The Bro-Magnet by Lauren Baratz-Logsted.

The Bro-Magnet is a laugh out loud story about life and love, told in the first person POV from a man’s perspective. If you’re married or have spent any length of time in a relationship with a guy, you know how clueless they can be when it comes to their feelings and the ways of the world… the real world, that is. Well, in this book we get to spend years inside Johnny’s head and while I still don’t think I’ll ever understand the way men think, at least I got a lot of great laughs from reading about it.

If you’re looking for something out of the ordinary, something light and easy to read, you really should pick up The Bro-Magnet and settle yourself in for, entertaining story.

This book was provided by netgalley.com and author, Lauren Baratz-Logsted.

A Tryst With Trouble by Alyssa Everett

Happy "It's About Bloody Time" Release Day!!

A Tryst with Trouble is finally being published! Seems Ms. Everett is another author who fell victim to the mess that is/was Dorchester Publishing and her book release was delayed...as in, it didn't happen. But I'm thrilled to share that Carina Press was smart enough to see it for the gem it is and now you all have the opportunity to do the same!

I'm wishing Ms. Everett much LONG OVERDUE success with this wonderful story.

My Review:

A Tryst With Trouble is a charming, funny, somewhat steamy Regency romance by debut author Alyssa Everett. The witty dialog and hilarious insights into the characters’ thoughts has made this one of the most delightful novels I’ve read in a long time.

The Marquess of Beningbrough, known as Ben to his friends and family, does not want to follow in his father’s footsteps… in fact, he wants to be as far removed from those footsteps as possible. The reason? Because of the gossip surrounding his father’s supposed homosexuality and Ben’s concern that others might think that his apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Ben’s solution? To become the ultimate man’s man so there can be no question about his own sexuality!

Lady Barbara Jeffords is the oldest daughter, and though she is not, by any stretch of the imagination ugly, she’s been passed over time and time again by suitors who favor her younger sister, Helen. Because of this, Barbara has decided that all men are shallow, arrogant and boorish, and that being single is a blessing rather than a curse.

Helen is betrothed to Teddy, Ben’s cousin, but rumor has it that Helen’s been trysting with the neighbor’s footman, and even though Teddy is ready to break off the engagement, when said footman turns up dead and it looks like Helen might be the culprit, Teddy jumps in to claim that he’s the killer in order to protect Helen.

With gossip, blackmail and murder threatening to see someone swinging from the hangman’s rope, Ben and Barbara, who are both certain that neither Teddy or Helen are guilty of the crime, work together to find out who did it and why, and this made for some great times!

Normally I have trouble with stories written in the first person, and when I realized that this was written in the first person, from two different points of view, I was a little skeptical about how it would turn out. The author did a great job of moving the story along, and even though we get both Barbara and Ben’s POV of a scene, it never felt repetitive or overdone. In fact, the POV changes gave us some of the funniest moments in the book.

The bottom line - Whew! Okay, as I said, A Tryst With Trouble is a simply delightful story filled with enough twists and turns to keep it light and highly entertaining. The most enjoyable parts of the story were those spent inside Ben and Barbara’s minds, and with their often self deprecating, laugh out loud funny banter! I’m so looking forward to reading more by this very talented author!

Fatal Flaw by Marie Force

When it comes to romantic suspense, Marie Force always delivers exciting, believable stories, and Fatal Flaw, the fourth book in the Fatal series is no different.

Senator Nick Cappuano and D.C. Police Lieutenant Samantha Holland are home from their two week, romantic honeymoon on Bora Bora. Literally, just minutes past midnight on her official ‘first day back,’ Sam gets called to work, and it begins. With investigations, campaigning, cold cases, threats, cheating husbands, missing people and murder, Sam and Nick find themselves thrust back into life as they’ve come to know it; busy, bloody, and dangerous!

“My name is Terry, and I’m an alcoholic.”

Fatal Flaw is a great addition to the series, and while I was happy to see so many things finally start to come together, what I was most impressed by was the way Ms. Force handled the issue of Terry O’Connor’s alcoholism. Openly, no sugar coating, Terry laid it all out and accepted responsibility for his actions. This was handled with honesty and compassion and without exploiting alcoholism or making it all about the drama.

“I told you—we’ll keep trying until we get it right. However long it takes. I’m not going anywhere, Jeannie. No matter what.”

Another thing that I was so pleased to see was how Jeannie McBride was beginning to heal from her kidnapping and rape, with the help of her boyfriend, Michael. I adore him for his dedication and devotion to Jeannie, and I adore her for not giving up.

Okay, I need to get this off my chest... Something that really bugged me was Sam's repeated derogatory thoughts about Stahl's weight, not just in this book, but throughout the entire series. I mean, seriously... every time the man was on the page, Sam noted his "jiggling" or "wiggling" jowls, his sweating, his turning purple... Sure, the guy is repulsive, but he'd be repulsive even if he didn't have an ounce of fat on him, and so with each passing scene it started to feel as though Sam's revulsion towards him was as much about his weight as it was about him being an asswipe. And, as I am a woman who carries some extra weight and have been known to jiggle from time to time myself, it started to become a bit much. Just sayin'....

This final quote, a quick exchange between Sam and Nick, pretty much sums up their life:

“Holy shit.” His voice was unsteady, and she could feel a slight tremor in his muscles. “Holy freaking shit.”

“Look at it this way—never a dull moment.”

That drew a reluctant chuckle from her husband. “Dull is boring and overrated.”

“I’d love the opportunity to find out.”

Tipping her chin up to receive his kiss, he said, “Not gonna happen in this lifetime, babe.”

The bottom line - While this book isn't without flaws, once again Marie Force has written a romantic, passionate, heartwarming, thrilling story that kept me guessing as to who the bad guy was and what the motives were. I enjoyed seeing how tight Sam and Nick's relationship has become... the honesty, the love, devotion... great stuff, that.

This book was provided by netgalley.com in behalf of Carina Press.

The Viking's Sacrifice by Julia Knight

They know but unsurely who sit within, what manner of man is
come.~ Hávamál: 133

Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing. ~ Proverbs 18:22

Julia Knight's The Viking’s Sacrifice is one of those stories that you don’t come across often, but will stay with you for a long time. It takes place during one of my favorite periods, pre-tenth century, with the Anglo-Saxon and Viking battles, the back and forth invasions, vying for riches, land and power. Part of what makes this time period so interesting to me is how the growth of Christianity changed the influence of pagan gods and the lives of those who worshiped them. But while I enjoyed the story for the historical aspect alone, I loved it because of Einar and Wilda, whose struggles for justice and freedom made The Viking’s Sacrifice an emotional read.

From the cover:

Viking raiders destroyed Wilda’s home. She witnessed the murder of her mother and would have been killed herself if it weren’t for the Viking boy Einar, who saved her from his ruthless brother. The blood and murder left Wilda cold and shorn of feeling.

Eight years later, the heathens return for Wilda. As a captive in the Viking village, she finds protection and silent comfort in the man who once gallantly saved her.

Einar has been cursed to silence by his brother. With the dark net of his brother’s power cast over their village, silence is a small price to pay for his family’s safety. But Einar is immediately drawn to Wilda, and the need to protect her from his brother awakens his Viking courage. Can Einar break his brother’s curse in time to save the village and the woman he loves?

Each chapter begins with a passage from either the Bible or the Hávamál - Words of Odin, the High One - and gives us a glimpse into what’s to come. For some, those passages might seem a bit preachy, but remember that during this time, and this story specifically, "religion" of whatever kind is a huge part of their lives, and if you keep that in mind, you’ll understand that the passages are more insightful than preachy.

The bottom line: This is a hard book to review because it doesn’t fit snugly into a single genre. It’s historical fiction for sure, but also historical romance, historical romantic suspense, mild Christian fiction, pagan beliefs … but in the end, for me, the labels don’t matter. What does matter is that this is such a poignant story. Heartbreaking, yet inspiring, and much more than a romance, The Viking’s Sacrifice is a wonderful love story. Wilda and Einar had to fight, not just to live, but to love, and so their happily ever after is a truly beautiful thing.

3.5/5 stars

My thanks to netgalley.com providing me with a copy of this ebook in behalf of Carina Press.

Tempted by Her Innocent Kiss by Maya Banks

 

Tempted by Her Innocent Kiss is the third book in Maya Banks’ Pregnancy and Passion series, and another great story. Like the other books in the series, the plot isn’t terribly unique, but Ms. Banks has taken what would have been predictable, fleshed it out, tweaked it and made it into something distinctively hers.

About the book: Devon Carter is all about business. He’s smart, determined and power hungry, and will do whatever he has to do to continue climbing the ladder of success... even if that means marrying William Copeland’s daughter in order to secure a business merger between Tricorp and Copeland Hotels. Marrying Ashley certainly wouldn’t be a hardship; she’s beautiful, loving, and easily managed, so the way Devon sees it, it’s a win-win situation.

Ashley Copeland has been sheltered and pampered her entire life. She’s vivacious and impulsive and madly in love with Devon Carter. When Devon asks her to marry him, she’s the happiest woman in the world until, on their honeymoon, she learns that their marriage was the stipulation of a business agreement between her father and Devon. She feels betrayed, and yet, she still loves Devon, so rather than run out, she decides to stay and become the kind of woman Devon needs, even if it means losing herself.

I’m a big fan of “heroes who pull their heads out of their asses and finally see the light” stories, and this one definitely fits into that category. There is so much emotional depth to this story that I found myself holding my breath at times, waiting to see what was going to happen next, and how Devon could possibly atone for his actions. It was heartbreaking watching Ashley try to become someone she wasn’t, while at the same time seeing Devon realize that he was in love with the woman Ashley had been all along, not the woman she was becoming. Ashley started out a bit on the weak side as far as heroines go, but really did hold her own by the end of the story.

The bottom line: Tempted by Her Innocent Kiss is a story for those times when you need a little more emotional angst and something a little deeper to read. The characters are people you can believe in, care for, and cheer for as they work towards their happily ever after, and breathing a contented sigh when they finally reach it.

This book was provided by netgalley.com in behalf of Harlequin Desire.

Ember by Kristen Callihan

Ember is labeled as the prequel to Firelight, the first book in the Darkest London series, but as many others have said, it doesn’t read like a prequel. For me it’s more of a companion to Firelight, because most of this novella takes place after Archer and Miranda have already met. What Ember does is fill in the gaps, answers questions about what both were doing before the events that brought them together again in Firelight.

This is one of the better novellas I’ve read, and had me wanting to go back and do a re-read of Firelight, but I don’t feel like I learned anything all that important or insightful. That said, it was entertaining and I’m even more excited to read the next book in the series, Moonglow.

3.5/5 stars

My thanks to netgalley.com for providing me with a copy of this ebook in behalf of Forever, an Imprint of Grand Central Publishing.

A Perfect Storm by Lori Foster

A Perfect Storm is the fourth book in the Men Who Walk the Edge of Honor series and, if you’ve read the first three books, you know the nightmare that Arizona Storm survived. Well, she’s back with a vengeance and she’s going to make sure that no one else has to live through the hell that she did.

Spencer Lark knows what Arizona suffered at the hands of the human traffickers, and so despite his attraction to her, he keeps her at arm’s length… until she shows up at his place looking for help taking down a local trafficking operation. Spencer doesn’t have much of a choice because, with or without him, she’s going in, and he’s not about to let her go in alone.

With A Perfect Storm, Lori Foster tackled a difficult subject and did so with the compassion and respect women who have suffered as Arizona did are so deserving of. While we didn’t get a lot of the details about what happened during her captivity, we were given a close look into Arizona’s heart and soul, and saw how deeply she was affected by it. And though she has every right to be frightened or timid, she’s anything but! Her actions, her fears, her demeanor… who's to say how a woman in her shoes should or should not act? But wow, her strength, her integrity… her refusal to allow herself to remain a victim, made this not merely an emotional read, but an inspiring one.

And the men… those hot, sexy, alpha males. Spencer, Dare, Trace, and Jackson… I thought they were great before, but now? I absolutely, without a doubt, adore them... and not just for the men they are, but for the woman they accepted and encouraged Arizona to be; herself.

The bottom line – This isn’t your typical romantic suspense. Oh, it’s an action packed, passionate, sexy read, but more than that, A Perfect Storm is powerful, heartbreaking, hopeful… an emotional rollercoaster… but in the end, one of the most beautiful romances I’ve ever read. It’s not sweetly poetic or all sunshine and happiness, but sometimes, for some people, real life doesn’t give them that. So why is this love story special? Because Spencer and Arizona earned it. Through their blood, their tears, their honesty and faith… without even realizing they were doing it, they fought for a chance at love with everything they had in them – and that is what makes their happily ever after so beautiful.

My sincerest thanks to netgalley.com and Harlequin HQN for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

And most importantly, thank you, Ms. Foster, for writing this book because for some women, this isn't fiction, and they deserve to have stories...  happily ever afters that they can believe in... that they can hope for, too.