On hiatus

School is kicking my ass and I haven't had the chance to read any books for the past two weeks!! I'm horrified.

But don't worry, I'll be back!

Gaelen Foley: Her Only Desire

Her Only Desire: B
Georgiana Knight & Ian Prescott

Ian Prescott, the Marquess of Griffith, had come to India to stop the Maratha Empire from going to war with Britain. Ian was counting on the help of Gabriel and Derek Knight, British cavalry officers serving in India, but Ian never expected that their sister, Georgiana, would also want to play a part in the diplomatic negotiations. Just like her aunt and namesake, the infamous "Hawkscliffe Harlot," Georgiana refuses to let any man tell her what to do. But when the diplomatic mission turns dangerous, Georgiana finds herself leaving India for England, where her life becomes even more entangled with the one man who just might be her match... (amazon)


A pseudo-continuation of Foley’s famous the “Knight Miscellany” series, this story takes place in exotic India. (I say pseudo-continuation because these Knights are the cousins of the Knights from the previous books: The Duke, Lord of Fire, Lord of Ice…)

When Ian meets Georgie, she’s causing ruckus because she prevents her friend, Lakshmi, from an old Indian custom where a widow commits suicide following the death of her husband. Ian is taken with the fiery, black-haired blue-eyed beauty, but prevents her from following him to meet with the King of India. Ian is a British diplomat, wanting to prevent war and from people to die, so his decision to meet with the King in order to get the King to sign a treaty of neutrality is a respectable one.

Georgie, who is famous for her humanitarian deeds and close relations with the Indian people is wary of Ian’s motive (the British who usally come to India are scumbags, looking to get rich) but when she finds out that he’s a good guy, she is determined to help him. After all, her close friend Meena is the current “favorite” from his thirty wives and hundreds of concubines.

Infuriatingly, Georgie escapes the house arrest Ian has ordered for her and travels to where the King is, wanting to see her friend and her older twin brothers, Derek and Grabriel Knight, whom she hasn’t seen in a year.

It’s there that drama and suspicion thickens…


I can’t help but to think that while Georgie comes off as a very strong and independent woman, she sounds a bit… spoiled. Bratty. And I don’t know if it’s Ms. Foley’s writing style/ characterization that leads me to believe this, but I do. And it’s a little annoying. She just sounds like a fiery, young, naïve, fiercely loyal but clueless girl – one who is unwilling to bend because of what she believes is right.

She improves, though, to the relief of this reader.

Ian is hunky and has a tortured, miserable past of his own – one that isn’t new (I feel like I read it somewhere else…) but enough to mark him as a tortured hero.

The chemistry between the characters is hot enough; the scene where Georgie chooses to give herself to Ian is unpleasant – in that it is …just… if I was a heroine of a romance novel, I wouldn’t want that to happen to me. (Hah.)

I’m not even trying to calculate the age difference between Georgie and Ian. I don’t even want to know. I think it would gross me out…

Overall, the story is nice. The “suspense” isn’t really a romance, so don’t be expecting one. It’s one of those stories where the suspense is used to keep the plot moving. Enjoyable and different (India seems exotic and wonderful, even though the activist in me cringes at the well-being of the British in India. …oh how the nations imperialized and took over back in the day…).

Rachel Gibson: Tangled Up In You

Tangled Up In You: C-
Maddie Dupree & Mick Hennessy

Maddie returns to her hometown to find out the truth of her murdered mother. She meets Mick, the man who is in the center of the entire problem.

She is attracted to him and without meaning to, lies to him by not telling him of her true identity – that she is the daughter of the woman who was murdered by Mick’s mother because Mick’s playboy father was having an affair with her.

At first, Mick just thinks that Maddie is an author, trying to write about his family secrets. But when he finds out the truth, things get ugly. He is pissed and betrayed, with good reason.

There’s a little bit of drama, a little bit of sadness and separation, and then resolution.

They resolve it by talking to each other in looooooong monologues. Like, Mick stood in front of Maddie and gave a ten-minute recap of how he felt, how he missed her, and eventually, that he loved her. She then responded with a ten-minute response of how she felt, how she missed him, and eventually, that she loved him.

I hate it when characters do that. How awkward and unrealistic. First, do guys talk for that long going on about how he feels? And second… how awkward. I feel it’s just a really easy way for an author to resolve the situation. “Hm, I’ll just have the characters talk everything out for a really long time until they tell each other everything.” It makes sense, after all, I don’t deny that communication is uber important. But for them to be upset at each other and then in the last ten pages, have them spill their guts to each other… makey no sensey.

Decent read. Some hot scenes. Nothing special.

