by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Spanish Groom by Lynne Graham

Format: E-book
Read with: Mobipocket Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Harlequin Presents, #2037
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Cesar Valverde
Heroine: Dixie Robinson
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: March 5, 1999
Started On: June 30, 2010
Finished On: June 30, 2010

This book is a testament to why Lynne Graham remains a favorite Harlequin romance author of mine though her recent works leave me with a bad taste in my mouth. After starting off with the book I realized that I had actually read this book sometime back and reading it the second time round didn’t diminish the effects of the roller coaster ride this book seemed to take me on.

My interest was piqued enough to read this book while I was browsing through a discussion thread on Amazon about Harlequin romances that readers actually liked. One reader had pretty much summed up the story which portrays Cesar, a man who keeps a tight rein on his emotions, but who dotes on his god father Jasper, the only person in his life who had ever shown him unconditional love. Dixie is the total opposite of Cesar in every way. Emotional where he is not, talkative and friendly to a fault, Dixie doesn’t know why the Jasper’s godson had taken such an intense dislike to her and seemed to be finding fault in everything she did around the office. It certainly doesn’t help matters when the routine financial checks done on employees turn up the information that Dixie is knee deep in debt, a condition her step sister Petra has left her in and run off to New York to find work as an actress.

Cesar doesn’t want to believe a word that comes out of Dixie’s mouth. Forever suspicious of people and their intentions, Cesar can’t fathom why Jasper seemed to like Dixie so intensely. The financial check that reveals Dixie’s spending habits give Cesar the chance he has been waiting for. But because of the news that his godfather has not been feeling well because of problems with his heart, Cesar decides that the one thing he could do for the single ray of sunshine in his life was to make his last days on Earth happy ones and decides to do that by entering into a charade where he would present Dixie as his fiance’ to Jasper.

It is Cesar’s intention to transform Dixie into a woman of polished veneer. It was quite amusing to see Dixie forced into a diet and rigorous workout sessions because Cesar thinks Dixie is overweight from over indulgence in food. It was riveting to read how Cesar realizes that beneath all the frumpy layer of clothes Dixie hides a body to die for, and unwillingly Cesar becomes slave to the undeniable fizz between the two.

Before long, Cesar and Dixie are on their way to Spain, and Jasper walks in on them in moments of heated passion which turns the tables around so fast that it leaves Dixie’s head whirling. Dixie finds herself married to Cesar in just a week’s time and finally admits to herself that she has fallen in love with the cold and aloof man that her husband portrays himself to be. It was heartwarming, endearing and at moments heart thumping when Cesar and Dixie try to make a relationship out of their circumstances and in the end find true love with one another.

I loved every bit of this novel and would highly recommend this to lovers of Harlequin romances and fans of Lynne Graham.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Soldier by Rhonda Nelson

Format: E-book
Read with:  Amazon Kindle & Mobipocket Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Uniformly Hot!, Book 7
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Adam McPherson
Heroine: Winnie Cuthbert
Sensuality: 2.5
Date of Publication: June 27, 2009
Started On: June 29, 2010
Finished On: June 29, 2010

Adam and Winnie’s story actually starts in the novel Letters from Home which I reviewed earlier. Adam is the younger brother of Levi, the hero from Letters from Home and best friend of Natalie, now Levi’s husband. Winnie stars as the other best friend of Natalie and the she is one in whom Natalie confided all her deepest and darkest desires about Levi when she thought Levi was well beyond her reach.

As usual with small towns, Adam and Winnie too had grown up together. Winnie is quite athletic, a bit on the tomboyish side but the pastries and cakes that she makes seem to be little pieces of heaven. Adam was serving a tour in Iraq when a roadside bomb had torn apart his leg. Now back home recuperating from his injury and wanting nothing more than getting well enough to return back to life the only way he knew it, Winnie is a temptation that Adam thought he could resist.

