Monthly Archives: October 2011

Never Love a Highlander by Maya Banks

Posted on October 17, 2011 by TBRG| 2 Comments

Title: Never Love a Highlander

Series: McCabe Trilogy

Author: Maya Banks

Genre: Historical Romance

Caelen McCabe’s young, reckless heart nearly destroyed his clan. Now putting family loyalty above all else, he steps up to marry his older brother’s jilted bride and salvage the uneasy alliance between two clans. While beautiful Rionna McDonald is a fit wife for any man, Caelen trusts no woman, especially not this sweet temptress who torments him with white hot longing.

As the sacrificial lamb in her father’s power game, Rionna will do her duty but protect her heart and her pride from another man’s humiliation. Despite everything, the heat in Caelen’s touch melts her defenses and she craves the sensual delights of a husband who guards his emotions as fiercely as his clan. But when the ultimate battle for the McCabe legacy is upon them, Rionna’s true warrior spirit emerges. She will risk the wrath of her father, the fury of her enemies, and her life to prove to Caelen that his wife’s love is too precious to lose.

While I have loved each of the books in this series this book I think is by far my favorite.

At the end of Seduction of a Highland Lass Caelen steps up and takes Alaric’s place as Rionna’s husband so that his brother can stay married to Keeley, the woman that he loves. However there are certain terms he has for his new clan. Rionna gladly accepts them all. Hoping that finally her clan will be the clan she knows that they can be.

When you take two people that have very strong personalities and opinions on the way that things are suppose to be fireworks are sure to happen and they do.

Caelen has very firm ideas for what he wants and expects of his wife. Never mind the fact that she has spent most of her life doing the complete opposite. When as a result of his expectations regarding how she is to behave results in her being harmed he was to rethink his feelings on the matter, and come to a compromise.

Rionna never expected that marriage would mean that she has to stop being who she has always been. She wonders why Caelen won’t accept her for her. When he compromises on his stance she realizes that she must do the same.

Watching these two fall in love and work through their misconceptions of each other and work to make her clan stronger is most definitely a page turner. From the moment that I picked it up I completely ignored everyone and everything. As soon as I done reading it I wanted to pick it up and read it again. Yes it is that good.

While I have loved every single book by Maya that I have ever read this series is by far my absolute favorite series and one that I will be telling people that they need to read and have on their shelves. In fact it will be one that I have not only in print but also on my kindle.

I am going to say this here and now YOU HAVE TO GET THIS SERIES!!! In fact at the bottom of this post is a link to buy the first two books in the series. Yes it is that good. Trust me! I mean come on have I ever steered you wrong when it comes to a book.

Grade A+

Other books in the series..

In Bed with a Highlander

Seduction of a Highland Lass

Posted in Historical, Review

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WoW Sunday

Posted on October 16, 2011 by TBRG| Leave a comment

I overheard this the other day…

It’s not fair that they get to do whatever they want just because their adults.

Posted in WOW Sunday

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Mystical Warrior by Janet Chapman

Posted on October 14, 2011 by TBRG| 2 Comments

Title: Mystical Warrior

Series: Midnight Bay Series

Author: Janet Chapman

Genre: Contemporary with a dash of Paranormal

 An eleventh-century lass with a stubborn streak unleashes the red-hot hero inside her modern lover in bestselling author Janet Chapman’s irresistible new Midnight Bay adventure.

Trace Huntsman’s peaceful life has headed to hell in a hand-basket ever since stunningly beautiful Fiona Gregor moved into the vacant apartment above his house. Kidnapped centuries earlier and transformed into a red-tail hawk, Fiona is human once more and must learn how to be a modern woman. But damned if Trace is going to be the one to teach her. Not when her mere presence ignites a fiery passion deep within his cautious heart.

Fiona longs to overcome the painful memories of her tragic past—to let down her guard and become a mother again. But so far her handsome landlord is not exactly thrilled with the stray animals—and suitors—that keep following her home. When the wizard Maximilian Oceanus shows up, Trace reaches the end of his rope. Weird things happen when Mac is around—raging storms, snarling demons—but this time, Midnight Bay is at the center of a fierce battle, and Fiona is the primary target. Only Trace can save her, but first, the lovers must set aside their fears . . . and open up their hearts.

I fell in love with Trace reading book 2 Dragon Warrior in this series. There was just something about him that made me want to know more about him. When I finally got my hands on this book I devoured it in a couple of hours.

Watching Fiona and Trace fall in love was at times hilarious and at others painful. Both of them come into the relationship scared because of things that happened to them in their pasts and were not of their control.

Fiona is from the 11th century and the younger sister of Kenzie from Moonlight Warrior bk 1 in this series. Fiona has spent the last thousand years as a hawk. While she missed her family, after what happened to her when her brothers left home she was quiet content to remain a hawk. When she is suddenly a human again she has no clue how to live a normal life.

After being in the military for most of his adult life Trace is now home. At least physically he his home. Trace came home from the War a changed man. Damaged by events that happened that affected not only him but the woman he thought he loved and his best friend. What he wants more than anything is to be left alone.

When his cousin asks him to rent out the apartment above his garage he reluctantly agrees. Course if he’d known what kind of havoc Fiona would wreck on his life he would have said no.

When Fiona’s brothers decide that she needs to move out their homes and start living again they had no idea the repercussions that would result.

Of all the books that I’ve read this year this book is in my top 20. I loved every single page. The emotions and fears of Trace and Fiona are so real and heartfelt. The way that they react to each other makes you want to cheer for them. Then there is the secondary characters that only add to the awesomeness that is this book. There is so much I loved about this book that I could seriously write a really long post about it, but I won’t I will just tell you to READ this book.

Grade A

Other books in the series…

Moonlight Warrior

Dragon Warrior

Posted in Contemporary, Paranormal

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Elizabeth Hoyt interview + giveaway

Posted on October 13, 2011 by TBRG| 51 Comments

Several years ago a friend of mine told me that I HAD to read this author she’d just discovered. She sent me three of this authors books, it was the Prince’s trilogy by Elizabeth Hoyt. I was instantly hooked on her. Then I got to meet her at RomCon, and bonus she had a new series coming out. From the moment I began reading her latest series I couldn’t get enough of it.

I’m super excited that we have her on the blog today to talk about her and what else her latest series, and most especially her newest book Scandalous Desires.

 

TBRG: Who has been the biggest influence on your writing?

EH: Gosh, it’s hard to narrow it down to one person. The narrowest I can get is three: Stephanie Laurens, Lisa Kleypas, & Christina Dodd.

TBRG: What is the one thing your readers would be the most surprised to know about you?

EH: I’m violently allergic to cats…which is just as well, otherwise we’d have cats as well as dogs and we already have three dogs!

TBRG: Where is the one place you have always wanted to go, a place on your bucket list?

EH: India

TBRG: What was the first romance book that you read?

EH: The Wolf and the Dove by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss

TBRG: Who are some of your go to authors, and what are you reading right now?

EH: Nalini Singh, Eloisa James, Jim Butcher, and Eileen Dreyer are on my “Must Buy Immediately or Die” list. At the moment I’m reading Swept Away By a Kiss by Katherine Ashe.

TBRG: If you weren’t writing and keeping us in books (thanks for that by the way), what would you be doing?

EH: Not anything special, that’s for sure. I have no marketable skills besides Making Things Up. I’m singularly fortunate to be able to make a living at it!

TBRG: What is your guilty pleasure?

EH: lox

TBRG: Who is on your playlist when you are writing?

EH: Coldplay, Adele, and Dido.

TBRG: Where do your ideas/characters come from?

EH: my imagination

TBRG: Are you a planner or a fly by the sear author?

EH: Both, depending on how much time I have to plan!

TBRG: How did you come up with the Maiden Lane Series?

EH: I think (it’s hard to remember the germ of an idea!) that I started with a guy running around in a mask (the Ghost of St. Giles) and then I started reading about the gin laws during this time period (early Georgian) and all the social problems gin drinking caused and I thought it would be an excellent time in which to set a series.

TBRG: Tell us about the series?

EH: The Maiden Lane series takes place in Georgian London during a time when gin was like crack cocaine—it was cheap, widely available, and addictive. A lot of the series is set in St. Giles, a wretchedly poor part of London, but there’s also aristocratic families in the series and even some middle class people. I hoped to create a vibrant world with lots of possibilities.

TBRG: What do you want us to know about this book?

EH: Unlike most historicals, my hero and heroine aren’t titled. In fact, they’re middle-class (Silence, the widow of a ship’s captain) and lower class (Charming Mickey O’Connor, a pirate who began life as the son of a whore.)

TBRG: The heroes in this series aren’t your typical regency heroes, what made you decide to have these men as your heroes?

EH: I love the aristocratic hero, but there’s sooo many other heroes to love, even in historical romance. The self-made man (like Mickey O’Connor), the saint (Winter Makepeace) and the social outcast (Lazarus Huntington, who is an aristocrat, but not your usual one.) There’s just so many stories I want to write about these interesting characters and new ones you’ll read about in upcoming books. I have to give kudos to my editor (Amy Pierpont) for never once blinking an eye when I told her I wanted to write about, for instance, the manager of an orphanage!

TBRG: Mickey and Silence aren’t what a reader would expect in a historical romance, were they easier of harder write?

EH: A bit of both. When you have a hero who isn’t an aristocrat, I think the author has to work harder to show why this man is hero material. And, of course, Mickey starts out as an anti-hero. ;-) Silence seemed easy on the surface, but it took me several drafts to shade in her character and why she is who she is.

TBRG: Using 3-5 adjectives describe Mickey and Silence.

EH: Mickey is ruthless, charming, and unpredictable. Silence is stubborn, strong, and very loving.

TBRG: At the end of Scandalous Desires you reveal who the Ghost of St. Giles is, did you always know who it was?

EH: Of course! ;-)

TBRG: What are you working on now?

EH: I just finished the first draft of Thief of Shadows (out July 2012) and I’m plotting book 5 of the Maiden Lane series, Lord of Darkness.

***Because I love this book and this series so much I’m giving away one copy of the book. All you have to do is tell which of her books is your favorite. Contest rules apply. Open to US and International***

 

Can a pirate learn . . .

River Pirate ‘Charming’ Mickey O’Connor has lifted himself from the depths of the slums to be the King of St. Giles. Anything he wants he gets—with one exception. Silence Hollingbrook has been haunting his dreams ever since she spent a single night in his bed.

That the only true treasure . . . 

Once Silence was willing to sacrifice anything to save the man she loved. Now a widow, she’s finally found peace when Charming Mickey comes storming back into her life with an offer she can’t refuse. But this time she won’t be the only one paying the price for his sins.

Lies in a woman’s heart?

When his past comes back to torment him, Mickey must keep Silence safe from a merciless enemy, while wrestling with the delicious hold this widow has on his heart. And in the face of mounting danger, both will have to surrender to something even more terrifying . . . true love.


Posted in Interviews

Backstage Pass by Olivia Cunning

Posted on October 12, 2011 by TBRG| 3 Comments

Title: Back Stage Pass

Series: Sinners on Tour

Author: Olivia Cunning

Genre: Erotic Contemporary

Human Sexuality Professor, Myrna Evans, wants nothing but a weekend of hot, no-strings-attached sex with Sinners’ sensual lead guitarist, but Brian Sinclair is looking for something more permanent than a one-night stand.  Unable to compose music for months, when Brian makes love to uninhibited Myrna, he hears exquisite guitar riffs and finger-burning solos.  In Myrna, he’s found his muse.

When this book came out I had serious mixed feelings about whether or not I wanted to read it. A large part of that was because of the reviews that I was reading at the time. Fast forward a couple of months and being someone that can’t pass up a good deal on books when it was for free on Amazon I of course got it. And then I forgot about it.

This week however I was in the mood for something different and so I decided to read it. I have to say that in the beginning I wasn’t thrilled with the book. In fact I would read a chapter and then get irritated and put it down for something else, but then I would go back to it. However somewhere between chapters 5 and 6 however I began to fall in love with the members of the band..there was just something about them that pulled at me.

