Tag / Anne Stuart

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Ritual Sins by Anne Stuart

Format: E-bookritualsins
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Onyx
Hero: Luke Bardell
Heroine: Rachel Connery
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: October 1, 1997
Started On: December 4, 2010
Finished On: December 5, 2010

Ritual Sins was recommended to me on Goodreads by my good friend Ruby. As I read through this one, there is one thing that I can say with absolute certainty; none can blame Ms. Stuart for spinning your usual run-of-the-mill romantic suspense. Ms. Stuart always pushes the boundaries with her stories which either makes you want to hurl the book at the wall or put it at the top of your favorite keeper pile. For me, this book hit somewhere in between, though the story that unfolded pulled me in right from the very beginning.

Ritual Sins begins when 29 year old Rachel Connery decides to visit Santa Dolores, home base of the Foundation of Being in New Mexico, a compound devoted to meditation and enlightenment, combined with a hospice center to care for the dying. Rachel is a tortured heroine if there ever was one. Growing up with a mother who had never really cared about her and flitted from one man to another which had rendered her only child wary of the opposite sex, Stella Connery had cared for no one except her own self. Rachel had suffered sexual molestation at the hands of her third stepfather, the touching which had started when she had been 9 years old which had escalated into rape when she had been 12 had rendered Rachel frigid, unable to touch or be touched by any person, be it in kindness or anything else. Armed with her MBA from Havard, Rachel had worked hard in soul sucking jobs to earn enough money to just one day up and leave to Spain where for a period of 3 months she had found her solace, only to return back to the States to find out that her mother as the trustee to Rachel’s trust fund had drained her of every penny, 12.5 million dollars of which she leaves to Luke Ballard, founder of the Foundation of Being before finally succumbing to death after being diagnosed with breast cancer and leaving nothing behind for her only child but suffering, betrayal, anger and pain. Now the only thing that keeps Rachel going is her quest for revenge, the thirst to bring down Luke and his Foundation crumbling down which grows stronger everyday.

Ex-convict Luke Bardell grew up in a small town where his grandparents had tried to convince his mother to get an abortion, a father who had been an evangelist traveling from one town to the other who had never really wanted a child in the first place and had been killed for his wayward way with womenfolk by a jealous husband which had finally propelled his mother to marry Jackson Bardell, the worst mistake of her life for which she had paid in full by committing suicide when Luke had been around 8 years old, leaving him at the mercy of Jackson’s drunken fists until the day Luke had grown old enough to defend himself. When Luke had killed a man in a barroom brawl, Luke had been found guilty of manslaughter and had done time in jail for 3 years after which he had been released on parole during which time Luke had started the Foundation. With an uncanny charisma and charm, Luke has the ability to use his skills to draw people into his manipulative web of serenity and solace, and when Stella Connery dies at the Foundation, Luke knows deep down in his gut that Stella’s skinny, pale and sour faced daughter would prove to be the downfall of the Foundation, unless Luke can make her pay with the ultimate surrender of her heart, body and soul.

I liked:

  1. The unique story that unfolded as I swept through the pages. As I said at the beginning of my review, none can blame Ms. Stuart for spinning your average romantic suspense. This story is by not any means an easy read. Luke is a manipulator of the highest degree, who doesn’t feel any qualms about using people for his own needs regardless of the consequences. Learning about Luke and Rachel’s disturbing childhoods wasn’t easy, but it makes for a compelling read, one you can’t help but go on reading with a twisted kind of fascination. Even with all his faults, Luke still makes for a hero worthy of a sigh or two, even as he goes out of his way to charm and seduce Rachel to give up her heart, body and soul to him for nothing in return.
  2. Rachel Connery. She is a tortured heroine if there ever was one. She has so much pain, anguish and fear locked up inside of her that she is one simmering ball of misery waiting to explode. Ms. Stuart certainly paints a realistic picture of how someone who has been raped by her own stepfather countless times  can be frozen into state of abject misery throughout the years, not knowing how to reach out to anyone and never letting yourself become vulnerable enough to be hurt like that ever again. It was painful seeing Rachel being “forced” to give in, to embrace her sensual nature and when she did let go, it was a mighty fine feeling that overcame me as I rooted for her freedom from the very shackles of fear that keeps her in a prison of hell till that very moment.
  3. The complex multifaceted characters that liven up this read. There is not one character that I would have wished to do away with in this story. Each one of them lends something essential to the story making it one compelling story to sink into.

I did not like: Umm.. there’s nothing that I can say outright that I disliked in this novel. But Luke’s character was a bit tough to like during the first couple of chapters though the guy oozes charm like nothing else. But in the end, knowing where he came from, learning about the wealth of pain and suffering that had shaped him up made it all worth in the end. I still can’t say that I flat-out loved Luke, but I can definitely say that I wouldn’t shut the door in his face if he were to turn up at my house. *grin*

Favorite Quotes

She just looked at him. She really had extraordinary eyes, he thought, keeping his own face expressionless, slightly bored. It was those eyes of hers that were his downfall. He could resist her anger, he could resist her body and her sarcastic tongue. But those deep brown eyes, so full of pain and fury, need and defiance, did him in.

Recommended for: Fans of Anne Stuart.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

goodread

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Night Fall by Anne Stuart

Format: E-booknightfall2
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Onyx
Hero: Richard Tiernan
Heroine: Cassidy Roarke
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: March 1, 1995
Started On: December 3, 2010
Finished On: December 4, 2010

Anne Stuart definitely knows what she is doing with her bad-ass heroes who walk a fine line between inciting intense dislike or adoration despite of their broody and almost irredeemable nature in her readers. Night Fall caught my interest whilst going through her list of published  books and the fact that this story had won the RT Reviewer’s Choice award for the Contemporary Romantic Suspense category in 1995 convinced me to push this one towards the top of my TBR pile and I have to say that this is one romantic suspense novel that all lovers of this genre ought to read.

Richard Tiernan is certainly not your average hero in a romantic suspense novel. Yes he is handsome, compelling, charming and draws women towards him like iron towards magnet but what makes him a bit more sinister and edgier than your average alpha hero is the fact that Richard is a man who has been convicted for stabbing his beautifully angelic and pregnant wife Diana Scott Tiernan to death and the murder of his two beautiful children; 5 year old Amy and 3 year old Seth who to this day have never been found. It hadn’t taken much for a jury to find him guilty when Richard had done nothing to allay their suspicions. The fact that Diana had been about to leave him and had in fact filed papers to deny Richard access to their children had provided the motive that was needed for the conviction and his sentence had put him on death row to be killed by lethal injection until Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Sean O’Rourke posts his bail to use Richard’s story to pen his final masterpiece.

27 year old Cassidy Roarke had worked damn hard to make a safe and predictable and albeit a boring life for herself in Baltimore. Growing up with her father Sean who practically storms through life with his fierce bull-like nature and her mother Alice who had just been like Sean had definitely left its mark on Cassidy. Cassidy with her hour-glass figure, red hair and green eyes with her fierce protective nature knows that she will always fall short in her father’s eyes and that she would never be able to rise up and meet his expectations. Though she knows that putting herself in reach of Sean’s manipulative nature wouldn’t end up in a pleasant way, Cassidy is no match for her father’s wheedling and the news that he is sick propels Cassidy to travel to New York to see her father, her curiosity on why Sean had felt the need to manipulate her enough to require her presence being the deal breaker in her decision to go up to see her father.

When she arrives, she is hardly prepared to find a convicted murderer residing at Sean’s home, and Richard is exactly who Cassidy meets when she steps into her father’s apartment. The need to flee, to protect herself from the compelling man that stands before her rages an internal battle with her reluctant fascination for a man she is better off not knowing anything about. But Cassidy can’t help herself as Richard is determined that Cassidy fulfill the role that he has chosen for her, regardless of how much Cassidy might have to sacrifice of herself in the end. Ownership of Cassidy’s heart, body and soul is what Richard wants within the short time period he has left, and he uses all his acquired skill in drawing a hopelessly ensnared Cassidy into his trap until it is all too late when Cassidy’s well-honed survival instincts do kick in. What Richard doesn’t count on is for him to fall into a trap of his own making, for him to come to care enough to want to see the dawn of another day because of Cassidy.

I Liked:

  1. The compelling story telling done by Ms. Stuart on this one. From the prologue itself, this story drew me in, trapping me within the complexity of the story as it unfolded and made me read till late into the night so that I could find out what had really happened that fateful night when Diana Scott Tiernan had been stabbed to death in her own home. Kudos to Ms. Stuart for the amazing story she has told in this one!
  2. Richard Tiernan. His character is one that draws the reader right from the very beginning. It’s not only Cassidy that he lures in with his manipulative lies to ruthlessly achieve what he wants but the reader as well since I could not for the world stop thinking about Richard, his death sentence and the aura of danger, mystery and desolateness that surrounds him. My wary fascination with him turned into entirely something else halfway through the novel as his seductive and compelling nature made it hard for me to do anything else but love him for who he is and when the cracks finally begin to show in his well suited armor around his heart and emotions, I felt like holding him and never letting him go. Richard Tiernan is one fine man definitely worth your time! ^_^
  3. Cassidy Roarke. Her innocence coupled with her undeniable intelligence and her fierce loyalty towards those whom she loves makes her a very compelling heroine, exactly what someone like Richard who has lost himself in a shroud of darkness from which he sees no light really needs. Cassidy’s finely honed fight or flee nature always comes to light around Richard as he tempts her beyond anything or anyone she has ever known which makes for an interesting read in itself.
  4. The hideously creepy villain who comes to light towards the end of the story. The guy just gives me the creeps and the heebie jeebies if you know what I mean! It’s not that I “like” him but I like what his character brings to the story which makes for a very compelling read.

I did not like: Nothing much but *sigh* again, the abruptness of how it ended kinda punched me in the face with this one as well. Though I know better than not to expect long and overdrawn epilogues from Ms. Stuart, it kinda still stings when the story is over long before you want it to be, like cold water up your ass before you have fully woken up in the morning!

Favorite Quotes

She was literally backed into a corner, backed by her own nervousness, and he’d advanced on her. She raised her chin, looking at him with completely false calm, and waited for him to move out of the way.
He didn’t. Not for an agonizingly long time. He let his gaze fall, travel down the length of her, from her wild mane of hair, down to the front of her plain white nightgown to the tips of her bare feet. There was nothing even remotely suggestive about the cotton nightgown or the baggy sweater she’d pulled over it, nothing erotic about bare feet. His eyes slid down her body, and she was burning up.

She was unprepared for the sudden change in him. He’d been holding himself very taut, and suddenly the tension seemed to leave his body. He sank to his knees in front of her, his arms around her waist, his head pressed against her belly, and he was trembling. She reached down, in wonder, to cradle his head against her, and she felt the heat of tears against her skin, and her heart broke.

Recommended for:

  1. Fans of contemporary romantic suspense.
  2. Fans of Anne Stuart and her dark, edgy heroes.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

amazingread

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Wild Thing by Anne Stuart

Format: E-bookwildthing
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Harlequin American Romance Publisher Series
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: John Bartholomew Hunter
Heroine: Dr. Elizabeth Holden
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: October 1, 2000
Started On: December 2, 2010
Finished On: December 3, 2010

This read certainly was different from my usual reads. Though this book is from Anne Stuart who is famous for penning the types of heroes that you hate to love but eventually you do anyway, not that this rule applied to me when I gobbled up her Ice series last month, the hero in Wild Thing is not the type to invoke shocked gasps from fainthearted readers. But rather what makes John unique is his history, the way he came to be labeled as the “Wild Thing”.

Dr. Elizabeth Holden (Libby) has a mind that refuses to be appeased from its thirst for knowledge and she holds doctorates in both anthropology and linguistics. Working on her research at the Stanfield University in Chicago, Libby is someone who thrives on order and regulation in her life. Someone who abhors the concept of camping or the outdoors, Libby is most comfortable in her city, surrounded by what is familiar to her. Her one serious relationship with Richard, a fellow colleague had fallen flat on its face when he had been more interested in nailing a graduate student rather than tying up the knot with her, a fact which drives home the fact that Libby is not one who tempts men to claim as their own. As an only child, Libby had been lost when her parents had died when she had been young, a result of which her family had become her education. When Edward J. Hunnicutt, the 7th richest man in the world who has quite an influence at the university requests for her service, Libby finds herself traveling to the other end of the world to a remote island off the coast of Australia to do his bidding.

What Libby encounters upon arrival couldn’t have shocked her more. Hunnicutt is convinced that he had found the missing link in evolution and is excited about the prospect of learning more about the hauntingly beautiful man he has strapped on a gurney with drugs pumping through his veins 24/7. From the moment Libby sees the man who is called a variety of names ranging from Tarzan to the Wild Man, something stirs deep within her and tenderhearted Libby cannot stand by and let people treat a man regardless of how savage he might be as a plaything for a billionaire.

When Libby helps the man she starts calling John escape from the facility, the last thing she had expected was for him to kidnap her and take her along in his trek through the forest that surrounds the fortress that Hunnicutt’s property is. The nervousness that starts growing deep within her at the close proximity to John who sets all her senses aflutter makes Libby open up herself and reveal all her deepest and darkest secrets, even the fact that she is entertaining lustful thoughts about the man himself, confident in the belief that John wouldn’t understand a word of what she is saying.

The last thing that reclusive John Bartholomew Hunter needs is a chatty woman harping on about her life trekking through the woods with him. But John had had no choice but to bring her along knowing that the Hunnicutt’s hired thugs wouldn’t take her role in aiding his escape lightly. What John doesn’t expect is to become enamored with her constant chatter to the point of missing her husky voice droning on in the background when she stops to take a breather. It certainly doesn’t help matters that John feels a deep need to claim her as his, a man who always is in ruthless command of all his emotions.

The constant restlessness that is a part of John ever since he had survived the plane crash that had killed his parents when he had just been 8 years old and John had had to survive on his own for 9 whole years until he had been rescued makes him uncomfortable around people and John had built his home on an island that wouldn’t require contact with the outside world. And even when that fails to curb his restless nature, John goes on his walkabout, trekking through the deep jungles, the only place where he feels at home. Captured by Russians and mistaken for a savage had lost him 3 months of his life at the sadistic hands of Hunnicutt’s hired thugs until rescue had come in the form of petite Libby with her husky voice and a mouth that would invite a saint to sin in the most wicked of ways.

Two lost souls, mismatched as they are find that they are more than a match when it comes to the combustive passion between them. Knowing that there is no future for them together doesn’t stop John from giving Libby the best sex of her life for one unforgettable night before John sends her away back to her city life in Chicago. When danger once again comes calling, it is John who rides to Libby’s rescue which in turn gives them their happily ever after.

I Liked:

  1. The unique storyline in this novel. I have never read a book of the Tarzan-Jane theme and this was a refreshing change from the usual bunch of romances that line my bookshelves.
  2. John. He is one delicious hunk of man flesh which just makes my mouth water. And of course there is a lot to be said for his broody nature, his restless soul that continually seeks something which it cannot find until he holds his Libby in his arms. *sigh*
  3. Libby. Lord, she made laugh a couple of times with her sense of humor and her incessant chatter.  Was she in for a surprise when John utters his first words at her. The humiliation she feels leaves her seething but in the end it is no match for the strong yearning that takes a hold of her emotions when she comes into contact with her wild man. I loved her sunny nature which comes out to play only when John is around which perfectly complements John’s broody and intense nature.
  4. Ah! This story does prove that Anne Stuart can in fact write an ending that would satisfy her legion of readers. I loved how this story ended with an insight into their lives 3 months after they get together when finally John realizes that at last he had found the other half of his soul in Libby after his latest walkabout.

I Disliked: Nothing comes to mind. I loved this story from start to finish!

Favorite Quotes

The pictures had been astonishing enough, but they failed to prepare her for the reality of Ed Hunnicutt’s wild man.
He was beautiful. There was no other word for him. Beneath the tangle of long, dark hair, beneath the deeply tanned skin and rough beard, he was absolutely stunning. She let her eyes run down the entire length of his body, his lean, muscled shoulders and chest, his long legs ending in bare, narrow feet. He was wearing some sort of ragged cutoffs and nothing else, and he looked like the male equivalent of Sleeping Beauty, perfection lost in an endless sleep.

Recommended for:

  1. Those who love Tarzan-Jane themed romances.
  2. Fans of Anne Stuart.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

outstandingread

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Fire And Ice by Anne Stuart

Format: E-bookfireandice
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: Ice, Book 5
Publisher: MIRA
Hero: Hiromasa Shinoda
Heroine: Jillian Lovitz
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: May 1, 2008
Started On: November 18, 2010
Finished On: November 18, 2010

As all good things in life do come to an end, so I have reached the end of this highly entertaining romantic suspense series by Anne Stuart. Though I still definitely yearn for more of Ms. Stuart’s heroes, I would have to dig through some of her other books to find the fix that I am craving for even now. I hear that her House of Rohan series is really good and I am definitely going to try them out, as soon as I catch my breathe from the latest roller-coaster ride that I just disembarked from.

The Hero: 27 year old Hiromasa Shinoda or Reno is hardly one’s typical romance book hero. Reno is cousins with Takashi O’Brien, hero of the 3rd book in the Ice series which I reviewed earlier. Readers who have read or are reading the series in order would have come across Reno in Takashi’s story, and even then I found myself intrigued with the complexity of his character. Half-American and half-Japanese as well, Reno is the grandson of the head of the infamous Yakuza family, a family steeped in organized crime in Japan. Reno’s complexity doesn’t come from his mixed heritage, but rather the mass of contradictions that he actually is. Whilst Hiromasa Shinoda looks respectable and is a man with a high IQ with a degree in Engineering, the darker and edgier side of him known as Reno can most well be described as a punk Yakuza gangster. With long spiky hair that falls well below his waist colored in crimson red, and two teardrop tattoos on his high cheekbones and hard-ass attitude, Reno is the ultimate bad boy with a deep rooted animosity towards American women as his own American mother had abandoned him once she had grown tired of playing Yakuza royalty. Serving as the Committee’s newest recruit, Reno hardly fits in with the typical Committee material but shows his true potential when things turned quite rough in Ice Storm, the 4th book of the series.

The Heroine: Jillian Lovitz or Jilly as she is called by everyone close to her is 20 years old and a genius who has never had the chance to experience the stuff that normal childhoods are made up of. With a high IQ that had refused to sit idle whilst she experienced life, Jilly had graduated from high school when she had been fifteen, college when she was eighteen had never had the chance to develop normal relationships. With big brown eyes, a wide mouth and short blond hair and well around 6 feet tall, Jilly had always felt more like a giant around her five foot something, petite mother who had acted more like a spoiled child herself than an adult all her life. Jilly’s one solace in life had been Summer her half-sister who had always looked out for her and mothered her whom she misses terribly since she married Takashi and moved to Japan.

Storyline: It is Jilly’s yearning to experience life and the need to divest herself of her status as a virgin that ends in a disastrous one night stand which propels her to fly to Japan to drown her sorrows in the arms of Summer. However, unbeknown to Jilly, Takashi and Summer had gone into hiding to escape a bunch of mercenary killers who were gunning for their lives. And it is Reno who rides to her rescue on a mean looking Harley and whisks her away to safety whilst Jilly’s heart acknowledges the fact that in reality she had come to Japan wanting to seek Reno out, the man who had fueled all her adolescent dreams for the past two years. This time rather than international terrorists out to take the world, the danger that surrounds them rises too close to home for comfort and it will take every ounce of Reno’s willpower to keep his hands of Jilly whilst they run for their lives dodging killers and bullets as they race through Japan trying to figure out who and why they have been targeted.

The First Encounter: Jilly and Reno’s first encounter takes place at the end of Ice Blue, the story of Summer Hawthorne and Takashi O’Brien. Even with his deep rooted animosity towards American women, Reno is helplessly ensnared right from the first moment he lays his reluctant eyes on Jilly.

Time period: This story has a contemporary setting and takes place in the UK, Japan and later in the US.

Narrative Form: This story is told in the 3rd person form in both Reno and Jilly’s point of view for the main part of the story.

Awareness between the hero and heroine: What drew me to this story in the first place was the attraction that flares between Reno and Jilly at the end of Ice Blue. Even back then, Takashi and Summer had realized what was happening and had taken steps to avert someone like Reno from taking advantage of an innocent like Jilly. However that had not stopped either of them from dreaming about the other or wanting the other. Though Reno’s yearnings had been more sexual in nature whilst Jilly’s had been more dreamlike in nature, it is the white hot and undeniable attraction between the two that Reno certainly doesn’t want any part of that makes this book so damn attractive. Whilst Jilly spins dreams of the possibility of a happily ever after with the ultimate bad boy Reno, Reno is determined to keep his hands off from Jilly because he knows that she is more trouble than it is worth. But when push comes to shove and Reno has to keep Jilly safe, the close proximity proves to be Reno’s undoing where Jilly is concerned which makes this read truly worthwhile.

The turning point: Reno is someone who likes older women for the fact that they are more experienced and bring less unwanted emotion into the picture. But when he is unable to let go of the memory of the one encounter that brought him close to Jilly for the next two years, Reno knows that he is in more trouble than he had ever anticipated. With an all grown up Jilly getting up close and personal with him, it takes Reno everything he has to keep his hands off, until need obliterates everything else. For Jilly who has spun all her adolescent dreams on Reno it is just a matter of time before she hits the point of no return where Reno is concerned.

Likes:

  1. Hiromasa Shinoda. As I said earlier in my review, the complex nature of his character is one of the main reasons that made me race through this story at such a fast pace. I loved the fact that he alternated between being the good and nerdy Hiromasa and the ultimate bad boy Reno whilst the bad boy wins most of the time. Whilst his bad boy Harley riding image appeals on so many levels to my slutty inner self, it is the medium between the two that made me fall for him in the end.
  2. Jillian Lovitz. She is such a treat to read about. Her positive optimism when it comes to Reno is what made me love her. Even though at times Reno’s words and actions cut deep, and Jilly keeps telling herself that familiarity with Reno would breed contempt and in the end she wouldn’t feel so vulnerable with Reno, it is Jilly who identifies the fact that it is not that Reno doesn’t feel anything for her but rather he is terrified of just how much he feels when it comes to Jilly.
  3. The premise of the story. I loved discovering tidbits about Japan and their customs and lifestyle. In fact it made me even search up on the Internet on some of the stuff that I came across in this novel such as the Japanese Capsule hotels and the Meiji Shrine. For someone who has always held the view that Japan is one of the most beautiful places on Earth, reading about it in this novel just drove home the point that I need to do some traveling ASAP.
  4. The element of forbidden love in this story. Throughout the whole of Ice series, it has been the nature of their jobs as employees of The Committee that had kept the heroes/heroines unable to face the fact that even they are vulnerable enough to fall in love when it comes to  the right person. However, Reno and Jilly’s story is different such that Reno tries to keep his hands off of Jilly not because he doesn’t want her, but rather because he had promised his cousin’s wife that he would stay away from her and for someone like Reno, family loyalty comes before anything else.
  5. And oh yes, even though totally unrelated, I loved listening to Breaking Benjamin’s latest album Dear Agony all throughout when I was reading this book. The music just brought something extra to the story which is hard for me to explain but nevertheless played an important role in enhancing my enjoyment of a story well spun.

Dislikes:

Again, what’s with these abrupt endings? I just don’t get it! The story flows so smoothly, you ache for the hero and heroine to get their happily ever after, and wham bam thank you maam, the ending just comes out of nowhere and slaps you on the face something fierce. I so dearly wish this weren’t so. I mean it would be nice just to leave us readers with a healthy dose of an epilogue (even a page or two would suffice) to tide us over and take with us images of the ending we had envisioned right through the story. *glum sigh*

Recommended for:

  1. Fans of Anne Stuart.
  2. Fans of romantic suspense. Even though this is part of a series it can be read as a standalone.
  3. Fans of the Ice Series by Anne Stuart.

Favorite Quotes

Snap out of it, Reno!  he told himself. You’ve just managed to rid her of any romantic notions. Don’t blow it by thinking with your dick again.
The funny thing was, it wasn’t his dick that was giving him trouble. Yeah, for some crazy reason he still wanted to screw her when he should be concentrating on other things. But even more, he wanted her lying on the narrow cot with him, her body crammed up against his, her arms around him, her face against his shoulder, her heart beating against his.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

outstandingread

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Ice Storm by Anne Stuart

Format: E-bookice storm
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: Ice, Book 4
Publisher: MIRA
Hero: Thomas Henry Killian St. Claire
Heroine: Mary Isobel Curwen (Madame Isobel Lambert)
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: November 1, 2007
Started On: November 17, 2010
Finished On: November 18, 2010

The 4th book in the Ice series has certainly been the most different book in the series yet. Though it is the story of the cool and impeccable head of the Committee Madame Isobel Lambert, the story is made doubly appealing and interesting by the fact that Peter and Bastien from books 1 and 2 both play prominent roles in this novel.

The Hero: Thomas Henry Killian St. Claire is a man so steeped in the world of lies and the dangerous company that he keeps that it is hard to separate what is real and what is not when it comes to him. Killian has earned himself the reputation of being a ruthless mercenary who sells his skills to those who can afford his high price and is known as a man who has no compulsion in killing. Known as The Butcher amongst various circles, Killian had grown up in the streets of LA with a junkie mother and had never known his father. Little about Killian’s history is detailed in the story though his  bad-ass character appealed to me on so many levels and I wanted to know more about him. The actual reality of who Killian turns out to be is the real shocker in the story which I will not reveal in my review.

The Heroine: Anyone who has read the past 3 books in the Ice series would know and would have come to like the beautiful and impeccable Madame Isobel Lambert. Isobel had been handed over the reins of the Committee after her predecessor had been forced into retirement because the absolute power that had been in his hands had in the end corrupted him. Though everyone thinks Isobel is British, she is actually Mary Isobel Curwen from Vermont of USA. With a mother who had died when she was quite young and a father who had remarried and had no place for her in his new life, Isobel had just been 19 years old when she had packed her bags and made her way to England to join the Cordon Bleu in Paris. It is there that the naive yet stubborn headed Isobel with a passionate heart and innocent soul gets her first taste of lust, love, passion and ultimate betrayal at the hands of Killian the first man she shoots and leaves to his ultimate death. Isobel had then married her husband of 6 years, Stephan Lambert who had been 30 years older than her. Right after her husband’s death she had been recruited to the Committee and had never looked back. Though she is known as the Ice Queen or Iron Maiden, Isobel now 37 years old is a woman who has just about reached her limit in the endless life and death decisions that she has to make on a daily basis. Though no one knows it, Isobel has a habit of crying in her shower after a kill, not for the death of a person who had so obviously deserved it, but rather for pieces of her soul which she loses with every pull of the trigger.

Storyline: The Committee’s newest mission, bringing in Josef Serafin from somewhere in South Africa safely back to the UK, a man in his early forties who had made countless enemies everywhere with his life spent in circles of the most dangerous men around the world, selling his skill to the highest bidders is willing to impart valuable Intel on various terrorist organizations in the world with whom he had worked for in exchange for his safe passage into UK, becomes a doubly dangerous mission when Isobel realizes that Josef Serafin is none other than Killian, the one man she had loved and shot and left to his death almost 18 years ago. A straightforward mission that Isobel vows to herself would end up in herself killing Killian once and for all becomes something life threatening when death and mayhem waits for them at every turn, forcing Isobel to trust Killian and his ruthless determination in arriving in the UK safely. What Isobel doesn’t know is that Killian is actually on a mission that would bring stop to life as Isobel knows it, a mission which at the end would make Isobel’s hatred for him an absolute certainty.

The First Encounter: Isobel and Killian’s first encounter takes place 18 years prior to the beginning of the story when Killian becomes Isobel’s savior from a ruthless group of men who had been hellbent on raping and torturing the 19 year old Isobel who had just got lost in the streets of Plymouth on her way to her hostel.

Time period: This story has a contemporary setting and takes place in the UK, USA and regions of South Africa.

Narrative Form: This story is told in third person from both Killian and Isobel’s point of view. As I mentioned in the beginning of the review, heroes from the previous books also come into prominent roles in this story so at certain parts the story is narrated in third person from their points of views as well.

Awareness between the hero and heroine: When Killian had first met Isobel with her wild tangled mane of red hair with a smattering of freckles thrown into the mix, Killian had only had one intention, use her for his cover and discard her when he has no use for her any longer. But what Killian doesn’t count on is the 19 year old innocent Isobel’s ability to get under his skin and lodge herself deeply into his soul within the two weeks that he spends with her. And nor does he count on the fact that in Isobel’s arms is the only place that Killian is afraid that he might lose his legendary control and if he gives in he would never ever have a chance of getting back his emotions intact. The young and innocent Isobel had been played well and through and as she falls in love with the enigmatic and beautiful Killian by her side, so grows the intense awareness that she has of Killian as a man. From the first ruthlessly invigorating kiss that takes place between Kilian and Isobel to the 18 years they spent apart during which Isobel gets labeled as a frigid until Killian takes her in his arms again and drives home the point that she is not, this story packs a whole punch of emotions in the awareness department. I absolutely loved how Ms. Stuart managed to blend in the past with the present effectively giving the reader heady insights into the explosive relationship between Killian and Isobel.

The turning point: 18 years ago, Killian’s orders had been to kill Isobel and get rid of her once and for all after his use of her as a cover had run its course. But Killian who doesn’t acknowledge the fact that Isobel had come to mean something more to him than just a casual fuck walks away leaving her alive but drugged enough not to recall anything which is saying a lot for a man like himself who always puts his missions first. And even when they later meet, though Isobel knows that she wants to kill him and convinces herself that she is going to do just that, she is much more flustered than she lets on, when the man who had fueled her dreams for the past couple of years turns up once again in flesh, more appealing than ever, proving once again that she is vulnerable where he is concerned and always would be.

Likes:

  1. I absolutely loved the fact that this story was different from the other stories in the series such that there is prior history between the hero and heroine that makes their love so much more delicious and heady to read about. Their passion is explosive and ruthless at times and when it does finally break through the impeccable fortress around each of their hearts, these moments were the best parts in the story. I loved the fact that both Killian and Isobel are equals such that they both have lives that revolve around situations of life and death each and every day.
  2. Killian. Though there is not much of a history on his character, I flat out adored him right from the very beginning. Though he aims to be ruthless and puts his mission first above everything else, his humane nature comes into light with little Mahmoud he rescues from the throes of a suicide bomber, a little boy who is determined he would kill Killian one day, a mission that Killian is willing to see  gets fulfilled by giving the little boy a fighting chance to make something of himself.
  3. I absolutely reveled in revisiting characters of the past books in the Ice series. Scratch the need for an epilogue and give me Bastien served on a silver platter with each new story in the Ice series and I would go to sleep a happy woman every night! LOL! Did you all just get the fact that I love Bastien. Yes, I do!
  4. It was interesting to see how Ms. Stuart lays down the foundation for the next and last story in the Ice series, starring the cousin of Takashi O’Brien who undeniably has a fiery and rather unwanted attraction towards Takashi’s wife’s sister-in-law. This story was begging to be told from the end of the last book. And I am so looking forward to how Reno’s highly unusual character would fare as a recruit for the Committee.

Dislikes: None.

Recommended for:

  1. Fans of the Ice series from Anne Stuart.
  2. Fans of romantic suspense.

Favorite Quotes

Her body hurt. He hadn’t meant to hurt her – in fact, she was probably to blame for it. She’d pushed him. He’d pushed her. They’d done everything she could think of and then things she’d never imagined, as the long, endless hours stretched into the night and beyond, and she’d taken him every way she could. And now she was lying in his arms, entwined with him, her body aching, her soul hurting, her heart ready to explode. They’d had rough sex, kinky sex, silly sex, deliciously nasty sex. And then, God help her, they’d made love. He’d moved deep inside her body, his eyes looking into hers, his hands cradling her face with devastating gentleness, and he’d been motionless as he came inside her. And then he’d said, “I love you.”

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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by mvbookreviewer

Short & Sweet Review: Ice Blue by Anne Stuart

Format: E-bookice blue
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: Ice, Book 3
Publisher: Mira
Hero: Takashi O’Brien
Heroine: Summer Hawthorne
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: April 1, 2007
Started On: November 16, 2010
Finished On: November 17, 2010

I have finished the 3rd book in my crazed craving for the “gamma” heroes that Anne Stuart creates so effectively, i.e. those heroes that you hate to love. Her stories aren’t definitely for the ideal romantic, but rather who can take the darker side of their heroes and still love them in the end. Its a good thing that there are still 2 more books in the Ice series left for me to go through. Hopefully by the end of the 5th book my hunger for “gamma” heroes would have been fed and appeased – or not!

The Hero: Takashi O’Brien is definitely not your average romance book hero. Though he is described as one of the most beautiful males the heroine has laid her eyes on with his high perfect cheekbones, exotic eyes of an indeterminate shade on a narrow face with a rich full mouth and hair long and silky black, Takashi is different such that he is half-Japanese and half-American. I have certainly never come across a hero who is a mix of Japanese and American in a novel before and that makes Takashi doubly appealing from my point of view. A member of the Yakuza family, one of Japan’s organized crime family, Takashi is one of the most valuable assets of The Committee headed by the cool and level-headed Isobel Lambert. Takashi had grown up with a grandfather who had never approved of him, mainly because of his tainted American blood and the eventual suicide of his beautiful and self-absorbed mother. Known as the King of Death, readers of the Ice series first come across Takashi in the 2nd book of the series Cold as Ice which I reviewed earlier. Having barely survived from the tortures inflicted on him by a mad man who had been hellbent on driving the world into financial chaos, Takashi has promised himself that he wouldn’t ever hesitate on doing what needs to be done on a mission, no matter how difficult.

The Heroine: 28 year old Summer Hawthorne, daughter of the beautiful, vivacious and self-absorbed Lianne, has an advanced degree in Asian Art and works as a junior curator at the Sansone Museum in California. Summer has had a less than ideal childhood when she had faced the dark and perverted side of human nature when she had just been around 5 years of age. It is her Japanese nanny Hana Hayashi who had mothered her, disciplined her and showered her with unconditional love, something her mother had never had the time for. The untimely death of her nanny in an accident had thrown Summer into a tailspin and she had attempted suicide the scars of which she carries till today. Summer thrives on keeping her emotions in check, a tight rein on her feelings something which she has learned to do since the last time she had broken down and cried her heart out when her nanny had died. With blond hair, blue eyes and average looks and slightly overweight in mannequin standards, Summer likes the quiet in her life something which she works hard to cultivate. The only person Summer cares more than anything else is her half sister Jilly who gets her own story in the 5th book of this series.

Storyline: Summer holds in her possession a Hayashi Urn left with her by her beloved nanny for safekeeping, something which The True Realization Fellowship, a religious cult group based in Japan would kill for. Shirosama, the head of this worldwide spiritual movement is determined to acquire the Hayashi Urn at any cost as it is a vital part of his plans on cleansing the world and being reborn as the holy man he is supposed to become. Powerful enough to initiate the launch of several deadly attacks simultaneously all over the world to fulfill his purpose, Shirsama comes under the radar of The Committee for his nefarious plans on wiping out more than half of the world’s population to fulfill his madman mission. When Summer is kidnapped on her way to her car after the opening reception of the Sansone Museum by Shirsama’s followers, Summer who has no inkling of the powerful artifact in her hands barely survives the attempt when rescue comes in the form of deadly Takashi O’Brien who spins her world out of control from the first get go. Though Summer doesn’t know it at first, it is Takashi’s mission is to obtain the original Hayashi Urn and then kill Summer, the only person in the world who knows the location of the holy shrine which Shirsama needs in order to fulfill his affairs.

The First Encounter: Summer and Takashi’s first encounter takes place when Summer is rescued by Takashi after being thrown into the trunk of a limo by Shirsama’s goons who have orders to bring Summer in alive, to coerce the information he requires by using whatever means necessary.

Time period: This story has a contemporary setting and takes place in the US, Japan and later in the UK.

Narrated in: The main story is told from Takashi and Summer’s point of  view though there is a mix of other points of views of other main characters within the story as it unfolds.

Awareness between the hero and heroine: Takashi O’Brien is a man who is known for his brilliant talent in seducing whatever he needs out of his mission. When a man of such lethal beauty whose interests lie in perfect mannequin like women finds himself helpless in his fascination for a bedraggled looking woman who is supposed to die at his hands, Takashi is at a loss as to how to control his wayward emotions. Summer whose childhood had scarred her from wanting physical contact with a man though she had tried hard with her 3 month boyfriend Scott, Summer is shocked to realize that the feelings coursing through her for a man so unlike any she had ever come across is desire to possess and be possessed in his powerful arms. The thing that I love most about the Ice series is this constant hum of awareness between the characters which heightens to unbearable levels before it explodes into the most rousing acts of coming together between the hero and heroine.

The turning point: Though Takashi is determined that he wouldn’t fail on his mission to kill Summer, the fact that he is reluctant to and he cannot go through with any of his subtle attempts on her life is a major turning point for a man like Takashi. Though he doesn’t want to admit it to himself, Summer gets under his skin in more ways than one. Things reach their heady conclusion and point of no return after the first scene of seduction where Takashi is determined to wreak havoc on Summer’s emotions and finds himself for the first time ever in loss of control of his feelings which was one of the best parts of this story.

