Limecello’s review of This Is What I Want by Megan Hart
Erotic fiction short story published by Harlequin Spice Brief on 1 Dec 07

I really enjoy Megan Hart’s writing, and I thought it’d be nice to complete/work on my collection of all her Spice books. Accordingly, I bought this Spice Brief. I ended up with a short, enjoyable read that was definitely worth my money.
I won’t summarize the plot because This Is What I Want is so short – and the blurb is sufficient. I read this not long after reading Ms. Hart’s newest Spice Brief Layover, and felt there were distinct differences in her writing, yet a number of similarities. Ms. Hart’s writing style is stark and at times what seems to be unfinished (though it actually is) – but its gripping and emotionally involving as well. There’s just something about it that keeps readers enthralled, and coming back for more.

The beginning of this short story is attention getting, and I liked how there were two different concurrent stories of a sort. It was nice how Ms. Hart juxtaposed two such different and somewhat disjointed stories together, and connected them. Ms. Hart carefully weaves together all the components so that they are separate and distinct, yet all part of the whole.

I felt that this also gave the characters more depth, as they were able to display distinct facets of their personalities in the different settings. Eve Grant and Lane DeMarco while an unexpected couple, work perfectly. For example, Eve and Lane have little interaction in person – yet the ending is entirely believable and in fact, welcome.

I recommend This Is What I Want to anyone who wants a satisfying story with a lot of heat in a little package. (And of course I loved the little shout out to classical mythology in Eve’s blogger persona, Eris Apparent. And that it was right. Kudos to Ms. Hart!)

Grade: B+

Summary:

By day she was Eve Grant, customer service drone in a drab office cubicle. But at night she became Eris Apparent, sex goddess of the blogosphere, where she could express her true self in sizzling erotic fantasies. As Eve she entertained aching, unfulfilled fancies about her sexy co-worker. But as Eris Apparent she was outspoken and demanding as she carried on a steamy cyberspace affair with the mysterious Tell_me.

Read an excerpt.

Sandy M’s Duckies Do Series reviews of the Immortal Witches Series by Maggie Shayne
Historical/Contemporary Paranormal Romances released Dec 98 – Jan 02

Witch stories run either hot or cold for me.  I have to admit, most don’t do much for me, while a few I totally love.  This series is one I absolutely love.  I enjoyed everything about it, from the characters to the storyline to the villain.  I really like how Ms. Shayne overlaps the characters from book to book, intertwines the storylines while still making each story individual to the current hero and heroine, all the while still giving us the romance we look for.

Eternal Love (Books 1 & 2) (Reissue of Eternity and Infinity)
Released by Berkley Trade 6 Nov 07

Eternity (Book 1)
Initial Release by Jove 1 Dec 98

Raven is a young girl living with her mother in the times when anything unexplained scared people spitless and they accused innocent men and women of witchcraft.  She grows up knowing nothing of her heritage or her power and magic.  It is only as both she and her mother are about to be hanged that she learns everything.  And it is also when she finds the one man meant for her, the only one in the crowd who rails against the wrong done to her and her mother.  But not even he can do anything to save them and Raven’s life ends as he helplessly watches.

Coming back to life later is when Raven begins to learn who and what she truly is.  During the ensuing confusion, it is Duncan who dies trying to save Raven once again, and though she knows he will return to her because of his selfless act of love, it is three hundred years of loneliness she must endure before finding love again.

Of course, it’s never quite that easy either.  Duncan doesn’t remember Raven when they meet again, but he is drawn to her.  Love never dies, as they say, and in this book that is done so very well.  Evil doesn’t seem to die either.  Shayne has created several terrific villains for this series of books.  While Raven, and now Duncan, is a Light High Witch, there are also Dark High Witches, just as immortal but they must consistently kill a Light High Witch and keep their eternal-beating hearts so that they may live a stronger life.  This is done throughout the series, always in a different way, and it’s in the next book that we see it more up close and personal.

These first two books begin in the past for the characters, going through their first death, and then coming at last to present day, still fighting to stay alive and find their true love once again.  Portions of each book are also told in first person, which I enjoy — I’m a throw-back from the days of Victoria Holt, who was a master at first person — but I know there’s plenty of you out there who don’t care for it.  Don’t let that stop you from reading this series, though.  These are not the mundane witch stories we normally see.  There’s so much more going on and done in such a different way that you really don’t want to miss a word.

Grade: A+

Summary:Three hundred years ago, Raven St. James was accused of witchcraft… Only one man tried to free her from the hangman’s noose–Duncan, the town minister, who died trying to save her.Three hundred years later, the accused witch still lives and longs for her love… At last, after centuries of loneliness, Raven has found her precious Duncan. But as he awakens to the passion of his past life, so too does the evil that tore them apart. Now Raven and Duncan must prove their love for all eternity…

Infinity (Book 2)
Initial Release by Jove 1 Oct 99

We met Arianna in Eternity and learned the story of how she was able to save her sister Raven from death, knowing she would be reunited with her in the future. Once again, though, we are first taken into the past to see where Arianna hails from.  We meet her there after Raven has died and we learn how her family has basically fallen apart because of that death.  Arianna seems determined to rebel at every little thing in reaction, even defying her laird as much as she can.  It’s only Nicodimus who can rein her in, just barely.

Arianna knows nothing of her own immortality, though she’s been associating with the local “witches,” and that only fuels the gossip in a superstitious village.  It’s when she pushes everyone and everything too far that the laird demand she marry, hopefully to a man who can control her.  The only man she’ll have, however, is Nic.

As drawn as he is to the little hellion, Nic hesitates when it comes to her ultimatum of marriage.  He’d been married once and it tore his heart and soul to pieces when his family perished.  He’s sworn not to give of himself like that ever again, but he also can’t stop the jealousy when the laird’s sons show their own interest in Arianna.  So he marries her, but his plan is to live his life as usual, going back to his nomadic ways so that the evil that follows him will not harm those he loves.

Arianna wants none of that, but in the end nothing she can say will stop her husband from leaving her behind.  But as all plans are wont to do, evil rears its ugly head and it’s Nic who pays the ultimate price, his heart stolen by a dark witch.  It’s five hundred years later when Arianna discovers that there is a way to bring back those whose hearts are to beat alone forever.  Her only fear is that Nic won’t be able to forgive her for the one act she regrets with everything in her.

This time the first person is told from Nic’s point of view, which I found very compelling.  I also really liked that Duncan and Raven from Eternity are very present in this book, all without giving up anything of Nic and Arianna’s romance. So many nuances throughout each previous books are interwoven into each succeeding one to make it so much more complex.  This book is a terrific followup and we’re set up quite nicely for the next in the series.

Grade: A+

Summary:For five centuries, Immortal High Witch Nicodimus has been suspended in an eternity of darkness. His heart was stolen away in the ultimate betrayal by his love Arianna… Now Arianna discovers a way to bring him back. But the power that returns Nicodimus to her arms also summons an ancient enemy. To fight this dark danger, they must confront the past–and reclaim infinity…

Immortal Desire (Books 3 and 4) (Reissue of Destiny and Immortality)
Released by Berkley Trade 4 Dec 07

Destiny (Book 3)
Initial Release by Jove 1 Feb 01

Nidaba is the truly mysterious character we meet throughout the series.  We’re not even sure for the longest time if she’s an immortal witch, but we do know she has some connection to Nicodimus from Infinity.  In this book we learn of the characters’ history throughout the story instead of at the beginning as we did in the previous books.

Nidaba was a childhood friend of Prince Eannatum of Sumer.  She was a priestess who would be called upon for the Sacred Marriage Rite when the prince married, but before that could happen they fell in love and Natum wanted only Nidaba, even though his father had arranged a marriage to the daughter of a neighboring ruler so that their countries, once united, would reign over the entire land.  Knowing love and passion at his hands, Nidaba knows she can never truly have him.

Leaving with the knowledge she carries his son, something that will at least remind her of the man she loves, she tries to do what is best for all concerned.  When Natum’s attempts to find her end in disaster, he goes on alone, married to a woman he can never love, one who is only power hungry and believes she loves him but doesn’t really know the true meaning of the word.

Centuries later Nathan King is shocked to discover Nidaba in a hospital, under watch to prevent her from hurting herself.  Stealing her away is the only answer so that people will not know who and what she is.  Slowly but surely Nidaba returns to her former self but is still not the woman Nathan knew so long ago.  It was the loss of her son that precipitated her capture by the dark witch who tortured her and experimented on her, putting her through death and rebirth over and over again so that the woman Nathan knew seems truly lost forever.

There is still enough of her buried deep within, so he tries everything to get back what they once shared.  It’s been years since he’s had to fight evil, choosing instead to live among humans, living like he is just a man, but it is Nidaba who brings home to him he is an ancient prince, an immortal High Witch and he should live and fight as one.

In this book is where Ms. Shayne really brings things full circle, giving us all the pieces that fit together like a perfect interlocking puzzle.  Duncan, Raven, Nic, and Arianna all make appearances and are very much part of the story and the resolution.   No first person in this one.  As much as I liked the history of the characters being given at the beginning of the story in the first two books, it works in this one that it’s given throughout because of the way they find each other once again.  And at the end we’re set up perfectly for the last part in the series.

Grade: A+

Summary:She is Nidoba – a immortal High Witch so ancient, so legendary, that for thousands of years she has been the ultimate prize, relentlessly pursued by Dark Witches, she has eluded all who would kill her…until a mother’s grief makes her reckless and she is captured by a madman. After endless physical and mental torment, she escapes, but her captivity has damaged her spirit as well as her body. And though the wounds to her body have healed, the scars on her mind and soul remain.

After more than four thousand years, her destiny has finally found her…

Nathan King now has the peace he craved in the life he created for himself – until the day he sees her again. Can it really be Nidabe – the love he thought lost to him so many centuries ago? But the woman he finds is not the fierce, proud girl of his cherished memories – now her eyes are haunted by a pain so deep, and a hatred so bitter it divides them still. but if he is to understand the source of her anguish and reclaim the passion that was once theirs, he must face the truth that the evil that tore them apart once again stands between them and their chance at forever.

Immortality (Book 4) (from the Out of This World anthology)
Initial release by Jove 8 Aug 01

This novella picks up immediately where Destiny leaves off, only now from the point of view of Puabi, the wife of King Enntanum four thousand years earlier.  She is tired of trying to gain Natum’s love, even in the modern world where he calls himself Nathan King, and when Nidaba is once again in Nathan’s life, Puabi has to again fight them both just as she did before.  And as they did before, they have beaten her, left her to die in the fire that is devouring Nathan’s home, and Puabi has at long last lost her will to live.  Throwing herself over the cliffs into the ocean, she welcomes death, somehow knowing that her immortality will not save her this time.

It’s not immortality but Matthew Fairchild who saves Puabi this time around.  He’s ensconced himself on his private island to grieve for his wife and child who he’s recently lost when he discovers Puabi in the waters just offshore.  He’s stunned when he realizes her resemblance to his dead wife and and he feels a pull to this woman that he’s never experienced before.   It’s during their efforts to outrun an approaching storm that the truth is revealed and Matthew finds out what really happened to his wife and son.

I wasn’t sure I’d like this short story all that much because it’s about one of the villains of the last two books, but Ms. Shayne pulls it off and you want Puabi to finally find happiness if at all possible.  With a couple of twists here and there, she does pull it off and gives a different happily ever after than we’ve gotten with the previous three books.  A good story, not quite as good as the others, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Grade: A-

Summary:

Her name is Puabi—and she’s an Immortal High Witch whose past is littered with dark secrets. Convinced she has eluded death for the last time, she is shocked to find herself being rescued by a mysterious stranger who fills her with a desire she thought was lost forever…

His name is Matthew Fairchild—and he is a millionaire tormented by guilt over the tragic death of his wife. The last thing he expected to encounter was a beautiful woman who possessed an uncanny resemblance to the woman he loved and lost. But Puabi is like no one he’s ever met before. Is it possible this enigmatic beauty can heal the bitter wounds that have nearly cost him his heart?

