Book Binge

Casee's review of Burn by Linda Howard.

Money certainly changes Jenner Redwine’s life when she wins a lottery jackpot. But it also costs her plenty: Her father rips her off and disappears, her fortune-hunting boyfriend soon becomes her ex, and friends-turned-freeloaders give her the cold shoulder when she stops paying for everything.

Flush with new money, Jenner can’t imagine ever finding a place in the world of the wealthy. Seven years later, though, she’s rubbing elbows with the rich, despite the fact she still feels like a party crasher. Luckily she finds an ally–and a guide to the rarefied realm of privilege–in shy, kind-hearted heiress Sydney Hazlett, who quickly becomes Jenner’s confidante and surrogate sister.

When Sydney invites Jenner on a charity cruise aboard a luxury liner, Jenner reluctantly agrees. But while she’s expecting–and dreading–two weeks of masquerade balls, art auctions, and preening glitterati, what she gets is more like a Hitchcock movie than a Love Boat episode. Taken hostage by a menacing stranger, Jenner must cooperate in a mysterious cloak-and-dagger scheme–or else. With nowhere to run, and with Sydney’s life as well as her own at risk, Jenner is drawn into a game of dizzying intrigue and harrowing danger. But as her panic gives way to exhilaration, and fear of her captor turns to fascination, Jenner rediscovers feelings she hasn’t had in years–and realizes she’s found a life worth living. If she survives.

This was a good book, yet it lacked that something that I no longer expect, but still hope for. The suspense was good (if not predictable) and the romantic element in the book was also good. So what was missing? I'm not sure. I liked both the characters, but they are forgettable.

I loved the first part of the book. Reading about Jenner winning the lottery was so much fun. Just thinking about something like that happening to a normal person is just, well, fun. Her reaction to winning really establishes what kind of woman Jenner is; smart and tough. She doesn't count on anyone for anything. Over the next seven years, she is part of the "rich" crowd. Still, she only has one friend. A friend that she will do anything for.

Cael Traylor has been hired to listen in on the ship's owner, Frank Larkin. The only way he can do that is to get in one of the rooms on either side of Larkin's. Jenner and Sydney's suite seems the most obvious, so they kidnap Sydney and tell Jenner that she only has to do what they say to get her friend back.

Cael knew Jenner would be trouble when he first looked at her picture. What he didn't know was that he would actually fall for the maddening woman. I really enjoyed the scenes where Jenner would say something in public that would put Cael in an embarrassing situation. For example, going to a 5:30am yoga class with a bunch of women.

So the subtle humor that is Linda Howard was definitely there. The only thing I really had a problem w/ was getting Larkin's POV. Not that I wouldn't have minded a page here and a page there. That's not what happened, there were just pages after pages of Larkin and how he was going to make the people on the charity cruise pay. How? By blowing it up. Btw, this isn't a spoiler, it is made clear from the beginning of part 2.

The end of the book was very "Titanic" and LH did a great job of engaging my emotions there. I think I teared up. Still, while the book was a good read, it's a forgettable one as well.

4 out of 5.

This book is available from Ballantine. You can buy it here.

Rowena's review of Until You by Judith McNaught.

Hero: Stephen Westmoreland
Heroine: Sheridan Bromley
Grade: 2.75 out of 5

A teacher in a school for wealthy young ladies, Sheridan, Bromleigh is hired to accompany one of her students, heiress Charise Lancaster, to England to meet her fiancé. When her charge elopes with a stranger, Sheridan wonders how she will ever explain it to Charise's intended, Lord Burleton.

Standing on the pier, Stephen Westmoreland, the Earl of Langford, assumes the young woman coming toward him is Charise Lancaster — and informs her of his inadvertent role in a fatal accident involving Lord Burleton the night before. And just as Sheridan is about to speak, she steps into the path of a cargo net loaded with crates!

Sheridan awakens in Westmoreland's mansion with no memory of who she is; the only hint of her past is the puzzling fact that everyone calls her Miss Lancaster. All she truly knows is that she is falling in love with a handsome English earl, and that the life unfolding before her seems full of wondrous possibilities...

I am a huge Judith McNaught fan. I love her writing. I love her books and when I opened up this book for the first time, all those many years ago, I expected to love this book as well. Only, I didn't. Not really. You see, I'm not a fan of amnesia stories. I can not stand those storylines. This was one of those storylines and the way that everything went down when the shit hit the fan got on my nerves.

I guess my main issue with the storyline, because believe it or not, it wasn't the whole amnesia thing. It was the hero. The Stephen Westmoreland in this book was not the same Stephen that I met and fell in love with in Whitney, My Love. When I first met Stephen the night that Whitney went to Claymore to try to win Clayton back, I loved him. LOVED HIM! I couldn't wait to read his book but then I started reading this book and though he was a great guy in the beginning, the more I read this book, the more that I thought...this isn't the same guy.

It was like the Stephen I knew and loved in W,ML disappeared for a few years and came back this darker, meaner guy that nobody likes. It didn't change when I read this book again a few weeks ago. I couldn't get over it then and it seems that I still can't get over it now.

Sharidan was a good solid heroine who didn't deserve the way she was treated by Stephen in this book. I could see if she had manipulated Stephen, if she did all of his misleading intentionally and even though it took her quite a while to tell Stephen the truth, I still couldn't forgive Stephen for the way that he treated Sharidan afterward.

This book isn't my favorite book by Judith McNaught but it's still not the worst book I've ever read. I enjoyed getting to see the other couples from the other books filter back into this book and Judith McNaught did a great job of not letting them steal Stephen and Sharidan's thunder. I didn't feel as if the book was crowded with too many couples. I felt like I had come to a party and met up with lots of old friends. I enjoyed getting to know Julianna Skeffington in this book too. I was glad that Sharidan wasn't completely alone and that she had a friend in someone even though Julianna's mother got on my hot damn diggity nerves.

Overall this book just wasn't my cup of tea. I'm not a fan of amnesia stories and not even the great Judith McNaught could change my mind about this. So my annoyance with this book is more a thing of preference because I'm sure there will be other people who will adore this book but for me, it fell flat.

This book is available from Pocket. You can buy it here.

The winner of Laid Bare is...

Amy Kathryn!

Email your mailing info to contests @ thebookbinge . com (no spaces). Congratulations!

Remember, Laid Bare will be released on August 4th. Pre-order your copy here.

Ames' review of The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer

The Grand Sophy has arrived...

And when Sir Horace Stanton-Lacy is ordered to South America on Diplomatic Business he parks his only daughter, Sophy, with his sister in Berkley Square. Sophy can immediately see that her cousins are in a sad tangle: Charles is engaged to a bluestocking, and Cecilia's in love with a poet of all things. It seems Sophy has gotten there just in time...

And the Hon. Charles Rivenhall's life will never be the same...

While Sophy is going to outrageous lengths to solve everyone else's problems, she finds that she herself might have some big surprises in store.

