Love Romance Passion » Secret Agent 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: The Night is Mine by M. L. Buchman http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-the-night-is-mine-by-m-l-buchman/ http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-the-night-is-mine-by-m-l-buchman/#comments Sun, 05 Feb 2012 09:08:11 +0000 Susan S. http://www.loveromancepassion.com/?p=13830

The Night is MineReviewed by Susan S.

Impressive! M. L. Buchman delivers an action-packed novel that’ll leave adrenaline junkies smoking a well-satisfied cigar. The Night Is Mine contains military covert operations, chopper crashes, secret agents, murder plots, daring rescues, humor, and still…pulls off a touching love story. Where’s book two?

Summary: The Night Stalkers Series, Book One

Captain Emily Beale is a highly trained soldier, the heroine of this story, the daughter to the Director of the FBI, a killer chef, the Black Hawk pilot for the Black Adders, and the first and only female pilot to fly for SOAR (The Army’s Special Operations Aviation Regiment a.k.a. The Night Stalkers). As is evidenced by the aforementioned-she’s one badass female. Oh, and did I mention she’s beautiful? Some gals have all the luck! Or do they?

This gal’s life is about to turn on a dime. The captain harbors feelings for Major Mark “The Viper” Henderson and vice versa. But since the Army prohibits relationships between different ranked soldiers-they’ll have to lock and triple-bolt their passion. Then there’s the reassignment order plunging Emily neck deep into a black-in-black ops mission. Suddenly, the Army’s fraternization policy becomes a moot point. Because if they die protecting the Commander-in-Chief, sex post-mortem just isn’t as appealing.

Review: I’m hoping one day The Night Is Mine adapts to the big screen. But even if it doesn’t, in my mind- it played like a movie. Guess I can always reread the novel when I feel the hankering to watch it again.

With military romantic suspense novels I always think, oh boy-here comes the heavy unintelligible military jargon. I needn’t have worried though. None of that in this novel. Only descriptions of military choppers and a great story infused with megadoses of action.

Recommendations: For readers who stow Silhouette Romantic Suspense and Harlequin Intrigues inside their minivans. Also recommended for anyone who craves the forbidden love tropes. And if you’re a booklover who’s partial to All-American Heroes, hot Army pilots, secret agents, and political intrigue-then this is your kind of read.

Disclaimer: I received this novel free of charge in exchange for my honest review.

Review-O-Meter Rating: ★★★★★

Buy: The Night Is Mine

Sourcebooks Casablanca, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc., Copyright 2012, Mass Market Paperback, Print Pages 402. ISBN# 978-1-4022-5810-7.

Online Stores ]]> http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-the-night-is-mine-by-m-l-buchman/feed/ 0 Review: Sex, Lies, and Mistletoe by Tawny Weber http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-sex-lies-and-mistletoe-by-tawny-weber/ http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-sex-lies-and-mistletoe-by-tawny-weber/#comments Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:53:39 +0000 Keira http://www.loveromancepassion.com/?p=13659

Hero: Caleb Black is an undercover DEA agent ready to get out of the game for good. As a favor for a friend he returns to his home town to sniff out a new drug cartel that has set up shop in the area. The number one suspect is his father, and as much as he hates the guy, Caleb knows this line of work his beneath his dad. He doesn’t count on falling in love and that really messes with his head.

Heroine: Pandora Easton has to find a way to save the family’s New Age Shop. A failure out in the big world, she can’t stand the idea of failing at home too. With a little help from a girlfriend they strike upon a unique idea – why not serve up aphrodisiacs? The idea is a hit locally, but her idea combined with her recent past makes her a suspect for running a drug ring. Isn’t that just her luck?

Review: Adorable and sexy! A spicy tale with a dash of mystery and a hint of intrigue! This small town / return to your roots romance is perfect for an afternoon retreat. The town has always been full of gossip but now it’s on aphrodisiacs – can you imagine the laughs? An insecure heroine who’s afraid of failure and an honorable hero not willing to accept anything on face value find love when they weren’t looking. It’s not particularly a holiday themed story, but that’s okay.

Rating: ★★★★½

Buy: Sex, Lies and Mistletoe

Online Stores ]]> http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-sex-lies-and-mistletoe-by-tawny-weber/feed/ 4 Review: The Temptation of a Gentleman (The Jordans, Book 2) by Jenna Petersen http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-the-temptation-of-a-gentleman-the-jordans-book-2-by-jenna-petersen/ http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-the-temptation-of-a-gentleman-the-jordans-book-2-by-jenna-petersen/#comments Thu, 29 Dec 2011 09:50:05 +0000 Sandra Scholes http://www.loveromancepassion.com/?p=13418

Reviewed by Sandra Scholes

Men have always come to women as knights in shining armor, but in Regency times, they were clothed in much more refined armor than that. Marion Hawthorne thinks she is marrying a most honourable man, but Noah Jordan thinks otherwise, he thinks he is a murderer and she might be at great risk of her life. Noah is a spy who has been ordered to go into the luxury and independence of the country, where he hears a murder might be on the cards, and feels he has to save poor Marion from certain death.

At the moment this is all supposition, yet his superior is convinced that it will happen if he doesn’t investigate it, observe the clues and prevent her demise at the hands of a rogue. He doesn’t expect to meet the lovely woman, but once he does, he asks for her help with his investigation – the problem is, once he does that, he risks falling in love with her.

Noah is a man who likes the thrill of action, the chase, but now that he has been sent into the country to investigate a murder, he loathes the fact he is mixing with the social elite, and it bores him terribly. To be a part of the ton, watching endless hours of society life makes him wish he were back home. He thought he was out of the spying business, but finds that his superior wants him to do it again, for old time’s sake. He has to mingle with the elite and his cover is that he is looking for a wife. In his own mind, he hates the idea of having to come home to one woman every night for the rest of his life, only to leave at night to visit a mistress or his friends for a game of cards. His life has the awful chance to become even more boring until he meets the woman he would want as his companion, and perhaps his wife.

Marion is a woman who hates travel of any kind, and especially when she feels uncomfortable in it. She has a mind of her own and doesn’t mind expressing it in front of her father or anyone she might dislike. She hears about the infamous Mr Jordan from Josiah Lucas, a man who is actually glad he hasn’t come to visit them. When she enquires, she is told he is a rake of the highest order, and one unlikely to be one she should get to know. How wrong she is for when she meets him, she finds him to be nothing like the rake he has said.

I had to laugh at the first time Noah meets Marion – his horse, Phantom eating her pencils while she is out sketching! It is a wonderful scene to start with, and one that definitely breaks the ice between the two of them. Noah is captivated by her, and can’t help but have lewd thoughts run through his mind at the very sight of her. He is concerned however when she tells him who her intended man is to be – and wishes it were him. He deludes himself into thinking he is only talking to her to get information for his investigation, yet he is drawn to her and can’t get her out of his mind.

Marion, I found was an honest woman who talks freely in front of others, even with Noah, a man she doesn’t know as intimately as she would like. He doesn’t mind her having opinions, but she knows it’s not in the slightest bit ladylike.

Once read – never forgotten, there’s the impulse to read again.

Rating: ★★★★★

Buy: The Temptation of a Gentleman

Online Stores ]]> http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-the-temptation-of-a-gentleman-the-jordans-book-2-by-jenna-petersen/feed/ 0 Review: The Secrets of a Lady (The Jordans, Book 1) by Jenna Petersen http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-the-secrets-of-a-lady-by-jenna-petersen/ http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-the-secrets-of-a-lady-by-jenna-petersen/#comments Fri, 30 Sep 2011 09:40:00 +0000 Sandra Scholes http://www.loveromancepassion.com/?p=11916

Reviewed by Sandra Scholes

In Regency times women never shined, or did anything out of the ordinary in society, but Audrey Jordan does, and she isn’t in the slightest bit ashamed. In fact, she loves her new life as a spy, even though it can get her in a lot of trouble. Her reason for her turning to a life of investigating and espionage is her love for Griffin Berenger, her brother’s best friend.