This is a terrific series of books with complex characters and plot, storytelling that is compelling, and love and romance portrayed with longing, integrity, and that is never ending. These books will be sitting on my shelf for quite a long time.

  Overall Grade:  A+

Limecello’s review of Beyond Fearless by Rebecca York
Paranormal romantic suspense published by Berkley 4 Dec 07

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this book. I’ve never read a book by Rebecca York before, and while I’m intrigued, I’m afraid I’m not enthralled. The premise of the book is interesting enough, but the story lost me after a while. There were a lot of unique qualities and intricacies, but put together, it became too much.

Anna Ridgeway is a psychic, and uses her powers to support herself as a magic show for hotels and clubs. She’s nice enough, but I never felt particularly attached to her. Yes, I rooted for her and didn’t want bad things to happen to her, but I didn’t identify with Anna. It’s hard to explain – but she’s a bit too withdrawn, or anxious. Anna is something of a contradiction, supposedly the most powerful character, but she never seems to be in control.

Zachary Robinson is a hero I had a hard time getting to know. It didn’t help that none of the characters really knew what was going on throughout the book. Zach doesn’t seem to have is rather static, and doesn’t exhibit a range of emotion. He’s a nice guy, and capable, but he lacks real warmth. While Zach is intimately tied to the heroine, and completely invested in her, you still don’t really get the sense of who he is or what he’s about.

I began reading the story, and wasn’t entirely sold, but remained interested. Zachary, then Anna are introduced to the reader individually, both in their “native” element – a place neither of them really gets back to. That might have something to do with why I felt neither Zach nor Anna were very established. I know too much explanation would have ruined the plot- or killed the suspense aspect, but it seemed like characters were coming out of the woodwork and even they didn’t particularly know what they were doing (in regards to the story).

Still, the main point is people are out to get Anna (and consequently Zach) – a lot of people, actually, and Zach and Anna form a psychic bond. They’re soul mates. Even this, I could get behind, but there were times when even my suspended belief ended. Anna and Zach “meeting” as children I accepted. The other psychics, or Dariens Lindsay and Jordan, who connect with them, I was skeptical about, but could understand. However, the fact that Anna and Zach could exercise not only mind control, but physically manipulate objects to the point of changing them physically, including the weather, I could not believe.

I think it was slightly difficult to really get into the book because too much was happening all at once. The characters could never catch a break – while spending time together they were being psychically attacked, trying to strengthen their own psychic connection, having sex, reaching out to other psychic presences good and bad, hiding from attackers and using mind control. I would have liked the story a lot more if certain aspects were scaled back a little. The book just went too far. Beyond Fearless felt rather incomplete, and I know it’s part of a series, but it felt like the characters had no closure. I also felt the strongest relationships occurred were when Lindsay and Jordan showed up and befriended Anna and Zach. One thing I did like, however, is how Ms. York gave her villain a back-story. He wasn’t very layered, but you knew where he was from, what he was about, and what his goals were. Well, one of the villains – there were a number of others that I believe have appeared and will appear in other stories.

As something slightly off topic, I’m afraid I didn’t particularly like Ms. York’s webpage. The layout is fine, but the links, and way those were set up weren’t so great. It wasn’t very user friendly, and I had a devil of a time trying to find this book link. [Likely some of it has to do with updates, or lack thereof.]

I liked the story, and thought what happened was interesting, and would like to get to know the characters better. Likely this will happen in the subsequent novels, and for those of you who enjoy series, and not only paranormals but romantic suspense (because this novel is both) – you’ll might like these books.

Grade: C–

On the lush Caribbean island of Grand Fernandino, Anna Ridgeway is working her “magic.” Blessed with uncanny psychic abilities since she was a child, she now uses her gift in a mind-reading act at a nightclub. But she’s been plagued with a sense of impending danger since she arrived on Grand Fernandino. Her feelings are confirmed when evil forces coalesce around her and international treasure hunter Zachary Robinson.

At first, Anna fears Zach’s very presence. But when they touch, their physical and psychic bond astonishes them. They find they share a common past- and an uncommon passion for each other. But there is a sinister figure from long ago who will never allow their love to survive. A man who has been hunting them all their lives…

Read an excerpt here.

Shannon C.’s review of Dust by Elizabeth Bear
Science fiction novel released by Spectra 26 Dec 07

Sybil asked the duckies if any of us had read Elizabeth Bear a few weeks ago, and I decided that I should dig out the one Bear book I had TBR. Apparently, Ms. Bear has won all kinds of awards, and I know she is hyped all over the place. But that doesn’t always mean much.

Unfortunately, Dust didn’t work for me and didn’t live up to the hype. I enjoyed it while I was reading it, but it’s the kind of book that I plowed through just so that I could say I finished.

It’s a bit hard to describe the plot. Our characters are floating around in a generation ship, which is a huge ship sent out to explore and colonize other planets. only the ship has been badly damaged, and it’s been orbiting some stars that are about to go supernova. The story focuses on Rien, who starts out as a servant and comes to embrace her destiny, Perceval, her half-sister and an engineer, and Jacob Dust, part of the ship’s original AI. There are lots of other characters around their periphery, but those are the main three.

What I did like was the vivid description of the setting. I will probably never get to travel through space on a massive, crumbling spaceship, but I definitely got a sense of what that would be like through the writing. The prose is also quite vivid, although too often it drifts into the purple territory.

The characters, unfortunately, don’t stand up well. I got a distinct sense of who they were, but I didn’t ever connect with any of them. Also, there’s this weird incestuous thing that several of them have going on, which was all the more squicky, at least to me, because nobody particularly thought it was a big deal. There was also a lot of intrigue going on, which can sometimes work well, but in this case confused rather than, well, intrigued. And because of that disconnect, and the author’s tendency toward a bit of pretentious literary styling, I just didn’t get the suspense.

I’m not willing to write off Ms. Bear completely. I’m going to try one of her other books first, but this one is probably safe to give a miss.

Grade: C-

Summary:
On a broken ship orbiting a doomed sun, dwellers have grown complacent with their aging metal world. But when a serving girl frees a captive noblewoman, the old order is about to change…

Ariane, Princess of the House of Rule, was known to be fiercely cold-blooded. But severing an angel’s wings on the battlefield-even after she surrendered-proved her completely without honor. Captive, the angel Perceval waits for Ariane not only to finish her off-but to devour her very memories and mind. Surely her gruesome death will cause war between the houses-exactly as Ariane desires. But Ariane’s plan may yet be opposed, for Perceval recognizes the young servant charged with her care at once.

Rien is the lost child: her sister. Soon, they will escape, hoping to stop the impending war and save both their houses. But it is a perilous journey through the crumbling hulk of a dying ship, and they do not pass unnoticed. Because at the hub of their turning world waits Jacob Dust, all that remains of God, following the vapor wisp of the angel. And he knows they will meet very soon.

Read an excerpt here

Sandy M’s review of The Tribute (Malloy Family, Book 6) by Beth Williamson
Historical Western Romance published by Samhain 25 Dec 07

I’ve had Ms. Williamson’s Malloy Family books on my wishlist for quite a long time. I delayed purchasing them and now I’ve got six more of those Malloy siblings to catch up with, but I’m looking forward to it because they are a tight-knit family who are each passionate and independent in their own way. That’s one of the things that’s keeping me on track to read the rest of this series – the family aspect of these books. On top of that, they’re heartfelt, sexy, fun, and serious when called for.

Brett is the silent loner of the family. He sometimes even felt he never fit in with their large, boisterous gang. So when he wins a ranch in a poker game, he bides his time until the previous owner has passed away and then begins to build home for himself. What makes the whole thing special to Brett is the fact that the entire ranch will be his. He doesn’t have to share it with anyone. He loves his brothers and sisters, but he’s tired of hand-me-downs and second-hand anything.

Amid all this he also realizes he wants a wife and family of his own. He wants what his other siblings have found, peace and contentment with children running around the house. Knowing the pickins are slim in town, he turns his sights to Alex, the lady doctor he though he would marry twelve years ago. She’d be the perfect wife for him. If only she’d have him back. Guess it’s time he found out. Too bad for him the doc has a long memory. I have to give Brett kudos, though. He doesn’t give up easily when he goes after what he wants. He keeps going back for more and more, good or bad.

But Alex will have none of him. She’s still furious with him about the note he sent to her to call it quits between them all those years ago. She’s a strong woman with a career. She’s independent and doesn’t need a man to make her life complete. I loved how she gives Brett what-for in the beginning, doesn’t let him get away with just waltzing right back into her life like nothing happened.

And although she keeps her fury with him front and center, she can’t keep her heart and her body from reacting when the man is near. She can only hold out so long, though. When real love is right and in the air, I don’t think most women can hold out all that long. It’s a cute scene when Brett is all fired up to ask Alex to marry him, but nothing even close to proposing comes out of his mouth when he confronts her. They’re a nice couple together and you root for them when the bully of the town begins to terrorize them

King Dawson really does think he’s king of all he surveys and he acts like it. He doesn’t even bat at eye at murder. But every time he throws his best evil at Brett and Alex, they prove that being in love and sticking together no matter what is all it takes to persevere. Ms. Williamson pulls no punches when it comes to tossing serious wrenches into her stories. Several bad events happen that throw the characters for a loop, but said events are all well-placed and well-timed to end up being a huge lesson, especially for Brett, when it comes to family.

If you’re a western romance fan, I think you’ll enjoy this series.

Grade: B

Summary:

Can a man who lives in the shadows and a woman who lives in the light find a place to belong together?

Brett Malloy has always been considered a loner, a man apart from the Malloy clan. Quiet, reserved and intense, Brett hides from the world on his new ranch with only an ex-gunslinger and a runaway boy for company. When circumstances put him flat on his back, his childhood crush, Doctor Alexandra Brighton arrives to nurse him back to health.

Alex has always loved Brett despite the fact that a more difficult man couldn’t be found on the face of the earth. A woman who firmly believes everyone should live life to the fullest, Alex takes Brett’s quiet surliness as a mission. She’s going to teach him what it means to live, and how to find love and passion in the most unexpected places.

When rancher King Dawson claims Alex as his own, Brett has to choose between the darkness of his shadows and the light of Alex’s love.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of The Angel and the Outlaw by Kathryn Albright
Historical western romance released by Harlequin Historical 01 Dec 2007

As a fan of American-settings and western romances, I’ve often wondered why authors/publishers don’t use the state of California more often. It really is a locale that offers a wealth of possibilities – from the gold rush, to the mountains, to the coast-line, to the desert, to large cities, to the middle of nowhere – California in the 19th century was a fascinating place. This was the main reason why I was so drawn to Kathryn Albright’s debut. She sets this story near San Diego, along the southern California coast line, and gives the troubled hero the job of maintaining the local lighthouse.

Rachel Houston has heard the rumors and whispers about light keeper Stuart Taylor. He lives out at the lighthouse with his mute daughter, only venturing into town when absolutely necessary. The man keeps to himself, and likes it that way. Rachel figures the man can do as he pleases, but not when it’s harming his young daughter, Hannah. The girl doesn’t speak, but that doesn’t mean she’s deaf or stupid. The girl needs an education and she needs to develop social skills. Plus, as the local school teacher, Rachel feels it’s her duty to get every child into her classroom.

Stuart would rather eat worms that subject Hannah to school. He’s has nothing against education, just the idea of forcing his daughter into the company of the “good” townsfolk who whisper behind their backs. Plus there’s the small matter of his past. Stuart is in hiding, and doesn’t want to be found. The less attention they receive the better. However, he’s intrigued by the independent-minded Rachel, so he strikes a bargain with her. She’ll come to the lighthouse and tutor Hannah privately, and he’ll help straighten out her increasingly rebellious teenage brother, Caleb.

