theeditorreads's reviews
995 reviews

Caroline runs a small art supplies shop near the beach, where she tries to escape her past, something that happened seventeen years ago.

Jack Fitzgerald, who is back at his childhood home after seventeen years, remembers Caroline Tremayne, a girl who had moved into their neighbourhood when she was sixteen. He remembers his attraction to her and also the way she had broken his trust.

Thirty-seven to her thirty-four, they had parted on very bitter terms, with Jack blaming her for terminating her pregnancy all those years back. And our hero is clearly not a young 'un, with a divorce and a heart attack in the recent past. They came from different classes, she the daughter of a dignified doctor whereas he the son of an alcoholic philanderer.

A second chance story, this didn't click with me. Maybe because of the huge gap, seventeen years felt too long. Coming from parents like his, no wonder Jack was the way he was. But, his hatred towards Caroline seemed a trifle too much. He always acts like a bastard, never once even trying to think what she went through. And I felt so bad for Caroline, she didn't have anyone to share her feelings for seventeen years. There's also Dr Nicholas Brandon, her father's friend, who's just as condescending as her father. And also a creep.

When finally they have 'the talk', it's so ghastly, what happened to her all those years ago. What a pig! Both Charles Tremayne and Nicholas Brandon. I loved how the author placed a confrontation between Nicholas and Jack, just where one was needed what with Charles being no longer alive.

From so much hurt, how they come together again is how this story ends, with a hint towards their future.

A twenty-five-year-old widow Lauren Bradley, three months pregnant, is at the Donatelli Charity Ball. Paolo Donatelli is the father and hence has the right to know. Paolo - who was Ryan Bradley's best friend. He comes across as someone who's very critical of backgrounds. Accompanying in the party is Isabella Nutini, whom he plans to make his second wife, his first being a 'mixed-breed American', who duped him with someone else's child.

He's contemptuous of Lauren, while she is full of guilt about the activities they engaged on the night before her husband's death was announced in the morning papers. They marry for the baby, and then his work takes precedence, and she again becomes depressed, and the resentment grows.

The book is written in such an interesting way, from the first page itself, I can't seem to find words to define it. Without even being alive, I could just imagine what an interesting character Mamie (Lauren's Grandma) would have been.

He was a man of very deep emotions and controlling them was a daily struggle.

Now that's something you don't get to read. The male MCs have emotions but, it's usually revealed much later on. Here, it's in the beginning only. Though together with his airs about the proper family name, it gets a little irritating.

The way she had pressed her face into his hand like a cat seeking more petting was still unsettling him.

Dani Collin's writing always makes me swoon. Especially here where she makes the heroine give an impassioned speech on not being a doormat (though she does appear to be timid) and the hero looks like a fool in front of the heroine, instead of the be all and end all Harlequin heroes usually are.

The funniest thing was when like a bolt of lightning, realisation struck Paolo that the baby was his. It has a hilarious ending too, I mean an epilogue. Bwahahahahahaha...

P.S. They got the heroine's hair on the cover right! And I don't know why that makes me so happy. Haha!

I saw this book sometime last month on Debbie's profile. It was not a recommendation but I really liked her review and had a go at this book. Thank you for that review, I really enjoyed reading this!

The story is of Lily who is suffering from emotional and mental abuse from her husband of seven years, Barry Castro. She married young, at a time when her parents had just died. Just when she finds out about her first pregnancy, they meet with an accident in which Barry gets killed and Lily is seriously injured. Barry's parents want their son's baby and are willing to pay her for it.

Logan Anderson is a firefighter who saved Lily's life and stayed with her till the paramedics arrived. The story then fasts forwards to three months after. Logan's a single dad to four-year-old Hazel, and desperately on the lookout for a nanny (who won't jump him). Lily, now twenty-five, is six months pregnant, walks with a slight limp, and brings chocolate cookies for the firemen to say thank you. And overhearing Logan's requirement for a nanny asks for employment.

Hazel lost her mother six months ago and hasn't spoken since. Logan has been taking her to a therapist but, the shock of seeing her mother die in front of her has traumatized her.

