Love Romance Passion » Bodyguard 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: Black Ties and Lullabies by Jane Graves http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-black-ties-and-lullabies-by-jane-graves/ http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-black-ties-and-lullabies-by-jane-graves/#comments Tue, 08 Nov 2011 09:09:13 +0000 Aggie S. http://www.loveromancepassion.com/?p=12584

Reviewed by Aggie S.

“A good girl can be bad for one night… but can a bad boy be good for a lifetime…”

Bernadette has a very interesting job being the bodyguard for one of Texas’s most eligible bachelors, Jeremy. She is also responsible for taking care of her mother, who tends to be forgetful most of the time.

Bernadette has decided that she needs a different job, as she is tired of protecting an infuriating man who does what he wants when he wants without regard to anyone’s feelings. Women seem to come and go and this infuriates Bernadette. The two of them banter back and forth and somehow end up in bed with each other. Bernadette ends up leaving his employ and doesn’t tell him why, just lets him think that her boss with the security company is replacing her.

Eventually he ends up seeing her at a charity function, where she is a security guard and she is very pregnant. Apparently there was condom failure. She does tell him its his, and he talks her into moving into his home where she can have help when the doctor tells her she must stop working. He wants to get married and she is fighting it.

I recommend this book as it's very well written with a lot of humor and heart. Read this story to find out how a good girl and a bad boy take it to the next level.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Buy: Black Ties and Lullabies

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Reviewed by Lynn Reynolds

We meet our heroine, Alexis after she survives a family tragedy. She is a teenager at the time doing what all teenagers do – being rebellious. The hero of this story is named Tucker. He has something in common with Alexis and that is a tragic background. What’s good about this book is that the action starts almost right away.

I usually stay away from the suspense and intrigue themed romance novels. They just never seemed to interest me. Dee Davis has changed my mind. She piqued my interest right from the very beginning.

When Alexis first meets Tucker she doesn’t like him and he thinks of her as strictly an assignment. She needs to learn to trust him even though she knows nothing about him and he needs to keep her alive.

Dee does a great job in describing her scenes. Because the reader can’t watch the scenes as they unfold, we rely on the author to describe how things happen. Dee makes you feel as if you are a part of the action. That you are there watching her characters interact with each other.

The hardest thing for me to do was to think about the review. I got so caught up in the story. The “mystery” of the story would hold up against any of the movies you would see on TV. You get so “hooked” into the story that you can’t stop reading it until you get to the end. I hated to put it down.

What I love about Dee’s writing style is that you can believe anything she writes. It has a “ring of truth” to it. None of the scenes are over the top and so unbelievable that you can’t picture that the scene is actually happening.

As you continue on with the book, you notice that it is all action and suspense. You don’t even miss the lack of romance. If you expect a lot of sex in this book, you won’t find it here. The sex isn’t something that you miss in the story either. Just like in a regular relationship, things move along at a normal pace. You have to like and trust each other first and the rest will come in time. This is the impression that I get with Alexis and Tucker.

When the romance finally happens, it happens so naturally that it fits right into the story line. I don’t feel like Dee decided this is where the sex scene needs to be put because she needed to put it somewhere. I don’t feel that she forces a scene to happen – the chapters’ just flow from one to another.

Like any good suspense novel there is always a twist. You know that Alexis is going to eventually find out who Tucker is. Now we have to find out what she’s going to do. How will she get out of the trouble she is in without our hero Tucker to save the day? Tucker is the perfect hero – he’s there to make our “damsel in distress” feel safe. As far as the romance end of the story, both Alexis and Tucker need to deal with their “baggage”.

There are minor characters within the plot that know Tucker and are there to help Alexis. There are also other characters that are more questionable and don’t seem to be what they appear. All these characters are interwoven into what is happening to Alexis and it all builds the suspense.

Toward the end of the story we get to the anti-climax. Something from Alexis’s past comes back to haunt her. The ending is everything you think it will be – good overcomes evil and love wins out in the end.

The only downside to the book is that there is more suspense and less on the romance. I, and possibly other romance readers, would expect an equal mix of the two. I feel that the book could hold its own as just a suspense novel. Even with the lack of romance, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

I’m glad I had the chance to read a book by Dee Davis and see what I have been missing by staying away from reading this genre. Would I read another book by her? Yes, most definitely. I can’t wait to see what happens in her next book “Deadly dance” and I look forward to reading more of her books.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Buy: Deep Disclosure, Deep Disclosure (UK)

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Kagawa’s storytelling and world-building keeps getting better and better. The Iron Daughter is book two in the Iron Fey series and packs a delicious punch. I can tell you upfront that I can hardly wait for Iron Queen, the third and final installment to the trilogy. I wholeheartedly recommend everybody to read it, the series is that amazing.

All the old characters are back. Puck is healed and finally declares himself to Meghan, fleshing out the love triangle a little bit more. Ash is still his gorgeous royal brooding iciness. Grimalkin comes along for the ride, snarky as ever. Even Iron Horse reappears on the scene declaring he won’t serve a false king.

Queen Mab is keeping Meghan Chase imprisoned in the Unseelie Court deep in the heart of winter territory. This wouldn’t be so bad if Ash was around to help her navigate all the politics, but he hardly shows his face and when he does he’s back to that harsh icy demeanor that says he could care less. It confuses Meghan and hurts her too. She doesn’t understand and she doesn’t put two and two together from what Ash told her in Winter’s Passage.

On the night the Scepter of the Seasons is passed between Seelie and Unseelie courts, Meghan finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Iron Court makes a secret attack, killing the crown prince in the process. Meghan tried to help him fight but she couldn’t reach her magic and ends up using the Scepter to bash in some heads before she gets taken down. The Iron Fey leave her alone and disappear, taking all evidence with them. Queen Mab doesn’t believe Meghan for a minute and freezes her in solid ice before declaring war on the Summer Court.

There’s no way for Meghan to get out of the ice prison on her own, if only somebody believed her! She had to stop what was happening and stop it fast before the Summer and Winter courts destroyed each other.

Favorite Scene: Easily the end sequence when Ash and Meghan make their biggest decision about their relationship. Swoon.

Bad Gal: Virus – is a wickedly drawn character and very scary.

Fey Glamour: Meghan’s power over fey glamour is blocked or is it? Her discovery of Iron glamour is essential. If only she could wield it better.

Rating: 5 Stars

Buy: The Iron Daughter

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I am in love with the Iron King by Julie Kagawa. Her novel is full of sumptuousness. Its details and world building are lavish and exciting. Her characters draw you in like Satyr pulls in unsuspecting humans to dance until they collapse from exhaustion, except in Kagawa’s case you come out happy and anticipating the next installment.

If I had to guess, the future of the story will involve a love triangle. At the moment I am 100% completely for Team Ash. He’s the type of character I just love to love. He’s aloof, slightly moody, hard to figure out and of course the more forbidden love interest, being an Unseelie prince. He’s Winter to Meghan’s Summer. The best thing about him? He’s unwilling to give up where others would quit without a second thought.

Puck (aka Robin Goodfellow) is the other love interest and as he’s yet to declare his feelings toward Meghan (if he truly has any of the romantic sort) I am afraid I’m not rooting for him. However, he is an excellent character and would make a good hero, far better for Meghan than Jacob Black for Bella Swan. He’s the merrymaker, the best friend, and the one most likely to fully have Meghan’s interests at heart.

Meghan is a great heroine. She rises to the challenge of rescuing her younger half brother from the fairy world and faces each obstacle with determination to not let it be the thing that stops her from completing her self imposed mission. Her greatest weakness is in fact her greatest strength. She’s willing to do whatever it takes to save those she loves (kind of like Harry Potter in that respect) and is unwilling to leave her friends behind. It will get her into trouble, but it’ll also be her salvation in the end.

This is just one novel from Harlequin’s new Teen line and honestly, they hit the nail on the head when it comes to young adult romance. Iron King was perfect in all aspects. I have no complaints other than that it ended and I must wait to read Iron Daughter.