The main issue with this story is one that befalls quite a few debut novels – the pacing is a bit off. The author has a number of secondary characters, and several different sources of conflict – including Caleb’s antics, Stuart’s past, Hannah’s inability to speak, Rachel’s unwanted suitor, and Stuart’s reputation with the townsfolk. It’s a little bit too much for a story the length of a Harlequin Historical, which means while the author is setting the wheels in motion, readers have to wait on the romance.

The largest bit of conflict involves Stuart’s past, and the fact that people are looking for him. What I never quite figured out was why he never left the state of California (if you have to live near the coast, there’s always the east coast), and why he didn’t get more imaginative with changing his name. Hey, changing your name was as easy as changing your underwear back in the good old days. One would think he could have come up with something better than Stuart Taylor, when his real name is Matthew Stuart Taylor. Geez.

Other than these quibbles, this is a fast, easy read. Rachel is my kind of heroine, strong, independent, and one who will stand up to those who try to run roughshod over her. Hannah is cute and precocious without being obnoxious and Caleb is your typical teenage boy – all gangly limbs and eager to make mischief. Stuart and Rachel set off the necessary sparks one expects from a romantic couple, and the final chapter is a nice touch. A pleasant debut read, and a nice beginning for a new author.

Grade: B-

Summary: He wants her as his bride – but the law wants him!

No one asks the dark, brooding stranger about his past. People gossip, but daren’t question. He and his young daughter live alone – and that’s the way Stuart Taylor wants…needs it to stay.

When the spirited new schoolteacher, Rachel Houston, is touched by Stuart’s shy little girl, who’s never uttered a word, everything starts to change. Stuart’s surly manner doesn’t worry Rachel – she can see the vulnerability hidden in the depths of his blue eyes. She’s convinced there’s more to the rugged, handsome stranger’s story. But when the truth comes out, has Rachel the courage to stand by her man?

Read an excerpt.

Shannon C.’s review of Winter’s Daughter by J.C. Wilder
Contemporary paranormal romantic suspense eBook published by Samhain 7 Dec 07

The request for a review of this book that I got did not come in the traditional form, where someone sends a politely worded e-mail asking if we’re ever going to read and review a favorite book. No, when I was asked to read this book, my friend Jaliya used the words “you” and “have to read this book right now or else I’ll come down there and beat you” in the same sentence. And given the plot, which happens to feature things I like, namely a slightly Southern Gothic atmosphere as well as a touch of the paranormal I knew that Jaliya wouldn’t have to twist my arm very hard.

Twenty years ago, the lives of the four Angelov sisters were irrevocably altered when their mother was killed. Even as a child, eldest daughter Synnamon knew that the death was no accident. She and her sisters were forcibly taken from Angelov house and separated. Now Syn is back in town and determined to bring justice to her mother’s killer and to ferret out the police corruption that allowed her sisters and herself to be treated so horribly by the system. Almost immediately, she has a run-in with the town’s police chief, Matthew Whitefeather, and she manages to convince him that her mother’s death was no accident. But there are people in Salem, Ohio, that don’t want their secrets brought to life.

This book starts out incredibly well and is an engrossing read up until the ending. I liked Synnamon. She’s lived a hard life, and now she has the scars to prove it. She’s plucky, strong and courageous, and she has a wicked smart mouth. I really felt for her because the stuff she went through was genuinely awful.

Matt is a bit less well-drawn. He’s your typical good cop, honorable, strong, and a genuinely nice guy. I liked him, and I thought that he was going to be a good match for Syn. Their romance develops slowly, and it was kind of nice to read about a couple that didn’t immediately fall into bed.

The secondary characters were your typical small-town types. Most of them seem to have something to hide, although I suspect at least one of them is set up to be the hero in future books. The villain is also somewhat unexpected, and while I did think that Synnamon’s mother’s killer was extremely motivated, their revelation was a touch anticlimactic since everybody else in the town seemed to be up to no good.

The atmosphere here is suitably Gothic, with the author conveying the onset of winter and the use of weather to good effect. And while I wouldn’t, personally, want to live in a place like Salem where everybody is so terribly hateful for no apparent reason other than prejudice, like I said, I do generally like this type of story.

I also liked the paranormal aspects of the book. Synnamon and her family are witches, and there is some kind of hokey magic being used, but Wilder acknowledges that not all magic is sweetness and light, and furthermore, the paranormal aspects of the book did not feel overly forced.

My quibble in general with this book is that I felt the setup was too big for its execution. There are a lot of secrets that are still unresolved by the end of the book, and so I felt that the characters going off to have a relationship together was a bit out of character. The next sister’s book will hopefully resolve things, but I still wanted a more satisfying ending.

Despite my issues with the ending of the book, I am very much looking forward to reading more about the Angelov sisters and seeing where else Ms. Wilder takes us. These books are pretty dark, and I like that about them, and if the rest of the girls are as cool and tough as Synn, I’m going to enjoy them.

Grade: B

     Summary:

     One woman’s struggle to learn the truth turns into one man’s battle to save her life.

     The Coven, Book I

     Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble…

     Twenty years after the untimely death of her mother and cruel separation from her sisters, Synnamon Angelov returns to her abandoned childhood home in Salem, Ohio. She is determined to find her sisters and search for the answers behind the half-buried memories and nightmares that still plague her. Not surprisingly, the superstitious people of Salem aren’t all happy that Syn is back in town.

     Secrets revealed…

     Police Chief Matthew Whitefeather doesn’t deal in hocus pocus; he works with cold, hard facts in both his personal and professional life. When Syn starts asking questions around town, Matt pays little attention to the whispers of witchcraft and murder—until someone tries to force Syn to leave Salem. Dead or alive.

     Matt and Syn reluctantly join forces and find themselves caught in a web of deceit. Just what happened the night Victoria Angelov was found dead on a lonely country road?

     And why were her children forced to pay for her sins?

     This book has been previously published.

     WARNING: This book contains a high body count, graphic sex (though not with the dead bodies) and a disembodied spirit guaranteed to scare even the most stalwart souls.

     Read an excerpt here.

Shannon C.‘s review of At Love’s Command (Brothers in Arms, Book 4) by Samantha Kane
Historical erotic ebook published 12 Dec 07

I have to qualify this review by admitting, again, that I am a Samantha Kane fangirl. This is mostly Lisabea’s fault [ed note: visit her blog today and every monday for Man lurve Monday], and now I’ve read everything on Ms Kane’s backlist. I was looking for a guaranteed good book to read while taking a break from studying, and finally decided to read this one.

At Love’s Command is set in Ms. Kane’s version of Regency England, which has an overabundance of bisexual men who hooked up during the Peninsular Wars and now are looking for the one woman to complete them. This premise works well for me, because I really like Ms. Kane’s men, so much so that I have my favorites that aren’t officially paired off and have actually considered sending whiny e-mails to the author begging for their books.

Anyway, the pair in question in this book consists of Ian Witherspoon and Derek Knightley. Unlike the heroes in Ms. Kane’s other books, Derek and Ian are already lovers. They met, surprisingly enough, during the war, and have been together ever since. The war left its scars on both of them, and now that they’ve been back in England for two years, Ian’s decided that they need a new start with someone capable of bringing them peace. And since Ian’s already betrothed to Sophie Middleton, it might as well be her that they marry.

Sophie, it turns out, really, really wants to get married. This is because her father is an abusive rat bastard and her brother Harold rapes her. Anybody else looks good, and she remembers thinking of Ian as her knight in shining armor when they first met. She figures since he’s already got Derek, he won’t want much to do with her except provide her with an heir, so her wedded life will be comparatively blissful.

Derek is opposed to the whole thing. He thinks that surely Sophie has to be manipulating everyone around her. He was perfectly happy with his life before Sophie came into it, and he is determined that she won’t take Ian away from him.

Needless to say, the three of them have a lot of issues to work out between them. And they do, with events following one another in a logical pattern until the end. Ms. Kane carefully paints each of her characters, adding depth as we get to know them. By the end I was totally convinced that Ian, Sophie, and Derek couldn’t live without each other.

Ian is great as the stabling force between Derek and Sophie. He realizes after he meets Sophie just how much she needs him, and he acts the perfect, chivalrous gentleman. I liked that he was exactly what Sophie needed when she first starts to come to her own, and I loved his patience.

I should have disliked Sophie. She’s shy, she’s been a victim all her life, and she’s terrified of everything. But then, I say that about all of Ms. Kane’s heroines, and somehow they turn out to really work for me. I loved watching Sophie grow into a confident woman, and I got the sense that she hadn’t done a complete 180 and become someone totally different by book’s end. In addition to her relationships with Ian and Derek, I really liked her interactions with the supporting female characters.

Derek, though, was my absolute favorite. He’s a big man who is really a submissive in the bedroom, a fact that I thought was interesting and a nice twist on the conventional tropes. He also feels things very deeply, and I loved his struggles not to care about Sophie. He was suffering through most of the book, in some form or another, but I loved that he wasn’t full of angst–just generally an abrasive smart ass.

As usual, Ms. Kane does a lot of the relationship development between her characters through sex scenes. And she manages never to lose track of who’s doing what to whom. Each scene felt necessary for something in the story, and I thought they were hot.

As for the extternal stuff? I really could have done without the creepily obsessed cartoonish villain, but then, I usually can. I also think I could have done with a lot less of the Very Thomas storyline, since I’m not sure that it was necessary for the rest of the plot. That being said, it was fun to see Kate and her husbands from the first book in the series, and my favorite secondary character, the Jewish dandy Daniel Steinberg, makes an appearance and shows a surprising amount of depth, so much so that I really, really want his book.

I enjoyed this book very much, and would highly recommend it to readers who like good M/M/F menage books. Ms. Kane is the gold standard by which I have come to judge menage stories, and this book is her best yet.

Grade: A-

You can read other reviews of this book from Sandy and Bev.

You can also read my takes on the first three books in this series:  The Courage to Love, Love Under Seige, and Love’s Strategy

     Summary:

     A child when they were betrothed, Sophia Middleton has been waiting twelve years for Ian Witherspoon to return and marry her. Preyed upon by her vicious father and older brother, Sophie longs for Ian to rescue her.

     Ian Witherspoon and Derek Knightly became best friends during the Peninsular War, and returned as lovers. Two more years pass before the desire for a wife and children prompts Ian to recall his little fiancée. Ian is determined to make a marriage work between the three of them. Derek opposes the marriage despite Ian’s determination, but how long will he be able to resist love’s command?

     Sophie’s vulnerability hides a core of strength and the combination enthralls and seduces both men. An apt pupil, Sophie learns trust and passion from Ian, and Derek tutors her in the ecstasy of surrender. Love will conquer their fears as they fight those who would tear them apart.

     Read an excerpt.

Sandy M’s review of Deal With This (The Goddard Project, Book 2) by Lucy Monroe
Contemporary Romance published by Brava on 1 Dec 07

I discovered Lucy Monroe in 2005 and have loved everything I’ve read of hers so far. It’s her heroes and the slow, sexy, sensuous way she tortures a reader on the way to some great love scenes that keep me coming back time and time again.

This book is no exception. Alan is one of those tall, handsome, sculpted men who had a bad relationship and has vowed to never allow himself to get involved so emotionally with a woman ever again. He’s a former FBI agent now with a covert agency that even the U.S. government doesn’t know exists. His ex-fiancee ended up marrying another agent, so Alan knows it’s not necessarily the job that women can’t live with. He’s happy with just sex and with a job that takes him wherever he’s needed. Alan’s contentment is about to get a huge shake-up. His current assignment includes a cover as a freelance reporter infiltrating the entertainment business to find the person responsible for stealing unknown technology to sell to the highest bidder. He’s to rent a room from Jillian Carlyle, an actress and a suspect, a beautiful redhead who keeps him hot and bothered night and day.

