Thursday, March 21, 2013

A Wild Night's Bride (the Devil DeVere #1) by Victoria Vane

blurb courtesy of Goodreads

What happens when a struggling actress and a grieving widower come together in a night of unbridled debauchery orchestrated by a bored and machinating rake? With the devil in charge...there will be hell to pay!

She’s a lonely lady down on her luck... Phoebe Scott, alias Kitty Willis, is a struggling Covent Garden actress with a bruised heart and a closely guarded secret. 

He’s steadfast and eminently respectable.. Sir Edward Chambers, Ned to his intimates, is guilt-ridden over his beloved wife’s death and avowed to live out a rustic and mundane life … of celibacy. 

With the devil in charge — there will surely be hell to pay. Devil in disguise, Viscount Ludovic DeVere, is determined to return his best friend, Ned, to the land of the living. His meddling machinations result in a night of mind blowing passion after which “dull dog Ned” awakes to find himself in the King of England’s bed!


A Wild Night's Bride starts in the morning and then retells the story of a night of debauchery lived by Sir Edward Chambers, Viscount Ludovic DeVere and Miss Phoebe Scott.  It's a tiny bit convoluted just like my quick retelling but it doesn't take long to sort out and become wrapped up in a rollicking tale of depravity set in Georgian England.  Phoebe and Ned meet at a brothel where Phoebe is interested in meeting Viscount DeVere to recruit him as a protector in order to further her career as an actress.  Ned is attending the party with DeVere under duress as Ned has been faithful to his late wife Annalee for the three years she has been gone.  Sparks immediately fly between Ned and Phoebe, DeVere notices and hatches a plan to throw Ned and Phoebe together.

Ned is understandably reluctant, but once the passion explodes Ned is helpless to contain his desire for Phoebe.  Ned is a very very naughty boy beneath that respectable facade.

A Wild Night's Bride is a sexy, funny story that moves at a snappish pace with enjoyable characters and a great deal of steam.  It sets you up nicely for book 2 which is the story of Ned's daughter Vesta and DeVere's brother Hew.  Be sure to pick up the all four books because you won't want to waste a minute before starting the next installment of the Devil DeVere!

With this Kiss Part II by Eloisa James

Blurb courtesy of Goodreads...

Lady Grace Ryburn has accepted another man's proposal after the love of her life, Lieutenant Colin Barry, asked for her own sister's hand in marriage.

But when Colin returns home from the wars, injured in body and spirit, will she be able to turn her back and marry another? Or will she throw away every rule her mother taught her and try to seduce a man who has shown no interest in her kisses?

This is the second installment of a serial novella about the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Ashbrook (The Ugly Duchess) and the adopted son of Sir Griffin and Phoebe Barry (Seduced by a Pirate).  Eloisa James has penned a classic tale of unrequited love fraught with misunderstandings and striking sensual tension.  Colin and Grace are believable and enjoyable and this installment ends with a painful cliffhanger.  Can't wait for Part III.

eARC provided by Avon Books via eidelweiss, in return for an honest review.

Lord of Darkness by Elizabeth Hoyt


blurb courtesy of Amazon:

WHEN STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT

He lives in the shadows. As the mysterious masked avenger known as the Ghost of St. Giles, Godric St. John's only goal is to protect the innocent of London. Until the night he confronts a fearless young lady pointing a pistol at his head-and realizes she is his wife . . . 

BECOME LOVERS . . .

Lady Margaret Reading has vowed to kill the Ghost of St. Giles-the man who murdered her one true love. Returning to London, and to the man she hasn't seen since their wedding day, Margaret does not recognize the man behind the mask. Fierce, commanding, and dangerous, the notorious Ghost of St. Giles is everything she feared he would be-and so much more . . . 

DESIRE IS THE ULTIMATE DANGER

When passion flares, these two intimate strangers can't keep from revealing more of themselves than they had ever planned. But when Margaret learns the truth-that the Ghost is her husband-the game is up and the players must surrender . . . to the temptation that could destroy them both.

