Love Romance Passion » Big Misunderstanding 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: Dreaming of Mr. Darcy by Victoria Connelly http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-dreaming-of-mr-darcy-by-victoria-connelly/ http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-dreaming-of-mr-darcy-by-victoria-connelly/#comments Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:26:09 +0000 Lynn Reynolds http://www.loveromancepassion.com/?p=13706

Reviewed by Lynn Reynolds

This is book 2 of the “Jane Austen/Mr. Darcy” series.

Kay Ashton is helping to take care of a very sick woman. They also have something in common – they have a love of Jane Austen. We see that her favorite romantic hero is Mr. Wentworth or to be more specific the actor Oli Wade Owen. If you had one romantic hero you could dream about, who would it be? We also see that Kay is a book illustrator. She quits her job to follow her dream.

Adam Craig is a screenwriter and film producer who lives near Lyme Regis. Kay doesn’t know it yet but they have a connection. But Victoria surprises us by making him painfully shy. Will he get over his shyness to let Kay know how he feels?

Kay has opened a Bed & Breakfast and her first guests are a group of actors doing a film based on one of Jane Austen’s works. We see that Kay has a very easy going personality which works well for her new line of work. She appears to be one of those people who likes everyone. And with a house full of celebrities she’s just a little awe struck.

One of Victoria’s characters sticks out. Her name is Gemma. She’s one of the actresses staying at Kay’s B & B. She’s quiet, a daughter of an actress, and one who hopes she won’t turn out be just like her mother. She doesn’t appear to be your typical ingénue.

For those readers of romance that don’t know much about Jane Austen, Victoria sneaks in little bits and pieces about her into the story – a miniature history lesson if you will. She may make you a fan before the book is finished.

In Kay’s interactions with the film group, she makes certain observations. Be we have to question how on point her observations are. Kay has a crush on the “pretty boy” actor Oli Wade Owen. Is she just star struck because of all his attention? Is she misinterpreting that attention? Will she miss her true soul mate because of her walking around with her head in the clouds?

Victoria helps to fuel the romance bug. You’ll become a fan of hers and she may change your mind about going back and reading some of Jane Austen’s work. She will also get you hooked on the surroundings – she’s our travel guide as she takes us through the English countryside.

This story is definitely like a film. Victoria puts in so many twists and turns you have to keep reading to see who ends up with whom. But if you expect to read sex in this story, you will be disappointed. If you expect a cut and dry romance between main characters, you will also be disappointed. If you love a romance that takes its time and comes out to be a surprise, this book will be for you. You may also want to go back and read the first book and then wait for the Spring when her third book comes out.

Rating: ★★★½☆

Buy: Dreaming of Mr. Darcy

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What You Need to Know: Boys Over Flowers is a Korean TV romantic drama. It runs for two seasons with a total of 25 episodes. The series is based on a Manga series of the same title which I have not read. There’s been other adaptations of the Manga besides this one with differences.

Recommended: If you like/love/drool over Twilight; if you adore foreign films, especially Asian ones, and can read with ease lots of subtitles or know Korean; if you’re a girl lol---:D; if you like love triangles or if you like YA romances… any one of these and you should see this show; more than 3 of these and you’d be a fool not to see it!

Plot: The story takes place at an elite boarding school where only the top 1% of Korea’s wealthy children attend (and even then some of them can’t get into the school.) Geum JanDi saves a bullied male student from committing suicide while running clothes from her father’s dry cleaning business to the school. Journalists and the public voice are having a field day with it until the school’s president decides to offer a scholarship spot to the girl. From there JanDi runs into the F4, a group of popular boys that run the school, and immediately gets on Goo JoonPyo’s bad side. What follows is a wonderfully complex soap opera full of awesome.

The Love Triangle: (Lots of Twilight references ahead…just because it’s a common base for most to jump from…) It’s so hard to choose because they’re both like Edward Cullen more than Jacob Black.

One of the guys – Goo JoonPyo even has his own crazy hot wild hairdo. It’s curly! It’s adorable. I love it. He’s the possessive one and is basically all of Edward Cullen’s darker qualities, but with a tender streak too. Min-ho Lee who plays Goo JoonPyo has a very expressive face and a really hot body. Yum!

The other guy – Yoon JiHoo is all of Edward’s sensitive artistic aspects combined with his aloofness. Hyun-joong Kim who plays JiHoo is also very hot. I want to go to Korea and date these two boys (seriously! Wow!) JiHoo dislikes all the stupid drama at his school and often rushes to Geum JanDi’s rescue.

The girl – Geum JanDi is a very warm character. She likes to eat, stand up to bullies, and like Bella Swan prefers to stand on her own two feet and not accept monetary bribes or help from the guys. JanDi is played by Hye-sun Koo and the girl is adorable with big eyes. I love how she walks a bike back and forth when she’s not pedaling it – cute!

Final Thoughts: This show has it all – boarding school, school wide bullying/hazing, love triangle, side romances, drowning 3 times? 4 times? something like that, 2 physical disabling incidents, amnesia, lots of fainting and passing out immediately into dead sleeps, faked accidents, fake hospital stays, vacations, backstabbing, revenge, kidnapping, innocents getting setup, getting caught in a blizzard, three proposals, an arranged/forced marriage, estranged family getting reunited, and the kitchen sink in there somewhere too!

Rating: ★★★★★ – Don’t walk, run! Get a copy!

As of December 13, 2011 this is on Netflix (streaming).

Buy: Boys Over Flowers (Season 1), Boys Over Flowers (Season 2)

Buy: Season 1:

Buy: Season 2:

Buy: Geum JanDi's Moon and Star Necklace

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Wes Murphy was the son of a conman and was raised to be one too. A con gone wrong when he was younger landed him in a halfway house and changed his life. There Wes discovered he loved to cook. Now he’s studying at a great school and working toward being the top of his rotation in hopes of landing the best externship. Unfortunately he’s flunking Food Chem. Why should he learn to take something as creative as cooking and turn it into something as lifeless as science?

Dr. Rosemary Wilkins was a child prodigy. She loved chemistry and hated germs. A bit of a hypochondriac and a total Star Trek dork there was nothing she loved better than the clean sterile environment of her lab. When Wes Murphy rescues her on her first day lecturing on Food Chemistry 101 and winds up in trouble with the dean, she can’t help but offer her support of his story… and somehow finds herself agreeing to supervise his project on of all things, aphrodisiacs.

There’s a side romance between two men, who both work at the restaurant where Wes does his externship. It’s pretty sweet how every one of their friends tries to get them back together and help fix what went wrong between them.

Rosemary is a lot of fun to read. She bounces all over the place, uses big words, over analyzes, curses in the language of Star Trek and Buffy, and finds her best friend in a dog.

Wes is a very sensitive hero. He’s determined to do right but winds up in a pile of lies and soon the mess is out of control. He wants Rose, Bunsen burners and all. If only he took his own relationship advice, he might just be able to keep her.

I especially loved the sex in Central Park, but the sex between them is always smoking hot. Edwards certainly knows how to set the mood!

Rating: ★★★★½

Buy: Just One Taste (Recipe for Love)

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bookreview

These Three Remain is the last installment of the Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman Trilogy by Pamela Aidan. This is the one you’ve all been waiting for, or at least is the one I’ve been waiting for. It starts just before Darcy’s trip to Rosings and goes through to the final proposal.

It’s very long and engrossing, practically too long, if I had any complaints. I was sorely tempted to pull out my (oddly enough a very neglected) copy of Pride and Prejudice to compare both proposal texts. In the end I decided against doing that in case Aidan took liberties because I would enjoy the book more without knowing.

Moreover, Aidan wraps the time period more firmly into the piece than Austen. Darcy’s friend, Dy, is back and is revealed to be something other than he is. A lot of words are devoted to this end and with Dy in the picture as Darcy’s best friend, Bingley comes in second rate. Additionally, Colonel Fitzwilliam is proven correct on Dy’s feelings toward Miss Darcy.

I’m not really sure why this whole segment is really necessary or for that matter Dy’s character in general. Dy’s contacts come in handy with tracking down Wickham and Lydia but as is mentioned by Aidan through Darcy there were other elements already in place to that end.

Darcy’s original proposal and backlash is fantastic. I love how it takes him a while to really grasp what Elizabeth meant. He is determined to become a better man because of her. He thought he was the man he always wanted to be or at least well on the way to becoming that man until the proposal in Kent.

How Bingley and Darcy patch up is another good scene. Not nearly as exciting as I had hoped, but decent. I was surprised to see it happen as it did in the timeline, having expected it earlier. As it was it happened after Bingley returned to Hertfordshire but before his proposal to Jane.

I think the most intriguing piece in the whole story however is the interview with his aunt. Very rewarding! I always wanted to know how that went.

Overall a very strong finish.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Buy: These Three Remain

Find and buy more Pamela Aidan novels at great prices.

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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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Tobacco brides were sent by The Virginia Company of London to the Virginia colony where men could buy the brides with 150 pounds of tobacco leaves. In the beginning, the brides were spinsters, widows, and orphans, but few women were willing to risk all to come to America. In 1643, more likely the brides were criminals and felons who had to choose between the new colony and prison. All except one, Lady Constance Caroline Morrow was kidnapped!

The daughter of an earl, Constance (Connie/CC/Sissy) escaped from her companion to visit her uncle onboard a ship headed for the Virginia colony before it set sail. He was to do his time as an indentured servant in the new world. She was detected and captured under the captain’s orders and locked with the other women below the hold.

Constance is bought by Drew O’Connor along with her friend Mary. Under the governor’s and council’s orders Drew must marry one of them, he chooses Constance. It is to be a marriage in name only, because Constance wants to go home to England and is certain her father will come for her. For his part, Drew wants to never love and lose again so the deal while not ideal is fine with him.

It’s a cute story. I don’t like it as well as Bride in the Bargain. There’s an equal amount of research. As the heroine is fond of mathematical equations there are a lot of strange little riddles littered throughout. You’ll be tempted to solve them, but it’s best to leave that to the heroine and hero.

The 1644 massacre, which starts the second Anglo-Powhatan War, sneaks up unexpectedly. It is the second massacre Drew has gone through. The reconciliation between Drew and Constance is wrapped up in it. Characters are lost in it. The ending is relatively happy despite the sadness of the events surrounding it.

Like Bride in the Bargain, it too is an inspirational Christian romance, but not as subtle. There’s more agenda to this novel than in Bride in the Bargain, so that’s something to consider. The presentation of it was still lovely, light, and sweet. It didn’t bother me, but it might some readers.

Rating: 3.5-4 Stars

Buy: A Bride Most Begrudging

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Heroine: Larissa Zahn has been busy since she broke up with Jason Cantrell two years ago. From the growth of a romance novel blog she’s become an authority on romance with a column about the Rules of Romance. Her dream is to open Isn’t it Romantic a store for romance in the Cartwright Hotel specialty Mall. The promo package with the vendor is worth its weight in gold and the location perfect. There’s just one problem…

Hero: Jason Cantrell is also going for the same space. He’s pitching Can-Do Adventure, a travel agency he started with his brother, geared toward adventure seekers. To make their company fit the specialty mall they’re putting together couple packages at steep discounts. It’s a shoe-in… until he realizes he’s not meeting Daniel Cartwright but Connor, the guy Larissa cheated on him with.

Review: Tawny Weber delivers a tight story which takes place over 24 hours. It works because the two characters had a previous relationship with each other. They delve into their past while trying to figure out their present. Neither can run away from the other when a convenient lock down of the mall during a power blackout give the two time in close proximity that they need to do this.

There was some repetitive dialogue that kept circling old issues instead of solving them but the sexual tension was right on, and the sex was hot. In the end, Cartwright Hotels is lucky Larissa and Jason didn’t pull out and leave them in a rut for contriving to force them together. Which company do you think was a better fit for the mall?

Rating: ★★★★☆

Buy: Just for the Night

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Starlight and Promises in short, is fantastic. It has a feel of the older romances with the exotic locations and seafaring travel, but is fresh and fun. I simply loved how the romance developed on the way to where the expedition would start. The romantic timeline is a lengthy one – their romance does not develop over a few days. It takes them a year or so to get to Tasmania.

The heroine’s uncle is the one to discover a Smilodon (saber-tooth tiger) on his journeys with a friend in Tasmania. Just before he’s kidnapped by pirates, Richard Colchester manages to send a letter to his niece in Britain with orders to round up everything they’d need for an expedition. When Samantha exhausted all the people in England who might be able to lead it she gets the idea to find Christian Badia, the American feline biologist.

