Review: Her Perfect Match by Jess Michaels

Genre:  Historical Erotic Romance
Series: Mistress Matchmaker Series
Publish: 3/5/13 | Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Format: ebook | purchased
Buy:  B&N | Amazon | Samhain

She will do anything for him…except surrender.

Vivien Manning, the notorious Mistress Matchmaker, is tired. Tired of the parties, tired of the lovers, tired of being her. So she decides to leave London behind once and for all and start a whole new life.

But before she goes, she must tie up some loose ends, so she makes a list which includes one man she’s never been fully able to let go:

Benedict Graystone.

Benedict was broken when Vivien broke off their affairs years ago. So when she comes back into his life… and his bed, he isn’t certain of anything except the power of their desire.

But as Vivien moves ever closer to disappearing forever, both of them begin to question if the past can be overcome and if love might be the one loose end that cannot be neatly tied up.

I was anticipating Vivien's story since I read her in the first book, An Introduction to Pleasure.  Now, reading the first chapter blew me away.  It introduced us to the depraved life of Vivien and how she has been living her life year after year after year.  The first scene actually made me empathize with her as she was trying to find fulfillment in her life.  Considering all the parties and sexual conquests, she was getting fed up with it.  We also get to revisit the previous couples of the other two books and in a way, it makes Vivien want something that they have - love.

I have to say that this is the best book in the series.  I love how Vivien struggles to finish her list before she leaves her life as a mistress for good.  I especially love how Benedict becomes entwined with the whole situation - with him helping her fulfull her wishes and not knowing the true reason why she was doing it.

Benedict and Vivien's relationship is explosive.  I could feel the heat simmering between the pages (or in my case, the reader - LOL) everytime they meet.  And although lust is the driving force of their relationship, I could see how Vivien would fall for Benedict.

I did have a problem with how Benedict's character was written.  I didn't quite think of him as the perfect libertine/bad boy for our Heroine.  I thought that with him not getting over Vivien when she left him was pretty uncharacteristic of an alpha male.  I would have expected him not to pine (sort of) for Vivien - there was a part in the book where he said he loved her in his thoughts even when they just barely got back together again.  True, his love may not have faded but I thought that wasn't too realistic.

On the other hand, I thought Vivien was the alpha in this story (I know I am contradicting myself but whatever).  I love her bravery and her will to face her fears and revisit her past; how she took charge with her life and become the independent woman that she is.  And yes, I did cry when Vivien and Benedict had their HEA.

Rating

 

Heat Level

BTW, I will be interviewing Jess Michaels on March 8 so stay tuned!

Review: A Mermaid's Kiss by Joey H. Hill

Genre:  Paranormal Fantasy Erotic Romance
Series:  Daughters of Arianne #1
Published:   12/4/2012 | Penguin Group
Format: ebook | purchased
Buy: Amazon | B&N

Having battled the Dark Ones for centuries, Jonah has lost too many of his angel brethren to them. His noble spirit is weary of endless war—which allows a Dark One to strike the blow that severs Jonah’s wing and sends him plummeting into the sea.

Anna is a descendant of the mermaid whose poignant legend is much darker and more complex than the fairy tale. Though tragedy and isolation are her fate, her longing for love compels her to risk her life to protect the fallen Jonah. When Jonah delays his return to the heavens, Anna’s secret passions are tempted.

Jonah’s destiny lies beyond her desire—and if she repeats her ancestor’s mistakes, heartache will be her only reward. But as she falls more in love with him, Anna wonders if she’ll lose her heart and her dreams to save Jonah’s soul…

This story is pretty tough for me to review.  At this time, I do not want to give out a summary of the story and I will just go ahead and give my thoughts.  The story starts, innocently enough with a mermaid, Anna rescuing an angel falling from the sky.  Apparently, this angel, Jonah was wounded in a war between Angels and Dark Ones that has been going on for centuries.  Wounded and unable to fly, Anna saves him and with his direction, brought him to an underwater cavern that has magical properties.  At this point, Jonah asks Anna to perform joining magic to help revive him.  This is where the erotic part of the book kicks in.  They do this joining magic all throughout the book and it seemed like both of them, Anna especially, cannot keep their hands off of each other.

I had a hard time swallowing some of the aspects of this book.  Yes, sex is normal and yes, it is a way to procreate but an angel having sex is just too much for me to take.  Another thing that bothered me while reading this book is the obvious parallels of The Little Mermaid.  For the life of me, I just kept thinking about the Disney version and couldn't focus on the adult story but the children's version.

We also meet Mina, a witch (half mermaid half dark one) that is sort of a guardian to Anna.  This witch basically resembles a skinny and young Ursula that is not out to take over the ocean.  So yes, she does had the octopus legs with half of her upper body scarred/ugly/deformed.  She is the one who directs Jonah and Anna to go inland to the Dessert Crossroads in Nevada where Jonah will find help and answers.

The third thing that bothered me is that this mermaid turned into a PIXIE!!  I thought this was too much for a fantasy for me.  Yes, I am reading fantasy but never did I read about a mermaid turning into a pixie!  Sheesh.  This could have been omitted.

The fourth thing that I could not agree upon was how Anna was such a martyr.  While Jonah was sulking and grumbling about how he is not used to being human (Mina turned him human by day and angel by night so the dark ones and the angels couldn't find him), she was doing all the work.  For an angel, there were some parts int he book that I thought was so uncharacteristic of an angel.  In fact, he was a jerk sometimes and I couldn't believe Anna fell for him.

Fortunately, he redeems himself by the end of the book by giving himself over to the dark ones in exchange for Anna's life and with a stand-off between him and the angels, headed by Lucifer.  In this book, Lucifer is in charge of Hell but he is not a fallen angel per se and not a devil as we know it.  So, Anna and Jonah have their HEA.

Two characters mentioned in this story is a peek Mina and David (a human-born angel and part of Jonah's legion) romance.  Book #2 of this series is A Witch's Beauty.  I am still debating weather I am going to read it.  I recommend this book to those who love Lila DiPasqua.

My rating: 3.5

Heat Level: 6