Bewitching Book Tours Book Review: A Marquess For Christmas

Author: Vivienne Westlake
Title: A Marquess For Christmas
Publish Date: Dec 12, 2012
Buy: Amazon

Review Copy Provided By: Bewitching Book Tours & the author

Book Blurb: A proper widow. A rakish marquess. He rescued her from thieves, but will she be able to save him from himself?

When Violet Laurens is rescued from highwaymen, the furthest thing from her mind is that her heart might tumble next. She loves her independent life, no matter her lonely bed. The handsome stranger reawakens the passion she thought buried along with her husband, pushing her to new heights of desire. But she knows it’s only a matter of time before he remembers his name and leaves her.

The dissolute Marquess of Kittrick has vowed never to marry, causing a rift in his family that sets him on the road just in time to do battle with ruffians intent on stealing a lady’s coins—and more. Discovering the fiery wanton beneath the widow’s oh-so-proper demeanor makes him want nothing more than to forget who he is for just a bit longer. Maybe forever.

When Kit is forced to acknowledge who he is, will the truth trump their shared passion, and the love they can’t quite admit to? Or will Violet overcome her fear—and Kit his dissolute ways--and be able to lay claim to A Marquess for Christmas?

Review: Vivienne Westlake is a good writer of regency romance. In A Marquess For Christmas she created a cast of characters that you will enjoy getting to know. There is only one flaw, it is an erotic regency.

Now I don't have any problems with erotica. I like the genre now and then, but something about the sex scenes in this book didn't ring true for me. Violet likes a little light bondage, nothing major, but there is no rhyme or reason for this.

That's not to say the sex scenes aren't smoking hot or really sexy, because they are, and as I said, I loved the chemistry between Violet and Kit, but for me, personally, the physical relationship wasn't quite what I wanted it to be.

But back to the story.

Kit gets clobbered defending Violet from Highwaymen. He has amnesia.

Ah the old amnesia that isn't amnesia for long bit.

Its a plot that's been done before...and recently I've read a few books with this theme. I'm on the fence with this one, because I watch too much news and know that Kit's injury really should have been life threatening and some of their bed gymnastics probably shouldn't have been done. I mean he got smashed in the head with a ROCK!

OK, off my pedestal now.

Yes, there were two things that bothered me with the story. Would they keep me from recommending the book or Vivienne Westlake as a writer? No, they wouldn't because there are too many pluses to the story.

And they are:

1. Great secondary characters, Bella and Freddy (Kit's sister and brother-in-law)

2. A believable relationship between the hero and heroine.

3. The relationship between Kit and Bella. These siblings are quite a pair!

4. A hero that gives as good as he takes. (And yeah, that involves the smokin' hot sex scenes)

This is a great read for anyone that loves regency romance.

Rating: 4 flowers

ARC Book Review: Waking Up Married

Author: Mira Lyn Kelly
Title: Waking Up Married
Publisher: Harlequin Kiss
Publish Date: Jan 22, 2013
Buy: Amazon  (Get it free!!)

Review Copy Provided By: Net Galley

Book Blurb: 

From USA TODAY bestselling author Mira Lyn Kelly comes WAKING UP MARRIED, a free book in Harlequin's brand-new contemporary romance collection—Harlequin KISS. Her first thought: "Who are you?" It's the morning after her cousin's bachelorette party in Vegas and Megan Scott wakes up with the mother of all hangovers. Even worse, she's in a stranger's penthouse having woken up with something else as well—a funny, arrogant, sexy…husband! Up until now, finding even a boyfriend had seemed impossible—been there, got the broken heart, sworn off men for good. Then a few martinis with Carter…no, Connor Reed and she's gone from first meet to marriage in one night! Megan wants a lawyer. But Connor's shocking bombshell? "I don't want a divorce."

Review: Kiss is the new imprint from Harlequin starting in February of 2013. As I was reading, I was trying to figure out where this book fits in the grand scheme of things. I'm thinking somewhere between Presents and Blaze.

I love Harlequin romances. They are like candy, probably bad for you, but oh so good.

Waking Up Married follows one of the stranger overused plots, the quicky drunken Vegas wedding.

So it starts off, right away, being not so realistic, but as a lover of romance, I don't really care.

It is a cute read, and the characters are just as you'd expect them to be, but somehow, they didn't quite work for me. Connor's decision to keep up with the marriage, even as Megan, rationally says they should get a divorce doesn't make sense.

For a man that doesn't believe in love, I have to say, the man doth protest too much.

The beginning of the story is a bit confusing too, as they go back and forth between the present and the hours leading up to Megan and Connor marrying.

Still, I found I liked Megan and Connor, even though their story was off the wall. I definitely want to see what else the Kiss line is going to offer.

Rating: 3 flowers

TLC Book Tours Book Review: A Cowboy For Christmas

Author: Lori Wilde
Title: A Cowboy For Christmas
Publisher: Avon
Publish Date: Oct 30, 2012
Buy: Amazon

Review Copy Provided By: TLC Book Tours & the Publisher

Book Blurb:  It’s Christmastime in Jubilee, Texas, but Lissette Moncrief is having a hard time celebrating . . . Especially after she accidentally smashes her car into Rafferty Jones’s pick-up truck. Yes, he’s a whole lot of handsome-from the tips of his boots to the top of his Stetson. But he’s no Christmas present. Lissy’s not about to let herself get whisked away by his charming ways and words . . . only to watch him drive away in the end. But what Lissy doesn’t know is Rafferty’s in town just to meet her-and to give her a share in a windfall that doesn’t rightly belong to him. At first, he just wants to do his good deed and get out. But one look at this green-eyed beauty has him deciding to turn this into a Christmas to remember . . . making promises he’s determined to keep-whether she believes in them or not.

Review: I read Lori's First Love Cookie Club a few years back and I loved it. This book was no different. It is what I like to call a cozy romance. It focuses on the characters rather than on a lot of sex.

Now don't get me wrong, I like a good smutty novel now and then, but at the holidays, I love books that are about PEOPLE! Lissy and Rafferty were people that were characters you could relate to. They had real problems. Lissy's son is going deaf and she lost her husband in the war in Afghanistan.  Rafferty is her husband's half brother. The bastard child of Gordon Moncrief and Ameila Jones. He's had a hard life, but he's made good.

Both are strong characters determined to do what they feel is right for themselves and those they care about. You may think this may make the book slow, but it isn't . I breezed through this book in a day and loved every page.

I really loved her little boy, he was so sweet, especially as he starts learning sign language. There's a cute scene at Thanksgiving when a fight breaks out over dessert, because he signed that he wanted cake and pie.

One of the things that really draws me to Lori's books is the food. There's a whole lot of baking going on in her books and that makes me happy, especially when you get to the end and there are recipes. I can't wait to try them too!

If you love authors like Debbie Macomber, Robyn Carr and Hope Ramsey, and their take on small town America, you'll love Jubilee, TX and all the people there!

Rating: 5 flowers

About Lori Wilde: Lori Wilde is the New York Times bestselling author of more than forty-five books. A former RITA finalist, Lori has received the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Holt Medallion, the Booksellers Best, the National Readers’ Choice, and numerous other honors. She lives in Weatherford, Texas, with her husband and a wide assortment of pets. Find out more about Lori on her website, connect with her on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter.

CBLS Book Barrage: Toying With Temptation

Toying with Temptation
by Madison Martin
Published by Chances Press, LLC
Published on November 1, 2011
Contemporary Romance
Heat Level: Steamy
Length: 188 pages
Available at:
Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Toying-With-Temptation-A-Romance/dp/0981718647/
B&N - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/toying-with-temptation-madison-martin/1106523063
Smashwords - http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/94915
ARe - https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-toyingwithtemptationaromance-612066-149.html
Blurb:
Driven, business savvy Hailey Burton, Vice President of Tryton Financial Institute, has been put in charge of running what could be her first ever failure: the company's Christmas Eve toy drive. Toys and Christmas are beyond Hailey's expertise, but when she's offered the chance for the promotion she's been waiting for if she succeeds, her competitive spirit kicks into high gear.

When every company in Los Angeles turns her down, desperation leads her to Quinn Matheson. Ten years ago, Hailey chose a prosperous career over Quinn, but as she falls for him all over again, she can't deny that they make a good team in business...and more. This second time around, is she finally ready to make the leap and become his partner in love?

Excerpt:
“Trust me. I never thought we’d be in this…er, position.” Hailey Burton smoothed her hands over the skirt of her brand new Armani suit to keep her hands from shaking. Quinn Matheson could never see how nervous she was. She wouldn’t let him. It would add further humiliation to her unfortunate circumstance, and she felt humiliated enough.

Quinn, the King of Matheson Toys and the picture of confidence, silently appraised her from behind the huge oak desk in his office.

“I mean, we’ve been in every other posi—” She coughed before she finished a sentence that could get her in big trouble. Whatever “positions” she and Quinn may have found themselves in ten years ago, it was too long ago to matter now. Wasn’t it?

She stiffened her spine and felt herself growing hotter by the second. A trickle of sweat began to run down the small of her back. Why fight it? Her brand new, one-of-a kind suit, bought for a special occasion, was headed straight for the cleaners.

Why did she think this would be easy? Why did she think she’d have the upper hand? And why was Quinn sitting there staring at her, refusing to say anything?

He watched her with calculating dark brown eyes, noticing every time she fidgeted or said something stupid. It was beginning to drive her crazy.

“Are you going to say something?”

He shrugged. “It’s your meeting.”

In her eight years of experience, she’d met with and given presentations to presidents and corporate execs from companies all over the world. She always acted with cool confidence in situations that made tough men sweat, and not one minute of it ever fazed her.

What did faze her was sitting here in front of her ex, begging for tens of thousands of toys for her company’s first Christmas toy drive in five years.

Christmas was beyond the limits of her expertise. In her entire life she’d celebrated maybe one or two. Last year, she’d spent the holiday on a conference call closing a deal with a company in Hong Kong. The year before that, she’d been in New York collecting leads for a new account. Her boss knew Christmas was out of her league, but he also knew she never gave her projects less than a hundred and twenty percent, and he’d saddled her with the toy drive despite her protests.

If the promise of moving up the Tryton Financial Institute corporate ladder weren’t waiting for her at the other end of this, she’d have told her boss to forget it. But as usual, the desire for success was stronger than…well, the desire for anything else.

Stronger, even, than the will to never see the man she’d run out on ten years ago. As much as she never thought she’d have the guts to look him in the face again, that promotion was staring her down…waiting. Begging for her to come and get it.

Review:  Toying with Temptation is a great short holiday-ish novella. It is a romance that will appeal to anyone that loves to dive into a good Harlequin.

Hailey's a little hard to understand. She suffers from the "I don't want to turn into my mother" syndrome, that a lot of heroines have when their creators give them a mother that is less then perfect, but like Scrooge, she makes a turn around and really finds her heart in this story.

Don't get me wrong, she's not really Scrooge-like, but she doesn't feel the holiday spirit because of her mother's bad parenting.

Then there's her ex, Quinn, who she left at the alter 10 years before. Through most of the story, you can't help but wonder WHY! He's everything you could possibly want in a man, smart, successful, rich...gorgeous. And guess what? He still loves her.

The funniest scene in the book involves Quinn, a whale and the ocean. Perhaps not a pleasant thing for Quinn, but when you read it, you'll be laughing just a little.

This was a fun, cute romantic read. Great for the holidays!

Rating:  4 flowers

About the Author:
Madison Martin is also the author of Briefly Yours: An Erotic Romance Novel, Nights on Catalina, The Deep End: Erotic Stories For Women, and The Deep End 2: Wedding Night. To find out more about Madison, visit http://www.madisonmartinbooks.com/.
Giveaway a Rafflecopter giveaway Follow the rest of the tour: http://cblspromotions.blogspot.com/2012/12/blog-barrage-toying-with-temptation-by.html

Book Review: A Hope Springs Christmas

Author: Patricia Davids
Title: A Hope Springs Christmas
Publisher: Love Inspired
Publish Date: Dec 1, 2012
Buy: Amazon

Review Copy Provided By: Net Galley

Book Blurb: Amish widow Sarah Wyse does not see wedding bells in her future. Still, she can't think of a better way to spend the Christmas season than helping her handsome, shy neighbor Levi Beachy find a wife. But once the single ladies of Hope Springs start visiting his buggy shop, Levi sends the town's eligible men Sarah's way. Neither expects to find love—but with help from the close-knit community, they just might mend each other's broken heart.

Review: Patricia Davids' Amish mini-series for Love Inspired, is one of my favorite collections of books. A Hope Springs Christmas is the latest offering and it is a welcome addition to anyone's book shelves.

Sarah is a character that it takes awhile to warm up to. She's not very upbeat, focusing on all the bad things that have happened to her during the holidays. Now that's not to say she didn't have the right to. She lost a husband and a sister at Christmas and now the holiday is approaching and the store she finds herself without a job.

Its through strange circumstances that she's thrown together with Levi.

I loved her terrible attempts at matchmaking, but even more I loved Levi's attempts at matchmaking for her.  Those were some of the funniest scenes in the book.

I had a hard time warming up to Levi's brothers. The twins were beyond trouble makers, and their pranks caused a lot of harm to people. I couldn't believe that got away with what they did so many times, without much in the away of punishment.

From the start, I loved Levi. He was a shy boy, well, man, and I love the shy quiet types. I liked how he dealt with the women, Sarah tried to push in his direction as well as how they all really brought him out of his shell.

I can't wait for more of this series. Patricia write great Amish romances!

Rating: 5 flowers

Book Review: What An Earl Wants

Author Kasey Michaels
Title: What An Earl Wants
Publisher: HQN
Publish Date: Nov 20, 2012
Buy: Amazon
Review Copy Provided By: Net Galley 
Book Blurb: Gideon Redgrave, eldest child of the late Earl of Saltwood, refuses to be humbled by the scandal that once tore his family apart. He's built his life in London society around one rule: trust no one. So the last thing he wants is to play guardian and role model to a headstrong boy…or to engage in a battle of wills with the boy's spirited half sister, who is fighting Gideon for custody.

Beautiful and bold, young widow Jessica Linden proves to be a formidable and passionate adversary. But the more they lock horns, the more Gideon realizes he'd prefer to have Jessica on his side…and in his arms. Especially now that a new threat—sprung from his father's supposedly defunct secret society—is poised to destroy the Redgraves once and for all.

Review: Kasey Michaels' opens her series with the Redgraves with a real winner. This is one of the few regency romances that I've read that didn't leave me frustrated with one or more of the characters. Jessica is a smart no nonsense heroine, who believe it or not doesn't do anything stupid that jeopardizes her life in the whole book!

Wow!

I thought that was a requirement of regency romance. All heroines must be kidnapped or nearly killed by a dastardly villain in the last 40 pages.

And there's a real intrigue in this story. Gideon's grandfather had started a hellfire club, that his son continued. The point of the club involves all sorts of naughty things as well as a plot to remove the monarchy!

Jessica and Gideon uncover all of this as a result of her wanting to gain custody of her half-brother Adam, who is really a halfwit!

Somehow the custody battle between the two takes a back burner to the intrigue, and Jess and Giddy's relationship blossoms. Even though these two find it hard to say, I love you, their relationship grows, and wonder of wonders, there's really no conflict between the two.

How did that happen?

The story really involves the two of them sleuthing out the deaths of some of the Society members including her father and step mother. The intrigue definitely keeps the pages turning, mostly because of Trixie, Gideon's grandmother.

OMG, she is the best character ever.

It isn't often you have a 70 year old lady send a note around to her grandson, because she was sleeping with a man, and he happened to expire during the act!

Yes!

So funny!

I have to say, I loved all the Redgraves, and though I am heartily sick of every historical romance being part of some series or another, this is one I will definitely follow, especially if the next book is as good as this one!

My only gripe is the ending. It lacked a little resolution. I would have liked something to have been resolved at the end of this book except for the fact the Society wasn't going to go after her brother.

Rating: 4 flowers

Bewitching Book Tours Promo & Review: Not Quite Dating

Not Quite Dating

By Catherine Bybee

Not Quite Series Book One

Publisher Montlake

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Book Description:

Waitress and single mom Jessica “Jessie” Mann is practical to a fault. Even if she had time to date, which she doesn’t, she’d be determined to provide her son with a more secure upbringing than the one she had—and that would mean a husband with big bucks. When Jack Morrison—a sexy-as-sin, seemingly broke customer with a cowboy hat and a seductive grin—tries to flirt with her, she shoots him down. She doubts a carefree dreamer like Jack can provide the financial stability she needs. Yet with Christmas just weeks away, and Jessie not wanting to spend it alone, the charming Texan is proving hard to resist.

As the heir to the Morrison luxury hotel empire, Jack is used to being fawned over. But Jack needs someone who will fall in love with him—not his wealth. He’s set his sights on Jessie, though her hardened heart just might get in the way…To be sure, he conceals his true identity and offers to help Jessie find the rich husband she seeks. But Jack’s daring charade may rob him of the holiday wish he wants most of all…

Book Trailer http://youtu.be/C_2YYrSQv10 

Review: If you are a fan of Debbie Macomber Then you'll love Catherine Bybee. Not Quite Dating reminds me of Debbie's early books for Harlequin Romance. Short and sweet and full of warm fuzzy feelings.

This is a romance novel, one you'll fall in love with.

Jessie feels like someone you know. She feels real and Jack is her knight in shining armor, but she doesn't know it yet.

It reads like a modern day fairy tale. With Jessie as Cinderella and Jake as her Fairy Godmother and Prince Charming all rolled into one.

Toss in her absolutely sweet son Danny and her sister Monica and you have a book that's filled with lots of Awwws.

This is a book you won't be able to put down until you are absolutely sure that Jessie and Jake are together forever.

It even has a touch of holiday goodness, that you wouldn't expect upon a glance at the cover.

Definitely a must read romance!

Rating: 5 flowers

About the Author:

New York Times bestselling author Catherine Bybee was raised in Washington State, but after graduating high school, she moved to Southern California in hopes of becoming a movie star. After growing bored with waiting tables, she returned to school and became a registered nurse, spending most of her career in urban emergency rooms. She now writes full-time and has penned the novels Wife by Wednesday and Married by Monday. Bybee lives with her husband and two teenage sons in Southern California.

Website / Blog / Facebook / Twitter

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Reading Addiction Book Tours Guest Blog & Review: The Christmas Diary

Stop Reading That Romance Novel

That’s what my high school English teacher told me many years ago, when she found me reading Promise at Midnight, by Lilian Peake. Ms. T. was outraged. She made me put the sizzling sex-drenched book away. She threatened to snatch it from me. “Read something that will improve your mind, young lady!” she said, glaring down at me with her tight lips, tight hair and very tight blouse and skirt. It suddenly occurred to me that, with her sexy body and wide blue eyes, she could have played the heroine, Shona Carroll, in the movie.

I sat listening to Ms. T’s subject and verb orgy, while dreaming of lip-mashing, heart-pumping, polyester pant suit-ripping sex. While Ms T. worked on the coupling of subject and predicate, I worked on recalling how Mr. Faraday’s mouth hit Ms. T’s—no Shona’s lips—“with a force which ground her lips against her teeth.”

When Ms. T asked us to write all this down, I did. I wrote, “...force which ground her lips against her teeth.” Hey, wasn’t there a verb in there somewhere?

