by mvbookreviewer

Review: Melissa and The Vicar by S.M. LaViolette

Format: E-Book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Erotic Romance
POV: Third Person, Single
Series: The Seducers, #1
Publisher: Crooked Sixpence Press
Hero: Magnus Stynwyck
Heroine: Melissa Griffin
Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥
Published On: October 01, 2021
Started On: October 01, 2022
Finished On: October 02, 2022

She was glad nobody else could hear the noise she made.
To say he looked like a water god out of mythology was trite, but, oh, it was so very, very true.
He strode from the waves like some male version of The Birth of Venus. Or The Birth of Adonis or Zeus or one of those randy Greeks or Romans who was always getting his kit off at the drop of a hat.
Melissa realized she was sliding off the rock because she’d leaned forward so much and pushed herself back into her crack, briefly disgusted by her own avidity but quickly suppressing it.
He bent at the waist and slicked water from his legs with both hands.
She swallowed.

Believe it or not, it was the Grantchester series, starring a vicar (James Norton) who also moonlights as a detective in solving murder mysteries that made me read Melissa and The Vicar by S.M. LaViolette. It is an intriguing premise after all, the hero being a curate (an assistant to the vicar) whose fate is intertwined with that of a heroine who owns one of London’s most exclusive brothels.

First published in 2021 as the debut book in The Seducers series, Ms. LaViolette brings to readers the story of 24 year old Magnus Stynwyck and 29 year old Melissa Griffin, whose age difference might not have mattered all that much if not for the fact that Melissa’s lived reality makes her well beyond her years, unacceptable by society’s standards to lead a life that is considered respectable.

Melissa’s first encounter with Magnus comes as she moves to the village of New Bickford for a brief spell to recuperate and regain her zest for the business, as her rescuer from the vicious rooster in the village. For someone who has seen it and done it all, Melissa is awestruck by the beauty that is Magnus, who makes her feel shy and fidgety for the first time she can recall, something she had long forgotten along with the innocence of her youth.

Magnus has always known that he wanted to join the clergy when he grew up, the youngest of six brothers. His family had never understood why he wanted to take up the vocation, and he had long given up trying to convince them that this was his calling.

While Melissa finds herself enjoying the solitude and the sedate pace of life in the village, she is at the same time taken aback by how strongly she finds herself attracted to Magnus, which she knows in her heart is futile in every sense. For someone as well schooled in the art of seduction, Melissa finds her heart racing, her mind distracted, and her body reacting to the mere presence of Magnus and the charm that he wields on her heart without even trying.

Melissa’s plans to prevent her heart from breaking results in her fleeing after tasting the exquisiteness of what it means to surrender to what is between her Magnus. However, she never factors in the stubbornness that courses through Magnus which his doting mother claims to be her youngest son’s only sin. The steely determination behind the gentleness that is Magnus proves to be Melissa’s undoing, and give in she does, even with all her misgivings about them and what it would mean for Magnus, until she realizes that her past is very much part of her present, which could end up destroying not just what she has with Magnus, but her very existence in the process.

I thoroughly enjoyed and loved the heady experience of reading this novel. One thing that is always true for books by Ms. Spencer aka Ms. LaViolette is that every single story that she has written to-date has a solid tale to tell. The steam factor which she does so well only enhances the underlying story and gives it the edge and angst the stories deserve, and this is true for Melissa and the Vicar in every sense.

The great characterization of the story is what beguiled me the most, the different facets to both Melissa and Magnus which continues to surprise the reader at every turn. Melissa’s was by far the most intriguing, all the horror that she had lived through at the tender age of thirteen just being unreal. Her indomitable strength to persevere, to rise above, even when she continues to be at war with her own conscience about being the owner of the very brothel at which she had served, is a study of contrasts that really got to me. Melissa is a survivalist at heart, and I don’t think I can even begin to comprehend what it would do to anyone’s psychology to have survived the kind of trauma that she lived through.

Of Melissa and Magnus, the latter is the dreamer, the one who believes that everything would turn out alright and perhaps in his naivety, assumes that everyone would see Melissa as he does, and accept her into the fold with open arms. The most shocking truth about Melissa’s past as it unfolded is the reason this story stands out in such a remarkable way, and how Magnus seemed to shift and show us the different facets to his character which proved to be my undoing.

I loved Magnus for his gentleness, his stubbornness, his love for Melissa that was pure in every sense, his need for the woman who rocks his very existence out of its orbit, and the way he stands true to his convictions, even if it pains him to do so. There was no way on earth that Melissa could have resisted the force that was Magnus as unleashed, and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

The ending was realistic, especially given Melissa’s profession and the stain it carries in society. The epilogue was lovely, and made me smile with joy from inside out. Definitely recommended!

Final Verdict: As Melissa puts it, Oh, Mr. Stanwyck, what a wonderful surprise you turned out to be! Top notch characterization makes this an instant page-turner!

Favorite Quotes

“This is wrong, Melissa.” He’d meant to sound firm, commanding—but it came out more of a question.
She gave a throaty chuckle, working her way down his jaw to his neck. “How can something so wonderful—between two people who love each other—be wrong?” Her lips pushed into his cravat and her mouth settled over his Adam’s apple. And then she bit him.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Secret Obsession by Charlotte Lamb

Format: E-Book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
POV: Third Person, Single
Series: Sins, #1
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Ben Havelock
Heroine: Nerissa Havelock
Sensuality: 🔥🔥
Published On: January 01, 1995
Started On: September 07, 2022
Finished On: September 08, 2022

His face was taut, his eyes hard.
‘Do I have to remind you that it was me you married, not him?’
‘I want a divorce, Ben!’ Nerissa broke out in a voice that shook, and the room filled with an intolerable tension.
‘I’ll fight it,’ he said curtly. ‘I’ll use any weapon I have to -even if it means bringing him into it. What do you think that will do to your family pride?’

Secret Obsession by Charlotte Lamb, first published in January of 1995, is an unusual story at best, the reason why I picked this up to read in the first place. Told in the third person from the heroine’s perspective, Ms. Lamb brings to readers the story of Ben Havelock and his wife Nerissa who have been married for just three months when the story begins.

Ben and Nerissa’s had been a whirlwind romance, where Ben had pursued her in earnest since meeting her a year earlier at a party given by one of his clients, who happened to work with her. Ben being a very successful and wealthy barrister and a divorcee at that, had convinced Nerissa that they would work after managing to draw out all truths about about Nerissa and leaving her pretty much in the dark when it comes to understanding who Ben is inside out during their courtship.

Things come to a head when Nerissa receives the news that her adored cousin Philip is in a coma, Philip whom Bend would never agree to let her go to be by his side. For Ben knows the truth of Nerissa’s feelings for Philip and the reality behind the family unit within which Nerissa had grown up which makes for interesting reading.

Nerissa flies the coop (of course), to be with the man who had been the most important person in the world to her up till the point where the truth had been forced out leaving both of them devastated in the process. Nerissa is a woman torn about how she feels about her husband Ben; she wants him, thinks about him when he is not around, he is necessary for her, but she does not know him as she does Philip, and therein lies the problem.

When Ben comes in hot pursuit of her and forces her to face the ugly truths about her past (which is also very much present) which she has been playing ostrich about, it is up to Nerissa to decide whether she wants to fight for her marriage and the man who has become the most important person in her life unbeknownst to her, the man that she had actually fallen for without realizing the hows and whys.

As mentioned earlier in the review, Secret Obsession is not your usual run of the mill variety of story, the most shocking revelations being about Nerissa’s past and how that had shaped her up as the person she is at present. Nerissa meets Ben at a turning point in her life, when she had been desolate about the futility of the future she had envisaged of a love that was impossible.

For Ben, trust is a hard commodity to find, having held up the short end of the stick in his previous marriage. Some would say that Ben is a glutton for punishment given how he who swore off marriage altogether, and then goes onto tie the knot with Nerissa, a woman who was definitely going to cause him a lot of heartache and pain along the way.

I loved how Ben forces Nerissa into examining the depth of her own feelings when it comes to a whole host of issues that are revealed along the way and his patience with her. Most men would not have found it possible to be that patient, knowing that your wife’s heart belonged to someone else, the wife that you fell for a long way back.

While the story had a lot going for it, I found the execution of some of the aspects to be a bit problematic. There were elements of the story that definitely held my attention, like how obsessed Ben actually is about his wife, even when he had sworn off of marriage altogether when his first marriage failed so spectacularly.

I was also intrigued by Nerissa’s feelings – seldom do novels explore the nuances of the female emotions as it does Nerissa’s in this story. The raw emotions and the psychology explored in the story was riveting but the continued rehashing of how wounded Ben’s pride was and how his ex-wife had done a number on him made the story a tad tiresome. Skipping chunks on inner monologues in the story made it all worthwhile!

Recommended for fans of Charlotte Lamb and her unusual stories. I am guessing, given the ratings for most of her books, she is either a hit or miss for readers!

Final Verdict: Secret Obsession is a fitting title for a story that explores a husband’s hidden infatuation with his wife, whom he pursues and wins over through the biggest gamble of his life!

Favorite Quotes

When she heard him come downstairs again she went out into the hall in a hurry. He was carrying his suitcase and she felt a pang of dismay as she realised he had meant it; he was really going.
‘Ben, listen… I can’t come now. How can I when they need me? But…’ she began, and he turned a grim face to her.
‘No buts, Nerissa. I meant what I said. I’m sick of this charade of a marriage. I can’t live with it any more.’
He was gone a moment later, the front door slamming behind him, and she stood rooted to the spot, white-faced and stunned. She heard the car start, the engine roar as he put his foot down on the accelerator, the sound of the wheels churning gravel as he set off along the drive.
Ben had left her.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | eBooks | HQ

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Unexpected Pleasures by Penny Jordan

Format: E-Book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
POV: Third Person, Dual
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Gabriel Calbrini
Heroine: Sasha
Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥
Published On: January 01, 2012
Started On: September 03, 2022
Finished On: September 06, 2022

Suddenly Sasha turned her head and saw him. For a second she simply stared at him, and then abruptly she turned on her heel and started to run.
Gabriel’s reaction was instinctive and immediate. Sasha could hear the fierce pounding of his feet on the sand above the shocked thud of her own heartbeat. He was closing the distance between them but she still ran on, driven by the instinct of the prey to escape from the hunter.

Unexpected Pleasures by Penny Jordan, first published in January of 2012 is a novel that delves deep into the psych of two characters who have had rotten childhoods and carried the trauma with them for the better half of their lives. It is striking how at times category romances such as this number published under Harlequin, romance novels that people usually pick up for a light read or label as fluff, can end up being stories that pack a significant punch way above what anyone expects of them.

Such is the story of Gabriel Calbrini and Sasha, whose pasts are entwined in a way that makes a clean break from each other impossible. When the story begins, Sasha is mother to nine year old twins and newly widowed, facing the prospect that with her husband’s death she had gone overnight from being the pampered wife of a rich man to a virtually destitute widow.

Sasha had been an impressionable, emotionally vulnerable, and needy seventeen years old when she had met Gabrielle in whose arms she had known true sexual awakening and desire. Her mother having died during childbirth, Sasha had grown up in an environment that had been insufficient to address her great need for love and emotional security.

A year later, Sasha had married the much older Carlo, pregnant and unable to reconcile or accept the depth of devastation that Gabriel had wreaked on her heart when he had so callously turned away from the love that she had to give. In hindsight, ten years on, Sasha is able to understand that it was with Carlo that she had managed to make peace with her past, and had flourished in the safe environment that her husband had provided for her.

Sasha’s past comes calling when Carlo leaves guardianship of the twins to his second cousin, none other than the father of the twins, Gabriel. He has never forgiven Sasha for the way she had left his pride in tatters, and Gabriel has always refused to examine his battered emotions too closely lest he find something he did not want to face particularly.

Gabriel has so much baggage from his childhood, being an unwanted child discarded by his maternal relatives who had been richer than sin, abandoned by his father once he found someone to replace Gabriel’s mother, and a mother who had never looked back once she walked out on him and her father. Foster homes had been it for him until circumstances had forced Gabriel back into the circle of his maternal grandfather, where he had led a loveless existence which had solidified his resolve as a man.

Gabriel is a man in whose heart lies a wealth of bitterness, judging every woman by his own mother’s standards, which makes him the worst sort of cynic. In Gabriel’s opinion, Sasha had proven her worth when she had walked out on him and sold herself to the highest bidder. As Gabriel makes a comeback into Sasha’s life and things start to add up, it is he that must reconcile with the past and examine his own actions which had destroyed what was between Sasha and him at the very beginning. Perhaps they both needed the time apart to really be together, one could argue, and I would be one of them if you ask me.

I had a hard time rating this book, not because this did not deliver a riveting read. I had some issues with how the story handled Gabriel’s issues for the most part. It was evident that Sasha had dealt with her scars from childhood in a healthier manner, her years with her older husband having given her the comfort, luxury, and time to pace herself through the recovery and reconciliation process.

Gabriel however, is a tougher nut to crack, with his childhood having hardened him to a point where he has a tough time separating his mother’s cruelty from every single overture made to him by any woman attempting to establish emotional ties with him. The protective shield around Gabriel’s heart seems almost impenetrable, that is until the truth about Sasha and their past slaps some sense into him. My issue lies with how such a character seemingly healed overnight and changed into a loving man, even though it is evident that Gabriel loved Sasha even before, though he never acknowledged the fact.

That brings me to the other issue I had with the story. While I understood the need for flashbacks, I also felt as if a major portion of the story was told through memories of the past than incidents in the present, which perhaps would perhaps have made more sense in the long run.

Recommended for those who love a good second-chance romance and fans of Penny Jordan. Ms. Jordan is a definite favorite when it comes to category romances.

Final Verdict: With flashbacks into the entwined pasts of the main protagonists, Unexpected Pleasures delivers the ultimate second chance romance with interwoven threads of sensuality in the mix!

Favorite Quotes

As a lover he had opened her eyes to a whole new world of pleasure, and he had imprinted that pleasure on her body in such a way that she knew she would never be able to forget it. There had been long hours when he had held her on their bed and caressed and kissed his way over every inch of her—the curve of her throat, the tender flesh inside her arm, her fingers. If she closed her eyes she knew she would almost be able to feel the slow wet curl of his tongue as he drew slow patterns of almost unendurable erotic stimulation along the whole length of her.

Gabriel leaned down and lifted her bodily against himself. As she wrapped her legs around him he could feel the sharp grittiness of the sand from her feet rubbing abrasively against his skin, a reminder that intense pleasure needed to be edged with the sting of pain.
Maybe that was why he felt this overpowering need for her now. Because without her his life had been bland and dull. Maybe he needed the pain to really feel.

She closed her eyes and ran her hands feverishly over Gabriel’s torso, avidly relearning its shape, tugging buttons free of buttonholes as he kissed her, plunging her straight down into the depths of her own desire to that place where there was no reason, only the voices of her senses, whispering to her to hurry, to take what she could while she could, while there was still time.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | eBooks | HQ

by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Cozakis Bride by Lynne Graham

Format: E-Book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
POV: Third Person, Single
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Nikos Cozakis
Heroine: Olympia Manoulis
Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥
Published On: January 01, 2000
Started On: September 02, 2022
Finished On: September 03, 2022

‘Are you insane?’ he questioned rawly. ‘You must be out of your mind to come to me like this! How could you think for one moment that I would marry an avaricious, brazen little tramp like you?’

The Cozakis Bride by Lynne Graham is one of those novels that swept me off my feet on a journey of angst, heat, and love of the kind that reaffirms my faith in my commitment to remain a romance reader for life. First published in 2000, Ms. Graham brings to readers the story of 29 year old Nikos Cozakis (Nik) and 27 year old Olympia Manoulis, whose entwined past ten years ago makes them the bitterest enemies.

If anyone had asked Olympia just an year ago if she would ever consider going back to Nik, the man who had left her heart and pride in tatters when she was just seventeen years old, quite naive and wholeheartedly in love with her fiance Nik, she would have probably told them to shoot themselves in the head. But circumstances force Olympia to do just that, where she is forced to “barter” herself in marriage in exchange for much needed medical treatment and security for her mother.

If Olympia resents Nik for what had happened a decade ago, Nik himself loathes the very existence of the woman who made a fool of himself and his family’s unsoiled reputation. The way Nik sees things, Olympia, his doe-eyed supposedly virginal bride-to-be had betrayed him in the worst way possible, and there is no way he was going to forgive or forget what happened, no matter how much he may lust after the woman he is going to be legally bound to as a husband.

Thus begins the battle of wills between Nik and Olympia being tied together in holy matrimony, each unwilling to look beyond the wounds that had scabbed over and never truly healed from that fateful night when everything had gone so horribly wrong. For Olympia, she had been judged and found guilty of a sin she had not committed, and for Nik it had been all too easy to believe what he was led to through machinations of those who had their own agenda.

What neither can deny is the flame that sizzles, burns, and roars to life whenever they are together, something that they are both helpless to turn away from. Nik may pretend that for him it is about getting what he wants out of Olympia, both in the short and long term. Olympia may likewise act as if the passion between them is inconsequential at best, but the truth is far from it.

I loved how The Cozakis Bride commandeered all my senses and did not let up from the minute I plunged into this heady tale. I adored the story for how it was chock-full of excitement from the get go, even when you are hyperventilating through scenes and wanting to slap some sense into Nik, and being gleeful about how all the feels knotted up my insides. There is nothing better that a romance reader can ask for than to be emotionally invested in a story, to feel as if you are going through train wreck, and yet still root for the main protagonists and their happily ever after.

There were times when Nik was unbelievably cruel in the story, times when I thought, boy, I hope this man has to grovel a lot to get the girl in the end. I must confess that I actually loved how cruel that Nik was at times because it showed the depth of his unresolved feelings towards the heroine. If Nik had not cared as much and if it was just his ego that had been bruised back then, the reactions from him would have been altogether very different. Nik made me fall in love with all that he is; from the sex-in-a-suit male specimen personified he is, to the ruthless side of him, and to the very vulnerable man that lies underneath all of that.

I loved Olympia for being feisty where needed, for being able to see how her naivety all those years back had played its role when those she had trusted had taken advantage of her, and for being self-aware and honest enough to face the ultimate truth when it came calling; that she loved Nik with everything she was and if she wanted a future that was worth living, it would have to be with Nik, and that fight she would for his love.

The fact that the story was told purely from the heroine’s perspective made it all that much better in my opinion. While Nik was quite the forceful character, seeing the shades of vulnerability on his part towards the end was enlightening and went a long way towards making this a well rounded romance.

Definitely recommend this gem to fans of Ms. Graham and fans of ruthless heroes with that core of vulnerability that we all love!

Final Verdict: The Queen of Harlequin romance seldom disappoints. Being older and better able to understand the complexities & nuances of human emotions makes this read all that more wonderful to the senses in every way that matters.

Favorite Quotes

‘You owe debts, and through me you will settle those debts.’
‘What are you t-talking about?’
‘What you did ten years ago cost your poor mother any hope of reconciliation with her father. What you did ten years ago savaged your grandfather. And what you did to me, you can find out the hard way,’ Nik concluded darkly.
Stabbed to the heart by that reminder about her mother, Olympia dropped her head, tears springing to her eyes. ‘It wasn’t my fault…what happened…I was set up—’
‘You’re embarrassing me,’ Nik slotted in with contempt. ‘Lies and fake shame are not going to protect you.’
‘You’re scaring me…’ Olympia condemned tearfully. ‘You are really scaring me!’

‘Let the light of reality in here. Ten years back, while you played Miss Prim and Proper Prude and brandished your innocence at every opportunity, I was in absolute agony…in the grip of overpowering lust and unable to do anything about it!’ Nik’s lean, powerful face hardened. ‘Did that give you a kick, Olympia?’
‘A…a kick?’ Eyes huge pools of enquiry, she stared back at him, struggling to absorb his assurance that he had found her sexually attractive in those days. That claim ran against everything she had ever believed, and she was paralysed by a sense of sheer disbelief.
‘You kept me in a constant state of arousal. I never slept after I was with you. My fantasies about what we were going to do when we got married even embarrassed me!’ Nik admitted grimly. ‘I wasn’t used to going without sex…it was torment; it was seriously painful.’

He came back to her with a driving kiss that consumed her. He was rough, and she had never known him rough before, and he excited her beyond belief. She was out of control, but so was he and she loved that. It answered the wildness leaping through her. He was hard and hot and full, and he sank into her tender welcoming flesh with a forceful maleness that made her sob out his name in ecstasy. Her back arched as the blinding excitement peaked on a shivering storming tide of mindless pleasure.
In the aftermath, she opened her eyes and blinked.
For a split-second, as Nik stared down at her, she saw a shell-shocked look in his stunning dark deepset eyes that could only have mirrored her own. Rolling off her without a word, he headed for the bathroom. She lay there immobile, struggling to breathe again, feeling ravished, feeling the sweet, heavy satiation of her own body with shattered recognition.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | eBooks

by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Italian Billionaire’s Secretary Mistress by Sharon Kendrick

Format: E-Book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
POV: Third Person, Dual
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Riccardo Castellari
Heroine: Angie Patterson
Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥
Published On: January 01, 2009
Started On: August 28, 2022
Finished On: September 01, 2022

He certainly hadn’t wasted any time in driving home her real status! Flinging a load of mundane tasks at her even though they’d only just arrived. Angie picked up a brush and began to pull it through her wet hair. Well, the work could wait. She was through with being useful, doormat Angie. Angie who took just whatever Riccardo Castellari cared to chuck at her. Because she was slowly beginning to realise that Riccardo treated her the way he did because she let him!
And she wasn’t going to let him. Not any more.

The Italian Billionaire’s Secretary Mistress by Sharon Kendrick (I know it is a mouthful), first published in 2009, brings to readers the story of Riccardo Castellari and 27 year old Angie Patterson, the latter who has been in love with her boss Riccardo for the better part of the five years since she has been working for him in the capacity of a secretary.

However, Angie has decided that enough is enough and come New Year, she would tender her resignation after finding herself a new employment opportunity. Angie knows Riccardo unlike any other, his likes and dislikes, his family and their birthdays, how he is like when he is in pursuit of a new woman, and what it is like when he wants to end things when the affairs run their course.

She however, is the invisible secretary to the man who owns her heart, and the toll it takes on Angie has hit a point where she is unwilling to let it destroy her anymore, especially as time passes on and she is witness to societal pages bearing gossip of Riccardo’s newest liaisons with beautiful women, not to mention the role that she has to play when Riccardo is in pursuit.

Riccardo hires Angie based on her plain looks, so that she would not be a distraction nor harbor any illusions of grandeur when it comes to him. Over time, she has become the only person who could get away with teasing him, even be it occasionally, and the only one who can lay it down as it is to him. He does not particularly appreciate what his lethal good looks and sex appeal means when it comes to the fairer sex even though he benefits largely from the fact, the “burden” that he has to shoulder with countless women showering their unwanted attentions on him is not something he particularly wants.

Things take a turn when Riccardo carelessly gifts Angie a red dress after one of his trips to New York which changes the power dynamics between the two. Riccardo for the very first time is forced to take notice of the bombshell that Angie is, and the dynamite that she is to his senses is not something he recovers from henceforth.

Riccardo is honest to a fault when it comes to his archaic views on marriage, and the fact that he has no intention of tying himself down with a woman for a lifetime until he is well and ready and finds the virgin female he is looking for to school her in the art of seduction and lovemaking (solely for his benefit) and bear his children.

The affair that begins between Riccardo and Angie (if you could call it that), is one filled with moments of mirth, sheer disbelief on the part of Riccardo, and bliss and heartache for Angie whose tender emotions don’t stand a chance with Riccardo’s lethal sexuality unleashed on her. Riccardo resists at every turn from succumbing to the emotional aspect of his relationship with Angie, and that is where the angst factor comes from, giving the story the edge it deserves.

I loved both Angie and Riccardo; Angie because she realizes at one point that she is done being at the beck and call of Riccardo and so over being a doormat variety of heroine and stands up for herself, and Riccardo because he is totally clueless when it comes the havoc that Angie creates inside his heart when all is said and done.

The fact that Riccardo does the pursuing in the end is what sealed the deal for me – a rarity in romances these days, where every conflict is resolved before it becomes an issue, because everyone loves “healthy communicating adults” in a relationship. Well let me tell you, not so much when we want the drama associated with some levels of misunderstanding between a couple!

Recommended for fans of Sharon Kendrick, some of her books are to die for and this is one I enjoyed immensely!

Final Verdict: Riccardo and Angie are the perfect boss-secretary combo until a red dress changes all that. Blindsided heroes make for the best romance novels!

Favorite Quotes

He wanted her here—in his car—down some little Tuscan track! His furtive secretary lover.
Her body screaming its protest, Angie wrenched herself out of his arms. ‘Stop it,’ she whispered from between lips which felt swollen to twice their normal size. ‘Stop it right now.’
A nerve worked at his temple. ‘You don’t want me to stop it.’
Maybe her body didn’t—but her dignity demanded it. Or did he think he was just going to erode that too with his sexual mastery—the way he had chipped away at her heart?
‘Oh, yes, I do.’ Ineffectually, she pushed at the hard wall of his chest. ‘Do you really want me to turn up at your house and to meet your family with my cheeks all flushed and my hair awry—making it perfectly obvious what we’ve just been doing?’
‘They won’t care what you look like,’ he snapped insultingly.
‘I find that very hard to believe,’ she returned, enjoying the outrage on his face as she dared to stand up to him. ‘And even if they don’t care—then I most certainly will. I’m here as your secretary, remember? And there’s a certain standard to maintain—a decorum—which I don’t intend to compromise with a quick fumble in your car!’
‘A quick fumble?’ he echoed, outraged.
‘Well, what would you call it?’
‘You do not think that such an experience would be pleasurable?’
‘N-no.’ She was on less sure ground now. ‘I’m not saying that at all. You’re very good, as I’m sure enough people have told you. I’m just refusing to turn up to your house giving people ammunition to make negative judgements about me.’
Struggling to rein in his ragged breath and trying to ease the unbearable ache at his groin, Riccardo glared at her. This was no coy little game she was playing, he realised with dawning disbelief. She really meant it. Did she think that he would fall under her spell if she resisted him?
And yet he could not remember the last time a woman had spurned his sexual advances.
For a moment, an unwilling respect warred with his feelings of frustration—and then he moved away from her with an impatient click of his tongue and started up the car.
‘Riccardo—’
‘Don’t talk to me when I’m driving!’ he thundered.
‘But you’ve left the handbrake on.’

For a moment he sank into the feeling, revelling in the sensations which were whispering over his skin before he realised where he was—and then he swore softly in Italian.
‘Che ora e?’ he snapped, lifting his wrist to glance at his watch. He sat up, his face wreathed in anger. ‘Why the hell did you let me sleep?’
Dismayed, Angie stared at him. ‘Because you looked as if you needed to.’
Jumping out of bed, he grabbed his jeans and began to pull them on. ‘Madre di Dio!’ he exclaimed furiously. ‘You’ve certainly changed your tune! From worrying about what my brother might think of our behaviour—you switch to luring me into staying.’
‘I didn’t lure you!’
‘You covered me up with a duvet,’ he accused.
‘Is that such a heinous crime?’
It felt like a trap. A trap as seductive as those great big eyes of hers and her warm, soft body. He shook his head. ‘I don’t want to spend half the afternoon in your bedroom!’ he declared.
‘Then don’t! Nobody’s keeping you here. Go!’

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | eBooks | HQ | Apple

by mvbookreviewer

Review: My Killer Vacation by Tessa Bailey

Format: E-Book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Suspense
POV: First Person, Dual
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Self-Published
Hero: Myles Sumner
Heroine: Taylor Bassey
Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥
Published On: June 06, 2022
Started On: August 19, 2022
Finished On: August 19, 2022

Based on appearances alone, this man might have just walked out of a criminal underworld. If the permanent scowl on his face didn’t scream villain, then the long, unkempt hair and poorly scrawled tattoos do the trick, as do the scars on his knuckles and the side of his neck.

My Killer Vacation by Tessa Bailey is the kind of story that has you laughing one minute, swooning the next, and agonizing over what is coming, because you know that your heart is going to squeezed rather painfully and perhaps broken in a place or two before being fixed as the story plunges head on towards its climax.

Released in June of last year, though it has mystery-thriller elements as a major element of the story, this is still classic Ms. Bailey with the kind of characters that you root for, with the steam factor ramped up high! Told in the first person from the perspectives of both the hero, Myles Sumner, and the heroine, Taylor Bassey, the story begins with Taylor and her brother Jude traveling to a luxurious beach house for six days of vacation. Taylor, a second grade teacher who has always more or less being responsible for her younger brother by three years, has scrimped and saved through the years to finally go on her dream vacation.

However, all of that comes to a standstill when they discover a corpse in the rental house, and things certainly go awry, especially when the rough and tough looking Myles turns up in pursuit of the killer. Nothing prepares Taylor or Myles for the heat that they generate together even when Myles is being his obnoxious best, trying to keep Taylor at bay lest his control be tested.

Taylor however, is a woman on a mission, firstly to prove to herself (and perhaps her parents and brother) that she too has the bravery gene that runs through their family, and hunting for a killers seems like a fool-proof plan to prove that from where she stands. Gunning after Myles too falls into that category, because for the first time in her life Taylor feels as if she has met the type of man who would show her what she is missing, the type of man who would not be afraid to show her what it means to be handled with anything but kids gloves on in the bedroom, if only she could convince Myles of this sound plan as well.

For Myles who has done the marriage thing once and failed at it, knowing deep down that Taylor is the marrying kind means he plans on steering clear of her no matter how much she may tempt him otherwise, or how he knows deep in his soul that she is sort of, kind of, made for him. He also carries a wealth of guilt from his old job as a detective at Boston PD, and it has been three years since he has been making a living as a bounty hunter mainly just running from one location to the other to keep the pain and the memories that haunt at bay.

Taylor definitely wants what Myles can offer, but unless Myles is able to face the demons that plague him and comes to accept that he has what it takes to give someone precious like Taylor the ultimate happily ever after, there is no future for the two of them in the long run. The baggage which Myles carries and prevents him from seizing his own happiness plays its role in delivering the angst factor, which I loved!

I enjoyed this rom-com, mystery-suspense novel, so much so that I read this in one day, which is a rare happenstance nowadays. I loved both Taylor and Myles; Ms. Bailey can do no wrong in characterization and delivery of the steam factor, which was off the charts hot in this tight little number as well.

I was also intrigued by the side drama that was happening, which just leaves readers with tantalizing glimpses of Jude’s love-hate relationship with his best friend Dante, and Ms. Bailey announced this August that she would be releasing a novella with their story pretty soon, which I am pretty sure a lot of readers are anticipating.

The epilogue was in an essence the best thing about this novel. It gives you the laughter, heat, and swoons, all in one! Definitely recommended!

Final Verdict: She is a second grade teacher, the type you take home to meet your mother. He is a bounty hunter, rough around the edges and prefers solitariness. When these two collide, it is fireworks all the way through!

Favorite Quotes

It’s obvious that something happened. I took three wrong turns on the way home. I’ve been responding in one-word sentences, but now that I’ve processed—mostly—what happened, I need someone to confide in. “First there was some kissing.” No need to go into detail. I’m not even sure I could say what happened without sweating through my yoga pants, anyway. “Then we broke up even though we were never dating in the first place. We’ve been ending our non-existent relationship since we met, actually. It’s kind of our thing.”

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | eBooks | Apple

by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Lady and the Orc by Finley Fenn

Format: E-Book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Fantasy Romance
POV: Third Person, Single
Series: Orc Sworn, #1
Publisher: Self-Published
Hero: Grimarr
Heroine: Jule Norr
Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Published On: October 28, 2019
Started On: August 07, 2022
Finished On: August 19, 2022

“Cursed woman,” he hissed, mouth smeared with red, eyes glittering, hair hanging down over his face. Hands flat to the earth on either side of her head, his broad bare chest heaving, streaked with rivulets of sweat, every muscle stark and corded and beautiful in the firelight. “My woman.”

Anyone who knows of my reading tastes can attest to the fact that I am a huge fan of dark romance, the darker, the better. Having come across the Orc Sworn series by Finley Fenn on Instagram was a godsend in this regard, and my first foray into this fantasy monster romance series was wonderful in every sense.

The Lady and the Orc is the first book in the series, with eight book published to-date. Told in the third person from the perspective of the heroine, the angst factor was greater because of the fact. The debut book in the series brings to readers the story of Grimarr leader of five clans of orcs that lives under his command, from The Ash-Kai clan who have long served as the orcs’ leaders and captains, and Lady Jule Norr, married to a man a decade older than her for the past five years.

Jule is a woman who is an “outcast” in the human world, having been determined to be barren, unable to bear children for her husband. Jule’s husband is a man who has given her little in the way of happiness, and totally disregards her welfare, well-being, and safety as is his responsibility. This ends up being a pivotal reason why Jule is ripe for the picking and is captured by none other than the Orcs who are rumored to be huge, hideous, dangerous, deadly, and constantly raiding human territory for goods and women.

Jule has heard of the terrible fate that women are subjected to, once they are taken by the Orcs. Jule does not forget the callous disregard with which her husband had treated her fears right before he had departed leaving her alone, without a means to defend herself, with the parting shot that even Orcs would want whole women, and that she was not even good enough material to be taken hostage by the Orcs.

When Jule realizes that she has been taken by none other than Grimarr, the leader of the Orcs, she is intrigued as much as she is frightened by the prospect that awaits her, and determined that she would not give in to the fear that is her first reaction to the hideous creature that stands before her. Grimarr is the Orc who has led his brothers for the better part of 30 years, and became the captain to steer the ship just recently. He is determined that he would do right by his brothers, even if it means destroying his own self in the process.

Surprisingly for Jule, it is only Grimarr who sees her husband for who he is – a man who is equal parts weak and a fool, who exerts his strength and uses it to demean the weak. Jule however is distrustful, and rightfully so when it comes to the Orc, but also drawn to Grimarr despite everything she has heard about the Orcs and the dangers they pose to humans, especially womenfolk. At the same time, as a captive, Jule is also forced to look more closely at the events that have unfolded between the Orcs and humans, and reassess her opinion on who the perpetrators and the victims are in the decades old conflict between the two.

Jule also understands that there is a reason behind her being taken as a captive by the leader of the Orcs; after all she is the wife of the leader of the human clan with whom the Orcs war with and it gives Grimarr a strategic advantage unlike any other. Against her own judgement, Jule also finds herself strangely drawn to Grimarr in a way that makes her wary, and yet is helpless to walk away from. The hold that Grimarr and his scent has on her, and the way Grimarr keeps talking about her as if she is his fated mate lures her in, until she is hooked well and good.

Ultimately, her need for him outweighs everything else, and it is not long before she pledges her allegiance to him and claims him as her mate leading to a series of events that is anything but kind to her burgeoning feelings for him. Even as Grimarr takes steps to amend his behavior and do right by Jule, he also has far more devious plans that outweigh his connection to her or his need for her, which proves to be the ultimate test that both Jule and Grimarr face in this heady tale as it moves forward.

I loved this highly unusual and sensual tale that Ms. Fenn has gifted to readers and the world building that offers a lot of tantalizing possibilities for future stories down the line. It is stories like these that makes me marvel at the infinite boundaries of the human imagination, about to conjure up stories like this one. The aspect I loved the most (as you must have guessed), is the world of hurt in store for both Jule and Grimarr before all is said and done, giving readers like myself the perfect combination of angst and romance which I adore.

For Jule, trust is a hard commodity to come by, given how she has fared in her marriage up till she had been taken by Grimarr to be used as he likes. For Grimarr, even if he acts as if Jule is replaceable in the strategic “war” that he has begun, his actions speak otherwise, or rather reading between the lines leaves you with that impression, which ramped up my enjoyment factor with this novel. Grimarr was the perfect balance of ruthlessness, gentleness, hedonistic, and dangerous – the kind of hero that I love best. He delivered on all aspects spectacularly and I could not have asked for a better hero.

Definitely recommend this for readers who love their romance on the spicier and darker side. Nothing to lose by taking the plunge with a story well written, and a happily ever after that is guaranteed!

Final Verdict: The Lady and the Orc was unexpected in the most captivating way; I was all for the darkness of the characters and the transformation both underwent in the journey to their happily ever after!

Favorite Quotes

“Where are we?” she asked toward Grimarr, without thinking — but then she went stock-still all over, because she was looking at him, and he was looking at her. And here, standing in the bright, unforgiving daylight, the infamous captain of the orcs was truly, thoroughly hideous.
His skin was a deathly shade of grey, latticed over with scars, one almost bisecting his long, crooked nose. His eyes were sunken and black, framed by stringy black hair that was tied back in a matted mockery of a braid, and his neck was thick and corded, angling down to sloped, bulbous shoulders.

Jule’s mouth barked out a hoarse, high-pitched laugh. “What, the gods decree that orcs have to kidnap women, and make them bear their sons? You can’t honestly believe that?”
“No,” he said, and one of those big hands slowly lifted toward her again, this time settling warm and heavy against her hip. “This — kidnap — you speak of, this was from the war. From men who deny us women. Who deny us our sons, and our freedom.”
Oh, so now it was all the men’s fault, but Jule’s retort was silenced by the feel of Grimarr’s other hand, coming to spread flat and warm against her belly. “But it is the gods’ decree that orcs mate with women,” he murmured. “If it were not so, there would be no sons. No pleasure in the mating.”

The blinding light of the sun was almost painful, after all that time spent underground, and Jule blinked at its brightness through her fingers. Halfway up the curve of the sky, it was mid-morning, and had Grimarr kept his whole band waiting here all this time, just for her?
“Do you hunger,” came Grimarr’s curt voice beside her, drawing Jule’s unwilling gaze — and then she squeezed her eyes shut, breathing hard. Gods, he was hideous. Absolutely repulsive, in the light, like a grey rotting corpse whose face had been carved into by maggots, and had she truly kissed that mouth? Had she welcomed the touch of those hands? Had she sworn to make him her mate? What the hell?

Jule’s eyelids fluttered, her mouth suddenly sucking on that invading finger, and Grimarr gave another one of those low, rolling laughs. “This pleases you,” he murmured, as he tugged the finger free, and went back down, pooling more of that thick sweetness onto it, and then bringing it back to Jule’s mouth. “How do I taste, woman.”
Jule should have lied, but her swirling tongue would have betrayed it, and her gaze was trapped in those watching, half-lidded eyes. “Sweet,” she managed, around his finger. “Like honey.”

“You really think I’m judging you harshly? Do you not recall, down while I was making supper for you and your hundred friends, how you publicly threatened to burn my clothes and force me while they laughed?”
Grimarr’s eyes blinked again, and Jule leapt to her feet, not caring if she was still naked and filthy, just needing to get away, as far from him as possible. “You are the one who brings shame to me, orc,” she gasped. “And to all your fellow orcs as well. You have shown me that in comparison to you, my husband Lord Norr, who I believed to be one of the cruelest men I have ever known, was in fact a patient and generous soul. And if ever presented with the choice” — she gulped in a breath, glared at those eyes — “I will immediately reject you, and run back to Norr Manor, and thank the gods for my blessed good fortune!”

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N

by mvbookreviewer

Review: My Professor by R.S. Grey

Format: E-Book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
POV: First Person, Dual
Series: Untitled Series, #1
Publisher: Self-Published
Hero: Jonathan Barclay
Heroine: Emelia Mercier
Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥
Published On: June 02, 2022
Started On: August 05, 2022
Finished On: August 06, 2022

It’s a hard thing to explain, to want to be treated like an equal most of the time but, occasionally, with the right person and in the right setting, to want the exact opposite. I want to be thrust up against the door of a bar bathroom and told what to do.

Needing something to rejuvenate me from the dumps I was in after the abysmal disappointment that my last read turned out to be, I needed a pick me up, something that would deliver me from my doldrums. I found the perfect antidote when I stumbled across My Professor by R.S. Grey, first released in June of 2022.

Told in the first person from dual perspectives, this is a May-December romance featuring 32 year old Jonathan Barclay as the hero and 21 year old Emelia Mercier as the heroine. When the story begins, Emelia is a student and Jonathan a professor, teaching History and Philosophy of Historic Preservation at the same university. Emelia’s enrollment in his class ends in disaster for various reasons, the push and pull factor between them being one behind Jonathan’s atrocious behavior when it comes to Emelia.

Four years on, with her master’s degree in architectural conservation from NYU, their paths cross once again when Emelia lands a job at Jonathan’s firm, Emelia mistakenly believing that Jonathan would not remember her. But she couldn’t be further from the truth as the same visceral attraction burns between them, this time around, hotter and far brighter than either of them perhaps anticipated, where each is drawn to the other like a moth to flame.

Emelia is by far the character with the most interesting background in the story, estranged from her family, with her mother having died earlier from cancer. She is alone in the world for the most part, and even if she were so inclined to seek her family out, the truth regarding her conception alone is enough to stop her from doing that.

