Category / Fair Read

Rating of 2.5 Stars

by mvbookreviewer

Requested ARC Review: Fatal Hearts by Norah Wilson

Format: E-bookfatalhearts
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Hero: Boyd McBride
Heroine: Hayden Walsh
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: August 19, 2014
Started On: August 26, 2014
Finished On: September 4, 2014

Boyd McBride turns up in Fredericton to solve the mystery behind the sudden death of his twin Josh who had been pursuing the truth behind their adoption years ago, which seemed to have been carried out seemingly under the most shadiest of circumstances. Boyd doesn’t accept that Josh died of natural causes like everyone else is inclined to believe. Digging into the everyday life that Josh had led brings Boyd up close and personal with Dr. Hayden Walsh, Josh’s best friend.

Given that they were identical twins, Hayden would never have thought that she would respond to Boyd McBride on an intrinsic level that she had never responded to when it had come to Josh. Though Hayden tries to hide behind her walls of self preservation, she has a hard time sticking to her guns when it comes to Boyd and the grief that they share over Josh whom they both had loved so much. As Boyd starts digging and begins to uncover clues that would lead him to the eventual truth, Hayden realizes that there is more to the no strings attached affair that she and Boyd embarks on after giving into the tumultuous desire between them.

Norah Wilson is an author that has always worked for me. Her books always have a lot of heart, depth and emotion, not to mention the heart thumping variety of heroes that you can never get enough of. Her books like The Mezeretti Effect and Lauren’s Eyes, later published under Montlake as Every Breathe She Takes testifies towards the immense amount of talent she has. And it pains me to say that Fatal Hearts didn’t do it for me.

At first, when Boyd walked into the book with his brood and heart stopping good looks, well you can imagine what I would have gone through. But as the story progressed, I felt that Boyd didn’t live up to his potential, perhaps the reason being the narrative was a bit too dry and procedural in the story. I love books that go into depth with the crime solving aspect but I felt that this book could’ve removed a 100 plus pages and still would’ve managed to tell the same story.

I don’t like writing reviews that sound negative, but as a reviewer it is my duty to be honest about how I feel about a book. I believe with my whole heart that Fatal Hearts had the ingredients that would’ve made a helluva romantic suspense. Boyd could’ve turned into the hero that could’ve made me weep for thousands of reasons and Hayden though I did love her as she was, I felt she too could’ve shined just a tad more. While the mystery aspect was predictable, that still gave the story a bit of an edge that kept the pages turning.

Having felt all out of sorts after reading Fatal Hearts, I did look up a couple of reviews on Goodreads to see how other readers have felt. Surprisingly, a lot of them have given Fatal Hearts 5 stars though a couple of readers like myself have stated feeling the same way I felt when I read the story. In the end I would have to say that it was my love for Norah as an author and the warm, beautiful person behind the name I’d gotten to know through social media, is the reason I gave my every effort to finish the book.

Honestly, if this is where you aim to sample Norah Wilson, I would caution you to stop right there. Pick up any other book, preferably either The Mezeretti Effect or Every Breath She Takes. Those are the stories that would blow you away and make you fall in love with Norah’s ability to spin a wondrous tale that entertains and excites and that’s what you should be reading.

Final Verdict: For those who love reading procedural romantic suspense.

Favorite Quotes

There was the slightest hesitation on his part, long enough for her to wonder if she’d made a horrible mistake. Before she could retreat, he lifted his hands to her head, holding her in place as his mouth crashed down onto hers.
The thrill that forked through her was almost painful, leaving her nerve endings feeling singed. Her heart thumped so hard, she could feel her pulse throbbing in her fingertips.

“Touch me,” she commanded.
He didn’t need any more encouragement. Or a road map. He released her hair and dropped that hand to clasp one of her breasts. His thumb found the stiffened peak through the thin fabric of her bra and T-shirt, and she gasped softly.
Then his lips were on hers again, as though he wanted to take the sound into him.