Catherine Anderson: Simply Love

Simply Love: DNF
Cassandra Zarek & Luke Taggart


Set in a Colorado mining town during the 19th century, this romance brings together a truly naive heroine with the ultimate bad boy hero. If Cassandra was any more naive, she might even be simple, but it is "simply" her love that defines new meaning for Luke Taggart, a tough, impossible man of the world who is almost beyond redemption. (amazon)


I read 160 pages of this when I thought, "Are ya kidding me?"

How the heck is Cassandra so naively …stupid? And Luke is so grossly… jaded? The plan that he uses to get Cassandra to be with him is totally scum-bag-ish!!! Low! It’s really low and it makes me kinda hate his guts.

And Cassandra, for her family, chooses to go in and live with him for a year, thinking that when he meant “female companion,” he was paying her to be his friend. …doh! For’real? Are you fo’real?!

After she’s with him, he is continuously thinking of ways to get her into his bed – she, who is so stupidly innocently naïve – in his jaded, corrupt, rake-ish bed. He wants to use her for a year and then leave her… with a hefty compensation, yes, but ultimately make her unmarriageable, destroy her reputation, and uh, basically ruin her future.

What a dirtbag!

Okay, I’m sure he falls in love with her and so my predictions don’t come true. But the fact that he acts despicably because of his dick – makes him totally disgusting in my eyes.

Cassandra’s naivety just about tops off this absurdly unrealistic story (even for a romance!).

Lisa Kleypas: Where Dreams Begin

Where Dreams Begin: A-
Lady Holland Taylor & Zachary Bronson

Zachary Bronson has built an empire of wealth and power -- now he needed a wife to help secure his position in society...and warm his bed in private. But not just any woman will do for a man whom all of London knows is not a gentleman. Then he unexpectedly swept Lady Holly Taylor into his arms for an unasked for -- but very alluring -- kiss, and suddenly he knew he had found a woman whose fierce passions matched his own.

Lady Holly Taylor was beautiful, generous, and, as a widow, destined to spend her life playing by society's rules, even when they went against her bolder instincts. But Zachary's kiss had aroused her, and though the shocking offer he made didn't include marriage, she was compelled to risk everything and follow him to the place where dreams begin. (amazon)

I was surprised I enjoyed this book so much. Holly emerges as a strong character; when given the opportunity to support herself and her daughter by the enigmatic Zachary Bronson, she takes his offer, to the surprise and shock of her late husband’s family.

Zachary’s offer is scandalous and Holly knows that her reputation would be beyond saving once she chooses to move in with him as his younger sister’s tutor/ social guide. She is necessary for his sister to succeed in the social graces of the ton because they are “base-born”; Zachary was born poor and through successful business enterprises, amassed a huge fortune, all but forcing the ton to acknowledge him.

Holly moves in with him and is plagued by her attraction to Zachary. She is still haunted by her love for her late husband and strives to keep him fresh in her memory, punishing herself for living. When Zachary makes a move on her, she feels guilty for feeling pleasure and tries to resist him… something that Zachary won’t allow because he is convinced she is the one for him.

As I’ve said, it was a bit irritating to read of Holly’s struggle; I’m sure it’s real and that it happens to widows. The grief that Holly feels, her attraction to Zachary, her despair and confusion are all emotions that Ms. Kleypas makes tangible through her writing. You can just about feel the pain that Holly feels. It goes on for a good portion of the book, making sense because her late husband’s death is something that cannot be easily remedied – she loved him deeply.

Normally I have a problem with this: I’m all right if the heroine/ hero is a widow but if the former husband/wife was a jerkface/ adulteress/ adulterer/ abuser/ rapist… That way, when the protagonist finds his “real love,” you know that the former marriage means nothing.

That is not the case with Holly’s story – she loved her husband dearly and was shattered by his death – dearly. It was to the point where I was left wondering if Holly would ever get over the death of her husband and move on, as hard as it would be. Since authors can’t portray this well enough for me (Julia Quinn’s When He Was Wicked is an example of this; I disliked the book) I don’t read stories with widows still in love with their spouse’s ghost.

It came as a shock to me that I enjoyed reading Holly and Zachary’s story, even though Holly’s journey of re-claiming her life.

He

(This might be a Victorian historical, I'm not quite sure. I would check but I don't have the book anymore. Sorry!)

Catherine Anderson: Sun Kissed

Sun Kissed: C-
Kendrick/ Coulter series #7
Samantha Harrigan and Tucker Coulter


One need not be an equine lover to appreciate Anderson's sweet contemporary romance centering on fiercely honest horse rancher Samantha Harrigan and handsome neophyte veterinarian Tucker Coulter, who meet while trying to protect a horse from its abusive owner. Samantha has always cared deeply for her horses, so when they suddenly fall ill, she's distraught; when it turns out they've been poisoned, she's horrified, immediately suspecting that her violent and vindictive ex-husband is the culprit.

