The Book Girl

2/5 Historical Romance puchased book

Review: Guilty Pleasure by Lora Leigh

by the book girl

44776633 From the back of the book:

Marty Matthews had always known about the secret, forbidden pleasures that the women she had grown up with enjoyed. Women whose husbands or lovers were members of the exclusive Club, where they took a selected third into their beds. And there is one man – a dangerous, forbidden man – who is part of this world and who has haunted Marty’s dreams for years. But she has also been the FBI agent assigned to shadow him, making him completely off-limits…That is, until Khalid is cleared and Marty is released from her assignment. Now all bets are off…

The beautiful, fierce Marty Matthews is the one woman Khalid hungers for like no other and is the one woman he dare not let himself have. His past dogs his every step and danger lurks around every corner. If he wants to keep her safe, he must stay away from her. But the power of their desire is something they cannot deny – and once Marty is his. Khalid will do whatever it takes to keep her in his bed and in his arms forever.

I liked this book. It is part of a series, but can stand on its own. Khalid is very mysterious and although we learn a little about him through the book I though that we could have found out more. Marty got on my nerves in the beginning. She is one of those “independent” characters who does stupid things in the name of being her own woman. I did grow to like her more throughout the book, but she will never be one of my favorite characters. The suspense to the story is spelled out from the very beginning. The reader is told who the bad guys are and the whole story leads up to their attack. I kept waiting for something to happen and it took what seemed like forever. The sex in the book is very hot, but lacks emotion. Even though the reader is told that their is a connection, I never felt that there was. The most annoying thing, in my opinion, is the book just ends as soon as the threat is over. It didn’t feel finished to me.

the book girl gives GUILTY PLEASURE a 2/5

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Review: Driven By Desire by LuAnn McLane

by the book girl

27451664 From the back of the book:

Daredevil stunts and dangerous accidents are par for the course in the adrenaline-fueled world of motocross racing. Just ask Alexia Spencer, who almost lost her high school sweetheart in a near-fatal accident. But when she asked him to give up racing, Jayden Michaels rode off without even a good-bye, leaving Alexia heartbroken.

Ten years later, Jayden’s back, and determined to prove he’s over Alexia. But it’s impossible to ignore the irresistible woman she’s become. And it isn’t long before Jayden finds himself on Alexia’s doorstep, driven by his insatiable desire, hoping he can tempt the woman he still loves into letting herself fell the heat…and taking a risk with her heart.

I felt like this book could have been shortened to novella length and been perfect. The conflict of the story has to do with something that happened in the past. A secret that Alexia is keeping. All she needs to do is share it with Jayden and there would be a happy ending. But even though she is sleeping and claiming to be still in love with Jayden, she doesn’t tell him. I found this fact very annoying. Unless you are looking for a story that has lots of sex and little emotion I would stay away from this book.

the book girl gives DRIVEN BY DESIRE a 2/5

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2/5 Erotic Romance puchased book

Review: The Confessions of a Duchess by Nicola Cornick

by the book girl

37507276 From the back of the book:

When an ancient tax law is invoked requiring all unmarried ladies to either wed or surrender half their wealth, the quiet village of Fortune’s Folly is overrun by a swarm of fortune-hunting bachelors.

Marry again? Never! Not afterwhat Laura, the dowager duchess, was forced to endure the first time. Even if her onetime paramour, Dexter Anstruther, is oh-so-tempting, she knows her secrets would destroy any chance at a future together. Young, handsome and scandalously tempting, Dexter suspects Laura has a hidden motive for resisting his charms…and he intends to discover it, by any means necessary.

The Confessions of a Duchess is the first book in a trilogy set in the same town of Fortune’s Folly. I had high hopes for this book, but it didn’t live up to them. From the premise – a tax on unmarried women – to the secret that the Laura is keeping from Dexter, there was one unbelievable happening after another. Dexter is a man in need of a fortune to take care of his six brothers and sisters and he doesn’t expect anyone to help him. Laura is a dowager duchess who has a small daughter to take care off and little money. She once spent a wild night with Dexter and then coldly tossed him out of her bed. The set up for the romance worked for me and would have made a great story if Laura had been honest with Dexter and there wasn’t the stupid dame’s tax thing. I have the other two books in the series, but probably won’t be reading them.

the book girl gives THE CONFESSIONS OF A DUCHESS a 2/5

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2/5 Historical Romance

Review: Playboy Boss, Pregnancy of Passion by Kate Hardy (2009 New Author Challenge)

by the book girl

playboy From the back of the book:

To-do list:

1.Hire new personal assistant

2. Do not sleep with new personal assistant

3. Reevaluate point two…

Tycoon Luke Holloway lives on the wild side, but at work he is a professional. That is until irresistible employee Sara Fleet joins the company. Before long he has unbuttoned his prim-and-proper assistant and they’re breaking all the rules…over and over again!

Superefficient Sara has never felt so out of control – and now she has to tell her sexy boss she is pregnant with his child!
It took me a long time to finish this book. I just couldn’t connect to the characters and I wanted to connect to them. I kept waiting for the pregnancy part of the story and it doesn’t happen until the end. I didn’t like how bossy Sara was and how cold Luke could be. On the whole I wasn’t impressed by this book.

the book girl gives PLAYBOY BOSS, PREGNANCY OF PASSION 2/5!

to find the book:

2/5 2009 New Author Challenge

to find more about the author:

Kate Hardy

Review: Glory Days by Irene Peterson (New Author Challenge)

by the book girl

glory-days From the back of book:

He Knows His Women…

New Jersey PI Josh Preshin takes on all kinds of jobs. Discreet inquiries. Private investigations. Helping women find lost…articles of clothing from his office. Yup, no job too big or too small. Now if only he could figure out how to convince the knockout redhead with the very large knife that he’s not breaking into her grandmother Flo’s apartment. No. He’s Flo’s upstairs tenant. In need of a serious cup of coffee. Yeah, so he’s wearing only a towel. So what?

She’s Got His Number.

Liz Atwater isn’t about to take her eyes off this one – and not just because he’s about six feet worth of smirking, hunky gorgeousness, either. She’s had her share of bad luck with men, and some half naked guy helping himself to your coffee while looking you up and down is not a good sign. Something’s going on with Mr. John Preshin. And Liz intends to do some discreet investigating of her own. He’d better hang on to that towel...

This book was a lot less fun than I expected it to be. From the back blurb, it seemed like it would be a typical contemporary romance between the hunky PI and the relationship-shy redhead. That isn’t what this book is at all. John Preshin is a man hunted by his past, who will sleep with anything and then not remember it. The only funny part of the book is when he wakes up with duck-tape on his chest after such an encounter. The real story of the book is about a girl who hires John to find her father. She comes to him with a list of who it could be and his name is top of the list. Liz’s story isn’t happy either. After a terrible divorce she has moved back to NJ to help her ailing grandmother. I felt as if there was too much going on and not enough focus on any one part of the story. Also, I didn’t feel as if there was any HEA for John and Liz, just a HFN. Liz’s past didn’t reach any closure and John’s past was tied up a little too neatly for my tastes.

the book girl gives GLORY DAYS 2/5!

To find the book:

2/5 2009 New Author Challenge Contemporary Romance

To find out more about author/book:

Irene Peterson

Review: Barbie & the Beast by Linda Thomas-Sundstrom (new author challenge)

by the book girl

barbie From the back of the book:

A Hairy Situation

Barbie Bradley was swept off her feet – literally. One moment the twenty-something was traversing Forest Lawn Cemetery in the dead of night with her best friend, the next she was thrown like a sack of potatoes over a man’s shoulder. True, she and Angie had come to this odd locale for a singles party, but this wasn’t quite how she’d planned to get picked up.

Hello, Dolly!

Darin Russell found “Ms. Right” at work, which was surprising because girls in the cemetery were usually a tad, in a word, stiff. Not that this one couldn’t stand to loosen up. She seemed particularly sensitive about being named after the Mattel toy, and before he popped the question he had to know how she’d react to his furry little secret. You see, though he had a tuxedo and a Porsche, he had more in common with the residents of the Miami Zoo than Ken. And if things went according to plan, Barbie was going to see his animal side.

I read this after hearing several other book bloggers rave about it and wanted to know if the book deserved the hype. In my opinion, it didn’t. There were times when I didn’t even know what was going on in the story. The heroine jumped around like someone who had too much caffeine and have the things she said sounded like jokes, but later turned out to be how she really felt. (Rules about no tongue on a first date while laying in bed with the guy) The story also doesn’t seem to go in a very linear pattern. There was a lot of jumping around and confusion over where the characters were at any given time. There are some mysterious characters that are mentioned but the reader is never really told who (or what) they really are. (For example, Walter – it still bugs me that we aren’t told who or what he is) I’m hoping that this was because of another book in the series, although I’m not sure I would read it if there were.

the book girl gives BARBIE AND THE BEAST 2/5

to find this book:

2/5 2009 New Author Challenge Paranormal Romance

more about the author:

Linda Thomas-Sundstrom