by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Witness by Sandra Brown

Format: Paperback
Read with: Paperback
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Hero:Dr. John McGarth
Heroine: Kendall Deaton
Date of Publication: May 1, 2007
Started On: December 12, 2009
Finished On: December 13, 2009

Kendall Deaton with her 3 month year old son Kevin is on the run for her life. Witnessing heinous murders committed by a group calling themselves The Brotherhood of which her husband Matt and father-in-law Gibb were prominent members of, Kendall has no choice but to disappear from the face of the earth so that the members of The Brotherhood, which had its members even in federal law enforcement agencies had no chance of finding them.

Kendall and her son are soon found by FBI agents Pepperdyne and John, who is assigned the task of delivering Kendall to the authorities as the key witness in the trial to convict the members of The Brotherhood. However, a fatalistic crash of the car they are travelling in lands John with amnesia giving Kendall the chance to once again flee and make her way to her originally planned hide out. In the process to waylaid the authorities, Kendall proclaims John to be her husband & John thwarts her plans of fleeing into the night when he demands that Kendall couldn’t leave her ‘husband’ to fend for himself especially while supporting a broken leg with the amnesia.

Amidst the mistrust between Kendall and John stirs the beginning of an attraction that the readers can’t help but feel to their bones. Sandra Brown does an excellent job of weaving the story of the magic that happens between Kendall and John while relating the horrific events that occurred  in Prosper, South Carolina where Kendall worked as a public prosecutor, that led to this tumultuous turn of events.

This is a highly fast paced read, one that I guarantee cannot be put down with engrossing characters and a great plot to keep you riveted to your seat till you read the last page.

This is actually a re-read for me. This was the second book that I read from this author and I have always remembered it to be the one that got me hooked on Sandra Brown’s books and I have to say the same magic wove itself on me this time too.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Half.com | AbeBooks | BooksOnBoard

greatread

 

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Kiss Me While I Sleep by Linda Howard

Format: Paperbackkissmewhileisleep
Read with: Paperback
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Series: John Medina, Book 3
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Hero: Lucas Swain
Heroine: Lily Mansfield
Date of Publication: April 26, 2005
Started On: December 5, 2009
Finished On: December 7, 2009

Lily Mansfield is a woman hell bent on vengeance & revenge against the powerful Nervi organization operated in Paris. Seeking justice for the assassination of her close friends Tina and Averill (both of whom had previously being contract killers themselves) and their adopted daughter Zia who had actually been found abandoned and starving to death, by Lily on one of her jobs to Croatia. Since Lily’s life as a hired killer didn’t provide the most stable environment to raise a little girl, Lily had let her friends adopt Zia, and the three of them had held Zia dearer to them than anything else.

Lily kills Salvatore Nervi, the head of the Nervi organization nearly killing herself in the process and goes into hiding in the one place Salvatore’s son Rodrigo Nervi wouldn’t think of looking for her. But as most powerful organizations in the world, the Nervi organization has their hands in all the important agencies of the world with pretty strong political ties with the richest governments in the world, which makes it quite easy to identify the woman who had deceived Rodrigo’s father and ultimately led to his demise.

The CIA dispatches their agent Lucas Swain to track Lily down and bring her down. With Rodrigo hot on Lily’s trail as well, Lucas befriends Lily & ultimately finds himself intrigued on what had actually lured Lily’s friends Tina and Averill out of their retirement into bombing one of Nervi’s laboratories, which had resulted in the murder of the whole family. Unearthing the secret that the Nervi organization was in fact producing a vaccine to combat a strain of the avian influenza virus that has the capability of human-to-human transmission, whilst mass producing the strain of the virus itself to unleash on the world to reap the benefits in millions of dollars, being the only organization having a vaccine at hand.

Things get interesting when Lily and Swain are hired by the same anonymous person who lured Averill and Tina for the initial attack on the laboratory, to destroy the lab and the scientist who is engineering the virus & the vaccine once and for all. As most of the novels by  this author, this too delivers a superb tale with a splendid cast of characters, with the right mix of intrigue, mystery, passion, love and family politics with a surprising twist at the end of the tale.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Half.com | BooksOnBoard

greatread

 

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Divorced, Desperate and Dating by Christie Craig

Format: E-bookdivorceddesperateanddating.jpg
Read with: Adobe Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Series: Divorced & Desperate, Book 2
Publisher: Love Spell
Hero: Detective Jason Dodd
Heroine: Mystery writer Sue Finley
Date of Publication: November 25, 2008
Started On: December 4, 2009
Finished On: December 5, 2009

Christie Craig is a new author, whose books I have never come across before. With a total of 5 novels out so far, 3 of them belonging to the Divorced & Desperate series, this author writes with the sort of dry humor that only few can pull off and entertain the reader as much as this book has kept me entertained.

This book can be read as a standalone although it is the second book in the Divorced & Desperate series, though after reading this, my interest has been piqued enough to consider reading the first book in the series Divorced, Desperate and Delicious and the third book which is to come out this month has definitely found a place in my never ending pile of to-be-read books.

The Divorced & Desperate series is centered around three women each with a bad divorce up her sleeve who vow to uphold a period of celibacy. They get together weekly to rant and rave about men, sex and everything to do with relationships and marriage in general.

Sue’s story starts when Lacy and Chase’s story ends in the first book of the series. Jason Dodd is Chase’s detective partner, Lacey being the first one to break the vow of celibacy of the Divorced & Desperate club and tie the knot with Chase.

The story kicks off when Sue, receives a dead rat via post, and the profile of a stalker who is copying the gruesome scenes from Sue’s own books starts to emerge, landing Sue in the awkward position of having Jason as her self proclaimed protector till whoever is playing havoc with Sue’s life is apprehended, whose earth moving kiss and a promise to call which was never fulfilled after a three month period had passed had prompted Sue to try and break her self proclaimed vow of celibacy and start dating.

The ensuing tale is hilarious with a quirky family on Sue’s side to make things more interesting. Commitment phobic Jason, a result of living in too many foster homes, each rejection making him vow never to let anyone close enough to hurt him, finds himself in a constant battle to tamp down the feelings of intense passion, tenderness and protectiveness that Sue effortlessly unleashes within him.

If dry humor, a good plot line with a little mystery thrown in to perk things up in between is your piece of cake then this book is for you. I guarantee you that this author definitely doesn’t disappoint in any of these departments.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Half.com | AbeBooks

greatread

 

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Seduction by Amanda Quick

Format: E-book
Read with: Adobe Reader
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Bantam Books
Hero: Julian, Earl of Ravenwood
Heroine: Sophy Dorring
Date of Publication: March 1, 1990
Started On: December 2, 2009
Finished On: December 4, 2009

Found this book whilst browsing through FictionDB. I quite enjoyed this book, the story of how Julian, the Earl of Ravenwood, sophisticated and cynical about women in general after a disastrous marriage which ended up with his wife murdered and community folk in general whispering in corners that Julian had killed off his wife due to her nefarious ways, weds Sophy Dorring, brought up in the countryside, thinking that she would be the docile little wife that Julian wants, someone who wouldn’t get into all the trouble his first wife Elizabeth had always been found in.

Julian is in for a surprise when at first Sophy refuses his marriage proposal put forth through her grandfather. Shocked that someone who hadn’t impressed the ton during her coming out, who hadn’t got a single marriage proposal during the time, and quite past the age where the ladies of the ton got married, with very little inheritance to offer and just passable looks had the gall to refuse a godsend of an offer, Julian confronts Sophy on her trip back from an old friend of hers who grows medicinal herbs, a subject of much interest to Sophy.

Ultimately, these two wed, each of them having bargained for a set of conditions to be met, which Julian finds out to be unconventional and fascinating at the same time. Sophy’s conditions being that they wouldn’t consummate their marriage till a three month period during which Sophy and Julian should get to know one another better, her choice of reading material which is far and wide never be influenced by her husband and that she never be cast off to a home in the country side whilst Julian traverses in the city.

Julian quickly realizes the errors in his agreeing to the first condition, when he finds himself in lust with his new wife, whom he tries to seduce, but backfires on him in the most hilarious ways possible. I found myself laughing out loud several times whilst reading through bits of conversation between Julian and Sophy as well as the situations that Sophy tended to land herself in, not the docile and meek wife that Julian had bargained for at all.

To make things more interesting, upon realizing that trying to make Julian fall in love with her when to Sophy’s point of view that Julian had never got over the grief and pain caused to him by his first wife, pursues her little project of finding out who drove her sister to take the life of herself and the baby that she was carrying. With only a black ring of a crude design the only clue as to whom her sister had been holding clandestine meetings with, Sophy embarks upon a mission to make the man who made use of her sister pay for what he had done.

Things get interesting from this moment forward. Sophy and her quirky and eccentric friends help her in their ways to find out what the ring symbolizes, unraveling something far too dangerous that could cost Sophy her life in the end.

All in all, this was quite a fun read which I enjoyed immensely. With a surprising villain in the end, at least it was for me, this book proved to be a ‘seductive’ read which was hard to put down.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

goodread

 

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Smash Cut by Sandra Brown

Format: Paperback
Read with: Paperback
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Series: Standalone
Hero: Derek Mitchell
Heroine: Julie Rutledge
Date of Publication: August 11, 2009
Started On: November 29, 2009
Finished On: December 1, 2009

Sandra Brown has always been a favorite author of mine. With her first book ‘Relentless Desire’ which was published in 1983, she started off her career as a romance book author as most of my favorite authors. Later with the book ‘Slow Heat in Heaven’, she started on the genre of romantic suspense, some of which have been pretty great stories. Smash Cut, her latest such thriller is no exception to this rule. With two great characters and a complex plot with enough twists to keep us going, Smash Cut delivers on all fronts.

Derek Mitchell is a criminal defense lawyer with a reputation well-earned for preventing society’s scum from ever having to see the walls of a prison. Julie Rutledge, the mistress of millionaire Paul Wheeler, is the owner of an art gallery who witnesses the murder of her lover right in front of her.

Entering the story that unfolds of course is the slightly off-balance family that every rich guy leaves behind. Paul’s brother Doug and his wife Sherry with their son Creighton Wheeler who is very rich in his own right without having shed a drop of sweat to show for it and spoiled rotten to the core has a passion for movies unlike anyone has ever heard of.

From the start, Julie accuses Creighton of plotting and executing the well-laid out plan of murdering Paul, as Creighton was the sole beneficiary of Paul’s will, though the motive seems to be a weak one in the face of all the millions that Creighton has already inherited from another set of his grandparents.

Derek is hired by Creighton’s father, in case the need for a defense lawyer arises, though Creighton has a rock solid alibi for the day of the murder. Julie, wanting to prevent Creighton from walking free of this heinous act, tries to prevent Derek from being Creighton’s lawyer, which somehow in the end backfires on her.

Creighton’s evil streak is slowly revealed, while Julie and Derek join forces to out run the brilliance of a plan well laid out by a master of evil planning, to free Julie from the knot that slowly seems to tighten around Julie, pointing all fingers at her for the murder of Paul.

Ultimately in the end, Creighton is caught in the act of ‘tying up one of the loose ends’, and with a huge surprise in the end, which I am not going to spoil for everyone here, ties things up.

Although this book is of the genre ‘Romantic Suspense’, there is actually very little romance involved, but rather a great story of how pure evil can thrive in the minds of people society never thought capable of.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

favorableread

 

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Just a Taste by Bronwyn Jameson

Format: E-bookjust
Opens with: Stanza
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Silhouette
Series: Dynasties: The Ashtons, Book 4
Hero: Seth Benndict
Heroine: Jillian Ashton
Date of Publication: April 1, 2005
Started On: November 26, 2009
Finished On: November 28, 2009

This is the next book in line in The Ashtons series. The story of Jillian and Seth, and the background story of the deceptions of Spencer Ashton, and how his children from different mothers come together and find love and acceptance with one another, something Spencer Ashton has been too selfish and self-centered to provide for any of his children.

Jillian and Seth has been in-laws in the past, til Jillian’s husband Jason Benndict and Seth’s wife Karen, both died in a car crash, leaving Seth with his young daughter Rachel and the secret that he has kept from Jillian till now, the fact that Karen and Jason had been having an affair with one another when death came calling.

This whole series focuses on the wine making business that The Ashtons family is in and Jillian too involved in the wine tasting aspect of the business, hires Seth to remodel their wine tasting cellar, despite the misgivings she has on the intense feelings that Seth has always been able to arouse in her. Seth, wanting a  taste of Jillian ever since the day he met her as Jason’s wife, never acts on this impulse knowing that just a taste would never be enough to satisfy the hunger and craving he has to be with Jillian.

In the end, they get together, the secret is out, and yes Jillian finally meets the father who abandoned them as children, and finds out for herself, just how much of a cold and unfeeling person Spencer Ashton is. I believe that this story would have been much better if snippets from Seth’s and Jillian’s past had been included in the story, so that the simmering tension between the couple would have been a bit more believable. And I sometimes felt that some areas of the story was dragged on, when more exciting stuff could have been happening *winks*.

Anyhow, the story wasn’t half bad and a gal has always gotta love a happy ending!

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

fairread

 

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Society-Page Seduction by Maureen Child

Format: E-booksociert
Read with: Stanza
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Dynasties: The Ashtons, Book 3
Publisher: Silhouette
Hero: Simon Pearce
Heroine: Megan Ashton
Date of Publication: March 1, 2005
Started On: November 23, 2009
Finished On: November 26, 2009

After reading the last book that I reviewed, Condition of Marriage by Emilie Rose I found myself interested in knowing more about the Ashton family which according to the series tag line says “The Ashtons — A family built on lies…brought together by dark, passionate secrets.”

Condition of Marriage  being the first book of this series that I read was actually the 9th book in this 12 book series. The story of Simon Pearce and Megan Ashton is the 3rd book in the series, and this was the book in which all the ugly secrets of Spencer Ashton, the father whose cruelty, lies and deception which is the underlying theme of this series, all start to unravel.

Spencer is married to Megan’s mother which as I mentioned in my previous review, turns out not to be a valid marriage since Spencer never really divorced his first wife. All these secrets and more start to come out of the closet in Megan and Simon’s story.

All her life, all Megan had wanted was her father’s approval, though he never had a word of encouragement or praise for either of his children. Megan works as a wedding planner and this is how she meets Simon Pearce, whilst planning his wedding to a bride who jilts him on the day of their wedding. Simon who was marrying for practical purposes, no mushy emotions involved thank-you very much, quickly proposes that Megan goes through the marriage with him, for a period of one year in order for him to expand his business with those whom seem to think that an unmarried man is not one to be trusted in the business world.

Megan, having her own reasons, which includes the fact her father is readying to marry her off to the Senator’s son, so that he would gain more power over government channels when running his business, decides to marry him on the spur and thus begins Megan’s and Simon’s story. Although this story wasn’t as sweet and beautiful as Jared and Mercede’s story, there was enough depth to the characters and plot line to make this an interesting read.

I guess most probably I would end up reading the stories in The Ashton’s series with the most interesting plot lines. Right now I am dead set on reading Name Your Price By Barbara McCauley and Just a Taste by Brownyn Jameson. And who knows, I might just end up reading the whole 12 books in the series, to quench my curiosity on who was ballsy enough  to kill Spencer Ashton!

Purchase Links: Amazon 

fairread

 

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Condition of Marriage by Emilie Rose

Format: E-bookconditionofmarriage
Read with: Stanza
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Dynasties: The Ashtons, Book 9
Publisher: Silhouette 
Hero: Jared Maxwell
Heroine: Mercedes Ashton
Date of Publication: September 1, 2005
Started On: November 21, 2009
Finished On: November 22, 2009

This I think is the first multi-author series that I have ever tried and the first book by this author that I have ever read. This was a really beautiful love story and of course, it didn’t hurt that this romance was that of my favorite theme, where best of friends find true love with one another.

The Ashton family’s history explained in snatches here and there throughout the novel is focused on Ashley’s father Spencer Ashton who is this huge multi-millionaire who is portrayed as a man who never cared for anyone but himself. He has children from three ‘wives’, only one of them to whom he was actually legally married to and never divorced from, rendering his other two marriages unlawful and thus the children classified as bastards in the society. This whole series revolves around his mysterious murder, and how children from all his three wives come to terms with the legacy that their father had left them with, together with on how each find everlasting love with their meant to be’s.

Mercedes and Jared’s story is the ninth book of the series. Mercedes and Jared has been the best of friends ever since Chloe, Jared’s wife and Mercedes’s best friend since college died of a car crash together with the baby Jared and Chloe were about to have. Their story begins when Mercedes finds out she is pregnant with the father of the baby (Craig) wanting nothing more from her than an abortion to get rid of the baby.

Jared has his own demons to fight on top of the forbidden bouts of desire he starts to feel for Mercedes all of a sudden. Mercedes battles with the same desire, blaming them on her over zealous pregnant hormones. Craig all of a sudden comes back into Mercedes’s life, demands that she marry him so that he can reap off the millions that Mercedes might supposedly inherit from her father’s assets. Jared offers a way out by offering to marry Mercedes, and the moving journey that takes place after their marriage made for a really wonderful read.

I do not know whether all the other stories in the series are as good as this one, but I have got the mind to try them out since this is one of the most beautiful love stories that I have read in a long time. Truly satisfying read and of course Mr. Hotness himself didn’t make it any harder to fall in love with this story.

