Category / Toe Curler!!

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Amidst a Crowd of Stars by Megan Hart

Format: E-book
Read with: Mobipocket Reader & Amazon Kindle
Length: Short Novel
Genre: Futuristic Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Amber Quill Press
Hero: Keane Delacore
Heroine: Marrin Levy
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: January 1, 2005
Started On: September 21, 2010
Finished On: September 21, 2010

I have always come across rave reviews of books by Megan Hart and I think I did start out with one of her books sometime back which I never got round to reading more than a couple of pages. But after reading this book, I have the mind to hunt down the book I left hanging because Megan Hart writes a poignant story that really touches something deep inside of the reader.

Amidst a Crowd of Stars is a futuristic romance set on a planet called as Lujawed, a planet where the sun always shines relentlessly. The planet is harsh desert all around, the water hidden so deep within it that bringing forth water on such a dry land was a back breaking task in itself. Marrin Levy and her husband Seth with their two young girls make their way to Lujawed with her husband’s idealistic and unrealistic dreams to change their lives for the better. Lujawed had been one of those rare planets which had been settled without war. The native Lujawedians weren’t really forward minded people and didn’t give much thought to changing their lives for the better with irrigation, sanitation, roads, medical care and other such services Earthlings had come to depend on as the necessities in life.

When Seth had contracted a virus and died, leaving her with two girls and one more on the way with a mountain of debt in his wake, Marrin had been devastated to say the least. Many a time she had nearly given up and she would have returned back to Earth if they had had any money left, and nearly after 3 years of struggling in poverty, hunger and backbreaking labor had forced Marrin to send for what the Homesteaders called a “field-husband” with whom she had to enter into a contract which gives the husband conjugal rights in exchange for his labor.

When Keane Delacone steps onto Lujawed and smiles upon Marrin and her three daughters Aliya, Sarai and Hadassah and wins over the affections of the elder two right away, Marrin is taken aback even though she knows that Seveerans who didn’t reproduce where science had replaced childbirth, procreated solely via artificially inseminated and cultivated embryos, do not age like those from Earth. Technology had advanced so much for Seveerans that they had obliterated the aging process and their lifespans were limited only by accident or choice. Even then, Keane who had been 40 Earth years old when he had stepped onto Lujawed had looked younger than Marrin who had been 26 Earth years old then. But even then, Marrin had been taken in by the beauty that shone on the surface as well as deep within him, which she had come to acknowledge and love as one full rotation had passed with them living together, but never coming together as husband and wife.

With Keane by her side, life had prospered all around them. As love had  blossomed between the two, a love that had grown stronger with time, so had come about the realization of Seth’s dreams. The harsh desert landscape now yielded them with flowers and grass all year round, and Ashco their company had been borne, which currently was the largest supplier of fresh udeji melons in the entire county.

On a planet that rotated twice as fast around the sun as Earth does, the years had doubled for Merrin, but not her lifespan though her beloved husband does not look a day older than when he had first stepped onto Lujawed. I don’t think I can adequately describe the emotions that flitted through me whilst I was lost in the magic of the love between Merrin and Keane, a man so gentle and kind, the kind of man who knows what his partner wants and needs even when she doesn’t know how to voice her wants and desires. A man who is so patient as to wait for her to fulfill all that she wants in life and then some, to stand beside her in her victories and share every little thing in life that is important to her. Now, why can’t men like Keane exist in real life I wonder? *Huge sighing session begins*

The ending left me undoubtedly with tears in my eyes, made all the better with the unusual style in which the story is represented. Starting from the present day, Megan Hart takes us back through the years or rotations as they are called, beginning with a Merrin who was in her last days on the verge of death with an unwavering Keane by her side mistaken by the nurses at the hospital as Merrin’s grandson. Megan Hart then takes us on the journey of their life together which spans around 120 plus rotations during which her three children get married, start their own lives, Merrin retires on the request of her husband who has never asked for anything from her till then so they could spend whatever little time Merrin had left together. The ending which was bittersweet couldn’t have been more perfect than what it was and I am so very glad I read this short yet meaningful novel. My only wish as always is that this could have been longer.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Shoot to Thrill by Nina Bruhns

Format: E-bookshoot
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: Passion for Danger, Book 1
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Hero: Kyle Jackson (Kick)
Heroine: Lorraine Martin (Rainie)
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: August 4, 2009
Started On: September 19, 2010
Finished On: September 20, 2010

My first Nina Bruhns is one that I certainly would not forget anytime soon. I am so very glad that the hot cover art that caught my eye had me searching up on the book and in the end succumbed enough to keep my TBR pile as it is before sinking into this adrenaline packed story. This is the first book in the series Passion for Danger, and boy am I glad that the next two books in the series have already been published, cos I don’t think I would have found it in me to be patient for a period of time to find out what will happen to the rest of the interesting stories that had cropped out of this one.

Kyle Jackson (Kick) had formerly worked for the CIA NOC-Ops (Non Official Cover) Unit, which is a top secret and highly covert branch of the CIA. Kick had been 17 when he had joined the Marines, and even back then he had been damaged goods. Throughout the story, his childhood is hinted to have been a difficult one, though not much light is shed on his former life apart from the fact he had escaped from home when he had been only 14 years old. All the rage inside of him had driven him to be the most lethal kind of Marine and had led to the CIA recruiting him to their Zero Unit, which had sent him off to war torn countries like Afghanistan and Sudan on suicide missions. One gets the feeling from reading between the lines that Zero Unit is not something one escapes from, as Kick is relentlessly hunted down 16 months after he had nearly ended up been blown to pieces by a land mine in Afghanistan and watched his best friend Christopher Alexander Zane die.

The months of therapy that had followed had made Kick more determined that he would not return to his old life ever. Dodging the teams sent out to bring him back seems to be all Kick has been doing lately. And when the last attempt to take him back tells him that they mean business, Kick manages to escape knowing that with his current addiction to oxycontin, a severely addictive painkiller which his doctor had stopped prescribing but Kick had found a means to get  from a dealer. Knowing that the time has come to get detoxed from the drug, Kick walks in on a speed dating event held for the medical staff of Bellevue Hospital impersonating his friend Dr. Nathan Daneby who works for Doctors for Peace in godforsaken countries.

Lorraine Martin (Rainie) a nurse practitioner is dragged to the speed dating event by her best friend Dr. Gina Cappozia a medical doctor and a tenured professor who headed a genetics research project at Colombia University and did a stint of pediatrics at Bellevue every week against Rainie’s better judgment. Working in the ER and dealing day in and day out with blood, drugs, violence and senseless deaths left no time or inclination on Rainie’s part to be interested in dating. Having witnessed the brutal murder of her parents by a carjacker when she had been a mere twelve years old, Rainie battles with fear of random violence and hates chaos, disorder and situations that she is unable to control. Rainie has never used any means of transportation since her parents murder though she yearns to be able to be bold enough to experience the wild adventures that Dr. Nathan Daneby must face in his day-to-day life, someone Rainie has always admired throughout the years.

Gina and her tendency to date younger men who are willing to show her a good time with none of the macho Neanderthal stuff that she abhorred, had been practically salivating over the feast of young studs before her eyes with a bored and restless Rainie by her side. That is until Rainie eyes the dark and dangerous looking man who meets her eyes across the room, sending a frisson of awareness through her unlike anything she had ever experienced before starting to move through the roomful of people towards her.

Kick had gatecrashed the party wanting two things. A woman who was needy enough to let him use sex as a means to stay with her for a couple of days until he is able to deal with his addiction better, so that he wouldn’t be as weak as a newborn babe out of the woods when he had to face his old unit. But his plans go so delightfully wrong when Rainie arouses him beyond compare, and in a moment of sheer panic when his old life had flashed in front of his eyes, Kick accidentally blows the cover he had been using and kidnaps Rainie at gunpoint.

Rainie can’t believe that a moment ago she had been letting the man with the wicked looking gun trained at her kiss her senseless and feels immensely betrayed by her body when it still yearns for his touch. Before the night is through, Rainie gives in the urge to touch and to feel with the man who sets her senses on fire, before learning that Kick was an addict looking for help to deal with the withdrawal stage. And when Kick’s former unit comes in blazing with their guns and takes both Kick and Rainie, Rainie is given no choice but to tag along.

Kick is summoned by his previous commander Colonel Frank Blair, to kill Jalil Abu Bakr, the person who was the most notorious of the two leaders of al Sayika terrorist organization which was hellbent on bombing the US embassy in Khartoum, the British, the French and the UN diplomatic mission. Kick knows that he would not be able to turn his back on getting his revenge on the man who had killed his best friend and thus amidst the withdrawal symptoms that racks his body, agrees to the mission in Sudan. Meanwhile Rainie is coerced into monitoring a rapid detox procedure which was still in its experimental stages which takes nearly 72 hours to rid the body of the effects of a drug.

With the unit operating on a tight time schedule, Rainie who has never flown anywhere in her entire 30 years of life finds herself forced to accompany Kick to Egypt from where he would be transferred to Sudan, the place of his mission. And with the withdrawal symptoms still attacking Kick’s body, Rainie forcefully accompanies them on the FedEx plane that is to airlift them to Sudan from where she would say her goodbyes to the man who had lit up her world in fireworks.

But things go awfully wrong when Rainie and Kick barely escape with their lives intact when their plane is blown into pieces over the Sudanese desert. From there, its a game of cat and mouse to evade the terrorists who had been tipped off somehow, and it is Kick’s vow that he would protect Rainie from the horrors and dangers of being captured by a vile organization such as the al Sayika.

It is on this mission that the reader is introduced to STORM Corps (Strategic Technical Operations & Rescue Missions) and Marc Lafayette who belongs to this elite organization who barely escapes with severe injuries from the blast. The three of the survivors make their way to the medical camp set up by Doctors for Peace and seeing Dr. Nathan Daneby, Kick’s long term friend and the one who evidence points towards as been the traitor nearly makes Kick seethe with anger enough to kill his friend with his bare hands.

Somehow, with Marc injured, Rainie is the only one left to accompany him on his dangerous mission and against all the misgivings that Kick has, he lets the woman he loves tag along with him. It is at the camp that Kick finds out that his best friend had not been killed, but might as well have been when he comes face to face with the shrunken skeleton of the man Alex had been, with filth and pus oozing scabs and evidence of severe beatings covering his whole body with no memory of who he is with his eyesight nearly gone.

Alex’s story is an intriguing one, one which had me more intrigued than the actual story at times. Alex dreams of a red haired woman, who comes to him in his dreams, tempts him beyond anything he has known and keeps him sane throughout the 16 months of torture he endures. When the story finally ends, Alex finds out that he is engaged to be married to a woman who he does not recognize whilst the one who walks in with her supposedly fiance, his FBI friend according to her, is the woman who had been haunting his dreams all throughout! Man, Nina Bruhns certainly knows how to keep a reader guessing till the very end and keep them begging for more, much more!

Whilst all this is happening, back in the states, Gina is relentless in her attempts to find out what had happened to her best friend. Finally her attempts yield fruit when she comes face to face with the mouth wateringly handsome and larger than life and older than herself Captain Gregg van Halen. Gregg made me go weak at my knees a time or two, with his rough and tough loving that Gina craves and ultimately struggles to give into. In the end, Gregg betrays her and leaves her at the mercy of God knows what before the story ends. Talk about leaving us hanging! But the good thing is the 3rd book in the series is Gregg and Gina’s story, and boy I can’t wait to sink into that one! And that supposedly contains Alex and his mysterious lady Rebel’s story as well. *Drools!*

Fast paced, filled with enough heat to keep you warm through the coldest night, this is one book that fans of romantic suspense should NOT forgo! Kick and Rainie gets their happily ever after with both of them learning a thing or two about themselves and rising above all the hurdles to embrace the fierce love that they have for one another. Highly recommended; if you haven’t already read this series, keep your TBR pile as it is and start on this one ASAP! Yes, it is that good!

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Bond of Hatred by Lynne Graham

Format: E-book~Cover01
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Harlequin Presents #1758
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Alexis Terzakis
Heroine: Sarah Hartwell
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: July 1, 1995
Started On: September 18, 2010
Finished On: September 18, 2010

It is rare to come across a Harlequin romance that has received 5 star rating for the story it presents, mostly because the stories almost always revolve around the same theme, and the character development and story just doesn’t seem to make the cut. But this story from Lynne Graham, one of my favorite Harlequin authors I have to add, has surprisingly made the mark and received 5 star rating, and I just had to get myself a copy and find out whether this book could deliver that “high” that I usually get with a good Harlequin romance.

The story kicks off when Sarah Hartwell is grieving the death of her younger sister Carrie who had died of a massive coronary. Since Sarah’s parents had been killed in a car crash when Sarah had been seventeen and Callie had just been eleven years old, Sarah had assumed responsibility for her younger sister and given up the hope of ever attaining any further education and focused all her energies in providing Callie with a stable and loving home. Callie had been a beautiful girl with the natural golden looks of a Californian blond, and had seemed to thrive under the nurturing care that Sarah worked through double jobs at a time to provide for her. Callie had made her way through Alevels and had started university to study languages when she had met Damon Terzakis and then on everything had changed.

Sarah had been quite apprehensive of the fact when Callie who had never really been in a serious relationship had started gushing about the new Greek guy who she was seeing. And when Sarah had met Damon and understood that they planned on getting married, Sarah had been dismayed to think that Callie would give up her education and everything Sarah had worked for to give her a better life. And when Damon had stated rather nervously that marriage would have to wait until he manages to convince his elder brother Alexis Terzakis of his intention to make Carrie his wife, Sarah had been a little relieved and then a trifle bit alarmed to think that such barbarity existed in this age and time.

And then Callie had turned up pregnant, refused to return to classes and Damon had returned to Greece on a business trip from which he had returned quite shaken and stated that his brother had been immovable about his decision to marry Callie. Things had gone downhill from there onwards when Damon had abruptly returned back to Greece, and a fortnight later, Callie had been served an eviction notice from Damon’s apartment in Oxford where she had been living. Sarah had been furious at the turn of events that had taken place, and the final straw had been when she and Callie had gone to meet Alex, to convince him that Callie deserved to be married to his brother Damon, only to be met with derisive hostility on his part as he had been convinced that Callie was just a gold digger and Sarah was helping her along.

Alex had realized that Callie had in fact been pregnant with Damon’s child when she had requested that Sarah call Damon upon her deathbed. Sarah is furious to say the least with the Terzakis family and is appalled that Alex approaches her to claim that his nephew Nikos belonged with them rather than with Sarah. Clouded in her grief, pain and anger, Sarah had flat out refused to let Alex claim Nikos and had been seething with anger when Alex had tried to buy Nikos from her for any price she had been willing to name. Ultimately, Sarah had thrown the challenge at Alex’s face that she would be willing to share Nikos with Alex if he would marry her and make her his wife.

Sarah’s only intention had been to shock Alex and drive him away, which she is happy that she has done so when she doesn’t hear from Alex for a week afterwards. But then, Alex returns and in a whirlwind of activities that follow, marries her and makes her his legally wedded wife whilst Sarah is still reeling from the shock of it all. Somehow, through the course of events that come about, Sarah’s perception of Alex changes and she realizes that she hasn’t entirely been fair in judging Alex and his actions.

A bond which was forged between two opposites on nothing more than hatred and resentment suddenly changes into something else the minute Alex takes Sarah in his arms and shows her what she has been missing in her life until now. It is a reluctant Alex that seeks out his wife, as he is determined that the marriage he has been forced into would only play out on his  terms.

The verbal sparring matches between Sarah and Alex are invigorating to read, and the undeniable passion that is unleashed from the moment Alex and Sarah sets eyes on one another obliterates everything else. This story is as good as a Harlequin romance can get with two forceful characters who in the end find their happily ever afters with each other.

Recommended for all Harlequin romance lovers and those who love books by Lynne Graham. This book is a treat from start to finish, one not be missed.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Abe Books

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Just My Type by Erin Nicholas

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: The Bradfords, Book 3
Publisher: Samhain Publishing Ltd.
Hero: Jason MacDonald Gordon
Heroine: Sara Bradford
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: September 14, 2010
Started On: September 16, 2010
Finished On: September 17, 2010

My first Erin Nicholas book was certainly a delightful surprise. I came across this title when I entered the Samhain Publishing website on a whim. The hot cover itself made me salivate over the book, and in the end the book synopsis was enough to lure me away from my HUGE to-be-read pile and indulge in this tale which enchanted me on so many levels.

At first, when I started on the book I thought this would be the typical romance where the forbidden younger sister of your best friend is taboo forever, and the illicit longings that still continue to rage the hero no matter how much he tries to prevent those feelings finally take a turn and they would end up having wall-banging sex, some trivial problem would crop up now and again until they attain their happily ever after. But this story offered so much more than just your typical erotica romance. The sex scenes were hot but did not take the center stage of the novel, which made me appreciate the encounters between the two more.

This is the 3rd book in the The Bradfords series by the author. The Bradfords family comprises of Sam, Jessica and Sara of which Sara is the youngest and thus the child who was cosseted most by the rest and Sam’s best friends Jason McDonald Gordon (Mac), Kevin and Dooley. Sara’s mother had walked out when she had been a baby and her father had been killed when he had interrupted a burglary at Jessica’s apartment when Sara had just been 10 years old. Since then, Sara had been taken care of Sam and Jessica and Sam’s circle of friends who were as protective of her as they would be of their own family. Now 25 years old, Sara is determined that she is going to make Mac and her together forever a reality, even if it has to be her that has to take the first step.

Mac who is 12 years older than Sara and 7 years senior to Sam should know better than to make his best friend’s youngest sister the object of every erotic desire he has had for the past couple of years. Mac knows that he is not the type of man that Sara needs and he is determined that he would not betray the trust that his best friend has in him that he wouldn’t cross the line and do something stupid where Sara is concerned. But all his best laid plans go awry when a very determined Sara climbs into his lap and kisses him senseless at Sam and Dani’s wedding reception, a sight that doesn’t go unseen by a very pissed off looking Sam who Mac manages to convince that he is not looking to start anything with Sara. To drive home the point with Sara who is busily imagining all sorts of fun she could have with the object of her desires, Mac makes out with another woman and makes sure that Sara would walk in on them, a plan that works too well in driving Sara away when she ups and leaves to the Carribean, all alone for the very first time in her life.

When Mac hears that Sara has left and the letter that Sara leaves for him propels him to seek her out from where she is at. The letter drives home images of a wild and uninhibited Sara ready for his type of loving rather than the sweet and innocent version of Sara, a change that Sara is determined to bring about in her plans to entice the man who means everything to her in this world.

Somehow, Mac’s hands-off policy doesn’t seem to work very well where Sara is concerned. When Mac realizes that Sara would not give up on her aim of seducing him into her life forever, and no matter how many dirty tricks Mac pulled out of his sleeve she would not be thwarted, Mac does the only thing he believes would change her mind about him forever, marry her and show her just how unsuited they are for one another.

But as it is the norm with Sara, she manages to surprise him by adjusting well to life in Oscar, Mac’s hometown which is a far cry from Omaha where Sara had grown up and where all her friends and family resided. Sara who has always been a little bit spoiled, cocooned and overprotected all her life suddenly finds herself having to work hard at making friends, and in the process finds out a lot about herself and what she wants in life. Though Mac at first tries to stay away from Sara and what her delectable body offers, in the end its a battle that he loses when he professes to Sam that he is in love with Sara and plans to make her happy for the rest of her life.

In the end, what Mac thinks that Sara wants and needs are actually very different from what Sara actually wants and desires. Mac refuses to treat Sara anything less than the way she deserves to be treated in bed and out of it, though Sara craves to make Mac lose his iron-willed control over his emotions that makes Sara feel that she is missing out on a lot. Mac’s refusal to really listen and understand the desires of the one woman who makes his heart melt all over finally drives them apart, just like Mac planned before everything became so complicated and he wanted Sara permanently in his life.

What I loved most about this novel is the depth of character development that takes place throughout. Sara, who at first I imagined would live up to her princess image surprised me the most by being plucky, strong, sassy and being unafraid of going after what she wanted. The woman she grows into in spite of all the protective forces that surround her is a woman who ought to be admired. And Mac certainly makes for a yummy hero, who just needed a knock on his head now and then to let him know just how much he was missing out on by thinking that he knew what Sara needed and wanted. All in all I loved this delightfully surprisingly good story. Though the cover art is steamy hot, I just wanted to point out that Mac is described as someone who had shaved his head bald for as long as Sara had known him, but the guy on the cover has a shitload of hair on his head, if I am not blind! ;)

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Shades of Twilight by Linda Howard

Format: E-bookShades of twilight
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Pocket
Hero: Webb Tallant
Heroine: Roanna Davenport
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: September 1, 1997
Started On: September 14, 2010
Finished On: September 16, 2010

As Catherine Coulter says on the cover of the book, Linda Howard is definitely an author who makes all our senses come alive with her cleverly spun romances. All my senses were on red alert from the start till I read the very last line of the book. No author does alpha heroes better than Linda Howard and that my fellow readers, is a fact.

Shades of Twilight is a story that is focused on  the Southern, rich and generations old Davenports family. The story kicks off when Roanna Davenport is just a mere 7 years old, Jessamine (Jessie) 13 years old and Webb Tallant 7 years older than Roanna who are all 1st or 2nd cousins. Roanna’s parents along with Aunt Janet who had been Jessie’s mother are killed in a car crash rendering their grandmother, the strong head of the household Lucinda mourning the loss of two of her children in one day. The Davenports resided in a mansion like house called as  the Davencourt, which Lucinda ruled and managed over. Though Webb is not a Davenport, he comes from Lucinda’s side of the family and she loves him and sees the strength in him that would make him the best choice to lead Davencourt in the years to come.

Whilst grandma Lucinda adored the beautiful Jessie where Roanna never did learn how to be graceful and always had a way of finding trouble where ever it may be, Roanna was afraid for the most part that the death of her parents would mean that she would be sent away. But in the end, grandma Lucinda overrides the discussion by stating that both Jessie and Roanna would live at the Davencourt. Even from that very tender age, Roanna hero worships Webb and the ground he walks on. Webb always had time for her, played with her and in general made her feel better than anyone else in the family.

But Roanna knows that as destiny has decided, Webb would take control of the Davencourt and from the way his eyes possessively roamed over Jessie, he would claim her as well. Spoiled to the core and illegitimate, Jessie had always resented Roanna for the fact that Webb always seemed to stand up for her and protect Roanna from Jessie’s bullying. The only place where Roanna feels any comfort is with the horses that the Davenports breed and there she blossoms and blooms like a flower starving for sunlight.

When Roanna turned 15, Webb and Jessie had married leaving Roanna heartbroken. Two years pass by and everyone at Davencourt knows that the marriage is far from a happy one. With Webb thrust into the cutthroat world of business whilst at the same time attaining his masters, he had little time for the tantrums that seemed to be a daily part of Jessie’s life upon her discovery that she is not able to control Webb like she does with other people who surround her life. And when she starts her illicit little affair with her own birth father, Jessie can barely keep her glee to herself. Meeting her father at hours for a time during the day, it is on one such day that Roanna follows Jessie and comes upon Jessie and her mystery lover whilst going at it like a bunch of animals. Angered beyond belief and hurt on behalf of Webb, Roanna makes her way home vowing never to tell Webb what she had witnessed.

That night, things take a turn when Webb who always badgers Roanna about how little food she intakes, offers her comfort in his arms. An innocent embrace slowly spirals out of control when Webb who has never seen Roanna as anything else other than a sister finds himself fiercely aroused, and a kiss initiated by Roanna has both of them nearly out of control when Jessie walks in on them and starts shrieking the house down. Jessie eventually manipulates the turn of evens to make it sound as if Roanna had deliberately tried to set up the scene in the kitchen so that Jessie would walk in on them, and the loathing and anger that Roanna sees in Webb’s eyes breaks her heart to pieces.

The mother of all arguments that Webb and Jessie has that night ends when Webb walks out fed up of Jessie and their marriage. And it is Roanna who walks into their room later to find her murdered, with her head bashed in. The whole family is quick to blame Roanna who the police rule out from the very beginning. In the end, Webb is their number 1 suspect, though his airtight alibi doesn’t allow the police much room for conviction. That night, everything changes in their family. Webb who had always been the darling golden boy of the family comes under accusations and the one time he needs his family, except his mother and another aunt, all his family turn their backs on him. Roanna does try to offer him comfort, only to be rebuffed in front of everyone else, which finally shatters her completely. Finally, with the investigation over with, Webb walks out on the family, never looking back.

Ten years later, Lucinda begs Roanna to bring Webb back home. Lucinda needs to make her peace with Webb, and hand over the reins of the  business to him as cancer is slowly taking her over. The ten years had left its toll on Roanna  as well. Gone was the coltish, exuberant girl brimming with energy and mischief. In her place was a cool, remote young woman who never hurried, never lost her temper, seldom smiled and much less laughed out loud. n her mind, she had been worthless and unlovable as she had been when Webb had rejected her apology and the comfort she had offered at Jessie’s funeral. So she had destroyed herself and built a new person who doesn’t feel much, and goes through the daily routine of life like an automated machine. The act of convincing Webb to come back to Davencourt stirs the only emotion that she had felt in 10 long years and Roanna knows that she would never fall out of love with the man who had captured her heart so completely when she was a mere child.

Webb, who has made something of himself in Arizona is shocked by the classy woman who stands in front of him. Vivid erotic encounters featuring him and Roanna had kept much of his dreams occupied and Webb’s control finally breaks and he makes it a condition that Roanna have sex with him for his return to Davenport, an act that he deeply regrets next morning when he discovers that he wants Roanna to come to him on her own terms rather than him forcing her.

Webb’s return to Davencourt is hardly met with applause from the rest of the family who sometime or the other have slowly moved into Davencourt and were leeching off Lucinda. It is upon his return that Webb learns just how close Roanna had come to losing her life and the thought that he would not have known about it leaves him weak with fear. A love that had unfurled as that of a love of a brother towards sister had changed into something else on that fateful night when all their lives had taken an unimaginable turn. And Webb was determined that he would make Roanna his, and prove to her that she belonged with him, as he surely belonged to her.

Amidst his return, the killer who had laid dormant all those years return with a vengeance, to finish off what was started that fateful night 10 years back. A novel that portrays the secrets and lies that a family holds and takes with them to their deathbeds, a story of intense love and passion that withstands  the test of time and distance, this story just took my breath away, even the second time round.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold by Ellen O’Connell

Format: E-bookeyes
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Self-Published
Hero: Cord Bennet
Heroine: Anne Wells
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: April 9, 2010
Started On: September 13, 2010
Finished On: September 14, 2o10

Rarely do we come across books on Amazon that have received an average rating of 5 stars. This is one such book that has achieved this status, which caught my eye once again whilst browsing through a discussion thread. Reading the synopsis, I immediately knew that this would be my kind of story and I immediately fell in love as soon as I started on page 1.

Anne Wells, has always shamed her family in one way or the other. Having never really bided by the conventional rules of the society and not being a real beauty to make men swoon at her feet, Anne had always stood apart from the rest of them. Elroy Turrell had been the first man who had taken an interest in her and Anne had been whisked off to Chicago to live with her aunt since her father Edward thought that a farmer’s boy was really beneath them. Then had come Richard Tyler, a banker’s son whom she had met in Chicago. Engaged to the  man for 4 years, Anne had broken things off with Richard because she had finally seen the light and knew things would never work between a woman who wanted her independence and freedom from the restrictive rules of the society whilst Richard was of the opposite mindset. The broken engagement had enraged her father much more and eventually he had brought her back home. And then trouble had started when George Detrick, a widower, older than Anne’s father started pursuing her, a man who was fat and greasy with beady eyes and smelled worse.

Edward Wells was delighted by the fact that his daughter could be married off even though Anne made her refusal to wed him pretty clear. Driven into a rage beyond anything Anne had witnessed from her father before, Anne was locked up in a boarded room, given little food than what was necessary, her father’s plan to get her to agree to marriage with Detrick or starve to death. Anne finally manages to escape before she is driven to do just that, and hitches a ride unbeknown to the owners of the carriage. When the storm that had been raging had driven her to seek shelter in a farmstead, little does Anne know that she would sleep through the night to wake up and find herself at the home of Cord Bennet, a man despised and feared throughout her hometown.

Cord Bennet, a man with an unusual shade of light brown eyes, jet black hair with a bronze face that was all angles and plains who emanated a fierceness with his stillness has a soft spot for Anne though he doesn’t admit it. Cord had been the first child of Jamie Bennet’s shocking second marriage to an Indian woman named Song. Though Cord and his sister Marie had been protected from the vicious tongues of the townspeople who didn’t take too kindly to the mixed blooded children, they had been tolerated because the Bennet family had been richer than anyone else in town. But it hadn’t taken long for Cord and his sister to wise up and face the fact that they would always be treated differently than their step siblings.

When Cord hears of the circumstances that had landed Anne at his home and needing his help to get to Chicago to see whether her aunt Clara would once again put up with her, Cord knows that he would help her regardless of the outcome. But when Edward comes looking for Anne with a mob crowd rather than a search party and slaps Anne around to make her admit that the savage and brute that Cord was rumored to be had taken advantage of her and raped her and Anne refuses, all hell breaks loose. Cord who is rumored to have special skills in fighting, acquired during his days living with the Indians is unable to do anything to protect Anne or himself. Beaten to the point of death until he agrees to marry Anne since Detrick refused to wed a “soiled” woman, Anne and Cord make their vows amidst violence that had me reeling. Even afterwards, Cord has to helplessly watch on whilst Anne’s father watches on with the judge whilst the group of bullies Anne’s father had rounded up try and rape her.

It is by a miracle that these two survive the unjust violence that was unleashed on them. Thinking that Cord would die during the days that follow, Anne still stubbornly nurse him through, a man who is black and blue all over and bleeding in his urine. The doctor’s prognosis isn’t good either and its by sheer force of will of Anne that Cord comes through. Thus starts a fragile relationship based on an acquaintance that had been made when the both of them had only been 10 years old, when Anne had come to the rescue of Marie who was been bullied by other girls in class with whom Cord had not known what to do with.

This story is so beautiful on so many levels. Cord, a man who is hated even by his own family and of whom everyone expects and always believes the worst of finds himself with a woman who puts her undying trust in him and his character. Whilst Cord had always expected to live in a quiet corner of town until the end of his days, the unexpectedness of having Anne in his life shakes him to the very core. Sweet yearning and desire unfurls in a man who would sell his soul to keep Anne by his side through eternity, though he knows a woman like Anne is too good for a man like him.

Anne blossoms under the strong and patient man that her husband is. The awareness which Anne has of her husband which she doesn’t even know, slowly kindles and burns into something beautiful that made every scene with Cord and Anne one worth a lot of sighing over. Anne and her zealous for life paints Cord’s otherwise bleak life in colors. A future that had seemed endless with no joy insight is suddenly filled with laughter and joy and togetherness as these two tackle life, its everyday challenges, and taming Cord’s family and the townspeople all in one go.

But Edward Wells, who is seething at the mere thought of her daughter being “forced” to live with that “savage” is livid when Anne refuses to come home and annul the marriage to which Edward had forced her into. His cunning plans rips Anne apart from Cord, just when Cord had come to accept the fact that things between Anne and him were meant to be and was not a temporary arrangement. I so fell in love with Cord, for his gentleness which was his innermost strength that everyone else refused to see, but was so clear to his wife and partner for life. Beautiful ending for a beautifully done story, which makes me yearn and wish for another book by the author sometime very, very soon!

Very highly recommended for lovers of historical and American Western romances. This is a book that is a definite winner, one not to be missed!

Favorite Quotes

(Anne)”Do you know that every time you look at me like that you erase the hurt of at least a hundred times someone said I wasn’t ladylike enough? You make me feel so – female. I think to myself that must be the way a hungry wolf looks at a lamb.”
He moved then, walked to her. She found herself thinking maybe topaz, maybe his eyes are like smoked topaz. This kiss was not tentative, but sure and certain. For months she had dreamed of kisses, but the sensual magic of the firm lips was sweeter than anything she had known to dream about.

Cord fought sleep, wanting to savor this moment and the memories of the day. Anne’s breath fanned across his throat sweetly. I wanted you so much it hurt. She made him feel like the king he was sure she had been born for. He thought of her face as she ran into his arms after the race, the feel of her in his arms dancing in the summer night. Perhaps there would never again be such a day, but he had this one. And he had her – now.
As he finally stopped fighting sleep, he wondered if maybe just occasionally the gods designed a woman fit for a king or a prince and then gave her to an ordinary man. Maybe they did such a thing once in a while, knowing an ordinary man would treasure her more, love her better. Maybe they even let him keep her – for a while.

Whirling in Cord’s arms, Anne was aware of nothing but the floating sensation and the eyes of gold so close to her own and so somber.
“You know, Annie, a long time ago an old man told me beauty doesn’t mean much in a woman. It disappears with age. But he said some women have something better. They have a special glow that lasts all their life and just gets richer. You’re like that. You really shine.”
She could feel her eyes growing moist.
“Don’t cry.”
“I’m not.”
Her hand slipped from his shoulder to his face without conscious thought. He rubbed his cheek lightly against her fingers and kissed her palm. The scandal would last a hundred years, she thought, and willed her hand back to his shoulder. The smile started then, a real smile, teeth flashing oh so white in his bronze face. Her heart soared, and in truth, that night Anne Wells Bennett was not the only one who saw beauty in her fierce, dark man.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Smashwords

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Bodyguard by Suzanne Brockmann

Format: E-bookbodyguard
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Hero: Harry O’Dell
Heroine: Alessandra Lamont
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: February 23, 2004
Started On: September 12, 2010
Finished On: September 13, 2010

My first Suzanne Brockmann certainly entertained me enough that she definitely makes an author of interest from this point forward. Though this by far isn’t the best romantic suspense novel I have read, I certainly enjoyed the different characters that made this book a pretty swell read.

Harry O’Dell, an FBI agent lives like he has got nothing to lose. Working on bringing down organized crime, his job had finally taken its toll on his family when his ex-wife and eldest son Kevin had been killed in a car crash as a result of a shooting that had only meant to be a scare tactic by the mob to scare Harry off his current investigation. Though his son Shaun and Emily the youngest are both alive and need him more than ever, he hands them over to his stepsister Marge who has been taking care of them for the past two years. The pain that he feels whenever he sees Shaun or Emily prevents him from visiting or spending any quality time with either of them. As a result, Shaun is sick and tired of telling his sister Emily that their father’s job in protecting the President is too important to be left alone to come and visit them for any length of time.

Alessandra Lamont is in a shit load of trouble. First her marriage of more than 6 years had come crashing down when her husband Griffin Lamont had traded her in for a newer younger version of a trophy wife. The one thing Alessandra had been darn happy about was the fact that Griffin had given her everything she had asked for, the house and the cars, and only asked for his mother’s azalea bush the one right outside the kitchen door. And then she had found out that the house had been triple mortgaged to the hilt, the cars were all leased and that Griffin had applied for bankruptcy. The next thing Alessandra knows, the police is knocking down her door wanting to know where Griffin was in association with a drug deal that had gone south. And then to top it all off, she had received the news that Griffin had been found hands tied behind his back with two shots to his head, killed in classic gang slaying style. And her troubles had been far from over even then. Alessandra being unable to bear children had set her heart on adopting Jane Doe, a baby she had come across at the Northshore Children’s Hospital where she did fund raising work. Jane had been labeled as not likely to be adopted because she was severely handicapped and had been born with a heart defect. Now with all her finances and stability in shambles around her, the Social Services had turned her down as a potential parent for Jane and that broke her heart more than anything else.

Though Alessandra doesn’t have much of an idea on how her soon to have been ex-husband had met his demise in such a fashion, she has an inkling that it had something to do with Micheal Trotta allegedly hip deep in illegal drug sales, prostitution and graft. Alessandra is more than shaken when she returns home one night after a visit to the hospital to find the whole place trashed with nothing left untouched. And then she receives the bone chilling phone call that requests her to find the money or she is next on the list. It is into this mess that Harry and George Faulkner, Harry’s partner for the past 8 months walks into. Although Harry’s melting brown eyes and rumpled look makes her want to launch herself at him and sob her heart out, Alessandra knows that she cannot rely on anyone to protect her.

Harry when he first lays eyes on Alessandra with her movie star good looks, softly lidded blue eyes, thick blond hair and perfectly proportioned body sends an unwanted arc of red hot need through him for the first time in 4 years. Harry despises himself for the fact that he could crave a woman who looked as warm as the North Pole in freezing temperatures. And to top it off in Harry’s mind she had deserved what had landed in her lap by marrying into the mob for the money and luxuries that life would bring.

When Alessandra is threatened within an inch of her life by none other than Micheal Trotta himself who is livid that Griffin had had the balls to double-cross him and steal a million dollars from him and is ready to make an example out of his wife gives her 48 hours to come up with the missing money. Alessandra barely makes the deadline and thinks she has got away scot free, that is until her house is blown up with the sole intention of killing her.

No matter how much Alessandra protests, she is taken into witness protection though the FBI’s main aim is to use her as bait to lure in Michael Trotta and convict him once and for all, a fact which is kept from Alessandra. Though Harry is prepared to keep himself away from Alessandra no matter how much she tempted him on so many levels, it proves to be harder than he realizes when Harry gets to know the actual woman underneath all the layers that Alessandra had perfected during her marriage to Griffin.

Before long, Michael’s thugs take the bait and Alessandra is livid when she finds out the role that the FBI had made her play unknowingly. Determined to strike out on her own and run away though the threat to her is quite large with the bounty on her head increasing by millions each day, Alessandra nearly does so until Harry convinces her that it would be better all around if he went along with her. Thus, with Alessandra in tow, Harry finds himself making his way to Colorado where his children were, in the hopes of sorting out the court order he had received that Marge wanted to adopt his children.

It is during the last leg of the trip that Harry and Alessandra both give into the obvious desire they have for one another. And it is in Colorado that Harry comes face to face with just how much hurt and anger and resentment that Shaun had stored away the past 2 years, and the fact that his sweet little Emily really had no recollection of who he was whatsoever. And it is Alessandra that stops Harry from giving up on his family, who patiently and stubbornly makes him see reason and in the end to whom Harry turns to when he sees just how much he had been willing to give up for his dead son when his children who were alive deserved so much more from him.

Intensely emotional at times and gripping with action at other moments, this is a book that makes you race through the pages until the very end. The ending which shows life 4 years afterwards for the O’Dells was a heartwarming one which I loved.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Another Love by Ann Jacobs

Format: E-bookAnother Love
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Black Gold, Book 6
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Hero: James Blake Tanner IV
Heroine: Erin Winters
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: December 1, 2005
Started On: September 11, 2010
Finished On: September 12, 2010

I picked up this book on the basis of its storyline, where the hero has been previously married and wife had died. The love story that unfurls is most of the time between a reluctant hero who idolizes the memory of his dead wife which prevents him from seeing the heroine who is a much better match for him all around. This book takes things a step further, such that the heroine is the surrogate mother of the hero and his dead wife’s child.

Another Love is the 3rd book in a series called Black Gold by the author. The story kicks off when Erin Winters receives the news that she has successfully become pregnant with the sperm provided by the father-to-be James Blake Tanner IV whom she had never met. Though Erin has serious reservations about the fact that whether she would be able to let go of the baby that will keep on growing inside of her and is a part of her, Erin has no choice with all the tragedies that life had inevitably dealt her with. With her husband Bill killed in a hideous car accident 3 years ago, rendering Timmy their son unable to walk had taken its toll on Erin’s life and her finances as well. Erin had quoted a sum of 50,000 dollars for the baby she would bear for the Tanners so that her son Timmy could go ahead with the surgery that is his only hope of ever being able to walk again. And then tragedy strikes once again when at the 5th month of her pregnancy she receives word that Glenna Tanner had died in surgery after being shot by a deranged maniac going on a shooting spree at the infant department at Neiman Marcus.

James Blake Tanner IV (Blake’s) world comes crashing down all around him when his beloved wife, best friend and soul mate dies a senseless death leaving him reeling in the aftermath. James and Glenna had grown up together, Glenna being brought up by grandparents who had taught her to love and live life to the fullest, with Blake being brought up by the servants hired by his workaholic lawyer of a father. Glenna had brought joy and color into his otherwise mundane life. At the tender age of 10, a solemn little boy then, Blake had professed his love for Glenna and proposed to Glenna on the Christmas after they had graduated from college.

Blake and Glenna had been married for more than 14 years and survived a bunch of miscarriages. Glenna’s need to have a baby of their own had finally ended up in Blake agreeing to surrogacy though Blake would have happily foregone having a child if it meant Glenna would be by his side for all time. Blake knows that there is no way that he would want the baby that is a part of him now, since he knows that he would resent the unborn child because it had been the reason that fate had so cruelly snatched away the only person who meant the world to him.

When Blake requests through his friend and gynecologist Greg that Erin obtain an abortion, Erin is livid and informs Greg that she wouldn’t do any such thing and wants to talk to the father of the child she is carrying. Blake doesn’t want anything to do with the woman who in his opinion had stooped so low as to request a large sum of money in exchange for her baby. But when Blake against his better judgment goes and meets Erin, Blake knows that he cannot turn away from the woman who carries his child and the dire situation she is in. In the end, Blake resolves the situation by inviting Erin and her son Timmy who captures his heart from the very first moment to move into his home.

Though Glenna maybe dead, her part in the story is far from over. Arriving as a ghost, knowing that her desire to have a baby had inevitably ended up with her being dead causing more hurt and grief than she ever wanted to the man she would love all through eternity, Glenna vows to make things right for Blake once again. Knowing that her Blake who always viewed life in a methodical and analytical way would rather commit himself into an asylum than acknowledge that his dead wife was haunting him, Glenna decides to work her way through with Erin by  her side.

A mild friendship develops between Erin and Blake and when Erin hurts herself before her due date, Blake is forced to face the fact that he doesn’t want his child to arrive into this world as a bastard. Thus with this practicality in mind, Blake offers to marry Erin though he informs her that he has nothing emotionally left in him to give and that he would always love his dead wife. Erin knows that the security that Blake offers her and Timmy is too good to turn down. Any misgivings she has is cleared away by Glenna and it is with all good intentions in mind that Erin agrees to marriage with Blake.

Though both Erin and Blake feel a mutual awareness of one another, Blake is too grief stricken to really acknowledge it, that is until the night Erin gives birth to their son Jamie and Blake sees Erin nursing their son. Desire and lust long denied unfurls which Blake tries to hide and keep at bay. But in the end, a seductive and alluring Erin proves to be too much of a temptation to resist. Though Blake may share his body with Erin, and feels guilty about it, he doesn’t give himself the chance to really see Erin as a woman who is more compatible for him in every way. Erin knows that the man she has fallen so hopelessly in love is never going to return her feelings, but Glenna keeps on urging her to move forward and work towards obtaining Blake’s love.

There is also a secondary story interwoven with Blake and Erin’s story. The story of Erin’s younger sister Sandy and her boss and Blake’s friend Greg who is the gynecologist who find love in one another and fights the obstacles in their merged lives to get married and start a life with one another. I didn’t care much for the explicit sex scenes between Sandy and Greg, maybe because I never really got into their characters. Some of the scenes between Blake and Erin were definitely smoking hot, though the rest left a lot to be desired. There is only so much smut a girl can read before it gets to be repetitive.

I enjoyed Blake and Erin’s story though not as much as I hoped I would. Erin’s son Timmy and the way he heroically suffered the rigorous treatments he has to undergo throughout won my heart over and over again. I could definitely use some of his courage over here in the real world!

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Kobo | Ellora’s Cave

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Darkest Hour by Maya Banks

Format: E-bookthe darkest hour
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: The Kelly Group International, Book 1
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Hero: Ethan Kelly
Heroine: Rachel
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: September 7, 2010
Started On: September 10, 2010
Finished On: September 11, 2010

First of all, let me just say WOW! This novel grabbed me and turned me inside out from page 1. I was kind of wary at first to pick up this book because the only time I had read a book by Maya Banks which was Seducing Simon, it kind of fell flat for me. But I am so very glad that I put my reservations aside and went ahead and read the book, because this story is so very very good!

This story promises the start of a great new series by the author. This series centers around the Kelly family, 6 sons of local hardware store owner Frank Kelly and his wife of more than 30 years Marlene Kelly who was now a retired teacher. Sam, Garret, Donovan, Ethan and Nathan and Joe who are twins makes up the Kelly family. One would have thought that with 6 rambunctious sons to raise, Marlene would have enough on her hands. But with her kindhearted nature, Marlene tended to take in strays as her sons affectionately liked to tease her, and mothered them as well, showering them with as much love as if she had born them.

The Kelly Group International is a covert super-elite family run business that takes on missions such as hostage/kidnap victim recovery, intelligence gathering and sometimes gets hired by the US government to handle tough jobs that they cannot handle. Since all 6 of the Kelly men had served in different branches of the military at some point, Nathan and Joe still serving in Afghanistan, Sam, Donovan and Garret were the ones who owned and handled the KGI business.

Ethan Kelly, is ex-Navy SEAL, and drinks himself to oblivion every day and night to escape his memories and pain. Since that fateful day on June 16 a year ago, when he had received word that Rachel had been killed in a crash that had taken the lives of a small group of relief workers flying in from South America, Ethan and his family had been devastated. Rachel had not been just Ethan’s wife. Rather, Rachel had been taken under Marlene’s love and care when her own parents had been killed in a car crash. Rachel who had always been a favorite student of Marlene’s had been like the daughter she never had and her death had affected the Kelly family in more ways than one.

On the 1 year anniversary of his wife’s death, Ethan receives a package that contains evidence that Rachel is very much alive being held captive in a drug cartel camp deep in the jungles of South America. Ethan who had been praying for a second chance and can’t believe it when it does happen, convinces his brothers to help him rescue the woman who bears a remarkable resemblance to his dead wife.

The Kelly’s storm the camp to find Rachel hooked high on drugs and scared out of her mind. The only thing that Rachel does remember and dream about is a man whom she craves to be her knight in shining armor and who she knows will keep her undoubtedly safe. When Ethan rushes into the small hut in which Rachel is kept captive, she knows that the man who she keeps dreaming about has finally come for her.

With all her memories of her past life gone, Rachel is more than scared out of her wits when she is rescued. The only men she seems to remember are Garret and Ethan. On top of that the craving she has for a fix by the needle exhausts her more than anything. Recovery is a slow agonizing process and her return back home is made as stress free as possible by the family that awaits her eagerly.

But as Rachel’s memories slowly return, so does a dream that frightens her beyond anything she had endured. An angry Ethan who looks as if he loathes her and hates her keeps Rachel in constant agitation. Ethan knows that he is living on borrowed time with his wife until her memory fully returns. Ethan had done Rachel wrong in so many ways in their marriage and unless he can get his wife to give him a second chance so that he could prove to her just how much she is worth to him, Ethan knows that life would have no meaning for him if otherwise.

Meanwhile, the threat on Rachel’s life is not completely obliterated. Attempts on her life more than once leave all of the Kelly’s reeling. And the story of greed, corruption and murder of a power hungry politician emerges as the story unfolds which kept the pages turning.

This story has so many facets to it that made it so interesting. I know that all 6 Kelly’s would make delicious heroes if the way Ethan treats Rachel is any standard to uphold. Rusty, the newest stray that Marlene takes in also promises to be an interesting addition to the Kelly brood.

The Darkest Hour has all the essential ingredients in the right amounts that make up a great romantic suspense novel. Mouth watering hot men in combat gear is enough to shoot up any girls temperature right up. Added to the mix more emotion than my heart could handle at times with enough danger to keep the edge on the story made this book an instant winner.

Two more books of this series have already been announced on the author’s website. No Place to Run which would feature Sam’s story to be released this December and Hidden Away which is Garret’s story to be released in 2011 has me on tenterhooks already!

If you want to read romantic suspense that grabs your emotions right from the very start and delivers on all counts, this is a must-read!

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Hot Finish by Erin McCarthy

Format: E-book9780425235942_Hot_Finish_MM.indd
Read with: Amazon Kindle & Microsoft Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Fast Track, Book 3
Publisher: Berkley
Hero: Ryder Jefferson
Heroine: Suzanne Hickey
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: August 3, 2010
Started On: September 9, 2010
Finished On: September 10, 2010

Finally, this is the story of Suzanne and Ryder which I bet most of the readers of the series have been craving for. I have enjoyed reading all three stories of the series out so far. What made these stories enjoyable was the fact that Tamara, Imogen and Suzanne are all so different from one another and find love with men who are all sinfully good looking as they are kind, generous and loving. Of the three women, Suzanne’s story is the one that starts out with a prior history between the two.

Suzanne and Ryder had met one another at Ryder’s cousin Brian’s wedding of which Suzanne had been the wedding planner. Ryder had then been just a rookie driver, a little bit full of himself. Having grown up as an only child with middle class parents who thought that he could do no wrong, Ryder was a happy carefree kind of guy. The instant attraction between the two inevitably ended with Suzanne becoming pregnant which prompted Ryder to propose and they both eloped to marry at Las Vegas.

Suzanne had never felt that Ryder had married her because he was in love with her, but rather because he wanted to do the right thing when she got pregnant. Having never established the proper channels of communication between the two from the very hasty beginning of their volatile relationship, when Suzanne miscarries neither Ryder nor Suzanne talks about their feelings when it both affected them so much. Having never talked about the subject of trying for kids again, Suzanne who craved for a family of her own when she had grown up as an only child dirt poor with grandparents when her mother had abandoned her, Suzanne had felt that their relationship would never grow into something more. And the fact that Ryder almost always never remembered to take care of everyday little things which in the end Suzanne had to take care of, made her feel like an assistant of Ryder’s rather than his partner and wife.

Inevitably, disagreements between the two had started with growing discontentment on both sides. The bedroom had been the only place where these two knew one another and Ryder had always thought that whatever problems or arguments or fights they had, they would never part. But when Suzanne has had enough and walks out on Ryder, he doesn’t know what else to do but let her go.

Now the two year alimony period was over and Suzanne who had spent the past four years working as a volunteer on the board of charity that funded children’s cancer research has no option but to return to work as a wedding planner, which the cynic she had become since her divorce makes the job doubly harder. But Suzanne is determined that she would earn her way through and not give into the charity that Ryder was willing to offer.

Planning Nikki (Ty’s ex girlfriend who grated on everyone’s nerves with her flamboyant and dumb blond ways) and Jonas Strickland’s wedding was her first job in venturing back into the wedding planning business. The stress of having no money and taking care of the tantrums that Nikki made her put up with is taking its toll on Suzanne when she receives a letter from their divorce lawyer stating that Ryder and Suzanne weren’t actually divorced because Ryder had forgotten to give the lawyer power of attorney to appear in the court instead of him and had evidently never signed the papers. When Suzanne receives the news, its a foregone conclusion that with her volatile temper she would burst at the top.

However, Ryder is not much bothered by the fact since lately he had been having thoughts of Suzanne occupy his mind more than anything else. Though Ryder doesn’t have a clue as to why Suzanne finally walked out on him, he is willing to become a better husband all around and try and convince Suzanne that what they had was special enough not to walk away from.

With Ryder hellbent on showing Suzanne what she was missing, these two finally end up scorching the sheets, and my my! What an explosive combination do these two make! I was expecting their coming together to be volatile but the actual scene just took my breathe away!

Although Suzanne tries hard to deny her feelings for Ryder, she has to acknowledge the fact that she still loves Ryder but she isn’t willing to trust Ryder with her heart and open up to him, something Suzanne has no idea how to do because she had never ever been that person.

In the end, Suzanne ends up pregnant once again, and Ryder makes an ass out of himself whilst trying to profess that he still wants to be together and loves her which drives them apart once again. It is with Suzanne’s friends Tamara and Imogen’s help that she comes to realize that her marriage to Ryder had not failed only because of him but Suzanne was also part of the problem.

In the end its all good with a happy ending for the couple. I always love reading more about Elec and Tamara, my favorite couple by far from this series. According to the author’s website, there are two more books of the series to come out next year, Evan and Eve’s story, siblings of Elec Monroe. Am hoping those two stories would contribute towards making this series a favorite all the way through!

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

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