Category / Tortured Hero

by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: The Sheriff’s Daughter by Kay Stockham

Format: E-bookthesherrifsdaughter
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: North Star, Montana Series, Book 1
Publisher: Harlequin Publishers
Hero: Liam McKenna
Heroine: Caroline Taggert
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: September 6, 2011
Started On: October 1, 2011
Finished On: October 8, 2011

I am always confused when it comes to the release dates of Harlequin romances. The Sheriff’s Daughter was up for grabs at Netgalley & states the release date as the 10th of this month. But a visit to the author’s website revealed that this book has already been released this September. Regardless of all this confusion, The Sheriff’s Daughter turned out to be a surprisingly wonderful & heartwarming romance, filled with endearing characters that worm their way into your hearts and impact you in a way that makes you remember them even long after you are done with the story.

This is the 1st book in a new series entitled as North Star, Montana Series. Based in the small town of North Star in Montana, this series focuses on the three adopted boys Liam, Brad and Chance of the McKenna family. The Sheriff’s Daughter tells the story of Liam, the boy who used to get into all sorts of trouble, who grows into a man who carries the sort of deep emotional wounds that one would never fathom that the now calm and controlled Deputy Sheriff of North Star to have.

Liam and Carly meet each other in high school during their freshmen year, Carly growing up as the daughter of the town’s sheriff and as the town sweetheart whilst Liam had grown up in foster care ever since he turned five years old, his belligerence stemming from the fact that his mother had never wanted anything to do with him. Carly has her own demons to conquer with her mother abandoning her while she was young. The hurt that has never completely faded away is one reason why Carly is so adamant on becoming a foster mother, going so far as to completing all the paperwork that would pave the way for her.

When Carly’s father goes on a two week vacation, Liam is under orders to see to Carly’s welfare, to see to it that she doesn’t get into any sort of trouble while the Sheriff is away. Carly revels in the freedom of not having her father around for the first time in her 27 years of life and gets into a bit of trouble here and there, just not enough to warrant Liam breathing down her neck, enticing her into forgetting that she has never before had the hots for her friend since high school.

Liam tries so damn hard to keep his hands off of Carly, but the temptation she presents just by existing is too hard for him to deny. Though Liam knows that he has nothing to offer for someone like Carly who shines with an inner goodness that has landed her in her fair share of trouble in the past, Liam cannot say no to the answering need that blazes to life in Carly as one kiss turns into two and something much more than either of them bargained for.

The Sheriff’s Daughter is a very well done first book for an enticing series that I am definitely going to be keeping an eye out for. Kay Stockham though a new author for me didn’t make me feel like a stranger to her writing. Her way of telling a story leaves no room for the reader to back out, but rather invites one to make herself at home and see where Kay’s characters are going to lead you. I loved the way Kay seemed  to know just which buttons to push when it came to both Liam and Carly and absolutely reveled in all the emotionally-charged encounters that Kay delivers so very well.

Liam is a hero that each and every one of us  is bound to fall for. Strong, silent and handsome with a tortured soul that deep down inside wants love and is afraid to ask for it, Liam’s brooding nature makes for a very enticing hero. His control which always snaps when it comes to Carly was so darn fun to watch, the way he tries to hold himself together around her and fails so miserably, lets just say that I was grinning throughout it all!

Carly is such a wonderful heroine who managed to make me fall in love with her right from the very start. With her heart always in the right place, all Carly wants is a stable home and a man who would stand by her side and children that she can love and grow old with. Though Liam tempts her in ways she has never been tempted before, Carly’s one hard and fast rule in relationships has always been to never date someone whose a cop. But for Liam, Carly finds herself breaking all the rules, defying every reason that she stay away from him because deep down inside Carly knows that Liam is the one for her. And though Liam might push her away, Carly knows that he needs her more than she needs him.

It was heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time to see Carly’s struggles as a foster mother, an aspect of the novel that I found really interesting. There were no short cuts to handling becoming a foster mother for the first time, the troubles Carly faced seeming all too real which lends the story that quality that makes it hard to put down. Liam who is adamant that Carly remain as far away as possible from foster parenting finds himself tied to a woman whose big heart refuses to do that, forcing Liam face his worst nightmares and open up wounds that are better left unopened.

There is not one character within the story that doesn’t lend something extra to it, making this contemporary romance a very well rounded one. The passion between Carly and Liam is of the toe-curling variety, one that made my senses come alive and hum in anticipation every single time. Kay certainly knows how to deliver on all the sexual tension she creates so well, and I for one ended up very satisfied with how she dealt with their passion, the romance and of course the happily ever after.

The ending which came with a lot of surprising twists and turns paves the way for the next story in the series. Brad, the steadfast member of the McKenna family who has to butt heads with the daughter of his foster father who never acknowledged her father’s existence when he was alive. The sparks I believe will surely fly & I am expecting a lot of emotional grittiness from the story, knowing how well Kay can deliver a good dose of angst with her stories if this book is anything to judge her style by.

Recommended for fans of Harlequin Superromances, fans of Kay Stockham and fans of romances with a small town setting, The Sheriff’s Daughter is an intense read that delivers on all counts.

Favorite Quotes

Liam stared at her, his gaze glittering hot with something she was afraid to identify because it made her knees weak and she couldn’t breathe from the intensity and pace of her heart pounding away in her chest.
He wanted to kiss her.
He didn’t want to want to kiss her—she could read that in his expression, as well—but she knew he did. And right, then. Cop or not—mistake that it would be— she wanted him to kiss her, too.

His mouth settled over hers with mind-numbing possession and it was way better than the on-screen kisses she’d envied. Way better than— Wow.
Liam released a husky groan the second his tongue swept into her mouth to touch hers. Fire exploded in her veins, a hot rush of feeling and sensation that obliterated the chiding voice in her head, screaming at her to run.

When she didn’t let go, when she buried her freckled nose in his chest and snuggled closer and when she shivered from the cold, he couldn’t stop himself from reaching out and wrapping his arms around her. Hesitant, he lowered his face into her hair and breathed deep.

Liam tossed the top half of the sleeping bag aside and snagged the end of her shirt and jacket. Her jeans were next, the moonlight bright enough he could see the masses of freckles on her pale skin and the starkness of Carly’s matching black lace underwear. “Do you always wear things like that?”
“They make me feel sexy.”
She didn’t need anything to be sexy. “Any sexier and I’d keel over now.”

Groaning softly, he kissed her, his tongue on hers as he matched his movements. His strokes quickened, harder, deeper, until pleasure suffused every nerve in her body and sent her zinging into the heavens above like the lights they’d come there to watch.

She turned her head and rubbed her cheek against the surprisingly velvety feel of his inner arm, the muscle tensing even more against her face when she pressed a kiss to his skin. In response, she felt him flex inside her.
“Caroline.”
She’d always hated her name. It was too old-fashioned, too hokey and very grandma-ish. But when Liam said it like that, she actually liked it. He made her name, he made her, feel like the sexiest, most beautiful woman on earth.

He sucked in a harsh breath when she pressed her mouth to his, and she was fascinated by the way his eyes darkened and glittered with sexual hunger when their tongues melded together. It was cold, the temperature dropping little by little. It didn’t matter. Not when she could press her bare breasts against his chest to warm them, when his hands slid up her back and his arms were so engulfing and so hot she was encased in perfect heat.

“Before you tell me how we shouldn’t be doing this—” did she dare say what she was thinking? “—I want you to remember how it felt when we were together, because I know you’d like to feel that way again.”
His hands tightened at her waist and his entire body hardened against hers. She drew back enough to see his face and caught her breath at his expression. Desire and want, need. Not sexual but…the need for closeness, for a connection. For her.

With every detail about his home she noted, anticipation built inside her. His silence added to the feeling when the closing of the door and the latch of the lock shut out the moonlight and everything else.
The last what-if niggles of doubts fled entirely, replaced one hundred percent by the awareness that she was with the man she was supposed to be with. Broken, bruised, guarded. Liam needed her. Even more than she needed and wanted him.

He suddenly understood in a way and on a level he never had before why Carly was so passionate about fostering. Why she was drawn to it.
He understood, but it didn’t make it any easier. Carly had never been abused and she wasn’t sucked into hell at the sight of every mark on Riley.
Not like him. Staring into Riley’s gaze Liam saw clear to the kid’s battered soul and it ripped Liam’s heart out because what he saw… What he saw was like reliving his past—and getting burned—all over again.

A flash of something—hope, excitement, disbelief— flickered over the boy’s face, shattering the remaining pieces of her heart. She’d known it would be a hard journey, and staring at Riley’s cast and bruises, she struggled to hold a smile on her face. Being a mother, especially a foster mother, took strength and courage, a backbone of steel and a loving heart.
All the qualities her mother had lacked—and all the things Carly was slowly learning she possessed.

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Forever by Lynn Turner

Format: E-bookforever
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Harlequin Presents, #893
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Sam Forrester
Heroine: Bernadette Chapman
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: May 1,1986
Started On: October 1, 2011
Finished On: October 5, 2011

Forever by Lynn Turner is a novel that I stumbled upon in my attempts to find more jungle-trek themed romances. Published in 1986, this is an old-school romance that does a good job of the character development, the setting as well as the romance and passion between the main characters.

44 year old Colonel Sam Forrester is sought out by the prim and proper 24 year old Bernadette Chapman whose a teacher and a librarian to find out whether Sam could help her out in her current predicament. Stranded with 6 school girls and their headmistress who had taken ill with Malaria, the only thing Bernadette wants is for all of them to safely get back home. Though she doesn’t know what to expect when it comes to Sam, there is no hiding from the fact that he is unlike any man Bernadette has ever encountered before, a man who has been hardened by his experiences in life.

A chain of events sees Sam and Bernadette traipsing through the dense African jungle, making their way towards civilization. The prickling awareness that they have of each other is always a constant presence, the desire to explore where the heady feelings each invokes in the other making a situation fraught with danger even more tense. The only thing that saves Bernadette from making a fool of herself and succumbing to the sensual demands of her body when it comes to Sam is the fact that Sam thinks her to be a Nun, a lie that Bernadette makes full use of in order to protect herself from a sensual and emotional assault that she knows would be devastating on her.

With just the right amount of action in between the pages of taut sensuality, Forever is a novel that proved to be both captivating and thrilling at the same time. The first half of the book kept me on tenterhooks, Sam’s surly nature and possessive jealousy when it comes to Bernadette who remains unaware of the fact such a thrill delve into. But when the “lie” about Bernadette came into the picture and seemed to drag on for quite a long while, some of the joy I felt with Bernadette’s character diminished. When it comes to romances, what I want for my hero and heroine is to want each other to the point of no-return, in spite of each and every obstacle that stands in their way. For me, dragging on the lie for just a tad too long didn’t seem to sit that well.

Sam’s character was one I fell instantly in love with. He is gorgeous looking, cynical as they come and has that growling thing down to a fine art which had my insides going on red alert every single time. Though he is a bit older than the usual heroes you encounter in these types of romances, for me his character worked well in the story. With his background and expertise as a soldier, Sam proves to be a hero worthy of the various sighing sessions that I indulged in whilst reading Forever.

Bernadette was an okay heroine for me. There were times I loved her for wanting to comfort Sam even though he seems like the last man on Earth who would want any sort of comfort she might have to offer. And then there were times I wanted to scream in frustration because she continued with the facade of being a Nun when it was obvious that misleading a man who confesses to being tired of women’s manipulations and lies would hardly prove to be the best way to go about winning the said man’s affections. However, in the end, it all seemed to work out. I loved how Sam goes after Bernadette in the end lending this romance a pretty good ending.

The one thing that I absolutely loved was the banter between the characters. I found myself smiling through a lot of their conversations, at one time eliciting the question from my husband why was I smiling so much! I loved how Sam’s teasing side came into play with Bernadette, plain evidence of his obvious affection and growing feelings towards her though the story is told almost 99% of the time from Bernadette’s point of view.

Since I loved Sam’s character so much, and because I loved how everything turned out in the end, I am willing to forgive the lapse in what happened towards the latter part of the story and rate this a great read, recommended for fans of jungle-trek themed romances featuring a tortured & cynical hero who falls like a ton of bricks for the right woman!

Favorite Quotes

She would remember that voice as long as she lived, Bernadette thought. It was low and slightly harsh, as if he was hoarse from yelling at the top of his lungs all day. Yet there was a deep resonance to it, as well. It seemed to come from the soles of his feet, rumbling up through that long, tough-looking body and somehow being muted by the time it reached his throat. No, she revised the whimsical reflection; not muted, but tamed a little, civilised for the benefit of those who might hear it.

Their conversation was limited to monosyllables, few and far between, and either consciously or unconsciously   spoken in French. The language should have sounded clumsy or discordant when spoken in Forrester’s normal growl, but it didn’t. Instead, his terse questions and muttered comments came out sounding like impatient love words, deliciously sexy; as if the engine he was working on was a temperamental woman whose pretence at reluctance might irritate him, but for whom he would play the game because of the reward he knew he’d receive at the end of it.

‘Does this ring any bells?’ he murmured against her lips.
‘I——-‘
Whatever else she’d been about to say was lost as he kissed her again. His gentleness took her by surprise, and without being fully aware that she was doing it she started kissing him back, just as gently.
His hand curved to fit her waist as he murmured something unintelligible, his long fingers sliding with masterful confidence to her ribcage.

‘God, I want you,’ he breathed, and Bernadette’s throat closed, trapping her breath, while every last ounce of strength drained out of her and left her with knees turned suddenly to rubber.
‘I’ve never said that to a nun before,’ he mused wryly. ‘But then I’ve never met a nun like you. I doubt anyone has. What business has a woman Like you got being a nun, for the love of God!’

He released something elemental in her, some primitive force she hadn’t even been aware of until he came along. It was frightening, in a way, but it was also exhilarating and incredibly exciting. And the jungle, steamy and frought with hidden dangers, seemed the perfect setting for their coming together.

He moaned her name against her lips, and then at her temple, and her closed eyes. It seemed to be all he could say, the only word he knew. She remembered how she’d once been incensed by his lazy, mocking use of that butchered form of Bernadette, and decided she had been a pathetic little idiot.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

greatread

by mvbookreviewer

Requested Review: Lauren’s Eyes by Norah Wilson

Format: E-booklaurenseyes
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Self Published
Hero: Callum Taggart
Heroine: Lauren Townsend
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: July 31, 2010
Started On: September 28, 2011
Finished On: October 1, 2011

When I first saw Lauren’s Eyes by Norah Wilson, the book failed to catch my eye. Maybe because the book cover that depicted a couple of horses didn’t stir my pick-this-book-up-immediately-radar. But once I read The Merzetti Effect and became drawn towards Norah’s style and the way she presents a story to the reader, I knew I needed to get my hands on every romance that she has published to-date.