Though Adam had never been interested in Winnie though it was a public secret in their hometown that Winnie had carried a torch for him like since forever, Adam is hit hard by the intense feelings Winnie ignites in him right before he was to leave for his tour. But knowing that Winnie was someone who was grounded in her hometown and happy there and himself, a man who would always belong to the military makes him shy away from taking things any further.

However, once Winnie realizes that Adam is not as immune to her as he would like to be, she takes matters into her own hands so to speak and before long, even with all the reservations Adam has, he and Winnie are heating up the sheets. However duty comes calling and though Adam knows that he would now never be the same after getting a glimpse of how fulfilling life would be with Winnie makes him have second thoughts.

This time round, maybe cos I didn’t have such high expectations, this story I guess made for a pretty okay read, but considering it is from the Blaze line which is all about the sizzle and smoking hot passion, this novel too fell short. And I just can’t get over how the book cover doesn’t depict the smoking hot hero as described in the book which is a total letdown in itself. Yes, I do place importance on book covers as well.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Letters from Home by Rhonda Nelson

Format: E-book
Read with:  Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Uniformly Hot!, Book 6
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Levi McPherson
Heroine: Natalie Rowland
Sensuality: 2.5
Date of Publication: May 27, 2009
Started On: June 28, 2009
Finished On: June 28, 2009

Rhonda Nelson has been one of my authors to look out for in the Harlequin Blaze line. Her book The Specialist which I read sometime ago, which sports one of the hottest heroes on the cover, had me interested in her style of writing which is not hard to love. And the first title in this multi-author series titled A Few Good Men by Tori Carrington  which was a collection of short stories that were pretty hot as is the norm with novels by Tori Carrington, I found my interest piqued after reading the synopsis of this book which sported the storyline of an army ranger receiving letters filled with x-rated fantasies from a lady X and his intention of finding out who the woman with the ability to fire up all his juices were.

The story is told from the viewpoint of the hero as as well as the heroine as is the norm with most of the romances of today. Each chapter starts with a snippet of a letter that had been written by Natalie who starts to pen down her wildest fantasies about Levi whom she had fallen in love with so long ago, but never had the courage to do anything about it because there had been no sign of any interest in Natalie from Levi’s side.

To Natalie’s surprise and much happiness, Levi responds to her letters and a relationship forms between the two. Levi has no idea that the woman who plays a leading role in all his X-rated fantasies of late is none other than the best friend of his younger brother Adam.

Opportunity strikes for Levi to find out who lady X is once and for all when Adam gets injured on tour, (whose story I am very much interested in, I would say even more so than Levi and Natalie’s story from the glimpses I got into Adam and Winnie’s (Natalie’s best friend) interactions in this novel itself) and Levi gets a week off to come back home and visit his recuperating brother.

I found myself strangely dissatisfied with the pace of the book. I thought that the story developed too slowly for a book of the Blaze line and the heat that I was expecting between the Natalie and Levi just never realized. From the letters that started off this novel I was pretty much expecting great chemistry between Natalie and Levi and I just ended up disappointing myself.

Although the storyline is not half bad, this one just didn’t do it for me. I will give Winnie and Adam’s story a try though, because theirs COULD be a great story too. I hope Rhonda Nelson who has got the talent to make a story really good, has done a better job with their story than with Levi and  Natalie’s story which could have been more intense and thus made for a better story all around.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Surrender by Pamela Clare

Format: E-book
Read with:  Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: MacKinnon’s Rangers, Book 1
Publisher:
Hero: Iain MacKinnon
Heroine: Lady Anne Burness Campbell
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: February 28, 2006
Started On: June 26, 2010
Finished On: June 26, 2010

Reading Pamela Clare’s Ride the Fire had me interested in reading other novels by the author. Pamela Clare receives rave reviews on Amazon and the two books I have read of hers to date have convinced me that she is an author worthy of being included in the auto-buy list from now onwards.

