Review: My One and Only Duke

My One and Only Duke by Grace Burrowes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Quinn Wentworth is in Newgate prison, sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit. A wealthy banker, he grew up in the slums of York the son of a violent drunk. When the daughter of a prison preacher is sent to wait in Quinn's quarters they strike up a conversation which leads to Quinn offering to marry her, and leave her a generous allowance after his death, in order to provide for her and her unborn child from a brief marriage which ended in her husband's death.

But Quinn is, unbeknownst to him, the heir to the Dukedom of Walden rescued from the noose he must now enter London society with a new wife and uncover the identity of the enemy who put him in prison.

I am a great fan of Grace Burrowes' writing, I find her attention to detail fascinating and I admire that she takes the time to research the places that she writes about. Her characters are intriguing and her plots are carefully woven. Yet while I did enjoy this book, I didn't love it and I think there are two things which contributed to that.

First, I didn't buy into Quinn at all. This is a man who worked any job, no matter how dirty or disgusting, to earn coins to support his brother and sisters. A man born into the slums of York, who has worked day and night to earn coin, someone who didn't learn to read and write until he was almost a man. Yet he has also taken the time to take elocution lessons to lose his Yorkshire accent and dresses as finely as any lord whilst in prison. There are hints early in the book that he has also done some bully-boy work, although later that seems to be refuted, but overall he seems too charming and sophisticated for his rough start in life.

Second, I felt that the plot was a bit choppy, almost as though it was originally going in one direction and then changed tack part way through. Quinn has a deep, dark secret which he is afraid to tell his wife in case she looks on him differently, but, unless my lack of sleep has led me to miss the great reveal, I didn't think it much of a secret, or even something to be terribly ashamed of. As with many books like this the deep secret is alluded to time and again in connection with the unnamed person who plotted to get Quinn hanged, but then there is a scene with the people intimately connected with that secret which sort of makes the secret a whole lot less secret. There are side-plots that don't seem to go anywhere and seem to be intended to cast suspicion on various people but just seem more like plot ideas that didn't pan out.

Yet, Quinn and Jane's romance was touching and realistic. A couple who enter a marriage of convenience suddenly find themselves in entirely unforeseen circumstances. Each of them must shake off the habits of the past and learn to live this new life.

So this feels like a negative review but it isn't really, just me being picky. Overall this was still a charming, intelligent, historical romance with great characters and a believable plot and I can't wait to see who is the next rogue in the series.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: A Marvell Country Christmas

A Marvell Country Christmas by Jeannie Watt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Murphy Anderson takes advantage of the two week Christmas break to return home to her family ranch to go through her late father's belongings and ready the property for sale. It's the first time she's been home in a decade and she's not looking forwards to the inevitable memories of her bleak and austere childhood. She also isn't looking forwards to being so close to her childhood crush, the boy next door, Cody Marvell and the Marvell ranch which was everything the Anderson ranch was not. But when disaster strikes Murphy ends up spending Christmas with Cody at the Marvell ranch and discovers that not everything was what it seemed when she was younger.

I liked this but I didn't love it. About midway through the book I just had the feeling that Cody and Murphy had been decorating the tree and making mulled wine for page after page and nothing seemed to be going anywhere - often a problem when a novel is set in a short time period.

For those who pay attention to these things, the romance was practically fade-to-black, short and sweet.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Dark Light

Dark Light by Jodi Taylor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This series defies description. It's labelled paranormal but that always makes me think of vampires and shifters - so far there are none of them. What we do have is Elizabeth Cage, a woman with a supernatural ability to read people's auras, although she refers to them more prosaically as people's colours. After her husband died in a car accident she was held in a secure mental institute where her husband's former boss, Dr Sorenson, tried to get her to use her talents for his own political ends. Rescued by a fellow inmate Michael Jones, who turned out to be a James Bond-esque spy and all round bad-ass, she thought she had found the quiet peaceful life she craved, until Jones' betrayal forced her to flee her home.