The new glossy cover toting man-candy certainly whetted my appetite for more and Lauren’s Eyes made its way to my massive TBR, time and yet again to be bumped up because the story seemed to call something deep inside of me. And now, having read the book from start to finish and having loved every minute of the journey, I have just got to say, Kudos Norah, for a story that hits ALL the right spots head on!

Callum Taggart (Cal) is a rancher who has hit hard times and has resigned himself to taking in tourists to turn his business around. Cal is a man who has so much pain deep inside of him, which he hides from the rest of the world so effectively that even Cal himself doesn’t realize that he hurts for things that he cannot seem to voice. A childhood that had taught Cal the lesson never to depend on anyone else but himself and later on a marriage that had failed miserably has Cal shouldering each and every responsibility without flinching, never trusting anyone else and never really understanding his own worth until Lauren comes into his life and turns everything around.

Lauren Townsend is a 30 year old veterinarian, a gift that makes her susceptible towards the behavior and emotions of animals that makes her very good at what she does. Lauren’s psychic ability makes her sensitive to visions that shows her homicides that until now Lauren has been unable to stop. Her changeling nature has made her a bit of a loner, the past relationships in her life a testament to the fact.

It is Lauren’s psychic visions that brings her to the Foothills Guest Ranch where she meets Cal Taggart, whose silver gaze makes her think of the swirling depths of the Atlantic Ocean, and makes her want to lose every single inhibition she has and say yes to the fire that smolders in Cal’s eyes, promising her a world of pleasure that Lauren has not yet known.

What starts out merely as Lauren’s attempt to save a woman’s life turns into something much bigger and complex as her growing attraction towards Cal makes her want and yearn for much more than the straightforward sexual affair that Cal is ready to offer. For both Cal and Lauren, the desire that they feel for each other that burns hotter and more out of control with each and every encounter slowly chips away their resistance towards letting their hearts get involved.

As trouble continues to mount at the ranch and unexpected guests arrive, it is Lauren that proves at each and every turn that in her Cal has finally found someone he can completely rely on and place his trust in, because in her arms, Cal finally feels as if he has come home.

I started Lauren’s Eyes thinking that I would be getting an enjoyable romantic suspense with a heroine who has psychic abilities posing the usual conflicts that such characters bring to the stories. But, with Norah, I have come to realise that she always has a way of far exceeding my expectations. Reading Lauren’s Eyes was like unwrapping a gift with hidden compartments, each layer that unfolded making the story that much more irresistible.

Cal’s inner tortured nature makes him such a worthy hero to sigh over, his mere presence devastating to the senses. Cal is the type of hero that I can’t get enough of, the type of hero that I wish authors would write more of! Even now, a couple of hours after finishing the book, I find myself thinking of Cal at odd times, thinking of those heady moments he shares with Lauren filled with such raw desire and want that one can’t help but want more of the same. Norah certainly ups the heat in this novel and for those who love blistering heat and passion of the toe curling variety in their romantic suspense, I guarantee that Lauren’s Eyes provides that in spades!

I have identified with the fact that Norah has an innate ability to create heroines who don’t do much fluttering around, wringing their hands bemoaning the fates for putting them in the path of the hero. And true to Norah’s style, Lauren turned out to be such a fantastic heroine, someone that I loved right from the very beginning. Her need to comfort Cal right from the  very beginning made her land in my favorite heroines shelf for now & always!

The ending when it came, had me with tears in my eyes, something that yet again Norah seems to do to me so effortlessly to with her novels.

As I said before, there are so many elements to the story that makes the book what it is, that one needs to read this to uncover and appreciate it for. The characters, the setting and the romance all make for a fantastic read, one I cannot recommend highly enough and cannot applaud Norah enough!

Favorite Quotes

(Cal) “I was thinking, maybe you’d like a livelier mount, since you’re obviously a skilled rider.”
She glanced at him sharply. The fact that he’d paid her a compliment sank in her consternation at the thought of a more forceful mount under her. […]
“Thank you, no. I think I’ll stick with slow and steady.”
His hooded eyes suddenly took on a sleepy, sensual look. “That’s a sensible decision, ma’am. But if you should get a yen for fast and wild, just give me a shout.”

When his hard hand cupped her face, an involuntary shiver raced up her spine, but she made no objection Then his lips were on hers.
It wasn’t what she expected. Instead of hot demand, there was testing, tasting. He shaped her lips with his, tilting his head this way and that, as though searching for the best angle. Her heart pounding, she conceded they were all good. But she wanted more. Without thought, she opened her mouth against his.
She sensed him stiffen, but instead of deepening the kiss, he started to pull back. Abandoning any pretense that she didn’t want this, hadn’t thought about it since the first moment she’d laid eyes on him, she caught his head and really kissed him.

Anywhere, she thought. He could touch her anywhere with that talented mouth, those clever hands. She’d do anything as long as he didn’t stop. On a surge of raw lust, she caught his lower lip between her teeth and bit. His growl thrilled her, but then he flexed a powerful thumb against her throat.

He gathered her carefully into his arms, tucking her head into his shoulder and aligning her frozen limbs with his. She felt stiff enough to shatter, but bit by bit, her muscles began to relax until she lay pliant against him. Pliant and sleeping. It didn’t take very long. Maybe fifteen minutes.
Fifteen minutes for her to regain herself.
Fifteen minutes for him to lose himself.

Her bathrobe came off with one sweep, exposing her silky skin, fragrant from the bath. Perfect, he marveled, even as part of him wondered when his tastes had changed so radically. Small breasts, boyishly slender hips, long, long legs.
Mine! On that fierce thought, he proceeded to brand her with his mouth.

“We had fun, didn’t we?” she said, her eyes glinting. “Well, apart from the last bit.”
Fun? He remembered burying himself inside her and thinking he’d finally come home. He remembered pillowing his head on her breasts and coming apart in her arms. Fun?
She took a step closer, her body language shouting that she was going to lean over the bed rail and kiss him. A long, bittersweet goodbye kiss, no doubt. Jesus, he couldn’t bear it.

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

outstandingread

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Lethal by Sandra Brown

Format: E-booklethal
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Hero: Leo Coburn
Heroine: Honor Rosemary Gillette
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: September 20, 2011
Started On: September 23, 2011
Finished On: September 24, 2011

It feels like its being ages since I have been invested in a story, its characters and its final outcome as much as I did when reading Lethal by Sandra Brown. And it has been quite sometime since I picked up a Sandra Brown, who always manages to keep the reader glued to the pages, whether it be because of the strong elemental connection she manages to make with the reader or because of the suspense element in her later novels that always manages to entice the reader to put everything else on hold and indulge.

Lee Coburn is a federal agent deep undercover going on 13 months when all hell breaks loose and he is forced to flee for his life after being implicated in the mass murder of 7 men which had initiated a nationwide manhunt for him. His destination is one that will either help him make or break the case of a wide ring of smugglers who dabbles in transportation of young girls to drugs to weaponry.

