Tag Archives: contemporary romance

Love Like the Movies (by Victoria Van Tiem)

Posted on by
Reply

Contemporary Romance

Kenzi has everything she could ever wish for. A good job working for an advertising agency and the perfect fiancé. Even if she’s constantly runner-up in her family’s affections to her oh so perfect sister-in-law, things look pretty good.

Then her ex-boyfriend, Shane walks into the advertising agency and she quickly discovers, the agency is having financial problems, her job is on the line, and they desperately need Shane’s business. She is ordered to do everything she can to secure the account, but she wasn’t expecting to be re-enacting scenes from her favorite romantic comedies.

Love Like the Movies is great fun. It really does read like one of those great romantic comedies of the 1980s and ’90s. It’s a book that will leave you with a silly smile on your face and feeling good for days.

I should note that some might shy away from this book because it’s about a love triangle. I know that’s a trigger issue for many readers of romance. It’s a trigger issue for me as well, so I’m going to go out on a limb and say I had no problems with this book at all.  That aspect doesn’t really play into the story all that much and lovers of cute, quirky romances will love this book.

Screen Shot 2014-02-15 at 8.51.33 pmYellow / Orange / Red –– What it means. http://wp.me/P2B7b5-9l

Many thanks to Pocket Star and Netgalley for providing me with this ARC.

Saving Justice (by Tasman Gibb)

Posted on by
Reply

Contemporary Romance

After a dog fighting ring is smashed, Justice, a traumatised dog is taken to Dog Haven Sanctuary to be rehabilitated. Marlo who is in charge of the sanctuary has suffered just as much trauma in her life as Justice. Suffering from PTSD after a sexual assault she prefers the company of dogs to people.

After his wife was killed in a revenge attack aimed at him, Adam took a leave of absence from the police force in New Zealand and accepted a job for an animal welfare organisation. In the U.S. to observe the law enforcement response to dog fighting, he meets Marlo and immediately recognises the signs of PTSD.

Together they slowly bring Justice back from his almost withdrawn state and as they are working with Justice, Adam also starts to help Marlo deal with her traumas. But with anti-Pit Bull groups agitating to have Justice declared dangerous and destroyed, the dog-fighting criminals out on bail and a spy within the sanctuary, tensions are boiling over, and before long Adam will need to return to New Zealand leaving Marlo once again on her own.

Saving Justice was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I loved the Dog Haven Sanctuary…the rehabilitation of Justice, even the idea that there were anti-Pit Bull groups trying to steal Justice and have him euthanised. But what could have been a great story was lost in the telling.

I don’t really know why Adam was a New Zealander except for the fact that the author originally came from New Zealand. It added an extra layer of complexity to a story which was already quite dense. Adam is supposedly a tough as nails cop, but for most of the book he came across as a one of those hippie / counsellor…’how does that make you feel’ types.

Most of my friends loved this, giving it four and five stars. I think I’ll be on my own in rating it three stars.

 

Once in a Lifetime (by Jill Shalvis)

Posted on by
Reply

Contemporary Romance

It’s difficult to get past a bad reputation, and in the small town of Lucky Harbor, Aubrey has the worst reputation. Wanting to put her past behind her, she creates a list of all the people she has wronged and then sets about apologising and asking for forgiveness. But not everyone in the town is willing to forgive and forget.

Returning to Lucky Harbor after years of traveling from one war zone to the next, Ben is at loose ends. Unsure about what to do with his life he accepts a job helping Aubrey renovate an old book store. As he watches Aubrey deal with her past they grow closer and eventually fall in love. But Ben is the last name on her list, and she knows that when he finds out what she did he will walk away.

 
Jill Shalvis is something of a comfort read for me. Her books aren’t particularly challenging, there really aren’t all that many surprises but to be honest that’s why I enjoy them as much as I do. She knows what her readers wants and she delivers.

Many thanks to Grand Central Publishing and Netgalley for providing me with this ARC

Best of 2013 (imo)

Posted on by
Reply

It’s coming up to Christmas and it’s time to do the book review blog version of a sitcom’s dream episode. Yep, the best (imo) of 2013.

The Very Best Five (published in 2013)

1. Up to the Challenge (by Terri Osburn)

(Contemporary Romance.)

I read a lot of contemporary romance and a book needs to be pretty special to stand out.  I’m tempted to put her first book Meant to Be in the Best 5 as well, but maybe I’ll let the #1 spot be for both her books and make room for someone else.

 

 

 

2. Heart ofVenom (by Jennifer Estep

(Urban Fantasy)

It’s book 9 in the author’s elemental assassin series.  I usually start to yawn after three or four books and there was a bit of that a few books ago, but this one blew me out of the water.

 

 

 

 

3. Raw Deal (by Mark Henwick)

(Urban Fantasy)

The first of two novellas in the Best 5, Raw Deal reminded me of those great hard boiled detective stories of the 1930s…but with vampires.

 

 

 

 

4. Night of Cake & Puppets (by Laini Taylor)

(Paranormal Romance)

Laini Taylor writes books you want to read out loud. You just want to say what she has written. Night of Cake & Puppets was a beautiful, sublime fairy tale and the second novella in my Best 5.

 

 

 

5. Lingerie Wars (by Janet Elizabeth Henderson)

(Contemporary Romance)

One of the rare books that had me laughing like an idiot.  And yes, when I was writing my review for this I did google “erotic kilt” and I would strongly urge you not to.

 

 

Notable Mentions – The Hits

  1. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/683410012
  2. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/761296161
  3. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/586418589
  4. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/563245914
  5. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/667221942

…and the Misses 

  1. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/683721997
  2. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/697471196
  3. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/754007922
  4. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/672244922
  5. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/607949402

(yes the irony of mentioning Bloodring is not lost on me).

The Perfect Match (by Kristan Higgins)

Posted on by
Reply

Contemporary Romance

Honor and Brogan have been friends with benefits for 17 years. Despite loving him for all of that time he’s never seen her as anything more than passing time. As he describes it, she’s like “an old baseball glove”. With her biological clock ticking away she is desperate for more…marriage, children, forever.
But when she suggests marriage, Brogan laughs it off as messing with a good thing. And then a matter of weeks later he rubs salt in by becoming engaged to her best friend.

Tom is an Englishman on a work visa. When the college where he lectures announces they won’t be renewing his tenure his time in the U.S. is suddenly short. But he is desperate to stay in the U.S. and close to the boy he considers his son, so Honor and Tom decide on a marriage of convenience. He will get his green card and be able to stay in the U.S., she will be able to salvage some of the shreds of her pride and hopefully get a child in the bargain.

That marriage of convenience plot line generally annoys me. It’s usually a whole bunch of misunderstandings and missteps and honestly it’s always felt like slow torture to me. But, The Perfect Match is actually pretty good. it’s your typical feel good contemporary romance but with likeable characters and a solid story it worked. I did struggle with the “marriage for green card” aspect but everything else was so good that I’m willing to let that slide.

The House on Main Street (by Shirlee McCoy)

Posted on by
Reply

Contemporary Romance

Many years earlier Tessa left Apple Valley, Washington rather than watch her sister marry the man she loved. After her sister’s death she finds herself the guardian of Alex, a 10 year old boy with autism and the owner of an old Victorian that has suffered from years of neglect.

Her plan is to sell the house and then return to the East Coast with Alex and her Aunt Gertrude. But Alex wants to stay in Apple Valley and when Cade, the guy who broke her heart years earlier starts showing up, she finds herself struggling to keep it all together.

Christmas books are a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. I generally read one or two at this time of the year every year. I honestly don’t expect all that much from them except that I feel good by the end. The House on Main Street gives me everything I want, and then it gives me a whole lot more. It’s a great story, the start to a new series, the first book by Shirlee McCoy I’ve ever read but definitely not the last.

I’m kind of excited to continue with the series when The Cottage on the Corner comes out in 2014.

Many thanks to Kensington and Netgalley for providing me with this ARC

Friends Without Benefits (by Penny Reid)

Posted on by
Reply

Contemporary Romance

Elizabeth’s earliest memories are of Nico teasing her. All through high school he picked on her but with the support of her one true love Garrett she was able to get through it. Then Garrett died of a terminal illness and Elizabeth was left alone.

