Review: A Christmas Wedding by Tracy Wolff

Title: A Christmas Wedding
Author: Tracy Wolff
Published: November 11, 2008
Publisher: Harlequin
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 244
Source: Personal Library
Characters: Desiree Hawthorne-Rainwater, Jesse Rainwater
My Rating:

Synopsis:

Desiree is determined to hold on to her husband. She's loved Jesse Rainwater since the day the legendary horse trainer came to work at her father's ranch. Now, on the eve of their daughter's wedding, Jesse hits her with a bombshell that forces Desiree to re-examine their life together.

And she isn't going down without a fight. She hasn't struggled all these years to lose the thing that's most precious to her. Desiree knows they share something true and strong, even if they lost sight of it somewhere along the way. Now her toughest battle lies ahead: to prove to Jesse that theirs is a love worth fighting for.

"I've had it, Desiree."

What drew me to reading this book was the fact that the two lead characters were already in an established marriage. I don't recall reading any other romance novels like that. Sure, I've read a couple of chick-lit novels like that, but not so much romance novels.

The characters were relatable and very likable that I couldn't decide whom to side with, the wife or the husband. At first I was siding with the husband, and then I would read more of the backstory and side with the wife. Throughout the entire book I was going back and forth between the two of them. But the one thing that remained constant was my desire for them to work it  out.

Ever since Desiree's father died and left the ranch to her, things have been strained between her and her husband. He's been feeling more like their relationship was employer and employee instead of husband and wife. When the book isn't in the present day, it chronicles their journey together.

My only complaint with this book was the fact that the entire story took place over the course of one day. I would have liked to actually read more about them actually putting forth the effort to make it work. Instead it was just them agreeing to work on their marriage.

Tracy Wolff | Twitter

Teaser Tuesday: The Satin Sash by Red Garnier

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB @ Should Be Reading. To participate, all you have to do is the following:

• Grab your current/upcoming read
• Open to a random page
• Share 2-3 "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• Be careful not to include spoilers! (You do not want to ruin the book for others.)
• Share the title & author so that others who enjoy your "teaser" may add the book to their TBL pile.

Appearing through the hall, Toni steered around the kitchen island, still wrapped in Grey's shirt. She had rolled the cuffs up to her elbows, and the cotton fabric was wrinkled across her hips. Grey had thoroughly disliked it when women he'd slept with had taken liberty of wearing his clothes, but the sight of Toni in his shirts had the opposite effect on him.

page 168; The Satin Sash by Red Garnier

Review: Wolf Unbound by Lauren Dane

Title: Wolf Unbound
Author: Lauren Dane
Published: January 1, 2009
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Format: E-book
Source: Personal Library
Characters: Tegan Warden, Ben Stoner
My Rating:

Synopsis:

Overshadowed by the rising threat of the werewolf mafia, Ben and Tegan struggle to stand united. Werewolf Enforcer Tegan Warden has been alone since the death of her mate four years ago. Until she meets Ben Stoner at a local club and she feels something she thought died inside her. Things move very quickly and she finds herself mated to a human man who's not altogether sure he wants a forever kind of love with a woman hes just met. Ben realizes in short order Tegan is not only worth forever love, but a woman who'll stand at his side without tolerating anything other than a full partnership. In the bedroom its another story, as Ben has finally found a sexual submissive with a spark, and Tegan a man worthy of her submission. Together they work toward building a permanent relationship even as the specter of danger from the Pellini Group grows in the world of wolves. All around them, the rising violence threatens the Packs and the only thing they know for certain is one another.

Tegan ran.

Tegan has just been going through the motions of life since the death of her mate in Afghanistan four years ago. Ben is a cop who has given up on ever trusting or getting close to a woman again since finding his fiancee cheating on him with his partner. Tegan is a wolf; Ben is a human.

Their relationship is that of a D/s, and upon their first time having sex, they become a mated pair. Of course Ben is confused and needs time to process this, leaving Tegan heartbroken. She wants Ben to want to be with her for hr, not just because the bond makes them crave sex with one another. All of their sexual encounters included some sort of sex toys. The shower scene is the only time I can recall the having sex without all the extra. I've read other books with spanking and nipple clamps, but the rope play and ropespace was something altogether new to me.

