The lure of love

The Lure of Love by Mona Ingram ♥♥♥

This story is about three friends and their individual love stories. I am not usually a fan of multiple love stories in one book but since these all happened concurrently it was okay with me. The setting for this story takes place at a fishing lodge in British Columbia.

Couple number one Craig and Jamie
Craig is a widower and documentary film director. Jamie is the owner of the lodge where Craig has come to visit to possibly film a documentary.

Couple number two Billy and Brooke
Billy is a baseball player with a reputation for being a ladies man. Brooke works at the lodge as sort of a office manager.

Couple number three Matt and Leeza
Matt is married and a real estate agent who won a trip to the fishing lodge. Lisa is the chef for the lodge.

The author did a good job of keeping their stories individualized, but intertwining them enough to create a cohesive story. As a novella, the book moves fast. That being said, each of the three couples have connections which is the reason for sharing very intimate personal baggage (and there was a lot of emotional baggage with these three couples) very quickly. The more that they share about each other provides the rationale for why they fall in love with each other so quickly. In some of Mona Ingram’s other books, I have found the stories to be lacking some feeling. However in this book, I think the characters’ story really comes out in a way that conveys the emotional situation of each person.

As a side note: I feel that I have to say something about the fact that Matt is married in the beginning of the story. His marriage is only a technicality and as you read the story you understand.

Overall, The Lure of Love was a sweet book and an enjoyable read. I finished it in a couple hours and was satisfied with the outcomes of each couple.

Victorian Romance + Bet = funny story

May10

Waltzing With the Wallflower ♥♥♥♥

Anthony and Ambrose are twin brothers that make it their aim to decide at the beginning of the Season which young lady will receive their attention. It seems that when they pay attention to a certain lady, the resulting ton spotlight make the ladies more eligible and they usually get married by the end of the Season. To make things interesting and to alleviate the boredom, they make a bet that they can make anyone popular, even wallflower like Cordelia.

Cordelia is currently out of favor with the town since she had to work as an indentured servant to pay off her father’s debts. She does not want to be noticed. Hence: wallflower. She is trying to make herself invisible by hiding behind the foliage.

Funny thing about bets and gossiping members of the town, it is a sure way for the person who would be offended (i.e. Cordelia) to find out. And that is precisely what happened. Somewhere along the way Ambrose finds that he has deeper feelings for her than he thought. But all that trash talking he was doing before he came to that realization threatens to ruin their relationship. This is especially true since Cordelia is still insecure about the fact that he has supposedly fallen for her.

I thought that this was a sweet short story. Variations of this story have been done time and time again: man there to make unpopular girl popular falls for said girl. In this version of the common plotline, the twin brothers’ bet adds some humor to the mix. After the couple fall out with one another, I like how Ambrose made it up to Cordelia. Even though it got a little sappy, it was cute. I was laughing at his antics to win Cordelia back.

But I am surprised that in the end Anthony and Ambrose would make another bet. Really? Did they not learn their lesson from the first bet gone wrong? And why did Cordelia endorse it?

All that being said, I did love Waltzing With the Wallflower and the next book in the series is on my reading list 🙂

Buy Waltzing With the Wallflower because I think you will enjoy it!

Quick and confusing love story

May5

Love in the Maldives ♥♥

Sandy and her friend Anne are off to Maldives for a much needed vacation. Sandy has had a rough time since she caught her ex-boyfriend cheating.

Once in Maldives, Sandy meets Paulo who is on vacation as well.

The subtitle on the book “Holiday romance where no one is quite who they say they are” did not prepare me for all the twists and turns the plot makes. Everything works out for Sandy and Paulo, but it is a fantastical story explaining how they get to that point. I could not even begin to explain without giving away the entire story.

Sandy and Paulo were likable enough characters for the story. There was not much depth, but I expected that since the book was a short novella. I finished the book in about an hour.

You have to suspend reality to imagine they would fall in love in such a short period of time. In my opinion, they did not do enough soul searching with one another to warrant a lifelong commitment. However, the whole story was fanciful.

Overall, this was a lighthearted, casual, and very contrived romance that could be finished while waiting at the doctor’s office or while travelling.

Passion not really to die for

Apr22

Scale of 1 – 5: ♥ ♥

This book was a listed as a romantic suspense and the main characters are Tommy and Ellie.

Ellie owns a restaurant in a small town in east central Georgia. Her ex-boyfriend Tommy broke up with her when she would not commit to the relationship. While they are doing this awkward dance around each other, Ellie has a bigger problem. Her mother visits her and proceeds to blackmail her.

While Ellie is trying to figure out how she is going to run away before her mother tells her secret, her mother is killed. Ellie is a prime suspect. Ellie thinks that she can tell the police only partial facts that she thinks is relevant. Withholding information makes her look even more guilty. At this point, I realize what an idiot this girl is. And I keep reading. >>don’t ask me why<<

This book was annoying to me because Ellie kept holding secrets. There was no communication with Tommy because she was afraid of his reaction. I can understand not wanting to reveal a dirty, deep secret. But at some point, if you love someone enough, you have to be able to trust them enough to share the things that might tear you to apart. Let him decide.

Ellie did not have a passion to die for since she was willing to run instead of facing her demons with the man she suppose to have loved.
In my opinion, once she can confessed it all the love story/murder mystery got on track. Considering Ellie’s character annoyed me so much, I finally realized why I kept reading… so I would know what her secret was and who killed her mother. I cannot leave a mystery story without all ends neatly tied up.

Passion to Die For (Silhouette Romantic Suspense) is one of those books that I would suggest that you could read to fill the time, but if you had something else better to read then choose the other option.

A Knight’s priorities can change

Apr13

Scale of 1 – 5: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Knight’s Desire is set in medieval times. Arian has a pitiful existence: Her stepfather has relegated her to living in her father’s house designed to eat the floor food scraps that the dogs consume. Wishing for happier days when she was loved by her parents, Arian is determined to find a way to restore Creswell castle, her family home, to its rightful owner: HER. She does not know exactly how she is going to do that, but she seems very optimistic that she is going to be able to find a way.

Judson arrives, sent by Arian’s great grandmother to confirm the Arian is indeed dead as Arian stepfather claims. If this is the case, Judson will become the owner of Creswell Castle. Judson is a night without property and desires to have his own land since land equals power and wealth.

Therein lays the problem for Arian.

How much does Judson want the land?
To what end would he go to obtain it?
Her great-grandmother sent him on a quest to find Arian, but does he care enough about her to report the truth?
Or would he kill Arian in order to take possession of her family’s land?

Not knowing if she can trust Judson, Arian decides that it is in her best interest to deceive him from knowing her true identity and try to figure out a way to get him out of the picture.

Her evil, malevolent, worse than devil incarnate, stepfather conceals her identity because of his own selfish reasons. <Grrr I hated him so much> He knows that if Judson finds Arian, he is out of a home. He has his own sinister plan to ensure the land becomes his property.

Amidst all the lusting after property, Judson thinks Arian is a servant girl named Jane. Even in her dirty state, he has some unexplained couple attraction to her. Suspicious of the viciousness with which her stepfather wants to treat her, Judson says that he would like for her to be his servant, attending to him in his sleeping quarters. This gives them both the opportunity to get to know one another.

Spending so much time with Judson creates inner conflict for Arian. He is considerate and kind to such an extent, she could almost forget the intense desire he has for her land. Fortunately for her, Judson knows just what to say to snap her out of any romantic mood – calling Creswell Castle his own. Talking about one day owning his property has the opposite effect since the woman he is talking is reminded that he is, yet another, interloper. Meanwhile, he is confused trying to figure out what he said incorrectly. Heh heh 🙂 I like irony in a story.

The novel for the most part involves lack of communication between the two main characters. I understand that Arian did this mainly out of self-preservation. Her stepfather, his wife, and son were evil, horrible people that were content to take what did not belong to them and do it by any means necessary. Since she was living on her own for so long without anyone who loved or care for her, it is difficult for her to decide if she can trust him with her life by confessing the truth. She knows that if he is not a truly honorable person, he will likely kill her for her family’s land.

Arian had some good ideas to help her cope with her bleak situation. She tried to protect herself as best she could. Although she was not trusting until the end, she loved Judson and that was good enough for me. The author created a strong female character that suffered a great deal of wrongs, but never gave up hope that everything was going to turn out okay. She knew that failure was not an option if she was going to devise a plan to survive and be victorious in the end.

I enjoyed reading the transition of Judson from a knight whose only desire was to have land to a man in love questioning his need for land. As the reader, I could visualize his change in priorities as he developed his relationship with Arian.

I would definitely recommend Knight’s Desire to anyone, especially those that like romance set in medieval times. There is nothing better than a story about a knight coming to the rescue of a woman who is the victim of many injustices. By the end of the story I was very satisfied with the way that everything turned out. Arian and Judson belong to each other. Justice was served and I trust the couple will live happily ever after.

Click Knight’s Desire to buy on Amazon

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.