romance

Review: Gabriel’s Inferno, by Sylvain Reynard

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“If I have a soul, it’s yours.”

I just reread this book, for the third time, and it still the most romantic book I have ever read. Now, I may be a silly girl, who reads mostly fluff, so I don’t understand a lot of things written in this book. That being said, one thing I do understand is love. This book was all about love. Forbidden love. Lost love. New love. Sweet love.

Synopsis
Enigmatic and sexy, Professor Gabriel Emerson is a well respected Dante specialist by day, but by night he devotes himself to an uninhibited life of pleasure. He uses his notorious good looks and sophisticated charm to gratify his every whim, but is secretly tortured by his dark past and consumed by the profound belief that he is beyond all hope of redemption.

When the sweet and innocent Julia Mitchell enrolls as his graduate student, his attraction and mysterious connection to her not only jeopardizes his career, but sends him on a journey in which his past and his present collide.

An intriguing and sinful exploration of seduction, forbidden love and redemption, “Gabriel’s Inferno” is a captivating and wildly passionate tale of one man’s escape from his own personal hell as he tries to earn the impossible…forgiveness and love.

The beauty in the words, takes my breath away. While I had to google many of the paintings, to fully envision what they were talking about, I was drawn into the descriptions and many of the feelings that went along with them.

“I will remember your scent and your touch and how it felt to love you. But most of all, I will remember how it felt to gaze at true beauty, both inside and out. For you are fair, my beloved, in soul and in body, generous of spirit and generous of heart. And I will never see anything this side of heaven more beautiful than you.”

The sexual tension was immeasurable. I was fanning my face many times. I love the fact that there was no sex, just to have sex. It was planned to perfection, and by far, the BEST scene I have ever read.

“When I told you that I was intending to worship you with my body, I meant it. With all my heart. I will never take from you. I will only give. In my bed and outside of it.”

The crazy thing about me is that I bought the UK covers, just because they make reading it more romantic. Aren’t I right?? These are gorgeous covers!!
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I can’t explain how much this book touched my soul. It was gripping and emotional. I cry a lot while reading books, but none have ripped me apart like this one. I can’t put into words the way I am feeling right now. This is why this book is one of My Top 10 books of all time. I’m so glad I decided to reread. I need to be fully prepared for The Raven, in February, which is a spin off, of sorts. I can’t wait!!

~Melpomene

Buy Gabriel’s Inferno (Gabriel’s Inferno Trilogy Book 1)
Gabriel’s Rapture (Gabriel’s Inferno Trilogy Book 2)
Gabriel’s Redemption (Gabriel’s Inferno Trilogy Book 3)

Review: Suspicious Minds by Christy Barritt

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I just finished Squeaky Clean Mysteries #1, and here I am halfway through #2! I love how Gabby finds not just another crime to solve, but another guy to confuse her heart.

Gabby finds a dead Elvis, and in her search for his killer she finds a bunch of quirky fans of Elvis-look-alikes. With puns and song references abounding, this cozy mystery is a fun Stephanie-Plum-esque romp through the eyes of a crime-scene-cleaner.

The crazy thing here is that after just one book I am now hooked on this series. The awesome thing is that after Suspicious Minds comes a Christmas novella – for only 99¢!

-Calliope

read my full review of HAZARDOUS DUTY (book 1)

buy SUSPICIOUS MINDS (book 2)

buy IT CAME UPON A MIDNIGHT CRIME (book 2.5) for 99¢

Review: Christmas Wedding at the Gingerbread Cafe by Rebecca Raisin

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Looking for a cozy, warm-hearted read on a chilly day? Christmas Wedding at the Gingerbread Cafe is full of yummy baked goods, loving friends, and sweet romance… not to mention lots of snow!

Lily and Damon must plan their wedding among the ups and downs of real life. I liked that Damon was so supportive and loving, but it was a little too convenient that he always walked into the cafe at just the right moment!

Lily’s friendships and family relationships were believable and fun. Her woes seemed real and would have me on the same emotional roller coaster she was riding! The characters dealt with heartbreak – from whatever cause – although things did happen a little more neatly than they do in real life. (Of course! Or else it wouldn’t be a romance!)

My favorite part of any romance is the happily ever after. Here, there are some predictable twists and turns on the way, along with a very interesting wedding cake.

It was a little bizarre reading a British romance set in a small, northeastern American town with an important character having a southern American dialect. And even more bizarre when I would read British vocabulary (braces for suspenders) after reading a southern accent in a northern town! But I managed through it for this charming Christmas romance.

-Calliope

buy CHRISTMAS WEDDING AT THE GINGERBREAD CAFE

Review: Mr. Beautiful, by R.K.Lilley

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01bea LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!!!! James Cavendish is my guy. That other guy, in the new movie, has NOTHING on him. If I was single and actually liked going on a plane, I’d totally consider being a flight attendant, just to find my own Mr. Cavendish.

Synopsis
I’ve been remade four times in my life.

It is a distinct feeling. Impossible to mistake. The very marked sensation of being unraveled and reknit into a new thing, a new person. It can be good or bad, helpful or harmful, but above all, it is unstoppable.

I was remade when my parents died, went from a happy childhood, into navigating a very dark world, with endless responsibilities, surrounded by enemies, and despairingly alone.

It happened again at the hands of a cowardly predator. I’d become angrier with that one, more cynical, and it undoubtedly turned me into the kinky f**k I was today.

The third happened swiftly. One day I looked up into a pair of pale blue eyes and saw the other half of my soul. Checkmate. I went from a completely controlled existence, a life where I made every decision with cold calculation, to a man overcome with feelings and emotions that were foreign but somehow wonderful.

And all too soon after that cataclysmic change was this fourth one, this one where I begged a God I’d never entertained to spare the life of a woman that I could not live without.

Right off the bat, this story took us a ride of love and loss and healing and forgiveness. This is a retelling of the past three stories, but with a twist. I was very happy with the path that R.K. took in writing this. I was always wanting to hear the guy’s feelings. I love guy’s POVs. So I am completely happy with all the glimpses she shared with us.

“Somehow, I knew, just knew, deep in my gut, where certainties held the most sway, that I would never have enough of her.

I was lost. I was found.”

I have been dying for this!! James beats and other Dom, in my eyes. So I am thrilled to read his past and present pov. So many things going on in his dirty little mind. Who knew how insatiable that man really was!! Whew! That is my favorite part of him. 😉 I also love how protective he is of Bianca. Some could say he’s overprotective, but he loves her and wants no one getting between them.

“I saved her life. She saved my soul.”

Reading Stephan’s POV was downright emotional. I had no clue the life he had. I am so glad he meet Bianca, when he did. She saved him just as he saved her. He had the weight of the world, on his shoulders, from his actions, but he moved past them, to be the other part of her soul. Without him, Bianca would not have survived.

Since the timelines all intertwine, we get to see Tristan and see behind the scenes as he works towards getting Danika’s trust back. I liked seeing that. Poor Danika had no choice. Tristan was determined and was going to get her.

The best part for me was seeing the future. I won’t say anything that happens, but I’m glad to see they’re all happy and still a bit crazy. I found myself cracking up at their lives and how they’re all still friends, even many years later.

“I’d hold onto her with the last breath in my body. My final thought would be that I hadn’t gotten enough, I just knew it.”

*swoon*

~Melpomene

Buy Mr. Beautiful (Up In The Air Book 4)

Get caught up first:
In Flight (Up In The Air Book 1)

Mile High (Up In The Air Book 2)

Grounded (Up In The Air Book 3)

Review: One in a Million (Lucky Harbor #12) by Jill Shalvis

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One in a Million is the tale of Callie and Tanner. I’m going to tell you why I’m so in love with Tanner and EVERY Lucky Harbor character I’ve ever read.

Jill Shalvis has a way of making Lucky Harbor heroes ultra-alpha with a big dose of sensitivity and adorableness. It’s a talent. A skill. A miracle even. The men have muscles and brains and businesses and big hearts and deep souls. They are perfect.

Even though Tanner is clueless or selfish or begrudging at times, he still wants what’s best for Callie… And he wants Callie. Sigh. I live for watching the guy want the girl. He’s all meeting her for coffee and bringing her doughnuts and remembering that she gave him a Valentine in high school. See? Perfection.

And Callie. Well, she doesn’t believe in love. In her wedding planning business, she has seen too many brides focus on the wedding rather than the marriage. When Callie realizes she has loved Tanner for a long, long time, she puts up her defenses, leaving Tanner wondering.

She finally caves, of course. There’s a meeting of the minds and a heart-to-heart. And grandma Lucille? She makes sure this one in a million love story is happily ever after #12. 🙂

-calliope

buy ONE IN A MILLION

Review and Giveaway: Living with Regret(Rain#3), by Lisa De Jong

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“Sometimes true friends make the best true loves.”

I knew going into this book, that it was going to toy with my emotions, so I was sort of prepared. But yet, not really.

Synopsis
I had my whole life mapped out. Perfect guy. Perfect friends. Everything was exactly the way I wanted it.

That was until that night–the one I can’t remember. It’s all my fault, and now the memories are all I have left of him. Of us.

My guilt drowns me until Sam Shea steps back into my life and helps me to the surface. He slowly opens my heart and crawls deep inside before I even realize what’s happening. I know I don’t deserve him.

While I’m trying to get used to my new life, pieces of that night slowly start to come back to me. Lies and secrets shatter everything I thought I knew.

Maybe I’m not the only one living with regret.

Holy heartache!!! Rachel wakes up, in a hospital bed, with no memory of how she got there. She doesn’t remember the final 24 hours of her “perfect” life before it was turned upside down. The only people that seem to want to help her, without any hidden agendas, are her friends, Kate, who she met in college, and Sam, the next door neighbor. But since Kate’s hours away, Sam’s the only friend she’s got to rely on. They may have lost touch, in the past few years, but he was always there when she needed him. And she needs him now.

Sam hasn’t had the best life, but he always cared for Rachel. He would take away her pain and heartache, if he could. He wants to show her that because she’s a live, she needs to make the most of what she’s been given. She needs to learn to forgive herself and move on. But that is most definitely easier said than done.

Rachel has always cared for Sam, even when she was dating someone else. He was her best friend. But lines are beginning to blur and she’s not sure what to do about that. Little does she know that his feelings run a bit deeper than friendship. But he slowly begins to show her.

“Life doesn’t always give you a second chance, so when it does, seize it, If you don’t, you might always regret it.”

I loved Sam. He was the most caring, patient, swoon worthy guy I’ve read about, in a long time. Some of his lines were so sweet, they made me tear up. He knew the right things to say to Rachel, to help her on the path of forgiveness and discovery.

“There’s no need to run when everything you want is right in front of you.”

I was totally cheering for Sam, but I understood that Rachel needed space to get her head on straight. As she starts to slowly get snapshots from that night, you start to realize that things weren’t always so clear. Just when I thought I understood, some thing else would come out of left field and slam right into me. I wouldn’t call them twists, but more like pieces to a puzzle. You really don’t know what you’re looking at, til all the pieces are in place. But putting those pieces together creates more heartache than the poor girl was ready for.

Life changes quickly with the turn of a key. If it’s the right one, it can unlock something fantastic, but if it’s wrong, it stops you in your tracks.

After much heartache and lots of discovery, Rachel finds out the truth about herself and the many people around her. But most important, she learns that living with regret isn’t living at all.

When you’re lost, the only thing left is to be found.
You can be lost in sadness and found in happiness
Lost in regret but found in forgiveness.
the key to being found comes from within…
No one is going to hand it to you.
…Life isn’t meant to be that easy.

~Melpomene

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Read the first two books:
When It Rains (Rains Standalone Book 1)

Changing Forever (Rains Standalone Book 2)

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Review: Confessions of a Bad Bridesmaid by Jennifer Rae

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Confessions of a Bad Bridesmaid saved me from book slump!

Olivia flies from Australia to England to be a bridesmaid in her best friend’s wedding. Since she has always felt less pretty and less appealing than her friends and sister, Olivia expects very little in the way of quality male attention. She puts on a party girl act to hide her low self-esteem.

When she meets Edward, all that begins to change. Olivia questions her insecurities and her reality…. As does Edward.

I’ll be honest. This was a nice bit of fluff. It’s a romance novel, a light one at that, predictable and a little bit repetitive, and not totally creative or original. The characters could’ve used more depth, blah blah blah.

But it was fun… Fun, and funny, and entertaining. Prior to COABB I had just finished two disappointing reads. I didn’t read for a week, and I was afraid to pick up another book in case it was as bad as the other two.

So I needed a rebound read. Badly. I needed a party girl and a handsome guy living in a castle. I needed an Of Course They Did happily-ever-after.

Confessions of a Bad Bridesmaid was THE PERFECT REBOUND READ. I’m so happy! I’m no longer dwelling on those silly disappointments. I can move on! Thank you Bad Bridesmaid, thank you.

-calliope
buy this $1.99 DEAL Confessions of a Bad Bridesmaid

Review: Huckleberry Christmas by Jennifer Beckstrand

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Aaah. The coolness of autumn, the crunch of the leaves, the brisk wind at night… It’s all preparation for winter. And winter means Christmas novels. I’ll be reading and reviewing more over the next couple of months, but here’s the first taste of Christmas, Amish-style.

Beth endured verbal abuse from her first husband. When he died, she vowed to grow stronger and more independent for the sake of herself and her son. But Beth didn’t count on falling in love with mellow Tyler. He had Beth’s best interests at heart, but needed to be persistent if he wanted to gain a place in her heart.

I’ve enjoyed all of Beckstrand’s Huckleberry Hill books, and I certainly loved this one. Beckstrand balances the stereotypical sober Amish lifestyle with lighthearted fun that comes from being unencumbered by modern distractions.

I laughed a lot at Tyler’s facial expressions (great descriptions, because I could virtually see his face). I sympathized with Beth as she tried to decide whether to follow her head or her heart. And I rejoiced every time little Toby reached into the hearts of his mom, grandparents, and Tyler.

I recommend this book as an Amish novel, a taste of Christmas, and an overall feel-good read. You’ll be uplifted, and who couldn’t use a little of that these days?!

-Calliope

buy HUCKLEBERRY CHRISTMAS

Review: Reaper’s Stand, by Joanna Wylde

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01rea I gotta be honest, sometimes I didn’t like Picnic. His wife died 6 years ago and seemed to be shooting for the title of world’s biggest manwhore. Seriously. In all of the other books, he is seen screwing everything in sight. Women who were his daughters’s age all the way up to his own age. He didn’t discriminate. But, on the flip side, he loved his daughters and his MC chapter fiercely. He would protect all of them, with his life.

“We like taking care of our women. You don’t let me help you, the other boys’ll make fun of me and then I’ll have to cry. Are you trying to make me cry, London?”

By the time I got to the end of Devil’s Game, I was totally on Team Picnic. I needed his book like yesterday. I so wanted him to find his love.

London is the cleaning lady who catches Picnic’s eye. She is busy raising her cousin’s special needs daughter and hasn’t had time for dating in six years. But when Picnic sets his eyes on her, she is caught. At first she tries to stay far from him, but the chemistry is undeniable and she’s sucked in. Honestly, I totally forgot they were older characters half the time. Some of the scenes were super saucy. But I loved them.

“Take something off, because otherwise I’m going to start ripping things.”

*fans face*

Exerpt:
I heard voices as I approached the door, which was open a crack. (The frame had swollen up last winter and never quite gone back to normal, so you really had to fight to close it all the way. It was sand- wiched on the repair list between fixing the car and replacing the oven.)

“Your cousin deserves better than this,” I heard Hayes saying, and I couldn’t help but smile. Glad someone noticed my efforts. “If she’s smart, she’ll kick you out.”

“She’ll never kick me out,” Jess declared, and her voice sounded a little smug. A little slurred, too . . . Had she been drinking? Probably. “She’d feel guilty. She’ll always take care of me because she has to—you don’t know shit about us.”

He snorted.

“You think she takes care of you out of guilt?” he asked. “Nope— she loves you, although I can’t quite decide why. You need to figure out what you want to do with your life, because you can’t just drain her dry forever. Sooner or later she’ll be done with you.”

His words sounded so close to my own thoughts it was almost creepy. It also made me feel guilty, because the statement was so cold and hard. Not to mention true.

“It’s none of your business.”

“London is my business, little girl,” he said, and his tone was anything but nice. “I have plans for her, and they don’t include her crying over your bullshit. Don’t piss me off.”

And right there is when I knew Picnic was going to be one of my favorite MC guys. I mean, c’mon, he’s a no nonsense, straight talker type of guy. If he wants you, you better just hold on for the ride.

We even catch a few glimpses of past characters and one of the main stories is quite sad. It totally broke my heart. This book also seems to set us up for a couple of future books as well. I am seriously addicted to these MC guys!! Bring on the next one!!

~Melpomene

Buy Reaper’s Stand (Reapers Motorcycle Club Book 4)

Get caught up with the rest of the guys.
Reaper’s Property (Reapers Motorcycle Club Book 1)

Reaper’s Legacy (Reapers Motorcycle Club Book 2)

Devil’s Game (Reapers Motorcycle Club Book 3)

Review: Apolonia, by Jamie McGuire

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01apolonia WHAT.A.RIDE. I was totally not expecting the amount of twists and turns that I experienced with this one. It’s not a surprise that I love Jamie McGuire. So when I received Apolonia, I stopped the book I was reading, and jumped right into this one.

Synopsis
Three years after Rory Riordan foiled her own murder, she still trusts no one. Not Dr. Z, the eccentric college professor who has taken her under his wing, not Benji, the endearing, attractive classmate who insists on following her around, and certainly not Cy, the beautifully dark and mysterious boy who sits on the first row in Dr. Z’s Astrobiology class and asks far too many questions.

When Rory witnesses Cy being abducted by soldiers in the middle of the night, she finds herself submersed in a world that holds even more secrets than she could imagine–even darker secrets than her own.

Rory has survived these past two years, but just barely. She keeps to herself and tries to stay away from everyone. But for some reason Benji won’t stay away. He is, in fact, just like and puppy, and follows her and tries to befriend her. But Rory wants none of that. But he will not be detoured from his goal.

As an assistant to Dr Z. Rory is quite upset to find that there will now be another assistant that she must work along side with. While she feels drawn to Cyrus, she doesn’t trust him.

Slowly, she lets Benji get close to her, and soon she finds herself totally taken with him. She will always be wary of getting close to people, since what happened two years ago. But loving someone is the last thing she wants to do, and yet somehow he sneaks his way in.

When Cy gets taken, she realizes that what she’s known about the Dr, is all wrong. He is dabbling in things that she never would have thought possible. Her world is about to turn upside down, and she has no control over it.

I really enjoyed the many twists and turns in this book. Just when I thought I knew what was happening, another shocker happened and I was completely caught off guard. But I loved every moment of it!

Well done, Jamie!!!

~Melpomene

Buy Apolonia

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