Rating: 5 Stars

Buy: The Iron King (Harlequin Teen)

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Chase Wayland is a former Marine working as head of his own security company. His new client is a Libby Calhoun, whose father has been captured overseas. While he employs good men, his brother among them, Chase prefers to be the main bodyguard because he trusts himself to do the job right. He will ensure Libby’s safety.

The threat of possible kidnapping isn’t enough to keep Libby Calhoun inside her own home. She’s getting antsy from staying in one place waiting for news on her father. Determined to clear her mind, she takes her Marine escort to the base’s bar and gets to serving. When a handsome cowboy steps in her night begins to look up!

A one night stand becomes a very awkward situation when in the morning they realize the true identity of their partner. Chase is determined to ignore that anything happened and keep things strictly professional. Meanwhile Libby knew things would have to end eventually, she wasn’t looking for love after all, but did they have to end so soon?

Is it possible for the two to live under the same roof for months on end without crossing the line? What a silly question… of course not!

This was a cute military romance and a quick read. I liked Libby’s bartending and casual flirtation with the local Marines. They’re like a large extended family. Libby’s work on base is all about giving back to them in ways that raise funds, morale, and fun. I also liked how the title of the novel comes into play which at first doesn’t look like a good match... kind of like the hero and heroine.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Buy: The Executive Officer's Wife

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This Christmas anthology is devoted to the romances of the three Cole sisters: Alison, Layla, and Rita Mae. They grew up on an RV as their parents toured the country singing American Folk music. As adults they’re looking for love and a place to put down roots.

When She was Naughty by Kate Hoffmann

Alison Cole is a musicologist studying traditional American music or more specifically Appalachian folk music. In her pursuit of her doctoral thesis she comes to a remote little mountain in Tennessee to meet Ettie Lee Harper to ask her permission to sing her Christmas folk songs. With Ettie’s songs Alison just knows she’s going to land the position at University of North Texas. In the pursuit of her dreams, she never thought she’d meet someone to use her Christmas present on – a box of condoms.

Drew Phillips is a small town doctor and Ettie’s great-great nephew.  He moved back to the mountains to be close to her and to supply a need of the town’s. He’s tired of faceless patients and prefers getting to know them. In the time he’s been back he’s restored his parents’ cabin to original state… as in no electricity and no plumbing. Dating is hard in a small town and there’s little opportunity to drive into the city. Ettie’s not so subtle matchmaking is all the nudging he needs to make the most of this Christmas opportunity.

Favorite scenes: The bath Alison takes and Drew’s help bathing her… and Drew’s sexy strip tease before dinner to even the playing field. Yummy!

Rating: ★★★★☆

Cole for Christmas by Rhonda Nelson

Layla Cole has severe stage fright which is why she’s questioning her sanity because she agreed to help country star Clint Walker on his Christmas tour by filling in for the sick dulcimer player. Then she remembers the outrageous check and dreams about the little house she wants to build on the plot of land off of Hardscrabble Road. It’s a perfect place to plant dogwood and grow sweetpeas. She’s doesn’t need a man messing up her dream.

Bryant Bishop is the head of security for Clint Walker. Once upon a time he had a severe crush on Layla, oh who was he kidding, he still had a crush on her, but an unfortunate incident with her youngest sister, Rita Mae, and the chance of the two of them happening are slim to none. Maybe his way in is to distract her from her stage fright… commence with the kissing and naughty Scrabble!

Favorite scene: The first sex scene where “he ate what was left of her thank-you” and she says “come inside me.” Whew! Steamy and evocative.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

A Babe in Toyland by Tawny Weber

Rita Mae Cole is a failure. She can’t keep a job down and now she’s been fired from her fallback bartending job–no thanks to Tyler Ramsey- the boy she liked in high school who took her eldest sister to prom. Losing her job means she can’t pay the rent and she can’t buy her parents’ the victrola she found in an antique shop.

Tyler Ramsey doesn’t like the Cole sisters. The eldest one spread rumors that he got her pregnant and the youngest broke his brother’s heart. He’s out of his mind to agree to drive Rita home for Christmas, but he’s doing it nevertheless to pay back for losing her her job. To keep Rita away from Randy, Tyler decides to drive her the long way home for Christmas and makes tons of stops to talk shop and waste time. He doesn’t expect her to use the stops as an opportunity to sell sex toys by the side of the road!

Favorite scenes: Selling the sex toys – hehe! Tyler’s mommy giving him a dressing down for being too protective of Randy.

Rating: ★★★½☆

Overall Rating: ★★★½☆

Buy: It Must Have Been the Mistletoe...

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by Susan S., guest reviewer

A would-not-could-not stop…read! Full of nail-biting suspense, sexy scenes, and plenty of hot alphas to get you through the coldest of winters.

Summary: Carol was bitten during a fight between the reds and the gray lupus garous. Since that fateful day, she’s having trouble coinciding her halves. The human half, a nurse with precognitive powers, and her werewolf half, as a newly turned red. Darien Silver’s grays have been kind, patient, and protective of Carol Wood (heroine). But, as the saying goes, you can lead a wolf into the forest, but you can’t make it howl. She’ll accept their ways, when she’s ready. And not a minute sooner! In the interim, she refuses to shift.

When Ms. Wood realizes she’s in danger in more ways than one, she hires a bodyguard. She’s not only endangering her human patients by refusing to shift, but someone’s determined to kidnap her. Chester Ryan McKinley, hero, is a gray alpha and an uber sexy P.I. She’ll need Ryan 24/7. Oh, he’s qualified all right. He can protect her as a man, or as an alpha wolf. But, who’ll protect her from his “growing” desires? Perhaps, no protection is needed. There’s a bioengineered virus spreading among the packs. When Carol develops a low grade fever, is it too late for loving Ryan?

Review: As a reader who’s been following Spear’s werewolf series, I’m declaring Wolf Fever the best novel…thus far. I held my breath quite a bit with book six. When Carol’s grasping at straws searching for a cure, I felt the desperation. When she’s kidnapped, I felt the horror. Terry Spear knows exactly how to extract emotions from her readers, draw them into the story, and how to keep them riveted until the last word’s printed on the last page. Suffice to say, I’ve added it to my re-read list.

Favorite Scenes: Coincidentally, my favorite scenes involve windows. The first scene is when Carol peers into the forest, and spots a wolf watching her. Time stood still when I read it. Then, there’s the scene where Ms. Wood is in a sunroom, its dark out, she looks out the window and gazes at the moon. Then she loses her tightly reigned in control. Love it! Oh, it bears repeating…love it!

Recommendations: I’m recommending Wolf Fever to anyone who enjoys reading romances. It was a delight to read; I’m sure you’ll agree.

What’s Next? Heart of the Highland Hero (book seven) is set to release in June 2011. Who’s the hero? One sexy laird named Ian McNeill.

Books 8-10: Dreaming of the Wolf, The Wolf and the Seal, and Highland Wolf in Paradise.

All those gorgeous wolves! Count me in.

Rating: ★★★★★

Buy: Wolf Fever

Paranormal Romance, December 2010, Sourcebooks Casablanca, Print Pages 399. ISBN# 978-1-4022-3752-2.

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Sizzling Sixteen is the latest in the series which chronicles the misadventures of bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. This time around Vinnie, her cousin, has been kidnapped and held for ransom until his gambling debt can be paid off. There’s a deadline and if the girls (Stephanie, Connie, and Lula) can’t conjure up the money then Bobby Sunflower is going to kill Vinnie.

Along the way there’s your usual amount of eccentric skips or FTAs (failure to appear): a toilet paper bandit, a guy so large that even a stun gun won’t put him out, and a septuagenarian bigamist. Not to mention a meet and greet once or twice with a six foot pet alligator by the name of Mr. Jingles.

All the humor is there in Sizzling Sixteen that’s been the staple of Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series from the get-go. Lula is on a diet where she can only eat one of anything which becomes one of everything. Morelli and Ranger provide romantic interest and sexy times while capitalizing on Stephanie’s string of hilarious calamities. The only person not putting in her usual amount of hijinks is Grandma Mazur who’s content to wreck minor havoc after breaking her foot trying zumba.

I got tired of Vinnie pretty quickly in the book. He was more nuisance, annoyance, and irritant than anything else. There’s only so many times that guy can dress in something retina scarring before you build immunity to it. I can see why Lucille wants a divorce.

The hobbits and Mooner’s involvement in Hobbit-Con make for a giggle worthy ending.

Rating: ★★★½☆

Buy: Sizzling Sixteen (Stephanie Plum)

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Laura Hamilton who never once appears the slightest bit frail or fragile in the story, is constantly referred to like she should be due to a childhood illness that took years to recover from. Her overprotective father hires a companion and two bodyguards to follow her at all times because of this past illness and also because she’s an heiress.

It took much wheedling on Laura’s part to get permission to go on this cross country train trip to document the towns as they expanded along the railway. Laura is a panoramic artist who paints extremely large canvases of urban and rural landscapes. She can’t do portraiture (but somehow manages to do just that at a prime time in the novel.)

Her end destination is Haw Crocker’s Silver Spur Ranch (a silver mining ranch) as he and her daddy are business partners. This makes her extremely valuable to Sam Duncan who is looking to find out what happened to longtime his friend. He attaches himself to the group by claiming to be another hired bodyguard and follows them as they make their way slowly to the ranch.

Sam is an interesting hero. He’s got the mad skills of a superhero or famous cowboy sheriff and puts these skills to use for the highest bidder. His very reputation gets grown men to give up once they learn he’s not on their side. On the other hand, Sam suffers acutely from claustrophobia. He has a fear of indoors, barely tolerates walls at all no matter how large the enclosed space, and especially hates tight spaces. This is because of his stint inside a Confederate prison before the end of the war.

I got tired of Mrs. Bossidy almost immediately. I wasn’t a big fan of her side romance with one of the bodyguards. I skipped a lot of those sections because they didn’t hold my interest.

Crocker’s a real villain. He helped Chinese men to get over to America by telling them they’d get schooling and go to universities. In reality they became his slaves, forced to work in the mines and live in shanty camps under constant guard. Nobody was allowed to escape and those who developed a conscious were forced into working the mines as well.

Rating: 3 Stars

Buy: A Wanted Man

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bookreview

Going Down Hard is the sequel to Coming on Strong and follows Belle’s best friend and Mitch’s cousin as they stumble into love. Half suspense – half sexy as sin, Tawny Weber puts out another top notch romance. Weber spins words like a top notch DJ spins tunes. She has a delightfully witty tone that is sassy and spunky; just like the heroine.

Sierra is receiving doctored photographs in the mail. Sexual in nature, they were at first funny because they were so terrible, but then the pervert got good at it. The creepiness just gets creepier as Sierra’s head gets attached to more and more degrading photos. The cops can’t do anything at the moment and with Sierra’s background they’re not likely too. Now the stalker is even threatening to ruin Eventually Yours, the business Sierra and Belle started, by sending pictures to their newest client Family.

That’s when Belle and Sierra decide it’s time to call in the big guns. Reece is an ex-military Kentucky cowboy with his own business in security. He takes the case for many reasons, one of them being Sierra herself. Their last encounter (in Coming on Strong) has left his head spinning and he wants more. Sparks fly, but Reece is persistent in getting behind that tough as nails exterior Sierra exudes to find the real woman.

Despite the heavy topic, I was amused and laughing all the way through. Here’s an example of some of the dialogue and admittedly my favorite piece:

“What reason? What proof?" She would have poked him again except he still held her hand captive.
When he didn't immediately reply, she accused, "You had nothing. Admit it. Your jealousy meter dinged and you pulled on the Macho Man cape and set out to prove you could be a total idiot."

Weber’s writing is sure to rile you up and make you gasp…

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Buy: Going Down Hard

Buy on eHarlequin: Going Down Hard

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