelly Crossman
Sensuality: 4.5
Date of Publication: June 22, 2011
Started On: June 24, 2011
Finished On: June 24, 2011

Provoke Me is a title that lives up to its name. It draws the reader in, refuses to let go and provokes all sorts of emotions from the reader and I absolutely loved it. Cari Quinn can certainly do no wrong with her sensational novels, and yes I say sensational because she pens a novel that is nothing less than perfection and Provoke Me is no exception to this rule.

The second book in the series Unveiled, Provoke Me tells the story of how the utterly controlled and focused Spencer Galvin finds in Kelly Crossman a reason worth letting go of his hard earned control in more ways than one. 35 year old Spencer has already learnt the bitter lesson of mixing business with pleasure and he is determined that he would stay true to his vow no matter how much Kelly tempts him to do otherwise.

A decade younger than Spencer, Kelly is caught between a rock and a hard place when even after 3 years of working for Spencer hasn’t dimmed her desire for him even one teensy bit. If anything, she yearns for him more than ever, and if not for the fact that she loves her job at The Book Nook, she would have given in and jumped his bones a long time back.

When Kelly encounters her hands-off boss at Kink the sex club, all bets are off as Kelly finally manages to get under Spencer’s skin to make him let go even for the few minutes during which he gives her the best orgasm of her life up against the club’s wall before all the shields are back again in full force.

Thinking that a few encounters with the whiskey-eyed Kelly with her killer legs would cure him of his fascination for her was Spencer’s first mistake. All his attempts to push her away with the moments in between that show glimpses into a core of sensitivity that few get to see, Kelly knows that for her its Spencer and him alone until Spencer does the one thing that is guaranteed to drive away the best thing that has ever happened to him in his life.

Filled to the brim with erotic sensual material that just about emptied out my salivary glands, one would think that Provoke Me is all about good sex with nothing much else going for it. But that’s where you are wrong as Provoke Me tells the story of two very real individuals who find themselves in the grip of red-hot passion that undermines everything else, giving them both a reason to hide from what it is that they really feel for the other.

Provoke Me definitely tested my boundaries as an erotic romance reader and though I wouldn’t say that I am a convert into the overly erotic material, Cari’s style in introducing me to the world of kinkier behaviour certainly sat well with me.

The one thing that I loved most about Provoke Me is Spencer whose hard and driven nature along with his superb control and focus made him a total hottie and earns him a very well earned notch in my favorite alpha male list. And I loved Kelly because her quirky, strong and yet vulnerable nature was what Spencer needed though he takes a long time to reach that conclusion himself.

Recommended for fans of Cari Quinn and for those who love emotion and depth in their erotica. The fact that I read this in one sitting whilst sick and in need of much required rest should tell its own story.

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

outstandingread

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Grace Under Pressure by Melissa Schroeder

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

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

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

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

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

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

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Samhain

amazingread

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase

Format: E-booklordofscoundrels
Read with: Kindle for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Scoundrels, Book 3
Publisher: Avon
Hero: Sebastian Leslie Guy De Ath Ballister
Heroine: Jessica Trent
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: March 30, 1995
Started On: June 15, 2011
Finished On: June 16, 2011

Lord of Scoundrels is a historical romance that has earned its fair share of awards in the world of romance. Being at the very top of the AAR list of 100 romances is no small feat and I went in with high expectations when I started out with this book. True to the awards the book has received, I was totally enchanted and captivated with the story that unfolded and hopelessly and madly in love with both Sebastian and Jessica before halfway through, and enjoyed the third book in the Scoundrels series as much as I imagined I would.

Lord of Scoundrels tells the tale of Sebastian Leslie Guy De Ath Ballister, the son of the Earl of Blackmoor and his second wife. A man who is more besotted with his property than anything else, the Earl holds little regard for his young wife and even less so towards the ugly son that she bears him.

From a young age, Sebastian is a bewildered child because he doesn’t have the remotest clue as to why his father goes out of his way to avoid him. And the only source of warmth and compassion in his life leaves him at the tender age of 8 when his mother runs away with her lover, leaving a scared little boy with a resentful father. Its not long before Sebastian is sent away to boarding school where he learns to toughen up and where he learns to give back as good as he gets and earns the respect of his notorious peers. Needless to say between the merciless teasing and fights with fellow students and the continuous flogging sessions received at school, Sebastian has any figment of love, tenderness or hope beaten out of him long before he turns into an adult.

Twenty five years later, Sebastian is filthy rich and a man powerful in his own right who is still feared by the members of the respectable society towards which Sebastian feels nothing more than contempt. But when beautiful and feisty Jessica Trent invades his life and starts creeping under his skin, Sebastian tries the only trick he is left with; drive her away by being his most notorious self whilst inside his heart and very soul cries out for Jessica in a way he had long since forgotten.

Jessica is no wimpy female who finds her own fascination with Sebastian troublesome to say the least. Animal attraction she can supposedly handle, but marriage and the prospect of falling in love with the most hard headed male she has come across wasnt exactly what Jessica was looking for.

In Jessica Sebastian finds that for the first time in his life that he needs someone else to complete him and knows that if she ever were to leave him he would just wither and die away. You would think that once the man realizes that he would make things easier for his newly wedded wife. But pride and his vow never to let anyone close enough to hurt him has Sebastian trying to drive away Jessica albeit unsuccessfuly and the antics that follow make for quite an engrossing tale.

You can’t read Lord of Scoundrels without falling in love with both Sebastian and Jessica as they together make an explosive combination that just keeps you turning the pages, wishing that the story would just go on and on. I seriously loved the spunky and fiesty Jessica because she was insightful enough to know Sebastian inside out and strong enough to fight him fair snd square where their love is concerned. I especially loved the witty bantering between Sebastian and Jessica whose way with the words cannot help but invoke huge-ass grins all over. And Jessica’s attempts at seducing her husband and the resultant effect on her overly self-controlled husband is definitely one of the highlights in a story that definitely deserves and has more than earned its fair share of millions of fans all over the world.

Highly recommended for fans of romances.

Favorite Quotes

The trouble was Jessica could not feel at all sensible. A magnetic current was racing along her nerve endings. It slithered and swirled through her system, to make an odd, tingling heat in the pit of her belly, and it melted her brain to soup.
She wanted to kick off her shoes and trail her stockinged toes up and down the black, costly boot. She wanted to slide her fingers under his starched shirt cuff and trace the veins and muscles of his wrist and feel his pulse beating under her thumb. Most of all, she wanted to press her lips to his hard, dissolute mouth and kiss him senseless.

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

outstandingread

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Indecent Deception by Lynne Graham

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble 

 

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Best Man to Wed? by Penny Jordan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

greatread

by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: Yours To Keep by Shannon Stacey

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

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

You: What made you pick up Yours to Keep?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You: Who would you recommend Yours to Keep to?

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

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

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

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

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

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

outstandingread

by mvbookreviewer

Requested Review: Coyote Run by Rhian Cahill

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novella
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Coyote Hunger, Book 1.5
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Hero: Quinn McClellan
Heroine: Rowan Wilder
Sensuality: 4.5
Date of Publication: September 2, 2010
Started On: May 27, 2011
Finished On: May 28, 2011

Coyote Run was released in between the releases of book 1 Coyote Home and book 2 Coyote Wild. Anyone who has read Coyote Home would know that there is a lot of back story to Rowan and Quinn’s happily-ever-after and this is where Ms. Rhian delivers on their shared past.

Running from a mad man who rules their pack, Quinn and Rowan both know that there is no other option except for Rowan to flee and find sanctuary somewhere else, until Quinn and Brogan manages to settle things down and make Whispering Mountains a safe haven for all of them.

It is in the midst of the run for Rowan’s life to safety that Rowan and Quinn mate for the first time, marking each other for life as their own, rendering this quickie to be a smoking hot novella!

If Coyote Home had been a longer novel, this would have passed off as a GREAT prologue and Coyote Home would definitely have been much better with its addition. I know that when it comes to publishing that there is always the word count to consider, but the impact Coyote Home would have made with Coyote Run included would have been much more in my opinion.

That being said, I’m glad that Ms. Rhian decided to go ahead and publish the story of Quinn and Rowan’s past in this way so that fans of Coyote Home would definitely get a treat out of this one.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Kobo

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