2014 – Book #57

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

Current cover of And Then She Fell

The fifty-seventh book I read in 2014 was And Then She Fell by Stephanie Laurens. I finished this book on 7/5/14. This is the first book in the Cynster Duo and the nineteenth book in the Cynster family series. The Cynster Duo is actually a sub-series within the Cynster family series. I have read other books in the Cynster series and have many other blog posts on them (see link below). I rated this book 3.75 stars out of a scale of 5. This book tells the story of Henrietta Cynster and James Glossup.

After Henrietta, known to polite society as “the Matchbreaker” for her part over the years in breaking up various matches that would not suit in the long run, finds herself in a difficult position when she ends one of her brother Simon’s friend’s possible courtship. James is furious when Henrietta involves herself in his situation but when the girl he has been courting rebuffs him, he knows he needs to do something quickly. As part of his aunt’s will, he must marry within a year after her death to keep his inheritance. And with so many staff depending on him for their livelihoods, he has to find a wife and soon.

After explaining his situation to Henrietta, she starts to feel guilty for her part in his problems. She offers to help him find a suitable new bride. As they spend time together in their search though, they realize how much they care for each other and how attracted they are to each other. But when Henrietta starts being threatened by a mysterious gentleman, James begins to realize he may have to fight in order to hold on to her for long.

Overall this was not my favorite book in the Cynster series. I found it really hard to stay interested in the story. The hero and heroine were likable I just couldn’t get involved in the plot.

Link to other reviews in the Cynster family series: https://rebeccabookreview.wordpress.com/category/book-reviews/book-series-book-reviews/cynster-family-series/

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

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/And-Then-Fell-Cynster-Sisters/dp/0062068644/ref=tmm_mmp_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1404582969&sr=1-1

23Jun2014

2014 – Book #55

Posted in Book series, Cynster family series, Cynster Sisters trilogy, For the love of books, Historical Romance by rebeccabook17

The fifty-fifth book I read in 2014 was The Capture of the Earl of Glencrae by Stephanie Laurens. I finished this book on 6/22/14. This is the 18th book in the Cynster family series and the 3rd 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 Cynster series and have many other blog posts on them (see link below). This book was actually a re-read for me since I’ve read it before. This time I rated it 4.5 stars out of a scale of 5. This book tells the story of Angelica Cynster and Dominic, the Earl of Glencrae.

In the last book in the Cynster Sisters trilogy, the man behind the kidnappings of both Heather and Eliza Cynster was last seen by Eliza and Jeremy while he was falling to his death. Because of this, the Cynsters all believe the threat to Angelica has been eliminated, which Angelica is grateful for since she no longer has to worry about being kept under the collective Cynster males’ thumbs. And when she sees a devastatingly handsome man at a ball, she knows that he is her hero.

Dominic, the Earl of Glencrae, was hoping that he would not have to stoop so low as to kidnap a Cynster girl himself and thereby wound his own honor. After his associates failed to hold onto either Heather or Eliza though, Angelica is now his last hope and he can not afford any mishaps. Especially with his meeting with the bankers coming up in a few short weeks and his mother still refusing to tell him where the goblet is that he should be handing over to said bankers. Dominic never imagined that Angelica would make the kidnapping so easy by asking him to go for a private walk on the terrace. Then this Scottish laird convinces Angelica to help him save his clan and they set off together to his home near Inverness. I don’t know what it is but I love the books about highlanders, there’s something so romantic about them.

This book is personally one of my favorites in the series. I love the great tension and emotions that flow so easily between the hero and heroine, and I love that this book finally solves the mystery of the past 2 books in the Cynster Sisters trilogy about why Dominic’s mom is so mean. One of the things I didn’t necessarily love about the book though was that the ending kind of came out of nowhere. The villain from the end of the book isn’t included in the story up until he becomes the villain and honestly his name isn’t even mentioned at all until the climatic end scene. So at first you feel a little lost trying to figure out who he is and what the back story with him is. Another thing I probably would have changed is that I wish there had been more interaction between Angelica and the boys. Not that it was necessary to make the book a good book but I thought it would’ve rounded out the story better.

One of the things I think is really interesting is following my characters’ progress on their journey to Dominic’s highland home. They take a mail coach from London to Edinburgh, passing through York. And then from Edinburgh they head to Inverness by way of Perth. I can’t find the exact island where I think Dominic’s home was but that piece of it could be fictional. I also love the descriptions of how beautiful the highlands of Scotland are, they make me desperately want to go there myself someday to witness the landscapes. The photo below is of Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness in Scotland.

Link to other reviews in the Cynster Sisters trilogy: https://rebeccabookreview.wordpress.com/category/book-reviews/book-series-book-reviews/cynster-sisters-trilogy/

Link to other reviews in the Cynster family series: https://rebeccabookreview.wordpress.com/category/book-reviews/book-series-book-reviews/cynster-family-series/

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

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Capture-Glencrae-Cynster-Sisters-Trilogy/dp/0062068628/ref=tmm_mmp_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1403554774&sr=8-1-spell

20Jun2014

2014 – Book #54

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Contemporary romance, Rainbow Valley, Texas by rebeccabook17

The fifty-fourth book I read in 2014 was Cowboy Take Me Away by Jane Graves. This is the first book in her Rainbow Valley series, the second book just came out in May 2014. I finished this book on 6/19/14. I rated this book 4.5 stars out of a scale of 5. This book is about Shannon North and Luke Dawson. As teens they fell in love, but Luke was from the wrong side of the tracks and Shannon didn’t yet have the age and confidence to stand up to her mother. Luke decides that he’ll never be good enough for this town and takes off during the night after Shannon breaks his heart.

Fast forward to eleven years later, Shannon left her cushy CPA job in Houston to come home and run Rainbow Valley’s animal shelter. Between a pony that bites and spitting llamas and too many dogs and cats to count, she’s having trouble keeping her head above water at the shelter financially. Meanwhile in the past eleven years Luke has become a very well known bull rider. Through a twist of fate he ends up back in Rainbow Valley with a knee healing from surgery that he needs back at top condition for the championship bull ride competition in 3 months as well as an empty bank account after paying for the surgery out of pocket. When he sees the ad in the paper for a live in caretaker at the animal shelter, he decides to apply for the job.

As Luke becomes more involved in taking care of the animals at the shelter he realizes that they aren’t the only ones who need his care. Shannon cares so deeply for these animals that she’s on the edge of breaking and Luke realizes someone should be watching out for her as well. As their friendship once again develops into something more, Luke can’t seem to get past the town’s stigma that he’s just like his drunk no-good father. And once he reveals to Shannon how horrible his childhood actually was, is there even a chance she could love him then?

This was just such a great book. This book is just so perfectly heart-wrenching, between Luke’s childhood insecurities and all the animals at the shelter, you have to be a cold-hearted son of a gun to avoid tearing up multiple times during this story. I just absolutely loved it. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

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

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Cowboy-Take-Away-Rainbow-Valley/dp/1455515191/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1403270495&sr=8-2&keywords=cowboy+take+me+away

Link to Rainbow Valley, TX (not quite sure if it is a real place or if this is a Jane Graves website): http://www.rainbowvalleytexas.com/

Link to other blog reviews on Jane Graves books: https://rebeccabookreview.wordpress.com/tag/jane-graves/

18Jun2014

2014 – Book #53

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

The fifty-third book I read in 2014 was In Pursuit of Eliza Cynster by Stephanie Laurens. I finished this book on 6/17/14. This is the 17th book in the Cynster family series and the 2nd 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 Cynster 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 4.25 stars out of a scale of 5. This book tells the story of Eliza Cynster and Jeremy Carling.

Eliza has been kept under lock and key by the males in her family ever since her sister Heather was rescued from her kidnappers by Viscount Breckenridge. For some reason unbeknownst to the Cynster family, a villain is out there trying to kidnap one of their girls. The family lets down their guard though at Heather’s engagement ball, thinking that Eliza and Angelica (the youngest sister) are safe in the company of so many family members and friends. What they don’t know though, is that their villain was counting on this vulnerability. He has hired a new set of kidnappers to come fetch Eliza for him, and they are able to do just that. The kidnapper, Scrope, proves himself to be more of a villain than Heather’s set of kidnappers, keeping Eliza drugged for days. Scrope also has a vested interest in handing Eliza over to the laird since he specializes in this type of business and having it known that he kidnapped Eliza Cynster from beneath the other Cynsters’ noses will make him infamous in his sphere.

Scrope keeps Eliza drugged along the way to Edinburgh for three days after the kidnapping. Following that though, Eliza is kept lucid and tries to think of a way to escape. When she sees a curricle going in the opposite direction as them, she happens to recognize the driver and reaches out to him for help. Jeremy recognized the girl who shouted to him for help inside the carriage but it takes him a minute to place a name to the face. Once he does, he turns around and follows Eliza’s coach to Edinburgh where some friends help him plan to rescue her from her kidnappers. Once she is out of Scrope’s clutches, Jeremy tries to spirit her away to the closest safe destination, but nothing goes according to plan. Along their journey to safety, while they are being pursued by both Scrope and the laird for different reasons, both Jeremy and Eliza discover sides of themselves and things about themselves that they never knew.

Overall I really liked this book. I thought is was a little dry/repetitive towards the middle, they seem to keep getting thwarted at every turn when they start making any kind of headway, which I’m sure was just so the hero and heroine could spend as much time alone together as possible plot-wise. But other than that, this is a very sweet story about two people stuck in an unlikely situation who fall in love. I also really liked how they made the original villain (the laird) come out to be a hero in the end of this book. Not to spoil the surprise for the next book in the series, but the change in his character along with Angelica’s piece in the last few pages of this book are both good leads into the next book.

Link to other reviews in the Cynster Sisters trilogy: https://rebeccabookreview.wordpress.com/category/book-reviews/book-series-book-reviews/cynster-sisters-trilogy/

Link to other reviews in the Cynster family series: https://rebeccabookreview.wordpress.com/category/book-reviews/book-series-book-reviews/cynster-family-series/

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

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/In-Pursuit-Eliza-Cynster-Sisters/dp/006206861X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403093615&sr=8-1&keywords=in+pursuit+of+eliza+cynster

14Jun2014

2014 – Book # 52

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Historical Romance, Lost Lords series by rebeccabook17

The fifty-second book I read in 2014 was Not Quite a Wife by Mary Jo Putney. It is the sixth book in the Lost Lords series by this author. I finished this book on 6/14/14. I rated this book 4 stars out of a scale of 5. This book was about James Kirkland and his estranged wife, Laurel Herbert. Ten years ago James and Laurel married in a fit of passion. Soon after they married though Laurel saw James kill a man who had broken into their home and the violence scared her away. So she ran back to her home in Bristol (England) and lived there with her brother for the next ten years running an infirmary and a shelter for battered women.

I’m sorry but how undeniably selfish is that. I mean I can understand being upset over something so violent but aren’t you supposed to love this guy? She was so head over heels in love with him but as soon as she sees something in him she doesn’t like she runs away. And its not like James killed some guy who was sitting there drinking tea with him, the guy had broken into the house and was obviously menacing, he was sneaking up on James from behind. I just think that if she really loved him she should’ve at least tried talking to James about it before she shut him out of her life for ten years. Also, she was all affronted because she thought James was going to take the baby away and she was railing at him how unfair that was. But isn’t it also unfair to him to keep James’ child from him for most of their life? Just because he’s a guy doesn’t mean he has no feelings.

Other than that though the book was quite good. A chance encounter ends up with Laurel being pregnant with James’ baby and they try to make another go of it for the baby’s sake. James brings Laurel to London so that she can grow accustomed to this space as well since they both plan to travel between Bristol and London after the baby is born.

The plot of this story was quite intriguing and I found myself interested in the book the whole way through. The only thing I didn’t care for was Laurel’s selfishness and lack of consideration for James’ feelings towards the beginning and end of the story. I think it was a good addition to the series though.

Link to rest of reviews from the Lost Lords series: https://rebeccabookreview.wordpress.com/category/book-reviews/book-series-book-reviews/lost-lords-series/

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

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Not-Quite-Wife-Lost-Lords/dp/1420127160/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402781407&sr=8-1&keywords=not+quite+a+wife

12Jun2014

2014 – Book #51

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

The fifty-first books I read in 2014 was Twilight with the Infamous Earl by Alexandra Hawkins. This is the seventh book in the Lords of Vice series by this author. I finished this book on 6/11/14. I rated this book 4 stars out of a scale of 5. This book was about Lord Chillingsworth, known to his friends as Frost, and Miss Emily Cavell. Emily and Frost happen to meet on the London streets and Frost is fascinated by this red-head. Emily has her own reasons for being in London though and none of them include being ravished by this scoundrel. But when Frost finds out that Emily is publicly spouting her disapproval of Nox (the gambling club owned by the Lords of Vice), Frost decides to take Emily on and convince her to leave Nox alone, even if it means seducing her.

I don’t want to talk too much about the book’s plot because talking about things that even happen in the beginning could give away a lot about the book. I will say thought that this was a great book. i loved the plot, I could feel the characters emotions more than I ever could in the books in the series before. My only issue with this book is that I felt like the author skipped over an important area. About 3/4 of the way through the book the heroine is waiting for Frost to arrive at an event to tell him something and she is being basically snubbed by the Lords of Vice, and then the next chapter its like a week later and Frost somehow knows the information from Emily and has already done all the research to find the person she was looking for. I felt like we just missed a whole chapter of things with almost no transition. And I felt like important things could’ve happened in that chapter.

Other than that complaint I thought this book was great. The plot line was interesting, I loved the heroine, and to be honest (and trust me I was plenty surprised) I actually ended up liking Frost’s character. He was an asshole (pardon my French) in all the other books but I he turned out to be great in his own book. Although, if you think too hard about it you’ll find it a little hard to believe, as I did, that Frost is a nice guy now that he has his own book and he all of a sudden just decided to give up his philandering ways and take on monogamy. I’m not sure that I 100% believe that but that’s ok, it was still a very interesting and sweet story.

Looking at the series overall, I would say that I enjoyed the Lords of Vice series. I am wondering if the author plans to write another series on the 2nd set of Lords of Vice, but for now this is the end of the series I think. I took an average of my ratings on the 7 books in the series and it turned out to be just above a 3.5 star average out of 5 stars. I would say this is a decent rating and I would recommend the series if you like historical romance.

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

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Twilight-Infamous-Earl-Lords-Vice/dp/1250001390/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402577999&sr=8-1&keywords=twilight+with+the+infamous+earl

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/

8Jun2014

2014 – Book #50

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

The fiftieth book I read in 2014 was Dusk with a Dangerous Duke by Alexandra Hawkins. This is the sixth book in the Lords of Vice series by this author. I finished this book on 6/8/14. I rated this book 3 stars out of a scale of 5. This book was about the Duke of Huntsley, known to his friends as Hunter, and Lady Grace Kearly. Lady Grace and Hunter were betrothed to each other when Hunter was only twelve years old and Lady Grace a mere two. Hunter’s grandfather did it to protect her from her devilish uncle and Hunter’s grandmother did it to protect Hunter from the financial destitution that his grandfather and father had left the dukedom in.

Nineteen years later, Hunter still resents the burden that was placed on him at so young an age. He has studiously ignored Lady Grace’s existence for the last nineteen years, even though she has been in his charge and his to take care of for most of her life. Lady Grace has waited in the country for the last nineteen years and with her twenty-first birthday now only weeks away (the deadline in the marriage contract for Lady Grace and Hunter to wed) Grace has decided to take matters into her own hands. She needs to marry to escape the evil clutches of her uncle, but that does not necessarily mean that she need marry Hunter. Grace decides to travel to London to find her own husband.

To be honest I found it impossible to like the hero starring in this book. He was an ass from beginning to almost end (for like the last 20 pages he apparently did a complete 180 and was nice I guess but still). How is it just ok that he literally tricked, drugged, and then finally forced Grace to marry him. I mean I realize from the story line that time was of the essence but still, there had to be another way. He was nothing but a high-handed arrogant asshole through the whole story. He didn’t listen to Grace once or even really try to make up for the nineteen years he had ignored her even though he and every single other person he talked to about it realized that he was absolutely in the wrong.

Overall, this was obviously not my favorite book. I think I liked it a little better than the fifth book in the series (All Afternoon with a Scandalous Marquess) but I don’t think I like it all that much more. There’s only one more book in the series so I am going to see it through to the end. I’m hoping the next one is better than these last two. Stay tuned.

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

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Dusk-Dangerous-Duke-Lords-Vice/dp/1250001382/ref=pd_rhf_gw_s_cp_3_F0MV?ie=UTF8&refRID=0CDCTZMZQCTMNGZTQ0Y9

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/

3Jun2014

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/

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