Book Review: An English Bride in Scotland (Highland Brides #1) by Lynsay Sands

FIVE STARS

I love me some historical romances and this book is an example of why.

Annabel was raised in a convent from the time she was seven until she was 21 (14 years). During that time, she had no contact with her family and missed her sister, Kate, terribly. She never met anybody’s expectations. Her mother had told her time and again that she was fat and ugly and when she went to the abbey, the abbess was strict, stern, and chastised Annabel on a regular basis. Until Annabel learned some self-control and started doing what she was told, there was no way she was going to be able to take the veil. She was a problem child and everybody she came into contact with seemed more than happy to let her know that.

After all the time she spent in the convent, her mother makes a sudden appearance and whisked her back home. Annabel had no idea why until Ross and a few of his men showed up on their heels. Annabel had to take the place of her sister who had run off with the stable master’s son and marry Ross. Kate and Ross had been betrothed as children and the dowry had been paid. Ross was coming to collect.

Unbeknownst to Ross, Annabel was not the first born daughter as was promised. He didn’t know about Kate and he didn’t know that Annabel was raised in a convent and had no idea how to do things other ladies were taught. But he wasn’t a duped groom. He found her innocence to be odd at first yet endearing. She was trying to help with things no real lady would ever attempt. She wasn’t whiny or needy. She was enamored with little things and was happy to be alive. He appreciated her curvy figure and hated it when people were mean to her.

But someone is after Annabel and they mean to hurt her. Ross thinks it’s someone trying to take away his leadership of the clan and is using her to get to him. Considering what he’d been through to keep his position, it was a possibility. How wrong he was. I won’t say who was doing what, but I was surprised when it was revealed who and why.

This story melted my heart and reminded me why I love historical romances so much. I loved Annabel. I loved Ross. I loved most of the secondary characters. I loved the humor, the suspense, and how it all ended. I wish there were men like Ross in this day and age. Patient, understanding, and chivalrous.

This book earned an easy, easy five stars.

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Book Review: Highlander’s Secret Nun: A Medieval Scottish Historical Highland Romance Book by Alisa Adams

^GREAT COVER^

TWO STARS

Gregor Carmichael thinks he wants to be a monk. He meets Iona at a convent. They know each other for just a few hours, share a kiss, and bam! They’re in love. He has to keep on with pilgrimage with Father Columba and vows he will be back in a few days to see her again.

Iona is on the run from her cruel father and a baron who has purchased her hand in marriage. She and her friend, Andrina, concoct a plan to escape to the convent, but neither of them has any intention of becoming a nun. This makes the title of the book disingenuous.

This book was all over the place. I didn’t see a real plot. It jumped around from scene to scene without any indications that it was coming and some of them seemed to not having any bearing on the story whatsoever. The characters were flat and I didn’t care about them. The only character I found to be even remotely interesting was William. He came out of nowhere and pushed the story forward. I also found the dialect of the characters who weren’t “elite” was hard to follow.

I’m not sure why the book ended as it did. I liked Lorraine and Graham, but why did it end with them rather than Gregor and Iona, the two the story was supposed to be based on?

I think the best part of this book is the cover. It’s a beautiful cover and I was taken in by it. I read the blurb and was intrigued. But the relationship with Gregor and Iona was never in real peril as the blurb suggested. In addition to that, Gregor wasn’t running away from anything. He was more like trying to find himself.

I had high hopes of an interesting and entertaining read. Sadly, this one fell short.

On a personal note, I find it irritating that the authors want their readers to download extended endings or short stories at the end of their books. If you want us to read it, give it to us in the book. Otherwise, it seems that you’re just trying to build an email list to send us your newsletter or to spam us. Not cool.

Purchase at Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/ybspsnau

Book Reviews: Taste of Darkness (Darkness #2) by Katie Reus (from 2014)

FIVE STARS

I love this series. There’s no two ways about it. I find it to be exciting and intriguing and I love the characters and how well they work together.

I fell in love with Drake from the very beginning and not because he’s all macho and hot, which he is, but it had nothing to do with him being the best character of this series thus far. It was his innocence. It blew me away. He didn’t know how to drive a car, he knew he was in love with Victoria but didn’t know what to do about it so he was checking his phone to figure it all out. Apparently, she’d shown him how to use the internet. He didn’t have a job or any life skills so he didn’t think he had anything to offer her or any way to take care of her. He had some morals which was surprising since he’d spent so much time in Hell. He had a conscience and knew right from wrong.

