Loved it. Absolutely loved it. Mind blowing that this was a debut novel. This was a book where the relationship was front and centre, and it was beautLoved it. Absolutely loved it. Mind blowing that this was a debut novel. This was a book where the relationship was front and centre, and it was beautiful. Sigh. Zero complaints from me, just sorry that it ended....more
So, so good. I can't recall how this book ended up in my TBR list, but I couldn't be more grateful that it did. Looking back at the blurb after finishSo, so good. I can't recall how this book ended up in my TBR list, but I couldn't be more grateful that it did. Looking back at the blurb after finishing, it doesn't do this book justice. But how could it? There's something about this book that just can't be neatly explained or summed up in a couple of paragraphs. I'm not even going to attempt it. Suffice it to say, I loved it and highly recommend....more
If you’re new to Sarah MacLean like I am, I recommend you read the Love by Numbers series before this one. They’re related and while not necessary to If you’re new to Sarah MacLean like I am, I recommend you read the Love by Numbers series before this one. They’re related and while not necessary to read first to follow and enjoy this series, there are small references to couples in that series that I didn’t have any context for. Now that I’ve started the Love by Numbers series, I can see how much I’d have loved seeing glimpses of those couples in this series. :)...more
Heatstroke was one of the best short storI read this one as part of Don't Read in the Closet: Volume Two, but it deserves to be called out on its own.
Heatstroke was one of the best short stories - any genre- that I have had the pleasure to read. I cannot believe such superb storytelling was offered for free. I would have been happy to pay for this one. It made me smile, it made me cry, and it made me want to hug it when I finished.
I had absolutely no interest in reading this book. Dystopian fantasy is not my thang, so despite all the glittering reviews, I was never going to giveI had absolutely no interest in reading this book. Dystopian fantasy is not my thang, so despite all the glittering reviews, I was never going to give this one an opportunity. That is, until the price-drop to 99c. What the hell, I thought. I was in a reading slump anyway, so thought I may as well try a change of pace.
Woah, Nelly! This was awesome! Some of it will be the timing - it just worked for me with where my head was at the time - but the rest is just that it was a damn entertaining read. How good it is when you read a book thinking it won't be for you, and it turns out you end up loving it?
I wish I had internet connection when I finished this one, because I would have rhapsodised with joy. As it is, I will just say that this was not at all what I expected, and it knocked my socks off. So much better than I had dared to hope, and I can't remember the last time I have looked forward to a book as much as I'm looking forward to the sequel.
What an absorbing book! This is why I love Anne Mallory.
I’m the kind of reader who finishes a book and immediately moves on the next one. I’m having tWhat an absorbing book! This is why I love Anne Mallory.
I’m the kind of reader who finishes a book and immediately moves on the next one. I’m having trouble maintaining that pattern after this one – I don’t want to let it go. I can totally understand why sometimes readers will finish the last page of a book and head straight back to page one to read it again. This is that kind of book.
It’s also the kind of book that I find impossible to review. There’s so much I want to say, but I don’t have the gift of words to express it. In Total Surrender is not a book with a huge amount of external influence or changing locations. There is a plot, and it’s relevant, but that’s not the point of the book. This is a character driven story of two complicated people finding each other and struggling to understand what this means to themselves, each other, and their lives.
It was a completely delicious experience to witness the cold, dark and powerful Andreas Merrick slowly unravel and succumb to the force that is Phoebe Pace. Seeing his reaction to Phoebe, and his reaction to his reaction, was just so much fun.
Mallory has written the perfect tortured hero in Andreas. I loved his character and his inner dialogue was genuinely funny – such a contrast to the man he would have everyone believe him to be – the man he believes himself to be. I lost count of the ways this book made me smile, and it was not a light story. Mallory’s balance was perfect.
Phoebe was a fantastic character:
“She couldn’t be upset that circumstances had brought her into contact with Andreas Merrick, just that the circumstances themselves couldn’t resolve quickly and happily so that she could pursue him with abandon. That thought brought a smile to her lips. Poor man.”
She was able to match Andreas’s cunning, intelligence and machinations at every turn, but her modus operandi was so different. Sunny and warm to his menace and ice. The perfect counterweight.
I loved the way Mallory depicted the effects of Phoebe’s efforts to breach Andreas’s defenses, and the little ways in which the cracks were starting to show. I loved watching them circle each other, both of them maneuvering circumstances within and without, both keeping their secrets but exposing themselves nonetheless.
I was desperate to see these two finally get together, but I didn’t want to stop watching her deftly finesse this unreadable, untouchable, unreachable man. And she did it in such a way that you couldn’t help but love her for it. He knew what she was doing, and he knew she knew he knew what she was doing, but she was so damn good at it that she left him no way out. And even if he wouldn’t – couldn’t – admit it, Andreas wanted to be right where he was.
My only complaint? I wanted more from the ending. And I wanted much more from the epilogue.
There are so many quotable passages in this book, and I can’t help but include them here because they will speak for the book far better then I am able. That, and I’ll also be able to come back and read them and relive the magic of this book.
"Her hands shook as she undressed quietly back in her own room. She could not deny it--she was becoming irreparably entangled. And what he would do with the net, she did not know."
"She had touched him. She had looked at his repulsive scars and pressed her lips to them. Soothing and steady. Unfaltering and unshakable. That was Phoebe Pace. He needed her gone more than he ever had. And yet his fingers clutched an invisible cord, fingernails gripping his palm, as if it would hold her to him."
“For a moment she wasn’t sure he’d answer. ‘Soon.’ ‘That is quite vague. Soon might be tomorrow or a month from now. How do you define soon?’ ‘I define it as a period of time in the near future.’ She smiled. ‘How do you define difficult?’ ‘By your presence.’ She grinned fully, delighted to feel the tension dissipate. ‘Now you are just flattering me for no reason.’ He grunted. ‘On the contrary,’ she said, as if his grunt had been a worded response. ‘It was most flattering.’ He stared at her. ‘What? Did you think I wouldn’t figure out how to interpret your grunts? It’s like listening to a conversational gambit with a thousand different meanings.’ He recovered quickly, as always, scowling. ‘Why would you think it flattery?’ ‘You have defined something by my presence. Which means you have noticed me quite keenly. I take that as flattering.’ His eyes narrowed. But then she knew he wouldn’t like that particular explanation. It left him too wide open. ‘I find you difficult. Not adorable.’ ‘I think I am quite shocked to find you using the word “adorable” in a sentence.’ She waved a hand. ‘Next thing I know, you will be petting puppies in the street.’”
"She leaned down, a fraction closer, and for some reason unknown to man, he lifted his head the tiniest bit. Enough so she could brush his cheek with her lips. 'Goodnight, Mr. Merrick.'”
“Her smile almost made him forget the scene around her. ‘What the devil have you done?’ he demanded. ‘Oh!’ This was said brightly, as if she was happy he had noticed. ‘I decided I needed my own workspace, instead of constantly infringing upon yours. So I had a few of the boys move a desk in here.’ He stared at the petite, feminine, desk that was pushed against his. And wondered how the bloody hell she had managed to convince men who were terrified of him to move the desk inside his domain. ‘Absolutely not.’
Two hours later, he was still scowling as she happily worked on . . . whatever the hell it was she was working on. Across from him. At her desk. How the hell. . . He remembered saying no. He remembered cursing. Threatening her unborn children. Then there was a sort of hazy period of smiles and calm words. Then she had touched the back of his hand with her naked fingers. And now, here he was with . . . her desk . . . pressed to his—surreptitiously watching her scratch her paper, the tip of her tongue poking from the side of her mouth as she worked. Who did that? It was decidedly uncouth.”
“‘You are quite an amusing man usually. Always yelling things’--she raised her elbows up as far as her dress allowed with her fingers spread and her limbs vibrating—‘Like “Leave” and “I want you gone.”' Her voice had taken on a theatrical, low timbre. She put her elbow back on the table, her chin resting back on her hand. ‘It's charming as long as one doesn't take you seriously.’ ‘Sane people take me seriously.’ ‘I'm sane, and I do not.’ ‘You are the least sane person I've had the misfortune to meet.’”
"She stared at him as he ate and watched her. It was as if the world had turned upside down but hadn't swept her with it. Standing on the ceiling now, stomach suddenly in her throat, waiting to fall to the floor in a tangle of limbs."
“My God. She wanted to wrap herself around him, to pin herself to him, the heat melting them together, never able to separate. His lips consumed hers. As if he had been waiting years, decades, to unleash such passion. Waiting there, leashed and growling, behind a cold and steely facade. And she couldn't think of a single regret as he stole the breath from her. She had never been so right. That this was a man to whom one sold one's soul. For he was assuredly pulling it right out of her. With every breath that passed from her lips to his. Piece by piece, never to be regained. Held for judgment or set free."
I loved this first instalment in Cindy Gerard's Black Ops series! A word of warning though, it's connected to her Bodyguard series, and you really shoI loved this first instalment in Cindy Gerard's Black Ops series! A word of warning though, it's connected to her Bodyguard series, and you really should at least read Into the Dark first to get the backstory for this one.
Since reading the last of Suzanne Brockmann's Troubleshooters series, I have been despairing of finding anything to compare. I'd often heard Cindy Gerard's name mentioned in conjunction with Brockmann as a favourite romantic suspense author, and while I enjoyed the Bodyguard series, it didn't quite appeal to me as much as the Troubleshooters.
Show No Mercy, though, is exactly what I was hoping for when I picked up my first Gerard book. I devoured this one and enjoyed every aspect. A perfect balance of romance and suspense, a tortured hero, a crew of appealing and tough warriors, a heroine that didn't grate, pages that turned themselves; tears, laughter and a toy dog named Nugget. What more could you ask for? A decent and lengthy epilogue with the chance to see the hero and heroine enjoying their lives? You got it!
I can't wait for the next one. And someone please tell me that Nate gets his own book?
Joanna Bourne is one very talented author. Her crisp, unfettered style is brilliantly lacking the over-wrought sentimentality that often prevails in hJoanna Bourne is one very talented author. Her crisp, unfettered style is brilliantly lacking the over-wrought sentimentality that often prevails in historical romance, and results in moments of breath-taking poignancy. She is a striking talent bringing a fresh and unique voice to the genre. It’s no surprise that she has rocketed up the list of my favourite authors.
The Forbidden Rose is a prequel to the amazing The Spymaster's Lady and My Lord and Spymaster, and doesn’t disappoint on any level. Bourne again showcases her unique voice, seamlessly providing the reader with a sense of time and place, always ‘showing’ rather than ‘telling’, with the dialogue providing the bulk of the flavour.
This is William Doyle’s story, who we originally came to know in The Spymasters Lady, and saw again in My Lord and Spymaster. Although I liked his character in those books, they didn’t quite prepare me for what a wonderful, amazing man he really was. Doyle is not a flashy character; he doesn’t need or want to be centre stage. He is a man of tremendous strength, substance and subtlety with a sly sense of humour – a combination that I found compelling and irresistible.
Luckily, the author gave him a worthy match with Marguerite de Fleurignac – intelligent, practical, daring and self-reliant, she is nonetheless rendered in a very believable way. Bourne writes some of the best couples going around, and although they generally start the book at ‘political’ odds, the progression of their relationship is deftly handled – nothing ever feels forced and the author has no need to rely on overused, clichéd devices.
I cannot possibly write this review without mentioning Adrian. While Doyle was too strong and impressive a character to allow someone else to steal the show, Adrian came as close as possible to that line. I adored Adrian in The Spymaster’s Lady, and was left feeling a little bereft of his sparkling character in My Lord and Spymaster. Oh, but he was brilliant in this one.
I’d never thought to see Adrian’s life before his entrée into Britain’s elite spy agency, and what a loss that would have been. The twelve-year-old Adrian was something to behold. In fact, I intend to re-read these books (something I never do), starting with this one first, just so I can appreciate Adrian in chronological order, along with Doyle and Maggie. (Ignore what Goodreads says about chronological order – this one would come first, not third.)
The Forbidden Rose is the story of two people who know they cannot be together, but neither can they bear to be apart. Neither conforms to society's standards of beauty, but each sees the inner beauty of the other. I could wax lyrical about this series all day. I will refrain, but let me just say this: Read. These. Books. ...more
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