Review: Sultry with a twist - Macy Beckett

When Mae-June July Augustine hightailed it out of Sultry Springs, Texas, with her heart in pieces, she swore she'd never return. But nine years later, one thing stands between June and her dream of opening an upscale martini bar: a month of community service under the supervision of the devilishly sexy Luke Gallagher, her first love and ex-best friend. As lust turns to love, June must decide where she belongs: in the glorious anonymity of Austin or back in Sultry Springs with the man who intoxicates her like no other.

My thoughts:

A contemporary romance set in a small town, insert a grandmother with a mission, and two young people meant to be. And there you have it.

Mae-June has not spoken with her grandmother in ages. Sure I got why, still I felt sorry of her gran who was all alone. June loves her job, she has plans for her future and she is an all around nice woman. Still fate (meaning her grandmother Pru has other plans for her). Oh Pru, I do like grandmothers who know what they want, even if she would be way to tough for me.

Sultry Springs, is a god fearing community. Not so many meddling old women around here (but you know that they are there). We do meet some of the church ladies and the priest. A nice cast for this book. Together with Trey, but then who is Trey? I am ahead of myself, but I will say that I hope his book is next.

The hero then. That would be Lucas, June's best friend, and the guy she has a crush on when younger. Now they are both suddenly older, but not always wiser. He has baggage and, well that needs to be worked through. But I liked him. He had been hurt, he has lost what he wanted. A good guy, even if that chip on his shoulder was mighty big. Oh and Trey's is his best friend if you wondered ;)

Conclusion:

A sweet romance about finding the love you always wanted.

Cover
Cute

Series: Sultry Springs #1
Genre: Contemporary romance
Pages: 320
Published: October 1st 2012 by Sourcebooks Casablanca
Source: for review

Review: The English Monster - Lloyd Sheperd

Review of The English Monster by Lloyd Shepherd

In the east end of Regency London, two families lie butchered. Residents of the notorious Ratcliffe Highway, the victims bear the mark of unprecedented brutality. Panic sweeps the country as its public cries for justice. But these murders stem from an older horror, its source a sea voyage two centuries old. In a ship owned by Queen Elizabeth herself, a young man embarks on England's first venture into a new trade: human souls. As a nation's sins ripen and bloom, to be harvested in a bloody frenzy on the twisted streets of Regency Wapping, an English Monster is born.

My thoughts:

I am a bit torn since I liked one part of the book better than the other part. The other part was still good, but not for me. Let me explain:

In 1811 Charles Horton investigates the slaughter of two families. This was the part that was not for me. It's a good old detective story as he tries his best to find the murderer. The chase is on and he has new ideas that he tries. The Ratcliffe Highway murders are real but the authors takes his own twist to them. It's the beginning of real detective work. 

The story jumps from the "present" to the past back and forth and we see the birth of the monster in question. Billy Ablass who in 1564 sails away to make his fortune to support his wife. But something happens along the way. It's a story about  slave trade, pirates and all the horrible things going on as people fought to be on top. This was the story I liked the most as it was horrible, fascinating and interesting. It was darkness as he slowly loses a part of himself. It was adventure mixed with thriller and horror.

There you have it, some parts I just liked more then the rest as Billy's story was good. The detective part, well maybe I am just not that kind of reader. But I would love love to watch it on tv (of course then the Billy parts would be scary while now they are just the brutality of life then).

Conclusion:

If you want a good detective story with a "paranormal" theme in it then this might be the book for you.

Cover:

Eh

Genre: Historical fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense
Pages: 432
Published: September 2012 by Simon and Schuster UK
Source: For review

Review: The Trouble with Highlanders - Mary Wine

After a night of intense passion, beautiful heiress Daphne MacLeod left Norris Sutherland without so much as a backward glance. Norris, the son of a very powerful Earl, is used to getting what he wants — and right now, he wants Daphne back in his bed.

