Saturday, January 2, 2021

Review: The Duke and I by Julia Quinn

Title: The Duke and I
Series: Bridgertons
Author: Julia Quinn
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: April 28, 2015
Publisher: Avon
ASIN:B00UG8RP8Q

In the ballrooms and drawing rooms of Regency London, rules abound. From their earliest days, children of aristocrats learn how to address an earl and curtsey before a prince—while other dictates of the ton are unspoken yet universally understood. A proper duke should be imperious and aloof. A young, marriageable lady should be amiable…but not too amiable.

Daphne Bridgerton has always failed at the latter. The fourth of eight siblings in her close-knit family, she has formed friendships with the most eligible young men in London. Everyone likes Daphne for her kindness and wit. But no one truly desires her. She is simply too deuced honest for that, too unwilling to play the romantic games that captivate gentlemen.

Amiability is not a characteristic shared by Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings. Recently returned to England from abroad, he intends to shun both marriage and society—just as his callous father shunned Simon throughout his painful childhood. Yet an encounter with his best friend's sister offers another option. If Daphne agrees to a fake courtship, Simon can deter the mamas who parade their daughters before him. Daphne, meanwhile, will see her prospects and her reputation soar.

The plan works like a charm—at first. But amid the glittering, gossipy, cut-throat world of London's elite, there is only one certainty: love ignores every rule...


My rating:

Saturday, December 1, 2018

Review: The One You Fight For by Roni Loren

Title: The One You Fight For
Series: The Ones Who Got Away
Author: Roni Loren
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: January 1, 2019
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
ASIN: B07DD1D9LJ

How hard would you fight for the one you love?

Taryn Landry was there that awful night fourteen years ago when Long Acre changed from the name of a town to the title of a national tragedy. Everyone knows she lost her younger sister. No one knows it was her fault. Since then, psychology professor Taryn has dedicated her life's work to preventing something like that from ever happening again. Falling in love was never part of the plan...

Shaw Miller has spent more than a decade dealing with the fallout of his brother's horrific actions. After losing everything—his chance at Olympic gold, his family, almost his sanity—he's changed his name, his look, and he's finally starting a new life. As long as he keeps a low profile and his identity secret, everything will be okay, right?

When the world and everyone you know defines you by one catastrophic tragedy...
How do you find your happy ending?


My rating:

Thursday, November 22, 2018

Review: The Villa by Nora Roberts

Title: The Villa
Author: Nora Roberts

Read copy: Paperback
Published: July 1, 2014
Publisher: Berkley
ISBN: 0425223876
ISBN-13: 9780425223871

PR executive Sophia Giambelli loves her job and has never worried about competition. For three generations, her family’s wines have been world-renowned for their quality. But things are about to change at Villa Giambelli. Tereza, the matriarch, has announced a merger with the MacMillan family’s winery—and Sophia will be assuming a new role. As a savvy businesswoman, she knows she must be prepared for anything...but she isn’t prepared for Tyler MacMillan. They’ve been ordered to work together very closely, to facilitate the merger. Sophia must teach Ty the finer points of marketing—and Ty, in turn, shows her how to get down and dirty, to use the sun, rain, and earth to coax the sweetest grapes from the vineyard.

As they toil together, both in and out of the fields, Sophia is torn between a powerful attraction and a professional rivalry. At the end of the season, the course of the company’s future—and the legacy of the villa—may take an entirely new direction. And when acts of sabotage threaten both the family business and the family itself, Sophia’s quest will be not only for dominance, but also for survival.


My rating:

Sunday, November 18, 2018

Review: A Night To Remember by Celeste Bradley & Susan Donovan

Title: A Night to Remember
Author: Celeste Bradley, Susan Donovan

Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: April 5, 2011
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
ASIN: B004TLJ7VE

WEDDING KNIGHT by Celeste Bradley
Alfred Knight will do anything to avoid a scandal—even marry a woman he barely knows. But his bride has a most titillating secret...one she'll share as soon as she conquers her temptation for the man she was never supposed to marry!

HAVE MERCY by Susan Donovan
Win Mackland is a stressed-out screenwriter who holes up in her agent’s Berkshire mountain retreat to finish a script. Win soon gets distracted—and then inspired—by her outrageously sexy neighbor.


My rating:

Friday, November 16, 2018

Review: Once Upon a Duke by Eva Devon

Title: Once Upon A Duke
Series: Duke's Club
Author: Eva Devon
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: July 5, 2014
Publisher: Bard Publishing
ASIN: B00LKNP8DU

What a Widow Wants

Everything is going swimmingly for Kathryn Darrell. She's got an annuity of a hundred thousand a year, her lecherous, heart breaking husband has had the good graces to pop off, and best of all, she has her freedom— Something she has every intention of reveling in to the fullest. And who better to revel with than Ryder Blake, the infamous Duke of Darkwell?

A Duke's Desire

Ryder Blake, Duke of Darkwell, known as the Duke of Debauchery, is certain he will never love again. His heart lies buried with his wife and he has vowed to never give more than his body to a woman. But when Kathryn shows up on his doorstep, quite literally, demanding he show her the ways of London, he finds that his heart longs to love once again.


My rating:

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Review: Crave the Heat by Marnee Blake

Title: Crave the Heat
Series: The Smokejumpers
Author: Marnee Blake
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: January 15, 2019
Publisher: Lyrical Liaison
ASIN: B07DSZWR2G

Fan the flames of desire...

Smokejumper Dak Parrish has come home to Oregon to fight fires—and to mend fences with his family. He left the Warm Springs Tribal Reservation after feuding with his father. Now, with tribal lands threatened by an arsonist, Dak gets a chance to make amends by acting as a liaison between the reservation and the forest service criminal investigator—a woman who sparks a surprising and hungry flame in him.

After a trauma on the east coast, Heidi Sinclair left DC to start fresh as a criminal investigator in Oregon. But her first serious investigation provides one stubborn obstacle after another—including an arrogant firefighter she suspects knows more than he's saying. Though she tries to battle her attraction to Dak, it’s too late. As they track down the arsonist, someone will do whatever it takes to keep old secrets buried, even if it turns everything Heidi and Dak have fought for to ashes...


My rating:

Monday, November 12, 2018

Review: Tempt the Flames by Marnee Blake

Title: Tempt the Flames
Series: The Smokejumpers
Author: Marnee Blake
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: September 11, 2018
Publisher: Lyrical Liaison
ASIN: B078LJTYTF

Someone is bound to get burned...

Meg Buchanan is determined to prove she didn’t get the trainer job in Redmond, Oregon’s rookie smokejumper class because of her family’s long history as firefighters—or out of pity. But if teaching one of her own brothers isn’t challenge enough, she’s shocked to see Lance Roberts in the new class of recruits. Once her brother’s best friend, and her first, unrequited crush, he’s also the son of the man responsible for her dad’s death.

Lance is stunned to realize that this confident redhead is the stubborn girl he once dreamed about. There’s no way he can fall for her now. He needs to focus all his attention on his training—and uncover the truth behind the long-ago fire that killed both their fathers. But as the undeniable heat between them threatens to ignite, someone attempts to put an end to Lance’s amateur sleuthing—and his life...


My rating: