by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: The Buried by Shelley Coriell

Format: E-booktheburied
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: The Apostles, #2
Publisher: Forever
Hero: Theodore “Hatch” Hatcher
Heroine: Grace Courtemanche
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: October 21, 2014
Started On: October 25, 2014
Finished On: October 26, 2014

The Buried is my first Shelley Coriell and of course my first foray into her The Apostles series. The Apostles is comprised of the very best in law enforcement, skilled at weeding out killers of the most heinous variety. Not having read The Broken, book 1 in the series didn’t affect me in any way when I was readingThe Buried, though I did feel the need to check out the former afterwards so it is quite safe to say that this can be read as a standalone.

Grace Courtemanche is a public prosecutor riding the high of having won one of the toughest cases of her career. Forced to go on vacation by her boss to take some time off, Grace however is plunged into the midst of a murder that is in the process of happening when the first victim aka Lia Grant calls her from a hole in the ground, where she has been buried to face her imminent death. From the minute Grace hears the desperation in Lia’s voice, she knows deep in her heart that life as she knows is never going to be the same again.

Theodore “Hatch” Hatcher is lured back to Cypress Bend by just one phone call. And what makes him stay is more than just the knowledge that he has a 13 year old son that he had never known up till now, but rather the fact that his ex-wife, the only woman that he had ever fallen head over heels in love with was being stalked by a meticulous killer playing a game in which only one can come out as the winner.

Grace is not at all prepared for Hatch to disrupt her life all over once again. But Grace is a woman who knows to play along with those that are on her team, especially given the circumstances. As the game surpasses level 1, the rules change leaving Grace, Hatch and the team scrambling to catch up in this deadly game of burial which somehow keeps coming back to Grace.

For a fan of romantic suspense like me, The Buried certainly did give me a page turner. Grace and Hatch were wonderful characters. Hatch is sexy, confident in his own skin and quite the charmer. The only problem Hatch has is with settling down and though Grace tempts him in ways no woman ever has or will, Hatch has a hard time making up his mind about doing the forever thing once again.

Grace turned out to be a surprisingly lovely heroine. Called the blonde bulldozer or justice seeking missile by those who know her work, Grace is one determined woman if ever there was one. Strong and confident in her abilities, Grace has a softer side to her that complements well with that edge of hers and I fell like a ton of bricks for that woman.

The twist at the end when it came was a definite shocker, one that rendered me into a place where I found it really difficult to see the villain in just black and white. The thought that kept crossing my mind was, if I had been subjected to the same would I have turned out any different. And I guess that is a question that would haunt me for a while yet and I always say this, books that makes you question your feelings and emotions, especially when it comes to villains, those are the ones that makes reading books such as this one worth seeking out!

Recommended.

Final Verdict: Secrets of a buried past that kills at will & keeps the pages turning!

Favorite Quotes

You should have told me.” His mouth and jaw barely moved as he spoke.
She tried to ease away, but he moved with her. “Told you what?”
“Hmmmmm, where should I start?” With his free hand, he jammed a finger in the air. “One, you received threats from a convicted felon. Two, you received nine phone calls from a girl presumably buried alive. And three, as we speak, a forensic team is sifting through dirt in your backyard looking for human bones.”
“It’s none of your business.”
“Oh, Princess. Dear, dear Princess.” He moved closer, a big, graceful, golden cat. He stopped a hairsbreadth from touching her, but the heat of his skin warmed her, nipping at the chill that had set in yesterday with Lia’s phone calls. When he spoke, his breath fanned her face in a low, rumbling half-purr, half-growl. “You have been and always will be my business.”

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iTunes | ARe | eBookMall

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Lions And Lace by Meagan McKinney

Format: E-booklionsandlace
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Van Alen Sisters, #1
Publisher: Island Books
Hero: Trevor Byrne Sheridan
Heroine: Alice Diana Van Alen
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: April 1, 1992
Started On: October 5, 2014
Finished On: October 12, 2014

My search for romances that feature ruthless heroes is an endless one. A time consuming one at that too. Some might call these heroes the uber alpha heroes. Or some just call them anti-heroes; you love them and hate them in equal doses. And some call them gamma heroes too because they go beyond the boundaries that define who an alpha hero is.

Authors of today who write such heroes have become far and few in between. Anne Stuart is my go to author for such heroes. Sandra Brown and Linda Howard are authors who have pushed that boundary time and yet again in some of their novels. For  the most part, these type of heroes aren’t well received by almost half of the romance reading population today. With the change of times, with the feminist movement rising above, readers no longer like the heroes who are tad on the wild side, those who don’t conform to their definition of what a hero should constitute of and if you ask me, its such a damn shame.

So a whole lot of boredom and a whole lot of internet searches later, I came across a website that had a list of books that features ruthless heroes. Now mind you, some readers define a hero as ruthless a tad differently to how I tend to define them. Luckily, this reader tended to veer towards my tastes and alas, I found myself with a couple of books I haven’t already read, that feature the heroes of the variety that I deem as ruthless but those with just that hint of redeemable quality that makes me fall like a ton of bricks for them every single time.

Lions and Lace features such a hero. Trevor Byrne Sheridan, the Wall Street wonder who rose to the top with basically nothing to his name, is Irish, and persona non grata where society is concerned. A chip on his shoulder a mountain wide, Trevor remembers the slights, the mockery and the laughter behind his back though he is equally revered by the men for the power and wealth he amasses day in and day out. The tipping point comes when society refuses to turn up at his younger sister Mara’s debut. People say that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, well let me tell you, they haven’t had their dose of Trevor just yet.

Alice Diana Van Alen lives under the thumb of her uncle, her finances tied up under his name after the tragic death of her parents. Alice holds the secret of her younger sister close to her heart, a secret she is determined to carry to her grave. Alice lands under Trevor’s radar as one from the society who slighted his sister. His vengeance on her is swift, the revenge he takes on her forcing her hand into marrying him one that should have brought satisfaction to his heart. However, Trevor becomes a victim to his own plan, falling for a woman of the society, something he scorns with his very being.

Lions and Lace is a novel that provides a ton of angst. Trevor is ruthless in his revenge and seemingly doesn’t care much about the pain he causes along the way. I think the fact that the author didn’t provide much in the story from Trevor’s point of view seemed to double the angst factor which I absolutely loved. Instead, the reader has to look for clues of his torment from his actions, the way his facial expressions tended to change and of course the volatile desire that courses through Trevor whenever his wife comes into the picture. He hates the very thing that his wife represents, his bitterness about his past refusing to let him move beyond that and see his wife for who she really is, and yet he can’t help but want to possess her for himself in every single way.

Alice turned out to be a heroine who got on my nerves in the first half of the story and later on redeemed herself through her actions. From the firm grip Alice seemed to have on her emotions and what she wanted for her life, I thought that Alice would prove to be a worthy opponent where Trevor was concerned. But every time Trevor said something cruel, all Alice could seem to do was wring her hands in despair and run off crying. I wanted her to buck up and deal, to make Trevor realize the error of his ways and practically storm through his heart leaving nothing to chance. And eventually, Alice does get there and that is where I decided to forgive her and consider her worthy of the fall that Trevor would take from his pedestal.

There was a thread of a secondary romance inserted in the story, in the middle of nowhere I would have to say, and I didn’t overly care much for it. I wanted Trevor and Alice’s relationship to be the core aspect of the story. Trevor’s control was one I wanted to be shattered so badly that when it did come, it did deliver on the fronts that I wanted it to. And ladies, prepare yourselves for one of the best declarations of love by a hero of this type; it did make tears spring to my eyes and that rarely happens.

If you like your heroes ruthless and I mean really ruthless, Lions and Lace is a story worth digging into. I would recommend it if you can get past the first couple of chapters where the heroine could get on your nerves, but in the end gives in beautifully.

Final Verdict: Trevor Byrne Sheridan; slow down my galloping heart.

Favorite Quotes

In the years to come she would always remember her first sight of Trevor Byrne Sheridan. He stood in silhouette. She was not privy to the details of his face, but he left a deep and lasting impression on her. He held a walking stick, an unusual accoutrement for such a tall, muscular form. His straight, formal figure was pleasing, yet his stance left her feeling as if a frigid wind had just passed through her heart. He crossed his arms and tipped his head back to look down at her as she almost knelt on the wet marble stairway, and in the shadows he looked every bit as cold, dark, and forbidding as the night that mercilessly pelted her with rain. And she knew then, with a truth that pierced her very soul, that the devil before her now was sure to be worse than the one who had just left her behind.

“I am human,” she whispered. “If you just looked close enough.”
“I want to.” His breath feathered against her forehead. “I swear I want to.”
His mouth found hers in the moment she realized she’d yet to let go of his arm. He kissed her, offering damnation and salvation in one eloquent motion. She wanted to pull back, but something stronger—his arm, she thought— pushed her farther into his embrace until she was wrapped in his warmth and strength.

He lifted his head, and his mouth again captured hers, creating more heat between her thighs. The pleasure he gave her was like a band of rubber being pulled until it snapped and she fell, twisting in the air until he caught her, his hand beneath her hips to hold her closer, to make her pleasure complete.
“Trevor,” she moaned, chanting his name in surrender.
It drove him over the edge. He seized her and bit out the word, “Jeysus,” then fell against her, sated.

His tongue, hot and strong, thrust again and again into her needful mouth, a wild accompaniment to the thrum of the shower. Demandingly, he cupped her breast, his palm brushing the steam droplets that clung to her nipples like diamonds. He flicked open the buttons to his trousers.
She was hardly aware of what he did next. Her only sensation seemed to be his mouth on hers and the overriding instinct that he wanted her, ferociously.

She shook her head and said again to that unyielding back, “Do you love me?”
“I’ve never been in love before. I don’t know what being in love is like.”
“I’m asking you. Do you love me?” Her voice caught with unshed tears.
He paused as if thinking through each word. “I’ve nothing to compare it to, but if love is obsession, if love can be so powerful it overtakes a man’s reason and his will, if love is the feeling that one would rather die than live only to grieve its loss—” He turned, and she could see the desolation on his face. In one sweet rough whisper, he said, “Then yes, I love you, Alana. I’m doomed to love you. I’ll always love you.”

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Make-Believe Wedding Sarah Mayberry

Format: E-bookmakebelievewedding
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Montana Born Brides
Publisher: Tule Publishing Group
Hero: Heath Adam McGregor
Heroine: Andie Eloise Bennett
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: July 28, 2014
Started On: October 4, 2014
Finished On: October 5, 2014

Did I tell you that I am a sucker for a good friends-to-lovers romance? Well, I am. And Sarah Mayberry happens to be one of those authors who has rocked my world with a couple of romances she has written that fits this trope. Once again, with Make-Believe Wedding, Sarah Mayberry delights her fans with another wonderful romance of the friends-to-lovers variety which I adored right from the very start.

Andie Eloise Bennett has lived a long time with the secret of her love for her brother’s best friend, Heath Adam McGregor, who happens to be her very close friend and boss as well. Andie’s love for Heath wasn’t one of those random things that had happened just one fine day; she’d just known ever since puberty had hit that Heath was the one and that there would be no other. Living with that secret close to her heart for thirteen years had left its mark on her and watching Heath get tangled up with one woman right after the other doesn’t make a difference in her yearning to be with the man she has loved forever.

A lot more drinks than Andie usually entertains together with the grieving thought that Heath would never ever see her in the same light as she does him has Andie filling up an application form for The Great Wedding Giveaway, never knowing that life as she and Heath had known it was irrevocably going to change. When the application goes through by accident and “forces” Heath and Andie to fake an engagement, Heath finds the ground beneath him shift as he starts seeing the girl he’d known practically all his life in an entirely new way.

Make-Believe Wedding constitutes of two protagonists both equally appealing to the heart. Heath is one of those sweet heroes that you’d fall for from the minute you meet him. Though I must admit that of late, I have missed the brooding type of heroes that Sarah tends to create every now and then, Heath definitely ended up being a favorite of the sweet hero variety. Andie is the girl that most of us have been or even are right this very moment. Not extraordinarily beautiful, definitely not equipped with the type of body that men go gaga over and yet hopelessly in love with someone who is definitely above her paygrade. The reason I loved her surpasses all those reasons. She is the type of independent and yet vulnerable heroine that Sarah is legendary for creating and Andie definitely fits the mold.

The story that evolves is one that sizzles with sexual tension as Heath discovers a facet to Andie that has his head reeling from the passion she invokes in him. And well, for Andie, Heath is definitely her dream come true. The angst factor provided by Angie’s brother and of course Andie’s insecurities when it comes to believing something too good to be true provided that extra fodder to the story that made it the entertaining read Make-Believe Wedding turned out to be.

The one thing I am looking forward to now is Beau (Andie’s brother) and Lily (Andie’s friend)’s story. There was a tension that was simmering between them that sets the reader on the edge even in this one and I believe Sarah is going to deliver a hero of the type I’ve mentioned that I miss in her books with Beau. Cannot wait!

Recommended for fans of Sarah Mayberry & fans of friends-to-lovers romances.

Final Verdict: Heartwarmingly good!

Favorite Quotes

He pulled at her t-shirt, not breaking their kiss until the last possible moment as he whipped it over her head, and then his gaze was raking her breasts, his eyes glittering with desire.
“Andie,” he groaned, reaching for her with his big hands.
She arched her back, pushing herself into his palms, swallowing a sob as he pinched her nipples and then soothed them with his thumbs. Her sex felt swollen and achy with desire, and all she could think about was having him inside her, stretching her.

The first touch of his fingers on her swollen center nearly made her levitate. When he stroked her and plunged a single finger inside her she dropped her head back and started to pant.
How could anything feel this good? How could this be legal? How could she have lived twenty-six years and not experienced so much need and want and desperation?
“Andie, Andie.” Heath’s voice was ragged and broken, unrecognizable. “How did you get so fucking sweet?”

Purchase Links: Amazon

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: My Beautiful Enemy by Sherry Thomas

Format: E-bookMyBeautifulEnemey
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: The Heart of Blade Duology, #2
Publisher: Berkley
Hero: Leighton Atwood
Heroine: Bai Ying-hua
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: August 5, 2014
Started On: October 2, 2014
Finished On: October 4, 2014

My Beautiful Enemy by Sherry Thomas follows closely on the heels of The Hidden Blade. I would say this once again, this time having finished the 2nd book that signals the end of this duology; you have to read The Hidden Blade first in order to really get into the characters Leighton Atwood and Bai Ying-Hua (Catherine Blade), whose tragic and moving pasts entwine both of them in a way that’d not be felt if you just end up reading My Beautiful Enemy as a standalone.

My Beautiful Enemy tells the story of Catherine Blade aka Bai Ying-hua, who is tracking the three jade tablets for the treasure it might unearth based on the legend of the monks that had been a part of Catherine’s life when she had been growing up. She seeks the tablets on behalf of her stepfather Da-ren, the closest thing she has left as family, to win his approval and perhaps be considered worthy of all that he had done for her.

Catherine is well versed in the art of fighting, she is like a lethal blade honed to perfection. But her life had not come without making a formidable enemy in its wake. The man who searches for her seeks vengeance of the kind that needs Catherine to be in her best form, something she has been hard pressed to achieve ever since the last encounter between them. Her journey takes her to London, the stories of a city that teems with life according to her childhood friend that fails to live up to her expectations. And then it happens; she crosses paths with that of her lover, the lover that she had poisoned trying to kill him, the man she’d searched for in vain after, the man who still has the ability to bring her to her knees, the only man she has ever loved.

Leighton hasn’t forgotten the young woman who had slayed his heart in the Chinese Turkestan 8 years back. His love for her had been swift, but it had been a relationship based on half-truths at best, which hadn’t served well for either of them when the time had come. Seeing a different version of the woman he has tried to forget all these years throws him for a loop, and Leighton is hard pressed to act normally and not let his fiance think anything untoward about his aloofness around Catherine.

Old habits die hard and before Leighton knows it, he is swept into his old role of taking care of Catherine, looking after her well being because Leighton would rather die himself than see any harm come to Catherine. My Beautiful Enemy consists of a lot of flashbacks into the entwined pasts of Leighton and Catherine, how they meet and how the beautiful man that Leighton is wins the prickly Catherine over with his gentleness, charm and the fact that when it comes to Catherine, his heart had never stood a chance.

For the most part, Catherine comes across as someone who is straightforward and assumes a no nonsense lifestyle. Though well versed in the etiquettes of what is deemed as proper behavior for a lady, beneath the facade that she presents to the rest of the world lies a heart filled with loneliness, an aching soul that yearns for nothing else but love. Her past had taught her to be wary, but when it comes to Leighton there is little fight left in her when she had already succumbed to his touch years ago. I didn’t like the flashbacks all so much. I felt that one reason why I failed to connect to both Leighton and Catherine as the story progressed was because all that had indeed connected them happens through flashbacks in the story.

My Beautiful Enemy is certainly different from the books that I have read from Sherry Thomas to-date. This tale doesn’t focus mainly on the element of romance between Catherine and Leighton. Rather I would say this duology focuses on the fated connection between Catherine and Leighton that spanned continents all those years back, the near miss of a meeting that should have happened between them and how years later, finally, Catherine and Leighton find their way towards each other.

I felt a trifle bit disappointed with the steam factor of My Beautiful Enemy, perhaps the reason why I felt that Catherine and Leighton’s connection didn’t touch me in the way it really should have. Especially, after having read the scrumptious scenes of passion that Ms. Thomas can weave in her romances; The Luckiest Lady in London will attest to this fact, needless to say I felt My Beautiful Enemy was a bit of a letdown in that sense. Point; I just didn’t fall as hard and fast in love with either Leighton or Catherine as I should have.

Entertainment wise, My Beautiful Enemy hits the spots. Emotional wise, thought I felt a bit disconnected from Catherine and Leighton, I was still swept away by the sheer magic that is Sherry Thomas’ writing.

And oh yes, this bit in the novel that describes my country, the Maldives, blew me away!

“There is a chain of tropical coral islands not far from the southern tip of India. And all around them the water is the exact color of the sky, and so clear you can see the fish swim. I want to take you there.”

I’d say Sherry Thomas has done a perfect job in describing a country renown for its beauty.

Recommended for those who love historical fiction and romance. Sherry Thomas is an author you ought not miss in this genre.

Final Verdict: A connection that defies time and distance; a love that knows not the span of continents.

Favorite Quotes

When he returned, one window of his room was wide open, the curtain whipping in the draft.
Someone with her skills could have easily closed the window behind herself, if she wanted to.
Instead, she had chosen to acknowledge her presence. Her invasion of his privacy.
And in doing so, reaffirmed the desire on her part that had set him on fire, like a city already ransacked.

Slowly she lowered the dagger, but the pulse at her throat grew ever more agitated. Her gaze landed on his lips. He held his breath, his heartbeat wild. He remembered the taste of her skin, the texture of her hair, the lithe shape of her body pressed into his. He remembered the whimpers of pleasure that escaped her, the glazed look in her eyes, the way she writhed and clung and took him ever deeper inside herself.
The parlor echoed with the sounds of their breaths.
She pivoted and walked out.
Behind her, the bead curtain shook and swayed, as restless as the desires of his heart.

She felt her lips tremble, her throat constrict. He’d gone back twice? “You must not have realized that I caused your occasional disability.”
“I have known it for years. The poison in your salve was extraordinarily powerful.”
She could scarcely believe it. The backs of her eyes prickled. “And still you looked for me?”
He exhaled. “And still I looked for you.”
Something hot and wet rolled down her cheek. “I left Chinese Turkestan in the winter of eighty-three. I never went back.”
He closed his eyes for a moment and let go of her. “I guess some things are not meant to be.”
Neither of them said anything more. And then the silence became that of his absence, a silence that she had come to know all too well.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iTunes | eBookMall | ARe

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Hidden Blade by Sherry Thomas

Format: E-bookthehiddenblade
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Fiction
Series: The Heart of Blade Duology, #1
Publisher: Self-Published
Hero: Leighton Atwood
Heroine: Ying-ying
Sensuality: NA
Date of Publication: July 20, 2014
Started On: August 3, 2014
Finished On: October 1, 2014

Hidden Blade by Sherry Thomas serves as a prequel to her most recent historical romance My Beautiful Enemy. Hidden Blade comes in the length of a full novel; most of the time we come across novella length books for these types of stories. And true to Sherry Thomas’ ingenious style, she delivers a heart wrenching read that works as a powerful backstory to the characters in My Beautiful Enemy.

I’m already halfway through reading My Beautiful Enemy and I’d highly recommend that Hidden Blade be read before venturing into My Beautiful Enemy, though I suppose you can still read the actual story without having read Hidden Blade. But the way I see it, without reading about the pasts of the characters that makes up My Beautiful Enemy, you wouldn’t be as emotionally involved with the unfolding story as you’d be otherwise.

Hidden Blade takes place in both China and England. China where young Ying-ying, a girl born out of wedlock and to a foreign devil at that, finds her life changing irrevocably when her mother dies leaving her in the care of her Amah (nanny) and later on being forced to go under the care of Da-ren, a prince of the blood and an uncle to the current emperor to whom her mother had been concubine to.

Amah teaches her the tactics to the deadly beauty that is martial arts, more so because she is more vulnerable without any real family to look after her in any sense. Hiding her skill, becoming the docile and meek creature that she transforms herself into at Da-ren’s household might’ve been the only way to survive, but her heart yearns for acceptance, love and understanding all the same.

Miles and miles away, in England, Leighton Atwood’s life fares no better. Of the two stories which takes place simultaneously, Leighton’s story proved to be the one that hurt me deep inside. The story of his struggle to keep sane until the day he’d once again be free, that was an enlightening and thought provoking journey in itself.

Hidden Blade in no means gives you the type of closure you need after having read a story. Yet it tantalizes your senses and awakens them to the future of Leighton and Ying-ying that is yet to come, and long after you’re done you still wonder to yourself, what if Leighton and Ying-ying’s paths had crossed before it had been too late. What’d have become of their future then. But I guess those are questions for which we’d have to make up our own answers.

Embedded with insight into the machinations of Chinese politics during reign of the Tung-chih Emperor together with beautifully crafted fight scenes that leaves your mind reeling, Hidden Blade is a novel that unsheathes it’s cover and thrusts you towards the melancholy inducing pasts of both Ying-ying and Leighton, leaving you wanting more after the fact. Recommended.

Final Verdict: A must read before reading My Beautiful Enemy.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iTunes | eBookMall | SmashWords

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Mean Streak by Sandra Brown

Format: E-bookmeanstreak
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Hero: Hayes Bannock
Heroine: Dr. Emory Charbonneau
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: September 2, 2014
Started On: September 28, 2014
Finished On: September 29, 2014

Mean Streak by Sandra Brown hit the bookshelves just earlier this month. I stumbled across the release of Mean Streak quite by accident. Ever since then, I’ve been biding my time until its release, putting it on my calender so that I could have it in my hands as soon as the book released. It would be an understatement to say that I am a HUGE fan of Sandra Brown. It wouldn’t be a lie to say that she is one of those authors who have compelled me to keep reading romance and also instilled in me a love for the genre. Her books are those that I have read, re-read and then re-read again when I had hit an all time low on reading books that somehow keep falling short of hitting all those vital spots that makes a book stand out in more ways than one.

Mean Streak is a novel that hits all those spots. Dr. Emory Charbonneau is a pediatrician who shares a practice with two other OB-GYNs, a philanthropist, a general do-gooder and a marathon runner. Her three plus year marriage had been going downhill for quite sometime and Emory’s latest planned run in her quest to challenge herself up in the solitude of the mountains couldn’t have come at a better time when she needs to get away and sort things out. However, rather than clearing her head and getting a timeout from her life as Emory planned, she ends up waking up in a strange hut, with a man who frightens her with his size, intensity and the sparkle of something inside of her that she dares not name.

Forced by circumstances, Emory stays with the man who remains secretive about his name and elusive about anything to do with him that might reveal who is. Fearing the worst, Emory would like to believe that she is immune to that gentle touch and the calm and quiet that exudes from a man who should really be menacing rather than making her feel sheltered and protected in a place where there seems to be no one else but just the two of them. And without Emory realizing, she does the worst thing possible under the circumstances; she falls for the man whose name she knows not, but whose merest touch has the power to melt her on the spot.

Sandra Brown’s mastery with storytelling is evident in Mean Streak. For 3/4ths of the story, you never know the name of the man up in the mountains who shelters a woman suffering from a concussion, yet unleashes his ferocity on those who deserves it. Emory who has led a pretty “normal” life on the scale of things up till then can’t decide whether she is attracted to or afraid of the man who makes her feel so many emotions that it becomes difficult for her to identify which one is the strongest.

Hayes Bannock, the hero turns out to be quite the surprising character in the story. Surprising in the sense, you are as stupefied as Emory when it comes to him. The different facets to his character though he reveals nothing of himself is what makes him such a fascinating character. And in the end when Sandra reveals his full character to you, you are left with the feeling of how totally wrong you could be about a person and how easily you could be led to believe a totally different “truth” about a person. And that was unsettling and brilliant in itself. Hayes is the type of hero that has faded away from the genre as authors strive and write heroes of the variety that pleases “feminists” in general. And because of this rarity and because I am a sucker for a ruthless and dangerous man as Hayes, I loved Sandra’s unapologetic portrayal of him as a hero that defies the accepted norm when it comes to creating heroes. A man who asks to make dirty memories with him; well that’s a hero you can’t ever go wrong with.

The explosive attraction between Hayes and Emory was of the shiver worthy kind of the good variety. Hayes is all male; confident, dominant and totally unapologetic in the way he takes, possesses and destroys every single notion that Emory has about sexual attraction and love. Hayes though he doesn’t show much of how he feels, the words of passion exchanged between Emory and himself during long and dark hours of the one night they spend together reveals just how much Emory changes Hayes’ stance and perspective on the life he has been leading up till then. Those flashbacks that Emory has of the time they spent together? Erotic, compelling and definitely ties you up in knots.

The end when it came encompassed everything I could have wanted for the story. Emory’s life that is in danger, which is revealed as the story progresses gives you the most shocking twist of all, and that ladies and gentlemen, is how you write suspense of the variety that keeps the pages turning. I was a bit apprehensive towards the last pages of the book thinking that Sandra wouldn’t deliver the happily ever after for Hayes and Emory as I had been craving. If you have read Lethal by Sandra Brown, you’d know exactly what I am talking about. But thankfully, there was a wonderful ending to Mean Streak that I believe did the story justice in all the ways possible.

Combining masterful suspense and heated passion, Sandra delivers one of the best novels of the year. Most definitely recommended! And now I have to contemplate on how to resign myself to books that would fall short in comparison and send me into despair until the next book that would deliver on all fronts, which seems to happen less and less as I read more.

Final Verdict: Oh dear Sandra Brown, thank YOU for this one!

Favorite Quotes

Her attempt to be a femme fatale had ended on an ironic twist: it was she who’d been seduced. She had put on that mortifying display, but when he began caressing her, she stopped playacting. He’d pulled her to him, and she’d felt him hard and insistent against her, and the truth had been undeniable. She’d wanted him.
Every feminine urge had sprung to life, and it wasn’t just the long dormancy that had made her sexual desire so acute. It was him. She wanted to experience him, every rough surface, every gruff word, his outdoorsy scent, the whiskey taste of his breath, the arrogant jut of his penis. She had wanted the totality of him with a reckless disregard for what was right and proper for Dr. Emory Charbonneau.

“The brothers were fighting when I came out to get you. What was that about?”
“Me.”
“You?”
“Will asked me if I was a homo.”
“How crass. What did you say?”
He looked at her for a moment, then removed his hand from the doorknob, placed it around the back of her neck beneath her hair, and pulled her up to receive his kiss—his open-mouthed, exploratory, evocative, and unshy kiss, which started out slow but soon acquired an urgency that was barely contained.
He kissed her like he meant it, like this kiss was going to be the last thing he ever did on earth, and he was going to do it right, thoroughly, and leave nothing wanting.
But she was left wanting, and judging from the rapid rise and fall of his chest and the fever in his eyes when he jerked his head back, he’d been left wanting, too.
Roughly, he said, “I told him no.”

“Last chance.”
She placed her palms on his chest and then slid them up onto his shoulders.
“Okay. I warned you. I told you that if I ever got my hands on you again—”
“You’d put them all over me.”
“That’s not all I said I’d do.”
He covered her lips with his and unleashed the hunger he’d restrained the night before. Nothing was tempered, not the introduction of his tongue, not the need with which her mouth opened to him, not the darkly erotic words that he whispered when he finally broke the kiss and released her, but only so he could hastily undo the buttons of his shirt she wore.

He pushed into her in one, purposeful glide.
“Jesus, Doc,” he groaned, “I promised you it wouldn’t hurt.”
“It won’t.”
“It might.”
Flexing his hips, he seated himself even deeper, then stretched out above her and began moving. Mating. All raw, male power and surety. Unapologetic, dominant and possessive.

He lowered his head to her breasts, sipped at her tight nipples and flicked them with his tongue.
Her orgasm was shattering.
With a snarled obscenity he pulled out barely in time and imprinted her body with his.
Writhing and straining, they wrung out every ounce of pleasure, and when he came, the pulses were strong and intense. Then they seemed to melt into each other, spent.

His voice a sexy rasp, he said, “You’re not gonna go run screaming from me?”
In a sublime state of arousal, she smiled and shook her head no.
“Then make memories for me, Doc.”
“Memories?”
Leaving her breasts tingling, he skimmed his hand down over her belly. He contemplated the architecture of her hipbone as though it was a marvel. Then he brushed the backs of his fingers over the soft hair. “Make memories for me to take out and play with when you’re gone.”
“What kind of memories?”
Her question ended on a surprised inhale when he deftly relocated and moved her thighs far enough apart to accommodate his wide shoulders. She could almost feel the probe of his hot gaze as he slid his hands under her and pulled her closer. She definitely felt the first sweep of his tongue, then his lips moving against her as he whispered. “Dirty ones.”

[Hayes] “Sorry, Doc.”
[Emory] “For what?”
[Hayes]”Keeping you awake.”
[Emory] “I haven’t complained.”
[Hayes]”So, you don’t want me to stop?”
[Emory] “No.”
[Hayes]”Don’t stop this?”
[Emory] “No. God no. Don’t…don’t stop.”
[Hayes]”You’ll have to be the one who says you’ve had enough.”
[Emory] “I’m not there yet.”
[Hayes]”Good. Because I can’t stop.”

When she lay back, he followed her down and sank into her, pushing until they couldn’t possibly be any closer, then he settled his weight onto her and buried his face in her neck. “You’ll be the ruin of me. But fuck if I can help myself.”
He levered himself up and, eyes focused on hers, began to thrust into her.
And it was incredible, not only because she was so deliciously tight and silky. She was. Not only because she perfectly timed a corresponding motion for each short, quick jab and every long, smooth glide of his cock. She did.
Not only because whenever he all but pulled out, she worked the tip of his penis with seductive belly-dance motions until he couldn’t stand it any longer and had to again sheathe himself completely.
Not only because her hands caressed him with flawless intuition. And not only because, when she climaxed, he felt every convulsive squeeze, but also saw the tears in her eyes that attested to the overflowing emotion behind them.
All that contributed. But what made him come harder, longer, and more meaningfully than he ever had in his life, was that in those moments when he lost himself in her, she closed her arms around his head, and held it close, and said on a sigh, as though it was the dearest word in her vocabulary, “Hayes.”

Tearing his mouth free of hers, he buried his face in the ell of her shoulder and neck, his breath fast and hot against her skin. “Yeah, okay, something has changed. When I’m by myself in the night, I’ll want you.”
He dipped his head and found her nipple through her clothing, moving his mouth across it as he hoarsely whispered broken phrases. “Sleeping between your thighs, finding your breasts in the dark, listening to your breathing, and smelling your hair on my pillow. I’ll want all that, damn you. Damn you, Doc. You won’t be easy to let go.”

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | eBookMall | iTunes

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by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: In Your Dreams by Kristan Higgins

Format: E-bookinyourdreams
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Blue Heron, #4
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Jack Holland
Heroine: Emmaline Neal
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: September 30, 2014
Started On: September 26, 2014
Finished On: September 28, 2014

The fourth book in the Blue Heron series by Kristan Higgins tells the story of Jack Holland, the only son in the out of John Holland’s four children. Jack has been a substantial part of the previous novels in the series and I was properly excited to be finally reading about him and his road to the happily ever after.

Jack handles the actual wine making process behind the Blue Heron vineyard, the family’s business. Everyone sees and defines Jack as perfection itself from his family to everyone in town to practically anyone who has ever crossed his path. Graced with good looks of the kind women find it hard to look away from together with a bucketload of charm makes him easy to love. Jack is elevated from his status as perfection itself to the town hero when he rescues three boys from drowning, an act that puts Jack in the limelight like never before.

Emmaline Neal is the deputy police chief of Manningsport, having moved just nine months back after having her heart broken by her fiance who had moved on with another woman. Being invited to their wedding means having to turn up to save face and Emmaline is determined to acquire a date of sorts to go with her as moral support. In the end it is Jack who fills the role and though Emmaline has her reservations about going to a wedding where she would be emotionally vulnerable with a man who renders her speechless most of the time, there is not much she can do about it given the short notice.

In Your Dreams tells the story of two individuals who each have powerful back stories to tell. Emmaline the heroine’s story is one that can move most to tears; the rocky childhood that she had, the way she had found that someone with whom she thought she would spend the rest of her life with by the time she had hit eighth grade, only to have her heart smashed to pieces by the wicked turn of events that takes place. The wedding is the place where she is determined to put her past to rest, but it doesn’t come as easy as it sounds.

Jack the perfect son, the perfect citizen of Manninsport finds himself battling symptoms of PTSD though he’d rather die than admit to the fact. Determined to ignore the debilitating conditions to which his symptoms reduce him to, Jack grasps the wedding which is to be held out of town as a lifeline thrown his way, a chance to get away from everything and just breathe. Put his ex-wife into the mix and Jack is ready to scream (something that totally goes against the perfection that his character is famous for) and while neither Jack nor Emmaline thought that anything would happen between them, something that irrevocably ties them together does.

In Your Dreams while wasn’t as heart wrenching as some of the other novels in the series when it came to the relationship between the hero and heroine nevertheless proved to be a riveting read. I couldn’t for the life of me put down the book even into the wee hours of last night and I just had to finish the 400+ pages of the book before I could sigh in contentment and sleep knowing that all was right in Jack and Emmaline’s world.

I totally fell in love with Emmaline. Having had a tough time while growing up, Emmaline makes for a steadfast, snarky and beautiful person. The way she hurts over the man she fell in love with was one that touched my heart and I could literally feel the pain that coursed through Emmaline as she moved through the different stages of heartache before finally moving on.

Now Jack, I had a teeny weeny problem with because there was nothing but perfection to him. It’s hard to put into words what exactly that I found off in Jack but I think there was a little bit too much emphasis on how perfect a man Jack was. There is no one that perfect, everyone has their flaws and everyone has their quirks that annoys and pisses other people off and endears them to others. Though Jack’s past broke my heart I just felt that he needed to come down from that pedestal a bit and reach the level of us humans. I also felt a bit cheated out on not having seen Jack move on from his battle with PTSD; there was a reference to him getting help but I would have loved to see more of that actually realize in the story after having seen how much of an affect the symptoms seemed to have on his life. I know I would be in the minority when it comes to thinking this way about Jack but that is how I felt when I was reading In Your Dreams.

That being said, Kristan Higgins never ceases to amaze me with the incredible stories that she writes and In Your Dreams is no exception. Recommended for those who love humor of the laugh-out-loud variety (the husband seemed perplexed by my bouts of laughter that he couldn’t find any reason for) and those who love honest to goodness variety of storytelling that would keep you up way past midnight turning the pages. And most of you would literally love Jack to pieces. I loved the way he could seduce the pants off of Emmaline and boy, was he good at it. Grab a copy and indulge. You wouldn’t be sorry you did.

Final Verdict: Delicious with a lot of heart; Higgins delivers an unputdownable tale.

Favorite Quotes

He turned his head to breathe in her smell and felt her shiver. She didn’t pull away.
That skin smelled so sweet. He dropped a kiss on her bare shoulder. Smooth as water.
Emmaline inhaled, her breath shaky.
Another kiss, this one closer to her neck.What are you doing? a small voice asked, but it was faint, drowned out by the hard, deep pulse that was thudding through his body. She tasted as good as she smelled.

He pulled her hands over her head and held them there, still kissing her mouth, her neck, the softness of her breasts against his chest making him drunk. She wasn’t protesting. In fact, little sweet sounds were coming from her throat, and he could swear he felt her skin get hotter under his mouth, because he was kissing his way down her neck, scraping her skin with his teeth, because Emmaline Neal was edibly delicious.

Clearing her throat, she looked down at the rumpled sheets. “Hungry?” she asked.
“Starving.” He reached out and, very slowly, pulled the tie of her robe.
“There’s still some cake,” she whispered.
“I wasn’t talking about cake,” he said, his voice deep and rumbly, and her girl parts gave a hot, sudden throb.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | HQ | iTunes | eBookMall

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by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: Never Marry a Viscount by Anne Stuart

Format: E-booknevermarryaviscount
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Scandal at the House of Russell, #3
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Hero: Alexander Montgomery Griffiths
Heroine: Sophia Eulalie Russell
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: September 23, 2014
Started On: September 23, 2014
Finished On: September 25, 2014

I’ve been an avid fan of the Scandal at the House of Russell series ever since the first book was published in 2013. Well, lets face it. I am an avid fan of Anne Stuart regardless. The House of Russell series follows in the wake of the three girls left orphaned by the death of their father, a death that the girls believe was murder. One by one, they set out on a quest to find the truth and end up finding the love of their lives and then some in each of these deliciously spun stories.

Never Marry a Viscount is the third and final book in the series, the story of the youngest of the three, Sophia Eulalie Russell. Left behind at home while the other two sisters had ventured out, Sophia is determined to have her own adventure and takes a bold step towards finding a place for herself in the home from which she and her sisters were removed upon the death of her father, a property now under the ownership of Viscount Griffiths; Alexander Montgomery Griffiths.

Sophia is determined to find out whether the man with the body of a semi-god that she had been spying on for weeks had anything to do with the death of her father and proceed on her way. Alexander is a man as bored and cynical with his life as most come. Guarded with his heart and emotions, Alexander believes Sophia to be the mistress that he ordered from London while Sophia believes she has been hired on as replacement of the cook that was fired from the household.

Though the initial start to the book was a bit slow, the pace and the trademark Anne Stuart banter between the hero and heroine picked up towards the second half of the book. And I loved every single bit of it. Sophia, the woman who believes herself to be stronger than those that succumb to a pretty face finds herself doing just that every single time Alexander steals a kiss from her, taking away her very breathe and sliding over senses making her falter in her determination to seek the truth.

Not much gets done in the way of finding out whether Alexander had anything to do with the death of their father as Sophia makes up her mind to escape from the clutches of Alexander before its too late for her heart and soul. But then again, where would the fun in that be? Alexander’s passion for Sophia is one that unnerves him, though he would rather die than admit to the fact. Sophia charms his jaded heart, makes him possessive in an almost animalistic manner and makes him conjure up fanciful notions of a life with her that he’d have believed his first marriage had cured him of.

There is this particular bit in the story where Sophia’s thoughts had a profound effect on me. Before she had totally succumbed to the power of the heady physical attraction between her and Alexander; and I just had to go and include that bit in the review itself because I think as women, we have all been cautioned against men who would try and get in our pants just for the sake of it. But no one ever tells us or can really describe to us what it is that makes us abandon every reasoning power that we have and just give in, because sexual attraction and desire is that powerful. And I quote:

“Her sisters hadn’t told her about this. No one had. She’d been advised on the technical details of mating, which was far more warning than most girls received, but she had two older sisters to fill her in, though to her knowledge neither of them had firsthand experience. And they’d talked about love, and shared interests, and companionship, and comfort.
But no one had said anything about a fire in your blood that burns away any common sense you might have once possessed. No one said you could want a man’s touch so much that your body was in an uproar, parts that you didn’t even name seemed to be aching with longing. No one had said you would throw everything away for a man who mocked you and teased you and then spoke to you in clipped tones like you were a servant, and yet all he had to do was touch you . . .”

Anne Stuart has a formula that works beautifully in each of her novels. And it never gets old.  Though Alexander turned out to be quite a milder version of her usual fanfare for bad boy, ruthless heroes, he nevertheless managed to charm the socks off of me and then some. Fans like myself, who read Anne Stuart because of her ruthless heroes might be just a tad disappointed that Alexander didn’t offer some of that. Sophia bears the hallmark characteristics of the usual Stuart heroines. Headstrong, stubborn and determined, Sophia remained resolute against the web of desire that she had been ensnared in until every time Alexander proceeds to take her in his arms and shows her just how good they are together.

Never Marry a Viscount ties up all the loose ends in the trilogy and gives fans the closure they need. Recommended for fans of the series, fans of Anne Stuart and fans of historical romances with heroes who can make you swoon.

Final Verdict: Formulaic Anne Stuart. Recommended!

Favorite Quotes

Each time he kissed her she seemed to go a little farther on the road to inescapable madness. This one was a little rough, a demand rather than a question, his hands hard on her, but, instead of freezing, her heart leapt in immediate response. She didn’t even want to think about what she was doing—she pulled at her hands that were locked between their bodies, and slid them around his waist, holding on as he ravished her mouth.
It was hypnotizing, it was heartbreaking, it was everything she wanted and nothing she could ever have, and she deserved it.

“You are a beast,” she said in a low, furious voice.
“And as you’ve pointed out to me numerous times, you are a beauty. See how well matched we are.” He put his finger under her stubborn chin, lifting her face to his. “So let’s see how easy you are to train.”
She tried to elbow him in the ribs for that one, and he swallowed his laughter. There were times when he was his own worst enemy, but she was just so delicious. He lowered his mouth to hers, half expecting her to bash him in the head, or at least bite him, but the moment his lips touched hers she stilled, like a startled woodland creature confronted by danger, and all his humor fled.

He lifted his head and looked down at her, bemused. He knew the answer to the question she kept asking, and he was damned if he would tell her. He was marrying her because she made him feel alive, he was marrying her because he’d never wanted a woman so much in his life, he was marrying her because in her arms he felt like he’d finally come home for the first time in his life.

He rubbed again, just enough for another small climax to hit her, and he pulled back. She made a soft cry of need, and a fierce possessiveness washed over him, one he didn’t want to consider or question. Mine roared through his blood, and he pumped his fingers into her, feeling the start of another climax. He wanted more from her, he wanted to make her cry and scream with pleasure, he wanted to give her such pleasure she could never forget it no matter how far she tried to run.

It was his kisses, she decided. She gave him a disgruntled look, calming down a bit. “Do you put some kind of poison on your lips?”
He raised both eyebrows this time. “I beg your pardon?” “Every time you kiss me, my wits desert me.”
She expected mockery, but after a startled moment he simply smiled. “Well, that’s a start.”

“Let it come,” he whispered. “Scream as loud as you can.” He slid his fingers through her wetness, up to the top, rubbing her, and watched her as everything left her and she did scream, a hoarse, sobbing sound of such wild pleasure that he could have come from watching her.
He pushed her up on the bed, following her and wrapping her in his arms as she shuddered and trembled, errant stray convulsions still rippling through her. She hid her face against him now, suddenly shy, and he smiled when she couldn’t see it. Mine, he thought. He’d claimed her, and he would never let her go. Mine.

He had his hands on her hips, holding her still as he sank into her, and his pace was driving her mad. “Do it,” she said hoarsely. “Now.”
It seemed to break whatever hold he had on himself. He thrust all the way into her, deep and hard, and it felt so good, so necessary, and she exploded once more, her body clamping down around that part that she’d taken into her mouth so lovingly, ripples of reaction shaking her.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N

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by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: Tempting Alibi by Savannah Stuart

Format: E-booktemptingalibi
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novella
Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Hero: Scott O’Callaghan
Heroine: Michaela Miller
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: August 19, 2010
Started On: September 21, 2014
Finished On: September 21, 2014

Tempting Alibi by Savannah Stuart is my first book by the author. I requested for this title on Netgalley because of the tattooed hotness gracing the cover of this novella. Nothing more, nothing less. And turned out I made the right choice by judging the book by its cover in this instance. Tempting Alibi delivered a hot mess of a read that I couldn’t get enough of.

Scott O’Callaghan, the hero is as exotic as the name itself. Ex-military, Scott is the owner of O’Callaghan’s Auto Body Shop and Michaela Miller’s neighbor since he returned to town a couple of months back. Michaela can’t help but obsess over the beautiful specimen that her neighbor is and though she’d like to get to know Scott better, the fact that Scott has very little to say where she is concerned makes her steer clear of her neighbor’s path.

Ever since returning to town, Scott has his head full of Michaela. Knowing that someone like him who comes from “bad seed” is not for the likes of Michaela, Scott finds it difficult to string two full sentences together whenever he encounters the woman who keeps him awake at night, wanting her with a fierceness that Scott knows is not just simple desire for someone of the opposite sex.

When Michaela comes to his rescue, all the walls between them come tumbling down and Scott proves his mettle as a lover who knows how to rev the engines of the woman he holds in his arms. Scrumptious and hot, the love scenes in this short story took my breathe away and then some and I loved the emotional impact the scenes brought to the developing relationship between Scott and Michaela.

When an author manages to wow me with the minute number of pages in a novella, it is safe to say that the author has incredible talent in spinning a good tale and that is the reason why I finished Tempting Alibi in one single sitting; with a huge smile on my face and a wistful yearning for my own Scott O’Callaghan.

Recommended for those who love erotic romances that scorch! Plenty of deliciously hot sex scenes with enough emotional sweetness to make it a splendid read. Savannah Stuart has definitely landed on my radar.

Final Verdict: Erotic romance written how it should be!

Favorite Quotes

Sitting up, he repositioned himself at her entrance. Before he could move, she shifted and impaled herself on him. He almost exploded from the shock. Her mouth formed a perfect O as he filled her to the hilt.
Shit. A zap of awareness shot through his entire body. She wrapped around him like satin.

“Let go. Come for me, Michaela.” His command set her off.
She bucked against him and pushed completely off the wall. With a cry, she wrapped her arms around his neck and he kept pummeling into her. Her inner walls spasmed around his cock and her cream rushed over him.
Her orgasm was hot and fast.
Finally he could let go. Surrender to her the way his body demanded.

Purchase Links: Amazon | EC | B&N | Kobo | eBookMall | ARe | iTunes

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by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: Taken with You by Shannon Stacey

Format: E-bookEMBARGO
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Kowalski Family, #8
Publisher: Carina Press
Hero: Matt Charles Barnett
Heroine: Hailey Genest
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: March 25, 2014
Started On: September 18, 2014
Finished On: September 21, 2014

Taken With You, the 8th book in the Kowalski series by Shannon Stacey offers a humorous, slow moving romance that fans of the series would undoubtedly adore. Hailey Genest, the town librarian is looking for a man to settle down with, a man with a regular hours keeping job, with whom she has shared common interests with.

Going camping with her friend Tori Burns was a way for them to “celebrate” being single, a bad move for someone like Hailey who is not that outdoorsy to begin with. When Hailey and Tori gets lost, it is Matt Barnett who comes to their rescue, looking like a hermit who had just crawled out of his cave. Hailey can’t help but be a little bit repulsed by the unkempt look and Matt though finds Hailey altogether too beautiful for his peace of mind, reminds himself that women like Hailey aren’t for men like him.

Thus begins the tale of opposites attract between the town librarian and its new game warden, an attraction that both try and fight to no avail. Hailey shows a side of herself that Matt finds himself inexplicably drawn towards and Hailey can’t help but moon over her neighbor even though she knows that she shouldn’t crave for someone who is the total opposite of what she is looking for.

Shannon Stacey is one of those few authors who writes contemporary romances like they should be written. Though Taken with You was a tad slow moving for my tastes, it nevertheless delivered a story that was heartwarming. The best bit about the story was the angst that Shannon delivered towards the end, angst of the type that is hard to come by in romances these days with the hero and heroine solving every little problem between them halfway through the book.

Angst is an important factor in any sort of romance; it is one of the reasons why I put myself through reading romances, because nothing can compare with the emotions that a good bout of angst can conjure up.

Recommended for fans of the series and fans of contemporary romances. This can definitely be read as a standalone!

Final Verdict: Slow moving & angsty read with bouts of snort worthy laughter.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Carina | iTunes | ARe | eBookMall

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