Love Romance Passion » Russia http://www.loveromancepassion.com Because Books Don't Fall Asleep Afterwards! Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:00:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Review: Prince of Dreams by Lisa Kleypas http://www.loveromancepassion.com/prince-of-dreams-by-lisa-kleypas/ http://www.loveromancepassion.com/prince-of-dreams-by-lisa-kleypas/#comments Tue, 22 Mar 2011 14:59:52 +0000 Keira http://www.loveromancepassion.com/?p=28

bookreview

This love story is one of the most endearing I have ever read. Lisa Kleypas spins a tale worthy of mystical magical world of fairy tales. Based on Russian superstition, a prince who is like the Beast in Beauty and the Beast meets the woman of his dreams and learns to love. The bedroom scenes are exciting and steamy. Prince of Dreams is a novel not to be missed.

Despite his wealth, Prince Nikolas did not lead a charmed life. Taught early on the abuses man could inflict, Nikolas is determined to avoid emotions at all costs. Tortured and exiled from Russia, Nikolas makes a new home in England where during his recovery he meets Emma Stokehurst. At the tender age of thirteen, Emma is the girl Nikolas is certain he will wed. She is his destiny.

Nikolas remains on the fringes of Emma’s life as she grows and now at the age of twenty, he is more certain than ever that she is the one for him. Emma is tall and lithe, her body he imagines will match his own to perfection. Her red hair, independence, and forthright attitude remind him of the women back in Russia. Though she has a large dowry, Emma is left alone and dismissed by the male of the species. Everything about her is unfashionable in the eyes of polite society.

When he discovers that a man is wooing her under false pretenses, Nikolas strikes swift and sure, cutting her secret beau out of her life with a single conversation. Everything is working according to his plan as Nikolas seduces and marries the bewitching Emma. Now with her by his side as his wife, he is positive that his life is going to turn for the better. He was wrong.

Emma’s gentle nature and guileless giving is more threatening than the memories of those that tortured him in Russia. She can cause more havoc with a single kiss than Nikolas is comfortable with. His life has been dedicated to suppressing his emotions and the feelings Emma brings out are threatening to destroy all that he’s worked for, so Nikolas does the most hateful thing he can think of… he sleeps with another woman.

But despite the wedge he’s driven between them, the bewildering flashes of déjà vu keep happening to him. Snippets of conversation leave him in a cold sweat and a painting once revealed causes him to faint dead away. When Nikolas awakes he is angry and confused. Destiny has taken him back in time to mother Russia, where he lives life through the eyes of his ancestor Prince Nikolai. It is here in the midst of the past, Nikolas learns to become a better man… Emelia, beautiful Emelia, who is in every way his wife Emma, teaches Nikolas how to love. Disaster tears them apart and sends Nikolas to the future.

Realizing what a mess he’s made of his own life, Nikolas is determined to set things right. But Emma won’t have him. She doesn’t trust in the changes Nikolas has under gone. She won’t love him… won’t let herself love him. This new man who is in every way the man she had hoped he would be can't last, because she knows his nature. As soon as she loved him he’d revert and mock her for her love. After all Nikolas is not a man that can change, he is a product of others hatred and fear, whose innate stubbornness rejects all kinds of affection. But he has changed and he will prove it. If it’s the last thing he does, he’ll make her believe in him; love him as she once did in the past.

Rating: ★★★★½

Buy: Prince of Dreams

Online Stores ]]> http://www.loveromancepassion.com/prince-of-dreams-by-lisa-kleypas/feed/ 4 Review: The Moon That Night by Helen Brenna http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-the-moon-that-night-by-helen-brenna/ http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-the-moon-that-night-by-helen-brenna/#comments Wed, 10 Nov 2010 09:54:41 +0000 Keira http://www.loveromancepassion.com/?p=8589

Q: When can a good guy commit a crime and still be a good guy?
A: When his family is threatened.

Which is just what happens to soldier James Riley while on a routine rotation out of Afghanistan.

David March, a man who blames Riley for his brother’s death, kidnapped Riley’s sister-in-law and his young daughter Ally and was using them as leverage to get Riley on board with his elaborate plans of art theft.

When stealing the first of ten Greek statues, Kate Dillon is kidnapped as well. It makes her spitting mad and clouds her judgment, but not the irrational emotions of her heart.

Riley’s fouled up rescue plan gets Kate, Riley, and Ally away from the compound and on the road to freedom. But with Jenny, his sister-in-law still trapped, the trio have no choice but to pursue the 5 statues on their list and steal them for March.

I worried throughout the book that Jenny was part of the bad guy team because it was so convenient for her to get recaptured. She also wasn’t putting up much fight when held captive before and wasn’t helpful in Kate’s own rescue attempt. She was just too calm for me, standing around agreeably and I don’t know. It was weird and like I said I worried about it a lot.

There’s a bit of a May/December theme to the romance. I couldn’t quite catch the actually age difference. I think it’s somewhere along ten years, maybe more since Riley is a widower and has Ally.

If you’re ready for a high stakes adventure that crisscrosses the globe, you should pick up Helen Brenna’s The Moon That Night.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Buy: The Moon That Night (Harlequin Superromance)

Online Stores ]]> http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-the-moon-that-night-by-helen-brenna/feed/ 0 Review: His Cavalry Lady by Joanna Maitland http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-his-cavalry-lady-by-joanna-maitland/ http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-his-cavalry-lady-by-joanna-maitland/#comments Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:02:20 +0000 Keira http://www.loveromancepassion.com/?p=3535

bookreview1

His Cavalry Lady was a very clever concept, but I had a hard time with the romance. I understood how Alex could fall in love with the duke, but the poor duke spent half the time fantasizing about two females (who are Alex in different getups). Most of the hero and heroine’s interaction was when Alex was dressed as a Russian soldier with Dominic treating her as a younger brother.

The story was additionally a little long in tooth. I got bored with Alex always running away. She runs from Dominic at a ball, back to Russia, to her family’s estate, etc. There’s a lot of it for a woman of extensive bravery. I guess battling for love is a tad bit scarier than storming Napoleon troops.

I thought it was exceptionally cool that the story was in part based on a real Russian female who dressed up as a man and joined the army. Her name was Nadezhda Durova and she managed to conceal her gender for ten years! Like the heroine she started off as a common foot soldier and was promoted to an officer position by no less than the Tsar himself, who knew who she really was. Talk about an inspiring woman!

Rating: 2 Stars

Buy: His Cavalry Lady

Online Stores ]]> http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-his-cavalry-lady-by-joanna-maitland/feed/ 1