Twins On the Way (The Kavanagh’s of Silver Glen series #4)

This book was read as an Advance Reading Copy (ARC) provided for free by the publisher with the knowledge that I would provide an unbiased and honest review/feedback on the work.

Book: Twins On the Way (The Kavanagh’s of Silver Glen series #4)

Author: Janice Maynard

Published Date: April 7, 2015

Rating: M (for Mature)

Bookshelves: Vegas, virgin, Italian, twins, misunderstanding, workaholic, North Carolina

Begun: April 5, 2015

Finished: April 6, 2015

Media Type: Kindle

Setting: Las Vegas, Nevada; Silver Glen, North Carolina

Characters: Cassidy Corelli, Gavin Kavanagh

Synopsis: Cassidy Corelli is caught up in a back alley in an argument when a white knight walks by and “saves” her from her attacker, never mind that it was just her brother she was fighting with. Gavin Kavanagh thinks he’s just saved a working girl or another streetwise inhabitant of Las Vegas. Little does he know that in his hotel room is the workaholic daughter of a local casino owner. Cassidy has spent her entire life trying to show her father that she’s smart enough and dedicated enough to run his very prosperous enterprise instead of her brother who her father seems to favor. She just wants one night off. Maybe in the arms of this stranger? It is Las Vegas after all.

On the tail end of a conference where he was the lead speaker, Gavin hasn’t had the time to enjoy Vegas the way he wanted to. Until, Cass comes into his life. She takes him around the city and shows him the sights that the natives know. Captivated, he asks her to return to his hotel room with him and she agrees. He’s never known a woman to turn him on the way that Cass does … until he realizes she’s a virgin.

Two months later, Cassidy tracks Gavin down at his home in Silver Glen, North Carolina. She’s been disowned by her strict Italian father and she’s destitute and homeless. Oh and did she mention … she’s pregnant. And Gavin is the father. He’s been burned in the past and falsely accused of crimes of a sexual manner. Can he trust Cass? Could the baby really be his?

Review: I really liked this book. The characters were lively and lovable. This was no a cookie cutter “virgin-deflowering-pregnancy” Harlequin either. The characters were fully formed and very 3D, which is not like most of the novels out there where it’s clear that the characters were plugged into a formula they know works and it goes from there. I thought that the Kavanagh family was likable enough that I am going to look for the other three books in this series.

In my opinion, this book gets:

A Millionaire for Cinderella (In Love With the Boss #1)

This book was read as an Advance Reading Copy (ARC) provided for free by the publisher with the knowledge that I would provide an unbiased and honest review/feedback on the work.

Book: A Millionaire for Cinderella (In Love With the Boss series #1)

Author: Barbara Wallace

Published Date: June 2, 2015

Rating: M (for Mature)

Bookshelves: Boston, old money, former stripper, housekeeper, lawyer/attorney, secrets, raising a sibling,

Begun: March 19, 2015

Finished: March 20, 2015

Media Type: Kindle

Setting: Boston, Massachusetts (Back Bay – think old money brownstones)

Characters: Stuart Duchenko, Patience Rush, Ana Duchenko, Piper Rush, Nigel (the cat)

Synopsis: Patience is beside herself. This morning, she found her employer, old-oil-moneyed Ana Duchenko, unconscious and in a heap at the bottom of a flight of stairs. As her housekeeper, Patience knows that Nigel the cat must have tripped up the elderly woman but that doesn't make her feel any better as she has to accompany the woman to the hospital. Patience loves Ana, who gave her a second chance at making a reputable life for herself in Boston. Her salary makes it possible for her to put her younger sister, Piper, through a prestigious culinary school in Paris. And Patience will never have to go back to … well, she’s got a good job now. If only Ana will be alright.

Straight from the airport, in rushes a whirlwind of dark hair and … presence. Asking for the old woman, Patience knows this must be her well-lauded grand-nephew, Stuart Duchenko. She thought he’d be … a Stuart; he was an attorney after all. This strikingly handsome man is not who she pictured. He’s suspicious of her and she’s got herself a little bit of an attitude to boot. Can these two come together to help out Ana? And each other?

Review: I loved that the setting was Boston as I am a Bostonian. Wallace must know the area because I almost could envision the places she was describing down to street corners etc. The characters were well written and dynamic. You cared about them and the problems they were having. I’m enthralled enough with the writing and the characters that I plan to purchase the second book in this series (Beauty and Her Billionaire Boss) which is Piper’s story. 

I really liked that (even though the plot bounced back and forth between Stuart and Patience) that Patience was more represented in the dialogue/point of view. And Stuart, while having all the hallmarks thereof, wasn't the typical uber-alpha male. He listened to Patience, took her word for things, and didn't boss her around. He was the perfect combination of domineering and … well, patient.

In my opinion, this book gets:

The SEAL’s Miracle Baby

This book was read as an Advance Reading Copy (ARC) provided for free by the publisher with the knowledge that I would provide an unbiased and honest review/feedback on the work.

Book: The SEAL’s Miracle Baby

Author: Laurie Marie Altom

Published Date: June 2, 2015

Rating: M (for Mature)

Bookshelves: extreme weather, tornado, found baby, infertility, SEALs, Oklahoma, cowboy

Begun: March 17, 2015

Finished: March 19, 2015

Media Type: Kindle

Setting: Oklahoma

Characters: Jessie Long, Grady Matthews

Synopsis: Grady Matthews is on leave from the Navy. As a SEAL, he’s seen some things in his life but never the kind of devastation that he’s seeing in his hometown. After a catastrophic tornado ripped through the town, Grady comes home to find his family displaced and living with old friends, The Longs. Only problem? Their daughter, Jessie. The girl who stole his heart as a teenager and then stomped it to pieces. She was the reason he took off for the Navy.

Jessie can’t believe that Grady is back. And living in her house while helping to clean the town. Trapped in her elementary school for a few hours before being rescued, Jessie returns to her parents’ house when she discovers that her apartment, too, has been destroyed. Being so close to Grady is hard but it’s about to be harder.

Mayor Long is also a foster mother and has agreed to take in a baby that was found in a field after the tornado. Helping to clean and rebuild her town, Mayor Long passes “Angel” (the baby – as named by Grady) to Jessie and Grady to watch while she is working hard. But watching the baby causes emotions to resurface and the truth behind Jessie’s breakup with Grady is revealed.

Review: Altom did a fantastic job of creating characters that you really become vested in. Neither one of them is whiney or shallow and you want to care about both of them and see their problems resolve. Not all Harlequin novels are as deep as this one and I’m glad I came across it. It is both well plotted out and well written. Emotions swell with the characters and plot line. I found myself almost crying a few times (and I’m not a crier!). The ending was just perfect.

I definitely will be looking for more by this author whom I had never heard of before reading this book.

In my opinion, this book gets:

Triple The Fun (Kings of California series)

This book was read as an Advance Reading Copy (ARC) provided for free by the publisher with the knowledge that I would provide an unbiased and honest review/feedback on the work.

Book: Triple the Fun (Kings of California series - Book #16)

Author: Maureen Child

Publish Date: May 5, 2015

Rating: M (for Mature)

Bookshelves: California, multiple babies, dead parents, hidden baby/ies, alpha male

Begun: April 6, 2015

Finished: April 7, 2015

Media Type: Kindle

Setting: California

Characters: Connor King, Dina Cortez, Colton King, Sadie King, Sage King, Sam King, Jackie Francis (deceased), Elena Cortez (deceased)

Synopsis: Upon the death of her older sister, Elena, and her wife, Jackie, Dina Cortez became the proud auntie/mama of a set of triplets (Sadie (girl), Sam (boy), and Sage (boy)). She was under the impression that the triplets father was out of the picture because he wanted to be. After all, the couple had gotten pregnant via fertilization so they must have struck a bargain with Jackie’s best friend, Connor, when he donated the sperm right?

