The Prize by Brenda Joyce

Rating: 3

An infamous sea captain of the British Royal Navy, Devlin O'Neill is consumed with the need to destroy the man who brutally murdered his father. Having nearly ruined the Earl of Eastleigh financially, he is waiting to strike the final blow. And his opportunity comes in the form of a spirited young American woman, the earl's niece, who is about to set his cold, calculating world on fire.…

Born and raised on a tobacco plantation, orphan Virginia Hughes is determined to rebuild her beloved Sweet Briar. Daringly, she sails to England alone, hoping to convince her uncle to lend her the funds. Instead, she finds herself ruthlessly kidnapped by the notorious Devlin O'Neill, and will soon find her best-laid plans thwarted by a passion that could seal their fates forever.…

Review: I read the back cover and thought it might be like her book "The Game" which was just fabulous, but alas, it was sooooo not. I found it crushingly disappointing. It's one saving grace was the fact that the heroine liked sex. With a Joyce book you just never know if you're getting a heroine who thinks it's icky or not. *snicker* Seriously, I wound up skimming half of the book, never really caring about the characters or what happened to them. The hero was just too bitter and mean. Oh well. The cover is pretty.

Firestorm by Brenda Joyce

Rating: 3

Storm Bragg could outshoot and outride any man, but her family decided it was time she traded in her buckskins for a ballgown and made her debut in San Francisco society.Quickly pursued by every eligible gentleman in town, the young hellcat from Texas had eyes for only one, and he was no gentleman. Brett D'Archand was a self-made success -- arrogant, impossibly attractive, blatantly sensual -- and looking for a wife who would give him respectability.

Storm was completely bewitched by him, but she made him lose his head as well as his heart. And, threatened by scandal and ruin, they are forced to wed -- a tempestuous union of free spirits, shackled only by the irrepressible bonds of love.

Review: Oh for heavens sake. Storm made me just batty. What a shrew!! Their constant fighting was not only not sexy or romantic, it was boring as heck. If memory serves, they are still fighting in the last chapter of the book. It was just a little mentally exhausting. Why did I keep reading this book? I'm not really sure.

Heart of Gold by Jessica Bird

Rating: 3 ♥

She has a chance to find something more precious than gold, if she’s brave enough to trust her heart. . . .

Synopsis: Her intense passion for unlocking the secrets of the past is what made Carter Wessex an archeologist. Now she’s been given a chance to dig on Farrell Mountain where a doomed party of minutemen lost their lives—as well as the gold they were carrying during the Revolutionary War. Carter refuses to let the mountain’s owner, Nick Farrell, rattle her, even though she’s all too aware of his sexy yet sardonic presence. Her work on the mountain could be the most significant find of her career . . . if she can pull herself away from the smoldering attraction that is undeniably growing between them.

Beneath the steely façade Nick Farrell wears like a well-cut suit, he is a man of hidden tenderness. From his first meeting with Carter, there’s an immediate flare—hotter than he has ever experienced before. But no one is more surprised than Nick when his desire for her deepens into something enduring. Now Nick must find a way to convince Carter that the real treasure to be found on Farrell Mountain is a true and lasting love. . . .

Review: I really had to push through this one -- not very interesting at all. How disappointing! This author is otherwise known as J.R. Ward, and I love the books she publishes under that name, but it was almost like a whole different author with this one! I have seen rave reviews for this book, which perplexes me... I guess I will stick with her paranormals.

In Too Deep by Lori Foster

Rating: 3 ♥
I was trying to write a synopsis for this book, but it's one of those that sounds hopelessly confusing when trying to describe the story line. So I think I will give up and just say what I thought about it. I can sum it up in one short word: Eh. If 'eh' is a real word, that is. It has a heroine named Charlie (I am SO not a fan of girls with boys names). And she's a tough cookie. The only thing feminine about her is her frilly bedroom -- which incidentally seemed odd and out of place to me. I get that Foster is trying to say, 'hey, look, she's not all boy-ish', but it just didn't work for me. I wasn't feeling this book at all. It had it's moments, and I'm glad I read it, but if you don't already have this number on the 'ol TBR, I'd say don't bother. It was just Ok. There was no 'blaze' to it.

Midnight Angel by Lisa Kleypas

Challenge: Read a title with Angel or Devil.
Rating: 3

Synopsis: A noblewoman of frail beauty and exotic mystery fakes her own death to escape the gallows. And now she must flee. In disguise and under a false identity, she finds unexpected sanctuary in the arms of a handsome and arrogant yet gallant British lord—who must defy society to keep her safe . . . and overcome a tragic past to claim her as his own.

Review: I found this book oddly boring. It was a 5 in the first third or so, and then it just nose dived to a 3. It sort of had a gothic feel to it, and I didn't love that the heroine was Russian. I really don't even know what to say about it! It was a huge relief to finish it. I normally adore her books, but this went straight to the UBS.

A Dangerous Man by Connie Brockway

Challenge: Readers choice
Rating: 3

B&N overview:
Mercy Coltrane, a brash young American woman, travels to England to search for her estranged brother. Strident in her quest, she seeks out the help of Hart Moreland, whom she knew years ago as Duke the Gunslinger, the hired gun her father enlisted to protect his land. Now Earl of Perth, Hart is back in his native England in a hard-earned position of respect and power, and the last thing he wants is a reminder of his dishonorable past. But Mercy Coltrane proves to be much more than just a painful reminder of the life he left behind. Vibrant, beautiful, and witty, Mercy embodies the life of happiness that Hart desperately craves.

Review: I was GOING to read this for my western challenge, but sadly there was a minuscule amount of western (3 pages) in this story, so this is getting moved to readers choice. Bummer. I could probably live with that if the book was a very good one, but I found it pretty disappointing. Almost the entire story takes place at an England house party. Yawn. The love scenes (once they show up) are good, but I found myself skimming much of the time, and even once I closed the book I didn't felt like I knew the hero and heroine very well. Even the secondary characters were lack-luster. The most exciting part of the book was the racy kick-back cover.... thankfully it was not a long book, so I was able to fly through it quickly. For excellent Brockway's I suggest her Rose trilogy or her McClairin's Isle trilogy.

Fire and Ice by Julie Garwood

Challenge: read any title from one of the first romance authors you ever read.
Rating: 3

amazon overview: Sophie Rose, a tough and determined newspaper reporter, is the daughter of Bobby Rose, a suave, charming, and handsome gentleman who also happens to be a notorious big-time thief sought by every law-enforcement agency in the country. When the major Chicago daily where she works insists she write an exposé about her roguish father, Sophie refuses, quits her job, and goes to work at a small newspaper. Far from her onetime high-powered crime beat, she now covers local personalities such as the quirky winner of several area 5K runs whose trademark is goofy red socks.

Those red socks–with Sophie’s business card neatly tucked inside–are practically all that’s found after runner William Harrington is killed near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, seemingly the victim of a brutal death by polar bear. The Alaska cops want to know why Harrington carried Sophie’s card. With an unerring nose for a good story, she heads north.

What Sophie doesn’t realize is that on her journey from Chicago to Prudhoe Bay, danger follows in her wake. After one attempt on her life, she’s been assigned brash but sexy Jack MacAlister as a bodyguard by the cautious FBI. Amid great peril and deadly intrigue in the unforgiving Alaskan terrain, she and Jack form an uneasy alliance sparked with sensual attraction. But they will soon be fighting more than their growing passion for each other. Powerful forces will stop at nothing to prevent the exposure of the sinister conspiracy Sophie and Jack are about to uncover.

Review: Eh. Not bad. Interesting book, kept my attention, but there was no 'fire' in this story. The romance just sort of happens, there is no real challenge for either of them. The only conflict was of the mystery variety, which was so-so for me. Until half way through the book I didn't know what the boring journal entries were all about, and by the time I did figure that out I just didn't care very much. Even once they reveal the 'bad guy' I thought, "who? Have we met him?". The ending was all neat and tidy and short with no real depth. I am glad I got this from the library!

A Highlander Never Surrenders by Paula Quinn

The sequel to Laird of the Mist, Graham jumps into the hero role in this story. When he saves Claire from a band of robbers, he finds he can't quite let this sword wielding hellion just go on her merry way, despite her insistence that she will be fine. When he realizes she is relative of the king, and the sister of the man he is trying to track, he decides he just can't let her go. When Graham is told by Claire that her brother Connor is dead and that he was killed in an ambush, it's up to them to find out who the true traitor is.

Honestly, I don't know what happened with this book. Laird of the Mist was funny, charming, sweet, and a delight to read. This was not funny, not charming, and not a delight to read. Frankly it was a bit boring. I tried, I really did. Just reading this book made me feel sleepy. It moved very slowly, Graham was just ok for me, and Claire was a serious tom-boy, and the funny band of warriors were not in this story -- I guess they were having a serious day. I was really disappointed in this book, and that pains me to say.

