Julia Quinn: The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever

The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever: C-
Miranda Cheever & Nigel Bevelstoke, Viscount Turner

At the age of ten, Miranda Cheever showed no signs of Great Beauty. And even at ten, Miranda learned to accept the expectations society held for her--until the afternoon when Nigel Bevelstoke, the handsome and dashing Viscount Turner, solemnly kissed her hand and promised her that one day she would grow into herself, that one day she would be as beautiful as she already was smart.

And even at ten, Miranda knew she would love him forever.

This was the most disappointing read, and I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why this book won the 2007 Best Regency Historical Romance in the Romance Writers of America's annual RITA Awards. (But then again, I don't understand how JQ won it for her novel, On the Way to the Wedding because that one wasn't too great either...)



The breakdown of the story, short and un-sweet. Miranda Cheever writes in her diary every day. (I like that. Yay, journals!) She is not a Great Beauty. She accepts this. She meets Nigel Bevelstoke, older brother of her best friend...and she falls in looove.

Years later, Nigel has gone through a nasty marriage and is now a widow. His wife was a total loser, cuckolder, and what-not. Unsurprisingly, he's grown bitter.

He sees Miranda when she hangs out with her still-best friend, Olivia. He doesn't really notice her, but she's having heart palpitations from being in his presence.

And then one day he notices her.
And then he marries her because ...hm, I can't remember the reason.
But then after the marriage - they have great sex.
And then some more time passes, and she's about to give birth and is having complications. (She might die)
He realizes he loves her... *yawn*


Definitely not one of JQ's best novels. Not very interesting and not too romantic. No post-reading obsession of the book. In fact, I do believe I read this book in September... and a mere three months later, I fail to remember the details. This usually never happens to me. (Perhaps the tears of boredom made the words blurry to me - too blurry for me to remember...?)

With that said, I shall leave with the unanswerable question: since TSDOMMC won the 2007 RITA..... are the RITA awards rigged?

Think about it.

Joanna Bourne: My Lord and Spymaster

My Lord and Spymaster: C-
Jessamyn Whitby & Captain Sebastian Kennett


Bourne's latest espionage-based series historical (following The Spymaster's Lady) entices with subtle subterfuge and heated romance. Jess Whitby, daughter of suspected spy Josiah Whitby, is doing everything in her power to exonerate her imprisoned father. In order to free him, she must prove that someone other than her father is the Cinq, a notorious mole. But Jess has met her match in Capt. Sebastian Kennett, wealthy bastard son of an English nobleman, equally as clever at keeping tabs on Jess as she is at tracking him. Sebastian is responsible for Josiah's arrest; Jess believes that Sebastian may be the Cinq; their mutual attraction proves a lovely foil for their suspicious minds. (amazon)


I just know I'm going to be in the minority, but I didn't find much in this story that I really enjoyed.

The plot, after a while, became tedious, as did the characters. I felt like the plot moved really slowly and I lost interest half or a third-way through. I chugged along, hoping that the romance between Jess and Sebastian would outweigh the dullness of finding Cinq, going after the suspected Cinq candidates, and Jess's constant visitations with her father.

The romance was lukewarm. It was a lot of Sebastian trying to empower Jess, but Jess resisting, and then them showing their love for each other in dangerous ways. Example: Jess going off to her previous master (when she was a thief) so that Sebastian wouldn't have to go himself since the master is a feared and very dangerous slumlord, etc. Those and other kinds of actions that I would normally find sigh-worthy grated my nerves.

Then there was the suspicion between Jess and Sebastian, since Sebastian was one of the candidates who could possibly be Cinq. Then Jess trying to un-love Sebastian because of the uncertainty, and yadda yadda yadda...

Before I knew it, I wanted the novel to be over and I didn't care much if Sebastian and Jess ever did get together.

I hate to say it, since I did enjoy Ms. Bourne's debut novel The Spymaster's Lady, but I would have rather passed on this one.

