Category / Great Read

Rating of 4 Stars

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Just Friends by Robyn Sisman

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Her Secret Fling by Sarah Mayberry

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Purchase Links: Amazon | BooksOnBoard 

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Missing by Shiloh Walker

Format: E-book
Read with: Microsoft Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: None
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Hero: Cullen Morgan
Heroine: Taige Branch
Date of Publication: November 4, 2008
Started On: January 1, 2010
Finished On: January 5, 2010

Nobody spins a tale of love and suspense better than Shiloh Walker. I absolutely love her books. Except for novellas, her stories are insightful and you can just feel the passion between the two characters unfold right in front of your eyes and this story is in no way an exception to the rule.

Cullen Morgan meets psychic teen Taige Branch on a holiday vacation that Cullen’s family takes in the Gulf Shores in Alaska. Taige, whose parents died in a fatalistic car crash, lives with her religious zealot of an uncle, who makes his distaste for the psychic powers that Taige tries to deal with and ignore everyday of her life evident in his dealings with her. And then she meets Cullen, who is the only person Taige feels connected and safe enough with and soon after falls in love with.

Cullen accepts Taige for who she is until Cullen’s mom is brutally raped and murdered. Cullen blaming Taige for not being able to save his mother brutally cuts off all ties with Taige. The story continues years later, where Taige has learnt to channel her psychic powers and now works under contract for government agencies in trying to help rid the society of psychopaths who prey on small children. Taige has never trusted anyone enough to have an intimate relationship with after Cullen though there are these intense dreams that Taige keeps having about Cullen caring for her and loving her as she has yearned for ever since the day Cullen made her walk out of his life forever.

When Cullen’s daughter goes missing, it drives him back to Taige. Now Cullen who once couldn’t forgive her for not saving his mother asks for Taige’s help in finding his daughter. As they find Cullen’s daughter, Taige is pushed headlong into finding a killer who kills children with special powers like herself and the killer that she seeks just might be too close to home for comfort. All through this, Cullen finds what the severe ending of their relationship had cost Taige and vows to win her back into his life no matter what.

The only part that I was unhappy with was the fact that Taige lost so much in her life when Cullen abruptly ended their relationship, and Taige never got the chance to put up a fight when Cullen wooed her back into his life. I guess the intense connection between them that did not cease with time or distance really played a big part in making this all believable. I can’t believe that I put off reading this book for so long. Should hunt down all Walker’s new releases and start going at them ASAP.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Led Astray by Sandra Brown

Format: E-bookledastray.jpg
Read with: Microsoft Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Hell Raisers, Book 1
Publisher: Mira
Hero: Cage Hendren
Heroine: Jenny Fletcher
Date of Publication: March 1, 2005
Started On: December 29, 2009
Finished On: January 1, 2010

This was a book written by the author under one of her pseudonyms Erin St. Claire during the 1980’s. This is a re-read for me, as it happens mostly with me cos every now and then I always remember this story and how much I loved the book when I first read it.

Cage Hendren is the second son of Reverend Bob Hendren and his wife Sarah, both of whom have never disguised the fact that they find Cage and his wild ways despicable. Hal their first born had always been the one who has had their affection and love as he was the one who was following the footsteps of his father. Jenny Fletcher is brought into the Hendren family when her parents and only sister were killed in a fire at their home. Having nowhere to go, the Hendrens had taken her in and brought her up as one of their own.

Hal and Jenny were expected to get married, and Jenny never one to want to create disharmony amongst the people who had loved her like their own has gone along with the plans and convinced herself that being Hal’s wife is what she wants in life. Meanwhile, Cage has always loved Jenny from afar though Hal and Jenny are practically engaged to be married.

When Hal goes off on a mission to rescue some refugees from a war torn country and gets killed in the process, Jenny finds herself depending on Cage and finds out that Cage is not the wild and crazy person that everyone portrays him to be. In the process of falling in love with Cage, Jenny finds the strength within herself and help from Cage to become the woman she needs to be.

Lovely story with two strong characters and interesting plot to keep things going.

Till next time!

And a wonderful new year to everyone!

