One Night Of Misbehavior by Shelley Munro

Grade-B
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-Mild Kink
Genre-Contemporary
Reviewed by Kay

Two people meet at a masquerade ball and engage in a night of unforgettable sex. Ash, the hero, is a business mogul and keeps his heart to himself. Charlotte, is an orphaned girl raised by her hateful stepmother. This should've been a terrible mismatch but instead it was a fantastic love story with a fairytale twist.

After their night of sex neither of the two main characters can forget the other. Too bad they don't know who the other is. Charlotte goes to an interview for a job at Ash's company and they recognize each other because of the rose she left at the scene. Charlotte gets the job and she pays for it when she gets home. Her stepmother and stepsisters make her life a living hell. She has no place to go and is basically their slave. Her only bright spot is her step grandmother, who she adores and the feeling is mutual. Charlotte has to decline the job because of her grandma's Lupus but Ash won't let her go.  Ash knows she's the real deal and lets his heart open up. Ash has been burned before both literally and figuratively. He even has the scars to prove it.

This was a great read and spin on a mix of Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella. I loved every second of it. My one and only complaint was, in the middle, it drug for about 10%. It picked up from there and it was back to being wonderful. It is going on my best of 2013 list.

Empty Net by Toni Aleo

Grade-A
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-None
Series-Assassins #3
Reviewed by Kay

I got this book right before I went to the Romantic Times book convention in Kansas City, so it took me a while to finish it. Those fifteen hour days didn't leave much time for reading or I would have finished it very quickly.

Audrey Parker is the heroine for this story. If you've read the second book in the series, and you need to read them all in order, you'll remember she is the sister of Fallon Brooks. Audrey works for the family wine business and hates it. She has deplorable taste in men also. She's a full figured gal but not to the point I considered her heavy. She has had to make tough decisions and even made some bad decisions. After hooking up with her brother-in-law's best friend at her sister's wedding, she runs out not bothering to wake him the next morning. In her defense, she didn't fully connect who he was until after they had slept together.

Tate Odder is the new goalie for the Nashville Assassins. He has learned to speak English and fully embraces his new country. He lost his family to an auto accident and struggles to deal with anxiety that is caused by their deaths. He takes one look at the woman at his best friend's wedding and thinks she is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. He feels that they really connected(no pun intended) when they spent the night together and he's very hurt that she snuck out while he was sleeping.

These two characters were both kind of broken due to the terrible losses that they suffered. Audrey fought her attraction to Tate for a long time. She was still sort of hung up on her horrific ex. Tate was very sweet and patient with her. He was all-in and let her know it. Let me tell you how sexy I think that is! The only problems I had with Tate were that he kept the reason for his sadness to himself even while wanting Audrey to open up. Also, he betrayed her trust regarding a secret that wasn't his to tell. I don't want to give anything else away so I'll stop there. You just have to read this book, this series.

I had the pleasure of meeting Toni Aleo at the conference I just attended. She was very nice and kind. I enjoyed our brief conversation and am looking forward to any and all of her books. They are filled with wonderful characters you get to revisit and emotional scenes that will leave you in tears. If you haven't read Toni Aleo yet, you really should.

On Dublin Street by Samantha Young

Grade-A+
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-None
Series-On Dublin Street #1
Reviewed by Kay

This is the love story of Jocelyn "Joss" Butler and Braden Carmichael. Joss is an aspiring writer with a very tragic past. Her parents and her sister were killed in a car crash when she was a teenager. They were only family and after the accident, she went into foster care. She also lost best friend to a drowning accident shortly after her family's death. She moved to Scotland and started her entire life over, never letting anyone get close to her.

Braden is a wealthy businessman with his hands in a lot of different ventures. He has a close relationship with his family members, especially his sister. He's very alpha with the protectiveness stuff. He's a workaholic and a serial dater. His first wife's infidelity has shaped him into the lover he is.

These two bump into each in pursuit a taxi. From then on it was non-stop falling in love and in bed.
I really enjoyed everything about this book. The characters, the story and oh yes, the love scenes, which were on fire. There was quite a bit of emotion in this novel also. I can't wait to read more in this series. This set on my Kindle for a long time due to the length of my to be read list and it was well worth the wait.

Trilogies and My Loathing of Them

Let's talk books.  Specifically let's talk romance written in a three (or more) book installment.  I'm sure it's been around forever, but Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey's success seem to have made it the format everyone wants to write in.  This makes me stabby!

I know there's a lot of people who love this format.  Obviously.  They're selling like crazycakes.  But I like a happy ending!  (pun totally intended)  So you can imagine how I feel about a cliff hanger...  cliffhangers make me feel bad.  That floaty happy feeling I get at the end of a good book?  Well the direct opposite of that is how I feel when an author leaves the characters hanging.

I do make an exception for the urban fantasy genre and my acceptance of the multi book relationship arc there.  I'm a huge fan of the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews.  I can handle the unresolved relationship in those books, probably because the focus is on a different story.  I also really enjoy the In Death series by J.D. Robb.  It's always about Eve and Roarke, but they are always happy at the end of each book.  And again, the focus is more on the mystery than their (or Peabody and MacNabb's) relationship, so I can handle a little bit of relationship suspense.  When the focus of the book IS the relationship, as it is in the romance genre, that's when I have a hard time!

I'm not saying I'll never, ever, ever read a one-relationship-focused-trilogy.  But you can be assured that if I do, I won't read it until all three books are available and I can read them back to back!  And speaking of that, I wish there was some sort of identifier in a book blurb that gave me a heads up that the book I'm looking at is part of that kind of trilogy.  Because there are a lot of trilogies with a different couple featured in each book and a HEA at the end of each one.  That's my kind of trilogy.  But how can I tell them from the trilogy of cliffhanger?  Right now my best bet is to search on Goodreads and read the back cover blurb for both book one and book two, as well as checking the tags people have labeled the book with.  To be honest, that's more work than I like to do when looking for a book to read.

So, what do you think?  Do you love the three book relationship story?  Or do you hate it like me?  If you love it, I'm curious as to what appeals to you.  If you hate it, do you have a way to avoid it?  Please share!

A Taste Of You by Sorcha Grace

 
Grade-C
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-None
Series-The Epicurean Series #1
Reviewed by Kay

The hero in this book is William Lambourne, a wealthy, single, business man in Chicago. The heroine is Catherine Kelly/ Catherine Ryder, a photographer. They meet outside a restaurant where they literally run into each other. There is instant attraction and it never lets up. They each have had a devastating loss in their lives and those losses have changed who they are as people. We, as the readers, watch them stumble through trying to build their relationship. It was a little frustrating for me at times.

This is a decent book but it never thrilled me. I never warmed to William at all but I did like Catherine. I felt for her because of her loss. It broke my heart when she developed the old roll of film. I think that before this series is over there will be  redemption for William and forgiveness of one's self for Catherine. At least I hope there is.

Lady Vivian Defies a Duke by Samantha Grace

Grade: B
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Historical
Series: Beau Monde Bachelor #4
Reviewed by Kate

Before he died, Luke's father entered into secret marriage negotiations with Vivian's brother. Wait. That came across a bit more risque than I intended. The negotiations were to betroth Luke and Vivian. For Vivian, the marriage would provide an escape from her lonely life. Due to a scandal, her only other option would be the convent. Luke wants no part of his new role as a duke and marrying would just add more responsibilities. He plans on releasing her from the contract. Once he meets Vivian, he decides he can't send such a vibrant person to waste away in a convent. Still not willing to marry her, the only noble thing left to do is facilitate a marriage between Vivian and another suitable gentleman. But Vivian has set her sights on Luke and Luke is finding it impossible to picture her with anyone else.

The book seemed to naturally divide into two parts for me The first half centers around Luke and Vivian accepting that they want each other. The second half covers all the obstacles that stand in their way. Vivian's quasi-scandal. A blackguard out for revenge. A cousin enamored with Luke.

Vivian was an entertaining heroine who marched to her own beat whenever she thought no one was looking. Luke, a rare soul who saw the inner beauty of Vivian, was strong and caring and well...heroic. Despite the weaker second half, I liked the story a lot. It could have used a bit more sex, but what book couldn't? I find myself hoping to hear more about Luke's cousin Johanna in a future book.

Anne's Highlights of RT 2013

This was my first RT and I learned a lot.  One of the biggest things I learned?  I was way too tired to do a daily blog post.  I really hope I get to go to RT next year, and if I do I'll either have to employ better time management or just plan ahead on doing a highlights post like this one.  So... what was most memorable about RT for me?

• Meeting all the authors who were favorites of mine.  

 

I met Delphine Dryden, Cara McKenna, and Ruthie Knox - all sitting at the SAME TABLE!  It was almost too much for me.  I talked with each of them and grinned from ear to ear.  I walked away happy and then realized I'd forgotten to take a picture with them.  So I walked back and they were nice enough to stand with me for a picture.  

Lauren Dane writes some of my all time favorites, the Brown Siblings Series and the Delicious series.  And now that I've seen her in person?  I want to dress like her!  She's my new fashion icon.

Here's Kay and I with Jill Shalvis.  She and Helen Kay Dimon were a hoot!

 I didn't get a picture of me with Jaci Burton, but here she is with Lauren Dane.  I like Jaci's books, but I didn't know how funny she was in person.  She took the time to appear on a lot of panels that were very entertaining!

 and then there was the author I was most looking forward to meeting and taking a picture with - Shannon Stacey!  I was so excited to meet her that I saw her 3 times (the Blogger pre-con, the Carina Press blogger/librarian lunch, and at the book fair) and spoke to her each time and never took a picture.  So, at the book fair I turned back around, bringing a friend and took this picture.  Finally!

• Meeting new-to-me authors who were so funny I now want to read them just to see if it carries over.  Damon Suede, Jade Lee, Helen Kay Dimon I'm thinking of you.  I also have a whole stack of cards and book marks by authors I now want to read!
  
  Did I take pictures of Jade Lee or Damon Suede?  No.  I was too busy laughing.  I was laughing at Helen Kay Dimon, too, but I remembered to take this picture!

• The BDSM reader panel.  Shayla Black, Lexi Blake, Kasi Alexander and Reggie Alexander (the last two write together as Cassidy Browning) held a panel to explain some basics of BDSM.  Tools and toys were explained and demonstrated.  
  

This is Reggie demonstrating a crop.

 

 

Here he demonstrates a scratching tool on Kasi Alexander.

  

• The m/m panel called "Man, Oh Man: Why Women Love M/M"  I believe they said it was the very first official m/m panel ever held at RT.  This was a really interesting and entertaining conversation.  The authors on the panel were Z.A. Maxfield, Tara Lain, Amy Lane, Belinda McBride, and Damon Suede.  I haven't read any of them so far, but I'm really looking forward to it now!

• The Spoons & Candy event hosted by Entangled was probably the most fun I had at an event at RT.  I like games, and it takes me a while to get to know people, so playing spoons with the same group of people for an hour was right up my alley.  And besides spoons and conversation?  Candy.  Tons of candy to eat and a takeout box to carry some back to your hotel room.  So you'd think I'd take some pictures at this awesome event, right?  Well, I DID!  I took one picture.  Of a deck of cards.  *sigh*  I mean it was exciting that Kay won this deck of cards, but I think a group photo of our table would have been a little more exciting.  Alas, I didn't take one of those.  So please enjoy this picture of Kay's deck of cards.  
  
  Well, you can see the top card on the deck, anyway.

 

• The weird sex panel and the research stories the authors shared!  When Sex Gets Weird: A Paranormal Love Scene Primer featured Jaci Burton, Alexandra Ivy, Shannon K. Butcher and Jade Lee.  These ladies were funny and interesting and that hour went by too fast!

• The other readers.  The woman who let me user her charger to charge my phone.  The lady who sold the shirts, who asked me personal questions that just made me laugh!  The woman who we stood next to in line many times whose name is NOT Coleen, though that's what I called her.  I wish I could remember names or had taken pictures.  The many, many friendly readers and authors at RT really make the convention the wonderful event it is.

• All the give always.  The swag and the books we all got, but also the bigger prizes of bags and baskets of books, the eReaders and iPads and iPad minis.
  

This was my favorite pieces of swag.  It's a stack of post it notes.

 

 

 

I got a lot of free books, this is a stack of my favorites!

• The wait staff was really friendly.  I can't imagine the logistics of feeding 100s of people at the same time.  There were also events where people were mingling and getting books and things were just plain crowded.  The wait staff at the Sheraton were always polite and down right nice.  They helped make RT a great place to be.

• The disco party is a favorite in my memory, just because it was the first day and I didn't realize how all out they would go.  It was awesome!  
  
  The Ellora's Cave Bad Girls of Romance Disco Inferno.  All the other parties were good, too, but this one sticks out for me.  Mini lava lamps, disco caps and calendars for everyone to take home.  It was also the first time we got to experience the heaven that was the chocolate fountain!
  

Here's Kay rocking her Disco hat, beenie, whatever.  It's covered in sequins!

• Staying up til 2am reading on Saturday night because I knew I could sleep in, and I just couldn't put the book down. (A Prior Engagement by Karina Bliss)

If I went next year I would...

• Dress up for dances (and panels)
• Give myself time to sit and read or rest when I was tired. I didn't want to miss a second of this one and I was REALLY tired by Saturday
• Take more pictures
• Bring friends!  This was so much fun!!!!

So, how about you?  If you went to RT, what is a favorite memory of yours?  If you didn't go, what is the thing that most makes you want to go next year?