Review: Love Lies by MaryJanice Davidson

Sybil Review: Love Lies by MaryJanice Davidson

It should be noted I am something of a maryjanice davidson fangirl. I am not sure if she could write something I hate.

Another note I come from a long background of reading xfiles fanfic.

When I first started to read Love Lies, I so thought I had read it before. There are quite a few mulder drugged/mindcontroled/drunk/chip implant made him rape scully but omg her loves her stories out there.

Of course, don’t they say there are really only x amount of plots in fiction?

All that aside I liked the story. Parts of it made me go ‘eh’, like the sleeping in the same bed right after I forced you to marry me so I don’t take the child we made while I raped you away. (Hmmm that sounds like shit when said that way).

It isn’t the best thing she has written but her ‘voice’ is present. Her humor shows through in these characters even at the worst of times. And it really is a character driven story. At the most I would rate it an R, so if you are looking of a hot, smutty elloras cave story this isn’t it. Thief of Hearts is going to be my next MJD read.

Grade: C

Victor Lawrence has everything a man could want…until he runs into Ashley Lorentz and finds out what he REALLY wants. Ashley, for her part, can’t believe the wealthy, dashing Victor could possibly be interested in a mutt like her. Their fragile trust is shattered one night when Victor, out of his head, takes Ashley by force. A child is conceived as a result of Victor’s actions, leaving Ashley with some decisions to make…

Rated by Ellora’s Cave: Hard R

Tags: eBook, Ellora's Cave, Grade C, Love Lies, MaryJanice Davidson, OOP, Review, Sybil

one more reason why the bitches

are the smartest

Babbling about inspirational romances

go. read.

Tags: Smart Bitches ponderings on the Inspy

Review: To the Ends of the Earth by Elizabeth Lowell

Sybil’s Review: To the Ends of the Earth by Elizabeth Lowell
Contemporary Romance by Avon

Posted 1/30/5 in live journal (I don’t have too many book posts in my lj but there are a few I want to move over)

I read my first Elizabeth Lowell book that I didn’t like. le sigh, that makes me sad. I haven’t read any of her newer books since I am not much into romantic suspense novels but her historical novels are just about the best evah. Her Only Series is the reason I fell in love with westerns.

To the Ends of the Earth was just bad. Bad, bad, bad and made no sense what so ever. Cat is working herself to death to put two teens (her twin sister and brother) through med school and because her grown mother can’t balance a checkbook. ::blink:: take the fucking thing away from her and make the kids take out a few loans. The whole idea is, if she can just make it to January when her mother marries some rich dumbass, all will be fine. I understand the book was written in the 80’s and updated and re-released in the 90’s but please.

And the hero… he is scarred and wounded from his first marriage (as all hero’s are that have been married before) so he has sworn off women. Well other than to fuck them. So whores and mistresses he gets but mutual sex based on pleasure or feelings isn’t something he understands. I am sorry, after you have mind-blowing sex with someone you think you have feelings for and they offer to pay you - find the door. Quick. She didn’t - and he offered AGAIN. He pretty much spent the book pissed off she had to work and waiting for her to ask him for help money wise. And omg -the end of the book is awful, how EL got a HEA in this is beyond me. The whole thing is like a car wreck you can’t understand you are watching. So back to the UBS with this book.

Then again Elizabeth Lowell has made an art form out of hero’s treating their heroines like shit and then somehow making it work. At least for me, she crossed that line in this book and I just couldn’t see it. But that can’t be said for everyone since AAR gave it a DIK review.

Grade: F

A WOMAN OF THE WORLD: Photographer Cat Cochran has been to exotic places most people only dream about — but all she wants to do is settle down and get her life in order. One last assignment and she can put her past behind her — forgetting about her heart’s disastrous misadventures as she loses herself in the natural beauty she has so far only glimpsed through a camera’s lens. But first she must photograph the mysterious and elusive ship designer T.H. Danvers and his awesome creations.

A MAN IN A MILLION: Travis Danvers is dangerous — a millionaire with an athlete’s body; an enigmatic charmer capable of breaking down Cat’s well-constructed defenses with a buccaneer’s arrogance and flourish. She knows she must resist him, for experience has taught her that pain is the eventual price of the pleasure to be found in the arms of such a man. But caught in the waves of a sensual sea, Cat hears sirens whisper seductively, telling her to abandon all caution; to trust and love Travis with all her soul, and to ride with him on the winds of forever.

Tags: Avon, Contemporary Romance, Elizabeth Lowell, Grade F, Review, Sybil, To the Ends of the Earth

Who are you?

Come on, fess up. Who is buying V.C. Andrews(tm) books? Someone has to be, they keep making them.

Why don’t they just publish them under that guys real name? I read some of the newest one and yikes. It is still the same book!

And honestly I am not throwing stones, I like Diana Palmer.

To Rent or Not To Rent

that is the question…

or at least mine.

I never thought of renting books, which is sort of silly since that is sort of what a Library does.

I have now rented two books, one EC and one new hardback (to be posted about later). My thought was if I liked them I would buy them. The Ellora’s Cave was a sequel and a book I really wanted to read. I went to a ubs I had never been to this weekend and was surprised to see she rented EC and erotica. Her said if she traded them, she would never see them again. So she is building up a library. I thought that was odd, of course I also wanted to buy one of them so that could be why ;).

After spending hours there looking through all her books, many of them were older pb and I was in heaven. I decided to rent the EC I wanted to read, turns out to be a good thing because it was boring.

So where do you guys sit on ‘renting’ books? Is that bad? Is it really any different than checking them out of a library?

Review: Promises Prevail By Sarah McCarty

Promises Prevail is the third in the Promises series and I have to say I didn’t like it near as much as the first one.

Promises Linger is the first and Promises Keep is the second. They are western erotica or erotica in a western setting, however you want to explain that.

Clint McKinnely and Jenna Hennessy have both made appearances in the other books and really I cared more about them then. I am not sure what it was. The plot was out there, but it is erotica so that is expected. I think Jenna was just TSTL. I mean she knew Clint cared for her, so I had a hard time understanding why she didn’t tell him about the bad man who had returned to town.

She was presented as a woman who loved her children, so to put them at risk by not telling him, seemed wrong. And the ‘meeting’ of women to decide how to fix her marriage and make Clint admit to loving her was painful. I have to admit I skimmed over most of that.

I will read the next in the series but if it is an eh as this one, it will be my last. Sarah McCarty really is a great writer and can do much better. Promises Linger is a great book if you are looking for an Ellora’s Cave to try.

Ellora’s Cave

I ordered a book on Saturday, around 2pm. It told me my payment was denied. I ordered it again, and then realized that it had to be paypal that was being wiggy.

I checked my paypal - two charges.

So I sent an email to orders@ellorascave.com saying I was charged two 7.99 fee’s and not given a book to download.

I was sent an email in roughly an hour, with the book I wanted. They asked for me to send an ID number for the charge.

I just received an email from paypal saying a refund has been credited to my account for 7.99.

I have ordered very few EC books and have to say this weekend makes me want to order more. They were quick, fast and very nice.

so go order a book from Ellora’s Cave

36 books for 3 bucks

not too bad

and when you figure I wanted 3 of the books, I did really well… You paid $3 for a bag, then filled it with as many books as you wanted/could from a selected area. They were pretty much books that the store had many copies of.

One author I picked up who I don’t read is Sandra Brown. I have read Sunset Embrace and have Another Dawn in my tbr. I liked SE but the woman just has too many books. So this was a good time to grab some. Of course I was very random, so who knows if I got anything that is good.
Above and Beyond (AAR gave it an F)
Bittersweet Rain
Fanta C
Led Astray
Love Beyond Reason
Love’s Encore
Prime Time
A Treasure Worth Seeking

Would you rec any of these? Should I read them in any order? Or should I just put them away to take to another new home?

Happy Easter to Me

When my mother gave me a list of stuff to buy lil sis for Easter (sis is sick and mom can’t go - sis is 11). She said to pick me up something for Easter as well ;).

What did I get, you ask…
Lady in Red by Karen Hawkins

A Woman’s Innocence by Gayle Callen
I almost didn’t pick up AWI, because I have all her books (most bought new) and have read one. I told myself I had to read at least two before I bought her new book.

Yes look at me stick to my goal.

OH and mom gave me a $20 gift card to B&N. Not sure if I should go tomorrow or wait. I really want Lord of Sin by Madeline Hunter, The Veil of Night by Lydia Joyce and To Love a Thief by Julie Anne Long. And I don’t think any of those are out yet. I also want to make sure I get something I can’t get at Walmart, because as much as I hate wally world their books are priced great.

I thought about using it for Beach Blanket Bad Boys but I can’t see my having this card then. It will probably be cheaper to order it through amazon and do free shipping. BUT is it just me, or do they take their sweet ass time getting your books shipped out when you use free shipping?

What was old is new again

I spent the day buying books with covers that would keep the smart bitches busy for years. Well that isn’t fair, out the 21 books I bought today, really only 6 of them have lookIwaswrittenintheearly90s covers.

Books with covers that should cause me shame:
Touch Me with Fire by Nicole Jordan - oddly not beth aka sum of me’s TMwF.
The Warrior by Nicole Jordan which is being reissued with changes. - I generally like NJ and think she isn’t near as purple as she use to be. So I have to say it surprised me that she took 1st and 2nd in AAR contest. I mean really, Beatrice Small, Connie Mason and even Cassie Edwards had books published last year. They had to be purpler than Jordan’s. But I digress…
Temptation’s Trail by Dana Ransom - now all I need is the last in the series
Dakota Dawn and Dakota Desire by Dana Ransom - I now have all four of those.
My Lord Pirate by Laura Renken - she is proving a pain to find.

then there were the books that don’t scream porn:
Rosalyn West’s (Dana Ransom) The Rebel (#3) which completes The Men of Pride County series.

Stolen Love by Carolyn Jewel - I am interested to see how this stands up next to Lord Ruin. It was written in 91. So far I loved LR and was very eh about The Spare. Her new one that she is trying to sell, The Rake sounds fab.

another xina rec was found - Joe’s Wife - oddly enough they had tons other St. Johns but not The Tenderfoot Bride or Prairie Wife both books I have seen before I was looking for them.

Wyoming Wildflower by Pam Crooks

wendy’s rec’s look good The Bride Fair and Harrigan’s Bride by Cheryl Reavis. But no Prisoner. Although I think someone else rec’ed that one.

finally found Love Song for a Raven by Elizabeth Lowell not sure why that proved to be so hard. It came with The Five-Minute Bride by Leanne Banks. Never read her, so I shall give her a try.

Guilty Pleasure books (aka it is funny I can ask for Marly Chance without blinking but feel really bad for buying Diana Palmer)
Cattleman’s Choice
Matt Caldwell: Texas Tycoon
The Last Mercenary
The Mercenary’s Woman
The Winter Soldier

All in all I got out of there for cheap. While I was looking around, the store is 20 mins or so away from me and I don’t make it over there often. Or at least I didn’t. I am going to try to now. The owner, who was the only person working had to run out. So since I ‘watched’ the store for all of 15 mins, she charged me trade prices. $25 bucks for 18 books, not bad.

Now where the hell do I put all these.

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