Love Romance Passion » Rape/Abuse 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: Bound by Night (Bound, Book 1) by Amanda Ashley http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-bound-by-night-bound-book-1-by-amanda-ashley/ http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-bound-by-night-bound-book-1-by-amanda-ashley/#comments Thu, 01 Dec 2011 09:17:47 +0000 Keira http://www.loveromancepassion.com/?p=13075

Heroine: Elena Knightsbridge lives in the 21st century and until the age of 12 grew up in America before the tragic deaths of her family. Despite that she refuses to leave creeper uncle until the start of the novel even though he wants to marry her so he can have lots of rough painful (on her end) sex with her all because she has no money and he’s a police chief in their hometown of Romania/Transylvania/some vampire country? Say what?! Excuse me. No. Hell No.

Hero: Drake Sherrad is a vampire prince in line for a throne he doesn’t want because the coven lives by rules he can’t abide. His oasis is the crumbling Wolfram estate and even though it’s forbidden when he discovers Elena in his lair he wants to claim her as his own… forever (cue scary/but happy music… and a ton of vicious vampires, including one that would love to and does neck/blood/bite “rape” Elena because he likes getting his blood in the most violent way possible)

Review: Why oh why did Elena and her cousin, Jenica, stay with the sick twisted uncle when his own daughter says he’s raped her repeatedly and violently? I have a big BIG issue with that. Major WTF. I struggled to get past the first several chapters because there was all sort of crazy going on... ridiculously cheesy lines, setup, etc. I just didn’t buy it. I read on because I wanted to get to the part in the story that I had read about a kiss. Needless to say it wasn’t worth reading the book for.

Rating: ½☆☆☆☆

Buy: Bound by Night

Online Stores ]]> http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-bound-by-night-bound-book-1-by-amanda-ashley/feed/ 0 Review: The Highest Stakes of All by Sara Craven http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-the-highest-stakes-of-all-by-sara-craven/ http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-the-highest-stakes-of-all-by-sara-craven/#comments Mon, 28 Nov 2011 09:28:54 +0000 Keira http://www.loveromancepassion.com/?p=12209

Heroine: Joanna Veron is somewhere around 19. In her father’s world she plays at being a high maintenance vapid beauty, but inside she’s really just a sweetheart looking for a way out of her father’s lifestyle (without having to go to her perfectly nice uncle) ever since a particularly bad incident when they were living in Australia where they swindled a youngish man named Peter out of a lot of money. She extracts a promise from her father to never use her in such a manner again, but of course Denys doesn’t hold to it for long.

Hero: Vassos Gordanis (I see his name and think vaseline) is somewhere in his 30s. He’s out for revenge against Denys and Joanna (though of course she’s clueless.) When he wins Joanna in a high stakes poker game he believes he has the chance to accomplish both punishments as he believes Joanna is Denys mistress. Obviously he’s not buying the “she’s my niece” they both claimed ever since Joanna joined her father on his jaunts around the gambling dens of the world. (Why does Joanna allow this? Gross.)

Favorite Moment: The first and second time they make love when he learns of her innocence (read virginity surprise!) and then tries to teach her about lovemaking which she tries so hard to hate ... There’s flavors of Stockholm Syndrome in this, but honestly it worked for me because there’s also the play on the Persephone myth.

Missed Opportunity:
If I remember right they were talking about her real relationship to Denys, but it could also have easily alluded to her virgin state.

Vassos: Why didn't you tell me?
Joanna’s answer should have been: Would you have believed me?

It seems like a perfectly standard response, but it never came up.

TSTL Ending: Why did the HEA have to include a flowery all is forgiven resolution between Joanna and Denys? What a crappy way to tie it off. Sometimes splitting family units is okay and in this case her dad is such a scumbag there’s really no way I’d buy his remorse and sudden “Oh shut up” speech to his new wife (whom he married right after Joanna was taken by Vassos to avoid his debts and to get the hell out of dodge, the bastard didn’t even look for her to get her back.)

Rating: ★★★★☆ - I know the rating seems incongruent with the story's flaws, but I'm also factoring in the *guilty pleasure* I got out of it, because what worked, worked really well for me.

Buy: The Highest Stakes of All (Harlequin Presents)

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Reviewed by Sharon S.

I was intrigued by the premise of the story, but unfortunately this book didn’t move me. It wasn’t so much the content of the book as the way the story was told. I never felt like I was a part of the story. I was more like an outsider listening to a narration. I never felt connected to the characters. I was just watching them go through the motions.

Another problem I had was the story seemed very plotted out. We went from point A to point B to point C in a methodical and unrealistic way. It is almost like the story was edited too much. It kind of reminded me of the way some YA novels are written, but this is by no means YA. There is some hot sex going on.

I wanted to like this book and I did read it till the end because even though it was predictable, I did want to know how things happened, but I did skim through a big portions looking for dialogue and action. I can see how some types of readers would like this story and its linear progression so I suggest you check out other reviews before deciding it this book is for you.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Buy: Absolute Obsession, Absolute Obsession (UK)

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bookreview

This story by Kleypas is an exciting adventure from start to finish. It all starts with a manhunt… or should I say a woman-hunt? Nick Gentry is looking for the wily Charlotte Howard. He has a small portrait of her in his pocket and his brother-in-law’s backing to get him into the Earl of Westcliff’s home where he’s tracked Charlotte. The Earl notices something fishy about the Viscount John Sydney and sets about unveiling the man’s secrets.

Meanwhile, John Sydney aka Nick Gentry, is prowling the premises for Charlotte and comes upon a young lady on top of a stone wall starring out across the grounds. Her foot is caught in her dress and Nick springs into action to save her… only to find the appealing woman in his arms is the very woman he’s been paid to track down.

Against all better judgment, Nick decides he can afford to stay and watch the lovely and lively Lottie. He comes to the startling conclusion that he wants her for himself and Lord Radnor can go hang before he’d ever bring to the obsessed creep a treasure such as her. Just as passion is sparking between Nick and Lottie, Westcliff pounces with the truth of Nick’s identity.

Frightened but determined, Lottie vows she will never go back to Lord Radnor. Westcliff offers to marry her to keep her away from Nick and provide protection, but Lottie turns him down. Instead she offers herself up to be Nick’s mistress which he refuses because he’d also rather have her as his wife…

I’m classifying this novel under virgin hero, not because Nick was a virgin in his relations to Lottie but because we see him lose his virginity to the Prostitute Gemma, well I suppose she was the Madam of the brothel.

This book would be rated higher, but I was a little disturbed by Radnor’s obsession with trying to break Charlotte as if she were a horse. I also didn’t like learning that her parents were okay with her being locked in a room alone with Radnor while he forced her to sit on his lap and answer to him while he touched her inappropriately… and while there was no full blown rape in the story, this qualifies to me as rape and is marked as such.

Luckily for readers Nick is a dominating force and dispels upsetting Radnor’s presence pretty easily. Oh and this is the first time I’ve seen a shower scene in a historical but Kleypas explains in her author notes why she included it based on her research. It’s solid so don’t let the idea of inaccuracy turn you away from reading this book.

Interesting term found within the prologue: buttock-and-file whore which is an old term for a street prostitute who was in connection with a pickpocket or also pickpocketed her customers. So you would pay, pay again involuntary, and perhaps gain a new venereal disease. Cool.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Buy: Worth Any Price (Bow Street, Book 3)

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Kris Kennedy's writing is very engrossing. The Irish Warrior was a page turner from start to finish. It’s a story of an Irish warrior slated to be king and an English widow struggling to run a business. Both get trapped by the evil Rardove, a man promoted by the English King Edward to the aristocracy. A journey that must end in the purest of joys or deepest of sorrows begins when the young widow frees the warrior from the prison and together they escape in the dead of night for their freedom and their very lives.

Finian O'Melaghlin is everything one could ask for in a hero. He’s noble, compassionate, capable, and honorable. He has his pride and his strength. He is a man other men will fight beside because they know he’s on their side. And if rumor is true, he’s also got a way with the ladies… but don’t take my word for it, just ask the ladies or really just ask the heroine.

Senna de Valery is a beautiful widow and very young. Her first marriage was at age 15 and it did not go well or last very long. There’s implied evidence to rape in her background and it’s made her people shy (though she doesn’t realize this until later that she is so and she certainly doesn’t seem it, but that’s part of the transformative power of love in this novel). When confronted with danger and cruelty, she’s defiant, strong, and smart. Senna is a heroine to root for.

Rardove has ties to both of them in ways that are equally obvious and concealed. Kennedy gives readers one right off the bat and hints at the other until it’s revealed late in the book. Rardove delights in torture and pain and power and the pictures Kennedy paints are vivid if not comprehensively detailed.

The lovemaking scenes are burn your fingers hot and are told so beautifully that you will probably count them as part of your all-time favorites. The intrigue and politics that make up the suspense half of the story are heart-pounding. In short, you could not go wrong picking up a copy of this book.

Rating: ★★★★½

Buy: The Irish Warrior

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by Sandra Scholes, guest reviewer

In the fourth of her Family Heirlooms Series, Karen has brought us Samantha Samuels under a difficult set of circumstances where she has had a bad run in with Ryder Feldmann, a young man troubled and cruel who had decided not to take her father's counselling seriously enough to listen to him. Instead he has done the worst thing imaginable, he has offered physical violence in return, and more than that, mental hurt from him when she thought he was doing him some good.

Realizing that she could do some good to others instead of dwelling on the past hurts she had suffered, she decides to undergo training for counselling those who are victims of violence such as rapes, beatings and random violence in the home. Setting up at the Wisconsin counselling centre, but she doesn't expect to find the man she had fallen for before her ordeal with the troubled teen many years ago. She doesn't know how she will feel if she does meet him, and there will be a time when he does, as he shares the same building as the clinic, and he appears at services at their local church, so to be honest she can't miss him.

Kyle is the brother of Ryder Feldmann, the one who had hurt her before, and ended their relationship. He has felt bad ever since, even though Ryder has been incarcerated for his sins. He can't do anything to anyone, but it doesn't stop the guilt Kyle feels after. He still loves Samantha deeply, but doesn't want to be seen the same way as his brother - and so feels troubled when he first meets her. He wants more than anything else to get their relationship back to the way it was, but she is still so sad and unhappy, and who can blame her after what his brother put her through. He wants to love her and hold her, even marry her, but what happened to her has tarnished that part of her that had been open to his love.

How can he make her see him as different from his brother, and have her love him again? It's a lot to ask a woman, especially after what she has been through, but if she has a little faith, she can see that he is a better man.

This book is all about forgiving, but it takes Samantha a lot to get over what she has endured for years, and after a brutal rape as she has suffered, no one could ask her to just get over it so easily. It takes time, and lots of it to forgive someone for doing so cruel a thing as that. Who can blame her for making Kyle wait for her answer as to whether she will be his and love him again just as she did before. She knows it isn't his fault, or hers, and the man responsible is in jail, but if time heals all, what can she do with Kyle, but try and patch their relationship together so they can make a new start. He knows forgiving is hard, and it will even take a long time for him to forgive what his brother did to her. This isn't all about forgiveness though, there is also the injustice aspect as her attacker is due to be out after three years in prison, while Samantha still bears the scars. The reader will wonder how bad Kyle will be feeling after he comes out - and the worry will be whether he will try to come back and see him even if he doesn't want to know him.

There are lots of emotions in this novel, love, hate, but the forgiving, as I said takes time, and it does in this.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Buy: Glass Angels (Family Heirlooms Series Book 4), Glass Angels (UK)

Online Stores ]]> http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-glass-angels-family-heirloom-series-book-4-by-karen-wiesner/feed/ 0 Review: Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-dreaming-of-you-by-lisa-kleypas/ http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-dreaming-of-you-by-lisa-kleypas/#comments Mon, 19 Sep 2011 09:06:36 +0000 Keira http://www.loveromancepassion.com/?p=8208

Let me start off by saying Derek is one hot hero, he's like number 11 on my top ten heroes list, just a hairsbreadth from being there.

Derek Craven is a self-made man. He’s wealthier than most of the gentry, but he is not one. Born in the slums of London to a prostitute and abandoned into the care of others, he’s had to fight for everything. He gets his kicks sleeping with the married women of the ton as a way to get back at the men who won’t let him into their inner circles. He makes the mistake of tangling with Joyce Ashby, who seeks retaliation when he breaks off their affair.

Miss Sara Fielding is a quiet country mouse and an acclaimed author. Most people confuse her with the fictional character of her second novel. Part of the reason her novels are so well received is because they are so well researched. Determined to make her third novel on gambling an equal success she decides to research the most infamous and exclusive club of all – Craven’s.

Favorite Sex Scene: Where Derek introduces her to the pleasures of doggy style… and how she thought sex wasn’t possible if she was on her stomach. Tehe. It was hot and cute at the same time.

Aw Moment: When he steals her spectacles so he can keep a little reminder of her in his life.

Big Page Suck: I could have done without the giant interlude at Greenwood Corners where she gets engaged to the pompous mama’s boy, Perry Kingswood. At the very least I felt that maybe Derek should have stalked her or been lurking nearby somewhere.

Evil Woman: I could also have done without the wicked and perverted Lady Ashby. Without her the giant angst-ridden conclusion wouldn’t have gone off the way it did what with kidnapping, presumed death, etc. but something similar could have occurred and been just as good.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

PS - Magdalen this is the book you've DNFed a few times, so don't go out and buy a copy again! lol

Buy: Dreaming of You

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by Karin, guest reviewer from Savvythinker.com

Honeysuckle Summer is a Sweet Magnolia Novel.

I was given three ARCs in this series to review.  I thought I had them in order, but I believe I am reading them out of order, and it doesn’t matter to me.

I loved this book from the very beginning.

It has everything that I love:

  • Good friends
  • Realistic characters
  • Good story
  • And a love story

As I said to Keira, if I had known how good it was, I would not have put off reading it.  I’ve already started the second of the 3 books.  I want to know how the individual stories unfold and where they go.

And there are other books in the series besides the 3 I was asked to review.  So I will definitely read those and more by the same author in her other series.

The Sweet Magnolias are a group of tight friends that began with the mothers and now includes the grown daughters.  They live in Serenity, South Carolina.  Whenever they need to get together either to support each other or to celebrate, they bring the margaritas and the guacamole, strong friendships, shoulders to cry on, and good advice.

Separate from them are their husbands and significant others who support their women folk as strongly as they support each other.

The Story:

Raylene Hammond has come back home to Serenity after a disastrous marriage, filled with physical and verbal abuse that ended with her physician husband in jail for beating her, not for the first time.  As a result of this beating, she lost the baby she was carrying.

None of this happens on the page.

Her friends rally around her.  The only place she feels safe is in the home of her friend Sarah.  And ultimately she ends up not being able to leave the house without having panic attacks.

Carter Rollins in a sheriff’s deputy, new to Serenity.  He shows up on her doorstep, angry, because when she was left for just a few minutes with Sarah’s children, as the babysitter ran a quick errand, the little boy escapes from the yard.  Raylene is unable to look for him, but she has the presence of mind to call for help.  Carter just happens to be the one who finds the boy.  He misinterprets the situation, thinking that Raylene is the babysitter.

One thing about Serenity, they look after their own.  And this is a very good thing.

Additionally, Carter is the guardian of his two teenage sisters, since their parents died.  One sister is exhibiting signs of anorexia, which is something the Sweet Magnolias know something about first hand.  Both this girl and Raylene find help with a psychologist.

Of course, you can guess there is a confrontation with Raylene's ex-husband, in which she holds her own and takes control of her life, but not without a lot of help from Serenity.

My rating:

This book is 5 out of 5.  I loved the warmth of the relationships within the town, within the main characters, between Raylene and Carter.  I felt as if the characters were real, not figures on a page.  The story is believable, with lots of information, without being didactic.  I just loved it!  (And I’m loving the second book too.)

Buy: Honeysuckle Summer

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by Susan S., guest reviewer

High praise for Cooper-Posey’s Heart of Vengeance. A touching love story of two lovers willing to risk it all (titles, lands, imprisonment, torture, even death) just to be together.

Summary:

Ah, Lady Helena of York, beautiful daughter of the late Earl of Wessex. Pretty Saxon maiden with the most beautiful blue eyes-you’ve ever seen. While she may look angelic, this is a knife carrying, strong heroine who can expertly yield a bow and arrow. She’s going to find her father’s killer come hell or high water! And when she does…well, you’ll have to read the novel to find out.

The plan: Helena (heroine) will pose as Lady Isobel of Brittany; a Norman. Lady Catherine and Sir Hubert Fitzwarren will be sponsoring her return to court. Nothing! Absolutely nothing, will stand in Helena’s way. She simply must find the man responsible for all her anguish. That the Fitzwarren’s plan to marry her off, well…she’ll cross that bridge when she gets there.

Who’s Stephen, Count of Dinan, Earl of Northumbria, often referred to as the Black Baron? Stephen, yes, he’s what I like to call, the law of unintended consequences. The one’s Helena didn’t foresee. When their paths cross, a continued acquaintance would be foolish, not to mention deadly. She’s posing as someone she’s not, and he’s seen as trouble to be avoided. A medieval bad boy, no wonder he appealed to me! Helena has a bit of a trilemma on her hands: 1. How to keep her real identity concealed/ avoid drawing the present king’s ire 2. Steer clear of marrying a repugnant man named Savaric/ circumvent the future king’s wrath, and the most troublesome of the three 3. Can she stay away from a noble knight who’s stolen all she had left…her heart?

Who said a woman’s life was easy?

Recommendations: Do you fancy stories with dashing knights, beautiful maidens, and forbidden love? Did the characters and power plays in The Lion in Winter appeal to you? In the movie Romeo & Juliet (the 1968 version, of course) did the clandestine meetings between lovers make you gush? If so, I recommend you pick up a copy. Same goes, if you read romances in “any” subgenre, but more specifically historicals, romantic suspense, and medieval love stories.

Historical Elements: I’d like to touch on a key point; accuracy. 1. King Richard’s use of kingdom’s resources to support his crusade (check). 2. King Richard married Berengaria (check). 3. As well as Richard’s use of Château Gaillard (check).

My Thoughts: Reading is subjective, yes. But, I’m convinced the author’s beautiful story, coupled with historical accuracies intertwined in such a way, you couldn’t possibly debate its winning outcome.

Complaints: Yes, I have them.

Number one, it’s a single title. I want a Vengeance Series! Can’t I get Marked by Vengeance? Where William of Worcester is the hero; all grown up. Secondly, Robert of Loxley (my goblet clashes against the table) I want him. Sorry, I forget myself, strikethrough. Replace the word him, with more. Or, more of him!?

Comedic Element: Stephen doesn’t know Isobel’s real identity, and she’s not telling, so he calls her not-Isobel.

Where shall I place this novel? In my re-read pile, of course!

Rating: 5 Stars

Buy: Heart of Vengeance (Kindle), Heart of Vengeance (Paperback)

eBook, 2010, Cerridwen Press
Medieval Historical Romantic Suspense, 227 pages.
ISBN# 978-141-992-4040

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by Karin, guest reviewer from Savvy Thinker.

This is book 6 in the Sweet Magnolia series, but it is the second one I have read.

I am really enjoying these books. I’ve already been to the library searching out others the author has written. The characters are endearing, warm and real. I am left with a good feeling when I finish the books.

The story
This is Travis’ and Sarah’s story. Travis is an ex-ball player. Sarah is the divorced mother of two whose ex-husband tore her down at every opportunity, following his parents’ lead. She ultimately found the strength to leave him. She is beginning to put her life back together on a stronger footing.

Her friend Raylene lives with her as she recovers from her abusive marriage and lives with agoraphobia.

When the book opens Sarah is a waitress. She has the gift of gab, talking with the people at her tables, and enjoying their lives. Enter Travis, a man new to town, who occupies one of her tables, and disturbs her on many levels as he begins to tease her. He sees in Sarah what she doesn't see in herself.

Meantime, Walter, her ex-husband is having his own epiphanies. He realizes that he has lost his family because he wasn’t much of a man. He quits the family business and stands up to his parents. He knows there isn’t a chance with Sarah again, but they can become friends. And he begins a friendship with Raylene which carries into the book I read first, but comes after in real time.

My take
I loved the book and give it 5 out of 5 stars. I like that the characters grow. I also like that the author views her characters compassionately. They are characters we can love. And so is the love story. Even the peripheral characters are well developed.

Here’s what I wrote when I reviewed this at my blog:

I love spending time in Serenity -- and that pun is intended! and perhaps may have contributed to the name of the town.

Have you read it? or any of Sherryl Woods' books?

You can read my review of Honeysuckle Summer at Savvy Thinker.

Buy: Sweet Tea at Sunrise (Sweet Magnolias)

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