Sunday in Review

It’s update time again :)

Below are the newest reviews I’ve written here and on Romance Junkies. The master list and categorical lists on the right-hand side are updated as well.

Reviews for upcoming releases:
- Days of Rakes and Roses (Sons of Sin, Book 0.5) by Anna Campbell (available 7/2/13)
- The Marquess of Cake (Redcakes, Book 1) by Heather Hiestand (available 7/4/13)
- Girl Least Likely to Marry (The Wedding Season, Book 2) by Amy Andrews (available 7/23/13)
- Perfect Fling (Serendipity’s Finest, Book 2) by Carly Phillips (available 7/30/13)

All other new reviews:
- Sweet Revenge (Nemesis, Unlimited, Book 1) by Zoë Archer
- Time Untime (Dark-Hunters, Book 22) by Sherryiln Kenyon

Upcoming reviews:
- Rise of the Gryphon (Belador, Book 4) by Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love
- Don’t Bite the Bridesmaid by Tiffany Allee
- Skies of Steel (The Ether Chronicles, Book 3) by Zoë Archer
- The Seduction of Elliot McBride (Highland Pleasures, Book 5) by Jennifer Ashley
- Mystery Man (Dream Man, Book 1) by Kristen Ashley
- Wild Man (Dream Man, Book 2) by Kristen Ashley
- Down for the Count (Dare Me, Book 1) by Christine Bell
- Down and Dirty (Dare Me, Book 2) by Christine Bell
- Ninja Cupcakes by T.A. Chase
- How to Ravish a Rake (How to Series, Book 3) by Vicky Dreiling
- Soul Weaver by Hailey Edwards
- Some Like It Hot (Rising Star Chef, Book 2) by Louisa Edwards
- Hot Under Pressure (Rising Star Chef, Book 3) by Louisa Edwards
- A Beginner’s Guide to Rakes by Suzanne Enoch
- Just in Time (Alaskan Nights, Book 3) by Addison Fox
- Cowboy Take Me Away (Rainbow Valley, Book 1) by Jane Graves
- Trouble at the Wedding (Abandoned at the Altar, Book 3) by Laura Lee Guhrke
- Studenstein (Love-Bots, Book 2) by Daisy Harris
- One Night Steined (Love-Bots, Book 3) by Daisy Harris
- Archer (Hard Body, Book 1) by Debra Kayn
- Midnight Games (Killer Instincts, Book 3) by Elle Kennedy
- True by Erin McCarthy
- Kiss of Steel (London Steampunk, Book 1) by Bec McMaster
- Nora Roberts Land (Dare Valley, Book 1) by Ava Miles
- Keeping Secrets in Seattle by Brooke Moss
- Blood Persuasion (Immortal Jane Austen, Book 2) by Janet Mullany
- Educating Elizabeth by Kate Pearce
- Redeeming Jack by Kate Pearce
- Raw Desire by Kate Pearce
- Soul Sucker by Kate Pearce
- Nights of Steel (The Ether Chronicles, Book 4) by Nico Rosso
- Seeing Red (Firefighter, Book 3) by Jill Shalvis
- Heart of Obsidian (Psy-Changeling, Book 12) by Nalini Singh
- Sully’s Sweet Salvation by Sierra Summers
- Primal Law (Alpha Pack, Book 1) by J.D. Tyler
- Her Ladyship’s Curse (Disenchanted & Co., Book 1) by Lynn Viehl
- Easy by Tammara Webber

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Review: Girl Least Likely to Marry by Amy Andrews

Girl Least Likely to Marry by Amy Andrews
Series: The Wedding Season, Book 2
Publisher: Harlequin KISS
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: July 23, 2013
ISBN: 9780373207244
Buy it here: Amazon | B&N

Certified genius Cassiopeia Barclay is all about logic. Sexual attraction has no place in her life and she certainly doesn’t believe in love, so why is she drawn to former NFL quarterback Samuel Tucker? He’s a jock who wouldn’t know auroras from apples, but the pheromones he throws off send Cassie’s libido skyrocketing. Unfortunately for her, one night with Tuck isn’t nearly enough to get him out of her mind.

Tuck’s used to people thinking he’s dumb as a rock, which is why he finds it fun to tease his cousin’s brainy best friend. Cassie’s the one woman who has never fallen at his feet, but the longer he’s around her, the closer Tuck is to falling at hers. Seducing her into being his lover is easy, but trying to capture her heart…well, Tuck’s got his work cut out for him. Can he convince Cassie that something as powerful and unquantifiable as love exists?

Logic wars with emotion in the wildly entertaining Girl Least Likely to Marry. Author Amy Andrews has penned a wonderful romance that both celebrates genius and addresses the problems people more comfortable with facts than feelings face.

My absolute favorite thing about Cassie is that she’s a true nerd. Not a smart, awkward, secretly-feminine-ugly-duckling-who-finds-the-motivation-to-become-a-swan kind of heroine, but a true logic-loving brainiac whose IQ is high and EQ is low. Cassie truly doesn’t care about looks or pretty much anything other than science and her three best friends. What makes Girl Least Likely to Marry even better is that Tuck never tries to change her. He loves, respects, and appreciates Cassie for who she is and the way he woos her just makes me want to swoon. Tuck’s a heck of a lot smarter than most people give him credit for and it was a pleasure peeling back the layers to his character. He has some vulnerabilities of his own, though what they are I’ll leave the reader to discover. While it was easy for me to fall for Tuck (handsome, intelligent, loving, and laid-back — what’s not to adore?), it wasn’t exactly a smooth road to happily ever after for him and Cassie. She has a difficult time with emotion in a way you have to read Girl Least Likely to Marry to truly understand. Their romance is filled with ups and downs, has both sizzling heat and the hardships two very different but perfectly suited people trying to come together face. I was so engaged in Tuck and Cassie’s story that I read Girl Least Likely to Marry in one sitting.

Girl Least Likely to Marry can be read as a standalone, but it is the second book in the multi-author Wedding Season series. The friendship between Cassie and her fellow Wedding Season heroines is every bit as important as her burgeoning relationship with Tuck. I loved seeing the four of them pull together and I’m more eager than ever to continue the series with book three, Maid of Dishonor.

Girl Least Likely to Marry is a lovely romance with beautifully drawn protagonists. Cassie and Tuck’s story was the first book of Ms. Andrews’s I’ve read but it definitely won’t be the last!

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Review: Sweet Revenge by Zoë Archer

Sweet Revenge by Zoë Archer
Series: Nemesis, Unlimited, Book 1
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Genre: Historical Romance
ISBN: 9781250015594
Blue Ribbon Rating: 4 out of 5
Original Review Link
Book Purchase Link
Zoë Archer Reading Order

When “Diamond” Jack Dalton escapes from prison, he has only one thing on his mind: vengeance. He’s determined to kill Lord Rockley, the man who murdered Jack’s sister, but when he steals into the inn where the nobleman is rumored to be staying, Jack finds three strangers instead. The trio is part of Nemesis, Unlimited, a group determined to deliver justice at any cost. They’re after Rockley as well, but to bring the man down they need Jack’s help. Jack has no interest in Nemesis’s mission, but the beautiful Eva Warrick soon manages to change his mind. Eva’s like no other woman Jack’s met before and before long he begins to fall for her, knowing there can be no future for them.

Author Zoë Archer delivers a high-stakes tale of vengeance with SWEET REVENGE. I was captivated from the first page by Jack’s action-packed escape and the Leverage-esque nature of Nemesis, Unlimited. Even when the pulse-pounding action slowed down, I remained engrossed in the story, thanks to Jack, Eva and some very intriguing secondary characters.

Jack is a powerful presence in SWEET REVENGE and I truly enjoyed the fact that he’s rough around the edges and quite different from the hero norm. He’s an escaped convict and a former bodyguard who has been told so often that he’s worth nothing more than his muscles that he believes it. One of the biggest pleasures in reading SWEET REVENGE was seeing Jack come into his own. I loved that Eva saw ALL of Jack, that she believed in him and wouldn’t let him devalue himself. And speaking of Eva, she’s a classic Zoë Archer heroine — smart, strong and dedicated to her cause. The building sexual tension adds a nice sizzle to SWEET REVENGE and the overall love story is wonderful.

The mission to bring down Rockley adds further action to the story, but it’s truly the characters themselves who fascinated me. From Eva’s fellow Nemesis operatives — particularly Simon Addison-Shawe — to Charlie, an acquaintance of Jack’s whom I just adore; Ms. Archer has me hoping for many more NEMESIS, UNLIMITED books. SWEET REVENGE is a highly entertaining book and I can’t wait to read the next NEMESIS, UNLIMITED story, DANGEROUS SEDUCTION.


Note: My review was written for Romance Junkies and is cross-posted here with permission from Romance Junkies.

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Review: The Marquess of Cake by Heather Hiestand

The Marquess of Cake by Heather Hiestand
Series: Redcakes, Book 1
Publisher: eKensington
Genre: Historical Romance
Release Date: July 4, 2013
ISBN: 9781601831118
Buy it here: Amazon | B&N

Michael Shield, Marquess of Hatbrook, has a sweet tooth, which is why Redcake’s Tea Shop and Emporium is his favorite place in London. It doesn’t hurt that Michael’s also captivated by cakie Alys Redcake. Alys has no interest in anything other than decorating cakes and working at her family’s business, but that doesn’t stop Michael from pursuing her. The attraction is mutual and when Michael decides he needs to marry, he can’t picture anyone other than Alys as his bride. Can he convince her to be as passionate about a life with him as she is about the cakes she bakes?