When Daphne is kidnapped by a rival clan leader who is intent on forcing her into marriage so that he can control her lands, Norris has a choice to make. Will he let go of the one woman he's ever desired for more than one night, or will he resolve himself to rescuing the woman who has captured his heart?

My thoughts:
The blurb is a bit misleading. This is what happens. 3 months ago Daphne had sex with the Earl of Sutherland so she did not have to marry her best friend who was in love with another woman. She is now ruined gods and tries to get her clan back on its feet. They are poor and without a clear leader. And Norris does think about her, as a certain part of him remembers her well. And that is where this story begins.

Daphne is believed to be an heiress, which is silly since she knows she is dirt poor. She wants to feel free, she says what she feels and she is a strong woman, something that is not always good back then.

Norris, the strong hero, the leader for his clan (and all that) is, well truth be told he kind of thinks with his favorite body part when it comes to the heroine.

I liked the book because it had the usual drama. A couple that can't be but is on each other like rabbits anyway. A bitchy person that shows up (I shall say no more). And getting what you want, or do not know you want.

But I did feel that Norris should have done more at times. There were some things and if I had been Daphne then I would just have told him to bugger off, but just like him she thought with her new favorite body part.

Yes there is passion in this book if you have not noticed ;)

Conclusion:
Sexy highlander seeks woman that does not back down.

Cover:
Eh, that sword is killing him

Series: Highlander #5
Genre: Historical romance
Pages: 320
Published: october 20012 by Sourcebooks Casablanca
Source: For review

Review: The Shadowy Horses - Susanna Kearsley

The Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley

Verity Grey abandons her comfortable job at the British Museum to seek adventure on an archaeological dig in the wilds of Scotland. But when she arrives on site, she discovers that the excavation is being led by a discredited and eccentric old man who has forsaken scientific evidence. Instead, the entire team is following the word of a local boy who claims that he saw a ghostly Roman soldier in the fields.

As she becomes entangled in a subtle web of treachery and danger, Verity begins to believe that there is a Roman sentinel haunting the site. And he's there to do more than guard the bodies of his fallen comrades...

My thoughts:

I think I have read too many books involving ghosts (or read about them) I kept wondering if the sentinel here was a hottie and if they would hook up ;)

Let us forget about that and get to the story. Verity is an archaeologist, she loves her job but wants back to digging. So in comes Scotland, and a mysterious job she knows nothing about. Plus an ex-boyfriend who tells her to come. She has a logical mind, she likes order, but it does prove that she has an open mind too. For that I liked her, sometimes you just have to believe (well after a while). 

On the team is also the eccentric boss who wants to find the missing Ninth Legion. Her ex-boyfriend who loves them and leaves them. A Scottish archaeologist who she starts to fancy. A woman who works at the estate and of course her son, the son who says he can see a Roman Sentinel guarding the hill. A nice group of people all in all.

The book is part fiction, part tiny bit of suspense, part ghost story, part romance. A nice mix that works.

The story is about the dig, about learning that there might be more to things than what we just see (and with a nice explanation too), and of course about finding evidence and getting recognition. 

Conclusion:

A bit of everything, romance and a ghost that can't rest in peace.

Cover

Eh

Genre: Fiction, mystery, romance
Pages: 432
Published: October 1st by Sourcebooks Landmark (first published 1997)
Source. For review

I think I want to end with a poem :)

HE BIDS HIS BELOVED BE AT PEACE

by: William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)

HEAR the Shadowy Horses, their long manes a-shake,

Their hoofs heavy with tumult, their eyes glimmering white;

The North unfolds above them clinging, creeping night,

The East her hidden joy before the morning break,

The West weeps in pale dew and sighs passing away,

The South is pouring down roses of crimson fire:

O vanity of Sleep, Hope, Dream, endless Desire,

The Horses of Disaster plunge in the heavy clay:

Beloved, let your eyes half close, and your heart beat

Over my heart, and your hair fall over my breast,

Drowning love's lonely hour in deep twilight of rest,

And hiding their tossing manes and their tumultuous feet