What are you Reading Monday?

Whare Are you reading Mondays is a wonderful meme hosted by J Kaye at J Kaye's Book Blog. Was it just me or did last week seem to last forever?? I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanskgiving.  Although you can't tell by the number of reviews I did, I had a really good reading week. Why? I discovered the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning and am hooked on it. Barrons is so swoon-worthy! (I've decided to wait to review the books until I've read the entire series.)

Last Week:

DarkFever By Karen Marie Moning

BloodFever By Karen Marie Moning

The Christmas Box  by Richard Paul Evans-I honestly don't know what's taken me so long to read this book! I loved it so much I got the other two books in the series.

This Week:

TimePiece by Richard Paul Evans

The Letter by Richard Paul Evans

The Christmas Cookie Club by Ann Pearlman (Who am I kidding? This one will probably be shoved aside so I can get my Barrons fix.)

FaeFever by Karen Marie Moning

DreamFever by Karen Marie Moning

I'm still plugging away at re-reading Outlander for the Outlander Reading Challenge. :)

Some fun Challenges!

I can't help it. Really I can't. The challenges I'm joining now are by a few great bloggers whose blog I read all the time &  I couldn't pass up the fun challenges that they are hosting. I made a promise to myself that I'm not joining any new challenges until these are completed!

The First Challenge I've added is the 1.Marple 2. Poirot 3. Holmes Challenge. Kals at Pemberly is hosting this challenge-she's an Everything Austen friend & one of the first bloggers I met. This Challenge lasts from January-December 2010. The challenge is to read two Miss Marple mysteries, two Sherlock Holmes mysteries and two Hercule Poirot mysteries. It just so happens that I have a huge book of Miss Marple mysterys to choose from when I went on a gift card buying spree last Christmas. It was a B&N bargain book that I got for $5.00. Little did I know it remain unread for so long...



The second new challenge I'm doing is the Support Your Local Library by J Kaye at J.Kaye's Book Blog. I thought that since I get most of the books I review from the library this should be a fun & easy one to do! There are four different levels, The Mini (25 books) Just My Size (50) Stepping it Up (75) and Super Size Me. (100) I'm going to do the The Mini-checking out 25 books. It should be no problem to read 25 books from the library, right? The challenge lasts January-December 2010.

The third challenge I'm doing is the Erotica challenge hosted by Erotic Horizon. Little known fact: EH was one of the first 5 people to sub me when I first started this blog!  This is another year long challenge and the goal is to read 10 books in this genre. EH is also running an Indie Author challenge.



 I think this should satisfy my challenge bug for awhile....

A short review of: The Maze Runner by James Dashner

For some weird reason I'm really beginning to like the end of the world type YA books. The writers just pull you right into their world and before you know it you've finished the book.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

The Maze Runner by James Dashner is one of those books that I've seen reviewed a lot, and read it to see what all the fuss was about. This is going to be a quick review, as it's been reviewed over and over and over again....
Short Plot Summary:
Thomas wakes up in an elevator and can only remember his name. He can't remember anything else-where he came from or who his parents were or what happened before he woke up. When he gets out of the elevator he finds himself in the glade. The other gladers are like Thomas-they have no memory of their life before entering the glade.  There is a maze that surrounds the glade, and each day the gladers try to solve the mystery of the maze to see if there is a way out of the glade. After Thomas arrives, the first girl appears and before collapsing says: "everything will change." Thomas works with the other gladers to solve the mystery of the maze, the girls dire message and to remember his life before entering this strange new world.

My Thoughts:
This was a super fast read. I started this at 3pm on a Sunday and finished it by 9pm that night. The ending left me wanting more & I can't wait to read the next two books in the series when they come out. This book reminded me a lot of Lord of The Flies. The action was non-stop and I loved how the reader didn't find out before Thomas what had happened to him in the past. All the hype this book has gotten is well deserved.

Gasp Meter: High
Surprise Meter: High
Read Meter: Super Fast

What Are You Reading Monday?

It's Monday! What are you reading this week? is a weekly event hosted by J Kaye at J Kayes Book Blog to celebrate what we are reading for the week as well as books completed the previous week. 

Last week

I finished three books: Pleasure Unbound by Larissa Ione, A Courtesan's Scandal by Julia London and  The Maze Runner by James Dashner. The three books could not have been more different! The Maze Runner was a super fast read-I finished it in one day.

This week:

I really went overboad at the library last week and now I can't decide what books to read this week. My choices are: Too Good To Be True by Kirstan Higgins, DarkFever by Karen Marie Moning, Surrender of A Siren by Tessa Dare. Desire Unchained by Larissa Ione should be arriving at the library today so I'll probably start with that one. I'm also plugging away at re-reading Outlander by Diana Gabaldon for the Outlander Challenge.

An ARC Review: A Courtesan's Scandal by Julia London

When I was offered an ARC copy of this book I jumped at the chance to get it because I've been meaning to read Julia London for awhile now and one can never read too many historical romances! The thing that struck me the most about the story line was that it wasn't your typical historical romance-the heroine in the story was a Courtesan. While reading other romances of this genre I always thought it would be interesting to have the story focus on the courtesan instead of having them be the "bad guy" as they are in most historical romances.

The Plot:
Kate Bergson is the mysterious former mistress of a cloth merchant. She has managed to catch the eye of the Prince of Wales who wants her as his mistress. However there is a catch-he's in the middle of a nasty divorce, and to keep the tons attention away from him, he orders Grayson Christopher Duke of Darlington into letting the ton (London Society) to think that Kate is his mistress instead. Neither is too happy with the Prince's plan. Kate might be a Courtesan, but she is not for sale for just any man that comes along. Then a funny thing happens...the ruse they have planned backfires, and the two realize that their feelings have grown deeper then friendship and deception. There are just a few things standing in their way-the prince, and the fact that it's unheard for a Duke and a Courtesan to be together. How will their love survive?

My Thoughts:
This book was a light read with some serious undertones to it's story lines. It deals with poverty, the hard life of courtesans, and slavery. It's something that you don't see in a lot of romances and kudos for Julia London for attempting to tackle them in this book. This is one of those books where my thoughts are all over the place-I can't decide if I liked it or not. The characters were both likable, but something just wasn't there for me. I'm still trying to figure out what was missing-and the only thing I can come up with is that maybe I've just been reading too many urban fantasty romances lately and it was hard for me to switch genres after reading about immortal warriors and demon slayer.
The fact I was able to finish reading the book, while finding the storyline plot a bit (ok a lot) unbelievable, what a great writer Julia London is.

I think I may have finally turned over to the dark side and fallen in love with urban fantasy romances. How else do you explain the fact that I found nothing wrong with a demon slayer falling in love with a demon, but have trouble with a duke falling in love with a courtesan? Deb from Book Magic gave a great review of this book on her site-go and check it out and say hello!

Sigh Meter: Low
Swoon Worthy Meter: Low
Cheesy Line/Groan out loud Meter: High
Cause Issue Meter: High (it's so well done-not preachy at all.)

Pleasure Unbound By Larissa Ione

I really wish I could remember where I first heard about Larissa Ione from because I owe someone a big thank you!

Pleasure Unbound is the first book in the Demonica series, and lets just say I did a lot of sighing while reading this book. Eidolon is so swoonworthy! Tayla is a demon slayer who gets involved in a nasty fight with a bunch of demons-her demon slaying partner is killed during the fight, but Tayla while injured, survives and is taken to the demon hospital. (Underworld General) When it's discovered that she's a demon slayer working for the Aegi, the founder of the hospital, Eidolon decides it's his job to protect her from his staff who'd rather see her dead-he's also honor bound to help her because of the charter in the hospital says that he has to help anyone who comes in.

The two have an instant attraction to each other but fight it because they are sworn enemies. Tayla hates it that she is attracted to Eidolon because she's been taught that all demons are evil. Eidolon isn't any happier that he's attracted to someone who has killed so many of his kind.  Each have their own problems. This being a steamy romance Tayla's problem is that she can't get pleasure from sex (the same problem the hero from my last book had) and Eidolon's problem is that he's  getting ready to go through what's called the change and needs to find a mate before he's transformed into something awful.  Someone is stealing demon body parts and selling them on the black market. Eidolon and his brothers Shade & Wraith (who have the same father but different mothers) think it's the Aegi, the group that Tayla demon slays for. Tayla knows that her group isn't involved.Will the two be able to overcome their differences & follow their hearts while finding out who is responsible for the awful crime being committed? 

My thoughts: To borrow a phrase from Eidolon's brother Shade: "hells fucking bells" this was a great book!  There was so much going on in the book that my little synoposis really didn't do the storyline justice-but I didn't want to give anything away. I really liked how Larissa Ione was able to make Tayla into a likable, strong, kick butt heroine. So many times authors in attempt to make their heroine strong, make her completely unlikable and by the time you figure why she is the way she is it's too late and total dislike has set in. I liked how the hot and heavy bedroom scenes didn't take away from the storyline. So many times the storyline gets forgotten.  When I opened the book and saw that there was a glossary I shuddered and thought that wasn't a good sign. I have never been more wrong in a first impression. I couldn't put the book down! I so don't want to take this book back to the library-I can't wait to read books 2 & 3!

