Review: A Long Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan

Genre: Young-Adult Sci-Fi Dystopian

Published: 8/9/11 | Candlewick

Format: ebook | Library Book 

It should have been a short suspended-animation sleep. But this time Rose wakes up to find her past is long gone-- and her future full of peril.

Rosalinda Fitzroy has been asleep for sixty-two years when she is woken by a kiss. Locked away in the chemically induced slumber of a stasis tube in a forgotten subbasement, sixteen-year-old Rose slept straight through the Dark Times that killed millions and utterly changed the world she knew. Now, her parents and her first love are long gone, and Rose-- hailed upon her awakening as the long-lost heir to an interplanetary empire-- is thrust alone into a future in which she is viewed as either a freak or a threat. Desperate to put the past behind her and adapt to her new world, Rose finds herself drawn to the boy who kissed her awake, hoping that he can help her to start fresh. But when a deadly danger jeopardizes her fragile new existence, Rose must face the ghosts of her past with open eyes-- or be left without any future at all.

I was very surprised when I read A Long Long Sleep.  I actually read a review on this book while blog hopping (I forgot which blog it was) and I thought the blurb sounded very interesting.  When the ebook was available at the library, I immediately checked it out and promptly forgot about it.

Fast forward to three days before the book was due and I received an email from the library that the book was due.  I started reading it that same day and I enjoyed it. 

The story is that Rosalinda, daughter of one of the most powerful families/rich corporate CEO's of the day, is woken up from a 62 year sleep by Brendan, a grandson of the current CEO of Rose's company.  She wakes up to a world after the Dark Times, which I compare to the Dark Ages.  In fact, it is like the Dark Ages, where the Beubonic Plague and Tuberculosis outbreak resurface.  Naturally, everyone Rose loves, even her boyfriend Xavier, are long gone.  Add in a Plastine (a robot with a human corpse for a body that is programmed to be an assasin) who tries to track and kill Rose, and a dark secret that ultimately transforms Rose into a stong young woman, and you have a recipe for a really awsome book.

As much as I liked this book, I had a few problems with it.  One was the non sci-fi element of the book.  Sure, it was set in the future and there were future tech stuff that were mentioned (e.g. hover cars that travel over water, a techie notepad/tablet) and future slang like "this is so sky", "coit", "noid", and "I comm",  it didn't feel like a true sci-fi novel.  The book also lacked description.  I wanted to see what the world looked like post Dark Times.  For a sci-fi novel, this lacked a lot of description.

Another thing that I did not like about it was that this book was basically about Rose moping about, trying to navigate the futuristic high school, developing her art, and falling for Brendan.  I expected to read about how Rose would investigate the dilemma that is the reason why she had a long stasis sleep.  I expected to read about her taking over her parent's company that was under the influence of a slimy CEO.  If Rose did not redeem herself by the end of the book and stood up against her attacker and destroyed her stasis tube, I would have given this a 2!  Oh, and Rose's voice sounded like a little girl.  I really had problems with that.    For a 16 year old, she seemed pretty immature to me.  A

What was iffy about this was when it was revealed in the end that Ron, Brendan's grandfather and CEO of the corporation is in fact Xavier, Rose's boyfriend!  Ick!  Although I was expecting this to be the case, I still thought it was very, very, very weird.  Plus, Rose demands that he becomes her guardian!

What I did like about this, however was how the author showed us the emotional abuse that Rose went through - the detachment of how her parents treated her.  I actually liked that the author hinted at the abuse and how we were gradually introduced as to Rose's actual age.  Apparently, Rose has been in and out of stass all through childhood.  In fact, Rose practically raised Xavier since she was about 7 when he was a toddler.

Another surprising character that I liked was Otto, the blue alien/human that has powers but is unable to speak.  Rose and Otto have a very interesting relationship via the web where they have long conversations between each other.  The only thing I had problems with was that Otto had a girlfriend that he broke up with probably because he was falling for Rose.

