Category Archives: 3 Flames

CHRISTMAS ON CONRAD STREET
Misty Harbor Book #2
Author: Marcia Evanick

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Zebra (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821774247
• ISBN-13: 978-0821774243

SUMMARY:

Welcome to Misty Harbor Maine! Life is a little different here – slower, calmer, a bit less hectic than you may be used to. But don’t worry, you’ll fit right in. Just pour yourself some eggnog, curl up by the fire and settle in for a long winter’s night. Christmas is coming – and there’s love in the air…

After she caught her live-in boyfriend in the arms of another woman, Dr. Sydney Fletcher packed up her life, moved to charming Misty Harbor – and quickly made an early New Year’s resolution: No more falling in love. Period. But she’s barely hung her stocking by the chimney with care when her resolve is sorely tested by the rugged charms of Erik Olsen. The handsome fisherman with the blue eyes is exactly the sort of entanglement Sydney has vowed to steer clear of. Still, when he asks her to come around now and then to tend to his ailing grandfather, it seems downright Scroogish to say no, especially when Erik promises to repay her kindness with a traditional Norwegian Christmas celebration – a promise sealed with a very merry kiss. Now, with the Christmas Eve Festival of Lights fast approaching, Sydney must decide if she’s willing to take a chance and give Erik the most precious gift of all- her heart…

MY THOUGHTS:

Christmas on Conrad Street is the second book in the Misty Harbor series.  After reading the first book in the series, I was anxious to read about the twin vikings, Erik and Gunnar.  In this book we get two romances for the price of one!


I loved the story between Erik and Sydney.  They were a perfect match for each other and I felt the chemistry between the two as soon as the met.  Their romance was sweet and caring.  I also loved how the author made sure to include the characters from the previous book and the characters from books to come in this series.  The writing was fun and the scene setups were cute. I actually felt like I was in Misty Harbor for Christmas.


The only drawback I had with this book is the story of Gunnar and Maggie. I felt that their romance was forced and we didn’t get to see their relationship blossom like we did with Erik and Sydney.  I feel the author should have left their romance for another book in the series instead of trying to incorporate it into this one. 


Overall a quick and cute Christmas read for the holiday season.  Even though this is the second book in the series, the author does a wonderful job of letting the reader have this as a stand alone book.  Everything, including the characters relationships, are explained without the over abundance of details. 


MY RATING:

CATCH OF THE DAY
Misty Harbor Book 1
Author: Marcia Evanick

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Zebra (February 2, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821772414
• ISBN-13: 978-0821772416

SUMMARY:

Misty Harbor, Maine, is awash in eligible bachelors – and as the only single gal in town, newcomer Gwen Fletcher is surrounded by potential suitors. The trouble is, she’s got a restaurant to renovate, and the carpenter she’s hired seems bent on avoiding her. What Gwen needs to do is convince wary Daniel Creighton she’s not here to land a husband – and that it’s high time he stopped pining after the one that got away…

Jilted Daniel’s aversion to romance makes him the lone local guy who isn’t after gorgeous Gwen. Still, lured by her renovation project, he can’t resist lending a hand when she gets in over her head with a couple of overzealous admirers. Next thing he knows, small-town gossip has the two of them destined to sail off into the sunset together – and it dawns on Daniel that he’s fallen for Gwen — hook, line and sinker…

MY THOUGHTS:

If you are in the mood for a cozy contemporary romance, then author Marcia Evanick has created a great series to feed your brain!


When Gwen Fletcher decides to move to Misty Harbor to fulfill her dream of opening her own restaurant, she didn’t realize she would be finding a town in short supply of single women.  She quickly finds out that not only does she have a chance of creating a wonderful restaurant for people to dine at, but she also has become the talk of the town with the single men that are overflowing the town.  With every single man in town trying to win her affections, she has a hard time trying to get her business up and running. 


When Gwen hires single man Daniel Creighton, the attraction that builds between the two is inevitable.  Daniel though does not want to start a relationship.  He has a job to do and that is what he plans on doing.  


This was basically a predictable romance that you know with every page how it is going to turn out.  The author also likes to weave other stories into the book to set it up for more books in the series.  This made it hard to fully enjoy the romance of Gwen and Daniel.  Once you start getting towards the last half of the book though, you realize that all the stories she has weaved together also fit together as one.  


I enjoyed the book, I just wished we could have had more romance between Gwen and Daniel instead of the rush to get them together as a couple.  Predictability and rushed plot made this book not as appealing as it should have been.  I still want to read the next book in the series though just so I can see how the author plans to expand the stories of the other side characters. 


A good book for a rainy day to keep your craving for sweet romances going, but not one you should expect any surprise endings for. 


MY RATING:

SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE
Author: Meagan Hatfield

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: HQN Books (July 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373775008
• ISBN-13: 978-0373775002

SUMMARY:



Even vampires should never sleep with the enemy.

Vampire princess Alexia Feodorovna has been undead for 125 years, so it’s been a while since any man has made her pulse race. Until Declan Black. One look at his bronzed body and a fire like no other consumes her. Then she discovers that he’s a dragon lord come to take revenge on the vamps who killed his parents. And claim a crystal said to imbue its owner with incredible powers.

Alexia is ordered to torture and kill the dragon lord. Yet with each reckless encounter, she finds herself consumed by his fiery passion. A passion Declan battles, as well. Will he be able to resist the fire of lust she kindles within him and keep revenge in his heart? Or will he risk everything to quench the burning desire and claim the vampire as his own?

MY THOUGHTS:

Vampires and Dragons, oh my! Two types of paranormal creatures that are always hot and sexy! The cover is what attracted my attention to this book though.  The pose and lighting were sensual and breathtaking! It screamed for me to give it a try. After reading the summary as well, I knew I had to give it a try.

This book had promise from the first chapter.  I was intrigued and curious to see the struggle between Vampires and Dragons.  In this book they are enemies and both searching for a crystal that will either destroy the races or control them.  With Alexia on the verge of becoming Queen of the Vampires, she is in a race to find it before Declan, King of the Dragons, has a chance to find it.  With a Queen who is being brainwashed, a vampire daughter who is falling in love with the King of Dragons, the Queens fiancee who is evil and a bunch of side characters who can hold their own, you slowly become invested in reading the entire book.

I did however, have some disappointments with the story.  For one, there is a part of the story that focus’ on rape.  I didn’t like this part of the book even though I understand the need for it in the story.  To me, it wasn’t executed well, and Alexia didn’t portray what you would expect with rape.  I also felt the book dragging in a lot of the chapters.  I wanted it to pick up the pace and get moving again.  At times, the story was a bit repetitive and could have been cut out of the book without any damage to the story.

I did however, like the writers writing style.  She has great talent in writing in this genre if she could just cut some things out of the stories to where the readers don’t feel like they have read the same thing twice within a few chapters.

Overall, I liked the story, but I didn’t love the story either.  I am looking forward to reading about the other characters in the book in the future, yet not as excited as I should be.

MY RATING:

CRASH TEST LOVE
Author: Ted Michael
Source: Purchased

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (June 8, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385735804
• ISBN-13: 978-0385735803

SUMMARY:

The last thing Henry Arlington wants is a girlfriend. He’s just very, very good with girls—reading their body language, knowing what they want to hear, and more importantly: getting them into the backseat of his car. But all that changes when he meets Garrett Lennox at one of the many Sweet Sixteen parties he crashes.

Garrett thinks she’s done with guys. She was dumped by her ex when she moved from Chicago to Long Island, and now she realizes that she needs to find out who she is by herself, instead of with a boyfriend. What she really needs is some good friends.

Fortunately for Garrett, the J Squad—the “it” girls of East Shore High School—want her in their clique. All she has to do is pass one little test: get East Shore god Henry Arlington to take her to one of the biggest Sweet Sixteens of the year, then dump him in front of everyone.

Garrett has promised herself not to fall for another guy, so playing with Henry’s heart shouldn’t be hard. Right?

And Henry doesn’t fall for girls, so when he and Garrett start to click, it doesn’t matter. Does it?
As William Shakespeare once said, “Love is blind,” or in this case, the lovers may be, as Henry and Garrett fall in love—and into the trap that awaits them. Because neither of them can even begin to see what the girls of Henry Arlington’s past have in store.

MY THOUGHTS:

I have seen this book from other reviewers and noticed it getting low ratings all the way up to high ratings.  This caught my attention and the summary sounded great, so I thought I would give it a go as well.  After reading Crash Test Love, I have found my rating to be in the middle.

I wasn’t a big fan of Henry.  He was the typical player of the school and frankly, they deserve to get taught a lesson.  Not only did he think he could get any girl he wanted, he usually did just that.  I will say that his fellow party crashers, Nigel and Duke, were hilarious and dumb as rocks at times.  I found myself wanting to read their dialogue more than I wanted to hear from the main character of Henry.

Garrett was the new girl at school and was let into the J Squad on a probationary period.  The J Squad was basically a bunch of popular, stuck up snobs who thought they were better than everyone else at school.  To be a part of their group, you had to prove yourself.  For Garrett to pass the test, she has to use Henry and leave him high and dry.  I seriously was hoping Garrett would tell the J Squad off and find her own way of dealing with Henry.

Overall the book was okay, but not one I would read again. It is told from alternating point of views, and at times I wished it would just stick with one person.  The characters didn’t capture my interest as much as I was hoping either.  To me the book was kind of bland, but still had some interesting points in the story.

MY RATING:

THE KING’S CHRISTMAS LIST
Author: Eldon Johnson
Source: Book Sneeze
*I received this book free of 
charge in exchange for an 
honest review*

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (October 5, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400316456
• ISBN-13: 978-1400316458

SUMMARY:

Emma couldn’t wait to go to the King’s birthday party, but what should she bring?
 
Emma and her little dog Shu-Shu were thrilled to be invited to the King’s birthday party. But what do you get a King for his birthday? Emma and Shu-Shu have no gift, but they bring the Christmas cake they made with Mom and put on their Sunday best as they dash to the King’s carriage.  And of course, Emma couldn’t go anywhere without her beloved Cherry-Bear.  On the way, they have encounters that lead them to bestow their cake, winter-cape, and even Cherry-Bear, on others. Now they’re chilly, rumpled, and empty-handed-what will the King think? Emma frets, but when they finally meet the King at his palace, they discover they gave the King exactly what he wanted.

MY THOUGHTS:

While my child and I enjoyed the story and the illustrations of this book, I felt that the writing was geared more for children aged 8-10 years old.  The book seemed a little long in writing for each page and it left my child bored.  Younger children like short little paragraphs to go along with each illustrated page. That is what holds their interest in a book long enough for you to read it to them.  My daughter grew impatient as I read the long page of story and lost interest in the book before I could turn the page.

The illustrations were beautiful throughout the book.  She liked the colors and the cute pictures of Emma and her dog Shu-Shu.  She understood the meaning of the book in which doing small acts of kindness are better than giving and receiving gifts at Christmas time.  The only other part of the book that I wasn’t a fan of was the coupons at the end of the story.  They were coupons to donate money and such to feed the homeless.  To me, those sort of things do not belong in a book geared for children.

Overall the illustrations and meaning of the book were the best part of the book.  While the story was a little long and drawn out, I would recommend it for kids around 8 years old instead of the younger kids.

MY RATING: