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She pulled back, but not abruptly. His eyes were the darkest indigo blue that she had ever seen. She let a faint smile curl on her lips. "You inquire how many kisses of yours would be enough, and more to satisfy me," she said, and was startled to hear a husky catch in her voice. "As many as the grains of Libyan sand that lie between hot Jupiter's oracle… as many…" She paused. The look in his eye had made her forget what she was saying. What came after hot oracle!

He didn't look sardonic now, but truly surprised. She had to leave. This was all entirely too intimate and uncomfortable.

"Alas," she said, gathering up her skirts again and turning toward the rockslide. "I have quite forgotten the next line, so we shall have to delay this learned discussion." He was at her shoulder in a moment, helping her over the stones.

"As many as the stars," he said, conversationally, as if they were talking of gardening, or Romans, or any number of polite topics. "As many as the stars, when the night is still, gazing down on secret human desires."

Much Ado About You by Eloisa James

Much Ado About You

Grade: B+

Summary: When you're the oldest daughter, you don't get to have any fun!
Witty, orphaned Tess Essex faces her duty: marry well and marry quickly, so she can arrange matches for her three sisters -- beautiful Annabel, romantic Imogen and practical Josie.After all, right now they're under the rather awkward guardianship of the perpetually tipsy Duke of Holbrook. But just when she begins to think that all might end well, one of her sisters bolts with a horse-mad young lord, and her own fiancee; just plain runs away.
Which leaves Tess contemplating marriage to the sort of man she wishes to avoid -- one of London's most infamous rakes. Lucius Felton is a rogue whose own mother considers him irredeemable! He's delicious, Annabel points out. And he's rich,Josie notes. But although Tess finally consents to marry him, it may be for the worst reason of all. Absurd as she knows it to be, she may have fallen utterly in love

Review: I like how this book started out with describing the Essex sisters and how they are all different. Series which have lead ladies with different personalities are always fun reads for me. (Wallflowers anyone?)
I don't mind when it becomes apparent right off the bat who the heroine is going to fall in love with, in fact I kind of enjoy how giddy I get when they are about to meet or are meeting for the first time. When Lucius is about to walk into the dining room and meet a slightly tipsy Tess the smile on my face was unstoppable.
The discourse between Derwent, Lucius's manservant, and Lucius is hilarious. I definitely hope Derwent sticks around in this story. I love how Derwent's eye twitching means to him calamity in the worse form, or to him marriage and just wants to escape the house while everyone is still a bachelor.
I'm quite enjoying the feistiness between Lucius and Tess, especially when Tess responds with "Much ado about nothing.." in regards to their kiss and Lucius's marriage proposal because of it. I love when author's work in the title of the book into the story somehow, adds a little something for me.
Such a plethora of characters that the main ones, Lucius and Tess, get lost in the mix at times. There is not much interaction between the two, but boy howdy when there is action it is intense. This is the first book in a series, the cast of characters are just getting introduce which is why Tess's other sisters get so much attention. Usually I get annoyed when the author gets to busy pimping her other characters for future books but the characters here are so interesting and intriguing as to where they could possible end up that I didn't mind…..at times.
I don’t know, after I finished reading the book I felt like Lucius and Tess's story was unfinished somehow. I felt like this couple had so much more to give! I would have also liked to have had more of Lucius and his thoughts and feelings throughout the book. The whole deal with Lucius and his parents felt completely unsettled, in fact the whole ending felt unsettled. There was a cutesy epilogue but it didn't satisfy me. This was a really good book but like I said before Lucius and Tess were pushed to the back by everyone else's drama. (My God Tess's sister Imogen certainly stole the show towards the end of the book for sure). Lucius was such an intriguing sexy character that for him not to be rewarded with a bulk of the spotlight, in his own book no less, was a shame. I would have loved to have read the conversation between Lucius and the Earl of Mayne on Tess's wedding day; at the end of the book we learn Lucius told the Earl of Mayne "to leave" but I still would have liked to read that scene!
This was once again sooo close to being a keeper for me; if only Tess and Lucius had spent more time together! I am excited to read the next book in this series, it's Annabel's story. Hopefully, with one sister out of the way that book will be less crowed and there will be more focus on who are suppose to be the main characters.
Oh, I almost forgot! What the hell happened to Derwent!?! I hate when authors introduce characters, get you interested in them, but never mention them again. Derwent and Lucius needed to have many more witty misogynist slanted conversations!



Next to be read: "Kiss me, Annabel" #2 in Essex Sisters series by Eloisa James

The Bride Thief

Grade: B+

Summary: HAS ENGLAND'S MOST INFAMOUS BRIDE THIEF FINALLY MET HIS MATCH?
At six-and-twenty, Samantha Briggeham knew her marital prospects were fading by the season and she was pleased by the thought. She had no intention of being betrothed-especially against her will-to a man she did not love. She had a plan...and it didn't include being swept into a pair of powerful arms and spirited away by a masked rider. News of Sammie's heroic rescue from undesired wedlock turned her into the toast of the ton, wooed by suitors far and wide. But she couldn't forget the swashbuckling brigand who'd abducted her-something about him intrigued her completely. Then she met Eric Landsdowne, the dashing and seductive Earl of Wesley.
His exploits were legendary, his life filled with danger. He was the elusive Bride Thief, who had his own reasons for helping young women escape the unhappy fate of arranged marriages, and whose true identity was a scrupulously guarded secret. But from the moment he rescued Sammie-only to discover she'd already managed to get herself un-betrothed-Eric knew he couldn't lose her a second time. Marriage was out of the question. Which left only one option: A clandestine affair that might lead to scandal, social ruin, and the unmasking of a love-bested legend. . .

Review: It took a while for me to get into this book. The main lead character Sammie(Samantha) seemed almost too silly, cutesy, and absent minded. She is 26 yrs, unmarried (Oh the shame!) a bluestocking, and carries a toad around with her. I'm 50 pgs in and not sure if I am feeling her yet.
The cabin scene was finally where this book grabbed me and I finally found myself getting involved with the story. Eric or The Bride Thief kidnapped Sammie thinking she was about to be married to a man she was not in favor of and brings her to a cabin to help her figure out her future. Sammie explained she already took care of the problem. Anyway, their conversation in the cabin is where this story and characters started to come alive for me. I hope the author puts these two characters together a lot because right now it is the characters chemistry which is keeping me into this book.
Sigh, Eric and Sammie are so perfect for each other! I do find it a tad odd how Sammie doesn't seem to give it a second thought about becoming a fallen woman, she's banking on noone finding out. I love her attitude of wanting to experience everything life has to offer a woman but this ideology is more modern thinking. Yes, Sammie is a bluestocking (old term for intelligent dare I say feminist woman) but if she really cared about her family as she is portrayed as feeling she would never want to do anything to cause them pain. If anyone ever found out she was giving the milk away for free her whole family would be outcasts. So this whole deal of Sammie actively pursuing Eric for a liaison seems selfish of her considering the consequences and the author has written her to be the exact opposite. I love strong women characters but sometimes I think authors get too crazy with putting modern women ideals in 18th century women. I don't doubt for one second modern ideals didn't cross their minds but unfortunately they had a lot more severe consequences.
The newspaper articles chronicling the intensifying search for the Bride Thief at the beginning of chapters add a touch of suspense and tenseness. This balances out nicely with Sammie and Eric's easy and gradual moving relationship. I am happy the author kept the focus on Sammie and Eric and kept Eric's pursuits as the Bride Thief secondary.
This is the type of book you curl up in a window seat with an afghan covering your legs, while you sip on a cup of hot chocolate (I dislike tea and coffee, crazy I know) as it rains outside. Sammie and Eric are definitely what make this story enjoyable. Their relationship is slow building and almost could be described as languid but I took pleasure in reading what I would call an old fashioned romance book.
This story doesn't have much pizzazz or bells and whistles but if you're looking for a nice, slow, comfort read Sammie and Eric's story is for you. This wasn't quite a keeper for me but I am so happy I read it, even if it did start out slow, and in fact after I finished reading it left a lingering smile on my face.

Oh and I learned a new word: escritoire - A piece of furniture used as a writing table, commonly with drawers, pigeonholes, and the like. A secretary or writing desk.


Next to be read: "Much Ado About You" #1 in Essex Sisters series by Eloise James

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—that if she touched him right now, their flesh would recognize each other. The wildest thought: these scars, his and hers, would speak to each other, communicating intimacies that could not be unshared.

Written on Your Skin Meredith Duran

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She had told herself she should be reassured by his squeamishness; a man who balked at scars would not give her new ones. Now she suddenly wondered if she’d had it wrong. A man without scars would always underestimate their value. He would not see them as marks of courage.