Summary: The Grand Sophy is about a young lady who turns everyone’s life upside down, but all in a good way. She’s a charmer is what she is. It all starts when her father gets posted to Brazil. Sir Horace, Sophy’s father, is a diplomat and has lived all over Europe. Vienna, Spain, Belgium…you name it. And Sophy has followed him everywhere. But she can’t go to Brazil so Sir Horace asks his sister if she’ll take Sophy in for a few months. Lady Ombersley would gladly take her in, but is unsure how her eldest, Charles Rivenhall would feel about it. You see, Lord Ombersley and everyone else in the household kind of bows down to Charles. Charles saved the family from their father’s ruinous gaming debts and now they listen to him. Charles isn’t a bad sort of guy, he just wishes things to be done properly and doesn’t suffer fools. But he has no quibble with “young, quiet Sophy” staying with them temporarily.

What a surprise everyone is in for!

Sophy shows up about a week later than expected (which is shocking enough, a woman travelling on her own) and she doesn’t come alone. She has Tina, an Italian greyhound and Jacko, a little monkey, as well as a parrot in her menagerie. She immediately creates a little tornado of energy around her and she can see that her relatives are a bit melancholy and that they need some livening up. Of course Charles is upset by this change in environment and always tries to thwart Sophy’s style.

Ok, dear reader, you must have figured something out here – Sophy and Charles are cousins, but they’re also the h/h. In my head, I just fibbed the facts a little bit in my head and said “Self, things were different back in the day.” Boy were they ever.

So here’s the deal: Sophy’s young cousin Cecilia was almost engaged to a Lord Charlbury, but before that announcement was announced she fell for a young poet who although from a good family, would not be a good match for her. Also, Charles himself is engaged to a Miss Wrexton, a prim and proper fussy lady who cannot stand Sophy. So Sophy goes about getting Cecilia back with Lord Charlbury and breaking up Charles' engagement. She doesn't want Charles for herself, but all she knows is that Miss Wrexton is all wrong for him.

My Thoughts: Right from the very first page I was sucked into Sophy’s crazy little world. In any other writer's hand, I'm sure Sophy would come off as insufferable and a little miss know it all. But Sophy is molded by Georgette Heyer's genius and she's a great character. She is a miss know it all, but she also recognizes her faults. She admits when she might have gotten herself into a somewhat dangerous situation...once or twice and she knows she has a terrible temper that makes her act rashly. But these are all endearing things. She's smart, independent, and kind-hearted. She also bows down to propriety when it suits her needs.

Ames' review of Would-Be Witch (Southern Witch, Book 1) by Kimberly Frost

In the small town of Duvall, Texas, the only thing that causes more trouble than gossip - is magic.

The family magic seems to have skipped over Tammy Jo Trask. All she gets are a few untimely visits from long-dead, smart-mouthed family ghost Edie. But when her locket—an heirloom that happens to hold Edie's soul—is stolen in the midst of a town-wide crime spree, it's time for Tammy to find her inner witch.

After a few experiences with her dysfunctional magic, Tammy turns to the only person in small-town Duval, Texas, who can help: the very rich and highly magical Bryn Lyons. He might have all the answers—and a 007 savoir faire to boot—but the locket isn't the only heirloom passed down in Tammy's family. She also inherited a warning: stay away from anyone named Lyons.

Tammy Jo comes from a long line of witches. Unfortunately, the family magic seems to have skipped her over and the only thing she can do is watch over her aunt Edie's locket. But Tammy even has trouble with that! At a costume party, some robbers crash in and everyone believes they're part of the entertainment. But when valuables are stolen (among them Edie's locket), the party-goers realize that this is for real. So Tammy has to get Edie's locket back or Edie's soul will be lost forever in the ether of the universe (or something equally unpleasant). In an effort to retrieve the locket, Tammy Jo winds up in a bunch more scrapes. There's a flesh-eating zombie on the loose, some people wind up in a magical coma, there are werewolves out there and they are not the good guys. Then there's Bryn Lyons. Who's side is he on?

Ok, I really liked Tammy Jo. She's a cake baker/decorator by day (but she just got fired) and she used to be married to Zach, a real hunk of a policeman. But things didn't work out between them but they're still sleeping together. Love was never their problem and Zach still considers Tammy his wife. But oh ho ho! There's Bryn Lyons again, stirring up all kinds of trouble for Tammy. Bryn also gets Tammy a cat though, a really cool cat. So bonus for him. LOL

Woo hoo, another book to look forward to! Both Casee and I have reviewed the first book in the series.

THIS IS KNOW YOUR AVERAGE LOVE STORY

Jenna Langan knows what she wants, and as she tells her best friends after their weekly knitting group, she doesn’t need a man to give it to her…only a few of his best swimmers. And just because her marriage to undercover vice cop Gage Marshall ended badly doesn’t mean he can’t still give her the baby she’s always wanted. In fact, she’s willing to bet a couple of her favorite hand-knit boas that she can tie him up in knots he’ll definitely enjoy…

BUT TRUE LOVE IS MORE THAN JUST SKEIN DEEP

An unexpected seduction is one thing, but stud service? No, thank you. Gage had his reasons for pulling the plug on his happily ever after with Jenna, and nothing that’s happened since their divorce has changed his mind. That is, until Jenna got it into her head to tie him up and drag him down. Now he has no choice but to stick around until he knows for sure if his ex-wife is pregnant. But the more time he spends with Jenna, the more his resolve begins to unravel…

Ooh, I can't wait! Another one to keep your eyes out on. This book comes out on August 4, 2009 so that's in just a few days! Woot! If you haven't already, be sure to check out the first book in this series, Tangled Up in Love. Very cute! Mark your calendars everyone, a new Heidi Betts is coming out!

So who's excited with me about this book? And who's already got their book pre-ordered?

This book is available from St. Martin's Press. You can pre-order it here.

Rowena's review of So Still the Night by Kim Lenox.

Hero: Marcus Helios
Heroine: Willomina Limpett
Grade: 4.5 out of 5

Marcus Helios was a member of the Shadow Guard until one reckless act changed it all. His hope for salvation lies in an ancient scroll, which is now in the possession of an enigmatic beauty named Mina, who has no intention of handing it over.

But someone else has designs on the mystery of the scrolls, and on Mark. She is Jack the Ripper's jilted bride, whose own dark secrets will challenge the powers of everyone in her reach...

Before I get into the thick of my review for this book, can I just steer your attention to the cover of this book? I love it! The cover is what made me pick this book up in the first place. It's gorgeous and I want to lick that man on the cover. That's a fantastic Mark.

Now that I got that off my chest, let's move on to the review.

So Still the Night is the second book in the Shadow Guard series by Kim Lenox. I haven't read a Kim Lenox book before because I've been on a paranormal strike (with the exception of Sherrilyn Kenyon's DH books, I could never give those up...even though I want to). I haven't read a paranormal book aside from the DH books in YEARS. I just haven't wanted to touch one until now. Man oh man did I enjoy the heck out of this book.

It took me a little bit to get into the book because I was confused at the beginning, but I'm glad that I stuck with the book because it ended up being really good.

Mark used to be a member of the Shadow Guards, which is a group of immortal soldiers who protect innocent mortals from the brotoi. One reckless act brought Mark down because instead of hunting the brotoi like he was supposed to do, Mark is now the hunted. He's transcending, which means he's slowly turning into a brotoi, and he's doing everything in his power to stop that from happening because at his core, Mark is a good man. As each day passes, Mark is finding it harder and harder to stay on the right side of the tracks because the lure of evil is slowly driving him insane.

This part of the story reminded me of Dageus McKeltar from The Dark Highlander by Karen Marie Moning. That's a good thing because TDD is my absolute favorite book by KMM. Dageus is my favorite McKeltar (yum!) and it was that part of the book that kept me intrigued. I wondered what the heck was going on with him and why he would go through this episodes or spells as he called them and as the story began to unfold, I got excited.

I thought that Mark was a great hero, a dark soul who has never known love in its rarest form. He had neglectful parents who died when he was younger and he's got an estranged relationship with his twin sister, Selene. Seeing Mark change over the course of the book, seeing him soften toward Mina made me giddy with excitement for him. I thought he was a fantastic hero and I hope to see more of him in future books.

Mina was a regular young women who was thrown into the mix of all of this immortal business because her father held the scrolls that Mark needs and that other evil were trying to get as well. She never believed her father and all of his talk about immortals running the earth and she definitely didn't want to find herself married to one. The way she reacted to finding out what Mark truly was (immortal) was totally believable. I thought she reacted the same way any normal person would react and watching her soften toward Mark day after day of spending time with him, it made me go soft too. I really liked Mina's character because she wasn't one of those kick ass heroines who you know would kick your ass in the blink of an eye, but she wasn't one of those virginal heroines that got on your nerves either. She was honest and strong in her own way and just flat out normal. I loved her, thought she was great.

The way the whole story came together was a definite delight and I can't wait for more from Kim Lenox. I'm going to read the first book soon because I'm excited about this series. I definitely recommend this book/series to anyone looking for a rollicking good paranormal time. Kim Lenox definitely knows how to tell a story, I was entertained!

This book is available from Signet. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

Today is New Release Tuesday and while I'm always excited about that but today is different. Today Sam and Alyssa get another book and it's on bookshelves everywhere starting TODAY.

Woot!

Who got their book already and who's still waiting for theirs to come in just like me? I've got ants in my pants and I want to do a boogie dance because WOO HOO MORE SAM AND ALYSSA!

Other books that come out today that I'm excited for are:

...and so many more! What books came out today that you are mighty excited about?

Rowena's review of Mastered by Love by Stephanie Laurens.

Hero: Dalziel
Heroine: Miss Minerva Chesterson
Grade: 4 out of 5

The men of the Bastion Club proved their bravery secretly fighting for their country. Now their leader faces that most dangerous mission of all: finding a bride. As the mysterious leader of the Bastion Club known as "Dalziel," Royce Varisey, tenth Duke of Wolverstone, served his country for decades, facing dangers untold. But as the holder of one of England's most august noble titles, he must now take on that gravest duty of all: marriage. Yet the young ladies the grand dames would have him consider are predictably boring. Far more tempting is his castle's willful and determinedly aloof chatelaine, Minerva Chesterton. Beneath her serene façade lies a woman of smoldering sensuality, one who will fill his days with comfort and his nights with sheer pleasure. Determined to claim her, he embarks on a seduction to prove his mastery over every inch of her body . . . and every piece of her heart.

This is the last of the Bastion Club books. It's Dalziel's book and if you've been reading this series from the beginning then you have been wondering just who this Dalziel character is. He was the leader of the Bastion Club and finally, his story is told.

The mystery behind Dalziel is uncovered in the pages of Mastered by Love. This book was a story about a man who had to come to grips with the fact that he will never get a chance to square things away with his late father. He's thrown into the life that he was booted out of and he's trying to stay afloat, all the while trying to stay away from the one woman he cannot have. The only woman he desperately wants.

While reading this book, I have come to realize that Stephanie Laurens writes those old school historical novels that are very wordy, completely angst ridden and yet, still very engaging. Reading this book, took me back to when I was reading Christian's story The Edge of Desire. When I was reading that story, there were times when I thought I was never going to finish the book because there were just too many words but I did finish the book and I did enjoy it and that was the same way with this one.

The book itself was really good. The story was a solid storyline, one that got me into the story but there were times aplenty in this book where I wished that SL would have just chopped this story in half and called it a day. I think had she did that, my enjoyment would have soared through the roof because while I enjoyed the angst and the chemistry between the two main leads in this story, the drama got to be too much.

The third time that I picked up this book, I recall telling my niece Chelsea that I wished this book had less words in it. I didn't need so much detail about the setting and I didn't need to know all of the farmer's names, all of the families names on the Mom and the Dad's side, their baby mama drama and their birth dates and all of that. All of the words didn't make me put the book down. I was too invested in the story to quit on it but I wanted to and even though I loved both Royce and Minerva, I wanted their story to end and when it finally did, I rejoiced because I stuck with it.

So here are my thoughts, if you don't mind long winded descriptions on everything from the setting to the sex, then this is the book for you. I think all Bastion Club fans will enjoy this book because finally, finally we get to find out who Dalziel really is and I really liked who he was. I liked how the book ended. It was great to see the other people from the other series as well (Cynsters, although it was pretty crazy to see Devil BEFORE he was married). They were a delightful addition to this story and the way that Royce handled everything and everyone made me lust after him like a tramp. He was a great hero, Minerva was his perfect match and had this book been chopped in half, it probably would have gotten a 4.5 but because of the wordy-ness and the amount of time it took me to read this book, it gets just a 4.

Reading Order:


***GIVEAWAY ALERT: I have two copies of MASTERED BY LOVE that are up for grabs! If you want your name thrown in the hat for a shot at your very own copy of this book, leave a comment and you'll be automatically entered in the drawing! Good luck and happy reading!***

This book is available from Avon. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

Written on Your Skin is Meredith's new historical that will be out tomorrow, July 28th. To celebrate the release, Meredith is here to discuss what goes into researching a historical (and to giveaway copies of both Written on Your Skin and Bound by Your Touch).

Strange Pasts and Virtual Time Travel: An Ode to Great Research

Consider this: it’s the early 1890s. An American heiress from a “common as dirt” family takes out an advertisement in prominent London newspapers, seeking a chaperone to introduce her to all the right people. In response, a bona fide duchess offers to sponsor her debut for the small price of £2000 (plus, of course, various expenses – the rent on the duchess’s Mayfair house, the carriage and driver, the servants and grocery bills). The duchess also feels sure she can procure the heiress a well-born husband, “but not for the £2,000. Oh no! …That sum of money would take [one] only so far as Buckingham Palace.”

