Scoundrel in My Dreams by Celeste Bradley

I had not yet read anything by Celeste Bradley, so when this book arrived in the mail to be read and rated as a 2010 Readers Crown selection, I wasn’t at all sure what to expect. And, because it’s the third book in a trilogy I knew nothing about, I decided that to be fair to the author I’d pick up the first two books, Devil In My Bed and Rogue In My Arms and read them first. As I said, I wasn’t sure what to expect and in the end, truly enjoyed them. And now, having read Scoundrel in my Dreams I can say, without a doubt, that I’ll be reading more by this author.

Words that come to mind as I sit here trying to describe this story are tragic, triumphant, adorable, sensual, funny, sweet, passionate, and very, very sexy. Jack is a tormented man, and his deep, dark secret truly is dark. Because of this I’m able to understand and forgive some of his actions, and my heart broke for the man he was, the man he wanted to be, and the man he ultimately became.

Because of my unabashed love for Jack from the previous books, Laurel could have come across as a bitchy, spoiled, undeserving heroine to me, but I found that I was able to connect with her and see where her anger and sense of betrayal was coming from. I appreciated how the author took the time to make sure I was able to feel that side of Laurel, because without that, I’d never have been able to accept her as the happily ever after that Jack was so in need of.

Their story is such an emotional one, filled with hope and anguish, love and betrayal, sadness and joy and a passion like I’ve seldom seen in a historical romance. Jack now holds a place of honor on my Top Heroes shelf, and I’ll remember him for ages to come.

One of my very favorite things about this trilogy as a whole has turned out to be Melody, not the child, but the woman whose story we see in bits and pieces throughout all three books. Lementeur, affectionately known as Button, a well known London tailor who had created the wedding gowns for the brides in this series, became a very close friend of all three families over the years. Now, as Melody is preparing for her own wedding, Button is there telling her the stories of Uncle Aiden, Uncle Colin and her own parents. In Devil in my Bed, he’s telling her Aiden and Madeleine’s story, in Rogue in my Arms he recounting Colin and Pru’s story and in this book, of course, Jack and Laurel’s story. It was such a touching, unique way of giving us a front row seat to this fun, heartwarming tale.

I can only hope, but I’d love to get Melody’s story, fully told, and watch her own happily ever after as it unfolds.

Just a note - This book could be read as a standalone because the author did a great job of giving us the important details from the previous books. Any reader coming into this story with no previous knowledge of the characters or the plot would have no trouble following along, however, I found that by actually reading Devil In My Bed and Rogue In My Arms and having become so thoroughly invested in those heroes and heroines, Scoundrel In My Dreams was an absolute delight to read and a huge part of that is because in those earlier books we learn how much Aiden and Colin love Jack, and why, so by the time we got to his book, his character had already become someone we cared deeply for. To truly understand Jack’s tormented soul and to get to know the other characters whose hopes and dreams depend on the outcome of this story, I’d strongly encourage you to read the first two books, in order, before beginning this one.


5/5 Stars

Rogue in My Arms by Celeste Bradley

Rogue in my Arms is the second book in the Runaway Brides trilogy and picks up right where the first book, Devil in my Arms, left off – with the ongoing search for Melody’s mother. This time, it’s Sir Colin Lambert who has come to the conclusion that Melody must be his child, the product of a tumultuous affair between Colin and Miss Chantal Marchant, a flighty, eccentric stage actress, several years earlier. Colin had been quite enamored of the woman, but one evening when he'd gone to see her, she ended their affair with what was clearly – though not to Colin – an overly dramatic, tragic excuse for why they could no longer be together. He was devastated, but reluctantly let her get away. However, now that there was the chance that Melody was their daughter, he was determined to track her down and marry her.

As Colin is about to set off on his search, he meets Miss Prudence Filby, a common, lowborn seamstress who also wants to find Chantal Marchant because the untrustworthy actress owes her money for some costumes that Prudence had sewn for her. Since they were both after the same thing, and knowing he’d need help caring for Melody, Colin hires Miss Filby to come along as a temporary nanny. She, her eleven year old brother Evan, Colin and Melody set out to find Miss Marchant, and the events that take place along their journey kept me smiling and laughing and even fanning myself.

The bottom line – This was such a happy read. I enjoyed this story even more than I did the first book, and part of the reason for that is because we got to revisit the previous characters who had all come to love Melody and were hoping that Miss Marchant would turn out to be Melody’s mother. They needed this to be, because if Melody was indeed Colin’s daughter, then she would be a part of their lives, always. And the alternative, Melody ending up with another family, or in an orphanage, meant they’d never get to see her again, and that wasn’t something any of them wanted to even think about.

I finished this book very thankful that I had the third and final installment to this trilogy sitting right beside me, because I too had fallen completely in love with Melody, Little Milady, and wanted to – no, needed to – find out what was to become of her and the crazy, loveable cast of characters in the Runaway Brides series.

But more than anything, I wanted to get to know Jack.

Devil in my Bed by Celeste Bradley

Devil in my Bed is the first book in the Runaway Brides trilogy and my first read by author Celeste Bradley. I went into this trilogy with no idea of what to expect from this author, and I have to say, I wasn’t disappointed.

We’re introduced to an adorable little girl named Melody, when Aiden de Quincy finds her sitting on the front steps of Brown’s Club for Distinguished Gentlemen, a London club where he resides when he’d rather not be at home with his mother, the Dowager Countess, and his cousins who have come for a visit.

Melody has only a small satchel with her few belongings and a note pinned to her coat that reads:

The mony stopped coming from the mother. I can’t keep her no more. The father can take her now. Don’t know his name. He’s a memmber of Brown’s.

After reading the note and surmising her age to be about three years old, he realizes that Melody might just be his child, the result of an affair he’d had some years earlier, an affair that left him with painful memories of the woman who laughed at him when he asked her to marry him. He’d left Madeleine Chandler that day, vowing to himself to forget her and move on with his life, but the memories of those months together weren’t quite so obliging. And now, this new adorable development has him rethinking that vow and searching for the woman who still holds his heart, determined to reunite mother and child and make Maddie his bride.

As I said, this was my first book by this author, and it took me a bit of time to get into it. There were things I definitely loved about this story, and yet at times those same things, in different situations, didn’t work for me. There were moments I was laughing at loud at the ridiculous actions of both Aiden and his almost friend Colin, whom I came to adore, and of course Melody, affectionately nicknamed Little Milady. Her innocent comments and curious nature made for some very sweet moments, but from time to time I felt they were overdone.

Ms. Bradley gave us a great supporting cast in Sir Colin Lambert, Aiden’s friend, Sirs Bartles and James who spent most of the book engrossed in their never ending chess game, Sir Aldrich who wasn't as blind or deaf as he pretended to be, Wilberforce, Brown’s all too observant Chief of Staff, Bailiwick, the shy footman and finally, Sir John Redgrave, also known as Jack, who had gone off to war and returned a broken man. And even though we don’t meet Jack in this book I still came to care a great deal for the man he was and the man he became.

The bottom line – Despite some predictable situations and the occasional too-sweet Melody moments, I really enjoyed this story. Yes, in my opinion it does suffer from a case of the FITs (First in the Series syndrome) but not so much that I had to skim or skip through it. In fact, by the end of the book I felt a deep affection for all of the characters and immediately started reading the second book, Rogue In My Arms.

The Rebel by Julianne MacLean

Short stories can be a great way to be introduced to an author’s writing, but are often times lacking in much depth of emotion, storyline or character development. I think it takes real talent to be able to draw the reader in and leave them desperate for more, and with The Rebel, Julianne MacLean did just that.  In fact, as soon as I finished this story, which is the prequel to her new Highlander Trilogy, I went online and put the first book, Captured by the Highlander on hold at my local Barnes and Noble and will be reading it as soon as I have it in my hands!

If the rest of Ms. MacLean’s books are as good as The Rebel, I’ve just found myself another auto-buy author.

Friendly Fire by Megan Hart

I enjoyed this novella from Megan Hart, but I wish it had been a full length novel so we could have gotten more of the relationship development and more details of the assignment that went terribly wrong.

That said, it was still a great story with a healthy serving of heat and a hero and heroine I’d love to know more about. In fact, this would make a great prologue to a full length novel – maybe a year down the road something happens to separate them for a time until they can work their way back to a happily ever after.

Note - This ebook was provided to me by netgalley.com in behalf of Carina Press but that had no influence on my review.

Breaking Point (I-Team #5) by Pamela Clare

Blurb...

While investigating border violence in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, Denver journalist Natalie Benoit is caught in a bloody ambush and taken captive. Alone in the hands of ruthless killers, she will need every ounce of courage she possesses to survive.

Betrayed by another operative, Deputy U.S. Marshal Zach McBride has endured a week of torture and interrogation at the hands of a bloodthirsty Mexican drug cartel. Ready to give his life if he must, he remains unbroken—until he hears the cries of an American woman.

Although Natalie is only a voice in the darkness of their shared prison, her plight brings renewed strength to Zach's battered body. With her help, he overpowers their captors, and they flee through the desert toward the border, the attraction between them flaring hotter than the Sonoran sun.

But past loss and tragedy leave both of them reluctant to follow their hearts, even when the passion between them reaches its breaking point. Faced with feelings neither expected, they fight to stay ahead of the danger that hunts them as forces more powerful than they can imagine conspire to destroy them both…

Congratulations to Pamela Clare! Breaking Point was named one of amazon.com's Top Ten Romances of 2011! 

Books like Breaking Point are the reason Pamela Clare is my favorite Romantic Suspense author. Yes, I know I sound like a broken record, but it’s true, and this latest installment of the I-Team series only further solidifies her place of honor in this genre. The story is action packed from the first page to the last and once again I was kept on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next, and once that was revealed, how they’d ever be able to get out of it. And when I say my heart was pounding and my hands trembling while reading this story, I’m not exaggerating.

I won’t go into the plot, other than to say that the dedication gives us more insight into the depth of Breaking Point than the cover blurb ever could:

This book is dedicated to the memory of the hundreds of murdered and missing women of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. You were brutalized and discarded like you didn’t matter. But the earth received your tears, your blood, your bones, and, like a bereaved mother, the earth itself cries out for justice. May the violence end and those who stole your bodies and your lives be held to account.

With all of Pamela’s novels we are given stories we can believe in, causes we can champion, and if Breaking Point is any different at all, it’s only in that the underlying truth the story is founded on is so heartbreaking. And while it’s true that there are hundreds of missing and murdered women whose names we’ll never know, we know of them, and they live on through Pamela’s writing. They are not forgotten.

Now, as those of us I-Team fangirls know, this wouldn’t be a Pamela Clare novel without a gorgeous, passionate, hotter-than-hell hero and Zach MacBride fits that bill perfectly, giving us plenty of burn-up-the-pages sexy goodness! Both he and Natalie Benoit are incredibly strong people, inside and out, and they had to be in order to survive the physical and emotional hell they’re put through in this book.

While Breaking Point has one of the most intense, exciting endings I’ve ever read in a romantic suspense novel, it is also filled with memorable and heartwarming moments. One of my favorites from this book also takes place towards the end when we get a candid, touching glimpse into the depth of the friendship formed between Marc and Julian, a couple of I-Team heroes from previous books. It honestly brought tears to my eyes.

If you haven’t yet read this series, you’re seriously missing out on some incredible stories. They’ll enlighten you, entertain you, make you laugh, sigh and fan yourself, and they might even move you to tears, but most importantly, you’ll finish the book knowing that what you read was well worth your time. And who knows, you might even be inspired to take a look around and see what you can do, no matter how small it might seem, to make someone’s life a little better. To make a difference.

The I-Team reading order, so far:

1. Extreme Exposure
1.5 Heaven Can't Wait - a novella found in the out of print anthology Catch of the Day and on ebook
2. Hard Evidence
3. Unlawful Contact
4. Naked Edge
5. Breaking Point
5.5. Skin Deep
5.9. First Strike
6. Striking Distance
6.5. Soul Deep
7. Seduction Game
7.5 Dead by Midnight

Click here to purchase Breaking Point from Amazon

Whisper Falls by Toni Blake

Welcome to Destiny, Ohio—where coming home means finding your true heart and maybe even your true love.

Tessa Sheridan came crawling back home to Destiny after her big city interior design career crumbled. Now not only must she struggle to make ends meet, she has to contend with a biker next door and the roar of Harleys shattering the serenity of her cabin in the woods. Worse still, her sexy bad boy neighbor makes her feel breathless and weak—and shy, petite Tessa knows what a major mistake it would be to get involved with someone so…dangerous.

They say that former teen rebel Lucky Romo has a dark, secret past—that he’s trouble with a capital “T.” Still, Tessa feels all tingly when she sees how well he fills out a pair of tight jeans. And when Lucky invites her into his world, she knows the intense heat sparking between them could lead her somewhere wild and wonderful…and, yes, dangerous!

*********

I never sit down and write reviews immediately after finishing a book, but this time, I just couldn’t help it! Whisper Falls is an amazing story about forgiving, moving forward, and not judging people without giving them a chance! Throughout the book the theme is about never giving up. It’s an inspiring story that had me laughing out loud, sighing, crying tears of both joy and sorrow, and most definitely fanning myself.

Lucky Romo is the ultimate bad guy and this story could have been so very dark, but despite all he’d been through in his life, Tessa gave him a sense of worth, and a place he belonged. She brought light into his dark world and without even knowing what was happening to him, she worked her way into his heart and freed the man he’d kept locked away. I sobbed, literally sobbed until my chest hurt, learning about this man and the boy he was who had never felt loved. He is most definitely worthy of a place on my Top Heroes self.

In the previous two books I never really felt much connection to Tessa Sheridan. I didn’t find her compelling and couldn’t imagine that she’d make a great heroine. Wow, did I ever miss the mark with her! In fact, I connected with her in a big way because I also have health problems that land me in bed for days at a time. But despite her own illness, she’s caring, nurturing, determined and easily my favorite woman out of the three books. She has her weaknesses, but refuses to be vulnerable and I found her attitude and her indomitable spirit so encouraging.

Some of my favorite things about this story are the quotes Tessa keeps written down in her little notebook. They’re sayings that she finds here and there, and all uplifting. Whenever she starts feeling down, she reads them and remembers how much she has to be thankful for. Those quotes made me realize how much I have in my life, and to be thankful for even the smallest things.

These are some of them -

-Think of all the beauty that’s still left in and around you and be happy. – Anne Frank

-If God sends us on strong paths, we are provided strong shoes. – Corrie ten Boom

          -Keep your face always toward the sunshine – and shadows will fall behind you. – Walt Whitman

-Laugh. Dance. Ellen.

And my very favorite -

-Just keep swimming. – Dory, Finding Nemo

Thanks, for making it so simple, Tessa. I can do that.