I loved how Lily and Hazel connected instantly (though it seems a little unbelievable), the way Hazel is so comfortable with Lily. And when Logan and Lily finally succumb to their attraction, it was really funny seeing them uncomfortable since Hazel seemed to interrupt them. Oh, it was hilarious! And also a bit amusing, when instead of facing everything head-on, both of them keep skirting around their mutual attraction. Though understandable, seeing what happened in both their pasts.

While this is a book full of adorable cuddly gooeyness, it is also a bit dated. And it needs editing as well, particularly for the repetitions throughout the text. The conflict wasn't that convincing. But, there's a sweet epilogue which brought it to a great end.

Prince Alexander Julius Alberici of Aargau is about to marry Princess Danielle Roulet. His father, the King, has mere months to live as he's suffering from lung cancer. But, everything is going on normally so as not to alarm the people. Alexander's on his last journey of freedom with his friends and cousins on his yacht, partying away his bachelorhood days.

Josephine Robb, who is staying in her tiny island of Khronos, has had enough of the partying yacht. She assists her father in his work, who is a volcanologist. She's alone at present, a scientist and an artist, and waiting for her father to get back with her art supplies; from his teaching job. Intrigued by the brooding hero, she starts frequently observing and sketching him. The night the yacht is about to leave, she notices a man going overboard and is barely able to save his life, the same man whom she used to observe. It seems he was deliberately pushed overboard. Moreover, he has lost all his memories.

This is the second M&B in a row where I am reading about highly qualified women and it has been such a great experience. No doormats! It was amusing to see the hero bossing over our heroine, or at least trying to, no doubt an inherent nature of his! And it was also great reading about a new profession, volcanology.

Josephine, who has mostly lived an isolated life, is so riveted by this stranger that within a few days of living together, they are drawn to each other, he because of her passion in her work and her natural beauty. But, he's also frustrated with his memory not returning. He has snippets, remembering this or that, but nowhere near what could be called a full recovery.

During their lovemaking, a few days into it, she confesses her love for him. He doesn't reciprocate, not knowing who he is. And then, later that night, everything comes back to him. His memory and his betrothal clashed with his present.

He is thirty-four to her twenty-four. She comes to know all about him when her father unexpectedly arrives two days before he was scheduled to and brings with him newspapers revealing his identity, while Alexander still hasn't told her who he actually is. Fearing goodbyes, she doesn't even stay on the island to bid him one when her father calls for help for him with the new radio he brought. Though his memory of the accident is still elusive.

The story has been likened to Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid. I loved Queen Serena, she has quite the sense of humour, that too in a short role. She reaches out to him when she comes to know she's pregnant, and thankfully there is not much drama there! I liked this book, but couldn't love it.

The last chapter is the saving grace, otherwise, towards the end, this book gets too gloomy, especially for an M&B.

Out of the six books that I have read of [a:Jane Porter|12693|Jane Porter|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1227482681p2/12693.jpg], [b:Kidnapped for His Royal Duty|36634710|Kidnapped for His Royal Duty|Jane Porter|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1525243089s/36634710.jpg|58400507] is my favourite.

e-ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review

Series: Irresistible Atrraction #1

Synopsis:
The book starts with a prologue, hinting at what's to follow. The story then begins from one month before. Jase Cross runs a bar, The Red Room. He spots her there for the first time, Bethany (Beth) Fawn, who's there to demand answers for her sister, Jennifer's, death (her only family).

Beth is a nurse in the local youth mental hospital, Rockford. She searched for Jenny after her disappearance, with the information that her sister used to talk about; Cross brothers, a name – Marcus, and a location – The Red Room. During her leave from work, she makes it her mission to find out who killed her sister. Will 'The Coverless Book' hold some clues (the last thing that her sister gave her)? Just when she's about to find out, she's kidnapped.

Review:
It is an intense read. A captivating narrative.

Written in the first person, and alternating each chapter between Jase and Beth's perspective; [a:Willow Winters|15289816|Willow Winters|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1493487378p2/15289816.jpg] weaves an intriguing tale of danger, deception, and romance. Sinfully erotic romance.

I wanted to hate Jase, for the things he's doing, and for the things he's done, for the life he leads. But when there's deep regret on his part, it makes it hard to hate him. He's the sexiest anti-hero ever. He has his own demons, and a rather complicated past. He's a criminal, the worst of the worst.

She’s a mistake waiting to happen. A delicate disaster in the making.

Beth wants to find who killed Jenny, and so she clings to Jase who may be the only person with some answers. And inadvertently, they start falling for each other.

He may think he can use me, but I swear to everyone, living and dead, I’ll be the one using him.

There is something hypnotic about the author's writing. It just pulls you in. The dark places the main characters come from, and are a part of, moved me. Some parts even gave me the chills.

Don’t believe your heart; it lies to you too.

I love books within books. There is a different kind of magic in reading a book that is a part of a book, and yet isn't there in real life. The name is a mystery in itself: 'The Coverless Book'.

Books are a portal to another world, but they lead to other places too. To places deep inside you still filled with hope and a desperate need for love. Places where your loneliness doesn’t exist, because you know how it can be filled.

P.S. Most people say romances are generic, that they do not have anything new to add. But, when the author has such insight as Willow Winters has, you do get something extra from reading a book. Yes, a romance book.

Since this is my first [a:W. Winters|18053147|W. Winters|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] read, I'm letting it slide. Coz I loved it so! Loved her writing, her characters, their emotions, their feelings, their darkness; I loved it all. And so, I'm letting this go (a surprising CLIFFHANGER):
"Jase and Bethany’s book continues in … A Single Kiss." Grrr...

Originally posted on:
https://sassyshaina.wordpress.com/2019/02/04/a-single-glance-by-willow-winters/

Warning: Do not read this book if you haven't read the first two. Also, spoilers ahead if you haven't read them.

The book starts with ex-reporter Josie Jessup attending one of her former student's funeral. She is living with a fake identity and teaching journalism in the local community college, due to the threat to her life as evident from the last two books. She is dead to everyone, except Charlotte, Aaron, Gabriella, and Whit.

The funeral is of Michael, the same whom we met briefly in the first book.

In O'Hannigan's Tavern, Brendan O’Hannigan is drawn to the television when an announcement comes about media mogul (Josie's father) Stanley Jessup's hospitalisation. It's been three years, and he hasn't been able to forget anything about her, since her 'death'.

Josie's mother was European royalty. So now it's clear why she is also royalty, in a way. An American princess.

She risks everything, her and her son's life, to visit her father. She wants him to know that she's alive, and also to introduce him to his three-year-old grandson, CJ.

It couldn't have been a more perfect cover. Little CJ with his bright red curls. I love how Charlotte is still present here. She is the most badass of them all.

When Brendan finds Josie in the hospital, she fears for her life as he was the one sent to kill her three years ago. While he is also angry with her, thinking she deceived him and seduced him for a story. He knew it was dangerous to get close to her. Brendan's father was the much-feared Dennis O'Hannigan, Chicago's crime boss.

Little CJ (Charles Jesse Brandt, named after Charlotte, aww) is so cute and courageous. And he will 'p-tect' his Mommy, even from Brendan.

When I read the first two books, this wasn't linked with them, and I had totally missed it. I re-read the first two books again. And finally, Josie Jessup, who's mentioned in the first book, and whose father plays an important role there, gets her own book.

"She was too scared to thank him and too smart to trust him."

And from there all the action starts.

There was a threat to her life because she was reaching for the truth in her last exposé, about who killed Brendan's father.

It is such a thrilling ride. Brendan and Josie not able to trust each other, again and again. But they get there in the end. And then the enemy comes out to be a totally unexpected someone. And not one, there are multiple villains. More the merrier. It has a perfect ending with an epilogue bringing all three stories together.

Coral Dahl, a twenty-four-year-old rookie photographer, is on her way to the Island of Hydros with a team of professionals from Heavenly magazine to photograph Salvatore Di Visconti - heir apparent of Argento Cruise Line - and his fiancée, Kyla.

Raffaele (Raffa) Rossini, CEO of Romano Publishing empire, and brother of Salvatore, is also there, as their chaperone. It's his magazine, after all. How they came to be brothers is quite another story, they are of the same age.

This is my first [a:Bella Frances|8385726|Bella Frances|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] read. Ooof... Her descriptions.

But the slow nod of his head as he checked them all out was like a caress. His voice, when he spoke, an embrace.

He dreams about seducing her, all the while thinking that she reminds him of someone. And he also jumps her, which was just ugh... And it can't get more twisted than Carol's senior, Mariella, being Raffa's ex, and all three working together.

The sex scenes are erotic. But Salvatore had to ruin everything, he is always clinging to Raffa.

Salvatore’s voice was carrying through the house, bouncing off the marble and echoing on every wall and surface. Splitting Raffaele’s head open with his venom. His uncontrollable jealous poison.

After knowing what Salvatore had to tell him about Coral, Raffa removed her from the island and his life, after a single session of shower sex, even though it was killing him to do it (removing her, I mean).

There is a six-month jump in the storyline (that explains and goes well with the cover!). After investigating the entire issue, Raffaele is disappointed at the man Giancarlo Di Visconti had been, and the person Salvatore is, protecting only his millions and caring about nothing else.

Because the indolence and deceit he so despised in others were choking him now.

I felt so sad for Coral.

But that was never to be, and now that she knew who her father was she felt utterly isolated, completely unwanted. Lost. She felt lost.

It was all too cold, always talking about the estate, and business, and finances. Always the talk of inheritance made the chemistry go away between the main characters.

The heroine sure had guts to stand on her own two feet and the insistence. She's not one of Harlequin's typical doormats, but then, neither of the main characters were endearing. And it all started from somewhere in the latter half of the story.

Synopsis:
Set near Mount Ruapehu in New Zealand, twenty-seven-year-old Jennifer (Jen) Jordan runs a bed and breakfast, Beech House, for the annual skiers, together with her mother. She gets a totally unexpected visitor in the form of thirty-three-year-old Raphael (Rafe) Jordan, who addresses her as Mrs Jordan in a disgusting way, coz she was his father's wife, (and presumably a gold digger) but, was pregnant with Rafe's child.

Basically, this story is about Sebastian Jordan playing the matchmaker between his estranged son, Raphael and a girl whom he met while on a holiday in New Zealand, from Britain.

Review:
Rafe is a former male model, and former editor of a raunchy men's magazine, and understandably, is a born charmer. He detests Jen and calls her stepmama (which made me cringe, more so when he practically pawed her, ugh...) since she was married to his father, who is now dead. He and his father never got along. His father was a very wealthy doctor and businessman, and a totally aloof person.

Paula Scott, Jen's mother is a sassy lady who falls for Rafe's charm, much to Jen's dismay, though Rafe was a bit disconcerted after seeing her in a wheelchair. After that though, Rafe and Paula get along like a house on fire.

He had already drunk half of his own tea, and eaten two of her mother's feather-light scones while inveigling his way into her good graces. Jennifer's eyes told him she would like to dump the contents of her cup over his head. She wasn't fooled by his amiable air of relaxation.

Jen wears tortoiseshell spectacles. I haven't encountered a heroine yet in M&B world with spectacles. Imagine my surprise! This book is so sexy, with all the blatant talk of sex as well as the teasing and flirty banter. With the backdrop of the bursting volcano, it made for a damn interesting read.

She deleted large chunks of her hard-copy files, safe in the knowledge that they were already doubly backed up onto floppies.

Jenny has a secret career, which even her mother knows nothing about. I love it when writers write about such characters. I wonder what goes on in their heads when they do that. In a way, this is a book about books also, and ya know how I love 'em. Raphael and Jennifer's special connection is really sweet.

I've read some pretty hair-curling things in my time...'
Since her hair was now dead straight, Jennifer guessed that they had had no permanent effect.

There is a white Persian cat, Maxie; a short-haired Burmese-cross cat, Milo; and a golden labrador, Bonzer; as well as Fergus, the budgie.

