Christina Dodd 'Touch of Darkness'

After enduring the last paranormal from Christina Dodd ,whose heroine was really terrible, I was Not going to read this one, I swear. But then Erin bought it and gave it to me. Well, it was free, what can I say.

And surprisingly I liked this one. I liked the hero a bit more and definitely liked the heroine a lot more. The story starts in Scotland, who doesn't like that...the plot was moving right along. Then bam (so to speak), it happened again. What is Christina Dodd doing with the forced sex scenes? "Don't." "No" she whispered and "Damn you. Get off!" I just don't know what to think about this. Can I condone this because the heroine is emotionally closed and trying to get away from the 'threat' of Rurik's love. Or do I think a guy who forces you to have sex with him to break down emotional barriers is just an idiot, and a sicko.

It was easier to ding the last book cause I didn't really like the H/H. What to do....what to do. Help me out here people!

Paranormal Romance 2007: 3 of 5 stars.

Candace Camp 'The Marriage Wager'

Clever premise. Francesca Haughston, 'a reigning beauty of the ton' wagers the Duke of Rochford that she can help any young woman at Lady Welcombe's ball get a marriage proposal by the end of the season. He picks Constance, a spinster of 28 who is chaperoning her two younger cousins in their first season. Constance was nursing her sick father and so never had her own season on the marriage mart.

I liked that Constance runs into the hero before Francesca 'transforms' her and that they like each other right away. Dominic needs to marry money to keep his family afloat, therein lies the rub, as Constance isn't just on the shelf, she's poor too.

This book is well written, has enjoyable characters, has some sex and sexual tension to keep you going until things heat up. But in the end, you need something more than this to fill out 379 pages. It could have been shorter, or it could have been funny, or it could have had a more interesting plot. But it needed something.

This book had a lot of things going for it and was easy to read. I just can't give it a full five stars.

Historical Romance 2007: 4 out of 5 stars

I'm So Sad

Dame Anita Roddick died at 64 of a brain hemorrhage.
More info here.

Kalen Hughes 'Lord Sin'

Despite the worrisome lame title and tag line "Special Value $3.99" across the top of this book, it was surprisingly enjoyable. The sex scenes were best described as luscious and relatively frequent. The writing was good and plot was fine. I enjoyed the heroine as the character I never knew I really wanted to be. She's not an ass-kicking warrior type (my other fantasy) but a strong minded feminine widow who rides and shoots and who is genuinely liked by her male friends for who she is, not as an object to be attained.

So what's holding me back from loving this book? Two things: the hero was probably my first Beta hero (at least since I've had the Alpha/Beta hero difference pointed out to me) and I have to admit, I liked him but I didn't LUVVVV him. But much more importantly, I bought these two being in lust, but they never actually spoke to each other. Nothing, nada. It took me a while to notice but beside setting up their bargain to sleep together for six nights (long story), they really hardly speak. I'm not looking for them to pour their guts out the first time they're alone but a little discussion of, I don't know, that they think the other is hot, or smart or well dressed or something would have been nice. That having been said, decent book and I would pick up this author again.

Historical Romance 2007: 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Erica Orloff 'Blood Son'

I've always wondered if Silhouette and Harlequin books are required to be badly written or if I was just too snobby about it. Well, score one for the badly written camp. This book is from the Silhouette Nocturne series. The characters start out being just flat then progress to being TSTL. I'd like to use the picture of George Bush and Flat Stanley again but I'm afraid of offending my readership. However bat guano is pretty central to the story so.....

I'm not going to explain TSTL just so I can see what Stewart comes up with. Don't disappoint me!

Paranormal Vampire Romance 2007: 0 out of 5 stars

Stephenie Meyer 'twilight'

I can't decide, should I just squeee with delight or should I review seriously. This is a totally, thoroughly, entirely, enjoyable book. It's on the light side and escapist in nature and it doesn't deal with any important world questions. Bella loves Edward because he is beautiful, and otherworldly and excitingly forbidden. Edward loves Bella because she is forbidden and surprisingly smart and interesting. Half the book is wrapped around their anticipation of touching each other. Now, I'll warn the romance readers, there's no sex per se. It is young adult literature after all. But all the anticipation is there, so I'm still sticking with the romance category. There is even a HEA, at least as much of one that also allows a couple more books.

Totally enjoyed every minute.

Vampire YA Lit/Romance 2005: 5 out of 5 stars.

Robin T. Popp 'Immortals: The Darkening'

I've definitely jumped into a series with this one. And I'm about to jump right back out. Lexi is a werewolf who gets involved in a Coven's attempt to call the Immortals (protectors of light magic beings on earth) who haven't been called in seven hundred years.

I think my favorite part of the book was the hero's name, Darius. I will give the author credit for plot and good pacing. The characters on the other hand are so flat I could mail them around the country like Flat Stanley. The closest we get to angst or internal anything is that Darius's mother put a spell on him as he got called to earth so that he wouldn't have too much fun there, and if he completes a sexual act he loses all his memory. Yup, this actually becomes the 'big misunderstanding' keeping them apart for at least 2/3rds of the book. Jaysus! Eye rolling and snorting happening over here cause for some reason I keep feeling like I can't pan a book without finishing it. I'm going to have to rethink that philosophy soon or my poor husband's gonna find me one morning with pencils sticking out of my eye sockets.

Paranormal Future Romance 2007: 0 of 5 stars.

PS. Photo taken in Appleton, WI 2004. :)