Category / Red Hot Reads

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Test Me by Dee Tenorio

Format: E-booktestme
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Samhain Publishing Ltd.
Hero: Travis Carmichael
Heroine: Vetta St. Claire
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: November 27, 2007
Started On: April 11, 2010
Finished On: April 12, 2010

Dee Tenorio has  officially landed on my auto-buy list after reading this book of hers. She did end up on my to be read author list after I reviewed Betting Hearts which was an awesome book of re-read worthy material, best friends turning into lovers romance. This book too is a great romance with a high dosage of sensuality that delivers a powerful addictive mix of romance and passion which made it impossible to put down once I started on it.

Travis and Vetta are both geniuses, scientists who share a building together who work on their own research projects. Its been seven years since they both first met and though Travis and Vetta are continuously at each others throats, Travis has always been the one constant in Vetta’s life which has always been sort of lonely with a billionaire father who is absentminded at the most and a beautiful actress of a mother who has a string of ex-husbands a mile long.

All the antagonism in Travis and Vetta’s relationship comes to a standstill when Travis walks in on a bare naked Vetta which makes Travis stand up and take notice of things he never thought possible about her. Vetta never thought she would feel the burning need to be possessed by Travis, someone she doesn’t even like.

While Travis works towards finding a cure for cancer and barely has the funding to make ends meet, Vetta who comes from a rich family has all the time in the world to choose any research project that fancies her interest. Travis could never understand how a person who as brilliant and talented as Vetta could throw away the opportunity to do some good for the world rather than work on some harebrained scheme Vetta seems to continually cook up. Now Travis is at the end of his rope, with his funds drying up and only option available is to up and leave.

However his plans of leaving take a detour once the explosive passion between Travis and Vetta takes center stage. Though Travis tries hard to keep the relationship on a purely sexual level, its hard when Vetta slowly sneaks up on him and inevitably he falls as much in love with her as Vetta is in love with him.

That doesn’t mean its going to be a happily ever after for the two, but rather when Travis gets offered the opportunity to work for a professor from his university days, Travis is all set on leaving everything that has come to mean something in his life behind. But Vetta is not one to give up without a fight and before the story is up, these two face their worst fears and work towards accepting that life without the other would be an impossible one when they have found a love so perfect after so long.

Great read, highly recommended for those who love a sexy hero with a heroine who is no shrinking violet with the bite of red hot passion to make things interesting.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Back To You by Sarah Mayberry

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Hot City Nights Anthalogy
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero:  Cal MacKenzie
Heroine: Becky Taylor
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: July 8, 2008
Started On: March 26, 2010
Finished On: March 27, 2010

This was a title released in a collection of  short novels bundled up as “Hot City Nights” together with two titles from two of my other favorite Harlequin authors Emilie Rose and Sandra Marton. I haven’t read the other two novels in this collection but am thinking I might give it a go since Sandra Marton and Emilie Rose do write wonderful romances.

Becky Taylor and Cal MacKenzie had the hottest and wildest time of their lives for four weeks when they were at the university together at the tender age of 20. Cal had broken things off with Becky quoting that he wasn’t ready to jump into another serious relationship when he had barely managed to step away from the first serious relationship of his life.

Ten years later, Cal and Becky meet again during a reunion. Becky is at first shocked to find Cal there when he is supposed to be in London with his wife. But unknown to Becky, Cal has been back in Sydney for over a year and is divorced. What happens to  be a chance encounter for Becky isn’t necessarily that for Cal. Cal had come to the reunion wanting to see whether Becky would show up and whether she could still make him feel the same way as he did when they both were 20 years old and going hot and heavy.

Ms. Mayberry has done a splendid job I would say in creating a short story such as this one intense enough so that I as the reader didn’t feel like I had been cheated out of something that could have been better. The intense connection between Becky and Cal burns stronger than ever and before they both know it, they are going hot and heavy with each other once more.

Becky thinking that she and Cal would never get their happily ever after decides to cool things off when she finds out that she is pregnant with Cal’s child. And Cal proves to Becky once and for all that he is committed to loving Becky for the rest of their lives if given half the chance.