All in all, this was a quick read for me that I recommend to those who love non sci-fi YA sort of romance.

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Review: Ten Reasons to Stay by Sabrina Jeffries

Genre: Historical Romance | Series: School for Heiresses

Publish: 4/6/13 | Pocket Star

Format: egalley | Requested via NetGalley

In "Ten Reasons to Stay," previously published in the anthology The School for Heiresses, lessons go far beyond etiquette and needlepoint. Eliza Crenshawe’s lesson is to look before she leaps. But when she discovers that her new guardian plans to marry her off without so much as a Season, she forgets all that. She flees—on a horse she unwittingly steals (oops!)—from Colin Hunt, a newly minted earl who wants nothing more than for her to go home…or stay forever.

This novella was a very quick read for me.  I was able to read it in a couple of hours or so.  While this had a very promising plot, I thought the story was ok.  Maybe because it is a novella and the author had to shorten the storyline - it just didn't work for me.  I like my romance to be well developed and not a lust at first sight type of thing.  Normally, I shy away from novellas because of this reason.  However, I love Sabrina Jeffries' work so I decided to give this a shot.

The story starts of as the heroine, Eliza sneaks into the stables of Colin to "borrow" a horse in the middle of the night.  Of course, she is caught by Colin and so starts the steamy interrogation.  It ends a couple of days later with both h and H proclaiming their love for each other.

That last sentence really felt fake to me and felt very implausible.  I can imagine attraction but not proclamations of love, no matter the circumstance.

I gave this romance 3 hearts because of the hero and heroine.  I love the sparks that flew between the two.  The interaction between them was exciting, I thought.  I love Eliza's spunk.  Their interactions and come backs were very entertaining.  Without that, I would have put the book down.

I also love Colin.  He is trying to put the past behind him after his anger and hurt when his wife died.  And I could see that Eliza was the right woman to make him love again.  For a novella, this had a couple of steamy sex scenes.  I thought both were written very well.

Eliza's uncle is the villain.  Apparently, he owes a lot of money to a brewer who will not accept any payment other than Eliza's hand in marriage which is precisely the reason why she run away from her uncle.  I honestly thought this villain was weak.  I mean, in the end, the villain accepts his mistakes and promises to change his ways when Colin demanded that of him.  This was very, very disappointing.

Again, this brings me back to the romance which was pretty much unbelievable.  I recommend this novella to those who enjoy a quick read and a spunky heroine.

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Review: Seduced by Innocence by Kimberly Kinrade

Genre: Paranormal New Adult Romance | Series: Seduced Trilogy #1

Published 1/21/13 | Daring Books

Format: ebook | free in exchange for an honest review

Their passion will destroy them.
Only true love can save them.

"Liquid fire poured into me, filling me with the intimate sense of him as he leaned in to claim my lips with his own. I reached for him, needing him closer, but my arms couldn't close the distance between us, which grew wider with each hitched breath. So close to finally feeling something real, something carnal and deep, I cried out in frustration, dropping my hands as he disappeared. My cries deepened into a frenzy of panic and my eyes flew open. I clutched my blanket and stilled myself to calm my racing heart.

Just a dream. Always just a dream."

Rose Wintersong didn't have an ordinary upbringing. Raised in what most would call a hippy commune, but what is actually a powerful coven of witches, she never questions the life fate chose for her.

Until she meets Derek O'Conner.

Derek challenges everything Rose believes and forces her to see the secrets hidden beneath the whitewashed walls of her idyllic country life.

Rose knows she should walk away, that the sexy martial arts instructor is bad news bred to create discord in her tight community… but the animal magnetism between them is impossible to fight.

Caught between the passion of first love, and the steady beat of the life she's always known, Rose must choose between the innocence of her youth or the pleasures of womanhood—but lost innocence comes at a price, and Rose harbors a dark secret that could destroy everyone she loves—including Derek.

Submit to the Seduced Saga as Derek and Rose face their future while unraveling the mysteries of their past.

This is the first book that I read by Kimberly Kinrade and I thought it was okay.  I am not sure if I will read the next book in the series but I'll just see if I will be tempted enough to read it because of the cliffhanger in the end.

First of, I have to say that I hate the cover!  I know the saying but still!  See, when I go to a library or bookstore, I look at the cover first before I read the blurb in the back and this does not scream "read me!"  The same goes for when I am virtually browsing books.  I did love the small pictures (rose and wolf) before each chapter since each chapter is written in the POV of both protagonists.  There are also quotes from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet before each chapter which I thought was a lovely addition, sort of like an introduction on what was to come.

That being said, I thought the book was okay.  It was a pretty quick read for me and at 188 pages (epub).  The story pretty much runs like Romeo and Juliet with a feud between two families of different "species" so I will not give a recap of how the story went.  Rose, is a sheltered witch with an evil mother Rainbow (really, a better name for a villain should have been picked) who tries to control Rose and their coven.  The book seems like a coming of age of both protagonists as both are trying to find out who they are.

When both of them meet, there is an instant attraction with Rose realizing that Derek is the one she has been dreaming of almost every night.  Derek, on the other hand, tries to be a different person and change because Rose makes him a better person.  I would have loved it more if the author explored more on the development of Rose and Derek's love.

I did like that the author wrote in Rose and Derek's POV because I love reading about a guys' POV.  There is just something about reading in a male perspective that I think is more romantic because I kind of get an insight to what he was thinking.  Plus, it's always great to have a chance to look at their mind.

I mostly read adult romances and occasionally read YA/NA romances but I thought this lacked a little bit of romantic development between Rose and Derek.  I recommend this book to those who love to read about star-crossed lovers.

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Review: Seducing the Princess by Mary Hart Perry

Genre:  Historical Romantic Thriller 

Published: 3/5/13 | Diversion Books

Format: ebook | free in exchange for an honest review
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Mary Hart Perry’s acclaimed series of romantic Victorian thrillers continues with Seducing the Princess, inspired by the life of Queen Victoria’s youngest daughter Beatrice. Painfully shy and lonely, convinced she is unattractive and unloved, the dutiful Princess Beatrice finally accepts that she will never marry and vows to devote herself to the queen in Victoria's waning years. In fact, her mother has secretly discouraged suitors for Beatrice’s hand. Just when Beatrice has all but given up on love and happiness, she meets Henry Battenberg, a dashing nobleman from the Continent who matches wits with the aging Victoria and risks his life and liberty to woo Bea.

But Henry isn't the only man interested in being welcomed into Beatrice's bed. The timid princess has become the target of a cruel plot hatched by her nephew, the madman destined to become the last Emperor of Germany. Wilhelm II sends a ruthless agent, a charming Scot, to seduce the naive princess and spy on the queen. How can the sheltered princess hope to fend off a man capable of murder, and perhaps worse, to get what he wants? But Beatrice is not without her own allies--her older sister Louise and Louise's American soldier-of-fortune and lover, Stephen Byrne. Will Beatrice discover which of the two men pursuing her she can trust, before it's too late? Drama, romance and peril chase the royal family from Buckingham Palace to a storm besieged castle on the Isle of Wight.

Mary Hart Perry is a new to me author and Seducing the Princess is the first book that I read.  I was thoroughly blown away!  I loved reading about Queen Victoria's youngest daughter, Princess Beatrice.  Of course, I did a quick google search on her to read more about her and her life with the Queen.  I am amazed at how the author seamlessly intertwined Princess Beatrice's story with the facts surounding her love match with Henry Battenberg.

The story was well written and I empathized with Princess Beatrice.  Queen Victoria really seemed like the villain of the story.  I can just imagine how hard it was for Beatrice growing up as her mother's shadow.  The way the Queen treated Beatrice struck a chord in me and I could not help but hate the Queen for doing this to her youngest daughter.  Beatrice comes off as an obedient and meek daughter, only following what the Queen commands her to do but deep inside, she cannot wait to leave and have a life of her own.  This happens when she meets and falls in love with Henry.

Henry and Beatrice's love story was really sweet, I thought.  I love the way that he went out of his way to get to know the Princess and helping her overcome her shyness and become a strong woman.  I have to point out that all the characters are well developed and I find that this help drive the whole plot of the story.  I felt that I knew them and that I was one of the Queen's daughters.

I also loved that there was another villain in the story in the form of Prince Gregory, another cousin.  I like to think that a good story has to have a good villain and Gregory really fit the bill to a T.  Although there is a minor villain in the form of Queen Victoria, I cannot see her as the ultimate villain even if she plays a part preventing a romance between Beatrice and Henry.

I recommend this book to readers who love Philippa Gregory.

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Kathryn Johnson lives in the Washington, DC area with her husband and two feline writing partners, Tempest and Miranda. The author of over 40 novels, she's written under her own name and a variety of pen names, including Mary Hart Perry, Kathryn Jensen, KM Kimball and Nicole Davidson. She also teaches fiction-writing workshops for the renowned Writer's Center in Bethesda, Maryland. And, in 2008, she founded Write by You (www.WriteByYou.com), to coach other writers interested in reaching publication. She has been nominated for the prestigious Agatha Christy Award, and won the Heart of Excellence and Bookseller's Best Awards (sponsored by the Romance Writers of America) in 2011.

 

Her works in progress include a series of Victorian thrillers inspired by the lives of Queen Victoria's five daughters. The first novel, The Wild Princess, focuses on Princess Louise, who desperately wanted an education as a professional artist, at a time when women were not admitted into art schools. Her personal life becomes complicated when she uncovers a secret about her husband and must help protect her mother from an assassination attempt. The second book of the series,Seducing the Princess, launches April 2, 2013, and features Victoria’s youngest daughter Beatrice. Painfully shy and lonely, the dutiful Princess has promised never to marry and to devote herself to the queen in Victoria's waning years. Just when she has all but given up on love and happiness, she meets Henry Battenberg, a dashing nobleman from the Continent who risks his life and liberty to woo Bea and save both his beloved and the queen from a cruel plot. A third novel, to be published later in 2013, will star Crown Princess Vicky.

 

Connect with Kathryn

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Facebook Event

Running March 31st to April 4th With an all day hoopla on April 2nd to celebrate the release of “Seducing the Princess”

 

Join Mary Hart Perry and Vickie Ann in celebrating the launch of Seducing the Princess. Mary Hart Perry will be doing random giveaways at this event, so keep an eye out for prizes and help spread the word!!!

Don't miss the fun! Invite your friends to join in! And ask Vickie how to get Seducing the Princess for free in exchange for an honest review on Amazon. Vickie@iobooktours.com

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Review: My Fair Mistress by Tracy Anne Warren

Genre: Historical Romance | Series: The Mistress Trilogy #1

Published: 11/30/07 | Ballantine Books

Format: ebook | purchased

 

He drives a hard bargain, but the pleasure is all hers.

London financier Rafe Pendragon has a reputation for ruthlessness, and exotic beauty Julianna Hawthorne is determined to clear the debt her brother owes him. Captivated by Rafe’s virile good looks, weakened by his intoxicating mix of danger and sensuality, Julianna boldly agrees to Rafe’s shocking terms: six months as his mistress. As Rafe’s intense green eyes pierce her body and set it afire, Julianna can only imagine what emotions his kiss may unleash.

Surrendering to the pleasures of seduction and carnal delight, Rafe never anticipated that love would be the cost of his bargain. When he realizes that a vindictive enemy may harm Julianna should their clandestine liaison be exposed, Rafe must choose between loving her and protecting her. To save his fair mistress, Rafe must risk what he has already lost: his heart.

This is perhaps one of my favorite books by Tracy Anne Warren.  In fact, I believe this was the first book that I have read from her and she has become one of my auto-buy authors ever since.  I have probably read this book about 5 times and I just love it.  It's like every time I read it, I get sucked into the romance between Rafe and Julianna.

The way Miss Warren weaves in romance, love and lust in the book is believable in a sense that as a reader, you would think that this kind of situation would really happen in reality.  I love how both characters grow in this story - most especially Julianna.  She starts off as a very proper, sort of insecure widow and becomes this independent and strong woman.  Although there is still a bit of damsel in distress in her, it is not as pronounced as other heroines I have read.  Her ultimate devastation when Rafe leaves her is typically a reaction and again very believable.  I can feel her anguish and to be honest, I always shed a tear when I get to this part no matter how many times I read it.

When they are forced to marry, I love how Miss Warren wrote in Julianna's initial reaction.  Julianna tries to show indifference to Rafe.  Of course, she still loves him but she does show how hurt she is from what he did.

I also love the hero, Rafe.  Personally, I love reading about "rags to riches" heroes and Rafe is one of them.  Rafe is also mentioned in other books (and I think other series) as one of the financiers that the gentlemen trust and use.  He starts of an uncaring, self-centered rogue.  Later in the story, you see him develop into a hero worthy of Julianna's love.  I love how Ms. Warren wrote in his back story, how we the readers are slowly introduced to why Rafe is as uncaring as he is and we get to understand the reason why he left Julianna.

All in all this is a very enjoyable read that I love to read again (and I have been re-reading it).  Perhaps when I have a chance, I would get a print copy of this book and perhaps have it signed by Miss Warren.

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Review: A Most Scandalous Proposal by Ashlyn Macnamara

Genre: Historical Romance

Published: 2/26/13 | Ballantine

Format: eGalley

I requested this book because it sounded interesting

After watching her beloved sister, Sophia, pine over the ton’s golden boy for years, Miss Julia St. Claire has foresworn love and put herself firmly on the shelf. Unfortunately, her social-climbing mother and debt-ridden father have other ideas, and jump at the chance to marry Julia off to the newly named Earl of Clivesden . . . the man of Sophia’s dreams.

Since resigning his cavalry commission, Benedict Revelstoke has spent his time in London avoiding the marriage mart. But when he discovers that the Earl of Clivesden has his sights set on Julia, Benedict tries to protect his childhood best friend from the man’s advances—only to discover that more than friendship is driving his desire to defend her. He surprises them both with the force of his feelings, but when Julia refuses him, and her father announces her betrothal, Benedict fears he’s lost her forever—until Julia approaches him with a shocking scheme that will ruin her for all respectable society and lead them into an exquisite world of forbidden pleasures.

This is Ashlyn Macnamera's debut novel so she is definitely a new to me author.  Don't get me wrong, I do love to read new to me authors.  In fact, I have discovered a lot of awesome authors this way.  However, this story just missed the mark.  I read the book knowing this was going to be about Miss Julia St. Claire but instead, I was reading about the sister Sophia meeting another guy!  I mean, I just barely started reading and by the time I reached Chapter 3, I was totally confused about where this story was headed.

True, there are books that have two romance stories in them, one being a minor romance in the book but I usually read about their romance in the middle of the book after the romance of the main characters have been developed and usually not before.  That being said, this just fell short for me.  I expected to read about the characters mentioned in the book as the main characters and not about the sister, Sophia (which I thought was a bit of a flake).

This is a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate/Did Not Finish) for me.  I may revisit this book at a later time but I won't hold my breath.  I expected to be captured by the story by the time I reach the second chapter but this really missed the mark.

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Unable to tell.  Stopped reading by the time I finished Chapter 3

Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Genre: YA Dystopian

Series: Lunar Chronicles #1

Published 1/3/12 | Feiwel & Friends

Format: ebook | purchased

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

This is a story about a cyborg named Cinder who lives with her "stepmother" and two "stepsisters.  They are not technically her step anything since she was adopted.  Now, this cyborg is a mechanic and lives in a Dystopian earth in a city called New Beijing.  She meets Prince Kai when he seeks her out to fix his old android.  There is also a plague going on called letumosis and I assume that it is like the Beubonic Plague that hit the world back in the middle ages.  The story pretty much revolves around the ball that everyone is invited.  This ball becomes Prince Kai's coronation ball due to the passing of the current Emperor due to letumosis.  Cinder also becomes a "test subject" when her stepmother/guardian volunteers her against her will to submit to the letumosis research when her sister Peony gets the disease.  During the testing, it is then discovered that she is in fact not a human but a Lunar (or someone who is from the moon) and that she is immune to the disease as all Lunar's are.  The scientist also discovers that she is the long lost princess and heir to the throne of Luna.

 

Once the king dies, the current Lunar Queen, Lavena comes to Earth in the guise of paying her respects when in fact she is bent on war and is interrested in becoming the Empress of New Beijing by marrying Kai.  At the palace, she spots Cinder and discovers that she is a Luna and is threatening war unless Kai looks for her.

 

Cinder crashes the ball (even though she was invited) to let Kai know that Queen Levana has plans for war and plans to become Empress so she can start the war.  This doesn't go as smoothly as she hopes because Cinder is discovered and is also exposed as a Lunar and a cyborg, both of which Kai does not know.  The story ends with a cliffhanger, with Cinder locked in jail.

I have mixed feelings about this book.  Although I enjoyed it, I had problems with most of the plot.  This was a pretty quick read for me but I expected more from reading the blurb.

 

I'll start with the cons first.

1. Dystopian theme - The story takes place in a dystopian Earth after World War IV in a place called New Beijing.  Supposedly, this country arrose in the same location of Beijing, China. 
   However, there was lack of references to the Chinese culture.  True, the name Kai sounded Asian but his whole name Kaito didn't sound Chinese but Japanese.  There was a mention of chopsticks used but that was it!  I thought the author lacked in the aspect of incorporating the Chinese culture in the story.  Also, I thought the character Kai was not Asian, based on the description of the character.
2. Lunar People - There was also a mention of Lunar people.  However, I feel that the author lacked description about the race e.g. how did they get there, why do they have powers, etc.  After readin the whole book, I am still looking for the answer to this.
3. Descriptions - Another thing that I thought was lacking was the descriptions of the places.  I didn't get the feel of New Beijing.  I wasn't transported to New Beijing.  Since this is a futuristic/dystopian theme, I would have expected the author to take us to the city/country.  I expected there to be vivid descriptions that can aid mu imagination build my own New Beijing in my mind but this never happened.  I picture New Beijing as a dump, overcrowded city, akin to the middle ages.  Now with my thoughts of the middle ages, I cannot picture having hovercrafts and other highly advanced machinery in the city.
4. Cyborg - With the heroine a cyborg, i would have expected more from her.  I mean, she was cyborg.  Don't cyborgs have increased strength or something?  In this case, I see her as a teen with disabilites.  I guess this was what the author wanted the cyborg to be protrayed as but still, I felt it was unbelievable.  Cinder also did not meet any other cyborgs in the story.  I would have assumed that with the advancement in technology, there would have been others at least mentioned.  I get that the cyborgs were descriminated in that world but still...
5. Romance - I thought the romance between Cinder and Kai was very underdeveloped.  I did not see how Cinder could fall in love with Kai and vice versa.  I thought the romance was pretty shallow.  Granting that Cinder was only 16, I would think that a love that can change the course of their world would have to be developed further in the story.  As it was, it just felt shallow and reminiscent to tween attraction.  Even the kissing was meh.

Now, on the pros.

I have to tell you that the premise of the whole thing is freaking awesome.  I give props to the author for thinking about it.  I mean, a cyborg Cinderella? An alien race living on the moon out to start war on earth? A beubonic like plague in a dystopian world?  Come on, don't tell me that wasn't an amazing idea?!  I had a "I wish I thought about this" moment.  I thought the android Iko, was funny and was an awesome minor character, although a bit of an airhead. 

 

I enjoyed reading about this futuristic tale of Cinderella and hated the cliffhanger in the end.  I am looking at reading the next book Scarlet to see what would happen next. 

 

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Review: By Love Unveiled by Sabrina Jeffries

Genre: Historical Romance | Series: Restoration #1

Re-Published: 2/26/2013 | Pocket Books

Format: ebook | purchased

Baronet’s daughter Marianne Winchilsea was running for her life from those who thought she was involved in an attempt to kill the king. Forced to disguise herself, she trusted no one—especially not Garett Locke, the Earl of Falkham, the man who usurped her family home and who seemed to be her most dangerous enemy…

And what Garett saw beneath her disguise was a beautiful half-gypsy, who was enrobed in mystery, deception and burning secrets. A woman he should avoid at all costs. Somehow, in a world of treachery and passion, of sweet seduction and whispered betrayals, each would have to learn to trust the other, as a desire that could not be disguised turned into a passionate love that all the powers of the world could not defeat.

This is a reworked story that has been out of print written by Sabrina Jeffries as Deborah Martin.  Before I give my review, I just want to let everyone know that I have not read the original book so I cannot point out the differences between the two and which parts have been reworked.  That being said, I totally enjoyed reading By Love Unveiled.  I admit that it is different from what I am used to Sabrina writing but the female protagonist, Marianne is as feisty and strong as her newer heroines.

The story starts of with Marianne, masquerading as Mina, a gypsy healer (she is half gypsy) in her hometown of Lydgate where she is trying to find the person responsible for framing her father (and her) with the plot to poison King Charles II.  Garrett, the Earl of Falkham, returned to Lydgate to reclaim his family home that his uncle sold to the Winchilsea family.  Meeting the masked Mina at the apothecary spiked Garrett's interest most especially after she treated him after he was attacked by a highwayman in on his way back to his estate.

I love that Mina "masqueraded" herself in her own hometown where people actually knew her and helped her keep her identity a secret.  I actually felt Garrett's frustration when he suspected that the townspeople had information about Mina that they were not giving to him.

Mina and Garrett's attraction was also palpable as I was reading the whole book.  I felt their passion exploding from the pages and loved the pace that the author took with developing their romance.

The ultimate surprise that I had was when Mina's father wasn't dead at all!  I also liked that Garrett asked Mina's father for her hand in marriage when he was interrogating him.

The story went a little bit too fast for me when it came to the part of the confrontation between Garrett's uncle (who had his parent's killed and planted the poison in Mina's father's healing pouch), Garrett, the King, Mina and her father.  I thought that it was pretty convenient for King Charles to side with Garrett without hearing more evidence.  Granting that the uncle was already a known enemy of the king and he was already a suspect.  Still the stand-off was pretty fast.

All in all, I love the book as a whole.  I am definitely waiting for the next book in the Restoration Series to be available.  I believe it will be sometime this year (as per Sabrina's website).

Oh, and the new cover is gorgeous as compared to the old cover shown below.

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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.

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Heat Level

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

Review: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Genre: Young Adult Paranormal/Urban Fantasy

Series: Everneath #1

Published: 1/24/2012 | HarperCollins / Balzer + Bray

Format: ebook | borrowed from the LA Public Library

Buy: Amazon | B&N

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she's returned--to her old life, her family, her boyfriend--before she's banished back to the underworld . . . this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance--and the one person she loves more than anything. But there's just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's queen.

Everneath is loosely based on the Greek mythology of Persephone and Hades and of Orpheus and Eurydice with mentions of the Egyptian gods Isis and Osiris.  The story starts 6 human months after the feed where the main protagonist Nikki awakens after being sent to the Everneath (or the Underworld).  The Feed or Feeding is the way an Everliving (those immortals that live in the Underworld) can continue their immortal lives by stealing/freeding on the emotions and memories of the living (humans).  The feed lasts for a hundred years which is like 6 months of human time.  Once you have been fed upon, either the sacrifice dies, becomes old, or in rare cases, survives.  When a sacrifice survives, she then has a chance to become the Queen of the Underworld, with her Everliving the King.  If the sacrifice survives however, becomes old, she is then taken by the shadows and is brought to the Tunnels (Hell, if you wish).  The three main characters of the story are Nikki, Jack and Cole.

Cole is the Everliving that took Nikki into the Everneath and bonded with her by taking all her emotions and memories.  They spend bound together for a hundred years when Nikki was able to leave the Everneath by keeping a thought/memory of her human love alive.  She is then taken over by a shade and awakes in a mini-mart in their town 6 months after the was supposedly gone.  She then tries to repair her relationship with her family while staying away from Jack and trying to repair her life.  This basically comprises most of the middle part of the story with the end resulting in Nikki staying above and Jack going to the Tunnels.

Now, on to my review.  I was surprised that I liked the story of Nikki and Jack even though I had serious problems with the inconsistensies and the impossibilies of the whole story.  Let's start of on why I liked it.  The premise of the story IS intriguing.  I was curious about how the author would execute the Persephone and Hades' story.  Another thing that I did like about the story is the way Nikki comes off as a relatable character, although there are just times that you just want to bash her on the head for being so stupid.  Jack, on the other hand, comes off as a love-struck boy that apparently hasen't forgotten Nikki at all with Cole, adding to the romantic tension.  I see Cole as the perfect bad boy and secretly wish that this was a love story about Cole and Nikki.

I love how the author gradually introduced us to the backstory by giving flashbacks of Nikki's memories 6 months ago.  It was integrated in a way that did not deter or confuse the reader and I was able to follow through without digitally flipping the pages back or forward to get what the author was trying to say.

Despite my liking the whole story, or shedding a tear or two (it may just have been my raging hormones or something *shrugs*), I had problems with the story.  I just didn't get why no one put an Amber Alert out for Nikki when she went missing, why her father, being the Mayor of Park City didn't do anything in his power to find his only daughter, why everybody accepted that Nikki came back from Rehab when there were no signs of her acting like she needed to go to rehab before she went with Cole.  The only bad behavior I saw her do was going to concerts with Cole and his band which was not really bad at all since I went to concerts as a teen and was never in any risk of going off to rehab!  *Sigh*  True, she pretty much flipped out when she found out the hit-and-run driver who killed her mom got acquitten AND she caught Jack cheating on her.  That could have been a catalyst but still...

I also thought that the whole time Nikki was pining away for Jack and not talking to him the whole middle part of the book was pretty stupid.  I mean, I am pretty straightforward and with her not talking to him was just stupid.  Jack, on the otherhand, I also expected him to confront her and ask her what her baggage is.  I know guys don't do the confrontation thing but with him saying that he loved her, I thought that would prompt a confrontation.

Now, let's talk about Cole.  I thought that he was the hero in the story!  He had all the makings of a bad-boy alpha hero and I would have liked the story be based on Cole and Nikki.  True, he stole from Nikki but that would have made an awesome love story instead of Jack and Nikki's meh romance.  As a villain, Cole didn't do much of anything; just stalk Nikki like crazy and appearing in her room uninvited (what is it with creeps appearing in girls rooms uninvited?  THAT is not romantic!).  I thought that was serial killer/rapist creepy.

I recommend this book to those enjoy the following books:

My Rating