Category / Samhain Publishing

by mvbookreviewer

Review: No Longer Mine by Shiloh Walker

Format: E-book
Opens with: Adobe Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Hero: Wade Lightfoot
Heroine: Nikki Kline
Sensuality: 3
First Published on: April 27, 2010
Started On: May 2, 2010
Finished On: May 2, 2010

Originally published in 2006, Shiloh Walker recently re-released this title, this time with revisions from its original release. I remember reading this book when I first learnt of and became a fan of Ms. Walker’s books and back then somehow this book didn’t settle that well with me mainly because I thought the hero was too callous towards the heroine when she lost so much in her life. However I think with the revisions this story has become a much better tale with the ability to touch the hearts of those who read it.

Nikki is the girl who comes from the wrong side of town with two brothers who are hoodlums, an alcoholic father and a mother who committed suicide rather than face life head on. However the friendship which turns to love between Wade and Nikki is stronger than all the elements put  together. Nikki working on her way towards becoming a full fledged writer is on the verge of tying the knot with Wade when she finds out that Wade has impregnated Jamie Sawyer, the girl who has been after Wade forever.

Jamie was a drunken mistake Wade couldn’t bring himself to forgive. When Wade marries Jamie and moves on with her, it nearly kills Nikki. However the news that she is three months pregnant with Wade’s child is the only light at the end of the tunnel that pulls her out of the darkness and into the world of living. Things don’t go well for Nikki even after her son Jason is born. A freak accident during a thunderstorm kills her beloved son Jason when he is barely a year old. This time the pit Nikki falls into is too deep to find her way out of it on her own.

Her writing and her family are the only things that keep the bare shell of a Nikki going. And when she meets Wade and his daughter Abby the pain and betrayal Nikki feels is so intense that its as if someone wrenches her heart out and stomps on it. Wade not knowing all the trauma that Nikki has gone through actively pursues her because though he married Jamie out of a sense of duty, he had never ever stopped loving Nikki.

There is no happy ending for these two until they are both able to let go of the past, forgive, forget and move on, though its easier said than done when the hurt runs too deep for us even to start empathizing with.

I loved reading the improved version of this story. I guess as Ms. Walker herself has pointed out, this wasn’t one of her best works, but when revised this book does make for a decent read, one that I couldn’t put down once I started.

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

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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: Pride and Passion by Jenna Bayley-Burke

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Facing It by Linda Winfree

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Hearts of the South, Book 8
Sensuality: 3
Publisher: Samhain Publishing Ltd
Hero:  Deputy Chris Parker
Heroine: Ruthie Chason
Date of Publication: April 7, 2009
Started On: March 5, 2010
Finished On: March 7, 2010

This is the first book that I tried from Ms. Winfree and I would have to say she is pretty good at writing romantic suspense. I seem to have started from her last book of the Hearts of the South series. I loved the characters of this series, many of whom you encounter in this story as well.

The most striking thing about this novel is how Ms. Winfree juggled two equally beautiful blossoming romances in one novel. Unlike most authors if and when in a book there are two budding romances, one tends to take the center stage and the other romance would take the backstage and any issues if any between the couple would be resolved pretty quickly. However I was delighted that this wasn’t the case in this novel.

Facing it is the story of Chris, a man who has scars left over from being in domestically abusive relationship which had nearly cost him his life. Chris doesn’t handle women in his personal space well. However all of that changes when he offers to help his friend Tick Calvert, Ruthie’s brother and Chris’s boss in looking after Ruthie and her adorable three kids who need protection from Ruthie’s controlling husband.

Ruthie had tolerated being under Stephen’s thumb as long as she could. Finally it took its toll when she saw how his controlling attitude towards everything in their family lives had taken its toll on her three children, with whom any reader is bound to fall in love with.

Unknown to Ruthie and Stephen, Stephen has been under surveillance by the FBI for shady money laundering and this is where the delicious second romance comes in. Harrell Beecham and Jennifer are the agents that have been occupying the house across from the Chason’s and keeping an eye on the family’s activities for the past year, pretending to be a married couple. The pretending stuff has been playing havoc on both Harrell and Jennifer, so much that the simmering attraction between them breaks out onto the surface when Jennifer decides to take matters into her own hands and confront Harrell with it.

Harrell is leery of commitment from growing up with a mother who has 8 failed marriages under her belt. Reluctant in believing that any relationship that Harrell is part of could end up in any other way except in disaster, Harrell doesn’t want to give into the intense feelings that Jennifer tends to rouse in him. However in Jennifer, Harrell has met his match for stubbornness and ultimately Harrell has no choice but to give in to the need that has been hounding him ever since they became partners. However the road towards ultimate happiness between these two characters isn’t a smooth one either. I loved how Ms. Winfree gave time for each of her characters to work through their issues so that the ending was sweeter and better for the reader.

Meanwhile, Chris and Ruthie slowly find one another as well. Ruthie having witnessed how cruel a controlling man in her life could be, is still willing to give Chris with his gentle yet skittish nature the chance to get to know her and ultimately give into the hot attraction that flares between these two and catches both of them unawares. Chris has his own frightening issues to work out and Ruthie remains patient throughout all this, which made me really admire Ruthie as a heroine, which is a rare thing for me.

I liked the fact that Ms. Winfree didn’t try to garner the reader’s sympathy for Ruthie by going on and on about how Stephen’s abusive behavior had shattered Ruthie and so on, but gave Ruthie a fighting chance to become a beautiful and strong character that any reader would empathize and root for.

Great book, I might give a go at reading the other books in the series some other time.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Deception by Sharon Cullen

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Thriller
Series: Love on the Edge, Book 1
Sensuality: 3
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Hero: Lucas Barone
Heroine: Kate McAuley
Date of Publication: July 22, 2008
Started On: March 3, 2010
Finished On: March 4, 2010

This is the first book in the Love on the Edge series. Got me interested in reading this after reading the second book in the series which I reviewed yesterday. I have got to say that this series is quite good and I will most probably read the third book in the series as well. Though I wish to read Eric (Kate’s brother’s) story, I don’t think that book has yet been published or written even although I hope that it would be sooner rather than later.

So onto the review. Lucas Barone is close friends with John Callahan. They served together in the top secret anti-terrorist organization for the government and it is in this story that the extent to which they were both betrayed comes to light.

Lucas and Kate has a history together before the novel starts. They had been dating and living together for over a year. Kate knows Lucas  to be a forensic accountant, Lucas’s thinking that the lesser Kate knows the better it would be for her. Although Lucas and Kate professed to love each other, Lucas just one day upped and left never leaving a clue as  to where he went off to.

Eighteen months later, Lucas turns up on Kate’s doorstep, injured and nearly at his knees from injuries received during an attempt to murder him at his home. Although Kate is reluctant to let Lucas once again into her life, she cannot turn away from Lucas when he is so vulnerable. So she nurses him throughout the night whilst Lucas promises Kate that no one would ever find out that Lucas was at Kate’s place.

However, the person who is out for Lucas’s head is way smarter and has more resources than Lucas thinks. Suddenly in the middle of the night, Lucas finds himself taking Kate along and running for their lives as someone tries to murder them at Kate’s home. Suddenly Kate is framed for murdering Lucas and everything goes haywire. Lucas takes Kate with him to the one place that no one except John knows about and hides out there with Kate.

Though Kate doesn’t want to be pulled into the life of someone who had deceived her so well in the past, she can’t help but be pulled towards Lucas and the attraction that has always simmered between them. Lucas has his own demons to fight, to forget the torture that he underwent at the hands of the terrorist organization that held him captive for three months in Peru. Kate too has her own secrets, a tragedy that has made her unable to be the person who she was 18 months earlier. Lucas and Kate together find the strength to forgive, heal and in turn give one another a second chance at what they had going between them.

However, when the moment of reckoning with the traitor comes calling, Kate nearly loses her life. In the end, its a sweet ending for these two characters who managed to wiggle their way into my heart. Lovely story.

I highly recommend for those who love romantic thrillers to  give this series a try.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Redemption by Sharon Cullen

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Thriller
Series: Love on the Edge, Book 2
Sensuality: 3
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Hero: John Callahan
Heroine: Hope Stewart
Date of Publication: October 21, 2008
Started On: March 2, 2010
Finished On: March 3, 2010

I came across a couple of good e-books on Samhain Publishing, and this is one of the new authors that I tried out after my interest was piqued reading the synopsis of the story. Sharon Cullen is definitely an author worth looking out for. This is the second book in a series termed as “Love on the Edge”.

John Callahan is a man who has got nothing to live for. Having worked for a top secret government terrorist organization for his country and being betrayed by fellow countrymen, and having suffered through indescribable torture at the hands of the enemies for a period of 3 months and losing the only woman he ever cared about to the hands of the despicable group of terrorists who had held him hostage, John was ready to give up his life and choose the sweet oblivion of death when Hope comes literally crashing into his life.

Hope wakes up from the car crash to find out she has no memory of who she is or how she got to the remote mountain cabin where John Callahan lives. At first John is suspicious that all Hope is putting up is an act when he hears that the one who betrayed his country and lured him into the trap with the terrorists had broken out of jail. But slowly John comes to realize this is not so as he tries to unravel the mystery behind the 5 months pregnant woman who has literally landed in his lap.

John has a lot of demons to slay before he could even think about caring for another woman. With scars on the outside as well as the inside, John keeps his emotions tightly reined in and a tight fortress around his heart. However, Hope with her vulnerability and her sweet caring attitude manages to crumble this wall bit by bit until John cannot deny himself any longer.

I liked the fact that the author didn’t just make John end up with Hope on the first encounter but rather gave John enough time to get himself acquainted with the feelings that were blossoming inside of him rather than just going straightaway to hot burning desire when he has been so locked up and remote in his emotions for over a long period of time.

Recommended for those who love a good romantic thriller. Though this book is termed to be an erotica, it only falls under contemporary romance with little bit of sensuality thrown into the mix.

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

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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: Unforgiven by Delilah Devlin

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

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

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

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

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

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

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: All Jacked Up by Lorelei James

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Rough Riders, Book 8
Publisher: Samhain
Hero: Jack Donohue
Heroine: Keely McKay
Date of Publication: November 3, 2009
Started On: January 5, 2010
Finished On: January 7, 2010

This is the first book ever that I tried out of this author. This book is one sure red hot read that the author pulls off quite nicely. I think this is the last book released of the rough riders series and features the lone girl in the McKay family. Keely who wants to earn her own place in their close knit society rather than been remembered as a hell raiser when she was younger.

Jack, best friend of one of Keely’s brother, had always seemed to rub her the wrong way. Whenever Jack and Keely are in the same room, they manage to insult one another to no end. One hot kiss that Jack and Keely shared at one of her brother’s weddings didn’t seem to make things any better.

Now two years later, Keely needs Jack’s help in finalizing her efforts to start her own rehabilitative clinic and Jack needs Keely to act as his fiancé to pull off a business deal which Jack wants so badly, bad enough to want to pretend to be engaged to Keely and take on being part of the McKay clan.

Although their passion could singe away the bedsheets, out of the bedroom they tend to be as divided as ever. And both of them do not realize that with each moment they spend together inevitably leads them to fall in love with another, a love which they both need to realize is way more important than anything else in their lives.

A very hot read guaranteed to sizzle up your insides ladies!

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

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