Once you've experienced how intense sex can be with the right person, you get bored with bonking the fluff.'
'You weren't bored last night,' she accused hotly, incensed at being reduced to a casual 'bonk'. That was even less meaningful than a one-night stand!

This book is hilarious all along. It ends on a humorous note too, though an epilogue would have been nice.

P.S. If published today, it could have made it to the Dare imprint. I can't stress enough about how this book is a laugh riot. And for keeps. I'm so getting a paperback. Totally recommended.

Susan Napier has raised my expectations so high with this book that I think I will just avoid the other books in this series (for fear of getting disappointed) for the time being.

Originally posted on:
https://sassyshaina.wordpress.com/2019/05/04/honeymoon-baby-by-susan-napier/

Warning: Do not read this book if you haven't read the first one. It continues from where the first book left off. Also, spoilers ahead if you haven't read the first book.

Royal Bodyguards Book Two, like the previous book in the series, starts six months earlier. Princess Gabriella St. Pierre is stopped by one of the King's bodyguards, Whit (Whitaker) Howell, from disturbing him. She has a right to be mad though, at the King, who passed her from one betrothed to another within the span of a single night, while she secretly had the hots for Whit. And they succumb to that attraction and spend a night of togetherness.

The story then starts six months later, with the Princess now missing for the past six months. It takes off from the previous book, where Charlotte has given Gabby's last known address to Whit. And with his injured shoulder in tow, he's off to find here there.

But there are surprises waiting for him, in the form of gunshots and a pregnant Gabby. Even after Aaron, Whit and Charlotte think that they have neutralised the threat against Gabby, it is not so. There is another threat in the form of Prince Linus Demetrios' father, or is it someone else entirely?

But she is nothing if not a sassy princess, who has been taught well by her bodyguard sister. And further secrets are revealed when Gabby meets with Lydia Green, sister of Bonita Green, Charlotte's mother.

It was amusing to see rough and tough Whit get jealous, and that too of a flirty doctor, Dominic Delgado. Aaron and Charlotte get some story space too; I loved the first book so much, that I wish there was a second one with them in the starring role.

Both Whit and Gabby think the other used them. And hence are closed off emotionally to each other, at least they try to appear that. There is an aeroplane fight sequence too, a first for Mills and Boon, according to my reading list, and a daring escape. The ending is quite hilarious, with Charlotte still thinking about the still present danger to Josie Jessup in the form of the person who hired her ex-partner to get information about her whereabouts. And so we have [a:Lisa Childs|332359|Lisa Childs|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1355567845p2/332359.jpg]'s third book in the series, [b:Royal Rescue|16116281|Royal Rescue (Royal Bodyguards #3)|Lisa Childs|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1356945530s/16116281.jpg|21933821], coming up next.

Book One of Harlequin's Expecting! Series, this one is about Victoria Brown. She is in Tunisia (read for the first time, a Harlequin book set in this country), and is at a doctor's appointment where she finds out she's almost three months pregnant. She fled England, from her husband Zac Harding, and the other woman, Gina Rossellini. She's twenty to his thirty-five, her marriage conveniently arranged by her socialite mother, Coral Chigley-Brown, who considered Victoria only an intrusion, and who is a vicious, heartless mother.

She took refuge in her childhood friend's brother, William Howard's home in Tunisia the same night she had to leave for honeymoon after getting to know about Zac's betrayal. And now Zac thinks she betrayed him with William.

This is one weird read! He doesn't trust her, she doesn't trust him. They both mistake the other's silences for more betrayal. And the cycle never stops, leading them to miss out on her pregnancy. Though they do bump into each other, deliberately from time to time, especially now that they are both back in England.

When Zac opened up about his past to Tory, yes - that's his nickname for her, only his - it was such a beautiful scene. And I completely sympathise with Victoria too, how parental love, or the lack thereof, can drive one insane from within.

The book picks up steam from mid-way. And it had a beautiful ending, which included the birth of their baby boy, James Zachary.

P.S. Zac's trademark phrase is: for crying out loud.