Unfortunately, the authorities are pointing fingers at Samantha, alleging that she plans to defraud her insurance company. Wary of letting a new man into her life, Samantha nevertheless recognizes that she must call on Tucker to nurse her horses back to health. As he tends to the horses and grows closer to Samantha, Tucker becomes her confidante and champion, realizing that the only way for Samantha to save herself is to catch the offender before the police arrest her. In Samantha, Anderson has created a strong and gentle heroine, and a cast of family and friends proves charming throughout. This smart, wholesome tale should appeal to any fan of traditional romance. (amazon)


Haven’t I read this story before? Something happening to the horses? Falling ill and trying to find the culprit… oh wait, I think I have. It kind of sounds like the other Kendrick/ Coulter books… but not as good.

All of the heroines of Ms. Anderson’s books are broken people and it’s the love of the steady, handsome, understanding heroes that they find out the strength that is in them. However, I feel that the heroine-under-the-clutches-of-the-evil-ex-husband-and-divorces-him-only-to-have-him-come-after-her plot is becoming a little redundant. And the obsession with the horses, too.

This story wasn’t as good as some of the others because of the lack of chemistry between the two characters. The love that Samantha had for her horse was admirable, heroic, even, however, she spent all of her time and all her energy worrying about her horse, praying for her horse, crying for her horse, and I thought, ‘how about Tucker? What’s going on with him? You’re supposed to be falling in love with him!’

Tucker is falling in love with Samantha. He sees her love for her horse (that damned horse again!) wonderful, and seeing that he and his brothers are veterinarians (who love animals, horses included) he likes that Samantha is loyal to her horse.

But really, the romance falls short between these two: they just don’t spend time to really be falling in love… and she’s so burnt from her ex-marriage that she is super wary around men. I don’t know how they did manage to find a babysitter for the horses and spend some time together, but they did minimally – just enough to be in love (which I totally don’t buy).

There were the introduction of Samantha’s brothers (I see books for them in the near future! Jeepers, more horse books?!), but the heroines and heroes are all starting to sound the same. They have the same traits, same jobs, same families… same everything, and it’s getting to be repetitive.

I’m not sure if I would pick up Ms. Anderson’s latest book quite yet. I’m a bit horsed-out.

Sandra Brown: Mirror Image

Mirror Image: A-
Avery Daniels/ Carole Rutledge and Tate Rutledge

A jet crash handed Avery Daniels a golden opportunity. Mistaken for Carole Rutledge, the badly injured Avery has found that plastic surgery has given her Carole's face, the famous senatorial candidate for a husband, and a powerful Texas dynasty for in-laws. She makes the shattering discovery that someone close to the senator plans to assassinate him. Now to save the life of the man she loves, Avery must live another woman's life-and risk her own. (amazon)

Let me start out by saying that I don’t particularly like politicians. I don’t particularly like salesmen or lawyers or any person whose profession is to vie for others’ votes, money, assets, whatever. (Okay, so I guess I can only marry an artist and a hippie piano player…)

A strong part of this book is Tate’s political campaign and his fight to become a Senator. It’s intense. A lot of kissing up, a lot of speech-making. A lot of “looking good in front of others” type deal. However, Tate wasn’t one of those politicians – he was real and down-to-earth, which as a romance hero, he’d better be.

I really enjoyed the premise and plot of this story. Avery is in a plane crash and when she regains consciousness, she finds that she has been mistaken for Tate’s selfish-bitch-of-a-wife. However, due to medical circumstances, she’s unable to tell Tate and the doctors the truth. She gets knocked out from medication and assuming that she is indeed Carole, Tate’s family sends a plastic surgeon and surgery is done on her face.

She awakens to find that she really looks like Carole – her face has been reconstructed to look like her.

Before she can tell anyone the truth, she discovers there is a scheme to kill Tate. As a former journalist, she sniffs a huge story and chooses to stay silent. Also, she finds herself falling in love with Tate more and more everyday.

The thing is, Carole was a manipulative, selfish person – Tate saw the real Carole after they were wed. (Before, he apparently thought with that part of the male anatomy that males usually make decisions with.) Tate can’t believe the change that he sees in “Carole” after the accident – it’s almost as if she’s a different person! (Oh, if he only knew…)

Avery’s struggle to convince Tate of the complete change in character is an interesting journey; so is reading of how they fall in love with each other.

I didn't completely love Ms. Brown's writing style; I felt it was a little choppy and course, but the book itself was published a long time ago (I want to say a good fifteen years? Late 80s/ early 90s), so I'd assume it is one of her earlier works.

Nevertheless, it’s a good, refreshing read – one of Ms. Brown’s better works. (yay!)