Thursday, January 9, 2014

Review: Seduction on the Sand by Roxanne St. Claire


Seduction on the Sand
Author: Roxanne St. Claire

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Rating: 5 Stars
Pub Date: January 7th 2014
Series: The Billionaires of Barefoot Bay Bood #2
(Spinoff of the Barefoot Bay Series)
 



What a great way to go back to Barefoot Bay! Billionaire Elliot Becker, along with his friends Nate and Zeke, has a dream of owning and building a new minor league baseball stadium. Everything is set, except for one problem, Frankie D Cardiale, who refused to sell her Nonno's land. Elliot thinks he can throw money at her to get her to accept and she continually refuses! Leaving him stumped, until someone else comes in to claim the land as theirs. Knee deep in goat milk, Elliot falls in love with Frankie but can he stay true to that love?


Like everything in his life, becoming a billionaire was easy for Elliott Becker. He bought some land in Massachusetts and discovered he sat on two billion dollars’ worth of rare Goshen stone. Lucky, charming, and blessed with every gift, Elliott expects his simple purchase of property in Barefoot Bay will go the way everything does for him in life...easy. Until he meets the woman who currently owns that land and suddenly everything is...hard.



 Frankie Cardinale’s fondest memories took place on the tiny goat farm owned and run by her “Nonno” in the heart of Barefoot Bay. As a child, the farm and its precious residents were a refuge for her after her parents died and her grandfather taught her all about “the sweet life” of raising goats. While she held her Nonno in her arms on his deathbed, she promised his land would never leave their family and that she would continue his legacy. Nothing—not even a sexy, playful, intoxicating billionaire who always gets his way—will convince her to break that promise.
 Except Elliott Becker is a man who always gets what he wants even if that means a little seduction and double-crossing of a humble goatherd. But will his lucky streak hold long enough to keep him from making the biggest mistake of his life? Because all the money in the world can’t buy him what he really wants the most...Frankie's love?
What a great way to go back to Barefoot Bay! Billionaire Elliot Becker, along with his friends Nate and Zeke, has a dream of owning and building a new minor league baseball stadium. Everything is set, except for one problem, Frankie D Cardiale, who refused to sell her Nonno's land. Elliot thinks he can throw money at her to get her to accept and she continually refuses! Leaving him stumped, until someone else comes in to claim the land as theirs. Knee deep in goat milk, Elliot falls in love with Frankie but can he stay true to that love?
Where to find:  Amazon and Barnes and Noble and Goodreads


Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Review: Secrets for Seducing a Royal Bodyguard


Rating: 4 Stars

Kidnapping, Attempted murder, psychopathic Russian prince's! 

Historical Romance meets Romantic Suspense in full swing!  Aden St. George is a spy sent on a mission to rescue Lady Vivien Shaw. Kidnapped by unknown assailants, (Vivien might have suspicions of her own), Vivien is shocked by the instant mutual attraction to her handsome rescuer. Aden is reluctant to get involve romantically to a lady of the ton, as he has had trouble in the past with the vindictiveness of the high society community. Aden is the illegitimate son of the Prince Regent.

Aden has been commissioned by Dominic ( last seen in Lost in a Royal Kiss), the head spymaster, to keep an eye Vivien and find out the identity of the kidnappers. Viviens' suitor the Russian prince causes conflict between Vivian and Aden.

I loved this story and can't wait to read Griffin's story in Confessions of a Royal Bridegroom, of which there is and excerpt for in Secrets for Seducing a Royal Bodyguard. My only issue was that the estrangement between Aden and his mother wasn't really explained all that well.

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Cover Characteristic Meme - Horses


Today's Cover Characteristic: Horses


This is a meme hosted by Sugar & Snark.

Each week we will post a characteristic and choose 5 of our favorite cover’s with that characteristic. If you want to join in and share your 5 favorite covers with the weeks particular characteristic, then just make a post, grab the meme picture (or make your own) and leave your URL here or over at Sugar & Snark.





    

5. If I Ran the Horse Show by Bonnie Worth ( who doesn't like Dr. Suess?)
4. The Irish Duke by Virginia Henley
3. House of the Star by Caitlin Brennan
2. Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry

and my favorite

1. Cloud Magic: Sky Horses by Linda Chapman




I love horses! Unicorns are better though ;)
What horse covers do you like? 
These all aren't in my library, except for The Irish Duke, isn't he yummy?








Saturday, January 4, 2014

Review: The Temptation of Lady Serena by Ella Quinn


I stumbled upon this Ella Quinn novel in Netgalley. It is book 3 of her Marriage Game series. I don't like to read books out of sequence but this story intrigued me. Ella Quinn is a "new to me" author and I'm so glad I read this!



Lady Serena Wier has been living in the wilds of Scotland at her family estate, Castle Vere. Since the age of 14, when her mother passed, she has taken the reigns of her ailing fathers estate. Left to her own devices until the age of 26, when her selfish brother finally comes home with a new wife, Serena has made caring for the estate her life. Sent to London for her first Season, Serena is nervous and expecting failure because of her "old" age. She thrives! Because she has a pretty substantial dowry and is over her majority, she can decide to marry for love.



Robert, Viscount Beaumont, plans to marry for convenience and not for love. Anything but love, due to a disastrous first love years ago. He is, nevertheless, fascinated by Serena's charming personality. Desperate to have her as a wife, knowing she'll only marry for love, he foolishly traps her into marriage. Or so he thinks.

After the engagement is where the drama persists and the story really comes to life. Willing to risk scandal and, with the protection and help of their mutual friends and family, Serena teaches Robert that to love is a risk that has monumental results. The stubborn man takes a long time to open his heart and realize that he's already in love with Serena.

Ms. Quinn does a delightful job of providing humor, passion and intrigue. The secondary characters, Roberts' Aunt Freddy and grandmother are a hoot! There is a secondary love story in here as well that turns out well. I am now on a mission to read the first two books in this series, The Seduction of Lady Phoebe and The Secret Life of Miss Anna Marsh.

I was provided an ARC by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

 Goodreads | Amazon |



Thursday, January 2, 2014

2014 Historical Romance Challenge

2014 Reading Challenges



The 2014 Historical Romance Reading Challenge is hosted at Herding Cats & Burning Soup. The challenge will run from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.


The goal is to read at least 12 Historical Romance!
Level 1–12 historical romance
Level 2–18 historical romances
Level 3–24 historical romance
Level 4–30+ historical romances
You can change your level anytime. Choosing one is just a starting point.


What counts!
Every historical romance you read and review in 2014
Any time period prior to 1920 qualifies.
They can be historical paranormal, historical erotica, m/m, f/f, etc.
All historical romances over 100 pages in length–audio, ebook, print
Re-reads, cross overs from other challenges

 I’ll be going for Level 2