Entries Tagged 'Blind' ↓
March 14th, 2010 — 2.5 Stars, Blind, Book Review, Business, Category, Children, Contemporary, Divorced, G-I, Housekeeper/Maid, Marriage of Convenience, Older Woman/Younger Man, Secretary, Tycoon, United States of America, Virgin Heroine
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Philomena Peabody made a promise to her mother. She took care of her three younger sisters and when the last one got married, her youth had slipped away. Now at 27, Phil has a lot of thinking to do.
Penn Wilderman is in a custody battle with his ex-wife for Robbie, their adopted son, his nephew. In the midst of all this he’s recovering from snow blindness. (Hurray for an original blindness idea!) When he hears Phil for the first time he thinks she sounds like someone’s mother.
This makes him think she’s much older than him. She’s actually about 10 to 12 years younger (something that gets confused later when he asks his family servant what people would think of him marrying her.) Phil tries to correct him a few times, especially when he calls her “sweet little old lady.” Every time though, he always cuts in and ignores her protests.
Penn convinces Phil first to move into his mansion to help him watch over Robbie, then later to a marriage of convenience in order to help him win at the custody hearing. The plan however nearly backfires on him… because it wasn’t for Robbie’s sake Penn wanted Phil. It was for his own.
It was pretty insulting at the end when he sees her (for the second time, because he couldn’t place her the first time) and tells her he thought he was going crazy imagining himself in love with an old woman. Talk about double standards.
The writing is pretty confusing in parts and some things aren’t as well explained as they could be. Which is too bad because another category romance of hers I really really like and doesn’t have this problem.
The ending resolution could have been dragged out a little. Phil was clever when she ran – she went to work first and deleted her employment history so he couldn’t track her down. He was clever and got to her quickly. Phil begs his forgiveness when he shows up and it’s all HEA in two seconds.
Rating: 2.5 Stars
Buy: If Love Be Blind
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February 23rd, 2010 — 3 Stars, 4 Stars, Blind, Book Review, Comedy of Manners, France, G-I, Handicap, Historical Romance, Kings, Princes, Sheiks, Chiefs, Mistaken Identity, Mistress or Courtesan, Poor Eyesight, Revenge, Rogues and Rakehells, Scarred Hero, Science, Seas, Virgin Heroine
For the most part I truly enjoyed reading Beast. It’s a twist on the classic fairytale Beauty and the Beast and has a scarred hero who just happens to be a prince… a prince of nothing as it were because it was a French aristocratic title bestowed after the dissolution of the monarchy. The hero is extremely fond of perfumes and perfume ingredients. He’s a botanist, chemist, and a nose which is to say an expert at smelling things. He’s quite a vain creature who has worked very hard to be charming, well thought of, wealthy, and seen as handsome instead of grotesque. His manners are faultless, his skill as a lover unparalleled, and his person dressed and draped in the finest money can buy.
The heroine is a vain person as well, but hers is a beauty that was bestowed upon her from birth and not anything she ever had to work to achieve. In fact she sneers at anyone who comments upon her beauty. If only they could see the girl beneath whomever that girl may be… She doesn’t want to marry at all and she’s certainly not inclined to marry someone who is not as beautiful as she is because isn’t that something she deserved? Couldn’t the man she married be handsome as well as titled, wealthy, charming, and whole of body?
It was a good set up but about halfway through I thought wouldn’t it be great if the hero to put the heroine in her place. Of course it never happened. In fact the reverse did. Why though? Sadly, I believe it is how the initial key plot points unfolded. So despite the hero perpetrating the whole disaster and the heroine being the cause of the disaster, the hero was forced to grovel.
So what happened? Louise found out her husband wasn’t as magnificent as her parent’s said he was and she was determined to find a lover who could give her everything she was certain her new husband could not. Charles overheard and hatched a scheme to force her to see beyond his face and his original intentions were to reveal himself and make her the butt of the joke. Instead he fell in love and tried to unsuccessfully woo her as himself in daylight. She figures it out eventually because he slips up. He’s tried to tell her who he is/was but Louise is clueless and refuses to see the connection because that would just be too horrible!
So because Louise didn’t grow up and Charles did the only growing I’m going to have to give Beast 3 Stars instead of the 4 Stars I would have if the heroine had owned up all of her faults instead of just a few and try to make amends to her husband.
Buy: Beast
Originally posted 2009-04-08 05:27:46. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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January 1st, 2010 — 4.5 Stars, A-C, Blind, Book Review, Counts, Marquis, Viscounts, Governess / Companion, Great Britain, Historical Romance, Poor Eyesight
I loved The Viscount in Her Bedroom by Gayle Callen the third in the Sisters of Willow Pond Trilogy. What I like about Gayle Callen is that you don’t have to read the first two in the trilogy to really enjoy this book. You can pick up at the end and go backwards and have just as much pleasure in the reading of the love matches. The descriptions in this book are so sensual and touching.
The sisters of willow pond found themselves out of money and out of favor in little society, not to mention big society when their father died. Louisa Shelby is the last remaining sister to be unmarried. She doesn’t need to work anymore, but Louisa has found comfort in helping others. Being a companion to elderly women; reading to them, writing letters for them, singing and talking to them makes her feel useful. Louisa left her previous position when the men in the family pursued her as if she were nothing but a common whore. She couldn’t believe that men would treat her differently just because of a lowered status. Never again, she thinks. But when Dowager Wade asks her to come be her companion, Louisa can hardly resist, especially when she factors in Simon Wade.
Simon Wade was blinded in a riding accident. Adrift in the world of the seeing, Simon retreated to his grandmother’s estate. There he has learned to cope reasonably well with being blinded and his manservant Manvil is there for him when he can not let his family into his world. Mostly he is afraid of being seen as a creature to be pitied and refuses to show his personal accomplishments in front of his grandmother, sister… or one Miss Louisa Shelby. Simon is especially worried about Miss Louisa Shelby, before his accident he had heard that she was fast. What kind of an influence would that be on his poor already socially awkward sister? He is determined to make sure nothing untoward happens, but the more he supervises Louisa, the more he’s sure those awful words against her are just that words. Now, however, he wants to ruin her reputation worse than any rumor. He wants her for his own.
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Buy: The Viscount in Her Bedroom
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Happy Readings!
Originally posted 2008-11-20 17:15:37. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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December 4th, 2009 — 3 Stars, Blind, Book Review, D-F, Erotica, Friends, Gentry, Historic America, Scarred Hero, Soldier, United States of America, Virgin Heroine, Wartime
I recently finished the audio book version of the Land of Falling Stars. This Civil War erotica loosely brings to mind Gone with the Wind
with Rhett, Ashley, and Scarlett… only this time played out by Gavin, Jesse, and Sophia. Gavin and Ricochet were my two favorite characters. So scrumptious! (Gavin not the dog.) My least favorite was probably Sophia from the good guy team; she was so hot and cold and acted very childish on several occasions, which made it hard to like her. The story did include one of my favorite character flaws: blindness. Several yummy sex scenes occur throughout the blindness of Sophia.
Gavin returns to Arbor Rose with terrible, soul-wrenching news. He must deliver this news to his childhood love Sophia and he doesn’t know how he can do it. Haunted by what he’s done in the war, Gavin knows he faces censure at home not only because he chose to fight for the Yanks but also because he is Jesse’s murderer. It doesn’t matter if it was in the middle of battle and he didn’t know who he was aiming at – the outcome was the same. Jesse, Sophia’s fiancé, was dead by his hand.
Mistaking Gavin for another cruel heartless Yank, Sophia shoots him on sight only to learn it’s her childhood friend and protector come back from war. Horrified by what she’s done, Sophia races to his side and nurses him back to health. It’s been months and months since she’s heard from Jesse, and all the while she’s with Gavin she can’t help forgetting the perfect man her father found her for the scarred and imperfect flesh and blood man before her. Terribly confused by her attraction for Gavin, Sophia wavers and falls, then returns to teetering and vacillating and questioning with several relapses while trying to sort out her feelings for the man she was supposed to love and marry, and the man she can’t live without.
Rating: 3.0 Stars
Get the audio version here.
Originally posted 2009-03-21 05:33:43. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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November 16th, 2009 — 4 Stars, 4.5 Stars, A-C, Blind, Book Review, Enemies, France, Gentry, Georgian, Great Britain, Historical Romance, Kidnapping, Regency, Secret Agent, Survival, Virgin Heroine, Wartime
Joanna Bourne takes the old plot of wartime enemy spies turned lovers and sticks it on its head. This novel is a seriously fantastic tale that you would be fool not to pick up and read. It contains a wonderful plot twist that should be as surprising as it is satisfyingly delicious. The male is a strong, powerful, but very plain lead. The female is cunning, resourceful, and beautiful. The cover depicts a young handsome man, the type of man that Robert Grey would eat twice a week for breakfast. It is pretty and attention grabbing however, which is what the publishers are after.
Annique Villiers is a French spy in the middle of the Napoleonic Wars (adjacent to the Georgian period in England.) She was captured and thrown into the bad guy's household prison alongside two British spies, Grey and Adrian. Annique uses her cunning and limited resources to get the three of them out of trouble. Unfortunately for Annique, Grey (and Adrain) knows of her and captures her just when she thinks she's free. Angry and determined to escape, Annique puts up one hell of a fight. She has kindness in her you would not expect of a spy. As a matter of fact, all of the agents except the bad guys, show a remarkable kindness.
The safety of two nation's people rest in Annique's hands. She must decide what to do and whether her choice will keep her loyal to her homeland or turn her traitor, she does not yet know. Annique will have to war between her head and her heart all the while danger, intrigue, and madness follow behind her nipping at her heels.
Rating: 4.5 Stars to midpoint, 4 Stars overall.
Originally posted 2009-03-07 05:35:39. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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June 24th, 2009 — 1 Star, Blind, Book Review, Contemporary, Cursed Lead, J-L, Older Woman/Younger Man, Paranormal, Supernatural, Teacher, United States of America, Writer
So far as a romance novel goes, Lucy Burns has the very broad requirements and none of the nuances. It ends happy. There is a guy. She ends up with him. The romance was nonexistent as no emotions or depth came across when I read it. The story primarily focuses on Lucy Burns finding salvation.
As a heroine, I wasn't particularly enchanted with her. I was unable to sympathize with Lucy past her little girl stage. She came across exactly as she thought of herself: shallow, empty, and not particularly kind or nice beyond the relationship with her neighbor, her neighbor's child, and Luke Marshall.
I suppose Lucy redeemed herself in the end, but I didn't really connect to those inner changes. She was obviously disenchanted with herself, her job working for the devil, and with people and life in general. There was no growth to her character.
Luke Marshall was vague as a hero. We learn he teaches creative writing at a university, is writing a manuscript based on his perception of Lucy Burns, and sings off key when drunk... oh and he's blind, which means he can't see the gorgeousness that is Lucy at all.
Things in the book that I didn't like at all:
- Lucy getting so wasted she urinated on herself in her hall closet during a Tupperware party. What romance novel could happen without that?
- Her pretty blasé attitude over an innocent man accidentally going to hell by walking down into her basement. If there was regret, it was a twinge and nothing more.
- Her blasé attitude over the coffee shop goth-girl (admittedly not the friendliest of people) finding herself going to hell by trying to escape the some unrobed KKK members by running down into the basement...
- Reading the lyrics/song titles of Teddy Nightingale and random excerpts from Luke's novel. One or the other happened in every chapter. It was overkill.
- The backdrop of two movies duking it out in theaters that also appeared every other chapter or so. The movies were Adoring JC (Jesus Christ) and Absolutely Adolf: What were you thinking?