She comes to find out later that he is an unhappy man after losing his wife. It doesn’t help that she has teamed up with her brother to investigate his neighbour; a man who they think might be involved in a plot to assassinate the Prince. While she is a guest at Griffin’s residence, she has the time to relive the feelings she had for him, and the way she felt about him just by being in his presence.

The question is will Griffin feel the same way about her as she does him?

Also can she stay alive with her continued investigation of the potential assassin?

The reader can really get into the feelings Audrey has, when she was at Griffin's wedding to Luci. She felt the waves of despair come over her, the pining for him, although she was reminded by her mother that it was useless, she still had for him. Griffin isn't to blame for how she feels, though. He has no idea that she pines for him, even loves him. He has never known it since he has been around her as a friend before. Audrey finds it more annoying and heart-rending that he has found love from someone like Luci, as they both have an equal loathing of each other. She wonders if he can see the sort of person she is, but the reader might guess that her hatred of Luci is jealousy burning within her.

The tables are turned later when Griffin and Audrey share a drunken kiss, and Luci finds out, much to her distress, and ever since vows to hurt her in the worst way possible, but after her death and his brother's revelation about her, he feels nothing but sadness of how he disappointed Audrey from the very beginning. He has only known the lovely and charming Luci, but found once they had married that she was nothing like the woman he originally wed. She was scornful and full of wrath, spreading harsh rumours about Audrey so that it meant no man would want to marry her. The utter humiliation of this, plus the fact he had married without her was too much and she had to leave for home, after her season had passed. Griffin has only one chance to make peace with her and tell her how he feels, but as his brother reminds him, he can't mess it up, or it will hurt her all over again.

I liked the situations Jenna put the characters into. She has a great way with words and knows how to spin the most intriguing tale and make it into a best seller. The way she had her kissing Ellison in the hansom cab made Griffin fume with jealousy, but even when they argue, I would have to say in a way he had it coming, after all she was just playing the role of spy, and the kiss had meant nothing to her. Even better though is what Griffin is thinking:

Griffin downed a second drink and stared at the fire crackling in his bedroom. Rage and jealousy coursed through him and he hated himself for both. Once again he had been knocked from his orderly existence by a woman.

Audrey in the arms of another man was just too much to contemplate. It was bad enough with Ellison, but he could console himself with the knowledge that her relationship with his neighbour was only part of her job. But the man who had been holding her in Griffin's sitting room was something very different.

Something personal.

The reader finds out more than enough, as Griffin is reminded of how his former wife Luci had acted one day:

He had found her curled up on the settee in the lap of a young merchant. They'd broken their kiss the instant he entered, the young man apologizing as he tried to find the nearest exit. Griffin had let him escape with only a well blackened-eye and a promise never to return or tell stories.

His wife had watched it all with a bemused smile. She'd never risen in fear or tried to explain her actions. Even after the man was gone and Griffin towered over her, demanding an explanation, she had only laughed. She'd actually laughed.

"What I do is my business, Griffin."

From that remark, Griffin knows his wife is no longer his alone, and this is only the start of his despair, so when she is gone, and he is left with Audrey, the one he spurned before, he can no longer see her in the arms of another man, as it sends him so mad with jealousy – whether she did it as a spy or not, for him it doesn’t matter.

This novel shows how Regency women could be if they tried, but at the risk of their own reputations with men. It is well worth reading as it is different from the normal Regency titles out there. The characters are believable, and can be incensed at the drop of a top hat!

