Archive for the Category &raquo;3/5 &laquo;

100053576 From the back of the book:

He’s the man of her dreams…

In a world full of frogs, Alison Carter is determined to find her prince. Maybe her dating past is more Titanic than Love Boat, but she’s seen enough happy marriages to know that true love is possible. No matter what, she won’t give up on happily-ever-after. If she can’t find Mr. Right, she’ll simply hire someone who can.

She just doesn’t know it yet

When Brandon Scott inherits a successful matchmaking business, he thinks his prayers have been answered. Set up a few lonely ladies, collect the fee, how hard can it be? No one needs to know he’s not really a professional matchmaker - especially not his first client, the beautiful, spirited Alison. Soon he’s falling for her - and her dreams of kids and carpools. But Alison is getting close to figuring out his secret, and if she learns he’s deceived her too, she’ll walk right out the door, taking Brandon’s heart with her.

I enjoyed HEARTSTRINGS AND DIAMOND RINGS, but didn’t love it. Most of my issue with the book is how desperate Alison is to get married. If the story wasn’t so cleverly written and entertaining, I would have put this book down. But the book is cleverly written and entertaining and by the end I had thoroughly enjoyed the romance between Alison and Brandon. There is a lot of charm to this story and readers will like the heart and the fun in the story.

the book girl gives HEARTSTRINGS AND DIAMOND RINGS a 3.5/5

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Review: NEVER ENOUGH by Lauren Dane

Category: 3/5, 4/5, Contemporary Romance, Contest, review copy 21 Comments

Sep

1004159961 From the back of the book:

ALL THE RIGHT NOTES…

Gillian Forrester spent most of her life running from who and what she came from…until Miles came along. The moment she held the tiny newborn her older sister didn’t want, Gillian stopped running and began to build a life for herself and her adopted son. Now, thirteen years later, as Gillian’s sister lies dying, she reveals the father’s identity nd makes Gillian promise to find him.

Adrian Brown is the epitome of the successful rock star. He’s seen and done it all, with few regrets. It takes a lot to shock him - but the bombshell that he has a thirteen-year-old son rocks his world. And Adrian is een more surprised when the buttoned-up, elegant woman who’s raising Miles snags his erotic and romantic attention.

The last thing Gillian expected was to find herself getting hot and heavy with a person life Adrian. But as much as she wants to open up and give herself fully to this amazing man, she’s afraid the secrets of her past and Adrian’s problems with trusting people may keep them apart for good. If love isn’t enough, can they find the trust they need?

The fourth book in the Brown series is full of emotion, passion, and romance. I enjoyed NEVER ENOUGH, but didn’t love it like I did the previous books. There was something missing for me. I’m not even really sure what it was, but I know that when I finished the book I wasn’t ready to read it again like I was with LAID BARE and INSIDE OUT. NEVER ENOUGH reminds me more of COMING UNDONE - the story is entertaining, the sex hot, and the romance sweet - but no real action. The climax scene between Adrian and Gillian came out of nowhere and the reactions of everyone were over the top. I also didn’t care for the abrupt ending to the book. I would have liked a sweeter ending with Miles, Adrian, and Gillian than the sex scene the book ended on. I don’t think this book will be a re-read like LAID BARE (which I’ve read at least 10 times).

the book girl gives NEVER ENOUGH a 3/5

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Review: CHERI ON TOP by Susan Donovan

Category: 3/5, Contemporary Romance, Erotic Romance, puchased book 2 Comments

Sep

102046972 From the back of the book:

SHE’S GOT EVERYTHING SHE WANTS

Sun-drenched beaches, designer-label clothes, drop-dead-gorgeous boy-toys…all paid for with a series of high-risk real estate deals. That’s the life-style Cherise Newberry and her BFF Candy enjoy after leaving rural North Carolina for Tampa - until the market tanks and they lose everything. Cheri is surviving on Ramen Noodles and temp jobs when she gets a call from home to come back and run the family’s small-town newspaper. Just one catch: She’ll become the boss of her high school crush - and former brother-in-law - who might have the power to crush her all over again…

BUT HE’S WHAT SHE NEEDS

But Cheri is surprised to see how “bad boy” J. J. DeCourcy has grown into the hard-working and principled managing editor of The Bigler Bugle. Still, according to Cheri’s bitter sister, he’s not to be trusted. If Cheri’s going to co-exist with this sexier-than-ever man from her past, she needs to stay professional - and keep her distance - even though he sets her on fire. When they’re handed the biggest news story in the town’s history, Cheri must trust J.J, even if it means putting her life in danger…and her heart on the line.

