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!)

Robin McKinley: Beauty

Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty & The Beast: A-
Beauty & Beast

This much-loved retelling of the classic French tale Beauty and the Beast elicits the familiar magical charm, but is more believable and complex than the traditional story. In this version, Beauty is not as beautiful as her older sisters, who are both lovely and kind. Here, in fact, Beauty has no confidence in her appearance but takes pride in her own intelligence, her love of learning and books, and her talent in riding. She is the most competent of the three sisters, which proves essential when they are forced to retire to the country because of their father's financial ruin.

The plot follows that of the renowned legend: Beauty selflessly agrees to inhabit the Beast's castle to spare her father's life. Beauty's gradual acceptance of the Beast and the couple's deepening trust and affection are amplified in novel form. Robin McKinley's writing has the flavor of another century, and Beauty heightens the authenticity as a reliable and competent narrator.

This was McKinley's first book, written almost 20 years ago… (amazon)

This a spin off of the beloved Disney movie, Beauty and the Beast (and also my favorite). I really enjoyed this story because it had a lot more depth in the story of Beast and Belle’s journey as she gets to know the Beast. It was a little slow in certain parts, however, I came to love the Beast as Belle did. (sigh)

There was also much more information regarding Belle’s sisters and of her family, in this story, which was nice because you really get a sense of what Belle sacrificed in order to live with the Beast. Not a romance, but a sweet story of two people falling in love.

And truly, his library is wondrous. I’d totally hook up with the Beast for a library like that. (double sigh).

Nora Roberts: Sea Swept

Sea Swept: A

Anna Spinnelli & Cameron Quinn
Chesapeake Bay Series #1

Sea Swept tells the tale of three brothers--all former juvenile delinquents adopted by Raymond Quinn and his wife, Stella. Cameron, Ethan, and Philip are as different as can be, but they are bound by their love and respect for their adoptive father, who has recently passed away. On his deathbed he asks his sons to look after their most recent brother, 10-year-old Seth, who--if the rumors are to believed--just may be Ray's biological son. Of course, the brothers don't know anything about caring for the young boy, and if social worker Anna Spinelli has anything to say about it, they won't. However, the sparks that fly over the fate of Seth are nothing compared to the romantic sparks that fly between Anna and Cameron. (amazon)

I’m not a huge fan of Nora Roberts, but I admit to having a soft spot for her. She was my one of my very first romance authors (if not my first). The idea of happily-ever-afters and dashing heroes would forever bloom in my mind after reading several of her stories… However, I realized that there was so much more to the romance world, than Ms. Roberts, and I quickly found that her writing, as good as it is, is formulaic and was sometimes…boring.

So when I picked up Sea Swept several years ago, the first of the Chesapeake Bay series, I didn’t have too much hope. I was delightfully shocked when I started reading and was unable to put down the book!

I re-read the series and still love it.

The characterization of Anna and Cam is so complete, I feel like I know exactly who they are, how they would act, and what they would say. She might not have explicitly described it through words, but the unfolding of their story reveals who they are – and you can’t help but to fall in love with them.

Anna is a vivacious, loud, and dominating social worker. She meets Cameron Quinn when she is put on the case regarding Seth Quinn, a ten year old boy who has a long history behind him. He has some connection with Ray Quinn, Cameron’s father, but no one knows exactly what that connection is.

Cameron, a world renown boat racer, rushes home to St. Christopher when he hears word that his father, Ray, is dying from a car accident. Before he dies, he tells Cam and his two brothers to take care of Seth.

Seeing that Ray and Stella Quinn took in and raised three half-grown boys with ugly histories into men, Cameron, Ethan, and Phillip don’t question the situation, but change their lifestyles to help gain guardianship of Seth.

Giving up boat racing is something that is hard for Cam to do, but he realizes that the sacrifice is bearable with Anna and as he bonds with Seth, Cam sees in Seth the young boy that he used to be – the helpless boy who was beaten and neglected by a careless, alcoholic father.

Enter the quiet but perspicacious Ethan and the slick and charming Phillip, this story is a great introduction to the life of the Quinns, and what really happens when four males attempt to live together under one roof. Nora Roberts, who only has brothers and has two sons, has been around males all her life – and it shows in the Quinn brothers.

Ms. Roberts’ description of life on the shore, the small-town life, and the relationships – it all comes together in this poignant and thoughtful tale. The Quinn brothers’ journey of love is one that is wonderful to read.

One of my all-time favorite books (and series), this one is a grabber from the start.

Nalini Singh: Slave to Sensation

Slave to Sensation: A+

Sascha Duncan & Lucas Hunter

Ooh, what an exciting read! I wish I was living in the amazing world of the Psy and the Changelings.

It is approximately 2060 and the world is full of shape-shifters (humans with the ability to shift into animals) and the Psy. The Psy consider themselves to be of the superior race because of their mental abilities, with each Psy being gifted in either telekinetic powers, telepathic powers, and etc. Back in 1969, the Psy implemented the “Silence” program because of the high numbers of serial killers among them. This program trained the Psy to throw away all their emotions, feelings, and any thoughts that would lead them astray from being the most logical and efficient.

The Psy also have a hierarchical system with the Cardinals ruling over the Psy. The Cardinals are the most powerful of the Psy and also regulate the PsyNet, an internet-like system where all Psy plug into for mental nourishment and interaction with other Psy.

It is in this world that Sascha Duncan is raised in. She, however, believes herself to be a defect because of her abnormal “changeling” tendencies. She finds herself wanting to feel emotion and occasionally, exhibiting traits that are forbidden in the Psy world. Sascha works hard to prevent others from seeing this part of her, for if the Psy discover her flaws, she would be placed into a rehabilitation system, a program to wipe out all but the most basic of brain functions (similar to a vegetable).

Sascha, because of business, meets Lucas, her flaws come out stronger than ever and it gets harder to hide her abnormality. When Lucas informs Sascha of a serial killer among the Psy targeting changelings, she chooses to put in a plan to make herself the bait… and places her life in danger.

There were some elements in this story that I absolutely loved. The creative PsyWorld, the fierceness of the changelings, Lucas and Sascha together… it was all great. But more than anything, I love that Sascha and Lucas showed each other (and to me) the true meaning of love: unconditional, sacrificial love. It’s beyond lust, it’s beyond liking, it’s beyond whirlwind romances… it’s the real thing.

The time had come for Sascha to put her plan into action: to go into PsyNet and find the killer hiding among the Psys by emanating changeling thought patterns.

The downfall: after she discovers the killer, she must block him, then cut herself off from the PsyNet, hence cutting herself off from her lifeline. All Psys must be connected to the PsyNet for its continuous source of mental sustenance.

Lucas, being the animalistic (hey, he’s half panther), domineering, alpha-male that he is, made Sashca promise to him that she after she cut her link from the PsyNet, that she would mentally link to him so that she would survive. He did this knowing that in several months’ time, she would drain him (because he doesn’t have the mental capacity that Psys do) and she’d end up killing him. Still, he wanted her to link him so that they could live for a little longer – and die together. (A little morbid, but romantic, nevertheless.)

Sascha goes in, does her deed, then cuts herself off, and refuses to link to Lucas… to save him.

The fact that Sascha was willing to sacrifice her life for a cause she believed to be worthy is admirable. The undeniable fact that she refused to draw strength from Lucas when she cut her life-giving link from the PsyNet was damn kickass. She was not only willing to give up her life for something she believed to be right, she refused to live so that Lucas would be able to live. She even went back on her promise to him – to save his life. What could be more heroic than that?

And Lucas, seeing that Sascha wasn’t going to connect to him, forces her to link to him through love. (dreamy sigh) His fury over Sascha’s deception and his determination for her to live is a scene I’ll never forget.

It’s romantic. It’s dreamy. It’s love, yo!

(I’m reminded of the scene from The Bronze Horseman where Tatiana sees Alexander dying and literally injects an IV into her vein to feed him the blood that he needs. The amount of blood that Alexander needs is an overwhelming amount and Tatiana eventually passes out from feeding him so much blood. When others try to pull the IV out of her, she refuses, knowing that it’s her blood that would keep Alexander living.)

Plus, all the males sound delicious and yummy. A little bossy, but forgivable because of their love for their mates (and the fact that the females all have minds and wit and aren’t afraid to stand up for themselves.). I loved that Sascha didn’t let Lucas bully her. (Who wants a feeble, weak heroine?)

If you’re into paranormals and want something different from the blood-sucking “Kiss of the Dracula/ Vampire” stories, run out and snag yourself a copy of this book. It’s most definitely worth your time!