Wrong. Connor King had no idea that he was a father. And he doesn't discover this until Dina sues him for child support for the triplets. Connor hadn't spoken to Jackie in quiet a long time. The couple had asked him for a sperm donation but had told him after the first implantation that it hadn't worked. Then they disappeared. He can’t understand how they could have lied to him but now that he know about his babies, he will be a part of their lives. And if that means Dina will be a part of his … so be it.

Review: The plot of this novel was over used and not thought out well. It seems to be the send in a series of books about two twin brothers. The first brother (in the first book (Double The Trouble) - it has to be assumed) finds out that he has fathered twins with an estranged wife. Lo and behold, in the second book, the other twin has sired triplets that he doesn't know about.

I couldn't get into this book. I couldn't care any less for the female and male leads. It was terrible! It’s trite and boring and the characters were so flat and boring. I had no real emotions for them. I liked the cover art and I was really hoping to like the plot etc.

In my opinion, this book gets:

Million Dollar Wife by Margaret O'Neil

Book: Million Dollar Wife

Author: Margaret O’Neil           

Rating: M for Mature (discusses sex as an act but does not go into detail)

Bookshelves: kindle, free read, romance, Michigan, New York, Caribbean, nanny turned wife, wife by contract, movie star

Begun: 11.28.13

Finished: 11.28.13

Media Type: eBook (on Kindle)

Setting: Los Angeles, California (briefly); Michigan; Dominica; Manhattan, New York

Characters: Bryce Courtland, Heather Courtland, Hope Courtland, Marja Lundstrum, Anne Courtland, Sallie Courtland

Synopsis: Bryce Courtland is a Hollywood heartthrob with two twin, eight years old who need a new mom. Sallie died two years ago but Bryce still mourns her but it’s time to move on for the sake of the girls. After dating a string of Hollywood starlets, Bryce knows that he needs someone more down to earth. In walks Marja, his sister, Anne’s, college roommate. Marja is as straight laced as they come but there is something under that prim and proper business suit. Bryce lays it out for her, asking that they have a contract marriage for 10 years (and each of those 10 years she will be paid 1 million dollars). Marja says “no” because she knows that she will grow attached to the girls (and they her) and she won’t want to let them go after 10 years. She wants to have the option to adopt them after the first year. Bryce counters with an offer that after their first year, he would like it to be a true marriage with all the physical rights due him as a husband. Marja says “yes” … eventually. But she knows she can’t let herself get too involved in the marriage because in truth … she loves Bryce and has loved him ever since she met him (even while watching him marry his first wife, Sallie). But can this prim and proper scholarly woman get the hotter than sin, Hollywood hunk to love her back?

Review: great book. I plan on keeping this one in my Kindle (I’m a read-it-and-delete-it kind of girl). The characters could have used a little more development to make me want to invest myself in them but this wasn’t bad!

In my opinion, this book gets:

All I Want (A Tryst with a Twist)

Book: All I Want (A Tryst with a Twist)

Author: S.L. Scott

Rating: M (for Mature – general romance novel material)

Bookshelves: 2013, cheating, Christmas, fiction, romance, short story

Begun: January 1, 2013

Finished: January 1, 2013

Media Type: eReader (Kindle read on Nexus 7)

Setting: location never mentioned but it’s someplace where it snows at Christmas time

Characters: Christina, Lawson

Synopsis: Lawson has been working hard at his job in the Christmas tree lot but the bright spot of the day is when the pretty lady who works at the coffee shop walks by. A little flirt and smile can’t hurt can it? What will Lawson do when Christina invites him home with her … what will her husband think, if he finds out?

Review: This was a great, quick read with a very cute twist at the end that I didn’t see coming. I got this book for free when I read it but even if you do have to pay for it, the short story is WELL worth it!

In my opinion, this book gets: 

There Goes the Groom

Book: There Goes the Groom

Author: Rita Herron

Rating: M (for Mature – general romance novel material)

Bookshelves: 2012, Atlanta (GA), con-artist, detective, fiction, jail, police, Rita Herron, romance, twins

Begun: December 25, 2012

Finished: December 26, 2012

Media Type: eReader (Kindle read on Nexus 7)

Setting: Atlanta, Georgia

Characters: Marci Turner, Paul Pendergrass, Cade Muller

Synopsis: Marci Turner wasn't always the “bright” twin but she’s the pretty one. More like … the sexy one. And she knows it. Why not use that attribute to her personal gain? When wealthy businessman, Paul Pendergrass, sets his sights on her and asks her to be his wife, of course, any girl with half a brain is going to jump on board. She's finally getting her life together and celebrating with the biggest, Cinderella-style wedding of the century.

So, why are bullets ringing out at her wedding? When shots are fired and police attempt to arrest Paul before he hightails it out of the church, Marci is bewildered … and then arrested.

The sexy jilted bride is now in rugged and sinfully sexy Cade Muller’s custody. There is NO way that her fiancé could be guilty of running the scams he’s run and taken advantage of all the people he’s stolen from (especially defenseless and trusting elderly like his dear grandma). Sitting in jail, Cade watches as Marci tried to help all the others in the cells around her. Could this blonde bombshell be innocent?  

Review: Another fantastic read by Herron. While I did prefer the first book in this duo about the “good sister,” reading about the bad sister was just as entertaining. Herron did a great job of writing a male character for Marci who was just as hardheaded and just and strong as her. Great read. I can’t wait to get my hands on other books by Herron.

In my opinion, this book gets:

Lover at Last (Black Dagger Brotherhood series #11)

Book: Lover at Last (Black Dagger Brotherhood series #11)

Author: J.R.Ward

Rating: X (for explicit sex scenes (m/f and m/m)

Bookshelves: 2013, Black Dagger Brotherhood, Caldwell (NY), J.R. Ward, New York, paranormal romance, romance, urban fantasy, vampires

Begun: March 26, 2013

Finished: March 26, 2013

Media Type: hardcover book

Setting: Caldwell, New York (suburb of New York City)

Characters: Qhuinn, Blaylock, Saxton, John Matthew, Wrath, Tohr, Rhage, Zsadist, Phurry, Layla, iAm, Trez, Beth,

Synopsis: Qhuinn is a male on the edge. He has been half in almost every world available to him as a male born into the glymera. Born with the “physical defect” of one blue and one green eye, Qhuinn was disowned from his family after his transition when his eyes did not correct themselves. He’s always been made to feel like a freak and unloved from almost everyone in his life. Everyone, that is, except Blaylock (Blay), his best friend in the entire world. He best friend until Blay admitted to Qhuinn that he loved him and Qhuinn did not reciprocate. Time has passed, though, and Blay has moved on … to Qhuinn’s cousin, Saxton.

Qhuinn has finally realized that the emotions he’s feeling towards his former bestie is a little more than friendship. But is it … love? How much more of a freak would that make him if he were … gay? But something deep inside is churning and the fates have something in store for Qhuinn and Blay. They can never go back to being best friends, but can they become something more than that?

And will either of them get past the hurt and unspoken emotions that they both feel to realize that there is something they both need in the other?

Review: I loved this book. I have been waking for my Qhuay for so long. These two boys were meant for each other since day one.

[HERE BE SPOILERS]

You knew this was coming. You knew the romance and the love would be there. But, damn Ward, you made me hurt so much before they came together. Almost right away (well ok in the first 50 pages), I was already in tears. There is a part when Qhuinn gets his Hummer stolen and flipped and Blay ends up in the tow truck with him while they are bring it back to the Brother’s compound. Qhuinn has no idea what to say to Blay who knows that he has slept with Layla (the Chosen whom he serviced during her needing in Lover Reborn (Tohr’s book)) and gotten her pregnant. Qhuinn just stares at Blay because he has no idea how to tell his best friend and the only person who has ever given two shits about him that he feels like he betrayed him and cheated on him with Layla (whom Qhuinn knows he serviced because both he and Layla have never really had family and they want to create family). When Blay all but says “so what,” Qhuinn takes off out of the truck and Blay stops him, telling him that they can’t go back to the way they were before (before Blay told Qhuinn he was in love with him and Qhuinn didn't reciprocate) but that they should be civil to each other since they have to work together. And Qhuinn believes that Blay no longer loves him and (like I said) Ward just breaks your heart.

I wouldn’t want it any other way though. Blay and Qhuinn need the heart break and hurt so that they can work their way to a place of peace for both of them. Ward out did herself this time. The book is beautiful and transcends the stupid “oh, it’s a book about gays” bullshit. It’s a beautifully written masterpiece of the romance genre where one heart finds both its pieces and becomes one again. I found myself crying and laughing at the same time. Ward is an excellent writer who weaves in pop culture and humor into all of her novels.

As always, this book will be reread numerous times and enjoyed more and more each time I get my hands on it. And, as always, I can’t wait to read more of the adventures of the BDB.

In my opinion, this book gets:

Here Comes the Bride

Book: Here Comes the Bride

Author: Rita Herron

Rating: M (for Mature – general romance novel material)

Bookshelves: 2012, Atlanta (Georgia), fake fiancée/girlfriend, family, fiction, lies, Rita Herron, romance, twins, twin switch, Virginia,

Begun: December 28, 2012

Finished: December 29, 2012

Media Type: eReader (Kindle read on Nexus 7)

Setting: Atlanta (Georgia) and Virginia

Characters: Austin McDane, Kimberly Turner

Synopsis: Kimberly Turner is straight laced and practical. Always one to help out her flighty twin when she’s in a pinch, Kimberly steps in when her sister needs her help escorting a client. Austin needs a girlfriend or, better yet, a fiancée to quiet down his pushy family who thinks he should be married already. Kimberly poses as both her twin sister AND Austin’s fiancée when they travel from Atlanta to Virginia and back. How hard can it be? I mean her sister isn’t a sleazy escort. She’s just company. But Austin is kind, gentle …. AND so, so sexy. Can she keep it just business?

Review: This was a breath of fresh air. I loved this story and I fell in love with the characters who seemed more like friends you would want to have than characters in a book. Well written and a fantastic read. I can’t wait to read the next book in this series about the “bad” twin!

In my opinion, this book gets:

Blood Rights (House of Comarré series #1)

Book: Blood Rights (House of Comarré series #1)

Author: Kristen Painter

Rating: V (for violence)

Bookshelves: 2013, blood donor, fiction, Florida, France, future, House of Comarré series, Kristen Painter, paranormal romance, vampires, urban fantasy

Begun: January 1, 2013

Finished: January 3, 2013

Media Type: paperback

Setting: New Florida (assumed to be in the same location as our Florida), Corvina, France

Characters: Chrysabelle, Maris, Maddoc “Doc,” Malkolm “Mal,” Katsumi, Ronan, Fiona

Synopsis: Chrysabelle is royalty in the hidden world of vampires. She is Comarré, part courtesan, part blood donor. She was a blood virgin when she was bought by her master for the highest purchase price ever. Beautiful, blonde, and tattooed from head-to-toe in intricate gold threated that were imbedded under her skin, Chrysabelle finds herself on the run from the vampire society when she finds her Master beheaded. Not knowing who did murder her Master, Chrysabelle runs to her aunt in New Florida to look for help. What she finds there is Mal. Mal is a vampire but a low class vampire who killed another of his kind. How can this outcast help a murder suspect?

Review: House of Comarré … what can I say. I really wanted to fall in love with this series but there is just something there that makes this series very … one-dimensional. Yes, the characters were well written. Yes, the plot was good. But there were big holes in the plot, questions that were not answered, and an ending I saw coming from a mile away AND called about 1/3^rd of the way into the book. It was ok but it wasn’t fantastic!

In my opinion, this book gets: