Size 12 Is Not Fat (Heather Wells Bk #1) by Meg Cabot

HEATHER WELLS ROCKS!

Or, at least, she did. That was before she left the pop-idol life behind after she gained a dress size or two -- and lost a boyfriend, a recording contract, and her life savings (when Mom took the money and ran off to Argentina). Now that the glamour and glory days of endless mall appearances are in the past, Heather's perfectly happy with her new size 12 shape (the average for the American woman!) and her new job as an assistant dorm director at one of New York's top colleges. That is, until the dead body of a female student from Heather's residence hall is discovered at the bottom of an elevator shaft.

The cops and the college president are ready to chalk the death off as an accident, the result of reckless youthful mischief. But Heather knowsteenage girls . . . and girls do not elevator surf. Yet no one wants to listen -- not the police, her colleagues, or the P.I. who owns the brownstone where she lives -- even when more students start turning up dead in equally ordinary and subtly sinister ways. So Heather makes the decision to take on yet another new career: as spunky girl detective!

But her new job comes with few benefits, no cheering crowds, and lots of liabilities, some of them potentially fatal. And nothing ticks off a killer more than a portly ex-pop star who's sticking her nose where it doesn't belong . . .

(Image and description from Goodreads)


*there will be some spoilers in this post - well, more than I usually mention anyway as I will be indulging myself in a mini-rant ;)*


This was a fun read, the pages flew by in true Meg Cabot style which is always a nice fluffy, gift wrapped bonus for a book.

Having a heroine who is not a stick insect (or on a track team or anything else) was great and who also has proper issues going on her life. Her mother had legged it with all of her money, her father is in prison and she had been dumped by her fiance - after finding him in a situation with his now fiance.

I loved Heather. She was sure of herself (even when she wasn't) and doing her best to make a life for herself. She also told her ex where to do when he made an appearance. Now THAT I loved. That is until this one time!

He showed up and like that *insert finger snap here* they are going at it on the hallway floor. At that point I am afraid my opinion of Heather crashed and burned. She said herself that in that moment she had become the 'other woman' and she didn't like it. Yeah well, I agree Mrs - not to mention it wasn't even your house!!!! anyone could have came in.

Yeah, after that moment I didn't quite liker her as much - even though this is only proving that out heroine is not perfect and is flawed, yadedadeda. Still went off her.

I still enjoyed the book though and like all of Meg Cabot's work it is filled to the gills with some great 1 liners and as I have mentioned it was a fun and fast paced read.

Reading about an ex-pop-star turned dorm director who tries to do some crime solving on the side make for some good fun :)

Review - Ceremony in Death (In Death #5) by J.D. Robb

Even in an age of cutting-edge technology, old beliefs die hard...


Conducting a top secret investigation into the death of a fellow police officer has Lieutenant Eve Dallas treading on dangerous ground. She must put professional ethics personal loyalties. But when a dead body is placed outside her home, Eve takes the warning personally. With her husband, Roarke, watching her every move, Eve is drawn into the most dangerous case of her career. Every step she takes makes her question her own beliefs of right and wrong - and brings her closer to a confrontation with humanity's most seductive form of evil..

(Description from Goodreads)

Basic Plot 
A well respected police officer is dead.

The cause? Natural.

Or is it?

I wish that I could gush some more about the characters in these books but if I did I think there would be a risk of me repeating myself. As it stands I am still saying in every review for these books that I am really enjoying watching the relationship between Roarke and Eve grow. I am also loving seeing Eve’s aid – Peabody – come more into her own with every book.

My heart went out to Eve over and over again throughout this book as once again her drive to fulfil her duty as a police officer forces her to go against her heart and go behind the back of a man she has worked beside and grown to love over the years.

This book did have me feeling uncomfortable in places, what with the ceremonial deaths and what have you.

Because of this I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as the previous books.

So that I don’t put myself off the series by reading to many of them at one I am going to have a little break away from the books for a few reads.

Double Dose - A Prince for Jenny by Peggy Webb & Overprotected by Jennifer Laurens

Woohoo, kind of getting back into the swing of things.

So here are a few books all in one post as I do not have all that much to say about them.

A Prince for Jenny by Peggy Webb

Born special, Jenny, an artist, has had to struggle for every achievement. The things ordinary women take for granted - love, marriage, children- are only a dream for her. When divorced businessman, Daniel Sullivan, brings his children to sit for a portrait, Jenny begins to believe that her prince has finally come. But can Daniel love a special woman without destroying her? Can she withstand the media attention that comes with his high-powered profile? Can she survive the nasty custody battle with his ex-wife? Can there be a fairy tale ending for Jenny and her prince? This unusual love story is one of the author's most heartwarming.


This is a light and fluffy read.
But it is a little too perfect. Things seemed to go just a little too easily.


Overprotected by Jennifer Laurens

Ashlyn: A lonely society princess living in New York City. 
Daddy hired you to be my bodyguard. 
Colin: Childhood enemy, now her protector. 
Daddy thought I’d be safe. He thought I’d never fall in love. He thought he could keep me forever. 
Charles: obsessed with keeping her safe, keeping her his, he hires the one person he knows she could never fall in love with: Colin. 
Daddy was wrong.

After being kidnapped as a child Ashlyn's father has become extremely overprotective of his daughter. She has hardly any friends and is guarded constantly. So of course we have some teenage rebellion thrown in ;).

And yes, this is another one of those books were I was ready to throttle the parents - justifiably I will add - but things (at least with one parent) did get better.

Fun YA read with romance and suspense (kind of).

The Battle Sylph by L.J. McDonald

He is one of many: a creature of magic, unrelentingly male. He is lured through the portal by pure female beauty, a virgin sacrifice. She is killed, and he is silenced and enslaved.

Such a dark ritual is necessary. Unlike their elemental cousins—those gentler sylphs of wind and fire—battlers find no joy in everyday labor. Their magic can destroy an army or demolish a castle, and each has but one goal: find his queen, then protect and pleasure her at any cost. What would a maiden do if she were given such a servant? What would befall that kingdom foolish enough to allow a battler to escape? Young Solie and the people of Eferem are about to find out.

I really enjoyed this book. Romance, action, fight, lots and lots of stuff :).

I am afraid I am a bit of a sucker for the kind of stories that centre on soul mates and books where the guy spends most of the story trying to convince the girl that they belong together. Love it!

So here we have two worlds…dimensions…(?). Let’s call them our world and fairyland.

Solie has been kidnapped to be offered as a sacrifice so that the king’s son can be bonded to a battle sylph (from fairyland). Needless to say this does not work as planned. Solie survives and finds herself bonded to the battle sylph as his queen.

And soeth begins the story.

Now the blurb – ‘protect and pleasure here at any cost’, does make it seem like there will be nothing but ummmm frolicking in the hedgerows from page one. I am pleased to say that this is not the case. There is frolicking (I love that word) but not as much as the blurb would perhaps suggest. Well that’s my opinion anyway.

Solie is a young girl – I think she is about 17 – but her immaturity at some points did grate on me. But not to the same degree as some heroines have. Thank fully she does mature as a character and begins to step up to the challenges she is made to face.

All in all a thoroughly enjoyable read with great characters that made the story that much more alive and readable.

I think those of you who like Gena Showalter will like this book.

*I received this book in e-book form from NetGalley*

Bewitched and Betrayed by Lisa Shearin

Raine Benares is a seeker. She finds lost things and missing people- usually alive. But now she's been bonde with the Saghred, a soul- stealing stone of unlimited power, and must hunt down its escapees. Especially since one of them is also hunting her...

And so just like book three, in book four so much goes on I don’t know where to start…

We kick of the story and are thrown straight into the action as Raine is hunting down one of the souls that escaped from the Saghred at the end of book three.

(Taps keyboard – I don’t know what to say without totally blowing everything)

The love triangle is sorted – but I won’t say how or who – I read that in a review before I started reading this and I have never wanted to throw something at my computer so much in my life.

Sorry guys I will leave it here before I talk myself into a hole.

Oh, and remember how I was saying the maturity thing goes up with each book…well the DEED IS DONE in this book.

Leaving it here before I blow something. 

