March 21st, 2010 — 1.5 Stars, 3 Stars, 4.5 Stars, Book Review, Business, Cooking, G-I, Gambling, Historic America, Housekeeper/Maid, Inspirational, Prostitute, Religious, United States of America, Virgin Heroine, Widow or Widower, Working with Land
I really wanted to like this novel. In fact, I would have if it hadn’t been for the ending. It did not give me what I wanted. The only person in the Van Buren family to grow was Rachel, the heroine, and that really irked me as it was the younger sister, Lissa, who flouted the heroine’s authority, refused to do honest work, pursued scandalous behavior, and rubbed her sister’s face in it all the time. I kept waiting for Lissa’s comeuppance and/or repentance and it never happened.
Michael, the brother, he was okay until he decided to hurt the heroine by saying her morals were nastier than their other sister’s promiscuous and lazy behavior. (As if he had a leg to stand on – being 14 and gambling behind Rachel’s back.) Yes, the heroine could have been more tolerable but she was doing the best she could with the morals instilled by their parents on what was right and wrong.
For the time the other sister’s behavior was wrong. If was me and my 15 year old (going on 16) sister was determined to ruin herself I would have wrestled her to the ground and shave her head or something so she wouldn’t be so full of herself, her own worth and beauty. I guess that means I’m not heroine material, but honestly, Rachel was too much of a doormat in regards to Lissa’s and Michael’s behavior, she just couldn’t control them.
The hero, Johnnie, was of no help. He enabled Michael and Lissa figuring it was better for them to screw up and do stupid things under his presence where he could watch over them, supposedly to see no true harm came to them. So he rented Michael a table at his hotel/saloon and watched Michael take a man’s entire living (which Johnnie had done at the start of the novel) and only begins to regret and question himself after the gambler goes outside and shoots himself in the head.
I could have closed this book deliriously happy with it because there were many things I liked, but I couldn’t get over how it all ended up. It just made me mad.
Rachel is twenty and in charge of her younger brother and sister. They are stranded in San Francisco when the crew abandons ship and rushes off to find gold. Determined to do the best she can for Michael and Lissa, Rachel takes on a mantle of parental responsibility. I can hardly imagine how their father would have handled Lissa and Michael had he survived the trip, but believe me he would have nipped their rebellious behavior in the butt or forcibly marry Lissa within a day if she didn’t straighten up.
Rachel procures living arrangements, food, pay and jobs under Johnnie Parker at his establishment City Hotel. Johnnie is an ex-missionary and determined never to marry sanctimonious sunbonnets ever again as he feels they are the worst hypocrites alive. Sanctimonious is not an adjective I’d attribute to the heroine which is why I feel so keenly on how everything was handled.
I put up with a lot, as did the heroine and in the end was left with a bitter pill to swallow. More realistic? You decide as it's still a relatively happy ending with all the prostitutes, fallen women, arrogant brats and the heroine being friends again in the last few pages.
My feelings with ending: 1.5 Stars
Overall Rating: 3 Stars
If ending was different: 4.5 Stars
Buy: The Measure of a Lady: A Novel
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January 27th, 2010 — 4.5 Stars, A-C, ARC, Contemporary, Dukes and Earls, Entrepreneur, Ghost, Great Britain, Jane Austen, Memory Loss, Regency, Rogues and Rakehells, Scarred Hero, Survival, Teacher, Time Travel
WWJAD is quick fun read. The story is flirty and cute just like the hero, Lord James Shermont. Read it in the bathtub, on the beach, while waiting in line at the post office, wherever, it’s sure to make you smile and leave you eager to turn the page.
Eleanor Pottinger (yes it is unfortunate that is her real last name) is a fan of Jane Austen. We meet her trying to get a room at a Jane Austen convention only to be told the room she booked has been given to somebody else. Luckily there was a newly renovated suite that was available…if she didn’t mind ghosts!
Of course Eleanor changes her mind about ghosts the minute they materialize. Sisters Deidre and Mina from the time of Jane Austen need Eleanor’s help. They are stuck as ghosts and can’t move on without her help. Eleanor jokingly offers to help if they can guarantee she can meet Jane Austen. They agree and before Eleanor can cry “Just Kidding!” Deidre and Mina have transported Eleanor back into the past.