Don’t start The Marquess of Cake when you’re hungry, or Alys’s creations will have you hunting for pastry in the middle of the night. Even if you don’t have a sweet tooth like Michael, The Marquess of Cake is still delicious thanks to Alys and Michael’s romance.

Alys is a woman who was raised to work hard and her family’s rising fortune has turned her world upside down. Alys is happy being a spinster and decorating cakes, but her father is determined she marry and there’s nothing she can do to change his mind. I appreciated Alys’s passion for her work and it saddened me a bit that conventions of the Victorian era dictated she had to give a lot of that up, even though Michael does come up with a compromise for her. The titular marquess is a handsome hero with a taste for Scotch trifle. What was most interesting about Michael (to me) was that Heather Hiestand made him hypoglycemic. The way Alys came to recognize his health problem (though obviously it was never named or formally diagnosed, given the time period) and how she and Michael ultimately addressed it made The Marquess of Cake unique, in my opinion.

Aside from the romance, The Marquess of Cake has family drama aplenty. I admit, I wasn’t very fond of Alys’s sisters, particularly toward the end of the book, and I really had to question Michael’s judgment given his choice of friends. I was, however, interested in Michael’s sister, Beth, Alys’s twin brother, Gawain, and her cousin, Lewis. All in all I found The Marquess of Cake to be a highly entertaining read and I’m looking forward to the next book in the Redcakes series.

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Review: Days of Rakes and Roses by Anna Campbell

Days of Rakes and Roses by Anna Campbell
Series: Sons of Sin, Book 0.5
Publisher: Forever Yours
Genre: Historical Romance
Release Date: July 2, 2013
ISBN: 9781455576289
Buy it here: Amazon | B&N

Scandal has long followed Lady Lydia Rothermere’s family, which is why she tries desperately to follow society’s rules to a T. Now engaged to a man perfectly suited to her needs, Lydia can see her life laid out before her. If part of her rebels at the notion of living without passion, well, then she can at least find comfort in the fact that she is upholding her family name. Then a man from her past appears, threatening to derail Lydia’s plans.

Simon Metcalf’s name is synonymous with sin and for ten years Lydia has tried to forget her love for him…and the way their desire for one another had nearly ruined her. Simon’s return to London sends Lydia’s emotions into a tailspin and before long she’s forced to make a choice: stay safe and marry a man who’s all wrong for her or court scandal by risking her heart for the only man she’s ever loved.

True love can’t be denied in Days of Rakes and Roses. Lydia and Simon are a couple whose burgeoning romance was cut short once upon a time by Lydia’s father, and since that fateful day Lydia has tried to be the model of propriety. Needless to say, she’s thrown for a loop when Simon reinserts himself into her life right before her wedding to another man. I love Lydia and Simon together, yet even though it’s clear they’re a far better fit than Lydia and her fiancé, she can’t simply throw caution to the wind and break her engagement. Anna Campbell makes Lydia’s dilemma compelling, and though I won’t spoil the story by revealing the obstacles in Lydia and Simon’s path, I will say that I avidly read Days of Rakes and Roses, wanting to see how things would work out.

Days of Rakes and Roses can be read as a standalone, but it is part of Ms. Campbell’s Sons of Sin series (chronologically it comes before the first book, Seven Nights in a Rogue’s Bed). Lydia is the sister of future Sons of Sin hero Camden, and eagle-eyed readers might remember Cam briefly mentioning Lydia and her “new husband” in Seven Nights in a Rogue’s Bed. Cam plays a large supporting role in Days of Rakes and Roses and I loved learning more about his character, though now I want to read his book more than ever. As for the other Sons of Sins heroes, Jonas is briefly mentioned and Richard, hero of the upcoming A Rake’s Midnight Kiss, dazzles whenever he appears on the page.

Anna Campbell is a supremely talented author whose books never fail to entertain. Days of Rakes and Roses is a compelling story fans of historical romance are sure to adore.

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Waiting on Wednesday: The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine which spotlights eagerly anticipated upcoming releases!

I stumbled upon this book at random when the title caught my eye. It sounds really interesting and I can't wait to read it :)

Title: The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic
Author: Emily Croy Barker
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books
Release Date: August 1, 2013

Book Description (from Goodreads):

An imaginative story of a woman caught in an alternate world—where she will need to learn the skills of magic to survive.

Nora Fischer’s dissertation is stalled and her boyfriend is about to marry another woman. During a miserable weekend at a friend’s wedding, Nora wanders off and walks through a portal into a different world where she’s transformed from a drab grad student into a stunning beauty. Before long, she has a set of glamorous new friends and her romance with gorgeous, masterful Raclin is heating up. It’s almost too good to be true.

Then the elegant veneer shatters. Nora’s new fantasy world turns darker, a fairy tale gone incredibly wrong. Making it here will take skills Nora never learned in graduate school. Her only real ally—and a reluctant one at that—is the magician Aruendiel, a grim, reclusive figure with a biting tongue and a shrouded past. And it will take her becoming Aruendiel’s student—and learning magic herself—to survive. When a passage home finally opens, Nora must weigh her "real life" against the dangerous power of love and magic.

For lovers of Lev Grossman's The Magicians series (The Magicians and The Magician King) and Deborah Harkness's All Souls Trilogy (A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night).

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Tuesday in Review

It’s update time again :)

Below are the newest reviews I’ve written here and on Joyfully Reviewed. The master list and categorical lists on the right-hand side are updated as well.

Reviews for upcoming releases:
- Hotter Than Ever (Out of Uniform, Book 9) by Elle Kennedy (available 7/9/13)
- Trust in Me (Rancho del Cielo, Book 5) by Dee Tenorio (available 7/23/13)

All other new reviews:
- Sweetest Seduction by KB Alan
- Fire Inside (Chaos, Book 2) by Kristen Ashley
- Skinny Bitch in Love by Kim Barnouin
- Flirting with Rescue by Sidney Bristol
- Nerds Are Freaks Too by Koko Brown
- Aloha Kaua by Jenna Byrnes
- The Unexpected Wedding Guest (The Wedding Season, Book 1) by Aimee Carson
- Lover Unexpected by Brindle Chase
- Lust After Death (Love-Bots, Book 1) by Daisy Harris
- Blind Her With Bliss (Tilling Passions, Book 1) by Nina Pierce
- Elemental Heat by Cristal Ryder
- Rock-Hard Heat (Sequel to Elemental Heat) by Cristal Ryder
- Finn’s Redemption by Sierra Summers
- A Breach of Promise by Victoria Vane

Upcoming reviews:
- Rise of the Gryphon (Belador, Book 4) by Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love
- Don’t Bite the Bridesmaid by Tiffany Allee
- Girl Least Likely To Marry by Amy Andrews
- Skies of Steel (The Ether Chronicles, Book 3) by Zoë Archer
- The Seduction of Elliot McBride (Highland Pleasures, Book 5) by Jennifer Ashley
- Mystery Man (Dream Man, Book 1) by Kristen Ashley
- Wild Man (Dream Man, Book 2) by Kristen Ashley
- Down for the Count (Dare Me, Book 1) by Christine Bell
- Down and Dirty (Dare Me, Book 2) by Christine Bell
- Days of Rakes and Roses (Sons of Sin, Book 1.5) by Anna Campbell
- Ninja Cupcakes by T.A. Chase
- How to Ravish a Rake (How to Series, Book 3) by Vicky Dreiling
- Soul Weaver by Hailey Edwards
- Some Like It Hot (Rising Star Chef, Book 2) by Louisa Edwards
- Hot Under Pressure (Rising Star Chef, Book 3) by Louisa Edwards
- A Beginner’s Guide to Rakes by Suzanne Enoch
- Just in Time (Alaskan Nights, Book 3) by Addison Fox
- Cowboy Take Me Away (Rainbow Valley, Book 1) by Jane Graves
- Trouble at the Wedding (Abandoned at the Altar, Book 3) by Laura Lee Guhrke
- Studenstein (Love-Bots, Book 2) by Daisy Harris
- One Night Steined (Love-Bots, Book 4) by Daisy Harris
- The Marquess of Cake (Redcakes, Book 1) by Heather Hiestand
- Archer (Hard Body, Book 1) by Debra Kayn
- Midnight Games (Killer Instincts, Book 3) by Elle Kennedy
- Time Untime (Dark Hunters, Book 22) by Sherrilyn Kenyon
- True by Erin McCarthy
- Kiss of Steel (London Steampunk, Book 1) by Bec McMaster
- Nora Roberts Land (Dare Valley, Book 1) by Ava Miles
- Keeping Secrets in Seattle by Brooke Moss
- Blood Persuasion (Immortal Jane Austen, Book 2) by Janet Mullany
- Educating Elizabeth by Kate Pearce
- Redeeming Jack by Kate Pearce
- Raw Desire by Kate Pearce
- Soul Sucker by Kate Pearce
- Nights of Steel (The Ether Chronicles, Book 4) by Nico Rosso
- Sully’s Sweet Salvation by Sierra Summers
- Primal Law (Alpha Pack, Book 1) by J.D. Tyler
- Her Ladyship’s Curse (Disenchanted & Co., Book 1) by Lynn Viehl
- Easy by Tammara Webber

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