This novel is the first in a series of Regency romances. There will be other volumes following in the coming months such as; The Temptation of a Gentleman (The Jordans Book 2) in October, and The Desires of a Countess (The Jordans Book 3) in November.

Rating: ★★★★½

Buy: The Secrets of a Lady (The Jordans), The Secrets of a Lady (UK)

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Reviewed by Cara Lynn

Lord and Lady Spy by Shana Galen is a wild ride through the past.  I was given an uncorrected advance copy by LRP to review, but I only saw one mistake in the book.  Sometimes the mistakes can be so glaring that they take away from the story line.  But this didn't have that problem.

Normally, I'm not a fan of historical romance -- they are entirely too vapid and silly for my taste -- and because I don't read them often, I'm not up with the historical context and haven't gained enough knowledge to make them interesting or fun for me.

Not so, this book!

The Story

Lord Adrian Smythe and Lady Sophia Smythe have secret lives -- both are spies and both have been let out to pasture since the Napoleonic war with France has ended.  It so happens that they are married to each other, but neither knows the other is a spy.  To a degree, it reminds me of Mr & Mrs Smith, but significantly different.

The story jumps right in with both of them ready to apprehend the same man -- Sophia has hidden in the closet of his lover; unknown to her, her husband will scoop in and take the credit.

As the Wolf and the Saint, they have had success in their careers.

Sophia has hid her considerable talents under drab clothes and big glasses, unless she is on assignment.  Adrian appears to her to be boring and tedious, though there is sexual tension between them.  For a period of time, Sophia has denied Adrian her bed, because she has suffered three miscarriages, and while she would dearly love children, she is frightened, as well she should be in that day and age -- or even this day and age.

Then they are each called out in the middle of the night to meet with their superior, to decide who will gain the last remaining spot as a secret agent.

And they bump into each other, learning the truth about their identities.  They have to work together to solve a heinous murder, but whoever solves it first, gets the spot.

Along the way, they learn to trust each others strengths -- Sophia relies on feelings and intuition, whereas Adrian is more analytical.  He is a better shot; she is good with a knife.  He learns she does not really need his protection; she learns to value his protection, rather than chafe against it.

The sex

And the sex is better than good.  It is very well written.  How about sex in a carriage... how about sex in front of a window... how about sex that is interrupted by an assignation...how about sex... how about sex with love...

My take

It is well written; held my interest; seemed to fit in with the mores of the day, yet was modern enough for current sensibilities.

Have you read it?  or any other of her books?

I will be on the look out for more.

Rating: ★★★★★

Buy: Lord and Lady Spy

Online Stores ]]> http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-lord-and-lady-spy-by-shana-galen/feed/ 1 Ten Reasons Why Secret Identities are Sexy http://www.loveromancepassion.com/ten-reasons-why-secret-identities-are-sexy/ http://www.loveromancepassion.com/ten-reasons-why-secret-identities-are-sexy/#comments Fri, 23 Sep 2011 09:07:12 +0000 Guest Blogger http://www.loveromancepassion.com/?p=11894

by Shana Galen, guest blogger and author of Lord and Lady Spy

In my new historical romance, Lord and Lady Spy, both the hero and heroine have secret identities. He’s secret agent Wolf, and she’s secret agent Saint. The fun thing is that while Sophia and Adrian have been married five years, neither knows of the other’s secret. And how the sparks fly when the truth is revealed!

I love stories with secret identities. This isn’t my first secret-identity book and probably won’t be my last. Why are secret identities so sexy?

