Love Romance Passion » Gardening 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: Happy Hour at Casa Dracula (Casa Dracula Book 1) by Marta Acosta http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-happy-hour-at-casa-dracula-casa-dracula-book-1-by-marta-acosta/ http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-happy-hour-at-casa-dracula-casa-dracula-book-1-by-marta-acosta/#comments Fri, 09 Sep 2011 09:10:07 +0000 Keira http://www.loveromancepassion.com/?p=8163

In the first installment of Casa Dracula, Milagro De Los Santos, Miracle of the Saints, reluctantly goes to her college boyfriend’s party celebrating his huge success as a newly published author. She thinks his novel is garbage, but the critics love it. She also thinks he’s a superficial stuck-up snob and isn’t proven wrong.

At the party she runs into Oswald Grant, a handsome man who asks her to join him for drinks at his hotel. Never one to deny herself a good time, Millie follows him back. Just when she thinks all he’s interested in is Sebastian Beckett-Witherspoon, Oswald kisses her and so exuberant are they that they accidentally nick each other and swap a little blood.

She thinks she’s been drugged but little does Milagro know she just traded smoochies with a certified vampire, even though he and his family will go to the ends of the earth to claim that all they have is genetic autosomal recessive disorder.

Her reckless behavior attracts Sebastian’s attention, but he’s not what he seems. As a card carrying member of CACA or Corporate Americans for the Conservation of America, Sebastian’s main goal is to eradicate the threat of vampires and use their blood to serve a higher financial purpose.

Gabriel, a gay bodyguard from the Grant family, rescues her and brings her to the ranch where Milagro finds out that Oswald is engaged. The more she hangs out with Winnifred (Winsome) Jardine, the more she likes her and the more despicable Oswald’s behavior seems… when Winnifred’s cousins Ian and Cornelia (Corny) Ducharme show up she latches onto the group.

Hot wild sex with Ian blows her mind, but Ian is much darker and more dangerous than a sincere and serious girl should want and so when she finds out the reasons behind Oswald’s indiscretion she bumps uglies with him. Then Winnie shows up pregnant and Millie can’t hardly stand herself and runs away... and right into disaster with CACA and her ex.

It ends happy, and Milagro gets her man, but did she get the right one? The love triangle theme continues in the next three books and explores this theme along with others like classism, racism, and finding personal happiness. Keep an eye out for those reviews!

For a fun time with a heroine who’s smart, sassy, and funny and just a little naïve who stumbles from one disaster into the next, you should try the Casa Dracula series, a perfect blend of the supernatural and comedy of manners. Acosta will leave you in stitches from laughing so hard while at the same time craving the next bite.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Buy: Happy Hour at Casa Dracula

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I saw the trailer announced at Katidom and like Kati I’m a sucker for fairytales, especially Beauty and the Beast fairytale retellings.

After viewing the trailer I went immediately to the library and got a copy of the book. (How about you are you planning to do the same?)

It’s an easy read, directed toward young adults. It is high school meets fairytales without losing its magic. Oh and it’s from the Beast’s pov – hot stuff right there even if he’s a jerk of the first sort to begin with (not unlike most alpha males.)

Kyle Kingsbury is the popular boy at school. He has looks, athletics, and riches. Together they get him girls – any girl from the ugliest hag to the vapid self-obsessed head cheerleader. He’s arrogant, conceited, and cruel which combined lead to his ultimate destruction and reformation.

Unlike the trailer, in the book Kyle Kingsbury really does turn into a hairy beast, not a deformed, scarred, and tattooed boy. I liked the idea that he was forced to look as hideous on the outside as he was on the inside, so I think I will like the movie version of his beastiness. He’s also given two years in the book to find someone to love him, not one. The trailer also shows him walking the halls of school in his Beast form (which never happened, he goes into near immediate seclusion venturing out only at night or to various doctors looking for a cure).

Linda Taylor (or Lindy) is the shy scholarship book nerd at Tuttle Prep. When Kyle gives her the rose corsage meant for his girlfriend (who snubbed it) he unknowingly bought himself a second chance clause to his curse. It takes him a while to figure it out, but ultimately he realizes Lindy is just the right girl to break his spell.

The bad YA parental units are explained in a manner that fills in some gaps otherwise found in most fairytales. Even the witch who turns Kyle Beastly doesn’t leave him hanging, she’s watching him, helping him, and ultimately befriending him, which is interesting to say the least.

Definitely worth a try if you love the storyline and even if you don’t!

Rating: 4 Stars

Buy: Beastly

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by Marcia, guest reviewer

The Mermaid Garden is the story of two women who are desperately longing for love and fulfillment told with beautiful, sumptuous prose as well as witty, wry humor and a touch of mystery.

Ten-year-old Floriana is a lonely, lost child, yearning to have something worthwhile and beautiful in her life.  Her mother ran off with a tomato seller, taking her baby brother and leaving Floriana with her worthless alcoholic father.  She is drawn to La Magdalena, an elegant mansion just outside town, and meets eighteen-year-old Dante.  La Magdalena and Dante are everything that is missing in Floriana’s life and she is determined that she will have them both.  Unfortunately, Floriana does not ‘belong’ with either.

Clementine has come home to live with her father and stepmother in a beautifully quaint family run hotel in Devon.  She is angry, bitter, discontented and still carrying the childhood angst leftover from her parent’s divorce. The hotel is buried under a mountain of debt but Clementine is too self-involved to help.  Marina, her stepmother, hires Rafa as a resident artist in an effort to attract new and repeat guests.  Rafa, who is also a gorgeous and charming Argentinean, is happy to help but he has a secret agenda.

Montefiore creates characters that are tangible, real and accessible so that we feel their yearning, hope and joy as they discover how to overcome life’s harsh and beautiful lessons.  She draws her readers into a bittersweet atmosphere with joy and wit, capturing the breathtaking scenery of Devon and Tuscany with such skill that the readers feels that they are there, in each and every scene, as a silent observer.

The deftly interwoven plot and complex characters finely crafted prose make The Mermaid Garden a must read.  This is a book that will stay on readers shelves for years to come, to be reread an appreciated over and over again.

Rating: ★★★★★

Buy: The Mermaid Garden

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bookreview

What makes a perfect hero? Is it his dashing good looks, his heroic deeds, or his charm? Third in the series Lessons in Love by Suzanne Enoch, England’s Perfect Hero, delves into the challenge of defining a hero.

Lucinda and her two best friends, Georgiana and Evelyn, create three separate lists on how to be a gentleman of high caliber. Each one is highly personal and defines what each girl feels about herself and what she looks for in a mate. On Lucinda’s list there are four items she wishes to teach a certain dashing gentleman, also known as Lord Geoffrey Newcombe, about being a gentleman.

Only her lessons are getting the attention of a different man; another soldier and nobleman whose past is a mystery and whose character is mysterious. Robert Carroway, brother to Dare, Georgiana’s husband. All she knows about Robert is this: he was at Waterloo, he came home from war injured, his experiences in war have made him withdrawn and edgy, and her father doesn’t like him.

Robert Carroway for his part has lived in a personal hell for three years. The darkness threatens to claim him, chew him up and spit him out. If only it would kill him so he didn’t have to live in silent agony about what had been done to him. The only ray of pure sunlight in his whole existence is Lucinda whose cheery disposition and sweet nature draw him like a moth to the flame. If helping her snare the husband of her dreams could also pull him from the darkness he would do it, or so he told himself. What he really wanted was to be the husband of her dreams.

Rating: ★★★★½

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by Susan S., guest reviewer

Merely Magic is part of Sourcebooks Casablanca Classics Collection. It’s an out-of-print romance novel re-released for the enjoyment of new readers as well as old.

Summary: Heroine, Ninian Malcolm Siddons, is a woman who marches to the beat of a different drum. She doesn’t look, dress, or act as other ladies. There’s also the fact that she’s financially independent. And a witch. Further proof she’s…different. Ninian has healing abilities and aids the sick with her herbs. She also acts as the village midwife, and possesses a gift for sensing human emotion. But she’s also a lonely woman. Men tend to avoid Malcolm witches. Yes, being a witch and accepting one’s heritage can be a lonely undertaking.

Or at least it was…until Drogo Ives, the Earl of Ives and Wystan, visits his Wystan estate. Legend and family warn the danger of Ives men. Ms. Siddons believes she can avoid Drogo along with his mysteriously dark and handsome features. That she’s strong enough to resist him.

Or so she thought. Until a meddlesome step-sister intervenes. Unbeknownst to Ninian, she imbibes some wine tainted with a magic potion. When a Malcolm witch finally succumbs to the charms of an Ives, will it bring calamity or happiness encountered only in legends?

Review: Merely Magic has some pros adding to the overall enjoyment of the story. For instance, the mystery man who calls himself Adonis. He appears various times and always unexpectedly; leaving us wondering if he’s friend or foe. The secondary characters really added a fun twist. Drogo has a lot of brothers, half-brothers, and one half-sister. Makes for an interesting family dynamics.

We also have some cons. The heroine’s behavior was a bit contradictory. Ninian is believed to be independent, but allows Drogo’s half-sister and friends to override her decisions. Leaving Ninian’s assertiveness to take its leave. There’s also some descriptive redundancies, e.g., too many “references” to the hero’s eyebrows. They were: curled, wretched, dark, craggy, thick and curling, etc. The same held true for Ninian’s mental status. Because she’s different, the earl thinks her: dim-witted, rattled, insane, a madwoman, lunatic, etc., etc.

If you disregard the cons, it really is quite a lovely story. The crashed wedding chaos alone is an incredibly well-written scene. As was Drogo’s near-drowning.

Further Commentary: This novel leaves readers with a few unanswered questions. For example, what is Adonis’s real identity? There’s also an unsolved murder. It’s possible the answers may reveal themselves in future installments. If I’m not mistaken, when Merely Magic was released in 2000, it was followed by Must Be Magic. Mayhap the answers lie within the pages of the aforementioned sequel.

Rating: ★★★½☆

Buy: Merely Magic

Sourcebooks Casablanca, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. Romance, March 2011, Trade Paperback, 344 Pages. ISBN# 978-1-4022-5193-1.

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bookreview

To Sir Phillip, With Love by Julia Quinn was a fairly decent story. There were times in the story when I wondered if the main characters would ever fall in love before the pages ran out. The sex scenes were scrumptious and more than counter balanced the long wait to get to them. Also the scenes where Eloise's brothers participate are quite hilarious from when they darken Phillip's doorstep to when Eloise joins them in a shooting contest.

Sir Phillip was in desperate need of a wife. Since Marina's death, Phillip had come to the conclusion that he wanted his wife to be happy, not melancholy like Marina. Plus his two children were out of control and he had no idea how to handle them. So what he really needed was a mother for them and who better than a desperate spinster?

Of course, poor Phillip had no idea that Eloise Bridgerton had turned down half a dozen proposals. By his letters, Sir Phillip seems the perfect man so when his daring invitation to visit him in the country arrived; Eloise made plans to escape her overprotective family.

Upon her arrival to Sir Philip's home, Eloise is bitterly disappointed. Why Phillip could hardly speak to her! He was a grumpy moody sort, not at all the dashing charmer she'd pictured. He certainly never mentioned his two children in their letters! Reluctant to turn around and go home with her tail between her legs, Eloise decides to stay and stick it out to see if the two of them would suit.

Warning: This book contains mentioning of child abuse. While one can never call child abuse lightweight, it was not graphic. The nanny, Nurse Edwards, was caught beating the children with a book and action was taken.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Buy: To Sir Phillip, With Love

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