Category / Endearing Heroine

by mvbookreviewer

Review: His at Night by Sherry Thomas

Format: E-bookhisatnight
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Bantam
Hero: Spencer Russell Blandford Churchill Stuart
Heroine: Elissande Edgerton
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: May 25, 2010
Started On: December 2, 2013
Finished On: December 2, 2013

The girl of his dreams. He had met her at last.

So as you can see from the last couple of reviews of mine, I went on a Sherry Thomas reading binge because that is exactly the sort of thing that happens to me if I get addicted to the books of one particular author. Unluckily for me, Sherry Thomas doesn’t have a long backlist of books for me to wade through one by one but hopefully I’d always have the pleasure of reading each and every historical romance that she publishes because there are very few historical romance authors that I follow as diligently as I do with her books.

Lord Vere is a man who leads a double life or to be precise a man who fools even those who are closest to him to serve the country and the Queen. The deep abiding loneliness that is a resultant effect of the lifestyle that he has chosen to lead might make itself known every now and again, but Vere has always has his dream of the peace that he someday might find with him to keep the monsters at bay. And then his path crosses with that of Elissande Edgerton which throws him for a loop and changes his destiny in a way that he has never thought possible for a man like him.

Elissande is a woman who is desperate and willing to do whatever it takes to get away from the oppressive thumb of her uncle who has made an award winning actress out of her, able to hide her real emotions in the worst of situations. When fate throws Lord Vere her way, Elissande tries every trick that she has under her sleeve to secure a way out of the household, with the clock interminably running out on her.

Forced to enter into a marriage of convenience, Vere would like to feel nothing but contempt for the woman that he married, but time and yet again Elissande reveals the true face of the woman behind all the pretense, and at the same time unmasking him from the role that he willingly plays in front of everyone else. With Elissande’s uncle promising revenge and vengeance to get back at her for besting him, time to forge an actual relationship with her enigmatic husband is a scarce one, except for the times he unwillingly turns to her in passion for her that he cannot deny.

His at Night is quite different from the rest of the books that I have read from Sherry Thomas such that this story focuses more on the mystery element and setting than the developing feelings between Vere and Elissande. Even then, His at Night made for an engrossing read that was hard to put down.

One can only surmise just how tiring it must be in actuality to live a life that is not really your own, assuming a persona that is your very antithesis day in and out. The toll that it takes on Vere is more than evident, the cynicism that he wears like a cloak around himself one that makes him oblivious to even the best of things in his life. His quest for finding inner peace by seeking justice is one that doesn’t seemingly play out as he envisions it, thus the crust of his distrust when it comes to his newly wedded wife.

Elissande might not be proud of the way that she married Vere but she would do it again in a heartbeat if it means freedom for which she has longed for all her life. But her deceit does come with a price attached to it, the price of the withheld affection on her husband’s part and the hope that he crushes out of her even when she should know that hope is futile. Her struggle to find common ground with Vere when he makes it almost impossible was one of the many reasons why I fell in love  with her character.

Though not your usual run of the mill variety of romance, His at Night still gives you a story steeped in mystery, double lives, treachery and mayhem with romance to round it off. If you are a fan of the type, this one is for you!

Final Verdict: An engrossing tale that keeps you turning the pages.

Favorite Quotes

He was a god above her, powerful, beautiful, larger than life. The light brought out the latent gold of his hair. The shadows contoured the perfect form of his body. Light and shadows converged in his eyes, bright lust, dark anger, and something else. Something else entirely.
She recognized it because she’d seen it in the mirror so many times: a bleak, austere loneliness.
Her hands, which had been clutching at the sheets, moved up his arms. “I never pretended it was anyone but you.”

He ground into her with enough force to launch an ocean liner. And bucked and shook as if in pain, exquisite, breathtaking pain.
She opened her eyes again to see him looking down upon her, the way he would a cursed treasure. He lifted a hand and traced her brow.
“Now you are mine,” he said softly.
She shivered.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iTunes | ARe

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Private Arrangements by Sherry Thomas

Format: E-bookprivatearrangements
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Bantam
Hero: Camden Saybrook
Heroine: Philippa Gilberte Rowland
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: March 25, 2008
Started On: November 29, 2013
Finished On: November 30, 2013

When I finished reading the latest novel by Sherry Thomas which happens to be The Luckiest Lady in London, the question that was utmost on my mind was whether Sherry Thomas would write the story of the Tremaines as I mentioned in my review. My vague hunch that it had already been written was confirmed when Sherry replied to me as such and that’s of course the moment I rushed to purchase a copy for myself and indulge in the heavenly romance that Sherry Thomas creates so deliciously that it is impossible to not lose yourself in the midst of it all.

To the society, Lord and Lady Teramine seems to have the perfect marriage. Perfect because they have led separate lives starting from the first day of their marriage ten years back. The status quo changes when Phillipa (Gigi) requests for a divorce which brings Camden back to London with his own proposal that is treacherous grounds to tread on for both of them.

Sherry Thomas does a remarkable job of telling the story with the past and present entwined, shedding light on how and why things had gone so wrong between two people whose attraction to each other had been immediate and a scorching one at that. The young Gigi had been a cynical woman for her age, someone hardened by the life choices that had been drilled to her from the beginning by her mother Victoria. The loneliness that she hides deep inside of her is one that no one had ever seemed to see or understand until Camden had walked into her life, a seemingly unattainable Camden because Camden is a man of his word who is loyal to the core.

The mistake that Gigi makes in her desire to have the man she falls in love with, at any cost proves to be the reason her marriage turns out to be such a trial for both of them. The feelings of respect, desire and love that had seemed to blossom between them dies a sudden death, especially on Camden’s end when he learns of the treachery on his wife’s part and he makes her pay for it throughout the years of separation that involves affairs on both ends. But as the story delves deeper into the lives that Camden and Gigi had led separately for so long makes one wonder, who was punishing whom exactly in the light of things that are revealed.

Private Arrangements is a story that made me cry. Like most books Sherry Thomas pens, this one too had the ability to reach deep into my heart and soul and wrench emotions from it that most books aren’t halfway capable of wringing from me. And that is one reason why I loved this book which might not be well received by most romance readers due to the elements of adultery included in the Tremaines’ story.  I believe that it takes immense talent on an author’s part to pull off characters of the sort who makes god honest mistakes like both Gigi and Camden makes in this story and come out winning the heart of readers like myself who understands and needs authors to push the expected boundaries of norm every now and then to give us a spellbinding tale of love and passion like this one. Kudos Ms. Thomas, for you continue to amaze me and I hope that never ever ceases to happen.

Recommended for those who are not turned off by aspects of cheating on both the hero and heroine’s part. Trust me when I say this; Sherry Thomas knows what she’s doing. Hop along for the ride. If you are like myself and wants stories that reaches deep into your soul, Sherry Thomas offers just that with every story she writes.

Final Verdict: Provokingly beautiful, the Tremaines reach into your very heart and makes you bleed for them. Definitely Recommended.

Favorite Quotes

He smiled at her. And it hit her like a mallet to the temple, the realization that she was in love with him. Stupidly, dreadfully in love with him.
Overnight, she’d become a fool.

He retorted by divesting her of her drawers and trapping her naked body—naked but for white satin evening gloves and white silk stockings—between his body and the edge of the desk.
His fingertips skimmed over her bare bottom and headed slowly yet inexorably for the junction of her thighs. She closed her eyes and bit her lip but refused to clamp her legs together despite her nervousness.
“Are you always this wet?” he whispered. “Or is it just for me?”

He sank his teeth into her shoulder. Nothing painful, just a strong bite to punctuate the hot, smooth glide of his body into hers. She could not silence a small moan.
Despite her desperate attempt to recite the alphabet backward—she reached only as far as V before she could no longer think—her body drowned in sensations. She was full, so full, and deliciously pummelled.

He drowned himself in the velvety feel of her, marveling at the way her skin slid over her clavicles with her every breath, kissing a trail along the top of her shoulder, reluctant to leave each square inch of her glorious skin, impatient to savor all of her.
She placed her hands against his upper arms, but she didn’t push. She only emitted a sweet, despairing sound as he kissed the base of her throat. The gloom in his heart lifted a bit, though he knew it was madness to think this was anything but madness.

He tormented her with long, slow strokes, teasing her nipples as he drove into her at a leisurely pace. He made her beg for each delicious thrust. He made her thrash and gyrate and wail and whimper. And only when she was wholly vanquished, desperate, convinced that she would exist forever in this state of trembling, feverish arousal, only then did he give in and pummel her to her incoherent, wild, joyous, and vocal satisfaction.

She turned onto her back and slid a knuckle across her lower lip. “Won’t you come to bed and make me pregnant?”
He was on that bed and inside her in a fraction of a second. She was all hellfire and heavenly suppleness, clutching at him, her legs wrapped tight about him, her unabashed gasps and moans driving him mad with desire.
He shook, shuddered, and convulsed, his vaunted control in pieces as he came endlessly, well on his way to making her pregnant.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iTunes

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Luckiest Lady in London by Sherry Thomas

Format: E-booktheluckiestladyinlondon
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Berkley
Hero: Felix Rivendale
Heroine: Louisa Cantwell
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: November 5, 2013
Started On: November 19, 2013
Finished On: November 21, 2013

His eyes met hers again. “Let me give you everything you’ve ever dreamed of.”

I believe the above is something every woman dreams of hearing from the man she has the most avid crush on say to her. Or one would think unless it comes from the mouth of Felix Rivendale, the Marquess of Wrenworth known as The Ideal Gentleman, who is determined not to ever fall in love or give any woman the chance to make him vulnerable like he’d been all throughout his childhood.

Louisa Cantwell is equally determined that she’d get a marriage proposal from a man who’d be able to give her exactly what she wants. The daughter of a fortune hunter with no dowry of her own and no ravishing looks to boast of either, Louisa knows exactly what she has to offer to a husband of her choosing. With her sights set on two men she thinks she can ‘handle’, it comes as a shock to her system when sheer unadulterated lust uncoils inside of her when she lays eyes on the most gorgeous of men, Felix Rivendale.

A passing glance is what a marriage seeking innocent like Louisa would’ve warranted from Felix if not for the intrigue that she stirs inside of him. Felix knows that Louisa is hardly what she presents herself to be to the rest of the ton, just like himself, who has managed to and continues to fool everyone on what he is.

Intrigue turns into lust, and Felix tells himself that it is both combined that makes Louisa the worthy adversary that she is, who occupies a lot of his mind, too much perhaps for his liking. The layer of suspicion that always underlies her gaze whenever she sets her sights on Felix together with just how much she resists the pull between them makes him feel more wicked and the rush that it gives something decadent, to be savored for a man who thinks nothing can move him.

Felix continues to be able to fool himself until his wedding night which leaves him stark ‘naked’ without that ruthless control of his which comes tumbling down after the weeks and weeks of foreplay that had readied both of them to its culminating event. Though Louisa knows that falling in love with the one man she shouldn’t fall for is the pits, her unforgettable wedding night gives her that little ray of hope that Felix ruthlessly and effectively crushes right in front of her.

What followed turned out to be so so good in so many different ways. Let me rephrase that, the whole book turned out to be absolutely fantastic in so many ways. I wholeheartedly adored Felix; what’s there not to be adored in a man who is absolutely clueless when it comes to the yearning of his heart, a man who learns the errors of his ways and goes  about doing absolutely everything in his power to make it right even if it might mean victory may not be in sight ever?

Louisa was just as adorable, a woman who matches, understands and loves Felix for who he is, and that in my opinion made her the most worthy of Felix’s absolute love, adoration  and trust. The Luckiest Lady in London has got the humor, the class and the wit that makes it one of the best historical romances of this year. Sherry Thomas certainly knows what she’s doing and it shows in every single historical romance of hers that I’ve read to date.

This romance has so much heat to it that I felt my whole body warm up from the inside out every single time Louisa and Felix entered the scene. Sherry Thomas has a definite knack for creating sexual tension unlike any other, and dear sweet lord, does she deliver on so many occasions throughout the story, not explicit in nature, but still tantalizing and delicious enough to make me sigh in utmost satisfaction and make my toes curl inward and out every single time.

The only thing that I had even the slightest contention with was the ending. Being the masochist that I am, I guess I wanted just a bit more angst. And perhaps the ending was quite fitting and in line with the story that unfolded if I were to think about it from a different perspective. Needless to say, Sherry Thomas held me completely enthralled and in the story’s grip throughout which is no mean feat if you ask me. And I’m certainly looking forward to see whether Sherry Thomas is going to gives us the story of Lady Tremaine, who happened to be one of Felix’s mistresses, a most intriguing woman whom I say has definitely got a tale to tell.

Most definitely recommended for fans of sensuous historical romances and of course fans of Sherry Thomas. This is a must not miss!

Final Verdict: Off the charts sexual tension, sensuality & prose that only Sherry Thomas can pull off. A definite winner!

Favorite Quotes

All at once she lifted her gaze—she might as well get it over with. She was presented with a head of thick black hair and an aristocratic profile. Then, as if sensing her attention, he turned to her.
A pox on everyone who had ever told her that The Ideal Gentleman was handsome. He was not handsome—he was extravagantly gorgeous. One look into his serene yet hypnotic green eyes, and all the romantic yearnings she had never before experienced struck her at once, like a bullet to the heart.

“A shame,” he replied softly. “I know the earl’s sons very well. We’d have met much sooner had you been acquainted with them.”
She was staring down into her plate, but at his tone, which made her feel strange things, she could not help turning her face, looking into his eyes for the first time since she saw him across the drawing room, before the start of dinner.
Instantly a fierce heat swept over her. Had she thought that there was nothing erotic in the attention he directed her way? That must have been a different lifetime altogether. For this gaze of his made her think of . . . skin. Flesh. And, God help her, unnatural acts.

“Have you missed me?”
He didn’t ask such questions. Or at least, he didn’t ask such questions when the answers mattered.
Her left hand closed into a fist. “Of course I have missed you.”
The floor stopped wobbling. He breathed again.

He could see it, too, now. Except he saw it even more perversely. His guests would not be in the house, but on the grounds for the bonfire party that always marked the last night of his summertime hospitality. Most would remain near the manor, but some would venture farther afield and almost stumble upon them, hidden in the shadows, still fully clothed, but with her skirts pushed up above her waist, and him hilt-deep inside her.

His lips never leaving hers, he touched her in that secret place. She moaned; she writhed; she kissed him with a desperate fervor. Then suddenly she was crying out, her body tensing.
A heartbeat later he was deep inside her, filling her with his essence, convulsing with a pleasure that turned him inside out.

“Tell me to stop and I will.” His voice was hoarse, nothing like how he usually sounded.
And his eyes were tightly shut. Dimly he remembered that he’d meant to look his fill of her as he brought her to one trembling peak after another. But the sensations of her person were all he could handle; the sight of it would undo him altogether.
“I never want you to stop,” she whispered, kissing his ear as she spoke, jolting him with another surge of lust. “Never.”

The pleasure of her—he was mindless with it. He invaded her again and again, her whimpers of pleasure a fire in his blood. Her name escaped his throat; he could not stop telling her how exquisite she was and how much he craved her.
When her body tightened voluptuously around his cock, he lost any and all control he might have still possessed. And gave himself up to the most explosive pleasure he had ever known.

She wrapped her legs around his waist. “You make me willing to do anything with you—and for you.”
Her flattery did not go to waste. The next second he was inside her again, hot and huge. She pulled him in for a kiss, and did not let him go until her pleasure was winding tighter and tighter and she was struggling to breathe.
It was like the sky falling.
Beyond, the stars.

He had no recollection of either shoving aside her skirts or freeing himself from the encumbrance of his trousers. The next thing he knew was a desperate upward plunge as he entered her—and the gasps that echoed between them.
The ferocity of her lips, the avarice of her hands, the sheer, agonizing scorch of her person. He didn’t know how he remembered to clamp a palm over her mouth—perhaps only when he heard someone calling, from no more than fifteen feet away, “Quick. The fireworks are about to start.”
Their own fireworks ignited first. He barely protested before surrendering to the demonic pleasures of her body clenching and shuddering about his.

But she did not want to lose control alone—that path led directly back to the pit of despair. “Come in deeper. Are you in me as deep as you want to be?”
Now they were tumbling off the edge together; now his control was as shattered as hers. And now she finally closed her eyes and let herself be swept away by the surge of pleasure.
And by his harshly uttered words in her ear, as he gripped her close: “I can never be in you deep enough. Never.”

She undid his trousers. Her lips followed her hands, her tongue swirling about him in scalding, indecent ways. His hips flexed involuntarily, even as despair swamped him. She took him deep into her mouth; his grunt of pleasure echoed against the walls.
“I love the size of you,” she declared, “the texture of you, the taste of you.”
And the rest of me?
He shut his eyes tight against the pleasure, against the pain, against the possibility of betraying all the yearning in his soul.

The next second, her skirts were shoved up, her bustle knocked aside, her drawers pushed down not only without ceremony, but with hardly even any acknowledgment that they were ever there.
And then he was inside her, hard and thick.
It was the most incredible, most delicious sensation, like being pounded by a runaway train. The force of his thrusts flattened her. It nearly lifted her off the floor. With one hand on her abdomen, he pulled her toward him, so that he came in farther, deeper, harder.

Purchase links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iTunes

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by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: Take Me Home by Inez Kelley

Format: E-booktakemehome
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Country Roads, #1
Publisher: Carina Press
Hero: Matthew Dalton Shaw
Heroine: Kayla Edwards
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: November 25, 2013
Started On: November 22, 2013
Finished On: November 23, 2013

The wife of a colleague going into premature labor serves to be the reason behind the meet up between Matthew Shaw and Kayla Edwards, the owner of Mountain Speciality Spices, who also happens to be the new owner of Matt’s childhood home.

The attraction that sizzles to life between them blindsides Matt and though his libido would love nothing more than to give in to the open invitation in Kayla’s eyes, the memories that hound him from left and right every time he sets foot inside the now home of Kayla serves to be the reason why Matt cannot say yes to the fire that burns between them.

Kayla doesn’t seem to be able to figure out why Matt runs hot and cold when it comes to the connection that is so tangible between them, but Kayla is determined to explore the possibilities the connection between then could lead to. When Matt finally does give in, it gives both of them the possibility of exploring together, forever, if only Matt would take a chance and trust Kayla to do right by his past which Matt seems unable to make peace with.

Matt is delicious from his drool worthy physique to that ironclad sense of honor of his not to mention that tool-belt of his which I am definitely a slave to. Kayla turned out to be a heroine just as beautiful inside and out and a worthy partner for someone like Matt. The fact that they are both equally drawn towards each other from the beginning which was further strengthened by with how well they connect in all aspects of their lives was illustrated quite well by the unfolding story, which was what made me believe in the love that they felt for each other. Not to mention the tender and at times fierce love scenes that Inez is so good at delivering, made this a great read.

To make things that much more interesting, Inez gives readers a cast of wonderfully intriguing secondary characters who by the looks of it might get their own stories somewhere down the line. And of course, one must not forget the interesting tidbits regarding the intricacies involved in making maple syrup included in the chapters that definitely expanded my knowledge base and in return gave me quite the ‘healthy’ appetite to sample pancakes with maple syrup every time I picked up the book.

Great romance, recommended to those who love tortured heroes who are sweeter than the maple syrup that you have with your pancakes every morning. And of course for fans of Inez Kelley.

Final Verdict: A deliciously sizzling testament to the old adage home is where the heart is.

Favorite Quotes

She expected brute force and unchecked hunger. What she got was tenderness and complete control. He didn’t try to shove his tongue down her throat or scrape her teeth or paw her. He simply let his lips glide over hers until they parted willingly, needily. Then he coaxed her tongue to dance with his.

Her orgasm had been ebbing but now it jack-knifed into a harder, longer, deeper spasm inside her. Kayla clung to him as wave after wave undulated. Skin slapped skin. He wedged higher and thrust faster as he came. Her eyes flew wide as her body clenched again. Their gazes met and held, unblinking, joining them deeper than bodies.
Heat pulsed inside her as he shuddered and moaned her name. “Kayla.”
She had no voice to answer.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulder as his heart thudded against her chest.
Afterglow was tender, sweet, exhausted.
He placed a single kiss on her shoulder. “You curled my toes.”

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Carina | Kobo 

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by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: The Way Home by Cindy Gerard

Format: E-bookthewayhome
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: One-Eyed Jacks, #2
Publisher: Gallery Books
Hero: Tyler Brown, Jeffery Robert Albert
Heroine: Jess Albert, Rabia
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: October 29, 2013
Started On: October 28, 2013
Finished On: November 6, 2013

If only he knew where home was.

The Way Home by Cindy Gerard is my very first read by the author. Book 2 in the One-Eyed Jacks series, book 1 of which I didn’t know that even existed until I delved into the story; The Way Home can be read as a standalone though there were bits in the story that makes you feel a teensy bit like you should have read the first book before venturing down the road of The Way Home.

The Way Home is a story that takes place in one of the rural villages of Afghanistan where a woman named Rabia tends to a wounded American soldier, harboring him in the secluded safety of her own home which puts her and her father in grave danger. Simultaneously, the story continues in Northern Minnesota where a woman who has lost her husband while fighting a war that had made little sense to her to begin with, takes those first tentative steps towards moving on with her life, falling in love all anew and embracing the joys of life.

For Rabia, taking care of one of the “enemy”, though had started out as a sense of obligation, changes with the depth of emotion that unfurls deep inside of her for a man whose sheer bravery makes her admire him in ways she had never admired any other. A man with no memory of who he was or what he had been through, even though the countless scars on his body and the ravaged state in which he is in speaks volumes about the kind of torture that he had undergone.

For Jess, finding the man who had made an impression on her during one chance encounter standing on her very doorstep makes her cautious and wary and yet exhilarated with a sense of excitement that has been missing from her life for far too long. Ty awakens in Jess the woman she has lost a long time back, rekindles the spark that had been blown out by too many disappointments that life had turned out to be. And in Ty, Jess meets a man whose sheer determination to win her over is a match for her stubbornness and the walls that she tries to keep between them tumbles down under that relentlessness of his. And then, with the happily ever after just within arms reach, trouble comes calling.

For Jeff, returning home means facing a life that he no longer remembers being a part of, embracing a family that he no longer remembers. The only person that he wants by his side cannot be a  part of his life and that breaks his heart more than anything else. The heartache and pain that seeps through the last couple of pages in this story would make even the strongest of persons weep. The longing to be elsewhere but where each of the 4 protagonists find themselves in is almost tangible and that is what makes The Way Home such a darn good read!

I absolutely loved the bits of the story that took place in Afghanistan, the reined in longing that blinds both Rabia and Jeff. The constant danger that surrounds them is one that cannot be denied, and even then, under the canopy of stars, in the deepest and darkest hours of the night, Rabia and Jeff come together, defying convention, the accepted norms and cultural differences not to mention the religious beliefs that Rabia holds close to her heart. All of that is no match for the love that grows and strengthens inside of both of them and that was in essence what kept me glued to the pages of this story.

Jess and Ty’s story were equally appealing in the sense that I loved how easy it was to fall in love with Ty. He doesn’t make it difficult, not at all. There are no false pretenses to be had, no backing down from what he feels for Jess; it is all too evident from all that he does for Jess and more. It takes an indefinable kind of strength for a man to walk away from the woman who holds his heart because he wants to do right by her and that ladies, makes it near impossible for you to not fall in love with Ty!

Recommended for fans of Cindy Gerard, fans of romances with military aspects to it and fans of the series. And of course those who love tearjerkers. This one’s definitely for you!

Final Verdict: Cindy Gerard brings forth a tale of immense pain, heartbreak and joy – not to be missed!

Favorite Quotes

And then she moved. Taking him in. Taking him deep, until his hips rose to meet hers, and his hands covered her breasts, finessing her nipples into aching, hard peaks, and she became as caught up as he was.
“Jess.” Her name eased out on a whisper, a curse, and finally a plea as he gripped her hips and slammed her down over him one final time, coming on a low, throaty groan and tipping her over the edge with him.

Purchase Links: Amazon | BookDepository | B&N

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by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: The Perfect Match by Kristan Higgins

Format: E-booktheperfectmatch
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Blue Heron, #2
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Thomas Jude Barlow
Heroine: Honor Grace Holland
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: October 29, 2013
Started On: October 28, 2013
Finished On: October 29, 2013

A Kristan Higgins book is like that favorite dogeared pillow that you hug yourself to sleep with, it is just like having that cup of coffee you have been craving for all day long; yes a Kristan Higgins definitely raises your spirits, gives you a ton of stuff to laugh about and also leaves you with that glow of being satisfied from a well spun romance that few authors manage to deliver time and yet again.

The Perfect Match is the second book in the Blue Heron series, the first one which I seemed to have missed out on. Honor Grace Holland is 35 year old, celebrating her birthday with a pap smear when her doctor has “the talk” with her which propels her to take action to save her dying eggs which would definitely mean the end of the road on her dream of having her own family someday. A botched up marriage proposal and a cat fight later, Honor is very much determined to get back on track for she is a woman who gets things done if nothing else.

Thomas Jude Barlow (Tom Barlow) is from Britain, has a wicked and wild accent that drives the ladies crazy and a professor of mechanical engineering. Tom is desperate for a way to stay in the US when a twisted sequence of events brings Honor and him together. A very hot and memorable night of sex together, Honor proposes a way out for him which would tie them both together in a marriage of convenience. Although neither Honor nor Tom believes that they are on the right track, both of them agree to a relationship that seems more difficult to make into a reality than it should have been.

Honor has her reservations about letting her heart get away from her a second time round. Having her heart crushed by the man whom she had loved and yearned for for the past 17 years is a bit too much and Honor knows deep down where it matters that Tom with his wicked smile, those deep gray eyes and panty melting accent of his not to mention the smokin’ hot body which makes her melt practically anywhere is hazardous to her heart. And of course there is the way that Tom doggedly keeps trying to win the affections of the one person who turns him away time and yet again, the reason he is marrying Honor for which practically makes falling for him that much easier.

Tom reserves a huge part of himself from the world, has a part of his heart sealed off which would never see the light of day if he has anything to say about it. Though Honor tugs at certain places in the left region of his chest which seems to have been left hollow for far too long, Tom knows that he has nothing in reality to offer to a woman like Honor who deserves so much more than a jail sentence for helping him out in time of his need. But every kiss they exchange tends to break down a little bit of the walls that Tom has built around his heart, Honor’s honest, and giving nature crumbles his resistance away until Tom has no choice left but to run away from himself when it all gets to be too much.

The Perfect Match was right about just perfect in every way. I loved the fact that this was told in third person and included both Honor and Tom’s points of view, something you usually miss out on when you read a Kristan Higgins because she mostly tends to write in the first person, mainly from the heroines point of view. I loved Honor’s larger than life family, each and every character in the story lending a rich vividness to the story that kept me turning the pages. It wasn’t just Honor and Tom’s story that kept me glued to my e-reader every spare minute I could find, but rather the whole brood that comes together that created a magic that totally washed over me and kept me enthralled till I turned the very last page.

Honor is one of the most swell heroines. You have to read the book to understand what I mean. Best way to describe her is to say that she is the one that keeps everything firmly glued together in her family and the whole story, the one who continues to give in that gentle way of hers, a woman who stands up that much quicker than she falls down; because life certainly does punch her in the face a time or two, hard enough to really knock her flat on her face. Enter Tom who is all kinds of sexy and appealing that half of his students tends to be women who just wants a piece of him, a man with whom she clicks right from the very start turning the sensible Honor into a woman of sensual cravings that is so unlike her.

I loved the fact that Kristan included more romance in this novel than any other novel I’ve read from her to-date. In most of her stories, the heroes and heroines tend to spend a lot of time apart before they do come together eventually. But The Perfect Match I think struck just the right balance and gave just enough amount of steam and romance to keep me all warm, happy and aglow with the wonderfulness of it all.

Along with the laughter, Kristan certainly knows how to deliver the gut wrenching emotional aspect that practically gobsmacked me with all those tears my eyes refused to shed and the throat tightening which went on for quite a while. Wait, I think I’m still suffering from some of that. Sigh, which practically means that I had one hell of a time reading The Perfect Match and so would you. So just find yourself a copy and take a peek. If nothing else you’d get a couple of unforgettable laughs and a happy jiggle in parts of your body better left unsaid here, just from the sheer experience that is Tom Barlow.

Definitely recommended!

Final Verdict: Laugh out loud funny, sexy and full of heart. Kristan Higgins is an incomparable force in the genre.

Favorite Quotes

She didn’t realize she’d launched herself at him until she was kissing him, and hell, it’d been what, almost two minutes, possibly more, since he’d last kissed her, and she missed it. He landed on his back with an ooph, but she didn’t really care.
“Hallo, what have we here?” he murmured, and she kissed him again, sliding her tongue against his, dying to kiss him, taste him, feel him.

She tugged his shirt from his waistband and slid her hands up his back, feeling thick muscle and hot skin, and pulled his shirt over his head. Something metal brushed against her—a medallion, dangling from a silver chain around his neck.
He pulled back a bit, looking down at her. His own breath was ragged, and though his face had been gentle earlier, he now looked somewhat…fearsome. Down Under clenched at the word.

He tossed down the scrunchy and kissed her. Hard. “You fucking terrified me,” he muttered, and kissed her again, this time more gently.
She was alive. She was safe. She was wet and naked and warm.
Then, before he took her right here in the shower, he left, streaming water, sopping wet.
Because the last thing he wanted was to feel all this.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | BookDepo | iTunes | Harlequin

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by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: What The Bride Didn’t Know by Kelly Hunter

Format: E-bookwhatthebridedidntknow
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: The West Family
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Adrian Sinclair
Heroine: Lena Aurelia West
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: October 22, 2013
Started On: October 19, 2013
Finished On: October 21, 2013

What the Bride Didn’t Know by Kelly Hunter is a novel from the Harlequin’s KISS line, novels that are fraught with sexual tension of the sizzling kind that melts you on the inside. Thankfully, this one didn’t just create the sexual tension, but delivered on it to appease readers like myself just enough so that we would finish the book with a smile on our face rather than a frown which would have been the case otherwise.

Adrian Sinclair or Trig as he is known as is Lena’s next door neighbor and they have a history that spans both their childhoods and beyond. Though Trig has always had a thing for Lena, and that is to put it mildly; the one thing that has held him back is the fear that Lena might not want the same thing when it comes to him. Of course there is also the fact that Trig is best friends with Lena’s older brother Jared which means that there is the darned bro code to adhere to as well.

Fast forward their relationship to a couple of years down the line and the dynamics of the relationship between Trig and Lena seems to have shifted, Lena having been injured while on a mission and Trig taking on the task of sticking to Lena’s side no matter what. It is Lena’s sheer dogged determination to search for her brother that finds both Lena and Trig in Istanbul facing a situation that neither Trig nor Lena ever thought they would find themselves in.

When a series of events ends up in Lena suffering from temporary memory loss that renders her to believe that she is married to Trig, well lets say all hell breaks loose between these two as both Trig and Lena tries to do things right by what they believe, Lena hellbent on seducing her seemingly reluctant husband and Trig trying his darnedest not to take advantage of the fraught situation they both have landed in.

What the Bride Didn’t Know has a lot of elements that made it the swell read it turned out to be. There is that undeniable thread of humor interwoven into the fabric of the story that made the book hard to put down. I kept smiling through even what you would call the most serious situations in the book because Kelly demanded no less with characters like Trig and Lena who have both got that sarcastic humor thing down to a pat.

Trig is an adorable hero, and I am certain Trig would skin anyone who dares say that out aloud. He is the larger than life variety of hero whose gentleness might be found at odds with his size, but that is what in effect makes Trig such an endearing hero. His love for Lena is as unwavering in strength and as immovable as he is in his determination to stick to Lena even when the going gets tough. And that in essence proved to me even without the whole story seeing its way through, the sheer beauty of Trig’s love for the woman whom his heart had claimed as his a long, long time back.

Lena’s character prior to her amnesia wasn’t one I liked overly much. She was prickly, overly sensitive, and I could understand her reasons for it because she had always been someone who could keep up with Trig and her brother no matter the circumstances. While I am leery of most books that resort to using the amnesia plot to bring the hero and heroine together, I found that this one had a fresh twist to it in the sense that Trig doesn’t try to use the lack of memories on Lena’s part to show her just how good they can be together. In fact, Trig goes out of his way to not get into any situations that would in the end slap him on his face once Lena gets back her memory and that to me showed that Trig was an honorable man, a man who would wait out an eternity if it means convincing the love of his life to share their tomorrows might not prove to be a piece of cake once she is in a sound frame of mind.

I especially loved the honest conversations that to took place between Lena and Trig, especially Lena who might never have resorted to opening herself up to that extent where Trig or anyone else is concerned. I believe that the lapse in her memories truly gave her the opportunity to face her fears and insecurities and really heal from the emotional scars left behind by the physical injuries her body had suffered and gave Trig a fighting chance in proving to her that when it comes to Lena he would always be there for her, no questions asked.

The bit that cinched the deal for me? The epilogue that made everything come together. Because everyone knows I am a sucker for a good epilogue!

Recommended for those who love sizzling sexual tension, an adorable and sexy hero and a gutsy heroine who makes you smile all throughout.

Final Verdict: Loved the snazzy humor and the sizzle! No wonder Trig and Lena makes for such a fantastic duo.

Favorite Quotes

Trig smiled at that and she reached forward and covered his hand with her own. ‘Don’t give up on me.’
‘Never.’
This was why she’d married this man.
‘I feel as if I’m in a place where I don’t have to run to keep up any more,’ she confessed. ‘I can’t run any more. Best I can do is hold my ground and stumble along, and you know what? You’re still there for me, and my family is still there, because it was never about me keeping up. It was about me believing that I belonged and I do believe that now. I’m happy now. I married you, which I have to say is probably the smartest thing I’ve ever done.’

‘You love this room,’ he said with a crooked smile as she rose from the table, caught hold of his hand and tugged him towards the pianola.‘I really do. It’s a little bit beautiful, a whole lot fascinating, and kind of cracked when you look up close. I’m hoping it might be the way you see me. Because, newfound sense of belonging or not, I’m still trying to figure out what you see in me.’

He had a thing about her hair, winding his hands in it as he grasped her head and deepened the kiss. He had a thing for wrapping his arms around her, one hand between her shoulder blades and the other palming her buttocks. He had a thing about kisses, deep and dirty.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Harlequin

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Meant to be Married by Ruth Wind

Format: E-bookmeanttobemarried
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Men of the Land
Publisher: Harlequin Treasury
Hero: Elias de Jesus Salimento Santiago
Heroine: Sarah Greenwood
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: July 15, 2011
Started On: October 18, 2013
Finished On: October 18, 2013

‘Absence is to love what air is to fire. If it is small, it soon goes out. If it is great, it burns stronger.’

Ruth Wind is an author who has an amazing way with words. It is evident in the style of writing that she uses to bring her stories alive with the different nuances and colors that makes her books the vibrantly haunting reads that they are.

Meant to be Married is the story of the love affair between Elias Santiago and Sarah Greenwood, a love that had blossomed from friendship between two people whose families have been warring for decades. Their love had been an all consuming one that had left them with no room but to give it their all. But then Sarah’s father wouldn’t have his only child marrying one of the enemy and that is how these two find themselves torn apart from each other until 12 years later Sarah returns home which once again stirs up things between them.

Elias is a proud man, his pride evident in the way he holds his head high, has made a name for himself and proved himself a successful man capable of a lot more than people would have given him credit for. And when Sarah strolls back into town, the well ordered life that Elias had been living for a long while now comes crashing down at his feet, awakening all those emotions that had made him the adolescent who had been drunk on the love that had pretty much devoured them both.

Elias might want to enact his revenge on the man who had almost ruined his life 12 years back by using Sarah as the tool to achieve that, but that is not exactly how things turn out when both Sarah and Elias realize that for both of them, the other had been what had in actuality made their lives complete. But for them to have even the slightest chance at happiness, Sarah would have to stop running from her past and Elias would have to let go of his pride in order to go through that final stage of acceptance and love that would lead them through the rest of their lives.

While I loved Elias as a hero, I found that even towards the end he was a bit too stiff and unrelenting for me to really believe that Sarah and the love he has for her had won over the fire of hatred that has burned through him for far too long. Sarah had a way of running from everything that made things overwhelming for her and not without reason too, but at least she tried to do what no one else has had the courage to do; to heal the rift between the two families by finding out the actual truth about what had happened a long, long time ago.

All in all, I wouldn’t say that this is a bad read but rather a story that failed have that wow factor because I couldn’t really believe that in the end Elias would accept the truth and move on based on the history of the enmity between the families. Perhaps an epilogue would have done wonders to convince readers like myself who remains a wee bit skeptical even after the happily ever after.

Recommended for fans of Harlequin romances and fans of Ruth Wind.

Final Verdict: Ruth Wind is an author who takes you deep into the heart of any book she writes.

Favorite Quotes

It was Eli who stood there, his hair dripping, his face wet. The white cotton shirt stuck to his chest and arms, transparent against his dark skin, and his eyes burned as he stared at her.
A bolt of pure, undiluted hunger filled her, rushing through every cell, making her body ache. She might even have made a little sound, part fear, part need.
Without a word, he came in, put his cold hands on her face and kissed her.

“His clothes were wet, but they warmed as he pressed into her, warmed with the heat of his flesh and the heat of her own, and Sarah arched into him, put her arms around him, pulled him closer overwhelmed at her need to absorb the taste of Elias, remembered and not remembered, darker than it had been, seasoned with years and lost dreams and a thousand moments of yearning.

She held him fiercely as he met his release, and clasped his head between her hands and whispered his name, over and over.
Elias. Elias. Elias.
And then she was set free, her soul tangling with his, as she soared into the completeness that she had found only with him. She held him as tightly as she could, her arms and her legs wrapping him close, wanting to somehow make him part of her, so he could never be torn from her again.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Harlequin

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by mvbookreviewer

Requested Review: Choosing Chase by Julie Raust

Format: E-bookchoosingchase.jpg
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novella
Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romance
Series: Old Enough to Love You, #1
Publisher: Self Published
Hero: Chase Cole
Heroine: Teresa
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: August 12, 2013
Started On: September 26, 2013
Finished On: October 17, 2013

Choosing Chase is a novella in the Old Enough to Love You series that features a sexy as sin hero who is younger than the heroine, who embarks on a mission to make her see once and for all that he is the one for her.

Teresa has had it with relationships when she had been widowed and left behind by a husband who had not found her to be his number one priority towards the latter part of their marriage. Bit by bit, Teresa’s confidence had eroded away under his callous disregard until Teresa had all but convinced herself that nobody would want her as she is, much less a man like Chase who could practically choose anyone to be his life partner.

Chase and Teresa has been friends for over two years, the whole period during which Chase has been biding his time to find his way through the armor that holds Teresa’s heart in an ironclad grip that doesn’t show any signs of relenting. But Chase is a man who has two years worth of determination fueled more so by the frustration he has suffered both sexual and otherwise when it comes to Teresa. And when the opportunity presents itself for Chase to make his case, oh boy, does he make his case, Chase does so with an enthusiasm that makes it an impossibility for Teresa to walk away.

Julie Raust is a new to me author and the one reason I accepted her request for a review is the fact that the trope of friends turning to lovers is one of my favorites. Though a new voice in the genre, Julie managed to draw me into the story that unfolded all the while giving enough tidbits about Teresa and Chase’s entwined past to keep the emotional aspect of the story real which went a long way into making the sexual connection between Chase and Teresa seem tangible and worthwhile.

Sounds like the next book in the series is going to have a lot of fireworks in the mix with two of Chase and Teresa’s friends being the main protagonists. Recommended for those who love erotic romances. This one’s short enough to wet your appetite for whats to come.

Final Verdict: Choosing Chase has the ingredients that makes an erotic romance a worthy read!

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Smashwords

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh

Format: E-bookkissofsnow
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Paranormal/Fantasy Romance
Series: Psy-Changeling, #10
Publisher: Berkley
Hero: Hawke Snow
Heroine: Sienna Lauren
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: May 31, 2011
Started On: October 13, 2013
Finished On: October 16, 2013

So, you ask me, how does it feel to have reached and read Hawke’s story, the 10th book in the wondrous Psy-Changeling series; the main reason for me starting on this journey being to actually read Hawke and Sienna’s story which was pretty much sensationalized by the whole Goodreads community. Well, perhaps I might be a victim of my own expectations and all the sensationalism because I must say I was just a trifle bit disappointed with the story not because it wasn’t as exciting as the Psy-Changeling books always are, but rather because I felt that Hawke and Sienna was somehow shortchanged because of the gravity of everything else that was happening in the story.

Hawke is the Alpha of SnowDancer wolf changeling pack and is a man determined in the face of his fate. A fate that he believes wouldn’t ever ease the deep aching loneliness in his soul left by the death of the woman who would have been his mate for life. No matter how much Sienna Lauren might tempt him and call out to his inner wolf to come out and take a bite, consequences be damned, Hawke calls on the reserves of his icy and legendary control to stay strong in the face of temptation.

Two months after Indigo and Drew’s story takes place, the politics that governs the world inhabited by Psy, Changelings and humans keep changing, and not for the better in certain aspects. The Changelings call on all their reserves and up their vigilance when it comes to Psy because they all know that with the Psy council split into halves, its only a matter of time that war breaks out with the Changelings being the main focus of the war that Psy will wage in order to attain a world inhabited by pure Psy.