Over the years, many romance novels’ plots and characters have been hard-wired into my brain—no doubt altering my already confused and carelessly romantic DNA. Sometimes I feel like I’ve been turned into a romance novel Borg (from Star Trek). Some days I channel Jane Austen; other days I’m a giddy wench in a Nora Robert’s novel. In Starbucks, I might be reading a paranormal romance novel, while occasionally studying some rather paranormal activities going on next to me, as two sticky lovers sip Frappucinos, make half-hooded-eye romance, and pretend to study an obese law book.

People pass me as I read and they glance down, disapprovingly, at my romance novel cover—a hard-jawed, dark-haired hero on horseback, muscles chunky and glistening; a worshipping heroine in a ripped, lacy wedding dress, clutching the hero’s arm, obviously begging him not to go. What’s the title? Something like, Take Me Home to Love.

I can read people’s minds as they pass. “Huh! Romance novel,” they say, with a supercilious sniff. “She should stop reading that stuff and read something more intellectual like, The Old Man and the Sea.” I would read it, if the old man wasn’t so old, had lots of money, and if he had a fetching girlfriend who fawned on him with a simpering adulation. But I can’t get excited about a poor old man who blathers on about trying to catch a big fish.

Which brings us back to English class and Ms. T. “Your assignment this week is to read Ernest Hemmingway’s novel The Old Man and the Sea,” she said. “Then write a two-page book report.”

I drooped, shut my eyes and recalled a few lines from Promise at Midnight. “You felt like a woman who's been wandering in the desert for months, devoid of all male contact - and do I mean contact!”

I sighed and thought, “Well, I guess I’ll have to stop reading my romance novel and go fishing with that old man this weekend.”

Copyright © 2012 Elyse Douglas

Book Excerpt: For 10 minutes, Alice searched for a road sign or motel.  She couldn’t see anything and she was beginning to despair.  Traffic slowed to a crawl.
At first, it was only a suggestion of trouble: a cluster of distant blinking tail-lights; little or no on-coming traffic.  Then, as she approached the exit, she saw it: a chaotic tangle of cars ahead and the urgent rush of hooded people waving at her to stop, while others scrambled to help.  A red flare blazed in the center of the road; the distant scream of sirens cut into the eerie howl of the storm.
 Fear surged.  She tapped her brakes and slowed to a crawl.   As she approached the pile- up, she saw the devastation: an ugly mass of cars knotted and melted together.  Some were twisted sideways, car parts strewn along the road, others were beaten and punched, windows shattered; a brown SUV had flipped over entirely and was lying off the shoulder of the road on its top.  Men were frantically trying to open the jammed doors.
A heavy man wearing a dark blue coat and red ski cap waved at her to stop, then hurried over with the look of desperation on his face.  She rolled down her window and he shouted at her, as fat snowflakes blew in.
“You have to turn off!  You can’t get through here!”
“Is anyone hurt?” Alice asked.
“Yes, Yes.  It’s terrible.   Get off the road!”  He pointed to his left.  “Over there.  There’s a road.  Take it.”
“Is there any place to stay around here?”
“I don’t know!  Get off the road, Now!  Clear the road for the ambulances!”
Alice rolled up her window and carefully angled toward the exit, aware that her hands were sweaty and shaky, her legs twitching.  Through her rearview mirror, she watched ambulances arrive at the scene and saw the wide sweep of their red domes stabbing into the night.  She was profoundly sad, deeply sorry for the people injured in the accident.
The road before her was narrow and dark.  There were no street lights, no signs and no cars in front or in back of her.  It eventually led to a lonely two-lane highway, where snow, driven by a stiff wind, was gathering in tall drifts, piling up against tall pines and white birch trees.  In the distance, her headlights revealed the silhouette of a solitary leaning barn that would be lucky to survive the night.  Everywhere she looked were ominous smudges of moving shadows.
Not knowing which direction to go and feeling trapped by nature, Alice took a chance and turned left.  Within minutes, she was completely isolated.  She turned on the radio to comfort and cheer her, but no matter which station she selected, she got white noise.  She turned it off, wiped her damp forehead and reached for her cell phone.  This was an emergency and in an emergency she could call the local police and ask for help.  They could at least tell her where the nearest motel was.
She couldn’t get a signal.  She kept trying, but the phone wouldn’t connect.  “Think of your options, Alice,” she said aloud.  She had an emergency kit in the trunk—some candles, a bottle of water and some matches.  She also had a flashlight in the glove compartment.  “If worse comes to worst, you can stay in the car¾wait until morning, when you can see,” she said aloud, trying to comfort herself with the sound of her own voice.
But what if the storm didn’t subside?  And from the looks of it, it was just getting started.  She glanced at her gas gauge: over half a tank.  That was good.  No problem.  That would be enough.  Surely she would eventually find a house or some place where she could stop and spend the night.  But the further she drove, the more desolate the landscape became; the more she felt she was being swallowed up by darkness.
Fifteen minutes later, her heart was thumping in her ears.  She was edgy and tired.  She was completely alone.  She had not passed a single car and none had approached her from the other direction.  How could that be?  How was it possible not to pass a house, not to see another car, a truck, something?
She reached for the phone and tried again.  Nothing.  No signal.   She cursed and tossed the phone.  It bounced off the seat to the floor.  The further she traveled, the deeper the snow and the more difficult it became for the tires to find traction.  Her hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly that they hurt.
When the man darted out in front of her, she slammed on her breaks. The wheels locked and the car slid right, out of control.  She screamed.  The car spun in a crazy circle, finally coming to rest on the opposite side of the road, facing the opposite direction.
When it stopped, Alice was still gripping the steering wheel, puffing air, stunned and confused.  She suddenly remembered the man and quickly recovered, fumbling to release the seat belt, shoving the door open and stepping out, coatless.  She’d changed into comfortable travel clothes before leaving the shop, but as snow swirled and the wind gusted, she was instantly aware that the red woolen sweater and blue jeans were not going to keep her warm.  She shielded her eyes from the attacking flakes, as her brown loafers sunk into deep snow and her face registered the shock of frigid impact.  Where was the man?!  For warmth, she wrapped her arms tightly around her body.
Then she saw him, a large man in his 70s, hatless, with a cinderblock head, broad chest, angry-looking black spectacles and a ferocious, hawk-like gaze.  He walked toward the glare of the headlights.  He had a grandfatherly menace about him, and a stiff awkward gait.  His dark overcoat flapped in the cruel wind; his thin gray hair was whipped up and wild.  He stopped about 10 feet away, shoved his hands deep into his pockets and hunched his shoulders forward.  Alice stepped back, noticing his iceberg eyes and pallid skin.  A little scar above his right eyebrow added a sinister quality.
Alice finally found a small voice.  “Are you all right?”
“Yeah... no thanks to you,” he said loudly, in a scratchy voice.  “You almost hit me!  You were driving too damned fast!”
Alice shivered in the wind.  “I was barely going 30 miles an hour.  You ran out right in front of me!”
“You’re supposed to reduce your speed in bad weather.”
“I did!  I did reduce my speed.  I always reduce my speed in bad weather,” she said, defensively.
He pointed to her car.  “Then why is your car out in the middle of the road pointing in the wrong direction?”
“Because you ran out in front of me!”
“A man can’t feel safe taking a leisurely walk, without some out-of-towner trying to run him down.  I ought to call the cops on you!”
Sudden anger gave her new strength.  “Great!  You do that.  Call the cops!  I am completely lost and haven’t seen a house or a car in miles.”
The old man shook his head and barked out a laugh. “Unbelievable.  You don’t even know where the hell you are.”
“Look, I’m not going to stand out here arguing with you in the middle of a blizzard.  I’m lost, I’m freezing and I’m scared.  I need to find somewhere to stay for the night.”
“Why didn’t you say so in the first place, instead of babbling on like some silly goose?”
“Because you didn’t give me the chance!”
He scratched his head.  “I know where you can stay,” he said, and then started toward her car.  Alice backed away and watched as he tramped to the passenger side, yanked the door open and slid in, slamming it behind him.  Alice stared in disbelief.  She turned in a circle, her toes feeling like little popsicles.  She didn’t have a good feeling about this.  Who would be out walking in the middle of a blizzard?
She was chilled to the bone.  Her teeth began to chatter.  She couldn’t very well ask him to get out in this weather, could she?  She sighed, resigned but shaky.
She eased in behind the wheel, not closing the door behind her.  The man narrowed his eyes at her.
“You going to drive with the door open?”
Still reluctant, Alice closed it, avoiding the man’s eyes.  The engine purred.  The heat felt good on her wet feet and cold face.
Alice tried for an easy, non-fearful tone. “So... you’re from around here?”
“Not really.”
Alice slowly put the car in gear.  “You said you knew a place where I could spend the night?”
“Yep,” he said, not offering more.
 “Is it close by?” Alice asked.
“Yep,” he said closing his thin mouth tightly.
Alice placed her hands on the steering wheel.  “Which way?”
“The way you were going before you tried to hit me.”
Alice looked away and rolled her eyes.  Applying the gas, she made a slow, careful U-turn and urged the car back into the right lane.  She started off into the uncertain night, stealing occasional glances toward her passenger.  He gave her the impression that he had no particular destination in mind and was in no hurry to get anywhere. 

Contemporary Romance

Title: The Christmas Diary
Author: Elyse Douglas
Date Published: 9/12/12
Book Blurb: A young woman, traveling to meet her wealthy fiancé for a Christmas wedding, loses her way in a snowstorm and is stranded at a bed and breakfast. In her room, she finds an old diary written by a man who had once owned the house. Moved by what she reads, she sets off on a journey to learn what happened to him.

Review:  If you are a fan of Richard Paul Evans novels then you definitely want to grab The Christmas Diary. This is a super quick read that you pick up on a Saturday afternoon and devour in one sitting. One glorious afternoon sitting.

It is a story of love and changes with a paranormal twist.

The story involves Alice, Phillip (her fiancee) and Jack, the author of the journal she reads at the B & B. From that minute on the course of her life changes. She sets off to find out what happened to the man who wrote the journal and kind of puts her own engagement on hold, much to the anger of Phillip.

I adored this book. It was quick and simple and really perfect. I loved how everything was tied together through a ghost.

Jack is probably the best character in the story. He's a good guy, with a hard life, and it is the diary given to him by his wife that Alice finds and reads. That diary changes everyone's life.

Alice is what you'd expect from a romance novel heroine.  Things aren't happening right for her and her relationship isn't quite right. You know that from the start. Her employee doesn't like him, her fiancee's mother doesn't like her. Her business is failing. You know something has to happen, and it does and it makes for a great read!

A quick holiday read that makes me think of Lifetime and Hallmark channel movies.
Rating:  5 flowers

Author Info:Elyse Douglas is the pen name for the husband and wife writing team of Elyse Parmentier and Douglas Pennington. Elyse's mother was a painter and her father a textile consultant. Elyse began writing poems and short stories at an early age, and graduated from Columbia University with a Master's Degree in English Literature. Douglas grew up in a family of musicians, astrologers and avid readers. His grandfather was a gifted humorist and storyteller from Kentucky.Elyse Douglas' four novels include: The Astrologer's Daughter, Wanting Rita, The Christmas Diary and Christmas Ever After. They live in New York City.

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Book Review: Jemima J

Author: Jane Green
Title: Jemima J
Publisher: Broadway
Publish Date: June 5, 2001
Buy: Amazon

Book Blurb: Jemima Jones is overweight. About one hundred pounds overweight. Treated like a maid by her thin and social-climbing roommates, and lorded over by the beautiful Geraldine (less talented but better paid) at the Kilburn Herald, Jemima finds that her only consolation is food. Add to this her passion for her charming, sexy, and unobtainable colleague Ben, and Jemima knows her life is in need of a serious change. When she meets Brad, an eligible California hunk, over the Internet, she has the perfect opportunity to reinvent herself–as JJ, the slim, beautiful, gym-obsessed glamour girl. But when her long-distance Romeo demands that they meet, she must conquer her food addiction to become the bone-thin model of her e-mails–no small feat. With a fast-paced plot that never quits and a surprise ending no reader will see coming, Jemima J is the chronicle of one woman's quest to become the woman she's always wanted to be, learning along the way a host of lessons about attraction, addiction, the meaning of true love, and, ultimately, who she really is.

Review: This book was exceedingly frustrating to read. Let me count the ways.

Things that annoyed me.

1. Jemima's weight loss. 100 pounds in a few months. It could happen, but most of us only wish it were that easy.

2. The narration over the first person telling of the story. OMG! This made me nuts and detracted from otherwise decent storytelling.

3. While I along with a bazillion other women in the world could identify with Jemima and though we all loved her when she became a skinny girl, I didn't like her much.

4. I wasn't keen on the when you lose weight love, happiness, promotions etc will come to you. That kind of feeds the whole crappy way the media makes women feel about their bodies. (Even though Jemima didn't stay 121 lbs)

5. The whole Brad/Jenny thing that blows up near the end of the book. OMG this was just PATHETIC!

6. Companies just going on the web in 2000? Really? I graduated college in 1996 and though I didn't have a PC of my own, just about everyone else did.

7. Brad's friendship growing into love only after Jemima lost weight and got hot! Oh and he didn't notice a significant weight loss at his going away party? HUH?

8. I'm so sick of books where the Mother is some nasty women that doesn't care about or is ashamed of her child.

Ok so there was a lot that I found off about this book. Was there any good?

1. I did like Jemima the fat chick. I especially loved her fondness for BACON!

2. Geraldine was the kind of friend we all want. I liked the friendship that grew between her and Jemima and as a result between Jemima and Ben.

Truthfully, I can't find much more to like in this book. It was fast paced and funny at times, and yes, it reads like a fairy tale for grown up little girls, but for me it fell flat. I have a few of Jane Green's books on my TBR pile, after this one, I'm not sure if I want to try them.

Rating: 3 flowers

Book Review: A Belated Bride

Author:Karen Hawkins
Title: A Belated Bride
Publisher: Avon
Publish Date: Jan 9, 2001
Buy:Amazon

Book Blurb:She'd Never Marry Him! The last man Arabella Hadley ever wishes to see again is Lucien Deveraux, the handsome, dissolute Duke of Wexford -- who broke her innocent heart years ago and disappeared to London. So when she finds an unconscious man on her deserted country road and sees that it's Lucien, she's tempted to leave him there. But even more appalling than his presence is the brazen kiss he plants on her shocked lips and her response! So it would be totally insane to take him home to recover -- wouldn't it? Except For One Small Thing... Lucien dares not reveal why he's returned to his country estate -- or why he abandoned the strong-willed beauty years ago. Especially since Arabella clearly has secrets of her own. But when her scheming, marriage-minded aunts successfully compromise them, the two are forced to become man and wife. Which makes it ever harder for both to battle the passion that never disappeared...
Review: I read a review of one of Karen's latest books from Addicted To Romance so I went to the library and found this one, to see how well she stacked up to her most recent book.

I'm kind of on the fence with this one.

I definitely like Karen's writing style.

The characters are really interesting and you can't help but love them, especially Lucien. It is easy to see early on that he loves Arabella, though lord knows she can't. Lucien and Arabella have a past though, so that makes it easy to understand why she doesn't go so easily into Lucien's arms. And why this regency isn't as hot an steamy as it might have been.

It takes a good many pages before the two of them really end up without their clothes. Truthfully that's why this story was a bit of a dud for me. It felt too much like 300 pages of Arabella making excuses not to trust Lucien for his past transgressions, without ever hearing his end of the story.

The smuggling operation added a bit of excitement, but what really gives this story life are Arabella's aunts, Jane and Emma. I especially loved how they checked the Duke out when he was injured. And when I say checked him out, I mean, checked under the covers when he was naked to see how well endowed he was!  That was a hoot.

I was happy that just about everyone had a HEA in this story, I just wish that in some cases it would have happened a lot faster then it did.

Rating: 3 flowers

TLC Book Tours Book Review: My Scandalous Viscount

Author: Gaelen Foley
Title: My Scandalous Viscount
Publisher: Avon
Publish Date: Sept 25, 2012
Buy: Amazon

Review Copy Provided By: TLC Book Tours & the publisher
Book Blurb: Meet the courageous men of the Inferno Club as they face their greatest challenge yet: marriage!

Sebastian, Viscount Beauchamp, lives by a code of honor, and now honor dictates he must marry Miss Carissa Portland. He has no regrets over stealing a kiss from the adorable little busybody—a fitting punishment for putting her delectable nose where it didn't belong. But now, caught in a compromising situation, he knows he must make her his bride. He's faced danger before—but nothing like this!

Carissa is not a gossip—she's a "lady of information." And all she was trying to do was warn the rakehell Beauchamp away from an irate husband. But even she can't flaunt Society, and while her head tells her that Beau's a notorious scoundrel, her heart—and her body—are captivated by his dangerous charm. But when Carissa next goes snooping, the secrets she uncovers about the Inferno Club may prove even more hazardous than falling in love with her own husband.

Review: My Scandalous Viscount is a book in the Inferno Club series. There are four books that come before this one.

Raise your hand if you'd like to read a romance that wasn't part of a series!

Me me me me!

It seems like all historical romances these days are part of long series about aristocratic men that are part of some Order etc that are protecting the crown.

~sigh~

This book is one of those kinds of books, however it is a really good one.

I haven't read the other books in the series so the characters were all new to me, but I didn't feel in any way lost. Gaelen did a good job giving her readers the backstory needed to know what had happened in previous books.

What made me like this book so much was Carissa. She wasn't your usual regency heroine. She was a gossip, or as she liked to call herself  a "Lady of Information." In other words, she was a busybody of the highest degree. She's always poking her nose into places it doesn't belong. That's how she ends up married to Beauchamp.

Not a bad result really, because it is quite easy to tell that Beau likes her, ALOT!

I think that's one of the reasons I liked this book so much, there wasn't a huge amount of tension between the hero and heroine. That doesn't always happen. Sure there were some trust issues, mostly on the part of Carissa, who has something from her past she doesn't want out in the open. With Beau, its just the old, don't give away secrets about The Order.

I thought The Order was going to end up being boring, but that wasn't the case. I found the mystery involving the Government and The Orders activities to be quite interesting.

As much as I wish I wouldn't be sucked into another series, I'm probably going to go back and try to find the other books, because all the characters from The Inferno Club were really interesting, and I definitely want to get to know their brides.

Rating: 5 flowers

About Gaelen Foley Gaelen Foley is the author of seventeen rich, sexy, and dramatic Regency historicals. Her books have won many awards, are published in numerous languages, and appear regularly on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists. She lives in Pennsylvania with her college-sweetheart husband, Eric, and a spoiled bichon frise named Bingley. Find out more about Gaelen at her website and connect with her on Facebook.

Book Review: Forever & A Day

Author: Jill Shalvis
Title: Forever & A Day
Publisher: Hatchette Book Group
Publish Date: July 31, 2012
Buy: Amazon

Review Copy Provided By: Net Galley

Book Blurb:  LOVE CAN HAPPEN IN A HEARTBEAT

Grace never thought she'd be starting her life over from scratch. Losing everything has landed her in Lucky Harbor, working as a dog walker for overwhelmed ER doctor Josh Scott. But the day his nanny fails to show up, Grace goes from caring for Josh's lovable mutt to caring for his rambunctious son. Soon Grace is playing house with the sexy single dad . . .

With so many people depending on him, Josh has no time for anything outside of his clinic and family-until Grace arrives in town. Now this brainy blonde is turning his life inside out and giving a whole new meaning to the phrase "good bedside manner." Josh and Grace don't know if what they have can last. But in a town like Lucky Harbor, a lifetime of love starts with just one day . . .

Review: Jill Shalvis is what good romance is all about. She writes stories like Debbie Macomber and Sherryl Woods with characters you really connect with. In this case its Amy, Mallory and Grace in the town of Lucky Habor.

But that's not all, there's each women's significant other as well as some pretty crazy people from the town particularly Lucille who runs an art gallery in town.

This story is about Grace and Josh. Josh is a super hot and highly overworked single father/doctor. He's juggling work, being a dad and new puppy owner as well as taking care of his sister who is wheel chair bound as a result of an car accident.

Yeah, he's got a lot on his plate and he needs a dog walker for Tag, his super hyper pug puppy. That's where Grace came in. Then she took over for the nanny that quit. Once you got into Josh's life, you really didn't want to get out of it, even if your like Grace, a woman looking to find some measure of success.

This story is kind of a been there done that one. Grace is in banking/finance but as the story goes on, everyone wants her to do their bookkeeping. So you kind of now what she's going to end up doing in town, just as you know to have a HEA she's got to stay in Lucky Habor.

So the story is very predictable, more so than most series romance, but it is a comfortable read. All of Shalvis' characters feel like family. It doesn't matter if this is the first Lucky Harbor book you've read or the 6th. (which this one is)

When you read the dialogue between Grace and Amy and Mallory, you feel like you are sitting around a coffee table with them.

This book really captured small town life as well as friendship. I will be putting Jill on my must read list from now on.

Rating: 4 flowers

TLC Book Tours Book Review: Lord Of Temptation

Author: Lorraine Heath
Title: Lord Of Temptation
Publisher: Avon
Publish Date: Sept 25, 2012
Buy: Amazon

Review Copy Provided By: TLC Book Tours and the publisher

Book Blurb: Three young heirs, imprisoned by an unscrupulous uncle, escaped—to the sea, to the streets, to faraway battle—awaiting the day when they would return to reclaim their birthright.

Once upon a time, he was Lord Tristan Easton—now he is Crimson Jack, a notorious privateer beholden to none, whose only mistress is the sea. But all that will change when exquisite Lady Anne Hayworth hires his protection on a trip into danger and seduction. . .

Desperation brought Anne to the bronzed, blue-eyed buccaneer. But after the Captain demands a kiss as his payment, desire will keep her at his side. She has never known temptation like this—but to protect her heart, she knows she must leave him behind. Yet Tristan cannot easily forget the beauty—and when they meet again in a London ballroom, he vows he won't lose her a second time, as fiery passion reignited takes them into uncharted waters that could lead the second lost lord home...

Review: I've really been getting into historical romance again. I'm not sure why. I usually go for  regencies, but this one is a Victorian novel, set in the early days of Queen Victoria's reign.

It is hard not to love both characters in this story. Anne is head strong and not your typical Victorian woman.  It is hard to believe that a woman would undertake the journey she did just to visit the grave of her fiance. It really is touching.

Her growing feelings for Tristan cause her such frustration on the journey. She feels guilty for denying Walter her love while she's beginning to have strong feelings for Captain Jack. (Every time I thought of him as Captain Jack..I alternately saw Johnny Depp and John Barrowman.)

Tristain was the kind of hero you long for in these historical romances. He's strong on the outside, but inside he's a real softy. His seduction of Anne was slow, but more than just the romance it was how he treated his crew, especially Mouse.

I love how their relationship progressed, even though they both knew it shouldn't. I'm trying to figure out how Anne didn't feel guilt at all the luscious sex she was having before marriage when she lived in Victorian England. She was very free with her favors in a time when that wasn't quite the thing!

I preferred the time that was spent on Revenge to the time in London. Some of the characters there didn't ring quite true. I liked Walter's brother Chetwyn, who was a really good sport about his relationship with Anne, but Hermoine was borderline psycho, and she changed her feelings too quickly to be believable at the end.

This book is part of the Lost Lords of Pembrook series. It is the second of three, but the books can be read as stand alone stories. It is an enjoyable read and it will make you want to grab the first book in the series which is about Tristain's brother Sebastian and Mary.

Rating: 4 flowers

Goddess Fish Promotions Author Interview & Review: Janet Mullany - Hidden Paradise

What was your inspiration for Hidden Paradise?

I loved the idea of writing about modern people in a Regency setting—not a time travel, but people trying to adapt to the clothes, food and manners of the times. It’s not an original idea by any means but I wanted to put a sexy spin on it and feed in some real history. I’m also fascinated by servants—my paternal grandmother (who died years before I was born) was in service, and I give a presentation to romance writes occasionally on getting Regency servants right, and so the downstairs scenes were a lot of fun for me.

You write in several genres, which is your favorite genre to write and which is your favorite to read?

I don’t feel there’s a lot of difference between my subgenres. I’m probably the only writer who’s been accused by one reader of not having enough sex and by another reader of having too much—in the same book! I love writing historicals, because you have all this great background stuff, clothes, settings, and so on, to play with, which I also used in Hidden Paradise.

Many of your books have something to do with Jane Austen, what is it about her life and her books that is inspiring to you as an author?

I love reading Austen. I reread her novels about once a year and I’m always amazed by what I discover new each time. She’s also so skilful in her narrative, what I call the “reveal”—what you want your readers or characters to know, and when they will discover it. She has so many layers of subtlety and of course she has a wonderful, witty turn of phrase.

Do you have a favorite novel by Jane Austen?

Mansfield Park. It’s tremendously sexy. Awful hero/heroine, but you can’t have everything. However you do get the naughty, naughty Crawford duo.

Do you have a favorite character from any of your books?

I think it would have to be Adam from Dedication, my first book that I recently rewrote and republished with LooseId. He’s snarky, a writer, wears glasses, and bursts into tears a lot—what’s not to love?

Erotic romance is more popular now than ever before. Why do you think that is?

Because it’s visible. It’s a sort of self serving prophecy, I think and because the industry is making money from it. There have been terrific writers like Molly Weatherfield and Susie Bright who’ve been writing erotic for years yet the media insists that it’s a recent phenomenon. And erotic romance is still more romance than anything else, with some of the more awful tropes of the genre still alive and well. I think there’s this delusion that a book with a lot of sex scenes and explicit language equals eroticism, but it doesn’t always work.

When did you know that you wanted to write?

I had it on my mind for decades but for a long time I was quite happy reading, which I think is the best thing any aspiring writer can do.

If you could have lunch with any author who would it be and why?

Dickens. I think he’d be immensely entertaining and we’d probably go to one of his (and mine!) old haunts, the Trafalgar Inn in Greenwich.

What are your five favorite books?

Other than Austen? Wives and Daughters by Mrs. Gaskell; Villette by Charlotte Bronte; Bury The Chains by Adam Hochschild; Case Histories by Kate Atkinson; The Magicians by Lev Grossman.

Thanks so much for having me! Let’s get that water buffalo … and I’d love to hear your views on why erotic romance is so popular and what erotic romance really IS!

Blurb: CALL IT SENSE AND Sensuality... Louisa Connelly, a recently widowed Jane Austen scholar, needs some relief from her stifling world. When a friend calls to offer her a temporary escape from her Montana ranch, she is whisked into a dizzying world of sumptuous food, flowing wine...and endless temptation.

She's an honored guest at Paradise Hall, an English resort boasting the full experience of an authentic Georgian country-house weekend. Liveried servants tend to the every need of houseguests clad in meticulous period costume: snug breeches, low-cut silken gowns and negligible undergarments.

It's Mac Salazar, a journalist immersing himself fully, deeply, lustily in the naughty pleasures of upstairs-downstairs dalliances, who piques Louisa's curiosity-and libido-most. He's a dilettante straight out of a novel: uninhibited, unapologetic and nearly insatiable. But Lou's not romantic about this much, at least: Paradise Hall is a gorgeous fantasy, nothing more. A lover like Mac is pure fiction. And the real world beckons....


 Excerpt:The pianist played a final chord and during the applause Rob opened the door and ushered in Dejan and Ivan and their trays. Neither Peter nor Chris was present, which was unusual, and the guests looked a little drunk, which was not unusual at all. At least Lou was pretty much sober tonight. She was sitting next to one of the guys who messed around with the plaster and paint, talking to him with great animation. Mac, meanwhile, across the room, gazed at her, and Rob wondered why he didn’t just go and talk to her. Like poor old Peter had done, clumsily touching him and gazing at him like some sort of pathetic spaniel. It wasn’t the first time a gay guy had propositioned him—it happened, no big deal—but it was a big deal when it was your boss and he looked so sad and scared. Hell, he was even older than Rob’s dad, and he felt more pity for Peter than he could for his own father.

“Tea, ma’am?” he said to Lou.

She took a cup from the tray without even noticing him. “Sixteen layers!” she said to the decorating guy. Jon Nesbitt, that was his name.

“You’ll have to come and look at my samples,” Jon said in his plummy posh voice. Would Rob talk like that, too, after Cambridge?

“Oh, I’d love to.”

Christ, she was practically having an orgasm about looking at paint layers or whatever she was planning to do. He moved the tray away before Jon could take a cup and went to the next guest, the one Downstairs voted most likely to put out. Unfortunately, she also tied for the honor of most annoying and demanding.

“Hi, Rob.” Sarah took a cup of coffee. “Is this organic?”

“Absolutely. And fair trade. Tastes nice, too,” he said vaguely, staring straight into her cleavage. He couldn’t help it. It was just there, all ripe and pillowy and gorgeous with its mysterious deep shadow, and she was sitting and he was standing, and if he wasn’t careful he’d tip half a dozen cups of tea and coffee into its depths.

Review: This is a book that will appeal to lovers of two genres, erotica and period romance. This book read like New Year's Eve, and Love Actually. You see the action unfolding through the eyes of several of the characters in the book.

The main character is Lou, a widow who travels to Paradise Hall at the request of her friends Peter and Chris who run the resort. She has encounters with two men while staying there, Mac, a sexy journalist everyone calls Mr. Darcy and Rob a nineteen year old inexperience footman.

You can't talk about an erotic novel without talking about the sex, and the sex in this book is really spicy. I was really surprised there was some girl on girl with Mac at one point. Mac's reaction to this threesome was really funny. He wants to remember it when he's 90! It's a shame that threesome got him in trouble with Lou, even though their fling was over.

Janet writes a good sex scene, it winds you up as you read it and when its over you need a shower and a cigarette, or at least a glass of wine! She also develops her characters. These aren't a bunch of faceless people that come to this resort to have lots of sex. (Although that's what they do). Rob has family problems, Chris and Peter are having relationship issues, and Lou is dealing with the loss of her husband. These people felt real to me and that made this more an erotic story rather than a porn flick on paper. (which happens quite a bit in this genre).

If I had one gripe with the story though it would be with the sex, sometimes I wanted more story than sex, especially since you feel so close to the characters here.

The revelation Lou gets about her dead husband was a shocker too.  I wasn't sure how I felt about that.

Being a lover of regency romance, I loved how parts of the period are front and center here, and how characters like Viv strive to make the experience as historically accurate as possible.

I definitely want to check out more of Janet's books in the future.

Rating: 4 flowers

AUTHOR Bio and Links: Janet Mullany, granddaughter of an Edwardian housemaid, was born in England but now lives near Washington, DC. Her debut book was Dedication, the only Signet Regency to have two bondage scenes (and which was reissued with even more sex in April 2012 from Loose-Id). Her next book, The Rules of Gentility (HarperCollins 2007) was acquired by Little Black Dress (UK) for whom she wrote three more Regency chicklits, A Most Lamentable Comedy, Improper Relations, and Mr. Bishop and the Actress. Her career as a writer who does terrible things to Jane Austen began in 2010 with the publication of Jane and the Damned (HarperCollins), and Jane Austen: Blood Persuasion (2011) about Jane as a vampire, and a modern retelling of Emma, Little to Hex Her, in the anthology Bespelling Jane Austen headlined by Mary Balogh. She also writes contemporary erotic fiction for Harlequin, Tell Me More (2011) and Hidden Paradise (September, 2012).

Website: www.janetmullany.com
Twitter @Janet_Mullany
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Janet-Mullany-Author/144530775580812
Book Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bixcPDj8JKA

Follow The Tour: http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2012/05/virtual-book-tour-hidden-paradise-by.html


Giveaway: Janet will pledge $1 for every comment made on the blog tour to Heifer International (which has absolutely nothing to do with the book but is one of her favorite nonprofits), up to $250.  Additionally, she'll award the choice of the following eBooks from her backlist to one randomly drawn commenter at every stop:  Forbidden Shores (erotic historical romance w/a Jane Lockwood), or Tell Me More(contemporary erotica) or The Rules of Gentility (funny sexy Regency).  To one randomly drawn host, she'll award their choice of either a 1 lb. box of Leonidas chocolates (US only) or a flock of chicks in their name from Heifer International.