Review: Enraptured by Jayne Fresina

Enraptured by Jayne Fresina

Publisher: Evernight Publishing
Genre: Historical Romance

Heat Rating: 4

Blurb

A Private Collection

Harry Blackwood has a rule never to sleep with a woman younger than thirty. But he’s also never been to a ball uninvited, stripped naked over tea in a quiet parlor, stepped inside a male bordello, been spanked by anyone other than his father, or become emotionally involved in another person’s life. And within a few hours, all that will change.

Christina Deveraux is nineteen, untamable as a hellcat and determined to enjoy Harry Blackwood’s abundant favors the moment he drops his trousers in her front parlor. As for his silly rules— she’s never met a rule she couldn’t break. After all, it is only sex, it’s her trade now she’s been left to manage her mother’s house of sin, and she has enough theory advice from a set of explicit diaries.

Now she wants to put text into practice. And Harry just happens to be the perfect study mate.


Ren's Review

Christina Devereaux, at the tender age of nineteen, is the owner of a bordello, passed down to her by her mother. Instead of throwing up her hands in horror and leaving the town under a cloud of shame, she boldly forges ahead with the detemination to make it the most sought-after establishment in town. Ms. Devereaux isn't peddling female flesh either. This lady has a stable of handsome studs that are strictly for the enjoyment of the dissatisfied wives among the town's elite. Christina is a regular firecracker with a curious and insatiable mind of her own.

Harry Blackwood, older and stodgy, has his own ideas of what he likes in a woman. He doesn't like them young and he definitely doesn't like them interrupting his routine. He lives by a strict set of rule and nothing or no one will change them. When he arrives with the intention of delivering a portrait his father had painted of her mother, he finds himself doing things that he would never have considered, not even in his wildest dreams.
Harry and Christina had me laughing so loud. Their chemistry is immediate, their verbal smackdowns refreshing and the sheer madness of their antics are truly hilarious. For all of their bantering, you can tell that Harry and Christina geniuinely like each other. Oh and the sexy-sexy between them is just as HOT. I would suggest reading these scenes with either the fan turned up high or the air conditioner on full-blast.

I love Jayne Fresina's writing. She takes the basic formula of boy meets girl and twists it up into an addictive read. Her heroines are not the typical shrieking damsels in distress that are prevelant in historical romances. Her heroes are nice (yes, NICE) sexy men that are befuddled and clueless one minute and lovesick the next. There's none of that arrogant egotistical behaviour going on. The men are likeable and funny. I can go on and on, gushing about it but the fact of the matter is this, Ms. Fresina can write. Her stories are wonderfully written, romantic, lusty, funny and brilliant. She takes the whole saucy bodice-ripping of historical romance to a new, exciting level and I just love it.

This is the third installment in this trilogy. I am sad to see it end but I tell you, the characters are so well-written and the stories flow so smoothly that you will not be forgetting them anytime soon.

If you are looking for a historical romance that it totally unexpected, I HIGHLY recommend Ms. Fresina's Private Collection series. You won't regret it.

5 Tea Cups and a Recommended Read!

      

Review: The Canuck Werewolf by Marisa Chenery

The Canuck Werewolf by Marisa Chenery

Publisher: Ellora's Cave
Genre: Paranormal Romance

Heat Rating: 2

Blurb

Book one in the Big City Pack series.

Rylee doesn’t have high hopes for the Victoria Day weekend camping trip, seeing as she’s been roped into taking her brother and his juvenile friends. But her mind is changed when she spots a gorgeous man on a hiking trail. She’d like to be zipped in a sleeping bag with him, no doubt about it.

Atticus came to Elora Gorge to get away from his father and his demands that his son find a mate. Like yesterday. Atticus needs time away from being groomed to be the pack leader and the endless stream of “suitable” mates thrown his way in hopes of stirring his mating urge. No luck yet. But then he spots a shy mortal who draws him like no other.

The tent heats up quickly, but before Atticus can tell Rylee what he is, he discovers a member of his pack has followed him with the intention of claiming him for her own. Not only does he have to convince Rylee she’s his mate, he must also prove she can trust him.



Ren's Review

Rylee is tasked with taking her younger brother and his friends on a camping trip. Not particularly thrilled with the idea, she resigns herself to the fact that she is going to be bored out of her skull.

Enter Atticus, werewolf and next in line as Alpha of his pack. Tall, blonde and insanely good-looking, he is up at the camp to escape the pressures of his family to find a mate. He knows that his true mate is out there somewhere and he refuses to settle.

When Rylee and Atticus meet, the attraction is almost instant. Rylee can't believe that someone as handsome as Atticus would be attracted to her and she is hesitant to believe it at first. The drama reaches even higher when Marla, a jilted werewolf who fancies herself as Atticus's mate, shows up at the campsite with the intention of causing trouble.

Rylee, already insecure, has to deal with both Marla's antics and Atticus's father, Grant, who has a very deep dislike of “mortals”. When Rylee finds out that Atticus is a werewolf, she lashes out and decides that he is too “weird “ and “freakish” for her. I don't know about anyone else but that's a major turn off for me. This is not a hallmark of a mature, level-headed young woman but of someone that has not come into her own yet.
While I realize that Ms. Chenery is keeping within the Canadian theme for this story, as a fellow Canuck it became kind of “enough already” with all of the highlights of what makes this story uniquely Canadian. Maybe that was the whole point but in my opinion is a bit over done.

Aside from that bit of griping, I believe that Atticus and Rylee need another installment to show how they've grown as a couple and how Rylee has adjusted to being Atticus's mate. If this is the first of a series, I'm curious enough to see how Ms. Chenery moves the story forward.

3 Tea Cups!

Review: Entangled by Jayne Fresina

Entangled by Jayne Fresina

Publisher: Evernight Publishing
Genre: Historical Romance

Heat Rating: 4

Blurb

A Private Collection

Daisy Wellfleet needs a husband if she means to keep control of her grandfather’s hotel. Lawrence Bailey, wounded in a mine explosion, needs somewhere to recuperate. For a marriage of convenience he sounds entirely suitable.

But the man who shows up, three days late, is not what she expected from his letters. He’s too healthy, too handsome, and generally just too much of everything. Now Daisy can only wish Lawrence Bailey would stop distracting her, before she falls in love— the last thing a fiercely independent woman needs.

And Lawrence Bailey has a secret. He’s just not himself. He’s not Lawrence Bailey at all, but Luke Blackwood. If only he could untangle everything, start at the beginning again. If only she’d let him get a word in edgeways, because falling in love is the last thing a sensible, solitary man needs.



Ren's Review

As soon as I started reading, I knew I would be in for a good time.

Luke Blackwood is tasked with delivering a portrait to Daisy Wellfleet. His plan was to drop it off and go on about his business. He believes he is a confirmed bachelor, only satisfying his needs every now and then but more content to be around his books and travelling. When he meets Daisy, all of that goes straight out the window.

Daisy Wellfleet is not your typical damsel in distress. Yes, she needs a husband in order to prevent the takeover of her grandfather’s hotel but she would rather not.

She is scheduled to marry Lawrence Bailey and wants it be a marriage in name only. Luke walks in the door of Daisy’s hotel and she immediately thinks that he’s Lawrence. Hilarity ensues from that moment on.

With Daisy’s fiery temper, Luke’s charming and gentle manner, you can’t help but to love these characters. Luke plays on Daisy’s soft side, falling about the place and making a complete nuisance of himself. Daisy is exasperated and just wants him to do what she says. Really? I couldn’t stop laughing at the two of them.
And the love scenes? I may never look at chocolate pudding again without thinking of Luke and Daisy *fans self*

The story flows and is rich with detail. I just loved this story. It has all of the ingredients for the perfect read. It’s refreshing, funny and will definitely leave a smile on your face for days after. I know it did for me.

I thought this was the first in the series but it’s the second. The first one is called Engraved, and the last one is called Enraptured. I highly recommend this and Ms. Fresina is now on my “Must-Read” list.

5 Tea Cups and a Recommended Read!

      

Review: Timeless by Kelly Yeakle

Timeless by Kelly Yeakle

Publisher: Evernight Publishing
Genre: Paranormal Romance

Heat Rating: 2

Blurb

Can true love last forever?

Gabriela Swanson wanted one thing, to be a well known writer at Graven, the most prestigious Goth magazine in the country. When an inside source gives her the opportunity of a lifetime, she finds herself in a hostage situation with a man who claims to be her soul mate.

Kane Barringer is a vampire who's lived for centuries. Every century is spent waiting for his soul mate, but this time he's vowed to live the rest of his existence without her. A strange twist of fate gives them the opportunity to be together forever, but will Gabriela embrace it?



Ren's Review

While I enjoy a good vampire story, I somehow wished that Kane was something other than such. The story premise is very good, the tale of love everlasting, the wanderer waiting for his soul mate to be born, living and loving her until her death. He then waits for her to be reborn, all because she was hesitant to join him as an immortal, a vampire.

Gabriela is only aware of him if Kane approaches her and reminds her of the love they’ve shared over the centuries. I like that. It reminds me a bit of Aeon Flux and 50First Dates in that aspect.

This time around, however, Kane has promised himself to stay away from her, so that way she can live her life without suffering the knowledge of their shared past. He had decided it was time to let her go.

Of course, this goes completely out the window when an opportunity gone wrong throws them together. Kane is tasked with hunting down a renegade vampire, the same one that Gabriela is trying to get to talk about a murder that she, allegedly, may have seen.

Like I said, I really like the story line. There’s enough action and intrigue to keep the pace flowing. The heat between them is not bubbling over and that’s okay, because it reads more like a love story than a mindless romp in the sack.

This is a lovely paranormal story and I would read Ms. Yeakle again.

3 Tea Cups!

Review: Captain Grey’s Lady by Scarlett Scott

Captain Grey’s Lady by Scarlett Scott

Publisher: Ellora's Cave
Genre: Historical Romance

Heat Rating: 3

Blurb

When a dangerous-looking stranger raps on Lizzie Winstead’s door in the middle of a stormy night, the peace of her humdrum life is shattered. She’s shocked to discover her visitor is Captain Edmond Grey, one of the most feared pirates of the realm—and her lost love.

Edmond is a wanted man throughout the Colonies, but despite his formidable reputation, he desperately needs her help to nurse his wounded brother back to health. Only Lizzie can be trusted not to turn Edmond over to authorities for the price on his head.

Lizzie can’t quell the feelings Edmond stirs in her heart or the fire he ignites in her blood. Before long, both succumb to the reckless desire renewed between them. She follows him aboard his pirate ship and sets sail into a world rife with passion and peril. Together they brave fierce battles and frightening storms, determined to discover whether the love they once shared is strong enough to reunite them forever and conquer the demons of Edmond’s past.


Ren's Review

Edmond and Lizzie were young sweethearts. Edmond felt a calling that he knew would not be satisfied as a baker’s apprentice. He breaks Lizzie’s heart and sails away for unknown adventures.

Fast forward several years and Edmond shows up at Lizzie’s doorstep, not in London where they last saw each other but in the New World, begging for her to tend to his gravely injured brother, Thomas.

Lizzie is a widow by now but seeing Edmond again brings all sorts of feelings to the forefront. Lizzie agrees to go to the ship to take care of his brother. That night however, instead of going directly to the ship, Edmond spends the night at her home and they end up having sex.

This is where it starts to unravel for me just a little bit.

I just don’t see how Lizzie and Edmond can fall into bed so fast when it’s been a number of years since they’ve seen each other and even back then their relationship had been chaste. I just wish there had been more of a build-up, especially since Edmond has a lot of unresolved issues and appears more than ready to atone for the crimes that he has committed. Mind you, the love-scenes between them are hot enough to make you blink but I just felt it was too soon for all that.

Also, there’s a bit of back-story missing. I would have liked to have read more about Edmond’s adventures prior to his brother being injured. Lizzie, as the ship’s new “doctor”, should have been built up more as well.
It seems that she was just too quick to follow Edmond around, and without a second thought. What did she really know about him anyway?

The journey that Edmond and Lizzie go on is not without some strife. They weather a lot of twists and turns, and other adventures on the high seas. They are also adjusting to their new-found love and what consequences they may have to suffer from it.

Aside from the minor hiccups that I’d listed, this was a fun read, with very descriptive scenes and enough action to keep the reader satisfied.

With all the vampire hoopla out there, this pirate love story is a welcome relief.

3 ½ Tea Cups!

   

Review: Back in the Closet by KevaD

Back in the Closet by KevaD

Publisher: Noble Romance
Genre: Alternative Romance

Heat Rating: 2

Blurb

Sometimes the best-laid plans don't mean you get laid.

Chaz and Mike are inaugurating their life together as an openly gay couple. Bliss is inevitable, until a dead relative rises up and brings their plans to a screeching halt.

Chaz's not-so-dearly departed Amish Uncle Silas has bequeathed his nephew his farm . . . and a $60,000 tax bill if Chaz doesn't play by the rules.

With empty wallets, the duo and their kitten, TCT, head off for Iowa to live on the farm for ninety days - without electricity or plumbing . . . or sex.

While Mike finds trees to climb, horses to ride, and a big ax to play with, and TCT discovers a wide array of critters to chase and capture, Chaz faces a past veiled in mystery.

As a young boy, Chaz spent time on the farm. Why can't he remember the giant oak tree or the ancient barn? Each time he tries to enter the barn, terror stops him cold.

Chaz will need courage he's never had before, along with all the strength in his partner's lusciously muscled body, to solve the riddles plaguing him. Keeping Mike and his ax from chopping off the wrong piece of lumber might not be a bad idea, either.


Ren's Review

**This is a sequel to Out of the Closet. I would suggest you read it first to get an idea of what is going on. It’s a wonderful story, trust me**


Chaz and Mike are working on their relationship. When Chaz finds out that he has inherited some property in Iowa, he heads out there with Mike and TCT in tow. Not only does he face a heft property tax if he doesn’t abide by the rules set by his deceased uncle but he also has some demons that he has to deal with.

What I liked about this was that the story focused more on Chaz and Mike’s relationship outside the bedroom, their interaction as they try to figure out how to make a go of the farm and everything else in between.

Chaz tries to figure out why he can’t remember certain things from his childhood. He struggles to put things in context, maybe he had imagined them, maybe it wasn’t what he thought it was. There were times when I really thought the story would go in a different direction and I am so glad that it didn’t.

Mike and Chaz are funny and completely relatable. I do hope that this isn’t the end for these two. I feel that there is more to be written about them. It’s hilarious, heartwarming with just enough suspense to keep the reader interested.

A well-written story for those who enjoy M/M romance.

4 Tea Cups!

   

Review: Love Tattoo by Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy

Love Tattoo by Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy

Publisher: Evernight Publishing
Genre: Paranormal Romance

Heat Rating: 3

Blurb

One unexpected late night encounter and one titillating kiss detours Cara Riley from reaching Nashville for her last shot at a singing career and lands her in Memphis.

Dark, mysterious truck driver Will Brennan oozes sexuality and Cara finds herself drawn to him. He brings her to a higher level of sensual pleasure than she even imagined could be possible. As their relationship explodes into something real, she learns he has more than a few quirks-he sleeps by day and prowls by night.

At his home-a castle-nestled in a wooded area just outside Memphis, she learns just what his sweet love tattoos really mean and must decide if she wants another. Whether or not they find their happy ending is all up to Cara.



Ren's Review

This is, by far, one of the best love stories I’ve read.

Cara is heading to Nashville to begin her singing career when she pulls over at a rest stop in the middle of the night. She’s at a vending machine when she sees, via the reflective glass, a young man staring at her…
Will, for his part, is instantly attracted to her. There’s a bit of conversation before they kiss and at first I thought this was going to be some sex romp but it turns out to be so much more.

Will is a romantic, sonnet-quoting, blue-eyed Irishman who also happens to be a vampire. He’s not one of those broody, over-done, rap-loving twinkling vamps. He wears his heart on his sleeve, quotes Shakespeare and is a total sweetheart.
Cara isn’t uptight, helpless or boring. She has plans to be a country singer, knows what she wants and she comes across as the kind of woman you would want to hang out with. Cara has a couple of “dumb” moments but then again, I liked her so much that I could easily forgive her.

I love how this was written. The writing is smooth and almost lyrical. Will and Cara’s attraction is intense; their shared love for the written word, music, and their time together is just so romantic that you can’t help but to sigh. Will and Cara are believable characters. Their personalities were so in sync, so sweet and tender. Will is focused on Cara without being domineering. He doesn’t have to beat his chest and take charge. They work well together.

As far as the love scenes go, they were perfectly written and full of passion. You can feel the heat and emotion without it being so graphic to the point of being textbook sex. This is the kind of writing that I enjoy.

My only complaint is that it is too short, way too short. But then again, when I come across a story that I really like, I don’t want it to end.

Love Tattoo gets high marks from me and I hope potential readers will enjoy it as much as I have.

5 Tea Cups and a Recommended Read!

      

Review: Diego by Angel Martinez

Diego by Angel Martinez

Publisher: Red Rose Publishing
Genre: Alternative Romance

Heat Rating: 2

Blurb

After defeating an evil wendigo, a man and his pooka lover deserve a little quiet, don’t they? Unfortunately, Diego and Finn’s hard-won peace is disturbed, their new life in Montana turned upside-down when Diego, in a jealous rage, unwittingly rips a hole in the impenetrable Veil to the Otherworld.

Separated, stuck on the other side of the Veil where Finn has to deal with old conflicts and Diego is the only human in a land of fae, the two of them are forced to navigate rocky waters between huge egos and ancient feuds. To make matters worse, some of the fae, in both the sidhe and Fomorian courts, are dying of a mysterious illness and everyone believes Diego is the key to a cure.

Things can’t possibly get any worse, can they?

Oh, yes—it can when the U.S. government gets involved.


Ren's Review

Not having read the first one in the series put me at a serious disadvantage.
Finn is Fae and Diego is human. Their story began in the first book, aptly named Finn.

Diego and Finn are settling in for some down-time in Montana. Diego is away on business and Finn is left on his own. While Finn is down by the lake he hears a distressed call from a young woman. After he saves her and takes her home, Diego returns to find Finn in a situation that immediately threatens what they have accomplished together so far. Diego inadvertently sets off a chain of events which ends up finding both he and Finn trapped on the other side in the Fae world.

The author is very good at world building. I was fascinated with the politics of the Fae world, the interactions among the characters and the tension between Finn and Diego. When you add the deadly sickness on top of everything that was going on, this made for a very interesting read.

There is a wealth of twists and turns in this story and it would only help you to know what is going on if you read the first one. I strongly suggest it.

3 Tea Cups!