Sounds like the plot of a romance novel, right? I expect our heroine is the duchess, who is broke, widowed (but perhaps, somehow, still a virgin), and destined to fall in love with the heiress’s beau, a penniless but titled fortune hunter. The heiress, meanwhile, is most taken with the duchess’s stiff-lipped butler. In the end, love triumphs for everyone and the reader is satisfied, although she might roll her eyes at the plot premise and think, “Only in fiction would this happen.”

Except, of course, it did happen in real life – except for one small difference: the heiress was an American journalist who went undercover, posing as a midwestern heiress to prove to her English friends that money could, indeed, buy a social position in Victorian London. While she didn’t take the duchess up on her offer, you can read all about the other responses she received (as well as her stunt as an undercover housemaid in London’s finest homes) here.

(By the way, for those among you who haven't discovered Google Books and the New York Times archives yet, there's a great deal of fun to be had by googling odd terms in the date-restricted searches. For one fascinating story about an English conwoman that I pieced together recently, check out this piece.

I share this anecdote because it evidences how the past is at once stranger and more familiar than we give it credit for. Great novelists bring this feeling home in full. Consider, for instance, my Desert Island Keeper (DIK) shelf. Kinsale, Gaffney, Ivory, Thomas, Goodman—these writers’ novels are brilliant. They can make me forget about my world completely; when I put them down, I am always startled to find myself amidst the mundane furnishings of twenty-first century America. But while the power of these DIKs stems largely from how well they’re written, I think it also has to do with the excellence of their authors’ research.

Now, by excellent research, I don’t just mean historical accuracy. I’ve read hundreds (probably thousands) of historical romances since I turned thirteen, and a good many of them were very well-researched indeed. But only the keepers leave me convinced that I now have some idea of what it *really* felt like to be alive during another time period. And that’s the feeling I read for. That’s why I love historicals above all other subgenres of romance.

So, how do *great* researchers write books that make me feel transported to another time and place? My answer: they create a world that feels as startling and unexpected as it does recognizable. Even though I’ve encountered nineteenth-century England in dozens (if not hundreds) of other romance novels, the books on my keeper shelf make the past seem uncanny and fascinating all over again. They show the world to me in a way that I’ve never seen before, in a manner that seems uniquely authentic to the period.

Sometimes all it takes to hook me is a fabulous eye for unexpected and convincing details—like the magnificently Russian coat worn by the hero of Judith Ivory’s Untie My Heart, or the description of lightning in Sherry Thomas’s Not Quite a Husband: “The periphery of the sky lit every few seconds, truant angels playing with Lucifer matches.” Lucifer matches? I had to look that up, and it thrilled me—such a description, it seems to me, could only belong to a pre-twentieth century world.

Or it might be the tone and setting of the novel that disorients and displaces me. Patricia Gaffney’s To Have and to Hold showed me a new facet of the Victorian world I’d come to know through so many other books—the penal system. It also put me in a strange place as a reader by eliciting my sympathy for a woman in a position of terrible vulnerability vis-à-vis the hero, her aristocratic employer. I’d never before been made to feel what it meant to be on the wrong side of this power dynamic. Suddenly, as I came to identify with the beleaguered Rachel, the past felt fresh and terrible and wondrous and mysterious all over again.

In short, I believe that great research is crucial to great writing. And when excellent writing and great research coincide, the result ravishes me. It revitalizes my own ongoing romance with history, and inspires me to delve more deeply and thoughtfully into the fictional worlds I create myself. Above all, it allows me to time travel from the comfort of my couch—to fall in love in foreign lands and times, and to return with an enriched imagination and a deeper understanding of the human condition. That’s no small order for a book, to be sure. But when a novelist delivers on it, she earns a place on my bookshelf forever.

Meredith will be dropping in and out today, so if you have a question, please ask! Anyone that leaves a comment will be entered to win one of three copies of Written on Your Skin as well as an autographed set of Bound by Your Touch and Written on Your Skin!

Casee's review of Written on Your Skin by Meredith Duran.

THE SOCIETY BEAUTY WHO SAVED HIS LIFE...

Beauty, charm, wealthy admirers: Mina Masters enjoys every luxury but freedom. To save herself from an unwanted marriage, she turns her wiles on a darkly handsome stranger. But Mina's wouldbe hero is playing his own deceptive game. A British spy, Phin Granville has no interest in emotional entanglements...until the night Mina saves his life by gambling her own.

THE JADED SPY WHO VOWED TO FORGET HER...

Four years later, Phin inherits a title that frees him from the bloody game of espionage. But memories of the woman who saved him won't let Phin go. When he learns that Mina needs his aid, honor forces him back into the world of his nightmares.

IN LIVES BUILT ON LIES, LOVE IS THE DARKEST SECRET OF ALL...

Deception has ruled Mina's life just as it has Phin's. But as the beauty and the spy match wits in a dangerous dance, their practiced masks begin to slip, revealing a perilous attraction. And the greatest threat they face may not be traitors or murderous conspiracies, but their own dark desires....

I don't read very many historicals these days. Mostly b/c it seems like they're all the same story told with different characters. Meredith Duran has stood out to me since I read Bound by Your Touch. I was uber impressed with BbYT.

Phin was in and out of BbYT, as was Mina. The time lines in BbYT and WoYS are written concurrently. So it was interesting to see Sanburne from Phin's point of view. Especially since I already know what happens.

Phin and Mina were both unusual characters. Phin has returned to England to inherit a title that he never expected to come to him. Mina is an American, through and through. She doesn't understand English customs, nor does she have patience for their society. Which isn't to say that she doesn't know how to work it, b/c she does. Mina is the featherbrained girl that doesn't seem to be able to hold a thought to her head. Which makes Phin question why he is so attracted to her.

The book begins in Hong Kong, where Mina saves Phin's life. As she pushes him out the window, it is with the knowledge that he owes her in return for saving his life. Mina comes to collect four years later after her mother is kidnapped by the stepfather they ran from.

Mina is under guard in England b/c they believe she knows where her stepfather is, a traitor that the government wants. Mina plays her cards very close to her chest and doesn't tell anyone anything. Even when Phin comes to intervene, she still doesn't reveal all she knows.

I think the best part of this book was seeing Mina's growth as a person. The fact that Phin has seen through the facade she always shows the world astounds her. Mina has always rebelled against what her mother told her would be expected of her when she grew up. Everything she sees in her mother's marriage reinforces what she believes; don't count on anyone.

Phin has his own ghosts to contend with, specifically his father. Phin lives in fear that he will end up like his father and acts in complete opposition to what he thinks his father would do. So both Phin and Mina are both tortured characters in their own right.

I really enjoyed this book, though I didn't like it as much as Bound by Your Touch. Still, the dialogue and interaction between Phin and Mina was fantastic. There were a few times that I laughed aloud.

4 out of 5.

This book is available from Pocket. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

Leave a comment to win a copy of Written on Your Skin!

This is another one of those books where the blurb made me laugh and I thought it would be a perfect read for me. It's coming out soon, August 1st I believe so be sure to mark it in your calendars...Sourcebooks has been coming out with some fantastic books so I'm confident this will live up to the hype that I'm giving it in my head! =)

Check out the blurb:

A hysterically funny tale of Lux's hot pursuit of the 3 R's: relationships, real estate, and erotica

Welcome to the New York City of the Tuesday Erotica Club, in which four women from different worlds get together once a week to read their erotic fantasies and share their latest real-life adventures in sex, finance, and friendship.

Lux Fitzgerald grew up in a family more affected by incarceration rates than interest rates. But she's determined to blaze her own trail, and has gone deeply into debt to buy a neglected mansion to jump start her real estate empire. Surrounded by an old flame restoring the house, a hoodlum mortgage broker, and a gorgeous neighborhood fireman, Lux is destined to either drown in debt or catch fire with opportunities.

Lux isn't the only club member who's in over her head, but these women stick together in times of trouble— and anyone standing in their way better watch out. This is a wild, laugh-out-loud story about women who mean business.

Yep, I can't wait!

This book is available from Sourcebooks. You can pre-order it here.

I'm a sucker for foodie books and this would classify as one in my book. Check out the blurb from the back of the book:

Deidre McIntosh is everyone's favorite go-to person. She seems so successful, so capable, so just plain perfect, with a popular cooking show, her own line of cakes and cookies, and an ideal relationship with Kevin Johnson—considered one of the most desirable men in Seattle.

Then Kevin's ex-fiancée, sultry magazine publisher Sabine Durant, suddenly appears, and Deidre needs help. Already intimidated by Kevin's glamorous, moneyed world—and his sister, who wants Deidre out of Kevin's life—she fears she's no match for Sabine. And the go-to girl must figure out where to go next before the tablecloth is pulled out from under her...

I'm sold! It has definitely made me curious so I'm going to try it out...anyone else read these kinds of books and going to give this book a go?

This book is available from Berkley. You can pre-order it here.

When I first started reading romance novels, I read a lot of western books but lately, I haven't read too many Westerns that have kept my attention but I so miss reading a good western with a sexy cowboy so I'm going to read this book. The blurb caught my eye and I'm easy for hunky ranchers so woo hoo for this book!

This book comes out on September 1, 2009 so mark your calendars!

When hunky rancher "Lucky Beau" Luckadeau accuses spitfire Milli Torres of stealing his prize bull, she promptly shoots at him, triggering a feud that only gets resolved when they discover they share a steamy hot memory from a night long ago… It was a night of passion that has always haunted Lucky. The mysterious beauty he seduced at a cousin's wedding disappeared. He's always been lucky at cards, lucky with cattle, and lucky with land, but he's never been lucky in love. Now Milli Torres has come to southern Oklahoma to help out on her grandfather's ranch. A cut fence and a big, mean Angus bull in the pasture are bad enough, but then she looks up and sees Beau Luckadeau. Great God Almighty, how did he get from Louisiana to Ardmore, Oklahoma, and what in the hell is she going to do if he recognizes her?

Ooh, he wants to be lucky in love. I can't wait to read this one!

This book is available from Sourcebooks. You can pre-order it here.

Casee's review of Laid Bare by Lauren Dane.

It's been ten years since clean-cut, sexy-as-hell police officer Todd Keenan had a white-hot fling with Erin Brown, the provocative, wild rocker chick next door. Their power exchange in the bedroom got under his skin. But love wasn't in the cards just yet...

Now, life has thrown the pair back together. But picking up where they left off is tough, in light of a painful event from Erin's past. As Todd struggles to earn her trust, their relationship takes an unexpected and exciting turn when Todd's best friend, Ben, ends up in their bed--and all three are quite satisfied in this relationship without a name. As the passion they share transforms Erin, will it be enough to help her face the evil she thought she had left behind?

Erin was an amazing heroine. When the book begins, she's in her early twenties, yet her absolute acceptance of herself is refreshing. She makes no apologies for who she is and what she does. She enjoys life to the fullest and has no regrets. For a year she has had fantasies of her neighbor next door. Todd Keenan takes part in her wildest fantasies. She finally decides to take what she wants b/c life is too short not to.

Erin is everything that Todd always wanted, but has never admitted to himself. His sexuality has always left him a little ashamed. He doesn't think his sexual desires are normal. Now here comes his sexy as hell neighbor, who shows him that not only are his desires normal, but that she desires the same thing. Still, no matter how satisfied he is with Erin in bed, he doesn't think that their lives can merge in any other way.

Todd and Erin part ways. Meeting ten years later, they are both changed people. Erin is no longer the brash and confident woman that he knew. Todd has changed as well. After a marriage and divorce, Todd has grown up and embraced his sexuality. Returning to Seattle, he thinks it must be fate that the first person he runs into is Erin. They take up right where they left off, though he can tell that Erin has changed.

In the ten years they were apart, Erin has dealt with a tragedy that no person should have to; the loss of a child. Erin hasn't forgiven herself. Going from musical fame to obscurity, Erin lives her life without the same confidence she had before. When Todd comes back into her life, she's thrilled to see him. Now he's the one that wants the commitment and she's the one that balks.

Erin has always wanted to be a submissive in the bedroom for the right Dom. Todd is the perfect man for that, something that Erin always knew he could be. He accepts that she will only be submissive in the bedroom. Outside the bedroom she takes orders from no one. When Todd invites his best friend Ben into their bed, she is shocked by how hot it makes her.

Therein lies my problem with this book. I totally accepted that Todd wanted a threesome with himself, Erin, and Ben. It showed his growth as a person that he could do something like that and not feel ashamed that he wanted it. What I couldn't accept so easily is his attraction to Ben. Not only the attraction, but how they acted on it. I just had a hard time reconciling the man he was at the beginning of the book to the one that would kiss another man (among other things). It just didn't fit for me.

Other than that, I thought that the book was very well written. Like I mentioned before, Erin is really a memorable heroine. The things she overcame just proved what a strong woman she was. Also, Dane didn't gloss over how their relationship would affect their respective families. I appreciated how that was addressed and what I would consider a very real reaction.

I really hope that Dane decides to write about Erin's brothers. Now those are two men I wouldn't mind reading more about.

4 out of 5.

This book is available from Berkley. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

Leave a comment to win a copy of Laid Bare!

Rowena's review of Crazy for You by Jennifer Crusie.

Hero: Nick Zeigler
Heroine: Quinn McKenzie
Grade: 4.75 out of 5

Quinn McKenzie has always lived what she calls a "beige" life. She's dating the world's nicest guy, she has a good job as a high school art teacher, she's surrounded by family and friends who rely on her, and she's bored to the point of insanity. But when Quinn decides to change her life by adopting a stray dog over everyone's objections, everything begins to spiral out of control. Now she's coping with dog-napping, breaking and entering, seduction, sabotage, stalking, more secrets than she really wants to know, and two men who are suddenly crazy...for her.

If you're ever in a mini reading slump and you're dying to get out. Whip this sucker out because it will get you out of that reading slump faster than you can whoop!

I love this book, seriously love this book!

It was one of those books that took off right from the very beginning. In this particular story, the book takes off as soon as Quinn adopts that stray dog. From one scene to the next, I admired Quinn more and more. She was a great heroine who made me laugh, made me cheer and made me want her as my best friend.

Quinn lives a beige life and when a spunky dog comes shooting into her life, she decides to adopt it. When she comes home and realizes that her boyfriend took her new dog back to the pound, she decides that it's time for a new boyfriend. A new life and from then on, the book just got better and better. Funnier and funnier too. Quinn's life gets thrown for a loop because so much happens. He ex is stalking her, her dog is dognapped, her sister becomes single again and her best friend kisses her.

Talk about drama.

Quinn was a great heroine, one that I could totally relate and connect with. I could totally see myself hanging out with her. I could totally see myself sitting across from Quinn in a booth at a bar, scolding her about leaving Bill. I could see myself leading the LEAVE BILL HIGH AND DRY Bandwagon and watching Quinn try to balance her new life with all of the changes thrown in the mix was just a whole lot of fun.

My favorite change of all, was the change with Nick.

Nick is one smexy beast! I loved Nick. I loved each and every single thing about Nick. The thing that made me laugh about this book is that Nick used to be married to Quinn's sister, Zoe. Twenty years ago. I'm surprised that didn't make me put the book down. It goes to show what an amazing author Jennifer Crusie is that she could make me okay with that because stuff like that always makes me feel funny but it wasn't the case in this book. I didn't care who Nick was married to because I wanted him with Quinn. I thought they were perfect for each other and when Nick first kisses Quinn, woo frickin' hoo I saw stars!

This book is such a fun book and I can't recommend it enough. I think everyone should read this book and laugh because Jennifer Crusie does a phenomenal job of making this story pop right off the pages. It was fun, funny and just right for getting me out of the mini reading slump that I fell into. It made me happy to be a reader and so if you haven't read this book already, don't wait, go get this book and prepare to laugh your socks off!

This book is available from St. Martin's Press. You can buy it here.

It's taken us quite a while to get these posted but better late than never, right? Thanks to RANDOM.ORG for helping us choose the winners, here are the winners for the June Reads post:

Butterfly Tattoo by Deirdre Knight:

Renee

Sexual Healing by Moira Rogers:

Kris

Vision in White by Nora Roberts:

flchen1

Rescue Me by Christie Reece:

Cybercliper

Congrats to all of the winners and thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway. We'll be right back at it again next month so be sure to stop on by for a chance to win more books!

Winners, please shoot us an email with your snail mail addy at contests[at]thebookbinge.com.

HAPPY READING!

-Rowena, Casee & Holly

Melissa's review of Skin Trade (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 17) by Laurell K. Hamilton

Once you tell someone certain things—say, you got mailed a human head in a box—they tend to think you're crazy.

Anita Blake's reputation has taken some hits. Not on the work front, where she has the highest kill count of all the legal vampire executioners in the country, but on the personal front. No one seems to trust a woman who sleeps with the monsters. Still, when a vampire serial killer sends her a head from Las Vegas, Anita has to warn Sin City's local authorities what they're dealing with. Only it's worse than she thought. Police officers and one executioner have been slain—paranormal style...

Anita heads to Las Vegas, where she's joined by three other U. S. Marshals, including the ruthless Edward hiding behind his mild-mannered persona. It's a good thing Edward always has her back because when she gets close t to the bodies, Anita senses "tiger" too strongly to ignore it. The weretigers are very powerful in Las Vegas, which means the odds of her rubbing someone important the wrong way just got a lot higher...



Skin Trade is the seventeenth Anita Blake book. Laurell K. Hamilton brings together characters from Obsidian Butterfly - my all time favorite Anita book. Anita, Edward, Olaf and Bernardo meet up in Sin City to hunt the serial killer vampire, Vittorio, from Incubus Dreams.

Anita and her horde of men are living under Circus of the Damned. Vittorio sends her a gruesome gift to work, Animators Inc., were she decides immediately to rush off to Vegas, without consulting the men in her life. She meets up with the other 3 Marshalls and the hunt begins.

But Anita can't just have one problem at a time. Not only does a blood sucking serial killer want her, but Chang Bibi, the Master of Las Vegas' wife, has other plans for Anita ~ which includes her son. The Mother of all Darkness makes an appearance late in the book, reaching for Anita. And who can forget Olaf, yeah the hairs on the back of my neck just stood up.

Vittorio is a sick, twisted bad guy. Which makes him a good bad guy. But I wasn't really understanding the direction his character was going, or rather, the "past" that he had. It didn't seem to fall in line with Incubus Dreams. Maybe I just missed something, not sure.

Anita is up against the some of the same issues she has been in the past. The frustration with the men in her life, police not respecting her and thinking she gets everything done b/c she is a slut, feeding the ardeur and her ever changing lycanthrope issues. The sex seems to have really toned down.

But, once again, Anita wakes up in a room full of men, not remembering what happened, but "knowing" what happened. Only this time, there is a 16 year old lycanthrope involved....eewww! That one thing, one event, one age pushed me out of the Anita Blake fan club. Lets face it, she has fucked everything else, did we truly need to bring in minors?

The story was just ok, suspense just all right. Overall, I didn't like the book. I am unhappy with Anita and with the repetition of scenarios. I will not be rushing out to buy the next book, if I read it at all. I would wait for the paperback release rather than lay out the significant cost for the hardback.

3 out of 5


This book is available from Jove. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

Holly says: Did you see that Anita Blake is set to become a television series? Fans how do you feel about this? I haven't read the series, but I'm curious about how they'll deal with all the sex...

Also (and totally aside) I really hate LKH's new website. Its ugly, the print is tiny and its hard to navigate.

Rowena: A long time ago, I came across a review for All Through the Night by Suzanne Brockmann over at Jill D.'s blog, Romance Rookie, and I commented on her review about something that I really want Suz Brockmann to write about. That was where my thoughts about starting this post came from. So because of course I had to blog about my comment on Jill's blog, I emailed my blogging buddies and we started laughing, throwing thoughts out there and then we got to work.

Yeah, we obviously stopped working on this post but because I want to post this up, I resurrected it and finished it off because it's still something that I'm mighty curious about and would like to discuss with each of you readers out there.

So, we all have read many books and wondered what happened with certain characters, wished for other characters to get their happy endings and wanted the authors to write certain things to satisfy you. This post will be all about what we want, what we really, really want from our romance authors, books and whatever else we can think of.

I really wish that Suz Brockmann would write a book where Team 10 had to team up with Team 16 to save the world. I'd like to see Joe Cat and Blue kickin' their feet up with Stan and Cosmo and the rest of Team 16, while Crash and Wildcard make a beer run and Christian, Harvard beat up Gillman and Lopez and Zanella trade football stats with Frisco and you know, I'd like to see something like that...bringin' everyone together. That would be so frickin' cool to have both teams working together to fight the bad guys and then afterward, shootin' the breeze with each other.

I also want to know what the heck Judith McNaught's hero Noah Maitland from Night Whispers does for a living.

I want to know if Faith ever wandered off Church grounds and if Quinlan ever caught her in Julie Garwood's The Wedding?

It'd be cool to find out whatever happened to Thurston and little Ulric. Did Justin ever get to tell Thurston off for abandoning him on the battlefield? Whatever became of baby Ulric? Did Nicholaa ever get to see them again? This is all from Julie Garwood's The Prize.

Holly's Turn:

I think Julie Garwood left us with a lot of unanswered questions.

I also want to know:

Whatever happened to Maggie Shayne's romantic suspense series? The last book came out in 2005 and I've heard nothing about it continuing. She really left us hanging though and I want her to finish it out.

Casee:

I am totally w/ Rowena about Julie Garwood. I want to know what happened to Faith. Did she get her happily ever after w/ Quinlain? I also wouldn't mind finding out what happened with Crispin. To me, those are the two most memorable secondary characters Julie Garwood has written.

Way back in 2003, Katherine Sutcliffe wrote a romantic suspense titled Bad Moon Rising. J.D. and Holly were some hellsa tortured characters. The way the book was written, it seemed as if Sutcliffe was planning to continue there story. Then she dropped off the face of the earth.

Suzanne Brockmann--I want her to write Jazz's story. I've read she intends to do it in the future, but I really wish she would bump it up.

Judith McNaught--I really want that time travel story. You know, the excerpt in the back of Remember When?

Those are just a few I can think of off the top of my head. I'm sure there are more, but we'll leave it at that for now.

So what about you? If given the chance, what would you ask your favorite authors to write? What are you curious about in any of your favorite authors worlds? Anything at all, sound off!

Casee's review of Charmed and Dangerous (The Bobbie Faye Series, Book 1) by Toni McGee Causey.

Bobbie Faye is looking forward to the Lake Charles Contraband Days Festival with balloons, booze and babies in pirate costumes. Instead, her trailer's flooded, her no-good brother's been kidnapped, and the criminals are demanding her mom's tiara as ransom.

Soon Bobbie Faye is committing (unintentional) bank robbery and (fully intentional) carjacking to retrieve her family heirloom. Along comes the hard-muscled, impossibly sexy Trevor, the guy whose truck she just took hostage. Luckily, Bobbie Faye knows how to outsmart angry bears, drive a speedboat, and handle a gun. As for handling Trevor? No gun-shyness there. Now, if only that pesky state police detective, who also happens to be a pissed-off ex-boyfriend, would stay out of her way...

I read the back cover of this book at Borders, checked to make sure it wasn't in first person and decided to try it out. I'm not a Janet Evanovich fan (it's mostly b/c I can't stand love triangles), but the potential romantic comedy of this series appealed to me. Still, I wasn't sure what I would think of a heroine named Bobbie Faye.

Charmed and Dangerous was a roller-coaster ride that started on page one and didn't stop until the end. Just thinking about living Bobbie Faye's life srsly gives me a headache. The poor woman can not catch a break. The morning she wakes up to her trailer flooding, all she wanted to do was make a good impression on the social worker that can take away her niece. What she ends up doing should surprise her, but she has ceased to be surprised at the crazy turns her life can make.

If there is one think that Bobbie Faye takes seriously, it is family. After her boyfriend arrested her sister (even rightfully so), she left him without hesitation. There is something to be said for loyalty after all. So when her brother is kidnapped, she doesn't hesitate to retrieve a family heirloom in exchange for his life.

One of the things I loved so much about this book was no matter what Bobbie Faye did, the citizens of Lake Charles, Louisiana are fiercely protective of her. So while they don't mind giving her a hard time within the town, they will never turn on the Contraband Day Queen.

When Bobbie Faye goes to the bank to get the handmade (and monetarily worthless) tiara, what ensues is almost even too much for Bobbie Faye. When the bank is robbed as she's leaving it, the tiara is taken. Bobbie Fay is thus forced to take a man hostage so she can follow the robbers. She's reluctantly drawn to her strangely compliant hostage, then figures it's just her luck that she would be attracted to him.

Toni has started what promises to be a hilariously funny yet romantic series. There was not one page that was from Trevor's POV, but the book was so well written that there was no question of what he thought. He's the calm of the storm that is Bobbie Faye. And while he may be her perfect match, there is also Bobbie Faye's ex. The cop that happens to be after her for robbing a bank.

If something has gone wrong in Cam's life, the reason is usually Bobbie Faye. He still hasn't gotten over the fact that she left him for doing his job. The relationship between Cam and Bobbie Faye is complex. Cam is determined that she won't suck him into the craziness of her life. Bobbie Faye thinks he never loved her and has no idea how wrong she is.

So while there seems to be no apparent love triangle, the subtle yet intense relationship between Bobbie Faye and Cam definitely exists. It's that along with the hilarity of that which is Bobbie Faye that makes this book as good as it is. I know I didn't expect to like it nearly as much as I did.

4.25 out of 5.

This book is available from St. Martin's Press. You can buy it here.

Other books in the series:

A press release went out yesterday about B&N launching the "world's largest eBookstore".

New York (PRWEB) July 20, 2009 -- Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world's largest bookseller, announced today the launch of the Barnes & Noble eBookstore, the world's largest eBookstore, on Barnes & Noble.com, enabling customers to buy eBooks and read them on a wide range of platforms, including the iPhone and iPod touch, BlackBerry® smartphones, as well as most Windows® and Mac® laptops or full-sized desktop computers. In addition, Barnes & Noble announced that it will be the exclusive eBookstore provider on the forthcoming and much anticipated Plastic Logic eReader device.

Read the rest of the press release here.

I went to check it out and apparently you can d/l the free software needed to your Blackberry, iPhone, PC, or Mac. So it's not like Fictionwise, BooksonBoard, or My Bookstore and More where you can pick your format. So there's obviously a downside for people that have eReaders other than a Blackberry or iPhone. On the other hand, the prices seem to be competitive. While paperback prices seem to be about the same as the print book would be, the hardcover titles are only $9.99. You can see Black Hills by NR and Burn by LH are only $9.99.

I have a Blackberry, so I think I'll give it a try, just to see what it's like.

Has anyone else downloaded the app? Curious minds and all that...

Monroe's guest review of Led Astray by a Rake (Husband Hunters series, Book 1) by Sara Bennett.

The hunt is on for the perfect husband . . .

Beneath Livy Monteith's icy blonde exterior beats a passionate heart, a heart that will not abide by society's rules. No, Livy will simply not marry the proper young man her parents have chosen for her husband. She'd rather die! But even her friends at Miss Debenham's Finishing School are shocked by the man she desires. Lord Dominic Lacey, the man they call Wicked Nic, is quite handsome, even more notorious, and every bit a scoundrel.

Nic thinks he knows all about Livy. She's a proper young lady from an upstanding family, the kind of woman any respectable man would be thrilled to take as his bride—but Nic is not a respectable man. For Livy, even being seen with him would lead to certain scandal. So why is the ravishing innocent doing everything in her power to seduce him? Bedding her would be a delight. But a sinful night with a man like Nic would lead a girl very far astray indeed . . .

I would have to say overall this book was just OK for me. I liked the idea of the "Husband Hunters Club" series, which centers around a group of friends that recently came from a finishing school declaring they will not marry out of convenience, but for love. Although the idea is intriguing, it unfortunately fell flat.

First we meet Livy Monteith. Livy is very strong willed and unafraid of getting her hands dirty to get the job done. My kinda girl! Livy has set her heart out to pursue a childhood crush, Nic Lacey as her husband. Wicked Nic Lacey, being ten years her senior and the reputation of a rake, never really thought of Livy in that light. So when Livy first steps foot back into Nics life as a beautifully grown woman that's "popping the question" he finds it very hard when he says no.

The first half of this book is basically filled with either many different attempts of Livy trying to persuade Nic into marriage or Nic trying to scare Livy off by ravishing her in ways she is not used to. I did enjoy this part of the book and thought it was very funny and light. There is another man after Livy's heart that of course her parents approve of. This would be where Mr. Garsed comes in. Nic and Garsed go face to face a few times and I just love how Nic wittingly puts the pompous horses ass in his place! But my favorite part of the first half would have to be watching Nic's internal fight with his feelings about Livy. He gets very confused as to why he is so caught up on her when no other woman has ever made him feel this way. Soon he gives into his urges and Nic takes Livy's virginity. A scandal arrives shortly after and to save Livys reputation Nic and Mr. Garsed both offer their hands in marriage! Obviously you can guess as to whom she chooses.

The second half of the book grows with Livy and Nics marriage. Them going into society, Nic learning how to treat a lady as apposed to one of his mistresses...etc. The bigger gist of the second half is Nic trying to keep his past hidden from Livy. At this point of the book you know that Nic has some hidden secret that could compromise his new found love in Livy. He has a child. Or that's what the author wants you to think. Something happens to the child and Nic has to go to him in the middle of the night. Livy finds out the story from her maid and goes to see this "Mrs. Lacey" that seems to be Nics mistress. Well who is the mistress? None other than Livys assumed to be dead sister Sara. Nic lied to Livy about knowing her sister was alive and he lied about this child. You later find out (and this was about the only surprise int he story for me) that the child is Nics deceased fathers. Nic promised to keep the secret from his mother to help his father from ruining what he thought was a love matched marriage. All is forgiven in the end. Oh and lastly Mr. Garseds freakishly odd brother attempted to shoot Nic in the woods but the gamekeeper got to him first. I could've done without that somewhat undeveloped side story.

So this book wasn't terrible by far. Maybe continuing in this series it might even get better. It was a light read and it even had its funny moments. My few complaints were I would say, and I'm sure your thinking the same thing, was that it was terribly predictable. When trickles of the past would weave its way into the story I was able to easily piece EVERYTHING together. I was however surprised to hear the outcome of the baby's father. But honestly that was it. Another complaint was that I felt their relationship was based on lust. You didn't get much into the feelings between them. It was all sex! There weren't many touching moments at all! So that part left me kinda dry. And the story with the sister Sara never got settled. She went to see her sister and left and that was it! I felt there needed to be more there. I mean she thought her sister was dead for 10 years and she gets 2 pages! Oh and one more thing would be the odd role playing they did with each other. Listen, I'm all for different lovemaking in my books but playing "I'm the master of the land and you're my field worker that I'm raping" was just weird!

So I can see if you haven't read a lot of historical's before this book may be right up your alley! BUT if you have read a bunch and you're looking for something new, I would say you might want to pass this one by.

Rating: 3 out of 5

This book is available from Avon. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

Casee's review of What Mattered Most by Linda Winfree.

A man in the worst place he can be—between two women—and forced to choose which one lives or dies.

Houston homicide detective, John O’Reilly, is torn between two women. One is the woman he’s loved without hope for years. The other carries his unborn child. Now, a man bent on revenge wants O’Reilly to choose, and any choice he makes could cost him everything.

Gutsy sheriff’s deputy, Lanie Falconetti, is determined not to repeat her mother’s mistakes in love. Her no-strings attached affair with John O’Reilly leads to an unexpected, but joyfully welcomed pregnancy. However, the shadow from John’s past threatens not only her chance at happiness, but her life and that of her unborn baby as well.

I'm not sure if this book is technically part of the series or not. The cover doesn't say it's a Hearts of the South book, but there are connections. Namely, Lanie Falconetti is Caitlin's cousin.

Yet again, I would say that the blurb is deceptive. John O'Reilly is living with Lanie Falconetti and they're expecting a baby. Things have always been status quo with their relationship. They haven't expressed love to each other, but there are feelings there. John has (what he thinks) is unrequited love for his partner, Beth. What the reader can see from the beginning is that he only thinks it's love. In fact, what he feels for Beth is protectiveness.

When Beth's crazy ex-husband comes after her, Lanie is inadvertently caught in the cross-fire. John is faced with the fact that he was wrong all along; it was never Beth that he loved, it was Lanie. Now her and the baby he hadn't quite accepted might die.

Lanie is crushed when she realizes how John feels about Beth. Though no words of love had been spoken between them, she always trusted him. Now that is questioned. When she wakes up in the hospital, it's to find that her baby has been born. Lanie was excited since she first found out she was pregnant. To her dismay, she feels none of the bonding that is supposed to happen.

John is determined to prove to Lanie that it's her he loves. Taking care of his son, John bides his time until Lanie comes home. He will do anything possible to make the the family that they should be.

There are a few things that were annoying with this book. Lanie's remarks about Beth really got old. It is understandable that she doesn't see that John only thinks he loved Beth. It's not as clear when you're on the inside of the situation. What is clear after awhile is that Lanie is using Beth as a shield. She is afraid to get close to John after her heart has been so thoroughly broken.

I loved John and Sonny Buck's (wtf?) relationship. The way that John bonded with the baby was amazingly sweet to read about. Aside from Lanie's sometime stupidity, I really liked this book.

4 out of 5.

This book is available from Samhain Publishing. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

Other books in the series: