by mvbookreviewer

Review: Broken by Shiloh Walker

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Rafferty, Book 2
Sensuality: 4
Publisher: Penguin Group
Hero:  Quinn Rafferty
Heroine: Sarah McElyea
Date of Publication: March 2, 2010
Started On: March 4, 2010
Finished On: March 5, 2010

This is one book that I have been waiting like forever to get my hands on. Forever as in when the author announced that this book would be released on March 2010 sometime last year. And looking at the yummy cover which makes my heart flutter just a tad each time, who wouldn’t want to read this book?

I read Fragile the first book in the series, the story of Luke Rafferty, Quinn’s twin brother sometime back and enjoyed every minute of that book as well. Though I was thinking of taking a shot at re-reading Fragile because there was a glitch at Amazon in the Kindle version of Broken that was sold, I had to wait for an agonizing period of time until I could figure out how to strip the DRM from mobipocket books so that I could read the book on my Kindle. I have given up on the idea of re-reading Fragile for now cos a summary of Fragile is related at the beginning of this novel. Maybe sometime later I will give it a shot once again!

As I always say, Shiloh Walker is one author that you can never go wrong with. At first, this story seems like your average abused wife running away from the abusive husband story. But I was in for a pleasant surprise when there was a twist at the end unlike anything I could ever have imagined.

Quinn and Luke although twins were separated at birth. Quinn got to live with his alcoholic abusive mother who never made him forget the fact that Quinn wasn’t wanted in this world. Quinn never even realized that he had a twin until at last during one of her drunken sessions, Quinn’s mother overdosed and left him alone with no one to turn to. Though Quinn wanted nothing further from being placed in a state home, he was in for a surprise when Quinn’s birth father came to collect him and though Quinn refused to give an inch and trust another human being to be kind towards him, finally coming to realize that his father wouldn’t abuse him physically and emotionally like his mother had done gave him at least a semblance of normalcy when growing up.

Now Quinn is a bounty hunter, chasing after those who skip bail and bringing them to justice. And then comes Sara with her wide brown eyes and sexy curves that has Quinn drooling all over right from the start. Sara is woman whose on the run, moving from one place to the other always with an eye out for trouble and never taking the time to get acquainted with people whom she meets.

However from the moment she meets Quinn, nothing on earth could have stopped these two from propelling towards one another. Hot intense need has these two scorching up the sheets in no time. Though neither knows anything about the either, love, the emotion each of them had been afraid of creeps into their hearts and catches them unawares.

Nonetheless, duty comes calling when Sara finds that its time for her to move again. With a hastily scribbled note to Quinn, she takes off, only for Quinn to find her. This Quinn is a mass of seething anger and resentment at being lied to and made a fool of and two people who are as wary of trusting people as these two suddenly find themselves at a loss as to how to handle the situation.

Emotionally gripping and sexually charged, this novel bears all the classic signatures of what makes Shiloh Walker’s stories mouth watering. Although Guilty Needs would always remain my favorite novel and Colby my most favorite hero by Shiloh Walker, Quinn himself makes for a deliciously heart warming hero and Sara a heroine who complements and completes Quinn in every way. Great ending to a great story which has me grinning from ear to ear after ending the story.

Keep em’ coming Ms. Walker.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Deception by Sharon Cullen

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Stripping DRM from Mobipocket Books

mobipocketreaderThough stripping DRM from ebooks and sharing them with your friends or other book lovers is illegal in many countries, I believe that the owner of the book ought to have the freedom to read the e-book on whatever device that he/she wants. Since I purchased my Kindle I have had very few problems with different formats because it is always possible to convert most formats into the .prc (Mobipocket Reader) format that is readable on Kindle. However, these .prc books need to be DRM free, otherwise you would not be able to read them on Kindle which for me is a hassle.

Since prior to purchasing Kindle and using it to read all my e-books, I have managed to make quite a collection of e-books of .lit (Microsoft Reader) format as well as .prc format. Long back I have learnt the trick to stripping the DRM from Microsoft Reader e-books, but the methodology involved behind stripping Mobipocket Reader ebooks of their DRM feature has always continued to elude me. Until the need to do so had me searching the Internet and I came across a very useful article on how to do so here.

Though it might seem a daunting prospect to tangle with Python scripts and use the command prompt on your computer for someone who is not that computer savvy, it is actually pretty simple when broken down into a couple of steps that even a very newbie user of the computer could follow.

I hope that the link provided in this post helps owners of e-books of the Mobipocket Reader format with removing the DRM feature in them to enjoy their e-book on whatever e-book reader that they may choose to read.

Happy reading everyone!

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Redemption by Sharon Cullen

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Photo Opportunity by Jess Dee

Format: E-bookphotoopportunity
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality: 4
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Series: Tanner Siblings, Book 1
Hero: Daniel Tanner
Heroine: Amy Morgan
Date of Publication: May 2, 2008
Started On: February 28, 2010
Finished On: March 1, 2010

I never get tired of reading romances where friends turn into lovers. A romance is that much more delicious when a couple has shared history that goes way back. Anyhow reading this novel opened me up to Jess Dee’s writing style which I have to say is pretty catchy. Most probably Jess Dee would end up on my to-be-read list of authors as this book is pretty good.

Daniel Tanner (Danny) has always loved Amy Morgan (Amy) since their high school days. But Danny has never tried to make a move on Amy and they have both continued to be the best of friends always being there for each other in times of need. However things change when Danny takes on an assignment to do a photo shoot of a  children’s oncology ward at one of Sydney’s hospital. There Danny comes face to face with the reason why he has been commitment phobic for so long and realizes that he loves Amy more than anything to keep wasting time running after other women who meant nothing to him.

Amy has no inkling that her best friend for life has these strong feelings towards her. From a very young age, having witnessed her father cheating on her mother and finally abandoning them and the one single time that Amy did try to have a serious relationship with a guy, the fact that he too cheated on her in the end hasn’t bolstered Amy’s confidence much. Amy distrusts all men in general when it comes to leaving her heart vulnerable to them.

However, she is in for the surprise of her life when Danny puts into motion a plan to seduce her in the most wicked ways and to make her fall as crazily in love with him as he has been in love with her. However Danny’s plans backfire because Amy cannot seem to place the much needed trust in Danny as she should have, which irked me a bit because Danny had never done anything to her to deserve otherwise.

But all in all, a good story. I liked it because it wasn’t all about the touchy feely love scenes in this book, but rather well developed characters which gave the reader a good insight into why and when and how they both fell in love with one another and got the happy ending they deserved in the end.

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

outstandingread

 

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Cheyenne Amber by Catherine Anderson

Format: E-bookcheyenneamber
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Standalone
Sensuality: 3
Publisher: HarperTorch
Hero: Deke Sheridan
Heroine: Laura Cheney
Date of Publication: March, 1994
Started On: February 26, 2010
Finished On: February 28, 2010

This title seems to be one that is pretty popular with Catherine Anderson’s fans. Maybe because I started reading the book with a lot of high expectations based on the raving reviews this book has received, I found myself sort of perplexed as to why readers found this title to be such a great romance. Believe me the book was interesting enough, but it just doesn’t seem that remarkable a story to me though the story had its good moments.

Laura Cheney comes from gentle breeding and a rich family. Tristan, then her husband married her thinking he could get his grubby hands on Laura’s money but her father, who had always been cold towards Laura ever since Laura’s mom died during childbirth cut all ties from her after she wed Tristan. Then everything went downhill for Laura, where Tristan turned abusive physically and emotionally towards her just to get her money’s worth from her body and soul. He moves her from all that’s familiar to her to Colorado and sets her up in the rough countryside where stories of Indians butchering and torturing the whites seem to echo throughout the mountains that surround her home.

Laura is left to her own vices and she gives birth to her son Jonathan all alone. Meanwhile Tristan goes for mustang rounding with a couple of rough Mexicans who bring a whole new meaning to the word cruel. Tristan who always had a thing for gambling, gambles away and offers his wife as the prize when he loses to Gonzales the head of the rough Mexican crowd. Gonzales kills Tristan without thinking twice about it to claim Laura and sell her across the border for pretty a penny, after all his gang members have had their fill of the pretty lady.

However a turn of events end Gonzales and his gang with Jonathan to lure the pretty white haired Laura into their clutches. Frantic and fatigued beyond anything Laura tries to find someone who would help her track down those who snatched away her baby and the sheriff points her towards Deke Sheridan. Though he is white in origins, he was brought up by Cheyennes and is named Flint Eyes. Rough around the edges with an air of danger always around him, Deke is the best tracker around. Though Deke at first refuses to help Laura, something about her reaches into the cold realms of his heart and before he knows it he is saddled with a woman whose determination to find her baby is unlike anything Deke has ever encountered before.

Suspicious by nature about white people in general, whilst Laura is more than suspicious about anyone who has an Indian heritage, these two make a striking team when they start off on the rough and unforgiving barren land towards tracking those who kidnapped Jonathan. As much as Laura would like to wash her hands off of Deke, she knows that he is her only hope and thus has no choice but to trust him with her life.

Laura’s stubbornness in not admitting that she is sick after her childbirth nearly kills Deke and Laura to be saved in the nick of time by Deke’s Cheyenne tribe. There within the Indians, Laura comes to learn the real man behind the rough facade that Deke puts up to the rest of the world and comes to treasure the way of life of the Indians about whom Laura had always heard the worst things possible.

What irked me the most in this novel was the fact that Deke who deserved her utmost trust when he did nothing to deserve otherwise had to work the hardest to gain it. Whilst at the beginning of the novel, Laura was thinking of trying to make her marriage to the undeserving Tristan work, Laura doesn’t want to trust Deke, who nurses her back to health when she was on the brink of death after childbirth. I just found the notion kind of difficult to swallow. If someone such as Deke treated me the way Deke treats Laura I wouldn’t have hesitated to embrace him with all I have got. Maybe that’s just me. But I guess this whole novel didn’t rate so highly with me because of that.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Annie’s Song by Catherine Anderson

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Standalone
Sensuality: 3
Publisher: Avon
Hero: Alex Montgomery
Heroine: Annie Trimble
Date of Publication: January 1, 1996
Started On: February 25, 2010
Finished On: February 26, 2010

Goodness me! This is one of the sweetest and most adorable romances that one could ever read. The story of Alex and Annie is one that is bound to stay with the reader for a long period of time as one of the best and most touching romances a reader could come across. This is a re-read for me and I assure you that after sometime I would be picking up this novel once again just to feel those tugs at my heart and get the warm feeling deep in my tummy that you are guaranteed to get after reading this beautiful story.

Annie lives in her own lonely world labeled as a crazy person after she had a fever when she was young. Though no one understands her, Annie roams freely across the forests that surround her home. During one of her excursions and at the age of around 18, Douglas Montgomery, Alex’s step brother who has a mean streak in his nature a mile wide comes across Annie and brutally rapes her just because he thinks that he could get away with it. Alex had always let Douglas get away with all sorts of behavior but his latest crime gives Alex a  bad taste in his mouth and so cuts off all ties with Douglas and asks him to move out of their home.

Alex approaches the Trimbles (Annie’s parents) and offers to make matters right. When Annie’s parents discover that she is pregnant and four months along, Alex offers to marry her till the babe is born and divorce her so that no scandal would touch the Trimble family since Annie’s father had political aspirations that wouldn’t survive a scandal of Annie becoming pregnant since people ridiculed Annie as it is.

Alex installs Annie at his home never thinking for a minute that Annie would have the power to bring him down to his knees. Annie’s odd behavior suddenly starts to make sense to Alex when he realizes that rather than being crazy as she is labeled to be, Annie had lost her hearing due to the ravaging fever she experienced when she was young.

What proceeds is so heartwarming and so very beautiful that any reader with even an iota of romance in his or her heart would be totally captivated by the lengths that Alex goes through to give Annie everything he could possibly give her within his power.

The love between these two grows so beautifully throughout the novel that you can’t help but fall in love with these two characters that Ms. Anderson has created so well.

Very highly recommended.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

outstandingread

 

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Coming In Last by Shiloh Walker

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Sensuality: 4
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Hero: Jamie McAdams
Heroine: Andi Morrow
Date of Publication: July 30, 2006
Started On: February 24, 2010
Finished On: February 25, 2010

Andi grew up in foster homes and other such state child care centers ever since she was abandoned by her parents when she was 5 years old. Growing up, Andi learnt the tough lesson of never relying on anyone but herself to see things through. Now a nurse working at the day care at a private firm, Andi is also an author of romance novels though no one knows about this secret career of hers.

Jamie is a private investigator whose godfather Jeb is one of the president’s of the firm at which Andi works. Jeb hires Jamie and his partner Mick to find out who has been embezzling money from the company. At first with the help of Art Letcher the money guy of the company, all clues point towards Andi been the one who had stolen money. But as Jamie and Mick dig a little further, they realize that Andi is innocent and that the real thief was doing a good job of framing an innocent whilst he/she was going to get away with more money than that had initially been identified as stolen.

Without Andi’s knowledge and Jamie’s heartfelt disapproval, Mick hatches a plan to catch the real thief by using Andi as bait. However, Jamie feels like a heel because he has fallen in love with Andi and he knows that Andi is the woman that he has been waiting for all his life. Andi too feels the intense connection and its not long before these two hits the sheets and burn their way through them with the intense passion and heat these two generate.

But once Andi finds out the extent of Mick’s and Jamie’s plans, Jamie’s worst nightmare comes true when Andi wants nothing to do with him. But in the end, everything works out and the bad guy is caught, and Jamie and Andi gets the happy ending they both deserved.

