romance

Review: Feel the Heat by Kate Meader

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20140131-073947.jpg I felt the heat, alright! This book was full of passion – people passionate for love, food, family, sex, cooking, loyalty, and reputation. Jack was hot for Lili, Laurent was hot for anything with a skirt, the DeLucas got excited over their restaurant, and — after much encouragement from family and friends — Lili reclaimed her passion for life.

Kate Meader did such a wonderful job making these characters come to life. I felt like I was in the Deluca kitchen listening to the yelling and watching the hugging. The dialogue rang true, the sex scenes were fun but realistic (yep, sometimes people talk during sex, and sometimes they don’t have on a lacy thong), and the combination of an Italian-American, a Brit, and a Frenchman all in the same kitchen was dynamite.

The book had a chick lit feel instead of a traditional romance. The supporting cast was necessary, the hero and heroine were part of a group more often than alone together, and the book was funny. I laughed … and I cried … and there was a happily-ever-after … sure signs of a winner.

The characters in Feel the Heat live large, and it makes for a fun, upbeat, exciting read. There will be a sequel featuring more cooking and cocky-as-all-get-out Shane the Irishman. Can’t wait.

-Calliope

Feel the Heat

Review: At the River’s Edge by Mariah Stewart

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20140128-102744.jpg I’ve got to stop reading new books in a series when I haven’t read the previous books in that series. I’m just so confused by the number of characters and I can’t keep the relationships straight! At the River’s Edge is the seventh book in the Chesapeake Diaries series. It’s a fun read, but I would’ve enjoyed the subplots more had I been familiar with all the secondary characters.

The main plot is terrific! Sophie leaves her old life in Ohio, moves south, joins the family law firm, and buys an old restaurant. In the process she meets handsome Jason, a new local landscaper who has become close friends with Sophie’s grandfather.

I had fun reading about the challenges of Sophie’s and Jason’s respective businesses, the small-town friendships they forged, and the community spirit they made themselves part of. Their romance seemed secondary to their positions in the community, but that was okay. I love a good, sweet, hometown story, and the Sophie-Jason romance was icing on the cake.

Because I like an easy read, I enjoyed the positive, predictable plot direction. Sophie and Jason practicing forgiveness and humility (after their selfishness got in the way) brought a tear to my eye. The happy ending… Well… *sigh* … I love a happy ending.

-Calliope

Buy At the River’s Edge

Review: Up From the Grave, by Jeaniene Frost

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010 It’s over!!!! I am so sad. I tried to read slow, so as to prolong the ending. But alas, it is done. This is the last in the Night Huntress series and it’s been so fun and now it is bittersweet to see it end. I will miss Cat and Bones and their sizzling chemistry, Ian and his warped sexual humor and the many others that tugged at my heart. I truly never wanted it to end. But I am so very happy with the way it did. Nothing was left open. Everyone lived happily ever after.

I was shocked to find myself tearing up twice in this book. Don’t remember crying in any of the other books, but this one kinda killed me in parts. After the first time, I spent a few chapters being quite mad. I was utterly shocked. I couldn’t believe it. Pissed off was the theme around my fellow book lovers. I kept thinking, “This is how she’s ending it?!?!?” I was sure I was reading it wrong. In fact I reread the same page three times, hoping my mind was playing tricks on me. Sadly, I was not mistaken.

Cat and Bones, and their friends have to save the world from war, again. Seems like they were always doing that. Just when they were starting to enjoy the simple life, one extra player would set off the whole game. It took a lot of strength, on both Cat and Bones’ part, and with the help of their friends, to bring everything back to the right side. But of course things never go smoothly as you would hope. Hence the tears. 🙂

But, luckily, this story did have the usual comic relief, in the form of Ian, mostly. But I was thankful for it, nonetheless. It can get quite intense without it. But I will never look at my metal spatulas the same again. 🙂

All in all, very good series. I’m very glad I listened to my friends, when they told me I needed to read this. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good paranormal, with a bit of sauce.

~Melpomene

Buy Up From the Grave: A Night Huntress Novel

Combo review post…and yet, not

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OK, I have such a slacker in my postings. I would like to blame it one my fellow book lovers/enablers. And perhaps a bit of my OCD is leaking out. But these “friends” of mine tell me about series and then I get sucked in, and have to read every book in the series. I can’t seem to stop and post about any of them. I literally go from one book to the next, without even a breather. My poor family misses me.

Over the past month, I’ve been sucked into three separate series. All very good. All very addicting.

The first was the Kowalski series, by Shannon Stacey.
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Those were freaking hilarious!!! I mean it’s all this crazy loving family who do activities “of doom” and are super crazy, while doing them. They have just the right amount of sauce for me and I even shed a few tears. Perfect.

The next was The Outlander series.
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I’ve only read the first three books, so far. I started it on January 1, and I’m totally addicted now. I’m one of those crazy Heughligans!! I even have the shirt!! 🙂 I loved the story so much I even made a pin and keychain for it. Reading these make me wish I could walk through stones and meet Jamie Fraser. Although I;d miss my family dearly, IT’S JAMIE FRASER!!!! Sorry, spouse. 😉 Seriously, if you haven’t read at least the first one, you should give it a whirl. But fair warning, toward the end, you may die just a smidgen. But it’s a series, so you know it will get better, even though it doesn’t look like it. As for Dragonfly in Amber, I wanted to quite. I was getting so confused. But I held on and then lost my mind at the ending. Seriously, sobbed my frickin’ eyes out. Which made me go straight to book #3, Voyager. Now I was happy with the way this one ended and decided to take a break for a bit. Did I mention that they are 800+, 900+, and 1000+ pages each?? You can see why I needed the break.

I needed a mental vacation and decided to try out the Rock Chick books.

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Let me tell you, Kristen Ashley is an awesome author. She can make me cry, swoon, make me laugh and of course make me need to cool off a bit. 😉 I absolutely adored all these characters. I love seeing hot guys fall hard for their women. And these slammed. The chicks got into trouble all the time and the men just rolled with it. They’d do anything for them, including some not so legal things. Every book featured a new chick with new problems. Some were very hard to read about, but the guys always got revenge. So it all works out.

So now that I’ve got these out of my system, I hope to be on the straight and narrow now. NUTS!!! I just remembered the last Cat and Bones book release Tuesday!! So that means I have to do a reread of that whole series!! I am never getting back to normal. See ya on the flipside.

~Melpomene

Buy Exclusively Yours (The Kowalskis)

Buy Outlander: with Bonus Content

Buy Rock Chick

Review: Home to Seaview Key by Sherryl Woods

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20140122-142516.jpg Home to Seaview Key, second in a series, will be released January 28. It’s a charming tale of a small island with grassroots businesses, opinionated grandmothers, and a strong sense of community. Abby returns there to find herself. Seth moves there to mentally recuperate after fighting in Afghanistan. They share their broken hearts and decide to give friendship – or maybe more – a chance.

I enjoyed the characters and the plot, loved the whimsy of the oldest Seaview Key generation, and appreciated the realism of the ups and downs in a new relationship. However, the story was a little flat. There wasn’t enough intensity, and lots of things were glossed over with an explanation instead of showing what happened. It was a nice, enjoyable story but not one I was particularly excited reading. You’ll enjoy it if you’re looking for a low-key, easy read to relax with.

-Calliope

Buy it now Home to Seaview Key

Review: The Calling by Suzanne Woods Fisher

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20140120-145038.jpg If you’re a fan of Amish fiction, then you’re probably already familiar with Suzanne Woods Fisher. She’s an excellent writer – her narratives are smooth, easy to read, organized, and precise with regards to vocabulary. Her characters are well-thought out, and I haven’t ever found an error on one of her books — they’re professionally done.

This particular title, The Calling, met all my expectations for a Woods Fisher novel. I loved Bethany, the strong heroine, and the people she held close to her. I enjoyed seeing her beau mature and his mother find common ground with Bethany.

I had difficulty with the number of characters – so many! Maybe I’m too accustomed to novels with fewer than a dozen, but my brain simply couldn’t keep track of all the families and in-laws and grandparents. There were quite a few mentions of people that had died in the past, and that complicated things further for me. Besides that, I appreciated the various subplots — the grass roots soup kitchen, the elderly sisters, mental illness’ effect on families, a few budding romances, securities fraud, and Geena, the non-Amish woman who finds the path she’s looking for among the Amish. So many well-developed themes and subplots in one story – the fine writing definitely supported them all. I was impressed.

Now that I know the characters a little better, I’ll more easily enjoy the next in the Eagle Hill series, I’m sure.

-Calliope

Buy it now The Calling

Review: The Edge of Always by J. A. Redmerski

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20140116-214300.jpg I’m not generally a New Adult fan because it’s hard for me to relate to characters 20 years younger than me. But I LOVED The Edge of Never. I thought it was clever, fast-paced, gritty, emotional, and real. Of course I wanted to see what Camryn and Andrew did next, so that brings me to this sequel: The Edge of Always.

Most of The Edge of Always is just as fast-paced and sexy and gritty as its predecessor. Camryn and Andrew have new obstacles to hurdle, new emotions to manage, new people in their lives to consider. I appreciate how Redmerski maintains the characters authentic selves yet allows them to grow within the story. I did wish that Camryn grew more, emotionally, but that’s just me.
The author keeps the plot fresh with new adventures, new fears, and new achievements. The Edge of Never is graphic. Language, sex, drugs, and medical issues are all described so as to evoke emotion and make the reader part of the story. Redmerski has talent!

The biggest disappointment to an otherwise 4+ star book was the ending. Redmerski wrapped up all the loose ends very neatly in 3 final chapters… so neatly that they didn’t even seem to fit in with the rest of the book. It was like sitting down for quiet tea after going on a loud, messy, crazy, fast, roller coaster ride. The ending provided perfect closure, but the approach was so much different from the rest of the book.

All in all, I had a great time reading The Edge of Always. The writing is excellent, the characters are compelling, the plot draws you in emotionally… but the ending ruined it for me a little.

–Calliope

Buy it now The Edge of Always

Review: Huckleberry Hill by Jennifer Beckstrand

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20140113-070640.jpg In Amish country in Wisconsin, Lia goes to stay with an elderly couple to help them out for the summer. Their grandson Moses visits once a week to help too. Whether he likes it or not, his grandparents have schemed to make this the summer of love for Lia and Moses. Lia appreciates Moses’ friendship and his support of her journey to become a midwife. Moses is grateful for a friend who tells it like it is. Lia’s sister Rachel is jealous and tries to edge her way in, but Moses’ heart sees right through Rachel’s shrewdness.

Huckleberry Hill is a sweet, fresh story of friendship and love. The grandparents’ matchmaking efforts are hilarious. Moses’ and Lia’s banter is clever and sharp. Rachel’s character development as the bratty, spoiled, black-hearted sister is very well done. I appreciated the excellently written dialogue and easy flow to the story.

Huckleberry Hill is the first book in a series of three. I recommend it for the peaceful Amish setting, great writing and breath of fresh air perspective on love.

–Calliope

Buy it now Huckleberry Hill

Review: Playing for Love at Deep Haven by Katy Regnery

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20140110-091609.jpg Wow! Playing for Love at Deep Haven is INTENSE. Like, Falling fast and hard in love with your soulmate intense. And Kept these feelings buried for a decade and now they are at the surface all at once intense. And I ran away from myself a long time ago and now I want me back intense.

This book is like a musical composition that increases in intensity and volume until you all of a sudden find the book at forte and then fortissimo. When you think you’re hearing the biggest music you’ve ever heard, it quiets. Until Crescendo. Fortississimo. Amazing.

Violet made me remember what it’s like to be yourself when you’re not trying to meet other people’s expectations. Zach made me realize that not everyone knows how to be loved. I so wanted to know what happened next that I was reading as fast as can be, but then everything I read was so good that I’d go back and re-read to make sure I didn’t miss anything. I was in it 100%. I was inside Zach and Aubrey’s heads. I could hear the music, I could anticipate the poetry. I identified with the characters’ feelings, and I cried. Decrescendo. Piano. Pianissimo. Fine.

–Calliope

Buy it now! Playing for Love at Deep Haven

Review: The Countess Conspiracy by Courtney Milan

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13489925 Something great over the Holidays I discovered was a lot of random giveaways from authors! So, I won this book directly from Courtney Milan herself via Twitter. I’ve been reading romance book a ton over the last year or so and just kind of assumed I had read this author. I’ve definitely heard of her and seen her beautiful book covers. So I was kind of stunned when I checked and realized I had not read a single Milan book! I triple checked and realized this series of books (The Brother Sinister) could be read as stand alones and not in order as the characters all know each other but are not super intertwined. So I dove right in.

I absolutely loved these characters. They felt incredibly real to me. Sebastian Malheur has a reputation of a rake and a womanizer of sorts. His brother is ill and he is unsure at leaving his son with Sebastian if he should pass, the excuse he gives originally being that Sebastian would be too busy to spend time with the boy. In response to this tender hearted Sebastian immediately chooses to stop a charade he’s been living so he can be at his brothers disposal. He soon learns that he still is not up to par for his brother and this crushes him.

Sebastian is a scientist who scandalizes society with his theories on genetics. He gives speeches and presentations which draw huge crowds and wild criticism. Generally, none of this bothers him as long as Violet Waterfield is accompanying him. But they share a secret he feels he can no longer keep – none of his scientific discoveries are actually his, they are all hers. Violet is horrified to learn he will no longer keep her secret. She doesn’t think her mother or sister will support her or her scientific ways since it is not proper for a lady. She doesn’t have to worry about her husband as she is a widow.

Meanwhile Violet is struggling with being exposed as the one behind Sebastian’s scientific discoveries. She is trying to understand if her family will stick by and support her. She has always felt lacking in every way except science and when she comes to realize that Sebastian wants more from her she doesn’t know if she can handle it.

I love Violet, her exacting ways and watching her trying to figure out emotions. Sebastian was the kind of hero that I adore – completely flawed, with real problems, but very patient and in love with the heroine. The two maneuver their individual family problems on their own and together and both was heart breaking and touching. The romance and courtship of these two was ridiculously pleasing and sweet yet didn’t lack passion.

This set me off on an immediate Courtney Milan read. I am now caught up on this whole series, including novellas and have started on her other back list books. So far what I can tell is that The Brothers Sinister books are truly great. The characters are all quirky and have interesting things about them and the books all seem unique to me. I completely loved this book the most though!

5 stars

~Clio

Buy it Now The Countess Conspiracy (The Brothers Sinister, Book 3)