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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This love story is one of the most endearing I have ever read. Lisa Kleypas spins a tale worthy of mystical magical world of fairy tales. Based on Russian superstition, a prince who is like the Beast in Beauty and the Beast meets the woman of his dreams and learns to love. The bedroom scenes are exciting and steamy. Prince of Dreams is a novel not to be missed.

Despite his wealth, Prince Nikolas did not lead a charmed life. Taught early on the abuses man could inflict, Nikolas is determined to avoid emotions at all costs. Tortured and exiled from Russia, Nikolas makes a new home in England where during his recovery he meets Emma Stokehurst. At the tender age of thirteen, Emma is the girl Nikolas is certain he will wed. She is his destiny.

Nikolas remains on the fringes of Emma’s life as she grows and now at the age of twenty, he is more certain than ever that she is the one for him. Emma is tall and lithe, her body he imagines will match his own to perfection. Her red hair, independence, and forthright attitude remind him of the women back in Russia. Though she has a large dowry, Emma is left alone and dismissed by the male of the species. Everything about her is unfashionable in the eyes of polite society.

When he discovers that a man is wooing her under false pretenses, Nikolas strikes swift and sure, cutting her secret beau out of her life with a single conversation. Everything is working according to his plan as Nikolas seduces and marries the bewitching Emma. Now with her by his side as his wife, he is positive that his life is going to turn for the better. He was wrong.

Emma’s gentle nature and guileless giving is more threatening than the memories of those that tortured him in Russia. She can cause more havoc with a single kiss than Nikolas is comfortable with. His life has been dedicated to suppressing his emotions and the feelings Emma brings out are threatening to destroy all that he’s worked for, so Nikolas does the most hateful thing he can think of… he sleeps with another woman.

But despite the wedge he’s driven between them, the bewildering flashes of déjà vu keep happening to him. Snippets of conversation leave him in a cold sweat and a painting once revealed causes him to faint dead away. When Nikolas awakes he is angry and confused. Destiny has taken him back in time to mother Russia, where he lives life through the eyes of his ancestor Prince Nikolai. It is here in the midst of the past, Nikolas learns to become a better man… Emelia, beautiful Emelia, who is in every way his wife Emma, teaches Nikolas how to love. Disaster tears them apart and sends Nikolas to the future.

Realizing what a mess he’s made of his own life, Nikolas is determined to set things right. But Emma won’t have him. She doesn’t trust in the changes Nikolas has under gone. She won’t love him… won’t let herself love him. This new man who is in every way the man she had hoped he would be can't last, because she knows his nature. As soon as she loved him he’d revert and mock her for her love. After all Nikolas is not a man that can change, he is a product of others hatred and fear, whose innate stubbornness rejects all kinds of affection. But he has changed and he will prove it. If it’s the last thing he does, he’ll make her believe in him; love him as she once did in the past.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Buy: Prince of Dreams

Originally posted 2008-12-07 19:34:48. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Beauty and the Beast by Hannah Howell is not a spectacular read. It is however a pretty solid read. I found several segments to be unnecessary and jumpy and predictable in others. This Highlander romance contains all the elements of the sub-genre including bride stealing, thwarted love, revenge plotting, and battle.

Thayer Saiturn is known as the Red Devil, a knight so fierce and courageous that his name inspires fear in the enemies. The second cousin in line for inheriting a title and land, Thayer knows his place in life is on the battlefield waging war to earn his bread and keep. He wishes for the finer things in life, namely a woman to warm his bed, but he knows his limitations. While men express awe and fear over him, women see nothing but an ugly, very hairy, very red brute covered with many scars (none on his face). He pays for the women in his bed, and does not seek one outside of this arrangement. Betrayed once by a beautiful woman, Thayer vows never to be so weak before another highborn beauty.

Gytha is promised by betrothal contract to the heir of Saiturn Manor. At first it was William, beautiful and strong bodied, but word came that he was dead. So too came word that the second cousin, Thayer was dead. Learning that she is to marry Robert, Gytha expresses disappointment. Robert is weak and his soft looks do nothing for her. She would prefer the knight coming in to witness the wedding – the tall one with flaming red hair, a lithe graceful body, and sweet soft brown eyes.

When she discovers that the red knight is Thayer, the true heir to Saiturn Manor, Gytha is relieved. Robert and his uncle are not but cannot fight the contract. Thayer is dismayed, having thought this to be William’s wedding he was attending, he finds no comfort in learning it is his own. The thought of the inheritance does not soothe him for his bride is the prettiest beauty he has ever seen. He was sure to be cuckold, made a fool of by his marriage to her. Men everywhere were vying for her attentions even as she walked down the aisle. He was doomed, for Gytha could not possibly want him.

Rating: 3 Stars

Originally posted 2008-12-15 23:06:06. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Preferences. Everyone has them. There are things you like, love, hate, loathe, and are unconvinced in general one way or another about. When it comes to our romance books, we all have preferences. Here’s mine:

Ons –

• Blind, wounded, emotionally embittered, scarred and damaged heroes. Need I go on?
• MOC (Marriage of Convenience) and MOB (Mail Order Brides) stories. Gimme, gimme, gimme. Forced marriages and shot-gun weddings work well too.
• Westerns, American Historicals (anything before WWII), Highlander, and Regency. I need to marry an earl or seduce a duke, I tell ya. Oh wait! Add paranormal – vampires. I’m thinking ghosts too, but I couldn’t name one. Why isn’t there a ghost romance, along lines of Just Like Heaven and of course Ghost?
• Jaded rich hero with poor pretty/plain slightly off her rocker (not TSTL, but off in her own world) heroine.
• Dark haired heroes: brown, black, yum. Add blue/green eyes and whew dang! Powerful thighs, tight abs/stomachs, and buns of steel. Bounce those quarters.
• Heroes and heroines hating each other to begin with – woot, a fav!
• Beauty and the Beast. Fairytales in general really.
• Sexy banter. It’s a must.
• Alpha males who fall hard and fight it all the way.
• Big age differences. Think Years by LaVyrle Spencer with the heroine age 18 and the hero age 36.
• Dominant alpha heroes with secret soft sides. Tenderness, compassion, manners – check. Wrap him up and ship him to my door please!
• Heroines with poor eyesight; heroines who are clumsy; heroines who are slightly loopy (because I honestly think I'm a little nuts .)
• That angsty moment that drives the wedge between hero and heroine.

Offs –

• Affairs, cheating. This is a romance not reality tv.
• Estranged, Former lovers. No thanks.
• Undercover heroes, detectives. Very meh for me. Too much suspense not enough loving.
• Best friends; super old acquaintances. It’s called the friend zone for a reason. As for the other, for instance, I am highly dubious of the hero being the heroine’s brother’s best friend. Either she thinks of him as an older brother figure and he’s pervy or she’s like his kid sister and the girl is hopeless.
• Family Trilogies/Series, especially if known. I can read one, but after that no more. It drives me insane, because the new story will have a lead that is not worth the time to flesh out from a previous story.
• Damaged heroines. Ick. No thanks.
• Blond heroes. Sorry blondies, you’re just not my type.
• Leads with kids older than three years old– very few exceptions. Children, romance does not make more lovely, they’re just more quirky and annoying.
• Older women, younger men.
• Rape, near rape. Refer to damaged heroines. NO THANKS! Quit it authors, stop it, no seriously, stop. The end. It’s over.
• Too much dang drama using any of my turn offs…

Ifs –

• Amnesia.
• Time Travel.
• Secret pregnancy/baby.
• Captive / Stranded plots.
• Big Misunderstandings.
• Demon heroes.
• The unexpected virginity surprise.

What are your Ons, Offs, and Ifs? It’s time to spill!

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Everyone has movies that they tend to watch over and over and over again. We watch them because they make us happy, because we love the acting and the story. Yesterday I saw for the first time a movie that came out in 2007. It was stunning and has without a moment's hesitancy, entered my favorites list. That movie was Arranged. Look out for a formal review as I will be writing one.

My Top Ten Favorite Romance Movies

(In order by release date.)

1. Beauty and the Beast (1991) It's easy to see that this is most girls' first introduction into paranormal romance. The Beast and castle are clearly enchanted through magic. The castle itself is very Gothic, and our poor hero is as shaggy as any werewolf, though he certainly cleans up nice!
2. Walk in the Clouds (1995) This lovely postwar romance follows a young soldier as he attempts to sell chocolates and winds up rescuing a damsel in distress. The grandfather makes this movie and the scene in the vineyard during a frost warning is breathtaking.
3. Ever After (1998) I am surprised I haven't worn the finish off this DVD. I used to watch it every day or two many many years ago. Prince Henri is a charming rascal in desperate need of a love match to stop his father's political matchmaking.
4. Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) Colin Firth as Marc Darcy. Clearly this is an awesome romance. Very strong language warning, but other than that it's very delightful. If you haven't seen it, you're going to love the fight scene. Sigh!
5. North and South (2004) Four hours is not nearly enough Mr. Thornton or Richard Armitage. I would like more please. Is there an unedited eight hour version hiding somewhere? No? Drat! I guess I will have to settle for one, "Look back at me!"
6. Pride and Prejudice (2005) My favorite version of Jane Austen's classic. I know I said Colin Firth and Marc Darcy and it's true. Colin is great as Darcy, but this version with Keira and Matthew and Donald really yanks at my heart. The scenery is gorgeous too.
7. Outsourced (2006) This movie is a call center and technical support romance between one yuppy American male and one spunky Indian female. Culture shock to say the very least and wickedly entertaining.
8. Arranged (2007) One Orthodox Jewish girl and one Muslim girl are getting matched. They know each other from their teaching positions at the same school and as they go through the process of meeting men under watchful family eyes they become fast friends. Very satisfying ending!
9. Enchanted (2007) I just love the songs in this film, especially "How does she know that you love her?" Patrick Dempsey is devilishly handsome and a treat to watch as he struggles against falling for a loopy girl who thinks she's in love with a prince. Amy Adams is perfection.
10. Lost in Austen (2008) Be honest, who hasn't wanted Mr. Darcy to herself? One English miss from today's world manages to get stuck in Jane Austen's 'fictional' Georgian England at the start of the story and the rest as they say is history!

So there's my list. What movies are on yours?

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Healing Luke is a modern day retelling of the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast. It’s quick and lighthearted with a few gems revealed towards the end on love and relationships.

Luke Morgan was on a boat when it blew up leaving him with burns, one eye, and no thumb on one hand. He feels his life is ruined forever and is scarred to go to his occupational therapist for fear of failing. Angry and bitter, Luke is sinking fast and his brother and dad have no idea how to help him cope.

Abby Stanford is visiting Florida on what should have been her honeymoon. She’s doing all the trips and outings they had planned, including snorkeling alone. She meets Luke and is surprised and hurt by his antagonism. An occupational therapist herself, albeit with a different focus than what Luke needs, Abby longs to be useful and to help.

Luke watches his brother Aaron flirt with Abby and jealousy rears its ugly head. He wants Abby for himself but is no longer confident of his appeal to women and to one woman in particular.

I loved the workings of the Morgan family: Luke, withdrawn and wounded; Aaron, flirtatious and outgoing; Bart, quiet and unassuming. Abby was such a great fit with them and I really enjoyed seeing that in a romance.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Buy: Healing Luke

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