Purchase Links: Amazon

outstandingread

 

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Kill Me Twice by Roxanne St. Claire

Format: E-bookn167206
Read with: Stanza
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Series: The Bullet Catchers, Book 1
Publisher: Pocket Books
Hero: Alex Romero
Heroine: Jasmine Adams
Date of Publication: September 7, 2005
Started On: November 12, 2009
Finished On: November 16, 2009

I found about Roxanne St. Claire whilst browsing through books on Amazon.com. I was surprised to see that her Bullet Catchers series has been quite well received by readers, in fact all her books in this series has got a reader rating of at least 4 or 4.5 stars. So I decided to check out this series that has got such a good reaction from readers of romantic suspense and I would have to say that Roxanne St. Claire does spin a good tale.

This introductory book in the series stars Alex Romero as the bullet catcher with side characters Max who is the lead in the next book of this series and Dan. With Lucy Sharpe as  the owner of this elite team of body guards who serve ultra-rich clients, Alex is handed an assignment which he considers to be in league with baby sitting when he has to protect Jessica Adams, a famous news reporter in Miami who reportedly has a stalker after her.

Alex turns up at Jessica’s place and is surprised to find himself with Jasmine, Jessica’s identical twin sister, from whom Jessica has asked to cover for her whilst Jessica pursues a hot lead in a story which will propel her career to the national fronts. Jasmine or rather Jazz, being fiercely independent resents the presence of Alex at first, but quickly comes to realize that Jessica may in fact be in danger and with everyone of Jessica’s acquaintances acting weirder by the moment.

The story is good, the romance between Alex and Jazz sizzles and the twists in the novel surprised me at the end and although I finished this book in 4 days time due to lack of available time to read it, this is the kinda book you can read in one sitting.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

averageread

 

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Cry No More by Linda Howard

Cry no More

Format: E-book
Read with: Stanza
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Piatkus
Hero: James Alejandro Xavier Diaz
Heroine: Milla Edge
Date of Publication: November 4, 2003
Started On: November 9, 2009
Finished On: November 12, 2009

This powerful story by Linda Howard is one of her most outstanding pieces of work. Both Milla and James are two wonderful characters and their story is one I guarantee that no one can really put down without seeing it through.

The story starts with Milla married to Dr. David Boone, a surgeon who with a group of other doctors opens up a free clinic in Mexico for a year. Milla gives birth to their son Justin whilst in Mexico, who is snatched away from Milla whilst she is left bleeding to death from the attack. In the midst of it all, Milla however manages to leave her mark on one of her attackers, finding the man with the scar becoming her life goal once she recovers enough to look for her son.

Ten years on, divorced from David, Milla runs an organization known as Finders that deploy volunteers who help in missing children/adult cases.Through all that time, Milla has never once given up hope that one day she would find her son and her resolve to do this finally leads her to James Diaz, whom at first Milla thinks to be involved with the kidnapping of Justin.

To Milla’s surprise, James turns out to be the only one who can find the answers to all the questions Milla has been asking all those years. What Milla doesn’t know is that it is those that she is closest to who have ulterior motives, who do not want her to find out the truth related to the disappearance of her son. And once Milla does find Justin, the sheer act of bravery that she performs would forever be etched onto my heart because I do not know of anyone who could have done what she did for her son.

Cry No More is a book that has found a permanent place on my favorites and keepers shelf. Whenever I need myself a Linda Howard fix, which is often, I find myself craving some James Diaz for some reason and I always end up either skimming through the delicious parts or just re-reading the whole thing all over again. Cry No More is a book that deals with a heartbreaking issue, the raw pain that Milla goes through towards the end just reaches something deep inside of you until you are ready to howl from the sheer agony of it all.

And through the stormy days that follows, James proves his unwavering love for a woman whom he considers his in every way. The way he completely takes care of Milla’s every single need makes you want to lay yourself down somewhere and offer yourself to James to do as he pleases. He is the strong, silent and lethal warrior type of hero who would have zero qualms about killing when it comes to protecting the ones he loves. His utter focus and the dangerous vibe that always surrounds him is what draws me to his character every.single.time. that I read this book. And I am sure I would keep coming back for more of him in the near & foreseeable future!

If I could give this book more than 5-stars, I definitely would. Because Cry No More is a jewel of a novel, that indeed deserves high praise for  the masterpiece that Linda Howard seems to have spun with this one. Very highly recommended!

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble