2014 – Book #48

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Historical Romance, Lords of Vice series by rebeccabook17

The forty-eighth book I read in 2014 was Sunrise with a Notorious Lord by Alexandra Hawkins. This is the fourth book in the Lords of Vice series by this author. I finished this book on 6/3/14. I rated this book 3.75 stars out of a scale of 5. This book tells the story of Christopher, Earl of Vanewright, commonly known to his friends as Vane, and Miss Isabel Thorne. Isabel happens to meet Vane’s mother when she is visiting a friend in Isabel’s hometown. Vane’s mother thinks that Isabel would be the perfect match for Vane, and she has long past decided that it is time for Vane to settle down and get married. So Vane’s mother comes up with a plan to draw them together. Unfortunately that plan almost ends up tearing them apart.

Isabel’s sister Delia is always the sister that men seem to be drawn to. So when Vane devotes his attention to Isabel, she can hardly believe it. Isabel thinks that Delia and Vane are the ones who are meant to be together and believes that this is the match Vane’s mother is encouraging. Her attraction to him is so strong, but she feels extremely guilty to feel this way about someone who could be her future brother-in-law. Isabel’s character is very strong but she tends to let her sister get away with a lot. I felt through the whole book that somebody needed to teach Delia a lesson. I mean there was only one guy Isabel felt even vaguely fond of from where she lived and Isabel catches Delia making out with him. And Delia wasn’t even sorry, she had some stupid smug grin on her face like she was happy that she was hurting Isabel. What a jerk.

One of the other things I didn’t like about this book is that I wish I had seen some form of outcome with Lord Botly. He is Isabel’s grandfather, and years ago he had shunned his daughter (Isabel’s mother) when she ran away and married a commoner (Isabel’s father). There is mention of Lord Botly in the book and Isabel even runs into him at a masquerade ball but we never really find out if he really doesn’t like Isabel as she was led to believe her whole life. I also wish I could’ve found out what happened with Isabel’s sister. She runs off in the end but what ends up happening to her? Do they find her? Does she get what’s coming to her? I have trouble when I have this many unanswered questions, it leaves me feeling unsettled even after I’ve finished the book.

Overall I thought this was a good book. I found the plot interesting and I could feel the characters and their emotions jumping from the pages. I thought this was an excellent addition to the series. I liked Isabel’s character except for the fact that she could have stood up for herself a little more. I would recommend reading it if you’re reading the series.

Link to author website: http://www.alexandrahawkins.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sunrise-Notorious-Lord-Lords-Vice/dp/1250001366/ref=tmm_mmp_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1401818615&sr=1-1

Link to rest of reviews in Lords of Vice series: https://rebeccabookreview.wordpress.com/category/book-reviews/book-series-book-reviews/lords-of-vice-series/

31May2014

2014 – Book #45

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Cynster family series, Cynster Sisters trilogy, Historical Romance by rebeccabook17

The forty-fifth book I read in 2014 was Viscount Breckenridge to the Rescue by Stephanie Laurens. I finished this book on 5/30/14. This is the 16th book in the Cynster family series and the 1st book in the Cynster Sisters trilogy. The Cynster Sisters trilogy is actually a sub-series within the Cynster family series. I have read other books in the series and have many other blog posts on them. This book was actually a re-read for me since I’ve read it before. This time I rated it 3.75 stars out of a scale of 5. This book tells the story of Heather Cynster any Viscount Breckenridge. Very early in the novel, Heather is kidnapped and Breckenridge just happens to witness it. He follows the carriage that kidnapped Heather and attempts to save her. Heather has learned from her kidnappers though that they were abduct “one of the Cynster sisters” and therefore she wants to learn Moe about the reason for her abduction before she’ll allow Breckenridge to save her. Her sisters could potentially be in danger too and Heather will do anything to protect them.

When her abductors arrive with her in Gretna Green, however, Heather realizes that she can’t postpone being rescued any longer. She and Breckenridge then decide to walk to the Vale, which is apparently a three day journey. At the Vale they then spend 50-100 pages miscommunicating with one another. Which while probably realistic is incredibly drawn out for readers. The heroine in this book was the epitome of stubborn and it was very frustrating. The plot line of the beginning of this book was very interesting as we are trying to figure out why Heather was kidnapped and where they’re going and what not. But I found that I really had to push myself through the 100pages of the book whether Heather and Breckenridge are basically circling around each other, each loving the other but not wanting to be the first to admit it and not even wanting to show it first.

I love the Cynster family series, don’t get me wrong, but after the 16th one I am starting to get tired of the pattern. Each book has a very similar pattern, we have a hero and heroine each with a strong and stubborn personality, they have sex and fall on love and struggle to admit to each other that they are in love. I think that her books are great and I would highly recommend them to readers but I don’t know if I would recommend reading all 20 in the series. Maybe that’s why there aren’t many authors who write series’ with 20 books.

One thing I do want to talk a little about is the mention of Gretna Green. This comes up in a lot of historical romance novels. It is a place just over the border of Scotland (from England) where couples in love could run away to get married. This is swell known by the heroine in the book and what leads her to allowing Breckenridge to rescue her so she can avoid being married to the mysterious laird who had her abducted. This apparently was because of a law that was enacted in England in 1754 allowing the guardian of a person under the age of 21 to prevent marriages simply by rejecting the match. According to Wikipedia, in Scotland the age of consent for boys was only 14 and for girls only 12.

Link to Wikipedia website on Gretna Green: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gretna_Green

Link to author website: http://www.stephanielaurens.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Viscount-Breckenridge-Rescue-Cynster-Sisters/dp/0062068601/ref=tmm_mmp_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1401501271&sr=1-1

29May2014

2014 – Book #44

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Highland Pleasures (Mackenzie family) series, Historical Romance by rebeccabook17

The forty-fourth book(s) I read in 2014 were Mackenzie Family Christmas: The Perfect Gift and The Untamed Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley. These were both short stories connected to the Highland Pleasures (Mackenzie family) series by this author so I counted the 2 short stories as 1 book. Together the 2 short stories were 396 pages, which is about the size of a normal novel.

Mackenzie Family Christmas: The Perfect Gift is book 4.5 in the Highland Pleasures (Mackenzie family) series by Jennifer Ashley. This short story therefore takes place between books 4 (The Duke’s Perfect Wife) and 5 (The Seduction of Elliott McBride). I finished this book on 5/27/14. I rated this story 3.75 stars out of a scale of 5. This story was fun because it was about all the Mackenzies! The family has gathered for Christmas and all 4 brothers and their wives and children and relatives, plus the Mackenzies’ half brother Inspector Fellows. It was interesting to revisit many of the characters from the previous books. You hardly ever get to read about how well your favorite characters are doing in their marriages after you read their books. They might show up in books on their relatives but usually they play only a small part in those books. This book featured each of the couples from the previous 4 books in different scenes. It was great! What a lovely addition to the series.

The Untamed Mackenzie is book 5.5 in the Highland Pleasures (Mackenzie family) series by Jennifer Ashley. This short story therefore takes place between books 5 ( The Seduction of Elliott McBride) and 6 (The Wicked Deeds of Daniel Mackenzie). I finished this book on 5/28/14. Unfortunately, this book was only available in e-book format. I rated this book 4 stars out of a scale of 5. This tells the story of the Mackenzies’ half brother Lloyd Fellows, Chief Inspector for Scotland Yard. He has run into Isabella’s sister Louisa Scranton at a few family functions and each time he is drawn to her. They have kissed twice and neither can deny the sparks that fly between them. Louisa has been hurt by her scandalous family though and wants to find a respectable man to marry so that her family’s name might be drawn from the mud. When a respectable man proposes to her and promptly perishes however, Inspector Fellows is called to investigate the crime. Everyone seems to think Louisa killed the man (which if you ask me is a little ridiculous) but Lloyd knows she’s innocent. I thought this short story was great because it didn’t even feel like a short story. It felt like a regular novel with its plot and story line. And I have been wanting to hear Lloyd’s story so overall I thought this was great!

Link to author website: http://www.jennifersromances.com/

Link to Mackenzie family series website: http://www.jennifersromances.com/NewSite/Mackenzies/mackenzie_main.html

Link to Amazon – Mackenzie Family Christmas: http://www.amazon.com/Mackenzie-Family-Christmas-Highland-Pleasures/dp/1481268007/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1401372840&sr=8-1

Link to Amazon – The Untamed Mackenzie: http://www.amazon.com/The-Untamed-Mackenzie-Mackenzies-Series-ebook/dp/B00AEDDSMA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1401372873&sr=8-1&keywords=the+untamed+mackenzie

27May2014

2014 – Book #43

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Highland Pleasures (Mackenzie family) series, Historical Romance by rebeccabook17

The forty-third book I read in 2014 was The Wicked Deeds of Daniel Mackenzie. I finished this book on 5/26/14. This is the sixth book in the Highland Pleasures (Mackenzie) series by this author. I have read the previous five books but all previously to 2014 so none are featured in this blog. I rated this book 3.75 stars out of a scale of 5. This book tells the story of Daniel Mackenzie, the son of Cameron Mackenzie from the third book in the series, and Violet Bastien, one of the most famous spiritual mediums in England.

Daniel ends up at one of Violet’s reading performances and finds himself enchanted by this strong woman, even if she is fooling all her “clients.” And when Daniel finds all the mechanics inside the walls that Violet uses to make her clients believe in her spiritual abilities, he knows that she is just the person to help him finish his motor car. Violet’s wind machine could be just what Daniel needs to cool down the motor as it runs.

Violet has a traumatic past though and, unaware of Violet’s issues, Daniel pursues her in a romantic way and promptly gets smashed over the head with a vase for his troubles. Thinking him dead, Violet runs to France to start over and hopefully outrun the law when Daniel presses charges. When Daniel wakes up though, he has no interest in pressing charges and every interest in finding the person who engineered the wind machine. Using the help of his uncle Ian, Daniel tracks Violet down to Marseilles where he finds her up to her old tricks.

After Daniel learns of Violet’s past though he realizes that there are a lot of obstacles to overcome, the biggest being Violet’s damaged psyche. With the help of his family though he is able to make Violet see how special she is to him. Overall I thought this was a very nice story, I loved seeing Daniel in his own story as a grown up after first being introduced to him during his Father’s story.

Link to author website: http://www.jennifersromances.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Wicked-Daniel-Mackenzie-Mackenzies-Series/dp/0425253953/ref=tmm_mmp_title_0

24May2014

2014 – Book #41

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Historical Romance, Lords of Vice series by rebeccabook17

The forty-first book I read in 2014 was After Dark with a Scoundrel by Alexandra Hawkins. I finished this book on 5/23/14. This is the third book in the Lords of Vice series by this author. I rated this book 4 stars out of a scale of 5. This book tells the story of Regan, sister of the Earl of Chillingworth who is one of the Lords of Vice, and Lord Hugh Mordare, also one of the Lords of Vice. When Chillingworth (“Frost”) catches Dare kissing his sister when she’s just 15, Frost immediately sends Regan away to a school for girls (which if you ask me seems a little extreme). Regan is devastated at being ripped away from her family, and five years later there is still a distinct strain on her relationship with her brother.

Regan’s parents were both gone by the time she was a little girl, so she was basically raised by the Lords of Vice. I thought that brought an interesting dynamic to her character, as she was raised by very rough men so she knows how to fence and fight. I thought Frost was a bit rough in how he treated her though. He would talk very crudely in front of her and I was surprised that as her brother she wouldn’t try to shield her a little more. I think I said this in a previous post but I’m not sure how I’m going to feel when I get to Frost’s book. I don’t especially like him. Anyway, Regan comes back to London after 5 years at her girl’s finishing school. Frost tries to forbid her from returning but she is determined to seduce Dare since she’s been in love with him her whole life.

Dare doesn’t think he can risk opening up his heart again after what happened the last time, when the woman he loved had an affair with his brother behind his back. Dare can’t seem to help but let Regan into his heart though, especially since he’s known her almost all her life. Overall I thought this was a very sweet, touching story. I couldn’t help but love the hero and heroine and found myself rooting for them through the story. I’m looking forward to the next Lords of Vice book!

Link to author website: http://www.alexandrahawkins.com

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/After-Dark-Scoundrel-Lords-Vice/dp/0312381263/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400853559&sr=8-1&keywords=after+dark+with+a+scoundrel

Link to review on book row in the Lords of Vice series: https://rebeccabookreview.wordpress.com/2014/04/30/2014-book-32/

Link to review on book one in the Lords of Vice series: https://rebeccabookreview.wordpress.com/2014/03/26/2014-book-19/

22May2014

2014 – Book #40

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Cynster family series, Historical Romance by rebeccabook17

The fortieth book I read in 2014 was Temptation and Surrender by Stephanie Laurens. I finished this book on 5/21/14. This is the 15th book in the Cynster family series by this author. Previous books in the series were discussed in earlier blog posts this year, specifically 2014 – Book #23, 2014 – Book #21, 2014 – Book #13, 2014 – Book #12, 2014 – Book #10, 2014 – Book #6, and 2014 – Book #4 (I know that’s quite a few!). I rated this book 3.5 stars out of a scale of 5. This book tells that story of Jonas Tallent and Emily Colyton. Jonas is the brother of Phyllida, who married Lucifer (Alasdair) Cynster in the 6th book in the series, All About Love. As I’ve said in previous posts about this series, I like meeting the characters in previous books and then seeing them and learning about their characters further when they feature in their own books.

Emily is willing to do whatever is necessary to get herself and her siblings out of their horrible Uncle’s house, even if that means taking a position as an innkeeper to earn money to support her family. So they take up residence in the town of Colyton, hoping to find a treasure that their ancestors supposedly left behind for future generations while Emily also manages the inn. Jonas Tallent’s father owns the inn that Emily now manages, giving him a perfectly good excuse to talk to her whenever he wishes. Their relationship develops and Jonas realizes that he wants to protect Emily and take care of her for the rest of her life, which is nice.

I thought this book was ok. I didn’t connect with the characters as much as I have in previous books by this author but the plot was interesting enough and the main characters seemed like decent people. The hero was a little too pushy for my taste but he was a nice enough guy. I felt like the ending was a bit of a stretch, the villain’s identity I saw coming in a sense but the explanation behind it was weak and not well developed through the rest of the story I thought. Overall this wasn’t my favorite book by this author but was a decent addition to the series.

Link to author website: http://www.stephanielaurens.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Temptation-Surrender-Cynster-Stephanie-Laurens-ebook/dp/B001NLL932/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400770991&sr=8-1&keywords=temptation+and+surrender

Link to first blog post in 2014 about Cynster family series (includes family tree picture): https://rebeccabookreview.wordpress.com/2014/02/17/2014-book-4/

10May2014

2014 – Book #37

Posted in Book reviews, Historical Romance, Paranormal romance by rebeccabook17

The thirty-seventh book I read in 2014 was The Midnight Witch by Paula Brackston. I finished this book on 5/9/14 and it was the first book I’ve read by this author. I rated this book 2.5 stars out of a scale of 5. This is the story of a necromancer witch, Lady Lilith, set in London in the early 1900’s. She falls in love with a young artist, Bram. Together they are faced with what seem to be insurmountable obstacles that get in the way of their love.

This was a hard read for me. There was a lot of very lengthy descriptions that weren’t necessary to set scene. Also the story randomly jumped forward years at a time twice towards the end of the book. And the narration was constantly jumping from Lilith’s point of view in the 1st person and Bram and various other points of view in the 3rd person. Between all of this the story was honestly a little hard to follow. The plot line itself was interesting and could’ve resulted in a much better story I think. Of course there were some parts of the story that I didn’t like. Lilith is described as having such a strength of will and character and she twice defied the creed of the Lazarus Coven. I just found that surprising and couldn’t reconcile these facts.

I considered giving up halfway through this book. At that point I knew there was very little possibility that I would end up loving this book. I decided to finish it to see what happened and how it ended. I have to say that I am glad I finished it because the 2nd half of the book was slightly better than the first. However, the first half of the book was not what I would call fantastic so it would’ve been hard not to have it improve. I just had so much trouble being drawn into the story. I couldn’t get involved in the characters or what drove them. And there are so many loose ends and unresolved issues. Violet is lost to the Darkness in the beginning of the book and is never recovered. Lilith’s dad isn’t heard from at all in the second half of the book. I feel like the soup kitchen and the nuns were important to the story but they were mentioned so little that I had trouble understanding. I feel like there could’ve been more development of the relationship between Lilith and the nuns through conversations and what not. And pieces of the story were so dark. And (**SPOILER ALERT**) at the end Lilith comes back to life and then her and Bram live happily ever after? Even though she’s living in a dead body now and will have to drink the Elixir regularly for the rest of her life.

Overall I was just disappointed with this book. It was definitely not one of my favorites. I read on Amazon that other people were disappointed with this book and said her other two books were much better. I might try one of her other books in the future to see for myself but I’m not sure I can risk it just yet.

Link to author website: http://www.paulabrackston.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Witch-Paula-Brackston-ebook/dp/B00FCR3QUC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399690241&sr=8-1&keywords=midnight+witch

7May2014

2014 – Book #36

Posted in Book reviews, Historical Romance, Romantic suspense by rebeccabook17

The thirty-sixth book I read in 2014 was Otherwise Engaged by Amanda Quick (which is a pen name of Jayne Ann Krentz). I finished this book on 5/6/14. I rated this book 3.75 stars out of a scale of 5. This book is about Amity Doncaster and Benedict Stanbridge. They met on a ship bound for New York when Amity found Benedict shot and bleeding badly in an alleyway. She manages to get him back to the cruise ship, and thankfully she has some medical training from her doctor so she is able to stitch up Benedict and care for him through his fever and subsequent recovery. After passing through New York though, Amity is heading back home to London and Benedict is heading to California before then heading home to London later on. Benedict promises to call on her when he returns to London.

Some time later, Benedict finally shows up in London and pays a call to Amity. Unbeknownst to him though Amity was recently attacked by the killer they call the Bridegroom due to her friendship with Benedict. The story that follows is really Amity and Benedict, along with Amity’s sister Penny, assist Scotland Yard’s Inspector John Logan in hunting down this killer. One of the interesting things about this book is the heroine’s weapon of choice, something called a tessen, its a Japanese iron war fan. The heroine uses this as a weapon against the Bridegroom in order to escape his clutches. If you’d like to read more about tessens, here is an article about them on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_war_fan.

Overall I thought this was a very good story. It was interesting to go along on the journey to search for the killer. Some of the conversations felt a bit awkward though. But the plot was fairly well-paced and I liked the characters. This wasn’t my favorite book by this author but it was enjoyable.

Link to author website: http://www.krentz-quick.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Otherwise-Engaged-Ladies-Lantern-Street-ebook/dp/B00FX7R5QM/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399486343&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=otherwis+engaged

5May2014

2014 – Book # 35

Posted in Book reviews, Historical Romance by rebeccabook17

The thirty-fifth book I read in 2014 was A Dash of Scandal by Amelia Grey. I finished this book on 5/4/14. I rated this book 3.5 stars out of a scale of 5. This was the second book I read by this author. This book is about Miss Millicent Blair and Chandler, Earl of Dunraven. Millicent has been called to London to assist her aunt who recently took a very serious fall. What she doesn’t know is that her aunt doesn’t need help getting back on her feet, she needs help collecting gossip from each evening’s parties for the Lord Truefitt gossip column.

At first Millicent is horrified by what her aunt needs help with, but after some needling her aunt finally convinces her to help. As Millicent makes the rounds at all the ton’s best soirees, she meets Lord Dunraven, one of the ton’s Terrible Three. Dunraven has made a name for himself as a terrible rogue, and since Millicent’s own mother was run out of London after her own scandal twenty years ago, Millicent knows she must not fall under Dunraven’s spell. Try as she might though, she can’t seem to resist Dunraven’s charm. And the more Dunraven gets to know Millicent, the more he can’t seem to stop thinking about her. No one has ever gotten under his skin before, and he finds himself absolutely smitten.

During all of this, Dunraven is searching for the “Mad Ton Thief,” as is London’s police force. He enlists Millicent’s help to investigate on their own. Together they try to piece together the clues to figure out who the thief is and all the while become more and more infatuated with each other. Overall this was a cute story with a lovely heroine. A couple points were slow/dry but overall was a good plot.

Link to author website: http://www.ameliagrey.com/main.html

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Dash-Scandal-Amelia-Grey-ebook/dp/B005J4OZRQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399247638&sr=8-1&keywords=a+dash+of+scandal

30Apr2014

2014 – Book #32

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Historical Romance, Lords of Vice series, Romantic suspense by rebeccabook17

The thirty-second book I read in 2014 was Till Dawn wit the Devil by Alexandra Hawkins. This is the second book in the Lords of Vice series by this author. I finished this book on 4/29/14. I rated this book 4 stars out of a scale of 5. This book is about Lady Sophia Ravenshaw and Gabriel Housely, the Earl of Rainecourt, affectionately known to his friends as Reign. When these two meet at a ball, Reign is instantly attracted to the blond angel Sophia. When Sophia’s brother storms onto the terrace to rescue her from Reign’s scandalous nature, Reign discovers that his lady is a Ravenshaw. The Rancourt and Ravenshaw names are twisted together in a number of sordid past tragedies, but Reign can’t stop himself from wanting Sophia.

After Reign finds out Sophia is in trouble he races off to her rescue, but in rescuing her from her family he doesn’t realize he’s placing her in even greater danger. When he is faced with losing the love that’s begun to bloom inside of him, he knows he must fight for his wife’s life in order to keep what’s developing between them.

My blog post on the first book in the Lords of Vice series was overall not my favorite. There was a lot of things in the story that made me slightly uncomfortable while I was reading it. The second book in the series though was greatly improved, I liked it a lot better than the first. It was touching and interesting, sweet and steamy at the same time. Overall this was a great book and I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Link to author website: http://www.alexandrahawkins.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Till-Dawn-Devil-Lords-Vice/dp/0312381255/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398817956&sr=8-1&keywords=till+dawn+with+the+devil