Surrender is the first book in the series of MacKinnon Rangers, a handpicked cadre of warriors, who had the fierce courage of their Scots forefathers, combined with the stealth and cunning of the Indians who lived beside them in the wilderness. Iain being the eldest with two younger brothers Morgan and Connor, Morgan’s story already published in December 2008.

Iain is a man who has been forced to serve the British crown in order to save his life and that of his brothers. The one thing which Iain craves for more than anything is his freedom, a man who has simple dreams of starting a family with a woman he loves and taking care of the farm which was his father’s legacy to his sons. However, Iain knows that until the bloody war that they are in the midst of is through there is no hope of him ever gaining his freedom.

It is during one of their intelligence gathering sessions that Iain comes across Anne on the brink of being attacked, raped and murdered by a group from the Abenaki tribe. Anne is a woman who has been wronged by her own family whom she has held dear until she was branded a thief and sold into servitude for a period of 14 years. With a hard and desolate life ahead of her, Anne knew that there is no hope for her dream of starting a family of her own ever being realized with her body bearing the mark of the false accusation which she had fallen under.

Iain rescues Anne at peril to his own soldiers and at the risk of being punished or tried in a martial court for disobeying orders. It is during the first couple of days that Iain treks through the forests with a fatigued and injured Anne towards the safe haven of Fort Elizabeth that the first stirrings of attraction towards each other takes hold.

Though Anne knows that the barbaric warrior who has rescued her is not what she has been brought up thinking a gentleman should be, she can’t help but admire and respect this man who has risked everything to help her in her time of need. Though his gentle touch that leaves her senses all jumbled up makes her wary, for the first time since she was falsely accused of thievery, Anne begins to feel safe.

Ms. Clare cleverly weaves a tale of war, political manipulations, breathless passion and love with characters that you root for right from the very beginning. Action packed with never a dull moment this book left me with humongous respect for those who fight the terrible wars waged in this world just so the rest of us could be safe and sound in our homes with our loved ones.

Though Ride the Fire is my favorite of the two novels that I have managed to read from the author so far, this novel itself is a page turner which you wouldn’t want to put down once you start reading.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Daniel’s Bride by Linda Lael Miller

Format: E-book
Read with:  Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Hero: Daniel Beckham
Heroine: Jolie McKibben
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: September 1, 1992
Started On: June 24, 2010
Finished On: June 25, 2010

I have been following and reading up stories on the theme where heroes were previously married or dote on someone else apart from the heroine with whom the hero has to enter into a marriage mostly for conveniences sake. Daniel’s Bride is one such novel, one when I started reading I had the inkling that I had previously read it and halfway through I knew with certainty it was so.

Jolie is about to be hanged for a crime which she didn’t commit when Daniel saves her from her fate by agreeing to marry her then and there. Jolie realizes that she would rather get married to a total stranger than die and pay for a crime she never even knew was happening until it was a trifle bit too late. Daniel marries her and whisks her off to his farm where Jolie discovers that her brand new husband is a man who has vowed never to love again.

Daniel has been grieving for his dead wife and two children, one who had died without even being born into the world. Daniel knows that he needs children to continue the family line and it was with this practicality in mind that he saved beautiful Jolie, who unnervingly had the power to skim right through his thoughts no matter how hard he tries.

Its a hard life for men and women back in the 1800’s and when you read through the book, you find yourself in awe of those who have lived under such hardships in the past. The preparation of a simple meal back then took hours and though the description makes one think Jolie embraces the hard life effortlessly, I felt twinges in my back from just reading about the backbreaking work she does on a daily basis.

Right from the start Jolie is drawn to the quiet enigmatic man that Daniel is. A man of few words, Daniel introduces her to the wonders of sensuality and before long she is in love with Daniel. Daniel doesn’t like the fact that he continues to be enchanted with his wife and decides to send her along to San Fransisco so that she may start a new life as a divorcee once the harvesting period is over.

But the best laid plans have a way of getting over one’s head as two children who have no where else to turn to end up living with Daniel and Jolie. Little by little, the rigid structure Daniel has built around his heart starts to crumble, but it is a battle that is hard won for Jolie. And to make matters worse, the outlaws who actually committed the crime for which Jolie was prosecuted for starts turning up around the farm when Daniel is not around, keeping Jolie at a loss as to how to get rid of them before they destroy the family that she has found for herself and holds so dear.

This story is one that moves slowly, like a cup of hot tea warms your insides on a cold day. Sometimes I got frustrated with Daniel because he rarely shows how he feels towards Jolie and the ending of the book too seemed a bit empty to me because maybe I was wishing that Daniel would profess his undying love to the woman who would walk to the ends of the earth for him. But anyhow, its a good story which makes me more appreciative of all those gadgets that eases the hardships that we too might have had to face if it weren’t for their invention.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Fragile by Shiloh Walker

Format: E-book
Read with: Kindle For PC & Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: Fragile, Book 1
Publisher: Penguin Group
Hero: Luke Rafferty
Heroine: Devon Manning
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: February 3, 2009
Started On: June 24, 2010
Finished On: June 24, 2010

I read Fragile in early 2009 when the title was first released. Reading the second book Broken of the series focusing on Luke’s twin brother Quinn Rafferty earlier  this year when it was released in March had me wanting to re-read and re-visit the characters of Fragile, a story that had always left a deep impression on me since it is that good a story.

Fragile is the type of story that defines why Shiloh Walker is a favorite author of mine who definitely rates at the highest on my auto-buy list. My friends kept teasing me because I was in such agony when Broken was first advertised to be released and I guess anybody who has read Fragile would understand my fascination with Quinn Rafferty and I have no doubt many of those who have read Broken would agree with me that he is one sigh worthy hero.

This does not mean that Luke Rafferty on his own is not sigh worthy himself. For me, I think I enjoyed Luke’s quiet intensity a bit more than Quinn who is a bit more darker and edgier than Luke, which is quite understandable based on the fact that whilst Luke and Quinn are twins, they were separated at birth when their mother who is a drug addict fled with Quinn just so she could punish their father. Their mother had gone underground not to be found no matter how much Luke’s father had tried to find them, and in the end, it was the inevitable death of their mother by drug overdose that brought Quinn back into Luke’s life. Luke had never known till then that he even had a twin and the first few pages of the book bleed raw emotion when these two first meet, a belligerent and abused Quinn with Luke who had got the better end of the deal when he ended up with his father.

Years later, Luke and Quinn are both serving in the army in Afghanistan when a round of bullets rip through Luke’s leg ending his stint in the army. By then Luke had already tired of the continuous stream of violence that never seemed to end. So trading in his combat gear for hospital scrubs seems to fit Luke like a glove and it is there that he encounters Devon, a social worker who doesn’t come to the hospital with the best of patients.

From the get go, Luke is fascinated with Devon and although she doesn’t seem like she knows that Luke even exists, Luke can’t help looking out for her while on duty. Devon though she doesn’t let it be known is warily interested in Luke. Sexually abused when she was young and being lost in a dark place for a long time until a social worker had pulled her out of it and helped her, Devon has her own hang ups surrounding her.

To Luke Devon is as fragile as a piece of well spun glass and wants to protect her from all evil elements but Devon on her own is a force to be admired. Though Devon knows Luke is a complication that she best avoid, the intense awareness and attraction between the two doesn’t rest until they end up together. The best part of the story for me was the fact that Luke seems  to take so much care with Devon and it just touches the right places in my heart to read through such a wonderful character.

Though Devon and Luke’s relationship progresses and ultimately fall in love with one another, there are forces around them that create havoc on their relationship. Stalked and nearly bludgeoned to death doesn’t seem to be the end of the upheavals in store for Devon and Luke. Someone more sinister than the likes anyone could imagine continue stalking Devon until it eventually drives Luke and Devon apart. The pieces only fall in place at the very end and its a long and tough road for Luke and Devon until they find peace and happiness with one another.

This story ends off begging for Quinn’s story to be told. And it is a testament to Ms. Walker’s ability that these two stories are so wonderful that it begs to be read from start to finish in one sitting.

If you haven’t already read these two books, buy them, find yourself some quiet uninterrupted time and lose yourself in the two Rafferty’s that would individually charm and seduce you with the turn of each page.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Never As It Seems by Shiloh Walker

Format: E-book
Read with: Kindle For PC
Length: Novella
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Hero: Leo Gray
Heroine: Chloe Parkins
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: June 23, 2010
Started On: June 24, 2010
Finished On: June 24, 2010

Never as it seems is the story of psychic Chloe Parkins and straitlaced Leo Gray who sees the world in terms of black and white with no shades of gray in it. Chloe and Leo had been involved in a heady affair/relationship when Chloe had dumped on Leo the news that she was psychic. Leo had been incensed at the thought that Chloe was stringing him along and lying to him and was a no good charlatan out for the reward offered for the case that Leo had been working on at that time.

Three years has passed on by since Leo had walked out on Chloe. Three heartbreaking lonely years for the both of them until Chloe’s life is in danger and Leo gets to be the one to protect Chloe. The intense awareness that leaps up right from the start is something that cannot be ignored and before long Chloe gives into the intense passion that Leo seemed to be able to rouse in her so effortlessly. Though Chloe knows that there is no future for them unless Leo learns to accept and respect her gift, it is harder than she ever thought to say no to what Leo offers her.

This story contains the trademark Shiloh Walker intensity, but I felt cheated out because this story is so short. This could have been a really great story with more depth into the case which had Chloe running for her life and more character development to give us glimpses of Chloe’s and Leo’s past together. Both are likable characters but I really wish Ms. Walker could have made this story just a little bit longer.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Sarah’s Child by Linda Howard

Format: E-booksarahschild
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Spencer-Nyle Company Series, Book 1
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Rome Matthews
Heroine: Sarah Harper
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: April 1985
Started On: June 22, 2010
Finished On: June 23, 2010

This is the third time that I read this story and I have to say that this is one story that doesn’t get old for me ever. People have mixed feelings about this novel. Some hate it because they don’t like Rome’s actions in the novel. But for me, this story is sweeter and more meaningful because of it and I wouldn’t want to change even one word of this  beautiful story.

Sarah has always loved Rome. But she has stood quietly on the sidelines when Rome married her best friend Diane, and had two beautiful boys Justin and Shane. She had never let Diane know of her feelings towards Rome and when a senseless accident takes away Rome’s family he is devastated beyond belief.

Two years on, Rome has finally healed enough to sell the house within which he had made a home with Diane and it is there in a moment of grief that he finds out that Sarah too feels the strong attraction that Rome has always felt towards her but never acted upon because he had always loved his wife and stayed faithful to her. At first Sarah thinks that all Rome wants with her is a tumble between the sheets, but she is more than surprised when Rome proposes that Sarah marry him on the condition that Rome would never provide her with children. Sarah agrees to the condition and marries the man that she has loved since forever and embarks upon a journey that no matter how many times I read, I always get a huge lump in my throat from all the emotions so well described.

Rome doesn’t want to give away his heart to another woman but gradually Sarah’s unwavering love and quite affection wins him over. Of course the immense white hot attraction that never ceases between the two certainly helps things along. Just when Rome professes that he has at last fallen for Sarah, she finds out that she is pregnant with Rome’s child.

Rome is at first furious and it nearly rips Sarah apart when Rome accuses her of deceiving him. Things come to a head when Rome requests Sarah to get rid of the baby and Sarah refuses. I admired Sarah’s character so much for working towards achieving what she believed in. Life wasn’t easy for her during pregnancy when there was practically no help from Rome since he doesn’t want anything to do with the child that they had created.

It was heart wrenching to feel Rome’s pain and it was a glorious moment when in the end when Rome finally heals and begins to appreciate the fact that God has given him a second chance to love and be loved.

I would most probably end up re-reading this book again sometime cos I so do love the story of how Rome falls for Sarah and gives himself the chance to grasp and hold onto love the second time round. Loved every single bit of this great story.

Favorite Quotes

He lifted his head, his eyes still damp, and the darkness of his pupils had become so total that there was no brown in them at all. He stared at her, then reached out and tenderly wiped the moisture from her cheeks with his thumb. “Sarah,” he said on a whispering sigh, and touched his mouth to hers.
She went still, all breath suspended in her body, as thousands of her prayers were answered in that light touch of his lips. Her hands moved to his shoulders, the nails digging into the layers of muscle that corded his frame. It was just a simple kiss of thanks, but the bottom dropped out of her stomach and the blood rushed from her head, so intense was the pleasure that assailed her. She sank against him, her soft body melding to his from shoulder to thigh, as they knelt there on the floor.

There was no sense of time or location, nothing but the spiraling physical need that had flamed between them, unexpected and out of control. She felt his hands on her body, touching her breasts, dipping down beneath her skirt to rub her thighs and stroke intimately between them, wringing a wordless cry of need from her lips. No word of protest surfaced in her mind. She let him do as he wanted, mindless of everything but the delight his knowledgeable hands were bringing to her. He knew women, and his expertise made her wild. She offered her slim body for his delectation with no conscious thought of anything except how sweetly, hotly satisfying it was to be in his arms, to know his kisses and his caresses.

“Good night.” But he didn’t leave. Instead he stood in the doorway, soberly regarding her. He lifted his hand and stroked her cheek with his forefinger, then slid his hand around to cup her chin in his palm. He leaned toward her, and Sarah went weak with anticipation, her eyes widening as fevered delight shot through her. He was going to kiss her again. Lightly his mouth touched hers, his lips moving with tender expertise over her parted, breathless mouth. His warm taste filled her, and Sarah’s lashes fluttered, then slowly closed. With a zephyr of a sigh she swayed into his arms; he needed no more encouragement than that. Locking his arms around her, he pulled her up against his chest and gradually deepened the kiss, as if he were wary of going too fast for her, giving her time to accept or reject each new move.

“Would you like coffee?” she invited, dropping her small purse on the sofa and moving away from him to the kitchen.
“No.” His refusal was flat.
“I think I’ll have something to eat, just to be on the safe side,” she called over her shoulder. “How about one of those chicken sandwi—”
Without warning, he seized her from behind, his hard hands locking on her waist and pulling her back against him. His head bent, and his hot breath blew over the curve of her neck, lightly touching her sensitive skin and awakening all her nerve endings. She shivered a little, but didn’t try to pull away; instead she pressed back against the virile contours of his body.
“I don’t want a sandwich,” he muttered, nipping at her neck with his teeth, then soothing the slight sting with butterfly strokes from the tip of his tongue. Sarah’s eyes closed in ecstasy, and she let her head fall back against his shoulder, baring the vulnerable curve of her throat to him.

“Rome…please!” But she didn’t know if she begged for mercy, or for more of the primal pleasure he was giving her. Her body was growing heavy and liquid, and a deep inner throbbing made her move restlessly against him.
“Yes,” he said against her throat, interpreting her plea as he chose. He bent her over his arm to give himself access to her tempting breasts, and she gave a thin cry when his hot mouth closed over her nipple, sucking it strongly into his mouth. Blackness swirled over her, a warm, velvet blackness that blocked out any reservations she might have had about belonging to him. She dissolved into a purely physical animal, instinctively seeking more of the pleasure he offered her. Her hands roamed his body as his had roamed hers, impatiently brushing away the layers of cloth that separated her from his hard muscled flesh. He trembled wildly at her intimate touch and pleaded with her for more.

He took advantage of her unselfishness, his greedy mouth plundering her flesh as he bared it. Sarah clenched her fingers in his hair, gasping as he pulled open her robe and dispensed with it, then rapidly slid down the straps of her nightgown until the silk fell away from her breasts. He bent his head and closed his hot mouth over one sensitive nipple, wringing a cry of pleasure from her.
“Do you like that?” he muttered fiercely against her, filling his hands and his mouth with velvet mounds and firm jutting nipples.
“Yes…yes.” Her answer was thin and faraway, and she tried to put her arms around him, but the strap of her night-gown prevented her from moving her arms. She struggled in mute frustration against the silk bindings, trying to draw her arms out, but he held her too tightly, and he was too close, the things he was doing to her too delightful to halt.

“You… make… me… crazy!” he growled jerkily, tearing at his jeans until they opened and he could push them out of the way. Sarah moved her mouth back to his, holding the kiss as he eased inside her, his entry taking her breath.
She moaned his name, moving against him, her skin so hot that it felt like wildfire. She was wildfire, her slender body dancing, searing, taking him until the only sounds he could make were incoherent words of passion and need, of rising sexual desperation that held him taut in the chair, on the edge of madness.

In the gray light of dawn, she came slowly awake, stretching under slow, warm caresses that roamed over her body and touched her with familiar intimacy. There was a magnetic warmth beside her and she turned to it, her head finding the hard pillow of Rome’s chest, her arms wrapping around him without thought.
“Wake up,” he crooned softly in her ear, nipping at the lobe with his sharp teeth, then kissing his way along her jaw to find her mouth.
“I’m awake,” she murmured, sliding her palms up his naked back and feeling the hard ripple of muscle under his warm skin.
He took her immediately. She was warm and pliable from sleep, her body rosy, and she drew in a quick breath of pleasure as he moved with slow power into her. “I can’t wait; I have to have you,” he muttered.

He was a darker outline against the night. He pulled the covers back and bent over her, pulling the nightgown over her head and dropping it to the floor. Sarah felt his hands on her breasts and thighs; then his heavy weight came down on her and his mouth closed fiercely over hers. A shudder of relief shook her, and she put her arms around his neck, letting him part her legs and take her.
“All of me,” he demanded harshly, as she lifted her hips up to him. “Take all of me. More. More! Yes, like that. Just like that!”

“Is this to tide you over?” she murmured teasingly, her eyes bright.
“Something like that.” He unzipped his pants and shoved them down, then knelt on the bed, between her relaxed thighs. “You’re my credit card; I don’t leave home without this.”
She laughed, twining her arms around his neck as he lowered his weight to her. The laughter caught in her throat at the slow delicious shock of his entry, and he heard the little intake of breath she always gave when he took her. It was music to him, and he buried his face against her neck in sudden need, pulling her legs up around his waist. “I miss you like hell when I’m gone,” he said roughly, and with his confession he began thrusting deeply into her, reconfirming their partnership with the bond of their flesh.

Sarah was totally lost in the intensifying physical sensations as he fondled her breasts and sucked them in just the way she liked, as he stroked her and touched her in ways that made her cry out. His slow, steady thrusts were driving her mad, carrying her just to the brink of satisfaction but not putting her over.
She clutched at him with damp, frantic hands, begging for release. He held her hips, not letting her speed the pace, holding her to his rhythm. He kissed her deeply, then lifted his mouth just enough to command deeply, “Tell me you love me.”
Her response was automatic, plucked from a deep reservoir of primitive need that she couldn’t control. Without thinking about it, without even realizing the significance of what he asked and what she answered, she moaned, “Yes. I love you.”

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

Reviewer’s Note: The quotes were added to the review on 07.10.2017 after the author re-read the book for a third time.

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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