Edge of Survival by Toni Anderson

I Spread My Wings and Keep My Promise - 14 Squadron RAF

Who are my favorite heroes? Those tormented men who have served their countries with honor, risking all, asking for nothing in return… those men who look death in the face, every day, for no other reason than to make the world a safer place for people they don’t know, people they’ll never meet. Show us his pain, his demons, his vulnerabilities… give me a man like that and you’ve given me a hero I’ll fall in love with, a hero like Daniel Fox.

Who are my favorite heroines? Those strong women who have struggles of their own but refuse to give up. The women who do what they can to make a difference, to make the world a better place, however they can, who don’t let the difficulties that life has handed them stand in their way… that’s the kind of woman I would choose to be, a woman like Cameran Young

What are my favorite storylines? The ones that center around real life situations, the kinds that challenge the characters to step up and be the best people they can be. Believable, thought provoking stories that grab hold and never let go, and leave me questioning the things I’d be raised to believe… political, environmental… it doesn’t matter, as long as I finish the book asking myself what I can do to make the world a better place, that’s my kind of story… a story like Edge of Survival.

There are just so many things to love about this book that it’s nearly impossible to list them all! I’ve already mentioned the great characters and the awesome story, but another one of my favorite things is how each chapter is introduced with a saying or motto belonging to branches of the armed services, each one somehow representing the theme of that chapter. I tried to choose only a few favorites, but just couldn’t do it, so I decided to share them all:

Chapter 1: In Harm’s Way - USS John Paul Jones
Chapter 2: Ready for All, Yielding for None - 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines
Chapter 3: Ready for Anything - The Parachute Regiment
Chapter 4: The Team Works - The Royal Navy
Chapter 5: Death On Call Tactical Air Control Party - U.S. Air Force
Chapter 6: Swifter and More Keen than Eagles - 11 Squadron RAF
Chapter 7: Difficulties Be Damned - King’s Regiment (Liverpool)
Chapter 8: Make Peace or Die - 1st Battalion, 5th Marines
Chapter 9: Rise Above the Rest - The Royal Air Force
Chapter 10: Semper Fidelis Always Faithful - U.S. Marine Corps
Chapter 11: By Strength and Guile - British Special Boat Service
Chapter 12: Nemo me impune lacessit None Attack Me with Impunity - Black Watch
Chapter 13: Per Ardua Through Adversity - The Royal Air Force Regiment
Chapter 14: The Impossible We Do Every Day, Miracles Take a Bit Longer - 4404thCSG/PERSCO Dhahran AB, Saudi Arabia
Chapter 15: Return With Honor - 31st Fighter Wing
Chapter 16: In futurum videre To See Into the Future - 4 Squadron RAF
Chapter 17: Fidelity, Valor, Honor - 3rd Marine Division, USMC
Chapter 18: Guardians of the North - 28th Bomber Wing
Chapter 19: I’ve Not Yet Begun To Fight - USS Bonnehomme Richard
Chapter 20: Who Dares Wins - British Special Air Service

And my favorite:

Chapter 21: I Spread My Wings and Keep My Promise - 14 Squadron RAF

The bottom line – If you’re a fan of great Romantic Suspense like I am, and you’re always on the lookout for your next fix, then look no further. I can’t recommend this book highly enough. Edge of Survival is without a doubt, one of the most exciting, romantic, sexy stories I’ve had the pleasure of reading this year and I will definitely be looking for more by Toni Anderson.

My thanks to Carina Press and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this wonderful book in exchange for an honest review.

Mine Until Midnight by Lisa Kleypas

There’s something just so special about a historical romance done the Lisa Kleypas way. Light, yet with substance. So much sexual passion and yet such tender love. Her books are always a delightful escape and her heroes are always so sigh-worthy.

This is a touching story about a tight knit, albeit quirky, family consisting of four sisters, Amelia, Win, Poppy, and Beatrix; their one brother, Leo, and Merripen, who as a young boy was wounded and left for dead following a Gypsy hunt. He was brought into the Hathaway family by the siblings father and although they considered him one of them, he always kept himself apart - more than a servant, yet not quite part of their family.

In Mine Till Midnight, while there are many, many things happening involving all of the siblings, the romantic focus of the story is on Amelia, the eldest of the Hathaway siblings, and Cam Rohan who we met in Devil In Winter. I’m not going to go into plot details, because there are several sub-stories going on and it would be too complicated, so I’ll just touch on the things I loved – or not so much – about this book.

What I loved: I’ll start with Cam Rohan because I am, after all, a mature, red blooded woman with healthy desires who loves a hot, sexy man who wants to take charge in the bedroom and give as much pleasure as he gets. I especially love it when he… umm… errrr… that is to say… forgive me, for I digress. As I was about to say, I love how comfortable Cam is with who he is and who he isn’t. He knows what he wants and is willing to give up all his wealth to try and find it. He’s not a tortured soul in need of fixing, which is probably why I didn’t connect with him on some deeper level, but I wanted to bring him home and love him up all the same.

What I loved and didn’t love: Amelia. Dear, sweet Amelia; what an interesting character she turned out to be. In fact, the very thing I admired most about Amelia is that which I also disliked about her. She’s a take charge kind of woman, getting the job done no matter the cost to her own happiness. Willing to set aside any hope for a marriage for herself, she set about trying to ensure the best possible future for her brother and sisters. She was very protective of the family, which in some ways is good, but we all know that you have to let people learn lessons on their own, sometimes. Amelia was so concerned about protecting them that she wasn’t letting them live. She was suffocating them. And even when Cam came along, offering to help share her burden, she kept refusing. She had some twisted sense of obligation and responsibility for the family that made me want to throttle her with my bare hands! Fortunately, that didn’t last too long and she eventually saw the error of her ways.

Interestingly enough, the things that touched me the most about this book were not even related to Amelia and Cam, but Win and Merripen, which is who I felt the most connected to. It was heart wrenchingly clear that they care for each other – I’d even go so far as to say that they love each other.

**Spoiler**In one heart breaking scene, Merripen has been badly burned in a house fire and infection has set in. Cam knows of a poultice that he’s certain will help, but would be very, very painful to apply. So despite Merripen’s hatred of morphine, knowing he’d refuse to take it, Win devises a plot to sneak it to him in mint tea. They make the tea very strong and overly sweet to try and mask the flavor of the drug, but Merripen can still taste it. In his weakened, delusional state of mind, he’s certain that Win is trying to give him an overdose to spare him any more suffering.

I sobbed:

Dying in her arms…cradled against her as he relinquished his scarred soul to the darkness…Win would be the last thing he would ever see, hear, feel. Had there been any tears in him, he would have wept in gratitude.

He drank slowly, forcing down every swallow. He drank part of the next cup until his throat would no longer work, and he turned his face against her chest and shuddered. His head was spinning and sparks were drifting all around him like falling stars.

Win set the cup aside and stroked his hair, and pressed her wet cheek to his forehead.

And they both waited.

“Sing to me,” Merripen whispered as the blinding darkness rolled over him. Win continued to stroke his head as she crooned a lullaby. His fingers touched her throat, seeking the precious vibration of her voice and the sparks faded as he lost himself in her, his fate, at last. **End Spoiler**

I'd have never thought to find that kind of emotional connection or torment in a secondary relationship, but that scene, the way it was so poignantly written, will stay with me for years and years to come.

I'm so thankful to have found Lisa Kleypas' historicals because, regardless of which novel I'm reading, I finish the story with a smile on my face.

The Last Cowboy by Lindsay McKenna

I was very excited to read this book because I looooovvvvvvve me some cowboys, and the author’s note at the beginning had me even more convinced that this would be a great read. As it turned out, however, I enjoyed her note more than the book itself. It’s not that it was bad, but it’s not the romance I expected. I’ll try to explain why this one just didn’t work for me.

I’m going to start by saying that The Last Cowboy was really a difficult book to read and review. While it was very well written, we spent the first 30+% of it learning about the equestrian world of dressage and techniques of endurance riding, the way horses are tested to see if they’d make good endurance runners, and other details of the sport. That would have been fine had it been necessary to the story, but I don’t believe that it was, and it took away from what I consider to be far more important – the characters. And even though Ms. McKenna used the character's interactions and dialogs to impart all of this information, we didn’t get a good feel for Slade and Jordana until well into the book - and I do mean well into it.

What I'm trying to say is that as a reader, I’m first drawn into a story by forming emotional attachments to the people, but instead I found myself immersed in details that I had little interest in. Better balance would have gone a long way to making this a really good read, but to be completely honest, I had a hard time staying focused or even mildly interested in the story or the characters. Sadly, while the characters have great potential, the story doesn’t allow them to shine.

The bottom line - If you’re wild about horses and love everything about them; riding, training, competition, health, temperament... then I do think you’d love this book! However, a large part of the story read more like contemporary fiction than contemporary romance, so don’t expect to fall in love with the characters or to get a strong, romantic, happily ever after. Go into this story because you love horses, and I think you’ll enjoy it.

This book was provided by netgalley.com in behalf of HQNbooks, a Harlequin Imprint.

Enticed by His Forgotten Lover by Maya Banks

Enticed by His Forgotten Lover is the first book in the Pregnancy & Passion series, and while I can't say I'm a huge fan of Maya Banks’ books, this one is definitely a hit! It’s a heartwarming tale about what happens when a man gets a second chance and is willing to do whatever he has to, to have a future with the one person in this world who makes him feel things he’s never felt before – true, passionate, soul deep love, and the need to be a better man.

And despite the fact that the writing isn't flawless, and even though this is a storyline that's been done again and again, I really enjoyed the setting and the characters in this book.

The bottom line - Enticed by His Forgotten Lover is a fun, romantic and sexy story about forgetting, forgiving, letting go and moving forward, and I will definitely be looking for more by Ms. Banks in the Pregnancy & Passion series!
4 of 5 stars

Head Over Heels by Jill Shalvis

Once again Jill Shalvis has made magic happen in Lucky Harbor, in an absolutely delightful, sexy, and heartwarming addition to the series. She’s given us a beautiful love story and truly incredible characters who jump off the page, becoming honest-to-God living, breathing, feeling people who I can’t help but adore.

Chloe is the only one of Phoebe Traeger’s daughters who was actually raised by their quirky, free spirited mother, and Chloe has that same nature. Her sisters love her to death, but sometimes see her as a bit selfish, and definitely undependable, but I don’t see her that way at all. I see Chloe as a unique, loving woman who doesn’t fit the expectations of those around her, nor does she need to. She has her issues, but don't we all? Thankfully for her, Sawyer can see in Chloe what she can not – yes, she's flawed, but perfectly so.

With his troubled past and his need to make amends for crimes both real and imagined, Sawyer captured my heart. So strong, so honorable, and yet so very vulnerable in ways he’d never imagined, Sawyer is the kind of hero I’m drawn to, the kind I can’t help but love. And lucky for Sawyer, Chloe sees him for the man he truly is - yes, he's flawed, but perfectly so.

For me, the thing that makes Head Over Heels such a romantic love story is that both Sawyer and Chloe don’t believe that they can be loved… they truly, to the depths of their souls, believe themselves to be unlovable – and in Sawyer’s case, even worse – unworthy of love. Watching as they came to see themselves through the other person's eyes was just so beautiful, so... I can't even put it into words.

The bottom line – As I’ve said with each book in this series… don’t waste another moment thinking about reading this book… just do it. These are romantic, sexy, hopeful, uplifting stories about every day people who want what we all want; to live, laugh and love, and to find our own happily ever afters just like the ones waiting to be discovered in Lucky Harbor.

The Bastard by Brenda Novak

The Bastard by Brenda Novak is an action packed historical romance, much of which takes place aboard the Royal Navy ship, The Tempest. It’s the story of a bastard son, Lieutenant Crawford Treynor, whose life is the sea and greatest ambition is to Captain his own ship. It’s a tale of a young bride, Jeanette Boucher - now Lady St. Ives who, on her wedding night, learns exactly what a monster her new husband is. Her family survived the hell of the French Revolution but can she survive the hell that is to be her marriage?

This is very exciting and romantic story, but I also found it interesting to read about life at sea during the late 18th century. And I’m not just talking about the ‘hoist the sails’, ‘swab the decks’, and the ‘hold him down while I tattoo him at against his will’ things, either. I’m talking about the horrible living conditions and the class distinctions and politics involved in buying a rank, even if you weren’t as capable or qualified as someone who had no such connections. All it took was money and title to give someone the advantage of rank which, as we learned from this story, could lead to deadly consequences.

The Bastard is my first taste of Ms. Novak's writing, but it won't be my last. Her characters are honorable - for the most part, and devoted to those they love. Were they perfect people? No, of course not, but that just made them all the more believable and endearing. With their troubled pasts and uncertain futures Treynor and Jeannette grabbed my attention and wouldn't let go! I'd tell myself 'just one more chapter' only to end up reading several, and still not want to stop and only when I was dragged from my hiding place to greet my Christmas Eve guests was I able to put the story aside.

The bottom line - If you're tired of the same old storyline and are looking for something a little different but have hesitated to read Ms. Novak's historicals because she's not yet one of the "big names" in this genre, I urge you to wait no longer! This was such an exciting, enjoyable story and I'll definitely be reading more by this very talented author!

This book was provided by netgalley.com in behalf of Brenda Novak.

Pamela Clare Book Giveaway!!!

I want to thank everyone who helped me celebrate my first blog book contest and the re-release of Pamela Clare's SURRENDER and UNTAMED!

And the WINNERS are!!!!!!!!

1st prize - LADY

2nd prize - Charmed Mom

3rd prize - jennilyn

I'll be getting in touch with you via the email addresses you supplied to make arrangements to get your books to you!!


 
Blithely Bookish Reviews (that's me)

has been up and running for over a year now, and believe it or not, I've never held a contest!

  Alas, it's true! I can hear your gasps of disbelief and your scornful murmurings. But fear not, dear friends, loved ones and people who just like winning free books, because I've seen the error of my blogging ways! Never again will I have to hang my head in shame! 

I can now stand tall and proud amongst the best of you!

 When I realized the need to atone for my failure as a blogger, I knew I'd have to go with something super awesome in order to earn your forgiveness, and so it took me no time at all to decide which book I'd be offering!!  

So, without further ado, I bring to you my 

  First Ever Blog Giveaway!!!!!!!!

Those of you who know me know that I am a die-hard Pamela Clare fan! That woman can write anything and make it romantic, exciting and very sexy! Whether she's sending her hot, hunky Highlanders off to fight in the French and Indian War, building ships in Colonial Virginia or taking down modern day slave traffickers and drug cartels, there is nothing she can't write and make it all kinds of awesome! 

Her most recent book release is actually a re-release of Surrender, the first in the MacKinnon's Rangers series, with additional scenes that had been cut by her original publisher. It's been a dream of Pamela's to be able to see her beloved Highlander's stories published the way she had intended them to be told! Now that her dream is finally coming true, we're going to help her celebrate!

What I'm Giving Away

1st prize:

 

1. Your choice of a signed (by Pamela Clare, not me)  paperback copy of the new version of Surrender, or an ebook copy from either Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

2. An ebook copy of the new version of Untamed, the second book in the MacKinnon's Rangers series which will be released in January.

3. A $5.00 Starbucks gift card.

 2nd prize:

1. An ebook copy of Surrender.

2. An ebook copy of Untamed when it's released.

3rd prize:

1. An ebook copy of Surrender

To enter this contest you must:

1. Be a follower of this blog.

2. Leave a comment telling me about your favorite genre, and whether or not you're a long time historical romance fan or if you're a newbie! 

3. Include your name, and a way I can get in touch with you should you win.

Rules (Come on, you knew there had to be some): 

1. This is an International giveaway. Anyone can enter as long as Amazon and Barnes & Noble will allow me to send the ebooks to you.

2. Names will be drawn at random on December 24^th,  using the most sophisticated non-technical means available. Each name will be written on a piece of paper, and placed into a Santa hat, from which my oldest grandsons, blindfolded, will each draw a name. (I can’t let the 1 year old draw because he’d eat the paper before we would have a chance to read the names. Maybe next year.)

3. The winners must provide me with their email address, the one associated with their Amazon or Barnes & Noble accounts so that the ebooks can be correctly gifted to your account. If you win the signed paperback, you must provide me with a physical address so that the book can be mailed to you.

So that's it! Please Tweet, Re-Tweet, Blog or shout from the rooftops about this contest!  

Good luck, everyone!!

Oh! This just in! My very sweet friend, Jayne, is having a Pamela Clare giveaway, too! After you've entered here, be sure to head over to Lady Jayne's Reading Den and comment there for another chance to win a copy of Untamed.