To Pleasure a Prince

- Sabrina Jeffries -

Score! Another writer with a back list I can't wait to read.

This was the second in a series about the illegitimate sons of the Prince of Wales, and the Duke in this case has been deeply emotionally and physically scarred by the treatment of his horrendous mother and, he believes, his father.

His interactions with Regina, who has deep secrets of her own in the form of her illiteracy, therefore has an interesting balance, as they both battle and encourage their wicked reputations and deal with their own emotional scars, whilst indulging their passion for each other.

I loved the way Regina was unafraid of the Duke's temper and willing to stand up to him completely when she believed herself to be in the right, and the way this courage gradually forced the Duke to confront his own demons (or dragons as case may be) and embrace change.

Duke of Shadows

- Meredith Duran -

Recommended by various reviewers and a very absorbing read - I loved the setting as the tensions between English colonialism, and the realities of taking over a country against its inhabitants will played out through Emma's experiences and Julian's sense of being torn between two worlds.

I did feel the shift between their experiences in India and London four years later was a bit abrupt. More than that, I guess I didn't really understand why Emma had not contacted Julian herself. Surely it must have occurred to her that in all the chaos, he may have believed her to have been dead? I think what it came down to was that she was so scarred by her experiences and what she saw in India, that she was almost afraid to contact him. I also wished she had stood up to Marcus a little more in the second half of the book - since she professes not to care for society and believes herself to have already been through the worst the world can offer, I did not 100% believe her being intimidated by her blackmailing.

Overall though, an incredibly absorbing and emotional story and I can't wait to read the author's other two books.

Hannah's Dream

- Diane Hammond -

Totally heartwarming story of a devoted elephant keeper who, after 41 years, works to send his elephant charge, Hannah, to a sanctuary to live out her days with other elephants.

I loved the cast of characters who became a family as they united in their love and concern for Hannah, I loved the flashbacks to the eccentric Maxine Biedelman who started the zoo and brought Hannah to the US in the first place, and I loved the eccentricities of the unique group of individuals who worked together to save Hannah.

My only complaint was that I felt the ending was a bit abrupt. I would have liked a little bit more of Hannah's journey to the elephant sanctuary, what happened to the zoo and most of all what happened to her carers, but as it ended on Hannah's dream of freedom being realized, it wasn't a bad finish either.

The Black Dahlia

- James Ellroy -

Did not particularly enjoy this one - I think the noirish, everyone's got a dirty secret and is lying through their teeth tropes just don't work for me.

It felt like everyone ended up miserable, no justice was had for the victim at the center of the storyline and I just walked away feeling frustrated.

Doesn't help being based on a true crime I think, because knowing what atrocities were visited on the Black Dahlia makes it all the more horrific and yet unsatisfying when the protagonist, Bucky, finally solves the crime.

Lord of Seduction

- Nicole Jordan -

While I am not sure how I feel about the secret society of nobleman protecting the world - it seems a tad cheesey - I very much enjoyed the story here, even the mystery aspects of it as Thorne triesto find out who killed his friend (the heroine's cousin).

The attraction between Thorne and Diana was very believable, although I don't really like the 'mouth saying no, body saying yes' tone that marks a lot of their earlier encounters - I don't mean it was a seems like rape situation, just that all Diana's protestations which she seemed to make for the sake of society, her nonexisitent reputation, seemed to be completely empty. I would have preferred a slower build, culminating in her finally saying to hell with society embracing the fact that her reputation is shot.

All that being said, it was a good read and I will definitely add the author to my list of backlists to catch up with.

More Than A Mistress

- Mary Balogh -

The most awesome thing about getting into historical romances relatively late is that I have SO many new authors to read, most of whom have huge backlists, and Mary Balogh is another one.

What I really enjoyed about this one if having a heroine who is unafraid to speak her mind, even when it is inappropriate for her situation in life, and having a hero who, while baffled by the audacity of a servant who dares to speak back, quickly comes to appreciate and welcome it.

The hero, Tresham, and heroine, Sara, were both characters of their time, but I loved reading how the social demands and expectations of that time had forced them to give up parts of themselves - Tresham, as the heir to a dukedom, was forced to abandon the music and art that he loved as they were deemed too weak, and Sara, left at the mercy of an unfeeling and greedy guardian, to abandon her life and identity to escape the unwelcome advances and accidental wounding of a cousin.

Together they were able to find themselves again and truly know themselves and each other, and it was such a nice way of depicting the social expectation and restrictions of the Regency period.

Thread of Fear

- Laura Griffin -

Another really enjoyable read - I definitely though the mystery/suspense dominated the story way more than they romance, and as a result I never really felt like Fiona and Jack got to know much about each other beyond the obvious I want to do that person stuff, but the mystery was interesting enough and not utterly predictable, so overall fun book.

Look forward to the next in the series, Fiona's sister Courtney and, I presume, the cop friend.

One Night Stand

- Cindy Kirk -

Light as a feather and totally fun, quick read.

Has more than one cliche that I could have lived without (small town busybodies, "bad" kid is good and vice versa, stupid misunderstanding that make little sense) but overall, a nice bit of brain candy.

Double Play

- Jill Shalvis -

I think Jill Shalvis is officially my new favorite contemporary romance author. Seriously.

Not one, but two books released within a week that make me laugh, sigh and transport myself into the worlds she has created.

I am a sucker for the wounded hero trying to cope with his injuries and what that might mean, and Pace, a major league pitcher with a shoulder injury, did not let me down. He was gruff, sweet, confused and sexy as hell.

And Holly was his perfect match. I loved the simultaneous journeys they were on as Pace realized his life was about more than baseball and Holly realized she wanted more in her life than just her work.

I also love the way Jill Shalvis throughs such realistic obstacles between her characters on the way to their happy ending, yet doesn't make them seem insurmountable and allows the characters to deal with their problems and hang ups in a real way, instead of just glossing over it to get to the happy ending. It really does result in such realistic, full realized characters and a such a satisfying story.

Cannot WAIT for the next in this series.

The Bride

- Julie Garwood -

This is an older novel, relatively anyway - published in 1991 - but I have heard Julie Garwood's historicals raved about and I have enjoyed her contemporary suspense books so decided to give it a try.

Good decision! The characters are charming, realistic and behave in a time period/society appropriate way yet are still relatable and not Too Stupid Too Live or too overbearing.

Jamie, adopted daughter of an English baron, is picked as the wife of Alec Kincaid, a scottish laird, and accompanies him back to Scotland. Alec and Jamie have vastly different views of just about everything, including the proper role of women and wives, and it was lovely to join them on their journey as they reconcile their different views and attitudes on the way to falling in love, almost despite themselves. That they each find the other completely baffling and frustrating yet they never let that get in the way of them communicating or getting to know each other was really refreshing - too often in romance novels theses frustrations lead to an irritating and nonsensical gulf between the couple.

I also really enjoyed the way Jamie adapted to life in the Highlands, yet also made their way of life accomodate her as she insisted on using her skills as a healer and treating everyone with respect and courtesy.

Definitely going to be getting more Garwood historicals from the library ASAP!

Start Me Up

- Victoria Dahl -

I wasn't engrossed in this one as I have been in all of Victoria Dahl's other books - I kept putting it down and wandering away.

I think ultimately it's because the two lead characters weren't as three dimensional or as entertaining as characters like Molly or Ben in "Talk Me Down".

Lori's attitude was a real drag on enjoying the story for me - for the bulk of it she just came across as very defeatist and sorry for herself. While you could impute the real reasoning, it didn't feel like it was explored throughout the story enough and consequently her attitude came across as very 'woe is me' and frustrating.

Quinn remained a bit of a cypher the whole way through too - I was a bit irritated by his attitude, ie: constantly getting absorbed in work to the exclusion of all else, realizing that he was often exceptionally rude and inconsiderate because of this yet seemingly making very little effort to change his ways or try harder.

Finally the mystery and it's resolution, with Lori's surrogate father ultimately killing himself, was just too depressing for me. It felt a bit too melodramatic, even though it was probably was a realistic enough scenario.

I am definitely looking forward to the next contemporary in this series though - judging from the excerpt, the characters are going to be much more assertive and more my style.

Untouched

- Anna Campbell -

Decidedly mixed feelings on this one - there were plot elements I really did not like, but the writing itself was very strong and vivid, and makes me want to read more from this author.

The plot revolves around Matthew, Marquesse of Sheene, imprisoned by his power hungry uncle since he was teenager and deprived of freedrom, friends and female companionship. His uncle provides him with a whore, in the form of Grace Paget, a widowed and impoverished gentlewoman whom his servants have mistaken for a whore and kidnapped.

Grace and Matthew are inevitably attracted to each other and ultimately fall in love. Part of what draws them together is their situations, both now being imprisoned and both, to varying degrees, having experienced deprived and unhappy lives. Where I felt the plotting fell down was in the description of Grace as, despite having been married for many years, equally as inexperienced sexually as Matthew.

Particularly in historical romances, there is quite often a huge imbalance in the sexual experiences of the hero and heroine due to the societal norms and conventions of the time. Having Grace a widow provided an opportunity for the woman in this situation to be the experienced one and consequently to take the lead in the sexual relationship, which would have been a) sexy and b) a refreshing yet believable difference from other historicals.

Instead, Matthew is very much the dominant one, almost unbelievably in the end since he demonstrates an awful lot of confindence and social skill for someone who has been completely isolated from the world at large since the age of 12. The result is a character almost too good to be true, and he ends up seeming a little bit self righteous.

Ultimately the writing was strong enough that I wanted to follow the story through to the end, and definitely want to read something else from the author where hopefully these plotting and characterisation niggles won't be there.

Instant Gratification

- Jill Shalvis -

- Jill Shalvis -

Another winner. Seriously happy I kept picking up her books after not being blown away by the first one I read, cause this series in particular is just lovely.

Like their counterparts, Katie & Cam from "Instant Attraction", both Stone and Emma are beautifully well rounded and flawed characters. Stone in particular was just a joy to read about (okay, I admit it: I wish he were real. And available.), showing such patience with Emma's fears and hesitation even as he gently tried to break through her fear of opening herself up to someone.

The setting, a town in the Sierra Mountains of California called Wishful, is just as much a character in these books as it's inhabitants and it gives such a wonderful sense of freedom and challenge to the story, as the vivid descriptions of the terrain the Wilder brothers work in and the challenges and rewards they face there mimics the challenges and rewards of their relationships with each other and with the women in their lives.

I am getting unbearably cheesy with this review, suffice to say: I loved this book, can't wait for TJ's story or Shalvis's next book, "Double Play" which I think is out next week.

Honey Trap

- Julie Cohen -

I couldn't get into this one quite as much as "One Night Stand", mainly because I never really felt like I got to know the heroine, Sophie. She was so self contained and restrained all the time, that she seemed like an enigma all the way through, even when we got little hints of her past life etc.

Even in her relationship with Dominic, it also seemed liked she was holding back and there was never that moment where she seemed to give in to him, or to her emotions or anything. The lack of vulnerability or relatability made it hard to get invested in her story, or the inevitable happy ending.

Dominic was a more interesting character in that we had a much clearer idea of what his demons were, but again it seemed like they were skipped over fairly easily. He wanted to avoid thinking about how he had screwed up his marriage, his band etc, so we never learnt much about this situations, which were supposed to inform who he was now and why he had stopped drinking finally.

What I loved about "One Night Stand" was that the characters felt so real, like people I might know with real problems and emotions. The characters in "Honey Trap" felt much more remote and consequently I was much less invested in their story.

Bending the Rules

- Susan Andersen -

Susan Andersen is typically on of my favorite contemporary romance writers and, while this one was characteristically fast paced with mostly relatable characters, it also felt a bit lacking in a few area.

Andersen is usually the master at building the sexual tension between the leads, but the tension and the relationship itself felt was more erratic here. Poppy and Jason were both immediately attracted to each other and it felt like the reasoning for their bickering and trying to ignore the attraction were either fairly contrived or swept away as soon as it was convenient.

Jason's constant references to how he was a de Sanges man and therefore unable to love or interact in a normal manner felt a bit over done too. It's one think to have hangups related to your family or childhood, it's another to rigidly cling to these hangups despite all evidence to the contrary.

Finally the thing that really drove me INSANE reading this was the way language was used, primaryily with the dialogue: so may 'you betchas', "ohmigawd", and other types of contractions and slang that I guess is supposed to convey speak patterns, etc especially amongst the teenagers in the story, but is so prevalent and irritating to read that it just started to become nonsensical for me.

This is definitely one of Susan Andersen's weaker efforts in my opinion.