Review: The Scarlet Kimono - Christina Courtenay

Abducted by a warlord in 17th-century Japan - what happens when fear turns to love? England, 1611, and young Hannah Marston envies her brother's adventurous life. But when she stows away on a merchant ship, her powers of endurance are stretched to their limit. Then they reach Japan and all her suffering seems worthwhile - until she is abducted by Taro Kumashiro's warriors. In the far north of the country, warlord Kumashiro is intrigued to learn more about the girl who he has been warned about by a seer. There's a clash of cultures and wills, but they're also fighting an instant attraction to each other. With her brother desperate to find her and the jealous Lady Reiko equally desperate to kill her, Hannah faces the greatest adventure of her life. And Kumashiro has to choose between love and compromising his honour.

My thoughts:

Hanna Marston was not as pretty as her older sister and therefore her family didn't care about her, and wanted her to marry some old guy with 5 kids. Something that Hannah did not want so what does she do, oh yes she hides on her brother's ship that is sailing for Japan. I did like that she had the guts to do that. But as always, come on, are men really that stupid that they do not see that she is a girl, she was like there for 2 years or something. This is a common trope in books so I am used to it, but still it just makes me think men are fools.

Anyway she hid and she even learnt Japanese from the cook. Smart girl! So ok the rest were fools, but she and the cook who was Japanese were smart, lol. Which brings us to Japan. This is where the story gets good, because it's a premise I really enjoy. She gets abducted by a handsome warlord because his seer has seen Hannah in his visions. Of course the rest finds foreigners ugly but Taro is smitten by Hannah and she is finds him attractive too. And yes I do like the whole abducting a bride thing. Because he is a perfect gentleman, he asks her to teach him English and he treats her with respect, and he wants her whatever anyone else says. A romance is blossoming.

To the rest of the cast then, there is the wicked Lady Reiko who wants Taro for herself and is prepared to do anything. There is Captain Rydon and her brother Jacob, but honestly they are so much in the background so who cares. This is Hannah's story and her struggle. But she never sees it as a struggle. She holds her head high, she has respect for all, and when Taro says she is beautiful she gains self-respect too.

The book has romance, drama (a book always need a bitchy woman), and culture clashes, I liked those of you can say it like that. The Japanese finds the foreigners ugly and weird because the English never bathe. It was interesting to see a romance set in this time.

Conclusion:

The story was the best part of this book. She is the first English woman to ever set foot in Japan, and then a handsome warlord takes fancy to her. I do like doomed love. And it was an easy and fast book to read. Nice mix between historical fiction and historical romance.

Reason for reading:

Again the story

Rating:

Interesting story

Cover:

I love the swirly things.

Pages: 352

Genre: Historical Fiction/romance

Publisher: Choc Lit, March 1st 2011

Review: It happened One Bite - Lydia Dare

Blaire Lindsay's been warned that her ancestral home is haunted. But it will take more than tales of a ghost to frighten Blaire, a battle-born witch with supernatural strength and the ability to make sparks fly from her fingertips. Hearing spectral wails, she decides to search for their source, and is surprised to find a handsome young man chained to the dungeon wall. But when Blair frees James from his bonds, she quickly discovers she's unloosed far more than she could ever have imagined. Soon the castle is overrun with vampires whose perfect manners and compelling blood lust make for some very awkward moments, and Blair and James are joined in the fight of their lives to save everything they hold dear from the forces of evil.

My thoughts:

I liked the werewolf books by Lydia Dare and I was curious about the vampire series and reading more about the witches. I never thought it, but I ended up liking this book even more than previous books.

In this book is Blaire's turn to find love. She can fight like a man, and she is not a lady even though her brother wants it. For that I did like Blaire, she was herself, she was strong and she was not about to let a man tell her what to do. Then there is James, the hero of the book, a vampyre that has been imprisoned in a dungeon for 20 years, put their by Blaire's mum and her coven. Even though he does hold a grudge, he is a sweet vamp.

But honestly the person I was the most fascinated by is Matthew Halkett, a very old vampire and who will be in the next book. I can't wait for his story.

Back to the book. James is hungry and not just for blood since he wants Blaire for more. They do their little dance. Then two more vampires show up and they are not nice at all. They want death and blood. There is danger, passion and at the end we meet up with old friends. Sorcha, who still love to flirt, Elspeth and Benjamin, and Alex, I am starting to get a bit interested in him, he is turning into something nice.

The best part about this book is that I just wanted more. I kept turning page after page to find out what is going to happen. The book has no dull moments and there is a flow, and you just want more.

Conclusion:

Dare manages to create a new fun series. Old friends, and no you do not need to have read the werewolf books, passion, magic and vampires. A fast read that I enjoyed.

Reason for reading:
I read her werewolf series

Cover:
I do like the castle, but.....

Rating:
Page turner

Series: Regency Vampyre Trilogy 1
Genre: Historical paranormal romance
Pages: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca March 1st 2011

PS. 

I am being interviewed/book blogger spotlight today over at My Love Affair with Books

 

Review: Staying at Daisy's - Jill Mansell

Daisy MacLean runs the country house hotel owned by her flamboyant father, Hector. When she hears who's about to get married there, she isn't worried at all - her friend Tara absolutely promises there won't be any trouble between her and ex-boyfriend Dominic, whom she hasn't seen for years. But Dominic has other ideas. Meanwhile, Hector's getting up to all sorts with, well, that's the village's best kept secret. And then Barney turns up, with a little something belonging to the husband Daisy's been doing her best to forget. That's the thing about hotels, you never know who you're going to meet. Or whether they're going to stay.

My thoughts:

There is a lot going on in this book, not that it becomes messy, but just that more than one person will find love at the end of this sweet book.

First there is Daisy who runs the hotel her father owns. She used to be married to an ass and does not want anything to do with men like that anymore. She is smart, nice, but also wounded. Then there is Dev, the best man at the wedding being held there, he is all those things she does not want, but the attraction is there. Sure he is a bit of an idiot sometimes, but then you do stand up for your friends. I have to like that about him, and later on he is truly sweet.

Ok the main couple out of the way. Then there is Tara, the chambermaid who is unlucky in love, and whose ex is getting married at the hotel. I did want love for her, and I truly enjoyed her HEA. Her aunt who is doing something she should not be doing. Daisy's fun dad Hector, and last Barney, a new employee who falls in love with a girl with secrets. And these all find love, one way or another.

I would call this more of a drama chick-lit, there are no haha moments, instead real people try to find love, they mess up, they do stupid things, and they feel hurt. They believe lies and life goes on. It was a great cast of characters and they were all different, and I am glad how things turned out for everyone.

But there was one person I did not like, a certain mistress who believed all the lies the man told her. She just annoyed me, sure she was in love, but to believe lies like that, and even after the wife tells the truth. I kind of did not want a happy ending for her, but then cheaters are manipulating bastards so who can blame her. I will not say who it is, some things you have to find out for yourself. 

Conclusion:

The book was sweet, and very easy to read. It was long but the pages seemed to fly by. There is drama and romance, and the thing I like the most, reality. 

Reason for reading:

Sounded nice

Cover Talk:

Cute

Rating:

Sweet and Fun

Genre: Fiction, chick-lit

Pages: 512

Publisher: Sourcebooks March 1st 2011

(first published 2002)

Review: Wild Desire - Lori Brighton

Genre: Historical paranormal romance
Pages: 320
Published: March 1st 2011

FIRST HE DROVE HER MAD

In what feels like a moment, Beatrice Edmund goes from being a proper lady cooped up in a stuffy Scottish castle to traveling miles from anything she’s ever known, in the midst of the wildest adventure of her life. And at the center of that adventure is the most infuriating, puzzling scoundrel on earth. She cannot take her eyes off him.
THEN HE DROVE HER WILD

Colin Fitch cannot deny he’s drawn to Beatrice—but lust is all he could possibly feel for the sharp-tongued minx. Still, if there’s a chance she can help him stop the madman he pursues, he must withstand her obvious disapproval. Yet withstanding the longing he feels for her is growing more troublesome by the second… And Colin has never been terribly good at staying out of trouble…

I read this book a couple of months ago and finally, review time.Will try to make this old review into the new format ;)

Plot:

Leo and Ella, the couple we met in Wild Heart is back, well sort of back. They went to India in search of a statue, and answers. With them went Leo’s cousin Bea. The book starts with a bang, Bea in her room when a stranger appears, Ella’s cousin Colin. And they are in for a rocky start, she dislikes him and he thinks she is so English, all prim and proper. But soon they all must leave. There is danger concerning the statue and they are not the only ones looking. Little by little Bea and Colin are brought closer and closer together.

My thoughts:
It was fun to see Leo and Ella again, even if they were just introduced before they went away. This is Colin and Bea’s book after all. Colin is all American; he is used to being on his own and always moving around. Not to mention that just like his cousin, he too has a power, one hard to believe. Bea is nice, innocent, and she questions things a lot. But soon she sees the beauty of India and becomes quite the adventurer.  They are so very different from each other, but thrown together in a time of turmoil they find comfort in each other.

This is a paranormal romance, and the paranormal comes from that Colin, and Ella have got powers. And as it shows in this book they are not the only ones. The statue they look for is supposed to hold riches, and a key to this is are the rings that they have in their possession, or had.

One does not have to read Wild Heart to understand Wild Desire; it starts as its own book and explains the things that need to be explained to follow along. Of course it’s more fun to know what happened back in England with Ella and Leo, and how this whole journey got started.

Colin is a sweetheart, he may not even act like that, but his heart is so big, and I realize how big after reading on. He is also very wounded by the past. Bea may be different in the way she acts but she also has wounds, from being exiled to Scotland with her grandmother. For them to be together seems impossible, she is destined to marry a man of wealth and title, and he has nothing. And there is the desire, it’s wild, and it gets only wilder as you read on.

Recommendation and final thoughts:

This book is all it promised to be, it has passion, adventure as they escape through India, danger, evil villains that only wants power and money, and a couple who doesn’t know how on earth they will stand each other in the beginning.

Reason for reading:

I wanted to know more

Cover:

Ok, but, not a fan of the background

Ps: In 2,5 weeks I will hold an international giveaway for this book so stay tuned ;)