At the end of Thief of Shadows, Godric St. John is attending a party where a lovely young miss by the name of Margaret Reading faints into his arms. Later that night Godric is coerced to marry Margaret as she is in an interesting way and her fiance has been murdered by the Ghost of St. Giles. They marry in haste then go on with their separate lives.
Opening Lord of Darkness in St. Giles with Margaret holding the Ghost at gunpoint all unknowing that he is her husband was a stroke of genius, and the genius just goes on and on. Lord of Darkness is at times funny, witty, sexy and intense. Godric and Megs simply come alive in ways that not many authors manage. They are both well written characters with strong motivations and clear voices. There is no TSTL heroines or Too Alpha heroes here these are real people with real flaws. Godric is funny, wry and amazingly sexy for an old man of 37 years. Megs is sweet, smart and amazingly resilient as only an Elizabeth Hoyt heroine can be. The story unfolds with delicious heat and tension and the suspense is well written and not too obvious. Secondary characters are vividly drawn and only add to the atmosphere of the book. This is not just another fluffy romance novel, there are serious issues at play here, child abuse, neglect, poverty and greed and they are gracefully dealt with.
The chapters open with a story "The Hellequin" and it really adds to each chapter. The story in a story idea is one that Ms. Hoyt has done in all her books and I really enjoy the chance to read fairy tales that I didn't learn as a child.
I really didn't think I could love a character or a book in this series more than I loved Winter Makepeace in Thief of Shadows but Godric St. John and Lord of Darkness outshone even that amazingly wonderful story.
If you haven't read all of Elizabeth's backlist, I encourage you to do so. Whenever I'm in a reading slump, I find myself reaching for any one of Ms. Hoyt's novels.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

The Best Mistake by Kate Watterson

When Lacey Billings gives her boyfriend, Ran, an erotic wake-up call in the middle of the night, she's shocked to discover that the gorgeous man she's kissing isn't Ran...it's his cousin, Rick.

Although Ran laughs off the mix-up, Lacey and Rick can't stop thinking about the unexpected encounter, and they can't escape the scorching flashbacks it's aroused.

Ran doesn't want an innocent mistake to ruin his relationship with his girlfriend or his cousin, so he proposes a solution. He wants the three of them to solve this problem the old-fashioned way, by sleeping on it...together.

This little ebook was one HOT number.  Lacey, Rick and Ran were smoking together and separately.  I definitely wished for a bit more time to develop the characters though.

Cop Out by KC Burn


Detective Kurt O’Donnell is used to digging up other people’s secrets, but when he discovers his slain partner was married to another man, it shakes him. Determined to do the right thing, Kurt offers the mourning Davy his assistance. Helping Davy through his grief helps Kurt deal with the guilt that his partner didn’t trust him enough to tell him the truth, and somewhere along the way Davy stops being an obligation and becomes a friend, the closest friend Kurt has ever had.

His growing attraction to Davy complicates matters, leaving Kurt struggling to reevaluate his sexuality. Then a sensual encounter neither man is ready for confuses them further. To be with Davy, Kurt must face the prospect of coming out, but his job and his relationship with his Catholic family are on the line. Can he risk destroying his life for the uncertain possibility of a relationship with a newly widowed man?

Did you ever just get totally blindsided by a book.  I went into this expecting a syrupy sweet romance with some angst, some navel gazing and then a great denoument.  NOT what I got here.  I got a tenderly wrought emotional book about love, loss, compassion and family.

Run to your ebook outlet of choice and pick this one up.  It was well worth every moment.

Pulled Long by Christine D'Abo

For months, coffee shop owner Ian Long has fantasized about a customer he knows only as "Blue Eyes." Until he learns Blue Eyes is in the midst of a divorce—the last thing Ian wants is to be the rebound experiment of a straight guy. Giving in to lust, he invites the man into the cafĂ© after hours and they indulge in a little exhibitionist play, but Ian is unwilling to get involved.

When he's forced to see Jeff again to return his briefcase, Ian finally agrees to go out on a date. Dinner quickly becomes an erotic encounter in a special room at the sex club Mavericks, and Ian realizes Jeff satisfies desires he didn't know he had. The more he gets to know Jeff as a person, the harder it is to resist falling for him.

Jeff makes it clear he's interested in more than just sex. He wants to go public with their relationship in more ways than one. But can Ian open his heart, when he fears it will be broken?

I had no idea this was the third book in a series, it totally stood on its own.  Loved Jeff and Ian, loved the smexiness of it all.  LOVED!

Striker by KyAnn Waters

Sports writer Max Myers just discovered he lives next door to the hottest soccer player to hit the field. If he scores a coveted interview with the reclusive striker for the Denver Blaze, he could take himself from sports blogger to mainstream sports authority.

Riley Grayson has no interest in interviews or in outing his private life to the public. He wants to be known for the scoring he does on the field and not in the sack. But Max is a temptation he can't resist. Taking a chance, Riley and Max discover they have more in common than passion for soccer and hot sex between the sheets.

Just as they begin to trust each other outside the bedroom, Max is put in a no-win situation: write an article about Riley exposing accusations of drug use, or risk destroying his own credibility. If he does, he'll lose Riley. If he doesn't, he'll lose everything he's worked hard to achieve.

You could totally relate to Max and Riley, their motivations, desires and plans.  Smexy scenes were nicely wrought and the conflict was believable.  I would definitely pick up another KyAnn Waters book soon!