Prince Charming by Gaelen Foley

Description: Ascencion's most elusive and widely loved Masked Rider has chosen to rob the wrong coach -- inside sits Rafael, the Prince of the Mediterranean island, and the future King. Not realizing her mistake until it's too late, Lady Daniela Chiaramonte has been caught red handed in her Robin Hood-like endeavor to keep her people fed and pay the outrageous taxes the crooked tax man has inflicted on her. Rafe is stunned by the beauty that dares rob him and his friends, and very intrigued -- He can't stop thinking of getting her into his bed. Prince Rafe has a proposition for her: marry him and give him an heir, or she and her coach robbing cohorts can hang. Dani agrees to the deal, and she even begins to fall in love with her husband, but soon she is caught up in the plot to get rid of the entire royal family and now she must save her husband from the treasonous plot.

Review: I have loved every other Foley book I have read. Not this one. I was caught up and engrossed through the first 100 pages, then got a little bored in the middle 200 pages, and then it picked up again in the last 100 pages. I liked the different setting; I've never read a romance set in the Mediterranean before. I did NOT like the hero. I thought he was an ass. He started out a total playboy, and never really lost that feel. He even nearly cheated on Dani with his former mistress, which I found appalling. That particular scene was nearly a 3-some, which kind of shocked me. Thankfully she veered off of that particular line. I never really got the connection between them. The writing was good, the descriptions of certain events a bit graphic (good and bad, depending on the description) but the character development left me bored. I was relieved to finish this book and still didn't much like the hero in the end. If I'm not mistaken this is one of Foley's early works, and all the other books I have read of hers were more recent, so perhaps she has simply gotten better over time. I am still a big fan of hers, but this particular novel will not be reread.

Heaven and Earth by Nora Roberts

The second in the Three Sisters trilogy, this story was about Riley Todd. As in the first book, she is fighting her gift of magic and tries to ignore it as much as she can. But when charmingly nerdy MacAlister Booke shows up on the island looking to study the magic of the three women, Ripley finds herself drawn to him and before she knows it she has fallen in love with this lovable absent-minded nerd. And to her dismay, she can't ignore her powers any longer if she wants to save the man she loves.

I wasn't overly thrilled with this book. I enjoyed the first book of the series SO much more. This was easy to put down and didn't really ever grab me. I wavered between liking the heroine, and being thoroughly irritated by her. She's very sarcastic and harsh and she swears a lot, which I didn't enjoy. The hero was adorable. I normally don't like nerdy heroes, but this one was a good one. I think I'm over the witch-theme, just like I'm over vampires. I'll finish out the trilogy -- I'm looking forward to reading Mia's story.

Love Me Forever by Johanna Lindsey

n order to get out from her father's thumb, Kimberly is looking for a husband. She journeys to the home of the Duke and Duchess of Wrothston as their house guest as she begins her search. Also there as a house guest is Lachlan, the Laird of Clan MaGregor, and he happens to be there in search of a rich wife to restore his clans stolen fortune. After they both get a little tipsy on too much champagne, they sleep together and Lachlan becomes determined to have Kimberly as his wife.... but Kimberly believes him to be in love with someone else, and she won't have him if he can't love HER.

This book sort of strolled along. Never quite boring, but never exciting either. The hero was so-so, the heroine was so-so, and all of the characters were, well, so-so. I normally think of Lindsey's books as comfort reads, but not THIS comfortable. If it were any more comfortable I would have fallen asleep. In fact I did get a little droopy-eyed while reading it the other night.

The Princess by Jude Deveraux

When princess Aria washes up on military man JT's vacation beach, he finds his rest and relaxation ruined by a girl who won't eat with her fingers, won't let him so much as touch her, makes him walk behind her, and generally acts like the uppity princess she is. Someone tried to kill her, and now it's suddenly become his responsibility to protect her. When they get back to the mainland the government comes up with a bazaar convoluted plan to keep her safe while at the same time benefiting them by making the two of them marry. Aria needs to learn to act like an American for the plan to work.

Hmm. Well, since this book got such high reviews on book seller sites I was expecting to really enjoy it, but I didn't. The hero ran hot and cold throughout the WHOLE book. He was either mad or he was lovey-dovey. He was so easily annoyed that it got old really fast. And the the heroine's snobbery was more annoying than funny. I did enjoy that this book was set in the 40's, which is highly unusual for a romance, and I found I enjoyed that. I enjoyed reading about Aria learning to be American, but the romance of the story was lukewarm at best. I didn't feel the chemistry between the characters AT ALL. And the plot that the American military came up with was confusing and strange. At one point Aria goes back to her country pretending to be an American, and then pretending to be an American pretending to be a princess.... got it? Me neither. I think even the author got confused. LOL! I think I would have enjoyed this book very much as a teenager, but as a 30-something I enjoy a little more depth in my books. For the setting and for originality I will give it a 3.