Lucy Monroe: The Real Deal

The Real Deal: C-
Amanda something & Simon Brant

Years after a disastrous marriage destroyed any semblance of self-esteem, all Amanda Zachary has left is her career. She scores a major coup in being assigned the task of negotiating a merger between her firm and a computer company, but one of the owners, Simon Brant, refuses. Over six feet of exotic looks, rock-hard abs, and sexy ponytail, Simon is a genius-recluse ensconced on an island near Seattle. Said genius has a few flaws, including stunted social skills and a tendency to become so engrossed in his work that he disappears for hours, even days. Overcome with a sudden idea, he abruptly ends his first meeting with Amanda and suggests that they reconvene at his house, which is how they end up living together. She keeps trying to convince Simon; he keeps disappearing; she is afraid she's falling in love, and the only way Simon can think of to keep her around is to delay making a decision.

After hearing raves about this novel, I shoved my lazy body into my car and went on my merry way to the library, where I checked it out ('hm, the cover is not too bad') and excitedly started to read the book when I'd come back home.

Mm...... disappointment!!!

It was a got-out-of-bad-relationship-will-discover-the-strong-woman-in-me novel with a little bit of I'm-insecure-about-my-body mixed in. While I'm gung-ho about women finding themselves, releasing their sexuality, finding their soul mate and falling in love.... it did not work in this less-than-pleasurable story.


So, Amanda got out of her bad marriage. She is climbing up in her company. She needs to somehow get the reclusive-but-brilliant Simon Brant to agree with her company's merger. She heads on over to his home for an interview.

I don't really remember what happened, but I'm getting the feeling that Simon sees her for a millisecond and then abandons her when a great idea pops up into his mind. She then is forced to sleep over at his home (how unprofessional of both Amanda and Simon!) because she misses the only outgoing ferry (or something like that).

Then she talks with his butler, is 'coerced' into practicing martial arts with Simon and works out with him(insert in the high sexual chemistry, tension, sweaty bodies, whatever whatever whatever). Once again, I can't see this happening in real life; super improbable and very unprofessional.

Unprofessionality set aside, Amanda really needs that merger so she stays with him, seeing him when she can and trying to convince him.

Then some things happen and then they're in bed, having the sex of their lives. Her insecurities come out. She's self-conscious (from her previous douchebaggy ex-husband) but Simon gets rid of all of those insecurities, which is really nice. (After all, if a guy can let you be confident of who you are, what more can he do for you to show that he cares?)

I do believe that that was the one good part of this novel. Simon easing Amanda's fears.

Then the latter half of the book is them rolling around in bed. They have sex like half a bajillion times. She experiences the greatest pleasure of her life, he is intrigued by her, they are........fa...ll..ing...... in ........love...?

Maybe.

I think by the end, they're in love, as expected of a hero and heroine.

But oh man, I didn't see it coming, and the rather explicit sex scenes (and there were a ton of lusty glances, touches, sighs, moans, yadda yadda yadda) was off-putting. As it is with me and all other novels, if I am not emotionally invested in the characters (and believe me, I didn't give a rat's ass about Amanda or Simon... maybe just a little for Simon, but not really) the sex is quite unenjoyable.

So. I didn't like this.
I was disappointed.

So I don't recommend this.
...but I feel that I might be in the minority about this novel.

Anne Gracie: The Perfect Rake

The Perfect Rake: C-
Prudence Merridew & Gideon, Lord Carradice

To escape her brutal grandfather, Prudence stages a plan involving a phony engagement--and the man she approaches is so taken with Pru that he willingly joins her game. (amazon)

I honestly don’t know what happened with this read. It started out great and to my dismay, rapidly lost fizzle. It came to the point where it almost became a DNF (did-not-finish). That’s shocking!

So, Prudence's grandfather happens to be a controlling and very-abusive asshole. When Pru realizes that her grandfather won't let her and her three younger sisters have freedom (or anything that resembles a life), she plots her way out of his clutches, but only so that her sisters have an opportunity to "marry rich." That way, they would be able to be financially independent from their life-sucking old grandfather.

Pru and her sisters run away to their uncle (great-uncle), who has had a fall-out with Pru's grandfather. She lies, saying that the grandfather let them out of the house (*snort*) and tells him that they are in London to search for a husband.

However, the uncle refuses to let Pru's younger sisters marry without Pru marrying first. This is a problem since Pru is quite plain, while her sisters are very beautiful. At the end of her wits, she pretends to be engaged to a *Duke* - one whom her uncle is insistent on meeting. And thus starts this amusing (but disappointing) story.

I loved that Prudence didn’t mope about her situation and took some daring actions to save herself and her sisters from her grandfather’s abuse. They run away to their great-uncle’s home. There, Prudence breaks multiple rules by forging her grandfather’s signature, lies to her great-uncle, pretends to be engaged to a duke, and play-acts in front of her great-uncle to get him to believe her.

The scene is hilarious and I laughed hilariously when she finds out in front of her uncle that her pretend “fiancé,” a Duke, turns out to be a famous rake, Gideon or Lord Carradice. Trying to cover up her blunder, she and Gideon, act as if they’re breaking off the engagement in front of her uncle. However, Gideon, wildly amused at the woman who shows up at his cousin’s doorstep pretending to be the Duke’s fiancée, goes along with Prudence’s scheme…until the real Duke shows up. (Oh brother!)

Thus, Prudence and Gideon are acquainted with each other and inextricably get tangled in each other’s business. When Prudence’s grandfather finds out of their ploy before one of the sisters are able to get married, they decide to run. Gideon comes in and gallantly offers his help (aw!).

They run to Gideon’s aunt’s home, where Prudence meets her fiancé from four years ago. Drama starts when Prudence realizes she’s been played…

This starting gripped me until page 200, and promptly after, I lost interest. The story just began to…stink, and I’m really not sure why. The plot grew a bit dry and the story seemed to take forever for anything to happen. It was the same ‘ol same ‘ol – Prudence tries to resist Gideon because she is waiting for her fiancé, Gideon is attracted to Prudence despite her claim that she’s “homely” – and in comparison to her sisters, she is. He kisses her. She responds. She feels guilty. She pushes him off. Walks away. Two hours later, same thing happens.

…Gideon had the patience of a damned saint, continually chasing after Prudence.

However, I loved how he thought Prudence was gorgeous, even though everyone didn’t see what he saw in her. It was absolutely sweet.

Everything else? Not so sweet… the hilarious and intriguing beginning keeps this book from being a complete bust.

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: 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.

Lauren Royal: Lost in Temptation

Lost in Temptation: C-
Sweet Temptation Series #1

Alexandra Chase & Tristan Nesbitt, Lord Hawkridge

The last time Lady Alexandra Chase saw Tristan Nesbitt, she was a teenager with a hopeless crush. Now, seven years later after meeting again, Alexandra discovers that her feelings for Tristan have not diminished. The one thing that has changed is that Tristan, with his sudden rise in station to Lord Hawkridge, is now a perfectly acceptable suitor. Then Tristan cruelly dashes all of Alexandra's romantic hopes by informing her that they can never wed since the scandal surrounding his sudden inheritance threatens to ruin any woman he marries. Despite what Tristan may think, Alexandra knows he is the only man for her, and she is determined to do whatever it takes to change his mind...

Boring and typical.

Alexandra Chase is beautiful, unoriginal, boring, and perfect. She has been in love with her older brother’s friend, Tristan Nesbitt, Lord Hawkridge, since she was a little girl. To her dismay, he left England to work for his Uncle at a plantation in an island place (Haiti? Jamaica?) Tristan sees Alexandra as the sister of his best friend.

Fast forward five years. He returns with a title because of the death of his uncle – and he comes back with a dark scandal. There are rumors that he murdered his uncle while he was abroad.

So he comes to Alexandra’s home, where she is getting courted. (Sadly, she didn’t get a full Season with the ton because her mother passes away, then her father, then her eldest brother, and then her grandma, all with a six-month interval. So they were in continual mourning for like four years…)

Her older brother, Griffin, needs help with irrigating his vineyard, something their eldest brother wanted to do but passed away before being able to do so. Luckily, Tristan has invented some special pump to irrigate water upwards, defying gravity, and he stays at their home to create the mold and to build it.

There is the forbidden attraction between them two – since Tristan refuses to court Alexandra, even though they both have feelings for each other because of the scandal that is following Tristan (he’s shunned by the ton).

But they are caught in a compromising situation (dang, a lot of these things happened back in the olden days…) while Tristan is sleep-walking and they get married! Alexandra is determined to solve the case of Tristan’s uncle’s death so that Tristan is able to have a clean slate…

If you don’t know what happens in the end, everything gets solved and they live happily ever after. (LOL)

I enjoyed the last book of the series, The Art of Temptation, more than this one. Alexandra is a bit boring and even a little irksome when she is so determined to get Tristan. It’s an admirable character trait – going after something you want – but somehow, it didn’t work well for her.

You can also see the start of Griffin and Rachael’s story (which I already knew how it ended, not that it would have ended any other way). Alexandra’s sisters, Julianna and Corinna, are introduced and play cute roles in setting Alexandra and Tristan up. However, Julianna sounds super nosy (she is described as being so) and I don’t know if I’d like her as a heroine. Corinna, I liked.

Read for not-that-great fluff. You won’t get much else.

Sandra Brown: Ricochet

Ricochet C-

Elise Laird and Detective Duncan Hatcher

Hunky yet sensitive Detective Duncan Hatcher is called to investigate the gorgeous and wildly manipulative Elise Laird when she kills a burglar in her elegant home, supposedly in self-defense. Complicating the case is that Mrs. Laird is the trophy wife of a patrician judge who dislikes our hero. Worse, her account of the murder is somewhere between sketchy and laughable.

Hatcher finds himself falling for the mysterious Mrs. Laird, even as he uncovers each new fact that seems to suggest that the murder was intentional and the burglar, Gary Ray Trotter, no stranger. Hatcher doubts Mrs. Laird's increasingly weak explanations, but he still can't help thinking about her body...

How to say this in the most kind of ways?

Don’t read this book because it’s not worth your time. You’d probably have more fun weeding all of your acquaintances’ backyards for the next twenty weekends.

Ricochet was another downer, whish is even more disappointing because I know Ms. Brown is capable of writing captivating stories, dangit!

Duncan Hatcher is a detective. He is a good man, working for justice and liberty. He dislikes a judge named something Laird because Laird is making foolish judgment calls. Judge Laird is married to Elise, someone Duncan is highly attracted to.

When there is a murder at her house, everyone agrees that Elise shot the burglar out of self defense. But she comes to Duncan, saying that she is scared that the judge is trying to kill her, a preposterous statement since the judge seems wholly in love and infatuated with his young, hot wife.

Duncan struggles with his feelings for the already married Elise. He is wary of her motives – she may be a cold-blooded killer who is playing the detective on case, or she might be telling him the truth. It is a problem that plagues Duncan and the unthinkable happens when he agrees to meet her at an abandoned house in the middle of the night. This event is predictable – from the start of the book, your eyes itch for Duncan and Elise to get together (after all, Duncan is the hero and Elise is clearly the heroine. They have to end up together, right?). But when the scene came, I was in a mixed frenzy – partially excited that they were together, but still superbly distressed because she’s married.

I figured out what would happen in the end for Elise and Duncan to be redeemed of this adulterous act, but the fact that the honorable Duncan wasn’t able to resist Elise is something that stayed on my mind. On the one hand, he sure was overcome by lust for Elise, only showing how much he was risking to be with her. On the other hand, he was foolish since he himself knew that there was a good chance Elise was counting on him to think with his whoo-hoo.

There was also the interesting tidbit of Duncan being the good son of a pastor. (Do pastor’s son act in such ways?) I know that it is a grossly huge stereotype to think that the children of pastors ought to be goody-goods, but at the same time, I don’t recall pastors raising their children to be promiscuous…(not saying that Duncan was unspeakably promiscuous, but….)

As you can see, this book had me in titters, really over nothing.

But this isn’t the reason for the less than pleasant grade. The romance was not believable to be love, but it was clear that the characters had full lust for each other. So when they told each other that they loved each other, I thought, “bullocks!” The suspense was good – I was confused as to whether Elise was evil or not, but there were times when I desperately wanted to skip ahead to the parts with Elise and Duncan… parts that weren’t really even that romantic.

Read, if you must, but have low expectations. Then maybe, you won’t be a sorely disappointed.

Sandra Brown: The Switch

Sandra Brown: The Switch C-
Gillian & Chief Hart

Identical twins are fair game for a thriller writer, and in The Switch, queen of suspense Sandra Brown (The Alibi, Standoff, Fat Tuesday) makes the most of an intricate setup involving Gillian and Melina Lloyd, a pair of thirtysomething Dallas beauties. When Gillian hears her biological clock ticking, she puts herself in the hands of the world-famous Waters Clinic and is artificially inseminated (as described in a somewhat plodding first chapter that omits no detail of the procedure). The action picks up when Gillian switches places with her twin, a media escort, and chauffeurs sexy astronaut Chief Hart around town. It turns out to be a fatal attraction, and suspicion falls on Chief when Gillian's mutilated body is found the next day.

The dead woman's smarmy and enigmatic boyfriend, Jem Hennings, has a vested interest in focusing police efforts on Hart, but Melina has her own reasons for thinking him wrong. Jem's connection with a charismatic preacher known as Brother Gabriel is at the heart of this mildly creepy mystery, in which the plucky Melina tracks Brother Gabriel to his lair and uncovers his diabolical plot while simultaneously revealing her own dark secret. The ending is telegraphed well in advance… (amazon.com)

After being impressed with Sandra Brown’s Envy and Mirror Image, I prayed that The Switch would be as equally excellent.

I was wrong. (This is where I start sobbing uncontrollably.)

While the premise of the story was exciting, I couldn’t help but to have problems with the characters.

Gillian, wanting to be a mother, is artificially inseminated at a famous clinic because her longtime boyfriend, Jem, has had a vasectomy. That night, she and her twin switch places and she takes Melina’s place as a media escort to handsome astronaut “Chief” Hart.

It is no surprise that the attraction between Chief and Gillian is thick. One thing led to another, I suppose, and they sleep together. Disconnect 1: Gillian doesn’t seem to be the type of person to sleep with strangers on first dates – especially because she has a loving boyfriend. Even though she is pretending to be Melina, I feel that this is a very out-of-character deed for Gillian and something that I don’t understand because she loves Jem – and has told Melina repeatedly of how wonderful Jem is.

Gillian, you cheater and liar! I don’t care if it’s suggested for couples to sleep together on the night of the insemination (so that if the woman gets pregnant, then there is a possibility that the child was from the hanky panky and not the insemination) and that you couldn’t sleep with Jem because he’s sterile – what a way to betray your boyfriend’s trust. Creep.

So then Gillian is found dead the next morning, to Chief’s chagrin, because amazingly, he’s fallen in love with Gillian. (“love at first sight” is another disconnect for me, but it’s believed by many and common, so I let it pass). He spends many hours with Melina to track down Gillian’s killer – Melina and Chief both want revenge and the police are doing a crappy job of everything, so they decide to work together to bring about justice.

But the more time he spends with Melina, the more lustful thoughts lurk in his head. Furthermore, he questions his feelings for Melina – was he falling in love with her too? Of course, Melina has fallen in love with the lameface.

When Melina and Chief do the hanky panky, I can’t help but to think that Melina got used. Chief may be falling in love with Melina, but he’s already lost it to Gillian. Don’t tell me crap about falling in love with two people – that’s a pickle as is; the fact that the two women Chief is in love with are twins makes it incestuous and gross. Ew, imagine sharing your twin sister’s lover – the twin sister that you love and adore dearly, the sister who is so close to your heart that she is a part of you…

To add to this slightly disturbing procession of events, when Chief is in the throes of passion with Melina, he yells someone’s name. I’ll let you guess whose name he yelled.

…yea, what a douchebag. Way to satisfy your lust by hooking up with the identical carbon-copy twin of the woman you fell in love with.

While the ending might bring everything together, the premise in which the characters acted is disturbing. To me, it doesn’t matter if Captain Hook ends up being the good guy in the very end; if Wendy thought that Hook was the bad guy BUT does the hanky panky with him anyway, that is a breach of moral goodness for Wendy, in my book.

It’s like that. It doesn’t matter for the ending, really, because we all know that somehow, things work out because they’re romances and HEAs are necessary. It’s the idea that the characters have of each other that determine motivations and drives – that is crucial. Both Gillian and Chief breached the line of moral goodness.

Because of this, I find the book merely amusing.

Susan Wiggs: The Mistress

The Mistress: C-


Beautiful Kathleen O'Leary works as a maid at an exclusive girls school where she has been befriended by three rich students. One evening, the high-spirited girls convince Kathleen to dress in borrowed diamonds and silk and accompany them to a masquerade at the Hotel Royale in Chicago. Here, Kathleen catches the eye of the city's most eligible bachelor, Dylan Francis Kennedy, and the two are instantly attracted to each other. Fate intervenes when the two are caught in the midst of the great Chicago Fire of 1871 and, convinced they're about to die, they impulsively marry. Amazingly they survive, and Kathleen is faced with the difficult task of confessing her real identity to her new husband. To her shock, she learns that Dylan is also a fraud. Far from being a rich gentleman, he's a con artist, intent on marrying an heiress and taking her money. (amazon.com)

Taking place in 1871, Chicago, The Mistress is a tale that had a lot of potential that failed to satisfy.

I really liked the premise of the story – a maid pretending to be an heiress attracting the eye of a very handsome and wealthy man, who turns out to be a con-artist. When a blaze sets Chicago on fire, Kathleen O’Leary and Dylan Francis Kennedy are sure that they will not survive and decide to marry.

Miraculously, they survive. And they spend four (five?) nights together in “wedded bliss.” Kathleen is convinced she is in love with Dylan and because she was raised with high morals, is tremendously guilty of the situation she is now in. And all the while, Dylan is silently congratulating himself for marrying such a wealthy woman. Lo behold the shock they both receive when they find out the truth!

The story sounds great, however, the read is a bore. There was a lot of emphasis on the fire, something that I wasn’t expecting and wasn’t particularly interested in since it wasn’t able to draw me in, and the fact that Kathleen found herself to be in love with Dylan seemed foolish to me. Even after the truth came out and they agreed to stay together until they figured out how to raise money, Kathleen still believed she was in love while Dylan gave no hint to having more than a lustful attraction towards her. (Talk about a turn-off).

After the truth comes out, the rest of the story is highly anti-climatic and their plot to make money fell plenty short of being exciting.

To be read only if you’re in dire need of reading material (as in you’ve read all the labels to your canned goods and your hair care products and still have plenty of time on your hands).

Tara Janzen: On the Loose

On the Loose: C-


He's a special agent who never loses his cool.

She's the heat-seeking missle headed straight for his heart.

Keeping cool under pressure is the credo C. Smith Rydell lives by. That’s why he was handpicked by the Special Defense Forces for a mission few men survive. So why has the ex-DEA superstar been reassigned to Panama City, playing bodyguard to a blond in a black string bikini? Except Honey York isn’t your average pampered socialite. She’s the woman Rydell caught smuggling cash into El Salvador four months ago. And now she wants him to take her back.

All Honey has to do is find the guerrilla camp, deliver the goods, and get the hell out of the jungle—all in forty-eight hours. Only one man is up for the job. But sharing an unforgettable one-night stand was nothing next to being stranded with Rydell on some third world mountaintop. And with bullets flying and all hell breaking loose, now is not the time for passion. As if these two could possibly resist it….

I read this book for a book club and at the end of the book, I wasn’t sure if I really knew what the book was about. Tara Janzen continues her Steele street series with this seventh book and unsurprisingly, the number of plotlines and secondary storylines in the book were ridiculous.

Honey and her five Louis Vuitton bags need to get into El Salvador. She is working with the U.S. government in order to help her sister, who is a nun in an impoverished village in El Salvador. Her mission is to go in, give her bags to a drug lord named Alejandro Campos, who in return was to take her to the rebel group leader (Diego?) so that she can give him the 2million dollars and in return, retrieve an especially important USB flashdrive.

Along with this is an impregnated nun, a terrified but part-of-the-scene history teacher from the United States who records everything, and there’s the badass Russian Irena, C. Smith Rydell’s former lover, who is back to destroy Smith and Honey.

It is in the midst of this and crazy El Salvadoran downpour, that Honey and Smith realize their love for each other.

The one scene that they end up together is the one scene in the entire book that they have to themselves; all other scenes are riddled with planes, guns, nuns, rebels, and… no romance. It would be an understatement to state that there was no love and no romance in the book.

What On the Loose proved to be was a rebel-military-top US government-secret espionage and military combat book with one sex scene (where afterwards, the hero and heroine realize their love for each other).

Silly and convoluted plots rule this book and because of the convoluted plot, the first half of the book is a rocky read.