Ten years have passed and Elizabeth is now a doctor. When Nico turns up at the hospital with Angelica, a young child who has a rare disease, it falls to Elizabeth to treat her. And with three treatments a days for 30 days, avoidance isn’t going to work. Despite their attraction to each other, the shadow of the past hangs over them and threatens any chance of a future together.

Friends Without Benefits is a very smart love story. There is no dumbing down in this book and it occasionally pushes the boundary between contemporary romance and chick lit. I loved that one of the characters would switch to Italian and it was just put out there with no translation. I love that Penny Reid uses medical jargon without explaining it. It’s just so nice to come across an author who has that level of respect for her readers.

It’s witty, occasionally very funny, a lot longer than most of the books I read but all in all, great fun.

Many thanks to Penny Reid for providing me with this ARC

Take me Home for Christmas (by Brenda Novak)

Posted on by
Reply

Contemporary Romance

After her violent and abusive husband defrauds the townsfolk of Whiskey Creek, Sophia DeBussi is left destitute and hiding out in her now empty house.  Despised by most of her neighbors, she has few options and nobody she can turn to.

Ted Dixon was betrayed by Sophia many years earlier. While he was away at college, she stepped out on him, became pregnant and married the boy who would become her abuser.  He more than anyone has a right to resent Sophia but when he sees how she is being treated he reluctantly agrees to offer her a job as his cook and housekeeper.

Sophia loves Ted, she always has, but she accepts that any chance she had with him disappeared years earlier. Now with her daughter being bullied at school, someone making threats against her, and those in authority unwilling to intervene, she just wants to make enough money to flee Whiskey Creek with her daughter and start over.

Take me Home for Christmas is very good Contemporary Romance about a woman who has been beaten down so often that she has started to believe what her abuser and his parents said about her. As she works for Ted she slowly learns to value herself again and finds hope for a second chance.

Loved this book. 5 Stars.

Many thanks to Harlequin and Netgalley for providing me with this ARC.

Up to the Challenge (by Terri Osburn)

Posted on by
Reply

Contemporary Romance

Sid Navarro is Anchor Islands smart-mouthed boat mechanic. She has been in love with Lucas Dempsey since high school, but Lucas always had his sights set on bigger and better things and as soon as he finished school he left the island.

After his father suffers a heart attack, Lucas returns to the island to look after the family business for the summer. He’s thrown together with Sid and sparks immediately fly but the women he’s attracted to are quiet, reserved…pastels, and Sid is anything but. She’s brash and in your face, she could swear a sailor under the table.

Despite not being his usual type, Lucas is attracted to Sid. But she will never fit into his world and he needs to return to the mainland by the end of the summer so the best he can offer is a summer fling. What he doesn’t know is that beneath her hard shell is a vulnerable young woman and when he leaves, he will break her heart.

It’s difficult to know what to say about Up to the Challenge. No matter what I say, it just won’t be enough. If I take the very best books by Jill Shalvis and Robyn Carr, wave my magic wand and somehow make them 20% better, then we are probably getting close to how good this book is. Solid gold 5 Stars!

Many thanks to Montlake Romance and Netgalley for providing me with this ARC

Accidental Cowgirl (by Maggie McGinnis)

Posted on by
Reply

Contemporary Romance

In quick succession, Kyla’s fiancé cheated both her and her grandparents of their savings; she was in a serious car accident which left her broken and scarred; and her grandparents who were forced to leave their home passed away.

With the court case behind her and her now ex-fiancé behind bars Kyla’s two closest friends drag her to a dude ranch in Montana to help her regroup and plan her next step. One of the first people she meets in Whisper Creek is Decker, the quintessential tall dark and handsome cowboy. She’s attracted to him but with so much baggage weighing her down she doesn’t trust her judgement.

Decker has his own problems. After kicking him out many years earlier, his father used the ranch to back his out of control gambling. Now his father has died and left Decker with the mess. He needs to find the money to pay back the debts or the ranch will be lost.

Nothing happens in Accidental Cowgirl that I haven’t seen before, but it’s exactly what I want from this genre. A simple story well told, characters I like and nothing too tricky. It’s a light and satisfying read and among the better Contemporary Romances I’ve read recently.

Many thanks to Random House and Netgalley for providing me with this ARC