Entries Tagged 'Scarred Hero' ↓

I took great pleasure in reading this novel. It wasn’t a typical romance though it held many of the typical pieces you would find in a romance. Atypical you ask? Yes! The heroine for instance was raised by the Dakota, or Native American Indians. She had to return to England to pursue the rest of her destiny and avenge her dead mother. The banter was particularly snappy between the leads. The sex too was pretty phenomenal on the scale of none to steamy. I read this in about a day and half; I would put it down and couldn’t wait to get back to it as soon as possible.

The cover on this novel is hysterical, at least my version which is pretty old. My sister-in-law picked it up thinking a boob was sticking out, flagrant nipples and all, but realized upon closer inspection that it was simply a circular diamond pin stuck to the front of the dress. To me the models look like they are wrapped up in a sleeping bag decorated in some ancient Regency pattern. For being raised by the Dakotas in America, she’s certainly pale, no sign of a tan at all – on the cover or in the book. I wonder why that is? Could it be because society would have been shocked down to their slippers and boots?

Christina Bennett is the crème de la crème. The moment her dainty foot hit the first ballroom, London society gasped and capitulated at her feet. She finds it silly and they call her Princess, even though her father has lost his kingdom, even though she’s never met her father in person. With pale white hair and the deepest sky blue eyes, Christina is a lioness. Her arrival to London was predicted by a shaman’s dream and her destiny was to seek out justice for the crimes against her and her mother.

Is it any wonder when she’s introduced to the Marquess of Lyonwood that she was shaken from her stupor? The man looked fierce and vulnerable at the same time. He held himself like a warrior and bore a warrior’s scar down his cheek. To Christina, he looked positively virile and masculine, a far cry of the fops and dandies she’d met again and again from ballroom to ballroom. He was like a lion too, lithe and predatory. When he pursues her, part of Christina wants to give in and part of her fears doing so because she could learn to love him… worse he could learn to love her and her stay with the English was only ever meant to be temporary.

With tempting kisses and secret trysts, Christina’s head swims with the heady sensations of newly experienced passion. She begs him to marry her in one unguarded moment and the scoundrel declines. Lyonwood sees her proposal as a sign of her scheming ways, not realizing that Christina’s eager passion is unrehearsed. He plans to seduce her not knowing that she’s virginal until it’s too late…

Rating: 4.5 Stars

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• Review: The Wedding by Julie Garwood Julie Garwood is a staple, a household name, and Wedding is the first book of hers I ever read. Recommended to me by my closest friend, I came to the conclusion that it must go to the top of my...

Julie Garwood is a staple, a household name, and Wedding is the first book of hers I ever read. Recommended to me by my closest friend, I came to the conclusion that it must go to the top of my TBR pile. I found the Wedding to be a delightful combination of bride stealing, tortured hero, and a quest for justice. The tortured hero was my favorite part, though the heroine was pretty great too. The Wedding is the sequel to The Bride, but I don’t think you miss anything by reading this one first; it is after all what I did first. I also found pieces of text to get choppy when going from scene to scene near the end or from heroine to hero point of view. Overall it wasn’t a bad start to learning about who this fabulous author is. Spoilers ahead…

Wedding focuses heavily on a revenge plot, which in the end I felt could have been wrapped up better. When young Laird Connor McAlister comes to his father’s death bed, he is made to promise to seek justice for the wrongs of his father. At ten, one would not think this would be particularly important or something that would be a driving force in the child’s life but we’re underestimating the loyalty between father and son, the pride of the Highlanders, and of course the time period. Connor seeks protection from Alec, forms a lasting brotherhood with the man and grows up to search for his father’s killers.

The man Connor’s father thought was behind the plotting is getting married. Since he cannot prove his involvement with his father’s death, Connor decides to seek a lesser revenge by stealing his bride, Brenna Haynesworth. Lucky for Connor, his soon to be bride, Brenna, shares a bit of history with him. I’ll give you it’s a relatively brief history, but this history is needed so that Connor can justify his actions to his brother Alec. See, Brenna as a young girl asked Connor to marry her three times during his one and only stay at her childhood home. Brenna is an amusing heroine because she loses her possessions constantly. Hair ribbons, knifes, shoes, it all follows behind her like a trail of bread crumbs.

When the novel focused on the hero and heroine falling in love, it was a very good read but then it drifted back into the revenge plot and stuck there with a few too many clichés. Connor’s stepmother is plainly evil. She affects a loving spirit still in mourning for her dead husband in front of Connor, but sabotages Brenna at every turn and picks on all her fears about herself and Connor whenever the man isn’t looking. And Brenna is so concerned about gaining his stepmother’s favor and love that she doesn’t bring up her problems with Connor or anyone for that matter.

Then when Connor’s stepbrother arrives on the scene he is a lecherous cretin, bent on seducing Brenna as soon as possible, not caring at all if she’s willing or not. While this is going on the man Connor thinks plotted his father’s death is moving his players around and causing mischief so that Connor cannot be near Brenna or observe what is going on in his own household until it’s nearly too late. Then to top it all off is another communication misunderstanding and the happily ever after is almost caput. In the end they have it, but I would have preferred Garwood to draw it out more instead of tacking it on at the end as if she’d forgotten about it.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

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What makes a perfect hero? Is it his dashing good looks, his heroic deeds, or his charm? Third in the series Lessons in Love by Suzanne Enoch, England’s Perfect Hero, delves into the challenge of defining a hero.

Lucinda and her two best friends, Georgiana and Evelyn, create three separate lists on how to be a gentleman of high caliber. Each one is highly personal and defines what each girl feels about herself and what she looks for in a mate. On Lucinda’s list there are four items she wishes to teach a certain dashing gentleman, also known as Lord Geoffrey Newcombe, about being a gentleman.

Only her lessons are getting the attention of a different man; another soldier and nobleman whose past is a mystery and whose character is mysterious. Robert Carroway, brother to Dare, Georgiana’s husband. All she knows about Robert is this: he was at Waterloo, he came home from war injured, his experiences in war have made him withdrawn and edgy, and her father doesn’t like him.

Robert Carroway for his part has lived in a personal hell for three years. The darkness threatens to claim him, chew him up and spit him out. If only it would kill him so he didn’t have to live in silent agony about what had been done to him. The only ray of pure sunlight in his whole existence is Lucinda whose cheery disposition and sweet nature draw him like a moth to the flame. If helping her snare the husband of her dreams could also pull him from the darkness he would do it, or so he told himself. What he really wanted was to be the husband of her dreams.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Originally posted 2008-08-27 05:01:49. Republished by Old Post Promoter

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This one had a few twists and turns I didn’t see coming, and it was more believable. The background of the leading characters unfolds throughout the book, and some of it you don’t find out until mid-point.

Samantha van Bergen is in a disastrous marriage, mothering a step-daughter that she dearly loves. This little girl is bright and precocious, and knows more than anyone realizes she does. Her mother died, and Samantha had been her nanny.

The book begins with a bang. Samantha’s husband, Johann, is a compulsive gambler, who has gambled away a family fortune. He loses it all to Cristiano. And come to find out, he has tossed in Samantha to sweeten the pot, but only after he offers his daughter first (nice guy, right?!) but Cristiano rejects this.

Of course, Cristiano has fallen in love with Samantha at first sight. He knows that the little girl will come with her stepmother.

The question is why is he going to this trouble? And what other unfoldments might we find along the way that unlock the puzzle?

Sam takes Gabriella and goes to England from Monte Carlo. When she is there, we learn more about her early life. She is definitely worthy of the best.

Lucky for her, Cristiano agrees with this. He wants to settle a fortune on her in a pre-nup, but she isn’t interested in his money. They marry without a pre-nup, and when a divorce seems imminent, he wants her to use an attorney to guarantee her rights.

Instead, she decides to fight her fears, and she is successful.

She is a plucky heroine and you root for her when she comes out on top. There’s very little fighting or whining; there is a strong, wealthy and scarred hero.

I give it a 3. Have you read it?

If you’d like to submit a review on a novel you’ve read, check out LRP’s guidelines for submission.

Originally posted 2008-08-26 05:44:56. Republished by Old Post Promoter

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Beauty and the Beast by Hannah Howell is not a spectacular read. It is however a pretty solid read. I found several segments to be unnecessary and jumpy and predictable in others. This Highlander romance contains all the elements of the sub-genre including bride stealing, thwarted love, revenge plotting, and battle.

Thayer Saiturn is known as the Red Devil, a knight so fierce and courageous that his name inspires fear in the enemies. The second cousin in line for inheriting a title and land, Thayer knows his place in life is on the battlefield waging war to earn his bread and keep. He wishes for the finer things in life, namely a woman to warm his bed, but he knows his limitations. While men express awe and fear over him, women see nothing but an ugly, very hairy, very red brute covered with many scars (none on his face). He pays for the women in his bed, and does not seek one outside of this arrangement. Betrayed once by a beautiful woman, Thayer vows never to be so weak before another highborn beauty.

Gytha is promised by betrothal contract to the heir of Saiturn Manor. At first it was William, beautiful and strong bodied, but word came that he was dead. So too came word that the second cousin, Thayer was dead. Learning that she is to marry Robert, Gytha expresses disappointment. Robert is weak and his soft looks do nothing for her. She would prefer the knight coming in to witness the wedding – the tall one with flaming red hair, a lithe graceful body, and sweet soft brown eyes.

When she discovers that the red knight is Thayer, the true heir to Saiturn Manor, Gytha is relieved. Robert and his uncle are not but cannot fight the contract. Thayer is dismayed, having thought this to be William’s wedding he was attending, he finds no comfort in learning it is his own. The thought of the inheritance does not soothe him for his bride is the prettiest beauty he has ever seen. He was sure to be cuckold, made a fool of by his marriage to her. Men everywhere were vying for her attentions even as she walked down the aisle. He was doomed, for Gytha could not possibly want him.

Rating: 3 Stars

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Book three of the Pleasures Trilogy staring plump little Gabrielle from India and Erskine (Quill) Dewland soon to be Viscount Dewland. Right off the bat, this was my kind of book and I loved reading every word. I’ll tell you why:

First, the alpha male is one of those wounded and brooding alphas. Quill was hurt from a horse riding accident that left him scarred. He walks with a slight limp most of the time but when tired it is more pronounced. He can’t dance. Repetitive motions cause him intense migraines and this includes riding horses but more importantly intercourse. As alpha males goes, Quill is decidedly masculine. He likes women – he just doesn’t know if they’re worth the three day recuperation.

Second, this story also involves one male character basically stealing the bride out from another man’s nose. This doesn’t always go well for me, but in this case it was just icing. Upon learning that his son was practically incapable of siring progeny, the elder Viscount Dewland orders his second son Peter to take the heiress sight unseen as his bride. Peter doesn’t want to marry, positively shrinks back from the idea, but eventually under pressure agrees. To his dismay, Gabrielle is the antitheses of beauty, grace, and lacks the instinct to navigate smoothly with society’s haut ton.

Third, Gabrielle is a completely charming heroine. She is as gabby as her nickname implies and loves to talk. Gabby is protective, open, loving, kind, and sharp. She is smart enough to keep her half-brother safe from harm. She also knows that Peter finds her a great disappointment. Despite knowing from experience with her father in India, is determined to do her best to please Peter so that he will fall in love with her. This makes her equally stubborn.

She makes friends early with the Duchess of Gisle who has just returned from her honeymoon on the continent. They meet at the dressmakers. Peter has brought her there to clothe her properly so she won’t shame him in public and prays the Madam will be able to transform his ugly duckling of a future wife.

Quill of course, thinks his younger brother is nuts. In fact most of the men in the ton that have seen luscious Gabby agree with Quill. They congratulate (quite crudely) Peter on his good fortune to snare such a well endowed beauty who will surely be a hellcat in bed. They think it’s doubly clever of Peter that she is an heiress.

When Gabby laughs her way into one social scandal, Peter is determined to throw her over but doesn’t know how. Quill gladly informs his brother that he will marry Gabby and happily. Of course, he’s worried about what she’ll think of him later, but Quill can hardly bring himself to care about his own problems. He burns for her and is happy around her. This is enough for him. His only true concern is will it be enough for Gabby?

Rating: 5 Stars

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This love story is one of the most endearing I have ever read. Lisa Kleypas spins a tale worthy of mystical magical world of fairy tales. Based on Russian superstition, a prince who is like the Beast in Beauty and the Beast meets the woman of his dreams and learns to love. The bedroom scenes are exciting and steamy. Prince of Dreams is a novel not to be missed.

Despite his wealth, Prince Nikolas did not lead a charmed life. Taught early on the abuses man could inflict, Nikolas is determined to avoid emotions at all costs. Tortured and exiled from Russia, Nikolas makes a new home in England where during his recovery he meets Emma Stokehurst. At the tender age of thirteen, Emma is the girl Nikolas is certain he will wed. She is his destiny.

Nikolas remains on the fringes of Emma’s life as she grows and now at the age of twenty, he is more certain than ever that she is the one for him. Emma is tall and lithe, her body he imagines will match his own to perfection. Her red hair, independence, and forthright attitude remind him of the women back in Russia. Though she has a large dowry, Emma is left alone and dismissed by the male of the species. Everything about her is unfashionable in the eyes of polite society.

When he discovers that a man is wooing her under false pretenses, Nikolas strikes swift and sure, cutting her secret beau out of her life with a single conversation. Everything is working according to his plan as Nikolas seduces and marries the bewitching Emma. Now with her by his side as his wife, he is positive that his life is going to turn for the better. He was wrong.

Emma’s gentle nature and guileless giving is more threatening than the memories of those that tortured him in Russia. She can cause more havoc with a single kiss than Nikolas is comfortable with. His life has been dedicated to suppressing his emotions and the feelings Emma brings out are threatening to destroy all that he’s worked for, so Nikolas does the most hateful thing he can think of… he sleeps with another woman.

But despite the wedge he’s driven between them, the bewildering flashes of déjà vu keep happening to him. Snippets of conversation leave him in a cold sweat and a painting once revealed causes him to faint dead away. When Nikolas awakes he is angry and confused. Destiny has taken him back in time to mother Russia, where he lives life through the eyes of his ancestor Prince Nikolai. It is here in the midst of the past, Nikolas learns to become a better man… Emelia, beautiful Emelia, who is in every way his wife Emma, teaches Nikolas how to love. Disaster tears them apart and sends Nikolas to the future.

Realizing what a mess he’s made of his own life, Nikolas is determined to set things right. But Emma won’t have him. She doesn’t trust in the changes Nikolas has under gone. She won’t love him… won’t let herself love him. This new man who is in every way the man she had hoped he would be can’t last, because she knows his nature. As soon as she loved him he’d revert and mock her for her love. After all Nikolas is not a man that can change, he is a product of others hatred and fear, whose innate stubbornness rejects all kinds of affection. But he has changed and he will prove it. If it’s the last thing he does, he’ll make her believe in him; love him as she once did in the past.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

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Wolf at the Door is one of those stories that starts with a pebble falling off the side of a mountain and ends in an avalanche. The pebble is the little white lie Millicent Hyde tells her stepsister about being engaged. The snow drift starts when Sherry asks Captain Alec Wolferton if it is true, that he is engaged to Millicent. The avalanche is when Alec agrees in warm rich tones, that yes, he is Millicent’s fiancé.

Poor Millicent Hyde is in a pickle now. Always impulsive, she has been known to make one bad decision after the next – from running off with a poof who leaves her at the altar to telling the truth and creating scandal. Disowned by her father at her stepmother’s whim, it’s all she can do to watch the perfect Miss Sherry flutter her lashes and glide across the ballroom. Her own mouth gets her in trouble again and the noble Captain Alec Wolferton was just trying to help. Now his reputation is tangled with hers and Millicent is terrified the truth will come out and she’ll never reconcile with her father because of it.

For his part, Captain Alec Wolferton is quite pleased with this fake engagement. He’s on a mission for the London War Office to expose Sherry Hyde’s fiancé a corrupt and evil man. Colin Rafferty is also the man responsible for wounding Alec during the Crimean War leaving him scarred for life and doomed to endure forever constant throbbing headaches. It’s a personal vendetta for Alec to ruin Colin Rafferty as he had been ruined and not even the pretty, delectable Miss Millicent Hyde will get in his way.

The bedroom scenes are very steamy and enjoyable.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

• Book Review: The Diamond King by Patricia Potter The Diamond King has got it all: Highlanders, pirates, lost souls, and love. Alex Leslie used to be a noble in a world that seems to have existed long ago before the war between Scotland and England. Now he is...

I just finished rereading Love is Blind by Lynsay Sands today. It combines two of my favorite things to read in a romance novel. The hero is scarred and she is practically blind. Plus the sex is steamy. What more could one want?

Adrian Montfort, Earl of Mowbray, was scarred in battle against Napoleon. Raw and vivid, the scar proved indecent to display in polite society. Women swooned on sight! The women who did not cringe away in terror were nefarious and cruel. Before the night was over Adrian had packed and fled to his family’s seat in the country.

It is ten years later, after his father died, that his mother convinced him to return to London in search of a bride. Long suffering, Adrian complies and goes to London for the season. At the first ball, he explains to his cousin, Reginald, that the women are all the same, just younger, and proves it by referencing each maiden to one from the past.

Suddenly Reginald smiles and points to Lady Clarissa Cambray and dares Adrian to classify the chit as another girl from the past. She is clumsy, a terror to dance with, and vain, refusing to wear spectacles to help her see. Upset teacups, burned piffles, and alighting wigs on fire are her repertoire. Intrigued, Adrian finds himself drawn to her.

They hit it off right away with Clarissa’s frankness and cheerful retellings of all her woes since coming to London. But best of all in Adrian’s mind is that she can not see him! No awful cringing, fainting, or ugly whispers to contend with, but he can’t leave her blind forever. A few days longer wouldn’t hurt, though, right? He just needed a little longer to make sure she loved him back.

One of the most memorable parts of the novel is when the stepmother tries to explain to Clarissa about the marriage bed. Lydia, the stepmother, has either not had a singular good experience with sex or used this opportunity to spread fear of the act to her stepdaughter maliciously. It dealt with a key and a lock and more specifically the lock was a cherry pie and the key was a truncheon that was slammed violently into the pie. The fallout of this explanation scares the hell out of Clarissa and she immediately becomes terrified to complete the act with Adrian. Their wedding night is hilarious… poor Adrian was most confused.

Rating: 5 Stars

Happy readings!

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Let’s start this blog with my all time favorite romance novel, Charming the Prince by Teresa Medeiros. The surprising aspect of this story is that I like it despite the myriad of children presented. I am not a fan of them in most cases because I feel they’re not handled properly or serve a purpose to the story. It is not the case in Charming the Prince.

The novel is set in England during King Edward’s reign. They have just forged an alliance with France much to Lord Bannor the Bold’s displeasure. He loves war and fighting and does not know how to handle himself in times of peace. Plus he is terrified of his home life.

How could the Pride of England be terrified of his own castle? Well as I mentioned children before it is no surprise that it is his children that Bannor fears. And he should. He has twelve of the misbegotten creatures. His eldest son Desmond, is the most obnoxious one of all. Or is he? He has a soft side that Willow unlocks after a string of terrible pranks.

So speaking of Lady Willow of Bedlington, she is the Cinderella character to this tale. Her stepmother Lady Blanche treats her like a servant and nursemaid to the parcel of brats that she came into the marriage with and all the additions that came about afterwards. Willow is stigmatized into thinking she is ugly and unattractive because she does not fit into her step-family’s flaxen hair, plump bosom, wide hip beauty. Willow is French like her mother and reflects this in her tall, lithe, slender, dark hair beauty.

Her beauty presents the biggest problem to Lord Bannor, who only desires an ugly wife. He after all does not want to be tempted into love-making and begetting more of the terrifying beasts. All his good intentions however are thrown out the window the first moment he sets eyes on Willow.

Their tale is a humorous one as they both fall into the trap of misunderstandings. The pace and direction of the story changes when Willow declares war on her husband. And a war is just the sort of fire that will ignite all of Bannor’s passions.

Rating: 5 Stars

Happy readings!

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The Diamond King has got it all: Highlanders, pirates, lost souls, and love.

Alex Leslie used to be a noble in a world that seems to have existed long ago before the war between Scotland and England. Now he is wanted, without honor or hope for a life that had once been held so promisingly before him. Siding with the bonny Prince Charlie cost Alex far more than his pretty face, now scarred, and two strong legs, one now damaged and aching all the time causing him to limp.

Alex has seen horrors of war. The Battle of Culloden turned the tide of war against innocents as the redcoats and turncoats followed mercilessly on the trails of fleeing women, children and wounded – killing and raping indiscriminately. Stripped of his title but not his own sense of moral rightness, Alex came to lead a parcel of helpless Jacobite children out of Scotland to France. There he swore revenge… and two children swore not to be parted from him no matter the cost.

They followed him onto a ship that he was captaining under letters of Marque. Alex was planning to divest the British of their spoils on the sea and he could not do that for fear of the children. All attempts however to divest himself of the brats were pointless. They were far too crafty from their time on the run with him in Scotland to be forced to do anything they didn’t want to do. And truth be told, Alex did not want them to go. He would miss them.

His surrender to their wishes makes it all the harder on him when poor Meg gets wounded in the capture of Charlotte. To make matters worse, there’s a bloody Campbell on board. The Campbell family was the worst of all the turncoats and all the cruel deeds of the war could be laid at their uncaring, guilty feet.

Jeanette Campbell, never knew the horrors of the war. She was safe, sequestered at home where no tales of cruelty could reach her. This does not sway Alex to relent toward her. At least his hate of her is different than the hate she has felt at others hands. Jenna, as she prefers to be called, has been quite unloved by her aristocratic family and society at large. She has been spurned because of a birthmark she cannot help. Born with the Devil’s Mark on one arm from shoulder to wrist, Jenna has known only fear and instant loathing.

Given the choice of being disowned or marrying a man she’s never met, Jenna chooses to find a haven in Barbados. Certain the widow was not told of her birthmark, Jenna is fearful of her future. The thought of mothering his children is the only thing that kept her going. So when the Charlotte is captured, Jenna cannot help feeling helpless and angry that her one chance at happiness has been ripped from her. For what man will take such a bride; even a desperate one?

Rating: 2 Stars

• Review: Charming the Prince by Teresa Medeiros Let’s start this blog with my all time favorite romance novel, Charming the Prince by Teresa Medeiros. The surprising aspect of this story is that I like it despite the myriad of children presented. I am not a fan of...

I have been reading The Price of Desire by Jo Goodman these last few days and at 200 pages in I knew it was going to be a disaster. This review contains a lot of spoilers so be warned. I think many readers will find it helpful to read the spoilers as the book is very dark and angsty when everything else about the book leads one to think it’s going to be a fun story. The back is titillating and gives no clue to what’s really inside the book. Real quick it goes something like this: Alastair has promised his sister Olivia to Griffin to pay off his gambling debts and both Olivia and Griffin take the biggest gamble on each other.

Before I learned more about the characters past I knew it wasn’t going to be pretty. At 200 pages in they’ve shared one kiss. Overall it’s been very slow reading as the heroine is very withdrawn and so is the hero. While at 200 pages in it’s no longer at the painful level to read and be witness to their story it certainly is not as engaging as it could be and there’s already been a settling of a 1000 pound debt (mainly the brother handing Olivia over to the hero), attempted rape (by some drunk in the hell that came upon her room), a fire (that started during the attempted rape- she gets him in the end by nearly strangling him to death with a towel), and confrontation with the delinquent brother (after he fails to get the funds to release her from the hero’s care). In any case, I can tell the hero cares somewhat, but the emotional exchange between the two is so dry that there’s hardly any connection.

At 350 pages in, they’ve exchanged bodily fluids and words of love and we come to learn a lot about Olivia and this is where it gets me. I’m sorry but I read romances to enjoy myself and get a few moments to escape reality. Nothing about Olivia’s past is enjoyable. Beyond the attempted rape scene from before we learn that Olivia was raped in her past. As if that weren’t bad enough her father ‘played’ with her when she was younger than six years old a ‘touching’ game. When the nanny brought this to the attention of Olivia’s stepmother, Olivia gets sent to a boarding school for young girls where priests tortured the girls as punishment for small infractions by sitting/standing on seatless chairs. Somehow her father reaches the school to continue his sick game and rapes his daughter all part of his and a few other men’s game and setup involving carriages and gifts. Olivia between ages 6-12 was used and it only stopped because she started her menstruation cycle. The following is in her own words…

“I was not his only little girl, I knew that. But I also knew I was his favorite… He gave me to them, Griffin. He sent me to them when it pleased him to do so. To sit at their table while they played cards, to deal for them as I’d been taught, perform on command, and later… as any one of them was struck by a fancy… I was a present on some occasions… his marker on others.”

Needless to say this book has a rating of 0.5 Stars. I don’t know anyone who’d willing read any further once they got to that revelation. As for me I closed the book and started writing this post. It was too much trauma, perversion, and sickness of the mind to deal with and I certainly didn’t want to keep thinking about it. Hopefully Olivia wins happiness in the end, the girl clearly deserves it, but I just didn’t want to dwell on the matter any more. I blame the publishers for letting a novel like this hit the shelves.

• Sheik Romance and the Passion of Arabian Nights There are many fictional desert kingdoms in Sheik romance. In these desert romances the handsome and enigmatic sheik or prince finds love with the white woman for her sass and zeal of life. She is usually American or English. Powerful...

To Scotland with Love is about 2 to 2.5 Stars. The rating depends on how well you can stomach the side characters. I personally thought they were annoying and too much. As I go into depth here you’ll see what I mean.

How Sir Blubbering Ravencroft got the gumption to kidnap Venetia, the heroine, is beyond me. He’s weak-willed and weak-chinned with watery eyes, a ton of debt and on the run from a duel. Unfortunately for him, Venetia is a strong woman and quite capable of throwing off his professions of devotion and grabby hands with her deadly brooch pin. Ravencroft in a hurry to place Venetia in the midst of a scandal races them to Gretna Green while telling her that her mother is ill and might be dying… the faster the carriage goes the more certain Venetia is of something not quite right going on and then the carriage tips on the icy snow covered ground leaving them stranded in the middle of North Road. Luckily an inn is nearby.

Venetia’s father, who was the fool to condone Ravencroft’s behavior, however only if she agreed to it, beseeches Gregor MacLean to rescue his daughter. Gregor is angry at the news. He has been Venetia’s lifelong friend and was on the way to meet her for a morning ride. Gregor like the rest of the MacLeans is cursed to always have his anger visible to the world in a most duex ex machina way. His anger takes the form of a snowstorm and the angrier he gets the longer it lasts and the colder it gets. If he can manage to make his way through his own stormy feelings he might just get to her before it’s too late.

Gregor reaches the inn and receives a cool reception from Venetia. It would have been warmer if Gregor hadn’t been so highhanded. This is where the real fun begins as the cast of motley members begin to make themselves known. The first of the lot is a Mrs. Bloom, blind as a bat, is critical of everything and rude beyond bearing toward her servant Miss Platt or Flatt or something like that.

Miss Platt fancies herself abuse, mistreated, and indentured is convinced by a poorly informed Venetia of the girl’s true circumstances that she deserves better. Miss Platt immediately makes goo-goo eyes at Ravencroft or Mr. West as he and Venetia are now the sibling Wests and are Gregor’s charges.

If that wasn’t enough a squire and his daughter arrive at the inn. The daughter fancies herself in love with a farm-boy from back home and doesn’t want to go to London. The squire is decent, but his daughter is a drama queen of the first sort. She puts on airs, snores, and is indecently messy with her belongings in a space meant for one but was squeezing three due to the weather.

It’s a wonder there’s any romance at all considering how much of the time is focused on the side character drama. Somehow Gregor proposes to Venetia, but it’s mostly out of duty and she refuses… she’s long past marrying age at 34 years old and she marries at all it will be for love and Gregor hasn’t proven anything beyond fondness and lust. Will he come up to snuff?

Rating: 2 Stars

Mary Balogh’s Thief of Dreams was a read I couldn’t quite tell if I liked until the end. The ending for me made the whole book worthwhile. I won’t spoil it for those that wish to read it, but I will tell you what made me kind of iffy on the novel.

First, it was how coolly withdrawn the male lead was. I just couldn’t tell if he was interested in her let alone loved her for most of the book. Sure, he respected her and occasionally admired her for her character, but he never let her in or tried to get to know her and her dreams.

Second, Nigel Wetherby, is practically a dandy. His speech, while probably perfectly fine for the time, reads quite ridiculously. I like my men with a little more masculinity. Point in Nigel’s favor is that he can fill out the shoulders of his coats and doesn’t need padding. Of course, he has plenty of scars and a slight limp, which gives him an edge to defy the popinjay vibe.

Third – his name! Nigel? Wetherby? Are you serious? Viscount Wroxley with a toady name… sigh. He sounds like he’s a tour guide with a fake accent and a bushy mustache.

I didn’t really have a lot of issues with Cassandra other than that despite all the horrible things Nigel afflicted on her person, she still found herself loving him. True, Nigel’s intentions were on the vein of being honorable and good, but still inexcusable on a lot of levels. He “steals” her inheritance from her father (her father is dead mind you and she doesn’t know the true situation), makes her fall in love with him and marries her when he doesn’t acknowledge any feeling towards her (not even liking her, she could be anyone), and makes love to her before telling her some of the truth about himself and her real situation.

The side romances were very sweet and enjoyable to read and the sex between the main characters was quite exceptional. The ending however, like I said, really pulled this book together for me.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

• Review: Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer Devil’s Cub by Georgette Heyer is enchanting and will assuredly transport you to another world. Georgette Heyer, praised to be the new Jane Austen, was born in 1902 and her tales are quite old but hold the same classic feel...

• Mary Frances Handbags

Merrick and Maddie were young, impulsive, and madly in love with each other. A wild dash across England through Scotland to Gretna Green ends in marriage and betrayal. For the dashing young lad Merrick MacLachlan, this mad run would be his last act of reckless spontaneity. When Maddie’s father catches up with them – he does all in his power to break them apart and succeeds.

Merrick is beaten, trampled, and whipped and left to die. He wakes up alone, in pain and forever scarred. He tries to get in touch with Maddie but his letters go unanswered. When Merrick manages to stumble free from the hellhole he was left in back to Maddie’s childhood home he is not received. The news he receives there wretches his heart out of his chest as he realizes what a fool he’s been. Maddie has married another man and is touring Europe.

It is nearly thirteen years before they meet again quite by accident. Maddie’s second husband is dead and she is desperate to find help for her son, Geoffrey, who experiences visions of accidents/death or something similar. London is her best shot to help him. I’m sure you can guess that Geoffrey was Merrick’s son and that her marriage to her second husband is not at all what it seemed. Her choices were slim and her circumstances were grave and she thought Merrick had used her to gain her fortune. Marrying again was her only hope.

Almost immediately after seeing each other for the first time in so many years Maddie and Merrick exchange their versions of the past events that led to their marriage being dissolved. Unfortunately, Merrick and Maddie, are incredibly stupid. I’m not sure they have ears and they don’t listen to each other both so certain they were the wronged party and both so certain the other one is a cruel-hearted bastard. It gets really irritating after the second/third time through explanations. Somehow they manage to extract themselves from their past in order to see a future with each other – then amazingly they both take the risk to trust the other and fall in love again.

Rating: 2 Stars

Welcome to RRN Amy! I am so happy to have you with us today! Amy is the first entrant into the current blog giveaway contest here at RRN. She’s hoping to win a signed copy of Teresa Medeiros’ Some Like it Wicked. Below is her review of Teresa Medeiros’ novel Yours Until Dawn.

Hi everyone! I’m Amy and I decided to review Teresa Medeiros’s Yours Until Dawn, for the blog giveaway contest. This Regency set novel follows the troubles of a blind lord and a plain miss as they journey toward love. I really enjoyed this novel and quite loved everything about it from Gabriel’s angry bear behavior to Samantha’s waspish retorts. I would have given the novel five stars except for the ending, which I won’t spoil, but I was unsatisfied even though it was a HEA (happily ever after).

Naval war hero and English Earl, Gabriel Fairchild was blinded in his last battle at sea. A flying piece of shrapnel hit his eyes, forcing this proud man into acute darkness. The doctors say it’s permanent – well all but one who thinks it might be hysterical blindness. However, the very idea of a grown man like Fairchild having hysterics is hard to imagine.

Miss March, Gabriel’s sweetheart, leaves him lying alone in the hospital bed with a gasp of frightened sensibilities. The shrapnel has done more than take his eyesight, it has also taken his looks. Angry and hurt at her flight, Gabriel retreats to the countryside and terrorizes everyone around him for the abandonment of his family and of his love.

The novel starts with the tart Samantha Wickersham applying for the job of being Gabriel’s nurse. She finds the task eagerly handed to her despite her lack of solid references and immediately sets to work ignoring all of Gabriel’s blustering. Reeking of lemon verbena, capable prim Miss Wickersham sets about taming the wounded man hiding behind the lion façade.

Not unexpectedly, she wins his heart, but complications arise and she is forced to flee. Gabriel must find the woman of his dreams before it is too late – but how does one find a woman one has never seen?

4 Stars

To be considered for the autograph copy of Some Like it Wicked, send your review of on one of Teresa Medeiros’ romance novels to reviewromancenovel[at]yahoo[dot]com.

• Review: Charming the Prince by Teresa Medeiros Let’s start this blog with my all time favorite romance novel, Charming the Prince by Teresa Medeiros. The surprising aspect of this story is that I like it despite the myriad of children presented. I am not a fan of...
• Contest Winner: Teresa Medeiros Giveaway I'm pleased to announce this morning that Amy won this blog giveaway for Some Like it Wicked by Teresa Medeiros. Amy won with her review submission of the romance novel by Teresa Medeiros of Yours Until Dawn. Congratulations Amy and...
• Review: England's Perfect Hero by Suzanne Enoch What makes a perfect hero? Is it his dashing good looks, his heroic deeds, or his charm? Third in the series Lessons in Love by Suzanne Enoch, England’s Perfect Hero, delves into the challenge of defining a hero. Lucinda and...
• Contest: Teresa Medeiros Blog Giveaway Hello and good morning readers! This post is going to be a short break from our usually scheduled programming to update everybody on the blog. There are a few new features up in the header, LRP's forum and contests are...

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