She moved with him, meeting his every thrust. He felt the tension rising in her as the tempo increased. Going down on one elbow, he reached between them to part her folds wider, moving higher to hopefully give her more friction. That tipped her over the edge she’d been striving for. Her words were broken, sobbed out of her, as her orgasm rose, peaked, and rolled over her. It was all he could do to hold on and let her ride it out before his own need took over.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N

fairread

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Never a Gentleman by Eileen Dreyer

Format: E-bookneveragentleman
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: The Drake’s Rakes, #2
Publisher: Forever
Hero: Richard William Price Manners Hilliard
Heroine: Grace Georgianna Fairchild
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: April 1, 2011
Started On: December 2, 2013
Finished On: December 3, 2013

Everyone who knows my reading tastes know that I am someone who loves an angst ridden romance. Never a Gentleman, book 2 in the Drake’s Rakes series landed in my TBR pile because I kept getting recommendations of the fact that this is a  book that offers a healthy dose of just that. Since I was already on a historical romance reading binge the last couple of reads, I decided to finally take the plunge and see what the fuss was all about.

Having never read an Eileen Dreyer before I didn’t know what to expect when I first delved into the story. Eileen tends to set an adequate pace for the story though I found the flow a bit tedious at times, perhaps because I have been spoilt rotten by the likes of authors such as Sherry Thomas and Courtney Milan whose beautiful prose alone makes me want to sink myself into the story and never come up for air.

My first disadvantage I believe was the fact that I didn’t read the first book in the series. I think I did miss out on the beginning of the “relationship” that blossoms between Diccan and Grace, a pair that is as different from each other as night and day. While Diccan is heralded for his uber good looks, his suave charm and the beautiful women he beds with, Diccan is a man whose diplomatic career looks to be promising as long as he carries out his duties perfectly in order to save the country and the Queen. Meanwhile, Grace is the spinster daughter of an army general, who dies a while back, leaving her alone to pursue her dreams for the first time in her life. Grace is plain looking, doesn’t seem to have anything striking about her features that would make people notice her except for the fact that she limps when she walks, which Grace would rather people never notice.

When Grace and Diccan are “forced” into entering a marriage of convenience, Diccan in the “noble” reason of saving Grace’s virtue while Grace does so to save Diccan’s reputation which is a necessity for his career; only Grace enters the marriage with hope unfurling in her heart that if she tries hard enough, she would able to win the affections of her husband.

Diccan who never thought he would feel anything for his plain and mousy looking wife is first appalled and then taken aback when he finds himself enamored by the woman he has married, the spell that she weaves on him one that is seemingly hard for him to turn away from. But then alas, duty calls, for which philandering seems to be a requirement, infidelity that would in return save England, his duty being to the country which would always come first.

I tried so hard to find any redemptive qualities to Diccan and came up short except for the time that Diccan refused to leave Grace’s side when she falls violently ill towards the latter part of the story. Even then, I couldn’t find it in me to like him much and neither did I like Grace for putting up with a lot of things that went on in her marriage. True to Grace’s character, her patience is the noblest of its kind, the lengths to which Grace goes in order to fit into the life that Diccan leads, even accepting his dalliances by demanding that he give her the same kind of pleasure that she actually witnesses being bestowed upon Diccan’s mistress.

Believe me, I am someone who loves dark heroes and by dark I mean the type that most readers tend to shy away from because they don’t fit into the feminist agenda that most readers of romance have these days. If I am being blunt, I found Grace to be a doormat heroine throughout most of the story, hiding her true passion and the fire inside of her for a man who pretty much neglects her as soon as she starts to mean something to him; all of course in the name of saving the country.

I found Diccan to be a tiresome hero at best. I just didn’t find him to be an alpha hero; I tend to call a hero alpha when he is decisive and able to take things in stride and do what is needed without petty excuses to make himself feel better. And while I can take cheating in a romance as long as there is even a dim light at the end of the tunnel which paves the way for redemption on the hero’s part, I am all for it. But the excuses that seemed to focus around Diccan being the savior of the country making him the kind of neglectful hero he was made him a complete turn off for me in most of the ways.

While certain readers seem to have fallen in love with the story, I would say that this could have definitely done much, much better! Dark heroes I am all for it, alpha asshole heroes; I can definitely live with them, but the kind of excuse of a hero Diccan turned out to be? I just don’t think I would ever be able to love someone like him.

If you are planning on reading Never a Gentleman, I would caution you to read book 1 first. Perhaps then Grace and Diccan’s character might make the impression that the author was going for on you.

Recommended for fans of the author.

Favorite Quotes

Not a kind word. Not a caress. His eyes were closed and his hands were fisted in her hair. She swore he was growling, and the sound reverberated in her chest. She felt impaled, split, the pressure of him inside her unbearable. Yet her body tightened, seeking him, reveling in his loss of control. She lifted up, arching to fit him inside of her. She closed her eyes, all her focus on the unbearable fullness, the sliding, searing pleasure of him as he pumped into her, the abrasion of cloth and buttons and stays as he took her on the hard wood floor.

He never asked. She never begged. He simply shifted and she spread her legs to welcome him home. He kissed her again, long and deep and wicked, and then he drove into her, and she forgot everything else. She forgot needing or belonging or having. She forgot pride and self-respect and a lonely woman’s despair. For these moments he was hers, and she let him be.

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

fairread

by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Way Home by Dallas Schulze

Format: Paperbackthewayhomeds
Read with: NA
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Dell
Hero: Tyler Douglas McKendrick
Heroine: Meg Harper
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: December 1, 1994
Started On: November 16, 2013
Finished On: November 18, 2013

Margaret Harper or Meg is the heroine from the wrong side of town. Hailing from the small town of Regret in Iowa, Meg is four or five years old when her path crosses that of 14 year old Tyler McKendrick, his kindness alone during that fateful day earning him a place in her heart forever.

Tyler might not even remember the day that he had encountered Meg, but time and yet again their paths cross until for the last time when Tyler is home recuperating from an injury and runs across the altogether too beautiful, now 17 year old Meg.

Meg knows it’s too good to be true to even contemplate thinking that Tyler would be interested in her in the way that she daydreams about him. Her mother warns her of the consequences, but Meg’s heart knows no limits as such when it comes to Tyler and wanting him.

Their friendship was supposed to only last until the summer was over, but then fate had other plans in place when Tyler finds Meg on his doorstep, broken in a way that makes his blood run hot and cold with rage towards the man who dared to do that to her. Consequentially, Tyler finds himself and Meg entering a marriage of convenience which might’ve worked if his young wife wasn’t appealing enough to drive him slowly insane.

One thing leads to another and Meg and Tyler finds themselves traversing through the ups and downs of their marriage, through the good and the bad, making sacrifices along the way which ultimately brings closure to all aspects of the story but one, the secondary romance that takes place between Tyler’s best friend Jack and Meg’s sister Patsy.

The Way Home by Dallas Schulze could’ve turned into a swell read if not for the fact that the story became too bogged down with unnecessary details that made going through certain parts of the story a bit of a challenge. I managed to skim read through the bits that didn’t work for me and I think I still managed to get the gist of the story quite well. In my opinion there were parts of the story that could’ve totally being eliminated and perhaps the story would’ve been much more of a hit then.

Like most romance readers, I’m someone who loves a good marriage of convenience themed romance. I liked the subtle sexual tension that existed between Tyler and the virginal Meg and I think that is one aspect of the story that the author could’ve explored a bit more. Somehow the buildup to it all seemed to be missing in action when the actual deed happened, perhaps owing to Tyler’s super sensitive nature and Meg’s inexperience in the area.

