The Seduction by Nicole Jordan

Grade: A+
Cover Grade: C

The Cover:
It's not that there is something WRONG with this cover. It's just I don't like cheese. I like basic stuff, simple stuff. Although one really good thing that is going on here is the rose on the pillow, it symbolizes something from the book. I like the cover to connect with the book. Maybe if it was a real room and not this fake stuff I'd have given it a better grade.

From the Publisher:
As the most notorious rakehell in Regency London, Lord Damien Sinclair sought only his own pleasure, until his beloved younger sister, Olivia, was injured and her reputation ruined during a forbidden tryst. Now Damien will do anything to destroy the young nobleman guilty of hurting Olivia. . . . And Vanessa Wyndham will protect her foolish brother at all costs, even if it means entering into an illicit bargain with the dangerously handsome "Lord Sin." When Vanessa offers to act as a companion to Lord Sin's invalid sister, Damien agrees with one scandalous condition—he'll forgive her brother's debt if she agrees to become his mistress.

And so the seduction begins. But once the affair has ended, will they escape with their hearts intact?

From Me:
Have you ever read a book and you actually hurt for the characters. Not just felt bad but you had pain? Okay that sounds weird, let me explain. When I'm am about to cry for real and I don't want to I kinda get a sharp pain in my chest and sometimes down my arm into my hand. Now THAT happened to me a lot while reading this book. But before I get into it let me just say a big THANK YOU to Grace for getting me this book and the others in the series for Christmas! LOVE YOU GIRL!

Okay on we go...Vanessa's brother has done something so horrible so beyond repair that she really doesn't think there is anything she can do to fix it. While wasting away his days with his friends and spending money his family doesn't have, he lets himself get drawn into a wager of sorts. He must make a young girl fall in love with him and convince her to marry him, all the while never mean to really do it.

His plan works all to well, and when he breaks the news to the girl a horrible accident happens in her haste to flee and she is left unable to walk. The young girl, Olivia is none other than Damien's sister, Lord Sin.

In Damien's quest for revenge he takes everything from the man, who is no more than a boy himself, who hurt his sister. Holding his entire families lives in his hands he leaves Vanessa no choice but to bargain with the Devil himself. But neither of them expect to find what they do in the bargain.

I think I felt so much in the book cause you can so plainly see both sides, well actually there are more than two sides, of the story so clearly. Sometimes there is a clear cut right and wrong. Not here. Cause although Vanessa's brother did entirely wrong by Olivia did that mean that her mother her and her sisters should become destitute?

But at the same time how should Damien seek revenge? Or even justice? Without further damaging his sisters name there is little else to do and something should be done for the damage done his sister.

We watch Damien struggle with loving his sister, that he doesn't have a great relationship with, and also fight his desire for Vanessa. We also see Vanessa struggle with a friendship she never thought to have with the girl her brother broke and the secret she is keeping from her as she too struggles with her virtue with a man she is falling in love with. Vanessa also has to deal with loving and trying to forgive her brother for bringing all of this down of everyone. Where do you drawl the line with family?

I loved this book sooo sooo sooo very much and am looking forward to reading the rest of the series. Great job Nicole Jordan.

Grade~ A+

Read the Series in order:
The Seduction
The Passion
Desire
Ecstasy
The Prince of Pleasure

Natural Born Charmer by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Grade: B

Chicago Stars quarterback Dean Robillard is the luckiest man in the world. But life in the glory lane has started to pale, and Dean has set off on a trip to figure out what's gone wrong. When he hits a lonely stretch of Colorado highway, he spies something that will shake up his gilded life in ways he can't imagine. A young woman . . . dressed in a beaver suit.

Blue Bailey is on a mission. As for the beaver suit she's wearing . . . Is it her fault that life keeps throwing her curve balls? Witness the expensive black sports car pulling up next to her on the highway and the Greek god stepping out of it.

They're soon heading for his summer home, where their already complicated lives and inconvenient attraction to each other will become entangled with a charismatic but aging rock star; a beautiful, fifty-two-year-old woman trying to make peace with her rock and roll past; an eleven-year-old who desperately needs a family; and a bitter old woman who hates them all.

Natural Born Charmer . . . for anyone who's ever thought about leaving their old life in the dust.

I read this a while ago, well maybe a week or more, but just haven't gotten to review it yet. Sorry. But I'm here now. And it sure wasn't because the book was lacking. Cause I really liked the book.

Blue, yes that is really her name, is stomping down the highway on her way to kick some ass when a gorgeous man stops and offers her help. Even if he is laughing at her as he does so. And so starts another amusing, heart pulling, warm, laugh out loud novel from Susan Elizabeth Phillips.

Dean is feeling out of sorts and if picking up a pissed off woman dressed as a beaver will put off him having to do a self evaluation on his feelings then that's fine with him. But as one thing leads to another Dean finds himself dealing with things he's spent his whole life purposely not dealing with. Like who his father is. What his mother did to him. The fact that he has a little sister that he's never met.

But as that very sister seeks him out looking for help his world starts to unravel. And oddly enough the only constant that he has is Blue, the crazy, speak your mind, poke your nose in others business, badly dressed woman he picked up on the highway. The woman that although she won't admit it needs him and his help just as badly. The woman that never stays anywhere long enough to grow roots, and fears any type of a real relationship.

So read on and find a cocky woman and man that just may be very wrong for each other at first glance but can't seem to stay away at the same time. A bitchy old woman that seems horrible at first buy just might be a little lonely. And a father and mother that haven't' seen each other in 30 odd years, may have done a horrible job parenting but really really want another chance. And a little girl that helps pull everything together.

I really did like this book. I know this review may not be giving it justice. You know with me being all rusty since I haven't posted a review in FOREVER! lol. But it was a great read. It had me laughing, and it had my heart aching. The one thing that I will tell you I didn't like was the way the ending was brought on. You know what I mean? The ending was fine, but the events leading up to I didn't like. I didn't' like what Dean did, how he went about what he did. And .... Oh hell just go read the book. lol. It's a great read. You won't be disappointed. Although I am glad I got it from the library, I'll buy the pb when it comes out.

Oh and you don't see much of any of the other characters so I'll let you know now. Don't be disappointed on that front.

Read the Series in Order:
It Had To Be You
Heaven, Texas
Nobodies Baby But Mine
Dream A Little Dream
This Heart Of Mine
Match Me If You Can

Lover Revealed by J.R. Ward

Hero: Butch O'Neil
Heroine: Marissa
Pages:455
Category: Paranormal
Grade: Two grades here...The book grade~ B, The ending grade~ C

Butch O'Neal is a fighter by nature. A hard-living ex-homicide cop, he's the only human ever to be allowed in the inner circle of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. And he wants to go even deeper into the vampire world-to engage in the turf war with the lessers. His heart belongs to a female vampire, Marissa, an aristocratic beauty who's way out of his league. And if he can't have her, then at least he can fight side by side with the Brothers.

But fate curses him with the very thing he wants. When Butch sacrifices himself to save a civilian vampire from the slayers, he falls prey to the darkest force in the war. Left for dead, he's found by a miracle, and the Brotherhood calls on Marissa to bring him back, though even her love may not be enough to save him.

*****SPOILERS ALERT***** It would be really hard for me to review this book and not have spoilers in it so I'm not even going to try to hold back. BEWARE.

First off how freaking excited was I to be the first one to reserve this book at my library? Then how much MORE excited was I when they got it early and I picked it up on thursday! Yeay me! Okay but now to the review....

By the time I read this book it's been what? Six months since Lover Awakened? So I wasn't really fresh on the whole Butch/Marissa thing. I was a little blurry. But that wasn't really a problem, yeah I wanted to remember why they were apart but it didn't hinder the story.

Right off we see Butch suffering from feeling the odd man out. He has a bond with V, and loves Marissa yet he's not a Brother and thinks Marissa has rejected him. None of the clothes he wears are his down to his boxers and the money he spends just as where he lives isn't his either.

When he comes across a civilian about to be attracted by lessers he steps in to help. Needless to say he's in bad shape when V finds him. He was worked over by the for-lesser and the Omega did a job on him.

When he wakes up he finds himself in Havers (Marissa's brother) clinic under quarantine.....with Marissa by his side. With his memory filled with black holes he can't remember what exactly happened to him but he knows Marissa should not be with him, risking her life.

Marissa didn't think twice about racing to Butch when she heard he was hurt. Nor did she even take a second to think of her safety as she burst into his room without the proper coverings on. When she is found with Butch her brother tells her that she may be contaminated and has to stay there till it is found to be safe for them both to leave.

During the time Marissa and Butch are locked together in this room there are a lot of misunderstandings cleared up and a lot more made.

That I can tell you this book was full of.