What happens next is a charming, scary, thrilling mixture of childhood fairytales come to life, mysterious otherworld creatures, daring rescues, creepy rituals and a village which reminded me very much of a super scary children's TV series I watched when I was a child. All these threads are effortlessly woven together with Jodi Taylor's customary humour, sarcasm and gentle romance. Each and every one of her characters is fully realised and finely nuanced. I loved all of them, old and new, good and bad.

Can't wait for the next one.

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Review: Bulldozer

Bulldozer by P. Dangelico
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's rare that I don't have anything to say about a book, good or bad but this was just so fabulous that I can't find the words.

This has everything you could ever want in a P. Dangelico novel, a cute kid called Sam, a daft dog called Roxy a former model, former alcoholic, single mom called Amanda and a huge, beautiful, grumpy, permanently naked, injured football player called Grant.

Amanda and her best friend own a yoga studio in New York which is a raging success with the wealthy elite, they want to capitalise on their success by opening a second studio in the Hamptons during the summer, when all their customers move out to their summer homes. Amanda and Sam have moved into her big brother Calvin's (from Wrecking Ball) home in the Hamptons while she supervises the construction work and opens the studio. What Amanda doesn't know is that Cal has let his team mate Grant Hendricks stay at his home in the Hamptons while he recovers from spinal surgery. Sharing a 10 bedroom house shouldn't be a problem, right? If only Grant could remember to wear clothes - Amanda reckons she's seem more of his body than anyone other than,maybe, his proctologist and she doesn't want her 10 year old son to be exposed (pun intended) to random male nudity, even if it is one of the most luscious bodies she has ever seen.

This had everything you could ever want from a book by P. Dangelico, it's funny, it's sweet, it's full of sexy guys (well one incredibly sexy guy - so sexy there's no room for any more), it has a cute kid and a cute dog, there's action, drama and a little bit of angst. I loved it.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Knocked-Up Cinderella

Knocked-Up Cinderella by Julie Hammerle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What happens when Ian Donovan, a bad boy, globe-trotting, venture capitalist millionaire coughs up $40,000 for a dinner date with an elementary school principal just to rescue her from a date with a pretentious creep? Well, they decide to have a one-night stand (because sometimes a gal just wants to step out of her control pantyhose and grab life by the baubles). Unfortunately something went wrong with one of the condoms and now our feisty, foul-mouthed heroine Dr Erin Sharpe is going to have a baby.

I have been in a book slump recently, starting and dropping so many books, dishing out 1 star DNF reviews like they are smarties, giving the kiss of death three star reviews to favourite authors, I hesitated to pick this up fearing the premise was too hackneyed - boy was I wrong. Julie Hammerle has injected new humour and fizz into the 'accidentally pregnant by the billionaire' trope. Maybe the characters being somewhat older than the usual 20-somethings made a difference? All I know is that I laughed out loud at so many of the scenes - right from the start where Erin denies liking long walks on the beach and reading poetry to her lovers in the moonlight, instead telling the truth that she loves crappy tv. Also Ian and Erin's jobs felt real, he spends so much time jetting to and from Tokyo I could feel his jet lag leeching through my Kindle, he worked long hours and was at his client's beck and call.

The only other book I have read by Julie Hammerle was a YA/NA teen crush - so very different to this book - but having sampled Ms Hammerle's adult humour I am definitely going to look for more. Also, Entangled August? Not come across that before, is it featuring older characters? Will have to look out for more.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Bending The Rules

Bending The Rules by Tracey Alvarez
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Noah Daniels was a big city cop until things went to hell in a handbasket six years ago, after that he turned his back on the big city and all that entailed and moved to Stewart Island where he's the only cop and, by and large, his worst problem is dealing with the local drunks at chucking out time in the local pub, Due South. He doesn't do relationships and no matter how many of his friends pair up he has no interest in love, even if he is a bit lonely on an island with only 400 inhabitants.

Tilly Montgomery has come to Stewart Island to clear out her Great Aunt's bed and breakfast before selling it and moving back to the city where she is a script writer on a TV soap. Her first encounters with the dour constable are highly embarrassing but there is definitely a spark, would it be wrong to have a fling with the guy next door for the few weeks she is on the island?

I liked the story and plot of this tenth book in the series just as much as the others, what I didn't like was Noah himself. I'm sure it was unintentional but I felt that there were too many scenes in which Noah either kissed Tilly to shut her up when she was justifiably angry with him or where he backed her into a corner and left her no way of getting away from her, he had the emotional maturity of a grapefruit and frankly I didn't understand all the angst about his family which miraculously vanished.

Tracey Alvarez is still an autobuy author for me - there's always going to be one hero or heroine you don't like in a series.

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Review: Cabin 12

Cabin 12 by Freya Barker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars, but I'm on a bit of a book downer at the moment - this is the only one I haven't DNF'd this week.

I am a great fan of Freya Barker's novels. First she writes about men and women over 40 which in itself is a rarity, then she writes characters with real issues and disabilities, not in a NA/YA angst-angst-angst kind of way but more in a 'everyone has problems' kind of way.

Bella Gomez has suffered from depression for most of her life, the youngest in a large Mexican family she has always been babied by her older sisters and mother, even at 37 years old and a job as a paramedic they treat her like delicate crystal and constantly try to make decisions for her.

If you have read the first book in the series you will know that Bella's brother is an FBI agent, he works with Jasper Greene, a computer nerd, a guy who just pushes all of Bella's buttons. When her brother goes off on his honeymoon he asks Jasper to keep an eye out for Bella, which is no problem because Jasper lurves to wind up the pampered little princess. But a sneaked kiss has got both of them rethinking their animosity.

When a series of shootings indicates that there is a serial cop-killer on the loose Jasper revs up into uber-protective mode but Bella seems to be in the tick of the trouble.

This was a thoughtful romantic suspense which also touched upon Bella's depression and the dual nature of family love/interference. I enjoyed it, but I didn't love it.

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Review: He Loves You Not

He Loves You Not by Tara Brown
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 49%.

Lacey Winters is the poor girl who hangs out with the uber-rich kids (can anyone say Gossip Girl?). When her little brother is diagnosed with cancer her college tuition fund is earmarked for his treatment and she needs to find a way to earn more money, over and above what she gets interning for her BFF's father. So she cooks up a great scheme to test girls' boyfriends anonymously.

Jordan Somersby is the archetypal poor little rich boy, bullied by his father into 'dating' the daughter of a client in an attempt to create some kind of dynastic merger he meets Lacey at a party on a yacht, she has no idea who he is and they really connect, until she discovers he is yet another spoilt, entitled rich boy with a girlfriend trying to score on the side.

I have to admit part of the blame for this is on me, I just saw Tara Brown was the author and auto-requested without reading the blurb carefully. My tolerance for YA/NA novels decreases year by year, I find them irritating and banal and full of unpleasant characters. Sadly, this was no exception. Lacey's BFF Marcia was vacuous, ignorant and obnoxious. The talk was all about parties and clothes and hair. The girls routinely call each other names as terms of endearment. Jordan seemed to be weak-willed and a bit of a personality vacuum.

By nearly half-way through the book the plot had yet to actually develop and I lost patience. I'm sorry because I loved Tara Brown's Single Lady Spy novels, but obviously her NA/YA books are not for me.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Lawson

Lawson by Diana Gardin
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 55%.

Maverick loner female cop who comes from the wrong side of the tracks teams up with navy SEAL turned private security operative for an undercover mission posing as high end car thieves to break a smuggling ring.

This book was a bit of a rollercoaster. To start with there was far too much 'telling' and not enough 'showing', character after character is introduced with potted histories - I'm not sure if this is a follow on from a previous series or whether the reader will see how the other relationships started in subsequent books. I was overwhelmed by all the different characters, their nicknames, their family histories, their love lives etc.

So I stopped reading but started up again when I realised release day was fast approaching. Luckily the 'telling' ceased and the plot started developing but then I ran into another problem. This was just cliche-central. Our heroine Indigo Stone is a loner, no family, no friends, covering up her background, mentored by an older cop, refuses to work with a partner, tattoos, heavy make-up, bad attitude. Our hero Lawson Snyder is a former SEAL, haunted by what he's seen and done, by the ones he couldn't save, turned vigilante punishing men who attack women until one night he goes too far and nearly kills someone, drinking too much scotch, never letting anyone close yadda, yadda, yadda. It seemed as though every cliche known to man appeared in this book, and there didn't seem to be enough plot to hang it all together. We already got a glimpse of what I fully expect to be the couple starring in the next book(view spoiler)[ Thorn and Indigo's next door neighbour (hide spoiler)].

Ultimately, at over half way through there was a lot of fist clenching, lower lip biting and general sexual tension but not a lot of plot development and I lost interest in reading further. I've read these characters in many, many other books and unfortunately Siana GArdin didn't bring anything new (to me) to the table.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: The Billionaire Bachelor

The Billionaire Bachelor by Jessica Lemmon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Reese Crane is a billionaire hotelier in need of a wife to establish his credentials as a suitable candidate for CEO of the family business. Merina Van Heusen is running her parent's iconic Van Heusen hotel when she discovers they have sold the hotel to the Crane Group and Reese Crane intends to rip out of the historical details like the old door knobs and keys and replace them with modern key cards. The two of them are at daggers drawn until Reese makes a proposition, be his wife for six months until he gets appointed as CEO following his father's retirement and he will give her the Van Heusen hotel free and clear.

But when family and friends are involved it's difficult to maintain a deception, and maybe Reese has finally found a woman who makes him want to stay more than one night.

I liked this, sometimes all you want is a marriage of convenience to the cold-hearted playboy billionaire romance and this had it in spades. I liked that both Reese and Merina came from families (too often one or both are orphans) and that each of them became a part of the other's family as the deception continued.

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Review: Just Shy of a Dream

Just Shy of a Dream by M. L. Buchman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Charming romance overshadowed by the awesomeness of seeing Emily Beale and Mark Henderson again.

Free in the Ides of Matt October 2018

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Review: Keeping 6

Keeping 6 by Freya Barker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Kerry Emerson is a divorced woman with two book shops, she is finally starting to feel like she's on an even keel when FBI Special Agent in Charge Damian Gomez walks into her book store. Two years ago (and I'm guessing in a different series) Kerry was kidnapped and beaten up to try to find out the whereabouts of her BFF, Damian was the FBI agent who was first to find her.

Having thought she had left all the drama behind her, Kerry is soon embroiled in Damian's FBI investigation involving stolen rare books. There are break-ins, inside jobs, intra-departmental rivalries, reclusive millionaires and loud families galore.

I liked this but I didn't love it, and Damian was the cause. He felt too sexist, too aggressive, too prone to boxing Kerry into corners or kissing her in a way which felt controlling. One of the things I have really enjoyed about Freya Barker's other heroes is that they are mature enough to have either got over the macho BS or to have learned to control it, Damian was too much like a dog with a juicy bone (growling at anyone who tried to take it away) whilst simultaneously pushing Kerry away because 'he has a personal code' - yeah right!

Also, I received mixed messages about Kerry. at the start of the book she was all Bo-Ho smocks and hippy clothing then she seemed to morph into leggings and sloppy tops followed by skin-tight dresses.

Overall, this is an enjoyable romantic/ suspense novel, I liked Kerry and the plot was intriguing yet believable, there was a good feeling of misdirect which I like in a suspense novel.

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Review: Imperfect Strangers

Imperfect Strangers by Mary Frame
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Four and a half stars.

I'm a great fan of Mary Frame so I was stoked to receive an ARC of her latest book. Although the characters in this book interact with characters from the previous books in the series it can totally be read as a stand-alone novel - I have the memory of a gadfly so I didn't recall how our hero and heroine related to the previous books until about halfway through!

Bethany Connell has moved to New York to get away from her mother. She's living in her BFF's old apartment (Gwen McDougall from Picture Imperfect) while she and her boyfriend Marc are travelling the world. Gwen has also started working for Marc's father, the mean Mr Crawford as his PA and generally smoothing over the feathers he ruffles with his non-PC attitude, whilst trying desperately to help him recruit a replacement for Marc.

Bethany is actually sleeping in Marc's far more swanky apartment because she is scared that Gwen's apartment has a ghost, when she wakes up one morning to find she is being spooned by Marc's beautiful younger brother, Brent Crawford, the new tight end for the New York Sharks. and one of the sexiest men alive. How embarrassing is this? Being caught sleeping in your boss' son's bed like a creeper!

As anyone who has read the previous book will know, Brent Crawford isn't the playboy he seems to the rest of the world, a potentially fatal genetic heart condition threatens his career and has seriously cramped his social life. He was so out of it when he returned from his holiday in the Turks and Caicos Islands that he didn't even register that there was a petite blonde asleep in his bed. After the bet night's sleep he has had in a long time he is desperate to spend more time with Bethany, even if all he can offer is to be her friend. Meanwhile his impossible father is compensating for Marc's absence by trying to drag Brent into a dynastic marriage with a big client!

Mary Frame is an auto-buy for me (I had to cancel my pre-order when I got the ARC), I love that her characters are quirky and different. She's not afraid to give her main characters disabilities or defects. She writes witty, plot-driven novels with likeable characters and this is no different. Oh and the puns, the puns! I'm a sucker for cheesy puns (is there any other kind) and Brent and Bethany are no different.

I don't know whether I had insomnia because my husband snores and I have a sore throat, or whether that is the excuse I gave for devouring this book in a single day (and doing a full day's work).

Love, love, loved it.

I received a free copy of this book from the author in return for an honest review.

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Review: The Military Wife: Heart of a Hero

The Military Wife: Heart of a Hero by Laura Trentham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Harper Lee Wilcox married her first love Noah and has had to cope with the aftermath of his death in action five years ago. The only thing keeping her going is her young son, otherwise she is just going through the motions. A visit to an old friend, the wife of one of her husband's teammates, leads her to realise that many military wives and widows feel similarly dispossessed and directionless, their own careers and lives put second to the demands of the SEAL teams. Harper looks to invest the money she received from the Navy after her husband's death into a small business that could provide jobs to other military wives.

Harper's decision to start a new business leads her to getting in touch with another of her husband's former teammates, Bennett Caldwell, who left the SEALs to run his own outdoor survival training business.

How do you know when it's time to move on? Harper is a very relatable heroine, down to earth, normal, sassy. She struggles with her growing attraction to Bennett. To me her slightly contradictory reactions felt very real, the sort of illogical thought processes we go through in real life. For his part, Bennett struggles with his guilt at falling for his best friend's wife and the death of a man who was more like a brother. There's cute kids, huge dogs, lots of coffee, wilderness training, marriage troubles, sorrow, love, heartache, princess stories and hawt kisses.

The novel is told from Bennett and Harper's points of view and with flashbacks to pivotal moments in both Harper and Bennett's interactions with Noah. I have to say I wasn't a fan of the flashbacks, it is kind of disconcerting when you are starting to get invested in a new romance to be interrupted with flashbacks to the start of the romance between Harper and Noah.

Overall, I thought the burb didn't really match the way the book went, maybe that was deliberate? But I really enjoyed it, I liked Harper and Bennett, I liked the character development and the plot.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Lionheart

Lionheart by Thea Harrison
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

KIng Oberon of the dark fae was poisoned by one of Queen Isabeau of the light fae's assassins fifteen years ago or 200 years ago (depending on whether you are on earth or in Oberon's demesne of Lyonesse), after trying to find an antidote and trying every magical trick in his considerable arsenal Oberon realises that he is losing the battle against the deadly poison and puts himself into stasis. Unfortunately the poison is leaching him of his higher feelings: love; empathy; friendship; compassion, leaving him cold, suspicious and uncaring. As his emotions slowly disappear his inhumanity transmits itself to the landscape around him making much of Lyonesse uninhabitable and in the grip of a bleak winter colder than anyone has ever known. In a last ditch attempt to save Oberon, or usurp him for the good of Lyonesse, his right hand woman Annwyn enlists the assistance of the Wyr doctor Kathryn Shaw, a brilliant surgeon who combines modern medicine with magic to heal.

Can Kathryn heal Oberon? Can he return to the man he used to be or will he remain cold, aloof and paranoid?

There is so much that is great about this novel. Kathryn might only be a falcon in other form but she is a giant of a personality. Brilliant, charming, friendly, with a desire to heal people she also has principles and a temper to match Oberon's. For his part, Oberon is far from the stereotypical paranormal hero. Of course he has amazing magical powers, he has managed to become full Wyr in his attempts to thwart the poison and has the form of a giant lion. Yet he is also capable of great gentleness, he loves the capricious Puck and he cares for his people, even when his heart is cold.

What I loved most about this is that really Kathryn is the hero, not Oberon. She is a kick-ass character that doesn't need saving by some big, strong man. Thea Harrison has turned some of the tropes of the genre around and infused a breath of fresh air into shifter novels. (Still don't like the cover though).

I received a free copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Kill the Queen

Kill the Queen by Jennifer Estep
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Smashed it out of the park!

For a woman who grew up on David Eddings and those glorious fantasy coming of age novels this was both a flashback to those halcyon days and a fresh reboot.

Lady Everleigh "Evie" Saffira Winter Blair lives in the court of Queen Cordelia, a penniless cousin rolled out to do the dirty work that the royal family don't want to do (opening hospitals, baking cakes for visiting royalty etc. In a world where having magic is everything, Evie is a "Mutt" her only magical talet being an enhanced sense of smell. Unbeknownst to her family however, Evie is also immune to magic - a skill she has been warned to keep carefully hidden.

Like the Red Wedding in a Game of Thrones, a royal gathering to celebrate Princess Vasilia's betrothal to the Prince of Andvari turns into a massacre, Evie escapes and hides in a travelling troupe of Gladiators, but she can't escape her heritage or Princess Vasilia for long.

It's earthy and gory and there's magic and swords and ogres and secret passages and I LOVED IT.

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Review: What's Love Got To Do With It?

What's Love Got To Do With It? by Anna Premoli
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 42%.

I'm sorry because I have loved some of Anna Premoli's other books but I can not stand either of the protagonists. Kayla is immature and frankly an embarrassment to women everywhere and Greyson is so busy being enigmatic that he is just a meaningless blob. It's clear at nearly halfway through the book that there is absolutely no journalism, shallow or investigative, going on as Kayla and Greyson swap innuendos.

I have yet to see a plot, or even development of a relationship.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: How to Choose a Guy in 10 Days

How to Choose a Guy in 10 Days by Lila Monroe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Gemma Jones works for a fashion company that helps clients change their image. In her spare time she also donates time to helping women at a shelter find clothes for job interviews. When a big new promotion is on the table at work her boss gets Gemma and her arch-rival to do a make-over on an unsuspecting male to turn him from disaster to GQ-ready. Her nemesis chooses Gemma's Bigfoot next door neighbour, the sort of guy who wears shorts and flip-flops all day long, eats cereal for lunch and plays computer games all day. The only catch? Gemma can't tell Bigfoot about the competition.

Zach Morrison sold his tech start up company for millions, just days after his divorce was finalised, now he's enjoying cutting loose and relaxing, so what if that involves lots of ladies and not shaving or getting dressed or buying furniture for his apartment? Okay maybe he has taken things too far.

Zach reluctantly agrees to help Gemma but as they work together they discover they made some wild assumptions about each other.

I liked this but it was overly predictable. Of course Gemma is too shallow to see beyond the shaggy beard to the man beneath. Of course Zach is a millionaire but lives like a slob. Of course keeping the competition a secret from Zach is a bad idea. It was all a bit Pretty Woman except Zach got the makeover and he was a millionaire.

I think this is perfect beach reading, light-hearted and fun, easy to pick up.

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Review: Wicked Sexy

Wicked Sexy by J.T. Geissinger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

I didn't realise this was an old book, new to me I guess.

Tabitha West is a kick-ass computer expert who tests clients' systems and security. When Connor Hughes saunters back into her life she is furious, she hates the smug jarhead. Connor has always had the hots for the sexy, feisty, computer nerd with the big 'tude. He's got a big problem with a major client and desperately needs Tabby's help to track down a cyber-criminal blackmailing the client.

This is billed as FSoG meets Jason Bourne and it kind of is, the only problem for me was that the FSoG (in the mildest most vanilla version) just got in the way of the action. This is a high paced twisty-turny thriller that gets derailed into sex at the most inopportune moments. About halfway through I was starting to suspect that I had maybe lost my love for all things J.T. Geissinger, don't get me wrong the sex was hawt but didn't really gel with the story for me, but then the build up to the final showdown was epic, fantastic, edge of the seat brilliance.

Now I'm off to find book 1 and see why I didn't read it before.

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Review: White Silence

White Silence by Jodi Taylor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm a big fan of Jodie Taylor's writing but for some reason the blurb for this one didn't drawn me in. But when it was on sale at 99p I decided to give it a go (Jodi's newsletter where she gave a bit more flavour in preparation for the sequel may also have helped).

Elizabeth Cage is a woman with extraordinary powers who had hidden herself away in obscurity and domesticity, until her husband dies in a car crash and she is kidnapped and held at the facility where he used to work by his sinister boss Dr Sorensen.

Held against her will she develops a friendship with another inmate, Michael Jones and begins to explore what her abilities can actually do.

Although I really enjoyed this and have pre-ordered the sequel as a consequence, in retrospect it feels a bit disjointed. Think Ghost Whisperer meets cosy English village romance meets secret government facilities, all delivered with Jodi's trademark wit and snark. It was too cosy to be a thriller, too normal to be paranormal etc.

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Review: Sentinel of Darkness

Sentinel of Darkness by Katie Reus
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have a love-hate relationship with paranormal romance but I have to conclude that for me novellas are the way to go.

Keva is a human, she was dating a wolf shifter who turned abusive and was only saved from potential death by a dragon shifter. Now years later she is coming under threat from her ex's family.

Dagen is a dragon shifter who has recently moved into the same dragon territory as Keva - as soon as he lays eyes on Keva he knows she is his mate, but their first encounter isn't auspicious.

This is a fun, engaging novella, it might be a tad predictable but then most paranormal romance is. Although this is the eighth book in the series, it can easily be read as a stand-alone, I have only read one of the other books in the series.

Recommended if you want a shifter/ human romance with a protective dragon and a feisty artist.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Wild Designs

Wild Designs by Katie Fforde
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

I'm slowly working my way through Katie Fforde's back catalogue - every time one of them is on sale at 99p I snap it up.

Althea is the divorced mother of three teenagers. Her ex-husband lives in Hong Kong with his glamorous girlfriend. Althea's younger sister Juno is Althea's opposite: thin, sophisticated, organised, childless and with a lucrative career. Althea on the other hand is expecting to be made redundant from her job as school secretary now that her school has merged with another one. Althea's true love is gardening and she dreams of turning her odd-job work for a few elderly neighbours into a full-blown career.

One of her last jobs is to accompany some of the school children on a trip to France where she is introduced to the new school governor, Patrick Donahugh, who has recently moved into the area and bought a large dilapidated house where Althea has secretly been growing plants in the ramshackle greenhouse/conservatory.

When opportunity strikes in the form of Althea winning a competition which might give her the chance to create a garden at the Chelsea Flower Show she pulls out all the stops enlisting friends and family along the way.

Of course Althea is the curvy, overweight, disorganised woman in a sea of athletic, driven women: her sister, Patrick's girlfriend, even her lodgers.

A word of warning, the book is quite old and so there are references to the old TV series Gladiators and what I believe is a Nescafe Gold Blend coffee advert which will puzzle younger readers. But otherwise the writing is fresh and lively and the characters are interesting.

Although I enjoyed the book I didn't feel Patrick's motivations were altogether clear, he seemed to blow hot and cold and ignore what I thought were Althea's quite real concerns about bringing a new man into her children's home. And it did seem to be a bit of insta-lurve without any real substance, they escorted teenage children on a weekend trip to France and boom! Love.

Nevertheless, I was engaged throughout.


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Review: Fight or Flight

Fight or Flight by Samantha Young
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Ava Breevort is travelling home to Boston following the funeral of her former best friend. Her attempt to upgrade is thwarted by a big Scottish guy who looks like a Viking and rudely pushes in front of her snagging the last seat in first class. Then as if fate is laughing at her, everywhere she goes in the airport he is there, pushing in, being rude. But what starts out as name-calling and dislike soon morphs into attraction. What starts out as a one-night stand turns into more when Ava's client introduces her to a 'family friend' who is stuck in Boston for a couple of weeks due to the Icelandic volcano eruption creating flight havoc - you guessed it, the family friend is none other than the unfriendly Viking, Caleb Scott, and Ava's client wants Ava to show him around the city.

Of course Ava and Caleb both have 'issues', they also have preconceptions about each other, its almost Pride and Prejudice, what concerned me was that Ava seemed deluded when it came to Caleb. In fact I would go as far to say that he was not a nice man. He only appears to be polite to friends, family and people of a higher social status - waitress etc get not a word of thanks - and Ava thinks this is okay. She realises that her ex-boyfriend only ever complimented her on her looks, never on her personality, and yet she thinks it is okay that Caleb only ever compliments her on her body and how it makes him feel - because he's honest about it? I'm sorry I don't see the difference. Also, because this is told from Ava's POV I really don't understand Caleb's motivations - I think if he had been more likable this would have got four stars.

Although there's a lot of brogue it wasn't irritating, probably because Samantha lives in Scotland and therefore understand the natural cadence of the accent and which words to use when. And how refreshing to have a Scottish hero who doesn't wander around wearing a kilt, playing the bagpipes, or owning a Castle!

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Fearless in Texas

Fearless in Texas by Kari Lynn Dell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Five years ago, at their friends Violet and Joe's wedding Wyatt Darrington and Melanie Brookman realised that they had off the charts chemistry, sadly they also both had large intellects and tremendous tempers and realised that any relationship between them would inevitably crash and burn, destroying their relationships with Violet and Joe forever. So they agreed to step back, walk away and never cross that line. And in five years they never have, they goad one another incessantly on the rare occasions they do meet but no more. And since Wyatt threatened to have Mel's kid brother Hank blacklisted in every rodeo in the USA Mel feels more dislike than anything else.

Then Mel discovers she has been betrayed in the worst way possible and burns her bridges with gusto, luckily Violet and Joe call Wyatt to help her out - I mean an omniscient billionaire with connections is always handy to have in your back pocket, right? Feeling like she's made a deal with the devil (and possibly endangered her heart) Mel agrees to work for Wyatt in Oregon in return for his help in tracing Hank, who has disappeared without a trace.

Wyatt realised a long time ago that it wasn't lust he felt for Melanie, but recent events have meant that he is keeping devastating secrets from her, and lying about it. It's pure torture working with a a woman who lights up his world when he knows at any second that she will discover the truth and leave him forever.

Wyatt has been ever-present in the last three novels and really deserved his own HEA. I wasn't sure if Kari could pull this off, so often the greatest characters fall flat in the romance stakes, but I needn't have worried. Wyatt's secret is a doozy and he HAS TO keep it a secret from Mel but ho boy do those sparks fly!

Great romance, worth the wait ... now do I want to read Hank's story? I'd rather read Gil's.

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