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Dream A Little Dream by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Format: E-book
Read with: Microsoft Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Chicago Stars, Book 4
Publisher: Avon
Hero: Gabe Bonner
Heroine: Rachel Stone
Date of Publication: February 1, 1998
Started On: December 25, 2009
Finished On: December 26, 2009

The next book in the Chicago Stars series, this is the story of Gabe Bonner, younger brother of Cal from Nobody’s Baby But Mine. There were tidbits of Gabe’s story in the previous novel and my interest was piqued to find out whether the author had ever gotten around to writing Gabe’s story since I felt in my gut that it would be a fabulous one and I’ve got to say it definitely has been a worthwhile read.

Gabe Bonner, a man who lost everything he held dear to his heart when his wife Cherry and son Jamie died in a hit and run accident is a man who just goes through the motions of living a life. A veterinarian who has no interest in healing animals after the accident, he turns all his attention to fixing up the drive-in movie theater in town just so that it would give him something to do to keep those dark memories at bay.

Rachel Stone, a woman who is nearly at the end of her wits for the constant struggle for survival of her and her young son Edward Stone, is a woman who is scorned and hated by everyone in Salvation. Her ex-husband Dwayne had been a televangelist who had ripped the community of their savings, the sole blame of which Dwayne had successfully swayed his followers to believe lay on Rachel’s shoulders. Even then, Rachel is determined to make things work for her son and in a desperate attempt to earn money forces Gabe to hire her to work at the drive-in even though he makes it no secret that he can’t stand to be around Edward and her.

However, gradually Rachel and Gabe both find that they can’t deny the need they arouse in each other, though Gabe still has problems communicating with Edward, who thinks Gabe is no good for his mother. On one side of the story is the tale of how Ethan Bonner the reverend of  Salvation finds himself having to confront his feelings for his life long friend and secretary Kristy who has always loved Ethan from afar.

With everyone except Gabe, Kristy and Jane rooting for Rachel, and a town full of people who refuse to hide their animosity for her, Rachel and Gabe finds that within themselves lie an unending amount of courage to face anything and that this woman who has not a penny to her name and survives with dignity and pride can finally heal Gabe and teach him how to love again.

This story is one packed with complex relationships and emotions that leaves one wanting to finish the book till the last page is through. I loved every bit of the Connor brothers’ stories and have to say that Susan Elizabeth Phillips has done a marvelous job in creating such wonderful characters that would stay with you for a long time even after you finish the series.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Witness by Sandra Brown

Format: Paperback
Read with: Paperback
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Hero:Dr. John McGarth
Heroine: Kendall Deaton
Date of Publication: May 1, 2007
Started On: December 12, 2009
Finished On: December 13, 2009

Kendall Deaton with her 3 month year old son Kevin is on the run for her life. Witnessing heinous murders committed by a group calling themselves The Brotherhood of which her husband Matt and father-in-law Gibb were prominent members of, Kendall has no choice but to disappear from the face of the earth so that the members of The Brotherhood, which had its members even in federal law enforcement agencies had no chance of finding them.

Kendall and her son are soon found by FBI agents Pepperdyne and John, who is assigned the task of delivering Kendall to the authorities as the key witness in the trial to convict the members of The Brotherhood. However, a fatalistic crash of the car they are travelling in lands John with amnesia giving Kendall the chance to once again flee and make her way to her originally planned hide out. In the process to waylaid the authorities, Kendall proclaims John to be her husband & John thwarts her plans of fleeing into the night when he demands that Kendall couldn’t leave her ‘husband’ to fend for himself especially while supporting a broken leg with the amnesia.

Amidst the mistrust between Kendall and John stirs the beginning of an attraction that the readers can’t help but feel to their bones. Sandra Brown does an excellent job of weaving the story of the magic that happens between Kendall and John while relating the horrific events that occurred  in Prosper, South Carolina where Kendall worked as a public prosecutor, that led to this tumultuous turn of events.

This is a highly fast paced read, one that I guarantee cannot be put down with engrossing characters and a great plot to keep you riveted to your seat till you read the last page.

This is actually a re-read for me. This was the second book that I read from this author and I have always remembered it to be the one that got me hooked on Sandra Brown’s books and I have to say the same magic wove itself on me this time too.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Kiss Me While I Sleep by Linda Howard

Format: Paperbackkissmewhileisleep
Read with: Paperback
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Series: John Medina, Book 3
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Hero: Lucas Swain
Heroine: Lily Mansfield
Date of Publication: April 26, 2005
Started On: December 5, 2009
Finished On: December 7, 2009

Lily Mansfield is a woman hell bent on vengeance & revenge against the powerful Nervi organization operated in Paris. Seeking justice for the assassination of her close friends Tina and Averill (both of whom had previously being contract killers themselves) and their adopted daughter Zia who had actually been found abandoned and starving to death, by Lily on one of her jobs to Croatia. Since Lily’s life as a hired killer didn’t provide the most stable environment to raise a little girl, Lily had let her friends adopt Zia, and the three of them had held Zia dearer to them than anything else.

Lily kills Salvatore Nervi, the head of the Nervi organization nearly killing herself in the process and goes into hiding in the one place Salvatore’s son Rodrigo Nervi wouldn’t think of looking for her. But as most powerful organizations in the world, the Nervi organization has their hands in all the important agencies of the world with pretty strong political ties with the richest governments in the world, which makes it quite easy to identify the woman who had deceived Rodrigo’s father and ultimately led to his demise.

The CIA dispatches their agent Lucas Swain to track Lily down and bring her down. With Rodrigo hot on Lily’s trail as well, Lucas befriends Lily & ultimately finds himself intrigued on what had actually lured Lily’s friends Tina and Averill out of their retirement into bombing one of Nervi’s laboratories, which had resulted in the murder of the whole family. Unearthing the secret that the Nervi organization was in fact producing a vaccine to combat a strain of the avian influenza virus that has the capability of human-to-human transmission, whilst mass producing the strain of the virus itself to unleash on the world to reap the benefits in millions of dollars, being the only organization having a vaccine at hand.

Things get interesting when Lily and Swain are hired by the same anonymous person who lured Averill and Tina for the initial attack on the laboratory, to destroy the lab and the scientist who is engineering the virus & the vaccine once and for all. As most of the novels by  this author, this too delivers a superb tale with a splendid cast of characters, with the right mix of intrigue, mystery, passion, love and family politics with a surprising twist at the end of the tale.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Divorced, Desperate and Dating by Christie Craig

Format: E-bookdivorceddesperateanddating.jpg
Read with: Adobe Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Series: Divorced & Desperate, Book 2
Publisher: Love Spell
Hero: Detective Jason Dodd
Heroine: Mystery writer Sue Finley
Date of Publication: November 25, 2008
Started On: December 4, 2009
Finished On: December 5, 2009

Christie Craig is a new author, whose books I have never come across before. With a total of 5 novels out so far, 3 of them belonging to the Divorced & Desperate series, this author writes with the sort of dry humor that only few can pull off and entertain the reader as much as this book has kept me entertained.

This book can be read as a standalone although it is the second book in the Divorced & Desperate series, though after reading this, my interest has been piqued enough to consider reading the first book in the series Divorced, Desperate and Delicious and the third book which is to come out this month has definitely found a place in my never ending pile of to-be-read books.

The Divorced & Desperate series is centered around three women each with a bad divorce up her sleeve who vow to uphold a period of celibacy. They get together weekly to rant and rave about men, sex and everything to do with relationships and marriage in general.

Sue’s story starts when Lacy and Chase’s story ends in the first book of the series. Jason Dodd is Chase’s detective partner, Lacey being the first one to break the vow of celibacy of the Divorced & Desperate club and tie the knot with Chase.

The story kicks off when Sue, receives a dead rat via post, and the profile of a stalker who is copying the gruesome scenes from Sue’s own books starts to emerge, landing Sue in the awkward position of having Jason as her self proclaimed protector till whoever is playing havoc with Sue’s life is apprehended, whose earth moving kiss and a promise to call which was never fulfilled after a three month period had passed had prompted Sue to try and break her self proclaimed vow of celibacy and start dating.

The ensuing tale is hilarious with a quirky family on Sue’s side to make things more interesting. Commitment phobic Jason, a result of living in too many foster homes, each rejection making him vow never to let anyone close enough to hurt him, finds himself in a constant battle to tamp down the feelings of intense passion, tenderness and protectiveness that Sue effortlessly unleashes within him.

If dry humor, a good plot line with a little mystery thrown in to perk things up in between is your piece of cake then this book is for you. I guarantee you that this author definitely doesn’t disappoint in any of these departments.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Year of Living Shamelessly by Susanna Carr

Format: E-bookThe Year of Living Shamelessly
Read with: Stanza
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: NAL Trade
Hero: Ryder Scott
Heroine: Katie
Date of Publication: October 6, 2009
Started On: November 7, 2009
Finished On: November 7, 2009

Being the first book that I tried of this author and I would have to say I absolutely loved every bit of this book.

Katie has been in love with Ryder ever since like in forever. Ryder is best friends with Katie’s brother and has always been an integral part of Katie’s family. Being abandoned by his mother when he was quite young, Ryder feels that he is unlovable and although he desires for Katie, Ryder believes that once Katie really gets to know him, she too wouldn’t want anything to do with him.

Katie tries on many unsuccessful attempts to make Ryder notice her as a woman so that they could both embark on the journey of their lives together. However, Ryder proves a tough nut to crack. Embarking upon this journey together with Katie are her two likable best friends Melissa and Hailie and their many attempts together makes for a laughable rendezvous.

Ultimately, Ryder makes plans to move to Dubai and leave everyone of his hometown behind, because Katie seems to grow more desirable every day and Ryder doesn’t want to ever break the promise he made to himself in that he would never take what Katie is offering ever.

So in comes Katie with all the kinky stuff that she can find, persuaded by Ryder’s ex-lovers that that’s what he is into. And I  had so much fun finding out that Katie goes through all those painstaking hours of research for nothing, when it turns out, Ryder just wants Katie as she is.

This book is a great romance with hot and steamy interludes between Katie and Ryder with a lot of laugh aloud moments which I am sure any reader of romance books would appreciate.

This book does open up the possibility of a good romance novel between Hailie and Katie’s brother and I really do hope that Susanna Carr writes up as good a romance for those two as she had done for Katie and Ryder.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Then Came You By Lisa Kleypas

Format: Paperbackthencame you
Read with: Paperback
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Publisher: Avon Romance
Series: Gamblers, Book 1
Hero: Alex, Lord Raiford
Heroine: Lily Lawson
Published on: June 1, 1993
Started On: August 17, 2009
Finished On: August 22, 2009

My first book from Lisa Kleypas was the second and last book in the Gamblers Series where I fell in love with Lisa Kleypas’ style of writing and her vivid characters that are quite different from most of the characters portrayed in historical romances. Even when I was reading book 2 of the series i.e. Dreaming of You (let me take a breather here to remember Derek Craven *sighs*), I was curious to read the story of Alex and Lily who play minor secondary roles in the story. So here I go!!

Lily Lawson, portrayed as a woman who can live up to anything in a man’s world (she hunts as good as any lord/marquess or whatever & gambles  better than most men) and basically gets away with being notorious because she is such a daredevil. But behind this facade lies endless heartache and pain. Betrayed by the man she was betrothed to at the altar, fleeing to Italy with her eccentric aunt to Italy, finding a man who Lily thinks is the one and surrendering to one night’s passion which is not so passionate for her in the end leaving her pregnant. No one back in England except Derek Craving who secretly yearns for Lily but wants better things for her than he could ever be and shares as close relationship with a woman as he ever would, knows that Lily had Nicole out of wedlock and that her child at the age of 2 years was kidnapped by her father who fled to London with Nicole upon facing various criminal charges. Lily who is left off with a comfortable inheritance by her aunt, spends most of it trying to get her daughter back from her father by paying him off in huge lump sums until finally she is left destitute.

Enter Alex, Lord Raiford’s world. Grieving for his American fiance who had died in a tragic hunting accident and betrothed to Penelope Lawson, Lily’s younger sister for all the wrong reasons  that she would never make him vulnerable enough to hurt him like the death of his previous fiance did portrays Alex as a deeply private man who is immensely wealthy.

The story that unfolds is at times hilarious and heart wrenching too. Penelope who is in love with Zachary, who has a lesser title to present than Alex, desperately seeks the help of Lily to prevent Alex and Penelope from getting married. Lily intervenes, turns Alex’s world upside down, and eventually detains Alex long enough at her home by tying him down to her bed to allow Zachary and Penelope to elope together. Alex who had been keeping the feelings that Lily evokes in him in check, lets them loose and hunts Lily down, wagers 5000 pounds for one night with her and wins Lily over.

Taming Lily who has never wanted to bow to a man and let him lead her life ever before finds herself enchanted when instead of offering her to be Alex’s mistress as she thought he would, finds herself married to him. Lily afraid that the news of illegitimate daughter would drive Alex and his love away keeps it a secret from him until he finds his wife and her daughter’s notorious father in a supposedly compromising position which finally propels Lily to spill the beans.

Though I didn’t love this story as much as I did Derek’s story, this one still had its moments of passion, laughter and love all packed into one.

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

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