It's weird cause normally I'll want to throw a book against a wall for all the misunderstandings these two had. But all I had were my eye rolls and a little annoyances, but I still could not put the book down for two seconds.

I think Ward's saving grace is that she chops up her story's so well. She never says on one person or one scene for a long time. So yeah, I don't like reading about the lessers that much (it bores me) but I want to get to B&M that I fly through the short paragraph or two of lessers so fast.

Anyway. We find out that Butch has Vampire in him, surprise surprise. And he is some super powerful tool to be used by the brotherhood. But here are some of my issues. When he goes through his transition he gets bigger, like the other brothers. Now I already thought of Butch as kind of big, now he's so big that Ward wrote his boxers were all tight on him. Now I normally picture boxers kinda loose so for him to get this big I kept getting a picture of the Incredible Hulk with ripped clothes and all in my mind. I know! But I couldn't help it, and it was messing with the story for me. lol.

Then every time he would fight lessers with the brotherhood he didn't seem to fight as good and when he did his thing he was so tired, he seemed kinda weak. I think all around he seemed kinda weak. I don't particularly think someone that would take their life as strong I think that is weak, and he tried that. Early on in the book. But actually I shouldn't go there cause that situation was unique with what happened to him and how he was feeling at the time. So whatever.

The book of course was full of horrible slag but as usual it didn't bother me to the point of not wanting to read it. It was just silly as usual.

The whole V and Butch gay vibes? Definitely here! lol. I mean there were times when V was all kinds of up in Marissa and Butch's private affairs and he was more focused on Butch than Marissa. And I just have to quote this one part for you all, listen to this and tell me there isn't that I-wish-we-could-but-know-it's-not-to-be vibe:

Without thinking, Butch tilted his chin up, aware that he was offering himself, aware that he...oh, fuck. He stopped his thought , completely weirded out by the vibe that had sprung up from God only knew where.
In slow motion Vishous's dark head dropped down and there was a silken brush as his goatee moved against Butch's throat. With delicious precision, V's fangs pressed against the vein punched through skin. Their chests merged.
Butch closed his eyes and absorbed the feel of it all, the warmth of their bodies so close, the way V's hair felt soft on his jaw, the slide of a powerful male arm as it slipped around his waist. On their own accord, Butch's hands left the pegs and came to rest on V's hips, squeezing that hard flesh, bringing them together from head to foot. A tremor went thought one of them. Or maybe...shit, it was more like they both shuddered.
And then is was done. Over with. Never to happen again.
Neither of them looked at the other as V broke away ... and the parting was complete and irrevocable. A path that would not be walked. Ever.

There was also a part when V was saying to himself that he thought of Butch as his. It was almost like he knew he was in love with Butch and knew it was weird cause he never felt that for a male before and knew also that it wouldn't come of anything cause Butch loved Marissa to much so he was just going to deal with it and try to move on. I mean hell I'm all for best guy friends but these two? Definitely more.

But anyway, I really don't care about that much, just wanted to point out IT WAS THERE STILL! LOL.

We read about Butch's past and his dead sister, also his sister that is alive and his parents. Now in the end we do find out why Butch's father hated him, and how exactly he got Vampire in him. BUT there is no closure to the family issues. Does he really just not care at all? Does his sister really just not care??? Guess you have to read it to see what I mean.

And in ending my choppy all over the place review I'll say that I really didn't like the ending of the book. It came way to fast, like it was all rushed in the end, and it wasn't even of Marissa and Butch! Are you serious! Comon', that just really irked me. But whatever, it was still a good book that I didn't put down for a second and would tell everyone to go get.

Read the Series in Order:
Dark Lover
Lover Eternal
Lover Awakened
Lover Revealed

Don't Look Down by Suzanne Enoch

Hero: Richard Addison
Heroine: Samantha Jellicoe
Category: Contemporary
Page Count: 367 pages
Grade: C+(ish)

Samantha Jellicoe is no ordinary thief. At least, not anymore. She promised her significant other, British billionaire Rick Addison, that she'd retire from her life of crime. So no more midnight break-ins...no more scaling estate walls...no more dangling from the ceiling. From here on in, it's intimate dinners with Rick in posh Palm Beach followed by rock-your-world sex.

Who'd have thought that doing the right thing would turn out to be more deadly than her former life of crime? When the first client of her new security business is murdered, Sam is determined to find the killer. Now if only she can manage to stay out of jail, resist her former "associates" lucrative job offers, and keep Rick from sticking his nose into her business, she might just manage to stay alive. Because trouble isn't just walking -- it's running -- to catch up with her.


My issues with this book were not minimal. To give you an idea I will post two of my emails I sent to the other SF girls while I was reading this....

Email #1:
Okay Holly (and if anyone else read this book you too) I am reading Don't Look Down by Suzanne Enoch and I am not liking it! Well that's not totally true, I like the story/plot I guess but Sam is annoying me (she thinks his Ex's betrayal was bad but she lies to him every page and she did a B and E and isn't telling) and Rick bends over backward and is to pathetic about Sam (comon man get some balls) and Patrica? Ummm annoying Bitch! And Stoney? I just don't like him at all! Sam is trying to go straight and be with the man she supposedly loves but he keeps trying to get her to go back to being a cat! Annoying!

~Turns out Holly hasn't read it yet. lol.~

Email #2:
Can I just tell you all that I am getting ANNOYED as SHIT at Samantha in this book I'm reading? Okay so she's doing her own kind of investigation on a murder her way. Well she keeps letting this guy, her main suspect, kiss her so he will talk more around her and be comfortable, and the book just says stuff like "he lowered his mouth and kissed her, she allowed it but she didn't kiss him back." Same effin thing! Bitch! So you think your man won't care cause you didn't kiss back and it was for the investigation? Bull shit!

~end of emails~

So we get the drift that Sam/Rick annoyed me, in all honesty it was more Sam. This is the second book in a so far three book series. The first book was Flirting with Danger, and if I remember correctly I liked that book but just didn't like the fact that they didn't marry at the end. It was like, oh yay I get to move in with my rich boyfriend. But then I found out that there was another book and was okay with it. You know thinking I'd get some closure on the relationship? NOT! I'm even more frustrated.

Samantha was the best Cat burglar around. She rocked at what she did and got a huge rush out of it. But ever since she literally stumbled into Rick's arms she's decided to go legit. For him she feels it's worth a try.

Rick can tell Samantha is getting antsy with trying to start her new (legit) business in security. And when her first potential client ends up dead it's not a good omen.

Samantha is determined to find out what happened to Kuntz. Who murdered him and why. And when Rick tries to stop her they make a deal. Who can solve the mystery first? Samantha, with any means she chooses to use, or the police, the legit way? Rick is hoping this will show her that the right way to do things is better and just as fast.

As Samantha lies to Rick, if not right to his face then by omitting the whole story, and Rick does any and everything for Samantha, I found myself highly annoyed. Rick has already been married and divorced once. He found his wife and best friend in bed together. So to me when Sam uses her female assets (see email #2) to get what she wants from other men I think of it as betrayal to Rick. And what annoys me even more? Rick sees things doesn't like them but seems to have the mind set that if he presses Sam she'll run and he'd rather keep her.

See I don't like this. Rick is a very strong manly man until he gets all (excuse the vulgar phrase...but) pussy whipped.

And Stoney, he used to be Sam's fence getting her jobs and such, irked me just as much. Even though is is also supposed to be retiered he keeps pushing Sam to go back to do this work. He is supposed to be like a father to her and he is discouraging her relationship with Rick? Why??? Shouldn't he be trying to get her to better her life? Uggg!

Rick loves Sam, and Sam thinks love is a trap. So it goes round and round. I think the relationship is controlled by Sam having sex with Rick to make him forget which he doesn't he just is to whipped to say anything. About Rick making excuses to himself about Sam. And all that other shit.

So okay this review probably doesn't show it but I didn't HATE this book. And call me crazy but I'm probably gonna read the next one, Billionaires prefer Blonds. Actually I've already started it. And surprisingly (not) am already a bit annoyed with it. But I guess I'm asking for it.

So plot wise? Good book. Romance wise? Blah! Sex wise? Pretty good. Overall? Who the heck knows. lol. This review is to odd for words. lol.

Read the Series in order (or not at all, lol):
Don't Look Down
Billionaires Prefer Blonds

Heiress for Hire by Erin McCarthy

Hero: Danny Tucker
Heroine: Amanda Delmar
Category: Contemporary, Paranormal
Page Count: 300 pages
Grade: B+

Chicago socialite Amanda Delmar thought spending the summer in Cuttersville-Ohio's most haunted town-would be a hoot, until dearold-Dad cut her off. Now Amanda has to do the unthinkable and get... A JOB. Her attempts at joining the job market would crack up farmer Danny Tucker, if he weren't so turned on by the skinny, bronzed blonde. Hiring Amanda to babysit his baby girl may not be the smartest thing Danny has ever done. But seeing how she and her couture-clad poodle bring a smile to his shy daughter's face makes it all worthwhile. Now all Danny has to figure out is how to keep Amanda at arm's length, when she has already wriggled her way into his heart.

I don't really know if this is paranormal, but I listed it as such cause there was a tinnie bit of ghost stuff in it. Oh and one more thing before the review, THIS BOOK WAS THE SECOND IN A SERIES AND I DIDN'T KNOW TILL AFTER I WAS FINISHED!!! Kay, 'nuff said, you know how I feel about that.

Sooo.....I really liked this book. Amanda is a very rich, very spoiled, very self absorbed girl that is about to learn a quick lesson of the value of a budget.

Bored out of her mind with her normal life of clubs, shopping and partying in Chicago Amanda decides to follow Boston (who I had no idea who he was, and that's cause his book was BEFORE this book!) to this tiny town called Cuttersville. She rented out a supposedly haunted house for the summer and settled in to be entertained by the small town people. All is going according to plan until she calls her daddy for $200, a girls gotta have a mani, and not everyone takes a credit card in this town, and gets cut off! Tough love is what he's calling it. He says that the $2,000 he gave her last week should hold her over till she can get a job. Little does he know she's already spent it on a must have purse and other necessities.

Danny has always wanted nothing but a family of his own. He's been married and divorced so it's not looking to bright for him. And the attraction he feels towards Amanda is definitely not what he wants, she'll be leaving at the end of the summer and he's looking for long term. What could he possibly offer to a girl that has everything? When his 8 year old daughter that he's never even known about gets dumped on him it just adds one more reason why Amanda is not for him.

Danny is heart broken about having a daughter all this time and never knowing about her, especially since it seems she's been very neglected. As fast as he can he tries to recruit help from his ex wife to shop for his new found daughter and ends up with Amanda. Don't ask how, read the book. lol.

Piper takes to Amanda right away. She's obviously having issues believing Danny won't be abandoning her so if Amanda is the one she wants to stay with when he's working that's who he'll get for his daughter.

It works out for Amanda too. She needs a job badly, and even though she knows she could beg for money to get home and talk to her dad she has some pride and she's making some changes in her life. So if watching Piper, a little girl she's fond of, and getting to watch her hunky dad too is what she has to do for money she's in.

Watching the chemistry grow between Danny and Amanda is great, and seeing Amanda realize there is so much more to herself than the superficial. She definitely grows as a person right in front of us as we read. They are so cute and both bring their share of issues to the table. Danny and Piper and Amanda and Piper is another story all together...OMG I was actually crying at parts. This book isn't very deep, but I wouldn't call it fluff either.

It's a keeper and I definitely suggest all read it. But first go get A Date With The Other Side, the FIRST book!

Oh and it didn't get an A cause Danny was only 26. While I don't mind a heroine that young I like my hero's a little older.

Series Order:
A Date with the Other Side
Heiress for Hire

Hot Item by Carly Phillips

Seen on the sidelines . . .

What star quarterback has been spotted with a new flavor of arm candy? It's notorious bad boy Riley Nash, but his newest flame is the last person this reporter could imagine—none other than Sophie Jordan, beautiful, buttoned-down co-owner of The Hot Zone, the industry's top sports management agency.

What's behind this unlikely team? Some say it has to do with the sudden disappearance of super agent Spencer Atkins. Could there be a connection between the red-hot quarterback and the missing dealmaker? Or has the famous groupie magnet simply met his perfect match in cool, collected Sophie? Watch this space, because the resulting news is bound to be one Hot Item.

Sophie Jordon along with her two sisters, one older one younger, was raised by her Uncle Yank from a very young age. Both parents being killed in a plane accident the girls learned early what unexpected heartache life brings. Each relying on their own different ways to cope.

Sophie's comfort comes from being able to control things. Her life, those in it. And if she cannot control it she needs to fully understand it. So when her Uncles best friend, and co-owner of the Athlete's Only and The Hot Zone Spencer Atkins goes MIA Sophia gets a little nervous. Ever since she became a partner at The Hot Zone Spence has always been in his office ready for business at 9am sharp, never late, no exceptions. But the day after all the papers picked up on the gossip about him being gay (the true gossip) Spencer changes his way and becomes a no show.

Sophie soon finds herself with an unexpected companion in her quest to find Spence. None other than the only athlete to ever make her hot, Riley Nash, professional football star. And the bigger shock? Spense is Riley's biological father. All his life Riley has known who his father was but never had contact with him, although he did everything in his power to be noticed. Blessed with a natural talent and love for football he was sure his father the Sports Agent would recognize him and accept him, but that doesn't happen. So Riley decided long ago he needed nobody especially not his father, but Sophie makes his heart flip and stomach flop. How can he a firm believer in doing what he wants when he wants, no rules at all fit with a control obsessed woman?

So with his own issues on being rejected and Sophie's issues with needing to control everything it should be painfully obvious that they don't work. Except for that the burning heat between them, and how they seem to understand each other so well without any words makes a mockery of all their intentions to tell themselves and each other it won't work.

So go pick up the book and see how these two overcome their childhood issues, interfering Uncles, gay fathers, and bratty teenage daughter.

Funny, interesting, and sexy, a must read in my book.

Grade: B

Read the Series in order:
Hot Stuff
Hot Number
Hot Item

Stealing Heaven by Madeline Hunter

Hero: Marcus of Anglesmore
Heroine: Nesta verch Llygad
Category: Medieval Historical
Page Count: 370
Grade: B+
Buy It: Here

Nationally bestselling author Madeline Hunter has thrilled her legions of fans with sensuous novels of intrigue, adventure, and romance. Now she weaves a spectacular tale of an English knight, a Welsh rebel, and a relationship that would defy their world and everything they believed possible between a man and a woman...

Stealing Heaven

Marcus of Anglesmore was not at all happy about being betrothed by the king to a woman he’d never laid eyes on. So when the brooding English knight accidentally came across her in a moonlit garden, he was both surprised--and delighted. Intelligent, charming, and beautiful, she was the most captivating woman he’d ever met. But the magic of that enchanted moment is soon shattered by cold reality: Nesta is not the woman he is to marry, but her sister. Of all the women Marcus might desire, none could be more dangerous than the wild and tantalizing Welsh witch with secret ties to both rebellion and king. For Nesta, no one could jeopardize her plans more than a man who would know the secrets of both her heart...and her body. Yet the course of their lives--and the destinies of their two nations--will be forever altered as they defy everything to surrender to the most daring seduction of all....

Have you ever started a book by a new author, a little hesitant and then get thrown off reading it cause someone says something negative about said author? That's what happened to me.
I have never read Madeline Hunter, but she was so nice at the book fair I went to, and I was craving a goo Medieval book, so I picked up her Stealing Heaven. I started reading it, enjoying it but still getting a feel for it when I told a friend I was trying her out. Well my friend said she read a MH book before and it was sooo dry, she finished that book but never picked her up again. OH NO! I tried but couldn't bring myself to read anymore, I had been in a reading funk and didn't want to break it with a bad book. So Take Me by Lucy Monroe came out and I've been waiting for it. So I picked that book up and devoured it! LOVED it, that review will be up next. When I finished TM I picked SH back up and.....couldn't put it down!!!! I have no idea what book my friend read by MH but this one???? Sooooo not a dry moment! So lets get on with it....

Marcus has been commanded to marry a Welsh woman that he's never met, and he's not happy about it. Especially when said woman has been pretending to be ill to put off the marriage to him. So he steals away into her home to confront her and take what's his, to his surprise she is in the garden....in the middle of the night. He goes to her and is swept away by her beauty and her wit. They share a magical kiss and some caresses, but the light of day brings many surprises for him. The next day he goes to call on his future bride and finds the woman he shared a magical moment with the night before is none other than his intendeds sister....and the whore of his King.

Nesta should not have allowed him to kiss her, she knew that. But when he came to her so brazen she could not hold a thought. Her body called to this man, the man promised to her sister. But it was of no consequence (so she told herself) since even though her sister was promised to him she would not be marrying him. Nesta and her father (before he passed) had made bigger plans that would not be thwarted by an English Knight and a King trying to make amends.

Now when I started off reading this, I though...here we go, I've read this story line before. They are on opposing sides of a 'war' and one will betray the other, they will fight and one I will hate. But it was sooo not the case and this book seriously swept me away.