Ending: Of course, a happily ever after for Takashi and Summer.

Likes:

  1. Takashi O’Brien. Anyone who has read my reviews on the past 2 books of the Ice series would know that I gave my heart unconditionally to Bastien Toussiant, hero from the 1st book, Black Ice in the series. Takashi comes in a close second plance to Bastien with his ruthlessness but a tenderness deep within him that refuses to be ignored when Summer comes into the picture.
  2. Summer Hawthorne. Though some readers found her to be lacking I found her refreshingly likable. Summer is a heroine who knows when to fight and when to accept what Takashi rouses in her 28 year old dormant set of emotions.
  3. Loved the scene where Takashi loses his legendary control, without even being aware of it. Mmm.. sign me up for the next American-Japanese hero ladies!
  4. Loved the ending! Brought forth a lot of emotions in me which I revel in as a reader.
  5. Loved the continuous unending adventure that never ceases to entertain in these books. There is a perfect balance of romance, adventure and pure evil in Stuart’s books that is a heady combination.

Dislikes: None.

Recommended for:

  1. Fans of romantic suspense who can stand gamma heroes.
  2. Fans of Anne Stuart.

Favorite Quotes

She’d shut herself off again, and as the morning light filled the car he let himself watch her. She was pale and drawn, with violet patches beneath her eyes, the scattering of golden freckles across her nose. She’d managed to braid her long hair again, but it was coming loose, tangling on her shoulders. He wanted to untie her hair and bury his face in it, breathe in the smell of it.
Hell, it probably smelled of smoke and ashes from the explosion they’d just barely managed to outrun. Her skin would smell of fear. But he wanted to drown in it anyway.
He was insane. Out of his fucking mind, and she had no idea.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Cold As Ice by Anne Stuart

Format: E-bookcold as ice
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: Ice, Book 2
Publisher: MIRA
Hero: Peter Jensen (Peter Madsen)
Heroine: Genevieve Spenser
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: November 1, 2006
Started On: November 8, 2010
Finished On: November 16, 2010

I started out on Cold As Ice right after I was done with Black Ice. I knew that this story would offer a hero a bit mellower and a bit more humane than Bastien Toussaint (Sigh!) and I was right in believing so. Peter Jensen though described as someone who has ice running through his veins is far more in touch with his emotions and it is far easier to deduce his feelings towards the heroine than it was with Bastien that makes Peter more appealing as a hero to readers in general. But for me, Bastien still tops the list and still manages to invoke a shiver or two (of the good kind) whenever I think of him. ^.^

The Hero: Peter Jensen or Peter Madsen is the best at what he does. English to the core, Peter is the son of Richard Madsen, a London policemen who was a sullen bully of a man who on many occasions shows his authority over his wife Kimberly Wemberley Madsen and son with his fists. Peter can never understand how someone as prissy to the core as his mother had been attracted to a bully like his father. Kimberly had tried hard to mold Peter into someone worthy enough for the high society from which she comes from. But all her efforts had been wasted on a boy who had been ridiculed and bullied upon by his peers until he had learned to fight dirty to come out at the top. When Daniel Conley, the son of a powerful Parliament member who had a legion of followers around him to make him feel like God had taken an averse pleasure in hurting Peter real good, what he had done  to Daniel in return had been what had recruited him as one of the most lethal agents of The Committee. Lethal with a gun and almost effective with a dozen other weapons, fluent in five languages and someone who could be straight or gay based on the mission, Peter is a valuable asset to The Committee. Being in love only once with a hideous scar on his body to show for it and a failed marriage under his belt, Peter doesn’t do emotions and has never second guessed himself on a mission ever. That is until Ms. Genevieve Spenser comes in on his latest mission and rocks his world in more ways than one.

The Heroine: Genevieve Spenser is junior partner at Roper, Hyde, Camui and Fredericks and is not a woman without her own nightmares to haunt her at night. With blond hair, brown eyes and 15 pounds overweight and thirty years old, Genevieve had grown up with parents who had maintained the illusion of being rich and well bred. Fresh out of law school, Genevieve had held the belief that she could do some good and make a difference and had worked as a public prosecutor in the poor are of Clinton County, New York and she had been so good at domestic abuse cases that Genevieve had amassed a large number of angry and hostile husbands who would like nothing better than to wring her neck for locking them away. And when one of those angry husbands had come looking for her whilst she was working late and trussed her up real good, Genevieve had packed her bags and moved to New York with her pills to keep the nightmares at bay.

Storyline: People Magazine’s Sexiest Man of the Year Harry Van Dorn is a billionaire who has fooled many a people to think him just your average philanthropic rich man. But in reality, Harry is one sick bastard who thinks him above the law, has the kinkiest and filthiest cravings ever and has set his sights on bringing the world to financial ruin by his brilliant Rule of Seven plan. Peter Jensen has been working undercover, as his personal assistant for the past 3 months to try and figure out what the Rule of Seven consists of. With no other option at hand as the date of execution of his plan draws nearer, The Committee makes the decision to eliminate Harry and finish him up once and for all. When Genevieve who had been about to embark on a six week sabbatical to the rain forests of Costa Rica needs to get some papers signed by Harry, one of the most prestigious clients of her law firm, Genevieve becomes collateral damage on a mission whose timely execution is crucial to the whole world’s stability. For someone like Peter who has never killed innocents, Genevieve poses a problem and a far greater threat on his ice clad control and emotions as for the first time in his 38 years of life, Peter goes against orders and tries to save the woman who is slowly driving him to insanity as she tries to thwart his protection at every turn.

The First Encounter: Peter and Genevieve’s first encounter takes place aboard Seven Sins, Harry’s luxury cruise liner. Though Genevieve doesn’t understand why, Peter the impeccable PA of Harry rubs her emotions raw right from the very start.

Time period: This story has a contemporary setting and takes place in different locations all over the world.

Narrated in: This story is told from both Peter and Genevieve’s point of view. Added into the mix are the thoughts and actions of Harry as well as Madame Isobel Lambert the current head of The Committee.

Awareness between the hero and heroine: For someone like Genevieve who cringes at the mere thought of going near a man since the violence that erupted in her life at the hands of an angry murderous husband of a client, when Peter rouses in her feelings she has never encountered before, Genevieve is more or less appalled at the thought of her emotions being fickle enough to go haywire around a terrorist such as Peter Jensen. But needless to say, Genevieve is no match for a man like Peter who is ruthless enough to use sex as a weapon. But what Peter doesn’t count on is the huge hole that Genevieve carves out on his ice cold armor around his heart which tumbles him up real good. The constant bickering between mouthy Genevieve and Peter serves as foreplay on many a occasion and it is the constant hum of awareness and sexual zing between the two that makes this book so good a read.

The turning point: From the moment Genevieve steps on board the Seven Sins, Peter knows deep in his gut that nothing would ever be the same again. For him, keeping Genevieve alive in spite of the mission is a turning point itself in a man whose very pride lies in his ability to keep a clear head no matter the circumstance. For Genevieve, from the very first kiss to which she succumbs to though she tells herself over and over again that she doesn’t feel a thing for Peter is what lays the foundation of their relationship. When Peter finally gives all of himself to Genevieve, against his better judgment, there is no turning back for two people who have finally found their better half, under the most unlikely circumstances.

Ending: A happily ever after for Peter and Genevieve.

Likes:

  1. Thank God for the fact that the ending in this one wasn’t so abrupt.
  2. One of the things I love about novels by Anne Stuart is the fact that the hero and heroine both go through a period of separation from one another towards the ending which makes the story a better one for me all around. I want the hero and heroine to have to work for their happily ever after as no one passes those around on silver platter in real life.
  3. Revisiting Bastien and Chloe. That just made my day!

Dislikes: None, though an epilogue in one of her books would nice. Just saying! ^.^

Recommended for:

  1. Fans of Anne Stuart.
  2. Fans of romantic suspense who love their heroes just a tad darker than your average alpha hero.

Favorite Quotes

“How could you do that to me?” she whispered. “You took everything. How could you?”
He really had no choice. He pulled her into his arms, holding her tight against his body. He’d broken her completely. It had been the smartest thing he could do, what he was best at. He should feel satisfaction. Mission accomplished. And instead, he felt as if he’d lost everything as well.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Black Ice by Anne Stuart

Format: E-bookBlack Ice
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: Ice, Book 1
Publisher: MIRA
Hero: Bastien Toussaint
Heroine: Chloe Underwood
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: May 1, 2005
Started On: November 8, 2010
Finished On: November 8, 2o10

Anyone who reads romances as much as I do would have come across their fair share of heroes who are rakes, bad boys and those wickedly irredeemable men that draws a collective sigh from us female readers and makes us want to be the one who would tame the big bad boy he is grown into. Anne Stuart takes her heroes just a tad further and create heroes who have something extra that gives them an edge compared to heroes created by other authors. Her heroes are a bit darker, a bit more ruthless and they stay true to their form without coming off as a wimp at the first sight of the heroine in the story. Sometimes I tend to feel cheated out of the hype that the author tends to create with alpha heroes, painting a picture of them leading lives that have no place for a woman beside them, and suddenly at the first scent of their life partner they become the complete antithesis of their true form overnight. Thus reading about a hero such as Bastien completely made my day and has certainly whetted my appetite for more of the heroes of the “gamma” type that Ms. Stuart creates so well.

The Hero: Bastien Toussaint, 32 years of age is a man who walks a fine line between life and death in his work for an organization named The Committee, who believes that the end justifies the means no matter who or what is sacrificed in the end. Bastien has been truly honed and trained to be a ruthless and efficient killing machine since he was recruited for the organization when he was in his early twenties. Bastien had been born to a mother who had never wanted him in the first place, who had been forced to carry him to term because one of her more possessive lovers had thought the child to be his until he had known otherwise and walked out, which by the time it had been too late to get rid of Bastien. Life had hardly being idyllic for Bastien and he had followed around after his globe-trotting mother until at the age of 15 he had left home with a woman twice his age and never looked back. His current mission has been 2 years in the making and Bastien is deep undercover with a group of ruthless killers who are into arms dealing which The Committee wants an eye kept on.

The Heroine: Chloe Underwood, 23 years old is the youngest of the Underwood siblings and had grown up in the North Carolina mountainous area and has a love for languages and cooking. Fluent in French, Italian, Spanish, German with a healthy smattering of Russian and German and few bits of Arabic and Japanese, Chloe has withstood the constant pressure from her family to bow down to family tradition and enroll in medical school something which Chloe who is squeamish at the sight of blood has vowed to resist with every fiber of her being. Chloe had arrived in Paris two years back on a student visa finds work translating children’s books, a job which her vivacious friend Sylvia had found for her. Chloe yearns for a  bit of excitement in her otherwise completely dull life and gets more than she has bargained for when she meets Bastien Toussaint.

Storyline: When Sylvia pleads Chloe to take a translation job for a bunch of boring businessmen to earn a couple of hundred of Euros, Chloe though at first reluctant is no match to her friend’s persuasive nature. What Chloe thinks would be a relaxed laid back weekend at a countryside chateau turns into the most frightening experience of Chloe’s life and delivers her life with the “excitement” she has been craving for when she finds herself on the run for her life with the enigmatic Bastien acting as her savior, a man she finds more dangerous to her heart and desires than the ruthless killers who are determined that she would not live to see another day.

The First Encounter: It is when Chloe arrives at the chateau and introductions are made to the group of businessmen to whom she would be acting as a translator that Chloe lays eyes on the enigmatic and dangerous Bastien Toussaint. The attraction she feels is immediate and takes her unawares with the first glance from the fathomless dark eyes of Bastien.

Time period: This story has a contemporary setting and takes place in France and later in North Carolina, USA.

Narrated in: This story is told in both the hero and heroine’s point of view.

Awareness between the hero and heroine: From the first minute that Chloe lays her eyes on the vital and sinfully handsome Bastien, a relentless attraction takes a hold of her regardless of the fact that Bastien seems to be interested in Chloe as much as he would be for a block of wood. At first, for Bastien who has always had a ruthless command on his emotions and never lets himself feel anything except be on the lookout for his own hide, Chloe is just part of his job, a sore thumb that sticks out from the ruthless negotiations taking place in the chateau. Even then, it is Bastien’s fascination with Chloe that makes him put his cover and life on the line to save her, just in the nick of time. Even on the run, Bastien keeps his emotions and need to touch and feel Chloe reined in, because he knows that if he gives in, he would never be able to stop with just one taste.

The turning point: Chloe challenges everything that Bastien has believed of himself until now when he becomes her savior from the throes of a ruthless killer hellbent on enjoying taunting Chloe with her imminent death. On the run, it is just Chloe and Bastien as the hunger between them surges out of control making this book one of the best of its kind.

Ending: Till towards the very last pages of the story, Bastien manages to keep the readers guessing on his exact feelings towards Chloe though it is evident from his actions that she is the most important person to her in the whole world. Though the ending was a bit abrupt for my taste, it still delivered the happily ever after which Bastien and Chloe deserve at the very end.

Likes:

  1. Bastien Toussaint. I just totally loved his character which didn’t just change overnight into this wimpy puddle of everlasting love at the mere sight of Chloe. Bastien is ruthless to the point where certain readers might find him offensive, but I found his ruthlessness further enhanced his attraction. The way he saves Chloe even though he is unsure of what it is exactly that Chloe manages to invoke in his cynical and ice cold heart just made my heart go Aww!! every single time! And the scenes where he sleeps with Chloe in his arms… Sigh!!
  2. Some reviewers have found Chloe to be a more doormat sort of heroine but I found her to be just the right match for a man like Bastien. Chloe is no doormat mind you, but a woman who is helplessly ensnared by the heady attraction she has for a man ruthless enough to kill anyone who comes after her regardless of the fact he or she is friend or foe. How Chloe manages to chip away at the ice cold armor around his heart is what made Chloe an endearing heroine for me.

Dislikes: I was really disappointed with the fact that the ending seemed kind of abrupt. I wish that Ms. Stuart had provided us with a good epilogue that would have made saying goodbye to Bastien just a trifle bit easier for me.

Favorite Quotes

It was the kiss of a man in love, and for a moment she simply floated, lost in the perfect beauty of his mouth on hers.

Sigh! I just can’t help listen to Truly, Madly, Deeply by Savage Garden and sigh and moon over Bastien.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

outstandingread

by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Soldier and the Baby by Anne Stuart

Format: E-booksoldier
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: American Romance, #573
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Reilly
Heroine: Carlie Forrest aka Sister Maria Carlos
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: February 1, 1995
Started On: August 31, 2010
Finished On: September 1, 2010

I found this book when I was searching for recommendations on titles where the hero and heroine are forced to come together under circumstances and endure an adventure together being one with the nature. These types of books have a certain appeal for me and I bet for most romance readers because the plot line tends to create a unique set of circumstances that bring out the best and worst in each of the characters involved, and if the writer is especially good, you get awesome tension and romance to go along with hair raising adventure trying to escape from mean bad asses.

Reilly, a retired soldier who lived a solitary life up on the mountains in Colorado owes his army buddy Billy Morrisey more than his life. When his buddy had been killed by renegade soldiers in San Pablo requesting that he take back his wife and new born child from the war torn country of San Pablo in Central America, its the least that Reilly could do. Though the stories that he had heard about Billy’s wife Caterina were less than flattering, he owed his buddy and he would push his personal feelings aside and get the job done and trek through the swamp forests in San Pablo one last time to get her and the baby to safety. Tall, whipcord lean with long hair, a mean looking gun strapped to his waist and handsome enough to take a woman’s breathe away, Reilly was a force to be reckoned with under any circumstances.

Carlie Forrest had spent the first 10 years of her life in California where her parents had ministered to migrant workers. The next 7 years had been spent in a variety of places and she had always waited on the sidelines so that her parents would notice her and remember her existence when their lives always seemed so full of the people they wanted to help. Their ending had been brutal and bloody whilst Carlie had watched on shocked and unable to do anything whilst the entire village with her parents had been gunned down by rebels. Relief workers who had discovered her had taken her to the convent Our Lady of Repose where Mother Ignacia and the other sisters had worked their soothing magic on her. Now 9 years later, Carlie was convinced that she was destined to be Sister Maria Carlos for life though Mother Ignacia kept stalling and asking her to reconsider whether being a nun for life was what Carlie really wanted or whether it was escape from something else that she craved.

With the army and rebels tearing through the country, all the sisters had fled to Brazil. Carlie had stayed behind because one of the sisters was too sick to be moved and Caterina Rosaria Morrisey de Mendino was too far along in her pregnancy, almost ready to give birth and couldn’t travel. Being the only person with any medical training, Carlie had stayed behind to see to the two patients. When the sister had died and Caterina also died right after childbirth extracting the promise from Carlie that she would take care of little Timothy Morrisey for her until her husband came looking for him, Carlie is at a loss to what to do. Being in a war torn country presented enough danger as it is to a woman who was alone with no weapons to protect her. On top of that Timothy was the grandson of the notorious Hector Mendino, deposed and executed dictator of San Pablo which made Timothy a target from both sides participating in the war.

When Carlie lays her eyes on Reilly he knows that he is not Caterina’s husband though Reilly assumes that the woman who just stepped out of the shower looking delectably sinful was the famous Caterina who had fled from her husband because their marriage had hit a rough patch and when things had gone sour in San Pablo had wanted her husband to come to her rescue. Though her flashing blue eyes and protective nature towards the baby puts her at odds with what Reilly knows about her, he is more than convinced that she is Caterina.

Carlie goes along with the plan on making Reilly think that she is Timothy’s mother. Suddenly Carlie who had led nothing more than a sedate peaceful life for the past 9 years feels all extremities of emotions in the presence of the larger than life Reilly. The way he makes her blood heat with a single look or touch makes Carlie question for the first time whether being a nun is what she really wants in life.

With danger from the rebels closing in on them at every turn they take, Carlie has no choice but to rely and trust Reilly who truly had the power to bring her to her knees. When Reilly realizes that Carlie is not what he had assumed her to be, and that he had nearly defiled a woman of God, he is more than furious to say the least. However he cannot help his desire for the willful woman who so courageously treks right alongside of him and coos nonsense to the baby she holds in her arms. And right in the midst of the war torn San Pablo, Reilly who had never ever loved, falls head over heels in love with the one woman he cannot have.

This was a good read with enough tension between Reilly and Carlie plus good adventure to keep the pages turning. I sometimes felt like knocking on Carlie’s head a time or two for her stubborn willfulness but then again, Carlie’s life hadn’t really prepared her for the shock of one of the finest specimens of the male species wreaking havoc on her senses.

Favorite Quotes

“One man’s democracy is another man’s fascism” 

Purchase Links: Amazon

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Into The Fire by Anne Stuart

Format: E-bookintothefire
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Mira
Hero: Dillon Gaynor
Heroine: Jamie Kincaid
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: August 1, 2003
Started On: August 31, 2010
Finished On: August 31, 2010

My first Anne Stuart certainly didn’t disappoint. I have always wanted to try out one of her books since all her fans rave about the fact that she writes about the most cold heroes ever. Since I am a big fan of cold, aloof and tortured heroes I have been meaning to give her Ice series a try. I did start reading Anne Stuart’s To Love a Dark Lord, a book that seemed to be getting rave reviews but turned out I was bored after the first couple of pages. But this book managed to hook me from the very beginning and I just had to finish it or most probably I would have stayed up all night to do so.

Jamie Kincaid, the adopted daughter of Isobel and Victor Kincaid has always known that when it comes to the affections of her mother whom she loves dearly, she has always come at a weak second place to Nate Kincaid, Isobel’s nephew whom she had taken under her care when Nate’s parents had died a tragic death in a fire when Nate was 10 years old. Everyone had loved the charming feckless Nate with his glorious good looks and easy charm. For Jamie, the arrival of Nate had been a godsend. She had adored Nate and believed that he could do no wrong and had looked up to him like the older brother she would never have.

When Nate befriends Dillon Gaynor, the bad boy from the wrong side of town, no one approves of their wild ways and their relationship. Dillon who had been abandoned by his mother when he was 8 years old to a drunken father had dropped out of high school right before graduation had always had a wild streak in him a mile wide. Getting into fights, getting drunk and high on weed and the women that flocked around him who craved getting into bed with the dangerous looking bad boy he is, Dillon was every innocent girls wildest fantasy. Jamie wasn’t immune to Dillon’s dangerous charm and though she tried to stay away from Dillon, somehow she always ended up craving his attention.

And then one fateful night, on Jamie’s prom night, she gets a taste of what Dillon can offer in his arms right after which she is raped brutally by Paul Jameson, quarterback of the football team and president of the student council. Jamie doesn’t know that Dillon served 18 months of his life in jail for beating Paul up within an inch of his life. Now twelve years later, Nate has been murdered and the police had really done nothing to find out what had happened. With Isobel going deeper into depression everyday, Jamie was finally forced to seek out Dillon, the man she wants to avoid at all costs to get some answers and to get closure for all their sakes.

Dillon lives in a run down part of Wisconsin and Jamie’s first impression that although Dillon had become more handsome and rugged the past couple of years, nothing had really changed. Though Jamie helplessly responds to Dillon on a level that she has found impossible to connect with another man, Jamie doesn’t trust Dillon within an inch of her life. But when she is stranded with her car requiring repairs, her purse containing her identification lost, Jamie has no choice but to reside at the dismal lodgings that Dillon calls home.

Right from the beginning, Jamie feels an evil presence watching and waiting in the derelict building that served to be the deathbed of Nate. Though Dillon wants nothing to do with Jamie with whom he had been obsessed with since forever, and though he believes that he would never be good enough for Jamie, the invisible connection that seems to grow stronger with every minute they spend together finally culminates in Dillon having the best sex of his life. Dillon wanted nothing more than to bed Jamie and send her packing, but the best laid plans always have a way of getting screwed up.

Things start going awry right from the very beginning and though neither Dillon nor Jamie believes in ghosts, it feels as if they are being haunted and hunted by a ghostly presence who nearly manages to kill the one woman who means the world to Dillon. Like all reviewers have mentioned, this book certainly has a dark edge to it that I just loved. I loved the fact that Dillon though reformed somewhat, essentially remained the bad boy he was which made him real appealing as the hero. And Jamie though she does start out as a scared and witless woman, the way she fights for the man she loves won her my wholehearted approval in the end.

Needless to say I loved the book and will definitely be going back for more of Anne Stuart’s fabulous books.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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