A sweet and hot read you wouldn’t want to put down.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Suddenly You by Lisa Kleypas

Format: Paperback
Read with: Paperback
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Hero:  Jack Devlin
Heroine: Amanda Briars
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: October 13, 2009
Started On: March 13, 2010
Finished On: March 19, 2010

Ms. Kleypas always writes the most beautiful romances, regardless of whether it be historical or contemporary, though people tend to like her historical romances better. This book too is unconventional for a historical romance where Ms. Kelypas has created a heroine who doesn’t seem to follow all the conventions, rules and regulations that bound the lives of women during 1800’s.

Amanda Briars is an author, a spinster & a virgin going on towards the big three-O. Wanting to divest herself of the virginal state, she goes to one of the famous brothel houses in London and asks a man to be sent to her house on the night of her birthday to help the process along. Just like the title says, Amanda finds herself that night suddenly in the company of Jack Devlin. Without knowing to both of them, the madam who runs the brothel has played matchmaker behind their backs, perhaps knowing what they both needed and wanted better than themselves.

Though Amanda defied all convention and society rules when she requested for a male escort, she begins to doubt the wisdom behind her impulsive decision when she suddenly finds herself ensnared by the rather charming and devilish Jack.

Jack doesn’t know what hits him when he first encounters Amanda on her doorstep. A notorious publisher whose rising fame had pointed him towards Amanda with the rights to her first book which he wants to publish, Jack didn’t have a clue that the Madam had set him up for this when he asked her whether he knew of Amanda Briars. But Jack can’t help but be intrigued and want Amanda for himself though he knows that his less than savvy background and his tightly reigned in emotions are not what Amanda really needs.

However within the course of a few weeks, these two are entangled in a heady affair. Like the book cover dictates, this is one of the most sensual romances of Ms. Kleypas that I have come across and my, my! Amanda sets the terms of the affairs to be for a duration of three months, which however as the gossip circles start to stir with the knowledge of their rampant affair, Amanda brings their affair to a hasty conclusion though she would give anything to be with Jack and love him for the rest of her life.

Jack, unwilling to give all of himself to Amanda licks his wounds in private though he is like a haunted man after the abrupt end to their affair. Amanda is soon been courted by the respectable Hartley and a marriage seems to be on the horizon when Amanda comes to realize that she is pregnant with Jack’s child.

This story is refreshingly heartwarming with descriptions of Jack’s vast publishing business which seems to unfold right in front of your eyes with Ms. Kleypas’s brilliant descriptions. The best thing about the romance of course as a female reader was Jack and his  total concentration and care for Amanda during the whole book though he refuses to acknowledge of his love for her till the very end.

And when Amanda finds out that she is five years older than Jack, ah! thats a scene that would remain with me for a long time! *winks*

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Blue Bayou by JoAnn Ross

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Callahan Brothers, Book 1
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Hero:  Jack Callahan
Heroine: Danielle Dupree
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: April 2, 2002
Started On: March 12, 2010
Finished On: March 13, 2010

This is JoAnn Ross’s first book that I have ever tried out and I have to say I am pleasantly surprised at how good this story is. I think I picked up the “scent” of this novel in some discussion forum in Amazon and this book certainly does seem to have got its fair share of good reviews which the story certainly deserves.

This is the first book in the “Callahan Brothers” series. The Callahan brothers are Finn, Jack and Nate, three of whom have individual stories of their own. I don’t think I am going to venture into the stories of Finn and Nate’s, because most of the time when a series starts off with a big bang like this one where the reader is really captivated by the story, the rest of the books in the series seem to pale in comparison and rarely gives the satisfaction that the reader craves from the series.

Though I may or may not read the rest of the books in the series, I bet that its Jack’s story that has enthralled readers the most because there is a history between the hero and heroine in the novel. Danielle or Dani is the daughter of the town’s judge. Jack’s father was the town sheriff who was shot and killed whilst trying to save Judge Dupree from being killed. Ever since then Jack’s mother Marie has worked as a housekeeper and surrogate mother for the Dupree family at their home.

Ever since the death of Jack’s father, Jack has always been a bit of a hell raiser which finally lands him at a sort of rehabilitative jail for youngsters. Having done his time and learnt his lesson, he returns home to find that Dani was still after him even though he had told her several times that she was too young to know what a guy like him would need and want. Pretty soon these two are hot and heavy in an affair which ends up in no good when Judge Dupree discovers the fact that Jack and Dani were having the time of their lives without his knowledge. Suddenly these two lovers are wrenched apart and by the cruel manipulation of the Judge, these two lose so much more than just the kind of love that people search for a lifetime looking, but rarely find.

Its years later and Dani returns home with her son Matt, older and wiser than ever before. With her father, the judge in jail, Dani is surprised to find that Jack had also returned home and is now the owner of her previous home. Sparks start to fly between the two as soon as they meet one another. Though Jack tries to deny that he still loves Dani, it is inevitable that these star crossed lovers would eventually yield to the red hot passion that flares between them every time they are within each other’s vicinity.

However, secrets from the past tends to  haunt these two, until they both learn to trust one another, to forgive and let go. Beautiful love story with enchanting characters and steamy sensuality that’s sure to be a winner for any romance novel lover.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Something About You by Julie James

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Sensuality: 3
Publisher: Penguin Group
Hero:  Special Agent Jack Pallas
Heroine: Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Lynde
Date of Publication: March 2, 2010
Started On: March 7, 2010
Finished On: March 8, 2010

Its been ages since a book has been good enough to warrant that I stay up all night to finish it. Yes, this book was that good. Since I haven’t ever read a book by Ms. James I would have to say she has hooked me onto her writing style which is a mix of suspense, murder, mayhem, red hot passion that sizzles between the two lead characters with a bit of humor thrown into the mix to make a helluva of a story.

FBI Special Agent Jack Pallas and Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Lynde had a falling out three years ago. Jack blames Cameron for ruining his career and thinks that she is the one who made the Justice Department send him off to Nebraska after Jack badmouthed Cameron all over the national media.

Now, three years later, Jack is back and Cameron finds herself as the only potential witness in a high stakes murder of a call girl involving a senator. Whilst Cameron only saw the back of the killer, he is not taking any chances to lead all this back to him and he pulls all the stops to eliminate Cameron and wipe her away from the almost perfect crime that he committed.

Though at the beginning Jack is all but pulsating with anger at Cameron, he slowly starts to find out that there might be more than what meets the eye in what took place three years back. And there was that simmering sexual tension between him and Cameron that no matter how hard Jack tries to ignore, seems to blaze hotter and hotter with every encounter.

This is one delicious book for fans of romantic thrillers can never go wrong with. I absolutely loved every fricking minute of it!

Till next time!

P.S. I guess this is one of those rare times when the cover of a book actually depicts something described in the book. The cover filled my head with all these hot images during one  of  the most delicious mouthwatering scenes in the book. *wink* *wink*

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Photo Opportunity by Jess Dee

Format: E-bookphotoopportunity
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality: 4
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Series: Tanner Siblings, Book 1
Hero: Daniel Tanner
Heroine: Amy Morgan
Date of Publication: May 2, 2008
Started On: February 28, 2010
Finished On: March 1, 2010

I never get tired of reading romances where friends turn into lovers. A romance is that much more delicious when a couple has shared history that goes way back. Anyhow reading this novel opened me up to Jess Dee’s writing style which I have to say is pretty catchy. Most probably Jess Dee would end up on my to-be-read list of authors as this book is pretty good.

Daniel Tanner (Danny) has always loved Amy Morgan (Amy) since their high school days. But Danny has never tried to make a move on Amy and they have both continued to be the best of friends always being there for each other in times of need. However things change when Danny takes on an assignment to do a photo shoot of a  children’s oncology ward at one of Sydney’s hospital. There Danny comes face to face with the reason why he has been commitment phobic for so long and realizes that he loves Amy more than anything to keep wasting time running after other women who meant nothing to him.

Amy has no inkling that her best friend for life has these strong feelings towards her. From a very young age, having witnessed her father cheating on her mother and finally abandoning them and the one single time that Amy did try to have a serious relationship with a guy, the fact that he too cheated on her in the end hasn’t bolstered Amy’s confidence much. Amy distrusts all men in general when it comes to leaving her heart vulnerable to them.

However, she is in for the surprise of her life when Danny puts into motion a plan to seduce her in the most wicked ways and to make her fall as crazily in love with him as he has been in love with her. However Danny’s plans backfire because Amy cannot seem to place the much needed trust in Danny as she should have, which irked me a bit because Danny had never done anything to her to deserve otherwise.

But all in all, a good story. I liked it because it wasn’t all about the touchy feely love scenes in this book, but rather well developed characters which gave the reader a good insight into why and when and how they both fell in love with one another and got the happy ending they deserved in the end.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Kissing Cowboy By J.C. Wilder

Format: E-book
Opens with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novella
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Men of S.W.A.T, Book 3
Sensuality: 4
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Hero: Jeff “Cowboy” Diver
Heroine:  Payton “Pip” Whittier
Date of Publication: February 9, 2010
Started On: February 20, 2010
Finished On: February 21, 2010

The third book in the Men of S.W.A.T series, this is the first book that I have ever come across of this author and I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised considering how hard it is to find good new authors whose books that you can enjoy without giving it any thought.

The author promises this series to be a romance series with humor, suspense and heroes to melt our hearts and I would have to say she has delivered 100% on all counts with this novella. Though my only peeve was that this story wasn’t a novel and a novella, which means issues are resolved quickly, though the author did quite a good job of covering all bases so to speak.

Pip has always been in love with Cowboy ever since she started hanging around with his family. Pip comes from a family of beautiful and artistically made up women, and Pip’s mother’s only disappointment has been the fact that Pip remained her tomboyish self no matter how she tried to tutor and reform Pip otherwise. Pip only felt loved and at home when she was over at the Diver’s place and she and Cowboy had been inseparable as any two beings could be.

But then Pip developed feelings for Cowboy when she was fifteen and he eighteen. Though Cowboy never saw Pip as anything more than a sister, Pip launches a plan to make him want her, and in the end though those few moments spent in his arms has marked Pip for her life, so has the humiliation Cowboy served her right after those heated moments. Getting together with her much beautiful and older sister was the last straw and Pip leaves town and returns 9 years later, wiser and more in control of her emotions, or so she thought.

With a bunch of crazy girlfriends who are there for Pip all throughout, with interesting side characters which I am salivating over to read their stories, this book packs a hard punch with the intense passion between Cowboy and Pip, and of course with moments of absolute hilarity the reader can’t help but laugh aloud at.

Highly recommended for those who love a quick passionate story with two beautiful characters.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Hunter’s Need by Shiloh Walker

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Hunters, Book 12
Sensuality: 4
Publisher: Penguin Group
Hero: Duke
Heroine:  Analise Morell
Date of Publication: October 28, 2009
Started On: February 14, 2010
Finished On: February 20, 2010

You can never go wrong in picking up a novel by this author. Though I have not read the whole Hunters series and am not that much of a fan of romance of paranormal genre, any book by Shiloh Walker is well worth the try. This book is trademark Shiloh Walker, mystery and suspense in spades together with a hero and heroine that you can relate to, whose love and need for one another is just out of this world.

Duke is a shape-shifter who was betrayed by Ana 5 years back when Ana and Duke had first met. Duke is a hunter, a part of an elite group who all have special powers. Some of them are vampires, others werewolves with a couple of witches thrown into the mix with shape-shifters as well. Ana is a psychic who had to use her ability to save her younger brother from the clutches of a sadistic vampire by luring Duke in. Duke had never forgiven or forgotten the fact that Ana had almost cost him his life. Going out of his way to avoid Ana is the hardest thing Duke has ever had to do since he still wants her like crazy.

Ana can’t help but want Duke as well. But knowing that Duke despises the very ground she walks on finally takes its toll on Ana and she leaves the Hunter’s school and moves to Alaska to settle down. A year on, Ana has a job and a place to call home, together with a nagging feeling that there is something horribly wrong or evil lurking around the mountains that surround the city. This feeling intensifies when Ana finds out that girls have been going missing, some of them turning up dead, others never to be found. And all the girls bare a strong resemblance to the first girl Marie that went missing, whose murder was at first blamed on her fiance’ Paul, who now lurks on the streets mumbling and muttering to himself.

Ana knowing that she wouldn’t be able to handle whatever evil that lurked around, calls in the Hunters for help. Duke who had been growing ever so restless since Ana left, is the one to pick up the call and eventually the one to head to Alaska to figure out whats got Ana so riled up. From the moment these two see each other, its all sparks and high powered jolts of lust between the two.

As these two team up to find out the source of evil who has killed dozens of young girls, the ghosts of these young women tend to haunt the two and eventually end up helping Ana to identify the killer who turns out to be much  too close to comfort to the first victim.

All in all, great romance, a pine tingling mystery and a yummy shape-shifter with whom a gal can never go wrong!

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Dangerous Passion by Lisa Marie Rice

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: Dangerous Book 3
Sensuality: 4
Publisher: HarperCollins Publisher
Hero: Viktor “Drake” Drakovich
Heroine:  Grace Larsen
Date of Publication: July 21, 2009
Started On: February 6, 2009
Finished On: February 13, 2009

It’s been a while since I posted a review here. Mind you, I haven’t given up on reading but every spare minute I have these days, I end up watching The Mentalist which has got me pretty hooked. Anyhow I managed to finish this book after a week of starting it, and I blame it all on Simon Baker for keeping me so engrossed on watching him solve homicides!

So back to the review, like most of Lisa Marie Rice’s books, this book too has an intense alpha hero with a real dangerous edge to him. Growing up in parts of Russia on the streets, Drake is someone who has learnt to kill with his bare hands at a very early age, just to survive and move onto the next day. Now richer than he has ever hoped to be, and more powerful than anyone can imagine, with his fair share of enemies in all the wrong places, Drake is a weapons and arms dealer.

Though Drake has everything and more in his power he feels restless until he sees these beautiful paintings on one of his rides through the city of Manhattan. There in that little gallery, Drake sees Grace and his world is forever changed. Drake knows too well that he cannot impose on any woman the life he has chosen for himself. His enemies if ever were to find a weakness in him, Drake knows they would exploit it till he is on his knees a broken man in every way. But this doesn’t stop him from going to see Grace once a month in her gallery unknown to her.

But things take a drastic turn when his enemies discover his fascination with Grace and tries to kidnap her to use as leverage against Drake. Drake and Grace narrowly escape with their lives though the killer(s) are intent on finishing what they have started.

Drake doesn’t know the name to give the emotions that Grace rouses in him. Drake wrongfully thinks that tumbling into bed and keeping Grace there would definitely cure him of what ails him whenever he is in her vicinity. However as these two are confined to be in the same place for security purposes, the wall of steel around Drake’s heart starts to crumble bit by bit. And finally after a second fatalistic attack these two are forced to run for their lives and completely disappear from the face of the earth as the relentless killer pursues on his mission to eradicate Drake once and for all.

Scorching hot passion with a hero who knows what he is doing makes this book a page scorcher. If men in the real world have even a figment of what heroes in these books have, we women would be a pretty happy bunch over on the side of reality.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Complicated by Zannie Adams

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Sensuality: 4.5
Hero: Greg Stone
Heroine:  Victoria Ray
Date of Publication:  September 7, 2007
Started On: January 17, 2010
Finished On: January 18, 2010

Sigh!! Aah, nothing compares to that warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you have managed to grab hold of a great book and read it in one sitting. This  a new author for me and I found this book of hers recommended on a discussion forum on Amazon where one reader has requested for books where the hero is considerably older than the heroine, which is the case in this book.

Victoria is a librarian in her early 30’s and Greg is a businessman in his early 40’s whose brother was elected as the governor during the course of the novel, the campaign for his election through which Victoria and Greg first meet. They agree to a purely sexual affair, both of them not looking for the complications that go along with having a real relationship with someone.

After a very satisfying three month period of their affair, Greg’s daughter Carrie confronts Victoria at her workplace labeling her as the slut her father was infatuated with. Faced with a complication that Victoria never had an inkling of, and after a brutal confrontation takes place between father and daughter, Victoria decides to end things with Greg and try to move on, which is easier said than done.

The passion between Greg and Victoria is scorching hot and the story itself an engaging one which I recommend to all those who love stories of the Romantica genre. This is one author who has landed a very special place on my ‘to-look-out-for-authors’ list.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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