Romancing the Duke by Tessa Dare

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romancing the duke by tessa dare

 

As the daughter of a famed author, Isolde
Ophelia Goodnight grew up on tales of brave knights and fair maidens.
She never doubted romance would be in her future, too. The storybooks
offered endless possibilities.

And as she grew older, Izzy crossed them off. One by one by one.

Ugly duckling turned swan?
Abducted by handsome highwayman?
Rescued from drudgery by charming prince?

No, no, and… Heh.

Now Izzy’s given up yearning for romance.
She’ll settle for a roof over her head. What fairy tales are left over
for an impoverished twenty-six year-old woman who’s never even been
kissed?

This one.

MY REVIEW

Why did I not listen to other people when they were raving about this book?! I have seriously been missing out on one of the BEST Historical Romance Reads of 2014.  Not only is the writing phenomenal, but the characters were amazing to read as they bickered, kissed, played nice, and everything in between. I have so many pages marked with favorite quotes that I might as well just mark the entire story as one.

“No man deserves a woman like that. He mortgages his very soul to win her and spends his life paying off the debt.”

Isolde (Izzy) Goodnight has not only missed her chance at finding a husband due to being ordinary, but she has also lost her family and fortune.  While she still has her dignity and the respect of her Fathers fans from his written books, Izzy is alone and broke.  When her Godfather passes away and leaves her a castle in horrible conditions, she thinks of it as a way to start fresh and have her castle she always dreamed of.  Oh, and she is still a virgin at 26 years old.

“Oh, but this gift isn’t the same as an ermine. This is property. Don’t you understand how rare that is for a woman? Property always belongs to our fathers, brothers, husbands, sons. We never get to own anything.”

“Don’t tell me you’re one of those women with radical ideas.”

“No,” she returned. “I’m one of those women with nothing. There are a great many of us.”

Ransom William Dacre Vane, the 11th Duke of Rothbury, has been hiding away in his family castle for months.  After his intended bride ran away with another man, Ransom went looking for them. When he found them, he was bested in a duel and left blinded from the wound.  He now hides from everyone so they don’t have to see his ugliness and he can lick his wounded, injured pride.  When Izzy arrives to claim her castle, Ransom refuses to believe his home has been taken from him.  Together they make out a deal to where she stays and becomes his secretary while they figure out who has taken advantage of him.

“Sometimes he wondered if women were all lawyers, with an extensive code of Romantic Law that they kept stubbornly hidden from men.”

Not only did I fall in love with Ransom, but the strength and determination that Izzy had standing up to him, made me enjoy this couple so much more. Izzy refuses to back down from him and it does bring about many memorable scenes and dialogue. Izzy can certainly hold her own against the stubborn and rude Duke of  Rothbury!

“Every time you wake up, you let fly the most marvelous string of curses. It’s never the same twice, do you know that? It’s so intriguing. You’re like a rooster that crows blasphemy.”

The side characters were wonderful as well! I loved the characters of Duncan and Abigail. I enjoyed them so much that I do hope they are featured again in future books — maybe as main characters even. If you are looking for a wonderful tale full of knights, honor, laughter and suspense, Ms. Dare includes it all in Romancing the Duke. A true fairy tale romance to read and be swept up in.

MY RATING

[sc:rate5 ]

AUTHOR WEBSITE / GOODREADS / AMAZON

Review: The Backup Boyfriend by River Jaymes

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19059695

 

The Backup Boyfriend
Series: The Boyfriend Chronicles #1
Author: River Jaymes
Release Date: 11/28/2013

SUMMARY
From Goodreads

Professionally, Dr. Alec Johnson has almost reached his goals. As this year’s recipient of a humanitarian award with his ex, Dr. Tyler Hall, Alec’s work with the homeless is about to be recognized. Unfortunately, his personal life sucks because now he has to attend several events alongside Tyler—with his ex’s new boyfriend in tow. In an attempt to lift his mood and break out of his rut, Alec purchases a motorcycle he has no idea how to start.

Dylan Booth doesn’t have time for Dr. Clueless and his fickle 1964 Harley, but the cocky mechanic can’t say no to the request for help. Having spent his teen years on the streets, and losing his best friend to HIV, Dylan decides teaching the do-gooder how to ride is the least he can do. But watching Alec flounder in his ex’s company throws Dylan into protector mode, and the confirmed hetero introduces himself as Alec’s new boyfriend.

The ex suspects Dylan is lying.

Alec claims Dylan’s plan is insane.

And Dylan’s not sure he can fake being gay.

But he’s a master bullshitter, and the phony PDA soon turns ultra-hot. Alec can’t afford to get attached, and Dylan’s learned everyone eventually leaves. Unfortunately, playing the backup boyfriend is starting to feel way too real…

CONTENT WARNING: This book contains Man-on-Man action, adult situations, and language.

MY THOUGHTS

“I wouldn’t miss this fake-homo show for all the Gucci Shoes on Rodeo Drive.” 

That sums up the book for me. I heard everyone buzzing about The Backup Boyfriend by author River Jaymes and everyone kept telling me to go buy it.  So I finally caved and bought it for myself to see what all the hype was about.  Readers, you do not want to miss out on reading this book!

Alec Johnson just lost his two year boyfriend to another man.  So what does any sane Doctor do when this happens? He goes out and buys a motorcycle.  Not a brand spankin’ new one, but one that needs some TLC.  Enter Dylan Booth, aka HOT STUFF, into the mix.  Alec takes his bike to Dylan to repair and to teach him how to ride.  Out of the gutter readers! We are talking about riding lessons on the bike.  (The other rides come later in the story.)  Reluctantly, Dylan decides to go ahead and help Alec with the riding lessons and fixing up the bike.  When he meets Alec at his house to get started, he has the pleasure of meeting Tyler, Alec’s ex boyfriend.  Tyler just happens to be arriving to pick up the last of his stuff and also brought along his new boyfriend.  Dylan feels bad for Alec and becomes protective of his feelings.  Alec reminds him of a childhood friend that he protected on the streets and end up losing to HIV/AIDS five years ago.  This is where the setup of the Backup Boyfriend comes into play.  Dylan pretends to be Alec’s new boyfriend much to everyone’s surprise.

What happens is sexual tension, playful banter, outrageous scenes of humor and plenty of romance that will have you sighing with happiness.  Another reason I loved this book is the fact that it addresses the issue of labels.  We are constantly putting names to things such as gay, bisexual, etc.  What I like about Dylan in this book is he doesn’t like those labels. It is not that he doesn’t want to accept that he is bisexual or gay, he just wants to be himself with no category that he should fit in.  Love isn’t something that can be defined and put away neatly in a little box with a label on it and people shouldn’t classify it as such.  Plus his sarcastic humor was a blast to read whenever he was within five feet of their mutual friend Noah.

Personally, I can’t wait for more of this series. I have already added her previous work to my wishlist to buy soon. Author River Jaymes is an author that everyone needs to watch.

FAVORITE QUOTES

Dylan stared at a well-dressed, clean Alec holding the baby with a sizeable line of drool now hanging from her mouth, dangling in the air. Seriously, someone needed to shut the main water line off and fix that horrific leakage problem.

“What the hell were you thinking, Dylan?”
Dylan’s face burned, and he secured the towel tight around his waist as several sarcastic replies came to mind.
I was tired of playing for the same team.
I suddenly had the urge to experience life as the little spoon.
I wanted to be able to wear the You Suck, And I Like That In A Man T-shirt you gave me.

MY RATING
[sc:rate5 ]

AUTHOR WEBSITE / GOODREADS / AMAZON

Review: Castle Hill by Samantha Young

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18621172

Castle Hill
Series: On Dublin Street #2.5
Author: Samantha Young
Release Date: 12/3/2013

SUMMARY
From Goodreads

A Joss and Braden Novella

Braden Carmichael never imagined he’d fall as hard and as fast as he did for Jocelyn Butler. He also could not have anticipated how difficult it would be to convince her to give in to love. But now that he has her, he’s never letting go. He’s got it all planned—the passionate proposal, the dream wedding, the sexy Hawaiian honeymoon—even the perfect family they’ll start.

After trying to flee from her painful past, Joss is finally allowing herself to embrace the future. But when things start moving faster than she anticipated, she finds herself panicking over something Braden can’t understand. After everything they’ve been through, Joss is sure that their love can survive even her worst fears. But, this time, she may push Braden too far—and risk losing everything all over again…

MY THOUGHTS

Castle Hill is classified as a novella coming in at 97 pages according to Amazon.  It is a short story featuring Joss and Braden from the On Dublin Streets Series.

In Castle Hill, we are taken on a quick paced journey from dating to engaged, to engaged to married, and from married to honeymoon with  juicy story all around.  I loved revisiting Joss and Braden. We get to read how Braden proposes to Joss and the planning of the wedding.  Then we flash to the wedding itself that was beautiful but not overdone in details.  Following the wedding we flash forward just a bit to the honeymoon.  After that wonderful and romantic set of scenes, we flash forward to the juicy part of the story that provides a surprise for the happy couple.  What should be exciting news ends up being the conflict of the story based on a communication misunderstanding.  Unlike before though, it is a misunderstanding  from Braden and he ends up shutting Joss out this time.

If you are looking for a sweet and quick Braden and Joss fix, then this novella is perfect for that.  We even get to see side characters as well from the series to round it all out for the reader.

MY RATING
[sc:rate5 ]

AUTHOR WEBSITE / GOODREADS / AMAZON

Review: One Lucky Vampire by Lynsay Sands

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17334051

 

One Lucky Vampire
Series: Argeneau #19
Author: Lynsay Sands

SUMMARY
(From Goodreads)

Luck be a vampire tonight . . .

When Nicole Phillips agreed to hire a housekeeper, she pictured someone a little frumpy and almost certainly female. Instead, she gets gorgeous, unmistakably male Jake Colson. The man is proving indispensable in the kitchen—and everywhere else. Except Jake might not be a mortal man at all.

. . . and every night

Who wouldn’t want to be a tall, dark, powerful vampire? Jake, for one. He’s barely had time to adjust to his new state before he’s roped into a family favor. Still, secretly playing bodyguard to sweet, sexy Nicole is turning out to be the wildest ride of his life. First he’ll put a stop to whoever’s targeting her. Then he’ll prove that this kind of love, and luck, happens only once in an eternity.

MY THOUGHTS

When it comes to author Lynsay Sands, I am a sucker for the story!  I absolutely adore her writing, characters and plot lines.  You would think after 19 books in a series I would grow bored with it.  Sadly, it just makes me crave more from her!

With One Lucky Vampire we get to read about Jake Colson and Nicole Phillips.  Jake you might remember as Stephano Notte from A Bite To Remember.  He was turned by Vincent in that book in order to save his life.  To say that he isn’t happy with being turned is an understatement. While he is glad to be alive, he did end up leaving his family behind to try and adjust on his own and in his own way.  When Marguerite asks Jake to help protect a friend of the family, Jake is nudged back into the family unit and accepts the job as a housekeeper/cook while actually being a bodyguard for Nicole.

Nicole has been through the ringer. Her previous husband was  guy who would rather spend her money than spend time with his wife.  He has made attempts on her life trying to get her money instead of losing it in a divorce.  She hires Jake as a housekeeper/cook to help her out while she finishes up her work in the art world.

With everything that takes place in this book between Jake and Nicole, I found the side characters of Dante and Tomasso to be my favorite.  They had some of the best lines in this book that left me laughing each time they opened their mouths!

“Nina’s gone,” Tomasso rumbled.

“What?” Nicole glanced around with amazement at that.  The woman had been standing guard over Jake like a German drill sergeant since arriving.   She hadn’t even allowed Nicole to peek into his room just to see for herself that Jake was alive and well.  “Then who’s watching over Jake?”

“Pinocchio doesn’t need watching.  He’s not sick anymore,” Dante informed her.

“Yeah, he’s walking and talking like a real boy now,” Tomasso added dryly.

…..”Right, so he was on his death bed the day before yesterday and now he’s up and moving around?”  She shook her head. “What if he passes out or just falls down and hist his head?”

“IT’s okay, it couldn’t hurt anything,” Tomasso assured her.

“Of course it could,” she snapped.  “People have been known to die from head wounds.”

“People have,” Dante agreed.  “But not Pinocchio.  His head is full of wood.”

I loved how they always called him Pinocchio in the story.  There is a reason why they call him this and it is one of the main reasons why Jake was unhappy about being turned and why he ran from his family.  Even with the jokes they throw Jake’s way, Dante and Tomasso truly love Jake and would love to have him back into the family fold.  I love how they end up having Nicole be the one person who saves Jake instead of the other way around.

If you are a fan of the Argeneau series, then this book should be a must buy book for you.  It brings back the feel of earlier books but also keeps it progressing for the entire series.  Keep them coming!

MY RATING

[sc:rate5 ]

AUTHOR WEBSITE / GOODREADS / AMAZON

Review: Unbeautifully by Madeline Sheehan

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16114861Unbeautifully
Series: Undeniable #2
Author: Madeline Sheehan

SUMMARY
(From Goodreads)

Warning: This is not a story about fate or destiny. This is a story about pain, sorrow, and suffering. This is an impulsive whirlwind romance between two lovers that are not meant to be together. Theirs is not a world with sunshine and roses. Instead, their love blossoms in a secret world full of crime, violence, and death. Their story is about what can be born from nightmares.

Danielle “Danny” West is the daughter of Deuce West, President of the Hell’s Horsemen Motorcycle Club. A sweet and beautiful girl, she loses her way, searching for things that are always out of her reach. Erik “Ripper” Jacobs is the Sergeant of Arms in the Hell’s Horsemen. Once a man who always had a smile on his face, his life takes a turn for the worst when a tragedy befalls him, leaving him scarred and broken. During a midsummer night, Danny and Ripper’s paths cross, forever changing their lives. Hastily, their lust turns to love until another tragedy forces them apart. On a journey that is marred with ugliness and chaos, Danny and Ripper must discover if their unforeseen connection can find the beauty in their world.

This is Danny and Ripper’s story.

Everything has beauty. Even the ugly. Especially the ugly.
Because without ugly, there would be no beauty.

MY THOUGHTS

Unbeautifully is the second book in the Undeniable series by author Madeline Sheehan.  The main characters involved are Danielle “Danny” West and Erik “Ripper” Jacobs.  Characters from the previous book also have their POV told in separate chapters as well.

I absolutely loved the first book in this series.  I understand that many people had a hard time with the first book, but I went with the flow and was thrilled to read Undbeautifully.  The first book did have its problems, but overall I was on the side of the fence that was desperate for more.

In Undbeautifully, we get to read about Ripper.  *sigh* Our disfigured — yet still sexy! —  hero that has tons of dark emotions to go with it.  What Ripper went through in the previous book is definitely a key point in this installment.  He has been placing blame on several people for that one action even though he has tried to keep it to himself.

Danny is what you would find in a typical new adult.  She is an adult, but in ways you can still see the teenager in her actions and appearance.  She still wears the pink, hangs with her friends, and even has the attitude of a teenager.  Even though she is now of age, you can tell she has had to grow up fast.  When prom arrives, she doesn’t feel like staying.  Ripper shows up to take her home but instead they go for a bike ride out to a lake.  She ends up getting drunk and seducing Ripper.  That one act turns both of their lives upside down.  It spirals into lust, love, drama and a hard road for both of them.

Like it is mentioned above, this is a story about pain, sorrow, and suffering.  It is gritty, has touchy subjects, but there is light inside the dark.  I fell in love with Ripper with this story.  I ached for him. I wanted him to have a happy ending, but they both needed to have forks in the road of life.  Author Madeline Sheehan gives us those forks in the road and I can honestly say it was worth it.  It made the ending so much better.  There is a bit of a time jump and the author explains why and how at the beginning if the book.

Again, this book will be either a love it or hate it for most readers.  It is going to be one where it is hard to fall in between those two fences.  I also definitely recommend reading the first book in the series to get the full effect of the characters.  Personally, I can’t wait for book three!

MY RATING

[sc:rate5 ]

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