Synopsis: A Governess must never be alone with a man. Her reputation mustn't have even a hint of scandal. She must never reveal personal emotions. No matter how strong the provocation by her employer. A governess never questions her employer's commands. Even when he's tempting her to forsake respectability for desire? She must never, ever, fall in love with someone above her station. Especially a rake--no matter how devastating his kisses may be...
Alexandra Gallant is a governess extraordinaire--and if it weren't for that unfortunate incident at her last position, she wouldn't now be forced into the employ of Lucien Balfour, the most notorious rake in London. Though the sinfully attractive earl hired her to teach his young cousin, his seductive whispers and toe-curling kisses suggest he has something far less respectable in mind...And that will never happen. For although Lucien seems determined to teach her about pleasure, she has a few lessons to teach him about love.
My Thoughts: For me, the chemistry between Lucien and Alexandra leapt from the pages of this book the moment I started reading it ~ from the moment they first meet when she is interviewing for the position at his household, to the very last page. Between the witty banter and their sexual tension, I was immediately hooked on this story.
I enjoyed watching the transformation of Lucien. At the beginning of this story, he is an unapologetic rake; single, and enjoying everything that comes with it. Unfortunately, as the last male heir of his family he gets stuck as guardian for his young cousin, Rose, and her manipulative mother, Fiona. Which is why has to hire a governess so that he can quickly get his young cousin married off and consequently she and her mother will leave his home.
Alexandra is a ruined governess. Not by her own doing, but by the unwanted attentions of her former employer. Lucien hires Alexandra without references, with one specific purpose. He wants to make her his mistress. In spite of this, Alexandra accepts the position because it’s the first post she’s been offered in the last six months.
Enoch does a fine job in telling the story of Alexandra and Lucien. In addition to the banter and the tension I’ve previously mentioned, Enoch also provides some wonderful secondary characters: Emma and Vixen, friends of Alexandra’s (and consequently the two heroines in the other books of this series); and Robert, friend to Lucien and unassuming suitor to Rose.
Verdict: This was Very Good. Of course, I expected nothing less because I am a fan of Enoch’s Lessons in Love series as well. I now am on a mission to read the rest of this series before I read anything else.
Labels: Historical Romance, Suzanne Enoch, TBR Challenge, Very Good, With this Ring series
Synopsis: Sin, an ancient Sumerian god, was one of the most powerful among his pantheon—until the night Artemis robbed him of his godhood and left him one step from death…
For millennia, the ex-god turned Dark-Hunter Sin has sought to regain his powers and take revenge on Artemis. But now he has bigger fish—or in this case, demons—to fry. The lethal gallu that were buried by his pantheon are stirring, and they are hungry for human flesh. Their goal: To destroy mankind. Sin is the only one who can stop them…if a certain woman doesn’t kill him first.
Enemies have always made strange bedfellows, but never more so than when the fate of the world hangs in the balance. Now a man who only knows betrayal must trust the one person most likely to hand him to the demons. Artemis may have stolen his godhood, but this one has stolen his heart. The only question is: Will she keep it…or feed it to those who want him dead?
My Thoughts: Finally. Sherrilyn Kenyon has finally written another great Dark-Hunter novel. I say finally because I was sorely disappointed in the last two and thought maybe I was just over the whole paranormal, Dark-Hunter phase. I bought Devil May Cry out of habit because I own all of the dark-hunter novels, so decided to give it a try and just see what happens. I’m glad I did. I was pleasantly surprised.
I enjoyed the instant spark between Katra and Sin (SK really does have a gift at this, when she does it right). And there’s conflict right away. Katra is the daughter of his enemy, Artemis, the woman who stripped him of his powers. Or did she?
I’ve loved Katra since Kiss of the Night (Wulf and Cassie’s story) and was hoping she’d get her own story at some point. What troubled me were Kat’s flashbacks to her childhood and showing Artemis in an almost loving, maternal light. No, no, no, no, no. Artemis is the bitch-goddess. I really hope SK wasn’t trying to soften my viewpoint as the reader and then lambaste me by making Artemis Ash’s heroine!!! She wouldn’t be that cruel.
Back to Sin and Katra. Hot, yes. But, quite frankly it seems like SK uses the same sex scenes over and over and over again. They all do the same thing. They all get hot over the same thing, or something remotely similar. Yadda, yadda, yadda.
Still, I like this one. Very much. Lots of Simi is always a good thing. I hope the next one is just as good.
Verdict: This was Very Good. I cannot wait until Acheron is released later this year. And since it’s Ash’s story, I have hopes that it will be excellent. Stay tuned.
Labels: Dark-Hunter series, Paranormal, Sherrilyn Kenyon, TBR Challenge, Very Good
Synopsis: An awkward misfit in an accomplished Boston family, Isadora Peabody yearns to escape her social isolation and sneaks aboard the Silver Swan, bound for Rio, leaving it all behind.
Ryan Calhoun, too, had a good family name. But he'd purposely walked away from everything it afforded him. Driven by his quest to right an old wrong, the fiery, temperamental sea captain barely registers the meek young woman who comes aboard his ship.
To the Swan's motley crew, the tides of attraction clearly flow between the two. Teaching her the charms of a lady, they hope to build the confidence she needs to attract not only their lonely captain's attention, but his heart, as well. For everyone knows the greatest charms are not those of the formal lady, but rather the possibilities of a new world built on love.
My Thoughts: ***apologize in advance. I read this about a month ago, and my recollection of the story is sketchy at best. I also am unable to find my book to reference certain points, so it is what it is.*** Also, Charm School was one of the books that’s been in my TBR pile for years. I’m challenging myself to try and get my pile down this year.
Isadora “Dora” Peabody is the misfit of her entire family. While her siblings are all tall, blond, and beautiful; Dora is dark, homely, and overweight. Which, I guess, makes her the perfect heroine for an ugly duckling kind of story. Ryan, on the other hand, is the handsome son of a Virginia plantation owner.
Dora’s first meeting with Ryan was actually through his mother who had been searching from him. And let’s just say he was **ahem** otherwise occupied **ahem** when they first come upon him on the boat. But, this was exactly the catalyst that Dora needed in order to hire herself as a linguist on Ryan’s next venture. See, a friend of Dora’s family owns the ship, and thus she seals the position as linguist, but also agrees to spy on Ryan for her friend. And as poor Ryan’s luck hadn’t just gotten bad enough, his mother and servant also book passage on his ship to Rio.
I enjoyed how Dora forced herself a position on Ryan’s boat and how they begrudgingly became friends. I enjoyed how Dora lost herself on the boat, lost her inhibitions, and soon became comfortable in her own skin. She eventually becomes less clumsy and also loses weight, morphing into quite a beautiful woman (which is a side rant for me. Why, why, why, why, why do authors have to do this? Why can’t the heroine stay a little plump, or homely, or whatever? Personally, that’s a story I’d love to see). I love the friendship she developed with Ryan’s mother, Lily (?? I think that’s her name??).
Frankly, at the beginning, Ryan really isn’t that endearing of a character. But what does endear him to me is his friendship with Journey, his former slave who he gave his freedom. And now, he was sailing in order to save enough money in order to free Journey’s wife and children from their lives of slavery as well.
Verdict: This was Okay. I’ll need to read its sequel, The Horsemaster’s Daughter before I decide on whether or not it’s a keeper. I’m just undecided. The read itself was okay, and there were some humorous parts. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t a story that stuck with me.
Labels: Historical Romance, Okay, Susan Wiggs, TBR Challenge