CHERI ON TOP is a contemporary romance that focuses on a small mystery and the rekindled relationship between Cheri and J.J. It was lacking something for me. I enjoyed the mystery, but felt that the relationship wasn’t enough. Cheri and J.J were a couple in high school and broke up when she left for college. Cheri led a happy life in Florida until she lost 14 million dollars in a real-estate deal and now she is back in North Carolina. J.J. married and divorced her sister and then started working for Cheri’s family newspaper. When Cheri comes back J.J is instantly back in love with her and he moves to make her his again. Cheri doesn’t immediately fall back in love with J.J., but she allows him to work his way back into her life without really knowing what happened for the past five years he has been absent in her life. It just didn’t feel realistic to me at all. I want more emotion when it comes to the couples in my romance novels.

The only thing I truly loved about this book was Cheri’s “guard squirrel” and how she protects Cheri during the climatic scene of the book.

the book girl gives CHERI ON TOP a 3/5

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Review: COWBOYS LIKE US by Vicki Lewis Thompson

Category: 3/5, Contemporary Romance, puchased book 2 Comments

Jul

109249942 From NetGalley:

Real cowboys aren’t born. They’re made…

Logan Carswell has just kissed his professional baseball career goodbye. Goodbye dreams, career and future. For now, though, he’s working at the Last Chance Ranch and the town saloon, where sexy bartender Caro Davis is definitely taking his mind off his troubles….

Caro’s days have been so hectic, she’s forgotten all about the finer aspects of life. Like men. And sex. And really smokin’-hot sex with men like Logan. But when their two worlds collide—and boy, do they ever collide—they both realize that once the gear is off, a cowboy is still a cowboy! Bonus Story Inside: Celebrate the 10th anniversary with Vicki Lewis Thompson’s first Blaze™ book, NOTORIOUS!

I really enjoy the “Sons of Chance” series. How can you not? Sexy cowboys!! COWBOYS LIKE US is actually about an ex-professional baseball player who is visiting the Last Chance ranch after his friend, Alex’s wedding. I liked Logan immediately. He is a little damaged, but not so much that it isn’t a stretch when he is “fixed”. Caro was just an okay character for me. She is a little bit of a martyr (her Grandmother takes up all of her free time). I felt that her problems with her Grandmother were all solved a little too easily. Six months of daily visits over because all of a sudden the Grandmother has something to do? It didn’t work for me. I did enjoy the romance between Logan and Caro - their chemistry is off the charts and the way the care for each other is very sweet. What I didn’t enjoy was the epilogue. It is an overly obvious set-up for the next book in the series. I can’t stand when an author does this - it almost spoils the ending of the book for me.

This book also contains a bonus book - NOTORIOUS.

the book girl gives COWBOYS LIKE US a 3/5

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Review: VIRGIN by Cheryl Brooks

Category: 3/5, Contemporary Romance, review copy One Comment

Jun

100659082 From the back of the book:

HE’S NEVER MET ANYONE WHO MADE HIM PURR…

Starship pilot Dax never encountered a woman he wanted badly enough. Until he meets Ava Karon…

AND HE’LL NEVER GIVE HIS BODY WITHOUT GIVING HIS HEART…

Dax is happy to take Ava back to her home planet, until he finds out she’s returning to an old boyfriend…

As their journey together turns into a quest neither expected. Ava would give herself to Dax in a hearbeat. Except he doesn’t know the first thing about seducing a woman…

I have been a big fan of the Cat Star Chronicles from the very beginning, but VIRGIN is my least favorite in the series. I just couldn’t connect to Dax at all and Ava came across very one-dimensional also. VIRGIN centers around Dax and his fumbling attempts to seduce Ava. The story was okay and I will definately read more in this series, but this book just didn’t do it for me.

the book girl gives VIRGIN a 3/5

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Review: THE SINS OF VISCOUNT SUTHERLAND by Samantha James

Category: 3/5, Erotic Romance, review copy One Comment

Jun

988267051 From the back of the book:

He is reckless, bold, dangerous…

Men envy him, women desire him…

And one woman wants her revenge.

Claire Ashcroft has good reason to despise Viscount Grayson Sutherland. A wildly unpredictable man with a frightening reputation, Sutherland is responsible for a death that deeply pains her. She’d kill him if she could. Instead, she’ll employ her feminine wiles to make him pay. And once he’s deeply, irreversibly in love with her, she’ll shatter his vulnerable heart.

Her scheme works perfectly…too perfectly.

Samantha James is one of my favorite historical authors, so I was excited to read THE SINS OF VISCOUNT SUTHERLAND. While the story is nothing new - girl hates boy, boy is rake, they fall in love (but are too stubborn to admit it), and then they live happily ever after. The characters make this story. Gray, Viscount Sutherland, is a rake, but he is also haunted by his past. He refuses to feel anything and just plays in excess. Even though he comes across as a bit of a jerk, as different parts of his past or revealed I really felt for him. Claire is a different story. Her need for revenge turned me off in the beginning. She was very naive in her belief that making Gray fall in love with her and then breaking his heart would happen without any other complications. She grows a lot throughout the book and changes her feelings on what happened in the past. Both characters learn to overcome those things that have been holding them back. While I enjoyed the story, I did feel that the book drags a bit in the last half. There are many instances of either Claire or Gray causing one more problem in their relationship. It is a cycle that got old quickly. After the dragging middle, the end all seems very rushed. They confess their feelings and then it is over.

the book girl gives THE SINS OF VISCOUNT SUTHERLAND a 3.5/5

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Review: SEALed FOREVER by Mary Margret Daughtridge

Category: 3/5, Historical Romance, puchased book 3 Comments

May

97954004 From the back of the book:

HE’S GOT A LIVING, BREATHING DILEMMA…

In the midst of running an undercover CIA mission, Navy SEAL Lt. Garth Vale finds an abandoned baby, and his superiors sure don’t want to know about it. The only person who can help him is the beautiful new doctor in town, but she’s got another surprise for him…

SHE’S GOT A SOLUTION…AT A PRICE…

Dr. Bronwyn Whitescarver has left the frenetic pace of big city ER medicine for a small town medical practice. Her bags aren’t even unpacked yet when gorgeous, intense Garth Vale shows up on her doorstep in the middle of the night with a sick baby…

But his story somehow doesn’t add up, and Bronwyn isn’t quite sure who she’s saving - the baby, or the man…

This is the fourth book in the SEAL series by Mary Margret Daughtridge. After really enjoying the previous books this one was a let down. It couldn’t buy the emotional connection between the two characters. Garth, upon their second meeting, falls head over heels in love and it just didn’t fit the character for me. Also, Bronwyn was still trying to overcome her guilt and grief over the death of her fiance. She wasn’t in a place for a relationship and I didn’t fell that really change. The book is helped by the appearance of the other SEALs and Bronwyn’s friends, but it wasn’t enough to make me love the book.

the book girl gives SEALed FOREVER a 3/5

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Review: THREE TO TANGO Anthology

Category: 3/5, Contemporary Romance, review copy One Comment

May

970677661 From the back of the book:

In Emma Holly’s FLIPPING FOR CHELSEA, Shay and Liam once shared an unforgettable night with their lifelong friend Chelsea, awakening a rush of forbidden feelings - feelings they have to reckon with when the three reunite. If they don’t, the unrequited lust between them could become too much to bear.

Thous Ava left her hard-knock Georgia childhood behind, she never forgot Luca and Angelo. together they were best friends with a bond that could never be broken. But when Ava returns, the three must decide whether to face the fires that burn between them or forgo their desires forever in Lauren Dane’s DIRTY/BAD/WRONG.

In Megan Hart’s JUST FOR ONE NIGHT, fun-loving couple Kerry and Jeremy find themselves in a triangle of trouble when Kerry’s old crush, Brian, returns for a school reunion, and Jeremy gives her his enthusiastic approval to seduce him. But while Jeremy has no trouble sharing Kerry, Brian isn’t sure he can handle what’s coming.

Years ago, Walker left Madeline when she needed him most. Now, the former Secret Service agent is back - hired to protect Madeline by their billionaire friend, Tony. Madeline is determined to make Walker pay for denying her desires - and she’s not above bringing in Tony to sweeten the deal in Bethany Kane’s ON THE JOB.

THREE TO TANGO is a super hot anthology. All of the stories feature a threesome or love triangle.

FLIPPING FOR CHELSEA by Emma Holly - Not my favorite of the four stories. There was something about the characters that I just couldn’t connect to. The story moves from past to present and there was just something missing.

DIRTY/BAD/WRONG by Lauren Dane - I’m always amazed at how Lauren Dane can make me feel something even in a novella. Her writing is full of emotion and DIRTY/BAD/WRONG is no exception. I loved that there was a past relationship between Ava, Luca, and Angelo even though it isn’t shown in the story. Ava is a vulnerable character even though she tries to act tough. The boys in this story are sexy and hot! I especially loved the scenes between Luca and Angelo!

JUST FOR ONE NIGHT by Megan Hart - I had mixed feelings about this story. I loved the romance between Brian and Kerry, but hated Jeremy. I wanted Kerry to kick him to the curb from the very beginning. I had a problem with Jeremy being willing to share Kerry, but not being there to participate or observe. It was a kink I just don’t get. With Brian and Kerry I could feel real emotion in their scene’s together.

ON THE JOB by Beth Kerry - Hot, hot, hot. From the very beginning this story is hot. Again there is an emotion factor (I need emotion w/my erotic romance) that I loved. Walker is sexy and Madeline is too. I really liked the way there was something other than just the hook-up going on in the story. There is an additional plot that helped make the story great.

the book girl gives the whole anthology THREE TO TANGO a 4/5

the book girl gives FLIPPING FOR CHELSEA a 3/5

the book girl gives DIRTY/BAD/WRONG a 5/5

the book girl gives JUST FOR ONE NIGHT a 4/5

the book girl gives ON THE JOB a 4/5

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Review: MAKE MINE A BAD BOY

Category: 3/5, 4/5, 5/5, Erotic Romance, puchased book 3 Comments

May

98570588 From the back of the book:

THERE’S A NEW BRIDE IN TOWN!

Hope Scroggs is finally ready to get hitched. After years of sowing her wild oats, the former head cheerleader and homecoming queen has returned to Bramble, Texas, to marry her high school flame. But her perfect wedding plans are stomped to smithereens when her adoring cowboy two-steps down the aisle with someone else. Now Hope is stuck with the one man from her past she can’t shake: Colt Lomax, an irresistible bad boy whose sultry kisses are hotter than the Panhandle in august…

Colt lives for freedom and the open road; he never gets attached, never looks back. Still, he can’t forget the night of passion he once shared with Bramble’s sweetheart - a night he wouldn’t mind repeating. So, he piles on the Texas charm to tease the feisty beauty back into his bed, while she tries her darnedest to resist. But something unexpected is about to tie their fates together…and oh, baby, will it ever!

I didn’t enjoy MAKE MINE A BAD BOY as much as I liked GOING COWBOY CRAZY. The main reason was Hope. Her attitude bothered me and I couldn’t see why people let her get away with things the way they do. I did like Hope more by the end of the book, but it took me awhile. On the other hand, I absolutely loved Colt. Just like GOING COWBOY CRAZY the dialog is snappy and full of funny moments. The town plays just as an important part in MAKE MINE A COWBOY. I really enjoyed getting to know the “other” twin. I’m hoping that we get more stories set in this crazy town!

the book girl gives MAKE MINE A BAD BOY a 3/5

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Review: A TALE OF TWO LOVERS by Maya Rodale

Category: 3/5, Contemporary Romance, review copy 3 Comments

Apr

968364571 From NetGalley:

Lord Simon Roxbury is a godsend to gossip columnists everywhere. This notorious rake has recently been caught in an extremely compromising position by none other than The London Weekly’s Lady of Distinction. Rumor also has it that Lord R received an ultimatum: be wed or be penniless. As A Lady of Distinction, Lady Julianna Somerset typically reports on other people’s scandals, but soon she finds herself embroiled in a very public battle with an irate Lord Roxbury — one that leaves her reputation in tatters and her position at The Weekly on the line. With no other choice available, these two enemies unite in a marriage of convenience to rescue both their reputations and secure his fortune. With their rivals intent on revealing the charade, Lady Julianna and Lord Simon inevitably surrender to temptation. It may just be a love match after all. . . .

I loved the first “writing girls” book and was very excited to read the next one in the series. I didn’t love A TALE OF TWO LOVERS as much as I did A GROOM OF ONE’S OWN. Julianna is a little immature at times and I couldn’t get past the fact that although she reported something she knew was false, she wouldn’t print a retraction. Simon is a bit of a jerk, too. I enjoyed him becoming a social pariah. Their relationship evolves slowly and I really liked how they went from enemies to lovers. The writing is fantastic and the story never bored me. The only part I struggled with was the characters themselves, I just had trouble liking them.

the book girl gives A TALE OF TWO LOVERS a 3/5

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