Maid in the USA

MAID in the USA (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Series) by Judy Angelo ♥♥♥

As the story begins, Celine is a maid who is content to clean a room of a luxury hotel. Her first view of Pierce was when he got out of the shower. If this were real life, she run screaming calling him a freak and probably mace him. But this is a romance novel so she was slightly shook up. Once she was over the shock of seeing all of his glory and he was dressed, he made her an interesting proposition: become a nanny for his cousin’s four-year-old daughter.

That seems really random.

He claims it has something to do with her eyes. Once again, if this were real life, she would turn down his offer assuming that he was some kinky freak. But in Romance Land, Celine has an open mind and goes to his house to meet his niece. When Celine meets Kylie she agrees to be the child’s nanny. From there it is the usual romance along with her helping Kylie deal with the grief of losing her mother.

There was not anything about this story that caused me to be annoyed (like some other books by Judy Angelo). Celine was a tenderhearted leading lady for this story. Pierce was conflicted as most men usually are when they are trying to come to terms with the fact that they are in love.

I do wonder what is it about romance novel plots where the uber-rich man falls for the maid/nanny and we assume they will live happily ever after. I guess that is what we wish would happen. In real life, we have Arnold Schwarzenegger who fell for his maid, had a “love child” with her, broke up his marriage, and I do not think he is still with the homewrecker. So maybe that was not true love. But then again, the demise of that relationship might have had something to do with the fact that he was still married at the time of the affair. But I have digressed way off topic.

Overall this was a good story. MAID in the USA (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Series) was worth the money for relaxing feel-good romance.

Forevermore is so cute

May30

Scale of 1 – 5: ♥ ♥ ♥♥

In this novella, Cameron sets his sights on Clarice when he met her while visiting for his cousin’s wedding. He was a man who knew what he wanted and was confident that he would succeed. Clarice was a widow who did not have good experiences with men. In short, even though she was attracted to Cameron, she did not think she was worthy of his intentions.

Cameron was a man with little time before he had to return home, so he had to make the most of every opportunity to show Clarice how he felt. It was love at first sight. All perceived barriers would not prevent him from having the woman with whom he fell in love.

I loved the story. Clarice was full of reasons why it would not work. Cameron shot holes through everyone. I particularly liked how it ended. Yes it is a given that it is a happy ever after ending, but Cameron’s finesse was top-notch. I loved his attitude. Even though this is a novella, I thought the characters had enough depth for the story.

It is rare that I rate a novella so highly, but I loved everything about this book. Buy this book!!!! You will not be disappointed.

You can buy Forevermore: A Jewel Trilogy Novella on Amazon by clicking any of the links in this post

The right kind of kisses can be dangerous

May25

Scale of 1 – 5: ♥ ♥ ♥

There is a serial killer on the loose. Sydney (a reporter) and Jake (police detective) both want him caught, but have different ideas of how to achieve this goal. When the serial killer turns his attention to stalking Sydney, it gives them a chance to get to know each other on a deeper level.

Jake’s father was an officer who was killed in the line of fire. Jake does not want to fall in love, only to have something happen and leave behind a widow in emotional distress. Knowing he did not want an emotional involvement, Sydney is struggling to keep her heart guarded as well. But in the end both of them realizes that their kisses involve more than a little bit of pleasure. And with a crazy man on the loose, they find out quickly how much they really value what they have.

This was an entertaining read. The mystery suspense was balanced in the budding romance. In typical fashion, it takes a killer nearly succeeding to wake Jake up to how he really feels. The scary thing about serial killers is that they can be anyone. Psychopaths seemingly fit into society camouflaging their true nature this makes it difficult for police to catch them. Fortunately for Sydney, Jake is on the case.

You can buy Dangerous Kisses on Amazon by clicking any of the links in this post

The lure of love

May20

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!