While they are dealing with their new bond and Ben's mother being against their relationship, war brakes out between the packs and Pellini. Which if you have read the previous books in the series, the war between them is not a surprise. This book only touches on the beginnings of war so the next books in the series will have more.

Overall, I didn't really feel that there was a true connection between Ben and Tegan. I really loved the connection and chemistry between Nina and Lex in Enforcer, but Tegan and Ben just didn't have that.

Lauren Dane | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

And the Winner is...

Desperate Deeds by Dee Davis

{due to low entries, only one copy will be given}

Betty!!!

One Lovely Blog Award

Thank you to Kah @ The Books of My Life for passing on this award to me!

The Rules:

 

1. Accept the award, post in on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.
2. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered.
3. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know that they have been chosen for this award.

 

My 15 blog choices:

 

Bad Ass Bookie

Book Lovers Delight

The Bookshelf Sophisticate

A Cup of Tea and A Cozy For Me

Diva's Bookcase

Emily's Reading Room

Emmegail's Bookshelf

A Girl, Books & Other Things

I Love Books

In the Closet With a Bibliophile 

Life According to Nicole

A Life Bound By Books

Michelle's Book Blog

Pure Imagination

Teresa's Reading Corner

In My Mailbox: Volume 1 Issue 19

In My Mailbox (IMM) is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren. Every week I'll post what books I've received either by mailbox/library/store.

I'll try to post an entry of IMM every Sunday that I receive books by mail of that week.

Listed below are the books I received this week.

Books via Paperback Swap

Hard and Fast by Erin McCarthy

Books via Goodreads Win

Ah-Choo! The Uncommon Life of Your Common Cold by Jennifer Ackerman

Throwback Review: Flat-Out Sexy by Erin McCarthy

Title: Flat-Out Sexy
Author: Erin McCarthy
Published: October 30, 2008
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Format: Trade Paperback
Pages: 274
Source: Public Library
Characters: Tamara Briggs, Elec Monroe
My Rating:

Synopsis:

She met him at the racetrack...

...which was the last place Tamara Briggs wanted to find a man. Even a deeply intriguing, seductively sexy man like Elec Monroe. Tamara's a single mother now after losing her daredevil husband in an accident--and she's not about to get involved with another driver and put her kids, or herself, through that again. Besides, Elec's young enough to be her...younger brother.

Now things are moving a little too fast...

But he sure does get her heart racing. And after she's tricked into a blind date with him, Tamara gives in to her passion. Things screech to a halt, though, when he asks to meet her children. Whatever happened to wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am? Suddenly Tamara has to decide how big a risk she's willing to take to experience the thrilling, terrifying power of true love...

{This book was read in December 2008; This is the review I posted on Goodreads}

Love It! Love It! Love It! Elec and Tamara were smoking hot together! They couldn't seem to keep their hands off each other. Not only was this book steamy hot, it was laugh out loud funny as well. Elec is every woman's dream man; not only is he "flat-out sexy," he's caring, charming, great with her kids, attentive, and a great listener. (If only he was real and not a character in a book. LOL) Everyone has, or wish they had, a friend like Suzanne. She's absolutely hilarious. She and Ryder have an interesting dynamic that I hope will be explored further in a book of their own. I read the snippet at the back of the book which is Imogen (Emma Jean, lol) and Ty's story. From what I read it promises to be another sizzling hot read. I'm impatiently waiting to read it. I got this one from the library, but I definitely will be picking up a copy to add to me "keeper" shelf! Absolutely worth the read.

Sarah McCarthy | Goodreads | Twitter

Review: She's Gone Country by Jane Porter

Title: She's Gone Country

Author: Jane Porter
Published: August 23, 2010
Publisher: 5 Spot
Format: Trade Paperback
Pages: 376
Source: Publisher
Characters: Shey Darcy, Dane Kelly
My Rating:

Synopsis:

Shey Darcy, a 39-year-old former top model for Vogue and Sports Illustrated led a charmed life in New York City with a handsome photographer husband until the day he announced he'd fallen in love with someone else. Left to pick up the pieces of her once happy world, Shey decides to move back home to Texas with her three teenage sons. Life on the family ranch, however, brings with it a whole new host of dramas starting with differences of opinion with her staunch Southern Baptist mother, her rugged but overprotective brothers, and daily battles with her three sons who are also struggling to find themselves. Add to the mix Shey's ex-crush, Dane Kelly, a national bull-riding champ and she's got her hands full. It doesn't take long before Shey realizes that in order to reinvent herself, she must let go of an uncertain future and a broken past, to find happiness--and maybe love--in the present.

"Shey Lynne, you've been here three months now and not once have you taken those boys to church."

This book was a mix of humor and frustration for me. Shey's interaction with Dane and her mother provide the bulk of the bright spots of the book. Her romance with Dane seemed to get off to a somewhat slow start, but once it did, it progressed at light speed. Shey's relationship with her mom seemed a little strained, but it provided the comedic outlet.

What kept me from really liking Shey more, was how she seemed to let her children treat her. Her two oldest children, Hank and Bo, seemed to talk to her and behave with her any way they pleased. With me being raised by a Southern mother, I seen their behavior as very disrespectful and she did nothing to correct it. When it came to her boys, I have to agree with her brother Brick, in the fact that she was babying them. Shey kept saying how she used to be this strong woman, but I never seen her as such. She came off as more passive than strong.

Overall it's worth the read, but in the end I would have liked to seen what happened with the young girl Shey befriended who was having family issues at home. Or more about how Dane and Brick's friendship was progressing. Or not. I just felt like I was left with a lot of unanswered questions.

Jane Porter | Blog | Facebook | Myspace | Twitter

Book Blogger Hop: August 27-30, 2010 & Follow Friday

It's Book Blogger Hop time! Check out Crazy-For-Books to sign up and find more great blogs.

ABOUT THE HOP:

In the spirit of the Friday Follow, I thought it would be cool to do a Book Blogger Hop to give us all book bloggers and readers a chance to connect and find new blogs that we may be missing out on! So, I created this weekly BOOK PARTY where book bloggers and readers can connect to find new blogs to read, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs that they may not know existed! So, grab the logo, post about the Hop on your blog, and start PARTYING!!

Courtesy of Hachette Book Group, I'll be hosting a super "SIZZLING SUMMER NIGHTS" giveaway for the entire month of August!! Three lucky readers will win ALL five of these HOT Forever Romances. To enter click HERE.

I'm also hosting a giveaway of Desperate Deeds by Dee Davis; A giveaway of She's Gone Country by Jane Porter; A giveaway of The Island by Elin Hilderbrand.

Your blog should have content related to books, including, but not limited to book reviews. And if that's how you found my blog, please leave a comment to let me know. Sign up and start hopping!!

My Answer: Yes I have a rating system of butterflies that is located on my sidebar indicting the meaning of the different butterfly amounts. I have been thinking of maybe adding an addition 'heat level' rating to my current system, but I haven't decided yet if I will.





Parajunkee's View will be featuring one blogger each Friday along with having the Follow My Book Blog feature. Each week one blogger will be selected as a feature, so sign up for the Follow Feature. Happy Follow Friday!!

Blog Tour: The Devil Wears Plaid by Teresa Medeiros

Please join Teresa Medeiros on her blog tour of The Devil Wears Plaid!

AN INNOCENT WOMAN

Emmaline Marlow is about to wed the ancient patriarch of the Hepburn clan to save her father from debtor's prison when the Hepburn's sworn enemy Jamie Sinclair bursts into the abbey on a magnificent black horse and whisks her away. Jamie is everything her bridegroom is not--young, handsome, virile...and a perilous temptation for her yearning heart.

A DANGEROUS MAN

Jamie expects Emma to be some milksop English miss, not a spirited beauty who will defy him at every turn. All of his plans to use her as a pawn in the centuries old Highland feud begin to go awry when irresistible passion flares between the two of them. A man can kidnap a bride, but is it possible for him to steal her innocence without losing his own heart?

Read an excerpt

Visit Teresa on Twitter

Teresa on Facebook

About the Author:

New York Times bestseller Teresa Medeiros wrote her first novel at the age of twenty-one, introducing readers to one of the most beloved and versatile voices in romantic fiction. She has appeared on every national bestseller list, including the New York Times, USA Today and Publishers Weekly lists. She currently has over seven million books in print and is published in over seventeen languages. Read more here.

Confessions {3}

This is a meme hosted by Jen @ In The Closet With A Bibliophile. Since she is always asked what is her favorite book and/or song, she decided she would make it into a meme. So, what is your fave book and song for this week?

My favorite song this week, is Teenage Dream by Katy Perry.







My favorite book this week would have to be Finding Perfect by Susan Mallery.



When Pia O'Brian's best friend dies, Pia expects to inherit her cherished cat. Instead, the woman leaves Pia three frozen embryos. With a disastrous track record in the romance department and the parenting skills of a hamster, Pia doesn't think she's meant for motherhood. But determined to do the right thing, Pia decides to become a single mother. Only to meet a gorgeous, sexy hunk the very same day.

A former foster-care kid now rich beyond his wildest dreams, Raoul Moreno runs a camp for needy children in Fool's Gold, California. After his last relationship, Raoul thought he was done with women and commitment. Still, he can't get sweet, sexy Pia out of his mind—and proposes a crazy plan. But can such an unconventional beginning really result in the perfect ending?

Review: Tracker's Sin by Sarah McCarty

Title: Tracker's Sin
Author: Sarah McCarty
Published: October 1, 2010
Publisher: Spice
Format: E-book
Source: Publisher
Characters: Ari Blake, Tracker Ochoa
My Rating:

Synopsis:

WED BY NECESSITY…JOINED BY DESIRE

Before his trade became his name, “Tracker” Ochoa was a scrawny Mestizo runaway. Now as fearsome as he once was frightened, he’s joined the notorious Hell’s Eight...and they have a job for him.

He must rescue kidnapped heiress Ari Blake and deliver her safely to the Hell’s Eight compound—by any means necessary. Turns out that includes marrying her, if he means to escort her and her infant son
across the Texas Territory. Tracker hadn’t bargained on a wife—especially such a fair, blue-eyed beauty. But the erotic pleasures of the marriage bed more than make up for the surprise.

Tracker’s well-muscled bronze skin and dark, dangerous eyes are far more exciting than any of Ari’s former debutante dreams. In the light of day, though, his deep scars and brooding intensity terrify her. But he’s her husband and she’s at his mercy. With the frontier against them and mercenary bandits at their heels, Ari fears she’ll never feel safe again.

Tracker, too, remembers what fear feels like. Though he burns to protect Ari, to keep her for himself always, he knows that money, history—and especially the truth—can tear them apart.

I don't know how to start this letter, except to say thank God you're alive.

This one was a slow starter for me. It starts off with Tracker locating Desi's sister, Ari, living with an older couple raising her child. Upon first seeing Ari she appears to be happy and leading a normal life. But upon further investigation, you realize things are not all that they seem.

I won't get to much into the plot, but when Ari finally does reach Hell's Eight, it isn't the happy reunion everyone hoped for. Ari feels abandoned by Desi and also feels resentment towards Desi. She thinks Desi left her to the men who abused her, all while she had been living the good life with Caine.

Tracker too has issues in the fact that he doesn't think he's good enough for Ari. If Ari chooses to leave Hell's Eight and head back East she would never be accepted for being with him. Also he feels that his Indian heritage will be a constant reminder to her of her attackers.

I have to say, I do like Ari and Tracker together. At first I was unsure of how it would work out given all that she had been through, but Ms. McCarty pulled it off. Ari comes across as this damaged yet strong woman who just needs to find her strength and courage. And with Tracker she can be the women she is meant to be.

Waiting on Wednesday: Volume 1 Issue 16

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine. It is showcases upcoming releases of books that I'm looking forward to. It is somewhat similar to one of my previous posts, Anxiously Awaiting.


Title: Born to Bite

Author: Lynsay Sands
Release Date: August 31, 2010

Legend has it that Armand Argeneau is a killer in the bedroom . . .

But with all three of his late wives meeting unfortunate and untimely ends, is this sexy immortal a lover or a murderer? That's what Eshe d'Aureus intends to find out. As an enforcer, it's her job to bring rogue vampires to justice, even if the rogue in question makes her blood race red hot.

Armand knew she was trouble the moment Eshe roared into town on her motorcycle, clad in tight black leather. She claims she's hiding from dangerous fiends, though he suspects something more. But after three wives who've all had trouble remaining, well, undead, Armand is reluctant to open his heart again. Then strange accidents start to happen, each deadlier than the last, and Armand realizes he may not have much time to prove he's a lover, not a slayer.