Tag Archives: Elizabeth Hoyt

TBRG Top 5 Historical Reads of 2011

What makes for a great historical romance? In our humble opinion the authors that are in our top 5 historical reads of the year have the magic touch when it comes to crafting stories that sweep us away from the 21st century and into the past, where it’s the American West, Regency England or the Wilds of the Scottish Highlands.

Melanie’s top 5

  1. Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn
  2. Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke by Sarah MacLean
  3. The Many Sins of Lord Cameron by Jennifer Ashley
  4. Midnight’s Wild Passion by Anna Campbell
  5. Scandal of the Year by Laura Lee Guhrke

Janon’s top 5

  1. Waking up with the Duke by Lorraine Heath
  2. Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase
  3. Yours Until Dawn by Teresa Medeiros
  4. The Many Sins of Lord Cameron by Jennifer Ashley
  5. Texas Destiny by Lorraine Heath

Heather’s Top 5

  1. After Dark with a Scoundrel by Alexandra Hawkins
  2. Never Love a Highlander by Maya Banks
  3. Scandalous Desires by Elizabeth Hoyt
  4. Lord and Lady Spy by Shana Galen
  5. The Many Sins of Lord Cameron by Jennifer Ashley

We’re a little more diversified in this category but we all loved Jennifer Ashley’s Lord Cameron what a great hero he was.

Scandalous Desire by Elizabeth Hoyt

Title: Scandalous Desire

Series: Maiden Lane Series bk 3

Author: Elizabeth Hoyt

Genre: Historical Romance

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.

Ever since the first book in this series I have been waiting for this story. You couldn’t read Wicked Intentions without knowing that this story was coming.We just didn’t know what was going to happen.

From the moment I picked this book up I couldn’t put it down. I was never really sure how she was going to redeem Mickey from being a ruthless bastard or how she was going to make Silence into a believable heroine. I should have trusted Elizabeth. They way this story came to together was amazing.

Mickey and Silence’s road to HEA is most definitely not easy. There is anger, revulsion, derision, sexual tension, and a really nasty guy that is out to destroy everything Mickey has including Silence and his daughter.

Silence had no intentions of liking Mickey. In fact she blamed him for the destruction of her marriage and her reputation. The fact that he has taken the baby she has been raising for over a year has her so angry she wants to do serious harm to him. When he reveals that he is the father of said baby and to keep her she has to stay with him. What she never expected was for her feelings to change.

Mickey doesn’t have a selfless bone in his body. However he will protect those he considers his with everything in him. He put his daughter in Silence’s home because that is where he thought she would do the most good for him. When his great4est enemy discovers she exists he begins to discover a side of him he never knew existed.

Watching Mickey and Silence discover sides of themselves they didn’t know were there was an experience. Their love story isn’t one of those easy loves that you normally see in historical romance stories. It is hard and gritty. But in the end the sacrifices that they both make are one of the most powerful endings I have ever read.

And the reveal of who the Ghost of St.Giles is was sooo not who I thought it was.

If you like unconventional heroes and heroines then you will want to read this book. This is definitely a book that you need to read the previous books to truly understand everything that is going on.

Grade A-

Other books in the

Wicked Intentions

 

Notorious Pleasures

Thanks & Recap

Just wanted to give a huge shout of thanks to all the authors who helped us out this week and to everyone who stopped by.  Heather and I are really excited about starting this venture together and I hope you all have fun along the way with us.

We will post the winners on Sunday so plan on checking in to see if you are one of the lucky ones.

Just in case you did not get a chance to see the author responses to our question we asked here they are again.  If you can figure out which author is new to this post you might win a book also.  Just post a comment and we will draw a winner from the correct answers

We asked a few of our favorite authors what their go to books or authors are right now and where do they go to relax and read.  Here are their responses.

