Held Against You by Season Vining

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held against you by season vining

 

Accused of a horrible crime and on the run, Kat has been rejected by everyone she loves. She’s a fugitive from her past, flitting from town to town with nothing but the clothes on her back. Until she meets a man who literally stops her in her tracks.

This notorious bounty hunter, with his stunning good looks and powerful instincts, never fails to capture his prey. But there’s something about his newest mark that gets under his skin–and it’s not just the naked innocence he sees in her eyes. Behind his ice cold demeanor, he has his own secrets… and now his lively, vulnerable captive is about to crack him wide open.

As they drive across the country together, neither of them can deny the spark of attraction between them. Will their journey force these two passionate opposites together…or will their dangerous secrets be too much to bear?

MY REVIEW

Held Against You by Season Vining held my interest for the first half of the story. There was suspense, mystery, chemistry, romance and lots of cat and mouse chasing.  I liked the characters enough together that I thought they had a good chance of a sizzling romance.  Kat was spunky and she was a good fit for the bounty hunter.  They both had attitudes and could bicker back and forth with each other yet sweet talk the next. What I didn’t like however, was the way the relationship and romance progressed after about half way through the book.

The details and the reason why Kat is on the run wasn’t what you would expect.  Not that it would be a deal breaker in disliking the story, the out come with the bounty hunter is what flopped for me.  Would a bounty hunter really do that? Would he just change everything in such a quick few days? To me, it wasn’t sitting well with me as a reader because it was an easy way out for a ‘happily ever after’. There are still unanswered questions for me because it wasn’t really resolved. It was assumed it was a HEA, but there was no real closure or punishment for the crime.

I really think the story needs some fine tuning for the last half of the story.  Too many loop holes can ruin any story, but unbelievable outcomes can also bring characters to an end just as fast.

“Would you hurry up? I’m exhausted,” he growls.
“Aww. Poor widdle kidnapper is tiwerd.”
“I’m not a kidnapper. I’m a fugitive recovery agent.”
“You say po-tay-toe.”

MY RATING

[sc:rate2 ]

GOODREADS / AMAZON

Number Thirteen by Bella Jewel

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number thirteen by bella jewel

 

We’re thirteen girls, captive, slave to our master.
A master we’ve never seen.
Obedience will become all we know in our shallow existence. It is the only emotion we’re permitted to feel.
When we’re bad, we’re punished. When we’re good, we’re rewarded.
Our scars run deep. Yet we survive, because we have to…
because HE teaches us to.
All of us are special, we feel it with everything we are.
He has us for a reason, but it’s a reason we don’t know.
We’ve never seen his face, but we know that something deeply broken lies beneath the darkness. With every touch, with every punishment, we know it.
Then something changed.
He showed me who he truly is.
Now I want him.
I’ll go against everything I know to be with him.

A monster.

My monster.

Loving him is a sin, but a sinner I am. I won’t stop until I see every part of him. Even the parts he keeps locked deep down inside.

I am Number Thirteen, and this is my story.

MY REVIEW

What was that?!
That was the first thing that popped in my head after reading this book. This book….reaches.  That is the best word I can use to describe this book.  It had promise.  The writing wasn’t too bad in itself. The plot was something that had me curious. What happened though was just so far out there and unbelievable that I am still processing it all.

Not only was it unbelievable — especially the ending — there are still a ton of questions left for the reader. What happened to certain characters after all?  Where did the male body guards come from? Why did he think he could get away with everything he did and not realize how screwed up and illegal it was?!

The flashback beginning chapter is not an answer on why he did all of this.  It was an excuse that he used to justify himself of everything he does in the book.  I love dark and suspenseful romance books, but this one was so far off the rails that I didn’t even enjoy a quarter of what I should have.

“A beautiful heart can never love a dark heart. But a dark heart can crave a beautiful one, and it will. I will crave you, beauty.”

MY RATING

[sc:rate1 ]

GOODREADS / AMAZON

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

America’s Most Wanted Recipes by Ron Douglas

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americas most wanted recipes

 

The average American family eats out three or more times per week, which translates into hundreds of dollars spent on food each month. In these hard economic times, families simply can’t afford to keep paying these high prices. And Ron Douglas has spent the past five years of his life ensuring that we won’t have to. With the help of a test kitchen and more than 45,000 tasters, he uncovered the carefully guarded recipes of the most popular meals at restaurants across the country. With his easy-to-follow steps, families can now enjoy the meals they love most at a price they can actually afford.

MY REVIEW

I am on a small kick of finding cookbooks to stock in my kitchen that I can rely on when needing that perfect recipe.  I am in no way a great cook. Most of the time, my kids look at anything I cook and wonder if they will survive the night if they eat it.  So on the quest to not only learn how to cook properly, I am also looking for recipes that recreate some of the favorites we eat when we go out to dinner.  Not a simple task.

There were a few good looking recipes in this book that held promise. The T.G.I. Fridays Honey Mustard Dressing and the IHOP Buttermilk Pancakes looked fairly easy and tasted pretty close to the secret recipes of the famous restaurants. There aren’t that many recipes though in this book that I would be searching for.  I also noticed that though I am familiar with most of the establishments mentioned in this book, it is favored to certain areas and not everyone would know the restaurants.

While I enjoyed browsing through the recipes, I will have to pass on keeping this one on my kitchen cookbook shelf.  It is not one I would use often enough to  practice with or to even reference in the future for meals.

MY RATING

[sc:rate2 ]

GOODREADS / AMAZON

#Review: Christmas Magic in Heatherdale by Abigail Gordon

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Christmas Magic in HeatherdaleA Christmas to remember!
The cosy market town of Heatherdale is a refuge for pediatrician Melissa Redmond. Alone and penniless, her only hope is a once elegant Victorian house to restore and sell…much to the interest of her new neighbor – and new boss – consultant pediatrician Ryan Ferguson!

Single dad Ryan is unsettled by his attraction to the vulnerable Melissa – his young daughters and his work are all he has time for. But as the falling snow and fairy lights turn Heatherdale into a place of magic and wonder, Ryan realizes that all he wants for Christmas is Melissa – in his arms!

I picked this book up at the library on a whim.  I wasn’t looking for anything in particular this trip, so I decided to browse through the Harlequin Medical Romance books.  Christmas Magic in Heatherdale caught my attention with the summary.  I was looking forward to coming home and reading a heartfelt romance with a single dad of two and one single lady of trouble.

As I started reading the story though, I quickly found that the writing was over the top. Not so much in unbelievable plot lines, but in the way the author had written the dialogue and such.  I felt like I was reading a English Lit Class book for the advance students! Overuse of big and stuffy words that weren’t necessary which includes many paragraph fillers of big words that could have been omitted.  This made it really hard for me to enjoy the story or the characters.  Sometimes less is more for a reader.

MY RATING

[sc:rate2 ]
GOODREADS / AMAZON