Subtract some of the mundane details, zap the romance with a bit of heat and meanwhile if Meg could grow a spine or two in certain parts of the story, this could’ve turned into a memorable read indeed. The way things ended in the secondary romance that was partly the focus of the story makes me wonder whether Dallas came up with Jack and Patsy’s story. I bet that could prove to be an explosive read if the author manages to get all the elements right.

Recommended for fans of the author & fans of romances of the trope marriages of convenience.

Favorite Quotes

He ignored the voice that warned him he was stepping over the line he himself had drawn. One kids, he told himself. A simple kiss. What possible harm could it do?
Her mouth was just as soft as he’d imagined it to be, soft and yielding and his. He threaded his fingers deeper into her hair, cupping the back of her head to tilt her face up to his, deepening the pressure of his mouth on hers.

He felt the shudder that ran through her as his mouth touched hers. Five years, he thought. Five years and she still tasted of sunshine and mint. And then he stopped thinking at all but only felt. Felt the half-forgotten fire race through his veins, felt the familiar pressure of her body against his as she melted into his embrace.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | AbeBooks

fairread

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Skin Dive by Ava Gray

Format: E-bookskindive
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Skin, #4
Publisher: Berkley Books
Hero: Taye
Heroine: Gillie Flynn
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: July 5, 2011
Started On: October 24, 2013
Finished On: November 13, 2013

The Skin series by Ava Gray which comprises of 4 books in total started out so great. And by great I mean like the type of books that keeps you riveted and at the edge of your seat mixed with so much passion and heart thumping variety of alpha heroes that totally makes one swoon. And after I finally painstakingly managed to finish the last and final book which happens to be this one, I’m left with the question; what the hell happened?!

We meet Taye and Gillie, if I am not mistaken in book 2 of the series. Even then my interest was at an all time high to read about the mysterious Taye with the ability to control electric power and magnetic elements and of course his obsession with the woman who holds his undivided attention with whom he escapes from the prison in which they had both been subjected to various tests and experimentation, not to mention torture. And in Skin Dive we finally get their story, their journey of trying to find their own footing in a world that is still riddled with danger as their captors never cease in their attempts to look for both of them.

Gillie is a healer who bears the scars left behind by every person she had been forced to test her abilities on. She would rather she never have to use her abilities, but that doesn’t mean she is not going to stand up on her own two feet and test her boundaries and the sense of freedom that comes from leaving behind her days of captivity. Her need for Taye starts out as a slow burn that grows into an inferno of wanton desire, something Taye seems quite adapt at turning his back on though Gillie comes to realize later on just at how much of a cost he does it.

Skin Dive had all the elements that would have actually made this a wonderful read. Taye is a hero who has that brooding thing down to perfection. He has no memory of his past apart from fragments of disjointed nightmares that makes him believe that he is no good for someone pure like Gillie. The heroine Gillie sometimes made me question her abilities into truly seeing into the person Taye is. Taye hides from Gillie the price his “gift” takes on him, just how much of himself is withering away and dying every time he makes use of his powers to fight with their captors.

Then came a period of separation, which I’m all for if it adds on to the angst factor of two people supposedly so much in love with each other. Taye loves Gillie more than life itself and wants the best for her which is one reason he keeps out of her life, leaving her to make her own way. And though it did add a bit of angst to the story, I just somehow came up feeling empty rather than fulfilled when these two eventually make their way together again. Perhaps it had something to do with Taye’s feelings during the separation being kept under lock and key while Gillie’s were explained in depth.

Towards the latter part of the book, I just skimmed through the pages which seemed to bring to an end the organization that had been responsible for keeping people like Taye and Gillie as their own test subjects under captivity. And one other aspect of disappointment turned out to be how Tanager, the girl with an attitude a mile wide had her happily ever after crushed right in front of her which just made me sigh out in unhappiness and disappointment though I know that that is how life works out for most of the time.

I would recommend for those interested to read up to book 3. I loved those three books and would definitely recommend them. This one? Not so much.