While I wasn’t exactly thrilled with Myrna for most of the book there is one scene towards the end of the book with Brian’s dad where I went okay I like you with Brian.

Brian however stole the book for me. I think because he reminds me a bit of one of my favorite cousins. From the moment that he showed up on the pages of the book he had me hooked. I wanted to know more about him, why he was the way he was. My heart ached for him because of his feelings for Myrna and that because of her insecurities and past experiences he had to keep them to himself.

I do have to say that most of my favorite parts of the book were when the whole band was together. I wanted to know more about them, who they were and why they were.

I will warn you that there is a lot of sex in this book.

I do have to be honest and say that unless I had gotten the book for free I probably wouldn’t have read it, and while I want to read the next book in the series I can wait until the price is a bit cheaper for the e-book.

Grade B-

Other books in the series…

Rock Hard

Posted in Contemporary

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Canyons of Night by Jayne Castle

Posted on October 10, 2011 by TBRG| 1 Comment

Title: Canyons of Night

Series: Harmony bk 8

Series: Looking Glass Trilogy bk 3

Series: Arcane Society bk 12

Author: Jayne Castle

Genre: Paranormal

The island of Rainshadow is home to the mysterious, privately-owned woods known only as the Preserve. Now, after fifteen years away, both Charlotte Enright and her teen crush, Slade Attridge, have returned. But will their psi talents and Slade’s dust bunny companion be enough to keep them from getting drawn into the darkness at the heart of the Preserve?

I simply adore Jayne Castle. While I have read the books under her other names Jayne Ann Krentz and Amanda Quick her writing under Jayne Castle is my favorite of hers. The one thing I love that she does really well is give great characters in different settings that are completely believable. I’ve really liked how her last couple of books have gone from the past to the present to the future. The first book in the Looking Glass trilogy  In Too Deep is written by her as Jayne Ann Krentz book two Quick Silver is written by her as Amanda Quick and the the last book by her as Jayne Castle.

What would you do if the source of your teenage crush came back into your life, and you were both in a position to finally act on all those feelings you had as a teenager? Oh and all of those intense feelings you had back then are still there only stronger.

That is what Charlotte and Slade have to figure out when they meet again after being apart for fifteen years. While they both went on with their lives and each of them almost got married, those feelings they had for each other never went away.

Slade is only back on Rainshadow till he gets his new business ready to launch while he is waiting for that however he is the new police chief. Charlotte has moved back permanently to take over her aunt’s antique business. When they see other other again the sparks once again fly between them. This time though they are able to act on those sparks. While Slade keeps insisting that he is only there temporarily, the sudden break ins at Charlotte’s building offer a baffeling mystery.

This is one of those books that once you pick it up you can’t put it down and before you know it you’ve finished the book. At least that is how it was for me. I loved the simplicity of the emotions between Charlotte and Slade. How they were able to recognize that what they have now is only stronger because of what they felt as teenagers and what happened between then and now.

If you are a fan of anyone of Jayne’s personalities then you will like this book. I didn’t read any of the other books in the looking glass trilogy, but read it as a part of the Harmony series and didn’t feel like I was missing anything.

Grade B+

For a complete book list of the books in all three of these series please visit Jayne’s website.

Posted in FF&P, Paranormal

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WoW Sunday

Posted on October 9, 2011 by TBRG| 2 Comments

Why Romance?

Someone asked me that the other day. What is it is about romance books that makes them so popular? I had to think about it for a moment and then it came to me, why do I love romance books. It is the happily ever after. It’s finding that one person that truly gets you and accepts you for all your faults. We don’t care if the book is set in Medieval Scotland, Regency England, The American West, The Present time, or the future. We love the story of how two people fall in love and start their future together.

Posted in WOW Sunday

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Insatiable by Meg Cabot

Posted on October 6, 2011 by TBRG| 1 Comment

Title: Insatiable

Series: Insatiable bk 1

Author: Meg Cabot

Genre: Paranormal

Being single can suck … but not as much as being undead.

Not only has Meena Harper been cursed from birth with the “gift” of knowing how everyone she meets is going to die, no one will believe her warnings about their impending doom.

Until Meena finally meets a guy who doesn’t seem to have an expiration date. Have her dreams come true . . . or her worse nightmare just begun?

Maybe. Because handsome, charming Lucien Antonescu isn’t who he seems to be, and soon Meena has way bigger problems than that promotion she didn’t get at work: A good-looking, sword-bearing vampire hunter who claims to be from a secret military unit of the Vatican is pounding on her door, trying to enlist her services . . .

. . . to kill her boyfriend, who just happens to be the Prince of Darkness.

Insatiable by Meg Cabot is funny and self mocking.  It has a vampire story line and makes fun of vampire story lines throughout the book and the cover makes you think it’s a YA Little Red Riding Hood story and it’s supposed to be an adult Vampire story.  Not that it’s very adult.  It has a few swear words and some suggestive scenes, but would be appealing to an older teen more so than a woman in her thirties.  Don’t get me wrong, I love to read YA and I adored Meg’s Princess Diaries, but this left me hanging and not really inclined to read the next one.

Meena Harper is a dialogue writer for a soap opera called Insatiable and is hoping to get the Lead Writer position that just opened up, but not only does the job go to her nemesis Shoshona, they are also going to be introducing a vampire into the story line to compete with Lust, a soap on a different network, that is killing their ratings with a vampire love interest. Meena hates vampires! Plus, Meena can tell when a person is going to die when she looks at them.  This makes taking the subway to work interesting.

Lucien Antonescu is a Romanian History Professor at the University of Bucharest in Romania and he’s the Prince of Darkness because he is Vlad the Impaler’s son and when Vlad was killed the crown was passed down to him.  Unfortunately that means when dead girls that are drained of all their blood start showing up in Central Park a little trip to the Big Apple is needed to find out who is going against his edict of no deaths while feeding.

Lucien and Meena meet when she is taking her dog, Jack Bauer, for a walk at 4 AM because she can’t sleep and they get attacked by bats out of the St. George cathedral. Lucien pushes her down and covers her with his body until the bats leave and when she gets up, Lucien doesn’t even have a scratch.

So, the story starts out well, but then it becomes convoluted and another man, Alaric Wulf is introduced as a Palatine Guard who wants to kill Lucien and who falls in love with Meena too.  I normally like complicated stories and this one left me cold.

C+/B-

Other books in the series…

Overbite

Posted in FF&P, Paranormal, Review

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Real Men Will by Victoria Dahl

Posted on October 4, 2011 by TBRG| 3 Comments

Title:Real Men Will 

Series: Donovan Brother’s Brewery

Author: Victoria Dahl

Genre: Contemporary

Eric Donovan has always been upstanding, responsible and very well behaved…except for that one night with his fantasy woman. So what happens when a one-night fling can’t be left behind?

It was meant to be a one-night stand. One night of passion. Scorching hot. Then Beth Cantrell and Eric Donovan were supposed to go their separate ways. That’s the only reason he lied about his name, telling her he was really his wild younger brother. Hiding his own identity as the conservative Donovan. The “good” one.

But passion has its own logic, and Eric finds he cannot forget the sable-haired beauty with whom he shared one night of passion. When Beth discovers that Eric has lied, however, she knows he cannot be trusted. Her mind tells her to forget the blue-eyed charmer. If only every fiber of her being did not burn to call him back.

I have one word for this book – HOT!  I have to say that Dahl saved the best for last in this Donovan Brewery Trilogy.  Before you read this book, I would recommend reading the short story “Just One Taste”.  It’s found in The Guy Next Door anthology.  It is the set up to this book were Eric and Beth has a one night stand as strangers.

This book picks up 6 months after Eric and Beth’s one night stand.  Neither one of them can stop thinking about each other and then Beth runs into Eric at his bar.  First they need to deal with the fact that during their one night stand Eric let Beth believe he was Jamie, his playboy brother.   This book starts out with a bang, and really keeps running the whole way through.  I pretty much read it in one day.

Beth is the manager of local lingerie, sex toy shop and Eric is part owner in a brewery.  Throughout this book both are dealing with career/job changes.  The storyline with the brewery has an arc throughout all 3 books, and I would say everything is resolved nicely in this last book.

Beth and Eric agree to keep their relationship a secret – and I think this is what adds spice to their many love scenes.   Some fantastic, blow your mind love scenes are written in this book, and not just 1 or 2 of them.  I would say read this book just for the sex scenes alone.

I have to say after reading this book – I pretty much have Victoria Dahl fever.  I’ve been searching Amazon and her website for titles of her backlist books.  I’ve read some of her historical romances and liked them, but now I’m a huge fan of her contemporary books.  Don’t miss out on this trilogy!

Reading order:

#0.5 – Just One Taste (Found in “The Guy Next Door”) – it’s only 100 pages long

#1 – Good Girls Don’t (Tessa Donovan’s Story)

#2 – Bad Boys Do (Jamie Donovan’s Story)

#3 – Real Men Will (Eric Donovan’s Story)

Grade: A

Posted in Contemporary, Review

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Sexiest Vampire Alice by Kerrelyn Sparks

Posted on October 3, 2011 by TBRG| 3 Comments

Title: The Sexiest Vampire Alive

Series: Love at Stake bk 11

Author: Kerrelyn Sparks

Genre: Paranormal

He was both a playboy and a vampire…and impossible to resist.

At the end of Vampire Mine, a terrible thing happened—a video was released that proved the existence of vampires. Now Vamps fear the worst, the Vampire Apocalypse! Will mortals start hunting vampires down and staking them in their death-sleep? At an emergency meeting, Coven Masters from around the world decide how to proceed. They need an emissary to open negotiations with the President of the United States. They want their emissary to be modern, safe, and harmless. A Vamp who has never bitten a mortal. A Vamp who has been entirely bottle-fed. Their choice—Gregori!

Now Gregori has the fate of the entire Vamp population on his shoulders. He’s given a special assignment that involves taking the president’s daughter on a dangerous mission. Will he succeed and save his friends? Or will he succumb to his playboy ways and doom them all?

This is one of those series that I devour as soon as there is a new book out. So when I go the email about this book I immediately said yes and then proceeded to read it in about 3 hours.

Gregori has always been one of my favorite characters, and this is his time to finally shine. You see Gregori has all these feelings of self-doubt and that hasn’t done anything to contribute to the war against the malcontents. It doesn’t matter that he is the head of marketing for Romantech. So when he is asked to be part of the team that goes to the President to tell them that yes Vampires are real he sees this as his opportunity to finally be an asset. He never expected however to have this instant connection with the one person he needs to stay away from.

Abigail is the President’s unknown daughter, not that she is really an unknown daughter she just prefers to stay in the background and concentrate on her science, or rather on finally finding a cure what is slowly killing her mother. So when her dad the president strikes an agreement with the vampires, if they take her deep into China to find a plant that may have the properties that she needs to find a cure for mom, she is all over that like white on rice. Never mind the fact that Gregori is handsome as sin and causes her to feel things that she would really rather not.

I have to say that I didn’t think that anything could make me change my favorite storyline and h/h in this series. I mean I have loved Ian from the very first book, and what he went through so that he could finally have what everyone around was having was amazing and he had the perfect heroine in Toni. That is until I read this book.

The conflict between these two is so heartfelt. Then there is the thing that Gregori does that he knows will make her hate him for the rest of her life but what he has no choice in doing. Their’s isn’t an easy road to love, not because they don’t love each other, but because of who they are and the fact that their chooses affect not only them but so many other people.

There is also a small secondary story regarding Sean Whalen and I have to say that it is about time. I can hardly wait to see where she goes with this one.

If you are a fan of this series then you won’t want to miss the this book.

Grade A-/B+

Other books in the series…

How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire

Vamps and the City

Sugarplums and Scandal (anthology)

Be still my Vampire Heart

The Undead Next Door

All I want for Christman is a Vampire

Secret Life of a Vampire

Forbidden Nights with a Vampire

The Vampire and the Virgin

Eat, Prey Love

Vampire Mine

Posted in Paranormal, Review

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