Don’t mistake his innocence for weakness, though. As the story progressed, he got very strong and became quite the leader. He was amazing.

Victoria gave him his space and never rushed him, knowing that he was innocent and she didn’t take advantage of that. It would have been very easy for her to go the other way but she didn’t. She not only loved him, she respected him.

The story itself was fast and a real page-turner (or button pusher in my case). There wasn’t a dull moment in it. I started it and didn’t want to put it down. I was trying to guess the ending when I got close to it and got a surprise.

However, I would offer one piece of advice. Read “Darkness Awakened” first. It’s the first book in the series and in this book, reference is made to the cemetery. It comes up a few times. It had been a long time since I’d read it (October 2013) and after I got done with this book, I went back to “Darkness Awakened” and read again where Drake was introduced into the story. I didn’t realize what a subtle yet huge character he’d been in that book. It was close to the end so you won’t have to look far.

One thing I would like to know, though and maybe this will come out in the next book…did Drake ever learn to drive?

 

Purchase at Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/y9n5b39v

Book Review: A Very Dragon Christmas (Darkness 8.5) by Katie Reus

FIVE STARS

Drake and Victoria are finally having their baby! If you read Sentinel of Darkness, the eighth book in this series, you found out that she was pregnant. In this book, it’s show time.

It’s Christmas in Montana and everybody is there. I loved seeing these characters again. Some of them I didn’t remember, but enough information was given that I remembered their stories. I read a lot of books and can’t remember every character, but I’ve never forgotten Drake. He touched my heart like few other characters ever have. He is my all-time favorite dragon.

Everybody had their own thing going on, but their biggest reason was to be there for the birth of Drake and Victoria’s child, another shifter. It was a monumental event for all. There were a few touch-and-go moments, but it was a relaxing, fun read. It was like getting caught up with old friends.

In the blurb, it says that this is not meant to be stand-alone novel. Trust what it says. I wouldn’t have enjoyed it nearly as much as I did if I hadn’t read the previous books in the series.

I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily left a review.

Purchase at Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/ybaerxgd

~~~

Hey, I just want to talk about Drake for a minute. It’s a rare occasion when we get struck by a character and he stays with you for years. He’s the sweetest guy. He’s made appearances in the other novels and he’s still in character; still is who he’s always been.

Drake first appeared at the end of the first book of this series (Darkness Awakened) and the second book (Taste of Darkness) was about him and his love interest, Victoria.  I read Taste of Darkness in 2014 and to this day, I haven’t been able to forget about Drake. He’d been through so much with being in Hell for a thousand years and he was so innocent. He got me right in the heart and has stayed there ever since. It was so good to see him happy and to get more than he’d ever dreamed of in this book. 

I’m going to post my 2014 review for Taste of Darkness in a separate post. I love all the books in this series, but this is the one I love the most. I have a short list of favorite books and this one is on it. 

Book Review: The Devil’s Thief (The Saint’s Devils #1) by Samantha Kane

Five Stars

Julianna needs money to pay rent on the home she started for orphans. She’s not wealthy in her own right and her father has told her that she needs to find a different charitable cause because this one causes her stepmother some embarrassment and she won’t find anyone suitable to marry her. But Julianna doesn’t give up. The home for these children means everything to her and, as a last resort, she decides to steal the Stewart pearl from a wealthy man she’d met recently.

But it isn’t that simple. Getting into Alasdair Sharpe’s room was the easiest part. What she wasn’t expecting was to have him wake up and hold a gun on her. They make a bargain. If she stays the night with him, he will give her the pearl in the morning.

Alasdair got a big surprise, times two. First, he doesn’t know until it’s too late that she is a virgin. The second surprise is when he wakes up the next morning, she’s gone and so is the pearl.

The pearl is valuable and a family heirloom. He needs to get it back. But he doesn’t know who the woman is he spent the night with and he didn’t see her because the room was dark. He goes to his friends Sir Hilary and Roger Templeton to help him out. They spend a great amount of time and expend a lot of energy trying to figure out who this woman is.

From there, the story is about getting the pearl back. It’s an adventure and a love story with ups and downs. There are some comedic moments, especially with Roger. He made me laugh more than once. The book overall was a fast read with a tight plot, great writing, and characters I loved. This is the first book I’ve read by this author, but it certainly won’t be the last.

Great book!

Purchase at Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/ydb9gp6b