Favorite Quotes

She had kissed him before, a clumsy caress that left him reeling with pleasure. He’d kissed her at McGinty’s to get the bastards to leave her alone. This time it would be different. He snared her hand and spun her into his arms. Lowering his head, he claimed her lips with fierce longing; he parted them with a single movement and then touched his tongue to hers. She whimpered, a sound full of innocence and curiosity. It set him on fire.

With such casual friendliness, he smiled like it hadn’t broken her heart to say good-bye to him, as if he’d never made love to her with his mouth, and she didn’t know what his face looked like when he came.

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

fairread

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Cowgirl Up and Ride by Lorelei James

Format: E-bookcowgirlupandride
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Rough Riders, Book 3
Publisher: Samhain Publishing Ltd.
Hero: Cord West McKay
Heroine: Amy Jo Foster
Sensuality: 4.5
Date of Publication: March 18, 2008
Started On: March 18, 2011
Finished On: March 19, 2011

Book 3 of the Rough Riders series seems to be a favorite amongst many of its die hard fans. I was one who was initiated into the series a little bit later than everyone else. My introduction to the series came with Keely’s story All Jacked Up which hooked me to Lorelei James’ writing style and her way of writing the most combustive scenes ever. And since then, I have read and loved each of the books in the series that has been published afterwards. But, I have always been a trifle bit reluctant to go back and read the rest of the books in the series that I have missed out because frankly put, I am not much of a fan of raunchy sex which involves more than one guy and one girl. However, as my friends on Goodreads advised, I could always skip those scenes and still enjoy the stories that were published before and so I decided to take the plunge and find out the reason why fans seems to love this book so much.

This is the story of 35 year old Cord West McKay who is the eldest son and the one on whose shoulders most of the responsibilities of the day-to-day running of the vast McKay ranch falls on. Marital bliss is not something that has worked out for Cord since his wife Marla, a floozy from West Coast that he married during his time in Seattle didn’t see it fit to share his life with him for better or for worse. Marla was never suited for the life of a rancher’s wife and six months after their son Ky was  born, Marla had hightailed it out of their lives needing a period of separation from her husband. How things work out afterwards is what propelled Cord to file for divorce and full custody of his son. Cord is a man who tests positive for the adage “once bitten, twice shy”. Since Cord prefers not to acknowledge the fact that he is lonely and needs a woman to share his life with he refuses to do anything about it until sweet Amy Jo Foster decides to grow up on him and drive him mad with desire.

13 years younger than Cord, Amy had fallen in love with him and what he stands for when she had been 5 years old. Amy has waited a long time for Cord to notice that she is not a little girl anymore and she refuses to stand on the sidelines and just continue to be ignored by the man she loves and compares every man that she meets with. Amy decides to heat things up and approach Cord the only way she would be able to have him & thus asks him to initiate her into the world of sex and sensual desires, covering up her need for Cord that runs much deeper than a physical ache.

Cord doesn’t want anyone else knowing about what goes on between him and Amy behind closed doors. But what Cord does not expect to happen is to have Amy reach into a place he has closed off after his wife left him, and for him to come to care about Amy in a way that goes beyond what they promised each other. But before they both can embrace their happily ever after, Cord has to face the true nature of his feelings for Amy and find the courage to lay his heart open to the woman he loves hoping that she would accept him before he goes mad with loneliness and the perpetual ache in his heart that refuses to go away without Amy in his life.

For me, Cowgirl Up and Ride did not turn out to be that swell a read. Maybe because I have experienced Lorelei James’ later books which deliver so much more on emotional and character development along with the good smut that made those reads my favorites. I just couldn’t connect much with either Amy or Cord and the way he calls Amy “baby girl” sort of got on my nerves. Yikes!! I am all for dominance and sexual prowess of the alpha male in the bedroom but somehow the way Cord treats Amy most of the time set my teeth on edge which only improved towards the latter part of the book.

Though this doesn’t rate as a 5 star read for me, there were a couple of things that I loved towards the end. I loved how Cord woos Amy back into his life and how their 4 month separation brings them together emotionally and lets them build a healthier relationship that wasn’t just based on sex towards the end. I always love it when a hero gets the groveling thing down to a pat and Cord seems to have passed that with flying colors. And though I admit I skipped over some of the sexual content of the book, I found myself enjoying the latter scenes in the book involving Cord and Amy, the time Cord invites Amy over after Ky is back home although even then he doesn’t want to admit just how much he has fallen for the woman who is his match made in heaven.

Recommended for the fans of the series.

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

fairread

by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Promise of Happiness by Betty Neels

Format: E-bookprom
Read with: Microsoft Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Harlequin Jazmin
Hero: Baron Raukema van den Eck
Heroine: Rebecca Saunders
Sensuality: 1
Date of Publication:  December 1979
Started On: August 4, 2010
Finished On: August 4, 2010

Its been ages since I last read a novel by Betty Neels. Known for stories that bring a soothing warmth to the reader, I also read a couple of her books in the late 90’s when I first started my foray into romance reading. The one thing that I always found lacking in her books even then was the fact there is little or no sensuality at all to her books, but rather a descriptive narration of the heroine’s life with the hero coming in now and then and at the very end, the hero professes his love and its a happily ever after for the happy couple.

This story is no different from the above when Rebecca encounters Baron on her journey to escape her stepmother and stepbrother from a life of servitude they had set upon her. Accompanying her are her beloved pets Bertie and Pooch, who look as bedraggled as she is when Baron offers them a lift into town. On the journey towards the hotel Baron was residing at, he learns that Rebecca is actually a trained nurse, though she doesn’t have any references to back her claim. And though Baron is not one to feel for people, he finds himself surprised at the pity that he feels for the mousy looking little thing who has had it so bad till now.

It is by chance that Rebecca encounters the Baroness, who has recently had a knee surgery done in disagreement with her nurse and it is Rebecca who helps her and puts to right what has been causing her pain. Thus Rebecca finds herself offered the job of being the Baroness’s nurse during a trip she is to make to see her sister and then later onto Holland where Baron promises that he would help her find a job and settle her down.

Looking after the needs of the Baroness seems like a lifesaver to someone such as Rebecca who had had life so hard for her after the death of her beloved father. Though Baron at first refuses to see any beauty in the nondescript little woman who takes such good care of his mother so efficiently, little by little he comes to appreciate what Rebecca stands for and who she is.

Meanwhile Rebecca continues to be in agony over the fact that she has fallen head over heels in love with someone who had professed that he was not attracted to thin mice and the fact that the beautiful Nina seemed to occupy much of Baron’s time.

In the end, its all a bit sudden when Baron professes his desire to marry her and give her everything her heart desires. I feel the story would have been better if Rebecca had left as she planned and Baron had had to come after her, just to give him a taste of his arrogance I suppose?

Anyhow it was good reading something that didn’t cause me so many emotional upheavals. So until my next review!

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard

fairread

 

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Second Best Wife by Rachel Lindsay

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

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

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

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

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

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

fairread

 

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Pride and Passion by Jenna Bayley-Burke

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Sensuality: 3
Publisher: Samhain Publishing Ltd.
Hero:  Jake Tolliver
Heroine: Lily Harris
Date of Publication: March 9, 2010
Started On: March 11, 2010
Finished On: March 11, 2010

Upon receiving the monthly newsletter that I get from Samhain Publishing and reading the synopsis of this book, I sort of had expectations that this book would turn out to be a delicious read. Though the story ain’t half bad it just felt like reading a Harlequin romance where petty jealousy and trust issues are pretty much the core material for the book which otherwise could have been made into a great romance.

Lily Harris is a woman who has nowhere to turn to. With her father dead leaving her with a mountain of debt and noway to crawl out of the mess with life as she knew it intact, Lily is surprised and shocked when her father’s business partner Jake Tolliver steps into clear away the mess and keep her safe. Lily has always felt apprehensive around Jake and this time round no less when Jake proposes that she marry him so that she could go on living the rich heiress lifestyle Lily has been accustomed to.

Whilst the truth of the matter is that Jake has always wanted Lily by his side ever since he saw her one year back and had been working towards making her his, Jake has his issues to deal with as well. Growing up with a mother who continually had to justify to Jake’s father that she wasn’t being unfaithful to him but rather trying to make a living for her and her son and getting beaten up for it has left its mark on Jake. Jake hasn’t ever done commitment to a woman and it would take some doing before he would explain his comings and goings to a woman and justify his associates and friends to a woman in his life like his mother had had to do everyday of her life.

Lily doesn’t understand all this when she is thrust into the cutthroat world that Jake inhabits. Jake and Lily enters into a wager that Jake would let Lily work at and learn the ropes of the business that her father so much loved, and if she does it before the new year rolls in, she wouldn’t need to marry Jake unless she comes to him on her own terms.

I don’t understand why Lily couldn’t trust Jake. I mean yes the guy was a Casanova before he tried getting together with Lily, but all she sees are the various pictures of the models and voluptuous women on his arm whilst being photographed all over the world. Of course it doesn’t help matters when Jake doesn’t come forward and explain that he is just a business partner and friend of Dee, the woman whom at first Lily tries to throw at Jake to ward his attentions off from her.

Anyhow by the end, as any typical Harlequin style romance novel, the hero manages to give and give and the heroine manages to thwart every effort of his until some calamity supposedly takes his life, or so the heroine thinks which makes her admit her feelings to the hero and that’s  the first thing that she does when she finds out he survived.

Ah, I guess I am just disappointed that this novel didn’t turn out to be what I expected. It could have been so much more. Really!

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

fairread

 

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Unforgiven by Delilah Devlin

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Lone Star Lovers, Book 2
Sensuality: 4
Publisher: Samhain Publishing Ltd
Hero: Cutter Standifer
Heroine:  Katie Grissom
Date of Publication: January 12, 2010
Started On: January 28, 2010
Finished On: January 29, 2010

This book deals with an issue that I have never come across before in a romance novel. That is the infidelity of the heroine. Usually in romance novels, its a real turn off to find out either the hero or the heroine had strayed to ‘greener pastures’. Most of the time rather than actually actually committing the act of infidelity, there is a misunderstanding between the hero and the heroine which is always later resolved in the novel. However it is not the case in the story of Katie and Cutter.

In the first book of this series which I didn’t read but was able to make out what happened by reading this book, Katie sleeps with Justin Cruz, now husband of Cutter’s sister Dani Standifer. Although Katie was in a relationship with Cutter at that time, no matter how wrong infidelity is, Katie was feeling vulnerable and alone cos Cutter wouldn’t really open up to her and give her what she needed.

Katie has regretted sleeping with Justin from the moment Cutter finds out what happened between the two. Resolving never to let Katie into his life again, which is a bargain he has held till now, seeing Katie gatecrash Dani’s wedding party is the last straw for Cutter. Thinking Katie had come to mourn over Justin, Cutter treats Katie like trash and takes what he has always wanted from her. Katie gives herself to Cutter thinking that she might get a second chance to work things out with him if she lets him have his way with her.

These two embark on a purely sexual relationship, the consequence of which renders Katie pregnant. I felt that this story was too rushed and thus the resolving of the conflict between Katie and Cutter didn’t quite give the satisfaction that I was craving as the reader. This story would have been much better and a more memorable one if the author had taken time to actually develop Katie and Cutter’s characters a bit more and resolve the trust issues Cutter had with Katie in a more believable manner rather than just all of a sudden confessing that he loves Katie and wants her to be his wife.

Anyhow okay for a quick read that doesn’t require much thinking on the reader’s part.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

fairread

 

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Just Friends? By Allison Leigh

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

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

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

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

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

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

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | AbeBooks

fairread