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Part of the Famous Families line, A Weaver Wedding, is littered with names. Most likely they are characters of past and future novels all dealing with the Clay family. By the time you’re introduced to them all your head is spinning. It’s easier to keep the names down and the interaction between the leads up.

If you’re good with names and one time introductions this won’t be a problem, but I can’t follow that many characters. Well, that’s a lie, I could, but I don’t care to in a short novel. If I’m going to get lots of names dropped it better be in a long novel or series.

It was predictable, bubblegummy, and not overly compelling. It needed meat, sustenance, something to truly be endearing.

Besides the name dropping, I did not like how the hero and heroine got together in the beginning. Did she have to be drunk?

I understand it’s contemporary but I just don’t understand why drunkenness is needed to urge a modern woman into bed with a handsome man or why a suitably charming, upright, dependable hero would agree to sleeping with a drunk heroine when he’s so virtuous in character.

I figure if they were smart enough for condoms, she should be smart enough to avoid getting to the point of slurring drunkenness even if her brother stood her up on her birthday. He should have been more upright and not taken advantage. I don’t care that he’s wanted to act on his attraction to her for the past five or so years. I care that he looks out for her.

Which brings us to the ironic part of this review as the hero is the heroine’s bodyguard.

Review: 1.5 Stars

Buy: A Weaver Wedding

It is just Hoyt’s terrible bad luck that I read the The Raven Prince for the very first time just two days before I got this book from the library. I know it’s in bad form to judge a book based on another book, but as both are by the same author, I figure this could be the exception to the rule. To Beguile a Beast read like a poor man’s version of the Raven Prince. There were so many similarities between the too, it was astonishing.

Some of the similarities include: the fairytale story at the beginning of each chapter, the conditions of the poor heroes, and the positions of the women in the hero’s life. They are all the same or at least very, very similar. Proof (spoilery):

TBAB = To Beguile a Beast
TRP = The Raven Prince

Fairytale:

Truth Teller soldier fairytale in TBAB.
The raven prince fairytale in TRP.

Heroes:

Hero is scarred in TBAB: Missing eye, missing fingers, facial scars.
Hero is scarred in TRP: Pox marks all over face and body.
Both heroes are gruesome looking.

Hero in TBAB writes on flora and fauna of New England.
Hero in TRP writes on agriculture.

Heroines:

Heroine works as housekeeper in TBAB.
Heroine works as a secretary in TRP.

Similar Hero Character backgrounds:

Hero in TBAB lost his fiancé to fever.
Hero in TRP first wife died in child birth.

The only big difference that I saw was:

Heroine in TBAB has two children.
Heroine in TRP has no children.

I was bored with To Beguile a Beast. It may be because I read Raven Prince so soon before reading this book. I believe, however, that I would have disliked it even without reading Raven Prince. The magic in the tale simply wasn’t as enthralling as the Raven Prince. I closed Raven Prince feeling satisfied and happy. I struggled to make it through each chapter of To Beguile a Beast. I was glad to finish TBAB, simply so I could move on to another story. If you read it, do you feel the same way?

Rating: 1.5-2 Stars

Buy: To Beguile A Beast

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Cara Lynn writes to us her first romance novel review in response to the $10 gift card contest! LRP is very happy to have her with us today! If you would like to win a copy of a book by the author of this novel please see the end of the post for more information.

It’s pretty unfair for me to review this book, as this genre isn’t my particular favorite. However, they do get published!

When Tally finds herself kidnapped by Sheikh Tair, a fierce desert warrior, she comes up against the proverbial immovable mountain. I am not surprised. Tally is a photographer, and she has taken some compromising photos, or they could be. And not only that, her translators are more than they appeared, as they are enemies of the Sheikh. He isn’t at all convinced that she is innocent. However, he is more than willing to put her into his harem and to test her loyalties more than once.

She is determined to escape, but not knowing the land, finds herself in dangerous situations, where she needs to be rescued. And you guessed it, by Tair.

Ultimately, the Sheikh marries her (as you can tell by the title) and they fall in love – or do they. Perhaps they fall in lust. As in many Harlequin books, there are banter and arguments, but underneath it is respect for the man who is always wealthy and rich. Let’s face it, who would put up with these attitudes if he weren’t! The woman is always denigrated to an extent, which grates on me after a while – or from the beginning. It seems like an intelligent woman would use that intelligence to discern what kind of man the man is and not waste her breath on verbally fighting him. Of course, part of that is supposed to be sexual tension. How to rate the sex in this book? I didn’t feel like they had any chemistry. But that’s just me. Perhaps you did. I appreciate the fact that the sex is not crude. On the other hand, she doesn’t think she’s in love with him. And on the other hand, she is not a virgin, so she knows the ropes. And they both think the sex is great.

If you want a mindless read, or if this is your genre, you will enjoy this book. I’d have preferred it, if she had determined how he governed, what his daily life was like, what the issues of survival were, how she could contribute if she were his consort. (I can’t see her ruling.) Because she is less than prepared along these lines, she finds herself kidnapped by the men who had been her translators. She is rescued in about a page. I think this could have been extended too, over some of the other things in the book. But it fits the genre. After all, the Sheikh’s mother is from the West and married his father in similar circumstances. Perhaps one of the earlier Sheikh books by another author tells the generic story of their meeting.

Rating: 1.5 Stars

Thanks Cara Lynn for the review! RRN would be most happy to hear from you again!

If you’ve just finished reading a romance novel and want to write review but weren’t sure how check out LRP’s submission guidelines for tips and advice to get started.

SavvyThinker is holding a contest on an autographed copy of Odd Mom Out by Jane Porter. See her blog for more details.

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