Rating: 1 Stars
Buy: The Sinful Life of Lucy Burns
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April 23rd, 2009 — 2 Stars, Blind, Book Review, D-F, Dukes and Earls, Great Britain, Heiress, Historical Romance, Kidnapping, Knight, Mistaken Identity, Virgin Heroine
The Heiress by Jude Deveraux started off exceptionally well in my opinion but tapered off into mediocrity and stayed there after the jumpstart. It’s too bad that it did that as my initial impressions of the novel were four out of five stars. The editing felt choppy in the middle and was completely disconnected towards the end. There was a distinct lack of transitions between scenes and as I read I felt like I was missing the good parts, the parts that tied everything together.
It was hard to feel for the characters after the initial start as well. There was no chemistry between the two of them in the end and that’s what killed the book. I kept reading though hoping it would turn around and be the amazing story it started off as. No such luck.
Axia has forever been stigmatized by her fortune. When people first meet her, they dismiss her, but that soon changes when they hear about how she is the Maidenhall Heiress. Their entire demeanor would do a one eighty. Men previously uninterested would turn fawning gazes her way and declare their undying love and devotion. For once Axia would love to be wanted, needed, and desired for who she was rather than how much money she represents.
James, call him Jamie, Montgomery is a dirt-poor Elizabethan knight. He inherited his brother’s earldom after his death to a fever. Unfortunately for James, his brother had gambled away everything leaving the family with nothing and no way to support themselves. James had responsibilities to the tenets whose land had once been Montgomery before his brother’s debts, his withdrawn mother, blind twin sister, and tomboy younger sister. So when Maidenhall offered to pay him to escort his daughter Axia to her betrothed, James said yes.
But then his sisters found out and hatched a plan to use Jame’s beauty to save them from destitution. He would woo the Maidenhall Heiress while she was under his charge and convince her to marry him instead of the man she was betrothed too. However Axia outsmarts James and convinces her beautiful cousin to play the part of heiress to allow Axia freedom on the journey. The tale is a topsy-turvy ride through layers of deception, intrigue, and desperation.
Rating: 2 Stars
Originally posted 2008-08-25 05:41:11. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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March 25th, 2009 — 4.5 Stars, A-C, Blind, Book Review, Category, Contemporary, Doctor, United States of America
Lion of Darkness
by Melinda Cross was the first romance novel that I read where one of the lovers was handicapped. The story is absolutely beautiful, filled with domineering masculinity and the helpless unyielding fall into love. It is far too short a tale in my opinion and could use another two hundred pages easily. Perhaps then I’ll be satisfied.
Cassandra Winters was blinded in the car accident that killed her mother. The doctors told her it was hysterical blindness and that she should receive her sight within a few days of the trauma, but it has been eighteen years and Cassie knows one thing for sure; they were wrong.
In the two weeks after her father’s death Cassie has had to face some hard truths. The first is that her wealthy lifestyle is going to change drastically. Her father had lived beyond his means and the only money left after the estate was settled was the small trust her mother set up for her. If she was going to have a future she would have to cope with being blind and learn useful skills that could win her a job, so she enrolls at Windrow, a school for the blind and the best of its kind.
Dr. Wyatt Field is a cynical, stoic man who is so reviled by his patients it’s a wonder that his success rate is so high. The moment he sees Cassie, he has her pegged as a pampered, spoiled, brat. Never mind that her looks are as pale and as beautiful as her last name implies. Never mind that when she touches him his blood pounds, his muscles tense, and that he can’t seem to tear his eyes from her. He is helpless before her and he doesn’t like it. Not one bit. But he’s determined to succeed, to help her see again. He won’t lose this case even if it means loses her love.
Rating: 4.5 Stars
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Originally posted 2008-11-25 08:34:54. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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March 5th, 2009 — 2 Stars, A-C, Another Planet/Dimension, Blind, Book Review, Cursed Lead, Fantasy, Foster/Orphan, Friends, Gentry, Kings, Princes, Sheiks, Chiefs, Supernatural, Survival, Virgin Heroine, Warrior, Young Adult
I picked up Graceling because somebody said it was the next Twilight to get behind as Po and Katsa were a very hot couple. As far as I can tell Graceling is a stand alone and not the first in a series. It's also rated for YA ages 14 and up, but I highly doubt some parents allowing their 14 or even 15 year old children to read this novel if they knew that the evil bad guy is a sexual pervert who mutilates young children (mostly girls) and animals. There is also sex in the novel, not something you usually see in a book that claims to be for young teens.
Mislabeling aside, I found the editing to be pretty off. There were lots of sentences that began with and, run-on sentences connected by well ands, and in general ignore rules of proper grammar. The diction fits into the young adult category. I wasn't particularly challenged or inspired by it. The world building was excellent though and quite interesting.
Gracelings are identified by having two different colored eyes, like a cat. All those who are Graced with something useful (cooking over swimming for instance) stay with their king. The king then uses them as he sees fit. The heroine, Katsa, is Graced with Killing. Her eyes are blue and green and her Grace was revealed when a scummy sexual deviant tried to touch her intimately as a young girl. Nobody knew this except her and when he got too close - Katsa killed him.
Randa uses Katsa, his lady killer, to bully and inspire fear in all the land. Don't you dare double cross him! Katsa is sick with being used like a rabid dog on a leash. In response to Randa and the rest of the six kings' callus behavior, Katsa started the Council. It is comprised of people from all seven kingdoms, working together to act against the injustice they see. Rescuing Grandfather Tealiff is the catalyst for this story... one pebble becomes an avalanche as a mystery nobody knew existed reveals an king far more evil than the rest of the cruel kings combined.
Rating: 2 Stars.
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September 3rd, 2008 — 4 Stars, Blind, Contests, Dukes and Earls, Great Britain, Guest Reviews, M-O, Nurse, Regency, Sailing, Scarred Hero, Spectacles, Spinster, Virgin Heroine
Welcome to RRN Amy! I am so happy to have you with us today! Amy is the first entrant into the current blog giveaway contest here at RRN. She's hoping to win a signed copy of Teresa Medeiros' Some Like it Wicked. Below is her review of Teresa Medeiros' novel Yours Until Dawn.
Hi everyone! I’m Amy and I decided to review Teresa Medeiros’s Yours Until Dawn, for the blog giveaway contest. This Regency set novel follows the troubles of a blind lord and a plain miss as they journey toward love. I really enjoyed this novel and quite loved everything about it from Gabriel’s angry bear behavior to Samantha’s waspish retorts. I would have given the novel five stars except for the ending, which I won’t spoil, but I was unsatisfied even though it was a HEA (happily ever after).
Naval war hero and English Earl, Gabriel Fairchild was blinded in his last battle at sea. A flying piece of shrapnel hit his eyes, forcing this proud man into acute darkness. The doctors say it’s permanent – well all but one who thinks it might be hysterical blindness. However, the very idea of a grown man like Fairchild having hysterics is hard to imagine.
Miss March, Gabriel’s sweetheart, leaves him lying alone in the hospital bed with a gasp of frightened sensibilities. The shrapnel has done more than take his eyesight, it has also taken his looks. Angry and hurt at her flight, Gabriel retreats to the countryside and terrorizes everyone around him for the abandonment of his family and of his love.
The novel starts with the tart Samantha Wickersham applying for the job of being Gabriel’s nurse. She finds the task eagerly handed to her despite her lack of solid references and immediately sets to work ignoring all of Gabriel’s blustering. Reeking of lemon verbena, capable prim Miss Wickersham sets about taming the wounded man hiding behind the lion façade.
Not unexpectedly, she wins his heart, but complications arise and she is forced to flee. Gabriel must find the woman of his dreams before it is too late – but how does one find a woman one has never seen?
4 Stars
To be considered for the autograph copy of Some Like it Wicked, send your review of on one of Teresa Medeiros' romance novels to reviewromancenovel[at]yahoo[dot]com.
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