Her foolish not wicked ways

Her Wicked Ways (Secrets & Scandals) ♥♥♥

Synopsis

Miranda is a bored, spoiled girl from a rich family. Her parents find her misbehavior unbecoming of a young lady and banish her from London to the countryside to stay with her cousin and learn some propriety. She is supposed to stay until she has learned her lesson.

Foxcroft (Fox) is trying to manage a massive house with hundreds of acres and an orphanage using little income. He resorts to illegal means and justifies his spoils since he is like Robin Hood. He needs to marry an heiress to have the funds to support all those in his care.

My Opinion

The book should have been called “Her irresponsible/foolish/imprudent ways”. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but in Miranda’s case, it almost ruined her reputation. There was no explanation into her foolhardy behavior. Since she was determined to do what she was previously told not to do, she had a penchant for getting into sticky situations without thinking about the consequences. Miranda was a self-centered brat that was used to getting her way and hoping that her parents would overlook her indiscretions.

I do not know what to say about Fox. He had noble goals but I think he could have gone about it a different way.

In the end, Miranda was less self-centered due to her interaction at the orphanage. As for the romance, I did not think that Miranda was mature enough to handle a relationship. Fox was a little endearing since he was caring for the orphans, but that is about all he had going for him. Why Fox fell in love for such an immature chit of a girl is beyond me.

Her Wicked Ways was not too long, probably taking about a day to read. The story was okay. Not the best, but not the worst either. Miranda’s character lacks common sense, so that might annoy some readers. A few times, I thought she was an idiot for her behavior. However, if you are looking for a Victorian-era romance, you might like this book.

Catching a Greek Billionaire is easier than expected

Feb10

The Art of Catching a Greek Billionaire by Marian Tee ♥♥

Available on Amazon in Billionaire Bad Boys of Romance Boxed Set (10 Book Bundle)

Synopsis:

Mairi knew from her teenage years that she wanted to marry a Greek billionaire. She decided that she wanted to marry a billionaire, more specifically a Greek one, because her aunts read her Harlequin romance novels as bedtime stories. So that means she is not a gold digger right? More on that later… She gets a job teaching in Greece at an international school so that her Greek billionaire love can find her.

Damen is a deliciously handsome Greek billionaire who is the brother of one of Mairi’s students. He sees Mairi and has to have her. Since there is some serious chemistry and he does not have mistress, he is on the prowl for pretty young body to warm his bed.

My Opinion:

Mairi’s views are the product of unintentional, well-meaning, but irresponsible parenting. Her aunts tried to instill an optimistic view of life and in her ability to succeed in whatever tasks she set to achieve. They neglected to introduce her to realities of life as it relates to men. As a result she is trying to recreate a romance novel as real life (even as I write this I do realize that this story is not real, but I digress). In her mind, it is okay to target a billionaire because that is part of making her dream relationship come to life.

I will admit that there are fairytale-like stories where a super wealthy, uber-hot man might marry a woman of average financial status (google George Lucas new wife- he’s not uber hot but he is super rich). However, if the woman made it her goal to “catch” the aforementioned man partially based on his wealth, she is a GOLD DIGGER! Trying to deny that fact would be like saying Julia Roberts’ character in Pretty Woman was not a prostitute. It does not matter how nice she is or what she plans to do with all that money once she is married. Marry for love and not his bank account. Mairi could be the poster child for the reason rich men need pre-nups.

This book did not have a happy-ever-after ending and I am glad. However, I did not realize that this was the first book in a series. You should know by now my feelings towards authors that drag a story out into multiple books. Ughhh! So probably by the end of the series, Mairi and Damen will probably be a couple. I do not know how I feel about the gold digger potentially coming out on top (no pun intended) and being achieving her goal.

Overall, I probably will not read the rest of the books to finish the story since Mairi annoyed me. She is looking for external forces, more particularly wealth, to bring her happiness. Damen was typical alpa-male that was used to getting what he wanted. As arrogant as he was, I did not dislike him but he was not at the top of my list of favorite heroes either.

Roll the Dice

Jan30

Roll the Dice: Book #2 (Hot Romance & Powerful Suspense – Vegas Series) ♥♥♥

This book picks up where Partners left off. Kai and Aurora have their individual reasons for catching the serial rapist. While they deal with the stress of knowing the monster is out there, they have to address their feelings toward each other. It becomes obvious that their friends are trying to set them up.

Kai does not think they have a future together. I did not totally agree with his logic. Aurora is putting on a tough girl act to hide the fact that she wants to be loved and start a family. I felt sorry for her. She has to pretend in public that she does not want the main thing she really desires to have. Kai is so perceptive to the real “her” that the potential commitment scares him.

I found this book under the genre of romance. As a romance, I found the story lacking an ending. It does not give any indication of the future of them as a couple. I would consider this to be more of an action suspense story with some romance elements.

I was relieved to know that the catch the rapist. By the end, I was wondering how many more victims would be defiled by this sicko before he was caught. I could not figure out if he was really good at staying two steps ahead of the police or were they inept. The ending was anticlimactic for me given the pace of the book. Others might find it satisfying though.

I guess the romance elements of Roll the Dice are truer to life than others because Kai and Aurora had so many personal demons to contend with in order to decide what they wanted to do. There was not a convenient set of circumstances that allowed for love to blossom for the couple. In the end, it was still seemingly undetermined what was going to happen. Coming to the end of the book was more like reading end of a chapter. I thought, “Really? She is going to end the book like that?” The author sucked me in so that I would be forced to buy the next installment. I do not like be sucked in for anything. I begrudgingly bought the next book so that I could see how their story ended.

Reader, take notice. This series of books is written in such a way that you have to read them in order AND read all of them to get the whole story. That is something I wish someone had told me before I chose the book.

If this sounds like something you would like, click any of the links to buy on Amazon.

A kiss leads to marriage

Jan25

Trapped Into Marriage ♥♥♥♥

Synopsis:

Keyonna is a successful professional woman who is trying to convince her ex-boyfriend that she is no longer interested in him. To prove her point, she makes a big deal about kissing Nick. This sets into motion a series of events she did not expect.

Nick has a deadline to get married or lose his billionaire status. When Keyonna’s kiss ruins his current fiancée choice, he tells Keyonna she has to marry him instead. While this started as somewhat of a business transaction where he had to strong arm her into agreeing, it becomes evident that Nick is falling hard. He has got to make Keyonna believe that he wants a real marriage.

Opinion
Nick is the typical jaded alpha-males that are usually are in billionaire romances. It is his belief that all women are out to get married to the man with the most money. While reading, I thought “the bigger the chip on their shoulder, the harder they fall in love”. And he fell hard.

Keyonna is not one to ignore the major, sizzling chemistry between her and Nick. Although, realistic insecurities surface when she thinks about how different her and Nick are, especially since they did not marry for love. The incident at the wedding had me cheering for Keyonna even though I am usually a big advocate of open communication.

Both Keyonna and Nick needed to go through some major changes to understand what they had and be able to appreciate finding their soul mate. There were several villains who were jealous of their relationship and tried to sabotage everything. But in the end, it was a happy ever after story.

Why I LOVED Trapped Into Marriage? The epilogue. PERFECT. It fast forwarded the story 5 years and showed a happy couple living a happy married life. So sweet!!!! I said “Awwww” and “Ooooo” so many times. As a side note, I did not know this was a interracial couple when I read the book. It did not matter because race did not play a role in the story to me. But thinking about it, I bet their babies were super cute.

Buy this book Trapped Into Marriage!!!!

Honeymoon for one

Jan20

Honeymoon For One ♥♥♥

Synopsis:

Michelle was dumped right before her wedding when the groom married her best friend. She decides to take the honeymoon and throws caution to the wind by having a vacation affair with Kirk. She returns to her real life and guess who her new boss is?

Kirk has never had a problem with his personal life interfering with his business decisions. However, when it comes to dealing with his new employee Michelle, his emotions get in the way. Hint: It is because they have a steamy history.

Opinion:

The story was entertaining. I enjoyed the characters and how they reacted in certain situations. There was a lot of irony in the plot line that made me laugh out loud. I bonded a little with the characters. I was just as annoyed with Michelle with her EX-best friend’s efforts to try to rekindle their friendship. What part of “You stole my fiancé” did she not comprehend?

Kirk was funny because he could not understand what was happening to him. I could imagine him looking very perplexed and asking, “What these feelings that I never felt before?” Good thing he had his friend to help him figure it all out.

Overall, Honeymoon For One is a light romance read with a plot that is not complicated. The story was a bit construed, but that was to be expected. Sometimes, I want that because it can be quite entertaining.