Tag Archive | romance

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.

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

Heartless- A Regency Romance review

Mar8

Heartless – regency romance

Scale of 1 – 5: ♥ ♥

The Duke of Derringer finds out he has to marry before his birthday to keep his inheritance. He has one week or he will go from super-rich Duke to pauper. He pretty much picks the first girl he saw: Leandra. She was homeless since her father died. She was an illegitimate offspring raised in her father’s house. Despised by her father’s wife, she was kicked out as soon as her father died.

Derringer put up a veritable brick wall, because he did not want to love anyone. He had a reputation of being heartless. I suppose, saying hurtful things to Leandra was his way of maintaining his reputation. The sad part about it, he would hurt her feelings, and then feel remorse about causing her pain. Leandra was patient, but there’s only so much a woman can take.

Meanwhile, there were attacks on his life. While he is trying to figure out who wants him dead, he is trying to discourage Leandra from caring about him. That usually involved to say more hurtful things.

I cannot understand why Leandra took so much crap off him. He had a hard life, but that does not excuse him from being a jerk. At least he had the good sense to apologize. Leandra was more forgiving than I would have been.

The story was okay. If you like regency romance novels, you will probably like this. I could take it or leave it. There were some unexpected twists in the story. Derringer was too surly for me. Most of the time, I didn’t like the way he talked to Leandra. I did think it was funny that you as the reader could tell the characters mood by out how they address each other. For example, when Leandra was in a good mood, she would say “Hart” but if she was in a bad mood she will call him “your grace”. My chuckles were tempered with growls at his bad attitude.

All that being said, the ending was somewhat confusing, a little sad, but satisfying in a happy-ever-after type of way. If you think that sentence does not make any sense, read the book and let me know what you think.

Click here to buy Heartless on Amazon

Italian Stolen Bride review

Mar4

The Italian’s Stolen Bride (Harlequin Presents)

Scale of 1 – 5: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

The story begins with a deathbed confession from Luc’s brother revealing secret family sins. Being from the old country, Maurizio thought his son Luc was better off without Skye and needed to marry someone who was better suited. He used his money and power, while enlisting the help of his other son Roberto, to effectively separate Luc and Skye.

Now that Luc knows the truth, he is not going to let his second chance at happiness elude him. As for Skye, the victim and pawn in the disfunctional wealthy family’s manipulation, she wants nothing to do with Luc or his family. If it were not for her son, she could have probably made that happen. Since Luc has rights to Matteo as his father, she had to weigh what was best for her son, even if it means trying to fight the feelings of love for the man that hurt her 6 years ago.

I liked this story because it was about true love fighting against all odds to be together. The conflict in Luc’s family was so real. He was determined to be with the woman that he loved. Skye was not going to let her man give up his family for her without first trying to make peace.

The characters are working to resolve feelings of bitterness and mistrust in order to find true happiness.

To sum up Italian’s Stolen Bride, it is about family, acceptance, redemption, and love. Have I said how much I liked this story? Sigh…

Click The Italian’s Stolen Bride (Harlequin Presents) buy on Amazon

Player “Steele” giving it up for love

Feb9

A Steele for Christmas (Kimani Romance)

I must be a glutton for punishment because I read another one of these “Bad News” Steele character books. As the follow up to Hidden Pleasures, brother Eli is the next Phoenix Arizona Steele to leave his player ways and settle down for one woman.

There was not much of a plot, but at least it was better than Hidden Pleasures (with its trumped up fancily packaged prostitution). In A Steele for Christmas (Kimani Romance), Eli is attracted to Stacey, a commitment-phobe woman who left Memphis after her fiancé broke off their engagement to marry her friend. She begins a relationship with Eli knowing he is known as a player. The rules of the game change when Eli needs a wife (read the story to understand). Playacting turns to the real thing for both of them, ending with happy-ever-after.

I figured out what irks me about these male characters (i.e. Steele men). They are all unabashedly doggish. They are players who see nothing wrong with sleeping with as many women as they can. I find their supposed “respect for women” a little disingenuous considering the fact that they are pretty much objectifying women for their own gratification.

The other problem I have is that the only way the guy realizes he is in love is the fact that he slept with her but the lust and desire has not abated but intensified.

Since I am sucker for romance novels, I will probably read the rest of the Steele stories, but with lower expectations. I was confused why I did not have the level of satisfaction with these books as with the Westmoreland series by Ms Jackson. I realize that I prefer a strong silent brooder to a smooth talking player looking for more notches in his belt.

Rating Scale of 1 – 5: ♥ ♥

Click here to purchase A Steele for Christmas (Kimani Romance)