I felt like this book had such promise which had me glued to the pages. The angst and build-up between Emelia and Jonathan were perfect up to a point. I mean, what could possibly go wrong with the power dynamic between a professor and his student, one that he wants desperately, a want that he schools himself not to show? He even goes as far as to ask her to drop his class, which she ends up doing, cutting off what was blossoming to life between them at that point.

The yearning on Jonathan’s part when seen through his eyes makes up for all the dickhead moves that he puts in place to keep Emelia at bay. But he certainly is not strong enough to douse his own sense of curiosity, want, and desire when it comes to Emelia, especially when he is closer to the truth on where she comes from than he anticipated. I also loved his relationship with his mother – that woman could ruffle his feathers unlike any other.

The tension between Emelia and Jonathan was out of this world, and this brings me to the most disappointing aspect of this novel; Ms. Grey failed to deliver on that extremely tightly wound tension which she built up so spectacularly. I feel that the story would have gained more nuance and helped cement the emotional connection between Emelia and Jonathan, had Ms. Grey taken these two through a series of illicit and forbidden encounters between them over the passage of time, which would have given depth to their connection as well.

It was taking the easy way out if you ask me, to bring that heady tension between Jonathan and Emelia to its ultimate and foregone conclusion towards the end of the book, failing also to focus on the submissive nature of Emelia when it comes to her sexual needs and desires, something that Jonathan was more than well equipped and ready to handle. I have one message for authors who tend to do that; don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time – building up the tension to ferocious levels and failing to deliver is impolite at best. And I am being polite here with my choice of words.

I also failed to see the emotional connection and spark between Emelia and Jonathan develop to levels that I wanted. I mean don’t get me wrong, they were both fabulous characters in their own right and I rooted for them big time. But at the same time, there were so many threads to the story that were taking place, that I felt that Emelia and Jonathan’s budding “romance” took a back seat when all was said and done. Nevertheless, I did enjoy reading this little number and am thankful for the huge role it played in taking me out of my reading slump.

Recommended for fans of Ms. Grey and fans of May-December trope romances. This one had more professor vibes going for it than Hey, Mr. Marshall!

Final Verdict: It is a heady journey to witness the undoing of the tightly wound Professor Barclay, whose legendary control over his baser nature is torn to shreds at long last!

Favorite Quotes

“Look at me.”
My gaze sweeps to him instantly. My body is such a traitor where he’s concerned.
“The mistakes of the past…” He sniffs and looks away as if disgusted by himself. “They will not be repeated.”
I bite down on the inside of my cheek.
“Furthermore, outbursts like that one in the car will not be tolerated.”
“You goaded me,” I blurt out rudely.
Like a whip, his gaze lashes me. “You don’t know the meaning of goad.”

“You haven’t said anything about my dress, Professor Barclay.”
“You don’t want to hear my thoughts about you in that dress.”
Oh but I do. I really, really do.
“One word won’t hurt,” I say, smiling in innocence.
He opens the back door of the car and deposits me inside. His blue eyes are level with mine as he leans in to click my seat belt into place.
“Lethal.”
Then the door gets slammed, and I’m left alone in the back seat, blinking.

I take a baby step toward him. It’s barely anything, but it’s enough to feel intimate and wrong. If someone were to turn a corner and find us here, it wouldn’t look innocent.
I look him over, taking my time. “I like when you’re dressed like this. This suit fits you to a T. Your tie is done perfectly, your pocket square is folded neatly. You look so proper…” Knowing I’m playing with fire, I lift my finger to trail it down the center of his tie and my eyes follow, but then I pause and let my gaze flit back to his as the truth spills out. “Just like the professor I can’t stop fantasizing about.”
My words are kerosene.
He has me hauled back against the wall behind me so fast I almost whimper, and his hand reaches up to grab my chin in a punishing grip—a grip he knows I like.

“I pulled up the boy’s HR file. Should I send an email, have him fired on the spot?”
My body tenses in panic. “You wouldn’t. That’s cruel, and ridiculous. He did nothing wrong.”
“He made you smile,” he says, wistfully ensnared by my pout.
I narrow my eyes.
“Are you always this territorial?”
A beat passes.
“No.”
Then he bends down and kisses me.

“Tell me you love me,” he insists.
“I love you.”
The words slip from my mouth like they’ve waited there my whole life.
“Again,” he says haughtily.
“I love you,” I say, more emphatically this time, exasperated even. Don’t you see it? Can’t you feel it?
My spark lights his. What impatience I felt a moment ago he matches now, kiss for kiss, touch for touch.

Purchase Links: Amazon

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Hey, Mister Marshall by Saffron A. Kent

Format: E-Book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
POV: First Person, Dual
Series: St. Mary’s Rebels, #4
Publisher: Purple Prose Press
Hero: Alaric Rule Marshall
Heroine: Poe Austen Blyton
Sensuality: 3
Published On: June 14, 2022
Started On: June 18, 2022
Finished On: July 04, 2022

Saffron A. Kent is an author who shot upward at rocket speed to the position of most revered authors as a romance reader and then plunged on a downward trajectory at a speed that has been heartbreaking to say the least. Her novel The Unrequited (and I keep talking about this in every review of her books since – most probably), was one of a kind, and Ms. Kent’s backlist contained a couple of really great books which I adored. It is her latest books that have been troublesome for me to wade through, this huge “transformation” of her writing style that has been difficult to immerse myself in, which has been a heartbreaking experience for me all around.

Hey, Mister Marshall, the fourth installment of the St. Mary’s Rebels series is actually the story that I anticipated the most when the series was first announced, the story of Alaric Rule Marshall and Poe Austen Blyton, the angst-ridden road to happily ever after for a very particular guardian and his ward. First published in June of last year, and told in the first person from the view of both the protagonists, this is a review that I write with a broken heart as I feel that this is where I bid goodbye to future books from Ms. Kent, unless I have a very good reason to return to them.

Alaric is a history professor specializing in the Renaissance era, already head of department at the age of 31. Poe is 14 years old when she is forced to move into his home, live with a man who refuses to even talk to her. For Poe who has lived most of her life taking care of herself given the diva nature of her mother, a famous soap opera actress, it should have been an easy transition to move from New York to the home of her guardian. But the loss of one’s mother, the only parent she has known, has its downward spiraling effect on even the best of us.

Years pass, and it is an 18 year old Poe that is enrolled in the very school at which Alaric is employed, the school for “troubled” teenagers which seeks to discipline them. Poe knows that this is the punishment that she must endure for daring to fall in love, for breaking the rules as set by her guardian, the sole reason as to why she was sent to the school.

Needless to say, things happen, Alaric and Poe spend time together, and Poe starts to realize that Alaric too is not immune to all that she is, no matter how much he might pretend otherwise, or tries to push her away and keep her at arms length. But Alaric never factored in the force to be reckoned with that is Poe, when she is at her most determined.

To be honest, this was still a “better” book than My Darling Arrow, the debut book in the series. As much as it pains me to say this, I stopped reading the second book in the series, A Gorgeous Villain, half way through, because I just couldn’t take it anymore. Perhaps the reason I stuck through with this one was because a) I had waited so long for Alaric and Poe’s story, and b) some of Poe’s determination must have rubbed off on me to see this through.

As I mentioned earlier, it is the stark difference that is felt in Ms. Kent’s prose that is the bitterest pill to swallow when all is said and done. It actually makes me wonder whether I am reading stories written by the same author, and whether it was actually Ms. Kent who wrote the earlier books, where she wrote dark characters who were true to where the story led them, where she wasn’t afraid of pushing the boundaries that may be frowned upon by the larger romance reader base, and where she told a story of such grit and heart that your whole being is invested in the outcome, no matter what.

Compared to that, these recent books read like the stuff of your worst nightmares, written by someone who flunked their writing class and yet is bold enough to subject us to this kind of drivel. The repetition in each and every book since is tedious to the point where you are skimming through huge chunks of each chapter, just because you have invested all that time in the story and want to see it through. To be frank, this story could have actually been a novella for what it was worth.

Though Alaric reminded me of Thomas from Unrequited in some ways, I just could not get past the immature inner voices of both Alaric and Poe. Now with Poe you could understand given that she was at first fourteen and then eighteen years old as the tale unfolds – she is in effect, a teenager. It is Alaric’s voice having the same vibe which grates on the nerves. He is a 31 year old when the story begins, a double PhD holder – one must wonder whether he got permanent head damage, and twice, which must be the reason for all this nonsense.

Also what is with the annoying way of stating each character’s name in half and then in full during the inner monologues? At one point, this is Alaric; “And here I thought that I’d already made it, my biggest mistake. Four years ago. When she came into my life. And when I forced her to stay. Poe Blyton. Poe Austen Blyton.” At another, this is Poe; “Him, him, and him. It has all been about him. Alaric Rule Marshall. My soulmate.” – I just can’t!

The funniest bit though was when I snorted at the point where Poe realizes she is in love with Alaric – while he is shagging her in the arse. Just poetic!

Recommended for fans of young adult romances – this is as whiny as it gets!

Final Verdict: It is with a heavy heart that I bid adios to an author whose earlier works I will always treasure. Ms. Kent, it has been bittersweet!

Favorite Quotes

This man.
Of dark hair and dark eyes.
With the broadest shoulders I’ve ever seen and the deepest voice I have ever heard. This man with a name that sounded so ancient and boring when I first heard it, but it made sense when I saw him.
When I saw his face, I knew why he was named something classic and vintage.
It’s because he is classic and vintage. It’s because every feature on his face, every line and angle, every plane and crest, is quintessential.
It’s because he’s the very definition of male beauty.
It’s insane actually.
How fucking beautiful he is. It’s unreal.

Purchase Links: Amazon

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Phoebe by Minerva Spencer

Format: E-Book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
POV: Third Person, Dual
Series: The Bellamy Sisters, #1
Publisher: Crooked Sixpence
Hero: Paul Edward Needham
Heroine: Phoebe Bellamy
Sensuality: 3
Published On: May 31, 2022
Started On: June 07, 2022
Finished On: June 18, 2022

“Everyone comes from somewhere, Twickham—even the lowest chimney sweep could trace his bloody lineage back six hundred years if he had the leisure and money to do so.”

Minerva Spencer is a one of a kind author who creates such intricate love stories that are hard to put down. Phoebe, the first book of The Bellamy Sisters series proves the same, bringing to readers the story of 20 year old Phoebe Bellamy and 35 year old Paul Edward Needham, Viscount Needham.

The Bellamy family consists of eight members, with Phoebe the fourth daughter being in charge of managing the meager finances of the family that is in dire straits. Phoebe considers herself to be plain and average unlike her sisters, most of whom she views in a more favorable light than she does herself.

When Phoebe encounters Paul, her first impression of him is not a favorable one. However, Paul has a need for a wife to establish his daughter in society, Paul whose newly acquired title which does not really earn him the approval of the established members of the ton, who view him more as a boorish merchant than the entitled ones. Phoebe too has a reason for a husband – to rescue her family from going bankrupt and saving her family home from ruin.

As these two enter into a marriage of convenience and traverse the tricky corners of married life, especially with the family circumstances being what they are for both, Phoebe starts to realize that most, including herself, tends to underestimate her husband for various reasons, believing him to be more brawn than brains.

It is Paul’s secrets and back story that makes for enticing reading as the story progresses. Paul who had held the short end of the stick in the parenting department with a father who had not cared for much except for his status and wealth, and believed that what did not kill his son, only made him stronger.

Paul’s toxic family is what gives this story the edge, not to mention the man himself who I fell head over heels in love with. Sadly, Phoebe never did really grow on me as she continued to be rather stuck up in my opinion about where she comes from. I also never understood why she was so angry about Paul taking control of Phoebe’s family home, when her father making them homeless if otherwise was a foregone conclusion.

Paul from the beginning treats Phoebe with nothing but gentleness. His bedroom recreation itself takes into consideration her pleasure first and foremost which is telling of the kind of man he is. What I found odious was how Phoebe always chose to believe the worst when his actions dictated otherwise, and even though she leaps to his defense towards the end, she always tended to continue to be in shock when she realizes that the truth is so far from what she conceived it to be. I truly wanted to love Phoebe as much as I did Paul, but alas I did not believe that Phoebe was worth the gold standard that was Paul.

Recommended for fans of the romance genre, those who love a good meaty story to sink their teeth into!

Final Verdict: The best thing about this story was Paul, the big brute of a hero who was a gentle giant, with a penchant for control in the bedroom, who designs exquisite lingerie for his beloved!

Favorite Quotes

“There is something I don’t think you understand about me, Phoebe. Or perhaps you’ve just refused to accept it. But I am, in the main, the sort of man who guards all his possessions—”
She tried to jerk her chin away. “I am not your poss—”
He held her more firmly and continued as if she’d never spoken. “Where you are concerned, I am an exceedingly jealous man. I don’t like it when you have nuncheon with Dixon, just the two of you, flaunting your behavior for all our neighbors to see and speculate about. I don’t like it when you flirt and charm him every night at dinner and then answer me in monosyllables. And I don’t like it when you go off riding with my handsome young noble secretary—”
“But we didn’t do anything.”
“But you wanted me to think you might, didn’t you, Phoebe?”
She opened her mouth to lie and deny it, suddenly ashamed that she had hoped to get a response out of him.
But not one this frightening.
Phoebe chewed her lip; what in the world could she say? “I don’t—er, I—”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said coolly. “What matters is that I don’t like watching or knowing that Dixon gets to enjoy the pleasure of your company while you deny me. You are mine, Phoebe, mine alone. Mine to enjoy however and whenever I please.”

She’d not believed she could feel more naked, but when he raised the gauzy gown over her head and tossed it aside, she knew she’d been wrong.
His lips parted and a low humming noise rumbled in his chest as he looked at her bare body.
That was when it struck her that it was Phoebe who was causing her husband to flush and breathe harder.
Exultation surged through her like sweet, slow-moving honey at the realization.
She was the one making this man—who always appeared so untouchable—shake and sweat and gaze with hunger.

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