  1. When you have a secret identity your secret self can do things your public self never would. As Lady Smythe, Sophia would never tell her husband what she wanted from him in bed. But as Agent Saint, she’s more than happy to give a few orders.
  2. Secret identities mean lots of midnight rendezvous and clandestine meetings. Sometimes these dark, furtive meetings can lead to more than simply spy business.
  3. Secret identities mean dressing the part. A dowdy lady of Society can dress as a sexy siren when she’s playing her role as spy.
  4. Secret identities mean secret scars. How much fun to compare battle wounds, especially when they’re in interesting places!
  5. Secret identities mean you have an excuse for slipping away from a boring ball or house party. On business—or pleasure!
  6. When you have a secret identity you have the chance to meet your spouse all over again for the first time. Who wouldn’t want to experience that initial spark of attraction again?
  7. A secret identity as a spy means Sophia and Adrian have to come up with lots of explanations for prolonged absences when they’re working on a mission. But they also get to travel the world.
  8. Secret identities mean secret talents. Sophia has skills with a dagger, and Adrian’s a crack shot with a pistol.
  9. Secret identities mean you don’t get much share of the applause for your accomplishments. On the other hand, your accomplishments often bring you into contact with the most powerful men and women of the day. Why, yes, prime minister, I would like to come to dinner!
  10. And, finally, secret identities are sexy because it’s a secret we the reader know and the characters don’t know. At first. I love to guess how the hero or heroine will realize the secret and how he or she will react. I think this scene in Lord and Lady Spy is pretty sexy and exciting.

Do you like secret identity stories? What makes them sexy?

Visit my website (www.shanagalen.com) for excerpts, trailers, and news about Lord and Lady Spy and all my books.

LORD AND LADY SPY BY SHANA GALEN – IN STORES SEPTEMBER 2011

No man can outsmart him...

Lord Adrian Smythe may appear a perfectly boring gentleman, but he leads a thrilling life as one of England’s most preeminent spies, an identity so clandestine even his wife is unaware of it. But he isn’t the only one with secrets...

She’s been outsmarting him for years...

Now that the Napoleonic wars have come to an end, daring secret agent Lady Sophia Smythe can hardly bear the thought of returning home to her tedious husband. Until she discovers in the dark of night that he’s not who she thinks he is after all...

Buy: Lord and Lady Spy, Lord and Lady Spy (UK)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Shana Galen is the author of numerous fast-paced adventurous Regency historical romances, including the Rita-nominated Blackthorne’s Bride. Her books have been sold worldwide, including Japan, Brazil, Russia, Spain, Turkey, and the Netherlands, and have been featured in the Rhapsody and Doubleday Book Clubs. A former English teacher in Houston’s inner city, Shana now writes full time. She’s a wife, a mother, and an expert multi-tasker. She loves to hear from readers: visit her website at www.shanagalen.com or see what she’s up to daily on Facebook and Twitter.

GIVEAWAY: I have 2 copies of Lord and Lady Spy. Open to: US and Canadian readers. Enter by: Answering Shana's question about secret identities. Last Day to Enter: September 30, 2011.

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by Susan S., guest reviewer

Case Number ISBN-13# 978- 0-7783-2795-0

Organization Name: Department 6

Specializations: Undercover assignments

Female Agent: Rachel Jessop, heroine.

New Identity: Mrs. Rachel Mott

Male Agent: Nate Ferrentino, hero.

New Identity: Mr. Nate Mott

Assignment: 1. Discover any illegal activity within commune. 2. Find missing girl, Courtney Sinclair. 3. Infiltrate religious cult named Church of the Covenant.

Cult Leader: Ethan Wycliff a.k.a the Holy One.

Then: Six months ago, Rachel dipped her pen in company ink; once. And ever since, her boss Nate has kept the company ink under lock and key. She’s humiliated enough, but Rachel’s got a job to do and innocents to save. This mission will have her working closely with Nate. She’ll have to like it or lump it. Looks like, she’ll be lumping it.

Now: They’ll have to endure a ten hour car drive from L.A. to Paradise, Arizona…with no A/C. She can ignore him, sleep with him…again, or throttle him. What’s a girl to do with an ex-Navy SEAL, who’s over 6’ tall, has green eyes, and 210 lbs. of delicious muscle? I mean, what would you do?

