Monday, October 8, 2018

Review: Death Is Not Enough by Karen Rose

Title: Death Is Not Enough
Series: Karen Rose's Interconnecting Books, Baltimore, MD
Author: Karen Rose
Read copy: Mass Market Paperback
Published: October 2, 2018
Publisher: Berkley
ISBN: 0399586709
ISBN-13: 9780399586705

In his work as a defense attorney in Baltimore, Thorne has always been noble to a fault—specializing in helping young people in trouble in an attempt to atone for those he couldn't save when he himself was younger. He plays the part of the bachelor well, but secretly holds a flame for his best friend and business partner, Gwyn Weaver, a woman struggling to overcome her own demons. After four years, he thinks he might finally be ready to confess his feelings, come what may.

But his plans are derailed when he wakes up in bed with a dead woman, with no recollection of how he got there. Whoever is trying to frame Thorne is about to lead him down the rabbit hole of his past, something he thought he outran long ago—which means Thorne must figure out who's been keeping track of him, how much they know, and how far they'll go to bring him down...


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Friday, October 5, 2018

Review: To All the Rakes I've Loved Before by Anne Barton

Title: To All the Rakes I've Loved Before
Series: Honeycote
Author: Anne Barton
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: September 3, 2013
Publisher: Forever Yours
ASIN: B00C4W7GYK

After being jilted by her former beau, Miss Amelia Wimple retreated to her Mayfair town house and her ever-growing collection of gossips rags. Now, almost two years later, not even her beloved cousins, Rose and Olivia Sherbourne, can persuade her to give love another chance. But an unexpected midnight caller may open her heart once more.

Lord Stephen Brookes is the prince of pleasure, the duke of decadence—and it seems his exploits have finally caught up with him. When Stephen comes to Amelia seeking refuge, she can’t deny him...or the intense desire he sparks. As he attempts to heal her broken heart, they indulge in a private passion unlike anything either has experienced. Stephen knows sweet, sensual Amelia is meant to be his one and only. Now, he will do whatever it takes to convince her that a rake really can change his ways.


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Review: The Wicked Wife by Mary Lancaster

Title: The Wicked Wife
Series: Blackhaven Brides
Author: Mary Lancaster
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: October 4, 2018
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
ASIN: B07HPCMJYL

Can a wife hide behind a mask?

Lady Frances married her Scottish earl for love. Now one year and one child later, she feels bored, trapped and lonely, convinced Lord Torridon only married her for convenience. When she can stand it no longer, she flees his stately Highland home for the Edinburgh town house of her most scandalous friend, widow Ariadne Marshall.

Unfortunately, she has also brought the Torridon rubies, which she stakes in an outrageous wager with Ariadne—that their own families will not recognize them at a masked ball. In no time, they are off to Blackhaven, and the infamous masked ball at Frances’s old home.

Little does Frances know that her furious husband is on her trail...and that she is not the only one in disguise.

Among all the masks, misunderstandings, and general Blackhaven mayhem, can Frances and Torridon find a way back to each other before it’s too late?


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Thursday, October 4, 2018

Review: When She Was Wicked by Anne Barton

Title: When She Was Wicked
Series: Honeycote
Author: Anne Barton
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: January 29, 2013
Publisher: Forever
ASIN: B007ZFIVHW

Some rules simply beg to be broken...

A dressmaker in London's busiest shop, Miss Anabelle Honeycote overhears the ton's steamiest secrets—and (occasionally) uses them to her advantage. It isn't something she's proud of, but the reluctant blackmailer needs the money to care for her gravely ill mother. To make up for her misdeeds, Anabelle keeps to a firm set of rules:

    • Never request payment from someone who cannot afford it.
    • Never reveal the secrets of a paying client.
    • Never enter into any form of social interaction with a client.
Her list keeps her (somewhat) honest—until she encounters Owen Sherbourne, the Duke of Huntford. Not only does Owen nip Anabelle's extortion plans in the bud, the devilishly handsome Duke soon has the sexy seamstress dreaming of more than silks and satins. With Owen, Anabelle enjoys pleasures she never imagined...until a scandal from the past resurfaces. Now her rules could mean his family's ruin. Owen's searing kisses carry the promise of passion, but how will he react when Anabelle's most devastating secret is finally revealed?


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Wednesday, October 3, 2018

Review: Hunted by the Past by Jayne Evans

Title: Hunted by the Past
Series: Family Matters
Author: Jayne Evans
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: December 21, 2016
Publisher: Jayne Evans
ASIN: B01MRZVQFJ

To save their lives, he may have to reopen his deepest wounds.

On the eve of the biggest meeting of her career, corporate lawyer Lucy Smith has been saddled with her precocious nephew, courtesy of her flaky sister’s unexpected vacation.

Determined to stick to her plans, Lucy brings Nathan with her to the bank to close the deal. Instead, some nut-job robber forces her to point a gun at a cop, telling her to pull the trigger or watch Nathan die.

Detective Constable Grady Harrison manages to escape with only a flesh wound. And wearing only his boxers. But he can’t seem to convince Lucy that his gut instinct—the same instinct he’s ignored since it led to disaster in Afghanistan—warns him she wasn’t just a random hostage, but a target.

When Lucy’s car blows up, she’s forced to admit she needs Grady’s help, which melts her carefully ordered world into a chaotic pool of desire. But as threats pile up and Grady’s grip on his heart slips, the only thing standing between them and death is the last thing he trusts: his intuition.


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Tuesday, October 2, 2018

Review: Mountain of Lies by Jayne Evans

Title: Mountain of Lies
Series: The Pack
Author: Jayne Evans
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: December 18, 2016
Publisher: Jayne Evans
ASIN: B01N6IOSHR

When your life is built on a mountain of lies, the truth can be fatal.

Pinned by a rock slide while conducting an environmental impact study in British Columbia’s Coast Mountains, Mia Blackmore figures karma has finally caught up to her. Actually, she’s surprised she got away with her crime this long.

When a rough-looking man with a French-Canadian accent nearly steps on her head, rescue seems just a fingertip away—then the slope shifts again, sending them both hurtling down the mountain.

The slide may have freed the auburn-haired woman, but undercover cop Hudson McClure still needs to keep her safe from the thugs who think he’s one of their own. The gang isn’t going to give up looking for their downed helicopter full of drugs. And, as it turns out, Mia and her decidedly wolfish dog, Neville, are his best shot getting to the crash first.

Mia’s descent into Hudson’s dangerous world is like a landslide she is powerless to stop. Though her talent staying cool under pressure exceeds even Hudson’s own, there’s a hunted look in her evergreen eyes that warns him she’s hiding something—or from something. He just never anticipated her secrets could decide whether they get off the mountain alive...or in body bags.


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Sunday, September 30, 2018

Review: The Wicked Gypsy by Mary Lancaster

Title: The Wicked Gypsy
Series: Blackhaven Brides
Author: Mary Lancaster
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: August 21, 2018
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
ASIN: B07G3GM8S2

An old Blackhaven tragedy merges with a new quarrel...

When Gervaise, the Earl of Braithwaite, first sees beautiful gypsy Dawn, he is struck by her likeness to his political enemy, Julius Gardyn. In his cups, he grasps the opportunity for a little vengeance and sweeps her off to his ancestral castle. In the morning, he is frustrated in his attempts to make things right by Dawn herself, who refuses to return to her family.

Dawn, dazzled by the handsome earl, has several reasons for staying with him. Pretending to be Eleanor Gardyn, lost heiress to Haven Hall, begins as a fun means to upset the earl’s enemy, but when memories begin to tug at her, everything becomes much more serious. As she falls heavily in love with Gervaise, she starts to believe that happiness might be possible. Until the earl’s prospective bride arrives at the castle.

However, many people, including Julius, fail to see the steel beneath Gervaise’s good nature. Few have noticed that he always gets what he wants in the end. And he wants Dawn.


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