When Eleanor wakes up she is stuck in the Regency era and is believed to be the girls’ widowed cousin Ellen who was arriving from America. Eleanor plays along and gets away with it because they haven’t seen the real Ellen since childhood. The ghosts tell Eleanor her tasks are to keep them out of the clutches of Lord Shermont, a rakehell of the worst sort, and to make sure their brother, Teddy, doesn’t enter into a duel with Shermont over their reputations.
Eleanor was once foolish enough to try and make a Mr. Darcy out of a Wickham, is she smart enough not to do the opposite? What would Jane Austen do?
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Buy: What Would Jane Austen Do?
Originally posted 2009-04-28 05:47:31. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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December 26th, 2009 — 2.5 Stars, Australia/New Zealand, Book Review, Category, Contemporary, Cooking, Great Britain, Housekeeper/Maid, J-L, Secret Baby, Travel, Tycoon
When Cristo Verón, owner of a vastly successful private plane company, heard that his soon to be brother-in-law might have gotten some maid pregnant in Australia, he hops on the soonest flight out to check the woman and her claim out. He expects to find a pretty face and not much else, instead he finds that Isabelle Brown. She is not what he expects and pretty soon Cristo is determined to have this little housekeeper as his mistress. Will he figure out he wants her all to himself or will he lose the only thing money can’t buy?
Magnate’s Make Believe Mistress is a quick read. There were some inconsistencies that I wondered about as I read. For instance, why did he check out the woman’s claim instead of the potential father? Why not hire a detective to sniff her out? It is an interesting spin on the "secret-baby" plot though, so I give Bronwyn Jameson credit for that.
I was there was more meat to this romance. I kept waiting for something big to happen. There really wasn’t a whole lot of conflict to the story once the hero figured out the heroine wasn’t pregnant, but her sister. No angsty blow-up that either party had to overcome. I was expecting Cristo to fume like most romance novels heroes, but he didn’t. It would have been refreshing if it didn’t seem so odd considering his character.
The story was decent, but not something I’d reread again.
Rating: 2.5 Stars
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July 21st, 2009 — 3 Stars, 3.5 Stars, A-C, Beauty and Fashion, Book Review, Business, Contemporary, Erotica, Friends, Plump/Endowed Heroine, Rogues and Rakehells, United States of America
Tally’s Gift is the third novel in Quartzton Trilogy.
The last of the unhitched friends are thrown together when calamity strikes and the others are out of town. Playboy Brett Huntsman has broken nearly every limb in his body. The poor guy is strung up and unable to move. Tally Bennett comes to check up on him to ease his sister’s worries and this is the last place she wants to be, luckily it’s only for tonight.
Somehow they manage to have hot and sweaty sex on the bed, but that doesn’t mean Tally is interested in more. Tally Bennett, you see has been burned in the past. A man she thought was the love of her life threw her over for money and a stick figure blonde. Ever since then Tally has been good at keeping her distance whether she’s with a guy or not. Sweet Meadows keeps her busy and that’s good enough for her for now.
When circumstances make it impossible for Sophie to return to take care of her brother, Tally agrees to nurse him back to health. Brett, being male, milks it for all he’s worth and suddenly Tally and Brett are starting a six week no strings attached sex-fest. Of course it doesn’t stay that way soon feelings get involved and desires change.
Tally’s Gift in short is fun and sexy—though I’m not convinced sex that busted up is entirely feasible, but I’m willing to go along with it. This was my favorite novel in the set.
Rating: 3-3.5 Stars
Buy: Tally's Gift
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July 4th, 2009 — 1.5 Stars, Bodyguard, Book Review, Category, Contemporary, Divorced, Entrepreneur, J-L, Older Woman/Younger Man, Pregnant, Secret Baby, United States of America
Part of the Famous Families line, A Weaver Wedding, is littered with names. Most likely they are characters of past and future novels all dealing with the Clay family. By the time you’re introduced to them all your head is spinning. It’s easier to keep the names down and the interaction between the leads up.
If you’re good with names and one time introductions this won’t be a problem, but I can’t follow that many characters. Well, that’s a lie, I could, but I don’t care to in a short novel. If I’m going to get lots of names dropped it better be in a long novel or series.
It was predictable, bubblegummy, and not overly compelling. It needed meat, sustenance, something to truly be endearing.
Besides the name dropping, I did not like how the hero and heroine got together in the beginning. Did she have to be drunk?
I understand it’s contemporary but I just don’t understand why drunkenness is needed to urge a modern woman into bed with a handsome man or why a suitably charming, upright, dependable hero would agree to sleeping with a drunk heroine when he’s so virtuous in character.
I figure if they were smart enough for condoms, she should be smart enough to avoid getting to the point of slurring drunkenness even if her brother stood her up on her birthday. He should have been more upright and not taken advantage. I don’t care that he’s wanted to act on his attraction to her for the past five or so years. I care that he looks out for her.
Which brings us to the ironic part of this review as the hero is the heroine’s bodyguard.
Review: 1.5 Stars
Buy: A Weaver Wedding
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June 27th, 2009 — 4 Stars, Book Review, Crime and Protection, Foster/Orphan, Gentry, Great Britain, Historical Romance, Housekeeper/Maid, Lisa Kleypas, Revenge, Secretary, Widow or Widower
Have you ever picked up a novel and about halfway through feel like there's something you should know about it because it seems familiar? I thought I was going insane! I couldn't remember the book, but I remembered the characters. I was certain I hadn't read it before but how could I explain my knowledge of the main characters and the two of the side characters? Thank heavens I finally figured it out! Lady Sophia's Lover is the second of the Bow Street Trilogy. The first is Someone to Watch Over Me
. Where I recognized the characters was from the third Worth Any Price which follows the brother of the heroine in LSL. Nothing like solving a mystery to start off my day!
Sophia Sydney is out for revenge. She wants to destroy the man who sent her brother off to his death. Sophia is certain of her facts and equally certain of Sir Ross Cannon's cruelty and guilt. It seems fortuitous when an ad to be his secretary appears in the papers. Taking it as a sign, Sophia appears in Cannon's offices on Bow Street determined not to take no for an answer.
Ross is completely stunned by Sophia. Her very presence shatters his carefully constructed walls. He tries to regulate her into a housekeeping position instead of the secretary position. Her argument that he didn't specify gender completely flummoxes him and before he knows it, Sophia is both his secretary and his housekeeper.
Sophia is equally dazzled. The fat, old, wig wearing man she expected is not there. The man she sees is not the man she pictured. Ross is distinguished, virile, and devastating. While Sophia is trying to gather evidence against Ross and his runners, she finds herself hopelessly drawn to him. Will love win out over vengeance?
Rating: 4 Stars
Buy: Lady Sophia's Lover
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March 26th, 2009 — 0.5 Stars, Guest Reviews, J-L, Paranormal, Pilot, Survival
By: Cara Lynn, guest reviewer
I wasn't going to review this book, but figured, what the hey!
First, I didn't like the book.
Island Heat by Susan Kearney had a lot of possibilities. I figured it would have some military tones as the guy on the cover looks like he could be military.
He is, but he's from another planet.
OK, that could be seriously interesting. Sort of like time travel with a twist. After all, they are more advanced than us and had to travel a long time to get here.
But while the author maintains the fantasy with words she has made up, like 'quait' for the ability to mentally influence the actions of another, or like 'underfirst' to delineate all those who aren't Firstborn, the story is unpalatable in parts.
Cade Archer literally falls into the sea in front of Shara Weston's remote island retreat. His ship is destroyed, but he falls without a parachute and recovers faster than you'd expect. That is because he isn't strictly human. He is able to use this power to save himself and those that are with him as he is avoiding being murdered.
It's all tied into the story of the underfirsts needing salt to gain their strength. (She develops this nicely.) On his planet, only the Firstborn are given salt. This also gives them their quait which they use in horrific ways, basically enslaving the underfirsts. (You never see life on this planet, only as told by Cade as the story unfolds or as you see actions of his Firstborn brother, Jamal.)
Cade is shot down by Jamal who is dead set on killing him however he has to do it. Cade had thought his mission was secret, but somehow Jamal knew.
Throw in a psychic who has real powers to foresee the future, some of which can be changed by one's actions, and a reporter, and a volcano expert, and a security officer, and you have a story that could have been quite interesting.
But Jamal has a malicious streak a mile wide as is shown off page when he kills a Polynesian woman he has taken and 'trained' -- but not trained so well that she doesn't try to exhibit her individuality. The more troubling scenes are the sadistic ones involving mental (and physical) rape, torture and blood that he is capable of. And that he takes pleasure in it even though he already has the information he was seeking.
Of course Cade and Shara fall in love. Jamal is killed (I expected him to recover and the scene to go on). Cade finds he gains quait powers, even as Jamal's powers diminish slightly, but Cade is disturbed by his powers knowing how it corrupts the user, and asks that Shara kill him after his mission, if necessary. And the earth is saved.
There were huge sections of this book that I glossed over or went back to see what happened without taking it in.
I give it a 1/2 star. But for originality, it could be a 2. But I'd even take some of that away because of the troubling scenes. They make you think how you would be able to break a mind hold, or if you would be able to. Like hypnotism, is it not something that you could decide NOT to go under? Evidently not. Ugh.
Good, bad, indifferent, or life altering, LRP wants your reviews! Help us out by submitting a review to a novel you've read. It only takes a few minutes and your contribution would be a welcomed addition to this site.
Originally posted 2008-11-26 09:52:04. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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February 15th, 2009 — 2.5 Stars, 3 Stars, Book Review, Dukes and Earls, Highlander, P-R, Rape/Abuse
So how do you rate a romance novel where the romance part was exceptional but the side story was wholly unnecessary? Once again I’ve managed to pick up a story where the author seems to think that it’s a good idea to include a history of sexual perversion on kids. What’s with this? The young girl that was abused was not the heroine this time but the side character who ends up doing unspeakable things herself on innocents and sinners alike in the name of justice seemingly unable to tell the difference. Why include this? I mean really? Who wants to read this? I don’t!
Most of this stuff is hinted at throughout the novel about the hero’s father being such a sleaze ball, a building that the son had to remind himself was not a fault for what happened, etc. The bastard is dead mind you at the start of the novel so we don’t see a continuance, just back story. It’s becoming gratuitous to the point of being like a retarded bathroom scene in a movie. Anyway you are warned ahead of time if this is not your cup of tea to deal with topics like this in a novel.
Now that that is out of my system, the romance between Grant and Gillian was a wonderful unfoldment. The Scottish Companion starts with Grant’s return to Scotland when his brother dies of a blood disease following shortly after their other brother died of the same cause. Dr. Feyton is worried that Grant may be suffering from the same disease and Grant decides if this is true he must marry immediately. Not wanting to go through the hassle of finding a bride he asks about Dr. Feyton’s daughter. A marriage arrangement is agreed upon and they go their normal ways.
Arabella would rather play at being a physician than be civil to anyone. She doesn’t like to be touched, talked to, interrupted, or forced to do anything. So right off the bat she hates the idea of marrying Grant and does her best to be disagreeable. Everyone finds her to be exactly that and many make asides to Grant about his foolishness.
Grant himself is feeling foolish because immediately upon seeing Gillian he finds himself attracted to her. She is a magnetic force on his life and he can’t seem to stop himself from seeking her out. He knows she’s hiding something and desperately wants to be let into her world. She makes him forget his losses, and overwhelming duties; she challenges his authority and is an intelligent companion who he seeks to impress with his experiments.
Gillian for her part knows that as the companion to Arabella, Grant can never be hers. She was foolish once in love and paid the price with her innocence and virtue. She lost the protection of her family, the love she thought was hers, and was censured by society. Only under Dr. Feyton has she received a modicum of protection and sense of purpose. She knows the price of love and passion so how come she can’t seem to resist the handsome earl? She wants to experience his kisses, she wants to be his, and she wants what Arabella is so blithely willing to toss away.
Rating: 2.5-3 Stars
Originally posted 2008-10-17 05:10:30. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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