Category / Harlequin

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Once a Good Girl… by Wendy S. Marcus

Format: E-bookonceagoodgirl
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Medical Romance
Series: Madrin Memorial Hospital, Book 2
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Kyle Karlinsky
Heroine: Victoria Forley
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: February 1, 2012
Started On: February 19, 2012
Finished On: February 19, 2012

25 year old Victoria Foley is a perfectionist when it comes to everything that she does. Always the good girl whose childhood had been the furthest thing from ideal, Victoria’s only rebellion as a teenager had come when she had gotten involved with the bad boy of the town and ended up pregnant at the age of sixteen.

26 year old Kyle Karlinsky left home under duress and is now back, partly with the intention of showing those who had thought he was good for nothing that things had turned out quite well for him in the end. Holding a doctorate in Physical Therapy, Kyle is surprised when he encounters Victoria at the Madrin Memorial Hospital working as a nurse and not as the doctor that she had dreamed of becoming ever since he had known her.

The biggest surprise of all comes from the fact that Kyle is a father to an 8 year old boy and the fact that Victoria had never deemed it important enough to seek him out to let him know. Naivety and mistakes on both sides in believing the lies that had been fed to them both to drive them apart comes out into the open to clear up the air, but would Kyle be able to convince the prim and proper Victoria that his wild and impulsive nature is just what she needs in her life forever and ever?

Wendy has a way of writing heroes that are heartwarming, sweet, sexy and endearing and Kyle is no exception. Kyle has a lot of hurt bottled up inside of him, anger at the double standards that had existed in his hometown that had always found a reason to blame him for anything bad that happened. I loved him for his innate kindness, that inner strength that refuses to back down from a challenge, and of course his understanding of the woman who brings a whole new meaning to the word complex, but whom he loves with every fiber of his being.

Victoria is a heroine who is a bit hard to get into. She is ambitious, there is no question about that, but her love for her son surpasses any other ambition she might have and it is her desire to give him a sound future that has her juggling a hectic career amidst the hurdles of being a single parent. She is fiercely loyal and independent and has a painful past from which she still suffers, something that Kyle with his gentle yet searing touch heals and that was indeed one of the defining moments of the story. I loved the beautiful marriage proposal tucked inside the epilogue and cannot wait for the 3rd book in this series to come out.

If you loved medical romances with heart, give Wendy S. Marcus a try. She is an author who definitely knows what she is doing.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: Time Out by Jill Shalvis

Format: E-booktimeout
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Harlequin Blaze Publisher Series
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Mark Diego
Heroine: Rainey Saunders
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: February 19, 2012
Started On: February 11, 2012
Finished On: February 17, 2012

I am finding out that whether it be a short length or a full length novel, if it is Jill Shalvis that holds the steering wheel, there is no wrong turn the story can take. Time Out which is set to be released sometime within this month is one wild and enjoyable ride, a romance that just completely reeled me in and I couldn’t have found a better way to drop off to sleep afterwards, dreaming of a Mark that was all my own to do whatever I please with. *sigh*

Rainey Saunders has just turned thirty years old and is single, looking for that special someone. She and her best friend Lena both work at the North District Rec Center in Santa Rey, a small mid-California beach town. Rainey is a bit of a control freak, has the frizzy hair thing going for her and has a heart of gold that shines through right from the very start. She might have a hard time connecting with anyone in her dating life the way she did when she was dumb and crushing so hard on the delectable Mark Diego when she was just 16 years old. But she is way past that crush, or so she tells herself until Mark walks in, more delectable than ever, tempting her to take just a little bite out of him to satisfy all those cravings that practically fall all over themselves trying to get closer to him.

34 year old Mark Diego is the youngest, most popular NHL head coach in the country. With fame and fortune in his hands, Mark doesn’t allow himself to feel those niggling bouts of “emptiness” that hits him once in a while. Mark has always been ambitious, wanting to rise above the poverty in which he had grown up. Wanting to teach two of his players a lesson Mark makes his way towards his hometown, not at all expecting his life to take a totally unforeseen turn when he butts heads with the altogether grown up and too alluring for her own good Rainey who pierces through the rough and tough armor of his to lay siege on his heart.

The story that unfolds is what only Jill Shalvis herself can deliver. Though Rainey keeps reminding herself that she doesn’t want anything to do with Mark, her hormones keep sending the opposite signal, and time and yet again, both Mark and Rainey finds themselves in one clandestine position after the other which serves to be such a feast for the senses. There wasn’t one part of me that wasn’t clamoring to swallow Mark Diego in all his glory in one big gulp or should I say I wanted to savor him in nibbling bites so that the whole feast would last for a lifetime.

The thread of humor that is always a part of a Jill Shalvis book is there in this story as well, and the underlying issues that are much serious in nature also makes their impact on the reader as Jill takes the reader through stories of families hard hit by ravaging forest fires, abusive fathers and all that is brushed under the carpet by people who are mostly at the receiving end of such violent physical and emotional abuse.

The only thing that I was a teeny bit peeved about was the abruptness of the ending of the story. Though Jill managed to deliver that happily ever after I was clamoring for right from the very start, Mark and Rainey’s story ended a bit too hastily for my taste. But apart from that, everything in this story, and I mean everything was top notch, the type of contemporary romance that is too far and few in between these days. 

Delivering a Harlequin Blaze as it should be, Jill certainly packs a punch with Time Out. Intense and sexy as sin with characters of the caliber that only Jill can create, Time Out comes most highly recommended from the sunny side of life!

Favorite Quotes

“It’s good to see you as well,” she said, her mouth against his ear, her lips brushing the lobe.
He went still at the contact, then instead of trying to pull free, merely folded her into his arms, trapping her against him. And damn if her body didn’t burst to life, as if all this time it’d been just waiting for him to come back.
“Yeah, you’re different,” he murmured, doing as she had, pressing his mouth to her ear, giving her a shiver. “The little kitten grew up and got claws.”

At twenty-one, Mark had been long and leanly muscled, not a spare inch on him. Rainey’s gaze ran down his thirty-four-year-old body and she had to admit he was even better now. In fact, the only way to improve on that body would be to dip it into chocolate.

Her hands tightened on him. “I mean it,” she said. “We’re not doing this.”
“Define this.”
“We’re not going to be friends.”
“Deal,” he said.
“We’re not going to even like each other.”
“Obviously.”
She stared into his eyes, hers turbulent and heated. “And no more kissing—”
He swallowed her words with his mouth, delving deeply, groaning at the taste of her. He heard her answering moan, and then her arms wound tight around his neck.
And for the first time since his arrival back in Santa Rey, they were on the same page.

“Mark.” She fisted her hands in his hair and pulled his mouth to hers, her entire world anchored on his finger. When it slid inside her, she thunked her head back against the door and panted. Then his thumb brushed her in a slow circle.
She cried out against his lips, arching into him, yanking his hair. She couldn’t help it. She was going up in flames. He merely pressed her hard to the door, locking her in place. Continuing the torture, he added another finger. She came hard and fast, the power of it sweeping over her like a tidal wave. 

His gaze swept over her, hot and approving, as he lifted her up. “Wrap your legs around me— There. God, yeah, like that—” His voice was a low command, caressing her as much as his hands. “Hold on to me.” Then his mouth crushed her own as he pushed her back against the door.
She threaded her hands into his hair as he thrust deep inside of her. He made a rough sound of sheer male pleasure, his fingers digging into her soft flesh as she rocked into him. Again he thrust, slowly at first, teasing until she was begging. It was glorious torment, hot and demanding, just like the man kissing her.

The kiss ignited like a rocket flash. Not that this surprised her. Everything pertaining to Mark seemed to burn hot and fast. Frustration, lust…
His mouth was rough, hot and hungry on hers as he pulled her closer, taking control. She heard herself moan, kissing him with helpless desperation. If dessert was her usual drug of choice, it’d just been replaced because she couldn’t seem to get enough of him.

With a smug smirk, he kissed her again, then slid into her. Pleasure flooded her, so intense it arched her back and had her crying out, clutching at him. The teasing and fun vanished in a blink, replaced by something so intense she could hardly breathe. Mark’s eyes were dark and sultry, and she reared up to press her mouth to his. He took control of the kiss, making her melt into him all the more as he buried himself in her over and over, deeper, harder, faster, the entire time holding her gaze with his, letting her see everything she did to him.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Harlequin

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: More Than One Night by Sarah Mayberry

Format: E-bookmorethanonenight
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Harlequin Superromance
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Rhys Andrew Walker
Heroine: Charlotte Long
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: February 1, 2012
Started On: February 4, 2012
Finished On: February 4, 2012

Trust Sarah Mayberry to take a plot that has practically been done to death in the world of romance and still give readers a story that is worth remembering. In my eyes, Sarah Mayberry is one of the few authors in the contemporary romance genre who can do no wrong. Each and every single story that I have read from her has always been memorable, and her latest release is no exception to the rule.

32 year old Charlotte (Charlie) Long leaves the army after 14 long years of service and is trying to find her place in civilian life. Her best friend Gina sees a cause for celebration her first night back and that is how she crosses paths with the handsome, charming and sexy Rhys Andrew Walker, who himself is celebrating the successful sealing of a business deal that means the world to him. Driven, determined and ambitious is what Rhys is all about, and when he sees Charlie and the spark and connection between them is an immediate and instantaneous one, Rhys convinces Charlie to indulge with him in one night of decadent passion.

However for Charlie, the light of the morning brings forth with a vengeance the insecurities that had been kept at bay in the darkness of the night and Charlie slips away, believing deep in her heart that someone as sinfully good looking as Rhys would never give her the time of the day. Eight weeks later the story continues, Charlie slowly and surely finding her footing in the uncertain waters that is civilian life. And then comes the scariest revelation of her life; that she is pregnant with Rhys’s baby.

More than One Night is a story that stands true to the remarkable talent that Sarah Mayberry shows whenever she puts pen to paper to create her vivid cast of characters and emotions that practically seeps through the pages. And in More than One Night I found a story that nearly had me in tears, a relationship that when it unfolded had me holding my breathe in just to see how Rhys and Charlie make their way through a situation fraught with the unknown and emotions that neither of them had never felt before.

Charlie is one of the most complex heroines I have encountered in the fact that she has so much pain and feelings of insecurity buried so deep inside of her. As a child, Charlie had learnt early on to keep her emotions in check, to show a calm and controlled front to the rest of the world. Having never received love or affection from her father, Charlie had set out to join the military as the last attempt at winning over his affections. But even that had not turned out as she had thought it would though the military had given her a sense of belonging she hadn’t ever felt before.

The pivotal moment in the story during which Charlie came out with all the fears and insecurities that had been bottled up deep inside of her for a lifetime, I seriously found myself with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat the size of a roadblock that refused to go away no matter how hard I tried. And I am not one to cry easily either at movies or over a book, and the fact that Charlie’s character invoked so much emotion from me surprised me all in a good way. Needless to say, I loved Charlie, her straightforward and pragmatic manner, her loyalty, the way she wants to do the right thing above everything else and the way she faces whatever challenge that she comes across with a strength and determination that astounded me at times.

It is a rare circumstance for me to gush about a heroine in a book and totally forget about the hero. Rhys’s character was what made everything deep inside of Charlie better and stronger in the end. Rhys is the type of man who focuses on what he wants, goes after it and succeeds in his attempts to win over the goals he sets in his life. But all those things that had seemed so important to him before suddenly takes a backseat when he discovers he is going to be a father, a news that has him reeling at first. But slowly and surely, Rhys finds that becoming a father with Charlie in the picture is exactly what he wants and needs, if only he could convince Charlie to let go, to trust in him and their newfound love for one another.

It was a thing of beauty to witness the phases that Charlie goes through in order to come out the triumphant one in the end. Rhys works his brand of magic on her, like a soothing salve on those wounds that had festered away for far too long. As I said before, the emotional impact of the story is one that completely sucker punched me, from the sexually charged scenes to the beautiful proposal at the end that had me smiling through all the emotions that had bombarded me from all corners for the better half of the story.

If you want a story that would completely draw you in, characters that feel real, and go through honest emotions to come out winners with a love that is that much more beautiful because of the journey they take towards the ultimate happily ever after, this one’s for you.

Favorite Quotes

He leaned closer and she swallowed the rest of her words as he pressed a kiss to her lips. He lifted his head slightly and looked into her eyes. She stared back at him, stunned, her heart thudding against her breastbone. He palmed the nape of her neck, and then he was kissing her again, his tongue sweeping into her mouth this time, turning her legs to jelly.
She pressed her body against his, her skin on fire, desire beating a tattoo through her veins. His tongue stroked hers gently, provocatively, and she reached out and gripped his shoulders with both hands.
After a long, long moment he drew back. “Come home with me?” he asked very quietly, his voice a low husk.
Dear God, I thought you’d never ask.

Just when she was about to scream with frustration he flexed his hips and slid inside her. Her body welcomed him as he buried himself to the hilt. She let out a broken little sob, almost tearful over how good it felt to be filled by him, how hard and thick and hot he felt inside her.
He started to move, and within seconds she’d found his rhythm. Every clumsy sexual encounter she’d ever had, every second of self-consciousness over her body or her own needs, every doubt she’d ever experienced went out the window as she gave herself over to the moment.

He pulled her close and kissed her the way he’d been wanting to for weeks. There was the smallest of hesitations then she kissed him back, her body straining toward his almost desperately. She tasted of salty tears and need and he tightened his arms around her, wanting to take away the pain he’d caused her, needing to make things right between them. 

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N| Harlequin

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Sicilian’s Passion by Sharon Kendrick

Format: E-book
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Harlequin Presents
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Giovanni Calverri
Heroine: Kate Connors
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: October 5, 2001
Started On: January 26, 2012
Finished On: January 27, 2012

Released originally in 2001 and later re-released in Kindle in August last year, The Sicilian’s Passion by Sharon Kendrick is one of my favorite Harlequin romances. I remember re-reading this romance more than 3 times in fact, and its being around 3 years since I last revisited Giovanni and Kate’s tempestuous affair born out of their mutual attraction towards one another.

27 year old Kate Connors is an interior designer who is pretty much happy with who she is. Her clients are mostly the rich and sometimes the famous and that is how she crosses paths with Giovanni Calverri, tall, dark and with looks good enough to make the average woman swoon at his feet. The 34 year old Giovanni is used to women reacting towards him the way Kate does from the onset of their introduction. But the difference this time around is Giovanni feels as helpless as Kate in disguising the need that flares to life deep inside of him to claim the red headed beauty who tempts him unlike any other.

Furious with himself more than anyone else about the desire he feels towards Kate, it is a triumphant Giovanni that races towards Kate’s apartment to do his godmother’s bidding, secure in the knowledge that Kate had engineered the meeting that was about to happen between them. Things however go totally in the opposite direction as soon as Giovanni steps into the apartment, the desire that they both inexplicably feel towards each other refusing to be denied when there was nothing holding them back. However with the initial bout of lust sated, the self loathing that Giovanni feels starts festering, the truth about his relationship status driving him away as a thief would slink away into the dark night.

Though Kate comes to know of Giovanni’s betrayal, she cannot help but yearn for everything she felt in his arms, nor can she forget the answering need that had kept them locked in each other’s arms all through the night. And when Giovanni turns up at Kate’s apartment, now a free man willing to indulge in an affair that would satisfy his lust for the English woman once and for all, Kate takes what he offers knowing that she doesn’t have it in her to say no to Giovanni in any form.

Thus begins a most passionate affair that spans different corners of the globe until the inevitable happens and forces both Giovanni and Kate to confront their feelings of the more tender nature towards each other. The journey that they take towards the happily ever after is one that is filled with angst and lots of passionate, off-the-charts sexy moments that just makes my senses hum, no matter how many times I re-read this number. I love stories where the author doesn’t beat around the bush but gets to the heart of the matter which is why this book remains as a favorite of mine even after such a long time.

Giovanni is a hero who has got everything going for him from his good looks to his passionate nature that left me breathless every single time. A man who has always lived by the rules that had governed his life, Giovanni is a bit lost himself when he has to give in to the possessive streak that courses through him even from his first encounter with Kate. Kate is a heroine who is well matched to our Giovanni in her independent nature that asserts itself and makes Giovanni confront just more than his need for Kate’s body throughout their unusual affair. I loved how well they seem to complement each other, in bed and out of it, and loved seeing how Giovanni changes throughout the story. The epilogue tucked in at the end serves to be one of the reasons I will continue to re-visit this story time and yet again, because lets face it; a beautiful happily ever after is one of the major reasons why we love romances as much as we do.

Highly recommended to fans of angst filled Harlequin romances with a hero who has enough passion sizzling through his body to knock your socks off!

Favorite Quotes

‘I don’t believe I’m hearing this!’ she declared. ‘You’d been positively insulting about the fact that I knew nothing about Sicily—and just because I wanted to fill in a few gaps in my knowledge you make it sound like I had some kind of master-plan to ensnare you!’
‘You didn’t need a master-plan, Kate,’ he told her starkly. ‘Your eyes ensnared me from the first moment I looked into them.’

She shook her head, but it was too late, and he was pulling her into his arms and bending his head to hers and she supposed that she could have stopped him. Should have stopped him. But no power in the world could have prevented her lips from parting in a sharp little gasp of remembered pleasure as he drove his mouth down like a man who had been starved of kisses.

The feeling which rocked him took him completely off-guard, and her own corresponding gasps of pleasure as she spasmed around him made him tip his head back in a disbelieving kind of wonder as he came and came and came, his seed spilling uselessly into the condom.
And then he rolled off her and gazed unseeingly at the ceiling.
He hadn’t known it could feel quite like that.

Her big green eyes drove all conventional greetings clean out of his mind. Oh, what the hell? he thought savagely, and bent his head to kiss her.
‘G-Giovanni!’ The suitcase fell uselessly from her hand and her fingertips went straight up to his shoulders, biting into the sensually scented leather with an abandon which gathered momentum with each thrust of his tongue as he kissed her with shameless abandon.

‘You look like my every fantasy come to life,’ he whispered, his voice deepening.
‘How?’ she whispered back.
‘Wicked. Abandoned. And…’
She heard his hesitation, was intrigued by it. ‘And what?’
‘Here,’ he admitted. ‘Now. On my bed after too long. Waiting for me to make love to you over and over again.’

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

 

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Secret Admirer by Susan Napier

Format: E-booksecretadmirer
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Harlequin Presents, #1554
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Scott Gregory
Heroine: Grace Blair
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: April 1, 1993
Started On: January 22, 2012
Finished On: January 24, 2012

With my second book by the author, Susan Napier has landed in my list of favorite Harlequin romance authors. Even with the 2 books that I have read, I have come to identify with the fact that her books have those elements that continually surprises the reader, which is no mean feat when someone like myself who has read and loved 1000’s of romances can pick up a novel and be drawn into the story because of the opening chapter itself.

Secret Admirer kick starts with seven month widower Grace Blair being caught in an elevator with the man who turns her orderly and well controlled life around. Grace cannot help but be equal parts horrified and fascinated with the turn of events that takes place in the elevator, nor can she forget the heat that had blazed into life in the stranger’s eyes, who continues to haunt and taunt her in vivid dreams of the erotic variety.

When Scott Gregory walks into her life as a potential business partner, Grace cannot believe her eyes nor her luck in meeting the man who keeps popping into her thoughts and dreams at the most inopportune moments. But years of practice and teachings that had been ingrained into her from her childhood itself lets Grace handle the meeting in her usual icy and reserved manner, or so she thinks until she realizes the ease with which Scott invades her life, turning her whole world upside down and making her face the inevitable truth of her changing feelings towards him.

Scott Gregory, hands down, was the best thing about this story. His passion for anything and everything to do with Grace, his utter focus and zeal when seducing Grace and of course the way his senses clamor for Grace’s touch and the desire that he so evidently feels for Grace was such a beautiful part of the story. Scott has a few surprises in store for Grace, one that leaves her reeling, with feelings of possessiveness streaking through her very core. The fact that Scott gives her the one thing that he has been holding off from giving to any other woman should have convinced Grace of his much deeper feelings for her, but Grace continually thwarts Scott’s efforts until towards the very end which pissed me off for a bit when it came to Grace. But nevertheless, the passion, the chase and the ultimate surrender of Grace proved to make this a titillating read that held my undivided attention all throughout.

Highly recommended!

Favorite Quotes

She wasn’t aware of the rip he made in the back of her dress when his shaking hands wrenched the zip down, only of the molten sensuality of his gaze as he steered her into a shaft of light near the window and studied her breasts, nestled in their cups of pure white lace.
‘Sweet…pretty…did you wear this for me?’ he asked thickly, roughly tracing the outline of the lace across the curving swells. ‘Did you want me to take off your dress tonight, Grace? To admire you like this?’
‘I…’ His arousal was so flatteringly intense that she couldn’t deny him the truth. ‘Yes…’ She closed her eyes, gasping as she felt the stroke of his thumbs across the seams, finding the rigid tips that were evidence of her own desire.

Scott stood by the bedside, looking down at her. Then he spread his hands, revealing the fine tremors there.
‘Look what you do to me. You make me weak.’ Grace reached out a hand and touched his ridged stomach. ‘You’re the strongest man I know,’ she said softly, feeling the shift and clench of muscle under her fingers as she stroked them down to his belt. She tugged at it. ‘I want you.’

She felt shy, like a precious gift being gloatingly unwrapped, but she didn’t resent his moment of purely masculine triumph. The glory of the moment was also hers, this beautiful man hers. He was giving himself to her and asking nothing but what she was willing to give in return.

Her mouth trembled and parted and she began to gasp in light, shallow breaths that made her flushed breasts quiver deliciously, invitingly… He bent and touched a stiff pink nipple experimentally with his mouth, very gently. She jerked and cried out, exploding beneath him in a series of violent convulsions that almost unseated him. 

The taste of him exploded inside her mouth, filling her senses with an intoxicating warmth and aroma that had nothing to do with the amount of brandy he had consumed. He made sounds-rough, greedy, indistinct sounds that vibrated through her tissues, his lips and teeth and tongue consuming her with his passion. 

Finally, when she was shaking so much that he staggered with the violence of her pleasure, he drove her back against the wall and took her as she stood, careless of the clothes that bunched between them, oblivious to everything but the primitive, driving force that had conquered him far more devastatingly than he had conquered her.

‘Use me, Grace. If that’s what we’ve been doing so far, I love it. I want to be used. Now.’ He stretched, a long ripple of pure muscle as he invited her in a throaty purr that wrapped itself around her heart and drew her irresistibly towards him, the craving stronger than anger or fear. ‘You can insult me, hurt me, hate me… test me any way you like. I’m strong. I’m not going to run away just because things aren’t perfect between us…’

Purchase Links: Amazon | Abe Books

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Mistress of the Groom by Susan Napier

Format: E-bookmistressofthegroom
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Harlequin Presents, #1918
Publisher:Harlequin
Hero: Ryan Blair
Heroine: Jane Sherwood
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: October 1, 1997
Started On: January 22, 2012
Finished On: January 22, 2012

Sometimes, there is nothing like a good old Harlequin romance to really get your juices flowing. Susan Napier is a Harlequin author I have never come across before. And boy, was I glad to make acquaintance with her delivery of this perfect and sizzling romance of the red-hot variety late into the night, enjoying and reveling in every single moment of the interactions and the scorching hot attraction between two people for whom the phrase “hate is the beginning of love” is pretty much applicable.

Ryan Blair, the successful 33 year old millionaire and 26 year old Jane Sherwood who loses everything to Ryan’s methodical and ruthless revenge on her, are needless to say enemies who loathe and hate the very sight of each other. Jane had intervened and ruined Ryan’s wedding day to Jane’s best friend Ava, succeeding in driving Ryan away and giving Ana what she had wanted and had been afraid to ask for all along. Ryan’s revenge is a well-planned one, one that has Jane reeling from the effect of losing the business that had been the focus of all the churning emotions deep inside of her.

But beneath all the hatred and hostility lies a smoldering fire that blazes out of control the minute Ryan is provoked into taking Jane in his arms; the passion that bursts forth as hot and scorching as the anger that has blazed between them for a long time. One very decadent night of pleasure later Jane flees, the crack in her impeccable shields all but crumbs of dust around her after being so thoroughly seduced. But Ryan is a man not to be deterred in his attempts to seduce and charm the woman he wants into his arms and life, a battle Jane knows she is bound to lose with the love that she has hidden from the one man who has always been the one and only for her.

Mistress of the Groom is a novel that combines ALL the elements that makes a Harlequin romance memorable. I fell in love with romances amidst the stories of intense passion and ruthless heroes that is so much a part the Harlequin series back in the 80’s and 90’s. And I still love re-visiting those stories, and finding a new gem of a story from the thousands of romances that makes up the Harlequin world of romance – let’s just say it makes me one very happy romance reader!

The reason why I loved Mistress of the Groom so much was the fact that the story kept surprising me at every turn. From the beginning which was exhilarating and surprised me to my very core, Susan Napier spun a story that kept me on my very toes and in anticipation of every single bit of emotion that was wrung from me as the story progressed.

Recommended to fans of ruthless, determined and yet endearing heroes who just makes your toes curl up, fans of Harlequin romances and fans of romances where enemies turn to lovers!

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Tangled Lies by Anne Stuart

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Favorite Quotes

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

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

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Abe Books

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Fall of Maggie Brown by Anne Stuart

Format: E-bookthefallofmaggiebrown
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Short Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Harlequin Intrigue
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Ben Frazer
Heroine: Blanche Magnolia Brown
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: January 1, 2000
Started On: December 11, 2011
Finished On: December 11, 2011

I mourn the fact that there are no authors like Anne Stuart out there with a vengeance. I sometimes get restless after reading romances featuring overly sweet heroes, not that they aren’t enticing in their own way. Maybe I am sadistic, but I love a bit of ruthlessness in my heroes and I won’t mind if someone presents me with a mountain of books featuring the said variety of heroes. So my restlessness had me doing a Google search to seek out those authors that have a similar writing style. But I should have known better since from the very start I have identified the fact that Anne Stuart simply put, is one of a kind. So there I was searching through her back list to find a book that would catch my fancy and I ended up reading not one, but two Anne Stuart books in one day!

28 year old Maggie Brown has always been the sensible and responsible older twin whilst her younger twin Stella had always been as flaky and outrageous as their mother. Maggie and her father had always looked out for the two women and with him passing away two years back, the sole responsibility of cleaning up after their messes falls on Maggie’s shoulders. So it is her mother Delia’s sort of death-bed wish that Stella be present when she passes away that has Maggie taking a leave of absence from her job at the bank and flying to Las Cruces, San Pablo, a tiny country somewhere between Spain and France. And there she meets Ben Frazer, the man who drives her completely nuts, the man who ruffles her calm unlike any other and also the man who her senses clamor to possess and be possessed by.

Ben has an agenda of his own when it comes to the plain Maggie Brown who somehow gets under his skin right from the very start. Ben plans on leading Maggie around on a wild goose chase around the rough terrain of San Pablo just to prick and poke into that overly proper exterior of hers. The lively sword play of words that takes place between Ben and Maggie right from the start is overly amusing and serves as foreplay to the very hot and well done scene of explosive passion that Ms. Stuart provides towards the end.

Ben might want to brush away how much Maggie actually makes him feel and Maggie at first brushes away those twinges that come with sexual desire as hunger pangs. But both Maggie and Ben know that between them lies a load of sexual tension that is just waiting to ignite, that is just waiting to take them both to new heights in the culmination of their mutual desire and wanting for one another. There is something to be said for well done sexual tension that is headier on the senses than the most well done erotica and time and yet again, Ms. Stuart proves her capability and mastery at providing readers with just that.

With bits and pieces of a villain who stalks them both and has a personal score to settle with Ben, this short novel provided me with just what I needed and wanted in my attempts to read a book with a hero who isn’t an overly sweet one right from the beginning.

Recommended for fans of Anne Stuart and fans of her heroes, this one’s deliciously and mouth wateringly good!

Favorite Quotes

He hooted with laughter. “I should have known. Do you have a calculator for a brain and an adding machine for a heart?”
“I don’t think you need to worry about my heart, Mr. Frazer. It’s not going to have anything to do with you.”
His slow, lazy smile was quite possibly his most potent weapon. She wanted to slap it off his face, and yet at the same time it stirred odd, unexpected feelings in the pit of her stomach.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Abe Books

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Witness Seduction by Elle Kennedy

Format: E-bookwitnessseduction
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Series: Harlequin Blaze
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Caleb Ford
Heroine: Marley Kincaid
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: August 23, 2011
Started On: December 8, 2011
Finished On: December 8, 2011

Witness Seduction by Elle Kennedy is a sexy and sweet title from the Harlequin Blaze line that released on August of this year. Seeing a fantastically done review of this little number up on Goodreads certainly whetted my appetite for more and here I am finally, 2 months afterwards writing my review for a book that proved to be quick, entertaining and sexy read that I won’t be forgetting anytime soon. And a point worthy of mentioning is the fact that it was with the review of an Elle Kennedy book that I started this blog, that being her novella Heat of the Storm.

31 year old Caleb Ford has been a DEA agent for the past 10 years. His current mission is one that is personal to him, spying on the ex-fiance of a man called Patrick who is the reason for Caleb’s best pal’s death. Though he would like nothing more than to be detached from the woman he is spying on like every other mission he has been involved in to-date, something about the woman calls to him on a much deeper level.

27 year old Marley Kincaid wants to forget. Forget the fact that she had been duped so well by a man she had lived with for five long months and being none the wiser, forget that she had such poor judgement when it came to falling in love and giving up her heart. So she hides behind her job as a nurse and for the rest of the time works on renovating her house, not altogether amused by her best friend Gwen’s attempts at making her jump back into the dating world.

When Caleb and Marley’s worlds collide, she can’t help but be drawn towards the altogether too sexy and beautiful for words man who just seems to ignite a fire that burns hot and deep inside of her. Though Caleb feels not altogether too comfortable about making personal contact with the witness, he has no choice in the matter and he tells himself that he goes back to Marley in the name of the mission.

Before long Marley and Caleb together generates a fire that burns out of control, both unable to step back and away when it comes the burning sexual fire that has been between them right from the start. However, Patrick lies in wait, closer than either of them ever thought, biding his time until he can claim the one woman he is insane about, the one woman whose betrayal would bring the cards tumbling down.

Though a short story, Elle Kennedy has got a way with creating characters that are endearing and generate a passion between them that is scorching hot that reader cannot get enough of. Caleb’s character is not the type to ooze charm, which one would expect of him considering his movie star good looks and body. But he is taciturn at best, one who doesn’t find it easy to open up to other people. He likes his woman the way he likes his cars, fast and forgettable and Marley is definitely not that.

Marley’s character is such a sweetly endearing one. She is beautiful, cares about other people and has a way of drawing the inner person that lurks inside of Caleb that makes her such a great heroine. Caleb does betray her by lying about who he really is, and that hurts Marley more than she is willing to admit. And even then, she is intuitive enough to know, understand and believe that not everything that had conspired between them is a lie and is woman enough to forgive and accept Caleb back in her life, a man that completes her in every way.

I know that the term sweetheart is one that is used by heroes in a lot of books, but when it comes out of Caleb there is just something innately sweet and endearing about the term. And I found myself melting each and every single time he lets the term slip. With a cute little epilogue tucked at the end, I loved Witness Seduction and am hankering to find out whether Ms. Kennedy has any plans to write stories for some of the other colorful characters that we meet along the way.

Recommended for fans of Harlequin Blaze titles, fans of Elle Kennedy and for those that love a lil bit of mystery and action tied with passion of the toe curling variety.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Score Sheet Review: When One Night Isn’t Enough by Wendy S. Marcus

Format: E-bookwhenonenightisntenough
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Harlequin Medical Romance
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Dr. Jared Padget
Heroine: Allison Elizabeth Forshay
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: August 1, 2011
Started On: November 28, 2011
Finished On: November 30, 2011

CATEGORY SCORE GRADE
The hero 100 A
The heroine 70 B
Story line 90 A
Emotional Intensity 100 A
Story’s ability to suck me in 100 A
Heat & Sensuality 100 A
Conflicts within the story 85 A
Writing Style 90 A
Quotable Factor 90 A
The ending 100 A
Overall Grade 92.5 A

Score Sheet Summary

I found this novel quite by chance up on Goodreads. Look beyond the totally bogus cover and you discover a story well worth delving into. Though medical romances aren’t my favorite type of romances to read, I make time for them occasionally and  this is one time I am very glad that I made the exception to read one. I loved When One Night Isn’t Enough, the story has two likable characters, granted I loved the hero more and sometimes wanted to hit the heroine on the head for her innate stubbornness.

Dr. Jared Padget is such a dreamy, charming and sexy hero. Those killer dimples together with his totally drool-inducing body clad in scrubs and more so out of it, and the way he is such a total sweetheart when it comes to Allison was the reason I loved him so wholeheartedly. Beneath the charming exterior that he presents to the rest of the world lies such a tortured mess that I felt like bawling my eyes out for him. No female who had entered his life had shown him a reason to trust them with his heart, but nevertheless with Allison the fact that he was willing to let go and try just made him an all around fantastic hero for me.

Though Allison proved to be a bit too stubborn a time or two during the story, she too served to be someone you can relate to. Her past is not an easy one to escape from either and that is why she has enough reasons to judge Jared as her past has taught her to. So in the end, because Allison came through for Jared I forgave her and came to love her a little as well.

I expected a light-hearted, fluffy read with a little bit of medical procedures tossed into the story when I picked this up, but in the end I was surprised and not unpleasantly I might add, because the story delivers so much more than that. It is light-hearted at moments but deep inside the story deals with a lot of emotional baggage, and a tissue or two might come in handy while you are at it!

Recommended for fans of category romances, ones where hunky doctors and cute nurses get down and dirty with a lot of emotional angst thrown into mix!

Favorite Quotes

He had no desire to talk, or move. So he sat, with her still straddling his lap, in no hurry to leave, enjoying the feel of her in his arms, which he tightened around her, slipping his hands under the bottom of her sweater to warm them. They fit together like two distinct halves purposely manufactured to become one seamless whole, a feeling he wouldn’t soon forget.

And there it was: the brilliant I-care-about-you smile he’d waited months to see directed at him.He knew in that instant that one would never be enough to last him a lifetime, as he’d originally thought. Because in that quiet moment, in her straight white teeth, her curving lips and sincere blue eyes, he’d found serenity.

“I love how you feel in my arms, how you respond to my touch and how your face takes on an expression of pure rapture when we make love. When we’re apart I ache to be with you. There is no doubt in my mind that what I feel for you is the truest, deepest form of love possible.”