When widow Honor Gillette’s 4 year old daughter Emily discovers the wounded man outside of their home, Honor has no inkling that her whole life is about turn upside down when the dangerous man with menace emanating from his very pores makes her regret the impulse to check on him. But what Lee brings home to light makes Honor question the circumstances surrounding the seemingly innocent death of her husband Eddie two years back and place her trust in Lee to keep Honor and her daughter safe when everything familiar seems so murky in comparison. 

Lee with his ingrained mistrust for everyone tries hard to not be disarmed by a pair of hazel-green eyes that entices and beckons at the same time. With everyone involved in the manhunt with unclear agendas of their own, Lee trudges his way through with the woman and her child in tow, knowing that anything else would mean a swift death for both of them which he just cannot fathom having on his conscience. And all the while, the awareness that singes through both Honor and Lee’s blood grows with every passing minute, practically making the very air between them electrifying.

Sandra Brown takes the reader on a harrowing journey told from multiple viewpoints, the story’s impact a much more profound one because of the fact. The villain when brought to light towards the end proved to be a shocker which is a testament to Ms. Brown’s ability to spin a well effectuated thriller.

Both Lee and Honor, who serve as the main protagonists are reason enough to bow down to Ms. Brown’s superior talent when it comes to delivering on heroes and heroines a reader can relate to and characters that you want to open up your heart to.

Lee is the version of a dying breed of heroes that few authors have the gumption to write in the present times. Lethal and dangerous, Lee is a former Marine who had a tough childhood, whose days in the military had honed his skills of killing to the extent that he practically feels nothing until Emily and Honor both pierce through the fog of nothingness that has surrounded him all his adult life. With a delicious barbed wire tattoo on his bicep and a straightforwardness to his manner that is both exhilarating and alluring at the same time, Lee is a hero who raced towards my shelf of favorite heroes before I had the time to blink!

Honor is a worthy heroine for a man like Lee. A second grade school teacher who is a total babe in the woods when it comes to the likes of Lee, Honor nevertheless has a backbone of steel that propels her to make the right decisions even when everything else tells her otherwise. Her attraction when it comes to Lee is a visceral one that has her falling hard and fast before she even has the time to gather her wits around her.

Emily was just plain adorable I say and I think my heart just practically turned over during the first couple of chapters which brought to light her cherubic character. I knew then and there that if nothing else could get through to a hero of Lee’s caliber, Emily could, with her innocent and trusting nature that could heal even the most wounded heart.

When it comes to the suspense aspect of the novel, it is how Ms. Brown manages to keep the reader on tenterhooks about her characters, wondering which one’s the ally and which one the foe that makes this one hard to put down. With the turn of one page, you think you have learnt a bit more about the characters that constantly keeps you on your toes. But then at the turn of the next page you realize that you might not know as much as you think you do, which makes this an instant page-turner!

My one teensy bit of disappointment stems from how the story ended, though there were elements that makes the reader draw the conclusion that there is a happily ever after in store for both Honor and Lee. But then again, I guess it was because of the ending that Lethal would remain in my heart for a long time, the riot of emotions that coursed through me at that very moment being one I wouldn’t be forgetting anytime soon.

Final Verdict: A game of cat and mouse timed to perfection & flawless in its execution, Lethal by Sandra Brown is another winner by master storyteller Sandra Brown.

Momentous Scenes:

  • The moment Emily places a kiss on Lee’s cheek. Had me going all Aww! because of how much it affected the stoic Lee Coburn.
  • The moments during which Lee holds Honor in his arms, just wanting the moment to linger on, a first for him. Such a sweet and throat tightening moment.

Favorite Quotes

His entire aspect was menacing, starting with his chilling eyes and the pronounced bone structure of his face. He was tall and lean, but the skin on his arms was stretched over muscles that looked as taut as whipcord. The backs of his hands were bumpy with strong veins. His clothes and hair had snagged natural debris—twigs, sprigs of moss, small leaves. He seemed indifferent to all that, just as he did to the mud caked on his boots and the legs of his jeans. He smelled of the swamp, of sweat, of danger.

Doral asked if Coburn’s neighbors had been interviewed.
“By me personally,” Fred replied. “Everybody in the apartment complex knew him by sight. Women thought he was attractive in that certain kind of way.”
“What certain kind of way?”
“Wished they could fuck him, but considered him bad news.”
“That’s a ‘way’?”
“Of course that’s a ‘way.’ ”

She shook her head slowly. “I don’t believe you. You can’t be a cop.”
“Not a cop.”
“Federal agent?”
“FBI.”
“Even more unlikely.”
“J. Edgar rolls over in his grave every day, but that’s the way it is.”

And then he pressed into her. First his thighs, then his middle, his chest, and finally his mouth. She made a whimpering sound, but its definition was unclear even to her, until she realized that her arms had gone around him instinctually, and that she was clutching his back, his shoulders, her hands restless and greedy for the feel of him.
He kissed her openmouthed, using his tongue, and when she kissed back, she felt the hum that vibrated deep inside his chest. It was the kind of hungry sound she hadn’t heard in a long time. Masculine and carnal, it thrilled and aroused her.

Moving between her thighs, he stretched out above her, then thrust into her. Once. Because, as he did everything, he acted without hesitation or apology to claim her entirely. Her eyes went wide and her breath caught. Holding her gaze, he pressed himself deeper, barely easing back before pressing deep again.

(Coburn)“Honor.”
Gasping, she lowered her arm from over her eyes and looked into his face.
“Put your hands on me. Pretend this means something.”
With a whimper, she wrapped her arms around him and clutched his back, then slid her hands down over his ass and drew him even deeper into her. He groaned, buried his face in the hollow of her neck, and rocked his body against hers. An orgasm burst through her at the same time he came.
She pretended nothing.

The intensity of his expression caused her to tentatively ask, “What?”
“I’ve never been a big fan of the missionary position.”
Not quite sure how to respond to that, she said simply, “Oh.”
“I preferred making it any other way.”
“Why?”
“Because it didn’t have anything to do with getting off.”
“What didn’t?”
“Looking into the woman’s face.” He murmured the statement as though puzzled by it.
Her throat grew tight. She reached up and stroked his cheek. “You wanted to look into mine?”

(Honor)“You had told me that if you didn’t return within a few minutes of ten o’clock, I was to drive away and get as far from Tambour as possible. So, for all you knew, that’s what I had done. After nearly dying in that explosion, with a burn on your shoulder, and your hair singed, you could have run in any given direction in order to get away, but you didn’t. When you found me on the railroad tracks, you were racing back to the garage. To me.”
He didn’t say anything, but his jaw tensed.
She smiled and moved closer to him, aligning her body along his. “You don’t have to give me flowers, Coburn. You don’t even have to hold me.” She laid her head on his chest just below his chin. Her hand curved around his neck. “Let me hold you.”

He had to admit: She’d got to him. This demure second-grade schoolteacher, who’d been faithful to her husband, but who had fucked him with the same fervor with which she’d fought him two days ago, had crawled under his mean ol’ hide.

