Review: "Marrying the Captain" by Carla Kelly

Marrying The Captain by Carla Kelly

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


4 1/2 stars

This was only my second book by Carla Kelly, but I can already say for sure that she is one of my favorite authors now. I love her writing and the way she fills her books with accurate and realistic historic details without turning them into a textbook... Well, that's how I feel after reading only two books, but I doubt they're exceptions to the rule. :)

Marrying The Captain (Channel Fleet, #1) is the first book in the Channel Fleet trilogy. The story takes place during the Napoleonic Wars and, unlike what I've become used to read in other Regency books, the H/h are common (but not ordinary) people: Royal Navy Captain Oliver Worthy, a simple country vicar's son who's achieved his current rank by merit, and Eleanor "Nana" Massie, a scheming lord's illegitimate daughter.

Nana's been living in Plymouth with her grandmother (from her mother's side, of course) and running the Mulberry Inn with her for the past five years, since her father tried to give her to one of his "friends" as payment for his debts. Oliver has the unfortunate luck of crossing paths with Lord Ratliffe, Nana's father and an undersecretary of Admiralty House, and is asked to spy on Nana - just to make sure she's doing fine, assures Lord Ratliffe. Oliver doesn't buy it, but fate plays its hand and he ends up staying in Mulberry Inn anyway - and as they say, the rest is history...

I loved Oliver and Nana. They were fully developed characters, admirable and flawed at the same time, and their falling in love was very poignant. At first, I was afraid Oliver's connection with Nana's father would lead to a Big Misunderstanding, but Ms. Kelly knows better than that and showed me that such plot device isn't necessary to add conflict to a story and keep it interesting. The uncertainties brought by war were enough to give my heart a little squeeze.

This was a very enjoyable read to me, slow paced at times but never boring. I never doubted Oliver and Nana's love for each other, even when they tried to fight it - for sensible reasons and not just for the sake of adding angst to the story. If I have one complaint, it's the ending: this book needed an epilogue, IMHO. Call me greedy, but I needed to see Oliver and Nana living HEA after the war was over. That's the only reason I couldn't give this book 5 stars. Hopefully, I'll get to seem them again in the next books, The Surgeon's Lady (Channel Fleet, #2) and Marrying the Royal Marine. :)



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Review: "Christmas Hookup" by Lex Valentine

Christmas Hookup by Lex Valentine

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


4 1/2 stars

Awww, this was such a cute story! I loved it - and that's all I can say because it's a quickie and I don't want to give away any spoilers. (Yes, Ms. Valentine has managed to include a nice plot twist in this very short story. I must have a look at her backlist. If she's good enough to pull something this good within the word limit of a quickie, imagine what she can do without that constraint.)

Here's Riley (he's a model and this pic has everything to do with the story):





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Review: "Lover Awakened" by J.R. Ward

Lover Awakened by J.R. Ward

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


4 1/2 stars



"Everyone" has already read this book, so I'm just going to rant a bit...

Zsadist had me intrigued since I read Dark Lover, because he was pretty much an outcast within the Brotherhood and I knew there had to be something "good" inside him. I also knew that his story would be "scary" (for lack of a better word) and, boy, I was not mistaken! I thought Sin MacAllister from Kinley MacGregor's Born in Sin was the most tortured hero in Romancelandia but, compared to Z's, Sin's life was a merry walk in the park. Z's mind was so twisted that, for a moment, I doubted the possibility of a believable HEA for him. I shouldn't have, though. Can I just say I loved the epilogue? :)

Bella was everything Z needed. She had been attracted to him since they first met in Lover Eternal and, for reasons he couldn't understand, he also felt a strong connection to her. When presented with the chance to be with Z, Bella was honest and direct about it - and I congratulated her for it. But then, Z told her to go away in the end and, instead of fighting for them, she just complied!?! Not what I expected from a woman/vampire who had just killed her kidnapper, but that gave room for the wonderful scene with Z writing her that sigh-worthy note, so I guess I can excuse that.

Now, Phury... Call me insensitive but, at this point, I almost despise him. I was probably supposed to embrace him as a larger-than-life, altruistic man/vampire, but he just came across as a pathetic loser - not to mention, drug addict - to me. Get a life, my brother!

And Tohr... Why, oh why did Ms. Ward feel the need to do that to him? Didn't we have enough wild and wrecked Brothers? Couldn't we have at least one "normal" guy among them? Based on some comments I'd heard before reading this book, I knew Wellsie was going to die, but that didn't make me less unhappy when the time came.

As it happened in the previous book, Lover Eternal, I didn't care for the scenes with the lessers in this book either and I wish Ms. Ward stopped giving them so much "screen time". I know I don't stand a chance of seeing this happening, so I guess this series will never get a 5-star rating for me. Oh well, it isn't like that would make any difference, because these books have already a gazillion rabid fans and I won't be missed, LOL.





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Review: "Ravished" by Amanda Quick

Ravished by Amanda Quick

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


4 1/2 stars


I like Beauty and the Beast tales and Ravished is many reader's favorite Amanda Quick novel, so I chose it as my introduction to her work. I'm glad to say I was not disappointed. :)

I loved Gideon from the start and he was everything but The Beast of Blackthorne Hall, the nickname he received due to his "shady" reputation and his sinister appearance. I was expecting to meet a dark, tortured hero, but he was actually quite funny. Harriet was a different matter and it took me some time to understand her. She came dangerously close to becoming a TSTL heroine when she put herself in danger by refusing to listen to Gideon's reasoning, not only once but twice. Her redeeming point was her never-faltering trust in Gideon, jumping - at one time, literally! - to his defense whenever someone dared to speak ill of him.

As for the story, it was entertaining, funny and fast paced. Some events and, particularly, Harriet's reaction to them were "unusual" (for lack of a better word) but, in the end, I thought that quirkiness was fitting. I wasn't too surprised with the identity of the master villain, even though I spent most of the time thinking it was someone else. Considering this was a romance and not a mystery-thriller novel, I have no complaints. And the ending... Ah, I love closing a book with a smile on my face! :)



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Review: "Bed of Roses" by Nora Roberts

Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


4 1/2 stars


After finding Vision in White a good but slightly disappointing read, I "knew" - as far as anyone can know such thing - that I'd enjoy Bed of Roses better. Something to do with this 2nd book being better received by most readers and my having lower expectations, I guess. No matter why, I did find Bed of Roses highly entertaining.

Emma was the main reason this book worked for me, with her utterly romantic nature. She was also the reason this book lost 1/2 star in the end, when she attacked Jack for no reason at all (IMHO). Worse, she refused to listen to him and just cut him loose. Argh!

Anyway, besides that small bump in the road, I thoroughly enjoyed watching Emma and Jack's friendship develop and grow into love. And dancing in the moonlight? Which woman could resist that? *sighs*



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