Carly Phillips:   http://www.carlyphillips.com/ A few months ago I would have said I’m a true contemporary reader. Only. That’s still the case … without the only! I’ve recently strayed into a genre I never thought would hold any interest for me – paranormal.  It’s been a fantastic break from my normal reading and when I’ve devoured my contemporary authors and am waiting for a new release.  As for which authors, in contemporary – my fellow Plotmonkeys, Leslie Kelly aka Leslie Parrish, Julie Leto, and Janelle Denison … and also Toni Blake, Erin McCarthy’s racecar series, Victoria Dahl, Jill Shalvis, Rachel Gibson.  And now in my new paranormal phase, I’m devouring Nalini Singh, Meaghan Hatfield, Larissa Ione.  As for where? On my Kindle … wherever I can.  In bed usually since reading is a treat for when I can relax but in my car while waiting for the kids works too!

Erin Nicholas:  http://www.erinnicholas.com/ I almost always go for contemporaries first, though I have favorites in historical, erotic, and paranormal too. I have a few go-to authors who always deliver for me but the two that first come to mind are Erin McCarthy and Susan Andersen. I have a big chair by my picture window that I love to curl up in with my Kindle! :)

Susan Mallery: http://www.susanmallery.com I’ve always been a romance fan. Romance novels are my go-to books, though of course I read in other genres from time to time. Romances affirm my view of the world as a good place where men and women find a way to avoid killing each other, despite sometimes overwhelming temptation. I read everywhere, but if we’re talking a truly relaxing read, there’s nothing like curling up on the sofa with a good book.

Anna Campbell:   http://www.annacampbell.info/ A great historical sweeps me away into a world of romance like nothing else so when I’ve got spare time, I tend to read the competition (LOL!). I love to read in bed, especially when it’s raining outside!

Alexandra Hawkins:  http://www.alexandrahawkins.com/ No contest–Romance. I read all sub-genres. Where do I like to read? The sofa in my family room reclines so it’s a comfy place to read.

Sarah MacLean: http://www.macleanspace.com I love historicals, but when I’m just trying to get away from work, I love contemporaries. Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Rachel Gibson, Kristan Higgins, and when I run out of them, I’m always down for the One Click packs for Kindle from Harlequin! As for the where, anywhere my dog is curled up is always a first choice.

Stephanie Laurens: http://www.stephanielaurens.com/         I read a lot of different genre fiction. Always genre, but it could be crime/mystery, fantasy or romance. I read in bed, pretty much every single night. I have a silk-covered, silk-fiber filled comforter, European pillows to prop myself up with, and my cats always come to sit with me–one on my stomach, the other between my calves. As far as they’re concerned, that’s how it has to be

Nalini Singh:   http://www.nalinisingh.com/ I have quite eclectic reading tastes and depending on my reading mood, will read anything from thrillers to sf/fantasy, to any number of sub-genres of romance (of course!) and more. I read some non-fiction as well, partly for research purposes and partly just because the topic interests me. Some of my favorite authors are Anne McCaffrey, Mercedes Lackey. Anne Bishop, Christine Feehan, Meljean Brook, Ilona Andrews, Patricia Briggs, Jayne Castle/Jayne Ann Krentz, JD Robb, Julie Garwood, Jude Deveraux, Lisa Kleypas…and seriously, I could keep going. I love reading, and I’m always trying out new authors alongside my favorites. My most recent “finds” have been Joss Ware (love the Envy Chronicles!) and Jess Granger with her futuristic romances. As for where I read – everywhere I can!

Jessa Slade:     http://jessaslade.wordpress.com/ As a writer, I consider it my sacred duty to read. I have a breakfast book, a backpack book, a bedside book, and a bathtub book. And usually a few more besides :)  I read a lot in my genre — urban fantasy romance — but like most booksluts, I’ll peel back the cover on anything. At RomCon this year (where I met the Book Reading Gals!) I had the chance to sit with Nalini Singh, C.L. Wilson and Christine Feehan. It was like my bookshelf sprang to life!

Erin Kellison:  http://www.erinkellison.com/ Chances to relax are seldom with little kids and a book on deadline, so I have to steal time to get my reading fix. I generally choose fantasy, but really enjoy a lot of genre fiction. I had surgery last week and got to read Mockingjay in one sitting. Love that feeling of sinking into a book. My favorite place to go? The beach. Combine that with a book and a lazy afternoon and I am in heaven.

Leslie Parish:     http://www.authorleslieparrish.com/ Whenever I want to read purely for enjoyment, I tend to stay away from romance because I’m so immersed in it in my job, I just want something different for down-time.So I typically pick up a horror or thriller novel (Stephen King is my favorite) or something so funny it leaves me breathless (Christopher Moore is my go-to author for this!) I most recently read The Passage by Justin Cronin, a futuristic vampire/zombie armageddon story and really loved it.

Historical

Today we will discuss my favorite genre, Historicals.  These are my go to books when I am stressed out or just need to escape to somewhere else I reach over and grab a good historical.  I love how I can experience another time and place for a little while, without leaving the comforts of now.  I am also grateful to these authors for doing such great research and trying to make things as accurate as possible, I have learned a lot from reading their books.   Some of my favorite historical authors are: Julia Quinn, Lisa Kleypas, Anna Campbell, Brenda Joyce, Julie Garwood.

The very first romance bookthat  Heather ever read that wasn’t a harlequin was a historical that took place in Wyoming, it was Johanna Lindsey’s Brave the Wild Wind, from the moment she read this she was hooked.  She would hide the books behind her school books and read Johanna Lindsey instead of schoolwork.  To this day this genre is one of her favorites and some of her favorite authors are Stephanie Laurens, Johanna Lindsey, Julia Quinn, Elizabeth Hoyt and Julie Garwood.  There is nothing better than picking up a book and being transported into the past. She even used some of the history she learned in historical romances to help her write a paper in one of her anthropolgy classes and got an A on it.

What are some of your favorite historicals and do you have a favorite time period or place that you love to read about?

One commenter will win some fabulous books

Now some more of our author answers:

Anna Campbell:   http://www.annacampbell.info/ A great historical sweeps me away into a world of romance like nothing else so when I’ve got spare time, I tend to read the competition (LOL!). I love to read in bed, especially when it’s raining outside!

Alexandra Hawkins:  http://www.alexandrahawkins.com/ No contest–Romance. I read all sub-genres. Where do I like to read? The sofa in my family room reclines so it’s a comfy place to read.

Sarah MacLean: http://www.macleanspace.com I love historicals, but when I’m just trying to get away from work, I love contemporaries. Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Rachel Gibson, Kristan Higgins, and when I run out of them, I’m always down for the One Click packs for Kindle from Harlequin! As for the where, anywhere my dog is curled up is always a first choice.

Stephanie Laurens: http://www.stephanielaurens.com/         I read a lot of different genre fiction. Always genre, but it could be crime/mystery, fantasy or romance. I read in bed, pretty much every single night. I have a silk-covered, silk-fiber filled comforter, European pillows to prop myself up with, and my cats always come to sit with me–one on my stomach, the other between my calves. As far as they’re concerned, that’s how it has to be

Wicked Intentions

Wicked Intentions
Maiden Lane Series bk 1

Elizabeth Hoyt

A MAN CONTROLLED BY HIS DESIRES

Infamous for his wild, sensual needs, Lazarus Huntington, Lord Caire, is searching for a savage killer in St. Giles, London’s most notorious slum. Widowed Temperance Dews knows the area like the back of her hand—she cares for its children at the foundling home her family established. Now that home is at risk…
A WOMAN HAUNTED BY HER PAST
Caire makes a simple offer—in return for Temperance’s help navigating the perilous alleys of St. Giles, he will introduce her to high society so that she can find a benefactor for the home. But Temperance may not be the innocent she seems, and what begins as a cold bargain soon falls prey to a passion neither can control—and may well destroy them both.
I have always enjoyed Elizabeth Hoyt’s historicals because they are always a little different from the others, and this one is no exception.
As I started the book, I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it, because it was unlike any book that I can remember reading, but it kept me intrigued, because I couldn’t figure out how she was going to make it work, but make it work she did. The time period is also different as this book takes place in 1737.
She took two very unlikely characters and thrust them together in way that you saw them differently than anyone else saw them, but also wouldn’t allow them to hide who they were from each other.
Caire is a lord, but we never find out what his title is exactly, and Temperance is from one of the worst neighborhoods in the city. Like I said two very unlikely characters and matches, and yet they compliment each other very well.
Because of the characters and the plot of the book I couldn’t put it down and was up till the wee hours reading it because I had to see what was going to happen and how it would end. I will say that as far the secondary story line goes I had more questions than answers at the end of the book, but I have a feeling it will be a story line that goes throughout the series at least I hope it is.
If you are a fan of Elizabeth Hoyt’s than this book will not disappoint and if you haven’t yet picked up one of her books you can’t go wrong with this book.
This book will be available for purchase on July 27th 2010
I give this book a 4.5 out of 5.
Who do you think are two unlikely pairings? Leave your comment either here or on the FB page to be entered to win one of 2 copies of this book. The contest will close at midnight on Monday night. We will draw one from here and one from the FB page.

The Prince’s Trilogy

I am going to review these books in one post as I read them all back to back in one day (thank you Cindy I blame you for that).
Rating 4
THERE COMES A TIME IN A LADY’S LIFE… Widowed Anna Wren is having a wretched day. After an arrogant male on horseback nearly squashes her, she arrives home to learn that she is in dire financial straits. What is a gently bred lady to do?
WHEN SHE MUST DO THE UNTHINKABLE… The Earl of Swartingham is in a quandary. Having frightened off two secretaries, Edward de Raaf needs someone who can withstand his bad temper and boorish behavior. Dammit! How hard can it be to find a decent secretary?
AND FIND EMPLOYMENT. When Anna becomes the earl’s secretary, both their problems are solved. Then she discovers he plans to visit the most notorious brothel in London for his “manly” needs. Well! Anna sees red—and decides to assuage her “womanly” desires . . . with the earl as her unknowing lover.

Rating 3.75

THE ONE THING A LADY MUST NEVER DO… Wealthy Lady Georgina Maitland doesn’t want a husband, though she could use a good steward to run her estates. One look at Harry Pye, and Georgina knows she’s not just dealing with a servant, but a man.
IS FALL IN LOVE… Harry has known many aristocrats—including one particular nobleman who is his sworn enemy. But Harry has never met a beautiful lady so independent, uninhibited, and eager to be in his arms.
WITH HER SERVANT. Still, it’s impossible to conduct a discreet liaison when poisoned sheep, murdered villagers, and an enraged magistrate have the county in an uproar. The locals blame Harry for everything. Soon it’s all Georgina can do to keep her head above water and Harry’s out of the noose…without missing another night of love.

Rating 4

Country bred Lucy Craddock-Hayes is content with her quiet life. Until the day she trips over an unconscious man – a naked unconscious man – and loses her innocence forever .
Viscount Simon Iddesleigh was nearly beaten to death by his enemies. Now he’s hell-bent on vengeance. But as Lucy nurses him back to health, her honesty startles his jaded sensibilities – even as it ignites a desire that threatens to consume them both.
Charmed by Simon’s sly wit, urbane manners, and even his red-heeled shoes, Lucy falls hard and fast for him. Yet as his honor keeps him from ravishing her, his revenge sends his attackers to her door. As Simon wages war on his foes, Lucy wages her own war for his soul using the only weapon she has – her love.
REVIEW: Okay so I read these three books back to back, and because of that I lumped them all together as one book. These are fantastic stories. I loved the friendship between the three men and how they helped each other win their lady loves. Speaking of lady loves, these women definitely know their own minds and aren’t afraid to go after it.
I really enjoyed these books, as soon as I finished one I had to pick up the next one. When I finished the last book I was really disappointed as I wanted more of these three couples. I couldn’t give them a higher rating however because for such good friends there was no interaction between the couples. When I read a series it’s because I liked the characters enough to continue reading and seeing the interaction, and character development, and there was none of that, until the very end of the books.

Ok who introduced me to…

Curse and rot the person that introduced me to Paula Quinn and Elizabeth Hoyt. I have spent the day on the couch reading a bunch of books each by these authors. I have read all Prince books by Elizabeth Hoyt and 2 books by Paula Quinn and I want more. So now my pile of books to blog about has increased to 10 books. That leaves only 6 books left in my tbr pile of books from the library. I guess I had better get updating, and looking out for more books.