Passion not really to die for

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.

If all teenage crushes ends this simply

Apr4

Scale of 1 – 5: ♥ ♥ ♥

Charlotte had a crush on Alex for years. At 15, she was all arms and legs, as a gangly teenager. At 22, she has grown into her arms, legs, and features.

Alex was not expecting the graceful, flirty, pretty young woman when he agreed to go to Almack’s and dance one with Charlotte. While his sister Lucy thinks it would be great for Alex to marry her best friend, Alex is trying to avoid marriage altogether.

Surprised with his attraction to Charlotte, Alex is trying to come to terms with seeing her as the object of other male attention. Of course, his jealousy is revealed in a humorous way. As for Charlotte, she went from timid mouse to temptress in a hurry.

As a novella, Dancing with the Duke (Landing a Lord) was short and sweet. She is a girl with a serious crush who is trying to gain the attention of the object of her attraction. She does put a lot of pressure on him by revealing her years long love for him (which would have creeped me out). Most men who were trying to avoid marriage probably would have seen that as a warning sign. So I am guessing that Alex was probably crushing on her when she was an awkward, clumsy teenager, but did not want to admit it.

Overall, everything ended with a happy ending. The story was too short to have much in depth character development. That was fine with me because I just wanted a quick, fun read to pass some time before I went to bed.

Special K Vanilla Crisp Bars – you need to try it!

Mar28

In the past, I was not one to eat health food, low cal bars. But in the past, there was not much of a selection available. There were granola bars and protein bars. I do not mind eating granola bars, but a lot of them taste like cardboard to me.

That is why Special K Bars, Vanilla Crisp, 6 – .8 oz Bars , (Pack of 12) are my favorite snack food right now. They fill the need for something sweet without being too many calories. Most importantly, they are super delicious.

Special K has done a good job of creating snack flavors that are not a chore to eat. It can be discouraging when you are trying to watch your calorie intake, but all the “diet foods” are tasteless and bland. When you are discouraged, you can lose your resolve to continue.

I put one in my exercise bag to have when I am working up a sweat exercising. It boosts my energy levels and allows me to keep on moving.

On occasion, I also eat one as my dessert after dinner. I do not feel as though I am denying myself, but I am still making good dietary decisions that keep my calorie intake at a manageable level.

Hot Coco not so hot for me

Mar24

Hot Coco: An UnBridled Adventure

Scale of 1 – 5: ♥

I do not even know where to begin with this book. The book is mainly about a family that races horses. The West family. They have a stable and take care of other people’s horses and prepare those horses for races. Meanwhile, they are lucky and unlucky in the romance department.

This book was not for me. Words that come to mind when I think of this book: Frenetic. Chaotic. Disjointed.

The book introduced multiple characters. Which in itself is not necessarily a bad thing, but, it was arduous determining who was the main character. The title of the book references a female character that does not end in a relationship with (who I assume) the main male character. Although Coco played a seemingly prominent role in the beginning, by the middle of the book she seemed to be a secondary character. From what I could gather, she looked good but she was a total klutz that damaged multiple people’s properties. I was so annoyed with her especially with her clumsiness. It was as if she was trying to ruin things. The little incident where she totaled Kate’s car was NOT amusing in the least. And she did not have much of a personality either.

There were numerous characters with so many pieces of different little stories going on, that the book did not have a cohesive feel to it. There were countless times when I wanted to just stop reading the book. The only reason why I did not do that is because I wanted to see how it ended. Sometimes, I feel as if I am a glutton for punishment. I thought to myself that the author must have some sort of resolution by the end of the book. Some loose ends were tied, but not enough to satisfy me.

After the story, there was a note from the author recommending some of her other books. However, based on this book I don’t know if I would buy anymore of her books. Sorry. My advice to the author is to stick to one main male and one female character. If the book is a story about a couple following in love, then the plot and storyline should concentrate on that.

In the beginning, even with the frenetic introduction, I thought that there was some promise to the plot. There were some really worthwhile elements in the story, but I think her book lost some of its clarity when she tried to incorporate the points of view of all the characters in one book. That approach is better suited for a soap opera or other drama TV program, but the same does not come across well in a romance novel.

Bottom line: too many different stories

I cannot say that I recommend this book, but if this review peaks your interest, click Hot Coco: An UnBridled Adventure to buy on Amazon