Our hero, Christian, is a by-choice exiled aristocratic lord. His work in the scientific community had them all knocking on his door with pleas to lead big game hunts until his early retirement. He’s confident, arrogant, and a beast, but not in the literal sense.

Samantha is a tomboy and not afraid of things normal ladies would be. In fact she’s a herpetologist and loves all things amphibian or reptilian. Her pets include iguanas, lizards, and snakes. She can be bratty, stubborn, and not just a little bit foolhardy in her recklessness, but she’s also determined and spirited.

She and Christian get into a lot of fights where he shows his inner caveman off in fine form. In the end he must either lock her up or marry her. He chooses the latter and finds himself probably more infuriated than before but the price of his sanity is well worth it.

Lots of action. Lots of crazy situations. Lots of mistakes and misunderstandings on both the protagonists' parts. All satisfying and touching. This is going on my favorites shelf.

Rating: ★★★★½

Buy: Starlight & Promises

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by Carla F., guest reviewer

I have a confession to make. Despite having no interest in sports except for the occasional tennis match, and no interest in cars except their ability to get me from Point A to Point B, I started watching NASCAR this year. This is entirely the fault of Erin McCarthy and her Fast Track Series about NASCAR drivers.

The Chase is the fourth book in the series, and it has in fact two drivers as the main characters: Evan Monroe (brother of Elec Monroe from Flat-Out Sexy - Fast Track #1) and Kendall Holbrook, the first female driver in the cup series. Evan and Kendall were teenage lovers but broke up. Evan doesn’t even know why. One day they were together and the next she wouldn’t talk to him or answer his phone calls. Now Kendall is a rising star and Evan is on a losing streak.

Spoilers (perhaps): It was interesting to finally hear Evan’s story. In the previous books he seemed like a guy who only wanted to drive fast, chase women, and argue loudly with his sister Evie. To find that he was terribly hurt by his breakup with Kendall and is really sweet man is a pleasant surprise.

Kendall was a disappointment. After she and Evan get back together (extremely early on in the story) and face a serious situation, she wants to hide from Evan and not talk it over with him. Even though she knows that was what caused their teenage breakup.

Favorite scene that sounds like it would be cheesy but ended up hot: The deodorant commercial that Evan and Kendall film together.

Overall: This wasn’t as strong a book as others in the series. (Flat-Out Sexy and Hot Finish are better). I would recommend this whole series though. If you don’t like (or think you don’t like NASCAR), but love stories about teenager lovers coming back together, you should take this one out for a spin.

Fast Track Series:

Rating: ★★★★☆

Buy: The Chase

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I first heard about Crimson Rapture from a HaBo post over at Smart Bitches: Trashy Books. I can’t remember now if this book was the actual book or just one of the suggestions, but I guess it hardly matters. It sounded cool and I got it immediately from Paperback Swap.

It was originally published in 1986 and definitely has forced seduction in it—the kind where he does it for her own good and because he desires her too much to let another moment pass. There’s a lot of it, but it is well written, so if you’re in the mood for it, I would highly suggest this novel. A warning though… the comeuppance of the uppity bitch in the story is gang rape by the pirate crew which the pirate captain (hero) sanctions because she tried to kill someone (no, not the heroine.)

The story is one of those that goes everywhere (Boston, London, open seas, remote island in the Phillipines, Jamaica) and does everything (kidnapping, monsoons, shipwrecks, runaways, fake marriages, babies, plots and betrayal, and so on.)

It starts when the ship the heroine and hero are on is caught in the doldrums. The heroine is headed for Australia to live with her cousin and his family after her father’s recent death. The hero, Justin Phillips, is locked up in the hold somewhere on his way to his execution. He spies her presence one day and strikes up a conversation. He can’t really see her, but he figures she’s extremely plain.

Christina Marks is actually very beautiful. As the daughter of a reverend she is kind, naive, and innocent.  Also, she is terribly shy except when she talks to Justin through the small opening. She gives him her rations to help him keep his strength up. When the wind breaks and Justin’s crew comes to his rescue he kidnaps Cristina determined to ensure her safety and wellbeing.

The adventure has only begun though and passion can’t be denied.

Rating: ★★★½☆

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