Samatha James 'The Secret Passion of Simon Blackwell'

Why didn't I like this book more? Annabel meets Simon in London when he saves her nephew from being trampled by a horse in Hyde Park. When they are caught kissing on a balcony at a social event, Simon does the right thing and marries her. They retire to his estate where Annabel learns that five years ago Simon's wife and two sons died in a tragic fire.

Simon is a good hero, he's tormented and reclusive but maybe a bit too tormented. At my age it's harder to believe that he just needs the love of a good women to get over it. Annabel is not particularly sympathetic. She finally gets through to him by yelling at him. Hmm, maybe if she had brought a bit more happiness into his life along with the sex? Perhaps I'm just beginning to think way too hard about these books! Ya think?

Sex scenes are well done, although sexual tension was lacking.

2007 Historical Romance: 2 out of 5

Johanna Lindsey 'Captive of My Desires'

When Gabrielle's mother dies she heads to the Caribbean to find her father. Her ship gets captured by pirates but luckily her father ends up being one of them and quickly ransoms her free. After three years of living with him he sends her back to England to get married. Drew ruins her chances by proclaiming that she is a pirate's daughter at a ball one evening, she steals his ship to get back home and the rest is history.

This book stunk. The hero is a shallow jerk who changes how he feels about her but doesn't really change being a jerk. She isn't funny, strong, clever, or even that sweet. She sails off to save her father but has no plan. The secondary characters feel like they are being developed for some reason but it never materializes, and it's skimpy on sex. Yikes. Even the swearing parrot wasn't funny. I love swearing parrots. I'm a sucker for swearing parrots!

I finished this book because Johanna Lindsey was the first romance novelist I ever read. Not a great effort from her this time.

2007 Historical Romance: 0 out of 5

Julia Quinn 'On the Way to the Wedding'

Disclaimer, I really like Julia Quinn. This is one of her best, dialog so witty you feel like you are falling behind as your read it. Lucy is best friends with the very beautiful Hermione. When the youngest Bridgerton male, Gregory falls madly infatuated with Hermione he turns to Lucy for help. This allows them to spend a lot of time together and allows Gregory enough time to finally realize Lucy is so much more fun.

Quinn is so skillful I didn't notice the lack of sex until well past the halfway mark in the book. There is even a (mostly) believable plot twist that was (almost) completely surprising. Gotta love this author.

Historical Romance 2007: 5 out of 5 stars

Victoria Alexander 'What A Lady Wants'

Felicity wishes upon a star for a man, not just any man, but a man '...who will make the rest of my days an adventure.' Then she spies Nigel climbing down from a married neighbor's window and into her garden. Well, obviously they're meant for each other. Nigel can't seem to keep off her balcony where he finally gets caught (in one of the truly funniest moments I've read recently), predicating a quick marriage. While Nigel liked Felicity well enough before the marriage, resolving his feelings about being trapped keep us busy for the last third of the book.

Great characters, good sex, okay plot and terrific dialog. And let's face it, these books are all about dialog.

2007 Historical Romance: 4.5 out of 5

Jayne A Krentz 'All Night Long'

Okay despite the terrible title, I liked this book. After seventeen years, Irene goes back to the small lakeside resort town in Northern California where her parents had been murdered when an old friend contacts her out of the blue. She meets Luke Danner, ex-marine who has bought a set of small cabins on the water that Irene rents.

This set up is as standard as it gets from JAK. But while some of her recent books have felt a little tired, this one made me laugh out loud. You have to love the heroine's tall black boots and long black coat, this woman knows how to handle herself or is willing to learn. And any hero who can live down a discussion of his Erectile Dysfunction in front of his family has to have a sense of humor.

Contemporary Mystery Romance 2007: 4 out of 5 stars

Brenda Joyce 'Dark Seduction'

HOLD THE PRESSES! Check out this awesome 'movie trailer' of this book! Wait for it to load, it's worth it.

Okay, first, this author is a very successful writer and I am not. That having been said, there's a place for porn and as a long time romance reader, I'd like to defend the genre by saying, romance novels are not the place. I can't add much to this quote, "This was how she wanted to die...while riding his huge hardness into eternity" I use the term porn instead of erotica to emphasize the incredible silliness of this novel. I will admit I usually dislike a modern heroine and a historical hero; the resulting clashing slang is terribly distracting; but when you find yourself snorting out-loud at a book, things aren't going well.

Claire is a modern day rare bookseller. Her shop gets broken into by a demoness named Sibylla who is looking for a page out of an ancient manuscript. Next Malcolm stops by and gets into a little sword fight with another Highland Master in her kitchen. Malcolm decides Claire is in some danger and takes her back to 1400's Scotland. This could all be promising but the execution is lacking. Beyond the over the top super-sexed nature of the 'Masters,' Claire (and the plot) keep taking these little jaunts in different directions that seem to serve no purpose and are very jolting and distracting. The interaction of our hero and heroine are pretty much limited to sex, sexual longing and sex. Terrible, terrible book.

So why did I finish the book. Did I mentioned porn has it's place?

2007 Paranormal Historical: 0 out of 5