REVIEW: Tears Of Jade by Leigh Riker

  Tears of Jade by Leigh Riker has been on my all-time favorites shelf of my bookcase for almost 20 years and I no longer remember how many times I have read it…and each time….i love it more and more!!!!!!!! It’s as fresh today as it was then….a timeless book!!!!! 

This is such an incredible story filled with passion, lost and found love, blackmail, secrets and so much more.

Synopsis:
Nearly twenty years have passed since Jay Barron kissed Quinn Tyler one last time and disappeared out of her life. Twenty years of wondering what happened after his plane went down in the steamy jungle and he was classified "Missing in Action." Now married and with a fabulously successful career in advertising, Quinn can't stop believing the love of her life is still alive.

When a twist of fate brings her face to face with darkly handsome Welles Blackburn, a man who might even be Jay, she is consumed by her need for answers. Soon she is within reach of a truth that could put her life back together again--or tear it apart forever.

Quinn Tyler & Welles Blackburn are just such an incredible couple…..the chemistry between them is palpable from the first time they set eyes on each other. You can feel the connection and it is so clear that they are meant to be together.
The pain they share when they realize the obstacles facing them….the guilt…even though her marriage has broken down and his unhappiness with a wife he does not love and just staying together because of his love for his beautiful young daughter. I so wanted them to be with each other and was praying that they would overcome all the hurdles in front of them and find true happiness.

Quinn is such an amazing heroine…gorgeous, talented and a successful owner of her own ad agency. She has such a capacity for love, she’s warm and caring and so fallen in love with this amazing man…and I mean truly amazing. He’s such a tortured and sad hero and he feels so much for Quinn, who has brought light into his life. And what a fabulous lover…he certainly knows how to seduce a woman…just not any woman…just Quinn.

These are some of the scenes that I always remember:

This man means business, Quinn thought, but still she didn’t move. Welles leaned closer, then closer again, bending his head until their mouths met at just the right incline. The kiss was soft, smoky, sending a slow curl of heat through her body. Wanting to go limp in his arms, Quinn realized that in fact she wasn’t being held, that he had one arm braced now on the wall above her head, the other at his side. Yet she felt as if he were touching her everywhere.
“No good-byes” he whispered against the corner of her mouth. Then, in the next breath, he let her go.

“Welles, I don’t know who I am when I am with you.”
“Yes, you do.” He moved closer, his hand at the nape of her neck, and drew her to him. Quinn stared at his mouth until his head dropped the last inch to cover hers. “When you’re with me,” he said, “you know exactly who you are.”
She moaned, slipping her arms around him.
“And so do I,” he whispered.
After long moments, Quinn ended the kiss.
“I don’t know what you want from me.” She whispered.
“Everything.”

I loved Hannah, Welles’s teenage daughter. She’s a beautiful mixture of her father and her Vietnamese mother and is signed up by Quinn as the new face of the jeans ads that catapult her into the supermodel stratosphere. A lot of tension and anger between Welles and her mother, who is such a cold, beautiful and manipulative woman, who does everything to keep Welles for herself even though she knows he does not love her. A glimpse of the glamorous world of fashion when Hannah moves into Quinn’s apartment in New York during her photo shoots.

There’s quite a surprising twist at the end….a nice one too. And I can’t help myself…but the last words of this book are such so incredible that I have to share them ….
“I think I’ve waited for you all my life,” she told him.
So no surprise, Quinn and Welles do get their HEA….and I was so so happy for them.

I have been trying to get copies of this author’s books but most of them are out of print and when I checked her site there is not much info….but if you are lucky enough to find a copy of Tears of Jade….read it….and I know you will love it as much as I did

REVIEW: ONCE A FERRARA by SARAH MORGAN

Sarah Morgan is one of my favorite Mills and Boon’s authors and I enjoy most of her books.

I loved the story of Once a Ferrara and would have given it a 5 star review except for one thing that really irritated me (more about this later on).

This is a very intense, compelling and emotional story about Cristiano and Laurel Ferrara and I was captivated from the moment I started page 1 and I was so engrossed in the story that before I realized I had finished the book in one reading.

You are totally drawn into the lives of Cristiano & Laurel Ferrara from page 1 until the Epilogue which is by the way, their second HEA (what a luck having a chance again after their disastrous first and very short HEA, two years previously).

This is such an intense, compelling and emotional story and the author and at times I could feel their pain and anguish. The author has an incredible way of writing dialogue and building up her characters – the interaction between the two is truly amazing. It’s as if you know them personally and you are actually feeling their emotions.

I am irrevocably in love with Cristiano. A beautiful, rich as sin, sexy, gorgeous, strong alpha male, with a hot hot body – an Italian ….no a Sicilian one….that is not afraid to show his heart and emotions….not often seen in these type of men….I was knocked out by the depth of his love for Laurel and how hard he tried to understand her even when he was being rejected …..in such a horrible manner by her.

And the reason I did not give the higher rating is because I found Laurel to be so horrible to Cristiano…okay in the end she discovers that he is not the man who she believed had let her down and that she still loved him. I was irritated by her constant moaning about being let down, how she could take care of herself, how she didn’t need anyone to do anything for her, what a horrible childhood she had – okay she did…but that doesn’t mean that one has to allow that to control your life.  Even when she is told by his sister and brother how much Cristiano loves her and how heartbroken he was when she left him, she still continues to give the poor guy a hard time. At times such childish behavior, feeling sorry for myself… and throughout all this drama, Cristiano continues to be caring, loving and understanding never giving up on her.

I adored Cristiano’s sister – who believes in love and fairytales and tries to get Laurel back together with Cristiano. Even his brother, Santo becomes involved – I wonder if there is going to be a book about him? I think he would make a great hero for some lucky heroine out there!!!!!

Settings are stunning – a resort and spa for the rich and famous, you feel the magical, enchanting and mythical atmosphere of Taormina with its winding streets and tiny passages….oh what a man….buying the woman he has always and will always love a medieval castle!!!!!

I was elated that the true love for each other overcame all the misunderstandings and obstacles and found happiness together…and with their growing family.

Second thoughts after writing this review…..i am giving 5 stars because I think it deserves it. It’s a fabulous fabulous book and I can guarantee that anyone who reads it will love it as much as me.

REVIEW: Lover Enshrined by JR Ward

I only discovered JR WARD’s books early this year and had no idea what this series was about but I found some of her books on a special price section of my local bookstore and finding the covers and titles quite different and interesting…I thought? Why not? So I bought the first 4 books in the series. 

I became totally addicted. I couldn’t stop reading….as soon as I finished the one I began on the next and before I got to the 4th book I had bought the entire series. 
What fascinates me about her books is that each one has different plot lines, different POV’S, sub-plots and there are secondary characters that we meet and continue to grow so one has a sense of getting to know a little bit more about them and kept in suspense of WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT!!!! 

This book is the 6th book in the series and it’s not really one of my favorites..I am not saying I didn’t like it it’s just that It’s Phury and Cormia’s story but it does not focus that much on them. There is so much happening with other characters that you kind of lose track of their story … 
Phury is very different to the brothers in the previous books. He’s an angst-ridden, artistic, guilt ridden by being secretly in love with Zsadist’s (his twin brother)shellan, Bella, He has spent his life- hundreds of years - making sacrifices for others even giving up one of his legs and celibacy to save Zsadist from slavery and torture. His struggles with his addiction to red smoke and then onto to heroin which nearly kills him.. He’s so out of control that Wrath kicks him out of the Brotherhood….which I thought was pretty grim…even his own brother turned against him. 
Being the person he is…self-sacrificing ---always putting others before himself…doing everything for others safety, even the cost to his life, he volunteers to take Vishous place as Primale to the Chosen so that V can stay with Jane. 
Phury will now have to mate with one of the Chosen to continue the pure line of the next generation of the Chosen and the Brotherhood. His first duty is to mate with Cormia, one of the Chosen who we met in Lover Unbound, who is sweet and gentle and falls in love with him despite his problems…she, sees the other side…how noble and great person he is. But despite knowing he’s in love with Bella, she wants his love and body for herself and no one else, not even to share with the other Chosen. 
Phury soon realizes that he wants only Cormia but can he forsake his duty as a Primale? Their journey takes quite a turn and Phury finally finds a purpose in his life and a solution to the problem with the Chose. …. absolutely amazing. I really admired his courage in not giving up on something he believed was right and moral. He finally finds joy and peace in his life with the woman he loves at his side. The sensuality between them is pure and hot…the real hot scenes happen more between the secondary characters. . I would have loved to see a bit more romance in the story. 

Lots of side plots going on in this book…...I really liked the part where we meet the new brothers..John Mathews who goes through his transition, Qhuinn …love this brother…hot hot….and Blay…..a bit bland…. Just love these sexy, gorgeous guys….black leather, designer labels, the talk..wow…wish I could meet one of them!!!!! It’s another world out there..….exciting, dangerous, dark and oh so cool!!!!!I couldn’t wait to read more about them in the next books…I just know we will get to know them really well. 
Then there’s Bella’s brother Rhev, a sinful looking sympathy, dealer of drugs who owns a nightclub and wears a long sable coat…..he’s a dark and interesting character. 
The lesser are back with a bang….lots of action, fights… a new leader called X and Lash …what a depraved guy!!!! There’s bound to be more about him in the next books. 
And Xhex, the amazon who works at Rhev’s club –wow what a woman!!! I actually believed that she was a gay woman….why I am not sure…just she is so strong, remote, complex and shows no interest in the men around her….I loved her character….sure she will appear in her own book soon….. 

I liked this book much more the second time I read it. I felt a bit more connected to Phury and Cormia’s HEA than the first time I read it 

What I love about this series is the great, strong dialogue and the way the writer makes me feel that I am actually there…I can see the white colors in the Fade, feel the softness of that sable coat –….you can see, smell, taste, feel and hear everything in her books. 
I am so crazy for this series that I read each book over and over again and find them just as exciting as the first time I read them. 

REVIEW: Cold Blooded by Lisa Jackson

Lisa Jackson is brilliant at creating nail-biting and exciting suspenseful romantic thrillers with some really scary and evil villains and characters that just pull you in. 

Cold Blooded is the 2nd book in the New Orleans Series, is the follow up to Hot Blooded ….. and having read most of the series before, I have become quite attached to the characters which appear in each story.

Rick Bentz…I so really like this man…what he has gone through in his life would shatter anyone….losing his job with the LAPD when he killed a kid by mistake, his wife’s infidelity and mysterious death, discovering that he is not the biological father to his daughter but fathered by another man, who is very “close” to him, trying to find a new life in New Orleans whilst battling so many issues and angst, overcoming his drinking problem….but still he is not about to give up..well on women he is…trust issues abound.

Olivia Benchet is quite an interesting character. Talk about dysfunctional family….a grandmother who had the “sight”, which Olivia has inherited, a lush for a mother who just loves getting married and divorced, an ex-con father who has just come out of jail after serving a sentence for murder and who has now discovered he has been saved and found religion…could there be a more screwed up family!!!! How can anyone rise above all that…but indeed Olivia does. I really liked her…she has spunk, not afraid to take chances…wow loved the scene where she and Bentz get it together…pity he had to spoilt it all by his reaction to the situation he finds himself in…attracted to her but unable to break through his issues with women. Boy, did that wife of his do a number on him!!!!!

They first meet when Olivia gives a report to Bentz and his partner, Reuben Montoya (another great character…hope we get to discover more about this hot guy, with some really great stylish dressing issued!!!!) on the visions she has been having about a serial killer, who looks like a priest and who is killing women in staged settings of how female saints had died and who calls himself the Chosen.
They race against time to find the killer before he strikes again…and though I had a few characters in mind, I was kept guessing until almost the end of the book. And what a surprise that was finding out!!!!!!! Not once did I even think it was possible. The suspense just kept building up.

I was really not prepared to what happened to Father James, who is Bent’z half brother, his wife’s lover and his daughter’s real father. He was just an interesting character and I would have liked to have read more about him I just wished he had taken the plunge from the beginning and just maybe he would have found true happiness instead of wasting years questioning his belief as a priest.

Though this series is termed as romance suspense, I did want to see a bit more of the romance bit…..just not enough for me. The chemistry between Olivia and Bentz could have done with a bit more zing…..however, in the next book Lost Souls we meet up with them again and you find out what happens after their HEA in this story..

Story is set in steamy New Orleans (before Katrina), which I really liked and Olivia’s house just suited the mood of the story. Her dog…talk about a weird pooch!!!!!
A few twists in the epilogue..which we have to wait for the next book to discover the answers.
Great read. 

REVIEW: Surf, Sea and a Sexy Stranger by Heidi Rice

Could I possibly have resisted reading this book???? A gorgeous man looking into my eyes, telling me that I wanted to meet him, wanted to know him….omg….this has to be the BEST, MOST BEAUTIFUL COVER of any M&B books ever!!!!!!!!! 

 And then, I turned to the back cover and went weak at the knees…..yes I wanted to get into this book like right now!!!! Would you want to buy this book if you read this????.....
Honed, handsome, and needing the kiss of life! Millionaire entrepreneur
Ryan King is mortified: he’s just been pulled from the ocean by a pretty female lifeguard! Why, after months recovering from a horrific motorbike accident, did he get back on his surfboard? For the same reason he wants a hot, wild woman back in his bed – to prove he’s the same man he was before… Maddy is shocked to find that this half-drowned, totally gorgeous surfer has her body humming! She always ends up getting used – maybe this time it’s her turn to do the using? It’s the short, sizzling affair they both need – until their dangerously addictive liaison careers out of control…

Heidi Rice is one of my favorite M&B Modern Heat authors and I love her books. She just knows how to write hot, sensual and emotional, passionate stories and Surf, Sea and a Sexy Stranger is no exception.
Ryan A gorgeous, sexy millionaire, who has been rendered impotent from a motorbike accident, is recuperating at Trewan Manor, a fabulous house on top of a cliff….and is saved from drowning when he’s attempting to do some surfing, by a woman lifeguard…this is a new career from your usual M&B heroines…loved it.

Maddy Westmore is one of those heroines who has had it with men…they are not to be trusted ever…from her father’s affair with his secretary, which she had observed personally to the men who had passed through her life….it was always her who was used and never received anything back. But she has a soft heart and a caring nature so of course she wants to know how Ryan is after the rescue. She is also very innocent when it comes to handling the full seduction scene with Ryan…..who sleeps with her to prove that he is not impotent…(one of the symptoms from his motor cycle accident). And wow are the sex scenes hot…does this man know what to do with a woman’s body!!!!!!! I wanted to be in Maddy’s place…I wanted to be her….

After a mutual decision to have an affair with no strings attached, it soon becomes clear that they have a special chemistry between each other.

There are a lot of issues that both have to overcome before they can truly find their HEA.
Loved the dialogue…. Loved this part…”I hate to rush you. But if you’re not annoyed, could you tell me what you are? Exactly?” … and the humor….She grinned, the charge of excitement making her erogenous zones do a happy dance. “Time to seize control of your sex life, Madeleine Westmore.” …. the description of the settings….Cornwall…such a beautiful and romantic place…. and the secondary characters….Maddy’s brother…now I wanted to know his story….which I am hoping to read next…..Cupcakes and Killer Heels.

Oh and the epilogue….loved loved it!!!!!! I was so into this book and have read it 3 or 4 times and each time I am still excited as if it was the first time I read it…

REVIEW: Lure by Brian Rathbone

This was a free ebook which I was asked to give an honest review.
I just couldn’t get into this book. I put it aside and a few days later went back to it and gave it another try and I have to be honest and say that I did struggle to finish it.

When I read the synopsis, the plot and the characters...an ex-cop driving a souped up car and who is interested in the paranormal sound good to me. But as I turned the pages, I was so disappointed....I found her totally uninteresting and as for her friend Shells (I hated the name...sorry!!!!)..if I heard “dude” one more time, I was going to scream and smack her!!!!! I could not engage with any of the characters and after a while I skipped a few lines and at times pages.

I could not connect. I kept waiting for something to happen....and really nothing to pull me right into the story.
This could have been a good book but I felt it lacked something

REVIEW: The Mediterranean's Wife by Contract by Kathryn Ross

I am in two minds about this book. I liked it but at times not. This is one of the only books I have read by Kathryn Ross and whilst I did enjoy some parts of the story at some point I really got irritated by the heroine’s behavior. 

It’s not about marrying a man that you are absolutely crazy about but who you just know does not love you, but for the sake of the love you have for your godchild!!! Well, if she was prepared to do this, why spend the entire time acting like an idiot!!!
Carrie first met Andreas, a gorgeous Greek on a blind date set up by her best friend and it did not have such a happy ending….she left despite being offered the job of being his mistress…well so would I!!!! Rather go back to your career in London. But life is full of surprises!!!

Jo, her best friend since they were at foster homes, had married Andreas’s brother and they were both killed, leaving their six-month baby girl, Lily in his care. Carrie loved the little girl and tried to get custody in a very devious way…thank heavens he saw through her little ruse on time…..and the only option offered to her is to marry him so that they can become parents together.

Andreas hadn’t been a great guy to her but hey, people can change. And he does. He tries everything to make her happy. A lovely wedding in the local church and then the honeymoon…how could she resist it???? Here she is in this fabulous yacht that her very gorgeous and rich husband owns, romantic dinners laid out, awesome honeymoon cabin..and she just goes ahead and whines and moans…yes she does that when he eventually makes love to her…and discovers she’s a virgin….but still she persists in ignoring him and trying to get close to him. Okay, I know she feels insecure, unloved because of her childhood but how can she truly believe that Andreas could never fall in love with her????? What, she’s gorgeous, beautiful, and clever and loving...what more is there…how could he possibly not fall in love with her!!!!!! Such insecurity drove me bats a few times….how could she not get it, I wondered.

I did begin to like the story more as I continued and by the end I began warming up to Carrie ….and just by the way, Andreas is actually quite a cool Greek guy with a fabulous sense of humor…none of that stuffy Geek tycoon thing!!!!! And did I breathe a sigh of relief when they found their fabulous HEA.

Yes, let me be honest. I did enjoy their story!!

REVIEW: Blackmailed Into The Greek Tycoon's Bed by Carol Marinelli

This book is the last one I had to read in the International Billionaire’s Series and it’s one of my favorite ones. I am not that crazy about rugby, which is the theme of the books but there wasn’t too much about rugby mania in it making the story of Karin Wallis, a beautiful titled English woman and Xanthus Rossi, a beyond gorgeous, rich and powerful Greek tycoon. 

Karin has been labeled by the tabloids as the “Ice Queen” who jets around the world doing nothing but living the high life and they couldn’t be more wrong. She has been trying to keep her family together since the death of her beloved grandfather, a rugby legend and it seems that things are not really going well. Her drug-addicted parents had been killed after blowing most of the family’s fortune and now her horrible brother is continuing the saga which has her having to sell off the last of the family’s heirlooms to pay for her younger sister’s education.

Xanthe has clawed his way out of the Athens alleys to become a very rich man, who can have anything or anyone he wants. From the first moment he lays eyes on Karin, in one of his hotel’s foyer, he is totally smitten. But before he can make his move, she has flown away with one of his prized rugby mementos….the rugby rose which had belonged to her grandfather before her snarky brother had sold it without her knowledge. She needs it badly.
I just loved these two. Xanthe is really an amazing hero…yes alpha-male all the way but with such HEART.!! I couldn’t believe how beneath this hard exterior, was a gentle, caring person who goes out of his way to help Karin…on the way falling totally in love with her.

Karin seemed so bowed down by the things that had happened in her life, the terrible things she experienced with her parents before their death, the responsibility she feels for her sister, the result of her scars from an accident…I just wanted to cry for her. The feeling that you can’t trust or believe in anyone. But wow….does that mean she just gives in???? Absolutely not!!! She shows such courage and determination. She fights all the way…including the chemistry that is so sizzling between her and Xanthe. She can bite….some of the things she says to Xanthe…hurtful and spiteful…so cold at times…but I felt this was the way she believed she could remain strong and not be hurt again. Afraid to trust, to love. The patience Xanthe showed…really did me…I mean, here is this guy being snubbed, disrespected, bluntly told to go somewhere else…and what does he do??? He does everything possible to help her, to care for her, to love her!!!!! This is one of my most amazing heroes…..he has heart and soul!!!!!!! One of the things I think he learnt was that you cannot force anyone to love you….you have to believe and trust in them….something he also had an issue about. And that letter he sent Karin……..if that’s not poignant, romantic…then nothing else is!!!!!!

There were so many surprises in this book….even in the last few pages you learnt something new in their lives. You just had to keep reading page after page because you needed, wanted to know more.

This is just a wonderful love story, filled with hope, forgiveness, learning to trust and to love. It just made me feel so good after I finished reading and I could have quite happily continued reading about their life together.

REVIEW: Call of the Desert by Abby Green

Call of the Desert by Abby Green, one of my mostest favouritest Mills and Boon authors, ha the cliché plot of the desert sheik but with a great difference. What, you may ask? Well, here they are: 

1 Julia Somerton is gorgeous, intelligent and not the usual young, naïve virgin who is swept away to a far away land by her sheik….though meeting her sheik when she was twenty and working on a archaeological dig in his country and do indeed fall in love and have a passionate affair and due to misunderstandings forced to go back to England, she has been married, divorced and is now a career woman.

2 Kaden is not your typical sheik..yes he’s alpha male, ruler of his country but he has a gentle and caring soul. He has been unable to forget Julia even through his marriage and divorce.

3 Seeing each other after all those years , both realize that they still feel a strong physical attraction for each other and are unable to be away from each other. As they rekindle their relationship, Kaden starts coming to terms with the distrust he has for her and what really matters is that he has never stopped loving her. He invites Julia to accompany him to his sister’s wedding which is taking place in his country. Impulsive…something he has never been. I just wondered how they would get together…I mean, she’s divorced and not a virgin!!!!!!! But to a man like Kaden, these issues are not important. He wants to be with her and that’s it!!!!!

4 Some really sensual and hot sex between the two…..just shows how far Mills & Boon have come!!!!!!

5 Loved the part when Julia discovers she is pregnant and being unsure of what to do or where to go next. Of course Kaden is not the type of man to abandon her even though they had made a mutual decision to end their affair…well Julia more than him!!!!!!

6 I so totally engaged with Julia and Kaden. This is such a wonderful love story….having a second chance to finding happiness together. I so wanted them to be with each other….and they do.

Abby Green’s books are always filled with passion, conflict and incredible characters. She writes great stories that are always fresh and new. I am an absolute fan of this author. (less)

REVIEW: Deserving of his Diamonds? by Melanie Millburne

This is such an emotional, poignant, gut wrenching and so powerful story. At times I was so moved I felt my eyes moisten as I felt the heartache and sadness in Giselle’s life. 
She is now living in Australia trying to pick up the pieces of her life and the man she has never forgotten.

Emilio had thrown Giselle into the streets after he believed that she was not the person he thought he knew after a story broke out that she was in a porn movie. Despite her denial that it was not her, he had abandoned her and cruelly told her that she was never to contact him again.

Two years later he discovers the truth and knows he has to apologize to her and try and make amends. He flies to Australia where he soon realizes that Giselle is not the person he thought. She does not want anything to do with him and she lets him know how much she hates him.
But seeing Giselle again, Emilio realizes that he wants her back and he is going to do everything to get her trust and belief in him back again. But she is not interested in going through the pain again and shuts him off. He then blackmails her to go back to Italy with him for a month to find if they should be together again. Wasn’t crazy that he had to resort to blackmail….offering her $2million dollars if she stayed with him for the month, during which he will make her fall in love with him again. What he doesn’t realize is that Giselle decides to go along with the proposal but her plan is not reconciliation but vengeance.

I loved Giselle. Going through so much in her life, she has become stronger but still has a softness about her that is truly amazing. Emilio I liked….he was prepared to grovel and beg for forgiveness, even though he had no idea of the consequences caused to Giselle through his heartlessness. To see his tears when he discovers the real suffering she went through really tore me apart.

I was so emotionally involved in their story that I was really sad when I got to the last page. I wanted to continue knowing more about them.

REVIEW: The Man Who Risked It All by Michelle Reid

Michelle Reid writes such passionate stories and The Man Who Risked It All is just that. She does the lost and found love themes so well….like 
Marchese's Forgotten Bride, one of my favourite reads.

Lexi Hamilton, a young English actress meets Franco Tolle, the ultimate Italian rich, spoilt playboy and immediately falls under his spell. Things don’t work out too well for both of them….she discovers that he slept with her for a bet….she’s even sent the video via her mobile of him accepting the winnings…she then discovers she is pregnant, he marries her and it’s a total disaster from there onwards. He becomes cold and distant, his family hates her, her mother is suddenly killed in a car crash with her stepfather, who has stolen all her earnings and then she loses the baby!!!!!!! She decides to go back to London and rebuild her life.

Three years later, Franco is injured in a boat accident and Lexi agrees to look after him, after being asked by his father to fly to Italy as Franco is not doing very well and has refused to see anyone except Lexi.
I disliked Franco intensely from the beginning…the way he cut her off and then suddenly wanted her, needed her…but I warmed up to him as the story unfolded. Lexi trying so hard to be strong and the pain she felt in realizing that she had never stopped loving him. So many misunderstandings. Betrayed by family and friends that caused such heartache and unhappiness in their relationship.

I cared so much for them. It pulled at my heartstrings…the poignancy of how much suffering and sadness their lives had been. Franco had a lot of work cut out for him to getting Lexi back and he was determined to do everything possible for her to realize his feelings for her. There is so much angst, so emotional and as I read I just wanted them to find happiness together.
Some great scenes…..Franco waiting for Lexi in bedroom balcony with a bottle of wine and two glasses…..when Lexi gives him a present in the hospital room…..and how he places it among her soft frog toys collection that she had left behind and he had kept all these years…taking her sailing….there were so many other amazing scenes.

I loved the passion, sensuality and fast pace of this story. I couldn’t stop reading…in fact I finished the entire book in one read.

What I also like about this author’s books is how she always engages the reader with the characters in such a way that makes you feel so strongly for their true happiness. She is a fabulous fabulous writer and you know when you pick up any of her books that you will more than just like it….you will love it!!!!!!

Oh yes….I absolutely loved the cover of this book!!!!!!!!!! Just like I pictured Franco in my head!!!

REVIEW: A Mistake, a Prince and a Pregnancy by Maisey Yates

Reading the blurb on the back cover of this book, I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy reading the whole IVF thing…but I loved loved the cover…so I thought..why not???? Also I have enjoyed reading some of Maisey Yates’s books. 

This is quite a different plot from the usual secret pregnancy in that the heroine, Allison Whitman has never met the baby’s father and she became pregnant, after longing for years to be a mother has chosen to do it the IVF way. She did this not only because of the pain that her parents’ divorce caused but also has never met a man that she wanted to marry…she’s a career orientated She has selected the donor and is horrified to discover that she had been impregnated by an anonymous donor when a mix-up occurred during the operation. She has to contact the donor to ensure that her baby is not a risk due to a gene she carries.

Maximo Rossi had longed for a child but his wife had been unable to have children so they had decided to fertilize her eggs with his sperm but unfortunately she had died before they could do it and he had never contact the clinic to have his sperm donation destroyed….resulting in Allison’s problem.
When Max discovers he has a child he immediately gets things going. He cannot allow his child to be born illegitimately ….he is after all the crown prince of Turan!
He blackmails Allison into marrying him even though they don’t even know each other but also that they have to put the child first.
Allison tries not to allow herself to get close to Max and gives him a real hard time before she relents. I can’t believe how she did it though…I mean, the man is titled and gorgeous and a fantastic artist as well. How did it take her so long before she realized what a hot and great guy she had!!!!!

Maisey Yates writes surprising and admirable books… story lines that make you think and feel differently about finding your HEA..

She just a way of writing about tortured, dark heroes and damaged heroines that despite their flaws are able to find love and each other.

After a “bumpy” beginning with one of the first books I read by this author....which I absolutely hated …….I do admit that I am now a Maisey Yates fan for life!!!!

REVIEW: A Deal at the Altar by Lynne Graham

A deal at the Altar is the second book in Lynne Graham’s stories of three sisters. I enjoyed the first book, Roccanti’s Marriage Revenge and liked meeting Beatriz and looked forward to her book. Also wanted to know more about the mysterious Sergios Demonides.

Talk about a dysfunctional family. Mothers, stepmothers, mistresses, and the most obnoxious and awful father, which really amazes me how sweet and nice the sisters turn out. Blackmailed by her father, with threats that he will to cut all financial aid to Beatriz’s invalid mother unless he marries Sergios so he can avoid financial ruin, she has no other option but to agree to this mad plan…why would Sergios agree to her proposal after at her sister Zara had done to him and it’s not as if she is even beautiful and the kind of women he is seen with.

She is surprised and shocked when he agrees to marry her, but with certain provisos. Bee will look after his cousin’s three orphaned children, it will not be a normal marriage as he will continue his affair with Melita and other women…in his words…”I have a mistress. Melita is nonnegotiable…Occasionally I have other interests as well. I will be very discreet.”….I would have run a mile if a guy said that to me!!!!!!! But for poor Bee, there is no way out!!!!
Wow…but this is no little pushover……she makes it quite clear she has her own conditions and he had better abide by them!!! I liked that in her. 

Sergios…wow…this is some cold guy…of course he’s very very rich, very very good looking but what a creep…that’s what I thought about him…he leaves Bee alone on their first wedding night…she is devastated but this makes her even more determined not to give in to the attraction she is beginning to feel towards him. I really hated him….even when he felt a certain attraction to her, he continued with his cold attitude…making his demands and telling her she must obey him….in this day and age.??? Get a life Sergios…even if you had a terrible childhood, this was not a good reason to treat such a good woman!!!!!!!!

The dialogue between the two is really good and humorous…loved her talk back to him…not afraid to voice her opinions and ideas….gave him as good as she got!!!!!!!!

Bee is a much more deeper person than I found in Zara….though she has problems of her own…having to care for her mother since she was young, fighting the battle of the bulge….which by the way Sergios loves her body…and I had to laugh at the description of her fabulous cleavage….”shaped like a violin”……….she shows love, patience, interest and caring to the three children who are now her family.
And spunk!!!!! Melita sms her to meet and to discuss Sergios….loved the way she handled the situation….with finesse and class…what a way to deal with a mistress!!!!!!!!!!! He’s my man and you better believe it!!!!!!!!!! You go girl!!!!!!!!

Thank heavens Sergios finally gets his head together and realizes what a gem he has in Bee.
This is really a sweet HEA….and I loved it. Can’t wait for the next story of the third sister.

I love Lynne Graham’s books and have most of her collection in the favorite shelf of my bookcase and this will certainly have a place there.

Book Blurb: Her indecent proposal! Having pulled himself up from the streets of Athens, Sergios Demonides thought he had seen it all. Then Beatriz Blake walked into his office and asked him for a marriage of convenience! Independent, proud and unadorned, Beatriz is a far cry from the usual glamorous women who grace his bed. But Sergios doesn't need another trophy - he needs a mother for his late cousin's children. The overlooked Blake heiress and the ruthless billionaire strike a deal. But she doesn't read the small print - that sees them sharing a bed!

REVIEW: Bought for the Frenchman's Pleasure by Abby Green

   This is one of the most poignant, intense and moving stories I have ever read from Mills & Boon. Bought for the Frenchman’s Pleasure was the first book I read by Abby Green and I was so emotionally engaged with Sorcha Murphy and Romain de Valois that I never wanted their story to end.  It was also the beginning of my “love affair” with this author’s books...


This is the first of two books set in the exciting and glamorous world of the  fashion industry ...models, designers, photographers and all the rich and famous, so if you are a fan of all the glitz and shine you will enjoy meeting the supermodels jetting all over the world and the meet they meet...and more!!!

Sorcha has now reached the top of the model world, despite the setback she had years before when Romain, the head of a successful and huge fashion conglomerate, had made comments about her drug use to the tabloids leaving her reputation and career in tatters. . His aunt had over the years,  helped her rebuild her career and who believes she is the right model to represent Romain’s new fashion line. But he still believes she is not to be trusted and that she is still a drug user.

From the time their eyes first meet across the room at a glamorous fashion affair, they are unable to deny the chemistry between them. You can feel the desire, the sexual attraction between them and the intensity it reaches when they begin to work together after Romain decides to give her a chance and her agreeing to do his campaign which only happens once in your lifetime.

Both have such emotional baggage.....the battles they have to go through to destroy the defences they built around themselves...just an arduous journey before they can learn to love and trust again.                        
At times I felt moisture in my eyes and found my heart going out to both as they walked through their journey.

I loved the pace of the story...how they slowly begin getting to know each other...opening up to each other, discover the inner person and not what preconceived ideas they had. . So romantic, so touching....some of the scenes of them together blew me away.....when Romain sees her getting off the plane in the island where they are doing the first shoot, when they explore India....having lunch in Ireland with Sorcha looking fabulous and natural with a ponytail and reading glasses.  and their sensual and so sexy and so passionate  love scenes....so amazingly written!!!

Loved the settings of the story...New York, Ireland, India, France...glamorous and so jet setting!!!! The life of the fashion world!!!

Sorcha is really an amazing and incredible heroine...passionate, loyal, caring....and what she does with her time and money to build an outreach program to help young drug addicts is really admirable. She has inner strength and strong beliefs. And she is a gorgeous Irish woman as well!!!!

Though I thought Romain was a cold and unfeeling person in the beginning, I began warming up to him as I continued finding out the reasons why he behaved the way he did. In the end, I knew without a doubt that these two people would find each other no matter what. They were meant to be together...true soul mates who had been searching all their lives to find true happiness.

I have read this book so many times that I stopped counting and each reread I am as touched as the first time I opened page 1.........and so sad when getting to the last page....but the good news ....we will meet again in Tiarnan, Sorcha’s brother’s story. I loved the parts where he appears in the story.
This is one of the books in the favourite’s shelf in my bookcase....and please do yourself a favour...and read this book. It will blow you away!!!!!

Book Description:
His price? She'll become his mistress!

As a top model, Sorcha Murphy can command a high price. But her fame hides a terrible secret from her past - one she has tried to put behind her, but which is about to return to haunt her...
Romain de Valois knows Sorcha is damaged goods - her hedonistic reputation speaks for itself. But he needs and wants her for one final assignment, and he's prepared to pay...

REVIEW: The Sheik's Undoing by Sharon Kendrick

The Sheik’s Undoing by Sharon Kendrick is a story about a sheik and an English rose…a story used over and over by different authors…..but I found Sheik Tariq and Isobel aka Izzy (I hate that nickname!!!!!) Mulholland, his PA for the last 5 years to be quite refreshing. 

Firstly, they love affair doesn’t have him “winging” her on his private jet (yes he does have one or two) to his desert country but the seduction happens in London and the English countryside. Although he’s your typical ultra alpha-male, makes all these endearments in some language I have no clue what during their lovemaking scenes, he’s essentially more Westernized, which I liked for a change!!!!
Isobel is your typical English rose…corkscrew titian curls, soft skin, etc etc…..oh yes….this we discover only later…she starts off as this starchy, stiff, dowdy person who changes once she is totally ravished by her Sheik boss….forgot to mention that she is also a virgin….Sheiks need to be the first man to deflower the woman he marries…she has to be pure and not soiled by any other man!!!!!! So, the first time he does her…a bit unromantic I felt…up against a wall in the office and immediately sends her alone to her home whilst he goes off gallivanting. Well, he is known as the Playboy who lives in the fast lane so that should have told Isobel something.
Of course he can’t get her out of his head…….wow he has never felt this way for any other woman before….but as he discovers, she is no walkover!!!!!!

The part of the story that takes place in Isobel’s very basic cottage in the country is really funny and cute. It’s a place that has none of the things Tariq is used to….TV..no….it has low ceilings, lumpy beds but a great view!!!!! Loved the way he slowly begins to enjoy himself and Isobel….he who has never read anything but financial books/magazines..maybe a car magazine is now into getting into the thrillers from the bookshelf in the cottage….for a minute I thought he would have to read something like her Mills & Boon romances….just kidding.

From being this cold, spoilt, selfish man we slowly begin to see how Isobel’s influence and love change him for the better. Also like seeing his brother King Zahid and his queen Francesca from this author’s previous book, Monarch of the Sands
An enjoyable read.

Book Blurb: Ultimate playboy Sheikh Tariq lives life firmly in the fast lane! Independent to his core, Tariq relies on no one but himself – with a little bit of help from his indispensable, sensibly dressed PA, Isobel Mulholland. When a car accident leaves this dynamic sheikh injured and reliant on Isobel, his first reaction is to be furious! The only way through it is to make the most of having Isobel at his beck and call – and under her enchanting touch Tariq’s thoughts turn to seduction… This sweet girl, who has been under his nose the whole time, could just be the Sheikh’s undoing

REVIEW: Gianni's Pride by Kim Lawrence

I have read quite a few of Kim Lawrence’s books but I can’t make up my mind if I liked Gianni’s Pride or not. It has all the right ingredients for a super story but there seemed to lack some spark, which I can’t put my finger on. Maybe the story happened in too short a time… 

Gianni Fitzgerald is hot, shouldering, rich and gorgeous with a cute son. Who can resist that combination…oh yes…he’s not married…the child was born out of wedlock and he has custody..so he’s totally available. How could Miranda ignore the attraction she felt …after waking up in bed with a beyond beautiful unknown male?

I found Gianni to be a bit of a twit at times, but slowly began to like him. Miranda has quite a sense of humor at times….the dialogue between the two is pretty good…I did feel she gave in too quickly to Gianni’s proposal….girl, play a bit harder to get I thought at times.

I thought the whole thing with her twin a bit weird….I mean, she knew Miranda was in love with her now husband, but she went out of her way to nab him,…never mind what Miranda would feel…but hey Miranda has a heart….even invites the sister to be her bridesmaid!!!!!

I am not saying that I didn’t like this book….just that it’s not on my favorite’s shelf of my bookcase

REVIEW: Mercury's War (Breed Series #16) by Lora Leigh

  Mercury’s War is Lora Leigh’s 16th book in the Breeds Series and it’s a really great story. This is one of my favourites so far. 

Mecury Warrant is one of the greatest breeds ever created (read Lion Dna!!!) who we have met in previous books has been assigned to work with Ria Rodriguez, the representative of Leo Vanderdale (THE ALPHA LEO of the breed) discover who the traitor is in Sanctuary that is sending secret information on the Breeds to their enemies.
There are a lot of secrets revealed in this book.....Ria’s secret life, the death of Mercury’s mate years ago, the problems with mate heat...you have to read the books to fully understand this phenomena......more about Cassie...gorgeous and interesting....Jonas Wyatt, the head of the Breed Society, and so many more characters we know from before and new ones appearing which I am sure we will get to know soon.

I thought Ria was a fabulous heroine....hiding behind her boring clothes and hairstyle, lived a woman with heart and loads of sensuality and incredible strength....a mate worthy of a lion like Mercury, the ultimate alpha-hero/breed who knows she is his true mate even though there are problems involving this matter.... The banter between each other was really fun....such a lovable couple.
They are unable to keep away from each other.....and wow wow.....the sex scenes...and I mean there are a lot of them...ripping each other’s clothes, doing it in the office...scorching hot!!!!!!!!!! Lora Leigh knows how to write unbelievable sensual, sexy, hot, sizzling sex in her books!!!!!!!!!!

I am fascinated by this magical breed world that the author has created. Part human/animal society that just wants to believe that there is a place for them in this world and that they do indeed have a soul. I love these people....they are so intense, loyal, able to love beyond measure and their closeness as a group is really admirable. There’s suspense, drama, action, romance and sex in these books.

Ooh loved the mention that Ria lives in Johannesburg, South Africa.....that’s my city!!!!!!!!! And this book is definitely in my Favourites shelf of my bookcase

Can’t wait to read my next book on these gorgeous males and their equally beautiful mates.