Review: Duarte's Child by Lynne Graham

Duarte's Child by Lynne Graham
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Not only is this story written by one of my fav fav Mills & Boon authors but the story is set in PORTUGAL (where I was born!!!) and the hero is PORTUGUESE!!!!!!!!! Duarte de Monteiro

Finally, a Portuguese hero…after loads of Greeks, French, Italian, South American…...I am, naturally

Okay, stopping my jumping up and down right now and getting down to what this really fabulous tale is all about!!!
Emily is a rather mousy English girl, whose family treats her really SHABBILY. She meets the fabulously rich and gorgeous Duarte, when working in his English stately home’s stables. She can’t believe it….but he asks her to marry him (wow…within a few days of him meeting her….me…I would have been a bit suspicious….!!)….and even when he tells her he does not love her…WHAT DOES SHE DO???? YES….she agrees to his proposal…after all, she loves him…really she does…and she believes he will eventually fall in love with her…..RIGHT!!!!! Of course it happens, doesn’t it????
Anyway, Duarte takes her away from her rather drab and dreary life to his fabulous mansion in Sintra, Portugal……..let me faint here, right now!!! Sintra, a beautiful place just outside Lisbon…what more can a girl ask for????? Never mind that it comes with some baggage…….huge fotos hanging all over of his beyond beautiful but now dead ex-wife…but with the ex-wife’s mother, who runs the mansion…..talk about Mrs Danvers (remember her from Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier????...what, you haven’t read that book!!!! Get it now, and read it…..you just have to…it’s one of those TO BE READ ones!!!) lookalike

Then there’s Duarte’s sexy PA…what a conniving bitch….and how stupid was Emily in believing anything she did and told her!!!! Is it possible for anyone to be that daft????? But yes, Emily was!!! And before she knows it…things go horribly wrong…yes, Duarte has still not fallen in love with her, even though Emily is pregnant with his heir….wow…we know how much these alphas love having heirs!!!!
So, Emily runs back to England…six months pregs and all……because????? She’s been told that once the heir is born, Duarte will discard her and keep the babe!!!!!! Now, wouldn’t any woman do what she does???? No, not me!!!! But hey, I’m not Emily.
Her family is not interested in helping her……..geez…..are there people out there like that?????
Anyway, Emily is on the run from Duarte, because she knows how rich and powerful he is….and all the time I am sharing all her troubles …..I kept thinking…..

You gave up living in a place like

to living like THIS?????

But Emily can’t hide from Duarte forever….he eventually tracks her down – there’s a really funny scene when he discovers where she’s been working….I knew all along he would find her…after all, he’s got lots and lots of money and power!!!
I loved the chase scene……here’s Duarte in his super, duper car

chasing Emily and the baby heir, in her wreck pulling her caravan home….not forgetting his bodyguards chasing her as well…

There’s no escape for Emily.
Soon, she and baby heir and Duarte and the bodyguards are winging their way, on Duarte’s private jet, back to Portugal!!!!
Now, I was dreading the idea of Emily continuing being the downtrodden and ignored wife….I had this idea of strangling her if she did not take a stand. And wow……before long, Emily takes charge!!! No more the quiet and mousy woman……….she finally WAKES UP!!!! And starts kicking some ass…..

. I did like that she wasn’t mean about it though….she still retained her soft heart…but did I love seeing Duarte groveling….yes, he did a lot of that

By the end….I was like

Finally…..together, Duarte & Emily and little baby heir having their HEA….of course, that’s no spoiler because we all know………THERE’S ALWAYS A HAPPY ENDING!!!!
I so enjoyed reading this…..and if you love HEA’s….get this book and start reading!!!


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Review: The Professional #1 by Kresley Cole

The Professional: Part 1 by Kresley Cole
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Yay…me….beyond excited…………..Kresley Cole has a new book!!!!!!!

And after a few pages….I’m like….

Before I continue, please let me clarify that these are my opinions – I know loads of readers have loved this book, but I guess it does it for someone and not for everyone….for me, it was

The plot is so ridiculous and silly that it’s beyond OTT. Natalie places messages on social media sites looking for her lost Russian father and voila!!! Soon she’s met up with some gorgeous Russian bodyguard, who has been sent to America to fetch her and take her to unknown father, who just happens to be one of the “good” Russian Mafiosos!!!!!!!

oh okay…there are some of those still living in Russia….after all, her father does everything criminal but not drugs and prostitutes………that makes it okay, doesn’t it??????

“Your father is part of the Bratva, the brotherhood. It’s like a criminal aristocracy. He’s vor v zakone, the head of our organization, answering to no one.”
The blatant pride in Sevastyan’s tone made my queasiness increase. “So I’m a freaking mafiya princess, then? That’s the real reason I’m in danger, isn’t it?”

The characters are totally unrelatable….Natalie, works three jobs….talk about superwoman!!!!! A virgin still waiting to be deflowered by the “right” guy….who she INSTANTANIOUSLY knows is Sevastian, the bodyguard, who is totally devoted to her father!!!!!

The two “ignite” immediately….but he’s a man of honor!!!! He does not want to deflower his boss’s daughter because it just ain’t right!!!!!! He has an iron control beyond belief!!! And Natalie, for someone so virginal, sure shows some creative skills that just come “naturally” to her…forget experience….it’s been simmering in her and she’s now ready to “boil” over!!!

I imagined him with cool, statuesque beauties from the north, felt like a runt in comparison. That feeling was short-lived—because he moved his attention to my breasts.
Cupping them from the bottom, he nearly circled them with his big hands. Avoiding my nipples, he kneaded with a practiced touch that was just this side of rough. But I loved it, arching to him.
Again and again, he palmed me, plumping the mounds until the rest of my body begged for contact—which he seemed determined to withhold.
“What are you doing to me?”
“Sexually torturing you.” He tightened his grip on my breasts.

The sex was not erotic or sensual…..

“Chut’.” Slightly. “I’ve been replaying how I saw you in the bath, stroking yourself with these fingers.” He peeled my right hand from the cover—which I’d been clutching like a roller-coaster safety bar—then pressed my fingertips against his face. “I only wish you’d finished yourself in front of me.”

Steam hissed, floating through the air. It surrounded us, caressing my face. “If we stay h-here, something might happen.” Something sinful.
Like the two of us stripping down to nothing, so we could lick droplets from each other’s skin.

The writing was so silly……I mean……Natalie phones her best friend, who is just as idiotic as her,

Jess answered on the fourth ring, snapping with impatience: “Having my box eaten right now; this better be good—”

from the private jet winging her and

” Sevastyan crossed to stand in front of me. The soft light caressed his hard features. They were almost too masculine. His rugged jaw was wide, the
bridge of his aquiline nose slightly askew, giving him a roguish look. But on the whole, he was devastatingly attractive, with that dangerous aura about him”. to meet her father.

The characters ….not one of them….did it for me. I found nothing likeable about them…..I was laughing my head off when Natalie arrives at her father’s PALACE…yes, he has a palace and soon his long lost daughter is given all the rich life gifts……diamond-crusted Smartphone, sports car, designer clothes and Natalie is a born natural to this life…soon she’s doing vodka shots with her father and his “team” and her new found cousin..….jeez….it was like watching that reality show about the new rich in London!!!!!!!!!!!! Money and nothing else!!

Such silly dialogue…pets and nyets………..really!!!

“You must trust me, pet,” he said as he reached forward to gently grasp my chin.
At his touch, that dizzying heat filled me once more. It was just the liquor at work, I assured myself, or exhaustion catching up with me. Or my unsuccessful bath time.

“Pet . . .” Now every time he called me that it reminded me of his words:collar and keep you. He reached for my jacket, his gaze gone molten. “There’s one thing you should know.”

I just had this image running in my head

I’m too scared to read book #2…what if I

Well, I’ll just go back to KC’s fabulous IAD series………….



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Review: After the Storm by Maya Banks

After the Storm by Maya Banks
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have read all of the KGI series and liked most of them and I was really looking forward to Donovan’s story……just so you know, I hate the Van side of his name…………after all, the Kelly brothers and their families are a favorite of mine.
But, wow…what a disappointment – and I don’t just mean the Van thing!!!!
Donovan’s “behavior” in After the Storm just did not do it for me! I mean, he meets this young woman, Eve, who is on the run from her wicked and evil stepfather who has been abusing her half-brother and sister…and WHAM…………he’s in love and not only with Eve but her family too. He just knows that this is the family he has been waiting for all his life!!!!!!!!!

Okay, so we know, he has a soft spot for kids, but this was ridiculous. Within a day or two….Donovan has his “family” living in his newly built home in the Kelly compound!!

I just found the story totally unbelievable – especially the whole thing about the evil stepfather’s power!!! I was like……………and then…the lack of any romance build-up…it’s like…wham, thank you maam…kind of thing!!!!

So, why the 3 stars????? Because I actually loved the two kids…Travis & Cammie and the Kelly women.
I am looking forward to Rusty’s book and I hope it’s going to be a great one.


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Review: Deadline by Sandra Brown

Deadline by Sandra Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have been reading books by this author since the 80's and though Deadline is not one of my top favourites, it still did not disappoint me.

A ell-written, good paced, multi-layered plot with amazing twists that deal with domestic terrorism in America, the effects of war and the evil and darkness that lurks underneath the most innocent and placid people and places that one can never imagine.


Dawson Scott an investigative reporter, who experienced some horrors whilst covering the war in Afghanistan, has returned home and trying to deal with PTSD, when he's asked by his godfather, a retired FBI agent, to cover the trial in Savannah, of a man accused of killing Jeremy Wesson, the son of a terrorist that has been haunting him for the last three decades. Agent Headly wants the case solved before his retirement so he can move on with his life.
Dawson meets Amelia, Jeremy Wesson's ex wife and soon both are on a journey that's filled with murder, betrayal, secrets, and lies that soon have them running out of time in avoiding being killed by people, like Carl Wingert, Jeremy Wesson's father, a total sociopath, who will stop at nothing to avoid the truth coming out.

I liked Dawson and Amelia, who felt very real to me, with all their flaws and insecurities and how each brought some good into each other's lives.

The subject of PTSD was very well-handled and felt very real to me.

And the twist near the end.........WOW....I never saw that coming!!!! What a revelation that just stunned me...in fact left me breathless!!!!

Anyone who enjoys a suspense and mystery filled story with a bit of romance (would have loved a bit more between Dawson and Amelia....), then this is a book for you.

Oh, lastly.......I so wanted a HEA for Dawson & Amelia at the end....but it kind of ends with....did they get it or not?????? Guess that's another Sandra Brown Twist!!!!!!


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Review: A Wanted Man by Lee Childs

A Wanted Man by Lee Child
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have been a fan of this series since I read the first book, but the last couple of books have been a real disappointment to me.

And ever since I watched the movie with Tom Cruise playing the part of Jack Reacher.....well...maybe that has something to do with me not liking the books as much as before!!

There were some parts of this book I liked....how JR works out all the puzzles and twists...and then goes on all those "turns" until everything is revealed....but somehow I felt a lack of something....i didn't feel my "heart" pounding - no real anything!!!!!!

And then....THE END.....Jack Reacher off on another adventure.....though there is a cliffhanger here....who is the leader of the terrorists???????
Well, guess we will have to get the next book to find out!! Because I can't help myself.....I have to read the next JR installment........

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Review: The Cozakis Bride by Lynne Graham

The Cozakis Bride (Greek Tycoons) by Lynne Graham
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I found another book from my favorite Mills & Boon author, Lynne Graham that I had not read. I was like, so…….

By chapter 2, I was like……………

Give it up, continue, give it up…..persevere or not..……!!!!! But this is a LG story…..I should not even question myself about not “dnf” one of her books!!! Yes, I continued with the most “boring and annoying characters and a plot that had so many things happening that had me trying to keep up with who was who and what was what!!!!!

A rich playboy of 19 is engaged to a plain and overweight heiress of 17. Not such good things happen and the hero drops the heroine, accuses her of opening her legs for any man…..and that is just so not on for a man like him…remember he’s alpha Greek…..he flies away into the horizon after calling her really nasty names…….

10 years later, heroine is in desperate mode and drops her pride and asks the hero for help…..and yes…she still loves him. He’s been having a good time without her and but…not so good…in fact pretty awful………but swallow the pride, go on her knees and let him help you, even though he thinks who trash and a lady of the night!!!!!!!!
This Nik guy…is still “fuming” all those years later after the heroine dishonored him when they were engaged…..and he’s not prepared to listen to her side of the story…….

But the heroine knows differently………..she has a secret…she might be 27, but she’s still a

So, I like alpha heroes, but geez….Nik Cozakis, gorgeous, sexy, Greek billionaire, takes it to the max….no…beyond the max……

Okay, I get that he’s Greek and all that “male” pride thing…...I was “gnashing” my teeth and telling him to wear his machocism like….. …..just to remind us, in case we forgot, that he’s….
Lots of things happening…….she marries the hero, her grandfather who in the beginning despised her and her mother….now loves them and brings them into his arms and millions. A few wicked bitches (we need those in these stories…), who get their comeuppance in the end. Fabulous locations….greek villas, greek islands……what could be more exciting…right????

The settings and Nik’s younger brother were the only things I liked in this story!! Oh yes, I also loved the heroine’s name, OLYMPIA!!!

I was totally frustrated with this book…really!!!

But if you are a LG fan like me, you just have to read this one. Who knows, you might like it!!

I’m on the lookout for LG’s next book!!!!!!!!!!!


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