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:

Big Girls Do It Better (Big Girls Do series #1)

This book was free from Amazon.com here at the time of this blog’s publish date.

Book: Big Girls Do It Better (Big Girls Do series #1)

Author: Jasinda Wilder

Rating: X (for some explicit sexual content)

Bookshelves: 2013, BBW, erotica, fiction, Jasinda Wilder, rock star, romance, singer

Begun: January 2, 2013

Finished: January 2, 2013

Media Type: eBook (read on Kindle app on Nexus 7)

Setting: an urban setting

Characters: Anna Devine, Chase Delany, Jeff

Synopsis: “Two things get me into trouble: food, and my mouth. That’s how it all started with Chase: first food, then my mouth.” Wilder’s first book in the Big Girls Do series is a romp into Anna Devine’s affair with the sexy rocker Chase Delany. A karaoke DJ at a dive bar … called The Dive … Anna is struck when she literally stumbles into the tall, dark, and handsome Chase. She can’t understand why Chase wants to sit near her at the bar and why the heck he seems interested in her. She actually takes it as a joke. Why would a guy as hot as Chase be interested in a BBW like Anna? Could he really be into her?

Review: I liked Wilder’s Big Girls Do It Better. She portrayed Anna just as I think a strong BBW would be. Internally, she’s self-doubting and self-effacing as any respectable BBW is. Internally, us fat girls are a little fragile. Externally, Anna is a strong warrior who wears bustier and sexy shirts. I love Chase but I hope he doesn’t turn into a pansy or wreck Anna’s heart in later books in the series.

In my opinion, this book gets:

4 out of 5 stars

A great read I’d recommend to friends

Affaire Royale (Cordina series #1)

The updated cover of Affaire Royale

Book: Affaire Royale (Cordina series #1)

Author: Nora Roberts

Rating: M (Mature Audience – nothing out of the ordinary for a romance novel)

Bookshelves: 2012, Cordina, Cordina Royal Family, Cordina series, Europe, fiction, Nora Roberts, prince, princess, romance, royal family, royalty,

Begun: December 20, 2012

Finished: December 24, 2012

Media Type: paperback

Setting: Cordina (fictional country in Europe)

Characters: Her Serene Highness Princess Gabriella de Cordina (Brie), Reeve MacGee, Armand de Cordina, Alexander de Cordina, Bennett de Cordina, Nanny Carlotta Baryshnova, Christina Hamilton, Eve Hamilton

The original cover of Affaire Royale
 (c.1993)

Synopsis: Her Serene Highness Princess Gabriella de Cordina, known to her friends and family as Brie, was found running along a rural road like a woman possessed before she passed out. Coming back from the brink of death, Brie can’t remember anything. No one around her looks familiar; not her father, Prince Armand, ruler of Cordina, or her brothers Alexander and Bennett. Not even the handsome man who has come to protect her from an unknown danger. Reeve Bennett, wise and street savvy is the son of a friend whom Prince Armand went to college with. A former detective, Reeve was just a farmer looking forward to spending down time on the from porch of his farm house until the ruler of Cordina called his father to ask for a favor. He needed someone to play bodyguard to his eldest child, twenty-five year old, Brie, who was kidnapped while out on her own and held hostage at an undisclosed location for almost a week … biggest problem? Brie can’t remember anything from before waking up in a hospital surrounded by strangers! Can this streetwise America heartthrob help Her Serene Highness Gabriella? Or will Brie us her own skills to solve her mystery?

This is the compilation copy of books 1
through 3 that I am reading

Review: I liked this book. Knowing that it was one of Nora Robert’s earlier novels, I was a bit hesitant to read it. Some of her stuff from the 80s isn’t my cup of tea. This must have been one of the books where she began to flush out the bad writing and step more towards the author she is today. I like the intrigue and the amnesia-patient angle that we get out of Brie (and how she has to find her life out again like a jigsaw puzzle that’s been all jumbled up … and there is no picture on the front of the box). Her father is adamant that no one just … tell her … who she is. She’s got to do most of the “figuring out” on her own. That was a little bit annoying, to tell you the truth. The reader is just like: explain to her she is a princess with all the trappings and get it over with. Ultimately, you could figure out where the relationship with Brie and Reeve was going but I think Roberts let us simmer a little too long. You are told pretty early on that Reeve remembers and kind of lust after Brie after meeting her at her 16^th birthday/coming out party. Then, the reader has to wait to find out if Brie actually remembers meet him … ever.

This is definitely not one of Roberts' strongest books.

In my opinion, this book gets:

Good but not … great.

Wild About You (Love at Stake series #13)

Book: Wild About You (Love At Stake series #13)

Author: Kerrelyn Sparks

Rating: M (Mature Audience – nothing out of the norm for a romance novel)

Bookshelves: 2012, Alaska, bear, fiction, Love At Stake series, Kerrelyn Sparks, New York (upstate), old wives tales, paranormal romance, romance, shapeshifter, werewolf

Begun: December 4, 2012

Finished: December 6, 2012

Media Type: paperback book

Setting: coastal Alaska, upstate New York

Characters: Howard Barr, Elsa Bjornberg, Roman Draganesti, Shanna Whelan/Shanna Draganesti

Synopsis: Howard Barr is a former football playing hulk of a hunk who secretly lusts after the Amazonian Nordic beauty, Elsa Bjornberg. Blonde and beautiful, Elsa works for a DIY home-wrecking/remodeling TV show that has taken the job of revamping (pun COMPLETELY intended!!) Shanna and Roman Draganesti’s cabin near the Dragon’s Nest School. Shanna and Roman (as vampires) can’t oversee the remodel of their cabin during the day … but Howard (head of security at the school) can. Howard is FLOORED when he sees Elsa, in person, for the first time. For the first time in … ever … Elsa feels like a feminine woman around a man. Howard is a huge, six-foot-six beast of a beautiful man with gorgeous eyes and hands that makes Elsa want to forget the stories her family passed down from the old country about the berserkers who would eventually kill her. Howard’s biggest problem? He’s a bear-shifter … and one of the berserkers that Elsa’s family has warned her about. Can Elsa give in to her feeling for Howard? Can Howard save the beauty he’s come to love … even if it’s from himself?

Review: I love, love, love, love, love Kerrelyn Sparks and all of her books in the Love at Stake series. This was a great book that finally tackled Howard’s story. I’ve been waiting for Howard’s tale since I started reading this series a couple years ago. The only problem I saw in this book, I actually remember more compassion and emotion coming from Howard in some other books that only mentioned him as a side character. Sparks is a fantastic writer but I feel like Howard needed a little more attention and to be a little more rounded. I just think Howard was almost a little too flat. But Elsa was perfectly rounded. I can’t wait to hear more about them as the series continues on.

In my opinion, this book gets:

Perfect … just perfect.

Connections

This book was free on Amazon.com here as of the publish date of this blog.

Book: Connections

Author: Selena Kitt

Rating: M (for mature audiences – sexual content)

Bookshelves: 2013, fiction, lies, Kindle, Michigan, mommy issues, romance, USA,

Begun: January 1, 2013

Finished: January 1, 2013

Media Type: eBook (read on Kindle app on Nexus 7)

Setting: Michigan (USA)

Characters: Seth, Cathy

Synopsis: Cathy collects phone books and likes to randomly call phone numbers. This is her day to day life, calling strangers and listening to Bob Dylan with her fish. One day, she happens upon Seth, a college student who mistook Cathy for another Cathy he knew. They talk every day and develop a strange friendship.

Review: This was the strangest short story I’ve read in a long, long time. I couldn’t say that I liked Cathy. She was weird and very needy. She clearly had issues other than the mommy issues she expressed a couple of times. When she finally physically meets Seth (who we really don’t get to know all too well) whom she’s been talking to on the phone for a while, she jumps right into bed with him. That’s a classic response for a person with issues. I can’t say I liked this book or would recommend it to anyone else.

In my opinion, this book gets:

Not a good read and would not recommend it to someone else

Dealing Her Final Card

This book was read as an Advance Reading Copy (ARC) provided for free by the publisher.

Book: Dealing Her Final Card

Author: Jennie Lucas

Rating: M (for Mature Audiences – nothing that you would find in your run of the mill romance novel)

Bookshelves: 2012, fiction, gambling, Hawaii, romance, Russia

Begun: December 22, 2012

Finished: December 23, 2012

Media Type: eBook (read on Kindle app on Nexus 7)

Setting: Hawaii, Alaska, Russia

Characters: Bree Dalton, Josie Dalton, Vladimir Xendzov, Kasimir Xendzov,

Synopsis: Bree Dalton is thrown back into the life that she tried to escape. One mistake by her younger sister, Josie, and Bree finds herself gambling with a group of men to get her sister’s $100,000 back (a $100k that the sisters don’t have to begin with!). What the men gambling don’t know is that Bree’s father was a con man of the highest caliber and he taught his eldest daughter everything he knew about pulling a con, playing cards and calling bluffs. The problem? One of the men at the table knows Bree from way, way back. Prince Vladimir Xendzov was Bree’s first love and first lover. When she loses to him in a final winner takes everything game, she wonders what is going to happen to her now that Vladimir all but owned her. And what will happen to her heart now that she is his again?

Review: This was the first time I've read anything by Jennie Lucas and I think (no I know) that I wouldn't hesitate to grab another book by her. She’s a fantastic author who weaved great detail into this novel. I could really feel the depth of Bree’s love for Vladimir and her devotion to her sister (and even to the memory of her father). The ending was perfectly paced and well written. Lucas does an excellent job of setting the stage for Josie’s book (which I can’t wait to read!).

In my opinion, this book gets:

4 out of 5 stars (nearly perfect)