Bonnie Dee & Summer Devon - The Nobleman and the Spy

They met on a battlefield years ago as enemies.

Now spy Jonathan Reese must keep watch over the nobleman he’s never forgotten. Karl von Binder must trust him with his life, even while their torrid passion threatens his position and his heart.

Comment: My first book by the authors. It wasn't the best either in the genre or the type but I spent a good time reading it and as usual, my favourite part is to see the path until both of them admited what they felt. In this case it was more through actions then with actual words but still. The plot itself wasn't that special but the main characters were strong enough to sustain the book.
I'll look for more in the future.

Kim Harrison - Dead Witch Walking

Sexy bounty hunter and witch Rachel Morgan prowls the dark streets of Cincinnati, keeping tabs on the vampires and other creatures of the supernatural who prey on the city's innocent and vulnerable inhabitants.

Comment: I had some expectations about this series. It has so many faithful followers that I wish I'd feel the same way but I don't. It didn't seem that special to me.

Ok, the plot is quite interesting and the characters can be mysterious enough to make us wonder, but I don't feel the need to run ASAP to get the rest of the books.

Rachel seemed a bit too naive for someone who has such a demading job. Were this a simple romance, then I'd actually welcome her growing up, but this series has many books and I don't feel like watching the growing in all of them. Plus I must confess I've seen some spoilers - bad me! - and now I feel even less the will to keep going.

I'll give it some time, perhaps in a couple of months or so I might want to read book #2 and give this series another chance.

Deeanne Gist - A Bride Most Begrudging

When Lady Constance Morrow finds herself held against her will aboard a ship bound for the American colonies - a ship filled with "tobacco brides" and felons - she is quite sure that as soon as she arrives she will find a reasonable man who will believe her father is an earl and send her back on the next ship to England. Instead she meets Drew O'Connor, a determined Colonial farmer who is nearly as headstrong as she is. Drew wins Constance as his bride but soon realizes he has taken on much more than he bargained for...

Comment: This was my first attempt to read an historical inspirational novel. I was a bit afraid it would exagerate the reliogious theme, but the author was superb in balancing the romance, the plot and the Scriptures.
Almost at the end there were some things I found too seen, but I guess after so many years reading romance it's bound to happen.
The end was bittersweet. I mean, it ended ok, the couple is happy but one character, a dear one, had a tragic finale and it made me sad.

Overall, I liked it a lot. We can see how both main characters think about their new relationship and it's fun to watch them admiting they actually want to be together. Constance learns to live an love the new land and Drew and he sees love is the best part of living. I really loved the whole book.
I'll certainly try to get more books by the author.

Robert Muchamore - The Fall

When an MI5 operation goes disastrously wrong, James Adams needs all of his skills to get out of Russia alive. Meanwhile, his sister Lauren is on her first solo mission, trying to uncover a brutal human trafficking operation. And when James does get home, he finds that his nightmare is just beginning ! CHERUB agents have one crucial advantage: adults never suspect that children are spying on them.

Comment: It's been a long time since I've taken a fancy for juvenile books. I guess it's all aprt of growing up.
In this case, I buy them for my teenager brother and after a while I read them because they entertain and usually one has a good time with them, even though the books are too fanciful to be realistic.
The main characters are young spies. We follow their lives and missions and how they, often, save the day.
There are currently 13 books, I just finished the 7th, hopefully will read the others when they are published in portuguese as well. I can't say it's a work of art but the truth is, it sells and it amuses people. When I just want to wase my brain, rest a bit, this is a perfect read.

J. K. Beck - When Wicked Craves

Petra Lang is cursed never to love. One touch of her skin unleashes the vilest demons. Sentenced to death by the Shadow authorities, who fear she'll turn her curse against them, Petra is rescued by vampire advocate Nicholas Montegue. As their bodies merge and transform into mist, Petra feels an erotic longing.

Nicholas risked his own life to save Petra, yet he knows he can never give in to the explosive attraction he feels for her. But the deep yearning they share tempts them. Together, they must find a way to lift the curse. For only a love this strong has the power to overcome such monstrous evil.

Comment: This 3rd book isn't as good as the others in my opinion. But it offers some complex difficulties: how to stop a curse and how to help a friend.
In the end there are some surprises, which is good, because we feel eager to read more. Thankfully, there are 3 more books to be published next year.
I don't think this romance was a well done as the previous ones. First, it was too quick, second it was the main female caharacter's first time, which begs for more time and certainty I think, and in this case although we know she wants to be with him, I still have my doubts about the whole thing, I wasn't convinced. I guess I wanted more feelings, more despair over that issue.
In the end it was a good read, it surely entertains, but I kind of wanted to see romance, considering this is called praranormal romance....

J. K. Beck - When Pleasure Rules

Seven innocents have been brutally murdered in Los Angeles, yet the Shadow Alliance has no suspects and no leads. As the body count mounts, the age-old feud between vampires and werewolves threatens to explode.

Lissa Monroe - a strong-willed, ravishing succubus who entices men to surrender their souls - agrees to go undercover for the Alliance. Her mission: infiltrate the mind of werewolf leader Vincent Rand, a ferociously alluring enemy who exerts a powerful hold over her. As the City of Angels teeters on the brink of apocalypse, these two adversaries must join together in order to survive an even more lethal enemy hidden in plain sight.

Comment: I'm enjoying this series immensely. The characters seem realistic (even tough it's a paranormal series) and their decisons and attitudes too.
I wished there'd be a bigger instinctive reaction from the main male character because he is a werewolf and in the folklore, wolves search their mates and when finding them they want them in a visceral way, they know it's that one. In this case that didn't really happened and I kind of wished to see that, but well, it was a no-go.
The plot was ok, not grat, not awful, and the strongest point it's the characters, I think. They rock and the reader wants to know more and to see the other characters happy. It's great to see a happy ending as well.

T. A. Chase - Shades of Dreams

Stephan Colby is on top of the world. He's the lead singer of one of the hottest new rock bands, and his best friend is in the band to share the success as well. In addition, Stephan's madly in love. Yet Fate has a cruel way of kicking a man in the teeth, and when Stephan's world crashes down around him, he turns to his Rock, his bandmate, the one man who has always been there for him.

Rocky Sanicily has always had Stephan's back, and they've been through a lot together. Rocky has also been in love with Stephan for many years, but has never found the courage to admit it. When Stephan suddenly loses the most important thing in his life, however, Rocky must do everything in his power to keep Stephan from giving up. If he succeeds, will he be able to finally tell Stephan how he feels? And if so, will it bring the friends closer together, or tear apart their relationship forever?

Comment: This isn't the first story I read by the author so I wasn't surprised by the writing style, fast and to the point. This author doesn't spend too much time analysing the characters reasons, decisions, atitudes, which makes things roll quick.
Stephan seemed a bit too fast in his turning point from mourning to love again, but, well, I was never in love, how can I judge?
Still, it was a nice story, interesting plot there although I usually dislike friends to lovers themes.
An author to keep reading :)

Gustave Flaubert - Madame Bovary

Madame Bovary is the story of Emma Bovary, an unhappily married woman who seeks escape through forbidden relationships with other men. The book could be viewed as an expose of the situation of women in the 19th century; women who had not yet been emancipated and were expected to obey their husbands, to stay in their homes while the men went to work, or left for months on end to fight in wars. Emma Bovary also serves as a voice for Flaubert, who patterned the character's personality after his own. Emma Bovary's "rebellious" attitude against the accepted ideas of the day, reflects Flaubert's views of the bourgeoisie. Ultimately, Madame Bovary's indiscretions and her obsession with Romance lead to her downfall, which not only appeases the guardians of morality, but shows us Flaubert's view of the world wasn't one of naive optimism: source

Comment: I was surprised to have enjoyed this book. The theme is one I usually stay away from in books. I despise infidelity and it annoys me to see a character make fun of other and explit the other's humiliation for selfish reasons.

In this novel I didn't feel it because I didn't see infidelity as a source, but a result. I mean, Emma was an adulterous woman but it's her personality that's at fault, she did it knowing exactly what she's after and the only reason I don't despise her totally is because I think she's weak. It doesn't escuse her behavour but it atones for her idiocy.

I feel pity for Charles, he is portrayed as a waekminded man, but he doesn't deserve betrayal. I undertand the author's aim with this novel and I thought I was going to hate it all but I soend the reading with a bit of distance from the characters, therefore the likeliness.

Still, it didn't reach the level of favourite.

Jet Mykles - Reindeer Games

Rom is Dasher, the leader of Santa’s shape-shifting team of reindeer. He is the quintessential elf — smart, handsome, charming — and everyone in Santa’s Village wants him. Lon is no exception. He’s hopelessly in love with Rom, but how can he hope to get Rom’s attention? Even if he is now one of the reindeer handlers, he’s still just a plain, ordinary elf, and painfully shy to boot.
Then there’s Wod. As Dancer, he’s both Rom’s second in command and Rom’s best friend. He, too, is devilishly handsome but in a darker and — truth be told — slightly frightening way. At least, he makes Lon’s heart race and his tongue tie in knots.
When Wod unexpectedly offers to help Lon gain Rom’s attention, Lon is completely confused. To make matters worse, Wod is clear that he’d love to play with Lon himself.
Lon is used to the sexual freedom in Santa’s Village but he craves something more meaningful. He wants a real relationship. So what does he do? Keep pining for Rom or play Wod’s special brand of reindeer games?

Comment: As usual, this author is perfect in creating a fun love story between two males. I'm a huge fan and re-read oftern her Heaven Sent series. This isn't contemporary but it sure is fun. The characters are smart and playful and I had a great time reading this. The sexual tension and the anticipation of what comes next never fails.

I loved seeing Lon realise who's the man, er....elf, for him.

This one was apropos for the holidays too. Can't wait for more stories!!

Stef Penney - Tenderness of Wolves

1867, Canada.

As winter tightens its grip on the isolated settlement of Dove River, a woman steels herself for the journey of a lifetime. A man has been brutally murdered and her seventeen-year-old son has disappeared. The violence has re-opened old wounds and inflamed deep-running tensions in the frontier township - some want to solve the crime, others seek only to exploit it.

To clear her son's name, she has no choice but to follow the tracks leaving the dead man's cabin and head north into the forest and the desolate landscape that lies beyond it...

Comment: I was eager to read this book after the promising blurb, but in the end it wasn't that special. Ok, I have to admit it's a interesting read but it shows it's a first, there's a lot of characters and some of them seem rather useless to the plot. Of course the author found something for them to matter in a certain way, but I still have the feeling things could have worked up without so many people and things in the way.

The plot developped slowly and there was a time while I was almost half through it that it got a bit boring, but then it happened: the promise of a romance. So there I went again with new eagerness. So I kept reading and each snippet of their attraction and the tension between them convinced me something would have to happen, despite the fact she's married.

Oh but the end...

The mystery in which the book is based is solved and I thought the romance part would explode lol, but alas, no it didn't. I guess the author sticked to conventions in that time. Besides, a good, well liked character dies at the end and it annoyed me, because it didn't have to.

So, I'm not completly happy with this read personally, but I admit it it's a pleasent read all in all.

Indiscretion - Jude Morgan

When your father is a man of expensive tastes and schemes but very little money, you soon learn to make do. So when Captain Fortune, a well-meaning but profligate ex-soldier in Regency England, tells his daughter Caroline that they are ruined, she automatically starts seeking employment as a governess. Her father, however, has far grander designs for Miss Fortune....
Caro is to become the companion of Mrs. Catling, the rich, fierce widow of her father's old colonel. As Mrs. Catling amuses herself by tormenting her relatives and servants, Caro resolves to make the best of the situation, and soon her beauty and intelligence attract the attentions of male admirers.
Surrounded by people with an alarming readiness to reveal each other's confidences, Caroline is exasperated to find herself implicated in their indiscretions. But will Miss Fortune be able to avoid losing her reputation without losing her head? And will she find at least one good man amongst the genteel set who will take her side, and, indeed, her fancy?

Comment: This book follows Caroline Fortune from her father's announcement that they're poor to the discovery she has an aunt after his death. In the between she is the companion of mrs Catling but leaves when she doesn't allow Caroline to attend her father's funeral. Is it then she meets her aunt and from then on her life changes but not the other's view of her, as a confident. This will get Caroline in trouble, but in the end all is solved.
I enjoyed this novel a lot, although at first it was a bit difficult to go on due to the language, much more precise than other regency authors. But I've come to find that refreshing and different and in the end I actually prefered it like that.
This is a interesting play of confidences and secrets and the ability to listen, which can be as difficult as other things! I especially enjoyed the end, quite ironic but extremely suited.
I'll try another book by the author in the future.

Tempt me with Darkness - Shayla Black

He's an immortal knight hungering for satisfaction....
As soon as Marrok sees Olivia Gray's dark windswept hair and burning violet eyes, he's sure they've met in eons past. He's felt her soft gentle curves writhing in pleasure beneath his own hard powerful body...Morganna! For centuries, towering Marrok, once the mightiest of King Arthur's warriors, has endured a terrible curse cast upon him when he spurned the witch.
She's a modern woman about to discover ancient magic....
Olivia shares a mystical — and irresistible — connection with brooding Marrok. Soon after the sexy warrior appears in her erotic dreams, he abducts her, demanding she uncurse him. Their intense passion is more powerful — and intimate — than either of them has ever known. Olivia may be the key to unlocking the diary that will break Morganna's hold on his life. But in the wrong hands, the book also holds the power to destroy all magickind. As they search for answers, a ruthless wizard returned from exile is building an army of evil. When he discovers Marrok and Olivia have the diary, only their love — with the help of a powerful group of magical Brethren — can save them.

Comment: I must confess I wasn't expecting much from this book. Things from the Arturian legend don't really appeal to me, but I wanted to see for myself if I was wrong.
Well, I wasn's completely wrong. The book is good but I'm not in love with the story. And I think it is worth more due to the characters than the actual plot.
I wished more authors would create more familair/friendship liasions betweeen characters. I wish this author had. I mean, obviously we get things because they are there, but in order to focus things in that couple, all the others can't have a central position. Nalini Singh and Ilona Andrews, for instance, do it beautifully.
Anyway, the plot didn't surprise me much, the villains are bad but must be defeated someday and thr writing isn't very special.
The characters, like I said, are the strongest part and I was happy to meet several interesting characters. Now I'm more eager to know what's happening to them, with whom they're mating, than anything else.
So, I hope the following books are better in all the aspects.

A Taste for Love - Andrew Grey

The lunch rush at Darryl Hansen’s restaurant, Café Belgie, is getting to be too much for one man to handle, and Billy Weaver is a young man in search of a job—any job—to support his family. Billy gains Darryl’s respect with his earnest nature and willingness to work hard, but Billy’s admiring looks resurrect pain and shame from Darryl’s past.
Until Darryl stumbles across Billy’s secret, Billy is suffering in silence: his father died a few months earlier, leaving him struggling to raise his twin five-year-old brothers. Darryl takes Billy and the boys to the restaurant, where they’ll stand together to face the smorgasbord of troubles in their future… while Davey, Donnie, and Billy all worm their way into Darryl’s heart.

Comment: This was the first book I've read by this author and I enjoyed it a lot, especially when Darryl and Billy were still trying to avoid their attraction...I don't know, I find fascinating the struggle against one's feelings before they acknowledge what's happening.

Their first kiss was ok but from then on that side of their relationship got a bit too mushy but it didn't ruin it for me.The plot is interesting and quite dramatic, imagine if it were for real, I felt really sorry for Billy and I confess I've cried a tear or two...

After one book, usually one can "feel" the pace the author has and Mr Grey's seems to be good, I'll have to try another book in the future to see if he is, indeed, a writer I'll keep following.

Marina - Carlos Ruiz Zafón

En la Barcelona de 1980 Óscar Drai sueña despierto, deslumbrado por los palacetes modernistas cercanos al internado en el que estudia. En una de sus escapadas conoce a Marina, una chica audaz que comparte con Óscar la aventura de adentrarse en un enigma doloroso del pasado de la ciudad. Un misterioso personaje de la posguerra se propuso el mayor desafío imaginable, pero su ambición lo arrastró por sendas siniestras cuyas consecuencias debe pagar alguien todavía hoy.

Comment: Just finished, seconds ago, actually, this book.It's amazing, I can't even think of words to describe it. The author always has a certain tone of melancholy in his books, and this one isn't an exception, but the feelings are overwhelming. I feel sad, I feel frustrated because I can't change things; this is a great book.

The plot is in the same lines as the other books I've read by him (Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game) but this one is smaller and has a theme..well, it shocks but in the end the reader understands. Painfully, but we do.

I hope this writer will keep writing more books, I have to confess he is the spanish author I prefer these days.

Relentless - Bailey Bradford

Zane is the alpha of the Gila National Forest pack of shifters; he’s been forced to make some very bad choices—like kicking out Mika Blackwell, a gay shifter who was once Zane’s friend. When he and all other alpha’s of Southwestern packs are called to a mandatory meeting with the Dux Ducis—Aidan Criswell, the man in charge of all shifter packs in the Southwest U.S., something happens that sends Zane fleeing in panic. He’s found his mate, the one person who can complete him—and the one person Zane knows could never want him. Aidan Criswell.

Zane knows that Aidan could never want him, not after what he’d done to Mika Blackwell. Aidan Criswell is as shocked as Zane to discover the man is his mate; the one person he’d been ordered to investigate, who’d had a pack member banned for being gay, and Aidan gets him for a mate? But destined mates are always exactly perfectly matched, and once Aidan accepts that fact, he believes there is more to Zane’s story than meets the eye-- and as Zane is soon to discover, Aidan Criswell is one relentless son of a bitch.

Comment: One of my favourite types or paranormal settings is the shapeshifter's one. I love stories with them because most times there's pack dynamics and I like that. I also love the "mate thing" and the fate deciding who belongs to whom; this is something in our ordinary lives never happens or, at least, we're told not to believe in that, so it's extra sweet to read stories where it does happen.

The story is fun, interesting and I like the unity between the characters.There's some reluctance in them to acept right away their bond, which I like, not even in fateful mates I beieve in love at first sight, it just doesn't ring true. In this case there was some time before they acknowlegde their feelings so, another point for this story.

There's a story before this one but I don't feel the need to read it because both main characters from that story show up in this one and they participate often, so I don't have the need to check their book. Now I have the feeling there's another story coming and I can't wait to read it, because I love when shapeshifters sense and find their mates.

Blueeyed Boy - Joanne Harris

'Once there was a widow with three sons, and their names were Black, Brown and Blue. Black was the eldest; moody and aggressive. Brown was the middle child, timid and dull. But Blue was his mother's favourite. And he was a murderer.'
Blueeyedboy is the brilliant new novel from Joanne Harris: a dark and intricately plotted tale of a poisonously dysfunctional family, a blind child prodigy, and a serial murderer who is not who he seems.
Told through posts on a Web journal called badguysrock, this is a thriller that makes creative use of all the multiple personalities, disguise and mind games that are offered by playing out a life on the Internet.

Comment: Once again, the author surprised with the interesting, misterious plot. I never imagined who the vilan actually is.

I think this story is a bit confusing sometimes but that doesn't mean it doesn't grab you right away. I enjoyed reading it a lot.

Lately the books by this author are more suspense than fiction, but it's a unique voice and I don't recall anyone else writing like this, so, I'll keep reading her.

Jamaica Inn - Daphne du Maurier

The coachman tried to warn her away from the ruined, forbidding place on the rainswept Cornish coast. But young Mary Yellan chose instead to honor her mother's dying request that she join her frightened Aunt Patience and huge, hulking Uncle Joss Merlyn at Jamaica Inn. From her first glimpse on that raw November eve, she could sense the inn's dark power. But never did Mary dream that she would become hopelessly ensnared in the vile, villainous schemes being hatched within its crumbling walls -- or that a handsome, mysterious stranger would so incite her passions ... tempting her to love a man whom she dares not trust

Comment: I was a bit disappointed with this book. Not that the story is that bad, but my expectations about it were, as I see now, misplaced.

I believed this story would have the same dramatic atmosphere of Rebecca, but it's a bit more boring, I think.

The characters are quite well depicted and now that has been a few days that I finish it, it all seems better than when I was reading. At the time, the plot seemed too boring to follow, to try to understand but right now it feels more realistic. This is fiction, but human fiction. I mean, the characters feel real and act real, according to the time, it's different from paranormals or happy-ever-afters kind of books where there's always something too perfect. Those books worth what they do, but the opposite happening in this story allows it to have a different feeling.

In the end I liked it but not as much as I thought and it's unlikely that I'll re-read it in a near future.