I almost forgot: Jo Jos book Corner  is having a contest with Pleasure Unbound. It's open until November 22. Go and check it out!

Sigh Meter:  What's higher then high? Very High will have to do...

Swoon-Worthy Meter: Very High
Hot Love Scene Meter: Very High (but nothing too wild for those that are leary of that kind of thing in romances.)

Cheesy Line Meter: Low (or maybe the one in then last book I read was so high that the cheesy lines in this book weren't noticeable)

Cool Fantasy Stuff Meter: High (They had portals to travel through, a hospital that wasn't visible to humans and other cool things.)

A Couple New Challenges

 I'm not sure why I keep joining so many challenges. I think I might be a challenge addict. I think the best things about the different challenges I've been in is not only the different authors & books I've read that I normally wouldn't, but other reviewers whose blogs I wouldn't know were out there. I love how everyone encourages each other on in completing whatever challenge you're in. The two challenges I've decided to join since finishing the Arthurian Challenge and The Take A Chance Challenge are: The Christmas Reading Challenge and The Outlander Reading Challenge. 

The first challenge I found was the Christmas Reading Challenge hosted by The True Book Addict.  The contest runs from Thanksgiving Day to New Years Eve.  The rules are simple: You can read one to however many you want to up until the end of the contest and books must be Christmas novels, books about Christmas lore or a book of Christmas short stories (sorry, no children's books, but YA novel is okay). I haven't decided what books I'm going to read yet, but I need something to remind me what the holiday season is all about.

The second challenge I'm joining is the Outlander Challenge hosted by Sapphire Romance.  I've been meaning to re-read these books forever and this gives me a great excuse to do so! Jamie Fraser sets the meter for the original swoon-worthy and sigh worthy hero.The rules for this challenge are to read all 7 Outlander books by Diana Gabalon from Nov 17 2009 to Nov 17 2010. (Confession: As much as I love Jamie & Claire I've only read the first 4.Tragic, isn't it?)

I can't wait to get started on these challenges!

Tempt Me With Darkness by Shayla Black

Tempt Me With Darkness (Doomsday Brethren #1)by Shayla Black is a book I picked up at the library after someone on twitter told me I should read Shayla Black to end my recent book slump.  Is it a sign that I'm in too many challenges  that when I noticed that the characters were based (loosely) on King Arthur and Camelot that I went "Bonus! I can read this for the Arthurian Challenge?" The Arthurian Challenge is hosted by Becky at Becky's Books Reviews.  This book completes the challenge for me-it turns out that I had signed up to read 1-3 books not 3 as I thought I had. This is one of those books that I had a love-hate relationship with. There were times when this book was so good that I couldn't put it down and others when the storyline seemed to drag on forever a result of world building for a new series, I'm sure. I'm rambling, aren't I? Enough of that-lets get down to business!
The Plot
Marrok is an immortal warrior from the court of King Arthur. He made the mistake of making Morganna mad. She cursed him with not being able to have an orgasm and immortality. (Hey, it's a romance!) Olivia Gray is just a normal 24 year old who came to London after the death of her mother to find her father she never knew and ends up loving the city so much that she puts down roots and opens up a store A Touch of Magic, an art gallery-where she mets Bram Rion. Bram introduces Marrok to Olivia because she wants to see some of his wooden carvings to sell in her shop.

Once they meet they are drawn to each other, and Marrok thinks that Olivia is actually Morganna Le Fey and the key to ending her curse so he (of course) kidnaps Olivia...where despite their distrust of each other begin to fall for each other.  However, there are many perils that keep these two apart. For starters there is the Book of Doomsday-the book that Morganna wrote Marroks curse in. It's very powerful, and in the wrong hands can do some serious damage to the magic world...oh, have I forgotten to mention that there are wizards as well as immortal warriors in this book? I think I have...Marrok and Olivia's friend Bram is actually a very powerful wizard who wants is after the Doomsday Book to keep it in the hands of good magic instead of falling into the hands of a wizard gone bad.  I don't want to give anything away, but a Dommsday Brethen is formed by Bram to help fight the wizard and his army of human zombies. (Did I forget to mention that there were zombies in this book? There is a whole army of them.) Somewhere along the way Olivia discovers that she is actually an ancestor of Morganna, and about to become a very powerful witch when she comes of age at 25. The distrust between Olivia and Marrok continues to grow, but will their love be able to conquer all and free Marrok of his curse?
My Thoughts
The beginning of  it moved super fast-the bedroom scenes were super hot. (I do mean HOT!) However, the middle of the book just seemed to last forever. There were parts when I just wanted to shake Olivia and Marrok for being so stupid. I also wanted to scream-I get it, they don't trust one another-enough already! However, this was the first book in a new series, so I think the middle dragged on and on in order to fit in the background for future books. The romance almost got lost in the middle of world building-but resurfaced in the end of the book. The last half of the book almost made up for the middle of the book. There was a lot of action and sigh worthy moments-but I almost didn't care b/c the middle drove me nuts. Despite the problems I had with the middle of the book this was a pretty good read, and I do want to read the next one in the series. I just hate it when world-building gets in the way of a really good storyline. I almost forgot-the secondary characters were great, which is why I'm willing to read the second book in the series. :)
Sigh Meter: High
Swoon-worthy Meter: Low
Hot Love Scene Meter: High

Contest Alert:
I almost forgot: Cindy Gerard left a comment and wanted to let everyone know she's running a contest on her website through the end of the year where she'll give away $100 B&N gift card. All you have to do is sign up for her newsletter!

Feel The Heat by Cindy Gerard

Feel the Heat by Cindy Gerard isn't a book I would normally read. Why do I avoid books like this one you ask? Well, it's silly but this genre keeps stealing away my historical romance authors so I've held a grudge against it for awhile now.  However when I saw the hero of this book-Raphael Mendoza featured in one of Leontine's hunks on her Beefcake Preview Club Night , I knew this was a book I had to read! Imagine my surprise when I actually won this book~It was like fate was telling me that it was time for me to end my silly & childish boycott of this genre.

Feel The Heat is the fourth book in Cindy Gerard's Black Ops Inc. series. It tells the story of Raphael Mendoza and B.J. Chase.As a new reader to the series I loved how past storylines didn't overtake the current stories. I also thought she did a great job of setting up romances for future books without them getting in the way of the storyline at hand. I've read so many series where authors seem to forget about the romance at hand while they focus on other things going on  in the series they are writing about.
The Plot:
B.J. Chase is a tough as nails Defense Intelligence Office who gets assigned to track down a national security breach and find out who was responsible for it. However, when a major player in the US government gets killed, and thus putting a friend of the Black Ops Team in danger, thus making them involved in the investigation. B.J. is given the task of working with the team to track down the person involved in the security breach-and she isn't too happy about it.  Raphael "Choirboy" Mendoza knew his past would catch up to him-but he never knew it would involve trying to stop a weapons system known as an E-Bomb from going off. He and BJ go undercover to try solve the mystery of who is behind the bomb and the security breach. While they are undercover their attraction to each other becomes impossible to stop. Will they be able to break the walls they built up to keep people out in order to find love?

My Thoughts: 
In the beginning of the book I had a really hard time liking B.J. I thought that she was just too tough and unlikable & had a hard time relating to Raphael.  However, as the story gets going and the heat meter rises both become more likable and I felt myself cheering them on to finish the mission. It's been such a long time since I read a book like this that I had forgotten how much fun books these action-romance books can be. My only pet peeve was that the author kept calling the group BOI's, and it took me forever to figure out that it stood for Black Ops Inc guys. I'm a bit dense sometimes...but all in all this was a quick, fun read & I can't wait to go back and read the first three in the series.

Sigh Meter: Low (Ok, maybe I do still hold a little bit of a grudge..)
Swoonworthy Meter: Low
Hotness Meter: High
Cheesy (but fun) Action Scenes Meter: High

A Few of Our Favorite Authors

In my last post Smokinhotbooks asked me if I could recommend any good highland historical romances to her...well, I remembered a few, but wanted to confer with Tasha from Heidenkind's Hideaway, because she has great taste in historical romances. (Remember when I said our reading styles were different? I must have been on crack or something, because our reading tastes are way similiar.) I thought it would be fun to do a collaboration of our favorite historical romance authors.  I discovered that I don't have as many books on here that involve highlanders as I thought I would, which is strange because I love books about highlanders!
My favorite 90s authors

 

Johanna Lindsey-A Gentle Rogue is to blame for my love of historical romances. James Mallory is still swoon-worthy! The Mallorys were my first favorite series.

Julie Garwood, Iris Johansen, Catherine Coulter Camp, Andrea Kane-Once upon a time these authors wrote awesome historical romances. Now they write trendy romantic suspense novels. The Gift, (Garwood) The Tiger Prince, (Johansen) The Sherbrooke Bride (Coulter) and The Gold Coin (Kane) are still some of my favorite historicals.  If memory serves, most of these have books set in the highlands.(I grouped them all together b/c they all switched genres about the same time.)

Judith McNaught- You haven’t read a historical until you’ve read Whitney, My Love.

Beatrice Small- Highlanders, harems, lost love, forbidden love, steamy romance scenes-you get them all with her! If you like Highlanders, her Skye O’Malley series is the best!

Jude Deveraux-Another historical author that bit the dust and now just writes contemporary books. She was writing time travel romance before it became the “in” thing to do. A Knight in Shining Armor is still such a sigh-worthy book! The Duchess is one of the few books that has been around the world with me.

Amanda Quick-Jayne Anne Quick’s alias. She used to be an author I could count on. I'd buy her books with out looking on the back to see what they were about, that was until I read A River Knows I.  I haven’t been able to read another one of her books since that one,(Yes, It was that bad.)

which is why I put her in the 90s group. I highly recommend Mistress and her older stuff.

Confessional:  For awhile there it seemed like every time I found a great historical romance author, they’d switch to contemporary romantic suspense. I took a long hiatus from reading historicals and started reading Chick Lit books & Paranormal Romances, so you might find that the 90s have more authors then right now.

 

Lynn Kurland-She writes a mix of time travels and historicals. All of her books are set in the highlands, and are so swoon-worthy and sigh worthy that it makes me want to travel through time to find my own hero. This is All I Ask is a medival romance, and is just so…well, romantic. Stardust of Yesterday is the start of her time travel series, but they can be read out of order. All her time travel books are set in the highlands. Warning: I haven’t read any of her new fantasy romance books. Why must all the good authors switch genres??

Kinley MacGregor-Sherrilyn Kenyon’s alias.  She has a trilogy of highlander books and a few independent books. They aren’t as good as her dark-hunter series, but still a good read.  Her Lords of Avlon series is highly enjoyable!

Hannah Howell-She writes about highlanders…need I say more?

Diana Gabaldon- Two words: Jamie Fraser. Technically her books are time travel romances, but no highlander beats Jamie. Outlander is another book that has traversed the globe with me.

Jade Lee-A find through Tasha! Her books are great because they are set in 19^th century China. I’m still working my way through her books.

Julia Quinn Camp, Christina Dodd- I wasn’t sure where to their books. I loved the Bridgerton’s by Quinn and the Governess series by Dodd, but the last couple of books by them have disappointed me. Their old stuff is still a must a read!

Honorable Mentions: Meredith Duran and Tessa Dare. I've only read one book by each, but liked them both!  

---

Colette obviously knows my love of historical romance!  Actually, I haven't read any of the authors on Colette's list except for Julia Quinn, Jade Lee, and Christina Dodd.  I do enjoy historical roms from the '90s, though, especially ones that take place in the 19th century.  For example:

Loretta Chase--Many of Chase's books are romance classics, like Lord of Scoundrels.  My personal favorite is Captives of the Night.  The Lion's Daughter is another really good one.

Christina Dodd--Dodd knows how to tell a great story, and I loved her governess series.  She wrote several books based on movies that I enjoyed, especially In My Wildest Dreams and My Favorite Bride, which take-offs of Sabrina and The Sound of Music, respectively.

Diane Farr--Farr is a Regency novelist who wrote a couple of great single-title books--The Fortune Hunter and Duel of Hearts.  Once Upon a Christmas is also really good for all of you holiday-themed book fans.

Sandy Hingston--As I was just saying on twitter, Hingston is one of the few authors who consistently wrote books that I loved.  The Suitor is pure romantic fantasy, and The School for Scandal is one of my all-time favorite reads.  It gives me a sad that she's not writing books anymore.

Gaelen Foley--Foley used to be an author I could count on for a great romance.  Of course, her last few books haven't been that great, but there's always hope....

Lisa Kleypas--Okay, if you haven't read Lisa Kleypas yet (coughColettecough), you really need to just bite the bullet and do it.  Kleypas is the author who got me hooked on romance, and most of her books are simply great.  My personal favorites are Stranger In My Arms, Someone to Watch Over Me, Because You're Mine, Secrets of a Summer Night, etc. etc. etc.
Liz Carlyle--An author that used to be an auto-buy for me.  Her books aren't consistently good--at least not for me--but when she's good, she's good.  No True Gentleman and A Woman of Virtue are two of my favorites.

New skool faves--the latest run of historical roms (or the ones that I like, anyway) center around women who are strong and independent.  The relationship between the hero and heroine is less sexual than a meeting of the mind and heart, and there's typically a very strong subplot that plunges the heroine into an adventure where the hero is her partner.

Jade Lee--Oh, how I heart Jade Lee!  Her book The Dragon Earl was like a total revelation to me.  Her Tigress series (about English or American women living in Shanghai and getting involved in Taoist sex cults) is sexy and smart.  If you're looking for something a little different in your historical romance, I'd definitely recommend Lee.

Meredith Duran--Another author who writes books that are both sexy and smart.  Her titles usually make noooo sense, but she's great at taking a typical historical rom formula and giving it a new twist with interesting characters, new locales, and top-notch research.

Laura Lee Guhrke--Guhrke consistently writes good historicals, and a few have been outstanding for me:  Guilty Pleasures (which is the one I suggested to Colette), and Secret Desires of a Gentleman, which is a twist on Sabrina.

Joanna Bourne--Of the two books by her that I've read, each have has wonderful, strong female characters, fabulous settings, and tons of adventure.  The relationship between the hero and heroine is developed seamlessly into the plot and develops in a totally believable way.  I can't wait for Bourne's next book!

 

Unfortunately, Smokinhotbooks, I don't read many Highlander roms, either.  But you could always try St. Ives by Robert Louis Stevenson!

The Goddess of the Hunt by Tessa Dare

I first heard about Tessa Dare through Mandi at Smexybooks, and I remember reading the review and thinking: I must read this book! I immediately went to see if my local library had it, and much to my surprise they did! I really did have the best intentions to read this book weeks ago (I thought I had doomed it when I put on J Kaye's What Are you Reading Monday List-somehow those books never get read) but I got into a paranormal reading mode & forgot that I had the book from the library. After escaping three trips to the library, I decided that this book was crying out to be read. I am so glad I didn't return it to the library unread, because I would have totally missed out on a great new author.


The Plot:

Lucy Waltham has grown up with her older brother Henry, as her guardian. Whenever he and his friends from school would visit Waltham Manor she would follow them around and do whatever they did whether it was fishing or archery. Since Lucy was a child she's had a crush on one of her brothers friend, Toby. Everyone could see it except for the man in question. She is stunned when she finds out that plans on getting engaged to the perfect Sophia Hathaway (who happens to be visiting the manor) she plans on putting a stop to the engagement and winning Toby for herself.  She plans on seducing but even with the help of a book, isn't quite sure how to do it. After practicing her seducing skills by kissing one of her brothers friends, Jeremy Trescott, The Earl Of Kendall he decides that her brother isn't looking after her as well as he should, and it's up to him to do the job. He has a little help from her brother and his friends when they declare that he needs to pay some attention to Lucy so she isn't too hurt by Toby's upcoming engagement. What happens next is a heartwarming tale of Lucy realizing that maybe Toby isn't the guy for her, and the Earl of Kendall breaking the ice that surrounds his heart when he realizes that maybe he needs to let some one into to his closely guarded life.

My thoughts: 

I loved this book! What I liked most about it was that there was actually interaction between the main characters before the last 100 pages! I've noticed that in a lot of historical romances lately, that the new thing is to have the hero/heroine argue the entire book and or spend very little time together until they realize "gasp! I'm in love with the guy I thought was a big jerk!" I also think that the Everything Jane Austen challenge may have ruined me for all romance books. At first I was excited because there was not one mention of her in the book, but I kept thinking that the Earl was an awful lot like Mr. Darcy..my thoughts were confirmed when I read the back of the book and the author stated she was a fan of Jane Austen. Once I read that, I could totally see her the Austen influences in the book-but it's still such a sigh-worthy book! Eloisa James calls this book: “The sweetest, sexiest romance you’ll read all year ” and I have to agree! This book reminds of an early Julie Garwood or Jude Deveraux book...

Sigh Meter: High (Moments when I just have to sigh on the romantic parts of the book)
Swoonworthy Meter: Medium (This is where the romance has moments where I sigh and crush on the hero of the book)
Cheesy Line Meter: Medium (What's a romance without a few cheesy lines, like: "She relived every moment she spent in Jeremy's company-every argument, every glance, every meal." (Pg.174)