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In For A Penny by Rose Lerner – Happy Re-Release!

June 4, 2014 / Kaetrin

Everyone throw streamers, In For A Penny is back on digital shelves again and a whole new audience can discover the joy of it. Originally released by Dorchester (who went bust), the author finally got her rights back and Samhain have now re-released it, with a pretty new cover and everything.

Rose Lerner is having a giveaway to celebrate the event – go here for details.

In honour of the occasion, here is my review – originally posted on 29 March 2010 (my birthday so extra special!). I was pretty new to blogging and review writing back then but the sentiment holds true and I have resisted any edits.

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I bought In For A Penny after reading AnimeJune’s review over at Gossamer Obsessions. Thank you AnimeJune!!

The Blurb: No more drinking. No more gambling. And definitely no more mistress. Now that he’s inherited a mountain of debts and responsibility, Lord Nevinstoke has no choice but to start acting respectable. Especially if he wants to find a wife-better yet, a rich wife. Penelope Brown, a manufacturing heiress, seems the perfect choice. She’s pretty, rational, ladylike, and looking for a marriage based on companionship and mutual esteem. But when they actually get to Nev’s family estate, all the respectability and reason in the world won’t be enough to deal with tenants on the edge of revolt, a menacing neighbor, and Nev’s family’s propensity for scandal. Overwhelmed but determined to set things right, Nev and Penelope have no one to turn to but each other. And to their surprise, that just might be enough. Continue reading

Devil’s Game by Joanna Wylde

June 3, 2014 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Liam “Hunter” Blake hates the Reapers MC. Born and raised a Devil’s Jack, he knows his duty. He’ll defend his club from their oldest enemies—the Reapers—using whatever weapons he can find. But why use force when the Reapers’ president has a daughter who’s alone and vulnerable? Hunter has wanted her from the minute he saw her, and now he has an excuse to take her.

Em has lived her entire life in the shadow of the Reapers. Her overprotective father, Picnic, is the club’s president. The last time she had a boyfriend, Picnic shot him. Now the men in her life are far more interested in keeping her daddy happy than showing her a good time. Then she meets a handsome stranger—a man who isn’t afraid to treat her like a real woman. One who isn’t afraid of her father. His name is Liam, and he’s The One.

Or so she thinks.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): There were a lot of things to enjoy in Devil’s Game – most especially the heroine, Em Hayes. As the daughter of the Reaper’s local President, she’d grown up knowing Club culture and understanding her place in it. She’s protected in many respects because of her dad’s position but at the same time, she feels stifled as well. Reese “Picnic” Hayes knows what guys are like, being one himself, and he doesn’t hesitate to chase off unworthy contenders. This has left Em in the unfortunate position of being a virgin at the ripe old age of 22. After she is kidnapped (which occurred in Reaper’s Legacy), she has something of an epiphany and decides to push back against some of the Club culture she dislikes and strike out on her own a bit more.

May Round Up

June 1, 2014 / Kaetrin

on Paper/eBook

The French Have A Word For It by Josh Lanyon – B- Last month, when I bought Heart Trouble, I also bought a number of other novels and short stories by Josh Lanyon (Twitter is my book enabler). This is a sweet short about an American guy in Paris, there to pursue his painting career and get out from the watchful eye of his wealthy grandfather. When he was 14, Colin was kidnapped and Thomas was the bodyguard who rescued him and then make sure of his safety until Colin went off to college. Colin thinks of Thomas as his first love but realises that part of that was youthful infatuation and the unique circumstances which made Thomas very much a hero to Colin. When Thomas turns up in Paris, 10 years have passed and Colin has grown up. They connect and there is the very beginning of a relationship. I would have liked maybe another couple pages to get a better handle on their potential future (because I’m not a fan of ambiguity) and I could easily have read more than that, but it was an enjoyable story and perfect for a night when I didn’t have a lot of time to read.

BUY IT:
AMAZON KOBO

Coming Soon

Review at AudioGals

May 31, 2014 / Kaetrin

I’m over at AudioGals today with a review of Fool Me Twice by Meredith Duran, narrated by Alison Larkin. I enjoyed this very much – I wonder if the audio format makes the prose seem less dense? (Or, is it just that this book was different to her other work?) I love Duran’s prose – but I find it takes concentration to read. It’s something I need to sink myself into. I think maybe the narrator did some of that “work” for me here. It’s a theory anyway.

Review at AudioGals

May 30, 2014 / Kaetrin

I’m over at AudioGals today reviewing Second Chance Boyfriend by Monica Murphy, narrated by Kate Rudd, Luke Daniels and Tanya Eby. Not quite as gripping as the first book, but still a good listen.

Enlightenment Trilogy by Joanna Chambers

May 28, 2014 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I’ve had my eye on this series for a while. I knew from the author that there was no HEA until the third book and that by the end of the first book, the protagonists are apart. That being the case, I decided to wait until the third book was out before I read any of them. That way I could get my HEA fix. While there are no cliffhangers, and book two does have a kind of happy for now ending, the big payoff is in book three.

I decided to review them all together because I think it is a story in three parts. Unless the writing style doesn’t work for a particular reader, anyone who picks up Provoked will read Beguiled and Enlightened as well. I read them one after the other and I suspect new readers are likely to do the same.

Necessarily, the blurbs for the second and third books contain some spoilerish things for the previous stories but given that readers know that it is a romantic trilogy, I don’t think they give that much away.

Provoked

Lowborn David Lauriston lacks the family connections needed to rise in Edinburgh’s privileged legal world. Worse, his latest case—defending weavers accused of treason—has brought him under suspicion of harbouring radical sympathies.

Troubled by his sexuality, tormented by memories of a man he once platonically loved, David lives a largely celibate life—until a rare sexual encounter with a compelling stranger turns his world on its head.

Cynical and worldly, Lord Murdo Balfour is more at home in hedonistic London than dingy, repressed Edinburgh. Unlike David, he intends to eventually marry while continuing to enjoy the company of men whenever he pleases. Yet sex with David is different. It’s personal, intimate, and instead of extinguishing his desire, it only leaves him hungry for more.

As David’s search for the man who betrayed the weavers deepens, he begins to suspect that his mysterious lover has more sinister reasons for his presence in Edinburgh. The truth could leave his heart broken…and more necks stretching on the gallows.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I’m really glad I waited for all three books before I read this one. While it is the necessary first chapter and provides context to the relationship between David and Murdo, it doesn’t have a satisfying ending in terms of romance. The story was complete – the mystery regarding the agent provocateur was resolved and there really was no other way for the story to end – neither man was remotely read for a happy ending but my romance loving soul was not soothed. I was very happy to be able to move straight Beguiled. It would have been a mistake for me to read Provoked when it was first released.