Jillian also is one who doesn’t believe in love, has an ex-fiance, and has rules to cover just about every aspect of the man-woman relationship. Her career is the most important thing to her, she doesn’t need a deceitful man in her life. Enter Alan and all of Jillian’s good intentions and her rules are right down the drain. Oh, she tries very hard to stick to her guns, but Alan’s personality and sexuality chip away at her defenses one by one. The teasing, hot scenes between these two last a good long while until both you and they can’t stand it any longer. They burn up the pages every which way before they finally get down to the deed. But the deed itself is even that much sweeter by this time, and they are both lost afterwards and they both refuse to admit it, to acknowledge the feelings and the sparks when they’re together. It’s like they’re not sure what to do with all this sudden emotion, so it’s better to go on pretending this is a short-term fling and they’ll go their separate ways in the near future. However, after analyzing, a life without the other in it doesn’t sit well with either of them. After a lot of soul searching, they begin to talk and to see all they need to do is compromise and life and love will take care of itself and them.

I really like how Alan accepts Jillian’s friends with no questions asked and no prejudice — three are gay men, each confident in their sexuality and the kind of man Alan has never known before. He gets to know the men inside, the person each of them is and doesn’t judge their lifestyle. Monroe’s characters are always three-dimensional and getting to know them is a joy. But it’s Alan and Jillian’s relationship that makes this book. Considering their pasts and their jobs, they’re as honest as they can be with one another, they revel in each other, and they understand the other’s emotions and reasons for being so hard headed about love. But they each come around in their own way, they work together, and you can’t have a better happily-ever-after than what you get in Monroe’s books every time.

This series is loosely related to Ready (Kensington, Jul ’05), Willing (Kensington, Jan ’06), And Able (Kensington, May ’06), which are my three favorite Monroe books. If you read romance for the heroes and a fulfilling, loving, and sexy romance, you have to read Lucy Monroe.

Grade: B+

From the back cover:
     Alan Hyatt could do his job in his sleep, and when the Goddard Project sends him to investigate a case of high-tech espionage in the Vancouver film industry, he finds a perfect reason to work in bed. But sizzling actress Jillian Carlyle also happens to be his landlady, and she’s got a hard-and-fast (so to speak) rule that keeps her from dating her renters. While Alan’s cover as a reporter gets him close to all the suspects on the set of Jillian’s sci-fi show, playing a background actor at her suggestion to get his story? Well, that’s something else–but he’s not about to turn down a red-hot redhead, even if she keeps throwing him curves…

     Jillian just can’t understand it. Sure, Alan is six-feet-something of chiseled ruggedness with gray eyes and an irresistible growl in his voice. But hello? She doesn’t do relationships–even of the casual kind–with men who impact more than her senses. No one is getting a chance at her heart. Especially not one of her renters. Still, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying Alan from afar–but not too far, or she wouldn’t be able to fully appreciate his rock-hard abs when he’s working out in the home gym. If only he didn’t make her feel safe and oh so right when they touched…

     Read an excerpt.

Finn’s review of Exotica by Eden Bradley
Contemporary erotic romance 26 Dec 07 Delta

Exotica is a sexual fantasy resort in California where you can choose your fantasy. This single-author book contains two stories: “Seven Days of Kama Sutra” and “Nine Days of Arabian Nights.”  

In “Seven Days” Caroline is trying to gain some confidence back after a horrible marriage. In steps, Rajan, her Kama Sutra companion/lover/trainer and talk about some training. Yum! In “Nine Days,” Lilli, the manager of Exotica is trying to get past a tragedy that has left her ‘The Ice Queen.”  What perfect timing to enjoy a fantasy of her own with the opening of a new venue and a new companion, Kian.

Okay, if you decide to read this book, don’t read it looking for a lot of story. The story is there in both fantasy escapes, but the SEX and FANTASY is what really makes this book very satisfying. The love story between Rajan and Caroline is very sweet. Caroline has to get over her insecurity and Rajan has to get over his pride. Lilli and Kian have a whole set of secrets, on both sides, that they have to work out before they can love one another.

I don’t want to go into to much detail because these are short stories and I think it would give away too much. But if you like fantasies, then this book is a must.

Grade: B

Summary:

     Welcome to Exotica…  a lush, sensual retreat where women can experience their most taboo fantasies.  Step inside—and leave your inhibitions at the door…

     When her old friend Caroline invites her to Exotica for a week of pampering and pleasure, Lilli DeForrest has no idea what to expect. But when Rajan steps into her suite, the attraction is intense, immediate, overwhelming. He is her ideal lover—by turns tender, commanding, erotic. But, as Lilli is about to discover, Rajan’s masterful touch is just the beginning…

     As manager of the luxurious retreat, Caroline Winter creates thrilling escapist fantasies for other women. Now she’s about to live out a fantasy of her own: dark, exotic Kian will challenge her to accept the exquisite pleasures he offers. But what Caroline doesn’t expect is the power of Kian’s sensuality…surrendering to him means abandoning herself completely—and giving up all control.

     For Lilli, it’s the chance to test the limits of her sexuality. For Caroline, it’s trusting Kian with her most hidden desires even as she’s uncovering his own guarded secret. And for both women, it’s a journey into the hidden depths of fantasy—as they discover just how far they’ll go in search of seduction, surrender, and pleasure beyond imagining…

     Read an excerpt.

Sandy M’s review of At Love’s Command (Brothers in Arms, Book 4) by Samantha Kane
Erotic historical ebook published by Ellora’s Cave 12 Dec 07

This is the first book I’ve read in this series and if the other books are this stirring, this emotional, this erotic, and this damned good, I sure as hell have been missing out. Normally ménage is not one of my favorite reads because most authors just cannot write those scenes to amount to anything. Not so in this case. And while those were some of the best scenes in the book, those love scenes between Ian and Derek are even better.

Why? The emotion. Whether it’s anger, love, desire, humor, lust, it doesn’t matter.  You feel every miniscule feeling between these two men with every word uttered, every touch, every look, every act of love. This is the kind of emotion I wish every author could call forth and give to their characters to pull us so completely into a story. I guess, however, if every author did that we wouldn’t have reason to rejoice over those who do. The interaction and love between Ian and Derek is real and as deep as their souls. They are both honorable men, both scarred from war, and both in need of something more than themselves to give them a viable future together. Ian is the only one who knows this and he decides to act on it the only way he knows how.

Marrying Sophie is what Ian knows both he and Derek need to survive their past, to find peace with that past, and then to move into their future happy and whole. Derek stubbornly refuses to see Ian’s logic and to accept his decision. They’ve been doing fine on their own as far as he’s concerned, but meeting Sophie changes both of their lives. Ian realizes immediately the kind of horrific childhood his bride-to-be has suffered and promises her she will be safe and will be loved as his wife. Knowing Ian has a male lover, Sophie doesn’t care as long as she’s out of her father’s and brother’s grasps and can live without fear around every corner.

Sophie’s character is by far the one that grows the most, although Derek is not far behind. She is a frightened and abused young woman, wanting only for someone to love her. It is with Ian and Derek that she finds her true self, the one stolen from her by her family so long ago. She is a delightful and sensuous woman who is awakened in these men’s hands. It’s wonderful to watch her fear recede and see love take over her life and her spunk to evolve to put Ian and Derek in their place when needed.

It’s hard to decide if liked Ian or Derek best, so I opted for both. Ian is the sensitive one, the one who takes care of everything, who makes everything all right. Derek is the demanding lover, the one who still reels from his war experience and needs the love and caring that only Ian can give him when his life spirals out of control. Until Sophie comes along. Sophie is the shining light needed to bring happiness into their lives and she accepts them both, loves them both as they are. But Sophie also receives the same from Ian and Derek, the love she’s always wanted and needed and she receives much more from them than she ever dreamed.

I’m in love with Samantha Kane’s writing and characters. I can’t wait to start at the beginning of this series and get to know very intimately the rest of her cast.

Grade: A+

Summary:

      A child when they were betrothed, Sophia Middleton has been waiting twelve years for Ian Witherspoon to return and marry her. Preyed upon by her vicious father and older brother, Sophie longs for Ian to rescue her.

     Ian Witherspoon and Derek Knightly became best friends during the Peninsular War, and returned as lovers. Two more years pass before the desire for a wife and children prompts Ian to recall his little fiancée. Ian is determined to make a marriage work between the three of them. Derek opposes the marriage despite Ian’s determination, but how long will he be able to resist love’s command?

     Sophie’s vulnerability hides a core of strength and the combination enthralls and seduces both men. An apt pupil, Sophie learns trust and passion from Ian, and Derek tutors her in the ecstasy of surrender. Love will conquer their fears as they fight those who would tear them apart.

     Read an excerpt.

See Bev’s review here.

Other books in the series:

Sandy M’s review of The Empath by Bonnie Vanak
Contemporary paranormal romance released by Silhouette Nocturne 1 Dec 07

When I read Bonnie Vanak’s TGTBTU guest post, The Healing Power of Werewolves, last week, I had to find a copy of The Empath. What a lovely way to start writing a book and a beautiful tribute to a beloved friend. And the book lives up to the tribute. This is a story of the heart and you feel it on every page.

I loved everything about this book. Nicholas is the kind of tortured hero I go for. Banished and full of secrets that would probably break him if he didn’t have tight control over them and his wolf, his need for pack and family is so fierce that he patrols the edge of his pack’s world to protect them, even though they have cast him out. He is the warrior killer of his pack, second in command to the alpha, who is a close friend and is also dying, something that Nicholas agonizes over. It is his connection to the pack’s empath, his mate, that will be his salvation with the pack and with himself. He has searched for her for so long, knowing he must reach her before the evil that preys on his kind does.

That evil is something else. The Morphs. Beings that are able to shift into any animal, large or small. They are after Nicholas’ mate, the healer who will be able to save the wolves from the Morphs’ relentless determination to obliterate the pack along with her. But they must go through Nicholas to get to her, and he is experienced when it comes to fighting the treacherous beings. He will die before he’ll allow them to take his mate. And what a warrior he is. No matter what is thrown at this man, he takes it and any pain that comes with it with hardly a flinch at all. Except when it comes to his mate.

Maggie is an animal lover, a veterinarian, and she is in the midst of trying to find a cure for her beloved pet, Misha, who has been failing rapidly of an unknown disease. When Maggie meets Nicholas, her nicely ordered life is suddenly falling down around her and she’s on the run from evil and magic that her scientific mind just can’t believe in. To top it all off, Nicholas tries to convince her she’s just like he is, a human who can shift into a wolf with killer instincts.

Once she comes face to face with the Morphs, it doesn’t take much longer for Maggie to begin to really believe and accept her true nature. What she can’t and won’t accept is the violence Nicholas expects her to embrace. Maggie also has her secrets that contain a past of violence and she has dedicated her life to saving animals, not destroying them.

Both Nicholas and Maggie have such secretive pasts and that’s the barrier they must overcome before they can experience the mating lock as mates, the ultimate tie that will bring them together as one. Nicholas is strong, proud, sensual, and protective but it is his sensitivity he shows to Maggie that makes her fall in love with him. She is also very strong and independent, and she longs for something that she can’t remember and with Nicholas she just might find it. The secondary characters are all very interesting, especially Baylor and his attitude toward Nicholas. What an invention the villainous Morphs are, and their leader is the worst of the lot. Maggie’s love for Misha and vice versa will bring tears to your eyes every time.

This is a very touching story all the way around. Thank you, Ms. Vanak, for sharing it with us.

Grade: A

From the back cover:

     THE WOLF MUST HAVE A MATE TO SURVIVE…  Nicolas was the strongest and fiercest of the Draicon, until he was banished for a trumped-up crime.  Now the werewolf has only one path to redemption: find the Draicon’s long-lost empath, the woman who will save the pack—and Nicolas himself—from terrible danger.

     Maggie Sinclair is a veterinarian, dedicated to healing. She has no idea of her true nature, the magic waiting in her soul—or the man coming to claim her.

     The survival of their pack depends on them finding each other, on their ability to become one. But their enemies have also found Maggie, and will kill to stop her awakening to an all-consuming passion…

     Read an excerpt.

Finn’s review of Lord of the Night (Night Slayer, Book 4) by Robin T. Popp
Paranormal romance released by Grand Central Publishing 1 Dec 07

This Night Slayer book is about Kacie and Erik, a vampire slayer and the vampire who trained her. Kacie did not know that Erik was a vampire while he was training her and she has come to resent him. Kacie’s parents were killed by vampires and Erik vowed to her dying father that he would protect her.

Well Kacie comes back to town after a 3 year absence and gets blamed for killing Sedrick, Erik’s friend and Michael’s brother. Michael has vowed to kill Sedrick’s killer and now Erik must protect Kacie from his friend for over 400 years. Problem is that Kacie slowly loses her resentment of Erik and they fall in love.

The story is filled with a lot of fleeing from vampires bent on revenge and chupacabras. Yep, even chupacabras (and here I thought they were part of Hispanic lore not English)?!

I read romance novels for the story and for the sex. When a book doesn’t have a sex scene until page 226 out of 309 it doesn’t rate very well with me, and when it only has 1, well I tend to not look for that author again.

Lord of the Night was an action-adventure book, but Popp needs to add a little more spice.

Grade: C+

From the back cover:

     After vampires killed her parents, Kacie Renault devoted herself to becoming a vampire slayer.But now, desperate to begin a new life, Kacie decides to trade in her sword for a spreadsheet…only to be accused of murdering a powerful member of the undead.Suddenly this fierce woman is being hunted by a merciless clan–and one ruthless, seductive adversary she can’t resist.Erik Winslow is shocked to discover the slayer he trained has murdered his best friend.Now he must decide if he will avenge the death or stand against his fellow vampires to save a woman who defies–and captivates–him at every turn.But when she falls victim to a force more formidable than his own, Erik will taste a desire he can’t resist…and a hunger neither he nor Kacie can control.

     Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series:

Finn’s review of Hide and Seek by Alyssa Brooks
Erotic romance released by Berkley Trade on 4 Dec 07

Remember playing hide and seek as a kid?  Well, Maxim Cox and Elisa Cross sure know how to play hide and seek with their feelings.  College lab partners who had crushes on each other, but, guess what, neither of them knew it. Jump several years into the future and Elisa is a porn star?

At least that’s what the tabloids say. Maxim can’t believe it so he goes and looks for Elisa. She is hiding out in a cabin in Aspen, determined to learn to live without a man. What Maxim sees through the window when he arrives gets him hard.

Hide and Seek takes place inside that cabin in Aspen, where Maxim Cox (Elisa says he is named appropriately) and Elisa Cross learn to be honest with one another. There is some romping good sex too!

It is really good to see a man who is considered a playboy squirm. Elisa makes Maxim work for the pleasure she can give him. But in return Maxim makes her beg for more. In the end it’s all about honesty between these two.

Grade: A

From the back cover:

     Another sexy tale from a sultry new voice in erotic romance.

     Confident, freewheeling Maxim Cox has been thinking lately that something’s been missing in his life. Then he sees his old college crush facing scandal in a tabloid and figures it out; it’s Elisa Cross, the one who got away. Now he’ll do anything it takes to have Elisa, in every way. To escape the scandal, Elisa has sworn off men and holed herself up in a cabin miles from anywhere. So when Maxim appears at her door in the middle of a snowstorm, she can’t believe it. She swore she’d never give in to his devilish good looks, but the raging storm and her raging desires make him impossible to refuse. But Elisa’s determined to keep the upper hand-and arranges a game of Hide and Seek. And if Maxim can play by her rules and find her, he can have her-all of her.

     Read an excerpt.

Finn’s review of Hello, Doggy by Elaine Fox
Contemporary romance released 26 Dec 07 by Avon

Hello, Doggy is a book about an uptight psychologist who isn’t good with people and has a paralyzing fear of dogs.   It’s a nice little love story about people letting down their barriers and learning to listen with their hearts, where love resides, and not with their heads.

Heroine Tory Hoffstra is asked to co-write a book with hero Keenan James about relationships. The problem is she is so pissed that Keenan is not a licensed psychologist and is giving love/relationship advice to women. It doesn’t help that he has a Golden Doodle (golden retriever-poodle mix) named Barbara Streisand!

I liked Keenan’s no nonsense approach to relationships, “If the guy is a dog, dump him!”  But, Tory’s uptightness borders on the downright annoying. There where a few times while reading the book that I just wanted to shake some sense into her or give her a “happy pill”.

There are some great scenes where Tory is buying some new clothes and trying on some make-up that are fun. Fox really knows that some make-up and a new designer outfit really does make a woman have a whole new outlook on life.

Grade: B

Blurb:

     Keenan James has made a career out of teaching women what men really want. He hosts a weekly roundtable, where he offers advice to the love-lorn, and now he’s even been tapped to write a book—though he’s never been able to commit to just one girl. Unfortunately, he’s recently been saddled with his mom’s irrepressible pooch, a golden doodle named Barbra Streisand, and his publisher has saddled him with a co-writer—a shy psychologist named Tory Hoffstra, who’s determined to keep him on a short leash.

     Suspecting that Keenan’s nothing but a hound, Tory joins the round-table under an alias. She’s shocked that he’s more than just a smooth-talking seducer . . . and that he’s even more gorgeous than she had heard. As for Keenan, before long he finds himself warming up to Barbra the dog and feeling the heat with Tory . . . and learning that not even his own advice could have prepared him for finally falling in love.

     Read an excerpt.

Holly’s review of Cutting Loose (Steele Street, Book 8 ) by Tara Janzen
Romantic suspense released 26 Dec 07 by Dell

Tara Janzen has become like crack for me. There isn’t much substance (meaning I have to suspend all disbelief to buy what she’s selling), and the love angles generally don’t work for me (or at least in this case the love angle didn’t work) but I keep reading them, and liking them, and wanting more of them. I think I’m addicted.

I liked Zach. I liked Lily. But I didn’t really buy that they loved each other.

Their story began in On the Loose, the book that came out before this one. When I found out this book would be about them, I was anxious to read it, because they intrigued me. While the action and plot were good, I just didn’t feel that the relationship between the two was fully explored. In the past, Tara Janzen has always jumped around a lot, and that’s worked fine for me. But I think in this case it was a detriment to the overall love story. Every time I started to get into Zach and Lily as a couple, the focus would shift and I’d lose it. What saved previous stories really seemed to kill this one.

I had a hard time believing two people who spent less than a few days together were truly in love, the kind of love that lasts forever and ever amen.  More like lust, with a good case of liking thrown in.  Had Janzen kept the focus on Zack and Lily, rather than on all the characters from previous books, and the secondary story between Red Dog’s brother and Cherie, I think the love angle would have worked better.

I was excited to see the crew from Steele Street again, however. I missed them in the last book, though I wish Superman would have been around, instead of Dylan. The action was great, car chases, stray bullets, quick, witty dialogue.

I’ll definitely be picking up the next book, but I think it’s more because my inner child (the one who grew up with 4 uncles who loved fast cars and guns) wants the action, not because my romantic side wants a love story.

Grade: B

From the back cover:

She’s the unsuspecting beauty with something everybody wants.  He’s the secret agent in so deep nobody can find him.  Until now…

CIA operative Zachary Prade made his name taking out world threats. But now he’s tracking a very different kind of danger and her name is Lily Robbins. Lily holds the key to a valuable encoded file that’s about to fall into the wrong hands. All Zach has to do is retrieve the key and forget the rain-soaked beauty who came to his Central American plantation seeking shelter from more than the weather.

Lily knows him as Alejandro Campos, the seductive drug lord who saved her life. They met when she traveled to El Salvador to film a documentary…and got caught in the middle of a nasty drug-and-guerrilla war. Now, back in the U.S., hunted by spooks and assassins, Lily has to trust Campos again. Except his name isn’t Campos, and he’s arousing a passion so hot it’s criminal. That is, if they can survive long enough to enjoy it…

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Read more from Holly at The Book Binge.

Bev(QB)’s review of Destiny’s Warrior by Heather Waters
Historical fantasy published 4 December 2007 by Berkley Sensation

Waters has created a refreshingly different hero in Gavin. He’s not completely confident in his ability to lead his clan as Laird and admits that he’s still learning and proving himself. Yes, you read that right—a Scottish Laird that admits he doesn’t know everything!

And when he must rely on Nakkole to lead him into his other life as the Prince of the Fae, he doesn’t balk at following a woman.

With Water’s interesting world building, characters, and plot twists, Destiny’s Warrior was an enjoyable read with a smile-worthy HEA. I suspect she has plans to write more stories in this world since she has started an encyclopedia of the characters.

This is the second Heather Water’s book I’ve read (the first, The Devil’s Possession, is unrelated to this one) and I think she’s an author worth keeping an eye on. She takes what could be formulaic stories and characters and gives them her own fresh spin, particularly her heroes.

Grade: B-

From the back cover:

A love more powerful than magic.

Laird Gavin McCain, heir to the throne of fae, was raised as a human in order to preserve his life. Now, with his location discovered, Nakkole, a female guardian, is sent to protect him—and return him to the home he never knew…

But Gavin was raised not to believe in such things, and Nakkole must come to his aid in disguise. Convincing him of his dormant faery powers should prove a challenging task—especially when the very air seems clouded by the undeniable attraction they feel for each other.

And when an attempt on his life lands Gavin in a dream-like world, they discover their destinies entwined. While he must save the kingdom, she carries its future…

Read an excerpt.

Watch the video trailer.

Read more from Bev at Cubie’s Confections.

Devon’s review of His Magical Student by Mary Winter
Fantasy erotic romance ebook novella published 26 Dec 2007 by Ellora’s Cave

My reviews have been suffering from a distressing sameness lately, so to switch things up, I’m pulling out a format I haven’t played with in awhile. With the two haiku review, I attempt to sum up the essence of a book in thirty four syllables. Without further ado—

Girl meets mage mentor,
Awakens tied to his bed,
Magic Lesson???? Huh.

Oral sex lessons
Are key to learning magic,
Not bad, but nonsense.

I always get excited when I see a fantasy/romance hybrid, but in this case, the premise is largely an excuse to get to the sex. What does manacling someone to the bed and going down on them have to do with learning magic? Something about submission and control. Okay, whatever. We don’t learn much about the nature of magic in this world, other than giving BJs will make you learn it better. There is also a virgin heroine who takes to sex like a champ. A champ who knows how to stimulate the anus! I guess she was more than magically gifted.

The characterization was alright and there were some scenes of the heroine and heroine getting to know each other non-sexually. But ultimately, His Magic Servant suffers from what I’ve come think of as Erotic Romance Novella Syndrome. Symptoms include wooden characters, a flimsy premise designed to get the characters in bed quickly, weak world building, a sudden ending and an unsatisfying romance. This reader has to stick with novel length erotic romance in the future. And this time I mean it.

Grade: C-

From the back cover:

As the only mage protecting several villages, Teryn Windhorn is stretched thin battling magical creatures. Finding a young female injured in battle, he soon discovers Jendaya is beautiful, fearless and a powerful mage. Haunted by the death of his last apprentice, he still hungers for Jendaya, and her magical training is the perfect opportunity to indulge his fantasies.

A mage’s bastard daughter, Jendaya Carinella is shunned by her village—the very village she’s sworn to protect. Untrained, she nearly dies in battle, and blames the mage who should have been protecting her people. But as Teryn introduces her to a world of magical training and her powers grow, so too does her desire for Teryn.

Read an excerpt here

Read more from Devon at Is That a Stake in Your Pocket?

Sandy M’s review of Two Spirits by Jory Strong
Contemporary gay paranormal ebook novella 19 Dec 07 by Ellora’s Cave

I’m probably going to show my ignorance here. Having read only a couple of other gay romance books, I’m not sure what to really expect when reading them. I start reading like I would any other romance, I want to like the characters, I want emotion with the romance, and, of course, I want a good storyline. The characters and the storyline in this book were not too much of a problem. It was the emotion that didn’t go quite far enough for me.

I really liked Trey, a man who has spent his life denying his true orientation, and now his life is further shattered because he’s still pretending to want women and he got caught up with the wrong woman who’s an evil human being through and through, but he’s a good guy and it’s that goodness that gets him in trouble. I felt for him and cheered at his triumph in at least part of his dilemma. Tenino was likeable. He knew he wanted Trey right of the bat and he’s dominant, which made him a little too hard for me. But I felt for him at moments also because he does want someone to love, someone to be his for the rest of his life. The two characters did together did work. Trey finally came out of his self-denial thanks to Tenino; Tenino finally had what he’d always envied his brother for. The relationship happened a little fast, though.

The storyline was okay. Trey is now in protective custody, hence his introduction to Tenino. I realize this is a short story, but I just felt that this storyline was used only to get Trey and Tenino together, like any old story could have done that so let’s just use this one. There was nothing different about it, a plot used a lot over the years. What I did like about the storyline, however, was the end where the paranormal element came into play with the Thunderbird legend of Tenino’s tribe.

What I didn’t get enough of was emotion. There were certain scenes between the two men where I found myself thinking there should have been a touch here, a loving word there, one of them getting more choked up, anything along those lines. There were some spots where those things were included, but considering these two men had just found the love of their lives, I just expected more feeling, more tenderness at times. We’re talking love here. I wanted to feel it.

Maybe I shouldn’t expect the same things I do with regular romances in a gay romance. I know men talk about different things than women, look at the world differently, but I think love is more universal, and men or women, we’re going to experience some of the same feelings, want a caress, an I love you once in a while. If I’m off my rocker, let me know.

Grade: C-

Blurb:

Trey’s worked hard at denying he’s gay. He’s suppressed it by never allowing himself to act on a same-sex attraction. He’s avoided it by becoming involved in relationships with women. But when he helps the Feds take down his girlfriend’s family, he ends up in protective custody – and in the arms of Tenino, a sheriff’s deputy who wants a permanent lover, one he can share the full truth about his Thunderbird spirit with.

The attraction is immediate, intense, undeniable. But their future together is uncertain. Trey’s ex-girlfriend is looking for him. And she wants revenge – of the fatal kind.

Read an excerpt.

Alicia Thomas’s review of Sundial by Carrie Lofty
Time travel short story ebook published Dec 07  by Wild Rose Press

Sundial is a short story, only 67 pages and is the first thing I’ve read from Wild Rose Press.

The biggest factor in Sundial is the style. The whole feel of this story is disjointed but in an artsy kind of way. It’s like Picasso does time-travel romance. I enjoy some of the weird IFC movies, etc., so once I figured out what I was reading I enjoyed it. I did have immediate negative reaction, though, and had to come up from there.

First off, we aren’t told just how young Mark is so his attitude seems really off. Also, the masturbation scene is really stupid. He gets caught because he sets himself to get caught, in my opinion. Who does that sitting outside a door the other person may walk through soon? And this brain damaged person has the nerve to act surprised! This is in the very beginning, though, and things got better quickly.

The author calls Mark shy but I’d say wary is a better word. He’s a consummate actor, with a natural talent and having honed his skills out of necessity. he is direct and strong, so he’s not shy. He’s been living in an unstable environment since he was 16, which is a vulnerable age, and he never knows when he may just disappear into his old life. He comes across as cold, at first, but bitterness toward circumstances isn’t an unusual response for a teenager. Due to what’s happened with his life, in some ways he’s less mature for his age and in other ways he’s much more.

I haven’t said much about Amber but really, Mark is the star of the show. She’s a good enough heroine and in the end she pulls off a good climax but there’s not a lot to say about her. The vast majority of the struggle, pain and growth are Mark’s.

Now I have to grade this. This one is hard. It will be sad if it misses the audience who will enjoy it because it definitely isn’t for everyone. It will be a gem for those looking for something unusual. I’ll give a general grade with a strong recommend if you think you may go for the style. I’ll be looking for more from this author.

Grade C+

Blurb:   Amber Schulman stepped into a lush English garden in 2007, only to arrive in breathtaking Sorrento, Italy in 1958. The only person who understands her confusion is fellow time traveler Mark Lacey, a New Yorker who comes from the land of cassette tapes and Reaganomics. His dark, world-weary eyes beckon her with secrets and sensuality. But why does he seem so familiar?

Trapped in the past since he was a teen, Mark wants nothing to do with another whining newcomer. But the blue-eyed Aussie might be able to answer the one question that haunts him: Do I ever get back to 1987?

From soccer to samba to sex, Amber tempts him with a zeal for life and love, pulling him free of his lonely isolation.

But getting home could prove easier than they imagined. How will their love endure if Amber returns to her time and Mark to his?”

Read an excerpt.

Bev(QB)’s review of At Love’s Command (Brothers in Arms, Book 4) by Samantha Kane
Erotic historical ebook published 12 Dec 2007 by Ellora’s Cave

As much as I loved the previous books in this series, they almost pale in comparison to At Love’s Command.

Despite a couple of minor issues I had with two secondary characters, Kane’s writing has matured exponentially with this rich, exquisite, multi-dimensional story. Each of the men reminisces about their history together which makes their bond all the more believable and allows us to see their current situation from both viewpoints. And watching Sophie bloom and discover her true personality and sexuality is a delightful journey. Kane weaves Ian’s dreams of a loving triad, Sophie’s dreams of freedom, and Derek’s cynicism together and gradually a pattern of mutual respect and caring starts to appear. As with the previous books, Kane’s mastery of erotic scenes allows us to perceive each erotic act as unique to this set of participants.

One of the joys of having a voice in Romancelandia is that I have a platform which allows me to champion authors and books that I consider “my” squee-worthy discoveries. Samantha Kane is a shining example of the gems offered by ePubs at their very best. As it stands now, NY would never touch her bisexual storylines, yet I assert that At Love’s Command deserves to be front and center on the mass market new releases display at every major bookstore.

Grade: A+

     Summary: A child when they were betrothed, Sophia Middleton has been waiting twelve years for Ian Witherspoon to return and marry her. Preyed upon by her vicious father and older brother, Sophie longs for Ian to rescue her.

     Ian Witherspoon and Derek Knightly became best friends during the Peninsular War, and returned as lovers. Two more years pass before the desire for a wife and children prompts Ian to recall his little fiance. Ian is determined to make a marriage work between the three of them. Derek opposes the marriage despite Ian’s determination, but how long will he be able to resist love’s command?

     Sophie’s vulnerability hides a core of strength and the combination enthralls and seduces both men. An apt pupil, Sophie learns trust and passion from Ian, and Derek tutors her in the ecstasy of surrender. Love will conquer their fears as they fight those who would tear them apart,

     Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series:

Read more from Bev at Cubie’s Confections.

Alicia Thomas’s review of Virgin Slave, Barbarian King by Louise Allen
Historical romance published 1 Dec 07 by Harlequin

I’m always looking for historical romances set in unusual times and places. Virgin Slave, Barbarian King definitely fit the bill. I had to read it right away.

Julia has been raised as a very “civilized” and proper Roman senator’s daughter. She is used to cleanliness and luxury. She is not used to hairy men or doing household chores. She is also not used to warm relationships and a sense of belonging.

Wulfric saved Julia from being raped (and who knew what next) by lower class Romans during the chaos of the sack of the city by his people. The Visigoths didn’t rape or murder the people, they took wealth to help pay the debt the treacherous Romans had refused to acknowledge. He kept her even though she didn’t know how to cook or clean and had a terrible attitude. Wulfric is appalled that Julia thinks he would force her to sleep with him. I had a hard time believing this man could be true.

I mean, weren’t “barbarians” horrible immoral rapers and pillagers who took slaves with brutality and forced their wicked intentions on them? A check on Wikipedia shows that was not always the case. Allen presents the Goths as having a code of honor higher than the Romans and this turns out to be the truth. Gasp! You mean I can actually let myself believe this wonderful hero could actually have existed? Yes!

I know, I know! I’ve heard it a thousand times, “Don’t go to romances or movies to learn your history,” but I really don’t do that. Honest! I use them to get a vision for a setting. Then I go look it all up to find out the truth. Virgin Slave, Barbarian King is fiction but the presentation of the principal parties involved (under light, quick inspection) rings true.

So, with historical accuracy out of the way, what about the characters? Wulfric is a great hero. He’s exactly what you’d want a hero to be. He’s a little too perfect but it’s ok. Julia has a lot to learn and she changes and grows through the book. Wulfric is a constant while Julia is doing all kinds of crazy things. They are fun.

They did, though, carry on the “I can’t let (him/her) know I love (him/her)” way too long. And I’ve gotten so used to heroines knowing not to interrupt a fighter’s concentration during a battle, it shocked me that Julia actually did this. So, a few things niggled at me. Over all, though, this book is a great read for any historical buff.

Grade: B

Blurb: Julia Livia Rufa is horrified when barbarians invade Rome and steal everything in sight. But she doesn’t expect to be among the taken! As Wulfric’s woman, she’s ordered to keep house for the uncivilized marauders. Soon, though, Julia realizes that she’s more free as a slave than she ever was as a sheltered Roman virgin.

It would be all too easy to succumb to Wulfric’s quiet strength, and Julia wants him more than she’s ever wanted anything. But Wulfric could one day be king, and Julia is a Roman slave. What future can there be for two people from such different worlds?

Read an excerpt.

Gwen’s review of Elijah (The Nightwalkers, Book 3) by Jacquelyn Frank
Paranormal romance published by Zebra 17 Dec 07

I have read all three books in this series.  I read the first, Jacob, before I started reviewing for TGTBTU, or I would have given it a C.  Book 2, Gideon, I did review and gave it a C as well.  Elijah surprised the hell out of me – I didn’t give it a C.  It was better than that, in my opinion.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  Frank still tends to run on a bit.  I don’t think she’s met a metaphor for a body part or sensual feeling she didn’t like.  Her love scenes are pages and pages and pages long.  She frequently runs on and on about how intense feelings are, how beautiful/virile/amazonian the hero or heroine are, etc.

For example, with all due respect to actual editors and with an acknowledgment that I’m armchair quarterbacking here, I’ve struck out what I think are repetitive words or phrases, or just “so what” bits in this one paragraph:

Elijah fought off a passing cloak of dimming consciousness and the spinning of his immediate surroundings. It was he alone who belonged at the head of his monarch’s armies when needed, and he who must train the spies and assassins who would slink through the shadows in the face of threatening intrigue. Therefore, he knew everything anyone currently could discover about the humans who dabbled in the perverse arts of black magic. The same kind who stood around him that very moment, circling him like vultures awaiting the end to a victim’s final death throes.

GAH!  Still about twice as many words as needed. I agree writing is an art and I’m no artist, but piling more paint on a canvas doesn’t necessarily make a painting better.  It feels like Frank is learning this and I have great hopes for the next entry in the series.  I only skimmed a few paragraphs in Elijah, instead of the pages I skimmed in the first two books.  That’s a step up in my estimation.

What was so much better in this book was Frank’s characterizations.  Elijah and Siena are really a terrific couple.  I loved that they found a way to be together.  I love that Elijah is such an alpha hero, but he was still able to sublimate some of this drive to be with the woman he was destined to be with and whom he loved.

I also enjoyed the secondary characters.  They really contributed to the story and moved the plot along.  There was a bit of “future book salting” with the appearance of Damien.  He showed up at an oddly opportune time and left just as suddenly.  But hey.  I’d do that too if I were an author with another book coming out in six months.

Elijah had a very nice love story, some excellent characters, and great action scenes.  But most especially, the love story which was first class.  All in all, a very fun read.

This book could standalone if you haven’t read any of the series.  Frankly, I think if the series is new to you, then you could start here and be just fine.  I recommend this book to fans of paranormal romance genre.

Grade: B-

Read more info and reviews about this series by following its tag.

     Summary:
.
They are called the Nightwalkers, an ancient race devoted to protecting the world from the darkness of the Necromancers. And their proudest warrior is Elijah, a man who bends for nothing and no one…until one woman brings him to his knees…
.
SOME FEELINGS YOU JUST CAN’T FIGHT
.
He is known as the Warrior Captain – a master of every weapon, a fierce soldier sworn to protect his kind from violence. Powerful, relentless, merciless, Elijah has always won every battle he’s ever taken on – until now. Ambushed by Necromancers, he is left for dead only to be rescued by a woman who could very well deliver the final blow… Siena, the Lycanthrope Queen.
.
For over a decade, an uneasy peace has existed between the warring Lycanthropes and Elijah’s people, and he’s not about to let his guard down now around their queen.
.
But Siena’s will is every bit a match for Elijah’s own, her sleek and sensual nature waking a hunger within him that he cannot deny. Now, the Warrior in Elijah is consumed with a different battle – winning Siena’s heart by giving her pleasure beyond all boundaries. What starts as attraction and arousal soon burns into a passion with consequences that will echo through the ages for both their people. And as would-be enemies become inseparable lovers, another threat approaches, one with the power to destroy them all…
.
Surrender to the night.
.
Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series:

Sandy M’s review of Queen of Dragons (Drakon, Book 3) by Shana Abe
Paranormal romance by Bantam 26 Dec 07

I love being back in the world of Abe’s dragons. Although there is always a dire situation to be had, one that requires a swift hand, usually the Alpha’s, there is still the dry humor that makes the story a little fun along with all the mystery and danger.

The Alpha this time is Kimber Langford, Earl of Chasen. He has stepped up to take over in his father’s absence, who, along with his wife, is scouring the earth seeking the fate of their youngest daughter who we read about in The Dream Thief. Kimber has been groomed for this role, but it seems that as more and more things go wrong, he feels more and more out of control and does not have the power to keep his people safe.

We also met Princess Maricara of Transylvania in The Dream Thief, and in Queen of Dragons she comes into her own. A woman with an iron will and legions of stubbornness; a dragon as free and light hearted as Kimber would like to be. Kimber has known most of his life Mari will be his, but when he finally meets her he understands what his parents hold so dear in their own relationship. But trying to make Mari understand their mating is a fait accompli races his own iron will and stubbornness toward an inevitable head-on collision.

The famous shifting from human to smoke to dragon is still the same, but each is used in several different ways from the first two books. The flight of dragons can be felt in your bones when they take to the skies, and the sensuousness shared by Kimber and Maricara when they are in all three forms is delicious. Kimber has the same sense of humor as his father and Abe uses it beautifully. And, of course, an Alpha dragon just does something to your nerve endings, your synapses, your brain. Kimber also takes after his father in this respect, and it’s a good thing they both found strong women to love them.

This time Abe leaves the ending wide open for the next book. There are as many questions answered as there are left unanswered. But it’s all done in a good way. I didn’t feel cheated at the end or like I missed something. It’s a true cliffhanger and I have only anticipation for future installments of the stories of Darkfrith and its legendary drakon.

Grade: A+

     There exists a world beyond your own.

     There exists a world of frozen savagery, of ice and snow, and needle-tipped mountains draped smoky emerald in summer, and dusky blue every autumn. In this world, your safe and pleasant life is vanished, a mere illusion revealed.

     Comets are born here. Stars are stirred. Glaciers steam; diamonds sparkle; silent music saturates the very air-and mighty dragons tear furrows through it all, breathing light and fire in crystalline exhalations.

     We are the drákon.

     Maricara of the Zaharen was born an eighteenth century peasant but raised to be a princess. As the hidden leader of the drákon of the Carpathian Mountains, she represents all that is glimmering and elusive in her kind: polished strength, striking radiance…and a will to keep her dragon kin safe at all costs, even if it means she must protect them from herself.

     Kimber, Earl of Chasen, is more new to his role as Alpha of the English drákon, but there’s nothing elusive about him. He is powerfully, unmistakably male, and destined to rule his tribe. He’s also been engaged to Maricara for years-although she doesn’t know it.

     The dragons of Darkfrith believed themselves to be the last of their kind. The revelation of the other tribe’s existence-even in far-flung Transylvania-is considered nothing but a threat to them and their way of life. This threat has to be contained, and Kim is willing do whatever he must to achieve that. Even bloodshed. Even war.

     There could hardly be a pair of creatures less suited for marriage, much less diplomacy between these two separate, savagely beautiful groups of beings.

     Yet Kim and Mari’s destinies are about to collide in a very unexpected way. One hot summer night the princess slips into Darkfrith unannounced, bearing some extremely unwelcome news: the sanf inimicus, human hunters of the drákon, have revived their ancient sect, and are beginning to pick off the shapeshifters one by one.

     No one is safe. And unless Kimber and Maricara decide to unite after all, it might mean the end of every dragon, in every place….

     Read an excerpt.

Sandy M’s review of Bound in Moonlight (Hidden Grotto Book 2) by Louisa Burton
Erotica novel published 26 Dec 2007 by Bantam Books

I wasn’t sure what to make of this book when I first started it. The back cover blurb didn’t quite make it clear to me what the the book is comprised of, leading me to believe I would be reading about three couples and their erotic escapades all in one story. However, it wasn’t until the abrupt end of what I suddenly realized was the first story and start of the second that it hit me this book is comprised of three short stories all revolving around a couple of common denominators.

Tutelage

The first story is conveyed through letters from Emmaline Townsend to her lover, Remy, who is still in France while she recuperates from a skiing accident in the United States. The main story is taken from the book Emmaline herself wrote when she found her fiancé at Grotte Cachee engaging in acts of carnal knowledge that the castle is famous for.

You get a hint that secondary characters Inigo and Elic, plus the reclusive Darius, are not exactly what they seem and that’s all you get for quite sometime. They do know how to please a woman, though. Emmaline becomes a woman who, because of her unfaithful fiancé, discovers she loves to have sex any way she can get it and vows never to marry. Hence, her continuous declining of Remy’s proposals.

I have to admit the end of this story was a twist I didn’t expect and it was a little abrupt.

Slave Week

The next story revolves around Caroline Keating, a young woman down on her luck and disowned by her father. After a botched suicide attempt, Caroline finds herself in the hands of David Childe, Lord Rexton, barrister and procurer of women to be auctioned as sex slaves for a week at Chateau de la Grotte Cachee. Caroline is aghast as such a thing, but later, when her options are nil, she relents and makes her way to the castle.

Rexton slyly outbids a lecher for Caroline’s company. Caroline later discovers that Rexton doesn’t want anything intimate from her. When they are in mixed company they follow the rules of the game, but Rexton doesn’t embarrass her as the other men do their slaves.

Caroline eventually lets Rexton know she is willing to learn more about what goes on between a man and woman and wants to do it with him. They have intense sex and Caroline’s feelings begin to grow for Rexton and he notices her change. Warning her that he is not what he seems, he continues to push her away until his last act leads to near-tragic results.

This story had a very satisfying ending.

Magic Hour

In the third and last story we meet the owner of Chateau de la Grotte Cachee, Adrien Morel, and the daughter of the castle administrateur, Isabel Archer.

Even though it’s been 20 years since she’s visited the castle, nothing has changed. Isabel arrives early and walks in on a ménage à trois in the library. This is where we see Inigo and Elic, et al., once again and we also find out their story.

Isabel discovers her father is ill and is putting things in order, making Isabel the administreur after he’s gone. Isabel refuses the job. She knows she can’t spend more time in Adrien’s company because he was the reason she fled years ago. And, just as it happened then, Adrien pulls away from Isabel after becoming too close.

The ending to this story irritated me. I turned the page expecting the story to continue, but that was it. Nothing more. Huh? I was so baffled I got online to check Ms. Burton’s website to see if perhaps there’s another book on the way that will tie things up. Nothing.

Once I got over this – as best I could anyway – I still enjoyed the book. I liked the common denominators that meshed all three stories together, and the characters were all very likable and interesting.

Grade: B

A sheltered heiress is horrified by the licentiousness she encounters at Grotte Cachée, until the beguiling Inigo frees her from her Gilded Cage by tutoring her in the arts of love.

A rector’s daughter, in despair over being ruined and impoverished, allows herself to be sold at a slave auction for a week as the sex slave of an aristocratic master with kinky tastes in exchange for enough money to turn her life around.(Read an excerpt.)

The daughter of Grotte Cachée’s administrateur, long-smitten with its gardien, Adrien Morel, arrives at the chateau to find a porn film being shot there.

Lawson’s review of The Accidental Vampire (Argeneau Vampires, Book 7) by Lynsay Sands
Paranormal Romance released 26 Dec 07 by Avon

This book has a cute premise. Well-meaning neighbors put in ad in a paper for their friend who came back from Mexico a vampire. They know their own mortality and want her to have companionship as she out lives them all. Elvi is lucky to have such caring friends and neighbors. She doesn’t know any other vampires and doesn’t know she’s violated the basic vampire laws however.

Which is why Victor is in town. He’s there to see the situation and find out what he can do to keep things under raps and bring Elvi in for justice. But what is a vampire to do when the whole town knows about Elvi and her situation and expect her to now behave a certain way? When Victor begins to fall for Elvi as well, he realizes the situation isn’t cut and dry and he’s got to protect her from the council as well as a new danger in her previously boring town. Oh, and convince her they’d be perfect living together forever.

Since this is book 7 in this series, I’m hoping that I’m not giving too much away, but I’m sure there are people out there that are not acquainted with the Argeneaus. So in not trying to spoil anything, they prefer immortals to vampires, Victor is old, old (born in 230 B.C.) and is a bitter guy since mortals burned his wife at the steak in the 1300s. He hasn’t talked to his own son since (read Book 5, A Bite to Remember). Victor is also starting to get bored by life and doesn’t want to become careless and go toward the madness that can happen to those that are so very old.

Victor, for good reason, points out very quickly the rather sorry life that Elvi leads in her town. Being that old and overly observant does that to a person. She feels indebted to the people since they provide blood for her, to play the part of the sexy vampiress and break those vampire laws she didn’t know she was breaking. How Victor, a jaded really old immortal, falls for Elvi is kinda hard to see. Though she’s 62 herself, she’s terribly naive and believes the best in people, even when one of her dear friends and neighbors tries to kill her.

Yep, one of the small town people start to shoot arrows to slay Elvi. The reason why and the resolution is rather… overdone and slapstick. Or just pointless. But Elvi throws herself into danger and does some TSTL things, with sexy results. She and Victor have some very steamy scenes, one of which on the hood of a BMW (a personal fantasy of mine).

With the cute premise and steam, it helps override the slapstick “try to kill Elvi” premise, but not enough to override Elvi’s naivete or the strange give in take relationship she’s been in with her small town home. Probably one of the weaker links in the Argeneau series chain. Don’t worry though, the next two Vampires are Forever and Vampire, Interrupted make up for this one in spades. Those reviews are coming soon.

Grade: D+

Blurb:

     Ever since an accident turned her into a knockout vamp, Elvi Black’s been catching her z’s in a coffin, staying out of the sun, and giving up garlic. She knows there’s more to being undead than what she saw in Dracula, but she can’t very well ask her mortal friends about proper biting etiquette. But when her neighbors placed a personal ad for her in the local paper, she never imagined she’d meet Victor Argeneau, a vampire who could have his pick of any woman – dead or alive.

Rich, powerful, and drop-dead gorgeous, Victor’s the perfect man for a novice neck-biter like Elvi. He’s willing to teach her everything he knows, but he’ll have to do it fast. Someone’s out to put a stake through her new vamp life, and only Victor can keep her safe – and satisfied – for all eternity.

Excerpt.

Bev(QB)’s review of Beyond the Dark (Anthology) by Angela Knight, Emma Holly, Lora Leigh, and Diane Whiteside
Paranormal romance published by Berkley Sensations 4 Dec 07

First of all, if you aren’t familiar with these authors, you should be aware that this book should have been labeled as paranormal EROTIC romance. I suppose it could be argued that it’s implicit on the back cover with “Four bestselling authors of paranormal romance and erotic thrills…” But I’m surprised it wasn’t explicitly stated somewhere. 

From the inside cover:

“What can you feel in the dark?”
“How far are you willing to go beyond it?”

Dragon Dance by Angela Knight

“Angela Knight does it– in the psychic realm of a woman attuned to the touch of strangers– and the powerful temptations of a seductive and mysterious protector.”

Someone call Marvel! There’s been a mini-trend lately to adapt romances into comic books. Well, Angela Knight’s novella has comic book-like superheroes adapted into novella form. I don’t think I’d like it as much in full length novel format, but in this shorter form it’s fun, sexy and quirky. Explaining it would spoil all your reading fun.

Queen of All She Surveys by Emma Holly

“Emma Holly does it– in the fantastic demon world where a powerful queen rules– until she commits the sin of falling in love with the handsome son of her worst enemy.”

If you aren’t already familiar with Emma Holly’s demon series, there is one erotic scene in QoASS that will leave you scratching your head and saying “WTF was that extra bit all about?!” [Hint: what he THINKS it might be is correct and it only appears in mated royals.] But for those that do read the series, I think this might be the best and most memorable one. The full length books tend to drag a bit from an overload of details, but this erotic novella was tight and well-written. Except for when Mem declares “I itch… back there”. EEWWW! I half expected Tou to offer him the demon version of Preparation H or douse him with a de-worming potion. A need, a burning need, an aching emptiness, surely there was another term Holly could have used besides I ITCH! GAK!

In a Wolf’s Embrace by Lora Leigh

“Lora Leigh does it– in the domain of a strange Breed, part man, part wolf, on the hunt for the woman he craves– and needs– to fulfill a hunger clawing at him from within.”

Curious what Lora Leigh’s Breeds series is all about? IaWE is an excellent way to find out. Since Matthias, a knotty [hee] Wolf Breed, wants grace to understand exactly what she’s getting into before they are overwhelmed by Mating Heat, and since he first has to make her understand the Breeds history so she’ll let go of her horror at witnessing him execute someone she considered a harmless old man, readers get a condensed summary of the Breed series. This is a sizzling erotic romance with a smile-worthy HEA.

Caught by the Tides by Dianne Whiteside

“Diane Whiteside does it– in an alternative universe of regency magic where two lovers are threatened by a vicious mage and swept up in a turbulent war off the Cornish cliffs.”

Dianne Whiteside’s CbtT should have worked. Paranormal plus Regency plus erotic romance usually makes me a happy reader. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t as crisply written as the other three novellas. But in all fairness, I’m not that big a fan of stories whose plots rely almost exclusively on magic. Combine that with underdeveloped characters and erotic scenes with a surprising lack of heat (from the author of The Switch?!), and I never quite connected with this one.

Overall Grade: B+

Read more from Bev at Cubie’s Confections.

Lawson’s review of The Wicked Ways of a Duke (Girl-Bachelors, Book 2) by Laura Lee Guhrke
Historical Romance published by Avon 26 Dec 07

There’s really not much for me to summarize here, since just about everything is given away in the blurb. Seriously. I usually hate to give spoilers, but when the blurb on the back of the book does it for you. . . it’s really not a spoiler then anyway, is it? 

It’s a run of the mill “need to marry an heiress” story. Rhys is in dire straits due to bad family spending. Including his own. Though he claims to be cynical and unfeeling Rhys is in emotional distress and running away from various demons of this past. He’s not as hard hearted as he tries to get people to believe.

When Prudence falls head over heels for someone she thinks is noble and chivalrous and, wonder of wonders, seems to care for her rather than her new inheritance, she jumps into something, even though her harridan aunt and selfish uncle try to talk her out of an engagement. Prudence has been making it well enough the past 10 years, she hasn’t starved, but coming into a huge amount of money goes to her head. She’s a romantic minded person but some of the decisions she makes are rather flaky.

Rhys is extremely manipulating though. He plays her like a fiddle getting her to agree to marry him and using her innocent adoration of him to get her to marry him so quickly. In fact, Prudence lets herself get taken advantage of by those unscrupulous people out there all to often just because she’s so excited about having money. Luckily when she does find out about Rhys’ deception she grows up all to quick.

Rhys, through Prudence’s love (even if it is rather naive), gets over some of his emotional issues rather well and does begin to shrug some of his restlessness and his immature approach to having a title. He’s not big on taking responsibility or being accountable to people. And even though he’s a manipulator and shirks responsibility he’s still a charming rogue and doesn’t try to hide his faults (as numerous as they are) from Prudence during their courtship.

Even with their faults, Rhys and Prudence are very sweet and rather steamy together. He’s very wicked, in all the best ways, and she’s a passionate innocent (which could be annoying, but it works out rather well). It nicely helps to gloss over the aunt and uncle that want Prudence’s money for themselves and the fact that the nice ladies from Prudence’s boarding house don’t have enough time in the story.

The Girl-Bachelor series continues in Guhrke’s next book, and I’m hoping it will be about Prudence’s flatmate Maria.

Grade: B

She thought she was the luckiest woman in London . . .

Surviving on a seamstress’ income and a steady stream of fantasies, Prudence Bosworth has always longed for love and romance. Then she inherits a fortune from the father she’s never seen, with the stipulation that she wed in one year. Prudence is determined to marry for true love, and after seeing firsthand the splendid chivalry of a certain duke, only one man will do . . .

Rhys de Winter, the Duke of St. Cyres, hides his cynicism behind a quick wit and an even quicker smile. He must marry an heiress, and as luck would have it, the pretty little seamstress-turned-heiress is exactly what he needs. But he never expected to fall for Prudence, and when his shocking deception is revealed, he will stop at nothing to win her back . . . even if it means renouncing every last one of his wicked ways.

Sandy M’s review of Demon’s Kiss by Maggie Shayne
Paranormal romance published by MIRA (Harlequin) 1 Dec 07

Seth Connor’s knows a beautiful woman with red hair and soulful eyes is his destiny. He’s known that all his life. When Seth makes it through his transition, he follows Reaper on his journey to learn about vampiric life, all the while feeling he is making his way closer and closer to his mystery lady.  Things begin to fall into place for Seth when he finally meets Vixen, a vampire who is hiding a secret that keeps her timid and away from everyone except Seth. 

At first I thought this book was going to be hard to follow – there seemed to be a new character introduced each chapter. Even with the crowd, Shayne does a great job of keeping their individual stories straight and concise. Then, once the team are all together and on the move toward their destination, I didn’t have a problem following the storyline.

There are plenty of surprises to keep you guessing and off-balance. If you love to hate villains, there are a couple in this book who will have you spewing venomous sweet nothings right from the beginning.

Grade: B+

Blurb:

Even by vampire standards, Reaper is a loner, and his current mission to destroy a gang of rogue bloodsuckers is definitely a one-vamp job. Then fate takes a hand, and before he knows it, he’s surrounded by a ragtag crew of misfit helpers: the newbie, the princess, the shape-shifter and the human healer.

Seth is new to immortality, but he’s sharp and strong—and he’ll risk anything for the rogues’ strange female captive, a secretive creature he doesn’t understand but feels compelled to save.

Vixen is confused by the emotions that swirl through her at the sight of her impulsive hero. She only hopes the brutal Gregor and his bloodthirsty renegades will leave her alive long enough to explore them.

Or will Reaper himself be the one to destroy them all?

Read an excerpt.

For those of you who are just now coming on board - welcome!

I’m pleased to announce that my new historical romance ONCE A RAKE is now available! And to celebrate its release, Sybil & I are holding a special 2-day contest for the chance to win a goody-treasure-bag with signed copies of MY WICKED PIRATE and ONCE A RAKE! If you have missed DAY-1 in which Lord Ashby, the hero of ONCE A RAKE, dropped by to visit and grumble about his sexy co-star, you can visit my website and read all about it.

So, once again, just to get everyone warmed up, here’s a sneak peek into the battle of the sexes raging on the pages…

Once upon a time, the Earl of Ashby was a notoriously handsome libertine, but the war against Napoleon has scarred him. Now, years later, Isabel Aubrey, a proper lady in need of an influential lord to champion her charity, dares to approach the masked, reclusive colonel and arouses the dormant desire of London’s legendary rake.

Scarred in battle, tormented by the horrors of war, consumed with self-hate and loneliness, Colonel Lord Ashby is certain of this: To keep her, he must seduce her, as only a rake can…

Enter DAY-2 of the contest

Read the heroine’s POV and then answer the question at the bottom. Enjoy!

HEROINES ARE FROM VENUS, SHE SAYS

Dear Reader,

In my capacity as Chairwoman of the Widows, Mothers & Sisters of War Society, I, Isabel Aubrey, am in need of an influential lord to champion my charity, and Colonel Lord Ashby is the perfect candidate: Commander of the 18th Hussars, a decorated war hero, Ashby was also my brother’s best friend and senior officer on the Peninsula.

Up until two years ago, they had been risking their lives, fighting against Napoleon. Then soon after Waterloo - the terrible battle that claimed my brother’s life - Ashby returned.

We (my family and I) waited for Ashby to pay his respects and tender his condolences, but he never came, which is baffling, considering the earl was all but one of the inmates at Seven Dover Street, or in other words - a frequent guest at our dinner table. Now I hear disturbing rumors that he is a scarred recluse, a mere shadow of the man he once was.

I find the notion that a battle wound should force the formidable Earl of Ashby into a self-imposed isolation inconceivable! The man I remember was a force of nature. He is also fabulously wealthy, which in and of itself is enough to entice the ton to forgive his facial scars. Yet, apparently, his countless virtues are not enough for Ashby to do so.

So I risk my reputation and call on him in person. At first, he refuses to see me. Then, after I bludgeon his servants, he receives me wearing a black satin mask to conceal the much-whispered-about scars and informs me that he has had his crusade and that I should not bother him again. But later that night I receive the most generous donation.

His hostile demeanor might send a milk and water thing scurrying for cover, but I am not easily intimidated. I simply refuse to accept that the kind and dashing hussar who was the hero of my girlhood dreams has lost his humanity, as he puts it. And, I confess, the tortured look in his sea green eyes is another incentive which lures me back to the masked ogre. For no matter how hard and grim Ashby has become, I still find him… irresistible.

One would expect me to have outgrown my old fancy for him by now. Especially since years ago, when he was a notorious libertine and I a little chit fresh out of the schoolroom, he made it perfectly clear that his amorous interests lay elsewhere. In those days, they said women swooned when he walked into a ballroom and that he was the only gentleman ever in need of a dance card. I have no illusions where London’s legendary rake is concerned.

I return to Ashby as a friend, disrupt his solitude with mischief and chaos, and - to my astonishment - his exasperation with me evolves into heady desire. Despite our history and the black mask concealing his secrets, I melt in his arms. Alas, my efforts in healing his soul are failing. There is darkness inside of him, but he won’t let me share his burden.

What he lays bare is the magnitude of his loneliness. His stolen kisses convey all the passion and yearning in the world - but is it me he wants? Or does his all-consuming desire stem from his long seclusion, as well as from a basic need for a wife and heirs?

Could I give up everything for this haunted, gifted man who refuses to come out into the sunlight? Or is there a way to ascertain his true feelings while seducing him to resume his place in Society? I imagine I will have my answer tonight, at the charity masquerade ball.

Sincerely,
Isabel Aubrey

DAY-2 Contest Question: What - according to Isabel - are Ashby’s basic needs?

3 lucky winners will get a goody-treasure-bag with signed copies of: MY WICKED PIRATE and ONCE A RAKE! (Contest ends today at midnight; later entries won’t be taken into account. Thanks!)

To read Chapter One of ONCE A RAKE please visit my website.

I hope you had fun meeting Isabel Aubrey and Lord Ashby. If you didn’t get a chance to win a goody bag, please sign up for my contest.

Thanks, Sybil, for hosting all three of us! Happy holidays!

All my love,
Rona Sharon