If he turned his hand into her and began stroking her there, she would wake up smiling and drowsy and ready for him again.
They would kiss. Erotically. Her mouth would be so damn enticing, he’d dip into it again and again to gather the taste that was now familiar to him. He would touch his tongue to her nipples, and she’d rub her thumb around the tip of his cock and feel that he was about to burst, and then he’d be inside her, moving.
Or maybe not. Maybe he would do something he’d never done with a woman. Maybe he would just… be. […]
No, maybe this time, he would just savor being joined to another person as tightly as two people could be. He would savor being joined with Honor.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Re-Read Review: Wild Orchids by Karen Robards

Format: E-bookwildorchids
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Hero: John Roberts “Max” Maxwell
Heroine: Lora Susan Harding
Published on: March 15, 2001
Started On: August 28, 2011
Finished On: August 28, 2011

Reading Wild Orchids by Karen Robards for the 3rd time doesn’t seem to have diminished my enjoyment factor of the novel by even one iota. Call me crazy but even with the massive amount of books I have on my review pile, I just had to pick this one up and read it in one sitting yet again because the magic that is Max and Lora is an unbeatable one for me.

37 year old John Roberts Maxwell (Max) is a man hardened by the reality of war that had been his way of life when he had been enlisted in the Vietnam war. Leaving a piece of his soul behind due to the decisions he had been forced to make, Max comes home a changed man, a man incapable of giving what his innocent wife had demanded of him. A cynic to the core, Max doesn’t realize that life as he knows it would cease to exist the moment he kidnaps the prim and proper Lora in his attempt to evade the authorities of Mexico.

27 year old Lora Susan Harding is finally a free woman with the right to while away her time as she pleases. Having spent most of her life trying to put others needs first, Lora is ecstatic with the thought of exploring the exotic Mexico, the first vacation she has ever taken in her life. However, from the very start, her vacation refuses to proceed along as she envisoned it and being kidnapped at gun point by a disreputable looking man with an American accent just seems to be the icing on the cake.

At first, Lora is scared out of her wits at the thought of the less than savory acts her captor might try and force on her. A lady through and through, Lora hardly accepts herself to find her captor ridiculously sexy to the extent of ogling him and eating him up with her eyes every chance she gets. No stranger to the world of intimacy, Lora however has no clue that the uninhibited creature that emerges from deep within her that just wants to lick her delectable and broody captor from head to toe is a side of her that exists.

After Lora’s multiple attempts to escape which falls flat on her face every single time, Lora comes to the disturbing conclusion that she has a bad case of the Stockholme’s syndrome if judging the way all her emotions go haywire around Max is anything to judge herself by. Through a chain of events, Lora finds herself stranded in the midst of a Mexican jungle, depending on Max for her very survival. As the proximity heightens the already taut live wire of sexual tension between them, both Max and Lora find themselves to be no match for its heady power.

Wild Orchids would always remain by far my most favorite novel by Karen Robards. For some, Max might not be the stuff dreams are made out of. But when push comes to shove, Max is a man who delivers and Lord does he deliver! A man who is leery of commitment and relationships, Max cannot believe himself when he starts lusting after the prim schoolteacher who lands in his life. The harder he tries to shove her thoughts and presence out of his mind, the more tenacious her hold on him becomes and its a match that Max loses, rather ungraciously at first. Vital, sexy and the ultimate dangerous hero is how I would describe Max.

Lora’s character is an endearing mix of innocence and practicality all laced into one with a body that practically drives Max to the brink of insanity. It is the way she reaches far deeper than just his baser emotions that has Max struggling to shove her away with all his might, a man reluctant to share his demons with a woman Max thinks would be just as incapable of handling reality as his ex-wife had seemed to be.

Though towards the end, I definitely want a bit more grovelling from Max every time I read this one, I think the ending itself might be growing on me as I didn’t find it that sorely lacking the third time around. It seemed a fitting ending based on both Max and Lora’s characters and my bet is Lora loves Max too much to even give him enough leeway to do much grovelling even if it were to come to that.

The best thing about this book, hands down is the raw, explosive and primitive passion between two people that just serves as one whole session of sensory overload from start to finish.

Highly recommended!

Favorite Quotes

(Max) He shook his head impatiently. “You’ll be all right. I’ve got to go. Lora…” he hesitated, then with a muttered, “Hell!” swooped over her. Before she knew what was happening, he had her pinned back against the seat and his mouth was on hers, hard and hot and almost brutal in its demand. His hand was rough and warm on her breast. Lora’s senses exploded. She forgot the men outside the car, her anger with Max, everything as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back with a hunger that had been building inside her forever…

“Lora…” Her name was a tormented whisper as he kissed her harder, fiercer than before, as if he was starving for the taste of her mouth. She twisted in his arms, not trying to get away but to work her arms free… She managed to push them up through his crushing hold and lock them around his neck. He groaned deep in his throat, and she groaned too in protest as his mouth suddenly left hers. He was looking down at her, his breathing heavy, a wild glitter in his eyes. Lora lifted one hand from the corded nape of his neck and lightly stroked the rough, wet edges of his hair.

He smiled then, a slow smile that sent the blood racing through her veins. Lora felt the throbbing inside her intensify until she was sure she would not be able to stand it another second as he slowly, oh, so slowly, lowered his head. His target was her left breast. Lora felt his hot mouth close on the straining nipple, felt him tug the crest of her breast into his mouth to rub it with the rough wet surface of his tongue, and cried out in a frenzy of need.
And in that instant he took her.
She climaxed at once as he squeezed inside, enormous and hard and fiery hot and filling her to bursting.

Lora followed his eyes to the subject of their conversation. He was such a masculine man, tall and strong and sure of himself, cocky almost. A male chauvinist to his toenails, she suspected, as incapable of admitting to feeling hurt and lonely and afraid as a pig was of flying. But he was vulnerable too, enormously vulnerable. More than many people who openly asked for it, he needed love. He needed someone to hold him in her arms and convince him that what he had done was not so bad, was not unforgivable, did not put him beyond the pale of normal society. To convince him that he was lovable. And loved. And she meant to be that someone.

Funny, she had always thought that thin, bespectacled, intellectual types like Brian attracted her. Lora had to smile at her own naivete. Who would have guessed that she, Lora Harding, would buckle at the knees over a hunk of male beef?

E-book Purchase Links: ReaderStore | Barnes&Noble | Amazon

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Reviewers Note: From time to time, I get a hankering to re-read my favorite novels and sometimes I find myself with the urge revise the review that I had written down previously. Since I feel that revising a review that had been published a long time back is not something that ought to be done, I have resorted to start a new reviewing process aka the Re-Read Review. Books that rate a Re-Read Review would mostly be books that I am quite gushy about and cannot recommend highly enough!

by mvbookreviewer

Requested Review: Saving Grace by Norah Wilson

Format: E-booksavinggrace
Read with: IBOOKS for IPAD
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Self-Published
Series: To Serve and Protect, Book 2
Hero: Raymond Morgan
Heroine: Grace Morgan
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: August 17, 2010
Started On: August 26, 2011
Finished On: August 26, 2011

Saving Grace is book 2 in the To Serve and Protect series by Norah Wilson. If you have already read book 1 i.e. Guarding Suzannah, you would have already met both Ray and Grace Morgan who were a couple even then. At first, I was surprised to know that book 2 would focus on Grace and Ray, a couple who already seemed to have everything going for them. Little did I know that there was indeed a story worth telling, and a lot of hurdles to be crossed before they both could embrace their love for each other in the truest form.

Saving Grace starts at a point that we rarely come across in romance novels. Ray who is reeling from the bombshell that Grace, his wife of 4 years has left him for another man gets the news that Grace has been involved in an accident. Helpless to do anything else, Ray makes his way towards the hospital, reluctant as he is to put his already bruised and battered emotions on the line. There he finds out that Grace has no recollection whatsoever of leaving him, nor that of her association with any other man apart from her husband.

Nursing Grace back to health as she struggles to deal with her memory loss seems to be the cruelest form of torture for Ray who can’t help but feel protective towards his wife even though his heart practically bleeds every time he lays eyes on her. Grace who has no idea of what she has done to earn that cold and distant aloofness that she finds in Ray’s eyes is determined that she wouldn’t lose the man she loves in this world above everything else.

When Ray comes face to face with the fact that both their lives are in danger, and that there is no way of identifying the threat as long as Grace’s memory keeps eluding her, both of them are forced to go into hiding to figure out what to do and to evade those who are hellbent on seeing them buried six feet under. It is this period of forced intimacy that proves to be the pivotal point in the healing process of their relationship, a journey that just left a permanent lump in my throat as I read along.

I loved the way how Norah managed to completely surprise me with this one. I was prepared for more of the same as Guarding Suzannah when I picked this one up. But boy, was I proven wrong right from the first page itself when emotions seeped right through my e-reader and made me impatient to find out every little bit I could about both Ray and Grace. In the end, I couldn’t have asked for a better story, nor a better or more fitting ending for a couple who literally goes through emotional hell and back to finally reach their very well deserved happily ever after. And for someone who rarely cries over books or movies, Norah definitely managed to do just that to me today.

The one thing that totally made the book for me was Ray’s character. From the first page itself, oh wait let me backtrack, ever since I encountered his character in Guarding Suzannah, I have been dying to know what would make the overly polished and controlled Raymond Morgan tick. And Norah certainly delivered on all counts with his character as he totally and irrevocably laid seige on every single emotion I had left to spare and then some. He is tender, generous, kind and on top of all that the way he takes care of Grace even when his heart is being torn into pieces just makes him one of the best heroes ever! And when he does finally let go of his legendary control in the bedroom, all my senses joined up and chanted, “Oh yes Ray baby, you should let go more often!”.

Grace’s character is not one to be left behind as I gush on about the things that worked for me. When I started reading, I was totally prepared to hate Grace’s guts cos in my world, there is nothing worse than hurting a delcious hero for whom my heart just bleeds. But then again, I should have known better and from the moment Grace finds comfort in Ray’s arms whilst at the hospital, I knew absolutely that there was no way that this woman could hurt the man she loves intentionally. I found myself in awe of the way Grace shaped up to a totally new and better version, one with a backbone of steel that earned my wholehearted approval as she sets out to right what she has done wrong and of course make Ray give ALL of himself to her.

Recommended for fans of delicious heroes, fans of romantic suspense and of course fans of the series and Norah Wilson. This is a series that I have a feeling will just continue to get better with each book!

Favorite Quotes

Hot and fierce and impossibly arousing, it was like that day in the car outside the motel. Elemental.
Yes, he was angry; she could feel it in his coiled muscles, taste it in the demand of his mouth and the bite of the hand cupping her head. But it didn’t matter. Anger was honest. Anger was real. Right now, she’d take it.
Ray’s hand raked up under the hem of her loose boxers to squeeze her bottom and she arched into him. Oh, yes, she’d definitely take it!

He caught her hand. “What do you want from me, Grace?”
That was easy. “Everything.” She wanted to touch his chest, but since he held her hand prisoner, she insinuated one leg between his legs, delighting in what it did to his breathing. “I don’t want you to hold anything back. I don’t want you to be so careful with me all the time.”
“Grace….”
“I want you to give me as much as I can take, and then I want you to give me more.”
“Like I did last night?”
His voice was rough, laced with self-disgust. God help her, she’d never loved him more.

“I hope you’re ready for me,” he rasped, rolling her under him, “‘cuz in about five seconds, I’m gonna be inside you.”
“Ray Morgan, I was born ready for you,” she breathed against his ear, even as she guided him to her entrance.
He slid home with one strong thrust. Both of them froze.

Then, suddenly, she was convulsing around him, shimmering, flying apart. Seconds later, he followed, his own release ripping the lid right off his world.
Slowly, like a feather on the breeze, he felt his spirit lilt back and forth until finally it settled to earth again.
Incredible. He’d just had the hottest sex of his life, and he’d had it with his wife of almost five years.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Smashwords | Barnes&Noble

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by mvbookreviewer

Requested Review: Heart Stealer by Tiphanie Thomas

Format: E-bookheartstealer
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Self-Published
Series: Trilogy, Book 1
Hero: Randall Rowe
Heroine: Kayla Denton
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: April 22, 2011
Started On: August 13, 2011
Finished On: August 14, 2011

Heart Stealer by Tiphanie Thomas which takes place in the small town of Summerdale for most of the story and parts of it in Los Angeles was a book that provoked conflicting emotions in me. It tells the story of how play boy and movie star Randall Rowe finally succumbs to the lure of love and happily ever after, even though the journey he takes towards the final destination is one fraught with difficulties and a lot of growing up.

Randall is the only child of the preacher in Summerdale. When Randall’s dreams and ambitions takes him away from following in his father’s footsteps, it creates a rift between father and son that seems to be incapable of ever healing. At the age of 18, Randall leaves home with Hollywood beckoning him to come and make his dreams a reality. It is when Randall makes his way back home for the first time in 6 years since he left that he meets the stick-thin and belligerent run away from home Kayla Denton.

Kayla runs away from home at the age of 16 after being forced to live with her aunt upon the death of her mother in a car accident that continues to haunt her. Her father had immersed himself in drink, oblivious to the damage it was doing to his one and only child. It is Randall who sees Kayla’s vulnerability and finds a way for her to live with his parents.

The story continues 8 years on, with an all grown up Kayla working as a fourth grade teacher in Summerdale. When once again Randall returns home, this time to mend fences that he has neglected for far too long, the most surprising turn of events seems to be the way he reacts to the luscious older version of Kayla whom Randall has always considered to be nothing but a child.

Kayla knows that nothing can come out of her feelings towards a man whose lifestyle differs so much from hers, who would never be content with settling down to small town life. But with each searing kiss and touch that brings down the walls of reserve around Kayla’s heart and emotions, Randall wins her over making Kayla yearn for so much more than Randall seems to be capable of giving. For a man who has closed off himself for such a long time, relying and depending on someone else is a foreign concept and Randall finds himself hard pressed to be everything that Kayla needs.

It is the differences that they can’t seem to work out that drives them apart until once again it is Randall who comes back, determined that this time around he would convince Kayla that he is here to stay for now and always.

I liked the whole premise and set up of Heart Stealer, quite an appropriate title considering the fact that Kayla steals Randall’s heart whilst he is totally unaware of what is happening. I loved Randall for the fact that he was willing to be the grown up about things, for loving Kayla enough to be everything she wants him to be, even try as far as to open himself up to her even when its the hardest thing for him to do. For me, Randall turned out to be the best thing about the story, his patience and perseverence when it comes to Kayla being what won me over.

Kayla is a totally different story. I found her to be a bit self absorbed and childish, never really growing up enough to tackle the issues that cropped up between herself and Randall in their short lived relationship. Kayla always seemed to be jumping to the worst of conclusions, always willing to look for a mistake that would give her the perfect excuse to give up on a relationship that brings her more happiness than anything else in her life.

Though Kayla’s character turned out to be a trifle bit disappointing, I still liked how Tiphanie relates the trials and tribulations of an actor who wants with everything in his being to make a name for himself in the world of stardom, a man who feels as if the only way to ease the loneliness and pain in his heart is by immersing himself in doing the one thing that he loves.

Recommended for fans of contemporary romances that loosely feature the modern version of guardian/ward romances that you encounter in historical romances.

Favorite Quotes

He leaned in, and his lips swept hers, capturing and rubbing them in a tantalizing tease. Lust rolled through her like wildfire. For all she knew, seconds could have passed, minutes, or an eternity. Too dazed to notice anything except the searing passion from Randall’s lips on hers, Kayla’s tongue dueled and played with Randall’s until her whole body felt like it would combust. She floated back into the sky, a slice of heaven filling her.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&nNoble | Smashwords

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by mvbookreviewer

Requested ARC Review: Deceiving the Protector by Dee Tenorio

Format: E-bookdeceivingtheprotector
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Paranormal Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Carina Press
Series: Resurrection, Book 2
Hero: Jensen Tate
Heroine: Lia Crawford
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: August 15, 2011
Started On: August 1, 2011
Finished On: August 1, 2011

You know that uber satisfied feeling that you get when you have read a book that has managed to hit all those spots that crave to be petted and stroked when you immerse yourself in a good book? Well, at the moment I am like the cat who got her full bowl of cream and then some as the 2nd book in the Resurrection series managed to completely woo me and left me spellbound once again with Dee Tenorio’s ability to blow me away with her stories.

Jensen Tate, brother to Alpha and one of the generals of the pack is tasked with the job of finding a female “stray” and bringing her to safety. A job that stirs up feelings that Tate has thought long since buried when he comes into contact with the half-starved, gritty, determined and surly Lia Crawford who seems to call out to the inner wolf inside of him to come out and stake its claim on the woman whose bewitching green eyes show remanents of a hidden fear so deep that it just about tears up Tate on the insides.

Lia knows that there is no turning back for her on the path she has chosen to walk and that neither is Tate supposed to be with her if what he and his brothers have worked so hard to bring about is to remain on course without the vicious hunters on her trail getting to them through her. For the safety of her sister Laurel, Lia is willing to do anything, even put up with the constant darkness that never seems to leave her life, always one step ahead, forcing her to accept the fact that she would never ever be a free woman of her own will.

Tate knows that Lia hides more than she is willing to let on and it drives him nuts trying to protect a woman whose sheer stubbornness alone makes him want to lay her down somewhere and make her forget the dead weight that she seems to carry on her shoulders. As Tate “forces” her to go along with his plans, Lia finds herself charmed by a man beneath whose gruff exterior lies a wolf begging to be petted and stroked and a man whose rough tenderness just about breaks every wall and shield she has erected to safeguard her emotions & heart.

As their trek towards the next safe house continues, Tate comes face to face with the danger that stalks and preys on the absolute fear that it demands from Lia as he finally starts accepting the fact that Lia is his mate for life, if she can just trust him enough to protect her and save her from the evil that refuses to let go.

Deceiving the Protector is fantastic in all the ways that counts. The way Dee builds up her paranormal world, subtly bringing in the details in the midst of the character development is what drew me in. The constant whirl of my thinking cap trying to figure out what would happen next was what I loved most about this paranormal romantic suspense and the reality and horrors behind what Lia underwent at the hands of mad men willing to rid the world of shifters anyway they can just left me with a bad taste in my mouth and shivers of the bad kind running up and down my spine.

Jensen Tate is a hero that practically invaded my heart as layer by layer his character unfolds, revealing a man of immense strength and beauty, though being called beautiful might piss Tate off and make him growl a bit before settling down, but nevertheless that is how I find him to be. A man so worthy of tender touches and healing kisses, whose protective nature refuses to step back and let his mate be the protector instead, no matter how chauvinistic that might seem to be. The reason why I fell so deeply for Tate is how he manages to gently draw out the hidden woman inside of Lia who has been cowering inside, afraid to show herself and refuses to let her return back to the shell of a woman she was before. His charming manner of telling a good story of course had me sighing all over the place and of course nekkid Tate is a sight to savored on its own.

Lia is a heroine who finds the strength to go on against all odds, a woman who has been on her own for so long that she finds the concept of accepting help a foreign one. Nevertheless, her fascination with Tate that continues to grow as they spend time together is one that refuses to be denied, and the need and desire that unfurls deep within her to claim his wolf as hers is one that continues taunt and tease her until she is ready to serve herself to Tate on silver platter. It is Lia’s immense courage and strength that awed me, and the way she perfectly complements Tate and knows how to soothe & appease the inner wolf inside of him and at the same time be a mate worthy enough to stand by his side that won me over.

It is a testament to Dee’s ability that she managed to make a slight part of me feel for the villain who continued to terrorize Lia until his demise, and I couldn’t help a tiny part of myself from thinking that it is the monsters who had carved him into what he turned out to be that should be rotting in hell. I know that the as the Resurrection series continues that everyone would get what they deserve, in fact I’m counting on that to happen so that I can revel in it big  time when their asses get kicked to Hell never to return!

How Dee does it I would never know, but let me tell you I loved every single minute of it! One minute I am practically drooling and panting over the explosive passion between Tate and Lia, the next I am immersed in tender emotions so deep that I just feel like curling into a ball and sighing in contentment and the next thing I know I am laughing out loud at the witty banter between Tate and Lia that never fails to amuse! Kudos to Dee who manages it so effortlessly and made this book one entertaining fest that I won’t be forgetting anytime soon!

Highly recommended for fans of the series, fans of Dee Tenorio and fans of paranormal romantic suspense.

Final Verdict: Delivering a kick-ass paranormal world with a heady mix of suspense and romance that one cannot resist,  Deceiving the Protector is a SHOULD NOT MISS!

Favorite Quotes

Then he stepped into an orchard, on a rise of packed dirt between tree groves, and proceeded not to give a rat’s ass what she might be trying to do.
The scent was finally clear.
And it went straight to his head.
Female. Apples. Cool water. Rich earth. Rain. Sunshine.

Sometimes, she wasn’t sure when she was seeing him, except for those few moments when their eyes met and she couldn’t look away to save her own life. She could see the protector in him then, sense the hunter. Raw strength emanated from him in those moments, his intensity surrounding her, suffusing her. She could almost feel his arms around her, trying to pull her under his protection. She’d be safe with him. Not cosseted, maybe, but…she’d be able to breathe. To know the next breath was coming, sure as the sunrise.

(Tate) “Sure, she can. She also makes a staff out of light that can cut people and the cars they’re driving in half. Five-feet-five-inches of pure power. Even at her best, it’s like having a nuclear bomb for a sister-in-law.”
“Boy.” Lia laughed, and by the look on his face he knew it was at his expense. “She must love you.”
“We have a complicated relationship,” he agreed with a self-depreciating nod. “Sort of a cross between suspicion and fuck you.”

His hands gripped her hips, slowing her descent. She could feel him savoring her, quaking at the feel of her claw tips sinking into his shoulders. His eyes flickered, the gray color she loved having shifted to the glowing yellow of his Wolf. She smiled, bucking against his hold.
“This time, I take you.” She pushed down, filling herself with him. He growled, drowning out her sigh. He squeezed tight, but she refused to be held back. She lifted up, rocking forward before sliding back down, savoring his groan against the beaded tips of her breasts. “I’m claiming you, Jensen Tate.”
Because you’re mine.

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Sunrise Over Texas by M. J. Fredrick

Format: E-booksunriseovertexas
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Publisher: Carina Press
Series: Standalone
Hero: George Trace Watson
Heroine: Katherine Barclay
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: September 6, 2010
Started On: August 2, 2011
Finished On: August 2, 2011

This week’s Tuesday started like any other day except for the fact that I had this sudden urge or should I say craving?, to read Sunrise Over Texas by MJ Fredrick. I don’t know how or why, and I am not even going to question the urge to do so because Sunrise Over Texas turned out to be wonderful in all the ways that counts.

Taking place in the Texas frontier in 1826, Sunrise Over Texas tells the story of the remarkable Katherine Barclay (Kit) who fights for survival every minute of the day as the only one left behind along with her mother-in-law Agnes and sister-in-law Mary at the garrison standing guard between the Karankawa tribe and Stephen Austin’s colony of San Felipe. With the food supply depleting with each meal, Kit struggles to keep things going, no mean feat when her in-laws have always lived in the lap of luxury and are not much of a help when it comes to practicalities. Mourning for the death of her husband followed by that of her young son Daniel, the last thing Kit wants is for a stranger to ride up to their “safe” haven and for her to take on the responsibility of nursing him back to health.

George Trace Watson left home to get away from the memories of his dead wife and his stillborn child. When he finds himself raging with fever and nursed back to health by Kit, the first thing he notices about her is her sheer determination to go on against all odds. Though Trace doesn’t want to get involved, much less be responsible for the safety of three women, the honorable man inside of him refuses to turn his back on them, especially when Kit herself stirs up longings that he thought he had buried with his wife.

Though guilt-ridden by the fact that he feels things for Kit he should not, even that doesn’t stop him from embracing the desire that unfurls between them right from the very start. Kit whose take-charge attitude in life also extends to the bedroom makes for very interesting and provocative scenes of passion with a much laid-back Trace who fits her quirks in the bedroom and out of it in every way.

Towards the end of the book, I had a knot the size of Texas in my throat from all the emotions that coursed through me as Kit faced one hurdle after the other and came out winning and stronger than ever only to nearly be turned away by the man who owns her heart because of the fear that rules over his emotions of ever being too vulnerable again.

For me, Kit is the best thing about this western romance. Although I loved Trace to bits, his gentle and giving nature making it hard not to, it is Kit whose inner strength that drew me like a moth to flame, because her character demands nothing less. Its not easy for an author to write a heroine who manages to outshine the hero when majority of readers like us swoon over the hero just because he merely breathes and I can’t help but send high praise MJ Fredrick’s way for being able to do just that without making me feel cheated out on any aspect of the story.

Its hard to believe that this is her first historical because the story flows smoothly and the characters just tug at your heartstrings, making Sunrise Over Texas a wonderful western romance to sink into.

Highly recommended for fans of the genre and fans of MJ Fredrick.

As soon as I post this, I am scurrying off to acquire every available e-book by MJ Fredrick because I find myself with no will left to resist the lure of her books at this moment.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Carina Press

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Wife, Mother … Lover? by Sally Tyler Hayes

Format: E-bookwifemotherlover
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Silhouette Intimate Moments, #818
Publisher: Silhouette Books
Hero: Mitch McCarthy
Heroine: Leanne Hathaway
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: October 1, 1997
Started On: July 26, 2011
Finished On: July 27, 2011

Thanks to the recommendation from my friend Saly over at Goodreads, I had the immense joy of reading and enjoying this Silhouette Intimate Moments novel which I may never have come across otherwise. Throw in a grieving widowed hero who is struggling with the demands of being a single father to twins and the estranged sister-in-law who comes to the rescue at the most unlikely hour; his dead wife’s sister who makes him feel again and I was in romance heaven with this little goodie which I adored right from the start.

32 year old Mitch McCarthy is a cop and single father to 16 months old twins Timmy and Teddy, struggling to make everything work with his demanding job requiring more of him than he is capable of giving whilst raising two active boys which is a full time job in itself. Nearly at the breaking point from being torn apart by the continuous conflicting demands, Mitch is about to give into his manipulative mother-in-law’s demands and give up the twins to his in-laws care when Kelly’s elder sister Leanne Hathaway comes to his rescue.

Same age as Mitch, Leanne had left home 12 years back and had rarely come for visits in between. A nature and exotic places photographer for travel and nature magazines, Leanne’s job allows her to travel all over the world and to immerse herself in work to the point that she can forget the pain that resides deep inside of her because of the rift that has been caused by her step mother in her family.

When Leanne receives a letter from her pregnant sister Kelly whilst in the middle of a Nepali jungle, Leanne finds out that she has received the letter a trifle bit too late for Kelly. When 16 months later Leanne receives the news that her brother-in-law Mitch is about to give up Kelly’s babies, despite all her misgivings about facing her family and Mitch himself, Leanne rushes back home to rescue Timmy and Teddy from falling into her step mother’s care.

Hostility and anger at Leanne is what Mitch feels at first, but knowing his precarious position in taking care of the twins, Mitch is forced to accept Leanne’s help and is more than surprised when he finds the vulnerability that lies beneath what Mitch has perceived to be Leanne’s cold and aloof nature. When Leanne’s step mother forces Mitch’s hand in asking Leanne’s hand in marriage, the one thing Mitch never expects is for Leanne to worm her way into his heart, to heal the big hole that has resided in it for the past 16 months and for her to make him fall in love again.

Wife, Mother … Lover? is a beautiful romance, one that is filled with intense moments of body tingling passion, heartwarming romance and two beautiful kids that would make anyone melt on the inside. Mitch is definitely a swoon-worthy hero that touched a place deep inside of my heart and I loved him for everything he is and the way that he understands Leanne unlike any other. And Leanne is a heroine who is wonderful in her own right, in the way that she completely embraces the fact that she has fallen for her sister’s husband even hounded by the guilt that she feels every day.

What I loved most about this book was the fact that both Mitch and Leanne weren’t afraid to talk about their emotions, communication being the key to the success of their burgeoning relationship. They don’t let each other spend hours in agony over a misunderstanding, but rather face their guilt and fears over their relationship together which makes them that much stronger as a couple.

A happily ever after that is truly deserving is what this novel was all about and I highly recommend this one to fans of romances.

Favorite Quotes

His taste was sweet and sinful and absolutely forbidden. Quite easily, she could become addicted to it. He pushed forward until her back was firmly against the cabinets, and then held her there with his body pressed intimately to hers. Desire surged through her and him. There was no mistaking the feel of it.
He wanted her. Terribly, it seemed. All from just a kiss.
His mouth opened more fully over hers, his kiss bordering on desperation now. And for a moment, the world seemed just about perfect.

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

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