Nesta is a strong woman (no she does not have penis envy and she does not take stupid risks trying to be a man), she knows her place in the grand scheme of things and knows that even if her heart is betraying her she must listen to her head. She tells herself that the happiness of one woman, herself, is so inconsequential in what she has dedicated her life to for the last few years.

Marcus knows that Nesta has ties to the Welsh rebellion and further more knows not to underestimate her. She's pulled one over on him once and it won't happen again. But as time passes and Marcus decides to have her as his own he needs to find a way to save her, from herself and the consequences that may come of her actions if they are found out. HE knows that he is falling for a strong and honorable woman and that woman no matter what her heart is telling her will not turn her back on her cause. And he admits to himself he wouldn't be falling for her is she was a woman that would. And Nesta knows the same of him.

They come together in truces at night and sharing themselves with each other in the sweetest of abandon ... yet they know with the light of each day they are enemies. They both do what they have to and pray that maybe there will be a way for them .... one day ... but they don't hold much hope.

As the book progressed I kept thinking 'okay now I'm gonna see that one side is right and one is wrong and then I'll know who is being stupidly stubborn' but I didn't. I was just as torn as they both were. In the end neither of them turned on their honor and .... well you'll just have to read to see how they end up.

I know your wondering what happened to the sister he was originally supposed to marry, and what about the King that Nesta was said to be the whore of? Well somethings cannot be said without ruining the book....sorry.

I would have given it an A maybe even and A+ but for one reason....I never cried. I know some of you are like "WHAT???" but I feel like a book filled with this much honor and passion should draw some kind of strong emotion from me. And since it didn't I am forced to give a VERY GOOD book a B+ instead. But I still say RUN AND BUY IT AND READ IT NOW!!!

Read it in order though! I didn't have that opportunity, grrr!:
By Possession
By Design
Stealing Heaven
By Arrangement

Take Me by Lucy Monroe

Hero: Jared Viscount Ravenswood
Heroine: Calantha Duchess of Clairborne
Category: Historical
Page Count: 321
Grade: A+
Buy It: Here or here.
Jared, Viscount Ravenswood, has no choice but to honor the deathbed wish of his ailing servant. All she asks is that Jared introduce her soon-to-be orphaned daughter to the notorious and reclusive Calantha, Duchess of Clairborne. No ordinary request, for this is no ordinary child. She is, in fact, the key to the Duchess's most private secrets and to Jared's own past-one that has branded him a Lord Beast amount the ton.
But when the Viscount meets the Duchess, he finds not the pitiless dowager he expected, but a lovely and wary angel=survivor of a brutal marriage left now with only her roses and the breathtaking mystery that is her life. For Jared, to solve that puzzle is to fall in love, to make Cali believe in the impossible, and to follow the promise that comes with the most intimate whisper of all...

***I am so pissed right now, I spent a half hour writing up a review on this book and it all freaking got deleted by blogger!***
O.M.G.! Talk about a phenomenal book! I could not put this book down for a second. That is after I got over the cover, I know I know I'm a cover snob. But you know what? I never said I wasn't so lets go there for a second, shall we. Okay now. The heroine....Calantha is supposed to be taller than most women but still delicate and almost frail. The hero....Jared is called Lord Beast, he is huge, massive, he has a scar down his face and even as Calantha is tall he towers over her. So our first problem? They are almost the same height...second, Jared looks like a fruit ball, what the heck is he doing with that rose? tickling her....third, Calantha looks like a linebacker, her shoulders are freaking huge! And she is not all that pretty. And what, is Jared tickling her with the rose causing a tickle on her thigh so she has to scrunch up her skirt? Okay, done rant....moving on the the excellent book.

Calantha has learned the hard way not to show her feelings, not to get close to people and to fear men. She was married to a horrible man, that used her loved ones against her, and always belittled her. Calantha did what she could to protect herself, she cut off her friends, she built up a wall of ice around her heart so not to feel and she never thought she'd look at a man again.....that's why Jared scared her so much. Yes, all the ton feared him. But not for the same reasons. They feared his looks and his impatience. He was scared, he was huge, the debs trembled in his presence. Calantha thawed in his presence, that ever present ice around her heart melted just a little each time. She saw his scar and saw a hero, she saw his size and felt protection, which was the strangest of all. After her record with men why should a man of such proportions make her feel safe, when she didn't even know him?

Jared was a strong man in both physical stature and honor. He made a promise to his dying friend on her death bed, he would take her daughter that he has raised and loved as his own to The Angel, as the ton has dubbed her. He knows what happened to Mary to get her pregnant, and cannot help but feel that woman she wants him to introduce to her daughter Hannah is a cold hearted Bitch. He is used to the way the girls of the ton cringe in his presence and the way servants snap to attention or tremble when he's near. So when he finally meets Calantha he is shocked by so many contradictions in her character.

As Cali and Jared find truths about each other and why they have been put together, they also find a friendship that runs deep. And a mutual love for a lost little girl. But what that friendship grows to becomes endangered when someone is out to frame Cali for a kidnapping and possible murder of that same little girl. As evidence mounts against her she is thrown back into defending herself from what she hasn't done, while Jared is fighting his own battle of wanting to have faith in a woman he is growing to care so much for and believing the blanted evidence.

This book knocked me on my ass. I cried for two chapters straight! I LOVED EVERY SINGLE WORD WRITTEN!!! Cali never became that heroine that knew better and could do it all. NO she depended on Jared when need be, never put herself in unnecessary danger, and was just about perfect. Jared was the perfect sensitive alpha male. Perfect mix. The only person that annoyed me in this book was Tessa, and only a little. She does something (or says) to/about Cali that is so wrong and mean and I don't think she honestly made up for it enough. It had surprises and everything. This book is just about as perfect as they come. So go get it. Don't put it on a list, get up and go get it NOW!!! My favorite of the series!!!

Read them in order:
Touch Me
Tempt Me
Take Me

I'm In No Mood for Love by Rachel Gibson

Hero: Sebastian Vaughan
Heroine: Clare Wingate
Category: Contemp
Page Count: 359/paperback
Grade:A
Buy It: Here, or here.

What is Clare Wingate doing? One minute she's suffering in a pretty-in-pink gown she'll never wear again, and the next thing she knows it's morning . . . and she has the nastiest hangover of her life.
To make matters worse, she's wearing nothing but a spritz of Escada and lying next to Sebastian Vaughan . . . her girlhood crush turned sexy, globe-hopping journalist. Somewhere between the toast and the toss of the bouquet she'd gotten herself into a whole lot of trouble.

Clare had the right to go wild-after all, she'd been knocked off her dyed-to-match shoes after finding her own fiancé in a compromising position with the washing machine repairman. Clearly her society wedding is off.

But Sebastian pushed all the wrong buttons-and some of the right ones, too. Clare is in no mood for love-not even for lust-and wants to forget about Sebastian and his six-pack abs ASAP. But he isn't in the mood to go away, and his kiss is impossible to forget.

Ever since buying and reading Sex, Lies, and Online Dating, just about a year ago, I've been dying for Rachel Gibson's next book, I'm In No Mood For Love. It's the second in a series she's writing about 4 girl friends who are all fiction authors. And I wasn't disappointed.

Clare is a historical romance author and she loves her job, even if her mother tells all her friends that she writes woman's fiction and refuses to call it what it really is. Clare's completely happy with her life until the day of one of her best friends wedding when she runs back home and finds the Sears repair man riding her fiance on the floor of her walk in closet.

The next morning she wakes up with a huge hang over and not really remembering to much. But when she looks at the bed she's in and finds her self naked except for her pink thong in a hotel room it's obvious she didn't spend it alone. But before she can escape he's there, the worst person she could even think up. The boy who teased her, hit her and tricked her every chance he got grew up to be a very handsome man. Sebastian is a girls wet dream, with his green eyes, wicked smile, and body to drool over.

After a very embarrassing conversation with Sebastian, mostly cause she didn't remember anything and Sebastian is still teasing her, Clare escaped with what dignity she could. Then went home to face her reality. She cleaned house-so to speak, and decided to stay clear of men for awhile. But before Sebastian is off they share a hot kiss. And a few months later it's a make-out session in her mother pantry, and about a month or so later they stop lying to themselves and give in to the passion burning between them.

After mistakenly thinking they could rid themselves of each other after a night full of hot kinky sex they decide to just be friends that have sex, no strings attached. Great for Sebastian that cannot handle the R word or C word (that's relationship or commitment if you weren't sure), and great for Clare who doesn't mind a few multiple orgasms with Mr. Right Now while she waits for Mr. Right.

But when Clare finds herself in love with another man that doesn't love her back, she takes a stand. And that's when it gets really good. But I'm not gonna tell you the rest. You'll have to go read this to find out how Sebastian reacts, what he does, what she does.....and a lot more.

This book is full of men reading romance, men getting drug around shopping by a shopaholic, a father and son finding a relationship that had gotten forgotten, kick ass girl friends, some sexy banter with our H&H, a lot of laughter (even some tears for me) and that's not even mentioning a flipping fine hero and an awesome heroine.
So go get the book and read it!

Quote from Sebastian (after Clare asks if he heard what she said to him):

"Yeah. You assume I don't see myself married because I want to 'conquer' lots of different women and eat their Lucky Charms and Tasty O's."

....then after he corners her in her mothers pantry

"I want to talk about eating you like a Tasty O. I want to talk about all the things I want to do to you. Then we can talk about all the things I want you to do to me."

Oh wait.....the parts I didn't like? Hmmmm, even a favorite like RG had something that bothered me. There was something on page 182 that really irked me, read the book and see if you can figure it out. lol. And the ending? A little perfect but hey it's a romance novel right? What do you expect? All around though, it was a great book. I can always count on RG for a great read. Now I cannot wait till next year for Maddie's book!!!

The Series order so far:
Sex, Lies and Online Dating
I'm in no Mood for Love

And Then Came You by Maureen Child

Hero: Jeff
Heroine: Sam (Samantha)
Category: Contemp
Page Count: 335
Grade: B
Buy It:Here, or here.

Nine years ago, Samantha Marconi was swept away in a whirlwind wedding...even though she'd only known her new husband for a month. When Jeff left her just weeks after the wedding-she found out she was pregnant and had nowhere to turn. So Sam did the only thing she thought she could do. She placed her daughter up for adoption and tried to forget the past-until her past came knocking on her door...

Jeff never received Sam's letters, nor did he know she had their child-until after the little girl was put up for adoption. Jeff managed to find their daughter, Emma, and lovingly raised her on his own. He's about to remarry-but his divorce from Sam never went through. Jeff needs Sam's help to get "unmarried," and quick. Yet when Jeff shows up on Sam's doorstep, he's shocked to find the sparks that once flew between them are still burning strong. Can he let Sam go again? Especially when the truth about what really happened nine years ago is finally revealed...

Yes I'm stealing Dylan's little set up here, I like it! lol. So what? On with the review.

I must admit that when I first started reading this I had no intention of liking it. I didn't not want to, it's just I knew it was a storyline I didn't like. Ask me my most despised storyline and it's the "We were together, we got split up with others lies, I had your baby, we never spoke, a million years past and OMG I bump into you and still love you! What to do???" lol. Okay so you get my point.

This book surprised me. While there were parts that I didn't' really like, as a whole it was a really good book. Full of funny Italian woman, sister to boot! And they are all construction workers.

We'll skip the stuff that is already said about the book above and go with the rest.....

Jeff has chosen a new woman to be his wife. Her name is Cynthia and he choose her cause he didn't have the same crazy passion with her as he did with Sam. After all, passion obviously isn't enough, look at him and Sam. But when he sees Sam again and the sparks fly he has to wonder.....can he really live without her? He has raised their daughter since she was a newborn, believing that Sam wanted neither him or their daughter. That stung but he never let Emma know the truth. Instead deciding to tell her that her mother loved her but just couldn't keep her.

Sam was hurt once, and that was enough. When her mother got sick and finances were tight right after her husband walked out on her and returned her letter telling him she was pregnant, she decided to give her baby that she loved so much up for adoption. Little did she know someone was working behind the scenes to destroy her marriage, and everything dear to her.

But nine years later Jeff and Sam meet again, granted not under the best circumstances but it's still another chance. When Sam finds out that Jeff has had her daughter all along she is at first livid. But then she comes up with the perfect plan. Jeff may not want to share his daughter, believing all this time he'd never have too. But he wants a divorce and she's holding the cards. So it's shared custody or no divorce. But when Jeff finds out the truth about nine years ago, and the passion that has not worn off at all with Sam, does he want a divorce still?

With a beautiful little girl, a conniving fiancee, a confused wife and husband that have believed themselves divorced for nine years, and not to mention two kick ass sisters that won't stand for anyone hurting Sam again. This makes for a very entertaining book. Full of laughter, tears, anger, and smiles.

But wait....I said there was some stuff that irked me. Nothing to much but I must state that it has always bothered me when hero's are hurt in the past then have this mind set: I've loved once and gotten burned, so now I'm going to choose a cold woman that I don't love cause that's sure to keep me safe and happy.
Okay how dumb can men be? At least he didn't' keep that mind set for long.

Go get the book, and then read the rest of the stories that go along:
And then Came You ~ Sam's Story
A Crazy Kind of Love ~ Mike's Story
Turn My World Upside Down ~ Jo's Story

Or visit Maureen Child's webpage and see all the other books she has by clicking here.

Sarah's Child by Linda Howard

A tragic accident took everything that mattered to Rome Matthews - his wife, Diana, and their two little boys. And it robbed Sarah Harper of her best friend. In the two years after the tragedy, Sarah wanted nothing more than to reach out to Rome. But she knew it was vital she stay away, guarding the secret she had kept from him and Diana all those years - that she was in love with her best friends husband.

But now Rome needs her. He wants to lose himself in the passion he feels for Sarah. Knowing he is trapped by a grief that won't let go,. and desperate to help him escape his pain, she willingly gives him what he so desperately craves. Though another woman will hold his heart forever, Sarah agrees to be his wife, knowing that everything has a price, including love. It is a price she is willing to pay, but one that will demand all of her courage and her heart.

Then something totally unexpected rekindles her hidden hope that a marriage of convenience will become a union of live. Now it all comes down to her husband. Will Rome keep fighting his own growing need for a woman who dares him to believe there are second chances in life...or will he give in to the power of love and miracles?

This was unlike any other Linda Howard book I've read to date. There was no plot to figure out no suspense. Just plain and simple a man struggling through the pain of losing his family and falling in love and starting over. About a woman who had loved for so long and had to hide it and then was given a chance to have it all.


Sarah had loved Rome since she first met him but when he met her best friend he chose her. Married to Diane and giving her children Sarah stood back and watched. She was still a good friend to Diane and never betrayed her feelings but she couldn't bare to be around them as a family. With Rome loving Diane so much. But in a tragic turn of fate Diane and their two sons where taken from Rome, in a drunken accident. It was all he could do to just wake up, smiling and laughing became foreign to him, and his eyes never held any life.
One phone called changed both their lives. Rome called Sarah one night to pick up some old mementos of Diana's from when they were in high school and in a moment of grief Rome broke. He collapsed and Sarah was there, soon his grief turned into something not so innocent. And he was on Sarah, holding, kissing, caressing. Stopping just in time he lashed out at her for the guilt he was feeling. But the next day he couldn't shake how she touched him, his soul. So he went to her. After the two of them saw each other casually for a while Rome stamps his claim and asks her to marry him. All very businesslike. Through misconceptions and misread signals they go though a few rough patches with hurt feelings and such. But soon they find their niche and Sarah starts to hope that one day he may love her as she loves him. Until it happens...the one thing Rome said he could never give her, would never give her. He said he never wanted any children, after losing his two sons he couldn't bare it. But Sarah gets pregnant and refuses to have an abortion. She gives him an ultimatum..."Leave me or Stay but I am keeping the baby. If you stay you don't have to be part of the baby's life, but I'm not giving it up!" Rome can't leave her, after finally finding a reason to live again he can't give it up, but he also can't accept the baby. Through the ending of the book we see how he struggles with this new part of his life, he wants nothing to do with the baby and make it clear. Leaving Sarah to do everything alone. It's her first child and is all alone in everything involving it. In the end of course we have out HEA for all involved parties, but I'll leave you to read the book to see how it comes about.

But I want to leave you with this, could you love someone enough that after they turn on you in the most important time in your life and leave you to do it all alone you can 'understand' where they are coming from and forgive without a second thought? I mean really not be mad and just say "it's okay, I understand". He missed major parts of their child's birth and beginning of her life. I just don't know if I could be that forgiving. How bout you?

Grade~ B

Sinfully Sexy by Linda Francis Lee

After a close encounter of the sexy kind,
Chloe discovers her wild side. . . .

Plain-Jane Chloe Sinclair has never been bad . . . until she stumbles- literally-into the arms of a gorgeous stranger. To make matters worse, the morning after, her world is rocked completely off its axis when the sensual dreamboat turns out to be the man brought in to save the TV station where she works.

Sterling Prescott is hard-driven, sexy as hell, and determined to take over the struggling KTEX TV. But all bets are off when the shameless wildcat who disappeared on him last night walks back into his life-acting like a squeaky-clean librarian. Life gets truly complicated, however, when Sterling decides to win more than the station-and to show her that being sexy isn't a sin.

After taking, and failing, a 'how sexy are you' quiz Chloe decides to see how sexy she can be. And with that ends up nearly having sex with a stranger in a hotel bathroom. Opps...but just in time she is snapped back to her senses and flees, never believing she'd see that mystery man again.
But the next day when she walks into a meeting at work and sees that very same man standing there she nearly faints. Not only does she see her mystery man again but he turns out to be (or at least she thinks) an employee of Sterling Prescott. Cutthroat businessman who swoops in and buys out businesses in trouble and rebuilds them, with no remorse. So she does what she thinks is best....pretends she's never seen him before.

Sterling Presscott cannot get the sexy woman from the hotel bathroom out of his mind, and he cannot believe she walked away from him! HIM, Sterling Prescott, CEO of Prescott Media. Granted she doesn't know he is Sterling Prescott, she thinks he is Trey Tanner, his own employee. But what shocks him the most is she's pretending not to know who she is!

Through this book we see a bet with a brother, a TV show gone a little kooky, and lots of hotness with our H & H.

Okay even though I DID like this book! ALOT! There were some of the same issues in this book as the last. Alot of starting up with the hot and heavy....then.....STOPPING! And something else I didn't mention when I reviewed the last book but was there was the fact that the hero's both "Grunted and Cursed" almost every singe page! Goodness. And last but not least, I hate when certain phrases get played out, and LFL used this one in BOTH books "You undo me". Cute but very played. Sorry.

So while I did like the book, there were obviously thinks I didn't like.

Grade: B-

Read them all, in order:
Suddenly Sexy
Sinfully Sexy
Simply Sexy

Suddenly Sexy by Linda Francis Lee

When a legendary bad boy returns to town, Kate must summon her inner temptress.
Kate Bloom’s ordered world is turned upside down when notorious bad boy and superstar athlete Jesse Chapman comes home. Seeing him again reminds Kate of all the reasons she harbored a Texas-sized crush on him back when they were kids. But she isn’t a little girl anymore . . . and she’s ready to show this hell-raising playboy just how sexy she can be.
After a reporter starts digging into his past, Jesse Chapman returns home looking for space. The last thing he needs is a distraction, but that’s just what he gets when he sees his little Katie. Suddenly the girl next door is hot and sexy–and more than even this legendary ladies’ man can handle.

First let me say woooo hooooo! I'm outta my reading slump! I started this book yesterday afternoon and finished today! Or I think that's when I started it. Anyway . . . back to the book.

Kate (or Katie to our hero) and Jessie, what a pair. Friends since childhood, Jessie is four years Kate's senior. He's the one she runs to every time her mom divorces or remarries (5x's). She's the one he opens to when his mom dies and he has problems with his father. But while Kate is completely open and honest with Jessie about her problems and her feelings for him, he withholds. Partially because how can he go into detail about issues with his father that involve sex, smoking and drinking when he is 11 and that would only make her 7. Jessie learns quick to become a buddy to his dad and to turn into a wild boy in order to keep his father close and not lose him like he lost his mother. But he also loses his brother in return, or at least his brothers respect. But with his brother being 7 years older he should have been the one protecting his younger brother from the bad influences of their father, not begrudging him the attention he got or the way he turned out. Which makes for a lot of sibling tension through the book. One of the things Jessie picks up while always with his father is golfing. Which he takes to from the start. So as he lives his wild life he becomes a professional golfer. He has women, he has his game and he feels he is in no way good enough for his Katie. So when on the day of his brothers wedding Kate walks in on him naked and offers herself he pushes her away. But not before he let himself see how sweet it could be with her, he stops in the nick of time. After telling her no and to leave, she flees crying.
So when Jessie comes back into El Paso and into Kate's life she is a bit weary. Her job is falling apart she is "dating" a great guy that she just can't drum up any passion for and just the site of Jessie makes her melt.
Time after time we see the simmering heat between our h&h. After awhile I'll be quite honest I felt like screaming "JUST DO IT!!!" I did love the character development in the book. We really got a good glimpse of who these characters are and what made them the way they are. But there was just to much getting it on to a certain point then just stopping between Kate and Jessie. You know? I get she was going for good sexual tension but it got old real fast.
We do get a big surprise for our hero in the middle of the beginning of the book that really puts a sweat and emotional turn on the story. But to which I don't' think the author knew enough on the subject to write it as well as it should have been.
With Kate being a News Anchor I also felt that there wasn't enough on that, we never really got to see what she was before her ratings plummeted and made her resort to doing "Getting Real With Kate" while the GRWK segments were funny they lacked reality of what that job would really be like.
I did love the friendship between Kate and her two best girlfriends, Chloe and Julia. In the beginning of most of the chapters we read emails back and forth between the girls. It was fun and added to the story a lot.
All in all it was a good book, I just felt as if the author should have tweaked it a bit more before releasing it. So it made me want to read the next book and also hope it's written just a little bit better.

Grade~ B-

Read them all:
Suddenly Sexy
Sinfully Sexy
Simply Sexy


*****Editing to add something I forgot******

The surprise that I told you about...with the hero? Well in the end of the book it never got an ending so to speak. Pretty annoying...

Grade must go down to a C+ for that alone.

It's In His Kiss by Julia Quinn

Meet Our Hero ...
Gareth St. Clair is in a bind. His father, who detests him, is determined to beggar the St. Clair estates and ruin his inheritance. Gareth's sole bequest is an old family diary, which may or may not contain the secrets of his past .. and the key to his future. The problem is -- it's written in Italian, of which Gareth speaks not a word.


Meet Our Heroine ...

All the town agreed: there was no one quite like Hyacinth Bridgerton. She's fiendishly smart, devilishly outspoken, and according to Gareth, probably best in small doses. But there's something about her -- something charming and vexing -- that grabs him and won't quite let go ...


Meet Poor Mr. Mozart ...

Or don't. But rest assured, he's spinning in his grave when Gareth and Hyacinth cross paths at the annual -- and annually discordant -- Smythe-Smith musicale. To Hyacinth, Gareth's every word seems a dare, and she offers to translate his diary, even though her Italian is slightly less than perfect. But as they delve into the mysterious text, they discover that the answers they seek lie not in the diary, but in each other ... and that there is nothing as simple -- or as complicated -- as a single, perfect kiss.


Only read my review if you've read the book because there will be spoilers!

I really really liked this book, I think it had the light fun feel of most of JQ's book. And I just plain and simple loved Hyacinth and Gareth. Neither of them annoyed me at all, they were both refreshingly unique. There was no "forcing" of a wedding, which was a nice change of pace, you know for a gentleman to actually make a choice to marry a young woman and her to say yes all of their own free will.

I must admit that at one point during the book Hyacinth is reading the Italian diary to Lady D and I thought for sure Lady D had only feigned not being about to read Italian to get Hyacinth and Gareth together and really understood it all. But no, that was not the case. To bad it would have been kinda funny.

I unlike most was not let down by the final scene with Gareth and Lord St. Clair, I felt it fitting. Any more emotion would not have fit the norm for them.

One thing that did bother me? Okay I HATED HATED HATED the very last page of the book!!!!!! I was soooo beyond pissed that Isabella (H&G's daughter) found the diamonds and didn't tell her mother!!!!!! It was not cute, not funny, not anything but ANNOYING!!! The entire freaking book we go through this wild goose chase with Hyacinth and Garth looking for the jewels and then they NEVER find them????? Just plain old aggravating.

My Grade: A- (minus for the last page!)

Favorite parts:

"You weren't very subtle," Gareth said.
"No," she replied, "but then, I really am. It's a skill one must be born with, I'm afraid."

I just love the interaction with Gregory! This all had me rolling!
"Milk?" Lady Bridgerton asked?
"Thank you," Gareth replied. "No sugar, if you please."
"Hyacinth takes her's with three," Gregory said, reaching for a piece of shortbread.
"Why," Hyacinth ground out, "would he care?"
"Well," Gregory replied, taking a bit and chewing, "he is your special friend."

Gregory turned to Hyacinth. "Do you still read to her (lady D) each Wednesday?"
"Tuesday," Hyacinth corrected.
"Oh. Thorry."
Gareth blinked. Did Hyacinth's brother have a lisp?

And I can't say enough how much I loved our hero and heroine together!"All right," he acceded, "but the only words I'll allow from your mouth are, 'Oh, Gareth,' and 'Yes, Gareth.'"
He lifted his finger.
"What about 'More, Gareth?'"
He almost kept a straight face. "That will be acceptable."

"I love you too," she said
He took her face in his hands and kissed her, once, deeply, on the mouth. "I mean," he said, "I really love you."
She quirked a brow. "Is this a contest?"
"It is anything you want," he promised.
She grinned, that enchanting, perfect smile that was so quintessentially hers. "I feel I must warn you, then," she said, cocking her head to the side. "When it comes to contests and games, I always win."
"Always?"
Her eyes grew sly. "Whenever it matters."
He felt himself smile, felt his soul lighten and his worries slip away. "And what, precisely, does that mean?"
"It means," she said, reaching up and undoing the buttons of her coat, "that I really really love you."

Read the books in order:
The Duke and I
The Viscount Who Loved Me
An Offer From A Gentleman
Romancing Mr. Bridgerton
To Sir Phillip, With Love
When He Was Wicked
It's In His Kiss
On the Way to the Wedding

When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn

Everything was so much simpler…
When he was wicked.
In every life there is a turning point.

A moment so tremendous, so sharp and breathtaking, that one knows one's life will never be the same. For Michael Stirling, London's most infamous rake, that moment came the first time he laid eyes on Francesca Bridgerton.

After a lifetime of chasing women, of smiling slyly as they chased him, of allowing himself to be caught but never permitting his heart to become engaged, he took one look at Francesca Bridgerton and fell so fast and hard into love it was a wonder he managed to remain standing. Unfortunately for Michael, however, Francesca's surname was to remain Bridgerton for only a mere thirty-six hours longer — the occasion of their meeting was, lamentably, a supper celebrating her imminent wedding to his cousin.

But that was then…Now Michael is the earl and Francesca is free, but still she thinks of him as nothing other than her dear friend and confidant. Michael dares not speak to her of his love…until one dangerous night, when she steps innocently into his arms, and passion proves stronger than even the most wicked of secrets…

When I first picked up this book and started reading it I really liked it. I thought I was in for a real treat. Now I know from Sylvia's review some of the reasons others didn't like this book, such as we barley knew Francesca. But that point didn't bother me at all, I felt as if I grew to know her plenty well in her book, so that was just fine with me. And also that she was happily married before, which that didn't bother me sooo much. I mean yeah it is hard to fall in love all over again if you were so happy the first time, especially if it were your husbands cousin almost brother. But what did bother me A LOT in this book is how indecisive Francesca was.

How she would be with him over and over, but not commit to marrying him. How every time something big happened she ran. I almost feel like she wasn't deserving of Micheal. He was so tortured and patient with her every whim. I loved him. I felt for him so much. I did really love how Colin played into this story too. How he saw right through Micheal and pushed him in the direction he needed to go. I think even though Francesca annoyed me in the book (and the fact that the book in general took soooo long to get to what I thought was the core of the story) I was still satisfied with the book.

...Till I read the Epilogue, and then I was left with more thoughts and questions. Like John's mother said Francesca and Micheal were born for each other and thanked Micheal for letting John love her first. Did that mean that if Micheal had made his feelings for Francesca known before the wedding she would not have married John since she was "born for" Micheal???? And do you think John loved her sooo much? As much as he maybe could have loved someone else? I mean she said they were satisfied in bed but she never felt the passion she did with Micheal with John so did that mean they were missing something in their marriage? Something she found with Micheal, something John could have maybe found with someone else? I mean he never touched her breasts????!!! Hello, men love breasts, what was up with that? And she never went down on John in TWO YEARS of marriage? Yeah, I'm thinking something was wrong there, and I'm thinking that it's a shame that Micheal didn't stop the wedding in the beginning so he and Francesca could have been together (soul mates) and John could have found his real soul mate. It seemed like Micheal should have been her best friend and lover from the start and John should have just been her best friend.

But beyond all that disappointed me, I must say I was most impressed with the sex in the book, and the foreplay. Hello, we weren't left wanting in that area. Micheal was just as wicked as we were all lead to believe and he didn't hesitate to bring it to the bed with the woman he loved. Bravo Micheal. I hate when the men in historical books feel they can't be naughty with their wives (even when they love them) since they are 'ladies'. Oh Please!

Grade: C+ (the plus is for Micheal, and all his wickedness)

Read the books in order:
The Duke and I
The Viscount Who Loved Me
An Offer From A Gentleman
Romancing Mr. Bridgerton
To Sir Phillip, With Love
When He Was Wicked
It's In His Kiss
On the Way to the Wedding

To Sir Phillip With Love by Julia Quinn

Sir Phillip knew that Eloise Bridgerton was a spinster, and so he'd proposed, figuring that she'd be homely and unassuming, and more than a little desperate for an offer of marriage. Except she wasn't. The beautiful woman on his doorstep was anything but quiet, and when she stopped talking long enough to close her mouth, all he wanted to do was kiss her and more.

Did he think she was mad? Eloise Bridgerton couldn't marry a man she had never met! But then she started thinking and wondering and before she knew it, she was in a hired carriage in the middle of the night, on her way to meet the man she hoped might be her perfect match. Except he wasn't. Her perfect husband wouldn't be so moody and ill-mannered, and while Phillip was certainly handsome, he was a large brute of a man, rough and rugged, and totally unlike the London gentlemen vying for her hand. But when he smiled and when he kissed her the rest of the world simply fell away, and she couldn't help but wonder could this imperfect man be perfect for her?

I know quite a few of the other ladies here on SF have reviewed this book, as all the other Bridgerton books, so originally I had planned on not reviewing it. But as I read both the book and the reviews I found my opinions differed some, and so decided to give you all my review.

I think this is tied for first place in the series. I cannot choose between The Duke and I and this book.

I, unlike most, didn't think that Phillip was annoying in the way he was with his children. I didn't want to yell at him to stop worrying and just be with them. I think this may have been one of the most real books written on a parents fears. It wasn't overly done. Maybe if his anger in the book had been toward them and so he stayed away I would have been mad, but because it was directed at himself, I was able to understand where he was coming from. He never had a mother or anyone to tell him he was different from his father, so how was he to know when he was upset he wouldn't lash out at the children? He was trying so hard to protect them that when he came across the Nurse it nearly killed him to realize that his staying away hurt them as opposed to helping them. If he had walked away at that point and avoided them I think it may have been one to many times for be. But he didn't. And when his mistake was clear in front of him he fixed it. I loved Phillip, he was so real, so honest with himself.

And may I be blunt? Of course I can, lol. Another reason I so enjoyed this book was it was more sexual. OMG the intimacies between Eloise and Phillip were so hot! They were so hot together. I love how blunt and open Eloise was, she held nothing back. Physically, emotionally or with her words.

This book simply put was a breath of fresh air.

I LOVED the children, I know I stated my opinion on them in the book in the beginning but I must say again, how much they added to the book and to Phillips character.

Grade~ A- (the minus because I felt jipped in the epilogue, way to short, and not informative at all!)

Read the books in order:
The Duke and I
The Viscount Who Loved Me
An Offer From A Gentleman
Romancing Mr. Bridgerton
To Sir Phillip, With Love
When He Was Wicked
It's In His Kiss
On the Way to the Wedding

The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn

1814 promises to be another eventful season, but not, This Author believes, for Anthony Bridgerton, London's most elusive bachelor, who has shown no indication that he plans to marry. And in all truth, why should he? When it comes to playing the consummate rake, nobody does it better...

-Lady Whistledown's Society Papers, April 1814

But this time the gossip columnists have it wrong. Anthony Bridgerton hasn't just decided to marry, he's even chosen a wife! The only obstacle is his intendeds older sister, Kate Sheffield the most meddlesome woman ever to grace a London ballroom. The spirited schemer is driving Anthony mad with her determination to stop the betrothal, but when he closes his eyes at night, Kate's the woman haunting his increasingly erotic dreams...

Contrary to popular belief, Kate is quite sure that reformed rakes to not make the best husbands and Anthony Bridgerton is the most wicked rogue of them all. Kate's determined to protect her sister but she fears her own heart is vulnerable. And when Anthony's lips touch hers, she's suddenly afraid she might not be able to resist the reprehensible rake herself...

Well I must say that this book was just okay for me. I mean it definitely kept my attention the entire time but Anthony really irked me. He was such a total jerk to Kate the entire first half of the book, and not just a little but horribly mean. And I do not think he made up for it in the least. There was no grand gesture or anything.

I really liked Kate in this book though. She was strong, never pitied herself, and was so loving to everyone. And when she found out about Anthony's fear she didn't mock him for the stupidity of it she just said it was totally understandable but he was wrong. That it would be okay. She was just great.

I must admit that I am getting more and more curious about who this Lady Whistledown is though. I do have my suspicions but I will keep them to myself till I know for sure. Over all I like the book and my grade would be....

Grade: B-

Read the books in order:
The Duke and I
The Viscount Who Loved Me
An Offer From A Gentleman
Romancing Mr. Bridgerton
To Sir Phillip, With Love
When He Was Wicked
It's In His Kiss
On the Way to the Wedding

The Duke and I by Julia Quinn

Simon Basset, the irresistible Duke of Hastings, has hatched a plan to keep himself free from the town's marriage-minded society mothers. He pretends to be engaged to the lovely Daphne Bridgerton. After all, it isn't as if the brooding rogue has any real plans to marry Although there is something about the alluring Miss Bridgerton that sets Simon's heart beating a bit faster. And as for Daphne, surely the clever debutante will attract some very worthy suitors now that is seems a duke has declared her desirable. But as Daphne waltzes across ballroom after ballroom with Simon, she soon forgets that their courtship is a complete sham. And now she has to do the impossible and keep herself from losing her heart and soul completely to the handsome hell-raiser who has sworn off marriage forever!Simon Basset, the irresistible Duke of Hastings, has hatched a plan to keep himself free from the town's marriage-minded society mothers. He pretends to be engaged to the lovely Daphne Bridgerton. After all, it isn't as if the brooding rogue has any real plans to marry although there is something about the alluring Miss Bridgerton that sets Simon's heart beating a bit faster. And as for Daphne, surely the clever debutante will attract some very worthy suitors now that is seems a duke has declared her desirable. But as Daphne waltzes across ballroom after ballroom with Simon, she soon forgets that their courtship is a complete sham. And now she has to do the impossible and keep herself from losing her heart and soul completely to the handsome hell-raiser who has sworn off marriage forever!


Well I finally started the series. Every raves about this series and you know what? I really enjoyed this first book. I loved the simplicity of it. There was no evil villain. No mysterious twist. Just two people that fall in love and have to come to terms with all that entails.

From the start Daphne has a confidence that is to be admired. She is not a heroine to swoon at a rakish remark or smoldering look. She holds her own with her quick wit and knowledge of all things male. Well except when it comes to the bedroom. Having four brothers, three of them older, Daphne is quite refreshing as a heroine. She doesn't even need a knight in shining armor to rescue her she is able and willing to throw down a punch to save herself or get what she needs. And while she did do one thing in the book to really irk me, she scored high on my heroine list. Once she realized she was falling in love with Simon she was determined to have him. Not only to make herself happy, but she was determined she was good enough for him and could save him and that he would love her just as much. She knew her self worth.

From the pain Simon had to deal with at a very young age he found anger the only tool to push him on in life. Anger made him find his words, anger got him into the school he wanted to go to. Anger....at his father. All he ever wanted was to be acknowledged but it was one of the many things his father denied him, to ashamed of him. So Simon was determined to defy his father at every turn of his life. Even when his father was dead. But when Simon realizes how much Daphne means to him and what he will be losing if he doesn't give up his hatred for a dead man he has some hard choices to deal with. Simon was a great hero. I loved everything about him. His speech problems made him more vulnerable to me and his honesty was refreshing. And just reading about his eyes made ME swoon.

I loved all the family interactions. All the Bridgerton siblings were great. Can't remember her name but the youngest girl (H-something) was so cute! Loved the possessiveness of Anthony and how B-something (lol) always backed him up. And Colin? Well I can't wait for his book, I can tell it will be a favorite. And I absolutely love the relationship all the Bridgerton's have with their mother Violet. Such a change from the traditional mother of the ton. She is so caring and warm yet strict and firm when need be. Great family.

If I were to find a fault in this book it would be the reason Simon didn't want children. I won't spoil the book and tell all, but for Simon being such a smart man he was very dumb in that one area.

But overall? Great read, looking forward to the rest of the series.

Grade: B+

Read the books in order:
The Duke and I
The Viscount Who Loved Me
An Offer From A Gentleman
Romancing Mr. Bridgerton
To Sir Phillip, With Love
When He Was Wicked
It's In His Kiss
On the Way to the Wedding

The Marriage Bed by Laura Lee Guhrke

Summary: 1833, Lord John and Lady Viola Hammond remain the talk of the Ton as they continue to remain estranged for eight years with no heir, but he never cared because his solid best friend cousin Percy is next in line. That changes when John receives a letter from JohnÂ's widow Constance that he died along with their son. Grieving for his loss, John needs an heir because he will not allow the estate to be destroyed by his next in line. John visits Viola, informing her of the deaths and that he expects them to share a conjugal bed once he returns from the funeral. Viola says she will not sleep with him; John says he is within his legal right and she will or else he will take her to the House of Commons where even her ducal brother knows he will win. Following the funeral, John returns to London to get Viola. He admits that he wed her for her money, but liked her. She asks for more time and they begin seeing one another for he courts his wife who he is beginning to fall in love with while she always loved him.

Okay I read the first two books in this trilogy and loved them soo soo much. In those books you meet the Heroine from this book, Viola. You fall in love with the heart broken woman who at a very young age married a man she loved and who betrayed her and has been having continual affairs. You never meet John outright but hear about all the horrible things he does. So by time I started reading TMB I was ready to hate him. Well let me tell you LLG did aawesomee job at making you fall in love with a man that was so wrong in everything he did. The reason I gave this book a C was not because of the writing, which was top of the line, or the lack of interest in the story cause I was so into it. But because I personally could not imagine making any of the decisions the heroine did.

After John had had affairsamongg many women of the ton for 9 years he decides to come back to Viola because he finally needs an heir. He basically tells her the reason he went to all of those women was because she turned him out of her bed and was so unforgiving. Well she turned him out of her bed because she felt betrayed when she found out he had lied to her and was keeping a mistress while they were courting. Then instead ofapologizingg or begging for her understanding and explaining he gives her a month to 'get over it' and come back to him and when she doesn't he just leaves. Then starts the 9 years of affairs. During that time Viola is forced by her social standing to suffer through dinners, card games, balls and more with the women her husband is sleeping with.

Now LLG did a very good job of redeeming John...how heart broken he was when his sister died when he was just a child, how his parents never showed him any love, how his best friend and cousin died. But still can all theunhappinesss he suffered through be excuse enough for all he did? Not to say in the nine years they were married he didn't change but did thatcancele out all the horribly wrong things he did to his marriage? I just don't know.

One other thing that John did that really rubbed me the wrong way was when Viola, after taking a huge chance on loving himagainn, asked if he would promise to stay faithful he wouldn't promise. He said it depended on her! Well if he really loved her, as he supposedly did at the end, no matter what she did he would have stayed faithful. Right?

But like I said in the beginningg I did end up falling for John, and I loved Viola from the start. But honestly I don't know if I could have made the hard choices Viola did. I give hera lott of props as a great heroine, it would take a very strong woman to forgive like she did.

Grade: C

Read the Series in order:
Guilty Pleasures
His Every Kiss
The Marriage Bed

His Every Kiss by Laura Lee Guhrke

Everyone knows about Dylan Moore—his brilliant talent and his pleasure-seeking ways—but no one knows the torment that lies beneath his reckless veneer. Only one woman gets a glimpse of the forces that drive Dylan's soul, a woman who haunts his dreams and evokes his passions as no other woman ever has before.

Disgraced and destitute, Grace Cheval wants nothing to do with the seductive man who desires her. When Dylan offers her a position as governess to his newfound daughter, she knows his true intentions are dishonorable. Yet she finds this charismatic man hard to resist, and she returns his passionate kisses with a fire that matches his own. Can Dylan dare hope that this proud, spirited beauty will melt the ice around his heart?

Oh.My.Goodness! Loved loved loved this book! Such a great read, had me laughing and crying. I could not put it down, not even for a second. I loved all the characters it was so perfectly written. LLG didn't hold back on the flaws in any of the characters, and it added so much to the book. This will forever be one of my all time favorite historical books.

When we first see Dylan he is saddened and depressed wanting to just end it all. He has his pistol and is contemplating the merits of living anymore. When out of nowhere an angel appears playing a violin. She tells him not to do it, that he has a reason to keep living. Then she is gone...

Grace never forgot the day she saved Dylan from killing himself, and thinks she'll never see him agian. Untill she is playing at a ball he is in attendace at. As soon as she is done she slips away only Dylan has no intention of letting his angel slip away from him agian.

Dylan finding himself in a new situation with a daughter he has just met and a woman he needs to keep near to drive away the demons in his mind he hires Grace on as his daughters new governess.

As things heat up with Dylan and Grace differant aspects come to....Grace is falling for both a man and his daughter and fearing her past is doomed to repeat itself. Dylan is trying to change his ways of bachlorhood to become an ideal father and falling for his angel Grace too. And just when it seems they might all find their happily ever after something turns up that just might ruin it all.

You must read this book to find out all of Dylan and Graces trials and how they end up. It's a story you don't want to miss.

Grade: A+

Don't miss when Dylan is first introduced in Guilty Pleasures
and the end of this trilogy with The Marriage Bed.