Written on Your Skin Meredith Duran

Written on Your Skin

Grade: C+

Summary:

THE SOCIETY BEAUTY WHO SAVED HIS LIFE...
Beauty, charm, wealthy admirers: Mina Masters enjoys every luxury but freedom. To save herself from an unwanted marriage, she turns her wiles on a darkly handsome stranger. But Mina's wouldbe hero is playing his own deceptive game. A British spy, Phin Granville has no interest in emotional entanglements...until the night Mina saves his life by gambling her own.
THE JADED SPY WHO VOWED TO FORGET HER...
Four years later, Phin inherits a title that frees him from the bloody game of espionage. But memories of the woman who saved him won't let Phin go. When he learns that Mina needs his aid, honor forces him back into the world of his nightmares.
IN LIVES BUILT ON LIES,
LOVE IS THE DARKEST SECRET OF ALL...
Deception has ruled Mina's life just as it has Phin's. But as the beauty and the spy match wits in a dangerous dance, their practiced masks begin to slip, revealing a perilous attraction. And the greatest threat they face may not be traitors or murderous conspiracies, but their own dark desires....


Review: Incredible mother/daughter conversation in the first chapter. I really felt for both of them and could see both sides of the argument. There were a lot of insightful and very thought provoking comments in that conversation. The author's writing was very intense and spectacular.
This story definitely had a darker tone and may not be for everyone. I personally enjoyed the underbelly of human psyche aspect of the book.
This book was infused with intelligent humor and it was a treat to read a fresh, new view on regency romance stories. The romance field is starting to be over saturated with regency romance stories if you ask me; writers or publishing companies seem to have forgotten there are other historical time periods out there people wouldn't mind reading about. There were times when I was reading this story that the author's writing style made me think of Connie Brockway and faintly of Marsha Canham (but without the historical detail). This constitutes as very high praise from me.
This book took a long time for me to finish and I don't really know why. When I was reading it I felt very involved and the story had an emotional tenseness not found in a lot of books. However, when I stepped away from it, I found it very hard to get myself to pick it up again. I didn't feel the gripping desire to start reading the story I usually do with great books. It's so strange how I would find other things to do instead of getting back to the story. I think the bigger picture part of the story was not captivating enough. On the other hand I enjoyed this author's intelligent, dark, intense writing style.
At the end of the day (forgive me I have been watching way too much Sportscenter) this book just didn't do it for me. I never felt a burning desire to finish the story. The beginning intrigued me but the middle and end dragged for me. Like I said before it is a different take on regency romance so if you want something new it might worth a shot. Phin and Mina have such dark, deep layers to their personalities that I kept thinking the best way to describe this book would be to call it a cold blooded romance story.




Next to be read: "The Bride Thief" by Jacquie D'Alessandro

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Reese grabbed the back of the nearest easy chair and whis­pered, "Honey, baby, come to mama."

Smart Mouth by Erin McCarthy

Smart Mouth

Grade: B

Summary: Undercover FBI agent Derek Knight has no idea what he's in for. His game plan for having a confidential witness leave an envelope for him in a Ford Taurus falls like a house of cards when the witness turns out to be colour blind, leaving the envelope in the wrong car. Reporter Reece Hampton really has no idea what she's in for - the red Taurus she's just hopped into is now the focal point of Knight's attention since it mistakenly contains the crucial evidential envelope. Driving like a bat of hell, Reece and Knight play a game of cat and mouse until he's finally able to pull her over at a deli parking lot - but all hell breaks loose when by-standers see the overzealous Knight confront the unsuspecting and clueless reporter. After the police are called in and finally get to the heart of the matter, Reece ducks out a back door and reads the contents in the envelope which contains information that could, quite possibly, propel her career from reporting local weddings to big stories in the big time. By the time Knight catches up with her, sparks fly, and both, needing each other's help to succeed, make a very sexy team who will not be beaten.

Review: Haha, great beginning! I've often been very paranoid like the female lead character Reese when by myself in a parking garage. I love how she starts to get into the car chase a little bit and the deli scene is hilarious. I can already tell Derek isn't going to know what hit him when he meets up with this woman.
Ok, call me wimpy or whatever but I don't think I would withhold evidence from a F.B.I agent. I know Reese is a reporter but damn it's the F.B.I! I would prefer not to end up in Gitmo or wherever the new one is going to be thank you very much.
"Turn around I want to look at your ass." Classic. I'm sure at some point in their lives every woman has wanted to demand this of a man and I give props to Reese for actually saying it.
Honestly, I didn't even feel as if I had taken my first breathe since starting the story until I got to chapter 6. Those first five chapters was intense fast reading.
The playfulness between these two is so damn enjoyable, not to mention hot :) Oh, god the pastie scene was awesome, so funny how the small pasties seemed to throw Derek for a loop. Poor men and their inability to understand women's underthings.
At first I was annoyed with the whole pharmaceutical drug pricing F.B.I case interrupting the smoking Reese/Derek chemistry, but then further in the book I was like ok, ok they're having sexy time again and wanting some more story. There was never a good balance between action plot and relationship plot.
I also found myself getting annoyed with how buttinski Reese was in Derek's case. Once again I know she is a reporter looking for her big break but some of the things she does could cause the fail of a very important case, and she understands how important it is but seems to immature to rethink her actions. Oooh, maybe the author meant for it to seem this way since there is a little bit of a focus on Reese being 26yrs and Derek at 36yrs, so maybe Ms. McCarthy was subtlety acknowledging Reese's age. Or maybe I'm looking too much into it and Reese's annoying, stupid interference was just a crappy plot point to keep Reese in Chicago and with Derek.
I just had to copy and paste this little exchange on here:
He blinked and turned his head to look at her. "You want a good night kiss?"
"No! I want you to want a good night kiss." Duh.
Classic boyfriend/girlfriend talk with the whole "I want you to want," hahaha, some really cute exchanges in this book.
Whoa, the unorthodox use of the gun/sex scene (think about it and you'll know what I'm talking about) was a little too weird for me. Handcuffs, wonderful edgy fun; guns not so much for me. Maybe it caught me off guard with this not being a book where you would expect something like that and that was why I was weirded out by it.
I'm going to go ahead and guesstimate here that this books contained 90% booty scenes and 10% action plot. I found myself needing more story and breaks from Derek and Reese in the bedroom. I'm weird like that. I think some authors need to learn the power of sexual tension and how delaying that first getting down and dirty scene can make it all that much better. I mean let us all go back to "Moonlighting" (tv show in the late '80s, wait why I am I explaining what Moonlighting was, every women alive in the '80s should know the show). What made that show great I ask you? That's right sexual tension and being only 8 or 9 at the time I still remember that coffee table scene which was cumulation of over two yrs worth of s.t.
The first part of the story was fast paced and fantastic. I also thoroughly enjoyed how Reese totally and completely put Derek through the ringer. There were great witty lines in this story but Reese's stubborn immaturity and the overabundance of bedroom scenes (that sounds like something people are going to think I am crazy for complaining about) kept this book from being a keeper for me. I am glad I read it and definitely recommend it if you are hankering for a light fun F.B.I. agent romp read. May I also say thank god I finally picked a book which was a least a B and gave me something to write about!!!



Next to be read: "Written on Your Skin" by Meredith Duran Back to my roots, historical romance

Playing James

Grade: C

Summary: When Holly Colshannon is made crime correspondent for her local paper, she begins shadowing a detective and writing a diary column about his working life. But, Detective James Sabine is a sour-puss - although he does have very nice green eyes - and furious to be landed with accident-prone Holly.

Review: Um, definitely have never had a book start off quite like this, best friend of lead female character has a condom stuck, well, um, where condoms go.
I love how Holly gives her car a name. I do to and don't understand why people think it is weird. (My car's name is Essie by the way)
So I'm guessing this author is from England or something because of the lingo I am reading here, adds a little something to the story for me.
The author does a great job of writing this story in a way where I felt like I was being given a window into Holly's life. Unfortunately the same can't be said of James. This story is written completely from Holly's point of view and I found myself missing James's perspective. The story started to drag some for me in the middle of the book. It was nice though, when Holly and James started getting along more and you could see them starting to form a relationship.
It was hard for me to get into Holly and James's budding relationship; she has a boyfriend and James was getting married in three weeks when she meets him. I could dismiss the boyfriend obstacle because it started to become apparent Holly and him weren't going last but it was hard for me to completely ignore James getting married in a couple weeks.
To be perfectly honest the aspect of the book I liked the best was all of the "British talk". As dorky as it is I would grin whenever someone would say bugger, sod off, or love. Delightful englishisms. (is that a word, it sounds like it could be and if it isn't is should be).
Having James's fiancée, Fleur, be a nutty, possessive crazy was a bit much. I know the author had to come up with someway to end that relationship, I'm just saying it was a little over the top the way Fleur acted in her little speech to Holly the night before the wedding.
This book was ok, definitely didn't impress me though. Holly's mom, father, and bestfriend Lizzie were great characters who added a little something extra. This book had some components which didn't mesh all that well; Holly's boyfriend Ben, Teresa, Robin, Dr. Kirkpatrick. These characters were clearly added to beef up the story but for me they distracted and took away from the main couple. The ending was totally abrupt; James said he had feelings for Holly, they kiss and then bam no more story. I wish the author would have taken out all those unnecessary distractions I mentioned earlier and added in James's side of the story, I'm not a big fan of one sided stories.



Next to be read: "Smart Mouth" by Erin McCarthy. I guess I'm in a copper mood.

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There were a few things she did know for sure, though. There was no way the pony was going back in the gate. Not when the pony was thirty-four and really liked pulling the milk cart.

The Trouble with Valentine’s Day by Rachel Gibson