Category / Toe Curler!!

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Baby, Oh Baby! by Robin Wells

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Love Spell
Hero: Jake Chastain
Heroine: Annie Rose Hollister
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: February 2001
Started On: June 19, 2010
Finished On: June 22, 2010

Jake is a man haunted by the senseless death of his beloved wife Rachel. Jake and Rachel had been like two peas in a pod with similar goal-oriented focus in life. Rachel had always planned her life and stuck by it. When it had been time to start a family, she had focused on the task with all her might and problems had led to Jake and Rachel getting treated from an infertility clinic. But fate had other plans in hand when Rachel and Jake’s parents are all killed in a car crash which had left Jake bereft for the past two years.

Two years later, Jake comes to find out that the doctor at the infertility clinic had played God with the sperm samples and now a woman in Colorado has had his child. Angered beyond belief, Jake sets out to gain full custody of his child and encounters the mother of his child which throws him for a loop. Annie is not at all what he had expected. Living on a farm breeding llamas, reading tea leaves to gain insight into people’s future and believing that her dead grandfather speaks to her through billboards, Jake is at a loss on what to believe of the mother of his child.

At first, wanting full custody of the child and threatening Annie that he would do so doesn’t seem to be the best of ways to start on getting acquainted. Annie knows that the gorgeous specimen of a man who turns out to be the father of her child is everything she is not. Annie doesn’t want the complication of having a man in her life which is the reason why she had opted for artificial insemination in the first place. But there is no denying the fact that Jake is Meredith’s father and that he is here to stay, for good.

Distrustful of one another, Annie has no choice but to entrust Jake with Meredith’s welfare when Annie has to be hospitalized for surgery. What Jake goes through during the first couple of days with an active Meredith had me laughing out loud at several points. During this time both Jake and Annie come to realize that there is more to each other than meets the eye and decides to give joint custody of the child a try.

However, Jake’s ex-father-in-law Tom has other plans in mind. Though Susanna his wife seems quite taken with the idea Tom doesn’t like the changes that are coming about and feels that Jake is betraying the memory of Rachel by doting on the child. And he definitely doesn’t like it when Jake goes ahead and marries Annie.

Jake marries Annie with the best of intentions thinking of foregoing the physical aspect of the relationship just to give Meredith everything she would need. But Jake didn’t count on the fact that his new wife would be oh so appealing on so many levels. He can barely keep his mind off of her and every single time their eyes meet its as if they are the only two people in the room. The sexual tension that simmers between the two finally explodes and Annie falls headlong in love with Jake, who still refuses to let the memories of his dead wife go.

The side story of Susanna and Tom’s marriage which hits the rocks when Susanna goes into depression after the death of Rachel is quite enticing as well. With a rich cast of characters that vividly come to life with the turn of each page, this book is a great and wonderful read.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Son of the Morning by Linda Howard

Format: E-booksonofthemorning
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Hero: Black Niall of Scotland
Heroine: Grace St. John
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: November 4, 2009
Started On: June 18, 2010
Finished On: June 19, 2010

This is one of the books that I skipped when I went through my initial Linda Howard reading phase around 2 to 3 years back. This story is a mix of contemporary romance, mystery and suspense together with the aspect of time traveling thrown into the mix.

Grace St. John is a scholar specializing in ancient manuscripts. Grace is happily married to her husband Ford an archaeologist and living together with her brother Bryant who himself shares the same profession as her husband. The most recent stack of documents that land in Grace’s hands has her running for her life before the night is through. Witnessing the murder of her husband and brother within seconds of the other, Grace knows that her boss Parrish would stop at nothing to get his hands on her and the papers.

Overnight the scholarly Grace has to learn to keep her wits about her and transform herself into a person she barely recognizes. Grace doesn’t want to give into the gut wrenching pain that is barely kept at bay and it is the vow of vengeance and revenge on Parrish that keeps her going. Grace knows that the answer to everything lies in the bundle of papers that she had blessedly enough had the mind to take away with her and so starts her quest for answers whilst being a part of the underground community.

Before long, she is dreaming of the larger than life Scot warrior described in the papers known as the Black Niall of Scotland entrusted with guarding the lost Celtic treasure which is fabled to  hold unlimited power. Her shared dreams with Niall border on the verge of reality and Grace fears that she is being unfaithful to her dead husband Ford as the nights shared with Niall is the only time she feels alive.

Back in 13th century, Niall has his own share of problems always fighting and slaying those who dare to encroach on his territory. And the vague sense of a woman watching him from time to time and his unbearable hunger to claim her is keeping Niall on edge, more so than usual.

Once Grace discovers why Parrish and his Foundation of Evil wants their hands on the papers which holds the location of the elusive treasure, Grace knows that she alone cannot fight Parrish and finish off the foundation. To do what she must, Grace follows steps noted down in the papers on how to travel through time and finds herself in the midst of a battle and within seconds she is captured along with Niall.

Thus begins a journey of discovery of love that knows not the bounds of time, a man who would die protecting what is his and a woman who would travel to the beginning of time itself to belong to her warrior whose searing touch is unlike any she has known.

I kind of had mixed feelings about the novel whilst reading. A large chunk of the book passes by without Niall and Grace setting eyes on each other. Their only form of communication though both of them have no clue is through their vivid dreams of one another. Niall is a man to contend with whose presence makes the story come alive. Mind you, Grace is no whimpering heroine herself. What she accomplishes within a short period of time after the death of those whom she loves, I was in awe of her and was rooting for her all the way through.

Fans of Linda Howard ought to try this one out. Cos this surely is quite different from her usual stories.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Kill & Tell by Linda Howard

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Thriller
Series: John Medina Series, Book 1
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Hero: Marc Chastain
Heroine: Karen Whitlaw
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: January 1998
Started On: June 14, 2010
Finished On: June 15, 2010

I went on a Linda Howard reading spree a long time back and am now re-reading some of her books, books that have made an impression on other readers and books that I remember being good enough and worthy enough for a re-read. Linda Howard is an amazing writer, her writing style never lets you down and her heroes are to die for. With the right mixture of romance, mystery and sensuality, her books always rate highly in my opinion.

Right from the start of the book, the reader is drawn into the web of mystery that surrounds the murder of two soldiers who served in the Vietnam war, one being the estranged father of Karen Whitlaw and the other the father of the larger than life CIA operative John Medina, who gets his own story in the book All the Queen’s Men published in 1999. I remember being quite disappointed with John Medina’s book since my expectations for him were at an all time high after reading about just how dangerous a hero John would turn out to be.

Anyhow, Karen learns about the murder of her father from New Orleans’s homicide detective Marc Chastain when he calls her up to tell that her father Dexter Whitlaw who had lived on the streets had been killed under suspicious circumstances as far as Marc could tell. Reeling from the sudden death of her beloved mother a couple of months back, Karen had always nursed a deep resentment for her father who had abandoned both of them when Karen was quite young. However Karen quickly makes arrangements and fly off to New Orleans where she comes face to face with Marc, the man whose velvety voice had made quite an impression on Karen, and the quick hot attraction that flares between the two is something to savor.

The slow seduction that takes place where Marc woos Karen and the scorching passion these two create with one another made me want a Marc of my own. Sigh! Unbeknown to Karen, something in her possession that her father had mailed to her mother a few months before his demise marks Karen as a target and her life quickly unfolds into one filled with danger and pitfalls wherever she turns.

A story that has an intriguing mix of politics gone awry, jealousy, murder and two characters a reader would definitely relate with, this is another book that is in the “un-putdownable” category by the author.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Nobody’s Angel by Karen Robards

Format: Paperback
Read with: Paperback
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Dell
Hero: Ian Connelly
Heroine: Susannah Redmon
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: November 1, 1992
Started On: June 9, 2010
Finished On: June 12, 2010

Susannah Redmon is the plain, eldest and spinsterish daughter of the preacher in Carolina Colony. Ever since her mother died after giving birth whilst Susannah was at the tender age of around 13 or so, she has looked after her family and congregation, and never been courted by a man in all her 26 years. Resigned to living with her father and sisters, Susannah runs their family farm, and is well respected throughout the community for her healing touch.

With too much work on the farm than Susannah and her sisters could handle, Susannah purchases a convict whose sentence is to serve their family for a period of seven years. Susannah never dreamed that under the defiant and proud man who stood in front of her, who looked ravaged and more like a savage with filth on every inch of him could turn out to be a wealthy aristocrat from London, i.e. the Marquis of Derne.

Betrayed by his family and branded a convict, Ian had paid to be alive and has plans to flee the Colony as soon as he gets his strength back. However the prim and proper woman who has bought him intrigues him on more levels than one and Ian bides his time at the farm trying to court Susannah, though she doesn’t seem to be aware of her beauty and how charmed Ian really is with her.

Susannah never thought that under all that filth that covered Ian, he could turn out to be a handsome devil who tempted her on so many levels. Before she knows it, Susannah is captivated by Ian’s searing kisses and enticing touch and head over heels in love for the first time in her life.

Before long, Susannah makes her way to London with Ian where she discovers just how unsuited she is for the life she would have to lead as the wife of a Marquess. In the end it is up to Ian to convince this proud beautiful woman who doesn’t understand her worth that she belongs in his arms and in his life for now and always.

This book bears some resemblance to the storyline of Dark Torment by the same author, but I liked this story better.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Kobo

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Forbidden Passion by Emilie Rose

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Silhouette Desire
Hero: Sawyer Riggan
Heroine: Lynn
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: May 24, 2010
Started On: June 3, 2010
Finished On: June 3, 2010

Ever since I read the book Condition of Marriage by Emilie Rose and went through the list of published books by the author I have wanted to get my hands on this book as the synopsis seemed to hint at an intriguing story. And of course the raving reviews this book has received on numerous bookseller websites didn’t help. I have been scouting all over the Internet to find whether an e-version of the book had been released for quite sometime now. And to my delightful surprise last night I found that the book has been released on Kindle in April this year. (Woohoo!)

Lynn has been married to Sawyer’s adopted brother Brett for the past four years. A time during which Lynn has learnt that love is not what it seems to be and that a person could really whittle away and breakdown from the constant emotional roller coaster her marriage to Brett was. Lynn and Sawyer end up having mind blowing sex mere hours after Brett’s funeral, an act that puts Lynn in a bit of a predicament as she and Brett had tried to make their marriage work for one final time and started trying for a family just before Brett was killed.

Sawyer and Lynn has a shared history together, and Sawyer has no idea what kind of a monster Brett really was. Believing Brett to be the younger brother Sawyer had always worked his butt off to provide for and never understanding the reason why Lynn never waited for him and got married to Brett instead, Sawyer proposes marrying Lynn when he finds out that she is pregnant even though Lynn has no idea who the father could be.

Lynn never thought that a man could be understanding, loving, kind and attentive towards her needs and wants. Marriage to Sawyer opens up all the possibilities that were closed off to her before and it is not long before Lynn falls for Sawyer all over once again all the while thinking that all Sawyer wants is the temporary arrangement they agreed to before they got married.

Skillfully seductive, this book is a good read for a quick bout of romance with characters that you can relate to. Wish the story could have been longer!

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Silver Lining by Maggie Osborne

Format: E-book
Read with: Mobipocket Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Ivy Books
Hero: Max McCord
Heroine: Low Down (Louise Downe)
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: January 4, 2000
Started On: June 1, 2010
Finished On: June 2, 2010

I have to say its been a while since I read a romance that truly touched my heart. This book is that and so much more. I have always loved romances where the characters slowly find themselves falling in love with another by identifying qualities within one another deserving of their love and devotion to the other. This novel by Maggie Osborne offers all that and more in the story of how Louise Downe nicknamed Low Down for the luck she had had in life finds herself hitched to the blue eyed Max McCord who is in love with his fiance back home.

Max becomes honor bound to marry Louise when she nurses him and all the other men who were in Piney Creek to hunt for gold from smallpox taking all their lives. The men promise amongst themselves that Low Down would have anything that her heart desires for not turning her back on them in their hour of need. To their discomfiture and surprise, Low Down announces that her heart’s desire is to have a baby of her own to love and cherish. For someone who has never had a family of her own it has always been Low Down’s dream to one day have a loving a family of her own.

Its not surprising that none of the men present are too keen on the idea of bedding the bedraggled creature standing in front of them. Although Low Down has on her mind to just get the act over and done with which would plant the baby inside her, the priest present convinces the man who draws the marble with the scratched cross on it to marry Low Down. Though Low Down has got plenty to say against being united in marriage to a man, her protests go unheeded as the men are determined to do right by her.

Max McCord has never shied from responsibility in his life and he isn’t about to start now. Though his angelic bride-to-be Philadelphia is waiting for him back home and their marriage is to  take place within two weeks time, Max doesn’t want to be labeled as the guy who turned his back on repaying a debt he owed. And he can’t believe his bad luck when he is the one who ends up getting hitched to Low Down, when the mere thought of bedding her sends shivers up and down his spine.

Though neither Low Down nor Max wants to be married to one another they have no choice but to go on ahead with the marriage as Max takes his responsibilities to head and Low Down really wants that baby badly. Coming to an arrangement that they would stay married till Low Down became pregnant with a child, these two set off to make a temporary life for themselves in Max’s hometown where Max has to face the music of facing his jilted fiance and her all powerful father.

Max cannot believe his ears when Philadelphia professes to be pregnant with his child, and Wally Max’s brother has to step up and marry Philadelphia to save both families from being ruined by scandal. The story that ensues is one that would stay with me for a long time to come. How Low Down is slowly transformed into Louise Downe, a woman who doesn’t fully understand her self worth, a woman who hopelessly falls in love with her husband against her will and who slowly steals the hearts of all those that surround her.

Very highly recommended as a book that cannot be put down easily once started.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Italian Doctor’s Wife by Sarah Morgan

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Medical Romance
Series: Harlequin Presents
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Nico Santini
Heroine: Abby Harrington
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: September 20, 2010
Started On: May 30, 2010
Finished On: June 2, 2010

Although I read romances of various genres, medical romance is one that I tend to stay away from. I remember that the last time I read a medical romance was way back in the 90’s when I first started reading romance books. Back then, maybe it was because of my reading preferences at the time, I found myself bored with the whole aspect of medical romances where doctors fell in love with nurses.

I picked up this book with that thought at the back of my mind, that most probably I would give up reading this book halfway through. But to my pleasant surprise I found myself intrigued by the various medical literature to be found in the book, which might have something to do with the author having being a nurse herself.

This story is about nurse Abby Harrington who chooses to have a baby through an anonymous donor at an insemination clinic. To Abby’s shock, Nico Santini, the eldest brother of Abby’s best friend Lucia, who is one of the most successful pediatric heart surgeons, seeks her out and drops the bombshell that he is the father of Rosa.

Nico thinks that he donated the sperm to a couple in their late thirties and instead is angered to find out that he was betrayed into thinking that by his own sister and thinks Abby to be in cahoots with Lucia in deceiving him. Nico plans on filing for custody of Rosa thinking Abby to be an unfit mother to raise a child of his, when he is  ultimately proved wrong by just how loving Abby is with Rosa.

However the tabloids somehow find out that Abby and Nico have a baby together which propels Nico’s proposal for Abby to marry him. Abby agrees to the marriage in terms of it being a marriage of convenience but to her immense surprise and pleasure finds out that Nico has other plans in mind.

I found this story to be a charming one where misunderstandings were resolved by conversing like rational adults rather than swimming in a pool of them until the reader is ready to scream in frustration. And of course the vivid details of open heart surgery procedures carried out proved to be quite informative and made this story though short an interesting read.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Wed by Deception by Emilie Rose

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle & MS Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: The Payback Affairs, Book 3
Publisher: Silhouette
Hero: Lucas Daniel Stone
Heroine: Nadia Kincaid
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: September 9, 2008
Started On: May 20, 2010
Finished On: May 21, 2010

This is the third book in the payback affairs series by Ms. Rose and features Everett Kincaid’s third child and only daughter Nadia Kincaid and her believed to be dead husband for eleven years Lucas Daniel Stone.

Everett Kincaid is a man who has wronged all three of his children in one way or the other. And Everett has laid out his will in such a way that all three of his children had to fulfill certain “tests” that he had set aside before they all could be secure in the vast inheritance that Everett has left for them.

Nadia’s task was to live in Dallas on a limited budget, without holding a job and with none to look after her. Learning to survive on her own is supposed to be Nadia’s challenge and she is in for the shock of her life when her neighboring tenant returns home and Nadia finds him to be none other than Lucas, the husband she thought had died right along with her son in the accident that had left Nadia scarred for life.

Though nothing can bring back Nadia’s ability to have children, her life had resumed with some sort of normalcy until the shock of what Nadia’s dad had really done behind their backs to keep them apart comes to haunt her.

Lucas doesn’t want to feel small and helpless, the way he had felt eleven years ago when he  thought his wife had wanting nothing to do with him anymore. During his weakest moment he had grabbed what Nadia’s father had offered and built himself an empire that rivals the Kincaid’s. On a personal vendetta of his own to rub Kincaid’s face in his success by literally buying out every piece of business the Kincaid’s own, Lucas never thought what happened eleven years ago was by no means any fault of Nadia, the only woman who had ever made him succumb to love.

Nadia and Lucas both have to learn to trust one another amongst all the lies they have been made to believe for the past decade and give in to the intense passion that has always been within them before they are able to find ever lasting happiness with one another.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Unfaithful Wife by Lynne Graham

Format: E-book
Read with: Microsoft Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Nik Andreakis
Heroine: Leah
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: November 1, 1995
Started On: May 6, 2010
Finished On: May 10, 2010

Lynne’s Graham older romances contributed a lot towards me becoming the avid romance book reader that I am today. Likewise, this book published more than a decade back has the element that is missing from most of the Harlequin novels that are published today, even by my most favorite authors such as Ms. Graham. Thus it was a rare treat to read this romance by Ms. Graham which I didn’t want to put down once I started.

Leah and Nik have been married for five years during which they have lived apart from one another. Leah doesn’t know the reason why Nik acts so coldly towards her once they are married. Nik has his own group of beautiful women with whom he spends his nights with and this propels Leah finally towards forming a relationship of her own, fed up with a life of utter loneliness and unhappiness.

The death of Leah’s father brings about the actual truth as to why Nik has been treating Leah so abhorrently. And it is this pivotal moment that brings these two together, Nik with his tendency to be distrustful of love and companionship that goes along with it and Leah afraid to hope for anything permanent with Nik with whom she fell in love with on the very first sight.

Filled with highly sensual moments which is trademark Graham, this novel stands to be the reason why I always look forward to reading a novel by the author, no matter how disappointing her recent novels have turned out to be.

Purchase Links: Amazon

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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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