Possible Outcomes: This assignment has the potential for disaster written all over it.

Plan B: There is no plan B, lives are at stake!

Underlying Theme: Betrayal. This novel draws to mind a Latin phrase from a Shakespearean tragedy. When Julius Caesar utters, “Et tu, Brute?” A key player will commit…the ultimate betrayal.

Content warning: m/f and some m/m elements. Not for the faint-of-heart! Contains a ritualistic rape scene I found disturbing. Mind you, Novak only implies what happens. Had she actually detailed the occurrence, I’d feel even more perturbed.

Further commentary: I’d’ve used only one Charles Manson reference.

Well written: Has nail biting suspense! Bravo on the dialogue challenges between hero/heroine and Abby, a young deaf girl. Novak expertly conveys the desperation Nate and Rachel feel when trying to decipher Abby’s signing; which hold vital clues regarding the life within the commune. You’ll fear for Rachel’s safety, and feel how the suspense crescendoed- once Rachel is initiated as a Covenanter.

White Heat is the first installment from Brenda Novak’s Department 6 Trilogy.

Recommendations: Pick up a copy if you generally read romantic suspense, or suspense/thrillers. You won’t be disappointed, if you grab novels hoping to find one with a happily-ever-after. White Heat has one.

Rating: 4 Badges

MIRA, 2010, Contemporary Romantic Suspense, eBook pages 442.
Case Number ISBN-13# 978-0-7783-2795-0.

Next Assignment: If your jonesing for another suspense fix, Body Heat, Novak’s second Department 6 book is coming soon. Should release within the next month.

Buy: White Heat

Online Stores ]]> http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-white-heat-by-brenda-novak/feed/ 2 Review: The Fire Lord’s Lover by Kathryne Kennedy http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-the-fire-lords-lover-by-kathryne-kennedy/ http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-the-fire-lords-lover-by-kathryne-kennedy/#comments Thu, 04 Aug 2011 09:44:11 +0000 Zarabeth Golden http://www.loveromancepassion.com/?p=7537

by Zarabeth, guest reviewer

This book is the first in a series to come by Kathryn Kennedy. It is a historical romance set in a world of humans and elves- essentially our world with this overarching control by these magical elven lords. Daily life is no different from other historical romances so don’t let that turn you off from this wonderful beginning.

I call it a wonderful beginning because as much as Kennedy makes a valiant effort to provide closure at the end of this book when it is most obviously a series. In fact I do believe she tried a little too hard to bring an end to the story.

Besides the last bit I was very happy with this story.

Cassandra, our heroine, is betrothed to the Fire Lord’s son Dominic. We meet her at her boarding school “preparing” for her wedding. In fact she is finishing her training as an agent of the Rebellion with one goal (I promise this is not a spoiler): assassinate the Fire Lord and end the reign of tyranny. Dominic, who we aren’t sure if we are to hate or love, is simply prepared to marry his betrothed and produce an heir while keeping as much distance from her as possible. He is unsuccessful and gladly so for only together can they save the world as they know it.

There is a lot of internal angst and miscommunication in this one. In general I am not a fan of these plots but I thought Kennedy did a very good job with it. She manages to keep me interested in and compassionate for both characters’ conflicts. I never wanted to put the book down and get away from them or pummel them over the head. This is an achievement.

I also enjoyed the fantastical touches- dragons, magic, other worlds, and living plants work together to form a unique and wonderful universe. I look forward to the sequel.

Rating: 4 Stars

Buy: The Fire Lord's Lover (The Elven Lords)

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by Karin of Savvythinker.com, guest reviewer

Raven on the Wing by Kay Hooper is the first book I’ve read by this author, but it won’t be my last.  This book was sent to me for review, but that doesn’t mean I can’t genuinely like it!

This book has it all: suspense, danger, romance, love, friendship, loyalty, great characters, hot sex.  Plus, because it is romantic suspense (not suspense) we don’t have to really worry about the main characters, and the evilness is kept in check.  It’s not so graphic.  Then add in a twist I didn’t see coming, and you have a very interesting book indeed.

And yes, you have to suspend reality, but it’s for a good cause.

Raven Anderson is a complex woman.  On one hand, she is extremely beautiful and accomplished.  On the other, her files show her to be the lowest of the low: wanted for many crimes and suspected of others.  And she is associating with a man the feds are trying to trip up, but he is too canny.

She knocks Josh Long literally off his feet, when they collide in a hallway outside a party.  Of course, Josh is a multi-millionaire many times over, who has always felt his nemesis would be a gorgeous brunette, so he has limited himself only to blondes.

Of course, he falls in love immediately at first sight and proposes that night – many times in many ways.  She, of course, thinks he hit his head when he fell.

Because he cannot find her the next day, he sets his best security men and machinery on it, to find her.  And what he finds is her file, which sickens him, and he can’t really believe it.  Or should he?

And if she is an agent in deep cover, then he has jeopardized her mission.

And what is her mission – and how can he protect her?

I won’t give any of it away, except to say if you like this genre, you will love this book.  It kept my interest.  I read it quickly, as I didn’t want to put it down.  I did my usual of reading the last few pages, then I allowed myself the luxury of reading up to that point to see how it transpired.  Then I read the end again.

It was satisfying – and there was a twist.

Warning: it talks about white slavery and kidnapping (and death) of women.

Have you read any of Kay Hooper’s books?  Chances are, you might have as she has more than 13 million copies in print!  I’m not sure how I missed her.  But I will make up for lost time.

Do you have a favorite book of hers?

Rating: I give it 5 out of 5.

Buy: Raven on the Wing

Online Stores ]]> http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-raven-on-the-wing-by-kay-hooper/feed/ 2 Review: Never a Mistress, No Longer a Maid (Kellington Book One) by Maureen Driscoll http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-never-a-mistress-no-longer-a-maid-kellington-book-one-by-maureen-driscoll/ http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-never-a-mistress-no-longer-a-maid-kellington-book-one-by-maureen-driscoll/#comments Fri, 17 Jun 2011 22:03:45 +0000 Keira http://www.loveromancepassion.com/?p=11404

Story: Nurse Jane Wetherby and Lord Edward Kellington have a very brief and hot affair behind enemy lines at the Battle of Waterloo. Jane convinces Edward (Ned) of her widowhood when in fact she’s an unmarried virgin – talk about your virginity surprise! Of course the dunderhead ruins it all by proposing they continue the illicit affair instead of proposing marriage. Jane disappears and because he doesn’t know her real name he can’t find her when he comes to his senses.

They meet again seven years later when Ned shows up in Marston Vale to do his duty and pay to the family, which as we all know means he’s got to get hitched whether he likes it or not and trust me he does not. The bride-to-be in question was loosely arranged between the parents and is an unkind scheming woman Ned has no interest in – though he’s quite interested in the kind surgeon he meets riding in – very interested. Now he’s just got to convince her to marry him!

Review: This is a stunning and beautiful romance. I couldn’t put it down, which I feel is a good indicator of how fabulous it is! :) There’s quite a lot going on in this novel: a second son of a duke turned soldier/spy, mistaken identity, virginity surprise, a bastard secret baby from the union, another woman/arranged marriage, a wicked grandfather, a murder, several attempted kidnappings, one real one, the heroine’s a surgeon, and at least one more thing to tie it all together. I was swept up in the adventure and rooted for the characters from the first paragraph and I think you will be too. Be sure to pick this book up if you like Regency romances and anything else I’ve mentioned to this point. I can’t wait to see what else Maureen Driscoll turns out next! I'm particularly looking forward to Lynwood's romance.

Rating: ★★★★★

Buy: Never a Mistress, No Longer a Maid (Kellington Book One)

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