Not one of Walker’s greatest stories but enjoyed it.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Kobo

satisfactoryread

 

by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Cinderella Deal by Jennifer Crusie

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Sensuality: 3
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Hero: Dr. Linc Blaise
Heroine:  Daisy Flattery
Date of Publication: January 26, 2010
Started On: February 23, 2010
Finished On: February 24, 2010

Jennifer Crusie is an author famous for writing romances with loads of humor put into the mix that you can’t help but laugh aloud or smile throughout the novel. I think this is the 3rd book that I tried from this author and the story was a wonderful mix of humor, married life, passion and the quirks of living in a small town where every single person knows the other.

Daisy and Linc couldn’t be any more different from one another even if they tried. Where Daisy is an artist struggling to make ends meet whilst trying to get her career as an artist on track, Linc is a university professor specialized in historical studies. Though they both live in the same housing complex, Daisy has always considered Linc to be a bit stuffy and of course the time he kicked Liz her cat has totally painted Linc to be the bad guy in Daisy’s eye. Linc considers Daisy to be a bit of a nut case who wears clothes in bright and mismatched colors that hurts one’s eyes to look at her.

Daisy hits a rough patch when her savings all but dry up leaving her destitute. And Linc covets a position in a small town college as a professor so that he can devote more time to write his second book. However, Linc realizes that without a wife on his arm he wouldn’t land this job that he so desires and so strikes up a bargain with the weirdly homely looking Daisy to pose as his fiance for a day so that he could convince the college to offer him the job.

Linc never thought that he would end up utterly fascinated with Daisy’s vibrant and colorful nature. Although Linc and Daisy do go their separate ways once their Cinderella deal is up, Linc is forced to come back and make the offer of marriage to Daisy, though Linc refuses to acknowledge the fact that he yearns for Daisy in a way that he never thought possible.

Daisy tries so hard to mold herself to be the perfect, respectable college professor wife and in turn nearly loses what essentially makes her who she is. Though these two agree to keep their relationship on a platonic level till the 10 month period of their marriage is over, it doesn’t make the heat that flares between the two any easier to ignore.

This story is wonderful in the way Daisy and Linc both grew in their marriage without the physical hocus pocus that clouds everything from the beginning. Linc learns to loosen up, to appreciate Daisy for what and who she is and in turn Daisy learns that she is worthy of being loved and wanted for who she is.

The side characters in the novel and all the antics and hilarity of Daisy being landed with three mothers to look after her gives the  book the edge of humor which makes this book an unforgettable romance. Loved the book from the beginning.

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

outstandingread

 

by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Secret Passion of Simon Blackwell by Samantha James

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: McBride Family, Book 1
Sensuality: 3
Publisher: HarperCollins
Hero: Simon Blackwell
Heroine:  Annabel McBride
Date of Publication: April 1, 2007
Started On: February 22, 2010
Finished On: February 23, 2010

This has got to be one of the best historical romances that I have ever had the pleasure to read. I read this book sometime back and this title has always remained somewhere in the deep recesses of my mind as a book that should be re-read from time to time. So after the previous historical romance I read and reviewed, I had this itch to find this book once again and give it a a go. And this story enthralled me the second time round as well, maybe more than the first time round.

Simon Blackwell is the epitome of tortured heroes. Though he is not cynical and deliberately cruel as certain heroes tend to be, Simon is a man who hides his passionate nature behind a wall of anguish that one can never even begin to describe or comprehend. Losing his wife and two kids five years back in a tragic accident, Simon has blamed himself for their deaths and berated at the fates for snatching away the most important people in his life.

By chance on one of his rare trips to London, he meets Annie. Annie dislikes Simon for the rudeness that he showed her on their first meeting but finds herself inexplicably drawn to this enigmatic man whom all members of her family seem to like on their first encounter. The smoldering attraction between these two finally takes a turn when during their first kiss, Annie’s family discovers them with the tip off from an old nemesis of Annie’s. Forced to wed never knowing about Simon’s painful past, Annie has her work cut out for her in thawing the ice cold lock around Simon’s heart.

Simon fights the immense attraction and the intense feelings that Annie arouses in him every step of the way. Being as stubborn as Simon, Annie at last manages to crumble his defenses and make Simon embrace the smoldering hot passion that flares between the two. I have to tell you, this book has got one of the hottest and greatest love scenes ever!

Finally at the end, love triumphs over tragedy and heartache and Simon finds the courage in him to let go, to love and be loved in return. Lovely story highly recommended for historical romance lovers. Will surely end up re-reading this book in the future. Yes, it is THAT good!

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

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