Sienna has known from the day that she and her family defected from the PsyNet and sought the protection of the SnowDancer Alpha that there would be no other man for her. Hawke might see her as a child but Sienna’s childhood has left her with many a scar and experienced so much more than even an adult might be subjected to during their entire lifetime. Sienna is an X-Psy meant for one purpose alone; destruction. With the ferocity of the power that Sienna always juggles in her hands, Sienna knows that her emotional well being is a key factor in controlling and keeping the destruction at bay. What Sienna doesn’t realize is that for an X-Psy, there does come a point of no return when there would be nothing left but to give in to the deadliness that she lives with every second of each day.

There are so many elements to the Psy-Changeling stories that makes them what they are; an entertaining and one hell of a read. Juggling all these aspects of the story together with Hawke and Sienna, who in their own rights are just as complex and multi-faceted must have been something and once again made for a great read in my opinion. However, both Hawke and Sienna have been waiting for their story for 9 whole books; Sienna had to grow up age wise enough for Hawke to not feel like he is the worst kind of pervert. On top of that there’s the issue of Hawke’s belief that he wouldn’t be ever able to give Sienna everything that she deserves and that would be the whole of him with nothing held back.

At first, I loved the way Hawke’s resistance came tumbling down, bit by bit when it became clear to him that his wolf wasn’t backing down on this one. The many an exasperating situation Hawke finds himself in because of Sienna and her antics to live her life as she pleased ends up being fraught with so much tension one minute and the next so tender and wistful that one cannot help but feel all the longing held deep in check on both sides. And I absolutely adored how Sienna seemed to be able to match Hawke in intelligence and wit, giving her all those qualities that makes her the perfect life partner for Hawke apart from the almost visceral need that burns bright between them.

However, in my opinion, there was too much holding back on Hawke’s part when it came to the final combustive culmination on Hawke and Sienna’s relationship. There were so many interruptions into the interludes that took place between Sienna and Hawke and I know that it built up the frustration not just between Hawke and Sienna but the readers as well. I expected fireworks, explosions and Hawke to live up to his legendary prowess as the Alpha of the pack and give me some seriously panty-melting variety of combustive scenes of passion. But what I got instead was tenderness and love in spades, which is not a bad thing but I would say it does take away one essential aspect of Hawke from him; his wildness that is held deep in check because he is the one that holds his Pack together. I wanted him to be able to let go and lose that legendary control of his that had kept him from reaching out to Sienna and taking her up against a wall or any flat surface they  could get to because lets face it, Changelings are by nature sensual creatures. But perhaps, Nalini toned the whole thing down for Sienna because her “fragility” when it comes to her power and the darkness that consumes her is one that needed to be handled with utmost care for the story to have been what it was.

More than Hawke and Sienna’s courtship, I was more revered actually by the secondary romance that unfurled between Sienna’s uncle Walker and the SnowDancer healer Lara. Walker who has never let himself accept the fact that when it comes to Lara his feelings run deep and in a direction that it has never steered before made for riveting reading. Lara is a gentle soul with a spine of steel to back it up. She is the healer who gives her heart and soul into caring for people when they are in need of it the most. Not much of a dominant, Lara knows in her heart that taking a step back from Walker who doesn’t seem to want to pursue what is between them would be the best thing for her. But Walker surprises her with those little things that he does in showing just how much in fact that he does care and in the end I loved how the legendary cool of Walker broke down under the gentle playfulness and love that Lara gives him in spades. I think sometimes Lara and Walker’s story acted as a balm to the reader’s soul to take a step back from all the intensity this novel was in every other aspect.

I’m almost sad that I now have only just two books to read in the series and would have to wait with the rest of the fans of this legendary series for the next book that is scheduled to come out in June of 2014. That is going to be a long wait I suppose if I do manage to get the time to squeeze in the other two books before then. I’m almost jealous of those who haven’t yet discovered the wonderfulness of this series, those who are yet going to find out just how talented Nalini is in keeping the reader engrossed from page one till the end. As always I must say, Nalini is a talent not to be missed in a genre that already has so many great authors. It is a tough job to stand out and do that exceptionally well with each book she publishes. And to the readers who are just starting out on the series or a halfway tempted to skip to Hawke’s story, I tell you just as Nalini told me, don’t. It’d certainly be worth the wait to see how the world and the lives of everyone shapes up in the rest of the stories.

Recommended for fans of the series and fans of Hawke! You just might end up with lesser misgivings that I did after reading because I seem to be in the minority with those who think that Hawke’s story lacked that something which would have made it a stupendous read. But even then, this as any novel in the series is awesomely well done and I cannot recommend this book and the entire series highly enough!

Final Verdict: Hawke and Sienna; an explosive combination that sets the whole series afire.

Favorite Quotes

It took every ounce of will he had to drop her arm, to not accept the unintended invitation and take them both to the floor in a tangle of skin and heat. But he couldn’t stop himself from running the knuckles of one hand down her throat as he stepped away, his gut tight, his body so damn hard he might as well have been made of steel. He moved until he was in prime position to watch her, and then he waited. She did nothing for a long, still moment, and he thought she would deny him this.
But then Sienna began to move.
And his wolf stopped pacing.

“Did you ever play?” Hawke’s voice so rough, his body so muscular and overwhelming.
She had never felt more feminine, never felt more like a sexual creature. “No.”
A pause. “Sienna—”
“No,” she said. “No more questions. Not tonight.” She wanted to dance with him, be a woman in the arms of a man who made every part of her awaken in a hunger she’d never expected to feel and who, for this magical moment, was hers.
His jaw, heavy with stubble, rubbed against her temple again as he shifted his hold to press her closer. Then, as the music played, as the night grew softer and quieter, they danced.

“It was easier to believe that my shot at mating died with Rissa than to risk that kind of pain again.” Thrusting his hand into her hair, he shook his head. “Except I never had a prayer when it came to you. You’re in my every breath and every thought, intertwined so deep inside me that love’s not a strong enough word—you have my devotion, your name branded on my soul, my wolf yours to command. A hundred years? It’ll never be enough. I want eternity.”

Purchase Links: Amazon | BookDepo | B&N | Kobo | iTunes

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