The Trouble with Demons by Lisa Shearin

For seeker Raine Benares, a demon infestation on the Isle of Mid couldn't come at a worse time. Already fighting the influence of the Saghred, a soul-stealing stone, Raine discovers she is also magically bonded to a dark mage and a white knight, two dangerous and powerful men on opposing sides.
Turns out, the demons want the key to unlock the Saghred. As a seeker, Raine should be able to find it first. As the axis of light and dark powers, she's a magical cataclysm waiting to happen.

I am a little stuck about what to say about this book, even though it is a great read everything happens so quickly it is hard to focus on anything particular. 

This is the 3^rd book in the Raine Benares series. Nothing much has changed character wise in this book. Mycheal is still the good guy, Tam is still the bad boy (and so sexy with it) and Raine is still the smart mouthed kick butt heroine.

I loved this book just as much as book one and two – though I will say that the content is getting more adult with each book. But one thing that definitely like about the books is that there is no huge time jumps between then. You know how you read some book and you finish book one and then you pick up book two and suddenly you are months ahead of where you finished in book one and it takes you half of the book to find out what has happened in the gap…? Yeah? Well, that happily doesn’t happen here. There is only a few weeks (or at the most a month) in-between any of the books - so far anyway. And this makes it so easy to pick up where you left of. 

So here we have Raine still trying to fix the trouble that started in book one when she found herself linked to a soul slurping, army flattening rock. And, just to add more trouble to the mix the demon queen wants the rock so she can release her husband from inside it. And then there is the whole collection of characters that either want to use Raine – so they can use the rock – or want her head served up on a silver platter. Oh, and don’t forget the reapers who are after her too.

  

Busy, busy, busy.

I don’t want to give too much away but so much goes on in this book that I think it would be impossible for me to give it all away.

A fun, magical, fast paced read filled with goodies, baddies and some that I am just not too sure about.

Why is it the spooky shit is always in the basement

Time honoured Benares solution – of I drink enough my problems would go away. 

The Summons - A Goblin King Prequel by Shona Husk

Peel your eyes away from the pretty front cover. I know it's hard but you can do it. 

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.

.

.

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See, I told you, you could ;)

Every fairy tale has to have some basis in fact, right? That's what Eliza thought as she made a desperate plea to the legendary Goblin King. If he could grant her wish, she'd finally be safe. He would protect her. But what would he ask in return...?

This is a brilliant teaser for the book that will be coming out at the beginning of October. And I can’t wait.

I love the film Labyrinth – you know with David Bowie? – and it seems like this book will be the nearest I will get to a novel based on the idea.

We have a disillusioned, bitter Goblin King and a girl who wishes from the Goblin King to take her away when she finds herself hiding in the bathroom from a drunken guy at the party that he brother has thrown when their dad is away.

Like I said though this is only a teaser/introduction to the story and won’t even take an hour to read so I won’t say anything else about it.

Right now this is free on Amazon at the kindle store so I would definitely say go and check it out :). 

Surviving the Fall by William R. Potter

James Goodal has spent his entire life avoiding uncomfortable situations. This safe and easy existence has left James lonely and facing divorce. Everything changes when he takes in a young street girl named Ashley. The pair finds comfort in their unorthodox friendship until her violent world returns forcing James to fight for Ashley and for his very survival.
I am not sure what my feelings are on this book. Which is why I have continually put off writing a post on it.

First things first. This is NOT a YA novel. It deal with drug use, teenage prostitution – and by extensions sex – and there is a bit of language in it too.

But the characters are real and flawed and have issues up to their eyeballs which I kind of liked, because the issues weren’t tiny things that the characters had blown out of proportion to make them seem - big they were serious.

I would have liked to have seen the relationship between James and Ashley developed and fleshed out a little bit more than it was. It just seemed to jump forward way too quickly.

I would also have liked it if the book was a bit longer. I felt a little cheated because the book stopped at 70% and the rest for extracts from other books – I was a little bit annoyed there.

It was a quick and differently weird read, definitely with ADULT themes. 

The Wizards Wife

Marela's travel group has mysteriously vanished in the forest. Alone and afraid, she stumbles upon an isolated cliff top keep, the home of the wizard AErin. Over the snowy, winter months Marela comes to learn that magic makes more sense than she thought, and there's more to AErin than meets the eye.
By the time spring arrives AErin and Marela have wed and she joins him on his yearly jaunt throughout the kingdom, but what happened to her travel group? Even AErin doesn't have the answer. But soon, distractions, like a Roc falling out of the sky, and a dragon that needs slaying, divert them from their search for answers, until Marela is kidnapped.
Who would want to kidnap the wizard's wife? And why does the kidnapping seem to have more to do with Marela herself than with the wizard?
What secret does Marela hold? And what does it have to do with being abandoned in the forest? And why is suddenly everybody involved?

Ok guys who read the knight in shining armour and dragon filled fairy tale and thought that the clinking, clanking knight was all goo and well but screw him! You wanted the wizard!

Anyone?

Well look no further. Your dreams have came true in this book. In this novel you get our heroine falling head over heals in love with the white haired and white bearded (looks older than he is) wizard :).

Does this make anyone else REALLY happy...

I loved it. I mean the fact that the wizard get the girl is just brilliant. And so danged cute.

This book is unashamedly fluffy and romantic. Filled with little kisses and lots of cuddles. But there is more to it than that, There is kidnapping, forced slavery and more couples to go gooey over than just our leading couple.

The characters and friends that Marela makes and meets are all colourful with stories of their own that makes them great fun to read about and gives another layer to the book.

And ever wondered why wizards have white hair? This'll tell you :)

And do you want to know what the best part is (other than the pretty cover)?

Marela doesn't let EArin away with any he-man tendencies. she gets good and mad and actually does stuff about it. BRILLIANT!

A fun, soppy read that does have some adult moments in it. 

Coffee at Little Angels by Nadine Rose Larter

I am looking at the notes I scribbled down while reading this and trying to figure out how to put them into sentences and paragraphs (complete with full stops and everything)...it's hard!

Ok, here goes.

I went jogging on the morning that I died.

Now, is that an opening line, or is that an opening line!

This books was wonderful. The writing is smart, funny and laugh out loud witty while also being so heart-wrenchingly bitter sweet it had me in tears.

In this book we meet seven people who were - once upon a time - friends during school and now they have been brought back together after the death of one of their group.

Some of the group I loved, some of them I hated but all of them were painfully and brilliantly human, they had their good points and their bad points, some of them I loved as soon as I started reading about them and other rubbed me up the wrong way immediately - just like people (go figure). They all had their own personalities, their own views and their own voices.

Although we are not told were this book is set (BUT Cape Town is mentioned once - SUCCESS) I guess it is in Africa and if Cape Town and where the author lives is anything to go by it is in South Africa - woohooo take THAT Sherlock Holmes! Aids is common and is killing people daily, hugging the help is not done and racial tension is something that seems to be an everyday fact of life.

This book deals with so many of the different reactions people have to death and loss, from the emptiness of not having someone there, to the guilt of not feeling their death as much as you feel you should and also shows just how complicated relationships can be.

Aaaaaaaand there is also a slight itsey-bitsey-ickle mystery element to the book - but it is so subtle you don't even realise it is there.

Soooooo bad points...(think, think, think) - some may find it a little confusing with the POV changes but the characters are so different that I could tell who I was reading...
A few things are left hanging, so hopefully a sequel will be in the future.

A great read!

She oozes sexuality, but not in the come-and-get-it kind of way. It is more "don't bother, you can't afford me"

It is always the insane who think other people are loony

She was wearing so much make-up that you could only see lips before you realized that there was actually a person attached to them

listen to my fake British accent please so that you may determine for yourself just how important I am

I received this book in E-Book format from the author for review. This did not influence my review. 

Armed and Magical (Raine Baneres #2) by Lisa Shearin

My name is Raine Benares. Until last week I was a seeker—a finder of things lost and people missing. Now I'm psychic roommates with the Saghred, an ancient stone with cataclysmic powers. Just me, the stone, and all the souls it's ingested over the centuries. Crowded doesn't even begin to describe it. All I want is my life back—which means getting rid of the stone and the power it possesses. To sort things out, I head for the Isle of Mid, home to the most prestigious sorcery school, as well as the Conclave, the governing body for all magic users. It's also home to power- grubbing mages who want me dead and goblins who see me as a thief. As if that's not enough, Mid's best student spellsingers are disappearing left and right, and I'm expected to find them. Lives are at stake, goblins are threatening to sue, mages are getting greedier, and the stone's power is getting stronger by the hour. This could get ugly.


This is book two is the Raine Benares novels and it was just as much fun to read (well…listen too) as the first book.

(It is like someone has gone ‘Oh no, this is meant to be an adult novel’ so we have sex being mentioned (not done though) and more language than in the first book)

Mycheal, the paladin of the Elven Guardian has taken Raine to the isle of Mid in search of the one person he believes is strong enough to sever her bond with the saghred AKA a soul munching rock. But then since when have things ever gone as they are meant too.

Raine’s bond with the saghred is getting stronger as the people out to get her is getting longer.

Her relationship with Tam and Mycheal are getting more complicated and more trouble is added to the mix when a 1000 year old goblin is out to get the saghred and the limitless power it comes with.

As I said it was a fun read and Raine’s witty narration had me smirking all the way through.

The supporting characters are fun and colourful, great to read about and make the book all the more enjoyable.
Piaras (Raine’s 'adopted' brother) is growing into his powers and becoming a more active character rather than just being along for the ride. Which I have loved.



Mycheal shows what he will do to protect Raine, and Tam…well, you will have to read and see.

My one issue is that there is a constant repetition of facts. Once again we have the ‘I’m a seeker’ thing all the time – DUDE we get it! And facts are being repeated over that we have already been told in the first book. I understand that for those that haven’t read the first novel it is handy but it is annoying.

Good, fun read!

“Whoever said ignorance is bliss must have dies a horrible death with a really surprised look on his face”

“I couldn’t be bonded to just any old stone of cataclysmic power. Mine had lawyers.”

An Idiot Abroad by Karl Pilkington

Honestly this guy looks like such a whinger! I don't think there is one photo where he is actually smiling.
 A cult celebrity due to his role in The Ricky Gervais Show, the most-downloaded podcast ever, Karl Pilkington has been accused of being a comic creation, so unburdened is he by complex thought—but that is truly just him. The trio's newest project mines Karl massive provinciality: put simply, Karl is not big on traveling. Given the choice, he'll go on vacation to Devon or Wales or, if pushed, eat English food on a package tour of the Mediterranean. So what happened when he was convinced by Gervais and Merchant to go on an epic adventure to see the Seven Wonders of the World? Does travel truly broaden the mind? Find out in Karl Pilkington's hilarious travel diaries.

This book was funny! I have not laughed so much in I don’t know how long – and believe me, I needed a laugh over the past week or so.

Karl Pilkington is a pretty big whiner, he had something to complain about at every point of his journey – not even so much as a ‘I am so fortunate, I am doing something so other normal person would be able to afford’. He just complained. CONSTANTLY! Which, did get up my nose quite a bit but his funny observations about things made up for his lack of…happiness.

And on a side note, have any of you seen the Disney cartoon The Emperor’s New Groove? Yeah? Well remember the emperor? Emperor Cusco? Cusco is a place in Peru! Did you know that? ‘Cos I didn’t - totally random side not for you there :).

My one problem with the book is the ending. It kind of just STOPPED! Suddenly! Dead end! I was there, reading along, happily smiling like an idiot, turned the page and WHAM, no more book. So yeah…

Fun read though with more than a few laugh in it.

Stephen – Karl, what would Michael Palin do in this situation?

Karl – He’d probably do a voice-over. He probably wouldn’t be here now at this stage

Review - Magic Lost, Trouble Found by Lisa Shearin

I LOVE this front cover. It is just so fantasy looking :)

My name is Raine Benares. I'm a seeker. The people who hire me are usually happy when I find things. But some things are better left unfound. I'm a sorceress of moderate powers, from an extended family of smugglers and thieves. With a mix of street smarts and magic spells, I can usually take care of myself. But when my friend Quentin, a not-quite-reformed thief, steals an amulet from the home of a powerful necromancer, I find myself wrapped up in more trouble than I care for. I like attention as much as the next girl, but having an army of militant goblins hunting me down is not my idea of a good time. The amulet they're after holds limitless power, derived from an ancient, soul-stealing stone. And when I take possession of the item, it takes possession of me. Now my moderate powers are increasing beyond anything I can imagine-but is the résumé enhancement worth my soul?

This was a fun read. It did take me a little while to warm up to Raine though. She struck me as trying to be too smart and ‘clever’ but I liked her once I got used to her.

Raine belongs to a family who is more often than not on the wrong side of the law but earns a living by being a 'seeker' finding things that have been lost or stolen or even people that have been kidnapped. And because of this she knows quite a few people both on the right and wring side of the law, so you can imagine that this book is filled with a wide variety of characters.

In this novel we have what I can assume is the beginning of a love triangle between Raine, the Elven Guardian Mycheal and Tam the goblin nightclub owner. *interesting* And while we are on the subject I think I may be in love with Tam…I mean dang, this guy is the bad boy of the book (I am pretty sure of this). But also there is the fact that he seems to genuinely care for Raine – maybe even love her *sigh*. And the whole bad boy thing is definitely an attraction.

Tam and I tried to have a non-emotional parting; I said we tried; we didn’t succeed. I knew I had to leave; Tam knew I had to leave, but knowing it didn’t make it any easier. Tam had a business to run. I had a stones of power to rid myself of. 

In the end, words just weren’t getting the job done for Tam, so he went for action instead. I’ve been on the receiving end of some heated kisses in my time, but none of the top contenders had ever involved me being slammed against a mainmast. I have to admit I liked it. A lot.

Mmmmhmmm I BET you did!
Dang *fans self*

And then there is Mycheal…yeah, I really REALLY don’t know what to think of him (if anything). There is the attraction there but I am afraid that Tam had already stolen my heart before I could form any kind of opinion on Mycheal.

And then we have the truly evil, people-sacrificing, innocent-killing, skin crawling bad guy and a battle for the goblin throne between two royal brothers. Brilliant! And throw is a magic enhancing, souls stealing rock and you have the story.

I loved the world building that went on and the different ‘districts’ of the city where Raine lives. (goblin district, sorcerers district etc) It may seem like a bit of a cheat to do it this way but I love it. It gives the impression of China Towns in big cities. Of having separate countries within a big whole (does that make sense?).

Another fantastic aspect of this book is that it only covers a couple of days but at no point does it get boring. There is nothing but action from page one!

Raine is surrounded my colourful characters that were fun to read about and added lots of life to the story.

My one problem is that things were constantly being repeated. Raine was ALWAYS telling us that she could move things with her mind. ‘Yes, I got that the first 5 times you told me, thank you’.

Brilliant fun novel! I will absolutely be checking out the second book.

Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch

Marketing manager Katherine "Kitty" Katt steps into the middle of what appears to be a domestic dispute turned ugly. And it only gets uglier when the man turns into a winged monster, straight out of a grade-Z horror movie, and goes on a killing spree. Though Kitty should probably run away, she springs into action to take the monster down.
In the middle of the chaos a handsome hunk named Jeff Martini appears, sent by the "agency" to perform crowd control. He's Kitty's kind of guy, no matter what planet he's from. And from now on, for Kitty, things are going to be sexy, dangerous, wild, and out of this world.

This was pretty good. I wasn't really sure what to expect since I am more comfortable in the realm of fantasy and not much of a hard-core sci-fi reader and since this has aliens left, right and centre I am pretty sure it can come under the sci-fi section – although not exactly hard-core….

Kitty made the perfect leading lady and reacted just how I would expect a person to (even though a few freak outs on her part wouldn't have gone amiss).Despite having some pretty serious stuff going on there was plenty of comic relief that had me giggling quite happily to myself and Jeff was just adorable from the very beginning. 

And since this is me doing the review let’s not forget the dysfunctional parents shall we. I just could not gel with Katherine’s mother one bit, from the moment she showed up I didn’t like her. Her dad was nice though.

And hairspray kills aliens - who knew? 

I can't wait to read the second in the series and I hope there are loads more - it is a nice break from all the vampire romances that are out there. Let’s have some Aliens!

This was a really fun read with laugh-out-loud moments, romance, twists, turns and good guys gone bad. Can’t ask for much more than that, really can you? 

Between by Cyndi Tefft

It just figures that the love of Lindsey Water's life isn't alive at all, but the grim reaper, complete with a dimpled smile and Scottish accent. 

After transporting souls to heaven for the last 300 years, Aiden MacRae has all but given up on finding the one whose love will redeem him and allow him entry through the pearly gates. 

Torn between her growing attraction to Aiden and heaven's siren song, Lindsey must learn the hard way whether love really can transcend all boundaries.

I read this a while ago but I have been very lazy about getting the review up but it is getting up now.

So onwards and upwards!

I admit that I bought this because it was a nice cheap kindle read but it turned out to be a great way to spend an evening.

The books dumps you right into the action and before I knew it I was halfway through the book (don’t ya just love that kind of book).

Our hero, unlike most who are emotionally scarred or stunted because of some past occurrences that they have totally blown out of proportion actually has had something horrible happen to him in his past. BUT, unlike all those other heroes, he doesn’t mope around about it. AND he is a sweetheart.

Our heroine was cute and I enjoyed reading about her.

It did seem to meander at points and get a little ‘lost’ but this didn’t distract from my enjoyment of the story as a whole. There were also some religious overtones to the story which I suppose could be expected in  book with this subject matter.

The whole book was nice and fluffy – well, with the occasional super seriousness thrown in too. And I loved the whole idea of a grim reaper (?) type character falling for someone who was dead. Pretty neat idea and  really enjoyable read - complete with  twist. 

My Lord Protector by Deborah Hale

Torn between duty... and desire... Edmund Fitzhugh was willing to thrust his head back into the matrimonial noose to protect Julianna from her wicked stepbrother. But the maiden was betrothed to his nephew, gone to sea. So their forbidden union was secretly a marriage in name only. Yet sharing his home with the much younger beauty fueled a passion he'd thought long buried... 

Julianna Ramsey was at sixes and sevens! Who would have thought that Edmund's gentle care could ignite in her a woman's ardor that far eclipsed her girlish fancy for his absent nephew? And what of the day when her fiancé would return? Would she then have the courage to choose love over duty?
   
I remember loving this when I first read it a few years ago and being very annoyed with myself when I found out it had been put in the second hand shop bag. So no book. And what did I have to do? Buy it again from Ebay and have it shipped from the States. One heck of an expensive mistake. So what do you learn from my little tale? Don't go putting books into a second hand shop bag until you are absolutely SURE you don't want it anymore. 


Anyway, like I was saying. I remember loving this book but now it seems to just miss the mark for me. 


Edmund - our hero - is described as being strong and yet his actions seem to contradict this. It is like we are trying to be made to believe that this man is something when he isn't. Don't get me wrong, he is not a complete weakling (he was a sea captain) but at some points where some kind of action would have been acceptable from him he did nothing...


Julianna is strong and sure of herself and refuses to be bullied into doing things that she doesn't want to. And yet, this is again a contradiction as she lives in fear of her step-brother who has walked all over her...


(evil cousin or step-brother is traditional really isn't it)


I don't know. It's a tad confusing character wise....


Great for a little read to take up a night and get a little romantic fix. 

Scent of Danger by Autumn Dawn

Ever fall in love with the wrong man?

With a body to make a young girl sigh and a voice like black velvet, Mathin is definitely the wrong man. He’s not safe, he’s not stable…he’s not even human.

Andrea doesn’t know what she’s getting into when she agrees to visit her granny. Swept away to another world by a man almost too hot to handle, she can’t decide if it’s a dream come true or someone’s idea of a sick joke. 

Romanced by the light of the triple moons, entranced by Mathin’s fiery kisses, will Andrea give up her home on Earth in exchange for something wild?

I think I can quite happily say I didn’t like ONE character in this book. So much so I don’t even want to write about it.

First we have the 57 year old GRANDMOTHER to the 23 year old grandchild who is determined to match her up with a friend of her employer and have her popping out kids. SAY WHAT! She is 57 years old for pities sake, she’s not going to be dying any time soon and she basically forces her granddaughter into the position that she does. How? By telling her she is dying of cancer and doesn’t have that long to live. Well that’s just wrong right there isn’t it. She isn’t dying by the way. I’ll make that bit clear.

Next we have the all controlling, all knowing he-man of the book. Darn it! REALLY! Why do they have to do this? You can have a damn good story without having some alpha male making all the decisions without telling the woman in question what to do without giving her any reasons or telling her what he is doing. And just when I thought he was heading towards redemption – in my eyes anyway – he went and did something that made him just as bad. I wanted so much to HIT him.

And I won’t even mention our ‘heroine’ who despite complaining STILL lets everyone get away with walking all over her.

HATED this book. 

Looking for Trouble by Erin Kern

When Noah McDermott, owner of McDermott Construction, walks out into the bright morning sunshine, the last thing he expects is to get run over by a careless woman in a yellow Mercedes. His anger quickly fades into curiosity when the driver turns out to have endless legs and bottomless brown eyes.
Avery Price, daughter of a publishing millionaire, should have followed her instinct and kept driving instead of stopping at a dot on the map. But Trouble, Wyoming is growing on her and she needs a job – fast. So what is she thinking by accepting a job from the man she knocked over with her back bumper?
As the two of them work together, the sparks fly. Surely they can be professional and keep from acting on their impulses. Sometimes Noah gets the feeling Avery isn’t who she says she is. Is she just a girl looking for a change or is there more going on than she’s telling him?
Avery quickly adapts to her new life in the middle of nowhere. She has a job for the first time in her life and a boss who turns her on more than her ex-fiancé ever did. But did she make the right choice by leaving home or is she falling deeper into trouble?

Ugh.

‘nother short post coming up I’m afraid.

Now, I’m sorry but some guys in books really need to be taught how to respect women more. I don’t care if the woman in question isn’t even hearing what they are talking about they need their mouths washed out with soap. They think it is acceptable to speak in such a way about a woman because she sleeps with them but what does it make THEM when they are the ones going around sleeping with anything that ‘doesn’t have strings attached’? EXACTLY!!!!

End of discussion. 

The Exile by Diana Gabaldon

The Exile retells the original Outlander novel from Jamie Fraser's point of view, revealing events never seen in the original story and giving readers a whole new insight into the Jamie-Claire relationship. Jamie's surreptitious arrival in Scotland at the beginning of the tale, his feelings about Claire, and much more — up to the point where Claire faces trial for witchcraft and must choose whether to return to her own century — are brought to life in brilliant four-colour art. A must-read — and a great holiday gift — for any Outlander fan!

This was okaaaay, I suppose. I had been looking forward to getting it SO much but then when it arrived I was a bit disappointed.

I knew what to expect format wise as I have read and enjoyed graphic novels before. I thought the art work was gorgeous (even if Claire’s hands looked freakishly scary at some points).

But it  was the dialogue that threw me. This is meant to overlap with buts of Outlander and it does, but the dialogue from the same scenes doesn’t match up in Exile…

But, despite that, it was enjoyable.

And, this just made me fall in love with Murtagh even more.

Although the artist’s interpretation so of the characters didn’t really match up with how I imagined them (I imagined Dougal to be a bit rougher looking) I can live with it.

I would love to see more of the story told in this format.

The Reluctant Escort by Mary Nichols

Even though she adores her godmother, Molly Martineau cannot help but find life in the countryside a little dull! At seventeen, she longs for balls and parties and the excitement of a London season. So who could blame her for finding the dashing Captain Stacey verry attractive? And surely it was not entirely silly to follow him on the road to London?
Forced to take the waif under his wing, the captain soon realizes that his heart may be in trouble! But with his affairs in such a tangle, what could he offer a gently bred girl?

This is another one of my favourite reads. It is a lovely, fluffy, clean romance, with a heroine called MOLLY! How can you not like a book with a heroine named Molly? So better than some of the totally bizarre names that some heroines are given – some of them sound like tropical diseases. 

Anyway, this is again one of those stories that you read and you know that in the grand Mills and Boon Historical Romance tradition there is going to be a hero who has no interest in marriage, a heroine who wants to have an adventure and a kidnapping attempt at some point. That goes without saying really.

But this is such a cute read. Molly is adorable (if a little naïve at times…ok all the time) and Duncan makes a great hero who isn’t out to seduce the heroine as soon as he can (so that gets him extra brownie points in my book).

Great for a light read but not if you are looking for something of amazingly deep proportions.

3 out of 5 (still a favourite though)